WCW Thunder, 1/24/2001
WCW Thunder - Wednesday, 1/24/2001
- Howdy everyone, once again. I am Big Mike, and this is your Thunder report. Wow, two weeks in a row! That's a record for me!
- I sure liked the match between Michael Modest and Christopher Daniels on Nitro. Those guys look like they have a lot of potential. Modest actually wrestled a match on Nitro about a year ago (on the March 27th, 2000 Nitro). I thought that he looked good there. Daniels has also been seen on WCW TV before (on WCW World Wide in June). I wasn't so keen on the Scott Steiner run-in, though. Is this just like the old days? You have two young guys with a lot of ability being crapped on at the expense of putting over a top star that's already over. That sucks, my friends. I hope it isn't a sign that this was a one-time shot for these guys. If so, they could have used two jabrones that couldn't wrestle a lick. Come on, Uncle Eric, these were two guys who could provide a big boost to your cruiserweight division, and you're using them to put over Scott Steiner?
- Who lit a fire under Kevin Nash's a--? He hasn't looked this good since he first came into WCW. The new owners seem to have energized him. He's more intense, and seems to be trying harder in the ring. Let's see if it lasts.
- One more thing. I said it last week, and I'll say it again. Taping Thunder after Nitro is the worst thing you could do. I was looking at something on one of those "smart" (insert snicker here) sites, where a guy said the entire Nitro/Thunder taping lasted five hours. Now if Nitro is live on the east coast at 8 PM, and Thunder is taped after it, that means you wouldn't get out of the taping until freakin' 1 AM!!!! Try to get any kind of heat for the final Thunder match at one in the morning!
- Now, with a can of Coors brewed cold from a mountain stream, on to the show............
- We start with a montage of Nitro from Monday.
- We are TAPED from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
- Joey Styles and Joel Gertner commentating. Not really. It's Schiavone and Tenay. Just trying to catch all the "smarts" out there that have been bawling for that ever since Fusient took over.
- We begin with a match! What the hell? It's titled "Cruiserweight Contender Countdown." Nice. Looks like a Bischoff touch.
- Cruiserweight Contender Countdown (Shane Helms, Elix Skipper, Evan Karagias, Kidman, Yang, Jaime Knoble, Rey Misterio, Jr., Lash Leroux, Shannon Moore, and Kaz Hayashi) for the #1 contender position for the Cruiserweight title, and a match against Chavo Guerrero, Jr. for the title at Superbrawl.
- Participants #1 and #2: Elix Skipper and Shane Helms.
- We start with Elix Skipper and Shane Helms. Looks like as soon as there is a fall, another guy comes in. It's like running the gauntlet.
- Skipper with a nice double underhook suplex. He goes up top, and twists around for a guillotine leg drop. Nice spot.
- Helms with a "vertabreaker." Ouch!!! Primetime is out 1-2-3, and here comes Evan Karagias.
- Participant #3: Evan Karagias Elix Skipper is out.
- Cross-body by Karagias, who misses a springboard off the ropes. Helms with another "vertabreaker," and Karagias is out quick. Here comes Kidman!
- Participant #4: Kidman. Evan Karagias is out.
- Kidman clotheslines Helms over the rope that plants a plancha on him.
- Helms with a jawbreaker and goes for the "Nightmare on Helms Street (Scorpion Death Drop)," but misses. Kidman hits a power bomb.
- It's hard to keep up with this, this is great!
- Bulldog off the top by Kidman. Two count on Helms.
- Helms goes for the vertabreaker again, but Kidman reverses it into a back piledriver. 1-2-3! Helms is out. Yang of the Jung Dragons comes in with Leah Meow. We go to commercial?
- Participant #5: Yang of the Jung Dragons w/ Leah Meow. Shane Helms is out.
- Reverse neck breaker by Yang, who immediately goes up top and runs into Kidman's fist. Kidman hits a standing drop kick.
- Tenay states that the winner gets a Cruiserweight Title shot at Superbrawl.
- Yang slips on a head scissors and drives Kidman's head into the mat.
- Kidman with a frankensteiner. Two count.
- Kidman with a face plant (Pedigree) on Yang. Two count
- Yang goes up top with Kidman. Kidman reverses it with a Kid Crusher off the second rope for the three count. In comes Jaime Knoble.
- Participant #6: Jaime Knoble. Yang is out.
- Knoble with an immediate missile drop kick. Two count.
- Reverse suplex by Kidman. Kidman goes up top. Knoble cuts him off.
- Kidman with a nice belly to back suplex.
- Now, Kidman has Knoble up top and hits a power slam off the top rope, but Knoble kicks out at two.
- The men reverse each other's tombstone piledriver three times. Knoble finally hits it and gets the three count. Here comes Rey Misterio, Jr.!
- Participant #7: Rey Misterio Jr. w/ Tygress. Kidman is out.
- Misterio lifts Knoble out of the ring. Misterio with a sliding tornado DDT through the ropes! Beautiful move.
- Knoble is back in. Misterio goes for the springboard off the ropes, but Knoble catches him for a sit down power bomb.
- Wow! Misterio goes for the springboard diving head butt and hits. It's over. Lash LeRoux now comes into the ring.
- Participant #8: Lash Leroux Jaime Knoble is out.
- Rey with a power bomb and then the Bronco Buster.
- Sounds like they are piping in crowd noise.
- Split-legged moonsault by Rey. Lash is out. Shannon Moore comes in now.
- Participant #9: Shannon Moore Lash LeRoux is out.
- Moore with a springboard guillotine leg drop. One count only.
- Moore misses a springboard moonsault. Misterio reverses it into a surfboard pinning combo, and Moore is out. Kaz Hayashi comes in. He is the last man, says Tenay.
- Participant #10: Kaz Hayashi Shannon Moore is out.
- Rey with a frankensteiner attempt, but Kaz hits a sit down power bomb as a reversal. Two count.
- Rey rams Kaz into the ring post. Misterio is slow to get up, but he sits Hayashi on the top rope. Kaz tries a power bomb, but Rey reverses it into a bulldog off the top rope for the win!!!
- YOUR WINNER: Rey Misterio, Jr. via the bulldog off the top rope.
- What a match!!!!
- We go backstage, where Jeff Jarrett is teasing Hugh Morrus about Monday. Morrus nails Jarrett and goes into full Laughing Man mode. We go to commercial.
- Back from commercial. A Glacier promo plays. Norman Smiley is backstage, and sees Glacier (apparently) behind a dressing room door. Glacier (in full cheesy superhero mode) says he has Norman's back.
- The Cat comes out with Miss Jones. Cat says Flair is not going to get him out of WCW. The Cat says he's booked a good show for Superbrawl. He says it is Nash/Steiner, Jarrett/DDP, and Misterio/Guerrero at Superbrawl. The Cat says it will be Jarrett against Hugh Morrus for tonight. He also says it will be Scott Steiner and Animal vs. Kronik for the main event tonight. The Cat dances.
- Cut to backstage where Ric Flair is addressing the troops, saying they have a master plan. We go to commercial again.
- Back from commercial (again), Shane Douglas is talking to Bam-Bam Bigelow. Shane tells Bigelow if he takes out Rick Steiner tonight, Douglas will get Bigelow in Flair's group.
- Norman Smiley vs. "Mulletless" Mike Awesome w/ Major Gunns.
- They show a replay of last Wednesday's Thunder where Smiley was looking for Glacier.
- You know, it's worth it just to watch Major Gunns walk to the ring.
- Smiley wiggles, and Awesome nails him with a clothesline.
- Awesome with a suplex.
- Smiley comes back with a back elbow off the ropes. Smiley is looking for Glacier.
- Awesome with a double underhook suplex. Two count.
- Awesome whips Smiley into the ropes and follows up with a lariat. Two count by Awesome.
- Tenay is busy comparing Kronik to the Steiner Brothers and the Road Warriors. Hey jackass, there's a match going on here!!!! It's not much of one, but the Steiners, Kronik, or the Road Warriors are not involved!
- Glacier's music plays, and out comes Glacier. Norman is watching Glacier as he slowly comes out. That lets Awesome hit a belly to back suplex. Glacier is busy schmoozing the fans and talking to them.
- In the meantime, Awesome throws Norman out right behind Glacier. Glacier is still busy talking to the fans.
- Awesome hits a power slam, but a two count only. Awesome goes up top as Norman is trying to motion Glacier to the ring. Awesome hits a clothesline off the top rope and a running Awesome bomb, and it's over.
- YOUR WINNER: Mike Awesome via the running Awesome bomb.
- That's nice of Glacier. He comes in and strikes a pose a Awesome leaves. Glacier states that he was here to watch Norman's back and he did watch Smiley's back. That is true. Glacier poses some more and pushes Smiley out of the way to do his martial arts routine. That was pretty funny.
- We come back from commercial, and Mean Gene is interviewing Glacier and Norman Smiley. Gene says he is happy to see Glacier back because now he doesn't have to watch those stupid promos. Glacier says he made Mike Awesome run. Glacier says that it's time a true hero returned to clean up WCW. Norman falls on the ground, and Glacier picks him up and says, "Come, Norman, evil does not rest." It's like Adam West and Burt Ward.
- I hate Kwee Wee. He's in the ring now with Paisley. He's back in Kwee Wee mode. He gives an open challenge. Some guy in the stands with a Goldberg shirt says he wants to fight Kwee Wee. Kwee Wee pulls him out of the stands and into the ring. Kwee Wee hits a piledriver on the "fan," and taunts him. Kwee Wee: "Flair, this is why you should have the Kwee Wee on your team." Stupid, stupid, stupid angle.
- Back from commercial, Mean Gene is interviewing Kronik. Kronik says Animal and Steiner had better prepare to get smoked. Kronik says they have an army of their own as DDP and Kevin Nash walk out.
- Jeff Jarrett vs. "The Laughing Man" Hugh Morrus.
- Jarrett comes out and says he beat DDP last year at Superbrawl for the World Title and will beat him again. He says Hugh Morrus can't take a joke and now it's time to pay the consequences. Jarrett says he has Ric Flair's Army watching his back.
- Morrus comes in and attacks Jarrett. Morrus has his constant smile on his face again.
- Tenay and Schiavone are talking about other matches again, and this match is just a sidebar to them. That sucks.
- Power slam by Morrus. Both men are outside now. Jarrett with a chair shot to the gut.
- Back in the ring, Jarrett is working on the knee of Hugh Morrus.
- Jarrett is up top and meets the foot of Hugh Morrus as he comes off the ropes.
- Body slam by Morrus. Morrus is going up top and hits a flying elbow as The Wall comes out. Morrus goes up again, and tries for the choke slam, but Morrus pops him.
- Atomic drop by Morrus. The Wall choke slams Morrus as the ref is tied up with Jarrett and the guitar. Jarrett hits the Stroke and it's over.
- YOUR WINNER: Jeff Jarrett via the Stroke and the choke slam by The Wall
- As the Wall and Jarrett work over Morrus and set him up for the guitar shot, DDP comes out of the crowd and hits the ring to break it up.
- That match scored high on the suck scale.
- Crowbar w/ Daffney (who is armed with a megaphone - like she needs it) vs. Ron Harris w/ Don Harris
- Oh goodie, Don Harris has the neck brace on again. Let's say this is real. I know it's a stretch, but that's what we're aiming for, right. Would the ref not have seen the match last week and know it is a fake?
- Tony says he's just been told that Don Harris has a legitimate medical reason to wear the neck collar. Who does he go to, Dr. Nick Riviera?
- Ron Harris with a spinning side slam. Nice super kick by Ron Harris
- Daffney's megaphone appears to be broken. Thank goodness.
- Ron Harris goes down, and Crowbar goes up top for a twisting flying body press. Two count.
- Now Ron Harris sends Crowbar out, and then sends him into the guardrail.
- Don Harris now puts the boots to Crowbar.
- Body slam by Ron Harris back in the ring.
- Jawbreaker by Crowbar out of a sleeper hold by Ron Harris. Two count.
- Clothesline by Ron Harris.
- Crowbar with a version on the Scorpion Death Drop. Now a springboard moonsault off the ropes by Crowbar! Two count, and Ron Harris rolls out.
- The Harrises switch the neck brace. Don Harris hits a version of the Rock Bottom for the three count.
- YOUR WINNER(S): Ron/Don Harris via the one armed slam by Don Harris..
- That one was off the suck scale. What a bad angle. If I cared about the Harris Brothers, if they had an inkling of in-ring ability, maybe, just maybe, that would be a decent angle. As it is, it is just plain bad.
- Mean Gene is interviewing "Stiff Shot" Rick Steiner. Steiner states that it's not anything personal against Bam-Bam Bigelow, but it's his night. He states that it is personal against Shane Douglas.
- They show an interview between Mike Tenay and Dr. William Armstrong, an orthopedic surgeon, about Sid's injury. They show the footage, but block out the leg breaking. They show a diagram of the leg, and what happened to Sid. What is this, the freakin' Discovery Channel??? They show how the rod is put in the leg. Tenay is feigning interest, but he obviously doesn't know what the hell is going on here. The good doctor snaps a pencil to show what happened. Nice. We see X-rays of injuries like this. Dr. Armstrong says Sid's severe pain will go away in a week or two. He will be on crutches for six to twelve weeks (ouch). He says Sid will be in rehabilitation for four to twelve months. Now back to True-Life Medical Emergencies, I mean Thunder. Oh, wait, we're going to commercial.
- They keep showing promos (this is the third or fourth one) for the new slasher movie, "Valentine." Is this going to do for Valentine's Day what Silent Night, Deadly Night did for Christmas? I think I'll miss that one.
- Bam-Bam Bigelow vs. Rick Steiner.
- I wonder if these guys will pull their punches? I don't think so. This ought to be a real scientific match.
- Steiner with a belly-to-belly suplex, and another one.
- The crowd looks uninterested. Their buzz is probably wearing off by now.
- Steiner gets Bigelow over for a suplex and then a Steiner line.
- Scoop slam by Bigelow. He goes up to the top rope and hits the flying head butt. Two count.
- DDT by Steiner as Bigelow went for Greetings from Asbury Park.
- Elbow drop by Steiner, but a two count.
- Tenay says this is a war. I think it's more like a skirmish.
- DDT by Steiner, and Steiner hits (or pretty close to hits) a Steiner bulldog off the top rope. His arm slipped off, but Bigelow went down anyway. Tenay: "I think it was academic after the DDTs." Nice cover.
- YOUR WINNER : Rick Steiner via the Steiner bulldog (?).
- Steiner uses his usual catchphrase.
- Backstage where the Flair's boys are coming out of a room laughing. The Cat shows up, and Flair hits him with brass knucks. Nice. The posse leaves and the camera man goes inside the locker room where DDP and Nash are laid out.
- We're back, and Rick Steiner and Kronik is tending to Nash and Page. Steiner tells Kronik to go to the ring, he'll take care of Nash and DDP. As soon as Kronik leaves, Shane Douglas comes from behind a locker and nails Rick Steiner with the chain.
- Road Warrior Animal and Scott Steiner vs. Kronik (Brian Adams and Bryan Clarke).
- Scott Steiner gets on the mic and cuts a promo on Kronik and Kevin Nash. Steiner mentions hurting Sid, Booker T, and Sting. OK, whatever. Get some new material.
- Cut backstage, and Kronik is WALKING!!!! We go to commercial.
- Animal will start against Bryan Clarke.
- No doubt, the Road Warriors were the most dominant tag team in wrestling history.
- Power slam by Animal. Adams comes in for the save on the pin attempt.
- Double tag, and Steiner and Brian Adams are in the ring.
- Full nelson power slam by Adams, and Adams clotheslines Steiner out of the ring as Steiner gets up.
- Animal pops Adams coming off the ropes and Scott Steiner hits a full nelson power bomb. Two count.
- Elbow drop by Steiner, and Steiner is doing push-ups. Faint "Goldberg" chant in the crowd.
- Adams back with a clothesline, and both men are down. Hot tag to Bryan Clarke. Lariat to Steiner, and a shot to Animal, who comes in the ring. Clothesline to Animal. Clarke tries for the pump handle suplex, but Steiner reverses into the T-bone suplex. Steiner tags animal in. Clarke with a pump handle into a power slam, but Steiner breaks up the pin attempt.
- Kronik puts Steiner out of the ring, and signals for the high times. Buff and Luger come out and are sent out of the ring. The Cat comes out to fight them off outside the ring.
- Animal is fighting both men in the ring as Steiner, Luger, and Buff beat down the Cat. Kronik hits High Times for the pin on Animal.
- YOUR WINNER: Kronik via High Times.
- Steiner comes into the ring with the lead pipe, and Team Flair takes all three men down. Animal hits a power slam off the top rope as we fade to black.
- Not too bad of a match until the end. It was a veritable suplex fest.
- The Good: The Cruiserweight Contender Countdown was great. I loved it!
- The Bad: The Norman Smiley/Glacier angle. But it was so bad, it was funny, as I think it was meant to be.
- The Ugly: Kwee Wee. Get that guy off of my TV or put him in a different character
- Well, adios everyone, I am Big Mike, and remember, as Robert Earl Keen says, "The road goes on forever, and the party never ends."