WWF RAW Saturday Night (February 13, 1999)

 

Original Airdate: February 13, 1999 (taped February 8)

From Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler

Steve Austin is out, and he cuts a rather subdued, uninteresting promo to hard sell his match with Vince McMahon at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. He finishes up, when WWF Champion Mankind comes out, and he hates Vince just as much as anyone, but he’s not planning to lose to Austin tonight. This draws the Corporation out, with Rock cutting a promo on Mankind. Meanwhile, Vince is feeling so strong and so confident that he instructs the Corporation to stay out of the match on Sunday, under threat of firing. Oh, and Vince will referee the Mankind/Austin match tonight. This segment dragged a lot, which is surprising, given the caliber of guys involved, and how hot all of the programs were

Backstage, Mark Henry watches on a monitor as Debra McMichael oils up her legs

Jeff Jarrett v D-lo Brown: D-lo introduces Ivory here, trying to find something to hold Mark’s attention so he doesn’t get distracted by Debra anymore. Jarrett lands a single-arm DDT early on, but Brown wins a criss cross with a dropkick. Jeff manages to get a figure four on, so Ivory comes in to distract him, and Brown capitalizes with a sitout spinebuster at 1:08. This barely qualified as a match. Afterwards, Debra comes in to brawl with Ivory, but the men pull them apart. DUD

Earlier today, in one of the hotel rooms overlooking Skydome, Val Venis hooked up with Ryan Shamrock - forgetting to close the blinds

Ken Shamrock/Val Venis feud review video

Kevin Kelly brings Venis and Ryan out so Val can make a bunch of sexual innuendos, but Ken isn’t in the mood for this, and runs out to beat the shit out of him - and any official who stands in his way

Backstage, Ryan tends to Val, who is swearing revenge 

Gillberg v Goldust: The WWF Light Heavyweight title is not on the line. An usher delivers Goldust candy from Blue Meanie, but gets violently rebuffed. In a nice touch, it’s the same usher that Goldust sent after Razor Ramon back in 1996. It’s a one note joke, but the Gillberg thing remains funny. They also don’t overdo it by putting him on every show, which helps. Goldust blitzes him, and delivers the curtain call right away, but before he can cover, Meanie shes up on the TitanTron to do a ‘bluedust’ bit. That allows Gillberg to sneak up with a schoolboy at 1:34. Another non-match. Goldust flips out and destroys Gillberg, but the lights die, and Goldust is covered in blue liquid when they come back up. Riveting. DUD

Backstage, Kelly catches up with head referee Earl Hebner, who is pulling all of the referees off of the Shamrock/Venis match at the pay per view, since Ken beat them all up earlier. Thus, if another referee cannot be assigned before then, Shamrock will forfeit the WWF Intercontinental title

DX are out, and Billy Gunn just so happens to have a referee’s shirt, and volunteers to handle the duties for the Shamrock/Venis match 

Speaking of special guest referees, backstage, Vince struts around in his referee shirt. With the sleeves cut off, of course

Mankind v Steve Austin: The WWF Title is not on the line, and McMahon is the special guest referee. Vince grabs the microphone and lets the guys know that he’s going to be very liberal with enforcement of the rules, so they shouldn’t hold back. It’s worth noting that Vince cuts the promo with his back to the hard camera. Austin takes the microphone, and he’s very happy to see someone get their ass kicked here… but it won’t be him, and it won’t be Mankind. Of course, if Steve touches Vince, he gets fired, so Vince dares him. But, instead, Mankind puts the mandible claw on Vince. That draws the Corporation out to save, and Vince manages to get out of harm’s way, but Steve and Mankind fight off the heels to end the segment without a match

After a commercial break, Vince leads the regrouped Corporation back out, and McMahon announces that Steve is going to pay for what he just did. How? A Gauntlet match against the Corporation later

Godfather v Viscera: Mideon sits in on commentary for this one. Viscera attacks before the bell, and lands a shoulderblock. A corner whip sets up an avalanche, and a second corner whip rebounds Godfather into a clothesline. Viscera adds an elbowdrop for two, but another avalanche misses, and Godfather slugs at him. That draws Mideon in for the DQ at 1:20. The show is more than half over, and the total bell-to-bell match time stands at about four minutes. DUD

Backstage, Shamrock and Venis are brawling, so Gunn tries to break them up - only to get pulled into the scrum

X-Pac v Kane: The WWF European title is not on the line. Kane rushes in, but X-Pac fights him off with strikes. Spinheel kick, but Kane catches him in a slam, and chokes away in the corner. To the outside for some abuse, but X-Pac fights him off again on the way back in, so Chyna attacks for the DQ at 3:02, in our first match to break two minutes. Not that it was good. Afterwards, Chyna tries to pedigree X-Pac, but Triple H makes the save. DUD

Al Snow is out, and wants a Hardcore match with anyone who will take him on. No one comes out, so he beats himself up instead. “I hope I never see anything like this again,” notes Lawler. I couldn’t agree more, brother. And then Bob Holly comes out to beat him up, too. But not have a match, though

Backstage, Kelly catches up with Droz, who is pissed that Kevin called him a ‘punk’ on Sunday Night Heat. Droz decides to slap him around, but Steve Blackman intervenes 

Rock v Steve Blackman: Rock slugs him down, and delivers a turnbuckle smash, then unloads in the corner. Cross corner whip, but Blackman reverses, and throws a dropkick. Steve with a bootchoke, but Rock fights him off, and uses a ropechoke. Clothesline, but Blackman ducks, and throws strikes. Blackman with a knife-edge chop, but a clothesline misses, and Rock drops him with a DDT. Rock bails out to go do some commentary, and Blackman is still down when Rock comes back in. Suplex, but Steve has recovered enough to reverse, and he adds a backelbow. Steve keeps coming with a jumping shoulderblock, but a bicycle kick misses, and Rock delivers a uranage to set up the people’s elbow at 3:50. Another marathon. But, hey, it’s the match of the night at a whopping ¼*

Backstage, Austin and the Corporation prepare, via split screen 

Gauntlet Match: Steve Austin v Ken Shamrock, Kane, Big Boss Man, Test, and Chyna: Ken starts, and they slug it out. Steve telegraphs a backdrop, and gets nailed, allowing Ken some mounted punches, but Austin turns the tables. They fight into the corner, and Ken lands a leg lariat. He drops Steve with a fujiwara armbar into an anklelock, but Austin escapes, and delivers a stunner. Cover, but Test comes in to save, and I guess they’re switching off. Test hammers, but a big boot misses, and Steve stomps the groin. Into the corner, but Test turns the tables, and cross corner whips him. Steve fights back with the stunner, but Kane comes in to save, and stays. A criss cross allows Austin a Thesz press to set up mounted punches, and a pointed elbowdrop follows. Irish whip, but Kane reverses, and uses a big boot. That allows Kane a chokeslam for two, so he tries for the tombstone, but Austin counters to a stunner. That draws Chyna in with a low blow, but a clothesline misses, and Steve delivers a stunner. In comes Boss Man to hammer Steve, and he chokes away. Clothesline, but Steve ducks, and grabs a sleeper. Boss Man escapes, and Vince tosses in a nightstick. Boss Man beats on him with it, and with Steve subdued, Vince leads the troops back in. The referee protests, so Vince names himself an entrant into the match, and pins Steve himself at 6:54. DUD

BUExperience: The wrestling was often something of an afterthought during this period, but here it felt like it wasn’t thought of at all.