Original Airdate: January 19, 1998
From Fresno, California; Your Host is Jim Ross, with Michael Cole and Kevin Kelly (hour one), and with Jerry Lawler (hour two)
Paul Bearer joins us to start, gloating about his Undertaker BBQ. This had a point, but Bearer was really so much better suited for the forty second promos of the previous era than doing ten minute monologues
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Backstage, DX hang out in their dressing room. WWF European Champion Triple H suggests that Owen Hart pack his bags and move down south too. Meanwhile, WWF Champion Shawn Michaels apparently couldn’t sleep after last night’s show. All things considered, that’s not at all surprising. But, he feels bad about how things went for Undertaker, and he vows to bring him back tonight. Shawn’s track record hasn’t exactly been stellar in that department. Remember when he promised to bring Bret Hart back just after Survivor Series?
Six-Man Tag Team Match: Faarooq, Kama Mustafa, and D-lo Brown v Chainz, Skull, and 8-Ball: Brown and 8-Ball start, and D-lo hammers him with rights, but eats a backelbow during a criss cross. 8-Ball corners him for a ten-punch count, but Brown fights him off with an inverted atomic drop. Another criss cross ends in 8-Ball delivering a big boot, however, and tags are made to Kama and Chainz. Kama dominates, but gets into trouble, and takes a trio of elbowdrops. Tag to Skull, so Faarooq takes a cheap shot from the apron, allowing Kama a superkick. The Nation of Domination work Skull over, but Brown misses a flying moonsault, and Chainz gets the tag - Roseanne Barr the door! The referee quickly gives up trying to restore order, however, and we have a double DQ at 4:32. Sloppy stuff here, with multiple miscommunications. Afterwards, the rest of the Nation run in, but Ken Shamrock and Ahmed Johnson back the DOA up to clean house. DUD
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In the garage, a hearse arrives. “It could be Undertaker,” declares Cole. Or, literally almost anyone else. 166,000 people die per day, dude. Stop getting everyones hopes up
Marc Mero v Tom Brandi: Brandi attacks before the bell, delivering a dropkick and a clothesline right away. Sidewalk slam gets Tom two, but a corner charge misses, and Marc capitalizes with a DDT. Mero with an elbowdrop and a ropechoke, as a ring attendant delivers a bouquet of flowers to Sable. That draws Mero’s attention, and he goes to the outside to question her about who they are from. That allows Brandi to recover, and he attacks on the outside. In, Brandi hammers Mero with chops, and a spear allows him some mounted punches. Gourdbuster gets him two, so Marc tries a side suplex, but Brandi topples him for two. Mero tries the TKO, but Brandi counters with a rollup for two. Slingshot sunset flip gets two, so Sable distracts the referee, and Mero capitalizes with a low blow. That allows Marc the TKO, and Tom is done at 3:31. They squeezed a decent little match in between all the angles. * ¾
Backstage, DX go snooping around the hearse, but it’s filled with fan girls, who drag them in. Did they rent that to go clubbing in? Because that’s a weird choice. And what a disappointing climax to the mystery
The Playstation Slam of the Week is Vader hitting Goldust with a Vaderbomb (with Luna Vachon on his back) at last night’s Royal Rumble
Outside the arena, Mike Tyson’s limousine arrives
The Quebecers v Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie: This is the Quebecers' first WWF match since June 1994, and they don’t even get an entrance or music. Jack and Charlie trigger a brawl right away, in and out of the ring. Dust settles on Jacques and Charlie, and Jacques hammers him with right hand after right hand. Charlie ought to use that chainsaw to give Jacques a haircut. Jacques with a piledriver and a series of turnbuckle smashes, giving Charlie the opportunity to do some of his patented goofy selling. Tag to Pierre for a piledriver of his own, and they’re opening acknowledging that Jacques is the same character as Mountie at this point, thankfully. The Quebecers try a spike piledriver, but Cactus runs in to put a stop to it, since he must also feel that we’ve seen enough piledrivers in this one already. The referee objects, so Jack puts him in a mandible claw, and that’s a DQ at 3:18. Quite the momentous return for the Quebecers. ½*
Backstage, DX continue to search for Undertaker, questioning Max Mini. Funny bit here, as Shawn makes Chyna hold him up since he ‘can’t bend down that far.’ Considering he’d just sustained what was nearly a career ending back injury the night before, maybe that’s not totally a ‘bit’
Backstage, Mike Tyson hangs out with a bunch of Vince McMahon’s cronies
NWA North American Title Match: Jeff Jarrett v Blackjack Bradshaw: Jim Cornette sits in on commentary for this one. Jeff attacks before the bell, and hammers, but Bradshaw fights him off with a sidewalk slam in short order. Bradshaw unloads in the corner, and a cross corner whip is followed in with a clothesline, as Cornette goes a mile a minute ranting about the state of the wrestling business. Boy, some things really never change. Jeff tries a bodypress, but gets caught in a fallaway slam, so the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express trip him up, allowing Jarrett a dropkick. Jeff works a ropechoke, but misses a straddling version, so the Express take another cheap shot. Bradshaw ignores it and keeps fighting, hitting Jeff with a clothesline, followed by a big boot. Powerbomb draws Cornette onto the apron, allowing the Express to run in. In comes Blackjack Windham to help, but he accidentally ends up hitting Bradshaw, and Jeff hooks the leg at 3:42. Afterwards, Windham turns on Bradshaw, joining in with Cornette’s NWA group. Boy, Jarrett sure left WCW for greener pastures, didn’t he? Well, at least he finally got to lead a version of the Horsemen, I guess. ½*
Backstage, DX is still on the hunt for Undertaker. They could have given Leslie Nielsen a ring
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Vince McMahon celebrates Martin Luther King Jr Day. I’m pretty sure they still use that same video on MLK Day to this day
Undertaker descends from the rafters, but when the lights come up, it’s revealed to be Shawn Michaels. HHH and Chyna soon join him in the ring, bringing a grill out with them. They cut promos on Undertaker, Owen Hart, and Steve Austin (in between making every sophomoric hot dog/weiner joke imaginable)
Backstage, Tyson hangs out with the Legion of Doom, but Sunny pushes past them to cozy up to him
Eight-Man Tag Team Match: Taka Michinoku, Owen Hart, Mosh, and Thrasher v Savio Vega, Miguel Perez, Jesus Castillo, and Jose Estrada: Really making the best of having Owen on the roster, aren’t they? Honky Tonk Man sits in on commentary here. Taka and Miguel start, as Owen looks like he’s about to fall asleep on the apron. I mean, he literally could not look more disinterested. Not that I blame him, really. Finish comes as Owen gets the tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Hart applies the Sharpshooter in short order for the win at 2:58. Well, at least the right guy got the win. DUD
Backstage, the Nation try to recruit Tyson
WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Rock v Ahmed Johnson: Rock attacks as Ahmed rolls into the ring, and the champ delivers a vertical suplex. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop for two, so Rock unloads in the corner. He tries another suplex, but Ahmed reverses this time, and the challenger makes a comeback. They spill to the outside, where Rock gets sent into the steps, which draws Mark Henry down to ringside. Into the ring, Johnson delivers a spinebuster, so Henry whacks him with a chair, and Rock delivers a uranage at 2:44. Thankfully short, as Ahmed had nothing to offer at this point. Afterwards, Ken Shamrock chases Rock off to continue their feud. ¼*
Backstage, Tyson checks out Cactus Jack’s barbed wire bat
The Western Union Rewind is Shawn Michaels superkicking Undertaker at Royal Rumble
Backstage, Tyson shows his tattoos off to DX
WWF Tag Team Title Match: The New Age Outlaws v The Godwinns: Funny that the Outlaws are mocking the Godwinns here, when Billy Gunn was making a career of playing dress up as a cowboy just a little while before this. Brawl to start, with the Godwinns wrecking them. The dust settles on them cutting the ring in half on Billy, until Jesse James is able to pass Billy a loaded stuffed pig, and Gunn knocks Phineas Godwinn out for the pin at 4:57. Really boring, and it dragged on and on. ¼*
Backstage, Tyson just stares off into space. He would not do well on transatlantic flights with Elaine
Vince brings Tyson (and his entourage) out to make what he calls ‘the biggest announcement in WWF history’ about Mike’s involvement in WrestleMania XIV. So Vince chats with Mike a bit before getting ready to make the big announcement, but just before he’s able to share, Austin’s music hits - Steve marching down to the ring. That draws all the officials out as well, hoping to keep the peace. Steve is upset that Tyson is going around shaking babies and kissing hands, and Austin cuts a great promo on him, telling him straight up that he wants to fight. Tyson trying to brush it off and make nice, instead of getting angry right away, is a great, reserved touch. Also a great touch: the way Austin keeps telling Vince to shut up, and McMahon’s much less reserved rage. So, since Tyson doesn’t want to engage, Steve gives him a little sign language, and Mike has had enough: shoving Austin, and triggering a huge brawl. I love the detail that came out later, that all the cash flying around the ring was a shoot, since it flew out of the pocket of one of Mike’s entourage guys in the chaos. Anyway, this was a fantastic segment, and is rightfully considered one of the best ever. The final image of Austin getting dragged away, with Vince in agony over having his moment ruined, and Steve giving him more ‘sign language’ is amazing, and has rightfully stood the test of time, and become iconic
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Backstage, Tyson fumes, as McMahon tries to calm him down
BUExperience: Just weeks after setting a new competitive rating high, RAW shatters it with this episode - hitting a 4.0 in competition for the first time ever. And what an episode! Maybe not everything was a high, but the final segment is one of the most iconic in history, and one of the few times that their claims that ‘this will make headlines all over the world’ actually rang true.
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