WCW: Thunder
February 4, 1999
Providence, RI
Providence Civic Center

The current WCW champs are as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hollywood Hogan (1/4/1999)
WCW U.S. Champion: Bret Hart (11/30/1998)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Vacant (1/7/1999)
WCW World Television Champion: Scott Steiner (12/28/1998)
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Billy Kidman (11/22/1998)

They replay part of the ending of last week’s Monday Nitro where Hollywood Hogan and the Hell’s Angel dude Chuck Zito are shown riding in a town car on their way to Charlotte to stalk David Flair. In the arena, Ric Flair, Dean Malenko, and Arn Anderson are watching on a monitor, which makes no sense considering they are now being filmed straight onto the Nitro feed. No?

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan.

We listen on the ARN ANDERSON side of a telephone call to Ric Flair. He asks Ric if David is with him. Apparently, everything is good. Arn is confused and wants to meet with Ric in person in the morning. Back over to Tony, he’s convinced now that it’s all just nWo mind games. WE’LL SEE.

Now over to the nWo B&W limo from earlier today, STEVIE RAY, HORACE HOGAN, and BRIAN ADAMS continue to complain about how they are being treated and start clowning on Vince(nt).

• Chris Jericho (w/Ralphus) vs. Scotty Riggs

Jericho again sends Ralphus back to the locker room before the match. We get headlocks and shoulderblocks to start. Riggs seems to be one step ahead of Jericho as he catapults Jericho to the floor and wipes him out with a pescado. Back in, Jericho shuts him down with a hotshot. With Riggs on the apron, Jericho delivers a springboard shoulderblock. NICE. Jericho rips at Scotty’s face on the floor and goes back inside to bask in the glory of his Jericholics. Commercials! When we come back, Riggs avoids a Bossman straddle only to miss a corner charge. Jericho lands the senton back splash for two. Back to the floor, Jericho steals David Penzer’s seat chair and comes off the apron, but Riggs catches him on the way down to dropkick the chair back in Jericho’s face. Wow, the chair *broke* after that move. Back in the ring, Riggs delivers a flying body press for 1-2-NO! Jericho kicks back at Riggs and delivers a backbreaker. ASK HIM. Riggs fights out and stops a corner charge to then run down Jericho with a clothesline for two. Spinning side slam by Riggs gets two. Both men try a crossbody block to crash and burn. Jericho puts Riggs down with a jawbreaker, but the Lionsault hits knees. HERE COMES RIGGS! He lands an enziguri, but a slow cover only gets two. Riggs sends Jericho in the corner with an atomic drop and looks for a monkey flip, but Jericho shoves him off and tries the Liontamer. Too close to the ropes. Do I hear a “boring” chant? As Jericho complains to ref Randy Anderson, Riggs catches him with a high knee for two. Riggs heads up top for a missile dropkick, but Jericho swats him away and applies the LIONTAMER for the win. (11:39 shown) Decent JTTS match for Riggs. I don’t see him as a star per se and he’s definitely the Marty Jannetty of the American Males tag team, but he’s not bad for an opener here and there or a lower mid-card match when you need ten minutes to fill. **

We go to the nWo Black and White Promo Room like it’s still 1996 where Elizabeth and Lex Luger how great they are and how much fun it was to ruin Bill Goldberg.

BRUISE CRUISE ’99 – May 17-21. Nitro Girls, Buff Bagwell, and other WCW/nWo stars. They leave from Miami and head to the Bahamas.

They replay Rey Mysterio and Konnan’s promo from Nitro and Kevin Nash, Lex Luger, and Elizabeth’s response. Elizabeth’s hair is on the line. DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT, LIZ. Nash has the pen around here.

• Konnan & Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Disorderly Conduct

Yep, Mysterio is still wearing the LWO t-shirt. Rey and Tom start the match with Mysterio getting overpowered. Rey comes back with a wheelbarrow arm drag. As Disorderly Conduct retreat to the floor, Mysterio wipes them out with a somersault plancha. Back in, Mysterio takes down Mark (with a lariat from Konnan) with a springboard sunset flip for two. In comes Konnan, he gives Mark the Hurricane Bulldog. The seated dropkick connects and Rey tags in for a springboard legdrop for two. Mysterio gets caught on the wrong side of town for a bit. Tag to Mark, Tom delivers a reverse neckbreaker to Rey while Mark comes off the top rope with a double sledge. Nice! Eventually, there’s a hot tag to Konnan to show off how well they work as a team. Rey is in one corner with a bronco buster while Konnan has the other guy in the corner for a ten-count corner punch. The K-FACTOR to Mark sets up the TEQUILA SUNRISE. Meanwhile, Rey cuts off Tom by jumping off Konnan’s back and taking out Tom with a headscissors for the three-count. (4:55) While the match took longer than it probably should have to beat guys like Disorderly Conduct, they needed to establish that Konnan and Rey will have to work together to beat guys like Nash and Luger at SuperBrawl. I didn’t hate this. **

More from Earlier Today as the nWo B&W limo gets to the building, another limo pulls up and VINCE(NT) is the only one inside – courtesy of Hollywood Hogan because Vince(nt) is in control of the nWo B&W crew. They all laugh at him and head inside the building.

Get your nWo Wolfpac t-shirt for only $20 bucks.

SuperBrawl IX promo airs.

In the nWo B&W locker room, Stevie Ray lets Brian Adams and Horace Hogan know he’s got their back tonight. Vince(nt) walks in and Stevie Ray is ready to blast this clown. Brian Adams – “You know what? Yo mama’s in charge.” OH SNAP.

• Norman Smiley vs. The Disciple

Man, who thought *this* was a good idea? Not sure who the Disciple is a disciple of anymore since Hogan dumped him and Warrior is no longer part of WCW. He controls much of the first half of the match – and even does his Brutus Beefcake strut to pop the Providence crowd. Norman comes back and teases the Big Wiggle. The stalling butterfly suplex doesn’t really work for Smiley here. Disciple avoids a dropkick and blatantly chokes Smiley on the mat. Smiley blocks a vertical suplex and delivers one of his own to finally do the Big Wiggle. Now Disciple is PISSED. He fires away on Smiley in the corner, but then gets pulled into the NORMAN CONQUEST (crossface chickenwing) for the submission. (6:30) Let’s move on. ¾*

JOIN MIKE TENAY AND SCOTT HUDSON FOR THE MUTHASHIP ON TBS! LIVE AND IN PUBLIC IF YOU WILL. Well, it’s not live, but it will be on TV. This week, the Faces of Fear, Perry Saturn (in a dress!), Hugh Morrus, Curt Hennig and Barry Windham, and Bam Bam Bigelow will all be in action. It’s WCW SATURDAY NIGHT at 6:05PM EST.

In the nWo B&W locker room, Horace Hogan and Brian Adams see how important it is to be on the same page tonight in their tag team tournament match. DISCO INFERNO shows up looking for Vince(nt).

• WCW World Tag Team Championship Tournament – Semi-Final Match: The Faces of Fear (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Brian Adams & Horace Hogan

Barbarian and Horace start the match unloading on each other. The nWo wind up retreating after a few minutes. Back in, Barb becomes Face of Fear-in-peril. Adams tries a double noggin knocker on the Faces of Fear, which proves to be a mistake. Meng gives Adams an inverted atomic drop while Barbarian runs down Adams with a clothesline, which is kind of a Hart Attack finish. Adams gets choked down in the corner as we go to commercials. When we return, Meng and Barbarian work over Horace – trying to get the pin. Barb runs Horace back in the corner and delivers a hard slam. Horace avoids a legdrop from Meng and tags in Adams. Crowd is dead right now. Barbarian stomps Adams on the mid-section, but then catches Barb with an inverted atomic drop. Back to Horace, he hits Barbarian with a jumping elbow drop for two. An avalanche sets up a backbreaker to Barb for two. Tag to Adams, Horace delivers a drop toehold as Adams hits a legdrop for two. Now Adams lands his shitty piledriver on Barbarian for two. Horace gives Barb a Samoan drop for two. Barbarian headbutts Horace back. They eventually head to the floor to brawl. As Horace sends Barbarian in the ring, Barb knocks Horace back to the floor. Jimmy Hart decides to put the boots to Horace. While he’s going to town, VINCE(NT) heads down and KO’s Jimmy with the slapjack. Meanwhile, Horace battles back and lands a Warrior Splash on Barbarian for two. The match breaks down as Barbarian lands a sitout powerbomb on Horace for 1-2-NO! The KICK OF FEAR connects, but Adams stops the pin. While Meng takes care of Adams, Vince(nt) whacks Barbarian with the slapjack while he sets Horace on the top buckle. A flying elbow drop from the second rope by Horace hits Barbarian for the win. (13:42 shown) Way too long for the guys involved. Who will the nWo B&W boys face next? NO IDEA, because there’s no bracket graphics. ¾*

THIS WEEK IN WCW MOTORSPORTS: HOLY SHIT, can we stop with this segment?

Elsewhere, Stevie Ray is looking for his slapjack. Was he not watching the nWo B&W match? I thought he had their backs.

Our esteemed commentators discuss Bret Hart defending the WCW U.S. title against Scott Hall at SuperBrawl. They take us back to Monday Nitro to see how that was decided.

• Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Jerry Flynn

Bigelow gets GOLDBERG in 17 days at SuperBrawl IX. Flynn tries to tap out Bigelow early with a cross armbreaker. Bigelow NO-SELLS a hook kick, but then eats the kicks in the corner. He pulls Flynn into a clothesline, but Flynn reverses a corner whip and hits the spinning heel kick in the corner. Back in, Bigelow crotches Flynn up top and does some heelish stuff to Flynn. Falling headbutt lands on Flynn and Bigelow grabs a chinlock. One avalanche connects, but the second one doesn’t. Flynn mounts a comeback, but then misses a kick in the corner as Bigelow delivers the GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK for the win. (4:44) JTTS squash to get Bigelow more exposure. *

In the nWo B&W bathroom, Brian Adams and Horace try and pull Stevie Ray off Vince(nt). Disco Inferno is there as well and starts choking on Vince(nt) for some reason. With everybody yelling, they leave Vince(nt) behind sitting on the floor trying to catch his breath.

They replay footage from Monday Nitro where Kimberly hit her head on the ramp – followed by Diamond Dallas Page threatening the nWo Wolfpac for hiding Scott Steiner, which led to Disco Inferno getting his ass beat.

• Diamond Dallas Page vs. Glacier

This is the last match we’ll see of the GLACIER character in WCW. I guess you can say he’s about to go out with a bang. Hiyoo. Naturally, DDP is PISSED and takes out his frustrations on Glacier. The DIAMOND CUTTER off the second rope is enough to end Glacier in 3:21. ½*

MFGWLM HYPE: “The Punisher” (1989) starring Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr.

SuperBrawl IX promo airs.

• WCW World Tag Team Championship Tournament – Semi-Final Match: Barry Windham & Curt Hennig vs. Mike Enos & Bobby Duncum Jr.

Enos and Hennig go through headlocks and shoulderblocks to start. Heenan mentions his interesting connection to three of the four wrestlers in this match as he managed Curt Hennig, Curt’s father, Barry Windham’s father, and Bobby Duncum’s father as well. Windham and Duncum tag in and trade wristlocks. Duncum avoids a slam and delivers an inverted atomic drop to Windham. He teases a test of strength and punches Duncum across the chops. Duncum fights back and lands the pump splash elbow drop on Windham. Tag to Hennig, he runs down Duncum as we go to commercial. AND WE’RE BACK! Enos powerslams Hennig for two. Duncum gets in some extra heel work on the apron until Windham runs him off. Hennig escapes a chinlock from Enos and tags out. Windham works a spinning toe hold, but gets kicked away. Windham throws Enos to the floor out for Hennig to work him over. Back in, Windham lands the jumping lariat on Enos for two. They continue to beat on Enos and cut off tags, but eventually Duncum gets that tag. The crowd has gotten almost silent at this point. Duncum looks sloppy tonight. He hits the flying shoulderblock and the Running Bulldog on Hennig for two. Duncum wants the Full Nelson Facebuster – and somebody goofed. The match breaks down and as Duncum delivers an O’Connor roll on Hennig, Windham clubs Duncum from behind and KO’s him for the win as Hennig scores the pinfall. (8:22 shown) UNDEFEATED. Not the best Thunder main event, but it’s certainly not the worst. *

If you were BORED watching this, maybe check out the “MTV Presents WCW Snow Brawl” footage for some more nostalgia with ROB ZOMBIE, Larry Zbyszko, and Jimmy Hart on commentary for the strangest commentary team ever. Taped on January 23, there’s a battle royal here with Billy Kidman, Konnan, (Kenny) Kaos, Disco Inferno, Booker T, Brian Adams, and WRATH.

Until next time, so long for now.

WCW / nWo PRESENTS: SUPERBRAWL IX
LIVE on February 21 from The Arena in Oakland in Oakland, California! ONLY ON PPV!
MAIN EVENT: WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Hollywood Hogan (c) vs. Ric Flair
WCW U.S. Heavyweight Championship: Bret Hart (c) vs. Scott Hall
WCW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals
WCW World Television Championship: Scott Steiner (c) vs. Diamond Dallas Page
Goldberg vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Elizabeth’s Hair vs. Rey’s Mask: Konnan & Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Lex Luger & Kevin Nash
Booker T vs. Disco Inferno