Original Airdate: July 6, 1998 (taped June 30)
From State College, Pennsylvania; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
Undertaker marches out right away, and demands a title shot against Steve Austin tonight. That sends Michael Cole looking for Austin backstage, and Steve isn’t hard to find - he’s headed for the ring. Austin marches out to meet Undertaker at center ring, but before they can get into it, Vince McMahon shows up. He reminds them that he is the booker, and he’ll make the matches, thank you. But, if they want to be in the ring together, fine, they will be. Because at Fully Loaded they can be in the ring together, as a tag team, against Kane and Mankind
Brawl For All Tournament First Round Match: Savio Vega v Brakkus: Danny Hodge is refereeing this. I can see why they’d want to give it a go with Brakkus. Both guys go for takedowns early on, but when it gets to throwing fists, and Vega dominates that. Brakkus is saved by the bell, looking like he was on the verge of getting knocked down at the end of the round. Brakkus tries to shoot for the legs at the start of the next round, but gets nowhere, but stupidly tries to slug it out with Savio again, and it ends badly once more. The final round starts with Savio easily hooking a takedown, and he gets a knockdown as they get back to their feet. Brakkus is fuming here, but he’s got nothing, and Vega continues dominating until the bell at 4:30. Vega doesn’t look like a tough guy, but he dominated this with ease. DUD
Backstage, Ken Shamrock warms up
Jeff Jarrett v Ken Shamrock: Jarrett tries to sneak attack, but stupidly does so head on, and Ken, uh, easily sees him coming. Yeah, shocking. Shamrock knocks him around, and a clothesline sends Jeff over the top. Jarrett manages to snap Ken’s throat across the top rope on the way back in, and he dives with a flying bodypress, but Ken rolls through for two, as we spot Edge in the crowd. Shamrock goes for the ankle, but Tennessee Lee helps him into the ropes. Ken takes the bait, allowing Jarrett to attack him, and Jeff sends him into the steps. Inside, Jarrett with a turnbuckle smash, and a snap suplex gets him two. A clothesline and a dropkick get another two, and he gets a sleeper on, but Shamrock reverses. Jeff manages a side suplex to escape, but Ken is up first, delivering a powerslam for two. A jumping backelbow and a leg lariat follow, and Shamrock uses a side suplex of his own for two. He goes in for the kill, but before he can deliver it, Mabel (in his first appearance since early 1996) randomly shows up, attacking Ken for the DQ at 4:20. And then Mabel just walks away, making this even more random. ¾*
Backstage, Cole catches up with Shamrock, who challenges Mabel for tonight. Was the idea here to put Ken over all the (available) previous King of the Rings, or something? Was it supposed to lead to something with Austin?
Vader v Bradshaw: I’m surprised Vader didn’t give it a go in the Brawl For All. Bradshaw wins a slugfest to start, but charging Vader ends badly. Vader with an elbowdrop, and he goes to work in the corner. Vader with a short-clothesline to set up a dive off the middle, but Bradshaw catches him in a powerslam, as Kane and Mankind run in on both for the no contest at 2:07. It’s like Russo overload booking tonight. DUD
The Headbangers v Skull and 8-Ball: The DOA attack, and the dust settles on Skull and Mosh, as Paul Ellering joins the commentary team to explain his turn on LOD 2000. The DOA work Thrasher over, as Ellering tries cutting a TBS style promo, with the announcers trying to call the match around him. He felt really out of place here. The actual content of his promo isn’t bad at all, but he feels like he came from a different era. Mosh gets a hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door. DOA block the Headbangers from delivering a combo, and then deliver one of their own for the pin at 3:32. The crowd could not have cared less about any of this. ¼*
Backstage, Undertaker paces
The Skittles Slam of the Week is Austin giving Undertaker and Kane stunners last week
Terry Funk v D-lo Brown: Funk with a takedown, but he fails to hook a hold, and Brown gets a takedown of his own. Brown with chops in the corner, and a cross corner whip sets up a corner splash. Brown with more chops, but Terry turns the tables, and delivers a piledriver for two. Funk with a reverse STO, and he dumps Brown to the outside for a smash into the guardrail. Funk adds a 2nd rope moonsault press on the floor, and he uses a bodyslam on the way back in, setting up a flying moonsault for two. Godfather responds with a cheap shot, knocking Funk silly, and allowing Brown a flying frogsplash at 3:47. Did they ever bother explaining why he’s suddenly ‘Godfather’ instead of ‘Kama?’ Afterwards, Undertaker storms out to beat everyone up, still in a rage. *
Vince is back out, ready to announce who the actual top contender to the WWF Title is. He brings Mankind, Kane, and Undertaker all out for the announcement, and runs down the reasons why each should - and shouldn’t - be named. And then ultimately announces that all three will meet in a Triple Threat match later tonight to figure it out
Brawl For All Tournament First Round Match: Hawk v Darren Drozdov: Hodge is back to officiate this one. Hawk knocks him around in the early going, but doesn’t really get much traction, and Drozdov manages a takedown as the first round ends. Hawk goes for a takedown as the second round begins, but fails, and Drozdov starts throwing punches. He rattles Hawk, but doesn’t manage a knockdown, and the round ends without much more contact. Hawk is really sucking wind here, and looking really old and out of shape. He staggers around as the third round begins, and they both fail to do much with the round before it expires at 4:29 - the judges calling it a draw. Yeah, that’s fair. Neither guy really stood out. DUD
Marc Mero and Jacqueline join us, and Jackie feels bad for Marc losing in the Brawl For All last week, and even takes the blame for the loss herself. Oh, and it doesn’t help that Marc was probably all hot and bothered since Sable was frigid, and couldn’t keep up with his sex drive. Wouldn’t that make him a better fighter, per Mickey? Sable comes out to respond, clarifying that they didn’t have sex because Marc can’t get it up. This is a weird direction, but the crowd likes it. Then they switch to calling each other whores, and the end result is a bikini contest for Fully Loaded
The JVC Kaboom of the Week is Undertaker chokeslamming Mankind through the roof of the Cell at King of the Ring
Dustin Runnels v Val Venis: Runnels stops to pray before the bell, so Val swivels his hips at him. Val takes him into the corner for a chop, and a cross corner whip allows him a corner knee. Ten-punch count, but Runnels uses an inverted atomic drop to get out of it, so Val hits him with a matslam. Val with a snapmare into an octopus hold, as we see Edge in the crowd again. Val with a pair of short-knees and a Russian legsweep, but Kaientai run in on him for the DQ at 2:35. Val was basically squashing him here. Afterwards, Mr. Yamaguchi leads his wife out so she can watch Kaientai beat Venis up, but she seems to have eyes for him anyway. DUD
Ken Shamrock v Mabel: Ken charges in and slugs at him, but gets nailed, and takes an elbowdrop. Mabel with a backbreaker from there, but Mabel misses the follow up, and Ken throws a series of strikes. He tries a clothesline over the top, but Mabel drills him with a clothesline of his own, and a slam follows. Mabel goes up to the middle for a 2nd rope clothesline, but Ken dodges, and goes to the anklelock at 2:11. DUD
#1 Contender’s Falls Count Anywhere Match: Kane v Mankind: Both Steve Austin and Vince McMahon are out to do guest commentary, and are immediately more entertaining than anything else on the show. Undertaker no shows, so Vince makes this a singles match, and adds the Falls Count Anywhere stipulation for good measure. But then another wrench, as Mankind refuses to fight his friend, and just sits at ringside, unwilling to engage. But Kane is, and he blasts Mankind with a brutal chair shot on the outside. Gosh, hasn’t Mankind had enough? It’s only two days after the Cell match here. Inside, Kane covers for the pin at 2:13. Why even bother taking it back into the ring? But then Kane unmasks as Undertaker, and Austin’s reaction to it is tremendous. Sadly, we don’t catch Vince’s before we go off air, but I’m guessing next week will be pretty epic. DUD
BUExperience: A solid, albeit not especially memorable episode.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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