Original Airdate: November 2, 1998
From Houston, Texas; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
Shane McMcahon is out to start, and he summons Steve Austin to join him. Steve is out, but before they can say anything, Vince and his entourage arrive on the entrance stage. Vince gets in a line here, noting that he won’t leave the WWF before he’s dead. Well, it certainly seemed that way for a long time. He also notes that, when he does die, he wants to go ‘straight to hell,’ with no one coming to his funeral, not even family. Vince kicks Shane off the board, and demotes him back down to referee. He also can’t do anything about Austin’s new contract, but he can stipulate when and where his title shot will take place. And he selects a spot in the tournament at Survivor Series as his shot, with Big Boss Man announced as his first round opponent
Steve Austin website ad. Apparently this was a thing?
Six-Man Tag Team Match: X-Pac, Billy Gunn, and Jesse James v Christian, Gangrel, and Edge: X-Pac and Edge start, and a criss cross ends in X-Pac landing a spinheel kick. He adds a bodyslam to set up a lightning legdrop, but a clothesline misses, and Edge delivers a rotating sitout spinebuster. Tag to Christian for a combo that gets two, and Christian hits X-Pac with a gutbuster for two. A clothesline misses, allowing X-Pac a spinkick, and he tags Jesse. James unloads punches on Christian for two, but a criss cross goes Christian’s way with a dropkick for two. Back to Edge for another combo, so Billy comes in, and Roseanne Barr the door. The lights die, and Kane shows up, beating up everyone for the no contest at 3:42. This was okay, but mostly just treading water until the run in. ¾*
Backstage, Vince sics Boss Man on Michael Cole, in response to Cole annoying him last week
Hawk v Droz: Hawk stumbles out, apparently drunk, but Droz shows no mercy, kick starting the match. Droz unloads in the corner, and lands a clothesline, as Animal makes his way out. Droz with an elbowdrop, but a bunch of officials run in to put a stop to the fight at 1:12, since Hawk is in no condition. Droz keeps attacking after the bell, but Animal steps in. Though he stops Droz from continuing the attack, he doesn’t show Hawk any love, and chews him out, before storming away with Droz. This was just an angle. DUD
Backstage, Vince abuses Jim Cornette, and his ‘1980s wrasslin’ crap’
Backstage, Cole catches up with Mankind and Al Snow. Snow calling Cole ‘Todd’ is pretty funny
Mankind and Al Snow v Golga and Kurrgan: Kurrgan and Snow gang up on Kurrgan to start, and the dust settles on Mankind in there. He chokes Kurrgan in the corner, and passes to Al officially. Al also unloads in the corner, but Kurrgan turns the tables. Al responds by going after the leg, and a dropkick to the back of the knee puts the big tree down. Tag back to Mankind, but Kurrgan fights him off, and passes to Golga. Golga with a corner splash, and an elbowdrop gets him two. Back to Kurrgan for a sidewalk slam for two, so Snow comes in, and Roseanne Barr the door. Mankind hits Kurrgan with a double-arm DDT, and Snow knocks him silly with Head, but Mankind can’t put things away, apparently unable to find Socko. So he runs to the back to look for it, which allows the Oddities to double up on Al - Golga finishing him off with a running sitdown splash at 4:22. Another one that was more angle than anything else. DUD
Backstage, Vince finds Shaq hanging around with some of the boys, but kicks him out, since he doesn’t have a proper backstage pass
Backstage, a frantic Mankind is still searching for Socko
Goldust v Steven Regal: Regal makes an open challenge for any ‘real man’ to come down, and Goldust answers it to set this up. They feel each other out to start, and Goldust gets control. Goldust works a wristlock, but a criss cross starts, and Goldust hiptosses him. Regal looks like he’s on a different planet here. Maybe he was hanging out with Hawk before the bell? Goldust works an armbar, but Regal fights free, and tosses him over the top. That draws Terri Runnels out, and she’s dressed in the old ‘Marlena’ gear, complete with cigar. Goldust ignores her as he hustles to beat the count, and Regal hits him with a headbutt for two. Regal tries a backdrop, but gets nailed, and Goldust bulldogs him for two. Goldust makes a comeback, but the lights die, and here’s Kane again. He comes in, beats everyone up, and the match is thrown out at 4:48. Terri tries to come in to pull Goldust out, so Kane tries to chokeslam her, but luckily the officials are able to get her out of harm’s way. Goldust was almost wrestling himself here. DUD
Backstage, Vince asks Mankind not to interfere in the Ken Shamrock/Rock match tonight, and as a token of his appreciation, he gives Mankind the new Hardcore title belt. Whoever came up with the idea for having Vince give him an old, smashed up belt as a ‘new title’ is a genius
The 989 Studios Slam of the Week is Rock hitting Droz with a uranage and People’s elbow on RAW last week
Backstage, Vince gives Shamrock a pep talk
WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Ken Shamrock v Rock: Vince shows up before the bell, and announces that, if Rock loses, he's out of the title tournament at Survivor Series. Shamrock attacks while Rock is absorbing that, but Rock fights him off. Rock uses a backelbow, but Ken throws one of his own, and adds a clothesline. Shamrock drops him throat-first across the top rope, so Rock bails, but Shamrock is after him with an axehandle from the apron. Rock with a mulekick to buy time, and he bashes Ken into the barricade, then the steps. Rock tries a whip into the rail, but Shamrock counters with a short-clothesline, then returns the favor with a helping of steps. Ken adds a shot into the announce table for good measure, and he delivers a bodyslam on the floor. Inside, Shamrock throws a clothesline, and a corner whip follows, but Rock rebounds with a clothesline of his own. Rock looks to make a comeback, but Shamrock catches him with a rana, then a belly-to-belly suplex. That allows him to slap on the ankelock, but Rock makes the ropes. Shamrock responds by stomping the hell out of him, but a criss cross results in a double knockout spot. Rock rolls over to cover for two, and a swinging neckbreaker gets him another two. Shamrock manages a powerslam for two, but a clothesline gets countered into a floatover DDT for two. Another exchange sees the referee get bumped, and Shamrock grabs himself a chair. Ken swings, but misses, and the chair rebounds at him. That allows Rock a bodyslam to set up the People’s elbow, but there’s no referee. Rock lets off the cover to go revive the official, allowing Ken to grab the chair, and he brains Rock for the DQ at 7:59. So Rock is out of the tournament, since Vince stipulated that he has to win the title to make it in. Reversing the heel/face dynamics worked wonders for them here. This might be their best match together. **
Survivor Series ad
Backstage, Rock throws a tantrum in the dressing room
Jeff Jarrett v Val Venis: They trade off to start, and Jeff delivers a hiptoss, but gets caught in an abdominal stretch. Val hooks a backslide for two, and a pair of corner whips look to set up a spinebuster, but Jarrett blocks. Jarrett delivers a DDT, but gets caught in a rotating spinebuster when coming out of the ropes. Val with a pair of short-knees into a Russian legsweep, and he grounds Jarrett in mounted punches. To the top, but Blue Blazer shoves him off for the DQ at 2:34. You’d think these two would be having better matches together on general principal, but this is their second stinker in as many days. DUD
Backstage, police arrive, as Vince is feeling threatened by Rock, and wants him arrested
#1 Contender's Match: The Headbangers v D-lo Brown and Mark Henry: The Headbangers come out dressed up like the New Age Outlaws, and mock their entrance routine. It’s pretty funny, and they manage to crack up the ring announcers and the referee. Everyone brawls to start, and the dust settles on Mosh and Brown. Brown hits a leg lariat, but loses a criss cross to a bodypress that gets Mosh two. Tag to Thrasher for a combo, but D-lo gets away, and tags out. Thrasher tries a bodypress on Mark, but gets caught, so Mosh comes off the top to help Thrasher topple him for two. The Headbangers double team Henry, but it lasts all of a minute, and Brown gets some abuse on Mosh in. Brown and Henry go to work on Mosh, until Brown misses a dive, and Thrasher gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! The Headbangers manage to isolate D-lo, but before they can finish, here’s fucking Kane again to cause another no contest at 6:10. ¼*
Backstage, Rock is taken away in handcuffs
Owen Hart is out, and ready to confront Dan Severn face to face for the first time since their accident. Dan comes out in a neckbrace, and he’s insulted that Owen is claiming to have retired as an act of contrition for the accident, and then runs around dressed up as the Blue Blazer. Owen takes that accusation badly, however, and he attacks Severn, until Steve Blackman makes the save
Backstage, Severn gets loaded in an ambulance. Once he’s loaded, Blackman spots Owen, and goes after him. He tackles Hart down, but the Blazer appears to make the save
Vince is back out, and he has a cage lowered from the ceiling, promising to make ‘someone’ serve hard time tonight. Funny moment here, as there’s a dude actually painting some of the cage bars as the ring crew sets it up. Did he forget to do it earlier, and hoped no one would notice him doing it now? He sends Big Boss Man and his stooges into the ring to make sure the cage is secure. But once the doors are closed, Vince reveals that those due to feel his wrath are none other than the stooges themselves, and he unleashes Boss Man on them all - done as punishment for abandoning him on the night that Austin kidnapped him a few weeks back. Boss Man beats the three guys down for an extended period, until Steve Austin comes in - not so much to save them, as to kick Boss Man’s ass. Pat Patterson gets a hold of the nightstick, but instead of helping Steve, he attacks him! That allows Boss Man to recover, and he goes to town on Austin, until Shane comes in to pull him off. Boss Man cues up the nightstick, but Vince calls him off. Shane responds by flipping dad off, and now Undertaker is out. He goes after Austin, and they brawl for a bit, until the lights die, and Kane is back. He sets the cage on fire (I think we’ve discovered the reason that ring crew guy was ‘painting’), and comes in to brawl with Austin and Undertaker as the show goes off the air. This wasn’t a bad segment, but it went on for way too long
BUExperience: There were some good story beats here, but it was a pretty lousy episode otherwise.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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