Raw History: Episode 244 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 124

Raw History
Episode #244
January 26th, 1998 | UC Davis Rec Hall in Davis, California | Attendance: 5,926

WWF Champion: Shawn Michaels (3) since 11/9/97
WWF Intercontinental Champion: The Rock (2) since 12/8/97
WWF European Champion: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (1) since 12/22/97
WWF Tag Team Champions: Billy Gunn (4) and Road Dogg (1) since 11/24/97
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (1) since 12/7/97

VIDEO PACKAGE ~ The show opened with clips of Mike Tyson begins excited that Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble. Things turned soured a night later, when Austin flipped Tyson the bird and they brawled to close Raw. Tonight, we’ll hear from Don King on the situation.

Your hosts: Jim Ross, Kevin Kelly, and Michael Cole.

Ken Shamrock w/ Ahmed Johnson and DOA vs. Mark Henry w/ The Nation of Domination
JR hyped this as a “huge” match. Shamrock was initially alone, but added the backup during his entrance. JR announced that at No Way Out of Texas next month, the NOD would face Ahmed, DOA, and Shamrock in a “War of Attrition” Match. Henry ran through Shamrock to start. Unfortunately, he slowed things way down by working a lengthy bear hug. I believe that was his finisher at the time. Either way, Shamrock didn’t submit and got free. He impressed with a belly to belly suplex, but then everyone hopped in the ring for a brawl, causing the DQ in 3:19. Everything outside of the bear hug was okay. That bear hug was most of the match, though. [½*]

TONIGHT ~ Don King, as well as a huge DX announcement regarding Mike Tyson. Plus, HHH defends the European Title against Owen Hart!

NEVER BEFORE SEEN FOOTAGE ~ Before we get to that footage, a recap of the Undertaker/Kane saga was shown. The new clips were just of officials opening the casket and finding it empty. Where had the Undertaker gone?

WWF REWIND ~ Shawn Michaels dressed as Undertaker last week.

Barry Windham and NWA North American Champion Jeff Jarrett w/ Jim Cornette & The Rock n’ Roll Express vs. The Legion of Doom
Jim Cornette joined commentary to rave about the NWA and how much better off Windham is now that he’s dumped Bradshaw. He also said his NWA group was the only legitimate NWA affiliation and everyone else using the name was a fraud. LOD were in control early, and even after Jarrett hit the leapfrog guillotine, Hawk no sold it. Despite his best efforts to not sell anything, it was Hawk who took the heat for his guys. Animal got the hot tag and LOD got going. A distraction led to Animal eating a piledriver and a shot from the tennis racket to lose in 5:04. Of course, Animal still felt the need to kick out at three. LOD were ridiculous. Match was inoffensive and fine. [*½]

Backstage, we got a peek at DX. HHH was nude, with Shawn and Chyna holding titles strategically in front of him. GET IT? NUDITY. THEY’RE RAUNCHY!

LAST WEEK ~ Austin/Tyson recap.

Backstage, DX got to talk. Chyna wrapped HHH’s leg, while he cut a promo on Owen Hart and called him Mr. Hankey. He threatened to send Owen to that cesspool down south. Shawn Michaels took over and called himself a role model. Due to Austin’s actions, Shawn offered to give up his title defense against Austin at WrestleMania, so Austin could duke it out with Mike Tyson instead. HHH praised the idea, but said Shawn needed to be involved at Mania for the fans. They thought about “handling” Sable or managing one of the minis, before Shawn revealed a referee’s shirt. He said to ask Undertaker about how great a special referee he is.

TAFKA Goldust w/ Luna vs. Vader
Goldust came out dressed as a bad Vader cosplay. This went the way you’d expect. Vader dominated for the most part, using his size and strength to overwhelm Goldust. Vader delivered a powerbomb and called for the Vader Bomb. At around 3:00, the lights went out to signal the arrival of Kane and Paul Bearer. [NR]

Goldust and Luna bailed, but Vader waited for Kane. The big men traded blows, with Vader winning out. He wrecked Kane with a piledriver, except he dropped to his knees. It looked painful. Kane sat up rather quickly and planted Vader with a Tombstone.

EARLIER TODAY ~ Mick Foley and Terry Funk spoke in the ring, completely out of character, about all their personalities.

WAR ZONE! Jerry Lawler replaced Cole and Kelly.

Non-Title Match: Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie vs. WWF Tag Team Champions The New Age Outlaws
Expecting a hardcore atmosphere, the champions wore catcher’s gear to the ring. They were right for a bit, as we got some brawling on the ramp and around the ring. Cactus went for a low blow, but Road Dogg was wearing a cup like a genius. When they got the match to sort of slow down, Charlie got isolated. Cactus’ hot tag was fun and he busted out the Double Arm DDT. Chainsaw began throwing chairs in the ring, having ECW flashbacks. Cactus removed Dogg’s cup (why?) and hit him in the head with a chair. He added the Cactus Elbow, with a chair, on Billy Gunn for the DQ in 5:08. Hey, that was pretty fun. It was the right amount of wild and did a great job building this feud. [**¾]

Post-match, Cactus put the referee in the Mandible Claw. Once that was done, they laid chairs on Dogg, so Chainsaw could hit a moonsault onto him. Good stuff.

VIDEO PACKAGE ~ A special look at TAKA Michinoku, set to a really poor Star Wars type opening text scroll.

Brian Christopher vs. Pantera
Honky Tonk Man handled guest ring announcing duties. JR indicated that the winner would be in line to face TAKA for the Light Heavyweight Title at No Way Out. Lawler promised to shake the hand of the winner. Christopher opened with a German suplex. Pantera retaliated with a tope suicida, but then Christopher busted out the SKULL CRUSHING FINALE! Where’s this offense coming from? To continue, he also threw in a sunset flip bomb to the outside. In the end, he missed the Tennessee Jam and got rolled up to lose in 4:28. Not much structure, but credit to Christopher for showing some new offense. [**¼]

Jerry Lawler indeed shook Pantera’s hand, but then knocked him out.

Backstage, Cactus and Chainsaw were going to speak, but DX showed up. It was just for a distraction, as the Outlaws attacked from behind, dropping a fence onto them. While trapped, DX and the Outlaws pounded on them with various weapons. Good segment as it furthered the feud, had action, and planted more seeds for the post-Mania DX.

The Headbangers vs. The Quebecers
I would’ve loved if the Quebecers stuck around. They’d be so out of place in the Attitude Era, but it would’ve been amazing. The crowd didn’t care about anything either team was doing, though. Pierre took a double back body drop, and then got knocked off the top as his guys looked for the finish. Thrasher rolled up Jacques to win in 3:08. Not much here. [NR]

The Quebecers attacked after the match. They sent Thrasher outside and hit Mosh with an Alabama Slam into a Boston crab/diving leg drop combo. I dug that move.

WWF European Championship: Hunter Hearst Helmsley [c] w/ Chyna vs. Owen Hart
In a hilarious scene, we didn’t get HHH and Chyna. Instead, it was Goldust and Luna dressed as them. Goldust had the blonde wig and a giant fake nose. He lost the wig during the battle, as it looked like he would officially replace HHH in this one. They brawled outside for a bit, before Owen connected on a cross body for two. Shoutout to Goldust for actually doing some of HHH’s signature offense. This went through a commercial break. Owen hit a missile dropkick, but Luna whacked him with a crutch. Owen managed to counter the Pedigree and win via Sharpshooter in 5:11. Decent enough, especially when you consider how Goldust worked like Hunter. [**]

DX appeared on the Titantron to laugh at Owen for winning a meaningless match. That brought out Commissioner Slaughter to say that Goldust was so convincing as Hunter, that he’s awarding Owen the European Title. DX threw a massive fit, even though they treated the European Title like it meant nothing.

VIDEO PACKAGE ~ Highlights of the Tyson/Austin segment, as well as some of the media coverage it got.

Don King spoke from his office in Fort Lauderdale, saying that the Nevada State Commission said Mike Tyson can’t fight. So, he and Vince McMahon will work together to find a creative solution to bring Steve Austin and Tyson together for WrestleMania.

Steve Austin came out for our show closing promo. He said that he’ll beat Tyson’s ass anywhere. He also threatened to knock his gold tooth out and turn it into a necklace. Damn. Austin threw down the gauntlet, saying he’d be in Houston for the PPV on February 15th and Tyson could meet him there if he wanted to. If he does, Austin will knock him out. AND THAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE…CAUSE STONE COLD SAID SO!

WCW Souled Out 1998 Results
Chavo Guerrero Jr., Juventud Guerrera, Lizmark Jr., & Super Calo def. El Dandy, La Parka, Psychosis, & Silver King in 9:30
Raven’s Rules: Chris Benoit def. Raven in 10:36
WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Chris Jericho def. Rey Mysterio Jr. [c] in 8:22
WCW Television Championship: Booker T [c] def. Rick Martel in 10:51
Larry Zbyszko def. Scott Hall via DQ in 9:14
Ray Traylor and the Steiner Brothers def. Buff Bagwell, Konnan, and Scott Norton in 12:20
Kevin Nash def. The Giant in 10:48
Bret Hart def. Ric Flair in 18:06
Lex Luger def. Randy Savage in 7:09

Reliving Nitro
Episode #124
January 26th, 1998 | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana | Attendance: N/A

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Vacant since 1/8/98
WCW United States Champion: Diamond Dallas Page (1) since 12/28/97
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders (4) since 1/12/98
WCW Television Champion: Booker T (1) since 12/29/97
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Chris Jericho (3) since 1/24/98

48 hours removed from Souled Out and the first episode of the three hour era of Nitro.

SOULED OUT ~ Roddy Piper announced that Hulk Hogan and Sting will meet at SuperBrawl to determine the real World Champion. Poor Scott Hall.

HOUR ONE! Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Larry Zbyszko host. They ran down Dusty Rhodes turning on Zbyszko and WCW at Souled Out, as well as the Giant’s injury.

El Dandy vs. Ultimo Dragon
A HECK OF A WRESTLER, A GREAT TECHNICIAN AND A JAM UP GUY! El Dandy is the best way to open a three hour Nitro. These guys worked a wrist lock while the crowd focused on the arrival of the Flock. According to a note Schiavone got, the Flock paid for their seats today. El Dandy avoided the Dragonrana, but leapt into a dropkick. Moonsault press into the Dragon Sleeper and that was it at 2:37. That was dandy – Heenan. [NR]

Lex Luger cut a whisper promo about how WCW is playing for keeps, just like the nWo. Okay.

NITRO PARTY ~ Mean Gene and the Nitro Girls were at UT Chattanooga for the grand prize winners of this party. It was basically a big frat house full of dudes from the 90s. I bet you can just picture it.

Bill Goldberg vs. Brad Armstrong
We know how this will end. Armstrong made this one fun with a strange sense of confidence. Like, he’d get the jump on Goldberg and relish in it, or when he avoided him in the corner, he celebrated. Of course, that just led to the Spear and Jackhammer in 1:47. A squash, but an enjoyable one. [NR]

DDP spoke before the break, like Luger earlier, to say that Nash dumping Giant on his head at Souled Out wasn’t right.

Mike Tenay was tasked with Mean Gene duties, as he stood by the ramp to send us to footage from Souled Out. They showed Nash try to Jackknife Giant, only to drop him on his head. Tenay brought out JJ Dillon, who spoke of the severity of the situation. He mentioned all the extra protective measures put in place in other major sports, hoping WCW could find something similar. Dillon said the tests done on the Giant don’t look good. In an effort to try and make WCW safer, Dillon banned all powerbombs, saying anyone who does one will be disqualified and fined. That got booed. He took it comically far by suggesting Nash would face criminal prosecution if he did it again.

Jerry Flynn vs. Konnan w/ Vincent
Exhibit A for why three hours is a bad idea. Commentary focused on the powerbomb announcement because there was nothing interesting in the ring. Flynn held serve until Vincent distracted him. Konnan went into his shitty offense for a bit, including the rolling clothesline. Not to be confused with Luger’s screaming clothesline. Flynn busted out a pescado and a powerslam inside, getting in way more offense than expected. Konnan won with the Tequila Sunrise in 4:31. Why did this go so long? [¼*]

NITRO PARTY ~ Gene attempted to make a segment out of these loud guys. He interviewed Kimberly about it and she seemed to say, “I hate my job.” Then, she danced.

Mike Tenay introduced Steve McMichael and asked him about the Super Bowl. Mongo said he didn’t care about football anymore and wanted to focus on the people joining WCW from “up north.” Speaking of WWF guys, Davey Boy Smith walked out to interrupt. He cut a lame promo saying he was in WCW now and Mongo challenged him to a match tonight, which was accepted.

Buff Bagwell w/ Vincent vs. Rick Steiner w/ Ted Dibiase
Rick tossed Buff around with ease, causing Buff to regroup with Vincent. Once back inside, Buff was back to taunting. He took an inverted atomic drop and was driven into the corner. Rick also added an inverted powerslam from the top after avoiding the Blockbuster. Scott Steiner ran down to attack Vincent, even though his cheating was barely hurting Rick. Rick hit the Steiner Bulldog and covered, but Scott threw Vincent in the ring like an idiot and it led to a DQ finish in 5:14. It was going alright until the stupid finish. [**]

Rick and Scott argued after the match. Scott walked off and complained about referees, after shoving one down.

HOUR NUMBER TWO! Same hosts.

Eric Bischoff and Kevin Nash came out to the stage to explain what went down at Souled Out. Nash told a false sob story about how Giant gave him a tough battle, but said he saw in Giant’s eyes that he was done, so he took him out back like Old Yeller and dropped him on his head. He said he no longer wanted to be called Kevin Nash, instead going by “Big Sexy the Giant Killer Kevin Nash.”

Jim Neidhard vs. Wayne Bloom
It’s not fair that Neidhart comes out to Bret Hart’s theme. I am heavily disappointed. This was your basic powerhouse squash. Bloom is big, but very sloppy. Jim won by catching him with a powerslam in 2:44. [NR]

They advertised the first ever PAY PER LISTEN event, Boston Brawl, on 1/31. Wow.

Mike Tenay was back out, this time to get a word with Ray Traylor. He just said he’s continuing his crusade against the nWo and agreed to face Kevin Nash tonight, despite the Jackknife being “death.”

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Psychosis
The opposite of the last match. This was fast paced and featured a lot of movement. Chavo pinned Psychosis in a tag at Souled Out. He went for several flash pins here, but it wasn’t enough. Psychosis took a rough bump onto the steel steps, with Chavo following to connect on a dive. Psychosis fought off a superplex and scored on the guillotine leg drop to even the score from two nights ago at 4:47. A crisp match with a fair amount of action. [**¼]

Juventud Guerrera vs. Louie Spicolli w/ Scott Hall
Louie was out to earn a spot in the nWo. Hall did his usual survey before the match and it was rather even. Juvi used his quickness to surprise Louie. Louie turned it around as camera went to the parking lot. Macho Man arrived and was livid. He even struggled to get his bag from the trunk. He came all the way out to the ring and locked Juvi for a DQ around 3:00. [NR]

Savage hit Juvi with a piledriver and snatched a microphone from ringside. He blamed his loss on his “goofy friends” and shouted that he needed no help. Is he done with the nWo? Savage called out Luger for a No DQ match. Elizabeth arrived to join him at ringside. Instead of Luger, the rest of the nWo made their way to the ring. Eric Bischoff attempted to calm him down, but Savage noted how he was tired of them and how Hogan especially made him sick. Hogan said the group will disagree, but they love each other and are in this together. Aww. Savage said he didn’t care and would rather be alone. He had the match in hand on Saturday, said they weren’t coordinated in their attack, and made a bit of a joke about Hogan not being champion anymore. They nearly came to blows and Savage got a chair, but the nWo and Bischoff kept things apart. Savage told Hogan he’d handle Luger on his own. I would’ve been all for a loose cannon babyface Savage and Sting being the guys to fully defeat the nWo. Alas, WCW missed the boat on a lot this year.

More Nitro Party fluff. They played limbo and a version of pin the tail on the donkey.

Raven’s Rules: Mortis w/ James Vandenberg vs. Raven
Commentary noted how Raven lost to Benoit at Souled Out when he passed out in the Crippler Crossface, but did so with a smile. Great character stuff. With Raven seated in the corner, Mortis rushed him with a dropkick to the nuts. They brawled outside, where Raven took a Rocker Dropper onto the steel steps. Mortis continued the beating inside with a series of knees. Raven turned things around for a short time. Mortis went for some flash pins, which felt odd. Mortis missed a shot with a chair, allowing Raven to hit the Evenflow and win in 5:32. That was a fun little match. It was kind of dumb for Vandenberg to distract the referee for the finish as it was No DQ, but other than that, this worked. [**¾]

WCW United States Championship: Diamond Dallas Page [c] vs. Wrath w/ James Vandenberg
Vandenberg went all the way backstage just to come back out. There’s potential in this matchup. DDP wore the black rib tape for this one. It’s like the WrestleMania whites. Wrath hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker early and the crowd began chanting for DDP. He’s easily the most over guy right now, with only Sting in his area. DDP countered another backbreaker with an awkward looking head scissors. Mortis tried getting involved, but it backfired and DDP hit the Diamond Cutter on Wrath to a MONSTER pop. That got him the win in 4:44. Crowd was way into that. I enjoyed it, as it had some good back and forth. [**½]

Post-match, Wrath attacked Mortis. He may have thought he was DDP by mistake.

HOUR NUMBER THREE!

Mike Tenay brought out Bret Hart to the ring for a promo. Bret thanked Ric for a great match and noted that even though Ric lost, he’ll always be the “man.” He put over Roddy Piper’s decision for the World Title at SuperBrawl, but noted that he wanted the winner. Another idea that sounded good on paper, but WCW failed to execute on.

More from the Nitro Party.

WCW Television Championship: Booker T [c] vs. Saturn w/ Lodi
Looks like we’ve got a rematch. Booker worked the arm before hitting the Harlem sidekick. Saturn bailed and used a sneaky neck snap to turn the tide. The highlight of his offense was a T-Bone suplex that got him a near fall. Saturn went into the generic heel stuff to continue his heat, until he nailed a springboard clothesline. Booker came back, including the SPINAROONIE and Scissors Kick. He went for the Harlem Hangover, but Hammer jumped the guardrail and shoved him down for a DQ at 7:19. It was okay but had a weak finish. [**¼]

The Flock jumped Booker until Rick Martel ran in to make the save. They sent the Flock packing and Saturn was left alone with them, only to back out without a fight.

Mike Tenay interviewed the new Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho. Jericho came out with a Rey Mysterio shirt to support him after he tore his ACL. He feigned concern for Rey and said he wouldn’t hurt him on purpose (which he did). He wished him a speedy recovery and called himself our role model and champion. Jericho is amazing.

Davey Boy Smith vs. Steve McMichael
Davey without “Rule Britannia” is strange. They played the powerhouse matchup, with both men showcasing their strengths. Mongo ran him over a few times, but was cut off before hitting the Mongo Spike. Bulldog comes back from out of nowhere and wins with the running powerslam in 3:04. The crowd didn’t care. [NR]

Kevin Nash vs. Ray Traylor
Nash, not caring about anything, drank a cup of coffee on his way to the ring. When the match began, he threw the coffee in Ray’s face and hit the Jackknife to get DQed in 0:31. [NR]

Nash was handcuffed and taken out of the arena, but he enjoyed it. He kept shouting ATTICA.

Lex Luger vs. Scott Hall
Hall cut a short promo before the match where he ran down Larry Zbyszko for being a scrub. Zbyszko went to attack but was held back. The match itself saw Luger dominate as if this were a squash. He picked up Hall for the Torture Rack, but Savage ran in with a chair and clocked him for a DQ in 2:43. [NR]

Savage continued the attack and hit the big elbow. He went for a second and Sting came down from the rafters. The crowd went nuts and Heenan said he’d never seen anything like it before, even though Sting does it often. In an awesome moment, he kicked Savage off the top on his way down. Sting hit Stinger Splashes and put on the Scorpion Death Lock. The nWo arrived, but instead of helping, they taunted Savage. Sting let go and pointed at Hogan to end the show.

Raw MVP: Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie
Raw LVP: The Headbangers
Nitro MVP: DDP
Nitro LVP: Konnan

Raw Rating: 3.5
Nitro Rating: 4.7

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Raw: Another good episode of Raw. The Austin/Tyson stuff is being set up perfectly, while the DX inclusion isn’t too heavy handed yet. The show featured some solid wrestling matches and almost nothing bad. The WWF also used this show to set a lot of things in motion (future DX, Kane/Vader, the War of Attrition match, and a Light Heavyweight Title match). Thumbs up. 7.5

Nitro: Had this been a two hour show, it would’ve ranked higher. There were a fair amount of things to like, from the TV and US Title matches being solid to a strong Savage segment to a good Raven match to a fun Goldberg squash. The ending was cool, Nash was great, and Jericho ruled. However, there’s just too much fluff. Several matches felt like wastes of time and that was especially true for the Nitro party cuts. 6.5