Thunder
Date:
April 29, 1999
Location:
Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania
Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The
question coming out of Monday is will anything that happens tonight
actually mean anything. Nitro saw two World Title changes resulting
in Diamond Dallas Page winning and losing the title on the same show.
We're still on the way to Slamboree with Nash vs. Page for the title
and Flair vs. Piper (both of whom may be fired) for control of the
company. Let's get to it.
After
the opening sequence, we get some clips of Flair in the hospital on
Monday. Thankfully Scott Hall's bizarre cameo is omitted.
TV
Title: Booker T. vs. Curt Hennig
Curt
is challenging. Booker shoves him into the corner to start as the
announcers talk about the second World Title change on Monday. A
hiptoss sends Curt out to the floor and we take an early break. Back
with Hennig hammering Booker down and kicking him in the ribs. They
switch to boxing for a bit until Booker nails him with a forearm to
the head for two.
Some
right hands in the corner have Booker in trouble but Curt steps
forward for a hot shot into the buckle. A low blow has Booker in
even more trouble and Curt chops away in the corner. Curt puts on a
sleeper for a good while before hitting a piledriver for two. Booker
pops back up and hits the super, ax and side kicks. He goes up for
the missile dropkick but Stevie Ray comes in with the slapjack to
Hennig for the DQ.
Rating:
D+. That sleeper just crippled
anything the match had going for it. This Booker vs. Stevie stuff
isn't the most interesting story in the world but maybe they'll
actually have a match as a result unlike Rick and Scott. Hennig was
coming back from an injury here and he didn't look like his usual
self.
Hotline
plug
The
Nitro Girls are getting their own site.
Video
on Nash.
Here
are Hak and Chastity with something to say. Hak talks about how
awesome his hardcore matches have been and calls the three way with
Bigelow and Raven the most extreme match ever. Chastity gets to pick
his opponent for tonight and the schoolgirl chick selects Kevin Nash.
Great. The hardcore mess is invading the main event.
Booker
and Rick Steiner are fighting backstage. Why WCW thinks anyone cares
about Rick Steiner in 1999 is beyond me.
WCW
will be on QVC soon.
Video
on Goldberg.
Here's
Buff.....dressed like Scott Steiner. Oh this could be good. Tenay:
“I would say that's a Buff Bagwell imitation of Big Papa Pump.”
You can't buy analysis like this people! Buff
talks about partying at Penn State and how much it made him realize
Michigan really sucks. He's nailing the screech in Steiner's voice.
Buff tells us to close our eyes and picture the Big Bad Doodoo Daddy.
He
was at Motel 6 watching
BET last night to find more lines to steal and came up with this one:
“I'm not a player. I'm just on parole a lot.” If Bagwell wants
a US Title shot at Slamboree, that's what Buff is going to get.
He'll show Bagwell that there's no bigger liar than Scott Steiner.
Flush him if you hear him. This really wasn't as funny as it could
have been but the voice was awesome.
Jerry
Flynn vs. Stevie Ray
Ray
hammers on him in the corner to start but gets caught by some kicks.
Jerry catches one of Stevie's kicks and turns it into an ankle lock.
That goes nowhere so Jerry tries an armdrag into a cross armbreaker.
Vincent offers a distraction and Horace comes in to break it up
because the Black and White are a bunch of inept morons. After
a beatdown on the floor, Stevie slams him down and drops a leg for
two. Jerry pops up and nails a spinkick, only to get distracted by
Horace so Ray can hit a bad looking Slapjack for the pin.
Rating:
D-. Does anyone else find it
sad that the Wolfpac is basically done but we have the Black and
White stooges around, taking the whole group to beat up Jerry Flynn?
Stevie just isn't any good in the ring and it's showing here. He's
one of those wrestlers whose offense consists of forearms to the back
and a lot of shouting. Granted that's better than Flynn who can't
even talk.
Hardcore
Hak vs. Kevin Nash
Hak
loads up a ladder and table before Nash's music hits. He
charges at Nash to start but Big Kev grabs a kendo stick to send Hak
into the corner. Nash picks
him up for a suplex onto the ladder before driving it into Hak's ribs
over and over. The table is
set up in the corner but Hak reverses a whip to send Kev through it.
Some
kendo stick shots put Nash down and puts the ladder on top of him for
the slingshot legdrop. Nash
is sent hands first into the ladder but he grabs the stick to blast
Hak in the ribs. He can't follow up though and Hak nails him a few
more times to put Nash back down. A
top rope swanton onto the ladder onto Nash gets two. Chastity
comes in with a fire extinguisher but Nash takes it away and blasts
Hak. The Jackknife through the table is enough for the pin.
Rating:
D. This was a few steps ahead
of the usual hardcore stuff and it's mainly due to having less
weapons than the other matches. There were only a few in this one as
opposed to the dozen or so that we usually get. It also helped that
there was some actual wrestling in between the spots instead of
weapon shot after weapon shot. It's still bad but it at least
resembled a match.
Bam
Bam Bigelow comes out and wants to keep Hardcore Night going by
getting a shot at the World Title. He issues the challenge to Page
“from one homey to another.” Sure why not.
This
Week In WCW Motorsports.
Goldberg
vs. Meng
We
get a very loud Goldberg chant out of nowhere. That's as obvious of
a piped in chant as I've ever heard. They trade slams to start and
Meng bails to the outside. Back
in and Meng rakes the eyes to take over before planting Goldberg with
a backbreaker for two. Goldberg pops up with a kick to the face and
a powerslam of his own, only to get his eyes raked again. Meng
hammers away with various chops, kicks and punches before
superkicking Goldberg down for two. More punches have very little
effect and Goldberg pops up with a superkick, setting up the spear
and Jackhammer for the pin.
Rating:
D+. Basically a longer version
of the standarg Goldberg match. He had to try a bit here but Meng
has gone from unstoppable killing machine to standard power heel.
They did such a great job of setting him up as a one off challenger
last year but now this is the best we can get. It's a sign of the
times for WCW.
Page
comes out to talk about what happened on Monday and thanks people
like the Masked Assassin, Jake Roberts and Dusty Rhodes for helping
him out. He doesn't think much of the fans though and tells those
who got on the bandwagon to “no not suck it. Jump off!” We
get some good old fashioned cheap heat when Page asks what town we're
in. He'll give Bigelow the shot tonight, even though the fans don't
deserve it.
QVC
promo.
Slamboree
ad.
Randy
Savage vs. Disciple
Savage
has Miss Madness, Madusa and Gorgeous George with him here. Why he's
playing a face here after helping the heel Page out on Monday isn't
clear. Randy grabs an
armbar to start before they shove each other around a lot. Disciple
gets taken down and chinlocked before it's back to the armbar,
followed by another chinlock for a change of pace. Choking ensues
and Savage drills him with an elbow to the jaw for two.
Disciple
fights back with his wide range of punches, kicks and choking before
dropping an elbow for two. We hit a chinlock on Savage as this isn't
quite the same level I'm used two with Macho. More
punching and choking from Disciple before Savage throws him to the
floor out of boredom. Savage is sent into the barricade and Disciple
puts on the sleeper on the floor. Madusa makes a save and sends
Disciple into the post before Savage sends him back in for the big
elbow and the pin.
Rating:
D-. Of all the people on WCW's
roster for Savage's first real match back, they pick Disciple? The
match was horrible and most of it was due to Savage having nothing to
work with. Disciple's entire offense was built around punching and
choking which really doesn't make for a well done match. Also,
Savage needed help from the girls to beat the Disciple? Really?
WCW
World Title: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Diamond Dallas Page
Hardcore
and Page is defending of
course. Page slugs away to
start but gets knocked out to the floor with a big right hand. Back
in and Bigelow drops him throat first across the top rope, sending
Page back outside for another breather. It's time to bring in some
weapons but Page dives over the top to take Bigelow back.
We
take a break and come back with Bigelow knocking him down the aisle
before taking Page over to the announcers' table. He
loads up a regular table but Page rolls away, sending Bigelow
crashing down onto the concrete. Page
sends him into the barricade a few times and they come back towards
the ring with the champion in control. More
weapons are brought in though and a trashcan to Page's back gets two
on the floor.
They
head back inside for the top rope headbutt from Bam Bam but Page is
up at two. A side slam gets
the same but Page comes back with a discus lariat for a near fall of
his own. The floatover DDT
drops Bigelow but the referee gets bumped. Bigelow gets two off a
suplex but Page low blows him for the same. Greetings
From Asbury Park is countered into the Diamond Cutter....and Savage
comes out to drop a big elbow on Bigelow for good measure. Page gets
the easy pin.
Rating:
D. I really don't see the need
for this to be a hardcore match. The Savage thing didn't need to be
there as Bigelow was out cold before Macho came out. I like Page
winning matches on TV, but he needs to do something different in the
ring as he's basically having the same matches he was before save for
the occasional low blow.
Overall
Rating: D+. This show tried for
a change and I'm sure it has nothing to do with WWF having a pilot
for some show called Smackdown at the same time. It
was another show that didn't need to exist, but I definitely prefer a
show with a bunch of people I kind of care about over a show with a
bunch of people I barely recognize. The hardcore matches for the
guys in the main event were annoying but bareable, which is more than
I can usually say for this show.
Remember to pick up my new book of 1997 Monday Nitro Reviews from Amazon at:
And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
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