It’s January 15, 1998, which means it’s time for WCW Thunder! This is the second episode featuring a big main event as nWo members Kevin Nash and Randy Savage square off against Lex Luger and DDP.
Page has been injured and isn’t expected to make it to the match. Will Luger have a replacement or will he go it alone? Let’s see what hit and what missed on the second WCW Thunder!
Low-Tier
The opener with The Steiners and Ray Traylor—formerly Big Bossman—facing Black Cat, Gedo, and Ohara was meh. Not only was it meh but it was the second-longest bout of the night.
Ernest Miller vs. Yuji Nagata was basic but it was decent enough. This really should’ve been on WCW Saturday Night or Pro but this wasn’t a bad match at all.
Also, I miss seeing Feliner. What a move that was for the late 90s! While Ernest “The Cat” Miller would become more interesting in the next few years in WCW, I liked this version of Miller as well.
Plus, he didn’t come off as green as Mongo did at the same time in his career.
Mid-Tier
Even though it was brief and didn’t really allow Eddie and Jericho to just let it all hang out, they managed to deliver a rock-solid match with the time allotted.
They just sped up what they would normally do and it made for an enjoyable Thunder match that didn’t have you locked waiting for something more interesting.
These two could’ve taken this same match, stretched it out a bit and it would’ve been a damn dope bout.
Exotic-Tier
Juventud Guerrera is here to defend his newly won WCW Cruiserweight title against Rey Mysteri—oh, he lost the belt. Well damn, Juvi.
Like the TV title, the Cruiserweight Championship was in a very competitive division so a short reign is expected but he didn’t even manage one defense.
Cruiserweight King Rey Mysterio didn’t come to play and gave the champion a fight. They’ve fought several times before outside of WCW, so they knew each other’s arsenal pretty well.
That knowledge still wasn’t enough to help Juvi retain. This was an exciting bout and the best of the night.
While it didn’t match the action of the Cruiserweight title bout, Lex Luger and DDP taking on Kevin Nash and Randy Savage had a lot of drama in it coming from the stress of the nWo losing the WCW World Championship to Sting.
Luger tanked the match alone as DDP was injured. He did well and who knows, he probably could’ve taken the new World order down alone.
Hogan was trying to smooth things out with Nash being a snotty bastard and Savage being volatile and unpredictable. Yeah, wouldn’t want to be Hollywood’s awesome lightning boots here.
The match is thrown out after Hollywood Hogan attempts to interfere. It looks like Savage and Hogan might go at it when The Giant comes out.
Macho Man bails allowing the big man to have Hogan and Nash to himself only for the rest of the new World order to hit the ring. Giant tanks them for a moment before help from Sting shut all of that down.
WCW Thunder #2 Verdict: Mid-Tier (6.5/10)
The ending of WCW Thunder was great with The Giant and Sting coming to Luger’s aid against the nWo. We had one good match to make it into the exotic-tier while the more dramatic, exciting main event bout didn’t match Rey vs. Juvi.
The match of the night was the Cruiserweight title bout. Watch the main event only if you’ve been going through Nitro and Thunder in January 1998.
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