WCW Thursday Thunder - Thursday 02/12/98

• Trivia Question (from Dean Ayass): It's fairly well-documented that Randy Savage played minor league baseball. What you may not know is that while playing baseball, he wrestled under a mask so the baseball people wouldn't know he was wrestling. Who did he wrestle as under the mask? (Answer at bottom of report)
• The mailbag:
  
  
  • From Greg S. in Stilwell, OK:

    I live in Eastern Oklahoma and collect programs from various sporting events I attend, so after I read Chan and Charlie's report that Bill Goldberg attended Tulsa Edison, I dug out my 1985 All-State program and found this thumbnail profile-- " Bill Goldberg, Tulsa Thomas Edison, Tackle - Bill has been a three year starter for the Eagles at Defensive Tackle. He has 114 tackles, 5 fumble recoveries, 1 interception and blocked 2 punts. He handled the punting duties for Coach Jim Cherry and averaged 35.5 yards per punt. His size, 6' 3'', 240 pounds, plus his ability have made him a prized college prospect." There is a black and white headshot of him in the program, his face is recognizable but he has a full head of hair that comes down halfway over his ears. His East All-Stars beat the West that year 18-14.

    Lastly, here is my take on the Dusty Rhodes turn. I think that Mr. Wallstreet will be brought back into the nWo under his real name and will form a tag team with Dusty, which will be called Rotund and Rotunda.

  • From Rob H.:

    If Nick Patrick is suspended, why does he walk around with his referee's uniform on? He must really be taking this suspension hard.

• John C. pointed out the following sign during the Raven/Jannetty match last week: "Hammer fears P.N. News". Hah!
• On a related note, I got e-mail from a guy who says he is the person who yelled "Your son's a faggot!" out loud and clear to Dusty on TV. Does that qualify as a brush with greatness for me? He also says he was the one with the "Hammer fears P.N. News" sign, as well as "Outsiders fear the Midnight Express" and "Goldberg + Thunder = Squash".
• Tickets for Thursday Thunder live and the George Mason University Patriot Center on Thursday, March 26th, go on sale this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Oddly enough, the WCW home page has the dates and places different, but I'd go with what they are announcing on TV and on local radio commercials.
• A couple people mentioned that DDP looked like he was busted open hardway between the eyes in his match against Benoit last week.
• Personally, I am really liking Thunder a lot. It doesn't have the glitz, or dancing girls, like Nitro, and is instead featuring a lot of solid mid-carders. Leave the flashy Nitro for all those Generation X wrestling fans, like Chan and Charlie :-)
  Watch, after saying this, I'll be made to look stupid tonight by Hulk Hogan coming out and giving an hour monologue and then Piper coming out and giving another set of tryouts for his "family".
  And, to top it all off, they'll bring in all the women from the beauty contest at the first nWo Souled Out and have them be the Thunder Women.
• An interesting tidbit that MiCasa had this week was a rumor that industry insiders were talking about the Regal/Goldberg match on Nitro, in that Regal went out there and "exposed" Goldberg, even though Goldberg got the win. It's an interesting theory...I wouldn't say Regal made him look foolish, but Regal did try to wrestle him moderately scientifically, and Goldberg did look a little lost.
• Also on MiCasa, check out Dr. Doug's posting on January 27th. It's a great essay, and it mirrors my thoughts exactly.
• Well, I'm either disappointed in you guys or I'm be shocked to find out none of you listen to Howard Stern. My commute to work is less than ten minutes so I don't get to listen to much of it, but a co-worker told me that Stuttering John disrupted the Tyson/WWF press conference. I'm getting this secondhand, but I was told that John got at least two questions out:
  1. "What does ear taste like?"
  2. "Will the WWF be hiring any additional convicted rapists?"
• As for the match at Spring Stampede '94 between Danny Bonaduce (Danny from The Partridge Family) and Christopher Knight (Peter from The Brady Bunch), I only got one e-mail and it said it was a promotional thing as they were both radio personalities at the time.
• And, now, on to the show...

• We are live from Oklahoma City, OK. Flair against Luger tonight. And, Glacier vs. Bill Goldberg. Yes!!
• Hogan's music and here comes Hogan and Bischoff. This isn't a good start. Bischoff says nWo is declaring war on everyone in WCW. (Didn't they do well over a year ago, prompting Buff to join?) They're going A to Z. First, even the fans are fair game. (Huh?) Then, with the Bs, first is Bret Hart. (Huh??? Since when do you use first names?) Whatever. End result, Hogan threatens Bret Hart. Now to family business. Hogan calls out Macho Man to talk to him face-to-face. Savage comes out. Hogan wants to look at Savage eye-to-eye. Uh, Hulkster, shouldn't you take your sunglasses off for that? Before the apology, Hogan says Bischoff has set up a match for next Monday Nitro with Hogan and Savage against Sting and Luger. (Can anybody else see the Luger heel turn coming?) Anyway, Hogan's "apology" is that Savage didn't climb the ladder, and that Savage fumbled the ball. Hogan takes his sunglasses off and says Savage should apologize to Bischoff. Savage seemingly apologizes but then decks Hogan and Bischoff. Hogan grabs a chair and Savage hightails it out of there.
  • Somebody had a sign about Arn. I couldn't read all of it.
  • Some little kid dressed like Hogan, even down to the drawn-on beard. Put that kid in foster care!
  • After the bit, the announcers are talking and you can hear somebody in the crowd loud and clear yelling "Hogan sucks, motherf**ker!!!"
• More WCW Motorsports. I guess that there's theoretically a lot of crossover fans, but I ain't one of them.
• Kidman pinned Prince Iaukea with a shooting star press.
  • According to the announcers, the match Hogan/Savage vs. Sting/Luger match for Monday is still on.
  • The nWo pledge, Louie Spicolli, joins the announcing team.
  • A couple fans grabbed at Kidman on the way to the ring. One grabbed him hard. Kidman was within his rights to deck the guy, imho.
  • Lodi and Kidman do a bull and matador thing before the match.
  • Iaukea gets the early advantage, and then the match see saws.
  • Cut to the back, Raven and Riggs sitting around doing nothing. (Go figure.) Raven tells Riggs to scram. Mortis comes in and tell Raven he wants in. Raven says Mortis dresses like a clown and has to not be afraid to be laughed at to be part of the Flock. Mortis nods, and as he is walking away, Raven goes "and you've got to beat Diamond Dallas Page tonight".
  • After the match, DDP does a promo for tonight's movie for guys who like movies, They Live, starring the comissioner himself, JJ Dillon. Whoops, I mean Roddy Piper.
• Meng pinned "The Laughing Man" Hugh Morrus with the Tongan Death Grip.
  • A return match between the Steiner Brothers and the Outsiders has been signed for Superbrawl.
  • Hmmm, Morrus looks to have put on weight. And not good weight...
  • Spicolli asks why Meng and Morrus are fighting if they are both in the Dungeon of Doom. What's this? An announcer with a memory longer than three months?
  • Spicolli later asks Heenan about Meng: "Didn't you used to manage him?" Heenan was caught totally off guard. Heh.
  • Meng hits a splash from the top turnbuckle.
  • Zbyszko vs. Spicolli has been signed for Superbrawl. Spicolli was not happy.
  • Morrus missed the No Laughing Matter when Jimmy Hart rolled Meng out of the way.
    • Doesn't Morrus look back before doing that move?
  • Meng won't release the Death Grip, so Barbarian comes down to break it up. Meng puts the Grip on Barbarian! Then Meng starts stalking around like a mad man! Now, THAT'S scary! I wouldn't have gone in the ring at that moment if you gave me 1.5 million dollars.
• WCW US Heavyweight Champion "Diamond" Dallas Page pinned Mortis following a Diamond Cutter.
  • Spicolli has left the announcers' booth. Asking too many questions, I guess.
  • As Mortis comes to the ring, Vandenburg is yelling "You're mine...you belong to me" in his face.
  • I really like Mortis. He shows you something new every single match. Not even Benoit nor Malenko do that.
  • I hear Mortis is really nice to the fans.
  • Vandenburg gets in a cheap shot on DDP. Announcers ask if Vandenburg knows what's going on with Mortis. They must not have seen his entrance.
  • WOW! Mortis scores a Rude Awakening on DDP delivered as DDP was sitting on the top turnbuckle. Awesome. That's tonight's new move. A new move every match is a pretty cool gimmick, actually.
  • After the match, Page left through the crowd.
  • The Flock, sans Raven, comes to the ring and picks up an unconcious Mortis and starts to bring him to the back (like they did to Riggs). Hammer, carrying Mortis, drops him on the ramp. Raven comes out and slaps Lodi, who was talking trash to Mortis. (If would seem Lodi inherited Stevie Richards' position in the Flock.) Mortis stands there with his arms spread and head tilted, as in "Sorry, man". Raven kicks Mortis in the gut and DDTs him into the ramp.
• Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart beat Steve "Mongo" McMichael, I guess, when Mongo and Davey Boy Smith were busy duking it out outside the ring.
  • On the way to the ring, Neidhart yelled "Yeah, baby!" about a hundred times. Juventud Guerrera has better mastery of the English language than Neidhart.
  • In a badly blown spot to end the match, Mongo has Neidhart on the apron, and Mongo picks up the ring steps. Davey Boy was way late on his cue to make the save, and Mongo had to stand there a really long time with the steps. Neidhart actually started to panic, and rolled back into the ring and waved Mongo off, looking like he thought he was really going to get hit.
  • Mongo and Davey Boy brawled all the way to the back.
  • Chavo Jr. does a promo for They Live.
• Buff Bagwell pinned "Gentleman" Chris Adams following the Buff Blockbuster.
  • Buff came out to the nWo A-Team music.
  • Heenan's talking about how well Sting and Luger will get along on the next Nitro. Heel turn for Luger. You heard it here.
  • Buff and Adams do not work well together. A lot of awkward pauses.
  • Buff definitely getting the better of Adams for most of the match.
  • The finish was set up by a distraction by Vincent, which earned him a superkick for his efforts.
  • You know, it seems like ages since the last time I saw the Buff Blockbuster. I guess that shows how few matches he wins cleanly.
• A feature on Juventud Guerrera. The hot rumor on the Internet is that he'll lose the mask at Superbrawl. My prediction? Nope.
• WCW World Cruiserweight Champion "Lionheart" Chris Jericho defended his title by making Chavo Guerrero, Jr. submit to the Liontamer.
  • Jericho again tries to wrestle wearing the cruiserweight belt.
  • Somebody weigh Jericho! He's not under 225 lbs.
  • Heenan: "I like this Jeriicho. He's insincere, he lies, and he cheats. He's cocky and arrogant, too!"
  • Juvi ran in to make the save on Chavito when Jericho wouldn't release the Liontamer. Jericho almost got Juvi's mask off, but Juvi chased Jericho off.
  • Someone in the crowd to Jericho after he ran away: "You pansy!"
• Davey Boy Smith pinned Sick Boy following a powerslam.
  • That recording of Davey Boy Smith's music is terrible.
  • In case you think Davey Boy has lost a lot of weight, you're right. he had a really bad staph infection and almost lost his legs. He talks about it and other subjects in a great interview you'll find in a number of places around the Net. (I think Bagpipe Report is one place.) In the interview, he claims that his loss of the European Title to Shawn Michaels was a double-cross.
  • Bischoff comes to the announcers' booth and says TBS showing They Live is a conspiracy. Whatever.
  • After the match, Mongo does a run in and the Keystone Cops have to separate him and the Bulldog.
• "Crippler" Chris Benoit made Kidman submit to the Crippler Crossface and, I guess, scored a win in what was a match between Benoit and Raven.
  • The match starts with Benoit getting Pearl Harbored from behind by Raven on his way to the ring.
  • Drop toe hold by Raven putting Benoit's head into a chair.
  • Benoit reverses the next chair shot on Raven. Benoit gives Raven another one.
  • Benoit is just stomping a mudhole into Raven in the corner.
  • Benoit takes a header on the chair when Sick Boy pulls Raven out of the way.
  • Four German Suplexes in a row on Raven.
  • The Flock runs in and Benoit gets a Crippler Crossface on Kidman, and the referee calls for the bell.
  • The Flock swarms, Saturn puts on his Rings, and DDP comes out of the crowd and makes a protracted save.
  • Page helps Benoit up, and Benoit pulls away and says "I don't need your help". Page says "Oh, yeah, you did..."
• Goldberg destroyed Glacier and pinned him following a Jackhammer.
  • Cool, Goldberg's entrance cut Glacier's entrance short.
  • Schiavone is still calling Glacier "multi-talented".
  • Whoa! Goldberg did a standing backflip! That is impressive for such a big guy.
  • Spear, Jackhammer, you know how it goes...
• "The Total Package" Lex Luger defeated "Nature Boy" Ric Flair via disqualification when Randy "Macho Man" Savage interfered.
  • Flair comes out first. Uh, I think Flair should be coming out second.
  • Damn it, I missed the Arn sign again...had to reboot my computer.
  • Schiavone talking about Luger's "close friend Sting". Remember, you heard it here.
  • Flair suckers Luger into the corner and does an eye poke. Flair does backhand chops and Luger no-sells. Never seen that before...
  • Flair goes up to the top turnbuckle. Guess what happened?
  • Flair into the corner. Flair Flop. Flair gets clotheslined while he runs along on the apron.
  • Oooh, that wasn't good. Flair has Luger in a headlock and gives him the punches to the head. They didn't come within six inches of Luger's head.
  • Luger goes for the Rack and Pee Wee, the ref, takes a minor bump. Flair takes advantage of the distraction and clips Luger's knee and gets the figure-four on.
  • Luger reverses the figure-four. Savage runs in and nails Luger. Flair takes exception and Savage nails him. Hogan runs in and nails Savage. The rest of the nWo runs in. Sting runs in. Sting and Luger brawl with Savage and Hogan back to the locker room.
  • Fade to black.

• Please pardon the lack of response on all your e-mail lately. We're trying to finish up Arn Anderson's autobiography and I'm totally swamped.
• Trivia Answer: The Spider.

Jeremy M. from Oklahoma State sends in the following arena report:

Thunder was great. I totally "marked" out for every match. It is much more fun that way! Bill Goldberg got the biggest pop of the night (he is from Oklahoma) followed by Sting, Benoit, DDP, Luger, and Flair. I love watching wrestling on TV but it was even more fun live. We had terrible seats but it was awesome. I watched the first hour of the replay when I got home and noticed that they left out things that happened after the matches like when after Meng went nuts, Jimmy Hart escorted both the Barbarian and Hugh Morrus back to the dressing room, making everybody think that they were new partners. Also, you are left in the dark when angles develop backstage; nobody knew why Raven would attack Mortis.

The Oklahoma City fans were great.There were many Lodi, Raven, and Hogan sucks chants, but everybody was into the matches, even Iaukea vs. Kidman. I really hope they come back next year. I was also glad to see the "major" players like Sting, Hogan, Savage Luger, Flair, DDP. Thunder usually only has a few stars. I didn't even know that Louie Spicolli invaded the set because we were totally blocked off from the set. It is clear that Benoit is the best thing going today. His match with Raven drew the most OOOHs and AHHHHHs from the crowd and I have to hand it to Flair...he sells moves like nobody's business. I feel privileged that I got to see him "Walk that aisle" in person!!!!

Marshal H. of East Central University of Oklahoma sends in the following arena report:

I was at the Oklahoma City show last night and there were some things that happened that you didn't get to see. I sat right by Raven's Nest and before then I really didn't like them. Now I think they are hilarious. Lodi had some great signs. One said "Pat Magroyn for Prez" and during one break both he and Kidman got in the ring and a person was holding a sign that said "I shot my loadie on Raven" and then Lodi was pointing their own sign that said "You are stupid" back at them. He also had a sign that said, "My sign is better than yours".

In a wrestling tidbit, Meng walked back to the dressing room by himself and left Barbarian and the Mouth at the ring. Also, if you didn't notice it looked like Benoit busted his lip a little bit. It was also awsome how Goldberg put Glacier up and then took is arm off of him and just held Glacier by the neck.