Best things to watch on the network?

[WyattSheepMask]

The addition of Thunder has come at the right time as I'm not far away from its launch in my timeline rewatch, and like Dart, I've never seen a full episode of Thunder. Was it even shown over here? 

[Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz]

8 minutes ago, WyattSheepMask said:

The addition of Thunder has come at the right time as I'm not far away from its launch in my timeline rewatch, and like Dart, I've never seen a full episode of Thunder. Was it even shown over here? 

I do seem to remember seeing the odd epsidoe, but I do not know if that was because it shown on one of the German channels? Which you use to be able to watch on the old SKY satellite receivers, prior to SKY digital coming along, rather than say, Cartoon Network/TNT. 

[WyattSheepMask]

That's what I thought it might have been. I was meaning was it ever shown by any UK broadcaster rather than going to DSF and its softcore blue on VOX

[The Dart]

I'm sure it was on TV here for a while at least.  Wasn't it on staight after Nitro?

[BigJag]

Yep. On TNT. It may also have been shown on CH5.

[NoUseforaUsername]

As of a few months ago, most episodes of Thunder were on Youtube.

[The Dart]

You could say that about lots of things that people would like to see on the Network.  Many episodes of Heat are on Youtube.  Same with Shotgun, WCW Worldwide, etc.

They're piss poor quality though most of the time.

[CleetusVanDamme]

We got Thunder for most of its run, right up to the last episode on Bravo. It took ages for TNT to start airing it in the first place, though. We probably missed most of the first year of it.

[CTXRussomark]

Bravo didn't air Thunder, only Nitro. The final 6 months of Thunder didn't air over here. 

[kidzero]

Still strong rumors of the greatest royal rumble from Saudi Arabia airing on the network

[WyattSheepMask]

If you try cancelling the network, it apparently pops up in the upcoming events to try and convince you to stay. I would like it  to be shown, but I'll only believe it once WWE officially announce it

[kidzero]

1 minute ago, WyattSheepMask said:

If you try cancelling the network, it apparently pops up in the upcoming events to try and convince you to stay. I would like it  to be shown, but I'll only believe it once WWE officially announce it

Yeah that'd true hopefully they will officially announce it at mania.. I don't mind even if it's shown on tape delay

[CTXRussomark]

Jerry Lawler mentioned on his podcast that he's being flown out to do commentary on it, which would suggest it's airing in some form. 

[JLM]

So, in the interests of making better use of the Network outside of my regular viewing, I have decided to start diggin' in the crates. My plan is to type in the name of a wrassler I'd like to see a match from, pick one from the list of search results and watch it. I have also decided that I will watch the entire show that said match is taken from, quality be damned.

 

Week 1:

Wrestler: Juventud Guerrera.

The match: Juventud Guerrera vs Psicosis for the WCW Cruiserweight title.

The show: WCW Thunder, episode 28, 20/08/1998.

Why?

Always been a fan of Juvi. One of the more successful luchadore unmaskings of the 90s as he turned out to have quite a marketable look and it also allowed him to show off more of his personality and charisma. Jushin Liger manages to be a stupendously charismatic performer despite being completely covered up, but for Juvi getting rid of the mask was a huge win for him in this regard. He was definitely very over for a time and his matches frequently delivered during the periods where he wasn't completely off the rails. I was also considering watching Spring Stampede 1999 as I have fond memories of that show. I bought it on WCW home video when they were briefly on sale in the UK and remember being blown away by Juvi vs. Blitzkrieg in the opener. Then I decided on this project instead.

WCW Thunder episode 28:

I should start by saying that this was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Similar to the guys on Keep it 2000, I find that the benefit of watching a WCW show from this period is that their ludicrously eclectic roster means I'm guaranteed to see a ton of my old favourites. I may not enjoy what they're doing, it may be a few years past their prime, it may be before they hit their stride, but regardless it's still good to see them.

I have never watched a full episode of Thunder before either, so it was interesting to see what a  1998 WCW B-Show in its entirety would look like. As expected, we had some exceptionally talented cruiserweights, some younger guys and future big names trying to make something happen for themselves and a number of big name superstars phoning in their performances. It also featured some performenrs who frankly had no business wrestling on TV in 1998 in matches that I cannot imagine a single human being would ever want to see. So that was fun too.

Our announce team is Tony Schiavone (Doing his best), Bobby Heenan (doing the bare minimum) and Lee Marshall (Percy Watson). Man The Brain is amazing. Even when it is abundantly clear that he doesn't care about any of this he is still a master on the microphone and still got a couple of genuine chuckles out of me. It's probably not the best thing for the product he's calling, but frankly there was very little to be excited about on this show.

Tony: We can always count on you to confuse the issue Bobby.
Brain: I'm easy to understand. *Pause* I am. *Pause* I'm not?? *Pause* I aren't.

You can hear the tone of self-amusement in his voice throughout almost the entire broadcast here and, detrimental to the product or not, Bobby was one of the main reasons I was able to get through this show with no skipping or fast forwarding.

You could argue that the announcer's job is to make a lacklustre product more exciting, but if what's on screen is dog shit, I'd rather hear Bobby Heenan making hismelf (and me) laugh than attempting to feign interest.

Promos/backstage things

Bret Hart cut a promo where he didn't seem to quite know what his point was. It got quite fun at he end though. Bret called Goldberg "Bill Goldberg" and Mean Gene said he prefers "Goldberg" so Bret kept saying "BILL Goldberg" in a really petulant Kevin the teenager sort of way. It's a shame this was the only Bret appearance on the show.

They recapped The Woyah turning up on Nitro and sassing Hogan and referring to Ed Leslie as Hogan's "Barber" if you wee-yul. Then old Jim teleported out in a cloud of smoke. Vaping before it was cool, or indeed invented.

Stevie Ray cut a promo on The Giant ahead of their main event. Oh yes, the main event is Stevie Ray vs. The Giant. Oh my yes. Honestly this promo was fire from Stevie. Giant had attacked him on Nitro, Stevie was pissed about it, he wanted to fight. I bought it. He also called The Giant an "OVERGROWN SUCKA!" Get told, mate. 

Mongo cut a promo about something. I tuned out, and in all honesty I think Mongo did as well. It felt like he was finished but Gene kept saying things and the cameras were still on so Mongo said more things. It was bad. Mongo is fucking terrible at everything.

Mean Gene interviewed The Giant. Giant talked some shit about Stevie. DON'T YOU TALK SHIT ABOUT STEVIE YOU OVERGROWN SUCKA!  Mean Gene kept asking an extra question at the end of the interviews so everyone had to freestyle and it made everything a bit awkward. I quite liked it.

They did a Nitro recap where Saturn confronted Raven and The Flock and tried to convince The Flock to free themselves from Raven's mind control. Raven was good in this, Saturn's promo was surprisingly very strong as well. Man 90s Raven was cool.
 

Juventud Guerrera vs Psicosis for the WCW Championship

Juvi comes out to a big reaction and milks it for everything it's worth. He tries his hardest to get this crowd into the match and I reckon they had them by the end of it. Psicosis is playing heel here and does a fine job of it as well.

It's a fairly simple TV match. Very slow start, built up to a few fun high spots, then a couple of near falls and then the finish. Juvi showed a lot of great fire though and the crowd was very much behind him. At one point Psicosis busted out a Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplex for a near fall. Not a move you see used very often!

They also did a spot where Juvi was sat on the top turnbuckle with Psicosis sat on his shoulders. I thought they were going to do the Ultimo Dragon style spot where Psicosis would spin round on Juvi's shoulders and turn it into a hurricanrana. Instead, though, he stayed in the electric chair position and did a super/avalanche victory roll. Through all of the lucharesu and indy spot monkey matches I've seen in my time, oddly I don't think I've ever seen that before. Looked great. Psicosis also landed his Psycho Guillotine top rope leg drop. I still think he's the best at that move and it's definitely the first thing that springs to mind when I think of Psicosis.

They went back and forth, Psicosis had the heat for a while. He got too cocky heeling it up for the crowd and this allowed Juvi to hit the Juvi driver out of nowhere. Fun opener this. Big fan of both guys and Juvi in particular was very fired up for it.

Jim Duggan vs Barry Darsow

Good GRIEF. Imagine putting this match on TV in 1998. Jeeeeeesus. The other day I searched for Kenzo Suzuki for some reason and found a singles match between him and Billy Gunn from an old Smackdown. For me personally that is quite high up on the list of singles matches from hell. This, though... this is pretty special. I love Demolition as much as the next guy, but plain old Barry Darsow in 1998 against Jim bleedin' Duggan.

Maybe you have to be American to get behind Duggan? I dunno. Even as a kid I was never a fan and used to find him dull. 1998 though! Duggan vs Repo Man in 1998 on television. Jeeeeeeesus.

It was not very good. The high spot was a scoop slam from Duggan. For real that was the big move of the mach, unless you count Duggan's three point stance into flaccid clothesline finish.

You don't need to do lots of fancy moves in a match for me to enjoy it. I don't need WORKRATE if the match has something else to engage me. This had nothing. Nothing at all. Plod plod plod plod USA CHANT plod plod plod plod plod Duggan wins.

Imagine Smackdown not existing yet and having this as your Thursday night wrasslin' option. Sobering thought.

Brain pointed out that Darsow's hairline/tan/facial hair combination made him look like a giant Mean Gene. Then during the replay of the finish he called him Mean Gene Barry Darsow. It was literally the only highlight.

Brian Adams w/Vincent vs Dean Malenko

Oh Dean. Oh bless you Dean. You tried. Malenko vs. The proverbial broom stick. Brian Adams moved SO SLOWLY in this match. I know the big man mentality is to do very little and let the smaller man work, but seriously it was mesemerising just how little work big Bri put into this one. Dean did his best. He tried to wear him down with holds, he bumped for what he was given and performed the David role in this match very well. Unfortunately, though, Goliath was sleep walking.

Vincent punched Dean a bit a one point. Curt Hennig ran in and did a double axe handle. That is some shitty interference right there. The double axe handle should be straight up banned from wrestling. It has never once in the history of the move looked remotely decent. Ever. Please prove me wrong on this. Apparently it was enough to set up Dean's demise though. Brian hit a tilt-a-whirl back breaker on Dean and was the winner. This was crap and it was not Dean's fault. NWO Z-team 4 life.

Raven vs Horace Hogan vs Saturn vs Kanyon in a four corners match for reasons nobody could possibly fathom

What the fuuuuuck was this. This was some of the most WCW shit I've ever seen.

So Horace is in Raven's flock but he's been showing some defiance. Saturn was in Raven's flock but he now isn't and he hates Raven. Kanyon hates Saturn. Saturn hates Kanyon. They both hate Raven.

So:

Horace is allied with Raven but might be having second thoughts.
Saturn wants to free Horace from Raven.
Saturn hates Raven and wants to fight him.
Saturn hates Kanyon but he hates Raven more.
Kanyon hates Saturn but he might hate Raven more?

Then, for some reason, the prestige of winning this nothing TV match occasionally trumps all of the above and people just attack other folks in the match for no reason other than "I guess he wants to win??" (Actual announcer quote).

It's a four corners match, so all four guys have to tag each other in and out, the alliances are literally impossible to pin down, the combinations of people in the ring and the decisions they make are utterly senseless and the entire announce team is BAFFLED. At first I thought they were, in character, trying to put across the chaos of this wild and crazy match up, but it quickly becomes apparent that they have not the foggiest idea what is happening or what story they're trying to convey.

There's a period where Saturn and Kanyon seem to be united by their hatred of Raven, but hen Saturn goes for a cheeky school boy roll up on Kanyon. WHY????? Like why?? If their feud got the better of them and they couldn't co-exist and they came to blows, that's fine. But why on Earth would he try the sneaky pin fall when he has his most hated rival in front of him and a golden opportunity to beat the guy up. If it was for a title then maybe it would make a tiny bit of sense??

I do not know. Ultimately Horace decides he is still Raven's mind prisoner and helps him get the win. Then I am brutally reminded that this is on the network when Raven's shitty WWF theme with he Raven caw-ing sound effects in it plays instead of his sweet Come as You Are rip off from this period. It must sound even more jarring when it replaces The Offspring on the ECW shows. Can't even imagine what New Jack's matches must be like either.

Also, not for this match specifically, but Horace Hogan has to be one of the worst wrestlers of all time. For me he is up there with the Harris Brothers. Absolute drizzling shits he is.

Saturn and Kanyon worked really hard and tried to make the best of this but the whole thing was a mess.

Curt Hennig vs Steve McMichael

Ewww. Was cool to see Hennig but this was nothing really. Mongo came out and was shit. Hennig couldn't really be arsed. He did massively overreact to Mongo slapping him on the back, though. That was funny. Like intentionally funny. Hennig was hamming it up big time. I liked that. Some bullshit happened. Someone hit Mongo with a chair or something. Perfect Plex. That was that. Mongo is the worrrrrrst.

Stevie Ray vs The Giant w/Scott Hall

Giant didn't even have his gear on for this. He strolled about a bit. Stevie tried to fire up and got a knock down with a scissor kick. I was hoping Stevie would get just a little bit more than this as I genuinely liked his promo and thought he deserved a bit of (Harlem) heat in the match up. But no. Nothing happened. Then there run-ins, then the match was thrown out and Stevie got choke slammed and the NWO were the winners. That was that.

Final thoughts

So despite the Juvi/Psicosis match I'd picked out being the only decent match on the card, I ended up thoroughly enjoying this. With ads removed it clocked in at about 80 minutes. For me, a show would have to be spectacularly shit to outstay is welcome at that length. It was great to see a lot of these faces again and it was great to hear The Brain call a show even when his heart wasn't in it, as 50% Heenan is still better than most colour commentators.

It's quite tempting to abandon the original concept I had and just start watching all the Thunders. That is quite the undertaking though, so don't know if I can commit to it just yet.

 

[tiger_rick]

I think Brian Adams' 1998 might be the worst year any "trained", full-time (when he's not in prison) wrestler has ever had.