WCW Thunder 2/18/1999

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Thunder
Date: 2/18/1999
From: Salt Lake City, UT

Matches:
1.) Lash LeRoux defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr. by disqualification
2.) Chris Jericho defeated Juventud Guerrera
3.) WCW Television Champion Scott Steiner defeated Bobby Blaze in a non-title match.
4.) Konnan & Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Hector Garza & Silver King
5.) Jerry Flynn defeated Booker T
6.) Dean Malenko & Chris Benoit defeated Brian Adams & Horace Hogan in a steel cage match

Angle Developments/Notes:
1. Guess what? There is a steel cage suspended above the ring. So, there could be some blood tonight! Oh, who am I kidding.

2. Backstage, Stevie Ray tries to get his brother Booker T to join the New World Order. Booker doesn’t go for it and instead says that Stevie is just carrying Hogan’s bags. Disco Inferno comes over and says that there would be room for Booker in the group. Ray insults Inferno before walking away so that Booker can badmouth Disco as well.

3. Torrie Wilson continues to flirt with the camera guy.

4. Disco Inferno comes out to the ring and introduces a legend he has looked up to… the Rowdy Scot. It ends up being Scott Hall in a kilt. Hall tells us tat everyone is talking about what is going down in Oakland with Inferno. Hall announces that Inferno will be competing against Booker T at Superbrawl. Inferno begins to insult Booker saying that he is mediocre and that when it comes to the ladder of success, Booker is still on the first rung. Inferno claims that Booker was a drummer in the high school band. Inferno believes that Booker will be unable to stop him at Superbrawl. Hall tells Piper that he is going to walk out of Oakland as the WCW United States Champion. Hall takes off his kilt and tosses it out of the ring.

5. The recently turned heel Chavo Guerrero Jr. competed in the opening match against the rising star, Lash LeRoux. During the bout, we go outside to see Rey Mysterio attack Lex Luger who was getting out of a limo. Rey slammed the car door into Luger’s arm. Yeah, I remember when Larry Zbyszko did that to Barry Windham almost eight years ago. LeRoux holds his own against Chavo as he went to the top rope late in the match, but was cut off. Chavo ends up putting LeRoux in a tree of woe and beats LeRoux up from the floor causing the referee to throw out the match giving LeRoux a disqualification win! After the match, WCW Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman runs down to make the save and punches Chavo a few times. However, Chavo ends up getting the better of Kidman by hitting a tornado DDT on the floor!

6. We get several videos promoting Raven and Kanyon, and several things that happened on Nitro. Just read the Nitro recaps to know what happened there!

7. Before the next match, Jericho apologizes to his fans for being better than Perry Saturn and for forcing his fans to see Saturn in a dress. So, he brings out a guy who brings class and looks good in a dress. It’s none other than Ralphus who comes out with pink dress on. I must admit, that was good. Ralphus tried to kiss Juventud, but fails as Juventud made his comeback on Jericho. Juventud nearly won with a hurricanrana after countering a power bomb. Juventud attempts another hurricanrana off the ropes but is caught and taps out to the Liontamer.

8. Buff Bagwell comes out to the ring for a promo segment. Bagwell announces that he will be wrestling again, but the fans do not approve of this announcement. Bagwell introduces WCW Television Champion Scott Steiner. Steiner thinks that Utah may be DDP country since they all have signs for him. Steiner thinks that DDP is afraid to show up to the arena. Steiner thinks that Kimberly wants him because of his body and personality. So, Steiner accepts DDP’s challenge for Superbrawl. But, he adds the stipulation that if he wins he gets Kimberly for thirty days. WCW is using angles that the WWF did two years ago, brilliant! Steiner wants to hurt someone, so Bagwell calls out his opponent this evening… Bobby Blaze. Good lord…

9. As expected, Scott Steiner destroys Bobby Blaze. Steiner wins the match with the Steiner Recliner. Blaze is put on a stretcher but is attacked by Steiner again. Steiner decides to put the Steiner Recliner on him again to end the segment.

10. Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. competed in tag team action when they met Silver King and Hector Garza. It took them less than three minutes to get the job done this week. Rey leaps off Konnan’s back to hit King with a hurricanrana to win the bout.

11. Backstage, Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit talk about the cage match later tonight.

12. Booker T was in action as he tries to get past the first step of success, as Disco Inferno would say. Inferno decided to witness this attempt first hand when Booker competed against Jerry Flynn. Booker appeared to be well on his way to victory until Inferno bent the ropes and sent Booker crashing to the floor. Inferno hit the Chartbuster on Booker behind the referees back as well. Flynn ends up hitting a spin wheel kick to pick up the huge upset win. Sure Booker lost because of Inferno, but the fact that Flynn pinned Booker T is disgusting. I would understand if Flynn was getting a push in the future… oh my lord… maybe Flynn is getting a push in the future? NO!

13. Mean Gene introduces the President of WCW, Ric Flair for an interview. Flair wants to drive home a point that Hogan will hear. He doesn’t want to talk about what happened on Nitro. Flair admits he was dumb to get himself into the situation he encountered on Nitro. Flair admits that the New World Order is cool, but can’t say the same for Hogan. Flair isn’t happy about Hogan just being awarded the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Flair says that Superbrawl it will be just himself and Hogan. Flair closes the interview saying that in Oakland in order to be the man you gotta beat Ric Flair!

14. Back at the hotel room, Torrie Wilson is handed tickets to Superbrawl by the person holding the camera.

15. The cage match starts off with normal tag team rules, which is something I have never understood since it’s a steel cage match. Benoit is worked on by both Adams and Horace in the early moments of the contest. Adams delivered a backbreaker while Horace hit a shoulder breaker but neither man was able to put Benoit away on the cover attempt. Benoit is able to absorb seven minutes of punishment and takes Horace down with a German suplex! Malenko gets the hot tag and cleans house with a dropkick and a spinning heel kick. Malenko tries for the Texas Cloverleaf on Adams but Horace made the save. Horace is rammed head first into the cage! Adams is catapulted face first into the cage as well. Benoit has the Crippler Crossface on Horace but Adams is able to recover in time to make the save! Adams rams Benoit into the cage as Vincent walks out to the ringside area. Benoit is rammed head first into the cage by both men again. The referee is knocked down as Malenko is rammed into the cage. This allows Vincent to enter the ring with a chair and drags Benoit out to the floor where he attacks Benoit. Adams uses the chair on Malenko. Benoit drop toe holds Vincent into the ring steps and climbs up the cage! Benoit crotches Horace on the top rope and gains his footing on the top of the cage. Malenko boots Adams in the face and Benoit dives off the top of the cage to hit the diving head butt! Malenko covers Adams and wins the match! (***. Folks, that was a lot better then I thought it would ever be. A good way to close out the show this week!)

Final Thoughts:
I thought it was a decent show this week. They used some of the bigger talent, which even if its just an interview can do wonders for a show. The show really promoted the Disco/Booker feud, though they are doing that last minute as well. At least there is some kind of reasoning behind it. By this point I have lost any kind of interest in Flair vs. Hogan. It has happened so many times, that it just doesn’t matter anymore to me. Overall, despite some of the bad stuff like Flynn winning and the usage of angles that happened several years ago, I thought it was a decent show. It’s nothing great, but for Thunder standards it wasn’t offensive which is a big positive.

Thanks for reading.