WCW Thunder - Monday, Week 4, August 2001

 

13,610 in attendance at the CSU Convocation Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

This week on Thunder: A series of tag team preview matches before Slamboree, the return of Chavo Guerrero, and a special announcement from Commissioner Bischoff regarding last week's contract signing! Catch all of this and more below the break.

1. Ricky Steamboat and Tajiri defeated D'Lo Brown and Nova in a preview encounter for the four way ladder match for the US championship at Slamboree. The match lasted 7:50, and ended when Tajiri locked Nova into an Octopus Stretch. (76)

2. Raven is seen sitting in a dark room, kicked back in a chair like usual. He starts by addressing Kanyon. He says that he's been around for as long as Kanyon has, and he's seen what his luck is like. Truth be told, Kanyon's never really been the best. He's never earned an opportunity, he's never impressed, hell, he was stuck as a "hot prospect" for years and years. Everything he tried to do failed. Because of him. Because he sucks. Then, Kanyon took things into his own hands, and he stopped trying to impress people and started trying to take advantage of people, something which Raven notes that impressed him. Raven continues by saying that he knows from experience that that strategy makes a lot of enemies - but there are some people you just don't want to make an enemy out of, and Raven is one of those men. He says he's been enjoying his little vacation he's been taking from all the evil cult business, but Kanyon, he says, you need to learn that your actions have consequences. (79)

3. Scott Steiner defeated Mark Henry in 8:20 with a Frankensteiner. The match was pretty even, with Henry getting good offense despite the loss. (82)

4. Jeremy Borash is with The Road Warriors! They say that it's a damn shame that they haven't been offered any matches for Slamboree yet - the most legendary tag team in wrestling history left off of the show meant just for their generation. Since they haven't been given a match, they're going to take one. Anyone back there that thinks the Road Warriors are washed up, anyone that thinks they can take Hawk and Animal on, meet them in the ring this Sunday and find out what the Road Warriors can do. (68)

5. WCW World Television Championship: Steve Corino defeated Jun Akiyama in 7:01 with a Northern Lights Suplex to make his third defense of the TV title. (76)

6. Ted DiBiase is in the ring with Paul Wight. DiBiase calls out Ric Flair! He says that he's been thinking about Flair's challenge. He's been out of the ring for a long time, after all, and he would have never been the first one to volunteer to hop back into it. However, he says, he's going to accept Flair's challenge! DiBiase says that he's looking forward to getting back in the ring and teaching Ric Flair a lesson, then pauses mid-sentence. He makes a show of pulling out a mobile phone from his suit pocket and answering a call. After a few moments of back and forth, DiBiase "regretfully" informs the audience that his doctor just told him that he's not cleared to wrestle this Sunday. Thankfully, due to the stipulations in his high-tier WCW contract, he can name his own substitute for the match - This Sunday, Ric Flair will take on DiBiase's replacement - Paul Wight! (100)

7. Backstage, Chavo Guerrero is with Juventud Guerrera and Mr. Aguila. Chavo says that thankfully the injuries he suffered from Taz's attack were less serious than the doctors originally told him, but Taz still took two weeks from his career that he'll never get back. Chavo says that if Taz is gonna duck his suspension by hiding under a mask, he doesn't care - he's getting his revenge anyway. Tonight, Chavo and Juvi are gonna take the Machines out! (65)

8. Randy Savage defeated John Tenta with a diving double ax handle in 4:24. (77)

9. Yoshinari Ogawa and Genichiro Tenryu defeated The Hardyz in 10:27 after Ogawa pinned Jeff with a Backdrop Suplex, in a preview of Matt's cruiserweight title match against Ogawa at Slamboree.

10. We come back from commercial break to Chris Jericho making his entrance! He hits the ring and grabs a microphone. He says that he climbed the greatest hurdle in WCW history when he became the first person to defeat Goldberg, and there's nothing else that could possibly break his stride. So, he says, when one assclown gets a title match without earning it and another assclown gets upset and takes it out on both of them, it's not gonna bother a guy like Chris Jericho at all. Dwayne Johnson and Steve Austin can both try to take his title, and when he makes them tap out to the Liontamer, they will never, EVER, be the same again. (87)

11. Super Strong Machine is preparing for his match up next, when Mike Awesome and Power Warrior attack! They beat him down for a moment, then Mike Awesome Awesome Bombs Machine straight into the concrete wall of the arena! After Super Strong stops moving, Awesome turns back to the camera and challenges Keiji Mutoh to show his face at Slamboree. (72)

12. In what was intended to be a tag match before the attack on Super Strong Machine, Legion del Reyes (Juventud Guerrera & Chavo Guerrero) defeated Human Suplex Machine in 6:15, after Chavo pinned HSM with his feet on the ropes. After the match, Mr. Aguila tried to unmask Human Suplex Machine, and Chavo and Juvi stopped him and yelled at him. (71)

13. A brief video shows the highlights of some of the legends who will be appearing at Slamboree, comprised of archival footage from their runs on the territories and in WCW - pretty much everything we have access to that isn't WWF. NWA footage for Reed, Stampede for Honky Tonk Man, WCW for Valentine and Zbyszko, and Pro Wrestling USA and both UWFs for Backlund. (55)

14. Tiger Mask III defeated Hayabusa in 5:37 by pinfall after Gannosuke interfered and accidentally hit Hayabusa. (70)

15. Christian Cage & Men of War (Sean O'Haire & Mark Jindrak) defeated Konnan, Rob Van Dam, and Adam Castle in 9:36 when O'Haire hit Konnan with a Seanton Bomb. (83)

16. Eric Bischoff is in the ring, and he calls out Steve Austin! He says that Austin's interruption of the World Heavyweight championship contract signing last week was an extreme violation of what's considered acceptable in WCW. Unfortunately, he says, it was not a violation of what was in the contract, so no real punitive measures can be taken against Austin. At this, Austin interrupts him, calls him a son of a bitch, and says he can't do a damn thing to stop him from getting that world championship. Bischoff cuts Austin off, and says that while he may not be getting punished, he'll do the exact opposite - he'll give him a match! This Sunday, Bischoff says, we'll see "Stone Cold" Steve Austin taking on an opponent just as dangerous as he is - "The Genetic Freak", Scott Steiner! (100)

17. In the night's main event, Kanyon and Lance Storm defeated Sting and Vampiro in 12:08 by disqualification. The preview match, featuring all of the competitors in Sunday's International Heavyweight title match, ended when Raven crawled out from under the ring and hit the Evenflow DDT on Kanyon! With Kanyon out, Lance Storm tries to make the save, just for him to get leveled by Raven. He looks to Sting and Vampiro, laughs, and walks away as the show fades to black. (90)