wrestling / Video Reviews

Raw History: Episode 269 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 149

January 16, 2019 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
WCW Nitro Image Credit: WCW
8
The 411 Rating
Community Grade
12345678910
Your Grade
Loading...
Raw History: Episode 269 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 149  


Raw History
Episode #269
July 20th, 1998 | Broom County Arena in Binghamton, New York | Attendance: N/A

WWF Champion: Steve Austin (2) since 6/29/98
WWF Intercontinental Champion: The Rock (2) since 12/8/97
WWF Tag Team Champions: Kane (1) and Mankind (3) since 7/13/98
WWF European Champion: Triple H (2) since 3/17/98
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (1) since 12/7/97

TV-MA WARNING!

RAW! Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler hosted.

Mr. McMahon came down to the ring for a big announcement. He started by running down the recent actions of The Undertaker the past few weeks and how it seems like he’s working with Kane. It all led to him bringing out Undertaker to get the official word on if he was in cahoots with his brother. Vince called him a disappointment and said he needs to learn respect if he is going to be a champion for the ages. Undertaker remained quiet, which pissed off Vince. To teach him a lesson, he booked him against Kane and Mankind in a handicap match. Before Undertaker could leave, Vince told him to “go to hell,” which is what Taker said to him last week. That got him a Chokeslam and the crowd went wild. The Stooges rushed out and also took a beating from the Deadman. Hot ending, but the first five minutes were just wasting time.

WWF European Championship: Triple H [c] w/ Chyna vs. D-Lo Brown w/ The Rock
D-Lo was a last minute decision by the Nation, so Triple H had no real time to prepare for this challenge. Though HHH is just the European Champion, he feels way higher in the pecking order than D-Lo. Brown avoided the Pedigree early, but was knocked outside, leading to a confrontation with Chyna. She leveled him while Rock accidentally had the referee distracted. Rock made up for it with a cheap shot that swung the momentum in Brown’s favor. Mark Henry arrived and got into it with Chyna, allowing The Rock to sneak in with the Rock Bottom. D-Lo covered and we’ve got a new champion in 6:02. A fine little match that did what it needed to. HHH drops the title he’s above and D-Lo gets a big win. [**]

Backstage, DX was furious about the loss. Triple H promised Rock wouldn’t leave with the Intercontinental Title tonight. He faces X-Pac later.

Brawl for All: Pierre vs. Steve Williams
The entire point of this tournament was to make Steve Williams, who is debuting here, a star. He was set to feud with Steve Austin. Of course, since the tournament was a shoot, that couldn’t be guaranteed. JR probably put him over as the toughest dude ever and couldn’t imagine him losing. For one night, Williams looked like the guy they wanted. He dominated Pierre and won when the ref stopped this in the third round. [NR]

LAST WEEK ~ Val Venis revealed he was sleeping with Mrs. Yamaguchi-San.

Back at the arena, Kaientai were at ringside. Yamaguchi-San, wearing his tie around his head, scolded his wife for embarrassing him and sent her into the ring to punish her. He forced her to do a “crawl of shame.” That meant she would crawl under his legs and he’d paddle her on the butt as she went by. Of course, our homewrecking hero, Val Venis, made the save. He beat on Kaientai with the paddle and cleared the ring. Yamaguchi-San saved this segment because he was such an over the top campy villain that you can’t help but crack up.

SLAM OF THE WEEK ~ The Undertaker chokeslamming Vince and co. earlier tonight.

Animal vs. Skull was set to be next. However, Hawk never showed up, so DOA beat on Animal. They attempted to run over Animal’s leg with one of their motorcycles, but Hawk managed to arrive just in time to at least prevent that.

Jeff Jarrett w/ Southern Justice and Tennessee Lee vs. Steve Blackman w/ Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock
I’m all for a Blackman/Severn/Shamrock trios team. Anyway, this feud is still going on and nobody seems to care. This match surprisingly didn’t go the way I expected. Instead of shenanigans, it had a clean finish and saw Blackman win via bicycle kick in 2:11. Uh, has Jarrett fallen this hard? [¾*]

After the match, Owen Hart ran out and attacked Shamrock from behind. Blackman checked on him, but Severn just walked off.

Michael Cole attempted to get a word with The Undertaker, but he had his bags and exited the building. Cole informed us that the only words he got from him was that he’ll be at Fully Loaded.

WAR ZONE!

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin made his way down to the ring for an interview with Jim Ross. Of course, Austin took the microphone and cut the promo on his own. He said he was still wondering if Undertaker would be his partner on Sunday of if it was going to be 3 on 1. He didn’t know if Taker left to screw Vince or because he didn’t want to fight Kane. When he said Vince deserved to get screwed, that brought out the Chairman and his Stooges. Vince replaced Undertaker with Austin in the handicap match tonight. Austin said he beat both of them so he wasn’t going to wrestle. Vince said if he didn’t, he’d strip him of the WWF Title. Austin agreed, but promised to beat the “living shit” out of Vince once he was done. Incredible. To the point segment and Austin always brought the intensity.

LAST WEEK ~ Jason Sensation did more impersonations until Owen Hart came out and attacked him.

Faarooq vs. Owen Hart
A little less than a year ago, these guys were in the finals of an Intercontinental Title Tournament. Faarooq didn’t seem to get how to work as a babyface with his character. He didn’t give you any reason to cheer for him in this. The fans chanted “Nugget” at Owen. It caused Owen to get on the mic and tell the fans that he isn’t one. This was a weird match with a miscast Faarooq and some odd Owen stuff. For example, he does a Boston Crab at one point. Like, why not just do the Sharpshooter? Anyway, Owen won with the Sharpshooter in 5:36. Not terrible, but not good. [*½]

Ken Shamrock tried to attack Owen, but he bolted through the crowd.

Backstage, Paul Bearer refused to shed light on The Undertaker’s standing.

Marc Mero and Jacqueline came out to insult Sable. Jackie said Sable needed to lose weight and stuff like that. Out came Sable in a maternity dress to call Jackie a tramp. These insults are lazy. Of course, the dress was just there so Jacqueline could rip it off. Sable was left in her underwear, which she didn’t care about. I mean, technically doesn’t this kill what some people were getting the PPV for? She beat up Jackie and left. While the camera focused on her, it missed Edge hitting the ring to hit Mero with a random Downward Spiral. A production mess but at least it meant something to the upcoming PPV.

Shawn Michaels was back tonight to do more commentary. This is so random. Why does he keep doing this?

EARLIER TONIGHT ~ We got clips of a Brawl for All match between 8 Ball and Scorpio. I’m glad we didn’t get the whole thing. Scorpio won.

In the back, the Nation of Domination were interviewed. The Rock basically just promised that there was no way X-Pac would beat him for the title tonight.

KABOOM OF THE WEEK ~ Last week, X-Pac beat The Rock in a tag match.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Rock [c] vs. X-Pac w/ Chyna
The pin last week and D-Lo’s win made the title change a real possibility. The Nation came out with The Rock, but DX hit the ring and it led to a huge brawl. It was broken up during the break and everyone but Chyna was kicked out. The Rock dominated most of this match, though it never felt like a squash. Just that Rock was better. Pac began to rally and got two on the X-Factor that he won with last week. He could also only get a near fall when Chyna hit Rock with the IC Title. The fans bit on that one. D-Lo ran in through the crowd, but so did HHH. He stopped D-Lo and hit Rock with a Pedigree. As the ref counted three, a second official ran down and stopped him, calling the DQ at 9:46. Super disappointing finish. I hate that and it made no sense given how Chyna cheated just fine earlier. This was going well until then. [**½]

A big brawl broke out between DX and the Nation once again. Following things getting broken up, HHH got a DX fan to flash her tits. It’s the famous one you can find online. Of course, it was censored on the WWE Network, but the uncut one is out there.

WWF Tag Team Champions Kane and Mankind w/ Paul Bearer vs. WWF Champion Steve Austin
In classic Austin fashion, he hit the ring with aggression and showed zero fear (CERO MIEDO) despite the odds. That set the tone for a match filled with action. Handicap matches can be difficult to pull off, but these guys just brawled for the entire duration. It came as a surprise to no one but The Undertaker walked down to the ring with a chair. Austin went for a Stunner on Kane, Undertaker went to hit one of them with the chair. It was unclear who, but the shot connects on Kane for a DQ at 4:51. A fun brawl filled with action. [**¾]

Austin used the chair to lay out both Mankind and Undertaker, standing tall to close the show.


Reliving Nitro
Episode #149
July 20th, 1998 | E Center in Salt Lake City, Utah | Attendance: N/A

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Goldberg (1) since 7/6/98
WCW United States Champion: Vacant
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Sting (3) and Kevin Nash (6) since 6/14/98
WCW Television Champion: Booker T (5) since 6/14/98
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Chris Jericho (4) since 6/14/98

LAST WEEK ~ A recap of the way the show ended.

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

NITRO GIRLS!

Scott Hall made his way out to the ring, with no other nWo members. His survey was met with a ton of boos. Hall ran down Kevin Nash, saying he was sick of playing second fiddle to him. He ran down Nash verbally and said he’s not even a man anymore, but Hulk Hogan is. Not much to this opening segment.

Goldberg vacated the United States Title now that he’s World Champion. The WCW committee decided Bret Hart and DDP were the top two contenders and they’ll meet tonight for the title.

LAST WEEK ~ We got clips of the show ending again.

Johnny Boone vs. Stevie Ray
Stevie informed us that he doesn’t hold the physical TV Title anymore because it is with Booker T and his lawyers. Stevie dominated this. Chavo Guerrero Jr. showed up with Pepe and the WCW Television Title. HOW DID HE GET IT? He also had a Zorro like mask on. Slapjack ended this in 2:02. [NR]

LAST WEEK ~ The Buff Bagwell/Rick Steiner/Hulk Hogan segment was shown.

Mean Gene brought out Rick Steiner for an interview. No more sling for him. Surprisingly, he didn’t take issue with Hulk Hogan for last week. Instead, he challenged Scott Steiner for a match at Road Wild. That feels about six months too late. Buff Bagwell was wheeled out and said that he forgives Rick for injuring him and that he has changed his outlook on life because of him. They hugged, but out came Scott Steiner to hit Rick with a steel chair. Buff tried stopping Scott, only to rip off the neck brace, reveal an nWo shirt, and beat on Rick with the chair. This was a dumb move. It was an excessive plot for someone who was already hurt and Buff was getting pretty over as a babyface.

Gene Okerlund stuck around, this time to interview Chris Jericho. He spoke about the mental abuse he’s suffered at the hands of Dean Malenko over the past few months. Though he knows Dean is jealous he could never be an idol like Jericho, he will give him a Cruiserweight Title shot next week. If Dean loses, he’ll never get a shot at him or the title again.

Scott Hall returned to interrupt commentary, throw his toothpick at Zbyszko, and badmouth Kevin Nash some more.

Outside, a busted up car has crashed into a wall. The sign for parking said, “STAR OF THE SHOW.” Odd.

Sick Boy w/ Lodi vs. Steve McMichael
Sick Boy attacked before the bell, but quickly got his ass kicked. Mongo Spike got McMichael the win in 1:29. [NR]

THUNDER ~ Dean Malenko spoke with Arn Anderson about bringing back the Four Horsemen. A passionate Arn said he wanted to, but he can’t anymore. He showed off his spine scar.

Apparently, the car outside was some kind Eric Bischoff joke aimed at Jay Leno. This led to the Eric Bischoff Show, which was a mockery of Jay Leno also. He told a bunch of bad jokes and this totally killed any interest in the show. It was one of the worst segments of the year.

HOUR NUMBER TWO!

THUNDER ~ Clips aired from a Kevin Nash interview where he spoke about the Scott Hall situation. The video cut off and we find that Hall stole it from the production truck. Nash was waiting right outside of the truck and they started to fight. Both nWo factions joined in for a huge parking lot battle.

During the fight, Bret Hart came out to commentary and demanded the match with DDP start now. Of course, cameras found DDP laid out in the back. Konnan and officials checked on him. JJ Dillon came out to say that the match would be postponed for a bit to see if DDP can compete. I mean, the match wasn’t scheduled for now anyway. This is a mess.

Saturn vs. Yuji Nagata w/ Sonny Oono
An actual match. Both guys came out throwing suplexes, which I appreciated. Go with your strengths, brothers. That didn’t get to last, though, as an Oono distraction allowed Raven to run in and plant Saturn with the Evenflow. Nagata covered to win in 3:23. It was fun before the storyline had to play out. Also, this was apparently the final WCW TV match for Nagata. [*½]

The Flock jumped Saturn until Kanyon made the save. It was an awkward run in because his “innovative” offense takes a while to set up.

THUNDER ~ Bret Hart talked a bunch of trash and beat on random folks with chairs.

Bobby Heenan replaced Zbyszko in the booth.

WCW World Tag Team Championship: Kevin Nash and Sting [c] vs. The Giant and Scott Hall
This stemmed from the brawl a few minutes ago. Nash fell for the Hall toothpick gimmick. Honestly, how could he? You’ve been his buddy forever. If anyone knows what’s coming, it’s you. Anyway, from a technical standpoint, this match didn’t do anything. It benefitted greatly from a hot crowd who reacted to everything. Sting took the heat and Nash did his hot tag thing. Eventually, Sting became the legal man again and set up for the Scorpion Death Lock. However, Bret Hart ran into the ring. With the referee distracted, Sting shoved Bret on his ass and stood on the turnbuckles to badmouth him. Hall snuck up on his conveniently placed body and hit the Outsider’s Edge for the titles in 8:40. As I said, not great but with a molten crowd. [**]

Alex Wright and Disco Inferno vs. The Great Muta and Masahiro Chono
They just randomly decided to bring in nWo Japan guys, huh? There’s never a rhyme or reason for it. Chono was a few weeks away from winning the IWGP Heavyweight Title. Unfortunately, a neck injury would cut that reign short. A one-sided match that Muta won with a kneebar on Disco in 2:17. [NR]

Scott Norton joined the fun to beat on Disco and Wright more.

HOUR NUMBER THREE!

NITRO GIRLS! While they danced, a trainer interrupted to bring Kimberly backstage. Something must be up with DDP!

Tokyo Magnum vs. Ultimo Dragon
Magnum against his trainer. He tried dancing, but Dragon stopped him with an attack. That’s kind of a dick move, Dragon. Outside of a Magnum hurricanrana, Dragon dominated. He won with the Dragon Sleeper in 2:27. Squash. Of note, this was Dragon’s last WCW match. [NR]

Jim Powers vs. Scott Norton w/ Vincent
WCW always did this weird thing where guys made appearances before their matches. Like Norton. You know how this goes. Norton wish the squash win via powerbomb in 2:31. [NR]

VIGNETTE ~ A video package ran showcasing Hulk Hogan’s antics as the nWo leader.

That triggered the arrival of Hogan and his nWo black and white buddies. Giant wearing titles always looks hilarious because they’re tiny on him. Hogan put over the new champions, said the Japan guys only came over to worship him, called Goldberg a fluke champion, and ran down Jay Leno. He ended by saying Bret would be US Champion after tonight. Hogan getting that Brock Lesnar money where he gets paid a ton to do nothing.

THUNDER ~ Clips from the main event last week where Curt Hennig teamed with Scott Hall against Konnan and DDP.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Konnan w/ Antoine Carr
Carr was a member of the hometown Utah Jazz. He was part of Konnan’s opening spiel. Poor Eddie was booked to be the lesser wrestler. This was boring Konnan offense until Chavo Guerrero Jr. appeared dressed as Konnan. He cut a Konnan promo while on Pepe. As he got to the apron, Eddie stole Pepe and it led to a DQ in 4:29. A mess of a match. [¾*]

Curt Hennig w/ Rick Rude vs. Lex Luger
WrestleMania IX baby! Judging by how Luger’s gear became jeans in the Wolfpac, it seemed like he got lazy. But, that’s kind of how he was post-1992 in general. Anyway, this was a lot of Luger overpowering Hennig, only for Curt to find an underhanded and smart way to get back in control. After a ref bump, Rick Rude got on the apron. Luger put him in the Torture Rack. Hennig hit a shot to the ribs and won with the Hennig Plex in 5:24. Not bad. Also, not interesting. [*¾]

WCW United States Championship: Bret Hart vs. Diamond Dallas Page
As usual, Michael Buffer gave us a weird intro to this match. “This is for the elimination of the number one and number two contenders.” Wait. Why was there no follow up to Kimberly being pulled away by the trainer? Goddammit, WCW. Anyway, DDP limped out with a wrapped knee to go with his wrapped ribs. A resilient DDP gave it his all but was outmatched. He survived the Sharpshooter by getting to the ropes, but can’t do it again. He submitted at 2:52. Too short and one-sided to be anything of note. [*¼]

DDP did a stretcher job as the nWo Hollywood hit the ring to celebrate with Bret.

Raw MVP: Steve Austin
Raw LVP: Sable
Nitro MVP: Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Nitro LVP: Eric Bischoff

Raw Rating: 5.0
Nitro Rating: 4.7

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
Raw: There were no standout matches, though the last two were solid, but that was a highly enjoyable show. It moved along at such a brisk pace. Nothing overstayed its welcome as even the worst people on the show (Sable, DOA, etc.) were only on for a short time. They built the PPV nicely, continued the intrigue of the Undertaker angle, and even had Steve Williams and the Brawl for All looking alright for a week. Nitro: The old Bret Hart special score. I appreciated that the show had a streamlined storyline of the nWo Hollywood getting back on track. However, it’s not anything new. Also, there was a severe lack of Goldberg, Benoit, and Booker. With no standout matches and some nonsensical story stuff, this was a swing and a miss.
legend

article topics :

Raw History, Kevin Pantoja