Thunder Results
May 27th, 1998.
Live/Taped: Live.
Length: Two Hours+.
Location: Nashville, Tennessee.
Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Lee Marshall.

After the usual opening festivities Bret "Hitman" Hart hits the ring. He 
addresses something of a challenge to Sting, telling him he has the "key" 
to his future. I guess the two are going to talk later in the show.

JIM POWERS vs. THE BARBARIAN (w/ Jimmy Hart & Hugh Morrus)
The Barbarian wins quickly and easily, getting the pin after a boot to the 
face.

Tony Schiavone interviews Chris Jericho. Upon being informed that WCW 
President (Commissioner, whatever) J.J. Dillon isn't in the building, 
Jericho has Schiavone hold up a sign which reads "Conspiracy Victim" (with 
an arrow pointing at Jericho). Jericho badmouths Dillon, then says he's 
going to Washington, DC next week to find some kind of precedent whereby 
Dillon will have to give Jericho *his* Cruiserweight Title back.

They recap Lex Luger joining the Wolfpac on Nitro, then the offer made to 
Sting. As expected, they don't acknowledge the fact that Sting put the 
shirt on after Nitro went off the air.

HIGH VOLTAGE vs. THE BRITISH BULLDOG/JIM "THE ANVIL" NEIDHART
Another relatively quick match, with the Bulldog pinning Kaos after a 
running powerslam.

Hammer hypes tonight's "Movies For Guys Who Like Movies", which just 
happens to be "No Holds Barred" starring "Hollywood" Hogan.

The Wolfpac come to the ring with new theme music: a silky smooth rap song 
which seems to include "Wolfpac" in the lyrics. Lex Luger then addresses a 
speech to Sting, declaring that his joining the Wolfpac doesn't mean he's 
turned his back on WCW or what it stands for. He tells Sting that he knows 
him far better than Bret Hart does, and that the Wolfpac best represents 
what he and Sting believe in.

GLACIER vs. VAN HAMMER
Yes, it's "Van" again. After a couple of minutes of punching and kicking 
each other, Glacier goes for the win with the Rings of Saturn submission 
hold. Saturn, seeing this from the back, runs out and into the ring. Things 
then get a bit confused as the ref gets up, either to signal that Hammer 
submit, or to stop the match because Saturn came in. In any case, Glacier 
starts to celebrate, but gets laid out with a Cryonic Kick from Saturn. 
Hammer then jumps Saturn, but is pulled off by Raven, who also arrives on 
the scene. Saturn gives Glacier a Death Valley Driver for good measure. 
Raven then begs Saturn to come back to him. Saturn agrees and the two shake 
hands. Raven suddenly claims to see Mortis/Kanyon out in the crowd and 
leads Saturn in attacking some poor vendor down the aisle. They then jump a 
member of the technical crew. Meanwhile the real Mortis, dressed as a 
construction worker, sneaks up behind Raven and lays him out. Saturn and 
Raven's security squad chase him off.

CHRIS BENOIT vs. BOOKER T.
A much better match than their encounter on Monday. After a lengthy series 
of reversal and counters, Booker T. nails a missile drop-kick and scores 
the pin. The two are now 1-1 going into their third match this Saturday. 
This match was the only in-ring highlight of the entire show. Benoit gives 
an interview after the match acknowledging Booker's skill, but questioning 
his heart.

FIT FINLEY vs. BRAD ARMSTRONG
Finley has little trouble scoring the win with the Tombstone Piledriver.

They replay Bret Hart's scheme on Monday to trick Randy Savage into 
thinking he and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper are in cahoots.

SATURN vs. BARRY DARSOW
Now it's Darsow who is dressing like Goldberg. Darsow gets in some token 
offense, and seems to do some damage to Saturn's arm, before Saturn 
eventually comes back and hits the Cryonic Kick and Death Valley Driver for 
the win.

Satellite problem greet us when we return from the break. A still screen 
and garbled audio fill the screen for about a minute.

GOLDBERG vs. BARRY HOROWITZ
Win #92.

Bret Hart, Eric Bischoff, the Giant and Vincent all head to the ring. Hart 
says it's this group that holds the best future for Sting. Nash and his 
Wolfpac then come out. After hurling insults back-and-forth for a bit the 
two groups begin to rumble. Having run a minute or so over, Schiavone yells 
"we're outta time!"

Next Monday: Nothing announced.

Next week: Nothing announced.

Comments:

The Luger interview, while not that great in-and-of itself, was phenomenal 
by his standards, and one of the best and most concise interviews delivered 
in WCW in ages. It clearly laid out why he joined the Wolfpac, what the 
Wolfpac stands for, and why Sting should join them. Add in the new theme 
music and Nash's group suddenly seems like a lot more than just a bunch of 
guys who wear the same t-shirt. (Now if only they'd just drop the "NWO" 
initials from the group and stand on the "Wolfpac" identity alone.)

After seeing Hart come out with the NWO music it's hard not to call him NWO.

Sting never appeared, even though Schiavone said he was in the building. 
Maybe he came out after the cameras went off?