Thunder Results August 26th, 1998. Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Peoria, Illinois. Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Lee Marshall. WRATH vs. SCOTT PUTSKI Wrath wins with a bodyslam which Marshall claims is called the "Meltdown", (preventing Schiavone from calling it a "Sidewalk Slam"). Schiavone interviews Stevie Ray, who challenges Diamond Dallas Page to a match. Seems "Hollywood" Hogan has put a bounty on DDP's head and Stevie intends to collect on it. "MEAN" MIKE ENOS vs. BULL PAIN Enos wins with slam off the top rope. Schiavone calls it a "Fall-Away Slam", avoiding the temptation to call it a "Sidewalk Slam". Lee Marshall almost has a heart attack when, during the plug for WCW Saturday Night, he's informed that he has to interview Meng. ERNEST "THE CAT" MILLER vs. DISCO INFERNO Two kicks and Miller gets the win. He then turns heel and chews out the crowd and WCW for calling him a wrestler. He's a "3 Time World Karate Champion" and is damn proud of it. The match is too short for Schiavone to call any moves the "Sidewalk Slam". KONNAN vs. SILVER KING There's a bit of controversy floating around as to whether Konnan is saying "boudy, boudy", "bowdy, bowdy", or "bout it, bout it". I could give a damn myself, but according to WCW via their closed captioning, it's "boudy, boudy". Konnan wins with the Tequila Sunrise. Schiavone doesn't get to use "Sidewalk Slam", but does manage to include his other favorite: "full armdrag and twist". After the match the NWO come out to menace Konnan, but he outsmarts them and runs away before they can beat him up. Schiavone interviews DDP, who accepts Stevie Ray's challenge. He also says we'll find out Monday who the third member of "Team WCW" will be for the Wargames match. Silly me, I just assumed it would be the Warrior since WCW told us that's who it would be. Mike Tenay replaces Lee Marshall. EVAN KOURAGEOUS vs. KAZ HAYASHI The announcers spend the entire match hyping Hayashi as the next coming of Ultimo Dragon, pretty much revealing who would win this one. I guess I'm supposed to forget that he lost handily to Dean Malenko just two nights ago. A solid match between these two which, unfortunately, meant nothing whatsoever to me. Sonny Onoo comes out to watch Hayashi, indicating that he'll most likely receive some kind of a push in currently depleted Cruiserweight Division. "Forward Roll Slam" ... so close to "Sidewalk Slam". Hayashi wins with a butt-splash off the top. SATURN vs. LODI Lodi challenges Saturn to a stipulation whereby if he wins, Saturn will be his servant until the PPV. If Saturn wins, Lodi will leave the Flock. Anyone reading the WCW Saturday Night taping results earlier in the day knew how this would come out. Fought under "Lodi's Rules" (similar to "Raven's Rules"), Lodi wins when the rest of the Flock--including Raven--and Kanyon all interfere. Kanyon helps Raven, signaling that he's allied himself with him. Another match without a "Sidewalk Slam" call. Saturn will now be seen accompanying Lodi to the ring, holding signs for him and helping him win matches, over the next two weeks on WCW Saturday Night. Oops ... that's a "spoiler", isn't it? My bad. Consider it a ratings ploy. SCOTT NORTON (w/ Vincent) vs. JIM "THE ANVIL" NIEDHART Norton wins, not as quickly as usual, with a powerbomb. I'll think up a way to mention the "Sidewalk Slam" and get back to you next week. CHRIS JERICHO vs. ALEX WRIGHT No "Sidewalk Slam", though a simple wristlock is called a "full armdrag and twist". We also get another favorite of his: "snapmare takeover", which is like a "bodyslam slam to the mat", or a "drop-kick kick to the head". The announcers spend the whole match teasing a time limit draw, but Jericho eventually wins by rolling through a Sunset Flip and applying the Lion Tamer. Without Jericho getting mic time, or being the instigator of an angle, he's now a bit boring--sort of like watching a good movie with no audio or soundtrack. There's just something missing. CURT HENNIG (w/ Rick Rude) vs. VAN HAMMER Hennig wins with the Hennig-Plex. I thought for sure there'd be a "Sidewalk Slam" during this one. Like Monday the announcers mention the Four Horsemen numerous times without mentioning Ric Flair. DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE vs. STEVIE RAY (w/ Vincent) Stevie comes so close, hoisting Page into a sure "Sidewalk Slam", but drops him across his knee instead for a backbreaker. The NWO the run in, giving DDP the DQ win. Konnan comes out to make the save. The End. Next Monday: Nothing announced. Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: How far into the shallow end of the talent pool do you have to dip for Konnan to be the only one available to make the save?! Hell, I just watched the show this week to see if Schiavone would call a "Sidewalk Slam"; and while I can't point one out, I'd swear I heard him say it at some point. There was some buzz over the weekend regarding whether or not Sting would re-sign his WCW contract, and something about him requesting that he not have to appear on Thunder. Or something. (I ignored my computer over the weekend so I missed most of the scuttlebutt.) Anyway, Mark Madden put his two cents in on the WCW hotline by claiming that Sting did re-sign his contract and that he will appear on every Thunder from now on. Well ... every one except this week's, apparently. On a related note, do you think DDP is annoyed that he doesn't rank high enough on the "star power" scale to get the night off like Hogan, Goldberg, the Warrior, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, Lex Luger, Kevin Nash, Sting and Eric Bischoff did? What else can I say about a show whose most notable moment was Ernest Miller turning heel?