Original Airdate: June 29, 1998
From Cleveland, Ohio; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
Vince McMahon and his stooges come out to open the show, and they’re literally rolling out the red carpet, because it’s time to present Kane with the WWF Title belt. Kane and Paul Bearer come out to collect the gold, and it’s a nice callback to the night after Steve Austin won the title, and the contentious ceremony with McMahon. It’s worth noting how ‘right’ Kane looks with the ‘big eagle’ belt design. And speaking of Steve, he storms out as Vince is snapping the belt around Kane’s waist, demanding a rematch on the grounds that Kane never busted him open last night. Vince quickly passes the buck to Bearer, who passes it to Kane - who accepts. Solid segment
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Darren Drozdov v Steven Regal: Sable comes out to introduce Regal on McMahon’s behalf, and this is his debut. Sable also does guest commentary here, as Regal trades wristlocks with Drozdov. Regal smacks him around while holding a headlock, but Drozdov forces a criss cross, and lands a jumping backelbow. Drozdov with a hiptoss, so Regal goes to the eyes, as the announcers mostly ignore the match to fawn over Sable. Regal with a kneelift for two, and he goes to a chinlock, but Drozdov escapes, and hooks a backslide for two. Drozdov adds a vertical suplex to set up a dive, but he takes too long, and Regal butterfly superplexes him off. That allows Regal to go to an STF at 4:35. A terrible debut in every sense. They stuck him with someone he had no chemistry with, and then had the announcers ignore the match on top of it. DUD
Backstage, Marc Mero warms up
Michael Cole brings Ken Shamrock out to discuss his King of the Ring tournament victory, and prove why he shouldn’t talk, ever. He gives Rock credit for his efforts in the finals, but that draws Owen Hart out, and he’s not impressed with Shamrock winning, since he’s won the tournament himself. “Well, you can sure talk,” Shamrock notes. Yeah, that’s one reason we like him better than you, Ken. So they decide to have a match tonight, but that draws Triple H out, and he wants to fight them both, since he’s a King of the Ring winner as well, and he wants to find out who the ‘king of kings’ is. So that obsession sure started early
Backstage, Steve Blackman warms up
Brawl For All Tournament First Round Match: Marc Mero v Steve Blackman: Danny Hodge acts as the special guest referee for this, and it’s three one minute rounds. Blackman with a takedown right away, and then a second one after the break. Mero tries to box, but Blackman grounds him with a third takedown, and then actually catches him with a punch when Marc tries to box again. Blackman with a fourth takedown at the end of the first round, and Steve manages another takedown as the second round begins. Blackman just keeps going to the double-leg takedown well again and again, and Mero has no counter to it, just kind of taking it, as the crowd shits on this thing. The third round goes exactly the same way, though Mero lands a couple of shots at least, as time expires at 4:29. Yeah, so obviously Blackman wins on points. You’d think that would be the end of this experiment, but nope, they actually saw this tournament through. And brought it back for WrestleMania XV. Well, at least we got a Dark Side of the Ring out of it. This is hard to rate, since how do you rate the artistic value of a shoot fight? But, on entertainment value alone: DUD
The Skittles Slam of the Week is Chyna DDT’ing Owen Hart at King of the Ring
Kevin Kelly is in WWF Champion Kane’s locker room, and he wants to know why he’d grant Austin a rematch already. Apparently, he wants to prove he’s a better champion than Undertaker
Speaking of Undertaker, he arrives at the building, looking like he time traveled from 2000. All that’s missing is the bike
Val Venis v Dick Togo: Val slugs Togo, and a pair of cross corner clotheslines get him two, as Dustin Runnels shows up to do guest commentary. Venis tries a cross corner whip, but Togo springboards with a flying somersault senton, and a springboard moonsault gets him two, as Runnels ‘spreads the word of God.’ Every direction they go with this guy gets weirder. Venis with a backelbow and an elbowdrop for two, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and gets clobbered. Togo with a dropkick and a DDT for two, but a flying bodypress gets caught in a powerslam. That allows Venis to go up, but Togo blocks before he can dive. Venis responds with a butterfly suplex and a bodyslam, and that’s enough to properly set up the flying splash at 3:00. The crowd was dead for this one. Afterwards, Val puts the moves on Mr. Yamaguchi’s wife (seated at ringside), which draws Kaientai out, but Val fights them off with a chair. ½*
Edge is hanging out in the crowd
Michael Cole visits Steve Austin in his dressing room, but his stupid questions annoy the former champ, and he gets booted
Triple Threat Match: Triple H v Owen Hart v Ken Shamrock: HHH’s WWF European title is not on the line here. Shamrock attacks Owen in the aisle to kick start the proceedings, and Hart eats the steps, as Hunter lounges in the ring. Inside, Ken starts tuning HHH up, but gets overwhelmed fighting a two front war, and Hart stomps him down. Hart goes to the ankle, but HHH grabs Owen for a vertical suplex to set up a kneedrop. Ken attacks before a cover can be made, and he hits HHH with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop. Hart adds one of his own, but Shamrock doesn’t appreciate the help, and slugs Owen. Owen still wants to work together on HHH, but Shamrock isn’t receptive, and dumps Hart out of the ring. HHH uses the opportunity to recover with a high knee and a somersault cradle on Shamrock for two, but Owen returns with a piledriver on Helmsley for two. Ken snap suplexes Owen, but Owen manages a bridging German suplex for two. We get a triple sleeper spot, and HHH goes after Ken’s ankle. Owen applies a Boston crab, but HHH breaks it up. Owen takes him out and puts Ken in the Sharpshooter, but HHH saves again. HHH hits Shamrock with a kneeling facebuster, but Hart hits him with a spinheel kick as he tries for the Pedigree. Hart with a cross corner whip and a DDT on HHH, but Shamrock tags Hart with a jumping backelbow. Ken keeps going on Owen, and a leg lariat gets him two. A powerslam on HHH follows to keep him at bay, and a rana on Hart sets up the anklelock, but Helmsley saves. Ken responds with a rana on HHH, but Hunter uses a powerbomb for two to block. Hart dumps HHH and hits him with a baseball slide, but Chyna attacks him as he tries getting back inside. That allows Shamrock to nail Hart, as Rock shows up to tee off on HHH with his Intercontinental title belt. That leaves HHH out cold, and Shamrock pins him at 11:41. Just kind of a bunch of stuff, with no real storytelling, and then a goofy finish that makes Ken look like a loser in victory. Afterwards, DX attack Rock on the ramp, but the Nation of Domination run out, and it’s a big brawl. ¾*
Cole brings Undertaker out, and luckily he’s back to 1998 now. Cole wants to know why Undertaker did what he did last night, and Undertaker explains that he didn’t want to see his little brother set himself on fire, so he did what he had to do to prevent that. And it’s a shame that Austin had to lose the title, but them’s the breaks. That draws Vince out, and he reads Undertaker the riot act, warning him not to interfere in the title match tonight, now that there’s nothing to save Kane from
The JVC Kaboom of the Week is Undertaker throwing Mankind off the Hell in the Cell at King of the Ring. I was wondering when they’d get around to talking about that. I mean, it’s one of the most iconic matches in all of history, and they haven’t even mentioned it yet
Backstage, Bradshaw and Mark Canterbury get ready for their Brawl For All showdown
Brawl For All Tournament First Round Match: Bradshaw v Mark Canterbury: Meaningless things I notice: King of the Ring was held in the same venue as SummerSlam ‘95, and here the following RAW is being held in the SummerSlam ‘96 venue. This is a boxing match right away, with both guys slugging it out. Or, in Mark’s case, flailing around like a third grader in a fight at recess. Mark tries for a takedown, but Bradshaw blocks, as the round ends. The second round sees Bradshaw dominate by throwing some heavy shots, so Mark grabs a bearhug to slow him down. They get into the ropes for a break, and Bradshaw manages another jab as the round ends. The third round sees almost no action before time expires at 4:30, with Bradshaw winning on points. DUD
Kevin Kelly is backstage, trying to get word from Undertaker about whether or not he will heed McMahon’s warning
LOD 2000 are out to bring Paul Ellering back as their manager, officially ending the Sunny pairing, I suppose. Kind of a word decision to bring their old manager back when they’re in the middle of a refresh. But the DOA aren’t too excited to see him, and ride out on their bikes - only for Ellering to immediately turn on LOD, announcing his allegiance to Skull and 8-Ball as they beat his former charges down. Not great, but at least it’s a direction, and they’re trying to do something with everyone involved
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Kelly has found Undertaker, who clarifies that no one can tell him what to do
WWF Title Match: Kane v Steve Austin: Austin is looking battered here, with his heavily braced knee and heavily padded arm. And that’s not even taking into account his bad neck. And all of those injuries are legit, to boot. No wonder his run at the top was so relatively short. Austin triggers a slugfest right away, but it ends badly for him. Kane unloads, but Steve catches him with a clothesline, and delivers a trio of pointed elbowdrops, ahead of mounted punches. Stunner, but Kane blocks, and bails. Austin is on him with a clothesline from the apron, and he sends the champ into the steps a couple of times. Inside, Steve with a Thesz press ahead of more mounted punches, and he bashes Kane’s leg into the post a few times. Steve clips the leg, but Kane dumps him to the outside, and dives from the apron with a forearm. Kane whips his challenger into the steps, and he drops Steve across the guardrail out there. Inside, Kane uses a cross corner whip, and he rakes the face of the challenger, so Steve bails. Paul Bearer is waiting to hit Austin with his shoe out there, and Kane hops out to deck the challenger, before rolling him back in for a chinlock. As Kane works the hold, Undertaker wanders out, and Kane delivers a big boot as Austin escapes the hold. Kane with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop, and Kane dives with a flying clothesline for two. Back to the chinlock, but Steve fights free, so Kane chokeslams him. Tombstone time, but Austin blocks. Stunner, but Kane blocks. Big boot, but Austin ducks, and lands the stunner at 8:23. Not the best match, but hot nonetheless. And a clean finish, shockingly! Afterwards, Austin gives Undertaker a stunner of his own, as payback. ¾*
BUExperience: This was a great episode, coming off of a really hot pay per view. Yeah, not everything was great (ahem, Brawl For All), but it was a super entertaining show overall.
I still can’t believe they didn’t really say much about the Hell in the Cell match, though. It just boggles my mind.
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