1998 Discussion

Discuss 1998 in Thunder

Chris Benoit vs Eddie Guerrero - Thunder (6/18/98)
Goes like 4 minutes before Benoit makes Eddie tap. Not as good as the last one.

Kevin Nash, Randy Savage vs. Sting, Bret Hart (Thunder, 04/17/98)
Now when you look at those names, there's some serious star power. Had this match been booked a few years earlier than this, maybe this could've been classic especially if it had a little bit of heat. But sadly, we get the 1998 version of events, which isn't bad but it feels like you're watching a rock band that's lost their touch but won't accept it. Nash bumps in this, not nicely but he's huge so it's rare that you're gonna get a 'nice Nash bump', but the fact that he even bumps is something in itself. Savage's activity is kept to a minimum, they just play up his cast and he dances a little bit with Sting. Sting was still over at this point, but you could feel it starting to fade a little bit, for maybe that's just because it's Thunder. But yeah, he doesn't do a whole lot other than this usual spiel of shouting and splashing. Hart is the workhorse of this whole fandango, if only his movements didn't look so robotic then maybe I'd like him more. Either way, this was fun for the starpower alone, the finish made the fans maaaaaaaad. They were clearly sick of the nWo by this stage, so what to do? Split them up into TWO nWo's!!! WTF IS LOGIC!

Kevin Nash vs. DDP (Thunder, 01/08/98)
This added some nice starpower to a brand spanking new Thunder. DDP's the US champ here but the title's not on the line. The match isn't all that special workrate wise, I mean for God's sake it's 1998 Kevin Nash in there, I think he bumps once the entire match. But yeah, DDP does all the work here, making Nash look like a monster. A slow monster with 5 moves. I shouldn't bash Nash, I actually do like the guy, he's charismatic. But I'll watch Nash promos all day over Nash matches. For the 7 minutes or so that this lasts, it's pretty much DDP starting fiery and then being slowed down to the point of no return. The Diamond Cutters unpredictability was put over nicely here even though he didn't hit it. The finish with Giant brawling with Nash whilst Shiavonie SCREAMS is a little OTT. Otherwise, passable match.

Kevin Nash vs. The Flock (Thunder, 02/28/98)
Well, I'll be damned if this wasn't stupid and entertaining at the same time. Raven says this is under Battle Royale rules and never gets involved once. This is pretty much a squash fest to make Nash look like the big dog in town. He kills most of the Flock and acts like a badass because he's costing himself 350,000 by using the powerbomb, apparently? Stupid stipulation. But fun nonetheless, I can appreciate a good squash. The fans reaction to Nash as the nWo disintegrates is beautiful. Too bad they didn't know how things would turn out. Not a lot else I can say about this, other than Nash's "6 ball" shirt is awesome.

Randy Savage vs. Sting (Thunder, 05/15/98)
This sucked balls and was more of a "preview" match, if you could even call it that. Both guys hit some basic punches/kicks in the beginning and then move right into their finishing run material. Also, Sting is hugely breaking character here. What happened to the dark and depressed shadow-y Sting? He's smiling and hi-5ing kids here. Fucking Sting. Savage looked bad, and I don't even know if he should've been cleared to wrestle here. Either way, 4 minutes of baaaaaaadness. The post match stuff sucked too, just Giant telling Sting that he's gonna be his tag partner and that if they win, then Sting has to make a decision whilst handing him an nWo shirt. Jesus Christ Fenton.

Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko (Thunder, 01/29/98)
This was awesome stuff. Jericho and Eddie were such a great team considering the tiny amount of time they were tagging together. The Benoit/Malenko combination speaks for itself really. There's never any clear story here apart from competition but it's all entertaining as shit. Jericho has a few nice cutoffs here and Eddie dodges every bullet he can, he was so fucking good at getting a crowd riled up, fuck I miss him even more now. For a TV tag, this was top stuff. Definitely the best Thunder match I've seen so far, not that I've seen a whole boat of stuff but you know what I mean.