WCW Thursday Thunder - Thursday 01/29/98

• Trivia Question: Who was the special referee for the retirement match between Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan at Halloween Havoc '94?
• Please welcome Wade to the DDT Digest Staff. He will be taking over for Creed as the Saturday Night reporter as of this Saturday. If you haven't already read it, you can check out a sample of Wade's work in the Souled Out II report.
• The mailbag:
  
  
  • An interesting e-mail from Glen B. at University of Minnesota:

    I am writing because I have some interesting news regarding an up-and-coming wrestler in WCW.

    Lenny Lane is a relatively new wrestler who has been jobbing a few months now. I'd say he has potential, even as a Shane Douglas look-alike.

    After midnight on New Years Day, I was up late and while surfing channels I came across a cable access local wrestling show. There are at least three minor promotions in the Twin Cities area. I lump them together as the CWA--Crappy Wrestling Association. Most of the matches are a mixture of rookies right out of wrestling school and old guys not too far from collecting Social Security.

    Anyway, the show I had tuned to was a show devoted entirely to Lenny Lane, whom the announcers referred to as "The One-Night Stand, Luscious Lenny Lane" (I'm not joking). The announcers were saying that their decision to highlight the career of Lane was the recent hiring of him in WCW. They said that many callers had phoned in to the promotion's "hotline"--hope they didn't have to pay $1.69 a minute!--and had asked why Lane, a star and former champion in the independent promotion, was always losing in WCW. The announcers said that Lane's promotion to the big time was akin to getting a job at the best company in the country; the example they might have used was 3M, which is based here in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. I thought it interesting that the announcers compared Lane's "doing the job" to "getting a job."

    According to them, Lane was the biggest local star to go national since Sean Waltman did so years ago in the Global Wrestling Federation. I would disagree: Charlie Norris was a local, genuine native-American wrestler who was hired by WCW a couple of years ago during the Greg Gagne-era as kind of the WCW equivalent of Tatanka. I guess you heard what happened to Norris: Gagne apparently asked Norris to create a savage-like ring persona (you know, the old stereotype). Norris refused and was fired. Gagne, by the way, did eventually "get what was coming to him": WCW soon canned him, I hear. The last time I heard, he was selling used cars. A local company announced the hiring of Gagne and suggested that potential car buyers rely on the guidance of a trustworthy professional such as the former wrestling star. I certainly hope that Lane does much better!

• If anyone has a copy of AA's return to the NWA in 1989 on videotape where he and Ole did the run-in to save Flair from Gary Hart's gang, could you let me know?
• As for Dusty going nWo, it had great shock value, but I'm not sure what else. Sort of like Rick Rude appearing on a live Nitro at the same time he appears on a taped RAW. It gets people talking for a day or two, but what do you do with them after that?
  • James Thornsberry had the following report after watching Motorsports:

    I don't know if this is much of an example of foreshadowing, but I'll let you be the judge. I was channel surfing Friday night when my remote stopped on TNN (The Nashville Network). I saw the entire set of Motorsports destroyed and the word "Madness" spraypainted on the wall! I was thinking this is just one big coincidence, there is no way Savage is gonna show up. To my suprise it was none other than Dusty Rhodes! He came out and did color commentary during the monster truck races. This show actually aired the night before Souled Out II. I thought this was odd at the time, but now I guess it makes sense after Dusty's heel turn.

  • Schiavone was bemoaning Dusty's turn on the PPV, saying "But my children play with his children." Yeah, Tony, that's what you get for letting your kids play with Golddust.
• Now that I'm not traveling, I gave my laptop back at work. Now I have to sit at my desktop computer at home with my head turned 90 degrees to see the TV to do reports now. A couple weeks of this and I may be asking Syxx for a referral to a good neck doctor.
• As for Kevin Nash being taken out in handcuffs, who didn't WCW just do that a year and a half ago?
• Well, my request last week went nowhere. Either I don't have any readers in Montana nor Wyoming, or they didn't feel like sending me e-mail.
• I'm going to be really busy for the next two weeks or so. I will still keep DDT Digest up-to-date, but please be understanding if your e-mail to me goes unanswered for a while.
• And, now, on to the newest wrestling show on the planet...

• Huh, only on the air a month and they've already got a new opening sequence for Thunder. A new set and a new look, too. Unfortunately, Lee Marshall's still there.
• Dusty Rhodes is in the arena tonight. Nash and Konnan will be defending the tag titles against the Steiners under Wolfpack rules.
• WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion "Diamond" Dallas Page defended his title by pinning Sick Boy after a Diamond Cutter.
  • Lodi's sign: "Bang This"
  • In one badly screwed up spot, the ref stopped his count at 2 and 1/2 about a second before Sick Boy powered out.
  • Tonight's Diamond Cutter variation was delivered after launching Sick Boy seven feet into the air.
  • DDP made his exit through the crowd.
• Dillon came out to announce that Kevin Nash was being fined $50,000 for the Jackknife Powerbomb he gave to Traylor last week. Hmmm, fining wrestlers and banning moves...whose idea was it to reuse all of the bad angles from years past?
  • Dillon got booed before he even opened his mouth tonight.
• Meng pinned "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan with the Tongan Death Grip. Yes!!!
  • Panning the crowd before the match, more than one person was booing Duggan.
  • Sign: "Free Spree"
  • Duggan must have gone to the same school as Hogan to learn how to sell moves, or not sell them, as the case may be.
  • For the finish, Jimmy Hart threw Duggan's 2x4 to Meng, but Duggan interecepted it. He broke it over Meng's back, but when Duggan turned his attention to Hart, Meng recovered and got the grip on Duggan. Duggan tried to fight his way out of it, to no avail.
  • Duggan getting pinned is especially nice as Duggan didn't lose a single match last year, not even by DQ.
• Raven pinned Marty Jannetty in a no-DQ match following a DDT set up by drop kicking a chair into Jannetty's face.
  • The main event for this week's WCWSN is Bill Goldberg vs. Meng.
  • Raven did some whining before the match.
  • Raven drop toe-holds Jannetty into a chair.
  • Raven has an orthopedic right boot. One leg is an inch and a half shorter than the other.
  • I've seen Raven up close and he's even more scary looking in person.
• "Undefeated" Bill Goldberg pinned Yuji Nagata following the Jackhammer.
  • Camera focused on Jerry Lee Lewis in the crowd, sitting behind Raven, of all people. Got to love a guy who marries his 13-year-old cousin.
  • Take a look at Goldberg's head and notice how small the area for his brain is. I wonder what than means?
  • The match actually lasted longer than a minute...but not longer than two.
• I won't ruin it for you if you didn't see it, but there's a new Twix commercial with Frankenstein. It's not as good as the twins on the bicycles, but it's still pretty good.
• Hall comes out to do his survey, and then some...
  • The WCW Executive Committee has signed Luger vs. Savage at Superbrawl in a no-DQ match.
  • When Hall started his survey, on reflex I went to switch to RAW. Damn it, it's Thursday!
  • Hall wonders out loud what happened to his title shot at Slamboree. He threatens Piper. Then, he introduces Dusty.
  • Sign: "Say it ain't so, Dusty"
  • Wow, Dusty is really fat!
  • Ah! Now I get it! The angle is that Dusty has been angry since 1991 when the "suits" did away with tradition. (Ted Turner creating WCW and seceding from the NWA.) Dusty sums it up with "Shove it!" Dusty claims all of the WCW people are making a living off of the nWo.
  • "Larry Zbyszko, there will be no comeback! And all you marks out there on the Internet, there will be no comeback!" Ouch, that hurts. I don't know whether that means Dusty won't be making a comeback or Larry won't, or both.
• Well, last time, it was a great Twix commercial. This time, it's a commercial for an album of all the overplayed love songs from when I was a kid. Yuck.
• Scott Hall pinned Disco Inferno following an Outsider Edge.
  • Lee Marshall refers to Kevin Nash injuring Giant with an "illegal move". Marshall, you idiot, it wasn't illegal when he did it.
  • Disco Inferno scores a Chartbuster on an escape from an Outsider Edge, but Dusty pulls Scott out of the ring. Oddly enough, the ref doesn't disqualify him.
  • On the replay of Scott Hall's chokeslam on Disco Inferno early in the match, it was painfully obvious that Hall did not grip DI's neck at all.
• Nick Patrick comes out to tell us we should all be outraged. The crowd couldn't have been more indifferent to the whole thing. He's not over at all. He's putting his name in the hat for the Sting/Hogan return bout.
• WCW World Television Champion Booket T pinned Saturn with a roll up following a little help from Rick Martel to counteract interference from the Flock.
  • I said it before, and I'll say it again. All those piercing loops cause wrestling to lose its legitimacy. Saturn's opponent should rip them right out of his head.
  • Some guy in the front row is wearing a wrestler mask. Sorry, guys, this time it isn't me. Actually, some people at work are convinced I wear a wrestling mask while I'm watching wrestling on TV. Uh, that's a little too weird, even for me.
  • After the match, Booker T. accidentally hit Rick Martel. Martel took exception to it. I thought I was watching a replay of Wrestlemania V.
• "Crippler" Chris Benoit and "Iceman" Dean Malenko defeated WCW World Cruiserweight Champion "Lionheart" Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero when Benoit made Jericho submit to the Crippler Crossface.
  • Benoit and Malenko look cool walking out together.
  • Great match.
  • The photographer outside the ring looks like he could be Arn Anderson's brother.
  • Heenan: "Benoit and Malenko look great together. They look like they've been a tag team for years." Uh, Bobby, they have. ECW tag champions in 1995 qualifies.
  • Benoit was interviewed after the match. As always, that was a mistake. I think the point was that he's not getting title shots due to politics. DDP appears in the crowd to tell Benoit that he's right. So, since the promoters won't make the match, DDP wants to see how the crowd reacts. He asks the crowd if they want to see DDP and Benoit get it on. They, of course, do. Benoit asks for a time and a place. DDP says Beaumont, TX, next Thursday on Thunder.
    • Man, I'd love DDP to put Benoit over, but I don't think it will happen.
• The Steiner Brothers defeated Kevin Nash and Konnan (who were defending the WCW World Tag belts under Wolfpack rules) via disqualification when Kevin Nash hit Rick Steiner with one of the belts. Nash and Hall retain the titles on the DQ.
  • Yeah, Scott, we all know your left bicep is really big.
  • Commercial before the match starts for business software. Now, I don't want to stereotype wrestling fans, but I would think that commercials for the Army and 1-800-COLLECT would match the demographics of wrestling fans better.
  • The Steiners start off the match working well as a team. Which can only mean one thing...
  • Rick starts the match and takes a beating. Right before the finish, Buff comes to the ring and pulls Scott off the apron for a posedown.
  • After the match, Nash gives the referee a (weak) jackknife powerbomb, which brings the police. They handcuff Nash, who says "Say, could you make sure Jack Ruby isn't waiting for me in the back?". (If you don't know what that means, don't bother writing...I'll just tell you to read a book on 20th century history) As they walk him to the back, he screams "I'm a patsy!"
  • Fade to black.

• Trivia Answer: Mr. T

Really, the only things you missed from TV would be that during every commercial break, Lodi and Kidman were in the ring taunting. Lodi had about 10 different signs. The big cheer you heard during Booker T's match as it went to commercial was for Lodi getting the Harlem Sidekick. I sat behind some drunk frat guys who were racking each other the entire night. I brought my "Oilers need Golberg" sign. A group of girls had shirts made that said "Thunder Girls." A sign that got confiscated was "Hogan still breast feeds." The biggest cheer of the night was a tie between Goldberg and Buff. That surprised me. The video clips on the big screen were finally working. As usual, Michael Buffer has avoided coming to Memphis. Afterwards, I met Lee Marshall, I said, "Isn't this better than those 'Nitro Parties' you were calling collect from?" He said, "Sure." We got in trouble for being too close to DiBiase's big black truck. It's a very nice truck. I guess he rented it. Konan, and Scott Hall were in the same Jeep as last time (Nitro in Memphis). The Flock left the Coliseum after Saturn's match. A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE wanted those seats. Nobody got them. That's about it. I wanted to heard Dusty say "Pretzelizin'." Oh well.

Also, Nick Patrick was booed the entire time he was out. I couldn't hear what he was saying. And I didn't know what he said until I went home and watched the replay. Same for Dillon.