APRIL 15TH — ORLANDO, FL — ORLANDO ARENA — LIVE
MATCH #1: BUFF BAGWELL VS. EL VAMPIRO
FINISH: Bagwell avoided a middle rope hurricanrana and hit the blockbuster to win the match.
Bob’s Take: It’s not a terrible way to start the show. Bagwell is over with the crowd and his offense towards the end came across fairly well. Vampiro is a guy who can provide a freshness to the midcard and hopefully the losses he’s taken over the past month doesn’t set him back too far. There was good crowd energy towards the end, but the middle part of the bout had a level of deadness to it. The main thing that is sticking out to me is Bagwell’s crowd reaction and how well he’s getting over as a babyface at this moment. 1 for 1
MATCH #2: WRATH VS. JERRY FLYNN
FINISH: The match ends in a double count out as they brawled on the floor. However, Wrath suffered a knee injury after a top rope flying clothesline and appears to have blown his knee out. Wrath couldn’t put much weight on his knee.
Bob’s Take: It was a bit obvious that Wrath messed up his knee following the top rope clothesline and the match derailed from there. Wrath got to a point where he was avoiding putting weight on the knee. However, that didn’t stop Flynn from literally kicking Wrath on the injured knee several times. What a pro. 1 for 2
MATCH #3: HORACE VS. MENG
FINISH: Meng counters a sunset flip attempt and locks in the Tongan Death Grip to pin Horace.
Bob’s Take: I truly wish they’d just fully commit to pushing Meng in a meaningful manner as a babyface. Meng is one of the few guys that manages to get a strong reaction for his finishing hold the Tongan Death Grip. It’s a finisher that has been heavily protected and is believable to be a move that finishes off mostly anyone on the roster. There wasn’t much to the bout, but the crowd popped for Meng. 1 for 3
RIC FLAIR BLINDLY SIGNING PAPERS, ARN ANDERSON A BIT CONCERNED
CONTEXT: Backstage, Flair, Anderson and Robinson are drinking champagne and talking. A woman named Georgia enters the room and gives Flair something to sign. Flair doesn’t bother to read any of the document and signs the papers. Anderson tries to see what Flair is signing and is a bit concerned about Flair’s reckless signing without reading any of the content.
Bob’s Take: What in the world did Flair sign? What could he have signed that would cause Anderson to worry? It’s an interesting segment and it raises questions. 2 for 4
MATCH #4: MIKEY WHIPWRECK VS. DISCO INFERNO
FINISH: Inferno hit the Last Dance to pickup the clean pin victory.
Bob’s Take: Whipwreck managed to get a bit of a showcase for the first time since UnCensored and his offense came across well for the moments he was able to shine. I actually liked this match quite a bit and it surprised the hell out of me. For a match that went over twelve minutes, there wasn’t much in the sense of downtime and they filled the time rather effectively. I was expecting this to be a chore to get through, but pleasantly surprised by one of the better Thunder matches thus far in 1999. 3 for 5
MEAN GENE CHATS WITH THE NWO B-TEAM
CONTEXT: Gene says that Stevie Ray has an agenda, and asks if Ray will share it tonight. Ray says Gene is paid too much and tells him to hold the microphone and listen. Ray says they have come together as one and they are going to police pro wrestling like the NWO was suppose to do from the start. Ray dismisses Hollywood Hogan because of his knee injury. Ray knows that Kevin Nash is making deals behind their back and doesn’t like it. Steiner is hurt, Luger is a prima donna regarding his arm injury. Ray says they don’t need to watch the other guys fight over a mirror because there’s nothing pretty about NWO. Ray notes that Scott Norton is in Japan kicking ass to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Ray focuses on WCW World Champion Diamond Dallas Page. Ray issues a challenge to DDP and calls him a fruit booty. Ray warns DDP to keep Kimberly at home, or he’ll pimp slap two people tonight. Ray wants Vincent to watch Ray’s back if DDP accepts the challenge.
Bob’s Take: That was a far better promo than I was expecting out of Ray. The crowd reacted to Ray suggesting that he’d pimp slap Kimberly. Orlando isn’t a fan of man on woman violence, I gather. Ray probably should have put Vincent in the position to watch his back since Vincent is literally the only member of the NWO that Stevie had a long standing issue with that led to a PPV match at UnCensored. Anyway, this was an effective segment and actually made me interested in the main event. 4 for 6
MATCH #5: RAVEN & PERRY SATURN VS. DISORDERLY CONDUCT
FINISH: Raven delivers the Evenflow DDT to pickup the clean victory.
Bob’s Take: A formula tag match for the most part, but an entertaining one. Disorderly Conduct are a solid enhancement tag team and are best comparable to probably the Armstrong Brothers. They are capable of putting together a decent match, but they’re not going to prevail. Raven and Saturn continue to be getting good crowd reactions. 5 for 7
MATCH #6: WCW CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION REY MYSTERIO JR. VS. JUVENTUD GUERRERA
FINISH: Mysterio hits a top rope hurricanrana to pickup the clean win and retain the title
Bob’s Take: This is the kind of match that can give WCW fans hope that the company can figure out how to get back on track. Simply a competitive action filled Cruiserweight match that you’d expect from these two. Its a great match and on the same level as their match on Thunder from last month. 6 for 8
RIC FLAIR CHATS WITH CHARLES ROBINSON
CONTEXT: Arn Anderson enters the room and he’s upset that Georgia can’t be found and tells Robinson to find her. Flair and Anderson bicker a little bit about Flair blindly signing things.
Bob’s Take: I’m sure we’re going to find out what Flair signed on Nitro. I don’t mind this kind of storytelling to make the viewer watch the next episode. I hope it’s not a downer. 7 for 9
MAIN EVENT: WCW WORLD CHAMPION DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE VS. STEVIE RAY
FINISH: DDP spikes Ray with the Diamond Cutter to win the match and retain the title. After the match, Vincent, Horace and Brian Adams storm the ring to attack DDP. DDP clotheslines Adams and Vincent to fight them off. DDP drops Vincent with a Diamond Cutter. DDP stands tall with Kimberly.
Bob’s Take: That was actually a good main event. It felt like a brawl, and Ray didn’t slow the match down as you might expect. They didn’t rely on nonsense with the NWO getting involved. We got a clean finish with a quality match between Ray and DDP. The crowd was amped for the match, too. DDP got a clear babyface reaction and I think Stevie’s promo earlier in the show helped drive interest in the match. 8 for 10
I didn’t have high expectations coming into this episode of Thunder, but they ended up producing a quality show. Thunder tends to focus a lot on in-ring with minimal promo work. The promo work done here actually enhanced the action for later on (Stevie/DDP). That is effective booking and as a viewer I appreciated it.
Orlando crowd was vocal and helped the matches quite a bit. Rey/Juvi continue to deliver great TV matches on Thunder. DDP/Stevie gets high praise from me because it was not what I was expecting. I feel like I’m developing a greater appreciation for Stevie Ray now. There’s nothing to harp on for the most part. This was a good Thunder.
4/15 THUNDER TV RATING: 3.2
Thanks for reading.