WCW Wednesday Thunder, 5/27/98
WCW Thunder - Wednesday, 5/27/98
- Howdy everyone, once again. I am Big Mike, sitting in for Bill this week, and welcome to the Thunder report.
- TRIVIA QUESTIONS:
- Who were the opponents for the Von Erichs in the famous “Hair vs. Hair” match held in Texas Stadium?
- Here’s an easy one for anyone who knows something about Mid-South wrestling history: Who were the Bladerunners?
- See answers at the end of the column.
- One last word on that A&E documentary on Pro Wrestling. I thought it was pretty decent. Hell, they even got Steve Allen to narrate it. Lou Thesz was very good in the film. He told it like it was. I especially agreed with the part about how Hogan was a 9 or 10 on character development and a 0 or 1 for wrestling skill. Thesz: “I had a grandmother who could do a better leg drop.” Hogan, to his credit, was very candid, especially about Andre the Giant. Maybe Eric could do a film like that on WCW. With all the legal troubles, Ric Flair would probably not be included That would make for a good ten or fifteen minute film if he cut Flair out. Or else an hour about how Hogan made WCW wrestling. Eric, wise up! Hogan, Savage, Hall, and Nash did not make WCW wrestling what it is!. It was guys like Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T.A., Terry and Dory Funk, Ricky Steamboat, and even Sting working their asses off night after night. It was tag teams like the Road Warriors, the Midnight Express, the Freebirds, and the Rock n’ Roll Express having some of the most epic wars in wrestling history. You can’t treat Flair like s--t for months and them expect him to drop everything, family commitments and all, and expect him to come back on a moment’s notice from his son’s wrestling tournament, because you lost in the ratings when people got tired of watching the same story lines over and over and over and over again.
- What’s the deal about Chris Benoit? What did he do to piss off Eric Bischoff? Here you have one of the most talented wrestlers in the business, and he jobs to Fit Finley?!?!? Are they setting up a Malenko-like angle for him? Is he going to leave and then come back as Mr. Wrestling II or the Spoiler or the Grappler? What a shame. I hate to give Kevin Sullivan credit, but I think Benoit was used best whenever Sullivan was head booker and the Benoit-Sullivan feud was going on.
- One bad sign: Vince McMahon is doing an Eric Bischoff angle better than Bischoff. The heel boss angle is being played very well, in my opinion, by Vince in the WWF. He comes off as an arrogant ass legitimately after the Bret Hart thing, while Bischoff just comes off as an annoying weasel. Also, Eric, in the beginning, had guys like Luger, Sting, etc., who were “getting screwed over” and “we feel sorry for them” and “what are we going to do.” The WWF has Steve Austin, who doesn’t take crap from anyone. I like the way Vince set it up much more than Bischoff. It makes the show easier to watch. And now, Eric is rerunning the same exact angles again. Will Sting join the nWo (wolfpack)? Why did Giant join? Goodness, Eric, have you run out of fresh ideas? How about re-forming the Four Horsemen? Oops, never mind.
- By the way, I really do like wrestling, despite all my gripes and complaints. Some good things about wrestling today, in my opinion: Benoit, Nash’s interviews, Malenko, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Terry Funk, Goldberg (OK, so I’m still kind of a mark), Bobby Heenan, Dustin Rhodes as himself, and Al Snow & Head.
- OK, enough filibustuh-ing (As Dusty Rhodes would say). Now, with a cold Shiner beer in hand, on to the show, if you wheel............
- We start with a montage of Sting about to join the nWo Wolfpack
- We are live from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium, not too far from the best honky tonk in the world, Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, in beautiful Nashville, Tennessee, home of Zack Taylor. I wonder if there are going to be any exploding toilets tonight????
- Tony Schiavone, Bobby “the Brain” Heenan, and “Eater” Lee Marshall commentating. They talk about whether Sting joins the Wolfpack. The boys act like they don’t know whether Sting took the shirt or not. I hear he put it on! How do Heenan, Schiavone, and Marshall not know?
- Bret Hart’s WCW music. Why is he being Hogan’s butt boy? He is still Bret Hart though. He gives the old WWF schtick about how he is disappointed in the fans. He says his heart is going out to Sting because he is having a tug-of-war with his conscience. Bret says he knows how Sting feels. He says that he “has the key to Sting’s wrestling future.”
- The Barbarian over Jim Powers with the kick to the face.
- Barbarian being accompanied by Jimmy Hart and Hugh Morrus, now being referred to as “humorous.”
- More talk about Sting. Yada-yada.
- Jimmy Hart, where have you been? Jimmy was always a great interview. Tenay says that Meng is prepared to make a return.
- About the only offense Powers mounts is a cod shot to the Barbarian and a fist to Jimmy Hart.
- “Boot of Fear” and it’s over. Hey, I’m just repeating what Tenay called it. The Boot of Fear?
- Nice slow motion replay showing that the Barbarian didn’t even come close to Powers’ face.
- Schiavone is out to interview “Whineheart” Chris Jericho. I think the Malenko spot was well done. Jericho has Tony hold up a sign that says Conspiracy Victim. Jericho bitches some about JJ Dillon. He claims he will find a way to get the belt back by Monday on Nitro.
- They show the replay of Luger joining the Wolfpack. Now wait, is anyone left in WCW? Last one out of WCW, turn out the lights. I guess Silver King will be left to defend the honor of WCW.
- Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart and Davey Boy Smith over High Voltage with the Powerslam.
- “Yeah Baby!”
- I thought Davey Boy was hurt.
- High Voltage is getting a little bit of a mini-push.
- Rage missed a 180 of the top rope.
- Davey Boy gets a hot tag and hits ?the Jackhammer? Pin is broken up.
- Oklahoma Slam (Powerslam). It’s over. Let’s see...two matches...the finishers used...the “Boot of Fear” and the Powerslam. OK.
- Van Hammer with a promo for the movie tonight...that Academy Award winner, No Holds Barred! Starring Hulk Hogan, of course.
- Here come nWo Wolfpack. This should be decent. It’s Nash, Konnan, Luger, and Savage. New hip-hop entrance music. Sounds pretty good. Sounds almost like Nation of Domination music. Sign in the crowd: “Giant Fears Grand Ole Opry.” Only in Tennessee. Luger calls Konnan the greatest wrestler from South of the Border. Boy, Mil Mascaras is going to be pissed. Luger getting a big pop from Nashville. “Wolfpack” chants coming from the crowd. Luger goes on about how this is the right thing for Sting, etcetra, etcetra. Nash holding the Sting mask. OK, let’s see, if this is real, and I’m Sting, I’m thinking, let’s see these guys beat the hell out of me numerous times...maybe I should join up with them!
- Glacier Hammer
- Glacier’s entrance...time to get a beer or six.
- Glacier and Hammer. Well we could see some wrestling here. I hope so.
- They go outside for a while. Lots of kicks and punches.
- Not much crowd interest in this match. They’re all talking about going to Tootsie’s after the show, I guess.
- Glacier with the Rings of Saturn! That brings Saturn out and he gives Glacier a Superkick! DQ. Raven comes in and gives Hammer an Evenflow DDT. Saturn gives Glacier a Death Valley (Spicoli) Driver.
- Raven comes in and “makes up” with Saturn.
- Raven goes around saying “There’s Mortis, get him!” Saturn proceeds to go around beating up half of the WCW crew as Raven thinks they are Mortis. Raven appears paranoid.
- The real Mortis comes out and brains Raven with a chair! Hey, what happened, that was a pretty good spot! Bischoff is building up a decent angle here.
- Booker T over Chris Benoit with a Missile Dropkick to tie the best-of-seven series at one.
- This is not too bad, having a best-of-seven. Kind of like the old Magnum T.A. days! Five bucks says they go all seven.
- Intense as usual for Benoit. Booker T has really come around as a pretty decent wrestler.
- Nice snap suplex by Benoit. Two count.
- Chest chops by Benoit. The crowd responds with the obligatory WOOOOO!
- Brain states that Benoit is only five matches away from ending his frustration. That would make a six match series. Hmmmmmm, what could that mean?
- Benoit with the backbreaker. He goes up and hits the flying headbutt. Waits a while and goes for the cover and got a two count
- Chin lock. I think Benoit hit hard on that head butt and is using a rest hold. Crowd behind Booker T. Booker “hulks out.”
- Axe kick (Scissor kick) by Booker T. Two count.
- Benoit in the corner pounding Booker. He only gets a two count.
- Sidewalk slam by Booker T! Belly to back suplex. Breakdance. Misses the Harlem Sidekick. Then hits it. Goes up for the Missile Dropkick. 1-2-3.
- Not a bad match at all! Booker T is really coming into his own. Benoit did his part as usual, but Booker was a pleasant surprise to me.
- Benoit comes out and basically says it ain’t over. Benoit with a short but decent interview. Flair and Arn must be teaching him.
- TV Champ Fit Finley over Brad Armstrong with the Tombstone Piledriver.
- Whose ass is Fit Finley kissing to get this big push?
- Now wait, Booker and Benoit are going in a best of seven to determine the #1 TV Title contender, and in the meanwhile, all these other guys are getting shots at the belt. Just goes to prove you can’t try to rationalize pro wrestling. Nice break from reality, it is.
- Nice powerslam by Armstrong. No pin, though, of course.
- I hear Finley is a legit bad ass. He’s got the Ron Garvin hair going.
- Double underhook backslide attempt by Armstrong. Armstrong looks pretty decent.
- Tombstone piledriver, it’s over.
- Replay of the Piper-Savage-Bret Hart situation with Bret stating that he and Roddy Piper set up the whole situation with Savage and Hart.
- Saturn over Barry Darsow with the Death Valley Driver..
- Alright, Goldberg, oh wait it’s just Barry Darsow.
- Hard to tell which one’s which!
- Outside the ring. Darsow working on Saturn’s left arm.
- Saturn with a nice spin kick.
- Darsow goes for his “Barely Legal” move and Saturn gets to the rope.
- Darsow runs right into the Superkick and then the Death Valley (Spicoli) Driver. 1-2-3.
- Uh-oh, we have a still picture, but no sound. Oh wait, we’re back.
- U.S. Heavyweight Champ Goldberg over the Hall of Fame Jobber Barry Horowitz with the Jackhammer.
- It’s Barry Horowitz!!!! Alright! Maybe he’ll get some gold tonight. Or not.
- A sign in the crowd...honest: “After Thunder, No Holds Barred Starring Hulk Hogan.” Either this guy really wants to get on TV, or he is just a loser.
- What a great entrance Goldberg has.
- Quick powerslam. Then here comes the spear. Heenan calls him H.H. (Heaven Help) Horowitz.
- Jackhammer...it’s over. 92-0.
- That took all of about 90 seconds.
- Here comes nWo Hollywood, with Bret Hart, Vincent, Bischoff and Giant. Bret Hart states that he is the only guy Sting can trust. Man, Hart has good mic skills. Hart brings out a black and white nWo T-shirt for Sting. Wolfpack music starts playing. Here comes Nash, Konnan, Luger, Savage, and Liz. Hart: “Bonjourno, boys.” Nash and Hart both proceed to argue that Sting belongs with them. Nash finally says that we could argue all night about that and says, “Let’s do it, boys!” We have a pier six going on as we.....Fade to black.
- Well, no resolution tonight. Benoit and Booker T was a good match at least. You know, there are no true faces in WCW anymore. They are going more in the WWF direction all the time it looks like.
- TRIVIA ANSWERS:
- Answer 1: The opponents, who lost their hair (you think the Von Erichs would get their head shaved?), were the late Gino “I Am Your Champion!” Hernandez and WCW’s own Gentleman Chris Adams, who were monster heels at the time. Fritz Von Erich helped do the honors with the clippers. Adams was a decent wrestler, and a crowd favorite for a long time, but at the time he and Hernandez were in a huge feud with the Von Erichs that was ended because of Hernandez’s untimely passing. What I’ll always remember about Chris Adams is an interview my favorite manager, Gary Hart, gave. He was a great interview. He said, “Chris Adams isn’t even from England. They found him workin’ in a Dairy Queen in Savannah, Georgia and asked him if he wanted to be a wrestler!” Man, I was rolling on the floor on that one. Anyone know what happened to Gary Hart? I know he was promoting in Dallas for a while. Seems he was one of the good guys in the business behind the scenes from what I have gathered.
- Answer 2: The Bladerunners, Rock and Sting, were Jim Hellwig and Steve Borden. They were a team in Bill Watts’ Mid-South shortly in the mid to late 80s. This was the first appearance for both of them. Sting kept his name went on to be a WCW world champion, late of nWo Wolfpack, and Rock went on to become the Dingo Warrior and later the Ultimate Warrior. Maybe they could have a Bladerunners reunion if Hellwig comes to WCW as has been rumored! That would be hilarious.
- Well, adios everyone, I am Big Mike, and remember, as Robert Earl Keen says, “The road goes on forever, and the party never ends.”