Thunder
Date: June 10, 1999
Location: Onecenter,
Syracuse, New York
Commentators: Larry
Zbyezko, Mike Tenay
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
It's finally the go
home show for Great American Bash and things are really falling apart
around here. We have Randy Savage trying to kill Nash, Piper not
being able to shut up, the old vs. new feud still not being able to
get started, and random lucha libre hardcore tag team matches blowing
the doors off the place. Let's get to it.
The announcers talk
about Nash (and the still unmentioned cameramen) nearly getting
killed on Nitro.
Savage
and the girls are in the limo and Randy thinks he sees Nash. He
jumps out and beats up a tall guy but it's Brian Adams. Savage yells
at Adams for not being Kevin Nash and Adams isn't sure what to say.
Video
on Rick Steiner vs. Sting. Their match is officially falls count
anywhere.
Video on Nash vs.
Savage.
Gene brings out Buff
Bagwell for a chat. Apparently it's Buff vs. Disco on Sunday, which
is Piper's way of giving Buff the ball. Bagwell actually thinks for
a change and points out how worthless the match is since he already
beat Disco on Monday. This brings out Ernest Miller who says he
should be getting the ball. Buff says they didn't give the Cat the
ball because he would fumble it. Gene and Sonny Onoo get into it as
Buff and Miller make a match for later tonight.
Psychosis/Villano V
vs. Konnan/Rey Mysterio Jr.
As
Rey and Konnan make their way to the ring, Tenay says Bigelow and
Page are still Tag Team Champions as per Ric Flair's orders. Rey and
Psychosis get things going but the masked man has to yell at the fans
first. Mysterio finally grabs a headlock but gets shoved away and
slapped in the face. They're firmly in first gear at the moment.
Mysterio hiptosses him over but telegraphs a monkey flip and gets
caught with a legdrop. Psychosis charges into a boot in the corner
and Rey slides between his legs for the hot tag off to Konnan.
Everything breaks down and Psychosis takes a Bronco Buster.
We settle back down and
Villano crotches Rey on the top rope, setting up a spinwheel kick to
the back of the head from Psychosis for two. Mysterio fights both
guys off again and makes the second hot tag to Konnan. Everything
breaks down again and Rey hurricanranas Psychosis down. Konnan and
Psychosis botch the heck out of the X-Factor as Konnan jumped but
Psychosis went straight down for an ugly looking crash. Rey hits a
springboard hurricanrana for the pin on Psychosis.
Rating:
D+.
Not terrible but the botch at the end dragged it down and the
stalling at the beginning didn't make things much better. Rey and
Konnan had decent chemistry together and made for a good team, even
though they're stuck in a feud with Hennig and Duncum, who aren't the
most interesting guys in the world right now.
Hennig/Duncum vs.
Konnan/Mysterio is official for Sunday.
Gene
brings out Page and Kanyon for a chat. Page and Okerlund get in an
argument over wrestling tradition in Syracuse. Gene doesn't need to
worry about where Bigelow is because any two members of the Jersey
Triad can defend the belts whenever they like. Page mentions Flair
returning the belts to them and the official rematch is on Sunday.
Kanyon: “I got something to say! WHAT HE SAID!” Just setting up
another match on Sunday and letting the crowd know what's going on.
Savage
and the girls run into Adams and says they'll be having a match
later. Another segment that didn't need to air.
We recap Savage and
Nash from Monday.
Buff Bagwell vs. The
Cat
Disco
gets on commentary to complain about Bagwell. Miller hammers and
kicks away to start before slamming him down for no cover. Instead
he loads up a People's Elbow but drops a palm strike instead. Buff
comes back with the usual generic offense until his ten punches in
the corner are broken up by a low blow. Miller chokes a lot and
sends Bagwell to the floor so Sonny can do the same.
Back in and we hit the
chinlock for a bit before Buff elbows his way up, only to have his
eyes raked to put him back down. Miller misses a chop and takes a
few atomic drops, followed by Scotty Riggs' forearm. Come on Buff
quit messing with his heart. Sonny slips in the crowbar but Buff
takes it away and uses it on Sonny's ribs, somehow drawing a DQ.
Rating:
D.
We need to get to the point where Miller almost never wrestles and
just talks. Either that or get rid of Sonny Onoo so he can't bore
everyone to death anymore. The ending is another good example of how
the DQ is a stupid way to finish a match. Bagwell is supposed to be
getting a push, but he can't isn't allowed to pin ERNEST MILLER?
Post match Norton runs
in and lays out Miller as Disco hits the Last Dance on Buff.
Here are Saturn and
Benoit for a chat. Benoit used to have the utmost respect for Flair
but now that's once upon a time. He's going to get his payback and
Flair better be ready. Saturn says they don't have to like each
other but they'll get the job done. So I guess Raven isn't a factor
anymore? Malenko is seen watching from behind them but leaves when
Gene mentions him.
This Week In WCW
Motorsports.
Brian Adams vs.
Randy Savage
Savage
says this is just a warmup for Sunday, so Adams tells the girls that
he'll show them who the real macho man is a little bit later.
Feeling out process to start until the girls offer a distraction to
let Savage get in the first shot. Adams comes right back with a
backbreaker and some chops before a clothesline puts him outside.
Madusa
fires in a kick to the ribs for a distraction as Savage sends him
into the steps. Savage walks around the ring for a bit until Adams
gorilla presses him onto the barricade. Back in and Savage gets
caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Madusa comes in. This isn't
a DQ for some reason so Adams gorilla presses her, only to get
clipped. Vince tries to interfere so Savage hits the banned elbow
for the pin.
Rating:
D-.
Adams' look of mild annoyance when he was down on the floor told you
everything you needed to know here. Savage just does not care at
this point and can't do much besides punches, chokes and the
occasional top rope elbow. Naturally Flair banned the move to make
Savage even more one dimensional of a wrestler.
The Black and White
hits the ring but Savage and the girls easily dispatch them.
TV Title: Fit Finlay
vs. Rick Steiner
Rick
does his catchphrase to Sting and for some reason the word bite is
censored. This could be interesting as Finlay can be just as stiff
as Stiner. Finlay starts fast with a pair of atomic drops but Rick
doesn't sell. Shocking indeed. Rick nails his namesake line and
chokes a lot before taking it outside for a whip into the barricade.
Finlay is sent into the steps and hit low before they go back inside.
The
champ gets punched in the face and put in a front facelock until he
fights out with knees and right hands. He slaps the referee because
Steiner is kind of a jerk and then suplexes Finlay for two. A belly
to back suplex puts Rick down and the rolling fireman's carry gets
two. They head back outside with Steiner pulling back the mats for a
bulldog on the concrete. This time it's Finlay's turn to no sell as
he puts Rick in a fireman's carry and drops him throat first on the
barricade. Back in and Rick nails a quick German suplex followed by
the top rope bulldog and his arm hold for the submission.
Rating:
D+.
I'll give is some points for how hard they were hitting each other
but the match was pretty boring otherwise. It's nice to see someone
beat up Steiner like he does to everyone else but you know Rick is
getting the huge push no matter how sick people get of him. Somehow
this is one of the better Thunder matches in awhile.
Ad
for the PPV.
Kevin Nash calls in and
says he's banged up but he'll be in Baltimore on Sunday. The rumor
has been that Scott Hall was driving the Hummer but he hasn't been
able to confirm it. He also wants the elbow drop reinstated so
Savage will have no excuses.
Kanyon vs. Perry
Saturn
Kanyon
bails as Saturn gets in like a true heel should. They circle each
other for a bit with Kanyon hiding in the ropes over and over. A
right hand sends Kanyon running to the floor but he slides back in as
Saturn dives at him. They trade places again and this time Saturn
nails the dive before choking with a cable cord. Saturn takes him up
the ramp and suplexes him down before sending him face first into the
Thunder logo.
After
choking gets boring, Saturn just throws Kanyon down to the floor but
Kanyon lands on his feet. They get back in the ring where Kanyon
gets in a few shots, only to get nailed in the face. More punching
ensues with a suplex thrown in for good measure. Kanyon finally
crotches him to get a breather and we hit a chinlock. A neckbreaker
gets two on Saturn as the announcers WILL NOT SHUT UP ABOUT SAVAGE
AND NASH. Kanyon gets two more off a slingshot elbow and they trade
some rollups as the fans chant boring. Seriously? The match isn't
great but you let Savage and Adams get by?
Kanyon
scores with a powerbomb and a legdrop between the legs for two more.
Saturn pops back up with a superkick and a middle rope cross body for
two of his own. An overhead belly to belly sends Kanyon flying and
Saturn drops a frog splash but can't cover. We take a late break and
come back with Saturn fighting out of a sleeper. Not that it matters
as Page comes in and nails Saturn for the DQ. There were maybe
thirty seconds after the break.
Rating:
C.
The fans need some lessons in interesting wrestling. It's not a
great match but Kanyon jumping over the ropes and Saturn throwing him
all over the place are more than enough to make this a decent match.
While not shocking, the ending hurts it a good deal as I'd like to
see a finish, but for some reason that's rarely allowed.
Saturn gets double
teamed until Benoit comes out. He takes a beating too so the referee
makes a Tag Team Title match RIGHT NOW.
Tag Team Titles:
Chris Benoit/Perry Saturn vs. Diamond Dallas Page/Kanyon
Fans
are throwing garbage into the ring, including a big tub of popcorn
and a bottle of beer. Kanyon grabs the beer for a drink as Page hits
a Batista Bomb for two on Saturn. A double suplex gets two and it's
Flatliner time, but Saturn drops to his knees and comes up with a
t-bone suplex. The hot tag brings in the Canadian to beat up some
Jersey boys, including a great looking release German suplex on
Kanyon. Malenko and Anderson come out and yell at each other as
Benoit grabs the Crossface on Page. Kanyon makes a save but gets
slammed and Swan Dove for the pin and the titles.
Rating:
C.
It was nice while it lasted but the match wasn't even four minutes
long. Of course that's assuming Flair doesn't overturn it again or
that the titles don't go back to the Jersey boys on Sunday. Either
way, it's nice for a match to end with a pinfall instead of the far
too common DQ.
Overall
Rating: D.
We've reached the point where this is a decent show by WCW standards.
I'm really hoping things change after Sunday because this is about
as dull and uninteresting of a month as I can remember in a long
time. The matches and frequent DQ's are getting worse and worse,
which actually makes me hope Russo's time is at least more
interesting. Yes, I'm looking forward to Russo. That's how far I've
fallen.
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
Comments
Post a Comment