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Thunder - May 27, 1999

Thunder
Date: May 27, 1999
Location: North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, South Carolina
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

Believe it or not things are looking up just a bit in WCW. The most recent Nitro was just a disaster instead of the worst show ever. There is an interesting story coming up with the old guard not being happy with the lack of respect they've been getting from the younger crowd, which led to Benoit and Malenko turning on Flair earlier this week. Let's get to it.


We open with a video of Savage's recent path of destruction, even though his girls have done most of the work.

The announcers do their thing. It's Sting vs. Rick Steiner in a cage on Nitro.

Lash Leroux vs. Kaz Hayashi

Leroux takes him down to start and works on the arm before putting Kaz on the mat again with an armdrag. Back up and Kaz offers a handshake, only to kick Leroux in the ribs instead. A dropkick puts Leroux down again but he avoids a spinwheel kick, only to get caught in a backslide for two. Things slow down a bit as Kaz gets into kick and chop mode before dropping an elbow.

We cut to the back to see Savage and the girls because this is his company now. Savage is looking for Bagwell but beats up Disco Inferno and Scotty Riggs instead. Back to the match happening in the background, Leroux hammers away in the corner with right hands. We get more kicks from Kaz because he's from Japan, meaning he only knows how to kick you see. He mixes things up by going to the eyes, only to have the fans chant that both guys suck.

Leroux comes back with some very basic offense before a kind of sitout Dominator for two. The Whiplash is countered and Kaz kicks him in the ribs again, followed by a quick hurricanrana. Lash crotches him on top but gets shoved right down, only to dropkick a diving Hayashi out of the air. Now it's Lash going up but getting superplexed down, setting up a top rope senton splash to give Kaz the pin.

Rating: C-. This wasn't bad but the Savage thing put a big halt in the middle of it. These are the kind of guys that WCW could use to help flesh out the cruiserweight division a bit and thankfully they were able to have a match without Hugh Morrus interfering and eliminating them both. This is what Thunder should be about: showcasing guys that don't get time on Nitro.

Van Hammer vs. Prince Iaukea

Time for more of Hammer's latest push that won't go anywhere. Iaukea tries to speed things up to start and actually hits an enziguri to stagger the big man before dropping him with a springboard dropkick. Not that it matters as Hammer kicks Iaukea's head off to put him on the floor. The beating continues outside until Hammer launches him back inside. We cut to UFC fighter Tank Abbott in the front row. UFC wasn't a huge thing yet as they had only had nineteen shows at this point. Abbott had fought for them as recently as October 1998.

Iaukea gets sent into the apron a few times and goes head first into the steps. Back in and we hit the bearug for a bit with Iaukea saving himself using the power of a hard head. He tries to slam Hammer and gets crushed for two for his efforts. Iaukea goes back up and gets crotched, setting up a superplex (same sequence from the first match) followed by the cobra clutch slam for the pin.

Rating: D. When I was talking about showcasing talent that doesn't get the spotlight on Nitro, I meant guys that you would want to see getting spotlight like that. Instead here we had two guys who either aren't interesting or haven't been interesting in years. Thankfully it was a pretty short match but anytime Iaukea is out there it gets painful.

Video on Nash vs. Savage.

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Video from Nitro of Savage attacking Nash and lipsticking him.

Gene brings out Savage and the girls for a chat. Savage thinks Nash fears him, that Bagwell disrespected him, and that he'll take the title at the Bash. The girls all think Savage rocks and that's about it. This really didn't need to be an in ring segment.

The Cat vs. Vampiro

This is the result of an open challenge after Cat ripped on Scott Norton, calling him Yogi Bearer for some reason. Sonny Onoo offers Vampiro money to leave, allowing Miller to get in some cheap shots from behind. Vampiro comes back with kicks to the ribs and ducks a kick that winds up hitting Sonny. More shots to the face have Miller in trouble but he nails Vampiro low to escape. It doesn't seem to have a long lasting effect though as Vampiro keeps kicking and nails a Rock Bottom. Onoo knees him in the back though and Miller finishes Vampiro quick with the Feliner.

Benoit goes into Flair's office to yell at him but Page jumps Chris from behind and beats him down.

Here's Brian Knobs with something to say. He brags about being hardcore and all that jazz until Jimmy Hart interrupts. Jimmy says he managed Brian in the past and wants him back for the First Family. Brian isn't sure but will think about it.

Clip from Nitro of Flair and Piper fighting.

Clip from Nitro of Hennig and Konnan fighting.

Konnan vs. Kenny Kaos

We get a bunch of catchphrases from Konnan followed by him praising all of his friends. Feeling out process to start until Kaos' wristlock is countered with an armdrag. Kaos drops him again with a a clothesline and elbow before we hit the way too early chinlock. Back up and Konnan hits his wrap around bulldog and the low dropkick followed by some right hands in the corner.

A few clotheslines and a suplex get two on Konnan and we hit another chinlock. Kaos shouts at the crowd a lot and gets caught in a DDT for a quick two. We get the usual from Konnan but he charges into a powerslam. Kaos goes up, misses a guillotine legdrop and gets caught in the Tequila Sunrise for the submission.

Rating: D. Gah these matches can be dull. Kaos is a guy that doesn't have anything going for him and Konnan is suddenly all cool with Nash again despite having issues with him just a few months back. This was just wrestling to fill in space on a card which can be the least interesting things imaginable when there's no motivation.

This Week In WCW Motorsports.

Video on Nash.

Lenny Lane vs. Evan Karagias

Evan hammers away to start and grabs a hammerlock before dropkicking him down. A clothesline puts Lane on the floor and here's Lodi to watch they match. Lane sends Evan into the apron and then the steps before they head back inside for an elbow from Lenny. He sees Lodi and....doesn't seem to mind. Evan jumps over him in the corner and drives in ten right hands. A springboard clothesline gets two on Lenny but he grabs an airplane spin of all things.

Evan gets dropped with a gutbuster as Lodi seems very pleased. Back up and Karagias gets two off a cross body. Lodi: “Looking really, really good.” Evan pops back to his feet and floats around into a faceplant. A cross body gets a delayed two but Lane gets Karagias onto his shoulders for an electric chair slam for two. Not that it matters as Evan slams him down and hits a corkscrew splash for the pin.

Rating: D+. This could have been worse and was somehow a breath of fresh air after all of the boring stuff we've sat through for the last hour or so. That being said, I have a bad feeling about where the Lodi stuff is going as it's likely going to be yet another big embarrassment for the company.

From Nitro: Piper yells about Flair a lot.

Video on Sting/Luger vs. the Steiners.

Gene talks to Tank Abbott at ringside and Tank doesn't seem to be all that happy with what he's seen so far. This hardcore division is a joke and the wrestlers all look pathetic. Gene says there's going to be a “shoot” cage match on Monday between Sting and Rick Steiner, which Tank of course laughs off. This brings out Rick Steiner to yell, start a fight, and get pulled away. He wants Abbott to come to Nitro as Tank is taken out by security.

Recap of Flair giving the Jersey boys the Tag Team Title shot and the Horsemen quitting as a result.

Chris Benoit vs. Diamond Dallas Page

This has potential. Benoit comes out to what used to be Dean's theme for some reason. They immediately slug it out to start and Benoit has him in the Crossface fifteen seconds in. Page gets to the ropes and bails to the floor, only to have Chris take him out with a dive. He sends Page head first into the post but walks into a knee back inside. A belly to back suplex puts the Canadian down but Benoit just chops him into the corner and stomps him in the chest.

Page gets back up and counters a whip with an elbow to the jaw to put both guys down. They roll outside with Page being sent into various steel objects, only to send Benoit into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Benoit catching Page coming in but his right hands in the corner are countered with a low blow and hot shot. A stomping puts Benoit on the floor before a big gutbuster has him in trouble back inside.

Benoit gets tied up in the Tree of Woe for another stomping. We hit the chinlock, complete with something like a chinlock slam for two. Off to a sleeper on Benoit but he jawbreaks his way to freedom. Some running right hands put Page down and a bridging German suplex gets two. That's not enough for Benoit so he rolls some more Germans until Page breaks it up with a low blow. A big sitout powerbomb gives Page a near fall but Benoit counters the Cutter and puts on the Crossface in the middle of the ring. Since we can't have someone lose clean around here though, Bigelow runs out for the DQ.

Rating: B-. This took its time to get going but once they got to the trading big moves section, they really started to cook. The ending was inevitable though as they couldn't put Benoit over because Page has a title shot coming up and you don't want to put Page over because Benoit is coming off a big turn. Good match though and a nice pick up after the bad show so far.

Flair, Bigelow and Page beat down Benoit and no one makes the save.

Another video on Nash vs. Savage.

Randy Savage vs. Buff Bagwell

After some jawing from both guys and a few Nash insults from Savage, the girls shove Bagwell to give Macho the early advantage. Savage busts out a wide variety of choking before taking it outside to drop Buff's throat on the barricade. Back in and Miss Madness nails a top rope missile dropkick to prove her worth. Savage ties Bagwell in the Tree of Woe before choking even more. Off to a neck hold as Patrick yells at two of the girls, allowing George to use her shoe on Buff's throat. Savage yells at Patrick so he actually gets a chair to defend himself. That's fine with Randy, who takes the chair away and nails Buff for the DQ.

Rating: D. If this is supposed to get Bagwell over, they're doing a horrible job of going about it. This was a total squash until Bagwell won on a DQ due to stealing a referee's weapon. Again, the girls help him out WAY too much as well, even though in this case he could have won on his own pretty easily.

Overall Rating: D. Somehow this was an upgrade over some of the recent shows. Above all else, there was nowhere near as much talking on this show. That being said, it meant that we had a lot more time for wrestling, and that has rarely been Thunder's strong point. The Benoit vs. Page match was good and a very nice break from the norm, but this old vs. new thing has a big hole to dig them out of.


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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Comments

  1. Wow we're at Lenny and Lodi already? I always assumed that was a Russo move.

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  2. "Casual fans" have never heard of TNA

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  3. oh yeah. I think at that point all the DVD sets were being edited.

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  4. No, russo made them Standards and Practices

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  5. This is the first WCW ppv i ever ordered and I was completely blown away by the New Japan vs WCW matches. I was 9 years old and I thought the concept of New Japan vs WCW was cool but I had never heard of most of these guy.. I was excited to see Hulk, Sting, Savage, and Luger but I wanted to see what all the hype was about with the Japanese guys and they delivered. This was also the first time I got to see Benoit and Eddy really show their skills....It was a great ppv that will always be special to me because it was my first WCW ppv....I had always wondered how One Man Gang became U.S. Champion, I remember Konnan beating him for the title but I never knew how O.M.G. had won it...

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  6. I thought Van Hammer was on top of his game in 1999...He was an experienced veteran who shouldve had a couple of World Title reigns by this time in his career but was held down by selfish veterans like Flair and Hogan....Van Hammer always had a great a look, he could cut some intense promos, and was great in the ring. WCW shouldve at least given him a shot at the main event in 1999 and its a shame that now the millions of Van Hammer fans are left to wonder what could've been.........

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  7. but how hard is it to remove black and white for vod...i'm getting concerned that there going to censor the old ppv next

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  8. There was tremendous buzz around Edge at the time and a lot of heat for Cena getting his revenge. I don't see why you wouldn't capitalise on it to elevate them both. Obviously the Foley match worked out fine for Edge but there's no reason Edge and Cena couldn't have Main Evented against one another and risen up a tier together. It worked fine for Rock and HHH over the years. My main point is that HHH was already established and Cena was pretty much there - him getting a big WM revenge win for the title over a hated rival would've been great and it would have put Edge over as a big deal at the same time.

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  9. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 18, 2014 at 5:32 PM

    He got sucked into the Empire you say...You never payed attention to The Empire....he WAS part of the empire...I would mention the legacy but I would grow bored typing all the names.

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  10. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 18, 2014 at 5:35 PM

    Thanks! (Once again I am never quite sure if people are being serious or sarcastic around here)

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  11. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 18, 2014 at 5:38 PM

    Well if Beefcake never got hurt....maybe Vince never had to...just saying.

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  12. You've been making all these posts while in a coma?

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  13. He didn't want the NJPW guys showing up his guys. Forgetting of course that Rick Rude was in the match.?

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  14. Both matches stunk and for the same reason.

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  15. "Got him with the Scilian elbow!"
    "Follow it up with the Yugoslavian Neckbreaker!"

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  16. Do it once. Hell book a college football stadium and make it free for college kids, see what kind of crowd you get.

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  17. The American InsomniacOctober 18, 2014 at 5:52 PM

    So the 3 losses for WCW are 4 star matches, and the 4 wins average out to 1 star. WE BE CLUBBERIN', TONY!

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  18. ... because it would be in Japan, meaning it would be either taped, or shown live at a non-traditional time--both death in terms of buyrates (which are already abyssmal for TNA). In terms of the concept behind it, while the average WCW fan at the time didn't follow Japanese wrestling, they were more aware of it as being something at or near the level of the wrestling they did watch. Going back to the 80's there always seemed to be a handful of Japanese guys brought in every year, and they were usually treated as serious competititors. The announcers often mention guys going to or coming from Japanese promotions, so even if you knew nothing else about them, you knew they were meant to be on WCW's level. That said, very little of the build on TV was for the New Japan matches, so it ended up meaning little to the casual fans. The more tuned in ones liked the idea of an inter-promotional feud, and most of those matches ended up delivering.

    There are just too many depressing realities to TNA's situation for anyone but the most casual of casual viewers to have been interested in this show, either in particular or as a concept. The two situations are just too far different to compare.

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  19. Start ea­rni­ng ex­tra in­co­me wi­th onl­ine wo­rk fr­om ho­me... Make extra $3000 every month by working for a few hours a day. You'll need an internet connection and USA,CANADA,UK,AUSTRALIA or NEW ZEALAND residency and you are ready to start... You'll get paid weekly [wqcpm8]...

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    ReplyDelete
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  22. I'm assuming you're saying he could've toned down his wrestling style after 2004 and coasted for another 12? Cause when he retired he was physically incapable of continuing.

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  23. I don't know much about them other than that they're incredibly influential and groundbreaking.


    It's not really my type of music.


    And honestly, neither is Nirvana, I always preferred Alice in Chains when it comes to Grunge acts.


    But, as far as short-lived acts that influenced tons of acts after them, those were the two I'd think of. It's also easier to qualify the work of bands that are no more.


    If I were to name an artist who's Hall of Fame worthy based on one album (even though they produced other, great albums) I'd put Fiona Apple up there.

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  24. NJPW was almost always well ahead of AJ business-wise.

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  25. *leans in and whispers ''actually, it's The British Way''*

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  26. Wasn't New Japan in really bad shape during this time though?

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  27. Yeah I believe he sold WCW Pro to them. He's seen sitting with Ono and others at a big table on Nitro in the weeks before.

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  28. I lol'ed at that when I watched the show last week. It's no "He laid his old tired ass out!" from Uncensored '97, but nothin' is.

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  29. naah. They left stuff like Terry Funk using a plastic bag over Ric Flair's head in, and the ECW stuff. Don't think they are going to censor those. I think it was released that way, and just easy to put up without "unsanitizing" it. So far the only major censor issue I know of is removing some very un-PC comments by Pillman about Johny B. Bad that involved what is now considered a slur and the same issue with Piper doing a rant on Adonis. I don't really have much of an issue with that.

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  30. on the piper the dog collar stuff is censored

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  31. I believe the advice Sonny Onoo gave to Shinjiro Ohtani was "If Perry Saturn asks if he can stay at your house for awhile, just say no".

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  32. it is? That is news to me. I watched it and it looked fine. Now granted I hadn't seen the match since 1998ish when I ran across a best of Starcade 83-87 video at Blockbuster, but from all I've heard there is no censoring on the ppvs or the ECW shows they have posted.

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  33. the ppv its fine but go to piper doc....its near the start

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  34. Those College Football stadiums can be big, though, I think the fear would be empty sections.

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  35. I'm not sure if it's an accent thing. Some Canadian wrestlers (Benoit for example, and like you said the Harts too, to a lesser extent) have noticeable accents, but others (and I'd put guys like Edge and Jericho in this category) don't. Christian, for example, grew up with a Edge, but he doesn't over-enunciate like his best friend did, and if I was a first-time viewer who knew nothing about the guy, I'd assume he was American. That's true of the Canucks I've met in real life as well in that most of them sound just like Americans.

    After thinking about it some more, I think the reason Edge and Jericho cut promos the way they did is that both were self-conscious "characters" who overreached in their attempts to be believable, and that ended up backfiring because it made it all the more obvious that they were acting. Talented as they were, they weren't naturally larger-than-life.

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  36. But Hogan threaten to shoot on them. Hogan has shooted on 500 Japanese wrestlers at one time

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  37. I think Tony and Bobby are still laughing...

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  38. Hold that 10 for Johnny B. BadOctober 18, 2014 at 11:28 PM

    WCW was weird in that it was hard to pick out their "WrestleMania" show most years. If you went through WCW history starting in 1989, I bet picking out their "biggest show of the year" would be a random mix of Superbeawls, Halloween Havocs, Great American Bashes and Starrcades throughout the years.

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  39. Sarcasm tends to be funny when it's kept short. It's not as good in essay form.

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  40. Starrcade 96 and WW3 96 are Dusty's best performances ever. "Dat's cheatin Brain. Dat's cheatin but dat's good!" "Dey clubberin! 6 way clubberin right here at World War 3!" "De Nasty Boys! Da mastah's of the clubber!"

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  41. Jesus, even white meat babyface Eddie was crazy charismatic.

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  42. And good god, wrestling used to be a LOT more racist.

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  43. The promo I will always remember from Savage leading up to this show: "Why Tenzan? Because Eleven-zan chickened out!"

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  44. Hugely.


    And that Guerrero promo was awful.

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  45. It was awful, sure, but the insane charisma was there.

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