Dark Pegasus Video Review: Capitol Carnage

Capitol Carnage by J.D. Dunn December 6, 1998 From London, England. Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. Opening Match: Gangrel vs. Al Snow. Quick opening sequence sees Al Snow nearly get accidentally low-blowed, but he recovers and hits a Wheelbarrow Suplex. An awkward crossbody gets two for Al. Gangrel gets in a shot to take over. Things get less interesting after that. Edge and Christian come down to observe as Al misses a moonsault. A botched Tornado DDT leaves both men out of it. Al nails Gangrel with Head, but Edge sneaks in with a missile dropkick to give Gangrel the win at 5:54. Sloppy opener. * Mankind says he’ll have no friends tonight in the Fatal Fourway. The Legion of Doom vs. The Headbangers. This was just after Hawk “tried to commit suicide,” so Droz is subbing for him. The fans know the score, though. The Headbangers are heels here, but the fans cheer them when they’re in with Droz. Then, when Animal tags in, the Headbangers get booed again. The match is really short, even for the time. The Headbangers isolate Droz for a while until Animal tags in and cleans house. Droz tries to pull the old switcheroo, but he gets rolled up and takes the loss for his team at 3:19. After the match, Droz and Animal get into a brawl, leading to Droz being ejected from the LOD and the LOD being ejected from the WWF. 1/2* Goldust vs. Val Venis. This is the carryover from when Val was banging Goldust’s wife. Goldie takes him to the floor and sends Val into the steps. Back in, Val takes a hard bump to the corner as Ross questions whether or not Terri Runnels is really pregnant. Lawler jokes that he once tricked a woman into marrying him by telling her she was pregnant. Val comes back with his Kobashi-ish offense and hits the spinebuster for two. A Fisherman’s Suplex gets two. They work in the spot where they collide and Goldust headbutts the Big Valbowski. Val pulls the ref in front of Shattered Dreams and uses the distraction to roll Goldust up for the pin at 5:34. Goldust gives Val Shattered Dreams anyway. **1/4 Recap of Vince McMahon lecturing at Oxford University. Mr. McMahon, Shane McMahon, Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco come out to run down England and tea time. He also says every single one of them wishes they were American. Edge vs. Tiger Ali Singh. Just to show you how bad Tiger Ali Singh is, he debuted in 1997, they decided he wasn’t ready and sent him back to the minors for seasoning, and when he came back, he was still so bad that they had to make him a manager to recoup some of their time and effort. He dedicates the match to his forefathers who were oppressed by the British Empire. You can guess how many fans that won him. Singh gets in next to no offense, which is a good idea. Edge hits a missile dropkick and goes up for a crossbody block, but Singh reverses to a powerslam and puts his feet on the ropes for the win at 2:52. 3/4* Michael Cole interviews Vinnie Jones who threatens to knock out Vince McMahon. He says he won’t take no guff from any of the WWF superstars. Marc Mero & Jacqueline vs. Christian & Sable. This is basically a rematch from Summerslam with Christian replacing Edge. Mero has already fired Jacqueline and is on his way out of the WWF thanks to a loss to Dwayne Gill, but this is fulfilling his contractual obligation. Jackie and Mero get into a fight before the match even starts. I don’t foresee a lot of continuity on the heel team. The babyfaces doubleteam Mero a lot, especially since Jackie won’t tag in. Sable hits him with the Sablebomb, and Jackie is finally forced to tag in or lose the match. Mero just walks out on her, so Christian gives chase. Sable quickly finishes Jacqueline with the TKO at 4:49. Jackie tries to attack the referee, so Sable rips her top off. Whoa! Naked boobies on my TV. Jackie covers up and runs off. * Intercontinental Title: Ken Shamrock (w/The Big Bossman) vs. Steve Blackman. Martial arts duel to start. Shamrock quickly takes over, and the match grinds to a halt. Shammy hits some kicks and locks in a front facelock. Blackman reverses a whip and sends Shamrock into a “Bret Bump.” He snaps Shamrock’s neck off the top rope and dropkicks the Bossman for fun. Bossman retaliates by hitting him in the ankle with the nightstick. That leads to the Anklelock for the submission at 6:50. Surprisingly boring match from Shamrock, who was just starting to hit his stride at this point. *1/4 The Rock plans on laying the Smackdown on X-Pac. He works in the interview where he rips off everyone’s catchphrase. Jeff Jarrett (w/Debra) vs. Triple H (w/Chyna). Hunter was scheduled to take on the Rock, but the Corporation pulled him out of that match to protect the Rock’s title reign. This is Hunter’s first match since Summerslam. It’s back-and-forth until Helmsley hits the spinebuster. Jarrett, oddly enough, practically no-sells it. See, that’s why you don’t do that move in the first three minutes of the match. Jarrett reverses a whip to a single-arm DDT to take over. Debra strangles Hunter against the ropes, so Chyna runs over and chases her away. Jarrett gets knocked to the floor, so Debra tries to distract Hunter with her feminine wiles…her large, fake feminine wiles. It backfires, though, as the ref gets distracted by her and doesn’t see Chyna block a chairshot. That leads to the Pedigree at 6:26. **1/2 WWF cameras caught up with former European Champion D-Lo Brown earlier this week as he toured London. WWF Tag Team Titles: The New Age Outlaws vs. D-Lo Brown & Mark Henry. This was just after Mark and Chyna’s infamous date. Road Dogg hits the Shake, Rattle & Roll on D-Lo early. Billy Gunn gives him more of the same before D-Lo gets wise and tags out to Mark Henry. He grabs Billy in a bearhug for a bit before Billy claps his way out. The Outlaws hit a double-dropkick to knock him down. Henry splashes Roadie, but Gunn makes the save and drags his partner to the corner where he can tag in. Billy cleans house before getting caught with a powerslam. Billy comes back with a Fameasser on D-Lo and rolls him up for two. Henry makes the save but turns his back, and Billy finishes D-Lo with a piledriver at 10:09. Well, that ending was just stupid. In one of those interesting twists, Mark Henry is the only one of these guys the WWE kept! ** Recap of Vince McMahon’s Machiavellian plan to put the title on the Rock. WWF Heavyweight Title: The Rock vs. X-Pac. Criss-cross early, and X-Pac hits a flying clothesline. X-Pac grabs an armbar to kill time. The Pac hits a trio of spinning kicks, and Rocky threatens to leave. Hunter and Chyna block his path, though. Rock returns to ringside and pokes X-Pac in the eyes to take over. He hits the punch to the nuts as the ref gets distracted by Hunter. CORPORATE ELBOW~! ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Pac kicks out. Hunter distracts the ref again, and Chyna hits a low blow to break up the Rock Bottom. X-Pac rolls up the Rock. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! The fans thought that was it, and if I had been watching this live at the time, I would have been fooled too. X-Pac hits a spinning wheel kick for two. Rock rolls through a crossbody and puts his feet on the ropes! ONE, TWO, THR-NO! The ref gets bumped, so Rock nails HHH and grabs the title belt. Rock swings at X-Pac, but Pac ducks, and Hunter nails Rock with the European Title. ONE…TWO…THR-NO! Rock gets the shoulder up. X-Pac hits the Broncobuster, so the Rock bails and goes after Chyna. That draws Hunter over to attack him for the lame DQ at 12:36. I know no one gave X-Pac a chance in the match, and it shouldn’t have had much heat, but who really gave Mick Foley a shot a few weeks later? They did a great job near the end making people think X-Pac really could win it. ***1/4 Fatal Fourway: Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker vs. Kane vs. Mankind. Shane McMahon is your special guest ring announcer, and he’s introduced as an “Academy Award Winner,” which I believe they could get sued for. Well, I guess they didn’t say *which* academy. The special guest timekeeper is Pat Patterson. Gerald Brisco is the special referee, replacing the Big Bossman for no given reason, while Bossman is billed as “the Special Enforcer.” Vinnie Jones walks out and picks a fight with the Bossman, so BRISCO REDCARDS HIM! Ha ha ha! Vince McMahon comes out to join the commentary team, and we’re underway. Mankind jumps Kane even before the other two get out there. They’re both babyfaces, but they hate each other for past stuff. Taker comes down and clears them both out, and then Austin runs down and brawl with Taker in the aisle. Kane and Mankind helpfully brawl on the outside so that we can focus on Taker and Austin. They trade off, and Austin strangles Kane with a power cord. Back in, Austin crotches Taker on the top rope to block the Ropewalk Forearm. Mankind and Austin team up to knock Kane out, and then Mankind offers Austin a handshake. Austin has none of it, though, and they get into a brawl. See, they were toying with the idea of doing Austin/Mankind at Mania if the Rock didn’t work out. Kane and Undertaker break it up and set up for a Spiked Tombstone on Austin, but you know that won’t happen, so Mankind breaks it up. Mankind grabs a chair and nails Kane, but Taker DESTROYS Mick with a chairshot. Austin hits Kane with a Stunner, but Brisco is busy checking the time. Austin nails him as the Undertaker recovers. CHOKESLAM TO AUSTIN! CHOKESLAM TO KANE! Earl Hebner replaces Brisco, but Mankind breaks up the pinfall attempts. Taker and Mankind brawl, allowing Austin to Stunner Kane for the win at 16:10. Austin and Vinnie Jones share a beer. Even Hebner gets in on the act, putting the boots to the Bossman and flipping him off. ***

The 411: This was the first of the U.K. shows that truly felt like a PPV, and it's one of the first not to suck in a good long while. The undercard leaves a lot to be desired, but the title match and the main event are good matches for the era. Plus, everyone gets theirs in the end. Thumbs up.
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]