WCW Thunder 12/20/2000
Here it is, guys, the last show of 2000. Nitro and Thunder would be off the air for the next 2 weeks due to Christmas and New Years falling on a Monday. I think best ofs were shown, but they already did best ofs right before the reboot that I'm sure were better.
TO THE BACK. Ric Flair is in his limo clearly reading off cue cards running down the show. Since this was taped after Nitro, Sid, Nash, and DDP were not available for the show. Kronik/Shane Douglas vs MIA, tag battle royal, Steiner will defend his title.
Jamie Knoble vs Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Chavo cuts a TERRIBLE promo on Shane Helms before the match. How can Eddie, Hector, Mondo, and Chavo Classic be so good at shit talking, but Chavo be so bad? Eddie's daughter in NXT was a better promo. Chavo is saying if he loses, Shane won't get his title shot. This was pretty decent. Shane made sure Chavo won. It's amazing that he's been doing a frog splash for 13 years now and it is just as bad now as it was then. Chavo won with the brainbuster.
TO THE BACK. Gene is with Crowbar and Daffney. He's going to kill Bam Bam tonight and Funk at Sin. Sin has yet to be renamed Syn, but that's coming. Cat and Ms. Jones arrive on an ATV. Cat demands that Flair give him a match against Steiner. Flair leaves to go to a big meeting. This was to plug a TBS sweepstakes where you could win an ATV. Gross. Gene is now with Bam Bam.
Jim Duggan comes to the ring. He apologizes for his actions over the past few months. Hacksaw can grow some bodaciously manly facial hair with ease. He joined Team Canada to continue his wrestling career, but he regrets it and will never forget the fans, even if they forget him.
TO THE BACK. Jim is leaving when Mike Awesome begs him to stay and offers him a ride home later. Gene is with the NBT. Nothing will get between the Thrillers tonight. Hugh confronts Jim Duggan. He forgives Jim.
Tag Team Battle Royal
Stevie is shitting ALL OVER Duggan trying to SWERVE the world again. He says that Duggan just did this same shit 3 months ago and everyone fell for it, so he thinks it is pretty stupid that anyone would believe him this time. WCW has shitty battle royals. Always and forever. There are always way too many people, no spots of any kind, and cameras and announcers miss 80% of eliminations. Vito attacks Reno at ringside during it and it got more attention than the match. JTB also showed up and attacked Sanders. The Mamalukes reunite! It gets down to both NBT teams. Sanders takes 15 minutes to say it could be any combination of Thrillers and he won't let anyone know until the PPV. I really think he skirted around that for longer than the actual match. Complete time killer.
TO THE BACK. Gene is with Steiner. He makes sheep noises.
Konnan vs Prime Time
Stevie told a story about how his daughter beat his ass at Backstage Assault using Booker T. FUCK VIDEO GAMES SUCKAS. Fucking Konnan. The fuck, this is Konnan's longest match in 5 years probably. Konnan wins. No one gives a fuck.
TO THE BACK. Gene is with Double J. Wall and Lash joke that Hugh is getting soft forgiving Duggan.
Crowbar vs Bam Bam Big Yellow
Bam Bam is still hurt from falling through an ambulance. Also, for sucking. Dude had such a dramatic deterioration in 2 years. Daffney rakes Bam Bams eyes. Meng costs Crowbar the match. Bam Bam wins with the Greetings from Asbury Park. I swear this match just happened a few weeks ago with the same result.
GLACIER HYPE VIDEO. I'm too hyped for Glacier. He needs to come back right away. I can't wait any longer!
TO THE BACK. Norman is a Glacier mark. Woody tells him he's got a make up match. Norman wasn't prepared to wrestle.
Norman Smiley vs Goldberg
Poor Norman. Spear. Jackhammer. Pin. 33-0. Totally Buff show up on the tron and challenge Goldberg and Sarge to a tag match at Sin. Goldberg accepts.
TO THE BACK. Gene is with Shane and Kronik. Shane paid in full for tonight.
TO THE INTERVIEW. Tenay talked with CEO Flair. Flair won't reveal the mystery man. He's hyping it up so hard and for it to turn out to be Rick fucking Steiner is such a let down. They had to go this route to hype a mystery guy all because some asshole forgot to call Rick Steiner. Tenay brings up the SHOOT heat between Ric and Scott. He's not jealous of Scott.
Shane Douglas/Kronik vs MIA
This whole show screams "fill some time". A bunch of dudes who can't work long matches being in 10-12 minute TV matches that suck. Meltdown on Lash. Hugh and Shane are the legal men, though. A clear botch happens since we get a random shot of a sign while they do something. Hugh hits the moonsault, but Wrath breaks it up. Chair shot from Crush into a Franchiser gives Shane the win.
TO THE BACK. Trainer checks on MIA. Hugh keeps screaming that they can't keep doing this. Jobbing?
Team Canada come to the ring. Lance cuts the same promo about the 2000 election that he's been doing for 2 weeks. He says good riddance to Duggan. This brings Hacksaw out. Stevie wants him to whack that YAK. He and Elix have a 2x4/flag stand off. Mike Awesome runs to the ring for back up but SWERVES Duggan. A SWERVE! A year ending SWERVE! "What did Jim Doogan ever do to Mike Awesome?" Awesome reveals his maple leaf shirt.
TO THE BACK. Gene is with Team Canada. Awesome turned Canadian! Thunder will return January 3rd. Nitro won't return until the 8th.
The Cat vs Scott Steiner WCW Championship
I'm kind of amazed that they still had Steiner wrestle after the fight with DDP. What if he was still in a bad mood? What if he decided to attack some fans? He had a few times, but I couldn't tell if those times were real or not. I think he told Ms. Jones he was going to rape her. Cat got in some offense. YAK ATTACK! Scott was going for the Recliner when the masked man shows up on the stage and does some ridiculous gesturing to distract Scott. The Recliner is eventually locked on and Steiner retains. Scott runs to the back to end the show and the year. I wouldn't say that Scott Steiner was a good wrestler at this point in his career, but I will say that he had no problem bumping around and selling for dudes and it make them look much more legit in one match than WCW could do in 3 months.
This was the final show of this mess. I'll have a separate post on my full run down and thoughts of the whole year coming up.
