WCW Thunder 05/02/1998

La Parka vs Hugh Morrus

This starts off with Parka doing some hilarious posturing, sadly getting cut off by Morrus levelling him with a big clothesline. This is mainly Parka bumping around for Morrus, who at least unleashes some decent offence. Morrus decks Parka with a shoulderblock and a big chop, and hits a decent back elbow from the corner. No Laughing Matter gets the win.

Jim Powers vs Goldberg

Hilariously short. Goldberg dominates from the off, working Powers down to the mat with a leglock. Powers hits a knee lift, but gets planted with a spear and the Jackhammer gives Goldberg victory.

Kidman vs Juventud Guerrera

These guys would have better matches later on, but this wasn’t great. A few too many awkward moments with Kidman looking lost. Guerrera looks good though, moving really quickly and with a flying headscissors looking really fluid. Great spot as Juvi ranas Kidman off the apron into Lodi. Running Juvi Driver looks great, before a Lodi distraction allows Kidman to hit a bulldog and the SSP for the win.

Silver King, Villano IV & Villano V vs Super Calo, Chavo Guerrero & Lizmark Jr

Unsurprisingly, this is a fun little sprint. Lots to take in here, they pack a good lot of offence into a short bout. Loved Lizmark blocking a monkey flip, allowing Calo to come in with a big high clothesline. Chavo landing on his feet from a Silver King monkey flip was impressive, he was never a guy I associated with that level of agility. Lizmark hits a big dive to the floor, and Chavo hits a great tornado DDT on Silver King, only for Psychosis to run in behind the refs back and hit a guillotine legdrop to give King the pin.

The Steiner Brothers vs Konnan & Buff Bagwell

The NWO team tries to jump the Steiners pre-match, an advantage that doesn’t last long as both eat belly-to-belly suplexes. The build up to the Steiner split has seen their matches run pretty short, and this is no exception. Lovely moment as Ted DiBiase takes out Vincent outside, but the NWO get involved and Scott Hall pushes Rick off the top onto Scott for the DQ. Appreciate the effort to forward the Steiner split, but this isn’t much of a match.

Raven vs Marty Jannetty

Not as good as their previous match, but still pretty decent. They fight in the aisle, and I loved Jannetty wisely taking Lodi out early with two superkicks. Raven hits a crappy looking elbow from the apron, but a bulldog on the chair looks good. Marty gets a little run off offence, hurling Raven into the ringpost, but a Rocker Dropper gets reversed into the Evenflow in a really great looking spot for three.

Disco Inferno vs Saturn

This gets plenty of time, and improves as it goes along. In the early stages, they don’t seem to be on the same page, a few awkward moments as they both miss opening or try things that don’t seem to work. Saturn hits a few big overhead belly-to-belly suplexes as things start to improve. Disco gets in more offence than you’d expect, even hitting the Chartbuster after Saturn misses a top rope legdrop, only for Kidman to save. Disco lands on top on a back suplex for a really close two count. Sadly, the end goes back to being odd again, as Kidman pushes a groggy Saturn onto a downed Disco. The ref starts to count, but Disco is on his stomach, so the ref realises this isn’t a good idea. A few seconds pass and Saturn locks in the Rings of Saturn for the win.

Louie Spicolli vs Jim Neidhart

Man, the Anvil looks to be in great shape. This goes barely two minutes, as Neidhart batters Spicolli, knocks Scott Hall off the apron and goes for the win before Hall comes in for the DQ. Bit of a waste.

Diamond Dallas Page vs Chris Benoit

This is a US title match, and they give this a real big match feel. They stand off, facing each other from opposite corners, and this runs through the commercials. Sadly, we can see less than 7 minutes remain on the Network’s timer, so this won’t live up to the hype. What we go get is really good, DDP hits a huge tilt-a-whirl slam, Benoit hits some nasty kidney shots to DDP’s taped ribs to set up a back suplex and there’s some real intensity to the punch exchanges. Sadly, the Flock predictably hit the ring, ending the bout in it’s prime. Good stuff for what we get. 

In Your Face: The Lost Episodes of the XWF

The XWF was a wrestling company founded by Jimmy Hart, Brian Knobbs and Greg Valentine in between WCW folding and TNA forming. They never made it to TV, but filmed some shows in Orlando (in what is now the Impact Zone) to try and get there. Sadly, the company wasn't long for the world, which is kind of a shame. For, as you are about to read, they had the right idea in pushing new names over known talent (whether or not the talent was good enough is another matter entirely) and they tried to produce a solid, family friendly product. With decent production values and an announce team of Tony Schiavone and Jerry Lawler(!), welcome to what is essentially a pretty good WCW Thunder...

Big Vito vs Buff Bagwell
Well I can't think of a more thrilling way to kick off a new company. Vito cheapshots early to take advantage, but Buff nails him with some clotheslines. A Mafia Kick regains the advantage for Vito, and he keeps Buff down with a choke on the rope. Partway through though, the fans are clearly favouring Vito and, to their credit, both guys start to switch roles. Vito nails a superplex for a nearfall but runs into feet in the corner, allowing Bagwell to nail the Blockbuster for 3.

Marty Jannetty vs Hail
Hail is an enormous mass of muscle managed by Jimmy Hart, famous for not being very good on WCW Saturday Night. Total squash as Hail nails a few dull powermoves (back-breaker, shoulder-breaker) and hits a legdrop for 3. Not impressive.

Horace Hogan vs Ian Harrison
Harrison is dubbed "British Storm" here. He's also a walking Wellness violation. Another squash as Harrison dominates, albeit in a more impressive manner than Hail. Harrison nails an overhead suplex and locks a leg-grapevine round Horace's head for the tapout.

Kid Kash vs AJ Styles vs Psychosis vs Juventud Guerrera vs Christopher Daniels vs Quick Kick vs Billy Fives vs Tongan Prince
This is a battle royale for the XWF Cruiserweight title, where pinfalls and submissions also count. Quick Kick is Low Ki, and the Tongan Prince is Prince Iaukea. Lots of fast paced action early on, though the camera work makes it hard to keep on top of. Fives is first out as AJ reverses a flying headscissors, before the cameras cut to Josh Matthews in the crowd. Juvi eliminates himself and Psychosis, before Styles gets hurled from the ring onto both of them in an insane bump. Ki really stands out here above all others, decimating Kash with a series of kicks. Fun spot as Daniels and Prince both duck top-rope clotheslines, leaving Kash and Ki to collide mid-air. Ki and Prince are eliminated in short order, and Kash knocks Daniels from the top rope to the floor to win the title. Spotty, but pretty fun.

The Nasty Boys vs the Shane Twins
As you'd guess, this isn't very good, though the Shane Twins pull out some decent stuff including a sweet Northern Lights suplex on Sags. Knobbs goes for a splash in the corner, but gets caught with a big clothesline and pinned. The Nastys attack from behind post-match, but the Road Warriors make the save.

Curt Hennig vs Vampiro
Hennig is managed here by Bobby Heenan, which is awesome. Hennig takes control early with the usual offense (knee-lift, neck-snap), but Vamp fires back with a top rope leg lariat for two. Heenan pulls some brass knucks from his pocket, but Roddy Piper runs out to grab them and punches Hennig into the Nail In The Coffin for the Vampiro win. Barely a match.

Psychosis & Juventud Guerrera vs Konnan & Rey Gonzales
Konnan outwrestles Psychosis early on, but the smaller team soon take control after kicking Gonzales in the back as he runs the ropes. Juventud and Psy use their speed and a few nice double teams to retain control. Gonzales shows absolutely nothing here, even less than Konnan, who at least shows a bit of zip on his moves. Even Gonzales' selling is poor, as he looks like he can't be bothered to react. Juvi hits the Juvi Driver, but Konnan knocks him off the top on a 450 attempt, leading to a shitty Gonzales Twist of Fate for 3.

Simon Diamond vs Jerry "the King" Lawler
Lawler insulted Dawn Marie earlier on the DVD, so Simon comes out to defend her honour. Swinger seemingly is allowed to get involved freely as they beat Lawler down 2-on-1, but Simon accidentally superkicks Swinger out of the ring and walks into a piledriver for the Lawler win. Way to make one of your better tag-teams look stupid.

Hail vs Knuckles
Knuckles is a fat balding guy in an ill-fitting singlet. This is another boring Hail squash, as Knuckles can barely sit on the top rope properly. Legdrop finishes, as Hail shows why he never graduated onto Thunder or Nitro.

Johnny B Badd vs Norman Smiley
Badd is in great shape here. Quite a bit of fun here, as both face-off with alternate dances. Smiley actually dominates this match for the most part, downing Badd with a double-arm suplex and wearing him down on the mat. Badd hits a TKO out of nowhere to win. No Big Wiggle either.

The Road Warriors vs the Shane Twins
The Shanes were supposed to face the Nasty Boys here, but they didn't show, leading to the Warriors coming out in their stead. This is kinda, sorta not bad, in a "big guys hitting power moves on each other" way. Certainly, the Shanes more than hold their own here. Hawk plays face in peril after a shoulder first bump into the post, but gets the hot-tag after a collision with one Shane. Animal doesn't exactly land on his feet following a back suplex attempt, but manages to recover enough to clothesline both Shanes. The Road Warriors hit a Doomsday Device, but the Nastys show to pull the ref from the ring, leading to a no contest. Not bad.

Curt Hennig vs Buff Bagwell
Even at this point of his career, Hennig bumps like a maniac, leaping over the top rope after a Bagwell dropkick. Pretty basic match between these two, but it's good to see Bobby Heenan clearly having fun managering Hennig again. He patrols the ring like a shark, waiting for a chance for a shortcut. The ending sees Heenan prevent a Buff Blockbuster by grabbing Buff's leg then pushing hin off the ropes straight into a Hennig-plex for the win.

Marty Janetty vs Drezden
Poor Marty gets to put over another muscle-bound stiff, this time in the form of a huge, leatherclad German. Marty takes some big bumps to make Drezden look a bit more impressive, including a rough looking overhead belly to belly. Powerbomb gets the win.

Horace Hogan vs Josh Mathews
One of those matches that helps no-one. Horace squashes Josh for the whole match in an uninspiring fashion, but gets caught in a flash pin for the Josh win.

The Shane Twins vs South Philly Posse
Odd that this is a family-orientated promotion, and the Posse have Jasmin St Clair in their corner. You may know the Posse better as the Public Enemy. The Shanes dominate Rock with power early, but Grunge attacks Michael Shane as he runs the ropes and the Posse start working on his leg. Not a bad strategy. Rock hits a diving headbutt to Shane's leg. Basic tag formula match, but it's effective. It would help if Shane sold the leg more of course. Hot tag after Rock misses a quebrada. Somehow, all hell breaks loose, the Nasty Boys and the Road Warriors start fighting outside and in the chaos, a Shane rolls up Rock for the win. Passable.

AJ Styles vs Kid Kash
Kash is playing smiley face, which really isn't his strength. Neat matwork early on by both guys, who are pretty evenly matched. They also match up evenly on a series of armdrags and counters, which seems to annoy Kash a little. AJ hits a beautiful dropkick right to the face of Kash. Beautiful springboard cross body gets two for Kash, who then finishes it with a double underhook piledriver. Too short, felt like the highlights package of a potentially good match.

Vapor vs Jimmy Snuka Jr
Vapor is oriental and managed by Sonny Onoo, so is therefore evil. I've no idea who he is though. Snuka has the build and attire of Rob Van Dam here, and looks impressive early on, planting Vapor with a pancake facebuster. Vapor comes back with Kendo Nagasaki's Kamikaze Crash, so he's ok with me. Vapor looks pretty decent himself here, with a nice powerslam in his arsenal. Somehow, Snuka Sr and Onoo end up in the ring, and the Snukas down their respective opponents, and hit stereo Superfly Splashes to get the win. Should highlight here that Jr hit an RVD-esque splash, where he changed direction midmove. Perfectly fine match.

Curt Hennig & Ian Harrison vs Buff Bagwell & Vampiro
Hennig tags out straight away to the monstrous Harrison, who dominates Vampiro. However, Vamp isn't as hurt as initially thought, so when Hennig tags in, Vamp rallies back and double-teams him with Bagwell. When Harrison tags in, he is reasonably impressive, and certainly better than the other musclebound unknowns (Hail. Drezden) in the company. He puts decent snap into his powermoves and can take some big bumps too. A melee ensues and Vamp stares down Harrison outside the ring, and thus fails to notice Hennig roll up Buff for the win.

Hulk Hogan vs Curt Hennig
This is a bonus feature on the DVD. Hennig stalls for time after Hogan overpowers him out of the ring. Typically insane Hennig sell off a Hogan shoulderblock. Hennig gets a nice escape from a Hogan knucklelock and takes over, but Hogan rams his head into a full set of turnbuckles to a huge pop. Hennig gets the Hennig plex for two, but Hogan hulks up and hits the big boot/legdrop combo for the win. You suspect they could have this match in their sleep, but plenty of fun.

A WCW Saturday Night pick'n'mix

Sometimes, I want nothing more than to watch some totally random wrestling. In those times, nothing satisfies more than WCW Saturday Night where up-and-comers would compete alongside guys long thought retired to create all manner of unusual match-up. Using the power of Youtube, here are 5 matches I decided to watch at random, with links attached.

Rick Cornell & Allen Funk vs Chuck Palumbo & Sonny Siaki
This is from early 2000, and all four are Powerplant guys. Cornell (later known as Reno) and Funk play heel here and look really impressive throughout the match. Funk is loaded with intensity, including a nice move where he just hurls Siaki like a dart, with Siaki landing face first, whilst Cornell has some impressive moves for a big guy, including a slingshot senton that looks like he rams his shoulders into Siaki’s chest. The faces aren’t quite so good, though Palumbo shows some impressive agility for a man his size, hitting a nice springboard dropkick to the outside on Cornell. Siaki mainly plays face-in-peril, so doesn’t show much apart from a decent Sky High powerbomb (which Cornell leaps about 4 feet in the air for). Ending sees the faces go over following a top rope Palumbo shoulderblock, but the heels make the match, would have been a decent addition to the tag ranks at the time.
Cornell/Funk vs Siaki/Palumbo

American Males vs High Voltage
True story: Everyday Is Like Tom Zenk was very nearly a feature on Scotty Riggs instead (albeit with a different name). I always thought he was very underrated and had a terrific match with Kanyon on Thunder in early 99 following the Flock split. Here he’s still a young tag wrestler, though the Males are portrayed her as relative veterans compared to High Voltage. Indeed, it’s so early in the Voltage career that Rage is still known as Ruckus. The Males dominate with their quickness and frequent tags until Bagwell hits knees trying to splash Ruckus. High Voltage were obviously green as Plymouth Argyle here, but they at least look like they’re trying, so kudos there. They only have control for a short period until Ruckus misses an elbow and the Males hit a double dropkick for the win
American Males vs High Voltage about 20 minutes in

Pat Tanaka vs Villano 4
How very WCW Saturday Night this pairing is. As a bonus, Dusty is on commentary and tells us straight away he used to date a girl called Villano 4. Tanaka is wearing some long trouser and a shirt and seems behind the pace, as Villano kinda wrestles around him, until Tanaka reverses a second rana attempt into a powerbomb. Villano soon fires back, hitting a nicer thrust kick than Tanaka does in the same match, before leaping to Tanaka’s shoulders and rolling Tanaka up for the win.
Tanaka vs Villano 4

Arn Anderson & Dustin Rhodes vs Bad Attitude
This is a warm-up match for Rhodes and Anderson before facing the Stud Stable at Clash of the Champions. Sadly, it only goes 4 minutes as this could have been great. Dustin takes control early doors and sends Bobby Eaton over the top rope with a huge boot to the face, allowing Arn to pick up the pieces and backbody drop Eaton on the floor. Double A shows his tag acumen by controlling Eaton in the ring and getting a quick tag, but Dustin soon becomes face-in-peril and Keirn and Eaton start working him over. Eaton gets two from a decent top-rope elbow, but misses a second and a Rhodes bulldog gets the win.
Anderson/Rhodes vs Bad Attitude

Lash LeRoux vs Scotty Riggs
More Riggs, by now working his narcissist gimmick. This is pretty much a squash and more of a showcase for the Riggs character. Riggs catches LeRoux trying to look in his mirror and goes on the offensive right away. Riggs has some nasty offence in this match, hitting some big elbows in the corner and a nice running knee in the corner. This is followed by a choice dropkick, which gets a two count (though mainly because Riggs only covers with one finger). LeRoux gets a bit of token offence, hitting a sloppy looking headscissors and a better looking Northern Lights slam. However, this is Riggs’ match and he gets the easy win with the fivearm.
Riggs vs LeRoux