WWF SummerSlam 1998 (Version II)

 

Original Airdate: August 30, 1998

From New York, New York; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Opening WWF European Title Match: D-lo Brown v Val Venis: Posturing to start, and Brown gets control by using his chest protector for evil. An avalanche misses, allowing Val a Russian legsweep, and a drop-toehold follows. A dropkick sends D-lo to the outside, and he stalls out there to buy time to regroup. Val forces him back inside, so Brown goes to the eyes, and grabs a headlock. Val forces a criss cross, and manages to win the lengthy cardio exhibition with a spinebuster for two, as we spot Edge hanging around in the crowd. Brown tries a backdrop, but gets nailed, and Val tries a splash, but misses. Val goes to a sleeper, but Brown quickly shakes him off with a side suplex, and delivers a corner whip. Brown plays to the crowd, allowing Val to recover with a suplex, but Brown throws a clothesline to cut him off. Brown with a bodyslam to set up a legdrop for two, and a leg lariat wins him a criss cross, and gets another two count. Val tries a slam, but his back gives out, and D-lo clotheslines him to set up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two. Brown tries a vertical suplex, but Val keeps blocking, so D-lo takes him down in a Texas cloverleaf. Venis inches towards the ropes, so Brown lets off, and bodyslams him. He tries a 2nd rope senton splash, but Val dodges, and both guys are left looking up at the lights. Venis is up first, and goes on the comeback trail. A backdrop sets up the flying splash, but Brown is up, so Val dives with a flying axehandle instead - which Brown catches in a sitout spinebuster for two! Great spot there, their timing was impeccable. Brown with a DDT for two, but a 2nd rope bodypress gets caught in a powerslam for two. Val with mounted punches, and he tries to go back upstairs, but Brown is up before he can dive again. Val responds with a butterfly suplex and a bodyslam, and finally Brown is down long enough for the flying splash - only for D-lo to get his knees up to block! Brown tries a powerbomb, but loses his grip, and just kind of drops him. Brown tries again, and successfully delivers a running sitout powerbomb, then goes up with a flying frogsplash - only for Venis to dodge. Both guys stagger up for a slugfest, and Val gets the better of it with a clothesline. Val pulls the chest protector off, and hits Brown with a powerslam, before putting the protector on for himself. Val goes upstairs, but the referee ends up accidentally crotching him while trying to force him to remove the protector. That allows Brown to recover, but Val stays on track with another clothesline. The referee keeps protesting, so Val shoves him down, and gets disqualified at 15:25. The crowd was surprisingly disinterested in this, considering both guys were over, and both working hard out there. They did manage to get them into it by the end though, which is great. I really liked the story they told here, with Val having to fight to properly soften Brown up for the splash, but the finish was terrible. ** ½ (Original rating: *)

Handicap Match: Kurrgan, Golga, and Giant Silva v Taka Michinoku, Sho Funaki, Dick Togo, and Men's Teioh: I really appreciate how they changed up the ring skirts and banners for this show. The classic SummerSlam logo is the greatest, but this era needed drastic changes. I also dig how it evokes the original Survivor Series logo. Golga and Taka start, and it immediately turns into a comedy match, as Golga steals Mr. Yamaguchi’s shoe, fills it with water, and throws it in Taka’s face. Tags to Kurrgan and Funaki, and Kurrgan hits his knees, making him the same height as Funaki. Silva tags in, and Kaientai don’t know what to do with him. He chucks Togo across the ring, so all four guys come in at the same time, but Silva shrugs them all off. This just kind of putters along, until things break down, and Roseanne Barr the door. Kurrgan and Silva chokeslam all four heels at once, and Golga splashes them at 9:49. Another one where the crowd was sitting on their hands. For as hot as the promotion was during this period, the crowd has been surprisingly subdued thus far. Though, to be fair, this match sucked, so you can’t really blame them. This was also way too long. DUD (Original rating: ¼*)

Hair v Hair Match: Jeff Jarrett v X-Pac: Jeff attacks before the bell, but X-Pac fights him off. They criss cross, ending in X-Pac throwing a spinheel kick, followed by a clothesline to put Jeff over the top. X-Pac is on him with a springboard bodypress on the floor, so Jeff tries a slingshot sunset flip on the way back in, but nobody’s home. A criss cross allows Jeff a pair of dropkicks to send X-Pac to the outside, and Jarrett follows, sending him crotch-first into the post. Jeff with a cross corner whip as they head back inside, and a powerslam gets him two. Jeff with a corner clothesline, but a second one gets blocked, and X-Pac drills him with a tornado DDT for two. A criss cross allows Jarrett a sleeper, but X-Pac reverses, so Jeff drops him crotch-first across the top turnbuckle. X-Pac’s balls have not had a great evening thus far. X-Pac fights off a superplex, but misses a flying bodypress, and Jeff covers for two. Figure four, but X-Pac fights it off, and manages a side suplex to buy some time. Both men take the count, and stagger up for a slugfest - won by X-Pac with a spinkick. That allows him the bronco buster, but a corner charge hits an elbow, and Jeff goes up with a flying bodypress - rolled through for two. Jeff tries a rana, but X-Pac counters with a sitout powerbomb for two, only to miss a corner dropkick. That allows Jeff to hook a cradle for two, reversed by X-Pac for two. X-Pac tries another bronco buster, but Jeff blocks. That draws Howard Finkel onto the apron to protest, and that buys X-Pac the time to recover with a sitout facebuster for two. Southern Justice show up to try and blast X-Pac with a guitar, but it misses, and X-Pac smashes it over Jarrett’s head for the pin at 11:14. This was another one where both guys were working really hard. ** ½ (Original rating: **)

Mixed Tag Team Match: Marc Mero and Jacqueline v Edge and Sable: Edge is Sable's hyped mystery partner. Mero and Edge start, and Edge dominates a few exchanges, so Marc tags out. That requires a tag to Sable, so Jacqueline runs away, and tags back to Mero, frustrating Sable. Mero gets Edge in a hammerlock, but Edge escapes, and delivers a flapjack. He looks for a follow up, but Jacqueline trips him up, and Marc delivers a kneelift. Jacqueline assists with some abuse to Edge from the outside, but Edge counters a fireman cutter with a DDT. Tags to the ladies, and Sable tackles Jacqueline down for some abuse. Sable with a biel out of the corner, so Jacqueline takes off running, and Mero intervenes on her behalf. That ends in Sable nearly powerbombing him before Jacqueline can save, and Jacqueline ropechokes her. Sable fights her off with a fireman cutter, but Mero saves at two. Jacqueline tries to capitalize, but ends up running into Mero, and Sable tags. Edge hits Mero with a suicide dive on the floor, and he whips Marc into the steps out there. Jacqueline dives on him, but Edge fights her off, and dives on Mero with a flying bodypress for two. Edge drops Marc with a neckbreaker for two, so Jacqueline tries another distraction, but it backfires, and Edge schoolboys for two. Edge tries a cross corner whip, but Mero reverses, and delivers a Samoan drop. That allows Mero to go upstairs, but Edge crotches him before he can dive. Tag to Sable to take Marc off the top with a rana, but Jacqueline breaks up the pin attempt, and Roseanne Barr the door! The babyfaces dominate, and Edge slams Sable onto Mero for the pin at 8:24. This was fine. * (Original rating: ¼*)

Lion's Den Match: Ken Shamrock v Owen Hart: Ken manages to railroad him into the cage wall first, and he uses a takedown into a cross-armbreaker, but Owen escapes. Owen manages a spinebuster into mounted punches, but Shamrock turns the tables, and adds a side suplex. Ken gets a sleeper locked, but Owen throws an elbow to escape, and a mulekick for good measure. Hart with a headbutt before whipping Shamrock into the cage, but Ken rebounds with a clothesline. Ken with a series of strikes, and a snapmare puts Hart down for Ken to choke with a t-shirt. Ken springs off the cage with a leg lariat, and he uses a hiptoss, but Hart sends him into the cage a few times before Shamrock can continue. Owen hammers him with punches, and a leg-feed enzuigiri connects. Hart with a hotshot into the cage, and a backbreaker leads to mounted punches. Owen tries a piledriver, but Shamrock backdrops him to block, so Owen tags him with a spinheel kick. Hart tries for the Sharpshooter, but Shamrock blocks. Hart tries a rana, but Shamrock counters with a powerbomb, and springs off the cage with a backelbow. Shamrock with a roundhouse kick to the head, but another spring backfires when Hart catches him in a powerslam. Nice spot there. Hart with a belly-to-belly suplex, and this time he gets the Sharpshooter locked. Ken manages to climb the cage while in the hold, forcing Owen to release, but Hart is able to stay on him with a spear into the cage. Shamrock fights back with a tornado DDT, and a clothesline follows. Ken with a spinkick, but Hart blocks a backdrop, and sends Ken into the cage. Owen with a guillotine choke, but Shamrock runs up the cage in the hold, and escapes. He takes Hart down into the anklelock, and Hart has no counter - submitting at 9:13. This was good stuff. I used to think it was great stuff back in the day, and though I’m not quite as enthusiastic about it now, it’s still very unique, stiff, and, most importantly, entertaining. *** (Original rating: ***)

WWF Tag Team Title Handicap Falls Count Anywhere Match: Mankind v The New Age Outlaws: Weird dynamic here, as the Outlaws are babyfaces, but no one really dislikes Mankind either, and it’s hard to get cheered when you’re double teaming. Mankind holds them off with a baking sheet at the bell, and he grabs a chair. Billy Gunn grabs one too, but loses that exchange, so Jesse James aids him with a double team. The Outlaws stomp him down in the corner, and they each grab a baking sheet, and take turns teeing off. Mankind fights them off again, and gives Gunn a swinging neckbreaker on the floor for two. Mankind tries suplexing Jesse into a dumpster, but Gunn saves, and the Outlaws bash Mankind’s head into the dumpster. Inside, they put Mankind through a table, and a neckbreaker combo gets them two. Billy powerbombs Mankind onto a pair of chairs for two, so they grab one of the title belts, and gives Mankind a spike piledriver onto it for the pin at 5:18. This was basically just Mankind bumping like a crazy person for five minutes. Not a great match, and not even an especially strong performance on the ‘crazy Mankind bump’ scale. Plus the dynamic was weird in general. Afterwards, the Outlaws throw Mankind in the dumpster - where Kane (who was supposed to be Mankind’s tag partner here) suddenly pops up, and bashes Mankind’s head with a sledgehammer to end the segment. ½* (Original rating: ¾*)

WWF Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Rock v Triple H: HHH gets played down live by the DX band, which is always a nice touch. A slugfest to start, won by Helmsley with a clothesline. Helmsley dives on him for mounted punches, so Rock tries a backdrop, but HHH uses a kneeling facebuster to counter. Clothesline, but Rock blocks, and slugs the challenger into the corner. HHH tries for a pedigree, but Rock backdrops him over the top to block, and heads out to get the ladder. HHH attacks him before he can grab it, and Rock gets whipped into the guardrail in the aisle. Rock goes to the eyes on the way back in, but a criss cross goes Hunter’s way with a high knee. HHH goes for the ladder, but Rock nails him from behind as he’s going to grab it, and he whips Helmsley into the ladder. That allows Rock to go inside for a climb, but Helmsley gets to the top with a flying axehandle to knock him off - though the ladder tips over right on the challenger. Even still, Helmsley is up first, and he nails Rock with the ladder a few times. HHH climbs, but Rock rips at the leg, and HHH takes a nasty spill, tweaking the knee on the landing. Rock stays on the part, working the knee, and he ups the ante by using the ladder on the leg. Rock ups it again by grabbing a chair to blast the knee with, and after doing a ton of damage, Rock dumps him to the outside to clear a path for himself to climb. Rock climbs, but HHH knocks him off in time, and dumps Rock to the outside. HHH follows, ladder in tow, and he tries smashing Rock into it, but gets blocked. Rock with a catapult into the ladder, and he lifts it over his head to drop on the challenger, but Helmsley manages to block. Helmsley whips Rock into the rail and clotheslines him in the aisle, and the challenger tries a pedigree on the ladder out there, but Rock blocks by backdropping him onto it. Rock goes in to climb, so Chyna helps Hunter hustle in, but Mark Henry looks to block the effort. Chyna takes him out, and HHH is able to tip Rock over just in time, with inches to go. Rock ends up on the outside from the spill, and HHH sends the ladder into him with a baseball slide - busting the champion open. HHH climbs, but Rock tips him over, and Helmsley takes a dramatic bump to the mat. Guys used to take much more realistic looking bumps back in the day. Or, well, they were just a lot less safe than now. Rock with a DDT, and he climbs, but HHH is coming up the opposite side. They slug it out, and HHH gets knocked off, but manages to rebound off the ropes to tip Rocky off as well. Chyna passes HHH a chair, and he knocks the ladder back into Rock’s face with it. HHH beats on Rock with the chair, and he tries to climb, but Rock cuts him off. Rock bodyslams him on the ladder to set up a People’s elbow on it, but HHH somehow is up first. He climbs, but Rock looks to stop him, so HHH dives off the ladder with an axehandle - only to get caught in the uranage! Rock climbs, but HHH pulls him off, and delivers a pedigree! Henry responds by throwing powder in Helmsley’s eyes, and the half blind challenger tries climbing, but can’t see what he’s doing. That allows Rock some recovery time, and the champion meets HHH at the top. Rock wins a slugfest up there, so Chyna hustles in, hitting Rock down low. That puts the champion on the mat, and HHH snags the gold at 24:57. Well, you can definitely say this one had the crowd engaged the whole way through, no question there. This was a strong match, with great ladder match psychology (which is missing from a lot of the more recent entries in this category), and star making performances for both combatants. I was a little disappointed in the psychology of the knee work, though, as Rock injured the part before the show, followed up on it here, and then they largely forgot about it as the match went on. HHH was selling it admirably, but Rock didn’t really make any effort to target it after a certain point, and it wasn’t a factor in the finish. Or even the third act. Not a deal breaker, but disappointing nonetheless. This was a really fun watch though, between the hot crowd, and a great job on commentary from Ross and Lawler significantly enhancing the presentation. *** ½ (Original rating: *** ¾)

Main Event: WWF Title Match: Steve Austin v Undertaker: Undertaker wins a slugfest to start, and a corner whip rattles the ring. Undertaker with a clothesline for two, so Austin flips him off, and they lock horns. They trade wristlocks, and Steve uses a schoolboy for two. Steve with a drop-toehold into a hammerlock, which feels like such an odd departure for 1998 Stone Cold that even the announcers discuss it. Undertaker fights him off, but a criss cross ends in them knocking heads, and Steve appears to get legitimately tagged there, and he goes down hard. In later years, Steve would discuss that spot, and he was indeed legitimately knocked unconscious for several seconds there, and as a result, doesn’t even remember the rest of the match today. Steve is groggy, but tries a vertical suplex, only for Undertaker to reverse. Poor Steve has no luck with legitimate injuries at SummerSlam. Undertaker tries an elbowdrop, but misses. They criss cross, and Austin tries a Thesz press, but Undertaker catches him in a hotshot for two. Undertaker works the lower back, but Austin manages to sweep him off of his feet, and he bashes the challenger’s knee into the post a bunch of times. A criss cross allows Undertaker a jumping clothesline, and he goes up for the ropewalk forearm, but Austin pulls him off. Austin stomps on the knee, as Kane comes out. Undertaker sends his brother away, however, and a slugfest ends in Steve going back to work on the leg. Undertaker fights him off with a chokeslam, but he’s slow to follow up, and Austin clotheslines him over the top. They spill into the crowd for a brawl, with Undertaker getting the better of it. Inside, Steve tries a stunner, but Undertaker blocks, and they spill back to the outside, where Undertaker sends him into the post. Back in, Austin slugs at him, but Undertaker suckers him into charging, and sidesteps - Steve sending himself flying out of the ring. Undertaker follows to send the champ into the steps, and he puts Steve on an announce table, then dives with a flying legdrop on him! That was quite a dive for a guy the size of Undertaker. Undertaker drags him in and covers for two, but a corner splash misses. Steve can’t capitalize, however, and Undertaker keeps hammering him. A criss cross ends in a double knockout spot, and both guys stagger up for a slugfest. Austin gets the better of it, and another criss cross allows Steve the Thesz press. Steve with a pointed elbowdrop, but a cross corner whip gets reversed. Undertaker follows in, but Steve drops down as he tries to grab him, delivering a stunner, but not really getting all of it. It gets two, and another criss cross allows Undertaker a chokeslam. Tombstone, but Austin blocks. Stunner, but Undertaker blocks, and crotches Austin on the top rope to buy time. Undertaker with a Russian legsweep, and he makes another go at the ropewalk forearm, but Steve hits him down low during the actual dive. That allows Steve to catch the flustered challenger with the stunner, and he gets all of it this time for the pin at 20:54. Even with the injury early on likely altering the final presentation significantly, this still totally delivered as a main event. Both guys worked very hard, and told a good story out there. *** (Original rating: ** ½)

BUExperience: Still one of the best shows of the Attitude Era! Not everything worked, but the stuff that needed to work absolutely worked, and it was a great mix of actual good wrestling with lots of storyline twists. 

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