Natural Born Thrillers attacked everyone and their mother tonight as well. Same stuff as Nitro.
Nothing else to say about this wretched show. I guess since Nitro was decent, it applied to the Tito's Law of WCW shows, when we have a good Nitro, we have a bad Thunder.
But it's not like the current product is a ratings draw. Time in and time out, Russo's system DOES NOT WORK. He brags about his 3.2 ratings, whatever. 3.2 is the highest he can get anymore!! Hell, now he's way below that, becoming the next Kevin Sullivan! 11 weeks is the rumor, indeed, for Russo to turn the company around.
Now, I'm not saying he should turn the company around completely, but I'm saying significant ratings changes should happen if he was sooooo good. I'm talking about at least a 3.5 all the time if his system were to work. He hasn't, and looking at the Nitro ratings, he's way off. He's NOT successful!
Now, I'll get the argument "quit bitching about Russo!!!". Yes, I only wish I could, but face it, Russo is WCW. He makes the top decisions on the company, he controls all of the storylines, and he decides who gets a push and who doesn't. So what you see on WCW is HIS product. If you look at the ratings lately, you can see that HIS product isn't doing so well.
HOWEVER, Russo has a golden chance of a lifetime! WWF RAW is pre-empted by the U.S. Open...... for 2 WHOLE WEEKS!!!!! That's two weeks to make some significant ground. In fact, if Russo doesn't capitalize on this opportunity, then WCW is in REAL trouble. Then, those 11 weeks will come quicker than anyone imagined.
The Hulk Hogan situation gets interesting by the week. While I was in Canton........Ohio, United States, last week, I saw that their papers had the Hulk Hogan case on the front page! In fact, this case is actually making decent headlines. Now if this was fake, then why wouldn't WCW capitalize on this publicity?
With that being said, I'm convinced that Hogan is for real on this lawsuit. I think that the Bash at the Beach incident was a total work. However, I think that Russo saw a golden opportunity to keep the Bald Man out of WCW. He took it, and here we are with this possible lawsuit. I really do hope this is for real, so that that Bald egomaniac can not disturb what WCW is trying right now. Because if Hogan came back right now, Hardcore Hogan fans would flock to watch the show, hence a better rating than it is right now. Hogan would then brag about how he's God, and we'll be back to 1998 once again.
As a cost cutting measure, WCW is deciding to have both Nitro and Thunder taped on the same night. Yikes! I don't know about you, but if I were to sit through 5 and a half hours of a television taping, I'd be pulling my hair out. By the way, World Wide will be taped there too, and the other half is by the errors Thunder produces. Thunder, especially, will be hard to watch after Nitro. You don't understand, when I was at the Thunder tapings, it nearly took 3 hours to complete for just the Thunder portion. They had stupid DJ Ran playing for like 10 minutes between matches. It's gonna be rough!
I am sad to see WCW Saturday Morning go. Not that I actually cared for that show, but just the politics behind that show and why it was on Saturday Mornings and sucking is what makes me mad. Again, if you didn't know, Russo's idea was to turn Saturday Night into a recap show. Then, his idea was to make it a Morning recap show. Now do you see where the show is now? CANCELLED! Saturday Night was perfectly fine as a way to develop young, Power Plant wrestlers on television. It received decent ratings for the show, with a hardcore audience always watching everyweek. Now, it's gone, and WCW will only have one night of wrestling per week, with the Houseshows slowly disappearing...
On a decent note, I went out and bought the WCW Magazine the other day. I haven't read it since years ago, so I figured "why not". It has a good article on Booker T, Big Vito, and it has an interesting segment on internet wrestling. It's funny how a publication like that will discuss things like the internet, and how it impacts wrestling. Also, they had the WCW women training at the Power Plant. Funny enough, none of them had any make-up on for the pictures. Good God do they look different!
If you haven't noticed, Juvy has been busting his ass lately in the ring. Why? His contract is up very soon! In fact, his recent wrestling has earned him a new WCW contract offer. Now that's kind of big, considering WCW wants to cut costs, not kill them. Then again, he could go to the WWF and become a superstar there with his wrestling ability. However, Juvy does have that "excess baggage" that the WWF doesn't want. Juvy has had several DUIs, and with that being said, he's considered to be heavy on parties at times.
Good old Sting is on vacation....again. How many vacations can you take Sting? It's ridiculous on how much time Sting takes off. Sure, I mark out for him, I'll admit that. But he's contractually obligated to do shows, and somehow, he gets time off all of the time. I know that he busted his ass for WCW when it totally sucked in the early 90s, but it should matter to the wrestlers busting their asses for WCW now when Sting takes lots of time off.
And finally, rumors are going around that Kevin Nash is already bitching backstage about other wrestlers. He's complaining that Booker T isn't over as champ, which really means "I want the title!" So much for this great working attitude. Welcome back Kevin Nash!
4. Jeff Jarrett- Still continues to be one of WCW's most consistant wrestlers. It must be hard for him not going after the World Title anymore.
3. Norman Smiley- The Big Wiggle baby! He actually defeated Brian Clarke from Kronic on Monday. Did you hear me? A guy from Kronic agreed to lose to Smiley! Wow! Norman also retained the Hardcore Title against Smooth on Thunder in a decent match. Too bad we aren't riding off Norman's success from the last Russo run.
2. Big Vito- Good week again for Vito, proving to be one of the top WCW performers now. Anybody who takes Kevin Nash to a good match will always make this list, let alone what he does on Thunder. Keep up the great work Vito!
1. Lance Storm- Great wrestling again, and I enjoyed his cooperation with Jarrett on Monday. Mike Awesome is simply Lance Storm's bitch! However, Storm must face General Rection very soon, probably at Fall Brawl, and it's very unfortunate for Storm to work with such a lame wrestler.
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Again, I will be on this show Sunday to "shoot".....well, help out with the Summerslam preview.
Please stop asking me if I would like to be in a Fantasy Football league with you. I'm already in two: one internet, and one real life. Besides, why would you want Tito outsmarting you each week?
@Anybody see that wonderful Jackson 5 special last night on VH1??? That was the start of where I got my "Tito" nickname. Also, anybody watch OZ on HBO too? Now that was some good stuff last night. Only one more show to go for the season. Wait...this is wrestling! I'll be back tomorrow with more PDC. I would have a Phat Pharm column to hype, but obviously, it's two days in a row that I've been stiffed without any notice of absense. In other words, 2 openings at the Pharm! Send in a sample to PhatPharm@lordsofpain.net please.
Backyard BBQ: It's FANTASTIC!!!
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.