Raw History: Episode 253 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 133

WrestleMania XIV Results
LOD 2000 won a tag team battle royal in 8:19 [¾*]
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship: TAKA Michinoku [c] def. Aguila in 5:59
WWF European Championship: Triple H [c] def. Owen Hart in 11:30
Marc Mero and Sable def. Luna Vachon and TAFKA Goldust in 9:12
WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Rock [c] def. Ken Shamrock via DQ in 4:50
WWF Tag Team Championship Dumpster Match: Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie def. The New Age Outlaws [c] in 10:01
The Undertaker def. Kane in 16:58
WWF Championship: Steve Austin def. Shawn Michaels [c] in 20:02 [***¾]

Raw History
Episode #253
March 30th, 1998 | Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York | Attendance: 11,202

WWF Champion: Steve Austin (1) since 3/29/98
WWF Intercontinental Champion: The Rock (2) since 12/8/97
WWF European Champion: Triple H (2) since 3/17/98
WWF Tag Team Champions: Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie (1) since 3/29/98
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (1) since 12/7/97

RECAP ~ The show opened with a video package of WrestleMania highlights.

Your hosts for Raw: Jim Ross and Michael Cole.

Vince McMahon made his way out to the ring with a new championship on his shoulder. He was greeted with boos. The fans were so loud that Vince had to check if the microphone was working. Michael Cole gave away that the title Vince had was the new WWF Title. Vince introduced Stone Cold to a thunderous ovation. Austin hit the ring, saw the shiny new title, and snatched it from Vince. This title had the old WWF logo (not the scratch one) and a blue strap. Everything Vince said got massive heat. He claimed to be proud of the new WWF Champion and said that Austin’s physical prowess, combined with Vince’s mental prowess could make Austin the greatest WWF Champion ever. Austin said he wouldn’t be molded and that he knows Vince hates him. Vince said he was incapable of hate and quickly dropped in that he loved Austin. HA! Austin made him say it again and reciprocated the love. Funny stuff. Vince pulled his “easy way” or the “hard way” stuff. Austin took a few seconds to ponder which way he wanted to do things, before dropping Vince with a Stunner. The MSG one the previous September was historic, but this one meant more as it truly kicked off the Austin/McMahon rivalry that would dominate 1998. Great opening segment.

Backstage, Vince McMahon was checked on by the stooges.

LOD 2000 w/ Sunny vs. Los Boricuas
LOD returned at WrestleMania with a new look and Sunny as their flame-bra wearing manager. LOD won this handily in 0:33 with the Doomsday Device. Sunny said this was what happened when you mixed “twisted steel with sex appeal.” [NR]

JR noted how Cactus and Chainsaw aren’t the Tag Champions due to not using the proper dumpster to win. The titles will be on the line in a Steel Cage match tonight.

Backstage, Kevin Kelly informed us that Vince called the police and demanded Austin be arrested tonight.

After a break, Kevin Kelly spoke again to say that Austin didn’t care if the cops showed up because Vince didn’t have the balls to have him arrested.

Chainz vs. Kurrgan w/ The Jackyl
Kurrgan was the guy getting pushed, so the former fake Undertaker was here to job. Kurrgan dominated and won with the Claw in 2:15. Jackyl said this was all “our fault.” Kurrgan carried Chainz to the back by the skull. [NR]

Outside, Vince greeted Albany police to the arena.

AD ~ Jakks Pacific presents: WWF Slammers! A new line of figures! Mankind was the star of the commercial.

Vince walked the cops towards Austin’s locker room.

Aguila vs. Jeff Jarrett w/ Tennessee Lee
Considering Jarrett is a featured guy and Aguila is a light heavyweight, the outcome here was obvious. Lee joined commentary throughout this match. Aguila got in more offense than expected but fell to the Figure Four in 2:38. [NR]

Post-match, Steve Blackman ran out and beat up Jarrett. Lee got involved but hid behind the referee. That allowed Jarrett hit Blackman from behind and bail.

Backstage, the cops have Austin handcuffed and taken out of the arena. As Austin passed Vince, he tackled him into some lockers. McMahon said he deserved what was happening.

After a break, Vince came to the ring with Gerald Brisco and Commissioner Slaughter. The heat was off the charts. He simply said that Austin needed a 24 hour period to cool off. Austin made his choice and Vince made his.

TONIGHT ~ With the status of Shawn Michaels uncertain, Triple H will address the status of DX.

In the back, the Nation of Domination stood by. The Rock, with a new purple strap, oval shaped Intercontinental Title, was interviewed about retaining by sketchy circumstances last night. Rock said he was hurting after last night but promised to lay the smack down on Shamrock. He turned his attention to Faarooq, saying he was grateful and put him over as the reason the Rock has been successful. Rock promised that the Nation would be stronger than ever going forward.

WAR ZONE! Jerry Lawler replaced Cole.

Faarooq and WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock w/ The NOD vs. Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman
Rock sold an ankle injury from Mania. Still, he wanted to start the match and acted all big and bad. However, Faarooq got the start and brought some power. He played the rare heel in peril role, though it makes sense in this match. When Faarooq got close to tagging the Rock, he raised his hand higher and then hobbled away due to the ankle. Shamrock ended him with a belly to belly in 4:23. It told the story it had to. [*]

Pissed off, Faarooq demanded the Rock come back out to take an ass whopping. Rock showed up and got in Faarooq’s face. The NOD attempted to keep them apart. Faarooq took Rock down and they traded shots. Security broke it up and Rock left with the rest of the NOD in the ring. Faarooq told Rock to get his ass back to the ring. Rock did the People’s Eyebrow and the rest of the Nation jumped Faarooq! Rock joined in and declared himself the new ruler of the Nation. Big time angle that set up the next phase of Rock’s legendary career.

WWF REWIND ~ Kane Tombstoned Pete Rose last night, setting up a three year angle.

Triple H and Chyna now arrived to discuss what was going down with DX. HHH began by talking about Mike Tyson and how he kept wondering if he was really in DX. Shawn kept telling him not to worry and it turned out, HHH was right. With Shawn taking his ball and going home, HHH was now taking over and was building the DX army. The first thing he did was look to the Kliq for help. That brought out the returning 1-2-3 Kid to a surprisingly big pop! He got on the mic and threw some insults at Hulk Hogan, saying he sucked and that Eric Bischoff’s head was up his ass. He added that Kevin Nash and Scott Hall would be there if they weren’t held up by contracts. Wow. Tonight, DX would begin “ripping ass” on WWF. Another big moment on this show.

WWF SLAM OF THE WEEK ~ The Sable Bomb last night.

VIGNETTE ~ Val Venis! He talked about his “member” and made a lot of sexual innuendos.

Non-Title Match: Marc Mero w/ Sable vs. WWF Light Heavyweight Champion TAKA Michinoku
Big pop for Sable. Before the bell, Luna stepped to the stage to request a rematch. Sable accepted and said Luna could have any match she wanted. Luna announced it would be an Evening Gown match, where you strip your opponent to win. The match itself was a squash, with Mero hitting the TKO to end it in 1:37. [NR]

Post-match, three Japanese men hit the ring and attacked TAKA. The future Kaientai.

NWA Tag Team Championship: The Headbangers [c] vs. The New Midnight Express
Jim Cornette introduced the debuting NWA Champion, Dan Severn. THE BEAST! The most important thing happening was Cornette hyping up Severn and his win over Ken Shamrock in the Octagon. Lawler also got word of DX introducing another new member tonight. The crowd sat on their hands for this, making the hot tag to Mosh a moot point. The challengers weathered that and won the titles with the Rocket Launcher in 4:02. Meh. [½*]

Afterwards, Severn beat up the Headbangers to show his dominance.

Steve Austin used his one phone call to contact Jim Ross and not a lawyer. He said the Stunner was not punishable by death, so when he gets out, Vince’s ass belongs to him.

As they set up the Steel Cage for our main event, Kane and Paul Bearer came out for a promo on the stage. Bearer spoke about a dream with a ring surrounded by fire. He issued a challenge to the Undertaker for another match at Unforgiven. An Inferno match where the loser must be set on fire. All these new stipulations for Unforgiven.

WWF Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match: Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie vs. The New Age Outlaws
Before this began, we got a shot of a nasty bruise that Charlie got from the Dumpster match. Look at Road Dogg sporting a JOB Squad shirt long before they became an official stable. Funk’s bruise was the target of Gunn right from the opening bell. We got a cool spot where Billy was hung upside down from the top of the cage and hit with a tree of Joey Lawrence attack. The Outlaws tied Funk to the cage by his neck, which looked pretty rough. When Cactus hit a double DDT and seemed on the verge of a comeback, out came Chyna, HHH, and Sean Waltman. The latter cracked Cactus with a chair to send him back inside. They threw the chair in the ring so the Outlaws could drill Cactus with a Spike Piledriver on the chair and regain the titles at 4:22. Fine little match with some creative spots. [**]

Waltman and HHH entered the cage to continue the assault. Waltman debuted the Bronco Buster, prompting JR to call him “repulsive.” Cactus took a vicious chair shot and we now officially have the new DX.

Reliving Nitro
Episode #133
March 30th, 1998 | United Center in Chicago, Illinois | Attendance: N/A

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Sting (4) since 2/22/98
WCW United States Champion: Diamond Dallas Page (1) since 12/28/97
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders (5) since 2/22/98
WCW Television Champion: Booker T (2) since 2/22/98
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Chris Jericho (3) since 1/24/98

LAST THURSDAY ~ Kevin Nash put over Hulk Hogan as the nWo leader, but said the heart and soul of the group is the Wolfpac.

HOUR NUMBER ONE! Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Larry Zbyszko host.

NITRO GIRLS!

High Voltage vs. Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom
What is this? WCW Saturday Night? It was clear that the crowd had zero interest in this. Way to kill them within five minutes, WCW. The crowd finally woke up when the Giant lumbered on down to the ring. He entered the ring and started giving out Chokeslams for the no contest in 3:36. Why even book the match if that was the result? [NR]

Mean Gene brought out Roddy Piper and Giant for an interview. Giant had to lumber back out. Poor guy. Piper sucked up to the crowd with a Chicago Cubs hat. Piper put over the Giant now being angry before turning his attention to the nWo. Tonight, Nash will face Lex Luger and Sting and he must pick a partner, but it can’t be Hogan. Maybe he should pick Scott Hall. You know, the other half of the Tag Team Champions. Piper outed Disciple as being Ed Leslie (HA) and will face Hogan tonight. They should’ve opened with this and not the stupid tag stuff. Or they could’ve at least had the tag match go only a minute to get the point of the angry Giant across without boring folks.

LAST THURSDAY ~ More aired of the Nash/Hogan confrontation. Nash questioned why Syxx had no job anymore if Bischoff was in charge or why Hall wasn’t on TV anymore. Hogan said Syxx couldn’t cut it with the rest of the nWo and that he had no clue where Hall was. In the end, the main point is that there are trust issues within the nWo.

Fit Finley vs. Saturn w/ The Flock
Raven was in possession of the United States Title. It’s a battle of two of the toughest men in WCW. They lived up tot hat at points, bringing some nasty stiff offense. Finley’s offensive highlight was his patented Finley Roll. Saturn busted out a T-Bone suplex before the right went up top. Saturn brought him down with a super arm drag that set up the Rings of Saturn for the finish at 3:43. Solid and hard hitting. [**¼]

Mean Gene plugged his damn hotline.

Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff led the nWo down to the ring. Hogan claimed he built Nitro, which Schiavone questioned. I mean, without Hogan I can’t see this really ever happening. Hogan said Piper could bring it tonight and then put over Disciple as the guy who controls the people who worship Hogan. Huh? When he turned his attention to Kevin Nash, the big man came out. He said people were ready to stab Hogan in the back. In great fashion, the nWo stood right behind Hogan here. Nash said you didn’t have to worry about him because he’d shoot Hogan between the eyes. Hogan would be his partner at the PPV, but not tonight and neither would any of his nWo guys. Nash said he already had a partner, but left who it would be as a mystery. That left the nWo guys in disarray.

NITRO GIRLS!

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Chris Jericho [c] vs. Marty Jannetty
Before the match, Jericho cut a promo saying Dean Malenko shamed his father and went home after losing to Jericho. He ended it with a Hanson reference, “Mmm bop and it’s gone!” Jannetty had the old Hollywood Blondes theme. He came in hot, but had the Rocker Dropper blocked. From there, Jericho won with ease using the Liontamer in 1:21. Quick. [*]

After the match, Jericho brought out the long list of the 1,004 holds he knows. This infamous promo is still incredible. The holds are wild. #3 THE MOSS-COVERED THREE HANDED FAMILY GREDUNZA! #10 RIGHT HANDED PUNCH! I’m pretty sure #712 (the number he magically reached after commercial) was just him mumbling. Outstanding. HOUR NUMBER TWO! Prince Iaukea came out for the next match and since Malenko was his trainer, he kicked Jericho out of the ring. Iaukea said not to do this to Dean’s memory, as if he died.

Glacier vs. Prince Iaukea
According to commentary, Glacier’s attitude has taken a turn for the worse. Iaukea won a quick match with the Northern Lights Suplex in 2:04. [NR]

NITRO GIRLS!

El Dandy vs. Juventud Guerrera
I love El Dandy. He’s a heck of a wrestler, a great technician, and a jam up guy. Though this lasted longer than the previous two matches, it was still a squash. Dandy only got in a bit of stuff before falling to the Juvi Driver in 2:56. [NR]

Bobby Heenan joined commentary.

Chavo Guerrero Jr vs. Kaz Hayashi
Chavo got his shot against the Japanese wrestler his uncle beat last week. This was a solid little back and forth match. Chavo hit harder than usual, showing that the Eddie stuff is having an impact. They whiffed on a few spots, like a cross body and a rana, but I dug Hayashi’s dropkick. Chavo won via Tornado DDT in 3:51. Fine, but with a few too many mistakes to stand out. [*¾]

Raven’s Rules: Buff Bagwell w/ Scott Norton vs. Raven
Before the match, Raven cut a lengthy promo on DDP. He spoke of their past friendship, saying that DDP could’ve called in a favor when he became a star and brought Raven to WCW. Instead, he toiled away in pain in “barbed wire city.” Good stuff. He still had possession of the US Title. Weird to see him against an nWo guy. Buff got a great pop. About two minutes into this, DDP came down through the crowd and chased Raven, who scurried with the title. [NR]

With Raven gone, DDP went over to commentary and told his side of the story with Raven. He revealed how Raven had a privileged, rich life when he was growing up. He spoke about hardships and how Raven doesn’t truly know what does are. Raven helped him when they were younger, but DDP helped him too. DDP said he spent his life turning negatives into positives, while Raven turns negatives into more negatives. Great stuff from this feud.

Disco Inferno vs. Kidman
More of the Flock. A more competitive match than you might expect. Though neither man is getting pushed, they got plenty of time to put this together. Kidman was quicker, but also small and willing enough to take the bumps to make Disco look good. It came off like Disco was better, but Kidman was willing to take shortcuts or find small openings. With the Disciple now using the Stunner, Disco debuted a new finisher. The Piledriver got him the win in 5:16. Surprisingly solid match. I dig it and Disco looked strong. [**½]

HOUR NUMBER THREE!

Curt Hennig w/ Rick Rude vs. Jim Neidhart
This was used to build the Hennig/Smith match at Spring Stampede. As Neidhart pounded away on Hennig, he kept looking up at Rick on commentary and yelled, “YOU RUDE!” over and over. Not much got to happen in the match, as around 2:30, Rude hit the ring and knocked out the official for a DQ. [NR]

They handcuffed Neidhart to the ropes and beat on him until the Bulldog rushed out to the ring. For some reason, he seemed to be wearing pajama pants. Brian Adams showed up and hit the piledriver on Bulldog. Dear nWo, STOP STEALING DISCO’S MOVES! Finally, out came Bret Hart for the real save. They probably could’ve set up the Hart Foundation against these nWo guys, but instead it feels like Bret had to keep rescuing his scrub family members.

WCW Television Championship: Booker T [c] vs. Chris Benoit
Last week they went to a time limit draw at 10:00 that was really closer to 7:00. Damn WCW. Commentary announced Iaukea/Jericho, Bulldog/Hennig, and DDP/Raven for Spring Stampede. This match opened with a tight collar and elbow tie up. It felt like they were showcasing how evenly matched these guys were. The big offense came quick, with a Booker spinebuster and Benoit German suplex. The action picked up even more leading to some of their best offensive shots. Benoit applied the Crippler Crossface, but Booker got to the ropes. They traded shots as the bell rang at 9:34 for another draw. Again with the incorrect clock? A banger of a match while we got it. Great offense and they went all out for the time given. [***½]

The fight nearly continued after the match, but the referee kept things civil.

NITRO GIRLS!

Psicosis vs. Ultimo Dragon
Unfortunately, this was another case of a match being more of an angle than anything. After a bit of action, the Flock jumped Psicosis for injuring Lodi last week at 2:14. [NR]

Ultimo Dragon helped Psicosis clean house.

Goldberg vs. Ray Traylor
We’re at 66-0 and Goldberg, who has dropped the “Bill” from his name, is way over. DA MAN. Traylor went right at him and got in more offense than most. It makes no difference. Goldberg took him down with ease and finished him with the Spear and Jackhammer in 2:21. Say what you will about WCW, but Goldberg was getting over fast. Huge reaction. [NR]

That was the end of Traylor’s WCW run. Outside, Saturn had to be held back by his Flock mates.

Kevin Nash and ? vs. Lex Luger and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting
Big time Michael Buffer for our double main event. As Sting and Luger made their entrance, Randy Savage jumped Sting. If anyone was shocked by Savage as Nash’s partner, I’d be stunned. He didn’t care about defying Hogan and had issues with Sting. He dropped Sting with a piledriver (poor Disco) on the floor. The story of this match was Sting being dealt with outside, while Luger took the heat. It was hilarious due to Luger’s loud selling. When Sting finally got going, the place erupted. Sting and Savage brawled outside and Hogan showed up, only to get tossed into the post. He did manage to distract the official long enough for Disciple to break up the Torture Rack and hit the Apocalypse. Nash covered to steal this in 6:28. I liked the idea of Sting being isolated outside. The heat segment was decent enough and the finish made sense. [**]

Hulk Hogan w/ The Disciple vs. Roddy Piper
Piper showed up right after the last match to brawl with Hogan in the aisle. They headed to the back before commercial. When it returned, they tried to do normal intros and use Buffer. Instead, Piper and Hogan brawled back down to the ring. That’s really all this was. A big, boring brawl until Piper locked in the Sleeper Hold and Disciple ran in for the cheap DQ at 5:05. Dull and void of emotion. [¼*]

After the match, Disciple hit Piper with the Apocalypse. Kevin Nash came out to help the nWo and held Piper for Hogan to hit him. Of course, that contrived action led to Hogan missing and hitting Nash. A pissed Nash brought THE STRAPS DOWN! Before anything could go down, the Giant arrived and the nWo guys scattered.

Raw MVP: Vince McMahon
Raw LVP: The Headbangers
Nitro MVP: DDP
Nitro LVP: Jim Neidhart

Raw Rating: 3.8
Nitro Rating: 4.2

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Raw:  This was one of those cases where Raw didn’t give us great matches, but still delivered in spades. Especially as a “Raw after Mania.” They set up so much for the rest of 1998. The Rock took over as the Nation leader, Waltman returned, the new DX formed, Severn debuted, we got new titles, and the Austin/McMahon angle was a banger. 9.0

Nitro: For the most part, this was a strong episode. Booker/Benoit was a ton of fun, while Chris Jericho continued to be entertaining. The DDP/Raven feud picked up big time in terms of interest. Goldberg was way over. Things worked. But again, two recurring issues reared their ugly heads. The nWo stuff is just not interesting and this would’ve worked much better as a two hour show instead of three. 7.0