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.

Finally, and shining light from the brutal death year of WCW. Lance Storm was someone I grew to enjoy from my time watching him in ECW as a Triple Threat member, his feud with Candido, and finally his run as half of the Impact players. He was the bright spot in late WCW, where as I felt Mike Awesome was exposed when he left ECW near the same time as Lance. Still, this has got to have some substance to it compared with most matches of the time – the equivalent of bad fast food. I need a meal, guys.

This is the finals the U.S. title tournament. Storm gets heat playing the Canadian national anthem. I’d forgotten that Russo’s big thing at the time was letting everyone curse and then bleeping it live. What a simpleton. The brawl in the aisle way to start. No one wrestled in 2000 WCW. The last few matches are a lot of brawling. Awesome is pretty good playing big man here, and Lance is the bumping heel. I like it more once Storm gets control and they get in the ring. They actually wrestle! Storm could have been so much more in WWE if they’d played it differently. I enjoy is control segment here, and Awesome’s power moves here are um… awesome. Storm bumps like a rag doll for the guy. They screw up a spinning DDT and Storm has the presence of mind to sell it like he was thrown off. Bonus points. Storm hits a superplex on the big guy, and Awesome kicks out at two.

The finishing sequence with the reverse out of the Awesome bomb into the half crab is really good, and Awesome taps right away in five minutes. He even taps like a sissy. He gets fat girls for his troubles – I’m serious. A good five minute match with so slight choppy parts, but in this era of WCW it was a real stand out. Unfortunately, for the history of Nitro it was nothing special. 2 ½ and 5/10.