Thunder
Date:
April 15, 1999
Location:
Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida
Attendance:
9,429
Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
WCW
is on a nice mini roll but they've long since lost me on believing
this is going to last. The main story coming out of Nitro is Page
vs. Nash being set up for Slamboree due to Flair making the match as
well as Nash wanting to get back at Page for injuring Hogan. We
don't have much else on the horizon for the show yet but maybe we'll
get something tonight. Let's get to it.
The
announcers welcome us to the show and tell us about Mysterio vs.
Guerrera for the Cruiserweight Title tonight. Works for me.
Vampiro
vs. Buff Bagwell
The
fans are into Buff so he does the Karate Kid pose and dances a bit to
start. An armdrag puts Vampiro down and it's time to dance some
more. Buff blocks a right hand in the corner and nails Vampiro in
the jaw. Vampiro comes back with a kick, headbutt and chop followed
by even more strikes to Buff's chest. Buff nails a quick dropkick
and some punches in the corner, only to get hot shotted onto the top
rope.
A
middle rope spinwheel kick sets up a cross armbreaker on Buff. That
goes nowhere so Vampiro goes back to the kicks to the chest to
maintain control. Even more kicks, including one that looked rather
low, sets upa chinlock on Bagwell. The fans really don't seem all
that interested in this kick-a-thon.
Buff's
quick comeback is stopped by a kick (of course) and Vampiro hooks an
ankle lock. Bagwell fights up again but gets dropped by even more
kicks. Vampiro finally tries something else with a suplex but Buff
counters into a slingshot suplex. Maybe Vampiro should stick with
the kicks. Buff goes to the middle rope but dives into a Rock
Bottom. Vampiro tries a top rope hurricanrana, only to get shoved
down, setting up the Blockbuster for the pin.
Rating:
D. Egads this match was dull.
Vampiro continues to be nothing in the ring and puts me closer to a
coma every time I have to see him. When you remind me of Ernest
Miller before he got funny, something is very wrong. Nothing to see
here and not a good choice to open the show.
Jerry
Flynn vs. Wrath
Wrath
easily throws him around to start before nailing a middle rope
shoulder. Flynn is whipped out to the floor as we appear to be in
total squash mode. A hard whip sends Jerry into the barricade but he
sends Wrath
into the barricade to come back. Back
in and Wrath scores with a clothesline before choking a lot as
something seems wrong. They head back outside for some brawling and
Flynn is sent into the barricade for a double countout. I'm
not going to rate this as Wrath shredded his knee somewhere in there
and the finish had to be rushed. He would be out for nearly a year.
Horace
vs. Meng
It's
a brawl to start (of course) with Meng pounding away but Horace takes
him into the corner. Meng
pounds his own head into the corner because he's not all there and
Horace looks scared. A superkick puts Horace down and Meng chokes a
lot. They head outside with
Horace being whipped into the steel but he gets up a boot to stop a
charging monster. Horace channels his inner Sting though and
splashes the barricade by mistake.
Back
in and Horace pounds away to almost no effect as Meng comes back with
a powerslam. Meng busts out a dropkick of all things and they slug
it out again until Horace
hits a spinebuster that the announcers claim was an atomic drop.
Horace clotheslines him out
to the floor and nails an actually decent suicide dive. They head
back in with Meng countering a slam into a small package of all
things. Horace nails some
clotheslines and a Hogan legdrop for two. Then, like the nitwit he
is, he tries a sunset flip and gets Death Gripped for the submission.
Rating:
D. They surprised me with some
of the stuff they did in there but the match was six minutes of Meng
vs. Horace. There was no way this was going to be interesting no
matter what they did. That
suicide dive wasn't bad though and it at least gave me a break from
the barrage of punches and clotheslines.
Flair,
Anderson and Robinson are in the back with Charles pouring champagne.
A woman brings in some papers for Flair to sign, which he does
without reading them. Arn points out how stupid this is but Flair
tells him to calm down.
Disco
Inferno vs. Mikey Whipwreck
They
trade headlocks to start until Mikey takes him down with a pair of
armdrags into an armbar. Back
up and we get armdrags number three and four with Mikey still in
control. Disco comes back
with a shoulder and clothesline followed by a middle rope elbow for
two. These guys certainly aren't cranking up the variety
tonight. Whipwreck is sent
outside as we go to a break.
Back
with Disco being sent into
the barricade and Mikey legsweeping him into it again. They
head back inside with Mikey snapping Disco across the top, dropping a
springboard legdrop and forearming him in the face for two each. He
misses a top rope splash though, setting up Disco's piledriver for
another near fall thanks to Mikey's foot touching the rope. Back
up and a swinging neckbreaker sets up a chinlock on Whipwreck.
Mikey
fights up but gets elbowed right back down. Disco misses another
middle rope elbow and gets dropkicked a few times, only to come right
back with a clothesline. A
Fameasser puts Disco down but Mikey takes too much time going up.
Disco pulls him down for a reverse DDT, only to spin Mikey around
into the Last Dance for the pin.
Rating:
C-. Why was Mikey Whipwreck
hired? Was it really just to screw with ECW? He hasn't done
anything special in his few months with the company and I don't think
he's won a match yet. This wasn't terrible, but when Disco is the
one carrying your match, you can tell there's something wrong.
Gene
brings out the Black and White for a chat. Stevie says they're the
police of the WCW and wants a World Title shot tonight against “that
no good beatnik fruit booty.” And so it begins.
This
Week In WCW Motorsports.
Disorderly
Conduct vs. Saturn/Raven
Saturn
wants to accessorize his
dress with a Tag Team Title. Raven and Mike get things going with
Mike quickly running into a boot. Off to Saturn for a side kick
before the stars start tagging quickly.
A kick to the ribs sets up a knee lift from Raven who then allows the
tag off to Tom. Raven takes
Tom down for a top rope knee drop from Saturn for two.
Mike
gets in a cheap shot from the apron and Disorderly Conduct starts
making their own tags. Saturn
is laid across the ropes for an ax handle from Tom. He fights back
but runs into Mike's knee and a jawbreaker gets two. Mike grabs
Saturn's arms but Tom hits his partner by mistake, allowing Saturn to
suplex Tom and tag Raven. The drop toehold spot to Tom causes
everything to break down and the Evenflow ends Tom.
Rating:
D+. This wasn't the worst
squash in the world and at least Disorderly Conduct got to control
for awhile. I miss having
teams like them who are there for no reason other than to job but
people might buy them as a threat because they have a team name.
It's better than Slater Gator if nothing else.
We
look at Mysterio getting beaten down on Monday.
Cruiserweight
Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera
Rey
is defending. They pose to
start with Juvy shaking his hips on the middle rope. Juvy
runs him over with a shoulder and stops to pose even more. They
try a quick pinfall reversal sequence but Guerrera stops to try a
powerbomb instead of a backslide. Rey
sends Juvy out to the floor but he comes right back in with a
tilt-a-whirl slam. A
hurricanrana takes Juvy out to the floor and we take a break.
Back
with Juvy missing a splash
in the corner and getting faceplanted on the mat. There's
the Bronco Buster from Rey but he takes too much time to pose. Juvy
tries to take him down into a powerbomb but gets countered into a
sunset flip. Back up and
Rey catches him in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Juvy pops up with a
dropkick.
Mysterio's
throat gets snapped over the top rope and Juvy busts out a People's
Elbow for two. Rey sends him into the corner but Juvy backflips over
him and grabs the Juvy Driver. He's too spent to cover though so the
trip up top for the 450 takes too long. Mysterio crotches him down
and runs the corner for a top rope hurricanrana to retain.
Rating:
C+. The match was a total
spotfest but the spots worked well enough. Juvy as a Rock
impersonator was a bizarre choice but it would get even worse later
on. Mysterio continues to be the top guy in the division and it's
hard to argue with him being the champion for as long as he was.
Robinson
keeps sucking up to Flair, calling his match on Monday as good as his
series with Steamboat. Anderson comes in and complains about not
being able to find the woman from earlier. Robinson is sent off to
find her.
WCW
World Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Stevie Ray
Stevie
yells at Kimberly to start and gets punched in the jaw by the
champion. A hard forearm
puts Ray on the floor and Page dives onto both Stevie and Vincent.
They brawl in the aisle and
then into the crowd before coming out by the set. Vincent gets
punched as well before the guys actually in the match head back
inside.
Stevie
gets in a shot to the throat followed by a clothesline for two. We
hit the bearhug for a bit before Page grabs a swinging neckbreaker to
get a breather. The discus lariat puts Ray down but a Vincent
distraction lets Stevie take over again. The
Slapjack is countered and Page spins around Ray's shoulders for the
Diamond Cutter to retain.
Rating:
D. Nothing
to see here but what else were you expecting? It's Stevie Ray
getting a World Title match on the B show where they're not really
trying in the first place. I have no problem with them handing Page
midcarders to build up his credibility a bit more and the Black and
White isn't going to get hurt by losing a match.
Vincent,
Horace and Adams come in and get beaten up as well to end the show.
Overall
Rating: D+. This wasn't the
worst show in the world but it's more meaningless TV. I'm not sure
what the Flair/Anderson/Robinson stuff accomplished but it's the only
thing resembling storyline advancement that we got all night. The
wrestling was passable enough and that's about all that matters on
Thunder. Worthless but not a terrible show.
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
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