WWF Fully Loaded 1998 (Version II)

 

Original Airdate: July 26, 1998

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

Opening Match: Jeff Jarrett v Val Venis: Mr. Yamaguchi is out to do guest commentary here. Jarrett wins a criss cross to start, but Val pounds him into the corner, and a cross corner whip follows, but Jeff blocks the charge in. Val fights back with a drop-toehold, and they trade waistlocks, won by Venis when he blocks a rollup. A criss cross ends in Val missing a bodypress, so Jeff tries a Thesz press, but Val catches him in a hotshot for two. Val with a pair of short-knees into a Russian legsweep, and he cradles for two. Backdrop, but Jarrett blocks. He looks for a piledriver, so Val backdrops him, but Jarrett lands in a sunset flip, blocked by Venis. Venus goes to the backdrop again, but Jarrett counters with a powerbomb, which is a pretty rare spot for him. Jeff with a corner clothesline and a clothesline over the top, where Tennessee Lee is waiting to attack. Inside, Jarrett wins a slugfest, and a DDT connects. Sleeper, but Venis quickly reverses, so Jeff just as quickly side suplexes him. Vertical suplex, but Val counters to a belly-to-belly suplex, and both men are left looking up at the lights. They stagger up, and Jarrett throws punches, but Val fights him off. Val with an inverted atomic drop and a clothesline, followed by a bridging fisherman suplex for two. Corner splash, but Jarrett dodges, and Jeff dives with a flying bodypress for two. Val fires back with a powerslam, and he goes upstairs, but Jarrett blocks him. Val responds by snapping Jeff’s throat across the top, and he goes back up, but Lee crotches him to stop the dive. That allows Jeff a superplex, and he goes for the figure four, but Venis counters with an inside cradle for two. Lee hops onto the apron, but Jarrett gets shoved into him before he can interfere, and Val hooks a rollup for three at 7:49. Solid action here, with good back-and-forth work, even if a little sloppy at points. ** ¾ (Original rating: *)

D-lo Brown v X-Pac: D-lo’s newly won WWF European title is not on the line here. They feel each other out to start, dominated by X-Pac. X-Pac lands a spinkick, but a criss cross goes Brown’s way with a spinheel kick for two. X-Pac fires back a kick of his own, but a bronco buster misses, and Brown throws a clothesline for two. D-lo grounds him in a chinlock, but X-Pac fights free, so Brown rattles the ring with a cross corner whip to keep a control. A legdrop gets D-lo two, and he unloads on X-Pac in the corner from there. A cross corner whip sets up a charge in, but X-Pac sidesteps, and both men are left looking up at the lights. X-Pac is up first, but D-lo ducks a spinheel kick, and Brown bodyslams him to set up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two. Back to the chinlock, but X-Pac escapes again, so D-lo drills him with a clothesline. Brown goes up with a flying moonsault, but X-Pac rolls out of the way, and makes a comeback. He gets good traction, but Godfather distracts him, and Brown lands a sitout spinebuster at 8:26. This wasn’t bad, but on the dull side. * (Original rating: *)

Faarooq and Scorpio v Terry Funk and Bradshaw: Before the match, Funk announces that this will be his last match in the WWF ‘for a while.’ And considering his next televised match wasn’t until 2006, I’d say that was pretty accurate. Bradshaw is blindsided by the news, and none too pleased, however. Really though, what’s his problem, it’s not like they’re a regular team. Hell, Funk had been teaming with Scorpio more regularly. This whole match feels like Battlebowl booking. Scorpio starts with Bradshaw, and dominates him. He delivers a rana before passing to Faarooq, who lands a backelbow, and hammers Bradshaw in the corner. Cross corner whip, but Bradshaw reverses, and follows in. Bradshaw with a flying shoulderblock for two, and he passes to Terry for a series of jabs. Funk with a neckbreaker for two, but Faarooq fights back with a backbreaker for two. Dominator, but Bradshaw saves him from taking it, and Funk tags him in. Bradshaw with another dive, but Faarooq catches him in a powerslam for two, and tags Scorpio for a kneelift. Scorpio with a slam to set up a dive, but Funk crotches him on the top to block it. That allows Bradshaw a side superplex for two, and a powerbomb sets up an elbowdrop for two. Back to Funk, and he dumps Scorpio right to the outside for a whip into the guardrail. Funk with a dive on the floor, and he brings it back in with a bodyslam, but Scorpio blocks. A reversal sequence ends in Terry hooking a rollup for two, so Faarooq comes in and nails him. That allows Scorpio to go up with a flying twisting splash for two, and a 2nd rope legdrop is worth two. That draws Bradshaw in, but Faarooq cuts him off, and Roseanne Barr the door. Scorpio hits Funk with a flying 450 splash at 6:36. Everyone worked hard here, and this was very watchable, if a bit underwhelming. The fact that this had zero build might be part of why it felt underwhelming, though they did their best to give this some purpose. And then afterwards, Bradshaw turns on Funk, of course. That draws Scorpio and Faarooq over, but Bradshaw takes them out as well, and stands tall. * ½  (Original rating: ½*)

Vader v Mark Henry: Another one with no actual build. They measure each other to start, you know, because they’re both big. Henry with a slam, and a shoulderblock finds the mark. Henry with an axehandle for two, and an elbowdrop followed, then a legdrop for two. Sunset flip, but Vader sitdown splashes him, then regular splashes him for two. Vader unloads in the corner, and a cross corner whip sets up an avalanche. Vader with a short-clothesline, and he tosses Mark to the outside, following to whip him into the steps. Back in, Vader hammers him in the corner, and a bodyslam sets up a 2nd rope splash for two. Irish whip, but Henry reverses, and delivers a powerslam to set up a splash at 5:03. Not great, but short enough, and not terrible. ¼* (Original rating: ½*)

LOD 2000 v Skull and 8-Ball: Animal and Skull start, and Skull immediately powers him into the heel corner for a double team. They work Animal over with quick tags, but Animal fights them off with a double clothesline, and he tags Hawk for a double flying clothesline. To the outside, Hawk unloads on Skull with chops, and Animal uses a dropkick on the way back in. LOD dominate Skull, but a double team from the heels puts Hawk in trouble. The DOA work him over, until Animal gets the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door. LOD hit 8-Ball with the Doomsday Device, but Skull saves at two. That draws Paul Ellering up to distract Animal, and the DOA do an illegal switch, with fresh Skull DDT’ing Animal at 8:45. This was way too long for what it was. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Dungeon Match: Owen Hart v Ken Shamrock: It always seemed weird to me that the Hart family would agree to allow the WWF to shoot in their home after how Bret parted ways with the promotion just a few months earlier. But, I guess money talks. Dan Severn acts as the special guest referee for this one. Owen with a takedown right away, but Ken gets on top of him, and throws mounted punches. Both guys fight for a hold, but no one can block one, and Shamrock starts bashing Hart into the wall. Hart fires back with a spinheel kick and some mounted punches of his own, and he sends Ken into the wall a few times. Hart with a German suplex ahead of more mounted punches, but Ken turns the tables. Shamrock bashes him into the wall, so Hart grabs a water pipe, and uses it to pull off a headscissor takedown. Shamrock sends him into a stack of weights, and he pounds Owen down in a corner, stomping him. Ken with some knees, and he whips Owen into the wall, then tries a rana, but Owen powerbombs him. Hart chucks him into the pipe, and he deadlifts Shamrock, putting his head through the ceiling. That allows him to get the Sharpshooter on, but Shamrock won’t submit. Ken tries to counter to the anklelock, but Hart fights him off. Ken responds with a kick, but a second one gets ducked, and Shamrock takes Severn out. That allows Hart to grab a weight, and he knocks Shamrock silly, then puts him in a LeBell lock - Hart slapping Ken’s limp hand on the mat for the ‘submission’ at 4:52. Well, this was certainly a curiosity. This was pretty interesting for what it was, and certainly looked like a hard hitting brawl, albeit a pretty limited one. * ¾ (Original rating: **)

WWF Intercontinental Title Two-out-of-Three Falls Match: Rock v Triple H: Rock hammers him down to start, but HHH comes back to life, and wins a slugfest. Backdrop, but Rock blocks, and throws a clothesline for two, as Ross mentions the thirty minute time limit for about the dozenth time. Rock with a turnbuckle smash, but a cross corner whip backfires when Helmsley rebounds with a clothesline. HHH with a ropechoke to allow Chyna a cheap shot, and he tries for the Pedigree, but Rock backdrops him. Rock with a charge, but HHH sidesteps, and the champion goes flying over the top. Rock decides to walk, but HHH is on him in the aisle, and he delivers a bodyslam on the floor. Hunter sends him into the rail, but a whip into the steps gets reversed, and Rock controls as they head back in, working Helmsley over. Backdrop, but HHH counters with a swinging neckbreaker, and he hammers on Rock with mounted punches. HHH unloads in the corner, but Rock turns the tables, and they end up on the outside again. Rock with a vertical suplex on the floor, and a bodyslam on the floor follows. Rock goes back in to distract the referee, allowing Mark Henry to show up, and splash Helmsley on the floor. Billy Gunn runs him off, but the damage is done, and Hunter is in trouble. Rock pops him with the title belt to put a cherry on top, but even with a hooked leg, he only gets two on the way back in. If Rock is disappointed, he hides it well, and stays on HHH with a swinging neckbreaker for two. Rock with a punch for two, and he grounds his challenger in a chinlock. HHH fights free, so Rock slugs him down for two, and a floatover DDT gets another two. Back to the chinlock, but Helmsley escapes, so Rock uses a facebuster for two. HHH keeps coming with a high knee, but he walks into a hotshot, and both men are left down, as Godfather wanders out. The New Age Outlaws cut him off, as Rock recovers, and puts the boots to Helmsley in the corner. Rock with a short-clothesline, and Rock distracts the official, allowing D-lo Brown to run out. HHH blocks his dive attempt, so an annoyed Rock grabs him with a uranage to pick up the first fall at 19:56. Well, if you want something done right, and all. To the outside, Rock catapults HHH into an announce table, and inside, Rock delivers the People’s elbow for two. Backelbow, but HHH ducks, and rebounds with a hangman clothesline. Both men are left looking up at the lights, and D-lo looks to get involved again, but Chyna takes him out. That distracts the referee, allowing X-Pac to run in with a sitout facebuster on Rock, giving HHH a dramatic two. HHH grabs a chair, but Rock knocks it away from him. Rock grabs it, but a swing misses, and the champ takes out the referee! That allows Chyna to come in with a low blow, and she DDTs Rock on the chair - Hunter hooking the leg at 26:09. HHH covers again for two,  and he takes Rock to the outside for a shot into the rail, followed by a clothesline on the floor. Inside, Helmsley with a kneeling facebuster, and a clothesline connects for two. HHH looks for a follow up, but Rock is ready with a Samoan drop for two. Into the corner for punches, but HHH returns fire, and we’ve got a full on slugfest. Rock tries a uranage, but HHH counters to the Pedigree. Cover, but time expires at 29:40. The referee or timekeeper missed a cue there, as the referee refused to count before the bell even sounded. I remember really hating this match back in the day, but it’s actually not bad at all. It’s overlong, but not as aimless as I remember, and the overbooking fit in with the storyline and time period. ** ½ (Original rating: * ½)

Main Event: WWF Tag Team Title Match: Kane and Mankind v Steve Austin and Undertaker: I believe this is the debut of the Joe Marshall made version of the classic tag design. They brawl in the aisle to start, and the dust settles on Mankind and Austin to start. Austin dominates, and it’s over to Kane, who Steve takes down for mounted punches. Stunner, but Kane blocks, and bails. Steve chases after him with a clothesline in the aisle, and he passes to Undertaker on the way back in. Undertaker seems tentative, but goes at him with a Russian legsweep, before Kane tags out. Undertaker is much less skittish about beating the crap out of Mankind, and a pair of corner splashes connect. Undertaker goes up with a ropewalk forearm, but Mankind fights him into the corner for punches, only for Undertaker to turn the tables. Tag to Kane for a chokeslam on Undertaker, and a corner whip follows. The champs work Undertaker over, but Austin comes in, and sends Mankind flying off the apron for a bump into the announce table. The table didn’t even give a little there, ouch. It’s not enough to stop the heat segment, however, and they champs keep working Undertaker. Undertaker catches Mankind with a DDT for the hot tag to Austin, and Roseanne Barr the door! Steve hits Kane with a straddling ropechoke, and he tees off with a chair for two. Kane fires back with a big boot, and he tosses Steve over the top for Mankind to attack. That’s enough to turn things around, and the champs cut the ring in half on Steve as the dust settles. Steve counters a tombstone from Kane to a stunner, so Mankind runs in, but Austin stuns him as well. All three guys are left down, and Undertaker is just kind of hanging out in the corner, not making much effort to tag or help. Finally, he puts his hand out, and he runs wild, Roseanne Barr the door again! As Steve tackles Mankind, Undertaker hits Kane with a tombstone at 18:03 to win the title. I completely forgot Austin and Undertaker as tag champions, so that was something of a surprise for me. All four guys were very hot during this period, but the build to this match was kind of muddled, and the actual work was extremely basic. This firmly was no longer the Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels era of incredible main events, but the style change worked as part of the new direction of the promotion. It came to define ‘Attitude.’ ¾* (Original rating: ½*)

BUExperience: Pretty much the equivalent of an SNME in another era, this felt like a very inconsequential show that mostly just set up SummerSlam, but it was entertaining. Quite entertaining, in fact. I don’t think anyone watching at the time would have felt like they’d gotten ripped off buying this, but I also barely remembered it. Literally the only thing I remembered going in was the time limit draw in the Intercontinental title match. 

One major gripe: a lot of the matches had almost no build. WCW was much better at that during this period.

**