WCW Thunder - Monday, Week 1, August 2001

 

15,500 in attendance in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Commentary by Mike Tenay and Jim Ross

 

 

Catch the results below the break!

1. As with every edition of the show where a tournament begins, we have Dusty Rhodes and Mike Tenay in the control room running down the bracket for the WCW United States Championship Tournament!

 

After running down the names involved, Dusty and Tenay discuss their picks to win! Dusty says that since the tournament pits old and new talent together, some of those young bucks are gonna learn just what an old dog can do! He says that he thinks Ricky Steamboat is gonna take it all. Tenay says that he can't agree, because he sees that Tajiri has been on a hot streak recently, and he thinks he's going to win the tournament! (74)

2. WCW US Tourney Round 1: Juventud Guerrera defeated Jimmy Yang in 6:18 with a 450 Splash to advance to round 2 of the tournament, where he'll face either Nova or Joe Legend! (71)

3.  Eric Bischoff makes his way to the ring! He says that the fans here in Calgary are in for a special treat. Fresh off of the Great American Bash, Bischoff knows there has to be two things the Canadian crowd are waiting to see: The Hart Foundation and Team Canada! He says they won't be disappointed; tonight will see both a Hart Foundation roundtable, where Bret Hart will have the Harts air their issues for a clean slate, and a special match seeing members of the Hart Foundation and Team Canada team up for the main event! (74)

4.  Watching the monitors backstage are Shannon Moore and Jimmy Hart, no doubt scouting talent for Hart's return to ringside. (64)

 

5.  WCW US Tourney Round 1: Scott Norton defeated Tommy Dreamer in 6:02 with a Blue Thunder Bomb, meaning that he will advance to the next round, where he will compete against either Ricky Steamboat or Carl Ouelett. (75)

6. Rob Van Dam is out to the ring! He calls out Konnan! He says no disrespect, but Konnan beat a good friend of his to get into WCW, but he hasn't exactly been on a hot streak since. RVD says that he'd hate to think that Konnan might have won on a fluke, so at Slamboree, he wants Konnan to prove himself. One on one, nothing between them, just RVD getting to see what Konnan is made of. (82)

 7. WCW World Television Championship: Steve Austin defeated Crash in 0:59 with a Stunner to retain the Television championship. He made his first defense here. (75)

8.  Glenn Gilbertti and Big T defeated Kidman & Helms in 3:28 after Gilbertti pinned Helms with a slingshot suplex, following a Big T Tiger Bomb. Accompanying them was a strange man... (55)

 

9. ...who enters the ring while T and Gilbertti celebrate! He grabs a microphone and says that he's here because he got a call from someone who wanted to know The Truth - he is Killings, and he is The Truth. When Glenn Gilbertti called, The Truth knew that his thoughts were confirmed - there is a conspiracy in professional wrestling, and he's happy that other people have seen The Light. Killings points at Gilbertti, and speaks on how he's a charismatic and unmatched wrestler who was held down for years because someone made him a joke. Then, he moves to Big T, and says that anyone else with as much skill and as impressive looking as he is would have already had their first world title shot. Killings is here to expose the corruption in WCW - and show everyone The Light. (69)

  

10. Backstage, Ric Flair approaches Bret Hart. He welcomes him back to WCW, before reminiscing about all the good old days, where Flair beat Hart in the middle of the ring. Flair says that he wants to give the Calgary fans an extra treat - one more match between the two. Hart turns him down, saying he's not here to fight - only to settle the differences in his family. If Flair's ready to go, however, why disappoint the fans? Instead of facing him, he can face Jim Neidhart & Chris Benoit instead! (71)

11.  Lex Luger squashed Charlie Haas in 2:08 after locking in the Torture Rack. Surprisingly, Haas and Luger work amazingly together, they looked fantastic here. (66)

  

12. Backstage, Eric Bischoff bumps into Taz. Bischoff says he has some nerve showing up after he injured Chavo Guerrero at the Great American Bash. He tells Taz not to bother next week, because he's suspended until further notice! (72)

13.  Kevin Nash is in the ring! He says that winning the WCW Brass Knuckles championship was no big deal - and he didn't even have to do any of that hardcore crap. He says that as long as he has the belt, well, he plans to take over the division - starting with replacing this ugly title with a more modern design. Eventually, the only person that people will think of when they see the title will be Kevin Nash himself, and all the little hardcore legends will be a memory. Just then, Terry Funk hits the ring! He says that Nash has no respect, and that he doesn't deserve to hold that title, and he never will! Funk challenges Nash to a title match - right now! (71)

14.  WCW Brass Knuckles Championship: Kevin Nash defeated Terry Funk in 5:08 after low blowing him and hitting the Jackknife Powerbomb to make his first defense of the title. (78)

15.  After the match, Nash is about to powerbomb Funk again, when Mick Foley makes the save! (69)

16. Next up, Dwayne Johnson is in the ring! He says that jabroni Chris Jericho isn't fit to lace his boots, and at Slamboree, the WCW World Heavyweight championship is as good as his. He says he's long, long overdue for the recognition he's finally getting with his title shot, and he'll be damned if he lets anyone take it away - especially that jackass Steve Austin. Dwayne says Austin isn't even going to think about costing him his title shot, because if he does, he knows Dwayne's gonna make his shiny little knee braces straight up his ass! (89)

17.  Ric Flair & Curt Hennig defeated Jim Neidhart and Chris Benoit when Flair pinned Neidhart with an inside cradle in 9:43. (75)

18.  Backstage, Steve Austin is walking with the TV title and runs into Tully Blanchard. Austin asks Tully who his challenger for the title next week is, and Tully tells him that he's facing Steve Corino. Austin complains, saying that he already beat Corino, and that he doesn't deserve a title shot. Tully tries to tell Austin that Corino was already in line for a shot before Austin won the belt, but Austin still demands another opponent. When Tully says that's not how this works, Austin storms off. (69)

19.  WCW US Tourney Round 1: Nova defeated Joe Legend in 6:01  with Novacaine. He will face Juventud Guerrera in Round 2. (67)

 
20. Bret Hart is in the ring with the entire Hart Foundation. He says that in his absence, his brother Owen led the Hart Foundation to greatness, and after Owen retired, British Bulldog has led the group to gold more than once. What Bret doesn't get, he says, is how the group has fallen apart since then. As graduates of the Hart Family Dungeon, each and every one of them has a bond that can never be broken. No one will ever understand a Dungeon graduate like another Dungeon graduate. Bret says that this makes every member of the Hart Foundation family, even if they're not blood. He says that Adam Castle has a point - Benoit & Bulldog have been too focused on the success of the group to acknowledge when a member like Chris Jericho has success as an individual - but he hasn't gone about it in the way that a graduate of the Dungeon should. Family don't solve problems by stabbing each other in the back, he says. Bret asks each member of the Hart Foundation - Christian Cage, Adam Castle, Chris Benoit, and British Bulldog especially - to apologize to each other, and each member does so (Benoit is reluctant to apologize to Castle, but he does so anyway). He says that everyone knows what happens to a house divided, and the Hart Foundation won't suffer that fate. As a family, they're going to rule the 2000s just like they ruled the 1990s. The Hart Foundation has a group hug before leaving the ring, their issues now settled. (79)

 

21. WCW US Tourney Round 1: Ricky Steamboat defeated Carl Ouelett in 5:01 with the Flying Karate Chop to advance to the second round, where he will face Scott Norton. (61)

22.  Commentary are leading into the main event when Steve Austin's music hits unexpectedly! He makes his way to the ring while Tenay and Ross are confused over his impromptu appearance. Austin says that he had a hell of a time seeing the look on Bischoff and Flair's faces when he got backstage after winning the Television title, and it sure sounds like an even better time to come out and do a minute of work for a payday every week, but it's not what Austin wants. He says he has his sights set on the World Heavyweight Championship, and nothing's going to stop him. So, he says Flair and Bischoff can have their damn title - he's giving it up! Austin says he's not gonna come out here every week and kick the ass of some guy who doesn't deserve to get a shot at a title he's wearing. If he's gonna kick ass, he wants real competition. (83)

23. In the night's main event, the combination of The Hart Foundation & Team Canada (Chris Jericho, Adam Castle, Lance Storm, & Steve Corino) faced Keiji Mutoh, Sting, Scott Steiner, & Konnan. The match came to an end in 13:12 when Jericho was able to pin Keiji Mutoh after he was attacked by Mike Awesome! (81)