WCW Thunder 9/4/2003
Thunder kicks off with the first match in the Cruiserweight Title Tournament pitting a pair of former champions against each other as Jamie By God Noble takes on Chavo Guerrero Jr. Exciting technical match with some high-flying action as well. In the end, Chavo blocks a suplex attempt and turns it into a brainbuster for the win.
Backstage, the nWo is showing some signs of dissension. Well, sort of. Really, it just looks like Rick Steiner is pissed. He's mad that his brother brought Scott Norton out with him to attack Team WCW last week and that Norton made the War Games team and he didn't. Sting finally tells him that if he can beat any of the members of Team WCW in a singles match, he can replace Norton on the team. Norton looks pissed now and gets in Rick's face. Scott and Buff Bagwell pull them apart while Lex Luger looks on, amused.
On Monday, Nikita Koloff was embarassed twice, first by losing to "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, then again by the Outsiders in a backstage segment. He looks to get back to his winning ways tonight against Ernest "The Cat" Miller. Unfortunately, Miller has other plans and finishes him off with a flurry of martial arts strikes. After the match, a frustrated Koloff lays Miller out and beats the crap out of him.
Once again, The Outsiders are shown watching the match on a monitor. Afterwards, they have some more choice words for Koloff. Hall in particular seems annoyed that they keep giving him TV time.
The Cruiserweight Title tournament continues as Ca$h takes on the 18-year-old rookie phenomenon Harry Smith, accompanied by the "Living Legend" Larry Zbysko. Ca$h tries to use his speed advantage to stick-and-move, but once Smith gets his hand on Ca$h and can overpower him, there's not much he can do. Smith picks up the clean win and celebrates with the fans after.
Back from break, "Prime Time" Elix Skipper is in the ring. He says he was informed earlier today that, because of his participation in the War Games main event, Rey Mysterio Jr. has withdrawn from the Cruiserweight Title tournament. Since Skipper was supposed to be his opponent tonight, he's been granted a bye into the quarterfinals. He talks about how it's now officially Prime Time and he issues a challenge to anyone from the cruiserweight division to fight him tonight in Rey's place.
That challenge is answered by the World Heavyweight Champion, "Sugar" Shane Helms! The crowd pops huge for the arrival of the champion while Skipper tries to get away. The official reminds him that he wanted this and forces him into the ring. It's a good match that's building some solid momentum when it's interrupted by #1 contender Jeff Jarrett, who lays out the champion with a guitar shot! The match ends in a DQ while Jarrett hits The Stroke.
Jarrett grabs a mic and talks some trash about Helms. The Chosen One says that Helms got lucky at Road Wild, but at Fall Brawl his luck runs out.
Our final Cruiserweight Title tournament match of the night pits Shannon Moore against Jason Jett. Two exciting young stars put together a good match that Moore wins with his version of the Twist of Fate.
Our main event of the evening pits the New World Order's "Dog-Faced Gremlin" Rick Steiner against the unstoppable Goldberg! Did I mention that he's unstoppable? Because he totally is, putting Steiner away in short order with a Jackhammer. Steiner is 0-1 in his attempt to join Team nWo at Fall Brawl.
He's soon joined in the ring by Mysterio, Booker T, Dustin Rhodes, and the immortal Hulk Hogan. The members of Team WCW talk about the upcoming War Games match against whichever five members of the nWo they wind up sending into the double cage. Hogan does the bulk of the talking, the bulk of it about Sting. Pretty clear what WCW is focusing on for the match. Crowd is super into the segment, though, eating up the top five babyfaces in the company all on the same page as Thunder goes off the air.
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Quick Results (Final Rating 6.85)
- ROUND ONE - Chavo Guerrero Jr. over Jamie Noble
- nWo Backstage segment, Rick pissed about being left off team
- Ernest Miller over Nikita Koloff
- Outsiders hang out, make fun of Koloff more
- ROUND ONE - Harry Smith over Ca$h
- Elix Skipper promo, Rey is out, I advance. It's Primetime, baby! Open challenge answered by Helms
- Shane Helms over Elix Skipper by DQ when Jarrett attacks Helms
- Jeff Jarrett promo on Helms
- ROUND ONE - Shannon Moore over Jason Jett
- Goldberg over Rick Steiner
- Team WCW promo on nWo
Fall Brawl 2003 Card so far (9/21)
- War Games: Team WCW (Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, Rey Mysterio Jr., Booker T, and Dustin Rhodes) vs. New World Order (Sting, Lex Luger, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell, and Scott Norton or Rick Steiner)
- WCW World Heavyweight Title: Shane Helms (c) vs. Jeff Jarrett
- WCW Cruiserweight Title: Tournament final, participants TBD
Cruiserweight Title Tournament Round One Match-Ups Remaining
Billy Kidman vs. AJ Styles
Chris Harris vs. Psychosis
Crowbar vs. Mike Sanders
Ultimo Dragon vs. Juventud Guerrera
Cruiserweight Title Tournament Quarterfinal Qualifiers
Chavo Guerrero Jr. (defeated Jamie Noble)
Elix Skipper (earned bye due to Rey Mysterio Jr. withdrawing)
Harry Smith (defeated Ca$h)
Shannon Moore (defeated Jason Jett)