WCW Thunder 29/01/1998

Diamond Dallas Page vs Sick Boy

Really nice match worked within a hierarchy, with both guys blending well. Sick Boy looks pretty good here, nailing a nice springboard dropkick. His belly to belly looks a bit poorer mind. DDP hits a neat tilt-a-whirl slam and Sick Boy bumps big for his own missed kick. DDP hits a flapjack into a Diamond Cutter and that’s enough for the win.

Meng vs Jim Duggan

Fun slugfest, as much as Duggan was past his peak he wasn’t afraid to go to war with someone like Meng here. Lovely moment early as Jimmy Hart tries to distract Duggan from the floor, but Duggan rips his jacket off and hurls it at Meng to allow him to nail some more punches. This is just two big boys going at it, until Hart tries to throw the 2x4 to Meng, which Duggan intercepts. Duggan breaks the 2x4 over Meng’s back, but it’s no-sold and the Tongan Death Grip puts a fighting Duggan down for three.

Raven vs Marty Jannetty

This is fought under Raven’s rules. A glancing dropkick sends Raven to the floor, but Marty takes a big bump when Raven throws him into the ringpost. Marty hits a bulldog, which is slightly disappointing as there’s a chair propped up in the corner, and Tony Schiavone instantly calls that Jannetty is going to send Raven headfirst into the chair, which can only lead to a let-down when it’s just a regular bulldog. Marty takes ages going up top, seemingly telegraphing a missed move, but he hits a fistdrop. That genuinely came as a shock. Jannetty goes to use the chair, but Raven dropkicks it into his face, one of the best examples of this move I’ve seen, and the Evenflow gets the win. Fun stuff.

Goldberg vs Yuji Nagata

Nagata gets a few kicks in and a nice attempt at an armbar, but Goldberg eats him up with a rolling leglock, a swinging neckbreaker, the spear and the jackhammer. Goldberg looked great.

Scott Hall vs Disco Inferno

This comes across as a quick squash from the get-go, as Hall attacks Disco at the bell and nails a chokeslam. Hall goes for the Outsider Edge, which feels like the end, but Disco wriggles out and hits the Chartbuster to a huge pop. Only Dusty Rhodes interference prevents the three count. This is basically the end of Disco’s offensive run, as Hall nails a lovely discus punch, the fallaway slam and the Edge for three.

Booker T vs Saturn

These two always paired up well together, and this was a fun little TV match. Loved Booker missing a high kick, which Saturn grabs into a t-bone suplex. Saturn takes a bump on the floor, getting backdropped into the Flock at ringside. Booker’s second attempt at a high-kick pays off, looking great. The Flock try to interfere, but get run off by Rick Martel. In the fuss, Booker pushes Saturn into Martel and rolls him up for victory.

Chris Jericho & Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko

It probably wont come as a surprise to learn that this is really good. Got to love Guerrero grabbing Malenko by the neck as soon as Malenko gets anywhere near their corner, pulling him in for some cheapshots. All four of these guys have lovely snap to their moves, with a Malenko powerslam as a Jericho German suplex all landing crisply. The end of this is terrific – Malenko hits a superplex on Jericho, leaving both men down in the ring. Benoit goes to hit the diving headbutt on Jericho and hits it. Guerrero goes for the frog splash on Malenko, but he gets his feet up, sending Eddie to the floor whilst Benoit locks in the crossface for the tap from Jericho. Great stuff.

The Steiner Brothers vs Kevin Nash & Konnan

As is fast becoming the case with Thunder mains, this is mainly angle, with Scott not even getting into the ring. After an initial flurry, the NWO team slowly beat away on Rick in an uninteresting manner. Eventually, Buff Bagwell interferes and Nash uses a title belt on Rick for the DQ. Yawn.

WCW Thunder 22/01/1998

Scott Steiner vs Konnan

Only a brief taster of a match, with Steiner basically running over Konnan for two minutes before the NWO run in. Still, it’s fun to watch Steiner hurl Konnan about with a t-bone suplex and a big press slam before the hubbub.

Chavo Guerrero Jr & Super Calo vs Silver King & La Parka

This was a blast, as much fun as you’d expect from these guys given 5 minutes. La Parka sets the tone early when he bumps onto his head when he gets legswept into the ropes. Calo gets briefly worked over, with Silver King draping him off the apron to allow Parka to hit a pescado stomp in a nutty spot. Silver King drops him with a big Eye of the Storm. Calo makes the tag after an awkward double enzuigiri spot where Calo has boots from both Parka and King, they both try an enzuigiri and you can’t tell who is supposed to have been hit. I assume that Calo is supposed to have ducked as he brings Chavo in, who looks great. He moves so well, culminating with him taking out Parka with a suicide dive and Calo pins King after a top rope flying headscissors.

Marty Jannetty vs Dean Malenko

So this was an unexpected little gem. I mean, both guys are capable of great things, but it’s as if the stars aligned to catch them both at their best. You’d probably not think of Marty Jannetty as a great matworker, but here he is keeping up with Malenko in a competitive opening section. Neither gets a sustained run of control, as there’s always a stiff punch or a well-timed kick to break things up. Loved Malenko hitting a series of shoulder barges in the corner, only for Marty to lift a big knee to smack Malenko in the face. Malenko hits a neat low angle crossbody and Marty gets a nearfall with a victory roll, before Malenko is able to escape a Rocker Dropper, hit a double underhook powerbomb and lock in the Texas Cloverleaf for the win. Great stuff.

Goldberg vs Kendall Windham

Fun squash, with Goldberg surprising Windham from the bell by snatching a leg and locking in a rolling leglock. Windham hits a lovely big punch and a clothesline, but Goldberg hits the spear and the Jackhammer to win.

Rey Mysterio Jr vs Eddie Guerrero

Only brief, but you give these guys a few minutes and they’ll still give you gold. They cut a quick pace from the start, Rey sending Eddie to the floor with a tilt-a-whirl armdrag. Rey is wearing a kneebrace, so Eddie trips him from the floor and hits a slingshot senton onto the knee. Eddie keeps focus on the knee to wear Rey down, before hitting a big brainbuster. Rey sends him to the floor and hits a big tope con hilo, but Chris Jericho comes out to attack for the DQ…

Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit

In a nice little block of TV, Jericho and Eddie beat down Rey, drawing out Benoit who was due to face Jericho later on in the show. Eddie sees him and swiftly leaves, leaving Jericho to turn around face to face with an angry Benoit who attacks to start the match. Jericho plays a cat and mouse game, constantly fleeing the ring to try and lure out Benoit. Eventually, he fakes a knee injury, allowing him to pull Benoit into the corner, hitting his head on a turnbuckle. Jericho hits the Lionsault (no cover), a surprisingly nice forearm and a top rope superplex, but Benoit lands on his feet on a back suplex and gets a surprise German. Dig Benoit, while still recovering, using Jericho’s momentum against him, avoiding a charge and letting Jericho essentially stungun himself. Benoit ducks a clothesline, and locks in the crossface, with Jericho tapping before the hold is even applied. A glorious piece of cowardice, with his cruiserweight title match in two days.

Rick Martel vs Saturn

This was set up by Saturn throwing Martel through a plate glass window earlier in the night, so Martel is fired up from the start, rushing the ring, sending Saturn to the floor and hurling him into the steps. Martel is such a good fired up face, it makes you wonder why his most well-known WWF run saw him primarily as a heel. Saturn needs a Flock distraction to get back into it and, when Martel jars his shoulder on a corner charge, Saturn goes right into a Fujiwara armbar. Really liked Saturn’s focus on the injured shoulder, locking in a cross-armbreaker. Also liked Martel reversing it into a Regal Stretch, but not being able to properly hold a crossface due to his arm hurting. Saturn goes for some quick pins, including a nice Rings of Saturn into a pinning combination, but Martel rolls through a sunset flip and locks in the Quebec Crab to win.

Scott Hall vs The Giant

It’ll come as no surprise to learn this ends with outside interference. What we do get is pretty good, and it’s an unselfish performance by Hall to let Giant look so good. He gets hurled from the start after cockily getting in Giant’s face, he gets picked up and placed on the top rope after trying a front facelock, and his attempt at a top rope move sees him caught in a big bearhug. We’ve seen Big Show for years, and by now have a good idea how big he is, but it’s still impressive to see him ragdoll a guy the size of Hall. We get the inevitable melee of faces, with Hogan, Nash, Luger and Savage all getting involved, but the ref doesn’t throw the match out until Giant chokeslams Hall and Nash breaks the count, drawing a DQ. Hall basically let Giant destroy him here.

WCW Slamboree 1996

WCW was my favourite wrestling company of all-time. The first wrestling I ever got to see was 1992 WCW on ITV every Saturday, and I loved that stuff. Therefore, I thought it time to revisit my favourite company in the days just before the NWO showed up.

Hawk & Lex Luger vs Animal & Booker T
I'm going to count off examples of the booking making a mockery of the "random draw" claim. Here is number one, as the Road Warriors end up on opposite teams. However, at least the fans will finally get to see the Roadies square off, right? Luger and Animal start off by working a reasonable power match, where at least Luger seems motivated. Booker continues the work on Luger, including a swank spot where he turns a missed elbow into a spinneroonie into a roundhouse kick for two. It breaks down into a melee when Luger stupidly shoves Hawk for saving him from being pinned and all four brawl outside and get counted out. The LOD never exchanged one blow to the disappointment off all. Stupid booking.

The Public Enemy vs Kevin Sullivan & Chris Benoit
Mockeries two and three see a regular tagteam facing two guys who don't like each other. This actually turns out pretty good, the opening exchange between Benoit and Rock is fun, as Rock clearly doesn't mind Benoit getting stiff with him on a huge powerbomb. The fight goes to the floor and Dusty gets very happy when the plundah! is brought out. Sullivan LEATHERS Rock with a hard plastic chair, but TPE get the win when both members plummet through Chris Benoit who is prostate on a table. Brief but fun

Sgt Craig Pittman & Scott Steiner vs the Booty Man & Rick Steiner
Here is mockery four. Pittman guides Booty Man through a passable mat sequence before planting him with a huge belly-to-back suplex. The crowd really want to see the Steiners fight and, despite Scott's hesitation, they get their wish. The Steiners go through a fun exhibition in the ring, until Scott lures Rick in by feigning injury and rolls him up for two. They then exchange a series of suplexes before both tagging out. Pittman locks the Code Red on Booty Man, but Leslie manages to tag in Rick who hits a German Suplex for 3. The three decent workers didn't let Booty Man stink this one up too much, so it was pretty fun, especially the Steiners sequence.

The Bluebloods vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan & VK Wallstreet
Herein lies mockery five. They at least try to explain this, by pointing out that Regal was scheduled to team with Finlay until the Bloods took him out, but considering that Regal was feuding with Finlay, it still ranks on the mockery list. This match is far too short to be any good, but Regal still manages to bring some goods- backed into a corner by Duggan, he hooks Hacksaw's ankle with his foot, thus preventing a clean break and allowing him to paste Duggan when the ref tries to intervene. Duggan and Wallstreet don't coexist at all, making it even worse when Duggan uses an illegally taped fist to pin Taylor and make the Bloods look like idiots.

Dick Slater & The Earl Of Eaton vs Alex Wright & Disco Inferno
This is pre-Boogie Knights, so doesn't qualify as a mockery. Again, too brief to really comment on, though Wright has some nice spunky babyface offence. Slater nails a dancing Disco with his boot while the ref is distracted to get the win

DDP & the Barbarian vs Meng & Hugh Morrus
The Faces Of Fear on opposing teams in this match makes this mockery six. Morrus misses a plancha right off the bat, hitting the floor with a satisfying thud. The Meng/Barbarian segments are the ones you'd anticipate most and are every bit as awesome as you'd hope, and the rest of the match is pretty fun as well. Barbarian throws Morrus across the ring from the top rope, while Morrus hits the best moonsault I ever saw from him. The ending is a bit poor, as we get a double-pin with only Barbarian's counting due to DDP making the ropes, but the match as a whole is fine

Big Bubba & Stevie Ray vs Fire & Ice
Mockery seven. Very, very short, but it's a a perfectly serviceable powermatch while it's on. Train and Stevie Ray aren't good workers, but getting four big guys in the ring to hit power spots for 3 minutes with no resting is a fine way to kill time. Fire & Ice advance

Eddie Guerrero & Arn Anderson vs. Ric Flair & Randy Savage
As a straight tag match, this would be unholy good. Sadly, it’s mockery number eight that sees Flair teaming up with hated rival Savage, while Flair’s best friend is half of the other team. The end result is that this is a bit of a mess, with Flair attacking his own partner, Guerrero feeling bad for Savage, then Arn turning on Guerrero with a DDT to allow Flair the win. There are some choice moments in the match: Flair tags Macho in after assaulting him, then grabs Eddie’s hand to make him tag in Arn who decimates Savage which is fun, while Eddie gets a huge pop for giving Flair a poke to the eyes.

Dean Malenko vs. Brad Armstrong
The first time that the Cruiserweight title was defended on WCW pay-per-view. Essentially a bit of a squash here, which is a shame given the talent on display. After a fun opening exchange, Malenko offers Armstrong a test of strength, only to dropkick his knee when approaching for lock-up. Malenko then spends the bulk of the match working over BA’s leg and, though Armstrong gets a small comeback at the end, Malenko makes quick work of him with a toprope gutbuster. The match is pretty short and, much as I hate to say it, a bit dull

Dick Slater & The Earl Of Eaton vs. VK Wall street & Jim Duggan
Yep, there’s a second round of tournament matches before we can get to the battle royale. This match starts with partners Duggan and Wallstreet brawling before joining forces to defend themselves when the opposition attack. However, this leaves the face/heel dynamic out of sorts, meaning that a hot-tag to Wallstreet gets no reaction, which doesn’t enhance a match that already feels like it’s going nowhere. Some more miscommunication leads to Duggan punching his partner into an Eaton rollup for 3.

The Public Enemy vs. Ric Flair & Randy Savage
Match never gets started and is more angle advancement than anything else: Liz accompanies Flair to the ring, throwing Savage’s money into the crowd. This prompts the Macho Man to come out and attack Flair before security break them up. The crowd loved this more than any other second round match.

Diamond Dallas Page & the Barbarian vs. Booty Man & Rick Steiner
DDP flexes in front of the Booty Babe before the match starts, but takes a neato bump to the floor from a Booty Man attack. This is the best second round match, but only by default as at least the face/heel divide was clear. Steiner plays face-in-peril following a decent minute of action with the Barbarian, but the match still feels far longer than it is. Booty Man hits the High Knee on Barbarian following the hot-tag, but Page drops an elbow to the back of his head to get the win for his team.

Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Konnan
This is a US title match. Liger is accompanied by Sonny Ono and is wearing black, so you know he’s evil. They work a quick mat sequence, which ends in what we now know as the “Indy applause stance”, before exchanging holds again on the mat. The mat sequence is pretty smooth and has some nice little features, including Konnan using the old Regal trick of grinding a forearm into Liger’s face during an STF. As the mat sequence is pretty even, Liger changes his tactics, winning a striking battle with palm thrusts and a rolling Koppo kick. This leads to Liger concentrating more on high-impact offence to work over Konnan. A Fisherman Buster gets two, and is swiftly followed by a Ligerbomb for two. However, Liger makes the mistake of abandoning a successful tactic and gets catches only boot when trying a top rope move, allowing Konnan to hit Splash Mountain for the win. Best match of the show thus far, a solid 10 minute match which told a decent story and allowed a change of pace from the rest of the show.

Battlebowl Final: Scott Norton vs. Ice Train vs. Dick Slater vs. The Earl Of Eaton vs. Rocko Rock vs. Johnny Grunge vs. Diamond Dallas Page vs. The Barbarian
Not the guys you would have picked from the opening list of competitors. There are a lot of big guys in there, which helps the eventual winner look pretty impressive, though it also means that, due to a lack of space, we get guys casually walking round hitting each other and little else. We end up with a final four of DDP, Train, Barbarian and Grunge after a few quickfire eliminations. DDP hits Diamond Cutters on all three and, moments after Dusty yells how he’s now got to throw them over the top rope, pins Grunge and Train to eliminate them, before Barbie kicks out. Page and Barbarian actually have a nice little finishing spot, including DDP getting to kick out of a huge powerbomb, before another Diamond Cutter gets the win. Weak match which is saved by a solid ending which gave DDP a good deal more credibility.

Sting vs. The Giant
The main event and Giant’s first title defence, and Sting had brought Lex Luger out to be chained to Jimmy Hart to prevent interference. The match had a lot of potential: Sting had proven he could be an effective underdog against a larger heel during his Vader series, while Giant was improving all the time. Indeed, the opening part is pretty good, Sting using speed to try and take down the Giant (including a crossbody attempt where he just pings off the future Big Show), but tries a body slam too early which allows the Giant to take over. Giant’s offence is still pretty basic, but Sting puts it over like death, including some frantic thrashing during a body scissors. However, the second half of the match is marred by interference from both Luger and Hart, as well as some logic issues from Sting (why would he chose to Stinger splash a precariously balanced Jimmy Hart instead of trying to finish off the massive Giant?). Luger and Hart struggle over the megaphone which results in it hitting Sting in the head, making him easy pickings for a choke slam for the Giant’s win. The match was going well until the final 5 minutes, but it’s too short to be a satisfying main event.