WCW — page 38

Thunder
Date: June 28, 2000
Location: Pershing Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska
Attendance: 3,439
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

We’re in such a weird place with WCW at the moment as they’re not very good at the moment but it’s SO much better than the Russo and Bischoff era. Russo and Bischoff seem to have destructed inside of the first two and a half months with Russo going home and Bischoff disappearing. This has given me such a good laugh as the fans somehow have more patience than they do for this nonsense. Let’s get to it.

Happy Hump Day, BoD faithful! And also, happy WCW Wednesday!

Since Survivor Series occurs this weekend, let’s reminisce about the show that the inaugural Survivor Series made us forget about…Starrcade ’87!

What happened, you ask? Good question!

Monday Nitro #246
Date: June 26, 2000
Location: Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Des Moines, Iowa
Attendance: 4,573
Commentators: Scott Hudson, Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden

Russo is still gone over his latest backstage issue (something involving talent being moved around against his wishes), meaning we might be in for something watchable again tonight. We’re coming up on Bash at the Beach (where the watchableness ends) and the top matches of Hogan vs. Jarrett for the title and Nash vs. Goldberg for Hall’s contract (which was eaten one night and totally fine two nights later). Let’s get to it.

Thunder
Date: June 21, 2000
Location: Breeden Fieldhouse, Bozeman, Montana
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay

We’re coming off the first not horrible show in a long time and hopefully Russo is still gone tonight. Bash at the Beach is coming up and normally you could figure out what’s coming but given how this is WCW in 2000, we might not have even come close to knowing what’s coming yet. Let’s get to it.

Monday Nitro #245
Date: June 19, 2000
Location: Metropark Arena, Billings, Montana
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson

Now after last week’s mess, I’ve been told that the next few shows aren’t as bad. I’m curious to know what that means. You could smear warm mayonnaise on yourself and bake in the sun before throwing coconuts at a pack of hyenas and put on a better show than Russo has done in the last few weeks. Let’s get to it.

To those in the good ol’ USA, Happy Veterans’ Day! Kudos to those of you who served your country.

To celebrate, let’s discuss Clash of the Champions VII: Guts and Glory. It emanated from none other than Fort Bragg, NC.

From top to bottom, the card looked like this:

1. The Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin) defeated the Dynamic Dudes (Johnny Ace & Shane Douglas).
2. Ranger Ross pinned the Terrorist (a.k.a Jack Victory).
3. The Ding-Dongs beat George South & Cougar Jay.
4. Midnight Express (w/ Jim Cornette) defeated the SST (w/ Paul E. Dangerously).
5. “Dr. Death” Steve Williams fought Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy to double count-out.
6. Norman the Lunatic (w/ Teddy Long) squashed Mike Justice.
7. The Varsity Club (Kevin Sullivan & Mike Rotunda) beat the Steiner brothers.
8. Sting retained the World TV title by pinning “Wild” Bill Irwin.
9. The Freebirds won the World tag team titles by defeating the Midnight Express.
10. Ricky Steamboat beat Terry Funk by disqualification.

After the main event, the “Total Package” Lex Luger saved Steamboat from Funk then turned on him.

Please share your thoughts on this great if not intriguing show. And be sure to check out rockstargary.com for all of my wrestling reflections.

Live from Atlanta, GA

Airdate: February 7, 1986 (taped 2/2)

Attendance:  10,000

Hosted by Tony Schiavone and David Crockett

Thunder
Date: June 14, 2000
Location: Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Mark Madden

Welcome to your second weekly installment of Russo Theater featuring the Eric Bischoff Players. The big story at the moment is the departures of a lot of big names as Page, Sting and Flair are all gone, leaving us with Hogan/Nash/Steiner to fight off the forces of evil because we’re just lucky like that. Let’s get to it.

No, it’s not Women Crush Wednesdays, it’s World Championship Wrestling here weekly on the BoD!

Which would you rather watch: A great PPV such as Great American Bash ’96 or an awful one like Great American Bash ’91?

You make the call!

Bash ’96 included:

1. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair & the “Enforcer” Arn Anderson versus Steve “Mongo” McMichael & Kevin Greene. While Heenan “coached” the Horsemen, “Macho Man” Randy Savage coached the football duo.
2. WCW World Champion the Giant defended his title against WCW World TV and World Tag Team Champion the “Total Package” Lex Luger.
3. Sting sought payback against Lord Steven Regal.
4. John Tenta (w/ half a head of hair) sought retribution against Bubba Rogers.
5. Rey Mysterio, Jr. made his WCW debut against WCW Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko.
6. DDP defended his Lord of the Ring ring against Marcus Bagwell.
7. Konnan squared off against some cat named El Gato for the US title.
8. The Steiners fought Scott Norton & Ice Train.
9. “Ramon” and “Diesel” confronted Eric Bischoff.
10. Oh, and there was a falls-count-anywhere match between the Taskmaster and Chris Benoit that wasn’t too shabby.

Bash ’91 included:

1. Lex Luger and Barry Windham squared off in a cage for the vacant WCW World title.
2. Sting fought Nikita Koloff in a Russian chain match.
3. The Rock’n’Roll Express exploded as Ricky took on Robert.
4. Ron Simmons faced Kevin Nash Oz.
5. “Stunning” Steve Austin & Terry Taylor took danger to another level in a scaffold match against Bobby Eaton and PN News.
6. The Diamond Studd Scott Hall wrestled Tom Zenk
7. The Freebirds and Badstreet took on “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes & the Young Pistols
8. Johnny B. Badd fought the Yellow Dog in a bounty match.
9. Big Josh and Black Blood tangled in a lumberjack match.
10. And, El Gigante and the One Man Gang stunk up the ring.

So what’s your pick and what are your thoughts about your pick?

Monday Nitro #244
Date: June 12, 2000
Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 4,723
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson

We’re past the Great American Bash and there are less than four weeks from Bash at the Beach. Last night’s major development was the Goldberg heel turn, which felt like nothing more than shock value for the sake of shock value. Russo has sworn revenge on Ric Flair tonight and since this show should have a bigger audience, you can almost guarantee that he’ll get what he promised. Let’s get to it.

Great American Bash 2000
Date: June 11, 2000
Location: Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 7,031
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson

The company is in a very bad place right now and it seems like it can only get worse. At this point the company is all about Russo and Bischoff plus a few older wrestlers who can beat up huge groups of young talent in a matter of seconds. The main event here is Nash vs. Jarrett for the title, even though Nash has given away the World Title twice in the last year and a half. Let’s get to it.

Thunder
Date: June 7, 2000
Location: Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, Tennessee
Attendance: 3,088
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan

It’s the final show before the Great American Bash and this week’s Nitro was one of the biggest disasters I’ve ever seen. WCW has decided to make the old and new talent look horrible, aside from Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner, because they’re the future I guess. It can always get worse though so let’s get to it.

Monday Nitro #243
Date: June 5, 2000
Location: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 13,487
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson, Mark Madden

It’s the go home show for the Great American Bash and they finally have the main event set as Kevin Nash is going to get a shot at Jeff Jarrett’s World Title. Tonight’s big match is the long awaited Goldberg vs. Tank Abbott showdown. Given that it’s a Russo run show, you never know what changes we might see so let’s get to it.

Thunder
Date: May 31, 2000
Location: Idaho Center, Boise, Idaho
Attendance: 5,438
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

This is the third straight TV show where we’re coming in with a new World Champion, which isn’t even counting the mid-show title change from this past Monday. Maybe tonight we can start slowing things down a bit for a change. If we’re lucky, we might even get in some more Vince Russo stories! Let’s get to it.

Monday Nitro #242
Date: May 29, 2000
Location: E Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Commentators: Scott Hudson, Mark Madden, Tony Schiavone

So Kevin Nash is World Champion again after winning a triple threat match over Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner last week on Thunder. Jarrett had been awarded/won the title (it’s still not clear) two days before after Ric Flair had it vacated earlier tonight after winning it the week before. That’s about a fourth of the title changes this year and that’s all you need to know about WCW right now. Let’s get to it.

Thunder
Date: May 27, 2000
Location: Wendler Arena, Saginaw, Michigan
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan

So Jarrett is World Champion again after losing the title for a full week. The biggest change seems to be Nash moving in to the World Title scene, which is one of the least interesting things they could do, which is why we’re likely to see it happen. This company has to hit a wall soon enough but I don’t want to imagine what has to happen to reach that point. Let’s get to it.

Monday Nitro #241
Date: May 22, 2000
Location: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Attendance: 6,530
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson, Mark Madden

So Flair is World Champion but the forces of bad health don’t want us to have some sanity in WCW and Flair collapsed to end last week’s Thunder. This was a legitimate inner ear issue that screwed him up and not like that time where they had Ric Flair have a heart attack that wasn’t referenced again outside of a one off moment. Odds are this is going to change the title status so let’s get to it.

Thunder
Date: May 17, 2000
Location: Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Attendance: 3,066
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone

So Ric Flair is the new World Champion and now it’s all about trying to find out how Russo can screw up having one of the most popular stars and best wrestlers in the company on top. Granted I’m sure some of it will involve Russo beating Flair up to affirm his manliness for the week because he seems to forget it every other show. Let’s get to it.

Monday Nitro #240
Date: May 15, 2000
Location: Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi
Attendance: 8,550
Commentators: Mark Madden, Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson

The shows had been picking up for a bit until this past Thunder was another disaster with everything being all screwy and focused on Russo. It’s not clear what we’re getting for a main event at the Great American Bash but in theory it’s going to be Flair vs. Jarrett for the title. Then again the most logical option at this point would be Russo vs. Terry Funk as those two have been some of the most featured names on the roster in recent weeks. Let’s get to it.

Thunder
Date: May 10, 2000
Location: Prairie Capital Convention Center, Springfield, Illinois
Attendance: 4,129
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

Believe it or not, WCW had a good show earlier in the week to lead into this one. Above all else they slowed things down a bit and are finally acting like something resembling a wrestling company. We’re coming up on Great American Bash and it’s not really clear what the main event is going to be. Ric Flair was scheduled to be challenging Jeff Jarrett for the World Title but that might have been changed to Ric vs. his son David instead. Let’s get to it.