First WCW Thunder 1-09-1998

Coming from Daytona Beach, Florida. The inaugural episode of Thunder opens with pyro and Tony Schiavone welcoming us.

Commentary team for tonight is Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Lee Marshall. This episode was after the Hogan-Sting controversy from Starrcade 1997, so that'll be the running theme for tonight.

  

Before we get an actual wrestling match, we're "treated" to video of cracks forming in the still united NWO. Hulk Hogan rode in one limo with Konnan and Virgil, while the rest of the NWO were in a second limo.

Cut to Eric Bischoff telling "Mean" Gene that everything is A-ok in the NWO, and finally, Nick Patrick being suspended by commissioner J.J. Dillion.

10 minutes in and it's time for the first match, Chris Adams vs. Randy Savage.

It was a nothing much, Savage worked over Adams with punches and chokes, the fight spills outside and Adams whips Savage into a ring post. Lex Luger boots it down the ring and hits Savage with a chair,rolling him into the ring and giving Chris Adams the win.

After that upset, Hogan and Bischoff have an in-ring segment, taking about three minutes to get there, he flexes and showboats, and does his best Hamlet with a  Sting mask.

They go on and on about the Starrcade finish, Bischoff says Hogan will get his title back and Hogan talks about good looking bikini-clad girls of Daytona Beach. I hear they're usually blonde. 

Second match of the night is Louie Spicolli vs "No, I am not a model" Rick Martel.

After trading hammerlocks, Spicolli nearly runs into Martel's balls in a leapfrog. 

Raven and his flock made their way through the crowd mid-match and take seats almost ring side. 

The finish is Martel hitting a spinebuster and following it up with his Quebec crab for the submission victory. Heenan says that it's much like Jericho's Liontamer.

More Starrcade recap filler: The Giant(without his cigarettes) was scheduled to face Kevin Nash. The story goes that Nash didn't want to job, so he faked a heart attack, or had a heart attack scare, or had heart burn, or just didn't care.

Third match sees Puro action with NWO Japan member Tenzan vs OHARA, who's entrance music sounds like something out of Disney's Mulan.

This match took a backseat to the ever present WCW vs. NWO talk. 

Nothing worth noting. Finish saw OHARA come up short with the pin after a powerbomb, Tenzan hits a shoulder-breaker like move and a diving headbutt for the win.

Cover of Pearl Jam's Evenflow hits and that means Chris Jericho is out next. He claims he's changed and no longer a whining baby, apologizes to everyone, and gives Dave Penzer a new jacket. 

Ric Flair is Jericho's opponent, the multi time world champion is wrestling in the middle of WCW's B-show. He does let Jericho get a lot of offense in early on, bumping big and making Jericho look great.

Flair pokes Jericho in the eye, but ends up eating a dropkick after his corner flop spot.

No one home for the lionsault, letting Flair lowblow Jericho, even telling Charles Robinson to look away before hand.

Jericho eventually comes firing backs with chops, a dropkick, and crisp top rope spinning elbow smash, but only gets a two and immediately taps to the figure four.

Quick shill for the new DDP shirt and we're back, and with MENG! The Rock's "uncle" and former tag partner of Andre The Giant is facing Andre's "son", The Giant(without his cigarettes).

Giant tosses MENG! around like a ragdoll, only taking damage after missing a corner splash, but he eventually hulks up and chokeslams MENG! for the win.

 Time for Bill Goldberg to murder someone, and it happens to be Steve "Mongo" McMichael. Goldberg doesn't have the security team with him or any pyro.

Mongo does a damn tope to start things off. Well, he climbs through the ropes and jumps off at the very edge of the ring, good enough though.

Surprised that Mongo was booked to give Goldberg some trouble. 

After a top rope clothesline and two three-point stance takedowns, Goldberg figures he bumped enough and spears/jackhammers a win.

NWO's Konnan and Buff Bagwell with Virgil vs. The Steiners for the tag-team titles.

Scott's mullet was gone, but his vandyke was present, not part blonde yet though. 

Konnan cartoon bumps during the match, flailing his legs and bouncing while selling on the mat. 

The Steiner retain their titles in a forgettable match, which included Bagwell's phantom neckbreaker.

Commercial break and then it's more recap/filler/this show sucks Dusty's donkey's ass.

The whole Bischoff- Larry Zbyszko match from Starrcade 97' is shown; Larry won.

With that bullshit out of the way, we go to more bullshit with Mike Tenay talking to Zbyszko about his upcoming ppv match with Scott Hall.

Yeah, Hall beats up Ray "Big Bossman" Traylor till Larry distracts him and Traylor rolls Hall up for the win.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Ultimo Dragon for the cruiserweight championship is arguably the best match of the night, but commentary is too busy to talk about what's in front of them.

Juvi Juice wins the match and title after a scoop slam and 450 splash. Not that it matters as we have to go to a Bret Hart-Ric Flair in-ring segment and then Lex Luger vs. Scott Norton.

By this point, I've given up on this episode and was more interested in watching my oldest daughter watch Bob's Burgers.

20 minutes are dedicated to showing footage of Hogan-Sting from Starrcade, Hogan-Sting from the Nitro after Starrcade, and an in-ring segment in which Sting says J.J. Dillion has no guts and Hulk Hogan is a dead man.

Main event was Kevin Nash vs. DDP

I skimmed through it and just wanted to post this Sheamus gif.

WWF's Shotgun Saturday Night- First episode: January, 4th, 1997

Shotgun Saturday Night was WWF's poor attempt to capitalize of the growing popularity of ECW and their more adult content.

The debut episode was broadcasted from The Mirage Nightclub in New York City and promised to be edgier than what WWF usually produces, let's see if they make good on that promise. 

The show opens with Bob Backlund warning us that we don't want to see tonight's show, that it is decadent, there's sexual activities, violence, and crime happening inside. 

A ZZ-Top ripoff song plays over flashcuts of Shawn Michaels stripping on a cab, a fresh-faced Sunny getting out of a limo, and The Undertaker coming out of a manhole. Taker is wearing a leather jacket, jeans, and a bandanna on his head, predating his biker gimmick by three years.

 

Vocal chord ripping Vince McMahon and Sunny rundown the card: Ahmed Johnson vs. Crush, Goldust vs. The Sultan, and the main event: midgets!

First match of the night is an unannounced one, The Flying Nuns vs. The Godwinns. The Nuns are the future Headbangers, but in this gimmick, they're a pair of nuns from a Tibetan order in The Himalayas. Their names?

Sister Angelica and Mother Smucker. We get all this info from Todd Pettengill, and if you look closely, you'll notice some geek trying to get his NWO shirt on camera. Well, they were taking over.

  

The Nuns Pearl Harbor the pig farmers, but it doesn't take long for the veterans to take control. Since this was filmed in a night club, the ring used is tiny, especially compared to the huge rings that are usually used.

LOTS of stalling, but a Holy Shit! chant from the crowd gets a big belly laugh from McMahon and he acknowledges the chant with, "holy cow!"

So exciting this match is, that they throw to Todd and Hillbilly Jim.

Business was possibly gonna pick up, maybe, I hoped, until Brother Love popped up at ringside and the nuns begin to bow to him.

Back body drop by Hnery Godwinn and more stalling. FINALLY the Nuns take control by putting the boots to Henry and using the ropes to choke him, getting an ECW chant from the crowd.

Vince brings up the VIP section of the club and that Sunny has her eyes set on Rocky Maivia, I don't know if this was a throwaway line or possibly trying to set up a future storyline of her managing him. Sunny would leave the WWF in August of that year to reunite with Chris Candido in ECW.

HOG tags in PIG( Phineas I. Godwinn) who is reluctant to hit a "woman", this works against him and one crack on the head from the good book gets the win for the Flying Nuns.

Post match interview has Brother Love dubbing the Nuns as The Sisters of Love, plus you can barely spot ECW fan Faith No More guy in the back of the crowd.

Second match is Goldust vs. The Sultan, a masked Rikishi Fatu.

Sultan wastes little time and starts trading blows, but Goldust takes over and hammers away at the cheap-gimmicked heel.

Sultan's backstory is that the Iron Sheik trained him and he doesn't speak because his tongue had been cut out.

Goldust hits The Sultan with the rearview, but any attempt of making this match or show interesting is thwarted by The Sultan. The ref turns heel on the crowd by stopping The Sultan from hitting Goldust with a chair.

Now the only thing worth mentioning in the entire run of Shotgun, Marlena, Goldust's valet and real-life wife Terri Runnels, "flashing" her boobs.

Sunny is livid over Marlena's pastie-covered boobs, but livid rhythms with vivid, and pairing that in a Google search with Sunny will yield something to really cry afoul about.

After a commercial break, Sunny is going on about Marlena and she promises to bring a video of her doing the wild thing, and if Pam Anderson can do it, so can she!

The sex tape turns out to be her and Elmo, not a video of her and "Wildman" Marc Mero or getting Hep C from Tommy Lee.

Crush with the Nation of Domination vs. Ahmed Johnson is up next.

This one starts off hot with Johnson scoring a takedown and exchanging ground and pound shots.

A wild Goldberg chant breaks out as Ahmed takes control again with a jumping clothesline from outside the ring back into the ring.

A low blow to Johnson's johnson turns the tide, but a jailbird chants distracts Crush enough to give Ahmed an opening. The NOD interfere and get this match thrown out.

The faces of the night, Goldust and The Godwinns, save Johnson from taking any further damage,but not before Crush cracks him in the head with a chair.

Before the main event of Mini-Vader vs. Mascarita Sagrada, Todd Pettengill belts outs a parody of the Macarena while Sunny dances in the ring.

Jim Cornette joins on commentary and Holy Shit! The match featuring two midgets, one a parody of another wrestler, is the match of the night and hard to transcribe. 

After a berating from Cornette, Mini-Vader dominates with body slams and powerbombs.

Sagrada is able to capitalize on min vad's mistake and hits a top rope rana and outside splash, following up with a standing rana and top rope dropkick for the win.

Cornette challenges Sagrada afterwards, but the midgets team up and take Cornette down along with taking off his pants.

This is how the episode ends, a shot of Jim Cornette's ass in his underwear.

I don't know how men in drag, hog farmers, an 80's Middle-East gimmick, and midgets were suppose to help the WWF tap into ECW's fanbase.

The WWF finally realized their failure six weeks after the debut and dropped the premise of the show completely.  Shotgun Saturday Night started being tapped before RAW, featuring lower level talent and recaps of RAW.

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers pilot episode: Day of The Dumpster

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was a live-action television show that debuted in 1993. Targeted towards children and pre-teens, it quickly cemented itself in American pop culture and is one of the things brought up by "90's kids" to show how much of a 90's kid they are.

With the recent reveal of images from the upcoming big budget theatrical reboot, I decided to watch the pilot episode from the original series, original being used loosely, as Saban Entertainment cannibalized three Japanese tv shows and shat out The Rangers.

The episode opens like an endorphin rush. Main villian, Rita Repulsa, is released from a 10,000 year imprisonment and sets her conquering sights on Earth. Zordon, the pre curtain reveal Wizard of Oz, orders Alpha, a robot, to assemble a team of teenagers with attitude.

Accompanying this speeding exposition is the hairiest of hair metal and seizure inducing flashing images. 
After the minute long intro, the episode properly begins. Two astronauts stumble upon what they think is a space dumpster, leading to the title card of the episode.

 

Opening Pandora's trashcan frees Rita and her Keystone Kops: Finster, Goldar, Baboo, and Squatt.

She isn't too picky about which planet to try to conquer, settling for whichever one is closest, which is Earth, of course.

Meanwhile, at the Angel Grove Youth Center, Jason and Zack, the Red and Black Rangers, are having a friendly sparring session. Pink Ranger Kimberly is doing gymnastics, which is what Amy Jo Johnson did before pursuing acting. Lastly, Yellow Ranger Trini is moving her arms around.

Milquetoast Billy Blue Ranger shows up, but never mind that shit! Here comes Bulk and Skull!

Kimberly and Trini turn down their double-date offer, clearly outing themselves as lesbians.

Rita has set up shop on the moon, eyeing Earth and thinking it's right for the taking, ordering Finster to create a batch of Putty Patrollers, her lesser group of idiots.


Cutting back to Angel Grove, we find Billy flopping in Jason's karate class, but never mind that shit, here comes Bulk and Skull!

These two want to learn to kick ass and Bulk manages to throw up an impressive side kick for a fat, nonathletic looking man, but he fails at the follow-up spin kick.

An earthquake rocks the center and Zordon has Alpha beam the teens over. "Teleport five emotional and overbearing humans to us."

After being kidnapped teleported over, Zordon explains to them that he is an inter-dimensional being caught in a time warp.

 

A quick look into the viewing globe and the teens get the rundown on Rita Repulsa, intergalactic sorceress and Madonna cone-boob admirer.

Everyone gets a fancy belt buckle, giving them the ability to morph into The Power Rangers. The black guy is the Black Ranger and the Asian girl is the Yellow Ranger as been talked to death, I'd like to mention Kimberly asking Zordon to be the Purple Ranger instead of pink.

 

 After a rundown of everyone's spirit dinosaur, the would be Rangers decline the offer and walk out. Zordon lets them keep the morphin buckles, which conveniently come in hand when Rita sends her Puttys after them.

These grey goons don't stand a chance against a black man dancing.

 

 They do get their asses handed to them and they give in and accept their destinies, which could have gone to any other group of hormone fueled teens.

Rita turns to her last resort and makes Goldar a Toho sized monster. 
Calling upon the power of stop-motion Bandai toys, the Rangers summon their zords, giant robots that been lying dormant in the earth.

 

Blows are traded, including a flying dropkick by Goldar, but he turns tail and runs at the sight of the megasword.

Back at base, Zordon lays down some rules:

1. Never use your powers for personal gain.

2.Never start a fight.

3. Keep your identity secret.

In other words, don't be Ironman.

So that's it, the first episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. A slew of merchandise, follow-up series, and two theatrical films latter, the franchise is still going strong today, with the new film set to be released in March of 2017, featuring Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa.

First Monday Night Nitro (09-04-1995)

The first episode of WCW's Monday Night Nitro was broadcasted from The Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota.An apropos venue to hold this event, according to Mongo McMichael, who adds, "that don't mean you're digging around in the dirt with farm implements, baby!"

Bobby Heenan breaks up the Bischoff-Mongo moment and will be joining the two for commentary. Heenan left the WWF in December 1993 because of a paycut, in his final appearance for the company, he was thrown out of the building by Gorilla Monsoon.

Jerking the curtain tonight will be Brian Pillman and Jushin Liger. Pillman would be fired next year and spend some time in ECW before coming back to WCW, or that's what Eric Bischoff and Pillman had planned, but Pillman would sign with the WWF in June of 1996. 

Liger has been virtually everywhere in his career, finally having a match in the WWE back in July of 2015 for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.

During Pillman's entrance, we got a slight look at Wild Cat Willie, WCW's ill-fated mascot.

   

 Liger takes control after the lockup with a cartwheel kick and some corner chops, capping it off with a sloppy landing moonsault for a two.

Liger works a headlock and gets more chops in the corner, whips Pillman to the opposite corner and takes a headscissors.

Now it's Pillman's turn to deliver corner shops and botch. A hurra-can't-rana only gets a two on Liger.

Liger gets Pillman in a surfboard and Heenan tells Mongo that he doesn't have to surf as he pays someone to do it for him.

Pillman delivers another headscissors, a loose one that Bischoff evens comments on. 

A spill outside later and Liger hits the Tommy Dreamer cannonball roll.

USA chant breaks out, giving Pillman the strength to fuckit-plex Liger outside the ring and follow it up with a crossbody.

Liger comes up short with a superplex, he goes up top for a jumping nothing and gets caught with a dropkick. He's able to regain control with a tiger bomb and a top rope frankensteiner, taking a note out of Scott Steiner's book and planting himself on top of his head.

Lame duck finish: Waist lock switcharoo and Pillman reserves into a rollup for the 3.

Cut to rhinestone cowboy Sting cutting a pretaped promo on Ric Flair for their match tonight, followed up with a voiceover for SlimJim, and Mean Gene shilling the WCW hotline, now with trivia and merchandise offers! Just a buck 49, so call now!

Commercial spot for the Batman Forever videogame, which I had the misfortune of playing on the Super Nintendo when I was a kid.

How convenient that the debut episode of Nitro is taking place in the same building that houses Hulk Hogan's Pastamania.

 Hogan will be facing Big Bubba(Bossman) in the main event, putting his WCW world title on the line. He plans on stuffing Big Bubba with his second-rate spaghettiOs after defeating him later that night, it was the only mention of his match, with the rest of the promo a constant plug of Pastamania, brother!


Second match of the night is US champion Sting vs. Ric Flair.

 Mongo: I may just be an old punch-drunk jock, but even I know these two wrestlers are the purest in the world.

Mongo then brings up that Bobby Heenan never managed a world champion, which he did, for a short time at least, when Flair won the WWF World title in 1992's Royal Rumble.

Time for the history making spot, that's been featured on countless talking-head documentaries and countdown lists, Lex Luger sauntering to ringside in his 18-button dress shirt and just stands there.

Match finally gets underway and they both play to the crowd, two leapfrogs and two gorilla press slams later and it's all Sting. Flair takes a powder, building up his chickenshit gauge. 

An eye poke and chops in the corner is vintage Ric Flair, Bischoff's words, not mine. Sting starts to no-sell the corner shots and gives Flair a third slam, awkwardly hitting the ropes and waiting for Flair to dump them both out the ring.

 

Sting press slams Flair through the middle rope, misses his Stinger splash, but immediately no-sells till an elbow to the face knocks him down. 

Picking up back from the commercial break, Flair goes up top so Sting can slam him again.

 

Windbreaker Anderson shows up, but who's side is he on!

Flair is able to slap on the figure four and holds onto the rope. The ref can't get Flair to break the hold, despite counting to four twice, and justs calls the bell.

Anderson and Flair brawl to the back, further pushing Flair down the card and away from the US and World titles.

Scott Norton surprises the commentary team and gets in the face of Mongo, this is all to set up a match between him and Randy Savage, who saved Mongo. While security removes Norton from ringside, Bischoff throws to a hype video for Sabu.

Gene Mean announces the winner of a Harley Davidson, which begins a long period of killing time: WCW Saturday Night preview, commentary small talk, and lastly, a Michael Wallstreet promo.

Wallstreet calls the new generation, the few generation and that's why he's (back) here in the WCW. He also knows that the IRS will be watching him closely. Might as well just said, "hey Vince, screw you, they're paying me more."

Main event time. Big Bubba is out first in his finest fat guy business suit. Hogan hotdogs around and this match can be best summed up in the following picture

Loose headlock aside, Bubba does hit a good looking Stinger splash, but his offense doesn't last long, as Hogan starts his punch and kick comeback. For being the top babyface, Hogan does a lot of heel tactics: not breaking the five count, choking Bubba with Jimmy Hart's jacket, and even threatening to hit the ref.

You need CompuBox to keep up the number of punches thrown. A weak Bossman slam triggers the Hulk Up.

1.Punch

2.Punch

3.Big boot

4.Leg drop

5.1-2-3

The Dungeon of Doom come to break up the hotdogging and grandstanding, but get tossed by Hogan and Lex Luger, still in his fancy shirt. They nearly come to blows, but Randy Savage, Sting, and Jimmy Hart keep them separated.

Hogan and Luger go back and forth and back and it boils down to Luger wanting a shot at Hogan's title.

Hogan tells Luger that he doesn't have to prove himself to Hogan and that if he wants a match, he just needs to put out his stinky palm for Hogan to shake. 

One stinky palm shake later and Luger v. Hogan is set for next week's Nitro.