Written by: Kevin Kindelberger
WCW Thunder 1/21/99
nWo Black and White are in the back arguing about what is going on. Vincent is trying to be a leader but is basically ignored. nWo Elite is supposedly stuck in Tampa.
Match 1: Jerry Flynn v. Disco Inferno
Flynn has so far manhandled Disco. Disco makes a comeback in this back and forth match but is nailed with an enzuguri. He misses in the corner and is finished off with the Chart Buster….
** Long match but okay.
The Black and White are all discombobulated about the Elite being gone. They are trying to test walkie-talkie’s and are all over the place. Vincent wants them to stay together.
They are still discussing the Elite being gone….not too happy. Vincent has a cell phone and calls Hollywood and all he gets is speed dial. Stevie Ray doubts he has anyone’s number. They argue some more. Horace is out in the garage, providing lookout and goes to the door of an arriving limo. He is punched and out comes Flair and the Horsemen and they dismantle Horace.
Here comes Flair with Gene in tow. Flair is doing his thing. He is reiterating that there will a tag tournament. The finale will be at the PPV the same night he kicks Hogan’s ass. He goes through all his nicknames for before declaring that Hogan’s shadow has kept so many people back. He was fighting for an hour and with the boys as Hogan fought in MSG and carrying Dolly Parton and making movies with Stallone. He was bigger than life and Flair applauds. But as a wrestler he could never Flair’s jockstrap! Now to the Hogan family: Well so much for that dysfunctional BS. Flair is not happy about Hogan humiliating his family. At the PPV it will be just them two and no one else and they will finally establish the one and only champion. Jericho grew up wanting to be Flair and not Hogan. It will be Hogan’s fame against Flair’s reputation. Flair may even take Hulk’s wife home and make a woman out of her. Flair tells him to train and it will not be a cosmetic match. Two men enter and one leaves!
They are checking up on poor Horace vowing some sort of revenge.
Classic Jericho shirt ad!
Match 2: Saturn v. Emery Hale
I think it is Emery. Saturn is wearing a nice skimpy dress. It is Al Green. Green starts strong but Saturn makes quick work of him.
*½ Squash.
More Raven vignettes from his home. A recap.
Match 3: Glacier v. Kaos
They are going back and forth. Glacier fights out of a corner, kicks him and then swipes the knees. More kicks in the corner. Kaos finishes him off….
** Okay.
Black and White still arguing in the back as Vincent tries to be the glue to keep them together. He wants to get revenge and then the others leave and Vincent takes off his shirt to reveal a Black and Red one.
The Black and White are in the ring. Horace and Adams will represent them in the tournament….this is Vincent talking. Now he challenges the Horsemen with Ray and Norton and him taking them on. They are just baffled by him and not too pleased with the shirt. He ignores them and tells the Horsemen that they are going to bring it to them.
Match 4: Norman Smiley v. Booker T
Booker has the arm and pushes him down. Norman gets to the ropes. Norman grabs him but is put in a hammerlock only to have it countered by a wristlock. Booker counters and they go back and forth with Norman striking with an elbow. Booker leapfrops and clotheslines him. Norman is knocked to the floor. Norman gets in the ring and kicks him in the gut, chops the throat and then stomps on the back of the head. He works him over against the ropes. Booker reverses the whip and knocks him down with a forearm shiver. Norman is bodyslammed. Booker hammers him, pulls him up and runs his head into the corner. Norman is whipped into the other corner but gets his boot up and drops Booker throat first off the top rope. Norman waits for him to get up and then kicks him in the head and follows up with a European uppercut. Now a scoops slam. He teases the Wiggle! He drives Booker down again with his spinning slam and does a half-hearted Wiggle. After a couple of stomps he covers him getting two. He keeps Booker grounded with a chinlock. Booker gets to his feet and elbows free, they duck away from each other and Norman backdrops him and then kicks him to the floor. Norman takes his time going out after him and when he does drives him back into the side of the ring, and runs him into the railing. Booker is rolled back into the ring, and he is back suplexed. The fans erupt for the Big Wiggle! He slaps Booker and that wakes him up and Norman is powerslammed. Norman is up first and uppercuts him. Booker reverses a whip into a knee, and drops Norman with a Harlem Kick. Spinebuster time and Norman kicks out. He wisely retreats to the floor but Booker is in pursuit and runs him into the railing, not once but twice and now a third time. Back into the ring and Booker is in too and Norman lures him to a poke in the eye but he misses and it is axe kick time. Norman bails to the floor and heads to the back. Norman wiggles his way to the back.
***½ They kept Norman strong. This is what they should have done with Jericho who is more over and higher on the card but they had him lose cleanly. Stupid. This was smarter.
Match 5: Brian Adams and Horace v. Kidman and Chavo Guerrero
Horace takes down Kidman and stomps a hole in him. The crowd tells Horace he sucks as he tosses Kidman across the ring. Kidman hiptosses him and a dropkick sends him into the corner where he is pounded. Kidman escapes and dropkicks off him after Horace carried him into the middle of the ring. Chavo gets the tag and he hammers away but Adams pulled the rope and out goes Chavo. Chavo is gorilla slammed into the ring and Adams picks him apart. Kidman missile kicks Chavo into Adams and he gets a near fall….Chavo was up in a slam position. Kidman gets the blind tag and runs over Adams and he gets a near fall but is caught and nailed with a spinning backbreaker. Adams launches him in the air and he gets two. Here comes Horace and he paintbrushes Kidman.
Commercial.
Kidman is thrust into the corner but he fights back and using the corner bulldogs him. Chavo is in and he pounds on both heels. Horace is sent for the ride but Chavo gets a boot planted square in his face. Adams drops two big legdrops and follows up with a backbreaker getting two. He pulls Chavo up and tags in Horace who punishes Chavo. Chavo knocks him down but cannot make the tag as he is stopped. Kidman had to fend off Vincent. Chavo lands on his feet after a back drop and dropkicks Horace and then a springboard bulldog. Both men make a tag and Kidman hammers Adams and hit’s a big hurracarana. Horace is in the ring and he too is taken down. Kidman and Chavo clear the ring but Vincent uses the slapjack and Kidman is pinned.
*** Great fun. Shitty finish. Give the Cruiserweights a win, at least they dominated the match.
Black and White are still arguing in the back but finally come together to deal with the Horsemen.
Match 6: La Parka v. Rey Mysterio
Rey takes him down right away. They spin around for a bit. Parka has him and places him up top but dances around and Rey leaps striking with a flying headscissors and he does it again from the top as Parka is on the floor. Parka is rolled back into the ring and Parka misses a kick and Rey fires back but is put up on the shoulders to Parka and faceplanted. Parka works him over in the corner and clotheslines Rey getting a two count. Parka launches him up and kicks him on the way down getting two. Parka slams him again and goes up top leaping into some boots and then he misses in the corner, posting himself. Rey though cannot follow up. However, the next move Parka runs into a drop toe hold. It is back and forth. Rey is powerbombed. Parka goes up but is dropkicked off. Rey finishes him off.
*** Fun match.
Here comes DDP! He is not happy with what Steiner is doing with Kimberly. Gene thinks she is attractive. DDP agrees. DDP is acting all upset and he has seen what happened with Kim and Scotty as he helped open the Nitro Grill. He tells Scotty that if he is looking for a Freak he is the man and it is getting real and it is on etc.
The Black and White are still conferring…..Vincent realizes they are being filmed and It is the Elite doing it and watching them as Vincent acts all confused.
Match 7: Stevie Ray and Scott Norton and Vincent v. Ric Flair and Chris Benoit and Mongo
Ray and Mongo lock up and Ray pushes him into the corner but misses the forearm. He and Vincent argue. Vincent gets the tag and Mongo destroys. The fans erupt as Benoit gets the tag and does the same. Vincent floats over but a shoulder sends him down and now a snap suplex. Vincent scrambles away as Benoit went up top. Norton is in and he pounds on Benoit who fires back with some chops. Mongo gets the tag but he runs right into a powerslam. Vincent goes to the middle rope and he misses the elbow drop. Flair is in and he screams Hogan’s name as he beats the shit out of Vincent. The match breaks down and they all start brawling but Vincent is left alone with Flair and finished with the Figure Four.
** Nice Horsemen squash.
The other two leave Vincent alone and he is put in the Crossface.
**** Some slow parts but really enjoyable. They had some great matches. They did some solid angle advancements too. It would have been better for Kidman and Chavo to win because it would have made the Black and White look more incompetent but of course WCW cannot have a “vanilla midget” win. Other than that, good stuff.