Thunder
Date:
May 28, 1998
Location:
Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators:
Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The
main story coming into tonight is, say it with me: what side is Sting
on? After Luger joined the Wolfpack on Monday, Sting was offered a
spot but the show ended before we got his response. We're heading
into the Great American Bash and we only know a few matches so far.
Whatever we're getting though isn't the most thrilling stuff in the
world. Let's get to it.
We
open with a recap of the end of Nitro with Sting holding up the
Wolfpack shirt but not putting it on.
Opening
sequence.
The
announcers talk about the Sting situation for the first of about 95
times tonight.
Here's
Bret Hart to open things up. He wants peace and quiet while he talks
because the fans sound disappointed in him. That's fine though as
he's disappointed in the fans as well. No one knows what it's like
to be in a tough situation better than he does. Every time he steps
in the ring he gives everything he has and he's the best there is,
was and ever will be. However there's one guy going through a tug of
war with his conscience and that would be Sting.
Bret
knows exactly what Sting is going through with everyone pulling him
in various directions. The red and black don't suit Sting at all but
later tonight, Bret is going to offer Sting the keys to his wrestling
future. He won't need the people anymore and he'll be more
successful than ever before.
Jim
Powers vs. Barbarian
Barbarian
grabs a headlock to start but Powers comes back with some weak kicks
to the ribs. Choking puts Jim down again, Powers makes a comeback,
Jimmy Hart interferes, big boot gets the pin for Barbarian. This
would have been boring even as a dark match.
Here's
Chris Jericho in a Rey Mysterio shirt for an interview. Chris feels
bad because he and JJ got in an argument on Monday but that will
never EVER happen again. He'd be perfectly happy if JJ just brought
him his Cruiserweight Title right now, but JJ isn't here tonight.
Jericho makes Tony hold up the Conspiracy Victim sign and swears that
this isn't over. On Monday, Jericho is going to Washington D.C. and
find the best legal sources he can find to prove that he should be
Cruiserweight Champion.
The
announcers talk about Sting some more and show us a video of Giant
calling out Nash, resulting in Luger joining the Wolfpack. We also
get the ending of the show again.
High
Voltage vs. Jim Neidhart/British Bulldog
The
non-WWF refugees jump start the match but get sent into each other
and out to the floor. We start with Neidhart vs. Kaos and Jim cranks
on the arm for a bit. Kaos takes him down by the head and it's off
to Rage for a slingshot legdrop for two. Rage misses an elbow and
it's off to the Bulldog with the fans not caring at all. The delayed
vertical suplex gets two and everything breaks down. Bulldog
powerslams Kaos for a fast pin. Another worthless match.
Here's
the Wolfpack, debuting their signature rap song. There's no Hennig
or Rude with them which is probably the best option. Savage says
Luger is the man. Luger says there are times in life where you have
to go with your gut instinct and that's why he's here right now. The
Wolfpack is the place to go if you want to win titles and it felt
right to make the jump. He still respects WCW and didn't turn his
back on them. Sometimes in life you're either a player or you're
not, so he's a player in the Wolfpack right now.
This
brings Luger to Sting. They've known each other for years and while
they haven't always seen eye to eye, there will always be friends.
Luger felt something on Nitro and Sting told Luger he felt it too.
Sting needs to take the same step that Luger took and don't listen to
someone like Bret Hart who knows nothing about him. Luger does the
too sweet line and we're out. This explanation took less than five
minutes and made perfect sense. Why couldn't we get something like
this from Bret?
Glacier
vs. Van Hammer
Are
they just trying to torture me this week? Feeling out process to
start with Glacier casually kicking Hammer down. Hammer comes back
with a cobra clutch slam and does the Crane Kick pose from Karate
Kid. Back up and Hammer shoulders Glacier down for two and the ice
man rolls to the floor. They head back inside with Glacier kicking
away in the corner, only to be punched in the side of the head for
his efforts. A big kick to the face puts Hammer down and Glacier
puts on the Rings of Saturn but he lets go early, allowing Saturn to
run in and beat on Glacier for the pin.
Rating:
D. The fact that this is the
match of the night so far should tell you everything you need to know
about this show. Glacier isn't interesting as a character and it's a
downgrade for Saturn to have to feud with him. This match was as
bland as the rest of them have been tonight but this was longer,
which could be a benefit or a detriment depending on how you enjoy
torture.
Post
match Raven and Saturn lay out Hammer and Glacier. Raven gets on his
knees and begs Saturn to be his partner again but they think they see
Mortis, only to beat up a popcorn vendor instead. Mortis sneaks up
behind them dressed as I think a construction worker to blast Raven
with a cookie sheet and leave. Saturn carries Raven to the back.
Chris
Benoit vs. Booker T
This
is match #2 in the best of seven series for the TV Title shot at the
Bash. Benoit won the first match on Monday with the Crossface and
I'm sure this is going to be the best match of the night. Booker
grabs a headlock to start but Benoit takes him down with a drop
toehold. A powerslam puts Chris down and an elbow drop gets two.
Off to an armbar on Benoit for a few seconds before they trade
standing switches and a spinning kick drops Benoit to the floor.
Back
in and Benoit gets two each off a snap suplex and a clothesline. A
hard whip into the corner puts Booker down for two more and we hit
the chinlock. Benoit shifts into a double arm crank before hitting a
hard chop to put Booker down again. Booker comes back with a
clothesline to put both guys down as we take a breather. It's Benoit
up first with a backbreaker to set up the Swan Dive for a very close
two.
Back
to the chinlock on Booker but he fights up with a flapjack to get a
rest. Benoit avoids the side kick and crotches himself on the top
rope and a German suplex is good for two. A big mudhole is stomped
in Booker but he comes back with a suplex of his own. Benoit ducks
the side kick but the second attempt connects, setting up the missile
dropkick to tie the series.
Rating:
C+. This was more of a back and
forth match than what they did on Sunday but the action was still
very solid. These matches are very helpful for WCW as they give the
show some meat instead of the quick and dull matches that dominate
the shows most of the time. Good match here.
Benoit
praises Booker but questions his heart. We'll find out what Booker
is made of but he'll find out why Benoit is the Crippler.
TV
Title: Brad Armstrong vs. Fit Finlay
Feeling
out process to start until Finlay grabs a headlock. That goes
nowhere so they run the ropes a bit and Armstrong gets two off a
hiptoss. Finlay comes back with a shot to the side of the head and a
slam. A clothesline puts Armstrong down as the announcers talk about
which NWO Sting will join. The idea of him staying with WCW isn't
even considered. We hit the chinlock and the boring chants begin.
Finlay drives some elbows into the chest but Armstrong comes back
with a belly to back suplex for two. Not that it matters as Finlay
tombstones him down to retain.
Rating:
D-. END THIS SHOW ALREADY! I
can't take many more of these matches. There has been one decent
match in an hour and a half of this show. The best part so far was a
Lex Luger promo which lasted about two minutes. Those are your
highlights so far. Is there no one else Finlay can fight for that
belt?
This
week in WCW Motorsports. Next.
The
announcers talk about the Savage/Piper segment from Nitro and of
course we see the whole thing.
Barry
Darsow vs. Saturn
They
hit the mat to start with Saturn grabbing a headlock. Darsow misses
a right hand and gets suplexed down before Saturn fires off kicks in
the corner. Darsow gets two off a clothesline before sending
Saturn's shoulder into the post. A spinwheel kick puts Barry down
but he comes back with a quick shoulder breaker. His Barely Legal
arm hold can't get locked on so Saturn superkicks him down and ends
Barry with the Death Valley Driver.
Rating:
D+. Oddly enough Darsow's
psychology worked here. It's really basic stuff (he has an arm hold
finisher so wok on the arm) but that's often enough to carry a short
match like this. Nothing special to see here but somehow this is in
the upper half of the matches on this show. Let that sink in for a
minute.
To
cap off this horribly boring show, we have technical issues and get a
graphic of the arena. Well of some arena, as when the feed comes
back we see a wide shot of a very different building.
US
Title: Barry Horowitz vs. Goldberg
Seriously,
this is the main event. Match lasts 45 seconds and you can fill in
the blanks yourself.
Here's
Bret for the big recruitment speech to Sting despite Bret not even
being an official NWO member as far as I know. Giant and Bischoff
come out with him so at least there's some kind of association. Bret
says he's the only man that can trust Sting and he was there to prove
it at Starrcade. If he had anything to do with it, Sting would still
be world champion. He lists off some similarities before calling
Nash and Savage old and washed up. Sting can't trust those guys but
here's the Wolfpack to disagree. Bret calls them all scum and the
brawl is on to end the show. No Sting.
Overall
Rating: F+. This is the worst
kind of show you can have. It wasn't really terrible, but it was SO
boring. What happened on this show? We got a bunch of low level
acts in squashes, no development in any storyline (unless you really
stretch and call Booker tying up the series significant) and no
Sting. Oh wow the NWO factions are fighting again. Such an
interesting story. Absolutely retched show tonight and it really
makes it clear how WWF was taking over.
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
Jew on Jew violence.
ReplyDeleteI think you're being too hard on this show. Yeah it didn't set the world on fire but that's what nitro was for. Some stars were on, storylines advanced, and you got 2 really good matches. I'd take that over the stagnant sos product right now. Maybe I'm just nostalgic for more variety which the 90s offered.
ReplyDeleteHave you reviewed the Thunder where Bret was hit with an egg mid promo lol, I know it was around this time. Anyone else remember that? Or the time Buffer called him Bret Clark?
ReplyDelete"Styles can't talk" - Someone forgot his heel run in the late oughts. He was fantastic. This was a knock on Daniel Bryan forever too and we clearly found out that wasn't true.
ReplyDeleteHis matches don't resonate with the audience? He is like a folk hero to the Impact Zone mutants.
He has been pushed? When? Four years ago?
You're going to get that, at least a bit, Scott's the fearless leader, and really the blueprint for smark fandom.
ReplyDeleteBut some people literally never have a single good thing to say. Everything that happens is somewhere between total garbage, and not bad in theory but massively screwed up in the execution.
Haters gon hate.