Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 141: Booker T vs. Lance Storm (Nitro 8/7/00)

Storm is a triple champion at this point, trying to get the quad crown – if you weilllll – by facing the babyface Booker T for the world title. This was during Booker’s prime, which really came into view as a singles star in 1998. The sad thing is he didn’t have a ton of good opponents during this era of Nitro. A heel Storm getting the biggest push of his career here makes for a welcome match by my standards.

Storm’s mic work was so under rated. He totally grabs the heat before this match with his mouth.
Conversely, Mike Awesome is on commentary with some girl, and it’s throwing the whole presentation off. Crowd is really into the start of this. They play up the USA vs Cananda thing and the American fans are going crazy, which brings me to another point. Every match during these 2000 Nitros has a really rabid crowd, but it’s a smaller one, which basically means the base that stayed, kept watching their TV, and went so far as to buy tickets, REALLY loved WCW somehow. It’s too bizarre for me to fathom.

Storm does a plancha. Even Storm’s high spots were slower and safer. These guys are going at it pretty good (amazing athleticism and movement, but WCW can’t stay focused on the match. A minute in they send cheeseburgers down to Awesome and his fat chick on commentary, cutting away more than once and talking about it, all because he’s the “Fat Chick Thrilla”. God, this sucked.

Storm is essentially working from underneath, coming back with elbows while Booker gets some great near falls which are definitely on the level of false finishes. The easy crowd helps. This match is good, but it’s hard to focus on with the way they jump around on commentary. In this ring it’s a match that is aware of it’s lack of time, so everything is rushed ahead. Sloppy reversal (there’s been some sloppiness that you could argue is realism) leads Storm into the half crab, but Booker reaches the ropes and hits more big moves. Finally we get a really good Book End finisher, and Booker takes the win in about six and a half minutes. Solid work for the dark days of WCW and an easy crowd, but this was nothing too special compared to the earlier days of Nitro or what was going on is wrestling at the time. A good TV match, maybe not even a main event though. 2 ¾ and 5.5/10.