JUNE 10TH — SYRACUSE, NY — ONONDAGA WAR MEMORIAL ARENA — LIVE
RANDY SAVAGE ARRIVES, MISTAKINGLY ATTACKS BRIAN ADAMS
CONTEXT: Savage tells the limo driver to pull over to another car. Savage thinks he sees WCW World Champion Kevin Nash unpacking his car. Savage decks the guy from behind and soon realizes it is not Nash and backs off saying he thought it was Nash. Instead, it is Brian Adams. Savage apologizes that he made a mistake, but Adams got off lucky.
Bob’s Take: Honestly, it’s probably a reasonable mistake made by a psychopath. 1 for 1
BUFF BAGWELL INTERVIEW; THE CAT CONFRONTATION
CONTEXT: Gene says that they have good news from Roddy Piper. Bagwell is excited to be getting the ball. Gene announces that Bagwell will be wrestling at Great American Bash against the Disco Inferno. Bagwell says he’s been in WCW for eight years with a thumb on his head. Bagwell thinks that Piper is letting his old tights getting to his head and keeping a thumb on Bagwell. Bagwell recalls beating Inferno on Nitro and doesn’t consider Inferno to be a challenge. Cat comes out and says he deserves the ball, too. Bagwell thinks Cat would fumble the ball. Cat tells Bagwell he’s the greatest and he’s young. Cat can beat anyone. Bagwell challenges Cat to a match tonight on Thunder. Cat accepts and says he’s going to stomp Bagwell.
Bob’s Take: It is obvious that Piper is trolling Bagwell by putting him in a match with Disco at the PPV as if that is giving someone the ball. Piper has to be turning full heel to align with the other old wrestlers, and it makes a lot more sense. Cat/Bagwell as a Thunder feature bout is fine. Their interaction was average at best. 2 for 2
MATCH #1: WCW CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION REY MYSTERIO JR. & KONNAN VS. PSYCHOSIS & VILLANO IV
NOTE: Mikey Tenay announces that WCW President Ric Flair reverses the decision from the Nitro tag title change because Saturn wasn’t a legal man in the match. Thus, DDP and Bigelow are still WCW Tag Team Champions.
FINISH: Mysterio pins Psychosis after a springboard hurricanrana.
Bob’s Take: Konnan and Mysterio need to have tag matches against teams that aren’t in the Cruiserweight division. Mysterio especially needs to distance himself, but he’s still the champion of the division, so he’s still kind of stuck in two worlds. Syracuse popped pretty well for Mysterio and Konnan, a bit more than I expected. The bout is fine for a squash match and the crowd had some good energy for it. Konnan botch towards the end almost derailed the crowd, but Mysterio recovered them quickly. 3 for 3
WCW TAG CHAMPIONS DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE & KANYON NTERVIEW
CONTEXT: Gene also mentions the match result reversal to explain to the live audience why DDP and Bigelow still have the tag titles. DDP calls Syracuse a dump (he’s not wrong). DDP tells Gene to not worry about Bigelow, who isn’t there. DDP tells Gene that’s the benefit of a Triad. We’ll never know which combination of the three will be the champions on any given night. DDP hasn’t forgotten about Nash, either. DDP tells Gene he sounds stupid for calling Kevin Nash “big sexy.” DDP tells Gene that Saturn never beat him on Nitro. DDP also talks about Flair reversing the decision. DDP never needed the fans and lets them know about it. DDP challenges Benoit and Saturn to a tag title match at the PPV if they wanted to fight. Kanyon says “I’ve got something to say… what he said!”
Bob’s Take: DDP is doing a good job as a heel here. Kanyon is good comic relief, but he’s not over the top about it. I like the idea of a Triad. They could be a fun heel trio. 4 for 4
RANDY SAVAGE SEARCHES FOR KEVIN NASH, BUMPS INTO BRIAN ADAMS
CONTEXT: Savage calls Adams a Nash lookalike and tells Adams he got lucky. Adams calls Savage a pimple who needs to get popped. Adams and Savage bicker where they agree to wrestle tonight on Thunder. Savage is going to have a tuneup before Great American Bash.
Bob’s Take: Savage wrestling in any capacity is not something that I’m excited to witness. The show story is fine so it serves a purpose. But, I’m well aware it will not be a good in-ring bout. 5 for 5
MATCH #2: BUFF BAGWELL VS. THE CAT
NOTE: Disco Inferno joined the commentary team for the match.
FINISH: Late in the match, Bagwell grabs the crowbar and decks Ono off the apron to cause the match to be thrown out. Scott Norton came out and stalk Cat backstage. Disco Inferno hit Bagwell with the Chartbuster to lay out Bagwell.
Bob’s Take: As a viewer, I’m not taking this as Bagwell looking like a guy who could run with the ball. Cat is a promising heel character, but Bagwell could have used a clean victory to build on his apparent push. 5 for 6
CHRIS BENOIT & PERRY SATURN INTERVIEW
CONTEXT: Mean Gene introduces Chris Benoit and Saturn for an interview on the aisle. Benoit says he at one time had respect for Flair, but that respect was now once upon a time. Benoit tells Flair he better watch his back and notes that payback can be a bitch. Benoit notes that DDP and Bigelow aligned with Flair due to politics. Benoit doesn’t have any nor does he respect politics. Benoit is going to take their dignity at the PPV. Saturn says they don’t have to like each other, but they just need to like winning. Saturn considers Benoit to be a winner. Saturn reminds us that he did beat DDP on Nitro. Saturn doesn’t think the champs stand a chance against them in a two on two match. Saturn promises to stretch Kanyon at the PPV. Dean Malenko makes his way out and stares at them from a distance. Malenko then walks back.
Bob’s Take: Considering Saturn and Benoit continue to make their entrance to Dean Malenko’s music, I can’t imagine there’s going to be any kind of beef between them. If they are going to be the young guard they need to be a united front. The promo work was fine, and I’m looking forward to the tag title match at GAB. 6 for 7
RANDY SAVAGE PROMO; BRIAN ADAMS PROMO
CONTEXT: Savage is confident that Kevin Nash doesn’t want a piece of him and he’s in a hospital. Savage thinks that Nash should forfeit the title to him. Adams tells the girls that he will show them who a real Macho Man is when he’s done with Savage.
Bob’s Take: Just a basic promo to add some heat for the title match. It didn’t bother me. 7 for 8
MATCH #3: RANDY SAVAGE VS. BRIAN ADAMS
FINISH: Late in the match, Vincent tries to get involved, but is stopped and distracts the referee allowing Savage to hit a top rope elbow drop for the win. After the match, Savage takes out the NWO with chair shots. Miss Madness missile dropkicks Horace. Savage hits a top rope elbow drop on Horace.
Bob’s Take: The whole match and segment were actually far more entertaining than I expected. I wonder if the friendship between Adams and Savage made for the action to be a lot better than I ever thought it would be. Adams looked good in there and did some decent power moves. Savage gave Adams a lot of offense and I’d say drastically more than anything Bagwell got in his two matches with Savage. 8 for 9
RICK STEINER PROMO
CONTEXT: Rick Steiner tells Sting to bring his bat and Lex Luger to combat the Steiner Brothers at the PPV. Steiner delivers his usual catchphrases.
Bob’s Take: I truly get zero joy out of Rick Steiner. 8 for 10
MATCH #4: WCW TELEVISION CHAMPION RICK STEINER VS. FIT FINLAY:
FINISH: Steiner hits a top rope bulldog and locks in standing arm bar for the submission.
Bob’s Take: The submission finish is a bit silly since it looks truly dumb. Steiner is better off keeping the bulldog as his finisher and not a lead-in into the submission hold. For some reason I kind of expect more out of these two when they square off, but I’m constantly left wishing they’d do more. Their styles seem to matchup well, but it doesn’t quite reach the levels I’d think they could reach. 8 for 11
WCW WORLD CHAMPION KEVIN NASH CALLS INTO THE SHOW; HEALTH UPDATE
CONTEXT: Kevin Nash calls into the show to give an update. Nash says he has a cracked rib and his other ribs are swollen. Nash feels a bit bruised, but he’ll be at the Great American Bash where Savage will pay for this. Nash admits he won’t be at 100%, but even at 90% he can do more than Savage. Nash says he was just doing some pranks, but Savage took it to another level. Nash is going to try the best he can despite Savage stacking the deck against him. Nash didn’t who could have been driving the hummer. Nash only saw headlights, but has heard that Scott Hall may have been the driver. Nash thinks Savage is stacking the deck against him and believes Savage knows he can’t beat him one on one. Nash says Savage will have to pry the belt out of his dead hands. Nash wants the elbow drop to be reinstated because he doesn’t want Savage to have any argument against a potential loss.
Bob’s Take: They had to do this segment to assure fans that Nash will be on PPV, but it is a bit silly that a guy would be nearly murdered and a few days later simply say “hey I’m bruised, but I’ll be there.” The whole segment makes sense and Nash explained his reasoning well. 9 for 12
KANYON PROMO
CONTEXT: Kanyon calls Syracuse a dump and brags about knocking out Saturn on Nitro. Kanyon asks the fans who is better than him and they respond that everyone is.
Bob’s Take: I like Kanyon and I’m thrilled for him getting a push with the Triad. 10 for 13
MATCH #5: PERRY SATURN VS. KANYON
FINISH: Late in the match, DDP nails Saturn with a top rope leaping clothesline to cause a DQ. Benoit runs into the ring and there’s a brawl. The referee calls for a tag match.
Bob’s Take: I think it is reasonable to say that they didn’t get past the first gear of effort, but even with that being the case it was still an enjoyable match. At one point a portion of the crowd chanted boring, but Syracuse tends to not understand good wrestling when it’s presented. I’m wondering if fans can’t get into matches because they know there’s a DQ coming when there’s notable wrestlers involved. 11 for 14
MAIN EVENT: WCW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE & KANYON VS. CHRIS BENOIT & PERRY SATURN
NOTE: The titles are on the line. The crowd litters the ring with drinks and popcorn, which could be a sign that they know there’s going to be some BS finish to this match.
FINISH: Late in the match, Dean Malenko stands in the middle of the aisle preventing Arn Anderson from getting into the ring. Benoit pins Kanyon after a top rope diving headbutt. New Champs!
Bob’s Take: A decent match that had more crowd energy for a sub-five minute match than the bout leading into it that had gone ten+ minutes. If they reveal on the GAB PPV that the match is reversed then I’m going to get a little bit frustrated with the constant dusty booking. I think I would have saved the title change moment for the PPV instead of a random Thunder episode. Regardless, it’s an entertaining main event. 12 for 15
The next show is Great American Bash ’99, and on Nitro I wasn’t interested in basically anything heading into the event. Now that the tag titles are officially on the card, I am looking forward to a rematch. Konnan & Mysterio vs. Hennig & Duncum Jr. could be a good match, as well. That match is officially taking place on PPV.
Great American Bash ’99 doesn’t have a lot of excitement attached to it, but maybe we’ll get treated with some unexpected entertainment.
WCW Thunder 6/10 TV Rating: 3.1
Thanks for reading.