Dean Malenko vs. Chip Minton - WCW Worldwide (1996)
Dean Malenko takes on the "downhill scooter runner" Chip Minton in a Saturday morning squash.
Highlights of this short match include Bobby "The Brain" Heenan commentary and the solid ring work of Malenko.
Minton would later place fifth in the four-man bobsled race at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan and return to WCW much larger than before. Guess he was really ready to jerk the curtain some more.
"Stunning" Steve Austin vs. Johnny B. Badd - Tuxedo Match - WCW Worldwide (1994)
Part of Dust Rhodes's "Dream Match" during "May Mayhem". Sort of like an early Raw Roulette concept where wrestlers pick a gimmick match out of a hat to wrestle in that night. The object of a tuxedo match, if you haven't witnessed one before, is: the first person to strip their opponent of their tux wins.
"Ever seen a guy in an otter suit?" - Bobby Heenan
Chris Jericho vs. Ric Flair - WCW First Thunder (1998)
Much like a match I soon wish to share with you all (Hart/123Kid on RAW), this match features the well respected, crazy - yes crazy - but seasoned veteran and multi-time champion, Ric Flair taking on the young, brash, but highly gifted semi-rookie, Chris Jericho. And what's right about this situation rather than, say, the Lawler/Helms match in '06 is that Flair (along with Bret Hart) not only had a knack for putting younger talent over but also making it look as if he could actually be beaten by his opponents even with all the experience and big names/fights under his belt. Lawler all the while, didn't do so much for Gregory Helms and their small feud which just ends with The King of Memphis jumping off the top rope and seemingly squashing the young talent.
Another key difference to Jericho/Flair's situation and the Lawler/Helms is that Chris Jericho was bond for greatness and it should have come sooner with the resume that Jericho already had before WCW and right up until 1998 when he finally started to receive a push (in the form of bigger gold i.e. the TV title). I'm not saying that this match put Jericho over completely, no Jericho had to do that on his own, but this is just another one of those great new vs. old matches that actually works. Stuff like Kidman vs. Hulk Hogan where we are expected to root for the guy still trying to stay on the top of mountain even though he passed the torch onto another guy in 1990, just rattles my bones.
Anyways here's a match from the very first Thunder - WCW's Smackdown before Smackdown came along and stole their ratings. The original Thunder program had some sort of Legend of the Hidden Temple/aggro crag theme with a big rock-made titantron with flash-y lights and fog. At least, that's how I remember it...
Also enjoy the classic WCW commentating of this time.
