Original Airdate: June 15, 1998
From San Antonio, Texas; Your Host is Jim Ross, with Michael Cole (hour one), and with Jerry Lawler (hour two)
Sable kicks things off, making her surprise return. And then immediately turns cheers to boos by introducing Vince McMahon as her savior, since he got her back into the promotion. Ross seems confused, which is pretty dim of him, considering Vince is the owner of said promotion. Seems as straightforward as possible. And then Vince immediately humiliates her, making her read a statement about what happened with Steve Austin last week, as he stares at her like a piece of meat, before forcing an awkward kiss on her cheek. This all feels very uncomfortable in February 2024. Austin himself shows up to get Sable the hell out of there, but before Steve can get his hands on Vince himself, Undertaker shows up, reminding Steve that he wants a title shot. But before they can engage in more of that discussion, Kane and Mankind show up, challenging Austin and Undertaker to a Hell in a Cell match tonight. Boy, this segment certainly covered a lot of ground, if nothing else
King of the Ring Tournament Qualifying Match: Rock v Vader: Rock hammers him into the corner right away, but Vader turns the tables, and cross corner whips Rocky to set up an avalanche. Vader lands a clothesline from there, and another corner whip sets up a second avalanche. Vader with a slam to set up a 2nd rope splash for two, but another clothesline misses, and Rock delivers a DDT for two. Rock unloads in the corner, but a bodyslam attempt gets toppled, giving Vader two. Rock manages the slam on the second go, however, and the People’s elbow gets him two. Irish whip, but Vader reverses, and bodyblocks him to set up a splash for two. Clothesline, but Rock ducks, and clotheslines Vader over the top. That allows Mark Henry to attack on the outside, and Rock capitalizes with a uranage at 4:33. Lively enough, but didn’t mesh. ½*
Backstage, DX predict that the later Triple H/X-Pac King of the Ring qualifying match will be the match of the year. Keep, keep wishing. Keep, keep, keep wishing baby
Edge vignette
Jeff Jarrett v Darren Drozdov: Jeff attacks from behind, but Drozdov fights him off, as Marc Mero and Jacqueline come down to observe, taking a seat on commentary. Jeff sticks a dropkick and a straddling ropechoke, but Drozdov fights him off again, delivering a powerslam for two. Jeff wins a criss cross with a DDT, but a corner charge misses, and Drozdov lands a jumping backelbow. Big boot, but Jeff blocks, and sweeps the leg for the figure four, but gets distracted by Tennessee Lee getting into it with Jackie. That allows Mero to hit Jarrett with a low blow, and Drozdov gets the pin at 2:06. Total amateurish junk. DUD
Backstage, Val Venis warms up. As only he can
Backstage, Billy Gunn wonders whose side Chyna will take in the HHH/X-Pac battle
Val Venis v Chainz: Ross at least notes that the Cell has been hanging over the ring all day, so clearly Vince engineered the match, it wasn’t just a random coincidence. Doesn’t seem like a big revelation, but they definitely stopped doing the little things like that later on, and it really hurt the product. Val dominates, and a suplex leads to a pair of short-knees, then a Russian legsweep. Val with mounted punches, and a big boot connects, followed by a jumping forearm. Venis with a turnbuckle smash ahead of a snapmare to set up an elbowdrop. Val with a corner whip, but the charge in gets blocked, and Chainz side suplexes him. Chainz makes a comeback, but walks into a powerslam, and Val goes upstairs, only to get crotched. That allows Chainz to follow for a superplex, but Val blocks, and hits the flying splash at 4:32. Another stinker. ¼*
Backstage, Kevin Kelly asks Undertaker if he can trust Steve Austin. Undertaker rightly notes that he’d be pretty dumb to trust a guy whose whole mantra is ‘don’t trust anybody’
Backstage, HHH and X-Pac promise not to take it easy on each other out there
Marc Mero v Dustin Runnels: Jeff Jarrett is out to do commentary/observe, and he’s got Southern Justice with him for backup. Marc knocks Runnels around early on, but a clothesline misses, and Dustin rebounds with a jumping version. Runnels goes to a hammerlock, but Mero escapes, and dumps him to the outside. Marc dives after him with an axehandle from the apron, and he whips Runnels into the steps. Back in, Marc delivers a powerbomb, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and gets clobbered. That allows Runnels an inverted atomic drop to set up a clothesline, but an attempt to go to the top ends in Marc bringing him down with a rana for two. That draws Jarrett onto the apron, as Sable wanders out, walking like some sort of deranged penguin with her heels on the grated ramp. All that at once is enough to distract Mero, and Runnels bulldogs him at 3:50. Two good workers, one bad match. ½*
Backstage, HHH and X-Pac are getting increasingly heated
Backstage, Dustin Runnels thanks Jesus for the win tonight
King of the Ring Tournament Qualifying Match: Triple H v X-Pac: This is X-Pac’s first WWF TV match since 1996, and his first TV match period since October 1997 in WCW. X-Pac sneaks up with a schoolboy for two, so HHH tries a clothesline, but X-Pac ducks. X-Pac throws an elbow, and a series of kicks put HHH down. X-Pac with chops, but a criss cross allows Hunter a high knee, so X-Pac bails, as Chyna heads down. She rolls X-Pac back in for HHH to mow down with a clothesline, and Hunter adds an inverted atomic drop, followed by a vertical suplex. HHH adds a kneedrop for two, and a pair of turnbuckle smashes lead to a blistering cross corner whip. X-Pac took that like the second coming of Bret Hart. X-Pac comes back with a spinkick to put Helmsley on the floor, but Chyna rolls him back in just as she did to X-Pac. X-Pac welcomes him with a spinkick for two, but HHH comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Hunter adds a kneeling facebuster, and he clotheslines X-Pac over the top, but before Chyna can roll him back in, Rock shows up in the crowd. He cuts a promo on HHH as Owen Hart pops out of the crowd to drop X-Pac on the guardrail, but once HHH sees him down, he doesn’t want the win. He tries to help X-Pac up, but the knee is fucked, and Hunter gets a countout win at 5:16. This was solid enough, but overwhelmed by angles. *
Al Snow comes out (as Avatar) to confront Jerry Lawler about his meeting with Vince, but Jerry tells him it’s never going to happen, so Snow beats him down
Backstage, Austin clarifies that, indeed, Undertaker should not trust him tonight
Owen Hart and Mark Henry v Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn: Owen charges Shamrock to kick start the match, but gets fought off, and Ken levels him with a lariat. Owen tries a dropkick, but misses, so Ken goes for the ankle, but Hart uses a leg-feed enzuigiri to block. Hart grabs a crossface chickenwing, but Ken counters to a hammerlock, so Owen mulekicks him, and tags. Mark with a bodyslam, and a powerslam gets him two. Mark misses an avalanche, and Dan tags in with a belly-to-belly suplex, and he gets an armbar on. Mark gets to a vertical base, so Dan tries a waistlock takedown, but Henry blocks, and tags. Owen comes in fast, but Dan suplexes him, and goes for a modified surfboard, but Henry saves. That allows Owen a spinheel kick, and the Nation double up on Severn. They cut the ring in half, but he fights them off, and Ken gets the hot tag. He hits Owen with a leg lariat and a powerslam, but Hart counters a rana into a Sharpshooter, only for DX to run in for the DQ at 4:40. Afterwards, the rest of the Nation run out, and it’s a big bench clearing brawl, with Vader running out to join the fray as well! ¾*
#1 Contender's 10-Team Royal Rumble Match: Winners get a WWF Tag Team title shot ‘sometime soon.’ That’s WCW shit. LOD 2000 draw #1 and Mankind and Kane get #2. LOD 2000 dominate early, until the New Midnight Express come in at #3. The Express come in and put the boots to Animal, but Kane pulls them off, as #4 draw the Headbangers join the party. The intervals here are insanely short. Skull and 8-Ball come in at #5, and go right for LOD. Kurrgan and Golga pull #6, as Bodacious Bart gets dumped, which means the Express is gone as a unit. The #7 team is Too Much, but get wrecked by Kane. #8 is Faarooq and Steve Blackman, as we really expose how weak this ‘division’ is. What’s even the point of this match? Taka Michikoku and Bradshaw get #9, as the DOA get tossed. Terry Funk and Scorpio round out the field at #10, and hopefully this thing wraps up, because we’ve got everyone, and only two teams have been dumped so far. Funk eliminates Kurrgan (with relative ease), and a miscommunication sees Too Much eliminate themselves. Kane tosses Mosh to get rid of the Headbangers, and then gets rid of LOD to put them out as well. That leaves Kane/Mankind against Funk/Scorpio, and Terry quickly grabs a chair. He blasts Kane with it a few times, and works with Scorpio to try and toss him, but Mankind saves. That allows Kane a tombstone on Scorpio, and a big boot eliminates Funk at 8:26. ¼*
Backstage, Austin laces up his boots
Hell in a Cell Match: Steve Austin and Undertaker v Mankind and Kane: Undertaker is a no show at the bell, so Austin tries going it alone. He ends up brawling with Mankind and Kane on the outside, and Kane backdrops him on the ramp, as Paul Bearer locks himself in the cell to stay out of harms way. But that backfires when Undertaker pops out of a hole in the ring, and he beats Bearer down, as Mankind and Kane can’t get in to help him. Can’t Kane just rip the door off again? He has experience! Bearer ends up bleeding, as Kane climbs on the roof of the cell, while Austin knocks Mankind silly with the title belt. Steve then climbs up onto the roof as well, and brawls with Kane up there as we go off the air, with the actual match never taking place.
BUExperience: This one felt really scattered, as even the top angles didn’t really do much for me, and everything else was unmitigated junk.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.