WCW Thunder - Wednesday, January 31st, 2001
WCW Thunder - Wednesday, January 31st, 2001
- Long story short here. I had planned to work my normal shift at work and type this recap after work. Problems came up at work and I got stuck with a double shift. So here I am typing this after a long night at work. My apologies in advance if this recap sucks more than usual.
- Recap of what happened on Monday.
- Backstage, Cat offers Rick Steiner a US Title shot at Superbrawl Revenge against Shane Douglas. The catch is he has to keep it a secret, because if Flair finds out, he'll take his shot away.
- And we are TAPED from Baltimore, MD!
- Match 1: Shane Helms vs. Billy Kidman (w/Tygress)
- Wow, Shane Helms! Billy Kidman! This should be good!
- I really liked what these 2 put together last week in the Cruiserweight Gauntlet match.
- Shane jumps Kidman before the bell.
- Kidman hits a head scissor and a frankensteiner.
- Shane dumps Kidman outside and goes up top.
- Shane lands on Kidman with his crossbody/frog splash thingy.
- They brawl outside a bit, then go back inside.
- Kidman attempts to come in with a sun-set flip, but Shane catches him.
- Shane puts Kidman up on his shoulders and lands his tilt-a-whirl face buster.
- Shane hits his jumping neckbreaker.
- Shane covers for 2.
- Shane with a diving elbow from the 2nd rope.
- Shane covers for 2.
- Shane with a reverse chin lock.
- Kidman fights up and whips Shane into the corner.
- Kidman charges in and dives at Shane, who moves.
- Shane with a belly-to-back suplex.
- Shane covers for 2.
- Shane whips Kidman into the ropes and hits a back elbow.
- Shane taunts the crowd until Kidman rolls him up for 2.
- Double clothesline and they are both out.
- Shane with a couple of headlocks.
- Kidman tries to fight out, but Shane knocks him back down.
- Shane goes for a few suplexes, Kidman floats over and hits a sweet backdrop suplex.
- Shane hits a sweet arm breaker from a dragon sleeper. You had to see it.
- Shane works over Kidman's shoulder, then hooks a double underhook stretch.
- They trade punches, Kidman with the advantage.
- Kidman with a dropkick on Shane.
- Kidman with a short powerbomb.
- Kidman whips Shane into the corner and comes off the ropes with a clothesline.
- Shane ducks and hooks the x-plex for 2.
- Kidman attempts a super-plex, Shane blocks and tosses Kidman to the mat.
- Shane with a sun-set flip for 2.
- Pretty cool series of reversals, both men escape each other's finisher.
- Shane catches Kidman on the top rope and sets up the Vertebreaker for the win.
- Your Winner: Shane Helms via pinfall
- Gutsy booking on WCW's part.
- Let's see more of that throughout the roster.
- Scott Steiner and Midajah come out to the ring.
- Long story short: Steiner says Dustin Rhodes is an idiot for turning Flair down and he then runs down Nash, Sting and Goldberg.
- Kronik comes out to challenge Steiner.
- Totally Buff jumps Kronik from behind.
- Rick Steiner comes out and makes his way to the ring.
- Jarrett nails him from behind with a guitar.
- The heels beat on Kronik a bit, then head backstage.
- Backstage, Flair, Steiner, Jarrett and Totally Buff celebrate their beatdown.
- Totally Buff wants Kronik tonight and Jarrett wants to take on Rick Steiner tonight.
- So we have 2 more matches.
- Match 2: Lash LeRoux vs. Ron Harris (w/Don Harris)
- Your Winner: Ron Harris via pinfall
- Moving along..
- Backstage, Kwee-Wee and Paisley are insulted by some WCW security.
- Kwee-Wee challenges one of them to a match.
- Mean Gene interviews Chavo Guerrero Jr. and The Wall.
- Chavo says Rey Mysterio isn't in his league and he'll have to go outside the WCW roster to find a challenger.
- Wall yells and spits, until Hugh Morrus appears (he replaced Gene during a closeup) and we get a brawl.
- Backstage, Norman Smiley talks to Glacier's shadow.
- Norman tells Glacier to make sure he covers his back this time,
- Glacier says he'll cover his back the same as he always does.
- Mean Gene interviews Chuck Palumbo and Sean O' Haire.
- They say Stasiak and Jindrak are just jealous of their Tag Team Titles.
- Meanwhile, Mike Sanders and Ric Flair watch on.
- Flair says Sanders needs to learn to make everything turn out to his advantage.
- Tonight Sanders has Konnan in a match.
- Match 3: Norman Smiley vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
- Smiley has the advantage to start, Bigelow eventually gets control and keeps it.
- Smiley stalls a bit, trying to find Glacier.
- Glacier's music starts up and Glacier slowly makes his way to the ring.
- Meanwhile in the ring, Smiley is laid out after a Greetings from Asbury Park.
- Which we miss, due to the camera being on Glaicer.
- Kind of tells you who this match was set-up to put over, huh?
- Your Winner: Bam Bam Bigelow via pinfall
- Glacier finally gets in the ring after Bigelow leaves and tells Norman he'll always have his back.
- Match 4: Jeff Jarrett vs. Rick Steiner
- Jarrett says he set-up DDP for the count out win on Monday and he'll do the same tonight, because Rick Steiner is still out from the guitar shot.
- The ref begins his 10 count until Rick makes his way out.
- Lots of barking and brawling outside the ring.
- They go inside the ring.
- Shane Douglas makes his way to the ring.
- Shane tries to hit Rick with his chain, but he hits Jarrett on accident.
- Steiner knocks Douglas off the apron and hits a DVD on Jarrett for the win.
- Your Winner: Rick Steiner via pinfall
- Rick gets on the mic post match and runs through Xavier's catch-phrases.
- Promo for an episode of the WB show Charmed that several WCW wrestlers will be appearing on.
- Consult your local listings, because as with most cross-promotions, I wasn't paying too much attention.
- Match 5: Kwee-Wee (w/Paisley) vs. Scotty O.
- The announcers mention that Scotty O is a Power Plant wrestler.
- Scotty O taunts Kwee-Wee, who snaps and beats the tar out of him.
- Kwee-Wee hits a gut-wrench powerbomb, a german suplex and a pile driver with some brawling in between.
- Your Winner: Kwee-Wee via pinfall
- Kwee-Wee gets on the mic and again tells Flair he is all man and is waiting to hear from him.
- Match 6: The Mamalukes vs. WCW Tag Team Champions Chuck Palumbo and Sean O' Haire
- This is a non-title match.
- Chuck and Vito start, Vito has control and tags in Johnny.
- The Mamalukes hit a double team slam.
- Chuck tags Sean.
- Johnny tags Vito.
- Some brawling and Johnny tags Vito.
- Another double team by the Mamalukes.
- Johnny with a gorilla press slam on Sean.
- Sean drops Johnny on the ropes, where Chuck hits a dropkick on Johnny.
- A couple tags are made by the champs.
- What follows is one of the goofiest things I have ever seen in wrestling.
- Chuck picks Johnny up from behind, which looks really bad if you have a sick mind.
- Johnny, being the good sport that he is, holds on to the ropes while O' Haire leaps over Palumbo and lands on Johnny's back.
- Johnny with a sun-set flip for a 1 count.
- Both men are down, they each crawl to their corners for tags.
- Vito runs over Chuck and Sean a bunch.
- Johnny and Sean go outside in the brawl.
- Inside, Vito goes for a mafia kick, but Chuck ducks and counters with a Jungle Kick.
- Sean O' Haire up top with the Seanton Bomb on Vito for the pin.
- Your Winner: Chuck Palumbo and Sean O' Haire via pinfall
- Post match, Shawn Stasiak and Mark Jindrak wander down to the ring.
- They say they carried their respective partners in their former teams and want a Tag Title shot at Superbrawl Revenge.
- The champs agree.
- The challengers jump the champs from behind as they turn to leave.
- Solid enough match.
- Backstage, Ric Flair, Animal, Steiner, Jarrett and Midajah are leaving.
- Backstage, Mike Sanders tells Reno to take his spot against Konnan tonight and to tap out to the Tequila Sunrise right away.
- Mean Gene interviews Totally Buff.
- They say they beat Goldberg and he beat Kronik, so they can beat Kronik.
- Match 7: Konnan (w/Tygress) vs. Reno
- Nothing match, Reno taps out right away to the Tequila Sunrise.
- Sanders comes out to the ramp and distracts Konnan while Reno gets up and hits Konnan with Roll the Dice.
- Your Winner: Konnan via submission
- We've been swerved!!!
- Bleh..
- Match 8: Kronik vs. Totally Buff
- Totally Buff gets their seperate entrances.
- Adams with a tilt-a-whirl slam and a gorilla press slam and a tag to Clarke.
- Clarke gets a 2 count off of a flying shoulder block.
- Buff tags Luger.
- Clarke hits a top rope clothesline.
- Luger with an elbow and some heel chicanery.
- They both makes tags and Adams runs over Totally Buff.
- Kronik sets up the High Times.
- Buff takes out Clarke's knee and they brawl.
- Animal comes out of the crowd and hits Clarke with a chair.
- Totally Buff double teams Adams until Buff hits a Blockbuster for the pin.
- Your Winner: Totally Buff via pinfall
- Flair and crew arrive at the jail.
- A cop tells them that DDP made bail an hour ago.
- They head into DDP's cell anyway, only to find a note.
- Another cop closes the cell as we fade..
- I'd like to say thanks to Bill (and everyone else) for being understanding and patient with me. Hopefully, this never happens again!
The Good: Helms/Kidman was really good, one of the best free TV matches in a while. Again, giving Shane the win was a gutsy choice and in the long run, the right choice.
The Bad: Doing this recap off of 6 hours sleep in the past 2 days. Sorry if I sounded a bit negative due to this.
The Ugly: Why are the Harris Boyz on my TV?