WWF Fully Loaded (July 1998)

From Fresno, California; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

Opening Match: Jeff Jarrett v Val Venis: Sloppy reversal sequence to start, ending in Jarrett strutting after controlling with some basic (and sloppy) stuff. Val responds by chopping him into the corner, and he takes Jeff down with a drop-toehold. Criss cross ends in Venis missing a bodypress, but he catches the incoming Jarrett with a stungun for two, then adds a pair of short-kneelifts to set up a Russian legsweep. Cradle gets two, but a backdrop gets him powerbombed, in another sloppy sequence. Jeff tosses him out of the ring for manager Tennessee Lee to abuse (this Lee unrelated to Venis' feud with Kaientai, however), and Jeff baseball slides into him for good measure. Back in, they trade chops, and Jeff hits a DDT before locking a sleeper. Val reverses, but Jeff side suplexes him to escape, but a vertical suplex is countered with a belly-to-belly by Venis - leaving both men looking up at the lights. Up for a slugfest, and Val hits an inverted atomic drop to set up a clothesline. Fisherman’s suplex gets two, but a blind charge misses, and Jeff hits a flying bodypress for two. Venis returns fire with a powerslam to set up the Money Shot, but Lee interferes again, and Jarrett superplexes him to set up the Figure Four - only for Venis to cradle him for two. Lee tries to get involved again, but Val whips Jeff into him, and rolls him up for the pin at 7:47. Decent match, but Jarrett was looking sloppy as hell out there, with his timing especially off. *

X-Pac v D-Lo Brown: D-Lo works a side-headlock to start, and shoulderblocks X-Pac when he tries to escape. X-Pac escapes another headlock with an armdrag, and slaps on a headlock of his own. Criss cross allows X-Pac to hit a spinkick, but another criss cross ends in Brown hitting a spinheel kick for two. Clothesline for two, and D-Lo slaps on a chinlock. X-Pac fights up, but D-Lo whips him hard into the corner to thwart a comeback, and snapmares him to set up a legdrop for two. Chops in the corner, but a cross corner charge misses. D-Lo ducks a spinheel kick to kill another comeback attempt, and he bodyslams him. 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop gets two, and here comes another chinlock. X-Pac uses a stunner to break, but Brown clobbers him again before he can mount a comeback. Flying moonsault misses, however, and this time X-Pac manages to follow-up with a roundhouse kick and the bronco buster. The Godfather gets involved, however, and Brown catches X-Pac in the Sky High for the pin at 8:24. Didn't really like it, but it was fine for what it was. *

Faarooq and Scorpio v Terry Funk and Bradshaw: Nice bit of continuity there, as it was Faarooq who brought Scorpio in (kayfabe) back in WCW. Well, hopefully it was continuity, and not just 'well, they're both black' booking. Anyway, Scorpio starts with Bradshaw, and gets overpowered. Scorpio uses his speed to fire back, and a rana takes Bradshaw down. Tag to Faarooq, and he trades power stuff with his future tag team partner. Bradshaw hits a flying shoulderblock for two, and tags Funk in to unload some jabs. Standing neckbreaker gets two, but Faarooq returns with a backbreaker. Dominator, but Bradshaw comes in with a boot to break it up - only for another flying shoulderblock attempt to get him powerslammed by Faarooq. Tag to Scorpio for a slam, but Terry shakes the ropes to stop the flying moonsault, and Bradshaw side superplexes him down for two. Powerbomb gets two, and Bradshaw tosses him out to the floor for Funk to abuse. Terry's spot calling is painfully obvious here. Back in, Funk cradles him for two, so Faarooq punches him, and Scorpio his a flying twisting splash for two. 2^nd rope legdrop (flying halfway across the ring with it) sets up the 450 Splash, and that's that at 6:50. Just filler, but there were some nice spots, and didn't overstay its welcome. ½*

Vader v Mark Henry: Power-showdown to start, and Henry scoop slams him with relative ease, so Vader bails. Back in, Vader tries again, but Mark shoulderblocks him down, and hits an axehandle for two. Elbowdrop and a legdrop for two, but Vader counters a sunset flip with a sit-down splash, and he adds a standard splash for two. Avalanche sets up a short-clothesline, and he dumps Mark for a whip into the steps. Inside, Vader bodyslams him, and adds a 2^nd rope splash for two. Vader whips him into the ropes, but Henry reverses for a powerslam, and splashes him for the pin at 5:03. I know Henry was getting pushed as part of the Nation and everything, but dear God, was there anyone more misused than Vader? Decent power match, otherwise. ½*

LOD 2000 v DOA: What, again? Animal starts with Skull, and gets pounded, then double-teamed. He comes back with clotheslines for both, and Hawk tags in with a flying version onto both bikers. Inside, Animal busts out a dropkick, and LOD hit a bearhug/clothesline combo for two. Hawk with a standing neckbreaker, but a cross corner charge misses, and the DOA cut the ring in half. Hawk manages to dodge a double-team for the tag, and Animal is a house of arson. Doomsday Device hits on Skull, but he makes a switch with 8-Ball (they're twins, remember), and he DDTs Animal for the pin at 8:48. Aaaaaannnnnnddd DUD

Dungeon Match: Owen Hart v Ken Shamrock: Like the name says, this takes place in the Hart House Dungeon in Calgary, and Dan Severn acts as the referee. No ring, just a fight on the floor of the Dungeon - which looks exactly like every basement you ever hung out in back in high school. Owen charges, but Ken takes him down, and tries a grapevine, but Hart escapes. Ken whips him into the wall a couple of times, and hits a belly-to-belly suplex. Hart fires back with a spinheel kick, and rams Ken into the wall - bashing his head against the wood paneling. German suplex, but Ken mounts him with some punches on the floor, and whips him around a bit, so Owen grabs a low hanging pipe, and pulls himself up to rana Shamrock! Ken slugs him, then tosses him into a stack of free weights, so Owen tries to punch him with one - which is blocked. Shamrock throws him around some more, and tries to use the pipe for his own rana, but Hart powerbombs him to block. Owen throws him into the pipe, then scoops him up, and lifts him overhead - Ken's head going right through the ceiling! That sets up the Sharpshooter, but Shamrock counters into the Anklelock - Hart blocking. Ken fires off a brutal kick, but a second hits Severn by accident, and Hart clocks him with a dumbbell. Crossface, and Owen taps the unconscious Shamrock's arm for him at 5:00. Not as good as the follow-up match at SummerSlam, but still entertaining, unique, and downright brutal at points. This was like that crazy fight scene in They Live, only with fewer wrestling moves, somehow. **

WWF Intercontinental Title 2/3 Falls Match: The Rock v Triple H: Dramatic staredown to start, and Rock strikes first with a series of rights. HHH fires back with his own, however, and we have a slugfest - Rock taking control with a clothesline. Rock with a turnbuckle smash, and you can already see them stretching time to fill the draw, as suddenly everything is moving at about a quarter of the usual pace. Hunter fires back with a clothesline, but the Pedigree is blocked with a backdrop from the champion. To the outside, they brawl up the aisle, and HHH bodyslams him out there. Back to ringside, Hunter tries a whip into the steps, but Rock reverses, and adds a shot onto the guardrail for good measure. Back in, Rock whips him into the corner, and follows with a clothesline for two. Backdrop, but he telegraphs it, and HHH hits a swinging neckbreaker, then suplexes him to set up a kneedrop for two. Mounted punches, followed by chops in the corner, but a cross corner whip is reversed, and they spill outside again. Rock with a snap suplex on the outside, then adds a bodyslam, as Mark Henry wanders out, and splashes the challenger. Billy Gunn runs out to kick Henry's ass, and both guys are sent back to the dressing rooms. The damage is done, but Rock isn't satisfied, and grabs the title belt for a shot - only getting two. Rock with a swinging neckbreaker for two, and he slaps on a chinlock. HHH powers up, but walks into another clothesline, giving Rocky two. Outside again, Rock tosses him into the rail, then chokes him with some cable. Inside, Rock nearly botches his floatover DDT, but still gets two with it. Chinlock, as it's now becoming obvious that they just don't have a thirty minute draw in their systems at this point, and they're desperately trying to buy time. HHH fights out again, but Rock blocks a backdrop with a facebuster for two. Rock tries a backdrop of his own, but Hunter dodges it, and hits a high knee. Rock fires back with a stungun, as The Godfather wanders out - only for the New Age Outlaws to cut him off. And, damn, does the crowd love them the Outlaws! That gives Rock and HHH an excuse to sit around and kill time for a few minutes, and now D-Lo Brown runs in - only for HHH to crotch him on the top rope, and bash his brains in with the European belt. The distractions allows Rock to catch him in the Rock Bottom, though, and that's fall number one at 20:17. Rock keeps after him, and tosses him to the outside again for a shot into the steps. Whip into the rail, but Hunter rebounds with a clothesline to set up the Pedigree, so Rock counters into a slingshot into the announce table! Nice sequence there. Back in, Rock slams him to set up the People's Elbow, but it only gets two. Double-knockout spot allows X-Pac to run in, and he hits the X-Factor on Rocky - HHH covering for a dramatic two count. Crowd thought that was it, and so did I. Hunter goes for a chair, but Rock kicks it away from him - only to hit the referee by accident. That brings Chyna in, and a DDT onto the chair allows HHH to tie it up at 26:29. Triple H covers him again to get another two count out of the deal, they tosses Rock out to the floor for a whip into the ring apron. Enough with the outside brawling, already! In, Hunter hits a kneeling facebuster, and a clothesline gets two. Rock drops him like a Samoan for two, as the announcers start hammering home the time limit running down. Slugfest sets up the Rock Bottom, but Hunter counters into the Pedigree, but time expires before he can score the fall at 30:00 - the bout ruled a draw. Well, soccer fans would love this. I can totally see why people were going crazy for this at the time, as seeing two guys go to the thirty minute draw was far from the norm in 1998, but the match just doesn't hold up. Way too slow and plodding, as neither guy had the arsenal to carry thirty minutes, and had to rely on restholds, meaningless brawling segments, and run-ins. The last ten minutes are quite good, but it takes a long time to get going, and isn't very good, on the whole. * ½

Bikini Contest: Sable v Jacqueline: Yada yada yada, dirty jokes from the King. Blah blah blah, Sable busts out the now famous painted on bikini for the win. Filler, but between that last match and the main event, this was a good spot to give the crowd a break. Plus, Lawler is absolutely hilarious here

Main Event: WWF Tag Team Title Match: Kane and Mankind v Steve Austin and The Undertaker: The idea here is that Austin and Undertaker don't particularly like each other, since they're also feuding over the WWF Title at this point. Brawl on the outside to start, and inside, Austin unloads on Mankind in the corner. Steve with a clothesline and a snap suplex, so Mankind tags. Kane comes in hot, but walks into a Thesz press, and Austin adds a pointed elbowdrop. Stunner, but Kane hops out of the ring to get out of the line of fire. Steve chases for a brawl in the aisle, and inside, 'Taker works Kane's shoulder, then hits a Russian legsweep. He emphatically gives Austin the finger before turning his attention to Mankind, and Stinger splashing him a couple of times. Ropewalk forearm, but Mankind dodges a cross corner charge, and Kane tags to chokeslam his brother. The champs cut the ring in half on 'Taker in dull fashion, until Austin manages to bodyblock Mankind into the announce table, and Undertaker backdrops him out there. Inside, 'Taker DDTs Mankind, and that's enough for a tag to Stone Cold! He's a house of arson to trigger a four-way brawl, and Steve cracks Kane with a chair for two. Kane fires back with a big boot, however, and he launches Austin out of the ring for Mankind to abuse. Inside, the champs cut the ring in half on Steve with quick tags, but they can't quite put him away. Kane with a chokeslam, but Austin counters the Tombstone into the Stunner. Mankind tries to salvage it with the Mandible Claw, but Steve Stuns him, too! Tag to a reluctant Undertaker, and Kane gets Tombstoned at 17:27. Pretty boring, house show level stuff, actually, though the crowd was hot. But, hey, thank God for filler pay per views, because if this were the late-80s, this would be your SummerSlam main event. ½*

BUExperience: There’s a couple of decent matches, but the two best ones (Rock/HHH and Shamrock/Hart) were redone with far better results the next month at SummerSlam, and the rest is all forgettable, with a RAW main event on top.

DUD