Original Airdate: December 14, 1998
From Tacoma, Washington; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler
Backstage, the Corporation celebrates their triumphs from Rock Bottom
Christian and Edge v Godfather and Val Venis: No offer of hoes tonight. Edge and Val start, and Edge dominates, but walks into a rotating spinebuster. That allows Val some mounted punches ahead of a tag, and he and Godfather use a combo. Godfather hits an avalanche, and it’s back to Val, but Edge reverses a wristlock, and tags out. Christian delivers an inverted DDT for two, but Val fights back with a Russian legsweep. Tag to Godfather for a savate kick that gets two, and Roseanne Barr the door. Val catches Christian in a bridging fisherman suplex at 2:35. This was just a quick nothing. ¾*
Backstage, Kevin Kelly catches up with Steve Blackman, who is still accusing Owen Hart of being the Blue Blazer
Goldust v Blue Blazer: Blazer with a spinheel kick and a vertical suplex, and a neckbreaker sets up a 2nd rope elbowdrop for two. Blazer tries a springboard, but trips, and recovers with an enzuigiri. Goldust fires back with a release side suplex for two, and the Curtain Call connects. Goldust looks for shattered dreams, but Jeff Jarrett attacks him for the DQ at 2:10. Gosh, are they in a contest for who can work the shortest match tonight? Afterwards, Steve Blackman runs in to take out Jarrett, and he knocks Blazer silly with a kick, before unmasking him as Owen Hart! ½*
Backstage, Mark Henry gets himself ready
Backstage, DX and the Corporation have crossed paths, and have to be separated by officials
D-lo Brown and Mark Henry v Bob Holly and Scorpio: This is the official start of the ‘Sexual Chocolate’ gimmick for Henry, complete with new theme music. And he details his night with Chyna before the bell. The JOB Squad charge in to kickstart things, and the dust settles on Brown and Holly. Brown hammers him into the corner, but a charge hits a boot, and Bob delivers an inverted atomic drop, then a clothesline. Tag to Scorpio, but Brown railroads him into the corner, and tags Henry. Henry with a slam and a legdrop, and Brown tags in with a sitout spinebuster. Brown goes up with a flying somersault senton splash, but Scorpio dodges, and tags - Roseanne Barr the door. Holly dominates, but Jacqueline comes in to nail him, and Mark powerslams him for the pin at 3:03. ¼*
Backstage, WWF Tag Team Champions The New Age Outlaws make their way towards the ring area
The Slam of the Week is Mankind attacking Rock in his skybox on Heat
WWF Tag Team Title Match: The New Age Outlaws v Ken Shamrock and Big Boss Man: Billy Gunn starts with Boss Man, and Billy lands a dropkick, so Ken comes in, but Gunn dropkicks him as well. Tag to Jesse James, but a cross corner whip gets reversed on him. Boss Man tries an avalanche, but misses, and Gunn is able to tag back in. Boss Man misses another avalanche, but on purpose this time, sliding out of the ring to sweep Billy. He tries to post him, but Gunn reverses, so Ken comes over and smacks his leg with a chair. That allows the Corporation to work over Billy, until Gunn fights them off just long enough to tag. Road Dogg runs wild, but gets smacked with a chair from Shawn Michaels, and Boss Man delivers a scrapbuster for a dramatic two. Boss Man stays on him, so Jesse goes low, and tags. Gunn’s leg is still all messed up, however, and he can’t properly run wild. A distraction from Michaels further handicaps him, and Ken gets the anklelock on at 6:44. This was a lot more concise than the one from Rock Bottom, and all the better for it. ½*
Vince and Shane McMahon are out to do a live drawing for Steve Austin’s Royal Rumble number. And, what do you know, he draws #1. Gosh, such shitty luck. But, Shane thinks they should give him another shot, in the name of the holiday season. So, they draw again… and he gets #1 again. Such luck. Vince also adds that the person who eliminates Austin will get a $100,000 bonus. They then announce that Vince himself will be competing in the Rumble for the first time ever, and they draw his number: #30. That brings Mankind onto the TitanTron, and he challenges Vince to a match tonight, since McMahon seems to be ready to wrestle all of a sudden
The Glover Rewind is Shawn Michaels forcing Debra McMichael to strip at Rock Bottom
Guitar on a Pole Match: Jeff Jarrett v Steve Blackman: Blackman fights off an attack at the bell, and he tries for the pole, but Jeff is still feisty. Jeff tries a vertical suplex, but Blackman reverses, and he goes for the pole again, but Jeff nails him. Jeff with a turnbuckle smash, but a dropkick misses, and Steve uses a catapult into the turnbuckle. That draws Debra up to distract him, which allows Jeff to climb the pole, but Steve catches him. Blackman with a backbreaker to set up both an elbowdrop and a headbutt drop for two, and a knife-edge chop follows. Blackman clotheslines him over the top, so McMichael comes into the ring to block his path to the pole. Debra takes her top off to properly distract him, and Jeff gets the guitar. He misses a dive with it, but Steve misses a swing, and the referee gets bumped. Blackman with a side suplex, but Owen Hart runs in to brain him with a second guitar. What is this, the Rolling Stones? Jarrett covers, and the dazed referee counts three at 3:29. ½*
Backstage, Tiger Ali Singh discovers that someone graffitied his dressing room with the word ‘bloodbath’
Backstage, Shane questions his dad about whether he’ll take on Mankind tonight. Vince responds by taking his shirt off
Tiger Ali Singh is out, but the Brood show up, and give him a blood bath. This was lame. Not to mention that Singh and Brood have had no beef, it’s just random, and uninteresting
Backstage, Kane mopes
No Holds Barred Match: Kane v Mankind: They slug it out to start, controlled by Kane. Kane uses the steps on him, but Mankind manages a clothesline over the top. That draws Vince out, and he accepts the challenge… but in the parking lot, for a street fight. Mankind heads off, and just abandons this match at 4:29. Good riddance. Shamrock and Boss Man come out to attack Kane, and they beat him down, so orderlies can put him in a straightjacket and haul him away. DUD
Rock Bottom encore ad
Out in the garage, Mankind catches up with Vince, and kicks his ass all around the place. Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco try to make the save, but Mankind takes them both out, and puts Vince into the trunk of a car with aid of the mandible claw - until Rock makes the save
WWF Title Match: Rock v Triple H: Rock attacks at the bell, and a cross corner whip rebounds HHH into a backdrop. Rock with a punch for two, but another corner whip backfires when Triple H rebounds with a clothesline. Hunter with a backelbow, and he corners the champ for a ten-punch count. A criss cross allows Rock to toss him over the top, and Rock goes after him out there with fists. HHH reverses him into the steps, however, and the challenger feeds Rocky the announce table for good measure. Into the barricade, but now Rock reverses, and he throws a clothesline on the rebound. Rock stops to do commentary on his own match, but Triple H catches him with a high knee on the way back into the ring. HHH adds a vertical suplex to set up an elbowdrop for two, but a backdrop is countered with a swinging neckbreaker. Rock adds a clothesline for two, and a Russian legsweep is worth two. Chinlock, but HHH fights free, so Rock drops him with a DDT for two. Back to the hold, but HHH escapes, so Rock bodyslams him. People’s elbow for two, so he goes back to the chinlock. That feels like a very weird transition for a TV match, especially in this era. Like, signature move… back to resthold? Triple H escapes with a side suplex, and a kneeling facebuster gets him two. Rock bails, but HHH is on his tail, and he drags him back in. Rock bails again, so Triple H feeds him the steps before taking it back in, only for Shawn Michaels to block his path. Chyna responds with a low blow on Rocky, and HHH hits a DDT for two! The Pedigree looks to finish, but the referee is distracted, and Michaels hits Hunter with the title belt. That gets Rock another dramatic two count, so Chyna goes after Shawn on the outside. That allows an unnamed Test to come in and attack HHH while the referee is busy with Chyna and Michaels, and Rock hooks the leg to retain at 10:52. Good action here. These two always had chemistry. ** ¾
BUExperience: Vince stacking the deck against Austin was good stuff. The rest, while eventful, didn’t feel especially interesting, though Rock/HHH was a reliably strong closer.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
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