WWF Sunday Night Heat (December 27, 1998)

 

Original Airdate: December 27, 1998 (taped December 15)

From Spokane, Washington; Your Hosts are Kevin Kelly and Shane McMahon

Vince McMahon is out, and he brings Kane out to initially praise, before turning it into a dressing down. But, Vince may think he’s a freak, but he’s Vince’s freak now, so it’s all good. And he’s sending Kane after X-Pac tonight. But, before we go, Vince wants to actually hear Kane say that he’s grateful. So, Vince forces Kane to say ‘thank you’ through a voice box, humiliating him. Gosh, if you thought it was impossible to make Kane seem sympathetic, just throw him in the ring with Vince McMahon for five minutes

Backstage, the stooges suck up to Vince, but he doesn’t want them to get his coffee, and sends Kane instead

Mosh v Golga: This is the longest, and least memorable feud of all time. Golga kickstarts things, and hits an avalanche early on. Golga with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop, and he adds a legdrop from there. Golga tries a splash, but Thrasher trips him up, and Mosh recovers with attack. The Headbangers double up, so George Steele comes in to attack Mosh for the DQ at 1:30. DUD

Backstage, Terri Runnels and Jacqueline get themselves ready

Michael Cole brings Terri and Jackie out, and they officially dub themselves ‘PMS: Pretty Mean Sisters.’ Yep, it’s almost 1999, how did you know? 

Backstage, Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco compliment Kane on his coffee getting abilities 

Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett v Val Venis and Godfather: Instead of offering any hoes, Godfather instead offers Debra McMichael a job. Jeff and Val start, and Venis slugs at him, but misses a charge in the corner. That allows Jeff to stomp him down, but he wastes time celebrating, and Venis delivers a pair of clotheslines. A bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Jeff dodges, and tags out. Hart misses a clothesline, allowing the tag to Godfather for a combo with Val, but a tag back to Val ends badly when Jeff takes a cheap shot from the apron. That allows the heels to cut the ring in half on Venis, but Val catches Jeff with a rotating spinebuster for two, and Roseanne Barr the door! Val hits Jeff with a Russian legsweep, so Debra comes in to distract him. That allows Jarrett to sneak in with a Russian facebuster at 3:05. Competent workers, but the match was too short to really have much going for it. ½*

Backstage, the Acolytes lace up their boots

WWF Attitude ad

The Glover Slam of the Week is Kane attacking DX on RAW

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Ken Shamrock and Big Boss Man v The Hardy Boyz: The challengers manage to hit Ken with a combo for two early on, but it just serves to piss Shamrock off, and Jeff Hardy pays the price. Over to Boss Man for a cross corner whip, and he follows in with a corner clothesline. Boss Man adds a scrapbuster, but he pulls Jeff up at two. Back to Ken for the anklelock, and Jeff submits at 1:42. As soon as the bell sounds, the Acolytes hit the ring, attacking the champions. DUD

Video package with a look back at 1998. Yeah, I can see why they’d want to relive that year. At the time, it probably felt like ‘this is as good as it’s going to get.’ And, in some ways, it was. This was a lengthy video, running several minutes 

The 10-10-220 Rewind is X-Pac hitting Shane McMahon with a bronco buster on RAW

X-Pac v Kane: The WWF European title is not on the line here, and Shawn Michaels kicks DX out before the bell. Vince is also out to do guest commentary. X-Pac sneaks up with a chair to the knee while the referee is distracted with DX’s eviction, which allows him to unload with kicks. X-Pac with a sitout facebuster for two, but Kane catches a flying bodypress in a chokeslam for the pin at 1:25. Very short, particularly for the feature match, with two major stars. Afterwards, the beating continues, but DX makes the save. I mean, how far could they really have gotten, the match was all of a minute and a half long. ¼*

BUExperience: An easy watch.