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 08/01/1998

Randy Savage vs Chris Adams

Savage is aggressive from the off, blind-siding Adams, and choking him with his bandana. Savage is all over Adams, stomping and picking him up on pins. Adams gets some respite on the outside by Irish whipping Savage into the ring post, and Lex Luger comes to the ring and levels Savage with a chairshot, rolling him back into the ring for the Adams victory.

Rick Martel vs Louie Spicolli

This is the second match into Martel’s 1998 renaissance. Spicolli starts the match by holding onto the ropes on an Irish whip, turns to the crowd to point at his head to show off his intelligence, then turns around into a clothesline, so this is already a five star match. Spicolli tries to punch his way back into it, but Martel is fired up and hits a nice spinebuster into a Quebec crab for the win.

Tenzan vs Ohara

Pretty straightforward bout. Both guys go heavy with the chops, but Ohara hits a powerbomb before Tenzan hits a tombstone and a diving headbutt to win. Very brief stuff.

Chris Jericho vs Ric Flair

Five minutes long, but they make the most of it. Nicely worked opening sequence, with Jericho smoothly reversing a hiptoss into a monkey flip. Flair cheats a few times in this match in endearing ways – first by faking an ankle injury only to poke Jericho in the eye, followed by convincing Charles Robinson to check the turnbuckle pads then hitting a low blow. Loved the spot where Flair took his usual flip over the turnbuckle, only to be met on the apron by a Jericho springboard dropkick. Jericho misses a missile dropkick and Flair swiftly locks in the figure four to win. Good stuff

The Giant vs Meng

This was only a few minutes, but was very effective. Loved the Giant hitting a huge powerslam on Meng. Meng is able to chop and kick away at the Giant, wearing him down to the mat, but this advantage is temporary. Giant gets back up, grabs a chokeslam (with Meng frantically trying to reach him for a Tongan Death Grip) and gets the win.

Goldberg vs Steve McMichael

Another effective short match. Fun little big boys scrap, with McMichael hitting Goldberg with a shoulderblock from the apron before the match even starts. Goldberg looks like a beast, muscling about a huge guy like Mongo with a press-slam into a powerslam. McMichael tries for Goldberg’s legs with a series of chop blocks, but Goldberg blitzes him with a spear and the jackhammer. Played to both guys strengths.

The Steiner Brothers vs Konnan & Buff Bagwell

Never felt like the Steiners were in jeopardy here. The NWO team get a bit of control, including a Bagwell neckbreaker that Rick botches by dropping down too early, but it doesn’t last long before the Steiners both hit huge overhead belly-to-belly suplexes. Scott finishes Konnan with a top rope Frankensteiner, much to Rick’s chagrin as he’d climbed ready to hit the top rope bulldog. This was fine.

Scott Hall vs Ray Traylor

Hall shows Traylor no respect in this one, feigning fear and slapping the back of Traylor’s head, so it’s fun to see Traylor lay into Hall with some nifty punches. The ref gets bumped, allowing Hall to hit a belt shot for two. Nice second rope bulldog also gets two, before Larry Zbyszko comes out, distracting Hall, who turns into a Bossman Slam for the win.

Juventud Guerrera vs Ultimo Dragon

This was a fine little sprint, but what I really liked is how logically and organically the spots flowed. For example, in one 30 second period, Dragon misses a handspring elbow in the corner, allowing Juvi to put him on top for a hurricanrana. However, Ultimo fights him off, sending him to the floor and hitting a (barely hit) top rope moonsault. Nothing felt contrived, everything felt in keeping with their moveset. Ultimo hit a nice kick combo and a German suplex for two, but Juvi reverses a powerbomb attempt to a big DDT. One Juvi Driver and a 450 splash later, and Juvi is the new Cruiserweight champion. Dug all this.

Lex Luger vs Scott Norton

Too short to be worth anything, but it was all action for the two minutes it lasted. Norton jumps Luger at the start, including basically deadlifting Lex up for a backbreaker when it seems to be going wrong. Luger survives the shoulderbreaker, and nails the Bionic Forearm and the torture rack for the win.

Diamond Dallas Page vs Kevin Nash

Longest match of the night at nearly seven minutes. Less pleasingly, most of those minutes are Nash’s plodding offence of clubbing blows and wandering around. It’s a shame, as this started well, DDP using his smarts to take the big man down after a blocked hiptoss, instead hitting a knee to the gut and a swinging neckbreaker. Page is good at fighting from beneath, but he’s given little to work with. Snake Eyes gets two for Nash, before DDP tries the Diamond Cutter, luring in Hulk Hogan for the DQ win. Very skippable.