Flashback Friday: Thunder (No Lightning)

The late 1990's served as a boom for the wrestling business.  In 1995, Eric Bischoff who was leading the charge for WCW started the so called Monday Night Wars when he and others within the Turner company created Monday Nitro to compete with the WWF's Monday Night Raw.

After much success with that formula and a growing talent pool, it was time to expand.  WCW would launch "Thursday Night Thunder" in January 1998.  The first episode aired on January 8th of that year.  It's live format offered fans another two hours of wrestling action each week.

Probably the biggest shocker (no pun intended) from that first episode was "Gentleman" Chris Adams pinning "Macho Man" Randy Savage.  Of course, there was interference from Lex Luger that night, and the decision was eventually reversed.

The show stayed on the air through the Monday Night Wars which also became Thursday Night Wars when WWE added Smackdown! to its schedule.  I think when the E took the upper hand in the war, WCW executives moved Thunder to Wednesday nights.  It stayed on air until WWE bought the company in 2001.

Me & the Brain circa 1998.

I wasn't a regular Thunder watcher, but I did check out the show.  About 3 weeks into the show, I actually attended a live edition in Hunstville, Alabama.  I was a young reporter at the time working in nearby Florence.  Because of my job, I was able to get a media pass and interview several of the stars of the day.

Buff Bagwell, Goldberg, Ray Traylor, and Bobby "the Brain" Heenan all joined me for a few minutes to talk.  It was a very memorable experience.  You can see the clips on My 1-2-3 Cents on YouTube.

That night was interesting, because when we arrived at the arena in Huntsville we were greeted by the WCW staff.  They were all very nice to us.  Then they brought over our first interview, Goldberg.
The interview wasn't very eventful though.  Goldberg had just started with his winning streak.  This was still about 3 months before he was red hot.

Then there was a lull in the activity.  There were 3 other TV stations there at the time, and the wrestlers were just hitting us one at a time.  So in the downtime, I decided to shoot some video of the ring as the crew was setting it up.  This turned out to be a huge mistake.  Doug Dillinger, who was WCW's security guy (sorry I don't remember his exact title), approached me and asked what I was doing.  I told him getting "b-roll" (video) to go along with the story.  He proceeded to yell at me and tell me I had no right getting shots of the ring.  Keep in mind NO ONE said getting video of the ring was off limits.  Then he demanded my tape.  I assured him that I would not use the material, and I didn't want to give him my tape because my interview with Goldberg was on there.  He insisted and took the tape and said they'd erase only the footage of the ring and "try" to save the interview.

Me & Buff Bagwell

Dillinger gave me the tape back a short time later, but the interview with Goldberg was gone.  I was disappointed by that.  The only thing I can think that set him off was the fact that the Giant (aka the Big Show) destroyed the ring that night as the Outsiders stood inside it.  My guess is that the crew was rigging it to make it collapse easier.  I didn't have a problem with being told not to shoot the ring, but the way Dillinger came at me, yelling and embarrassing me in front of everyone else indicated to me that he's a class a douche.

The rest of the night went well.  The interviews were entertaining, especially the Bagwell and Heenan ones.  I was young and nervous and trying not to mark out the whole time.

Those are my memories of Thunder, which entered our world 13 years ago this week.

Going for the Gold(berg)

Courtesy: WWE

You've probably figured out by the picture above this isn't a post about the View's Whoopi Goldberg, but instead Bill Goldberg.  Or just Goldberg, the former WCW and WWE world heavyweight champion.  Today my thoughts on Goldberg and his "worthiness" of being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Earlier this week, Triple H and Shawn Michaels were in Atlanta (site of Wrestlemania 27).  The two were being interviewed and the question about the Hall of Fame came up.  A lot of people are speculating the theme will be a WCW one because the company was based in Atlanta for so many years.  And of course, the biggest name from the last couple of years of WCW was of course Goldberg.  So naturally, fans (at least some of them) are foaming at the mouth over a possible Goldberg HOF induction.

Both members of DX shot down the idea.  Of course that doesn't mean a whole lot, but they went on to explain why they don't think the football player turned pro wrestler is worthy of the honor.  Triple H told SB Nation Atlanta report Jason Kirk this, "We get that all the time. We call a guy to honor him in the Hall of Fame, and he goes, 'I want to do an angle. I want a one-off. I need a hundred grand," Triple H added. "So when you say, 'What about Goldberg,' no offense to Bill, but you've got guys like Bruno Sammartino that were legends with longevity that should be in there, but they're holding out because they think they've got one more run. Just using Bill as an example, how many years did he wrestle? Not many." 

Shawn went on to say to that he's against the idea of Goldberg going in now, not because he isn't talented but because greatness doesn't happen in a few years.  

Goldberg himself acknowledged Hunter and Shawn's comments and said they were entitled to their opinion.  He went on to say, "They do have a point if induction is based on tenure."

I have to agree with the former tag team champions on this one.  For starters, I was never a big fan of Goldberg.  Personally, I thought WCW crammed him down our throats as a way to fight the Stone Cold Steve Austin craze that was sweeping the wrestling world in the late 90's.  Goldberg's time in the squared circle was short.  He was with WCW from 1997 to 2001.  He wrestled briefly in Japan for about a year, and then spent about a year in the WWE, where he won the world title ironically from Triple H.  

Unless I'm mistaken his match with Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 20 was his last.  That would give him  a little less than seven years in the ring.  Does that make him worthy of the Hall of Fame?  Maybe eventually, but not now.  When you've got guys like Bob Backlund, Bruno Sammartino, Randy Savage, and the Road Warriors not inducted, I don't believe Goldberg should be in there.

But on the flip side, there are some names in there that probably don't "deserve" to be.  No offense, but Koko B. Ware comes to mind immediately.  Pete Rose, William Perry, and Bob Uecker too.  I'm not a fan of the "celebrity wing."

That being said, I think it depends your prospective.  After all this is a hall of fame for a "sport" with a determined finished.  WWE controls how the matches end, they control who gets into their hall of fame. It is one of my favorite parts of the Wrestlemania weekend.  I know it's something the wrestlers take serious, but is it something fans take serious?  I kind of feel like Hulk Hogan and to an extent Ric Flair turned their back on the concept when they did the whole angle with their rings and Abyss earlier this year.  Epic failure in my opinion.

According to a poll on the Bleacher Report 38% of fans said "no" to Goldberg being inducted into the HOF.  36% were in favor.  The rest said not yet, but maybe in the future.  I'd say that's the category I fall into.  Although his tenure was short in comparison to most of the men and women in the Hall of Fame, I do think he made a significant impact on wrestling, whether you're a fan of his or not.

What are your thoughts?