WCW: Thunder
October 8, 1998
Indianapolis, IN
Market Square Arena

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)

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Lee Marshall. Is that the Chucky laugh I hear again? NO ONE KNOWS WHERE THE LAUGH IS COMING FROM. Tony needs to know!

Mike Tenay won’t be commentating tonight as he’ll be meeting Scott Hall at a bar 40 miles away from Indianapolis. Talk then goes to Hollywood Hogan and the Warrior hype before we go to Mike Tenay’s interview with Scott Hall. Scott is drunk at a bar called the Meridian and tells Kevin Nash to bring his seven foot butt down there. Leave the other two guys to get over on their own (aren’t there three other Wolfpac members right now?) and come get some. The challenge has now been issued.

We now see a limousine leaving the Market Square Arena. Lee Marshall somehow KNOWS it’s Kevin Nash’s limo, but it just looks like every basic limo you’ve ever seen.

• Kanyon vs. Prince Iaukea

Kanyon gets pissed with the Indianapolis crowd since they don’t know that NOBODY is better than Kanyon. Prince Iaukea makes his return to WCW. He’s pretty much been off TV since Spring Stampede when he unsuccessfully fought Chris Jericho over the Cruiserweight title and Chris Jericho had taken his Hawaiian dress. His head is somewhat shaved on top with a pony tail of sorts and his ceremonial garb is back, so I’m guessing all is forgiven between Iaukea and Jericho. Kanyon tries to play mind games to start, but Iaukea clearly needs to give Kanyon a good showing and forces him to the floor. He comes off the apron onto Kanyon with a somersault dive. Back in, Kanyon dumps Iaukea on the top buckle and brings him down with a reverse neckbreaker. Heenan reminds us what Kanyon and Raven did to Villano IV. Kanyon then uses his weight to drive Iaukea’s face onto the mat, but gets two. He argues with the ref which allows Iaukea to roll him up for a two-count. Crowd is letting Kanyon know they think he sucks. Swinging fisherman’s suplex gets two as well. Kanyon follows up with a flapjack off the shoulders for two. Iaukea catches a kick and takes over Kanyon with a dragon screw leg whip. The comeback continues for Iaukea including a springboard somersault splash gets 1-2-NO! Kanyon avoids a victory roll and dumps Iaukea on the mat. With Iaukea staggered, Kanyon hits the FLATLINER for the three-count. (5:18) I don’t see Iaukea winning the TV title anytime soon, but he clearly worked hard. *½

We see Chris Jericho outside a dressing room hollering for Goldberg.

They replay the cool nWo Black and White promo from Scott Steiner that aired on Nitro.

This sets up Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell coming out to the ring. Buff starts out cracking on Indianapolis saying he doesn’t want to be here or live here, so SHUT UP. Buff switches gears saying Scott’s match with his brother Rick at Halloween Havoc isn’t happening because the doctors say he’s not cleared to wrestle. Despite all this, he puts over Scott as being the better Steiner brother. I don’t understand how after all that has happened between Rick and Scott in 1998, the feud comes down to WHO’S THE BETTER STEINER BROTHER? Scott lays out to the people that he is in fact your hookup and you should holler if you hear him. Instead of really talking about Rick, Scott lets Buff know that he didn’t like the fact that Buff’s mom got involved on Nitro. She made Buff, Scott, and the entire nWo look like a bunch of idiots. Bagwell pokes Scott on the chest and tells him to keep his mom out of this situation, but she kind of put herself in this situation if you think about it. Scott says he’ll slap Buff if he touches him again, but Buff lets Scott know not to let his mouth get him into trouble. In fact, Buff completely flips on Scott, saying that maybe this whole thing between the Steiners is actually Scott’s fault. Well, YEAH. Scott reminds Buff they are nWo 4-life, but then Buff decides Scott will be on his own at Halloween Havoc and leaves Scott behind in the ring. Scott then reminds Buff that he needs the nWo more than the nWo needs Buff. Well, YEAH.

Peyton Manning from the Nationwide Insurance commercials is in the audience.

The WCW Mastercard got a big introduction on Wall Street this past week.

• Meng vs. Jerry Flynn

This is the first we’ve seen of Meng since he had that awesome match with the Giant. He’s got theme music now, which doesn’t seem necessary. Meng headbutts and chops the shit out of Flynn to start. The commentators do a great job putting over Meng for how unstoppable and insanely tough he is. There’s nothing Flynn can do. However, he takes Meng down with a clothesline off the second rope, but can’t even get a one-count. More kicks from Flynn, so Meng grabs the TONGAN DEATH GRIP for the win in 1:41.

Chris Jericho and Ralphus (armed with a 2×4) is out in the parking lot waiting for Goldberg to appear.

• Wrath vs. Chris Adams

Meng is still in the ring when Adams does his entrance. Umm, you should probably just leave. Adams wants him out of the ring, but Meng decides to put him in the TONGAN DEATH GRIP. Adams’ opponent Wrath comes out to get Meng off him. They wind up fighting and Wrath mounts Meng for a beating. The fight continues on the floor. Wrath whacks Meng with a chair (ehh) and he’s only staggered. Well, that was cool. Meng and Wrath end up fighting through the crowd to end the segment. No match, obviously.

Get your “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash t-shirt for only $20.

The WCW Saturday Night promo has now changed to just clips of different guys who will be appearing doing their entrances. Raven and Kanyon, Fit Finley, Alex Wright, Stevie Ray and Vincent, and Rick Steiner. You can hear the crowd barking when Rick appears on the screen.

We catch the Four Horsemen showing up at Market Square Arena where Doug Dellinger and Indianapolis’ Finest tell them only Dean Malenko can enter the arena due to a restraining order. Crowd wants Flair. JJ Dillon tries to talk to the police about it because it doesn’t make sense, but it doesn’t make any difference. The Four Horsemen (including Malenko) leave pissed.

• El Dandy vs. Tokyo Magnum

Another set of guys we haven’t seen in a while. They do some back and forth nearfalls to start. Tony makes a comment that if Disco Inferno can’t make weight for the cruiserweight division, he’s not sure El Dandy can either. DANG, Tony. Magnum delivers a jumping back kick and pulls Dandy into a belly to belly suplex. We hear the Chucky laugh. Dandy grabs a chinlock. He slams Magnum for a second rope legdrop for two. Hey look, it’s IWGP heavyweight champ SCOTT NORTON. He walks into the ring and POWERBOMBS the shit out of both guys for the DQ. (2:38) Norton makes a statement, now what? I’m sure this was just to air on NJPW TV. ¾*

This Week in WCW Motorsports. No one cares.

When we return, the Latino World Order is out in the ring. El Patron Eddie Guerrero, Hector Garza, and Damien blame Eric Bischoff for sending Scott Norton out to beat up El Dandy. Tokyo Magnum gets shoved aside because he’s not of Latin descent. El Dandy accepts a t-shirt and becomes the fourth member of La Raza. Eddie tells Eric Bischoff to kiss his ass to end the segment.

• Saturn vs. Scott Putski

Tony mentions ref Mark Curtis (Brian Hildebrand) has been diagnosed with cancer and offers thoughts and prayers for him. As for Saturn, I wonder what would have happened if he had seen where his WCW character was going and went back to ECW. Headlocks and hammerlocks are traded to start. Saturn delivers an inverted atomic drop and a springboard forearm smash for two. He follows up with some kicks and a standing side kick for another nearfall. We go to the floor for some guardrail action. Back inside, Putski hits a snap suplex. Saturn fights off a sleeperhold and hits a T-bone suplex. Belly to belly overhead suplex sets up a flying splash for two. Putski finds a powerslam for two, but Saturn cradles him for two. Side slam connects, but Saturn fights back with a Falcon Arrow. That sets up the DEATH VALLEY DRIVER for the three-count. (5:15) Glorified squash trying to get Putski over, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. *

• The Disciple vs. Horace

Disciple tells us he’s a man who can stand on his own now. He mentions how Horace is Hollywood Hogan’s nephew and him being in WCW is an example of Hogan getting his way around here because Horace doesn’t belong in WCW. Disciple is sick of all the Hogan crap and challenges Horace to a match. Disciple runs wild on Horace to start, but Horace reverses a whip in the corner and lays out Disciple for a running elbow drop. He telegraphs a backdrop and Disciple gives him a swinging neckbreaker. Disciple beats him down onto the middle rope and chokes away. Horace finds a back suplex and splashes the back, but then Disciple NO-SELLS and hits the APOCALYPSE for the three-count. (1:48) Afterwards, Horace beats the crap out of Disciple some more to end the segment. Even though Horace lost, something tells me Hogan is going to like what he’s seeing here.

Hogan versus Warrior promo video airs.

Tony Schiavone brings out the WCW TV champ Chris Jericho to the ring. Ralphus with his 2×4 follows Jericho. No Jericholic Ninja. First of all, Jericho tells Brian Hildebrand to come back soon. Secondly, he believes Goldberg isn’t indestructible and hasn’t earned his spot in WCW, so he yells for “Green-berg” to come out and get a first-class butt whipping.

• Bill Goldberg vs. Chris Jericho (w/Ralphus)

Goldberg’s music plays, but no Goldberg. Ref Nick Patrick is out and ten counts Goldberg. That makes Jericho three wins to zero against Goldberg – at least in his mind. So yeah, no match.

Still shots are shown of Bret Hart versus Sting from Nitro, 10/5/98.

Tony Schiavone now introduces the WCW U.S. champ Bret Hart to the ring. Bret calls Sting “stupid” and says it was the “stupid” fans were the ones who told Sting to trust him in the first place. Instead of waiting for Sting to challenge him, Bret challenges Sting for a WCW U.S. title match at Halloween Havoc. Bring everything you can think of to Havoc, Sting, but the Excellence of Execution is going to destroy him – because Sting sucks. Tony thinks Sting will soon answer the challenge. Bret sarcastically says he hopes Sting’s mascara doesn’t run as he walks out on the interview. Has anybody ever made fun of Sting wearing makeup?

Halloween Havoc ad airs.

Dennis Miller is very concerned about my long distance telephone habits.

A Nintendo 64 ad shows WCW/nWo Revenge which is about six weeks from being released. The gameplay shows Goldberg versus Kevin Nash. That’s interesting.

We get another cool Four Horsemen montage.

Dean Malenko sits in the ring and talks about how good Eric Bischoff must feel about keeping the Four Horsemen out of the building tonight. He came here to wrestle tonight and won’t leave the ring until he gets a match. Eric Bischoff walks out and grants Malenko a match – against the BARBARIAN. Bischoff offers to double Barbarian’s salary (of $500,000 a year!) to hurt Dean Malenko.

• Dean Malenko vs. The Barbarian (w/Jimmy Hart)

While Barbarian and Jimmy choke on Malenko, Eric Bischoff takes over Lee Marshall’s headset to let everybody know he never forgot about Malenko. Remember when Malenko was the WCW U.S. champion? Malenko elbows away Barbarian on the top rope and gives him a missile dropkick. Jimmy Hart gets grabbed. Malenko avoids a charge from Barb who takes out Jimmy with the KICK OF FEAR. Malenko then ducks the Kick of Fear and dropkicks Barbarian’s legs until he’s down for the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF. Oh crap. Malenko gets Barb to give up of all things. (2:33) A frustrated Bischoff smacks Tony around with some papers while Malenko raises the four fingers in the ring. Bischoff tells the director to cut from Malenko. ¼*

Get your Goldberg t-shirt for only $20 bucks.

Goldberg versus DDP promo for Havoc airs.

• Diamond Dallas Page vs. Raven

Cool Neil Young t-shirt, Raven. He cries about his childhood until DDP comes out and tells Raven he’s getting banged. Tony says this match wasn’t scheduled, but I’m glad it is. Raven attacks DDP and chokes him with his flannel shirt. DDP pulls Raven into the corner for punches and the discus clothesline. Raven avoids the Diamond Cutter and low blows DDP. He hits a suplex on DDP and yells for DDP to get up. Tony says we’re still waiting to see what happens between Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. DDP escapes a chinlock, but runs into a knee and falls out to the floor. Raven follows him out and legsweeps DDP into the guardrail. Like a good commentator, Marshall reminds us Raven BEAT DDP to win the U.S. title back at Spring Stampede. Raven tries to pull DDP’s nuts into the ringpost, but DDP yanks Raven’s face into the ringpost. In the ring, Raven sends DDP onto the chair with the drop toehold. Lodi shows up on the apron cheering on Raven. While Raven looks for the Evenflow DDT, DDP shoves Raven back into Lodi to knock him to the floor. Raven grabs the chair, but DDP knocks the chair back in his face. Rebound lariat by DDP gets two. Belly to belly suplex scores a nearfall. DDP blocks a corner charge, but a drop toehold from Raven sends DDP into the corner and a rollup for two. Sleeperhold by Raven, but DDP escapes and twists Raven around into a DIAMOND CUTTER. (5:17) That was a fun little match there. **½

“MFGWLM” HYPE AFTER THUNDER: “Fire Birds” (1990) starring Nicolas Cage, Tommy Lee Jones, and Sean Young (she was in “Blade Runner”!.

• Lex Luger vs. Stevie Ray (w/Vincent)

The explosion means its MAIN EVENT TIME! Unfortunately, the main event is Lex Luger versus Stevie Ray. They brought out Michael Buffer for this one. Tony Schiavone says he just received a note that a big Hollywood star will appear next week on Monday Nitro. It starts out like a typical Luger match by overpowering his opponent and flexing. Stevie Ray comes back and knees Luger out to Vincent for a beating. Back in, Stevie Ray clotheslines Lex and grabs a chinlock. Luger fights out into a side slam. Lex sees a backdrop coming and gives Stevie Ray a vertical suplex. Jawbreaker by Stevie Ray and it’s Slap Jack time, but Luger backdrops out and hits a series of clotheslines. There’s an inverted atomic drop to set up the Bionic Forearm. Time for the TORTURE RACK, but SCOTT HALL appears and attacks Lex. IT WAS ALL A SETUP TO GET KEVIN NASH OUT OF THE BUILDING. Lex fights back and tries to ten-count corner punch Hall. He ends up on top of Stevie Ray where the numbers game takes over. The “Master of the Slap Jack” hits Lex with his slap jack for the DQ. (4:32) Yeah, that was the real DQ. Konnan is out to help Lex, but there’s nothing he can do either. OUTSIDER’S EDGE to Konnan! There’s nothing wrong with Scott Hall, folks. WHERE IS MIKE TENAY? Did he not follow Hall to the building? Why weren’t we warned of his arrival? Hall does the survey and the survey says one more for the good guys. ½*

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