The January 25th Nitro was a strong show as the show had a strong focus on in-ring wrestling and it was quite enjoyable. WCW United States Champion Bret Hart made his in-ring return since he hadn’t been seen in-ring since winning the title on November 30th, 1998. Hart picked up a cheap win over Booker T, who had been on a roll in recent weeks. Booker’s loss sends a little bit of a message that he’s on the come up, but he’s not quite yet at the level of a guy like Hitman. I completely disagree and think that Booker T in the main event would be a much needed breath of fresh air in the title scene.
Realistically, 1999 could be a year where the main event seen is focused on Booker, Benoit, Jericho, Steiner, Hart, Sting, Flair, DDP, and the other usual suspects. Hogan and Nash could be used on a limited basis, but having main event scene focused on in-ring skill would make these shows that much better. Of course, right now the angle involving Flair and Hogan is red hot and I’d expect a good number for Superbrawl IX. But, longterm there needs to be a pivot and if your ratings are going down its a great time to bite the bullet and prepare for the future.
I mentioned in the last post how Nitro was a strong show without certain talent, and then I remembered that Thunder is taped this week and it’s rather likely that Mysterio, Konnan, Kidman and others worked this show and to avoid any potential issue they didn’t appear on Nitro.
Lets check out the January 28th Thunder.
JANUARY 28TH —INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA — MARKET SQUARE ARENA — TAPED
MATCH #1: HUGH MORRUS VS. PSYCHOSIS
FINISH: Morrus wins after hitting the No Laughing Matter
Bob’s Take: I’m a fan of Morrus. I think he has a great look and his badass persona connects with me. He’s a fun guy to watch and especially good when he’s wrestling smaller opponents. I’m a bit surprised that Psychosis would be put in this spot. I kind of figured that Psychosis could be in line for a Cruiserweight title match with his recent win over Juventud on Nitro. WCW booking sometimes doesn’t make sense, but I can’t envision Psychosis getting a shot at Superbrawl now as I had previously thought. Anyway, this was a solid opening match that got plenty of time. Morrus tried some high risk stuff and Psychosis flew around a little bit. The crowd responded well to Morrus and the overall action fairly well. 1 for 1
MATCH #2: CHRIS JERICHO VS. SILVER KING
FINISH: Jericho wins by submission with the Lion Tamer
Bob’s Take: I was not expecting Silver King to get nearly the amount of offense that he did get. Jericho seems to be moved past the Cruiserweight division, but I’m fine with still having competitive matches with Cruiserweight wrestlers. It was an enjoyable undercard match and Jericho getting a clean win is always good, too. 2 for 2
MATCH #3: FIT FINLAY VS. SUPER CALO
FINISH: Finlay picks up the win after hitting the tombstone piledriver
Bob’s Take: There was no purpose of this match as neither guy has any substantial direction. This is the kind of match that you’d see on Saturday Night. I like both guys, but this one kind of dragged along and didn’t entertain me. 2 for 3
VAN HAMMER LAID OUT BACKSTAGE
CONTEXT: Van Hammer and Wrath are scheduled to team up for the next match, but backstage we see that Disco Inferno is standing over a fallen Van Hammer. Inferno calls Wrath a chicken from leaving. The Outsiders end up replacing Wrath and Hammer.
Bob’s Take: Wrath and Hammer is such a random tag team duo. WCW have very few true tag teams that it’s making the tag tournament look kind of silly. 2 for 4
SCOTT HALL PROMO
CONTEXT: Hall says they don’t care what Ric Flair says about the tournament because the Outsiders have already proven to be the best tag team in wrestling. Hall offers Duncum and Enos a chance to leave, but they go on the attack instead.
Bob’s Take: It’s the Outsiders and their presence alone makes them one of the more interesting things on Thunder. Apparently, the Outsiders are wrestling Rey and Konnan in the main event, too. 3 for 5
MATCH #4: THE OUTSIDERS VS. BOBBY DUNCUM JR. & MIKE ENOS — WCW Tag Title Tournament Match (?)
FINISH: Nash pins Duncum following the Jackknife
Bob’s Take: If this is a match in the tag tournament then the Outsiders are probably heavy favorites to reach the finals. An enjoyable squash. 4 for 6
MATCH #5: DISCO INFERNO VS. HECTOR GARZA
FINISH: Inferno wins the match following the Chartbuster
Bob’s Take: Nothing too crazy going on here. Inferno continues to get over with the crowd. The crowd pops for the Chartbuster, but I’m convinced it’s only because it’s WCW’s version of the stunner and they react out of instinct. 4 for 7
MATCH #6: BAM-BAM BIGELOW VS. KAZ HAYASHI
FINISH: Bigelow wins following the Greetings From Asbury Park
Bob’s Take: Using Cruiserweight wrestlers as essentially enhancement guys is a bit bizarre. I understand using them since they don’t have momentum or direction, but there are guys such as Bobby Eaton, Bobby Blaze, Al Green, Enos, Duncum and I could probably a dozen more if I looked up the roster. The Cruiserweight division is carried by a handful of guys and using their opponents as enhancement guys continues to weaken the division itself. 4 for 8
MAIN EVENT: THE OUTSIDERS VS. REY MYSTERIO JR. & KONNAN
FINISH: Lex Luger comes out and attacks Konnan from behind to cause the disqualification.
Bob’s Take: This is a fairly big main event for Thunder and a match that didn’t go five minutes or less. The interaction between Hall and Mysterio made me interested in a singles match between the two as Hall will bump around for anyone and make them look great. They got around ten minutes and I enjoyed the bout. The cheap finish isn’t a surprise whatsoever. 5 for 9
WOLFPAC ATTACKS MYSTERIO & KONNAN
CONTEXT: The Wolfpac lay out the duo of Mysterio and Konnan. WCW World Champion Hollywood Hogan is the last guy to enter the ring as the Wolfpac pick apart Mysterio & Konnan. Hogan whips Mysterio over the back with his weight belt. They are forcing Konnan to watch the beating. Hogan spray paints Mysterio back to end the show.
Bob’s Take: It sure seems as if the Wolfpac have to knockdown wrestlers a peg if they get some momentum. Mysterio and Konnan are connecting with the crowd and Mysterio especially came across very well in the match. I’d tune in to see Mysterio vs. Hall on TV as Hall is the kind of guy who would put over Mysterio cleanly and not even think about it. Hopefully Mysterio & Konnan can get momentum on the Wolfpac. 6 for 10
For a taped episode of Thunder, this wasn’t too bad. There was a heavy focus on wrestling, which makes the show fly by for the most part. Considering this was taped two weeks ago, it wouldn’t be logical to produce angles to advance feuds as it would likely be out of order. There’s nothing to digest here for angle advancement, for the most part.
1/28 Thunder TV Rating: 4.2
Thanks for reading.