Written by: Kevin Kindelberger
Match 1: Evan Karagias v. Rey Mysterio Jr. (c) for WCW Cruiserweight Title
Evan runs him over and then flips over him and faceplants him on the follow through. He gets a two count. Rey though slams him and gets two after a springboard guillotine legdrop. Evan counters with a powerslam and he gets two. Now he he strikes with a flying crossbody for two more. He keeps him grounded with a chinlock. Rey is up and dumped to the floor. Evan goes after him, works him over and then rolls him back into the ring. Evan puts him back in the chinlock. Rey gets up but is battered by blows however he counters with a headscissor takeover….
Commercial.
Evan has him down with a reverse chinlock. Rey is up but is knocked back down and Evan gets another two count. Evan keeps after him. Rey is shoved into the corner and kneed a few times. Rey makes a comeback and flies off the ropes nailing him and he gets a two count. Rey whips him into the corner only to miss the leaping charge. Karagias shoots him off the ropes and goes for a gorilla slam and Rey floats over. Rey is up in a powerbomb position and tries to escape but cannot. Evan gets two more and he goes up top but is hit and a top rope Frankensteiner finishes of Evan.
*** Fun match.
Match 2: Wrath v. Damian
Wrath no longer gets squashes. It was a bit long….Damian got some offense in.
*1/2 Long semi-squash.
Konnan did not get too much crowd support here. He talks about Disco and calls him a wannabe and that he is whack. At the PPV it is going to be on. Here comes Juve with a masked dude right behind him. Konnan already knows it is Disco. Juve calls him the greatest Luchador: La Cucharacha and Juve will be the interpreter. Konnan already knows that it is already Disco. Disco whispers in Juve’s ear and Juve stumbles over words and then they can tell it is Disco who is whispering. Konnan tells Juve to quit while he is ahead. Cucharacha wants Konnan to know that he is a bad wrestler and his video sucks. Disco’s Spanish is as bad Juve’s English! Konnan tells him to translate this and goes off on both. But they fight back and Disco holds him but Konnan gets free and Disco eats the springboard kick. Konnan cleans house and Cuch and Juve run off but act like they want to get back in the ring to fight.
Match 3: Hak v. Mikey Whipwreck
Mikey hiptosses him twice and then works over the arm. Hak retreats to the floor. Back in the ring Hak takes him over now and has him in a headlock. Now they fight on the floor. Mikey whips him into the corner and Hak is hung upside down against the railing. Back in the ring Mikey gets two after a missile kick.
Commercial.
Hak whips him into the railing. Now Mikey is set up against the railing and Hak leaps off the top and knees him into it. Now Hak continues to hammer him. They get back in the ring and they go back and forth. Mikey drops him but misses from up top. Now Hak connects with a guillotine legdrop. Now Mikey is driven into a chair. Chastity tosses in the Kendo Stick but Mikey cracks his knee with the chair and wallops him with the stick a few times. But the Stick/Leg sweep combo finishes off Mikey. Here comes Bigelow and he takes out Hak with the Greetings. Chastity hits him with the stick but he grabs it and swings at her and she ducks and runs.
*** Another solid match. Both went at it.
Match 4: Super Calo v. Blitzkrieg
Okay, they have been flying all over the place since the bell about three minutes. Blitz stomps on him but he is whipped into the corner and Calo dropkicks him in the corner. He keeps him grounded for a moment but Blitz is up and rolls him up for two. They brawl for another couple of minutes and Blitz wins after a corkscrew moonsault.
**1/2 Fun match.
Match 5: Raven v. Chris Benoit
Raven is sitting in the corner. Benoit just goes up to him and stomps a hole in him. He runs him over with a clothesline and then snap suplexes him. Benoit holds down a backbreaker. Benoit picks him up and dumps him to the floor. Arn goes at him but he is grabbed but Benoit saves him by nailing Raven with a baseball slide. Benoit rams his head into the steel steps and slaps him in the face. Benoit rolls him back into the ring and whips him into the corner and he is relentless as he peppers him with chops, kicks and punches. Raven gets his feet up off the other whip and then bashes Benoit’s head into the top buckl and now he suplexes him and picks him up and does it again and now a third suplex, and he gets a two count. Benoit grabs him, takes him down and goes for the Crossface but Raven grabs the rope before it is locked on. Raven counters with a jawbreaker.
Commercial.
Benoit is sagged in the corner but Raven is hurting too. Benoit is up first and he jumps on the knee and then does it again. Raven lures him over and dumps Benoit to the floor. He tosses a chair into the ring and sets it up. Benoit is tripped headfirst into it. Raven wants to bulldog him into the chair but Benoit shoves him off and pulls him back down on top of it. Benoit goes up top and the flying headbutt eats all chair! Both men are down. AA comes in as Raven goes for Evenflow and the match is tossed. He grabs Raven but Saturn sledges him in the neck. Malenko runs in to make the save and now they are all going at it. Arn is throttling Saturn and Malenko gives him a DVD! Raven is suplexed.
***1/2 Raven and Benoit put on a great, if short, show but it sets up the PPV.
Match 6: Chris Jericho v. Booker T (c) for WCW TV Title
Jericho has the mic and he asks Penzer the name of this town! He tells Richmond VI that this is his favorite town and the knows that he is their favorite wrestler. They came to see their hero, role model and their paragon of virtue and here he is!
They lock up and neither get the upperhand. Finally Booker has the arm and puts him in a headlock. Jericho tries to fight him off but is stuck in the headlock. Jericho tries to elbow free but cannot. He shoves him off but a shoulder block sends Jericho reeling. Booker sits on the top buckle and chills. Now he goes back to work on the arm but Jericho runs him over and he goes off the ropes but a heel kick sends him down. Booker bodyslams him and he gets two. Booker goes to work but Jericho counters with some chops but he is whipped into the corner and a spinkick sends Jericho to the floor. Jericho turns and heads to the back and Booker goes after him and grabs him by his hair and runs him into the railing twice. Jericho is rolled back into the ring and Booker kicks him in the gut and Jericho elbows him but is launched over the top rope. Booker heads out after him but he is whipped into the railing. Back in the ring Jericho heads upstairs and nails him with a flying back elbow and he gets a two count. Jericho stomps on him and then vertically suplexes him. He rolls him over and nails him with a back splash and he gets another two count. He keeps him grounded by pulling back on the neck. He slaps him on the chest and keeps up the pressure and knees him in the corner and uses his boot to choke him out. Booker is sent into the corner but he floats over, rolls through and Jericho up and he gets two. But Jericho counters right back with a spinkick. Jericho poses for the crowd instead of following up. He knees him in the back of neck and gives him a backbreaker. Now he scoopslams him and he slowly goes up top, slowly, and he stands up there for a minute and leaps right into a waiting boot. He misses the lariat and is kicked and now the axe kick buries him. Jericho is crushed by the spinebuster. Jericho floats over out of the corner and Jericho tosses Booker into the ref but Booker spins up and kills him with the Harlem Kick. Booker goes up top and Steiner runs down and wallops him with the chair in the head and down he goes. Liontamer! But Stevie Ray runs down and knocks out Jericho with the slapjack and Booker rolls over and gets the win.
***1/2 Another great match. Too bad there will not be a blow off match. Booker is clearly going to lose at the PPV and the TV title is the consolation prize. Jericho has not done much as of late and this would have been a big win and set up a long reign. Or push him for the US belt but it is meaningless because he is leaving, too bad too.
**** Best edition of Thunder in some time. It moved forward some of the minor angles. It had some good wrestling. It even mentioned the Hart/Goldberg incident. It was on a Wednesday, something that was not advertised on Monday. Dumbasses. Tenay and Larry are the announcers here. Thank God there is no Schiavone. That is probably what was behind the bickering last Monday, most of it was a set up for their split. Though I am sure there is some real animosity.