wrestling / Columns
Raw History: Episode 270 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 150
Loading...Fully Loaded Results
Val Venis def. Jeff Jarrett in 7:50
D-Lo Brown def. X-Pac in 8:26
Faarooq and Scorpio def. Justin Hawk Bradshaw and Terry Funk in 6:51
Mark Henry def. Vader in 5:03
DOA def. LOD 2000 in 8:50
Dungeon Match: Owen Hart def. Ken Shamrock in 4:53
WWF Intercontinental Championship 2 Out of 3 Falls Match: The Rock [c] vs. Triple H went to a time limit draw in 30:00
Jacqueline def. Sable in a bikini contest
WWF Tag Team Championship: Steve Austin and The Undertaker def. Kane and Mankind [c] in 17:28
Raw History
Episode #270
July 27th, 1998 | Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California | Attendance: 12,019
WWF Champion: Steve Austin (2) since 6/29/98
WWF Intercontinental Champion: The Rock (2) since 12/8/97
WWF Tag Team Champions: Steve Austin (3) and The Undertaker (1) since 7/26/98
WWF European Champion: D-Lo Brown (1) since 7/20/98
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (1) since 12/7/97
LAST NIGHT ~ Michael Cole provided voiceover work for a recap of Fully Loaded last night.
RAW! Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were in the booth.
Sporting a new theme (from WWF The Music Vol. 3), The Undertaker hit the ring carrying both Tag Team Titles. He and Steve Austin won them at the PPV, giving us one of the earliest variations of the “opponents as Tag Champions” storyline. WWE has run it often (Rock & Jericho, Cena & HBK, Cena & Batista, Cena & Miz, etc.). Undertaker demanded that Austin come out and apologize for not trusting him, saying it would be the only way they could have a true partnership. Out came Vince McMahon and the Stooges. In a great bit of continuity, he pointed out that at WrestleMania, it took three Tombstones to beat Kane, but only one last night. He believed that this was all part of Taker and Kane’s plan. Vince demanded an apology from Taker for what he did last week, but first announced that Austin and Taker would defend the titles against the New Age Outlaws tonight. Before Undertaker could apologize, Austin came out with what I believe is the debut of the Smoking Skull Title. Vince and his buddies left when Austin got in the ring. Stone Cold said he’d defend the titles with Undertaker would refused to apologize. Instead, he flipped him off and left. An intense start to the show that set up our main event. Thumbs up.
TONIGHT ~ The Rock defends the Intercontinental Title against Triple H and X-Pac in a Triple Threat match. Also, the bikini contest trophy will be presented by Lawler.
Non-Title Match: WWF European Champion D-Lo Brown vs. Vader
Before the match, D-Lo got on the mic and said Vader could choose to ride either the Sky High or the Lo Down. Get it? They’re his signature moves. Surprisingly, D-Lo was able to slam Vader a couple of times. That’s typically reserved for a powerful babyface. Vader fired up and his rally saw him rip off D-Lo’s chest protector. He splashed him outside and picked up a countout win in 4:48. The early stuff was odd, but I liked that gimmick for the finish. [*¾]
DROZ’S WORLD ~ I have no idea why this is a thing. It’s a vignette showing Droz at home with his exotic pets.
Brawl for All Quarterfinals: Bart Gunn vs. Steve Williams
Ah, the famous match that changed this whole thing. As everyone knows, the plan was for Williams to run through this tournament, win, and face Steve Austin. But, they booked it as a shoot like fools. Bart used his reach to keep Williams at bay for the most part. It quickly became clear that this might not go the way they wanted. Jim Ross grew more nervous on commentary as this went on. Steve was his boy. Down ten points entering the third, Brat took down Steve. Dr. Death apparently tore his hamstring. Shortly after, Bart knocked him out cold. [NR]
Owen Hart came out to brag about beating Ken Shamrock last night, proving that he’s not a nugget. In fact, he’s the baddest man in the WWF. That led to an open challenge answered by Jason Sensation, dressed as Owen. HUGE pop. He threw insults at Owen, while impersonating him. Owen went after him, but Dan Severn appeared and truly accepted the challenge.
Dan Severn vs. Owen Hart
Dan was in dress clothes, but is still a bad dude. Around 50 seconds in, Ken Shamrock ran out and attacked Owen for a DQ. [NR]
Shamrock put Owen in a dragon sleeper, only for Severn to slap Shamrock in one of his own. Officials attempted tp break this up but it doesn’t happen until Steve Blackman got involved. Referees and Blackman tried to keep these guys apart. Literally every segment on this show has been somewhat interesting.
SUNDAY NIGHT HEAT ~ A short ad ran to promote the debut of the show, this Sunday.
Backstage, Michael Cole tried to interview Shamrock, only to get pushed around.
The DOA w/ Paul Ellering vs. Faarooq and Scorpio
What the hell happened to Funk and Scorpio? Bradshaw was on commentary to complain about Terry Funk. Apparently, they were supposed to team but Funk decided to leave the company. Something like that. As for the match, Scorpio did his best to make it interesting but the DOA guys are impossible to care about. Bradshaw attacked them all for a no contest at 3:23. The first thing on the show that didn’t work. [NR]
Backstage, The Rock was pissed that he has to defend his title against two DX members, but said he would make them famous. Okay, 2001 Undertaker.
WAR ZONE!
WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Rock [c] vs. Triple H w/ Chyna vs. X-Pac
Early on, this match followed the formula you might expect. The DX guys worked together to beat on The Rock. Commentary said it seemed like the plan was to wear down Rock so HHH could win the title. Naturally, they turned on each other. HHH hit the Pedigree and X-Pac broke up the pin, leading to an argument. That continued to be a trend throughout and it would give The Rock openings. HHH and X-Pac eventually traded blows, allowing Rock to take his title and leave up the ramp for the countout loss in 6:54. A lame finish and it’s clear why they never went this route again. That being said, it made sense with how the match was laid out. [***]
Backstage, The New Age Outlaws were interviewed. They weren’t concerned with the DX issues we just saw and guaranteed to get their titles back.
Brakkus vs. Jesus
The non-Brawl for All debut of Brakkus. He dominated and won with a spinebuster in 0:50. [NR]
Somewhere in the back, Val Venis was in the shower with Mrs. Yamaguchi-San.
Brian Christopher w/ Scott Taylor vs. Val Venis
“Too Sexy” against a porn star. Kaientai came out at the start as Yamaguchi-San had a sword to chop salami. The match was a lot of nothing, with Val fighting off Too Much and winning in 2:10. [NR]
Too Much attacked after the match until TAKA Michinoku made the save. Kaientai chopped up salami, with Yamaguchi-San issuing a tag challenge to Val and TAKA. He uttered the famous, “I CHOPPY CHOPPY YOU PEEPEE,” threatening Val if they lost.
Michael Cole interviewed LOD 2000 backstage. Animal shouted about kicking butt, but Hawk looked drunk. Oh. It’s that storyline.
The Godfather and Mark Henry w/ Hos vs. LOD 2000
It’s the debut of Godfather’s hos. I still don’t know how he randomly just changed his gimmick. Drunk Hawk had no spikes, stumbled around, and tripped getting into the ring. That meant the entire match was handled by Animal. Thankfully, he was game to boss this like a tough guy. He made the mistake of setting up for the Doomsday Device because Hawk simply fell to the floor outside. A Godfather DVD ended this in 3:49. The angle is awful in every single way, though I appreciated the effort from Animal. [*½]
Jerry Lawler was in the ring to present the trophy for the Bikini Contest last night to the winner. Sable was announced the winner but WAIT! A note from Vince McMahon said that Sable was disqualified because the body paint she used to cover her tits doesn’t constitute a bikini. I mean, technically he’s right. Jacqueline and Marc Mero celebrated the win. Sore loser Sable said she knows she really won, before questioning Vince’s lack of manhood to tell her to her face. Vince arrived and ran her down for her lack of appreciation for him bringing her back. He said he could replace her with any airheaded bimbo. Again, he’s not really wrong. When he went to leave, she flipped him off and removed her shirt to reveal a new bikini. Almost any segment with Sable just doesn’t work for me.
WWF Tag Team Championship: Steve Austin and The Undertaker [c] vs. The New Age Outlaws
Every commercial break has been taken, so this match would air in its entirety. Austin wearing an elbow pad was kind of a cool look. He was out to have some fun early, posing down with Billy and flipping him off. The match didn’t get a ton of time but had some solid action throughout. The Undertaker surprisingly took the heat as his leg was the focus of the challengers. Billy hit the turnbuckle and Austin got the hot tag, cleaning house. He hit Road Dogg with the Stunner to retain in 8:09. A fun main event. [***]
Undertaker dropped Billy with a Chokeslam for good measure. Post-match, Austin went for one of his earliest beer bashes that I can remember. He gave one to Undertaker, but when he drank it, Kane and Mankind showed up to attack Austin at ringside. That’s how the show ended.
EXTRA ATTITUDE ~ Austin fought them off and dropped Kane with a Stunner to send the fans home happy.
Reliving Nitro
Episode #150
July 27th, 1998 | Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas | Attendance: 19,109
WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Goldberg (1) since 7/6/98
WCW United States Champion: Bret Hart (1) since 7/20/98
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Giant (3) and Scott Hall (6) since 7/20/98
WCW Television Champion: Booker T (5) since 6/14/98
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Chris Jericho (4) since 6/14/98
RECAP ~ A bunch of recent nWo events were shown. nWo Hollywood is doing very well despite Hogan not being the top champion anymore.
HOUR NUMBER ONE! Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Larry Zbyszko host.
NITRO GIRLS!
nWo Hollywood, minus Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, opened the show for some promo time. Scott Hall whined about Kevin Nash and challenged the Wolfpac to some sort of nWo vs. nWo battle royal at Road Wild. Bryan Adams shouted a bad promo where he called Goldberg a fluke and challenged him for the World Title tonight.
It seems like a lot of Eric Bischoff jokes towards Jay Leno will be recapped throughout the evening. I’m not doing these. They suck.
Raven was in the ring to complain about the way society has treated him in life. Saturn ran out for a fight. Kanyon also showed up but took a T-Bone from Saturn. He popped back up and saved Raven from Saturn by hitting him with the Flatliner. The Flock walked off together and Kanyon left on his own. What? I have no idea what just happened.
The Barbarian w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Jim Duggan
I love early 90s WWF. The match was short, with Duggan surviving the Kick of Fear and winning via rollup in 2:42. Surprisingly big pop for the win. [NR]
Hugh Morrus ran out to attack Duggan. That brought out Meng to kick some ass. Duggan used the 2×4 to save him from a double team attack. After they cleaned house, Duggan offered a handshake, but got put in the Tongan Death Grip. I love insane Meng.
nWo Nightcap ~ Yes, it is time for Eric Bischoff’s “Tonight Show” parody. Lots of jokes about Monica Lewinsky. He droned on for an excruciatingly long time before finally introducing his guest, Hulk Hogan. He just threw a bunch of warning towards Leno. I only wrote a few lines, but this was about twenty minutes that felt like eighty.
NITRO GIRL! Fyre was out by herself to dance.
Mean Gene brought out DDP for an interview. For a guy who left on a stretcher last week, he’s in good shape here. He basically just revealed that it was Hogan who attacked him last week. He challenged Hogan to a match tonight.
Scott Hall, Dusty Rhodes, and Scott Norton took over the commentary booth for a bit. Hall said that if Kevin Nash was too scared to face him, he would take Sting tonight instead. Dusty said that Larry stole his commentary job and put him under a Texas gag order.
HOUR NUMBER TWO!
Jim Neidhart vs. Scott Norton w/ Dusty Rhodes
Norton wrecked him with a Powerbomb and won in 0:16. [NR]
VIGNETTE ~ Goldberg is still unbeaten.
We’re supposed to get a Goldberg interview, but his locker room was turned over. There was nWo paint on the wall and he was nowhere to be found.
Bret Hart came out and bragged about how he being champion is a win for the good guys. He ran down DDP for having excuses last week. Bret brought up the confrontation with Sting last week. He said he respects Sting and that Sting doesn’t need to apologize to him. The real scum around here is the fans. Bret didn’t even seem to have it in him to deliver his solid 1997 promos here.
WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Chris Jericho [c] vs. Dean Malenko
A loss for Dean means no more title shots. He charged the ring, out for revenge for everything that has gone down during this feud. Jericho was prepared and sent him outside. That set the tone for a match where the pace was quick and the intensity level was high. An early Liontamer attempt showed how Jericho wanted this over and done with. He also busted out a pescado and inverted suplex at different points. Dean came back an avalanche DDT for a great near fall where Jericho grabbed the ropes to break the pin and survive. Jericho brought out the brass knuckles, only for Dean to get them from him. He laid out Jericho and got disqualified at 6:49. That was going great until that cheap finish. I don’t mind a DQ but that one just made Dean look dumb. This should’ve been booked as a big deal. [***¼]
Mean Gene said he was still trying to get word from Goldberg. He was now in his locker room and upset about what happened. They noted that he was surrounding by security, which made him sound SUPER weak. Imagine Steve Austin needing protection.
Curt Hennig w/ Rick Rude vs. Steve McMichael
Mongo went right after Curt thanks to the continuity of how Hennig helped break up the Four Horsemen last year. Ultimately, it’s moot as a bit of Rude interference led to the Hennig Plex in 1:37. [NR]
In an incredibly lazy move, WCW spent the next half hour or so airing the Bash at the Beach main event. They cut out a few minutes but left in the entire, overblown introductions by Michael Buffer. Who asked to see this again? Absolute garbage.
HOUR NUMBER THREE!
Goldberg was brought out for his first official interview. Nothing special here as he said he planned to take down the nWo and that Brian Adams was next.
Mean Gene with another interview, this time with Arn Anderson. He was disappointed that both Malenko and Mongo lost tonight. However, he has gone from asking them to stop bringing up the Horsemen to telling them to stop.
Scott Hall vs. Sting
Typical stuff from these guys. Sting brought fire while Hall toyed with him a bit. That meant faking the test of strength and poking the eye, as well as the fall away slam. You know. Sting randomly hit three Stinger Splashes, the Scorpion Death Drop, and put on the Scorpion Death Lock. Bret Hart showed up, so Sting let go and attacked him outside. Hennig and Vincent then jumped Sting and instead of a DQ, a countout was apparently called at 3:09. Huh? [¾*]
Lex Luger hit the scene to save his buddy, leading to a brawl with Hennig. In the ring, Kevin Nash dropped Vincent with a big boot and Jackknife. Bret watched from the corner and didn’t get involved. When he went after Hall, he got hit with a low blow. Bret went after Sting and got kicked low. He went for the Scorpion Death Lock but Bret scurried out of the ring and escaped safely. This rivalry should have 100% been a WCW Title program at some point in 1998 considering they were the two hottest stars in wrestling at the end of 1997.
LAST WEEK ~ Buff Bagwell showed he was really still with the nWo.
Mean Gene interviewed Buff and Scott Steiner about last week’s angle. Steiner stopped to pose during their entrance, causing Bagwell’s wheelchair to crash into the camera. Buff popped out of the chair and they mocked the angle from last Monday. It all led to JJ Dillon showing up to officially book Rick vs. Scott at Road Wild.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Goldberg [c] vs. Brian Adams
Even though we just saw Goldberg’s entire security led entrance at the top of the hour, they do the entire thing again here. Adams came out hot but it meant nothing. He took a shitty looking Spear before Vincent got hit with one. Another for Adams and the Jackhammer made Goldberg 121-0 at 1:34. [NR]
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Hulk Hogan w/ The Disciple
Super overdone Michael Buffer intros here. WCW was just wasting time and money. Another match that should have been a big deal but is just kind of happening. DDP had the ribs taped, while Hogan went for the choking and raking. The usual stuff, baby. The match was a generic brawl until the nWo ran in for the DQ just when it seemed like Diamond Cutter time. How convenient. This went 4:15 or so. [¾*]
The nWo Wolfpac arrived to battle nWo Hollywood. That was normal but then Goldberg showed up. He didn’t run with any kind of urgency. He cleaned house as Nash looked at him with surprise. The Giant entered the planted Goldberg with a Chokeslam as the show ran out of time.
Raw MVP: Steve Austin
Raw LVP: DOA
Nitro MVP: Chris Jericho
Nitro LVP: Eric Bischoff
Raw Rating: 4.9
Nitro Rating: 4.7
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