Original Airdate: August 3, 1998 (taped July 28)
From San Diego, California; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
WWF Intercontinental Champion Rock leads the Nation of Domination out, and he doesn’t want to wait until later for the tag title shot against Steve Austin and Undertaker, with Rock demanding they come out right now. He gets Sgt. Slaughter instead, but Rock tells him to go to the back, and gets the tag belts for him. That draws Austin and Undertaker out, but Undertaker gets distracted by Kane appearing on the ramp, and doesn’t follow Steve into the ring. That allows the Nation to beat up on Steve, and Mankind pops out to beat on Undertaker. This wasn’t a great segment, but it had energy, and Rock was really coming into his own as a promo
Backstage, Scorpio and Godfather each warm up, via split screen
Dan Severn withdraws from the Brawl For All tournament, and so the man he beat (Godfather) is now back in
Brawl For All Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Godfather v Scorpio: Godfather offers his whores instead of fighting, which I think is the first time he started doing that. Godfather has him on defense the whole round, be he fails to knock Scorpio down. He gets him in the corner and unloads, but the round ends before he can get too far. The second round is more of the same, with Scorpio continuing to play defense. Godfather corners him, and goes to town, but Scorpio holds his own, and doesn’t go down. Scorpio goes for a takedown in the third round, but can’t get Godfather down, so he starts throwing bombs. Godfather distances himself, so Scorpio goes for another (blocked) takedown as time expires at 4:20. Godfather dominated this one, and it’s no surprise he won on points. DUD
Michael Cole catches up with the New Age Outlaws, who are on the hunt to get their tag title belts back. They really made the tag title seem important during this period, give them that
The New Age Outlaws v Kane and Mankind: The Outlaws attack Mankind while Kane is busy doing his overblown entrance, and the dust settles on Billy Gunn working Mankind over. Billy unloads in the corner, and a clothesline connects. Tag to Jesse James for a combo, but Mankind throws a backelbow to shake Jesse off. Tag to Kane, and he hits Jesse with a turnbuckle smash, followed by a cross corner whip and a corner clothesline. Kane with a suplex before passing back to Mankind, and a clothesline sends both he and Jesse over the top. Mankind nails him with a chair out there, so Gunn comes over with a chair of his own, and Jesse side suplexes Mankind as they head back in. Tags all around, and Roseanne Barr the door! The Outlaws clear Mankind out, and they double up on Kane. A tandem suplex looks to finish, but Mankind is back in to save, and Jesse eats a tombstone at 5:25. ½*
Backstage, Hawk, as Michael Hegstrand, apologizes to all the fans for performing drunk last week
Earlier today, Jeff Jarrett makes it clear that he’s disgusted by Hawk. Oh, I agree. This whole thing is disgusting
Jeff Jarrett v Hawk: Jeff attacks before the bell, but misses a backelbow as they criss cross, and Hawk clotheslines him. A press-slam leads to a clothesline over the top, so Jeff sweeps him from the outside. Back in, Hawk manages a powerslam to set up a fistdrop, and Hawk dives with a flying clothesline. A corner whip works, but the charge in doesn’t, and Jeff dumps him to the outside. Jeff follows to send him into the steps, and Jarrett puts the boots to him on the way back inside. Jeff with a Russian legsweep, and a DDT follows, but Jeff wastes time trying to take a needless weapon from Tennessee Lee, and Hawk nails him with a neckbreaker at 2:31. Afterwards, Animal comes out to congratulate Hawk, but Southern Justice attacks them, with Darren Drozdov making the save. ¾*
Backstage, Steve Austin paces
Vince McMahon and his entourage come out, and Vince takes his time basically recapping the main event storyline. That draws both Undertaker and Austin out (separately), to clarify that they are not friends
Backstage, Rock and Owen Hart are ready to take advantage of Austin and Undertaker’s problems, to the tune of the tag team gold
The Stridex Triple Action is highlights of the Rock/Triple H/X-Pac match from last week
#1 Contender's Match: Triple H v X-Pac: Winner becomes the top contenders to the WWF Intercontinental title at SummerSlam. A criss cross ends in HHH delivering a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two, and Hunter takes him into the corner to hammer on. HHH with a hanging vertical suplex to set up a kneedrop for two, and a cross corner whip rattles the ring. Clothesline, but X-Pac ducks, and throws a spinheel kick for two on the rebound. X-Pac with a lightning legdrop for two, and he takes Hunter into the corner for some chops. A criss cross allows HHH a high knee for two, and another criss cross ends in HHH delivering a neckbreaker for two. X-Pac with a corner whip, but a bronco buster misses, and HHH hooks the leg for two. Hunter with a kneeling facebuster, but a clothesline misses, and X-Pac throws a spinkick for two. X-Pac with a series of kicks in the corner, and he bootchokes Hunter down for a bronco buster, but Chyna trips him up before he can. Hunter seems to object, but that doesn’t stop him from delivering a pedigree at 5:01. Solid enough, but it felt like it was missing a degree of enthusiasm. * ¾
Taka Michinoku and Val Venis v Dick Togo and Sho Funaki: Val and Dick start, and Val dominates Dick. Val uses a Russian legsweep to put Togo down for some taunting, so Funaki comes in, but Val dispatches him with an inverted atomic drop. Splash on Togo, but Dick dodges, and Kaientai hit Venis with a tandem suplex. They try another combo, but Venis turns the tables. He goes for the tag, but Taka nails him, turning on Venis a no-contest at 1:52. Afterwards, Kaientai beat Val down, as Taka reveals that Mrs. Yamaguchi is his sister, which is his motivation. They drag Val away to end the segment. DUD
WWF European Title Match: D-lo Brown v Dan Severn: D-lo attacks before the bell, and lands a leg lariat, followed by an elbowdrop. Brown unloads in the corner, and a cross corner clothesline finds the mark. Brown with a bodyslam to set up a legdrop for two, and he ropechokes Dan from there. Clothesline, but Dan ducks, and takes Brown down. Dan with a series of suplexes, so Brown bails, but Ken Shamrock shows up to beat his ass, causing a DQ at 2:36. Afterwards, Edge pops out of the crowd to attack D-lo as well. ¼*
Backstage, Kaientai are dragging Venis around the building, beating him up all along the way
Tiger Ali Singh is out, ready to offer any American woman cold, hard cash if she’ll come in the ring and strip (thus showing that they’ll degrade themselves for a few bucks). So he finds a heavyset woman (‘the typical American woman’), forces her to strip, and then pays her extra just to put her clothes back on. Singh wasn’t great here, but he was definitely generating heat. And asking the woman for her name, and they cutting her off with a ‘it doesn’t matter what your name is,’ predates Rock by a good deal
WWF Tag Team Title Match: Steve Austin and Undertaker v Rock and Owen Hart: Everyone brawls right away, and the dust settles on Undertaker and Owen. Undertaker works the arm, and he passes to Austin, but Steve loses a criss cross to a spinheel kick. Hart tries a leg-feed enzuigiri, but misses, and Austin turnbuckle smashes him. Wristlock, but Owen goes to the eyes, and tags. Rock hustles in, but quickly gets put down, and Steve drives home a pointed elbowdrop. Steve with a suplex for two, and he passes to Undertaker to deliver a side suplex. Undertaker with a legdrop for two, and he looks for a chokeslam, but Owen clips the leg to block on Rock’s behalf. Hart works the leg, and the heels wishbone Undertaker. The challengers use combos to dominate Undertaker, and Hart delivers a spinheel kick for two. Undertaker fights back with a big boot, and he passes to Steve, who stomps a mud hole on Owen in the corner. Steve puts him in a sharpshooter, but Rock saves, and Austin ends up on the outside. Rock helps him back in for a turnbuckle smash, but a criss cross ends in Austin hitting a Thesz-press. Rock fires back with a backelbow, and it’s back to Owen for a sleeper, but Steve espaces. Owen goes low, and he tries for a Sharpshooter of his own, but Steve blocks. Rock works a chinlock, but Steve escapes. Rock tries a uranage, but Ausitn blocks and a criss cross results in a double knockout spot. Both men tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Undertaker with a chokeslam on Owen for two, and the tombstone finishes at 11:12. Afterwards, Kane and Mankind are in to finish Austin themselves, but here come the Outlaws, and we have a big brawl. **
Backstage, Kaientai castrate Val Venis to close the show
BUExperience: The usual good energy from this period, but not necessarily the most consequential episode. Though, the Kaientai angle was certainly memorable.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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