WCW: Thunder
February 11, 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: Roddy Piper (2/8/1999)
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 open with the hot blonde chick from Monday Nitro who made moves on a cameraman in a pool hall and told him to come and take a ride with her in her limo.

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

• WCW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Match: The Faces of Fear (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Mike Enos & Bobby Duncum Jr.

Being a double-elimination tournament and that both teams have already lost matches (Adams and Horace beat the Faces of Fear, Windham and Hennig beat Duncum and Enos), the loser of this match will be eliminated for good. Feeling out process to start between Enos and Meng. They go blow for blow for several minutes. Barbarian overpowers Duncum, but then Duncum wipes him out with a dropkick to send the Faces of Fear out to regroup with Jimmy Hart. Commercials! When we return, Meng is stuck on the wrong side of town. Enos gives him a piledriver for two. Meng pulls Enos into a clothesline and stomps him in the gut. Tag to Barb, Enos reverses a whip into the ropes for a powerslam. He dumps out Barbarian for Duncum to stomp on him. Back in, Duncum tags in for a double back elbow to Barb. Meng tags in and gives Duncum a nice piledriver for 1-2-NO! He tags in Barb looking to put away Duncum with the STEREO FLYING HEADBUTTS. Barbarian covers Duncum, but Enos breaks up the pin. Duncum stays in the Faces of Fear corner for a bit. Meng distracts Enos while Barb chokes on Duncum. He gets away from Barb and rolls up Meng for two. More biting and choking. Barbarian hits a side slam and an inverted atomic drop. Back over to Meng, he NO-SELLS some turnbuckle smashes and powerslams Duncum. Enos comes in trying to brawl with Meng. Meanwhile, Jimmy Hart gets up on the apron and starts ordering Barbarian to do something. With Meng cleaning house, Barb steps into the ring and delivers the KICK OF FEAR to the back of Meng’s head! WHAT. With Meng dazed and confused down on the mat, Barb loads up his boot OLD SCHOOL STYLE. As Meng gets up, Barbarian drills him again with the KICK OF FEAR THAT WILL ULTIMATELY END THE FACES OF FEAR IN WCW. Enos tosses Duncum on top of Meng for the pinfall victory. (13:14 shown) Yep, that’s right. The Faces of Fear are over. With a smile on his face, Jimmy Hart leads Barbarian back to the dressing room leaving Meng behind. And after all that, Enos and Duncum advance in the tournament. Match was WAY TOO LONG. *

More vignettes replayed from Monday Nitro. Kanyon comes to see Raven because he’s so depressed, but Raven proves to him that he’s actually quite happy because he’s got money and cars.

They replay a recent Goldberg promo telling Bam Bam Bigelow he ain’t skeered and that Bigelow is next.

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

More segment replays from Nitro. They show the DDP-Steiner-Kimberly angle where Steiner throws Kimberly out of a moving car.

Another video package for the Rey Mysterio and Konnan against Kevin Nash and Lex Luger “Liz’s hair versus Rey’s mask” match set for SuperBrawl IX.

More segment replays from Nitro. We catch up with Raven and Kanyon getting a bunch of cash at the First Union bank. They leave in Raven’s Lamborghini to get Kanyon some new threads.

• Super Calo vs. Lash Leroux

Why does it sound like my boy Leroux is getting BOOED out of the Providence Civic Center? Maybe they are saying ROO? If so, I like it. This is Leroux’s Thunder debut, by the way. WE HAVE A CALO SIGHTING. Calo tries to get a quick pin on Leroux to start, but then Leroux counters a hiptoss and nails Calo with a clothesline. Calo comes back with a backdrop to send Leroux to the floor. He dropkicks Leroux through the ropes and delivers the slingshot senton bomb! Back in, that gets two. Leroux nearly misses his springboard crossbody block and tries to recover for a two-count. A hurracanrana attempt gets awkward as Leroux couldn’t hook the legs and falls on his face. He goes to the eyes (somehow!) and does the spin and split to jump up and run down Calo. A real Road Dogg-type energy from this guy. A modified northern lights suplex gets two. Calo tries to grab a hold, but Leroux trips him up and legdrops the knee. The crowd is trying to get these wrestlers to do more. I’m not sure Super Calo has been the right next opponent after Leroux’s barnburner with Kidman on Nitro ten days ago. Leroux misses a splash from the top and Calo mounts his comeback. A double jump missile dropkick gets two. Calo calls for the end of the match and hoists Leroux up on his shoulders, but Leroux slips away and pulls Calo into the WHIPLASH for the win. (5:25) The Lash Leroux push continues. Not sure why, but it didn’t feel like Calo was really looking forward to putting this kid over. 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, Rey Mysterio Jr. meets Juventud Guerrera, Booker T, Chris Benoit, Billy Kidman will all be in action. The main event will be Brian Adams against Dean Malenko! A main event anywhere in the world, folks. It’s WCW SATURDAY NIGHT at 6:05PM EST.

We head to the limo to catch up with the hot blonde chick seducing a cameraman.

They replay the Special Video Look at the Tradition and History of the WCW World Tag Team Titles we already saw on Monday Nitro. Great video!

Elsewhere, GLACIER interrupts THE CAT and SONNY OONO who are talking backstage. Man, I thought he got BANGED out of WCW. Glacier wants to sell his entrance to the Cat – the lights, the lasers, and the snow machine. The man who is the “greatest” should have the greatest entrance in wrestling. It seems he’s given up on being Glacier to me. Cat wants to use some James Brown music instead of the Mortal Kombat music, but other than that change he’s down. Cat leaves Oono and Glacier behind to work out the details.

• WCW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Match: Fit Finlay & Squire David Taylor vs. Billy Kidman & Chavo Guerrero Jr.

More double elimination action. Finlay and Taylor lost to the Faces of Fear while Kidman and Chavo Guerrero Jr. lost to Adams and Horace. This has potential to be match of the night. Finlay and Chavo trade wristlock to start. At one point, Chavo takes a knee and staggers back into Taylor’s corner to get grabbed and choked. Finlay delivers that NASTY full body slam on Chavo. He applies a NASTY cravat on Chavo as well. Tony – “THAT HURTS TO WATCH!” The cruiserweights fight back and double-team Finlay to get the crowd going. Finlay wants a handshake – and nothing more! Kidman doesn’t fall for his trick, but runs into a backbreaker to take us into commercials. When we come back, Chavo makes the hot tag to Kidman who wipes out Finlay with a flying bodypress for 1-2-NO! Kidman gives Finlay those fiery stomps, but Finlay thumbs him in the eye to take back control. The Finlay Roll gets two. Kidman kicks away a backdrop attempt and charges Finlay, but misses and takes a bump to the floor. It looks like he tweaked his ankle on that fall. Back inside, Finlay starts stretching Kidman out in NASTY ways. Kidman manages an enziguri and starts crawling towards Chavo, but Chavo is busy arguing with Taylor for some reason and misses his chance at a tag. Taylor tags in briefly to work on Kidman. Back over to Finlay, Kidman avoids a corner charge and Finlay runs his shoulder into the post. Kidman starts towards Chavo, but Chavo won’t wait for the tag and rushes into the ring to start going crazy on Finlay. IT’S THAT LATIN TEMPER, I tell ya. He slams Finlay in place for the Shooting Star Press, but ref Mickey Jay makes Chavo return to his corner. Meanwhile, Taylor shoves Kidman off the top rope. While Mickey Jay argues with Taylor, Finlay brings a chair into the ring. It seems excessive, but okay. Trying to help out, I think, Chavo comes off the top rope with a missile dropkick to Finlay that sends Finlay and the chair into Kidman’s face. Good job! Finlay dumps out Chavo to Taylor (who now has to bolt around ringside) and gives Kidman the TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER for the pinfall. (10:48 shown) Wow, they really wanted to say that it took a chairshot to the head with the force of both Finlay and Chavo Guerrero Jr.’s missile dropkick AND a Tombstone Piledriver to finish off the cruiserweight champion Billy Kidman. Overbooked finish aside, we will hopefully get a match with some heat on it at SuperBrawl IX, right? **¼

We check back in with Glacier, The Cat, and Sonny Oono. Now that the Cat and Sonny Oono own the Glacier entrance, Glacier wants to sell them his entrance gear too. The Cat isn’t going to wear that stuff. Sonny Oono spies KAZ HAYASHI and pulls him into the conversation. He speaks to Kaz in Japanese to get *him* to buy Glacier’s gear. Glacier wants $5,000, but Sonny tells Kaz Glacier wants $25,000 so he can pocket the difference. Kaz tries on the gear. HE LIKES IT. Glacier throws in his belt for another $1,500, but Sonny tells Kaz he can have it for $15,000. How about the mask? Sonny throws in the mask for free. Hayashi agrees to the deal – and everyone looks happy.

The hot blonde chick has now taken the man behind the camera to a hotel.

GET WCW/nWo THUNDER ON PLAYSTATION – FOR ONLY $50 BUCKS.

If you saw Monday Nitro, you already saw everything that happens with Kanyon and Raven. They go to a Versace store and Raven gets Kanyon ready to go out on the town – 1980s movie montage style.

• Disco Inferno vs. Chris Adams

No entrance for Chris Adams. Disco shows no respect for Adams to start by backing him up against the ropes and slapping him. Adams comes back with a series of armdrags. He follows up with a hiptoss and a clothesline – causing Disco to need to bail out. Adams comes after him for some guardrail action and sends Disco off into the ringpost. Not the face! Disco reverses a whip into the guardrail. Back inside, Disco lands a back elbow and a flying double sledge to Adams.

As Disco goes to a chinlock, we cut to backstage. Glacier, The Cat, and Sonny Oono now have Kaz Hayashi wearing the whole Glacier get-up – everything except the helmet. Well, Glacier pulls out the helmet and offers it to The Cat, but Kaz wants the helmet, too. Cat yanks it away from Kaz and puts it on himself. The Cat agrees to buy the helmet, and gets the blue contact as a bonus. Glacier even gives The Cat some saline solution to sweeten the deal.

And with that, we’re back in the ring and now out to the floor. Adams struggles to get back in the ring as Disco snaps his neck on the top rope. He awkwardly finds a backslide, but only gets two on Disco. Disco lands a fist drop off the ropes and goes back to the chinlock. Adams fights out and hits a back suplex. Back to the floor for some ringside violence with Adams in control. Back in, Adams gets caught in the belly on the way down. Disco telegraphs a backdrop and Adams makes him pay with a powerbomb (!). He sets up for the Superkick, but Disco pulls ref Charles Robinson in between them. Adams is quick enough to stop the kick, but then Disco kicks him in the leg and delivers the CHARTBUSTER to Adams for the win. (7:40) Way too long with very little heat. ¾*

MFGWLM HYPE: “A Fistful of Dollars” (1964) starring Clint Eastwood. No, it’s NOT “Yojimbo”.

SuperBrawl IX ad airs.

More from Nitro. We catch up with the hot blonde chick and the man behind the camera. She welcomes him into her hotel room and goes to the bathroom. And that’s all we’re going to get there.

Backstage, Gene Okerlund gets Billy Kidman’s side of the story. He doesn’t seem to feel like there’s a big problem between he and Chavo Guerrero Jr. except some miscommunication issues. Gene doesn’t buy it and wants Kidman to dump this Chavo character as a friend. In comes Chavo Guerrero Jr. Chavo really felt like they had a shot to win the WCW world tag titles. Next thing you know, he clotheslines Kidman right in front of Gene and then yells that Kidman dropped the ball. Gene yells at somebody to get him out of here.

Promo for Goldberg versus Bam Bam Bigelow at SuperBrawl IX airs.

Even more from Nitro. We wrap up Raven and Kanyon’s night out on the town as they end up back at Raven’s mom’s house. Turns out WCW wants Raven to come back to work, but Raven doesn’t seem interested – or something.

Even MORE from Nitro. We catch the last couple minutes of Roddy Piper defeating Bret Hart to win the WCW U.S. title – with the assist from Mad TV’s Will Sasso.

Also from Nitro. Hollywood Hogan talks to each member of the nWo B&W (except New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Scott Norton) about being the “leader” of the crew.

• WCW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Match: Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko vs. Kaz Hayashi & Van Hammer

If you’ll recall two weeks ago on Thunder, Van Hammer was supposed to be in the tag team tournament with Wrath as his partner, but Hammer got beat up by the nWo Wolfpac and Wrath no-showed. I guess this is somehow their way of making up for Hammer not actually getting to wrestle, and now his partner is Kaz Hayashi wearing Glacier’s entrance gear. Also, for reasons I don’t understand, they choose during Hammer and Hayashi’s entrance to go to a clip of Diamond Dallas Page talking with the “Later” NBC host Rita Sever, which is also something we saw on Nitro. I understand that he’ll be appearing on the show later that night, but why choose to show that ad right now? Just like on Nitro, Tony again sucks up to NBC. Headlocks and shoulderblocks to start as Hammer is in control of Benoit. Eventually, Benoit makes him pay with a dragon screw leg whip. Both guys tag out and Malenko wrestles Hayashi to the mat. Hayashi fights up and walks the ropes to take Malenko down. Malenko charges into a backdrop and Hayashi drops an elbow. Tag to Hammer, and we go to commercial. When we come back, Benoit and Hayashi tag into the match. Tony announces that Billy Kidman and Chavo Guerrero Jr. has been signed over the WCW cruiserweight title for SuperBrawl IX. Hayashi avoids a powerbomb with an armdrag, but then whiffs on a dropkick. He still manages to take down Benoit with a flying headscissors. Tag to Hammer, he grabs a kneebar on Benoit. Hammer actually isn’t too bad here. Benoit levels him with an enziguri and tags in Malenko. He’s quickly stuck in the wrong corner and rolls out to the floor. Hammer grabs him and Hayashi delivers a baseball slide to Malenko. Back inside, Malenko gets away from Hammer and tags out. Benoit unloads on Hammer with chops and blows, but Hammer reverses a corner whip and goes for the Flashback (Alabama Slam) only for Benoit to counter with a headscissors to send Hammer out to the floor. Nice! Turnabouts fair play as Malenko grabs Hammer while Benoit comes through with the baseball slide of his own. Back inside, Benoit sends Hayashi over to Malenko, who gives him a Tiger Driver for two. After working a chinlock, Malenko corner clotheslines Hayashi and hits a vertical suplex for two. Back over to Benoit, he gives Hayashi a backbreaker for another two. Malenko tags in and superplexes Hayashi. BOTH MEN ARE DOWN! Hayashi catches Malenko charging at him with a hotshot. Benoit tags himself in and throws Hammer out to the floor. Meanwhile, as Hayashi goes to superplex Malenko, Benoit walks over and grabs Hayashi for a powerbomb / flying clothesline combo from the Horsemen. Malenko takes care of Hammer while Benoit makes Hayashi tap to the CRIPPLER CROSSFACE. (10:41 shown) Mostly a JTTS match, but both Hammer and Hayashi looked good here. **

Such a bland night of wrestling. None of the matches had any heat and it had a “let’s just get this over with” feel to it. There’s also way too much reliance on showing Nitro clips, which felt like at least half of tonight’s show. You need to be able to differentiate between the important clips and the less important clips, if that makes sense.

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: Roddy Piper (c) vs. ???
WCW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals
WCW World Television Championship: Scott Steiner (c) vs. Diamond Dallas Page
WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Billy Kidman (c) vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.
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