Raw is War 10/26/98
- We open with a trip back to last week, chronicling the Austin/McMahon saga that raged through the episode and ended with Austin jamming a letter in McMahon’s pocket before dropping him with a stunner…after our opening animation we see video of Austin arriving into the backstage area and then head inside the Kohl Center in Madison, WI where we are joined by the Boss and his troops…Vince says Austin is here against his will and he owes him responsible for everything that went down the last few weeks and he also blames all of the fans…he questions their values and morals, says they were cheering as Austin kept humiliating him…Vince is just a force of nature here, what great promo work…he curses out Brisco, Patterson and Slaughter for hanging him out to dry…his ankle is injured again and he ruined an Armani suit and now, his feelings have been hurt as well…he turns his attention to the legal document Austin gave him…he has his lawyers with him here and they will fight Austin all the way to the Supreme Court…he warns Austin to heed his warnings before he makes his next move…Austin appears on the Tron and laughs off the warning as Vince wheels off with his crew…the ramp is unique tonight, with a band staging set up at the top and the entrance off to the right…kind of cool
- X-Pac vs. Steve Blackman…Euro title on the line here as Blackman hits the ring…JR reminds us that Blackman is recovering from knee surgery…we see clips of Chyna being arrested last week thanks to Mark Henry…she has taken a leave of absence until the legal matters are resolved…or until her jaw is realigned…we take a break and as we return, we see Vince talking to his lawyers…back to the ring and we are under way…Blackman ducks a kick and cracks Pac with one of his own…he slugs away in the corner as JR & King debate what this legal document could be…he starts to work the back with a side slam and follows with series of elbows…I always thought Blackman’s pants looked really comfortable…he lands some chops and is being quite aggressive tonight…Pac comes back with a leg lariat but Blackman crushes him with a leaping shoulderblock…he sends Pac to the floor where we are suddenly joined by a debuting Steve Regal, decked out in fine pair of jorts and a plaid cut off…he cracks Pac with headbutts and right hands until the Outlaws make the save…the referee has seen enough and we have a no contest as the brawl continues…Regal is shoved away and we get another clip of Vince screaming at his attorneys before going to break
- After commercial, Michael Cole is outside Austin’s locker room, hoping to get a word
- Droz vs. Rock…Hawk & Animal escort Droz to the ring for our next match…Droz has pretty sweet shoulderpads on…JR wonders how jealous Hawk is off the new life Droz had breathed into the LOD…Rock is out next and the fans go banana…Rock will be in the Survivor Series tournament…Undertaker and Boss Man as well…King wants to know if Rock gets a bye since he is already the number one contender…fans are chanting for Rock as he smacks Droz around…Droz avoids a charge to even things back out…King wonders what happened to the “Rocky Sucks” chants all of a sudden and JR does his best to explain that away…Droz takes over with some basic offense, including a leaping shoulderblock…I liked Droz in this gimmick, despite the drunk Hawk stuff, the story has been pretty well told…JR notes that Droz and Animal have formed a bond of late…the referee is caught up with Hawk, allowing Rock to drop Droz with a low blow…Droz comes back with a powerslam and leaping clothesline but misses a shoulderblock off the middle rope…he walks right into a Rock Bottom, followed by the People’s Elbow for a Rock win…ok match but mainly just slugging back and forth…Droz showed some nice energy…Hawk and Animal are in, leading to some jawing between Droz and Hawk over the finish of the match…Animal breaks it up and walks off with Droz, leaving Hawk behind
- Backstage, Cole asks Austin about the letter but Austin says he has been advised not to speak at this time but will address it later…break time
- After we return, Vince is still fighting with his attorneys, who claim they need more time to look things over
- Kane vs. Gangrel…Kane has also been entered into the tournament…interesting matchup here…Gangrel has Christian with him…JR says there are rumors that Kane is distraught and lonely now that Paul Bearer has turned his back on him…Kane attacks off the bell, drilling Gangrel with right hands and then stomping away in the corner…Kane nails him with a big boot, but as he hits the ropes, Christian hooks the top one and he tumbles to the floor…Gangrel follows him out but Kane drills him with a clothesline…JR can’t believe that Kane seems to be becoming a fan favorite…back inside, Kane drops Gangrel after a hanging choke…Gangrel has had no chance at all…Kane drops him with a sidewalk slam and heads up, but Christian ties him up long enough to allow Gangrel to meet him…Kane shoves him off and hits a flying clothesline, which Gangrel sells like a champ…Kane goozles him and drops him with a chokeslam for the win…that was better than it had any right to be…Christian flies in off the top but just bounces off Kane…they both try to attack, but Kane fights them off…Edge hits the ring and goes heel, joining Gangrel & Christian in beating Kane down…Kane sets up and the Goth crew quickly bails through the crowd and out of dodge
- Backstage, Cole tells us he just spoke with Shane McMahon and that the McMahon family will speak publicly after the break
- We kick off hour two with Steve Austin marching to the ring…King doesn’t get why he is here if he was fired…fans are happy to see him, natch…he tweaks Vince and recaps last week…he had warned the cops that it was a toy gun and promised Vince there would be no pain, and that was no lie…Austin’s beer gut was expanding just a bit here…he reveals that the document is a brand new contract with a guaranteed title shot, causing JR to spaz out…Austin won’t leave unless he quits, so looks like he will be here for a while…Patterson and crew wheel Vince out, and he is not happy…Vince vows to find a way out of the document, even if he has to force Austin to quit…Vince can’t do anything about the contract at this point, so he will force Austin into an I Quit match here tonight against Ken Shamrock…Vince wants to know how Austin sleeps at night…Shane McMahon emerges and walks to the ring as Vince screams at him to come back…Shane says he doesn’t listen to Vince anymore and he is an officer and stock holder of the company…Vince was wrong firing Austin and it was him that rehired Austin…after 28 years, he finally has Vince’s attention…he blames Vince’s ego for all the superstars that have come and gone over the years…Shane is tired of being in Vince’s shadow…he could never do anything right or good enough for Vince…Vince’s facials and responses are great…Shane has only wanted Vince to be proud of him but that will never happen because of Vince’s ego…Vince is crying as Shane continues…he is a man now, not Vince’s boy…he is proud of who he is…fans rallying behind him…he has finally found the courage to stand up to Vince…it is ironic that Shane may be just like Vince after all…great emotional promo from Shane and you wonder how much came from the heart…Vince was awesome too…Austin piles on as Vince wheels off and we go to break
- Backstage, Shane is leaving the arena but Austin stops him and tosses him a beer as he heads out into the night
- Tiger Ali Singh vs. Godfather…Tiger and Babu are out next as JR takes us back to last week when a professional hooker deep throated Tiger’s kielbasa…JR claims this is Tiger’s debut on Raw, but I am pretty sure he had a match back in 1997…Godfather has his funky music now…he also has a mic and states won’t be offering Tiger any deals tonight because Tiger messed with a pimp’s money and he will prove that pimpin ain’t easy…Godfather charges into the ring and wipes Tiger out with a clothesline…Tiger turns the tide on the floor, stomping away…Godfather battles back and most of this match has gone down on the floor…finally back inside as JR & King rehash out last segment…the fans are quite ambivalent to this one…Godfather hits a running charge in the corner, but Tiger comes back with a sloppy bulldog for two…Tiger is awful, he should have just been a manager or something…he punches away at Godfather but is again dumped to the floor…Tiger uses Babu as a shield, but Godfather just chucks him aside…Tiger goes to the eyes, and I want to rake my own eyes so I don’t have to watch this mess anymore…the fans erupt but that is because they are doing the wave like a bunch of idiots…ok this gets even stupider because the two keep fighting or something…that may be the worst double DQ ever…they were just rolling around punching each other…a gaggle of officials get involved but Godfather still slugs Tiger to the floor…break time
- Back from break, Cole asks Vince how he feels…Vince just shakes his head as his cronies wheel him out of the arena
- Oddities vs. Kai En Tai…the Oddities march to the ring, led by ICP…Golga has Cartman in tow…this song never gets old…this is the ICP’s first WWF match…Golga is in first, just swatting Funaki and Teoh around…Taka gets involved as does Togo and they finally break Golga down and rattle him with elbows…JR & King talk about ICP concerts as Golga tags in Kurgan…Taka and Togo try a double dropkick, but it’s shaken off and both eat a boot to the face…Violent J tags in and beats the crap out of Funaki…he dumps him outside, where Shaggy keeps the attack going…back inside, J drops Funaki with a sidewalk slam and then punches and chokes away…J isn’t that bad…he tags in Shaggy, who nails a DDT and follows with a great top rope legdrop…Shaggy shoves the referee down, drawing the DQ…classic booking there with the unknowns screwing up the match…Kurgan and Golga let ICP have it, but they just shrug it off and walk out…this nothing match apparently meant a lot to Kurgan
- We get a recap of Shane’s Song from earlier…and then see Vince being wheeled to his limo…Patterson promises that he, Brisco and Slaughter will take care of Austin tonight…those three are great
- After a break, we get a promo from Ken Shamrock who vows to never quit...non title on the line because that has to be earned
- Marc Mero vs. Goldust…Mero & Jackie strut to the ring…Jackie has the strands of Sable’s hair tied into her own…and 1996’s favorite semi-feud is rekindled as Goldust saunters out…Goldust is hot out of the box…these two have gone through quite a few changes since they feuded in 96…Sable and Marlena are out of the picture and the roles have reversed…Jackie distracts Jimmy Korderas, allowing Mero to crank up a tremendous low blow…Mero keeps the attack on with some more help from Jackie…King announces that MTV is holding a Celebrity Deathmatch between Austin and McMahon this Thursday night…Goldust gets back into the match and sets Mero up for the Shattered Dreams…Jackie cockblocks him so Goldust plants a kiss on her…Goldust turns around and punts Mero in the giggleberries to draw the DQ…this has been a night of DQ finishes…fucking Wisconsin…Jackie is repulsed as Goldust celebrates…as Mero cradles his bruised nuts, Sable appears on the ramp…she challenges Jackie to a Women’s title match at Survivor Series…no concrete answer from Jackie as Sable walks off…break time
- Back from break, Cole is with Mankind, Al Snow, Head & Mr. Socko…they talk about their tag title shot coming up tonight…they argue a bit, talk to the respective inanimate objects and we quickly move on
- New Age Outlaws vs. Mankind & Snow…tag straps on the line here as Mankind & Snow team for the first time…more Shane talk as the match gets going…JR reveals that Mankind has been entered into the tournament as well…Snow and Gunn kick things off…Gunn hits a nice delayed press slam but Snow is able to tag in Mankind…the NAO take turns beating on Mankind, but Snow helps turn things around by clotheslining Dogg from the apron…Snow and Dogg end up on the floor brawling as Mankind waits in the ring…looks like Mankind’s foot or ankle is still messed up as he is walking pretty gingerly on it…he drops Dogg with a double arm DDT but Gunn wipes him out before he can grab the sock…Mankind goes to grab Head, but Snow blocks him…Gunn and Mankind brawl to the floor and take the referee with them…inside, Snow hits the Snow Plow, but there is nobody to count the fall…now Mankind and Snow argue over which gimmick they will use, allowing Gunn to roll up Snow for the win…this was pretty disjointed and messy but that may have been the point…Mark Henry & D-Lo Brown charge in and assault the champions, beating them down pretty good…Mankind and Snow are still arguing down on the floor as well…time for our last break
- Steve Austin vs. Ken Shamrock…main event time and this is I Quit…Shamrock is out first and behind him are Vince’s Associates…JR announces that Shamrock will be in the Survivor Series tournament…Austin is out and JR does not know if he will in the tourney as of yet…Shamrock attacks Austin before the bell and he looks to still be as aggressive as he has been over the past few weeks…Austin hammers back and dumps Shamrock outside…he heads out after him, ramming his head into the announce table and trying to use the cable wire before Shamrock fends him off…Shamrock drapes Austin on the announce table and splashes him…they spill out into the crowd, slugging away…back at ringside, they keep trading heavy blows, ending with Austin taking a ride into the ring steps…Shamrock is a machine with his precision and aggression…he cracks Austin with a clothesline and locks in a camel clutch…Austin finally starts battling back, hitting the Lou Thesz Press as the crowd gets all fired up…Brisco hooks Austin’s leg as Patterson assaults Tim White…Mankind is out, hooking Shamrock in the Mandible Claw as Austin beats on the Associates…Austin grabs a chair and bashes Shamrock across the face with a sick shot…Austin lays on top of Shamrock, picks up his hand and uses it to tap the match…the groggy White sees the tap out and calls for the bell…the Associates crash the ring but they all eat stunners…Austin celebrates and walks off as are out…another fun episode tonight with some weird matchups, both good and bad…see you next week
Review Date: March 2013
Comments
Post a Comment