wrestling / Video Reviews
Hall’s WWE Over The Edge 1998 Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...Over The Edge 1998
Date: May 31, 1998
Location: Wisconsin Center Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Attendance: 9,822
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
This is another of the In Your House shows despite mainly not being referred to as such anymore. Not that it matters though as this is the definition of a one match show, but in this case, it’s one of my favorite matches ever. We’re about to go into peak Attitude Era main event nonsense but the people involved are up to the task. Let’s get to it.
The opening video is all about Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon, with McMahon wanting to do anything to get the title away from him. This time he has another corporate champion in the form of Corporate Dude Love. Tonight’s shenanigans: Austin vs. Love for the title, with McMahon as the guest referee and the Stooges as timekeeper/ring announcer. The deck is rather stacked.
LOD 2000 vs. Disciples Of Apocalypse
Sunny and Droz are here with the LOD while Chainz is with the DOA. Animal works on 8-Ball’s arm to start but gets caught with a swinging neckbreaker. Skull comes in for some elbows to Hawk but stops to yell at the fans. A side slam and piledriver hit Hawk, who of course pops up for a clothesline.
Another slam drops Skull again but Hawk misses his top rope clothesline. That sends Hawk crashing out to the floor where Chainz gets in a cheap shot. The chinlock goes on back inside but Hawk fights up and brings in Animal. Chainz has to be chased off, allowing Skull and 8-Ball to switch. Droz gets in a cheap shot though and Animal powerslams Skull for the pin at 9:57.
Rating: C-. This was a slow, plodding tag match with the interference being the best part. There’s not much you can do with the Disciples in the first place and LOD 2000 was almost sad in a lot of ways. They weren’t awful, but it felt like desperation in an attempt to stay relevant, which is often worse. Sunny had all of the star power in the world at this point but it just wasn’t happening.
Here is the Rock to mock Milwaukee, including their love of beer. Then again if he lived here, he’d need a lot of beer to get through it too. Cue Faarooq (who has been having issues with the Rock over control of the Nation Of Domination) for the brawl but Rock gets a chair. The big swing hits the top rope though and bounces back to hit Rock in the head. Faarooq hits a piledriver in the vicinity of the chair (he accidentally kicked it back), laying the Rock out. The Nation runs in to chase Faarooq off, leaving Rock to be stretchered out.
Steve Austin doesn’t care about the odds in the main event. He doesn’t know of anyone being willing to help him out but Vince McMahon belongs to him anyway.
Jeff Jarrett vs. Steve Blackman
Tennessee Lee (Colonel Robert Parker) is here with Jarrett and handles his introduction. Blackman is ticked about Jarrett beating him before and jumps him to start. A missile dropkick hits Jarrett but he’s right back with the running crotch attack in the ropes. Back up and Blackman ties him in the Tree Of Woe for some choking from the floor, even with Lee getting in a swat with his hat. Lee grabs the leg from the floor and gets chased, with Jarrett running into a clothesline.
Back in and Jarrett stomps away as Al Snow and Head are ejected from Spanish commentary (because we have an angle in this match, which is on PPV for some reason). The sleeper goes on and, as has been done about 1,427 times over Jarrett’s career, it’s reversed into another sleeper, which is reversed into a belly to back suplex. Blackman actually tries to go up and crashes down, followed by a double clothesline.
This lets Lawler list off some absolutely real country songs until Blackman hits a backbreaker. Some quick kicks give Blackman two so Lee offers a distraction. That doesn’t work either so Jarrett grabs one of Blackman’s martial arts sticks. That’s taken away but Blackman’s shot only gets two as Lee puts the foot on the rope. Lee gets in a cheap shot though and Jarrett steals the pin at 10:37.
Rating: C. The match was a fine technical spectacle, but it had no business being on pay per view. It was an ice cold feud and the country music stuff was even worse. That stuff dragged Jarrett down for years and this version of him was way out of place in an era so based on character and being over the top. Jarrett was perfectly fine as a good hand (and at times a very good hand), but that’s not working with the “he’s a country singer” as the only thing backing it up.
We recap Marc Mero vs. whomever Sable can find. Mero is jealous of Sable’s success so he told her to find anyone to beat her. If the person does, she is free of her contract to Mero.
Marc Mero vs. ???
And here is Sable to fight for herself. Mero isn’t having this and says he’ll lay down for her. Mero lays down and of course rolls Sable up for the win at 28 seconds.
Post match Mero celebrates like crazy in a hilarious bit. Sable leaves, showing a grand total of no emotion. She would be back in less than two months as this meant pretty much nothing.
In the back, Sable hopes she can tell her fans goodbye. Could she at least look sad?
The Rock is in a neck brace but has to defend the title anyway.
Kaientai vs. Justin Bradshaw/Taka Michinoku
This would be Dick Togo/Mens Teioh/Sho Funaki for Kaientai in a handicap match. Bradshaw and Michinoku are tired of getting triple teamed so they charge into start fast. Kaientai is sent outside and Bradshaw launches Michinoku onto them. Back in and we get a nice view of the empty seats opposite the hard camera and it’s Funaki taking over on Funaki. Teioh is in with a clothesline and it’s already off to Bradshaw for the chase around ringside.
Togo comes in for a running headbutt to Michinoku but misses a charge in the corner. A tornado DDT gives Michinoku two and everything breaks down, with Michinoku hitting a big moonsault onto Funaki, though the barricade gets a piece as well. Back in and Togo hits a reverse powerbomb, followed by Funaki’s clothesline for two. The villains keep taking turns on Michinoku and we hit the nerve hold. This lets Lawler talk about Sable and JR goes on a rant about how lonely Lawler must be.
One heck of a powerslam drops Michinoku again and he gets caught in what would eventually become known as the Snapshot. Togo hits a Swanton and Michinoku fights back, only to get caught again. A spinwheel kick gets Michinoku out of trouble though and it’s back to Bradshaw to…get triple teamed as well. The low blow cuts Bradshaw off and Kaientai gets to pose on him, which is broken up rather quickly. The Michinoku Driver gets two on Togo as everything breaks down. A chokebomb drops Michinoku and the top rope backsplash finishes him off at 9:57.
Rating: C. Again, it’s fine but why in the world did this need ten minutes on pay per view? We’re about an hour into the show and pretty much nothing has been beyond a Shotgun Saturday Night level. Having Bradshaw as one of the good guys was certainly a choice and it was basically an extended version of what they had been doing on Raw. They didn’t have anything better than this?
Sable slowly walks out. Naturally she didn’t change into regular clothes.
We get the still amazing Attitude vignette, focusing on how real these people are, including a bunch of their injuries. Those things were great.
Intercontinental Title: Faarooq vs. The Rock
Rock, in a neck brace, is defending. Well in theory as there’s no Rock after a few attempts so here is Sgt. Slaughter to insist the match happen. Either get out here in ten seconds or Faarooq (who remember, attacked Rock and is still the good guy in this whole thing) gets the title. Rock finally shows up and Faarooq jumps him in the aisle before the bell. The match officially starts and Faarooq hits some clotheslines to send Rock outside.
Back in and Rock hits his own clothesline but the People’s Elbow is broken up. Faarooq knocks him down again, only to get DDTed for two. The spinebuster hits Rock but Faarooq can’t immediately cover for…some reason. The foot was on the rope so the pin doesn’t count, meaning the Rock can get a rollup with feet on the ropes for the pin at 5:12.
Rating: C-. Well that happened. The match felt important for a change because the title was on the line and the Rock was clearly on the rise, but as usual, it was made more complicated than it needed to be. You had an angle set up earlier in the night and then it barely wound up meaning anything. Rock’s neck injury more or less went away halfway through the match and then he cheated to win. Nothing to see here and a waste of a perfectly good angle.
Post match Faarooq (again, THE GOOD GUY IN ALL OF THIS) hits two more piledrivers so the Nation runs in to go after Faarooq. D-Generation X makes the save.
Kane vs. Vader
Paul Bearer is here with Kane and this is mask vs. mask. Vader comes out swinging but is knocked into the corner. A boot out of the corner sets up the standing splash to put Kane down in quite the heap. Back up and Kane reverses a suplex into one of his own, only to miss an elbow. A slam drops Vader again and there’s the top rope clothesline for two.
Kane’s running clothesline lets him choke away, followed by the face ripping. They get up again and Kane gets in a chokeslam to send Vader outside. Vader comes back with a rather large wrench (as Kane used on him in their first match) to knock Kane silly. The Vadersault misses though and Kane hits the Tombstone for the pin at 7:19.
Rating: C-. This wasn’t exactly in doubt, but dang it was sad to see Vader losing his aura like this. He really did just feel like a big guy who could still move occasionally at this point. Monsters like him don’t have much of a place in the midcard and that’s about all he could do here. Kane still looked impressive by moving Vader around, but it’s rough to see as Vader was so special for such a long time and then he just…wasn’t.
Post match Kane easily rips the mask off (because, you know, it’s not much of a mask) and puts it on Bearer in an oddly funny moment. Kane and Bearer leave and Vader declares himself a big fat piece of s***.
We get a rather cool moment as Michael Cole brings out Mad Dog Vachon and the Crusher for a legends ceremony. This is something they occasionally did around this time and it was always fun. If nothing else, notice the rather strong reactions from the crowd, as legends get pops.
Both men receive a plaque and get to say some thank you’s. Well Vachon does while Crusher sings Roll Out The Barrel. Jerry Lawler mocks them throughout the entire thing and gets in the ring to keep mocking them. He even goes after Vachon’s artificial leg and gets beaten up (a few times) as a result. Awesome stuff here, and I wish they would do this stuff more often.
D-Generation X vs. Nation Of Domination
That would be HHH/the Outlaws vs. D’Lo Brown/Kama Mustafa/Owen Hart with Chyna, X-Pac and Mark Henry are here too. Brown shoulders Dogg down to start and talks a lot of trash, as usual. This leaves commentary to bicker about time zones, with JR admitting he’s not sure what time it is in England. Lawler laughs at JR for not knowing anything, sending JR into a rant about how he doesn’t know why Lawler wears a crown and Liberace clothes or why he picks on legends.
Dogg fights back on Brown and brings in Gunn, who is quickly poked in the eye. Hart comes in and gets gorilla pressed, only to come back with a spinwheel kick. The Sharpshooter is broken up though and it’s off to HHH to quite the nice reaction. The jumping knee lets HHH hammer away and the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two. Dogg drops a leg for two but what looks to be a low blow takes HHH down.
Mustafa (who is apparently called the Godfather backstage) comes in for a splash to HHH, followed by a kick to Gunn. Brown comes back in and gets caught in the wrong corner, with Gunn hitting a suplex for two. It’s back to Dogg to beat on the bad guys a bit, at least until Mustafa kicks him in the head. Hart’s piledriver gets two and Brown grabs a chinlock. Dogg is back up with the dancing jabs but Brown plants him with what would become known as the Low Down for two.
HHH breaks up Hart’s Sharpshooter attempt and Mustafa misses a Vader Bomb. It’s still too early for the tag though and we hit the chinlock again, with Dogg having to hold his arm up on the third drop. Brown comes back in and actually hits his Vader Bomb, only to miss a middle rope backsplash. That’s enough for the tag back to Gunn and everything breaks down. The Fameasser (not yet named) hits Brown as Chyna and Henry get in a brawl. HHH throws in a belt and it’s a spike piledriver to plant Brown on the belt, only for Hart to break it up. Hart Pedigrees HHH onto the belt and steals the pin at 18:34.
Rating: C+. The match was long and definitely felt more important than some things on the pay per view, but the lack of paying attention to details astounds me. Earlier tonight, Faarooq injured a member of the Nation with a piledriver “onto” a chair. Less than two hours later, we get two spots involving a move onto an object. It’s kind of hard to get interested in a spot like that when I just saw it so recently. Other than that, the match was kind of dull at times but had enough spots to keep me interested. This was a longrunning feud so it was nice to something that felt like it mattered.
We recap the main event. Vince McMahon hates Steve Austin being WWF Champion and wants someone he can control holding the belt instead. His solution is corporate Dude Love and the deck is crazy stacked against Austin. This has all of the potential to go nuts and that’s rather intriguing.
Vince McMahon, with his arms around the Stooges, insists that the pin must be counted by his hand and if Austin attacks him, Love is the new champion.
WWF Title: Steve Austin vs. Dude Love
Austin is defending, Vince McMahon is guest referee (and has insisted that the pin MUST be counted by his hand alone), Pat Patterson is guest ring announcer and Gerald Brisco is timekeeper. Patterson, Brisco and McMahon get crazy over the top introductions, with Fink reading Patterson’s off a card (the tournament is mentioned and JR says “wink wink” to make me chuckle).
Patterson does Brisco, McMahon and Love’s introductions and these things are just hilarious, as they’re winding the crowd up more and more with every word. Briscoe even gets the address and phone number of his body shop included. Love comes in and that dance continues to be amazing. Finally it’s time for Austin and the fans clearly come up, as they are more than ready to explode.
Patterson isn’t going to give Austin an introduction though because he is A BUM! The glass shatters and the place goes nuts again. McMahon goes to ring the bell….and the gong strikes. Undertaker comes out, apparently here to make sure this is called as fairly as realistically possible. The bell finally rings (about thirteen minutes after the introductions started) and Love backs into the corner, with Austin being stopped and flipping McMahon off as a result.
A shoulder gives Love a rather speedy two and Undertaker gets up on the steps. They trade headlocks with Austin grinding away and knocking Love’s teeth out. Austin stomps on said teeth (a spot he lifted from Ronnie Garvin to Ox Baker) and there’s the Thesz press to hammer away. A clothesline puts Love on the floor, where Austin is whipped hard into the steps. McMahon says there’s no countouts so they go back inside for Love’s Russian legsweep. The near fall has Undertaker glaring at McMahon again but Austin fights up and unloads with the stomps in the corner.
The Mandible Claw goes on but Love gets sent over the top and gets his head tied in the ropes, once again proving that Mick Foley is not a well man. Love gets out and is able to send Austin over the announcers’ table. That’s enough for Patterson to announce that this is No DQ, sending JR into a rant as only he can give. Love chokes with a cable but Austin fights back and sends Love into Brisco.
A clothesline knocks Love into the crowd and Austin hammers away, only to miss a running crotch attack back inside. Brisco gets up and holds up his hammer because he is in fact ok, leaving JR all the more annoyed. They go back outside where Love hits the running neckbreaker in the aisle. Patterson: “Just a reminder that this match is falls count anywhere!” JR: “SINCE WHEN???”
Love backslides Austin in the aisle for two and gets dropped with a running clothesline as you can see Austin turn it up again. Austin charges into a backdrop onto the hood of a car (as part of the set for the Brisco Brothers Body Shop ad), both for two and to leave the car’s emergency flashers going. Love charges into a Stun Gun onto the top of a car as Undertaker is up there watching with them. Austin sends him onto the trunk of a car for two (on the trunk) but the Stunner on top of the car is broken up.
Love grabs a diving sunset flip off the car onto the floor for two so let’s grab a lead pipe. A shot to the back has Austin in more trouble but he fires up again and slugs away but a piledriver on the floor is reversed into a backdrop. That gets two on the rather bloody Austin but he avoids the diving elbow off the car (because, again, Foley is willing to dive off a car onto concrete like a crazy man).
They get back inside, where Love hammers away some more (notice that Love has been winning for the most part, as he’s a viable challenger in addition to all of the cheating/deck stacking). The running knee hits Austin in the corner and we hit the reverse chinlock. Austin fights back but gets sent into an exposed turnbuckle for two. A double arm DDT onto the chair gets two more but Austin kicks the chair into Love’s face.
Austin gets up, bounces the chair off the top (and almost hits himself in the head) and cracks Love in the head with it…for nothing, as McMahon just stands there. Love comes up and chairs McMahon in the head by mistake, with Austin hitting the Stunner. Another referee comes in but Patterson breaks it up and decks him.
Love gets the Mandible Claw and Patterson counts to two (Austin’s shoulder being way off the mat makes it even better) so Undertaker chokeslams Patterson through the announcers’ table. Brisco tries the same thing and gets the same result. Austin reverses the Claw into the Stunner and, in a brilliant move, grabs McMahon’s hand and uses it to count the pin (fulfilling McMahon’s own rule) 22:27. Undertaker points to the timekeeper to ring the bell and Austin celebrates, clearly knowing they just nailed that.
Rating: A. Sweet goodness I love this match. They beat the living daylights out of each other and it built up everything until Austin FINALLY got the numbers closer to even and won in the end. That’s telling a good story, as you were starting to wonder how he could pull this off. The other key is that at the end of the day, it’s Austin vs. Foley, which would be a good match in a phone booth. It was a story that was well put together for the two of them and then they delivered like no one else could have. Heck of a main event here and one of my favorite matches ever.
Austin and Undertaker have a rather intense staredown and Austin celebrates to end the show.
Results
LOD 2000 b. Disciples Of Apocalypse – Powerslam to Skull
Jeff Jarrett b. Steve Blackman – Martial arts stick to the back
Marc Mero b. Sable – Small package
Kaientai b. Taka Michinoku/Justin Bradshaw – Top rope backsplash to Michinoku
The Rock b. Faarooq – Rollup with feet on the ropes
Kane b. Vader – Tombstone
Nation Of Domination b. D-Generation X – Pedigree onto a belt to HHH
Steve Austin b. Dude Love – Stunner
