WCW: Thunder
September 24, 1998
Norfolk, VA
The Scope

The current WCW champs are as follows:
WCW World Champion: Bill Goldberg (7/6/1998)
WCW U.S. Champion: Bret Hart (8/13/1998)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Giant & Scott Hall (7/20/1998)
WCW World Television Champion: Chris Jericho (8/10/1998)
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Billy Kidman (9/14/1998)

RIC FLAIR! WOO! THE FOUR HORSEMEN ARE BACK, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WHAT’S CAUSIN’ ALL THIS? STYLIN’ AND PROFILIN’! OLDEST RIDE, LONGEST LINE. WOO! SPACE MOUNTAIN YEAH.

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Lee Marshall. Ric Flair is here, but the people are chanting for Goldberg. He’ll be wrestling Kanyon tonight. Okay then. Now the crowd wants Flair. Make up your minds!

• Rick Steiner vs. Hugh Morrus (w/Jimmy Hart)

Hugh Morrus is now sporting a crew cut and he’s also finally lost the Dungeon of Doom symbol from his tights. Morrus is just here to bump for Steiner. Jimmy gets punched off the apron. When Morrus goes to check on his manager, a Steinerline takes Morrus to the floor. Hart gets grabbed again, but Morrus jumps Steiner from behind. Morrus takes too long coming off the top rope and misses a flying elbow. He staggers around the ring and gets caught with the STEINER BULLDOG for the win in 2:29.

• Ernest Miller vs. Nick Dinsmore

Schiavone tells us that Eric Bischoff is busy in Japan tonight – possibly checking on Eddie Guerrero. Heenan thinks he’s gone to Japan to get more support to help against the Four Horsemen. Another week, another chance given to Miller’s opponent to leave since he’s a three-time world karate champion. Nick Dinsmore isn’t concerned. He runs wild on Miller and gets a nearfall with a northern lights suplex. He gets kicked in the bread basket and gets nailed with a round kick. Dinsmore finds a sunset flip, but Miller kicks out and lands a thrust kick for two. The FELINER ends Dinsmore in 1:41.

WCW Saturday Night! Watch it – IF YOU WILL! 6:05PM eastern time on TBS! Davey Boy Smith, Jim Neidhart, Stevie Ray, and Vincent will all be appearing! It’s the MUTHASHIP! Take it to the PAY WINDAH, baby!

• Saturn vs. Psychosis

This is the return of Psychosis after an injury a month ago in a match against Juventud Guerrera. Headlocks and shoulderblocks to start. Saturn throws him around and legsweeps him to lock in a head and arm lock. Psychosis counters a tilt-a-whirl move by landing on his feet and runs down Saturn. An enziguri takes out Saturn, but Saturn returns fire and connects with a standing side kick. Here comes LODI to complain to Saturn for “ruining his life” by disbanding Raven’s Flock. Saturn goes to the floor to confront him, but Psychosis lands a somersault dive off the top rope to wipe out Saturn. Back in, Psychosis delivers a missile dropkick to the back of Saturn’s head, but Saturn fights up and hangs Psychosis out to dry. Psychosis then goes low with a dropkick to the knee and return to the floor. He slams Saturn down and tries the Guillotine Legdrop, but he misses. Back inside again, Saturn warms up the comeback and hits the Frog Splash. Ref Billy Silverman counts the pinfall even though it didn’t look like it was supposed to be the finish, but the bell rings and Saturn’s music plays like they went too long here. (7:51) This went a little too long without much heat and a screwy finish. I don’t understand why they aren’t pushing Saturn more than they are. They have a fresh new mid-card babyface ready to go with all the injuries in this company and he’s messing around with Lodi. **

This Week in WCW Motorsports! Yeah!

Back to the show, Tony Schiavone brings out Alex Wright. I don’t think Mean Gene works on Thursdays. Wright calls Tony a “stupid American” and an “overweight loser” and makes him leave. Hilarious. Wright talks about how superior European athletes are to American athletes, but Wright was the best of them all. He puts down Norman Smiley, Fit Finley, and then specifically calls Davey Boy Smith a former great when Wright was a kid, but he’s now just an embarrassment to European culture because of how long he’s been in America. And then Wright just leaves. Okay then.

We get a Four Horsemen hype video.

• Fit Finley vs. The Barbarian (w/Jimmy Hart)

As the match gets started, the people start to stand up and look towards the entrance. You might think Alex Wright is coming out because of the promo he just cut on Fit Finley, but you would be wrong. It’s Scott Hall – and he’s drunk! He takes over Lee Marshall’s headset. Hall tells Kevin Nash that nobody orders him around and apparently didn’t like being challenged to a match at Halloween Havoc. He lets Nash know that he’s mean when he drinks – and lately he’s been doing a lot of drinking. Once he’s done talking, Hall takes his exit. Meanwhile in the ring, Finley comes back and hits the TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER on Barbarian for the win in 4:48.

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Goldberg VERSUS Diamond Dallas Page! It’s Jackhammer VERSUS Diamond Cutter! HALLOWEEN HAVOC! OCTOBER 25! FEEL THE BANG! YOU’RE NEXT! YEAH!

Tony Schiavone brings out Diamond Dallas Page to the ring. He calls Tony “T-Bone” and I literally cringed. Goldberg gets BOOED. Whoa. I told you once Goldberg starts battling WCW babyfaces that it’s over. The Las Vegas odds have Goldberg winning, but just maybe Goldberg will FEEL THE BANG at Halloween Havoc. We’ll see. I mean, the people who ordered the PPV at the time won’t, but we’ll see it because we’re living in 2021.

They replay the injury to Villano IV last week on Nitro, which sets up our next match.

• Raven’s Rules: Raven (w/Kanyon) vs. Villano V

Raven whines on the mic before the bell. Villano V gets to run wild for about twenty seconds. Raven delivers the Rolling Russian Legsweeps. The chair comes in the ring, but Villano V cuts him off and catches Raven with a dropkick. A face slam and an atomic drop connects, but he misses a corner charge. Raven grabs the chair and gives Villano V the drop toehold to the chair. EVENFLOW DDT ends Villano V in 2:16. What did you really expect?

They replay more Warrior talk from Nitro.

• Disco Inferno vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. (w/Pepe)

Some shenanigans to start as Chavo runs in and out of the ring to wipe out Disco with a pescado. While Disco sells, Chavo ride Pepe around the ring. Back in, Chavo goes armdrag crazy and delivers a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Chavo applies a chinlock, but Disco finally fights out with a stun gun. Tenay announces Scott Norton won the IWGP heavyweight title on September 23, which explains the unstoppable push he was recently getting in WCW. Commercials! When we come back, Tenay announces Scott Norton will be appearing on Nitro next week. Disco is still in control, but misses a flying elbow smash. A springboard bulldog from Chavo gets two. Big backdrop by Chavo, but then he pulls out Pepe for fun. He telegraphs a second backdrop and Disco delivers a swinging neckbreaker. Chavo flips out of a back suplex and dropkicks Disco into a corner. He catches Disco with a nice flying sunset flip for two. Now Disco avoids another dropkick and hits the PILEDRIVER for the win. (7:30) One of the best Disco Inferno matches I’ve seen. Chavo looked really good as well! Best match on this week’s show. JUVENTUD GUERRERA comes down and hands ref Billy Silverman a note. According to a different ref Nick Patrick, Disco’s height/weight form was forged. Nick Patrick makes Disco get on a scale and he weighs 231 (cruiserweight division is 225 or under) and Chavo wins via DQ. Wow, six pounds in four days. What has he been eating? For payback, Disco runs Juventud into the ringpost. What a dick! **½

• Alex Wright vs. Norman Smiley

Mike Tenay takes over for Lee Marshall for the rest of the show. Before the match, Wright wants to play nice and gets on his knee to shake Smiley’s hand. Of course, he pulls him into a kick. Smiley ducks the clothesline and delivers a REALLY nice slam to send Wright scurrying out to the floor. Back in, they trade wristlocks which culminates in a Smiley hiptoss. Crowd is chanting “boring”. Wright comes back with a monkey flip and dropkicks Smiley down. Smiley delivers another hiptoss and the nice slam he did earlier. Wright catches Smiley coming off the ropes into a backbreaker for two. He dumps Smiley on the floor and they trade chops. Back in, Wright stomps a mudhole in the corner. Smiley avoids a charge and headbutts Wright before landing a backdrop. A drop toehold sets up a legdrop and elbow drop for two. They do some standing switches until Wright finds the REVERSE NECKBREAKER for the win. (6:08) Not a bad match, but Smiley just doesn’t fit in with the current crop of wrestlers. I do like that swinging scoop slam he does though. *½

What is Dennis Miller doing in a 10-10-220 commercial? Can you imagine paying only $1.75 for a cup of joe?

MFGWLM HYPE: “Highlander” (1986) starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery.

Stevie Ray comes out and makes fun of the Norfolk people for wanting to see the Four Horsemen, but Eric Bischoff has ordered him to make sure that doesn’t happen. Crowd wants Flair. Doug Dellinger stops the Four Horsemen backstage and then turns his back and lets them head to the ring. Wow, Stevie Ray just steps aside. Some nWo enforcer he turned out to be. As Stevie Ray heads off stage to go back to the locker room, Arn Anderson whacks him with a tire iron from behind the curtain. NICE. Tony Schiavone meets the Four Horsemen and Arn Anderson in the ring. Arn Anderson says WCW belongs to the Four Horsemen and vows to take back what belongs to them from the nWo – one town at a time. As far as he’s concerned, the Norfolk Scope is the Four Horsemen’s house. Dean Malenko thanks Arn Anderson for trusting him enough to be part of the group. Guys like Curt Hennig abused the opportunity to be a member of the Four Horsemen, but Malenko takes it seriously and promises he won’t let the rest of the crew down. Chris Benoit says something. I’m not sure what he’s saying. Anyways, Mongo dares to show up at Eric Bischoff’s house, break in his house, and beat him with a tire iron in front of his whole family. DANG, calm down Mongo. He lets Bischoff know that just like the biblical prophecy, the Four Horsemen are coming. Now time for Ric Flair. WOO! Reflecting on when Bischoff asked Flair if he saved his money, Flair says he didn’t save his money because of towns like Norfolk and he namedrops a local bar, I’m guessing. I’ve never been to Norfolk. He says he’s got Elizabeth tied up at the Hilton and the man of 1000 positions – I mean, HOLDS, is going to show her why he’s a Four Horsemen. Hmm, sounds like they are going to take turns doing their thing on Liz. Somebody seriously call the cops on these guys. Sounds like Bobby Heenan wants to go out with Ric Flair tonight, but Tenay would rather go back to his hotel room and watch “Highlander”.

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Halloween Havoc! October 25! ORDER IT ON PPV!

• WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Goldberg (c) vs. Kanyon

Raven grabs a fourth headset over at the announce table. Kanyon asks us WHO’S BETTA THAN KANYON? Hit that Goldberg music. He gets the police escort entrance. Schiavone asks Raven if he’s ever confronted the demons of his past. Raven says yes, but continues to complain about his mistreatment in WCW. Once Goldberg finishes his entrance, Kanyon asks the people once more WHO’S BETTA THAN KANYON? When he doesn’t quite get the answer he wants, Kanyon turns around into a spear and a JACKHAMMER to end Kanyon in 21 seconds. Raven has had one chance at Goldberg and wants a second one to become the WCW world champion. Hmm, I’m guessing that might happen – NEXT WEEK. N/R

Until next time, so long for now.

World Championship Wrestling presents “Halloween Havoc”
LIVE on October 25 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
ONLY ON PAY-PER-VIEW

DOUBLE MAIN EVENT: WCW World Heavyweight Championship:
Goldberg (c) vs. Diamond Dallas Page
DOUBLE MAIN EVENT:
The Warrior vs. Hollywood Hogan
Kevin Nash vs. Scott Hall
No-DQ Match: Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner