Thunder – August 26, 1998

Date:
August 26, 1998

Location:
Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois

Attendance:
7,128

Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

For
once in a very long time we’re coming off a strong ending to a Nitro.
We’re heading into Fall Brawl and WarGames with Team WCW fully in
place and two members of the Black and White set. The Wolfpack
hasn’t been announced yet but with only four members it’s not like
they have a lot of options. Let’s get to it.

We
open with a chat about WarGames with Lee Marshall saying Hogan has
never pinned Piper or Page because Lee Marshall is bad at history.

Total
squash with Wrath winning in less than a minute with a top rope
clothesline and the Meltdown, though he didn’t turn Putski all the
way and it was more of a Dominator. I was always kind of a Wrath fan
as long as he didn’t talk.

Here’s
Stevie Ray for his first interview since joining the NWO. He owes
Hogan and Bischoff a debt of gratitude (for costing him the TV
Title?) for standing up for him three years ago and will serve them
up DDP tonight, as per Hogan’s orders.

Bull
Pain has been kicking around the indies and smaller promotions for
years now. Enos starts fast and pounds away before hitting a nice
side slam. Lots of walking around and posing by Enos. Pain comes
back with some right hands and kicks to the ribs but that’s about it
for him. A middle rope fall away slam is enough to finish Pain and
gets Enos the only pop of his WCW career.

Rating:
D. The fall away slam was good
but we’re seriously having Mike Enos squashes now? This is how far
Thunder has fallen? Bull Pain is a good name for someone but when
you get a jobber’s entrance to face Mike Enos, it might be time to
look for a new line of work. Nothing to see here.

Disco
says everyone is here to see him dance but he turns around into a
spinning kick to the face for the pin in 12 seconds.

Post
match Miller complains about WCW trying to make him a wrestler
because he’s a three time world karate champion and there’s nothing
we can do about it. So he turns heel by attacking a heel?

Somehow
this sounds better than anything we’ve seen all night. Konnan starts
fast with the nicest hurricanrana I’ve ever seen him use to send
Silver King out to the floor. Back in and Konnan works on the knee
to set up the Tequila Sunrise before going to his signature stuff.
After the rolling clothesline and X Factor, it’s the 187 and Tequila
Sunrise for the win.

Rating:
D. Just a squash but it’s nice
to have something to rate tonight. Silver King is yet another name
on the list of jobbers with more talent than they’re given credit
for. Konnan got the crowd into the match which was his main job in
the Wolfpack. It wasn’t anything to see but that hurricanrana was
nice.

Post
match Rude and Hennig come out to make fun of Konnan before asking
who he’d rather get his beating from. Konnan calls out the rest of
the Black and White but runs away and laughs on his way out. Nothing
to see here again.

Here’s
DDP to talk a bit about WarGames. After running down Bischoff, Page
praises the Warrior for helping him take down Hollywood SCUM Hogan.
Page says we’ll find out who the third man for Team WCW is on Nitro.
Wasn’t that covered already? He’ll make Stevie Ray feel the Bang
soon enough.

Hour
#2 begins.

Hayashi
starts fast with a cross body and kick to the jaw. Before
we get very far, here’s Sonny Onoo to give advise to Kaz. The
distraction lets Evan take over with a quick suplex followed by a
slam. Not that it matters
though as Karagias spends the time Hayashi is down yelling at Onoo
instead of following up. He finally goes up for a
top rope splash but hits
Kaz’s knees. Hayashi yells
at Onoo as well before going
up top for a senton backsplash for the pin.

Rating:
C-. Well I guess rehashing
Sonno Onoo’s Japanese team is better than no story at all. The
high spots here were decent but they didn’t do enough to carry the
match into good territory. Karagais was a good example of someone
with the right look but no substance to him for the most par.

Lodi
comes to the ring and says that Saturn broke his fingers (it was
Raven) so he wants a piece of Saturn right now. This brings out
Saturn who points out that it was Raven, but Lodi says Raven would
never hurt him because they’re friends. Raven even bought him a new
rubber ducky. Lodi even sweetens the pot a bit: if Saturn beats him,
he’ll leave the Flock, but if Lodi wins then Saturn has to be Lodi’s
slave until Fall Brawl. Saturn jumps him and it’s on.

Saturn
pounds away to start and destroys Lodi like the sign carrying goof
that he is. A suplex and
short arm clothesline have Lodi in big trouble but here are Sick Boy,
Riggs and Raven for the save. It’s Raven’s Rules so the match keeps
going with Saturn cleaning house. The Death Valley Driver looks to
end Lodi but here’s Kanyon to hit the Flatliner on Saturn. Kanyon
shakes Raven’s hand as Lodi is able to pin Saturn in a huge upset.

Rating:
D+. This was all about the
storyline instead of the match which is fine as this story is FINALLY
going somewhere. Now to be fair it doesn’t make much sense and is
taking out one of the most interesting characters on the roster but
at least it’s something instead of what we’ve been seeing for months
now.

Norton
runs Jim over with a shoulder to send Neidhart out to the floor. Jim
goes after Vincent instead of getting his head handed to him by
Norton, but Scott just goes to the floor and lays him out. Back in
and Jim tries a second rope shoulder but just bounces off of Norton.
That was impressive. Norton powerbombs him half to death for the
pin.

Rating:
D. They’re doing a good job of
making Norton look like a killer before he’s fed to Goldberg. They
did the same thing with Meng a few weeks back and the result was far
better than I was expecting. I can’t remember the last time he lost
a singles match and that powerbomb is awesome.

The
announcers talk a bit.

This
has to be good right? Jericho is defending of course. Both guys
play to the crowd for a bit before we’re ready to go. They fight
into the corner before being separated with Wright complaining of a
hair pull. Alex bails to the ropes to get out of a wristlock and
Jericho does the same to avoid a German suplex. Chris complains
about a hair pull and Alex heads outside for a breather. Back in and
Alex clotheslines him down before stomping Jericho out to the floor.

Chris
is whipped into the barricade but comes back up with chops before
sending Alex into the barricade as well. Back
in with Wright hitting some European uppercuts. Heenan: “Tony do
you know why that is called a European uppercut?” Tony: “I’m
scared to ask this but why?” Heenan: “I was hoping you knew.”
Alex hits a nice overhead belly to belly suplex for a near fall but
Jericho kicks him in the chest to take over again. The champion gets
two off a suplex as the announcers talk about the good Hennig vs.
Jericho match from Monday.

Wright
snapmares Jericho down before
throwing him to the outside. An ax handle off the apron has Jericho
staggering but he grabs a quick chinlock back inside. Jericho shifts
over to a stump puller before rolling backwards so Wright is on
Jericho’s stomach. It doesn’t last long and I think the hold would
be more effective on the mat. The Lionsault connects but Jericho
does the long walk around the ring instead of covering. Alex comes
back with an elbow to the jaw and a backbreaker for two.

A
spinwheel kick gets the same and there’s a chinlock on the champion.
Jericho fights up with a jawbreaker to put both guys down but it’s
Wright with another spinwheel kick to take over. They seem to botch
a spot with both guys coming off the ropes but Jericho hits a
butterfly backbreaker, only to have Wright come back with a
backbreaker of his own. Wright misses a top rope ax handle but goes
right back up for a sunset flip. It’s all for naught though as
Jericho rolls through into the Liontamer to retain.

Rating:
C+. This
was good but it’s nowhere near enough to save the show at this point.
Wright was trying here and Jericho has been on a roll as of late
with the Hennig match being a high point. Alex continues to be a guy
that could have been something special if he was treated seriously
for a longer stretch.

Haven’t
seen Van Hammer in awhile. Hammer grabs a very quick rollup for two
and Hennig is frustrated on
the floor. He comes back in and just blasts Hammer in the face with
a right hand to put him down. Rude gets in some choking from the
floor like any good heel manager would. Hammer ducks a clothesline
and fires off some sloppy right hands of his own but misses a knee in
the corner. Curt kicks at the knee a bit before getting bored and
hitting the PerfectPlex for the pin.

Rating:
D. Hammer looked lost out there
and could barely throw a decent right hand. It’s pretty clear why we
hadn’t seen him in a few months. Rude was the highlight of the match
as he punched Hammer in the face and then checked to make sure his
nails were still clean. I miss managers that were actually
effective.

Tony
calls this a bounty match, whatever that means. Ray shoves Page
around to start and Page gives him a wry smile. Page comes back with
right hands and the driving shoulder blocks to send Ray outside. DDP
follows but Vincent grabs the leg to let Stevie take over. Back
inside and Ray hits a nice backbreaker before choking a lot. We hit
the nerve hold and bearhug for a bit but Page is quickly in the
ropes. The Slapjack is countered with a backdrop and Page scores
with a neckbreaker. He calls for the Diamond Cutter but hits it on
an interfering Vincent, drawing the DQ.

Rating:
D+. For a Stevie Ray match this
wasn’t completely terrible. They backed themselves into a corner on
the ending though as Page isn’t getting pinned and you don’t want Ray
getting beaten clean in his first match wearing the Black and White.
When all else fails, call for Vincent and the DQ.

Giant
comes out to help Stevie with the beatdown but Konnan makes a save to
end the show.

Overall
Rating: D+. Another below
average show as Thunder gets less and less important every week. The
main story tonight was focused on Stevie Ray which isn’t something
that is going to draw in an audience. There was a lot of talk about
WarGames, but why say Piper isn’t confirmed as a member of the team
when he and Page agreed to an alliance on Nitro? Bad show for the
most part but there were a few bright spots sprinkled here and there.

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