WCW: Thunder
November 12, 1998
Roanoke, VA
Roanoke Civic Center

The current WCW champs are as follows:
WCW World Champion: Bill Goldberg (7/6/1998)
WCW U.S. Champion: Diamond Dallas Page (10/26/1998)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Rick Steiner & ??? (10/26/1998)
WCW World Television Champion: Chris Jericho (8/10/1998)
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Billy Kidman (9/14/1998)

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, and Bobby Heenan.

• Glacier vs. Chris Adams

Glacier returned last week on Thunder looking to team up with Ernest Miller again and create some sort of WCW J.O.B. Squad. He tells the crowd to shut up to let us know he’s a heel now. Glacier says he’s tired of people stealing the Cryonic Kick, so he calls out the guy who popularized the “Superkick”. Glacier is really HEELING IT UP here with cheating and bully tactics. Adams bounces back with an enziguri from a mile away. A back suplex lands Glacier on the back of his head. Adams lays in some elbows, but then takes a ride out to the floor. Back in, Adams kicks Glacier in mid-air as he comes off the middle turnbuckle. Whoa, a POWERBOMB by Adams! He delivers the SUPERKICK, but SONNY OONO is really late to distract the referee. ERNEST MILLER leaps in with the FELINER to Adams. Glacier debuts the ICE PICK submission for the win. (3:53) What a WCW finish. Miller and Glacier weren’t friends seven days ago, but now it seems they are. ¾*

They take us back to Monday Nitro, 11/9/98. We get to re-live Hollywood Hogan’s announcement to run for President of the United States. Oh yeah, Eric Bischoff will be his running mate. SHOCKING.

• Kenny Kaos vs. Kendall Windham

Dave Penzer says Kaos is “representing High Voltage”. Is he or is he not one-half of the WCW world tag team champions? Lee Marshall lets us know that People Magazine thinks Goldberg is one of the sexiest men in the world. Tony totally agrees. Talk turns to the WW3 battle royal. Heenan says Booker T. Marshall picks Kevin Nash to win it, but chooses KAOS as his “dark horse” pick. Tony actually mentions that JUDY BAGWELL is wearing the other tag belt because Rick Steiner picked her to defend it at WW3. I understand that, but why does Rick Steiner get to seemingly pick his partner to defend the tag titles seemingly at random? This is a “nothing” match. Kaos wins with AIR PILLMAN in 4:12. ½*

WCW/nWo Revenge for N64 ad for only $70 bucks. MY FAVORITE. Plus, WCW BASHIN’ BRAWLERS! You’re busting my —- ARM!

Lex Luger vignette airs as he’s a top pick to win WW3.

• Stevie Ray (w/Scott Norton, Horace & Vincent) vs. Jerry Flynn

This is our first look at the nWo tonight. Norton doesn’t bring the IWGP heavyweight title with him. Since we have the nWo B&W out, our esteemed commentators discuss Hollywood Hogan’s political aspirations. Flynn comes back with a hook kick and kicks the crap out of Stevie Ray in the corner. Stevie Ray dumps him out to fight off the nWo, but Flynn can’t handle Scott Norton. Back in, Stevie Ray grabs a bearhug. Flynn escapes and hits a clothesline. I’m not sure if he didn’t break his arm with that clothesline. Stevie Ray fires back and delivers the FLAPJACK for the win at 3:59. ¾*

“This Week in WCW Motorsports” airs. Yep, they are still doing this segment.

“Dinner & A Movie” this Friday night at 8:05PM EST will be “Dumb and Dumber” (1994) starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. They will be cooking up “Soup on a Stick”.

• Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera

The winner faces the CW champ at WW3. Juventud forces Rey down to the mat, but Mysterio comes up with a wheelbarrow armdrag. Guerrera escapes a wristlock and slams Mysterio to send him rolling out to the floor. Back in, Guerrera and Mysterio exchange headlocks. Now they trade chops and forearm shots. Mysterio wins the battle, but winds up taking a reverse suplex to hang him out to dry on the top rope. I like this slow burn to turn Juventud heel. Let’s hope it happens. Mysterio fires back with a satellite headscissors and Juventud rolls out as we go to commercial .When we come back, Mysterio is stomping a mudhole down in the corner and follows up with the Bronco Buster. Juventud escapes a chinlock and delivers an atomic drop to set up a spinning heel kick. He pulls back on Rey’s arms, but of course Mysterio fights out. We have a TILT-A-WHIRL BACKBREAKER BATTLE which Rey wins. The split-legged moonsault gets two. Juventud dumps Rey with a spinebuster for two. They counter each other’s counters setting up a nearfall for Mysterio. Guerrera avoids a corner charge for a nice corner bump from Rey. Juventud wants the 450 Splash, but Rey grabs hold of his feet. Guerrera kicks him with the other foot, but he misses a slingshot legdrop. Whoops. Back to the floor, Mysterio does the fake dive through the ropes while Guerrera bails up the aisle. Back inside, Guerrera kicks Mysterio during a test of strength and chops him to the corner. He hits Rey with a brainbuster for two. The bell rings signaling the TV time limit has been met, but the match is too important. WE MUST HAVE A WINNER! Guerrera delivers a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but crashes and burns in the corner. Rey heads up top for a flying senton splash, but he misses and sells the knee! He still crawls over to Juvi for 1-2-NO! They go to the floor again and Juventud connects with a springboard dive. Back inside, Mysterio stops Guerrera up top, but Guerrera brings Rey down with a sunset flip powerbomb! Cover, 1-2-NO! JUVI DRIVER! He drags Mysterio to the corner, but Rey crotches him for a Flying Headscissors for the win. (13:42 total) Hmm, so we’ll see how this works out for WW3. Good match! ***¼

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WW3 promo airs.

• WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Kidman (c) vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Did WCW actually sell Chavo Jr. “HEEEERE’S CHAVO” t-shirts? I would buy one. Mike Tenay replaces Lee Marshall for the rest of the show. Headlocks and armbars are traded to start. Chavo nails Kidman with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and goes back to the headlock. Kidman tries to escape, but Chavo pulls Kidman into a clothesline. Pepe seems to like it. The back suplex connects for two. Chavo follows up with a powerslam for another nearfall. He grabs Pepe for a little cabbage patch dance. Commercials! When we come back, Chavo runs Kidman into the buckle a few times and rubs Pepe in Kidman’s face. OUCH! That just triggers a pissed off comeback for Kidman. The slingshot legdrop connects. Chavo shuts him down with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Bridging German suplex by Chavo scores another two-count. Chavo again stops another comeback. He switches from a camel clutch to a Muta lock. Kidman catches Chavo with a dropkick and starts putting the boots to him. He whiffs on a second dropkick. Now Chavo decides to ride Pepe around the ring. A lot of Pepe in this match. Kidman comes back with a flying body press for two. The Booker T rollup out of the corner gets two for Chavo. Kidman flips out of a suplex and lands the BK Bomb for 1-2-NO! Chavo finds the springboard bulldog for 1-2-NO! YOU CAN’T POWERBOMB KIDMAN is next. That sets up a potential Shooting Star Press when the LWO attack for the DQ. (10:06 total) Well, it’s EL DANDY and PSYCHOSIS. Chavo Jr. helps out Kidman, but the numbers game gets worse for these two. EDDIE GUERRERO appears to get his boys to lay off Chavo. El Dandy ducks a missile dropkick from REY MYSTERIO who hits Kidman who was just hoping to help out. Whoops. That’s a six-man tag right there. Rey, Kidman, and Chavo versus Eddie, El Dandy, and Psychosis. Anyways, we’re left with Kidman and Rey Mysterio – the two guys who will meet at WW3 – in the ring standing tall. ***

Get your WCW Mastercard today – depending on how good your credit score is!

Cool history of WW3 promo airs.

• Dean Malenko vs. Kanyon (w/Raven)

According to the Observer, this was originally supposed to be Bret Hart versus Dean Malenko, but Bret was a no-show, which is probably why this seems like an odd matchup. They will have their match on Nitro soon enough. Malenko controls with hammerlocks and headlocks to start. Tenay thinks Raven is suffering from “severe depression” if you can believe that. Kanyon finally gets a chance to take control as Malenko charges him in the corner. He stomps and chokes on Malenko. Kanyon lands the legdrop bulldog off the middle rope for two. Sleeperhold is applied, but Malenko escapes with a back suplex. Kanyon comes right back with a vertical suplex and then a slingshot elbow drop for two. Back to the sleeperhold from Kanyon. Malenko escapes, but Kanyon finds a swinging neckbreaker. Kanyon misses a flying splash allowing a comeback from Malenko. Kanyon stops a corner charge though and knee lifts Malenko to the floor. Raven walks over to Malenko, but doesn’t touch him. In fact, Raven decides to head back to the dressing room. Kanyon is upset about it, but still manages to hit Malenko with a hotshot. Malenko shrugs off the Flatliner and looks for the Texas Cloverleaf, but Kanyon reaches the ropes. Malenko tries a victory roll, but Kidman blocks for a reverse electric chair drop for 1-2-NO! He tries another legdrop bulldog, but Malenko counters and applies the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF. LODI runs down for the DQ. (9:45) CHRIS BENOIT runs down and helps Malenko against Kanyon and Lodi. Good to see Benoit light up some chests. The crowd wasn’t into it and it’s kind of a clash of styles. *½

MFGWLM HYPE: “Bloodsport” (1988) starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.

ILLUMINATI WW3 HYPE AD AIRS. Yikes.

• The Giant vs. Konnan

Tony says Konnan won’t be 100% after getting his ass beat by Bret Hart on last week’s Nitro. All Konnan has to do is be faster than the Giant here. He manages to avoid a corner charge and starts punching away on the Giant. He gets the Giant staggered and tries to slam him, but Giant falls on top of him. Giant delivers a Russian legsweep and tosses Konnan to the floor for some ringside violence. He slams Konnan on the floor and leans a table against the ringpost. There’s a smattering of “ECW” chants. As he goes to splash Konnan through the table, Konnan moves and Giant smashes the table. Konnan finds a chair and beats the crap out of the Giant as the bell finally rings for a double-DQ. (4:10) Afterwards, Giant CHOKESLAMS ref Charles Robinson. This is all your fault, Konnan. More fun than it had any right to be. I’m just glad there wasn’t any nWo interference. **

Once you get to Rey and Juventud, this was a pretty good show tonight!

Until next time, so long for now.

WCW/NWO PRESENT: WORLD WAR 3
LIVE on PPV from the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan on November 22!
MAIN EVENT: 60-Man, 3-Ring Battle Royal – Winner faces the WCW world champion at Starrcade on December 27
WCW World Tag Team Championship: Rick Steiner (c) & Judy Bagwell vs. Scott Steiner & Buff Bagwell
WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Kidman (c) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.