WWF DX Public Workout (March 26, 1998)

 

Original Airdate: March 26, 1998

From Boston, Massachusetts; Your Host is Dok Hendrix, though the matches are presented without commentary

WWF Light Heavyweight Title Match: Taka Michinoku v Scott Taylor: Such a weird look for this show, as they’re outside, in City Hall Plaza, and it’s obviously a very wet and cold day. The ring is even stained with little puddles where rain has fallen, so don’t expect much in terms of workrate here. Also, the guardrails are much closer to the ring than standard, so definitely no dives either. They posture to start, with Taka dominating, but Scott gets him into the corner for a chop. Michinoku fires back with a spinheel kick out of the ropes, and a pair of seated dropkicks lead to a backbreaker for two. Taka uses a bodyslam to set up a flying splash, but Taylor dodges, and vertical suplexes the champion for two. Scott with a pump-handle suplex to set up an elbowdrop, as the wind starts blowing the ring skirts up. Taylor with a bodyslam to set up a modified STF, as the crowd surprisingly gives us a ‘Taylor sucks’ chant, and a ‘Taka’ chant. I’m surprised they cared enough for either, let alone both. Scott tries a backdrop, but Michinoku counters with a sunset flip for two, so Taylor throws a clothesline for two to cut him off. Taylor with a corner whip, and he follows in for a corner clothesline. Cross corner whip, but Michinoku reverses, and follows in with a corner dropkick. That allows Taka to go up with a missile dropkick, and a scoop sitout brainbuster finishes at 6:05. They worked much harder here than I expected, and the crowd was a lot more interested in it than I would have thought they’d be. * ½ 

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: The Headbangers v Jose Estrada and Jesus Castillo: It’s been nearly thirty years, and I still can’t believe that’s a thing that happened in the WWF. And during the Attitude Era, no less. Mosh gets dominated early on, but manages to outrun Jesus, and Thrasher catches a tag. Thrasher hits Jesus with a corner splash, but Mosh gets into trouble, and worked over. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Thrasher gets the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door. The Headbangers double up on Jesus, and Thrasher drops him with a DDT at 9:45. This was dull. ¼*

DX arrive by limo, complete with Mike Tyson. Shawn threatens to whip it out and piss in the ring, but decides to hold off. Gosh, Brian was barely cold, and they were already stealing his bits. But before Michaels can get too far, some idiot in the crowd throws a battery at his head, and HBK just storms off, leaving everyone twisting in the wind. Dok comes in to scold everyone, begging them not to ‘ruin it for everyone,’ but Shawn doesn’t return, so Triple H grabs the microphone, and does the promo for him. It’s funny in retrospect to hear him mocking the Patriots as a joke of a football team. HHH does a great job here, but it feels a little undercooked since he’s not the guy who is main eventing. DX bring Jason Sensation out next to do some impressions for us, and he starts with Bret Hart to put Shawn over. Shawn’s still not there, by the way. Next, Undertaker, who says nothing of note, but the kid does a good Undertaker. And, finally, Steve Austin. That draws a Boston Police cruiser out, and Steve himself pops out of the passenger seat. He storms into the ring, and suddenly Shawn shows up, with all of DX and Los Boricuas diving on him. They get Austin tied up in the ropes for a beating, and cap it off with Shawn and Tyson kissing him on the head. This segment was much better in the recaps than in full… it actually fell a little flat, and Michaels not even being there for most of it didn’t help

BUExperience: This is worth checking out as a curiosity, especially if, like me, you’ve wondered about this since seeing clips of it on WWF TV in 1998. It’s definitely a ‘DVD bonus feature’ level thing to watch, but worth the watch nonetheless.