Last Thursday, the Roanoke Civic Center played host to WCW wrestling for their Thursday night show, Thunder. A sold out crowd of 10,000 fans showed up for the event. The fans wore clothes featuring their favorite wrestlers and some even went as far as to paint their faces like them. Roanoke and Thunder staff screened all of the signs to make sure nothing inappropriate would go on the air. One fan actually had the bright idea of bringing a dry erase board with him.
The event started at 7pm with a match that would determine who would go on to face Kidman for the Cruiserweight belt. The match ended in a stalemate but was required to continue since the winner would compete for the title later that night. Rey Mysterio Jr. was victorious over Juventude Guerrera only to lose to Kidman in the title match. After a few more matches, the camera’s rolled for the live event at 8.
The lights went dark and suddenly, with the flash of bright fireworks sputtering from the turnbuckles, the show began. The first match was intense and the wrestlers were really going at it but the smoke from the fireworks created a cloud of smoke that made it difficult to see. Half way through the match, the smoke finally cleared and you could finally tell what was going on.
During the commercial breaks, Wildcat Willie, Thunder’s mascot, threw out white balls which the fans could turn in for a variety of prizes like autographed photos and t-shirts. The announcer also got the audience pumped up during the breaks and cued everyone when the show came back on the air.
The show went on until about 10pm ending with the main event between Lex Luger and Scott Steiner. Thunder was over for everyone watching on television but it was just getting warmed up for the fans in the Civic Center. They were filming for future episodes. Two matches, which will are this Thursday, were filmed. One match featured Konnan and the Giant in which the Giant propped Konnan onto a table. The Giant then attempted to bust through the table with Konnan on it only to have Konnan get out of the way sending the Giant crashing through the table.
The main event, exclusively for the Civic Center audience, was a bout between the Giant and the heavyweight champion Goldberg. The two wrestlers locked arms twice and Goldberg speared the Giant seconds later. He followed the move with the Jackhammer in which he lifted the 552 lb. Giant vertically above his head for a few seconds and slammed him to the ground for the pin.
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