World Championship Wrestling presents Thunder
Date: 1/21/1999
From: Indianapolis, IN
Arena: Market Square Arena
Announcers: Tony Schiavone & Bobby Heenan
Thunder opens up with Schiavone and Heenan promoting the program and what to expect this week. Tonight, WCW World Champion Kevin Nash defends the title against one-half of Harlem Heat, Stevie Ray. Plus, Rey Mysterio Jr., looks to free himself from the LWO when he takes on Juventud Guerrera. Lex Luger, Scott Steiner and Chris Jericho are all in action plus much more!
Match #1: Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Juventud Guerrera in 10:44 following a springboard hurricanrana.
Eddy Guerrero makes his way down to the ring and is mockingly applauding Mysterio for his winning efforts against another LWO member. Mean Gene meets up in the ring and Gene notes that per Guerrero’s clause, Mysterio is now free from the LWO! Eddy halts Gene and says that there was a miscommunication since English isn’t his primary language. Eddy reveals that this isn’t the final step to freedom for Mysterio and that instead Rey must defeat Psychosis on Nitro and then Rey can disassociate from the LWO. Eddy assures Rey that he feels badly about the mixup and promises he’s not purposely screwing with Rey.
Match #2: Kanyon defeated Brad Armstrong in 5:12 following the Flatliner.
Mean Gene conducts an interview with Curt Hennig. Hennig talks about the vicious chair shot he delivered to Perry Saturn on Nitro. Hennig tells Gene that he should be thanked for doing it. Hennig tells Gene that he’s noticed that Saturn has crossed eyes a lot of times and he simply tried to correct it for Saturn instead of Saturn having to go to the doctor. Hennig jokes that Saturn probably doesn’t have good health insurance to cover such an expense anyway. Hennig tells Gene that if Saturn needs a followup exam, he’ll be more than happy to smack Saturn across the head again.
Match #3: Scott Steiner defeated Kenny Kaos in 3:58 with the Steiner Recliner.
Mean Gene conducts an interview with Scott Seiner and Buff Bagwell regarding their rematch against the WCW Tag Team Champions Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko at Superbrawl IX. Steiner tells Gene that he’s the greatest tag team wrestler, but there’s only so much one man can do in a tag team when his partner is holding him back. Bagwell takes offense to that and tells Steiner that he’s not holding the team back. Steiner continues to blame Bagwell for them losing at Souled Out and tells Bagwell that he better not drop the ball at Superbrawl IX.
Match #4: Billy Kidman defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr. in 8:31 following the Shooting Star Press. After the match, Kidman calls out Devon Storm to figure out what is going on. However, instead of Storm, Daffney comes out and tells Kidman that he better get his wits about him because she promises Kidman that he’d rather have Storm as an ally rather than an enemy. Accept Storm’s help, or else. Kidman is left perplexed.
Match #5: Chris Jericho defeated Evan Karagias in 4:29 with the Lion Tamer. After the match, the usual over the top Jericho is much more subdued and seemed mostly uninterested in the match and victory.
Mean Gene conducts an interview with WCW United States Champion Booker T. Booker talks about his upcoming match with Diamond Dallas Page at Superbrawl IX. Booker has a ton of respect for DDP and notes that last year DDP brought a lot of prestige to the WCW United States Championship by being a fighting champion. Booker is also a fighting champion and wants to be the best WCW United States Champion the promotion has ever had. In order to do that, Booker has to beat the man that everyone thinks about when they think of the WCW US Championship and that’s DDP right now. Booker is prepared for battle at Superbrawl IX and he’s prepared to surpass DDP as one of the greats.
Match #6: Lex Luger defeated The Barbarian in 6:04 with the Torture Rack.
Main Event: WCW World Champion Kevin Nash defeated Stevie Ray in 7:46 following the Jackknife Powerbomb. After the match, Nash and Scott Hall continue to beatdown Stevie Ray until WCW United States Champion Booker T runs into the ring to make the save to end the show.