WCW Thunder 3/25/1999

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Thunder
Date: 3/25/1999
From: Lexington, KY

Matches:
1.)Jerry Flynn defeated Scotty Riggs
2.)Wrath defeated Mike Enos
3.)Fit Finlay defeated Chris Adams
4.)Kidman defeated Blitzkrieg
5.)Horace defeated Kaz Hayashi
6.)WCW Television Champion Booker T defeated Perry Saturn in a first round match to crown a new WCW United States Champion
7.)WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defeated Barry Windham to retain the title

Angle Developments/Notes:
1. Kidman is the number one contender for Rey’s championship so the outcome between Kidman/Blitz is obvious. Billy delivers a clothesline in the opening moments of the contest and keeps the start slow by just working over Blitz’s arm. Kidman hits a head scissors but Blitz quickly comes back to hit a springboard dropkick to send Billy to the floor. Blitz takes Kidman out with a springboard corkscrew dive on the floor! Kidman blocks a springboard into the ring by dropkicking Blitz. Kidman plants Blitz with a running powerbomb but can’t keep him down for a three count. Billy hits a slingshot leg drop from the apron as the show goes to commercial. Kidman hit a top rope crossbody for a near fall. Blitz counters a hip toss and nails Kidman over the back with a spin kick. Blitz senton splashes Kidman a couple of times. Billy face jams Blitz down to the canvas and connects with a modified tombstone piledriver. Kidman gets a near fall after a middle rope leg drop. Late in the match, Kidman hits a sit out powerbomb and goes to the top rope. Kidman is cut off by Blitz who hits a middle rope hurricanrana! Blitz goes for a twisting moonsault but misses. Kidman slams Blitz down and hits the Shooting Star Press to win the match.(***. A good match here that saw plenty of high risk moves, but that is all it was.)

2. The WCW United States Title Tournament continues with Booker T and Perry Saturn. Booker clotheslines Saturn in the corner and scoop slams Perry to continue his early offense. Saturn ducks under a clothesline and Booker falls over the top to the floor. Saturn hits a snap suplex on the floor. Saturn rams Booker face first into the ring steps and tosses the steps at Booker, but misses him! Saturn rolls Booker into the ring and drives his knee into his back a few times. Saturn superkicks Booker down to the canvas and locks in a sitting abdominal stretch. Saturn takes the champ over with an exploder suplex for a two count. Booker gets out of a sleeper hold with a jaw breaker. Saturn runs into a big boot and a standing side kick from Booker. Booker drives Saturn down to the canvas with a side slam. Saturn gets his foot up to stop Booker in the corner and hits a German suplex. In the corner, Saturn delivers a kick and puts his skirt over Booker’s face to deliver right hands. Perry heads to the top and hits a big splash but can’t put Booker away. Saturn is stopped by a spinebuster and Booker hits the scissors kick! Booker follows up with a flapjack but misses a side kick. Booker gets out of the Death Valley Driver and rolls Saturn up to win the match. (**1/4. It was alright, but it didn’t entertain me all that much. Decent action throughout, though.)

3. The main event this week would be great in the late 1980’s. However, it’s the late 1990’s. Windham gets the early advantage over Flair for a brief moment with a side headlock but Flair quickly gets out of the hold. Barry shoulder blocks Flair moments later but this is starting off slow just like the previous match. Flair chops Windham in the corner before a commercial. Back from the break, Windham had Flair in the figure four but Flair reaches the ropes. Windham nearly wins the title following a leaping clothesline! Barry counters a backslide with one of his own but Flair kicks out before three. Flair blocks a sunset flip by punching Barry in the face. They begin to trade blows in the corner with Barry knocking Flair down. Windham hits another clothesline but Flair gets his leg on the bottom rope. Windham puts a sleeper hold on Flair but Flair gets out of it with a back suplex. Flair attempts to suplex Barry outside of the ring but Windham suplexs Flair into the ring and Charles Robinson issues a slow count. Windham threatens the referee and sets Flair up for a superplex. Windham hits the superplex and the referee does another slow count. Windham threatens the referee again before going back to work on Flair. The referee holds Windham in the corner and Arn Anderson comes down. Flair nails Windham with a right hand and locks in the figure four. Anderson pulls Windham to the ropes to break the hold. Anderson tells Windham something and Barry simply walks backstage. Um, okay. (*1/4. I don’t know what the point of this match was, but it wasn’t good. The finish was bizarre and confusing.)

Final Thoughts:
There wasn’t a major interview segment or anything. There were very brief hype videos for wrestlers and wrestling. The wrestling this week wasn’t all that good aside from the Kidman match. I’ll consider this a lackluster episode. It just didn’t feature anything all that interesting or entertaining.

Thanks for reading.