As an added bonus, WCW treated the early arrivals to the hysterically obsolete WCW Mayhem CD over the speakers. "Whassup, Mach?" "Oh, yeah!"

After a brisk round of sign confiscation, the show gets underway. Apparently the word "whore", drawings of the marijuana leaf, and signs with "4:20" on them are not permissible. Just so you know.

DJ Ran and the Nitro Girls were in the building, and performed in between matches.

WCW Worldwide Tapings.

1) Evan Karagias & Shannon Moore fought Yang & Jamie-san of the Jung Dragons to a double countout in 4:21. Good action in this one. The crowd was very upset with the inconclusive finish.

2) WCW Cruiserweight Champion The Artist (w/ Paisley) pinned Lash Leroux in 4:04 with his finisher, a jumping DDT off the second rope (The "Purple Rain"? The "Raspberry Beret"? Someone please name the finisher at once.)

3) Lane (w/ Rave) pinned Chuck Palumbo in 3:28 with a full nelson bulldog. Ms. Hancock walked to ringside during this match, but Rave sent her to the back. Palumbo got a nice pop, which means that either people are watching WCW Saturday Night, or they had him confused with someone else.

On to the Thunder tapings!

Jeff Jarrett and the Hairless Twins were shown arriving at the building.

1) La Parka and Chavo Guerrero, Jr. defeated El Dandy & Silver King in 4:25 when Chavo pinned Dandy with a tornado DDT. La Parka took the mic before the match and did an (overdubbed) promo. El Dandy and & Silver King informed ring announcer David Penzer that they wanted to be introduced as "Los Fabulosos". A sloppy match with some good highspots.

Backstage, we saw David Flair & Crowbar (with matching neck braces) arrive with Daphne.

Ms. Hancock talked with Los Fabulosos and offers to help them. Silver King invited her out dancing, but Hancock sized them up and said "first we need to take you boys shopping".

In-ring interview with Ric Flair, Lex Luger & Elizabeth. They made an elaborate show of looking up in the rafters for Sting, and then called out Hogan. Jimmy Hart came out to tell them that Hogan is being interviewed for Larry King Live and Entertainment Tonight. Luger knocked down Hart and they go to leave, but Hart attacked Flair from behind with the weight belt. Luger put Hart in the torture rack and Flair whipped him until Doug Dillinger and friends made the save.

Backstage, Psychosis challenged The Artist to a title match. The Jung Dragons arrived and badmouth ed Psychosis & Artist. Charles Robinson separated them, reminding them that Psychosis vs. Kaz Hayashi is next, and that everyone else is barred from ringside.

The EMT's stretchered Jimmy Hart out and loaded him into an ambulance. Hogan arrives and goes ballistic, demanding that JJ Dillon give him a match with Team Package.

2) Psychosis pinned Kaz Hayashi in 2:04 with a Victory roll to earn a Cruiserweight Title shot at Uncensored. After the match, Kaz and Psychosis shook hands. The Artist came out and attacked both men, hitting Psych with his finisher (the "Little Red Corvette"?) on the Cruiserweight Title belt.

Gene Okerlund interviewed Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett complained about having to defend the US Title against Booker and called Gene "slapnuts".

Backstage, Bam Bam Bigelow was shown talking to...Oklahoma?

3) Tank Abbott defeated Buzzkill by knockout in 0:23. Meng was shown watching Tank on the monitor from the locker room.

Backstage, the Harris Boys were shown talking to Harlem Heat.

Ms. Hancock came out and began to perform a striptease dance on the Thunder set. Lane and Rave acame out and dragged her to the back. Monster heel heat.

4) The Wall vs. Bam Bam Bigelow never got underway. As Wall's music plays, we heard Daphne screaming from the concourse level. The camera cut to the concourse where Wall was beating up David Flair. Wall dragged David into the arena and teased chokeslamming David from the concourse to the arena floor. Bam Bam made the save and dragged Wall back onto the concourse, slamming him through a WCW Mastercard table. Security seperated the two.

Backstage, Kidman and Torrie were shown snuggling. Booker walked by and asked Kidman to watch his back during his match. Kidman, without taking his eyes off Torrie, agreed.

Outside, security handcuffed Wall and loaded him into a campus police car as Bam Bam taunted him.

5) WCW US Champion Jeff Jarrett pinned Booker in 6:32 with The Stroke. With Booker in control, the Harris Boys came out and distracted Mickey Jay, allowing Jarrett to whack Booker with the title belt. When that didn't finish Booker, Jarrett brought his guitar into the ring. When the ref was taking the guitar from Jarrett, the Harris Boys hit the H-Bomb on Booker. After the match, the NWO attempted to spray paint Booker, but Sid Vicious came out to chase them away.

Gene Okerlund interviewed Dustin Rhodes. Dustin declared himself "the American Nightmare" and promised that tonight, Kidman would "bite the Dust". Oooookay...

Backstage, Booker yelled at Kidman for not watching his back. Kidman was still cuddling with Torrie.

6) Vampiro pinned Hugh Morrus in 5:32 with the Nail in the Coffin. Morrus came out to no crowd reaction. He hit the No Laughing Matter, then went under the ring for a table. After Morrus set up the table, Vampiro recovered and put Morrus through the table for a big pop.

Gene Okerlund interviewed Kidman & Torrie Wilson. Kidman promised a victory over Dustin.

WCW Motorsports segment ran over the Turner-tron. I won't spoil it for you.

7) Brian Knobs & The Dog defeated The Demon & Norman Smiley in 3:54 when Dog powerslammed Demon off the second rope. Not a good match.

Gene Okerlund interviewed Team Package, who laughed at Hogan's request for a handicap match.

8) Dustin Rhodes pinned Billy Kidman in 2:39. The crowd chanted "We want puppies" at Torrie. Kidman set up Rhodes for a superplex, but Rhodes nailed Kidman with a cowbell, then finished him off with an atomic drop. Booker came out to save Kidman after the match.

9) Hulk Hogan fought Ric Flair and Lex Luger to a double countout in a handicap match in 8:03. After a couple of minutes of weak offense from Hogan, Flair turned the tide with a groinshot. Flair choked Hogan on the announcer's table, then Luger hit Hogan with two weak chairshots. Hogan rallied to hit some belt shots and weak chairshots of his own. The ref called for the bell as Hogan was chasing Flair down the aisle, and no official decision was ever announced. After the match, Hogan came back and posed for the fans.

Notes: This is the final buildup for the pay-per-view? Yikes. The fans popped for Hogan, Sid, Booker, the girls and that's about it. On the heel side, Jarrett, Luger and 3-Count got the most heat, with Flair getting both boos and cheers. I personally thought the main event looked pretty crappy, but I'll see how it turns out on TV. Or maybe not.

Pat McNeill
Webmaster-CPW Online