Raw History: Episodes 272 and 273 – The One Where Kane Dressed Like the Undertaker

Raw History
Episode #272
August 10th, 1998 | Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska | Attendance: 7,601

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

Backstage, Mankind threw stuff around in the boiler room while shouting about handling the truth.

LAST WEEK ~ A recap of the Austin/Undertaker/Kane/Mankind saga, which also happened to involve DX and the Nation. Also, Undertaker dressed as Kane during Heat last night.

RAW! Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were on commentary.

Mankind made his way to the ring, with more hair than usual ripped from his scalp. He demanded the truth from Vince McMahon, saying he is the only man to ever always give it to him straight. Vince showed up before Mankind could resort to begging. He ran Mankind down for being one of those people who need help from people like him. Vince revealed the truth that Kane and Undertaker were in cahoots against the entire WWF roster. That brought out Kane and Paul Bearer. Paul shouted at Vince to listen to “The Fat Man.” He accused Vince of trying to poison Kane’s mind. Suddenly a defensive Vince said it was Undertaker under the mask here and not Kane. He went to remove the mask but the lights went out. When they came back on, Undertaker was in the ring and had Vince by the throat. Kane was gone. Mankind jumped Undertaker, taking the beating for Vince. Taker chased Vince to the back. Fun opening segment to continue the conspiracy angle. Also, this was wonderful in terms of the long term build for who Mankind would be by the end of the year.

Backstage, Undertaker continued to look for Vince.

Jacqueline w/ Marc Mero vs. Luna Vachon w/ The Oddities
So, The Oddities were cut from last week’s show for some reason. Sable was the guest ring announcer. It’s the “in the ring” debut for Jacqueline according to King. Luna did one move and Mero got on the apron to complain. Sable pulled him down and he went after her, only for Kurrgan to scare him off. Sable caused Jacqueline to fall off the top. Luna then won with a splash in 2:25. This happened. It wasn’t good. [¼*]

Sable gave Luna the bikini contest trophy Jacqueline had carried around to make The Oddities feel good or some shit.

The New Age Outlaws arrived in a limo. They were pissed.

Brawl for All Quarterfinals: Droz vs. Savio Vega
I was rooting for Savio in this one. Droz ended up winning with several takedowns and almost a knockout late. It was actually the rare Brawl for All match. [NR]

Triple H and Chyna arrived upset. DX may split tonight. Michael Cole interviewed Chyna after the break and told him to SUCK IT. BUT SHE’S A WOMAN! She shoved him into the car.

LOD 2000 were set to face Southern Justice but Hawk was too drunk to compete. He fell during the entrance and Animal was pissed. Southern Justice showed up and Hawk jumped them but had to be helped during the back while Animal took a beating. Droz ran out and made the save, only for Jeff Jarrett to break the DON’T PISS ME OFF guitar on his head. SLAPNUTS! Double J then shaved Droz’s hair.

X-Pac arrived. No car, he just walked in.

The New Age Outlaws came to the ring, with no opening spiel. They mean business. X-Pac followed, which then led to Triple H and Chyna bringing up the rear. King claimed Chyna was the “Yoko Ono” of D-Generation X. X-Pac opened by saying he’s about had it with Triple H and his “bitch.” CHILL, SEAN! He also called Triple H a “jack-off.” HHH’s response? Call X-Pac and the Outlaws the same name. Lots of uses of the word “jack-off.” Ultimately, they went to give us the “split” and moon us all. Instead, Chyna offered to do the split herself and moon the crowd. DX had a big laugh. This wasn’t funny.

WAR ZONE!

Michael Cole interviewed Stone Cold in his locker room. Continuing tonight’s trend, Austin threw Cole into the showers.

The Godfather vs. Vader was set for the next match. Bart Gunn came out to yell at Jim Ross on commentary for making excuses for Steve Williams when he got knocked out. JR bickered with him for a bit. Godfather offered the Hos to Vader instead of fighting. Vader was like, “Yea, I’ll take the ladies.” Before leaving, Vader confronted Bart Gunn at ringside. Bart knocked him out, then hit the ring and attacked Godfather. Apparently, Godfather was his opponent for the next Brawl for All match next week.

Dustin Runnels gave us a PSA to warn us about the mature content of the next segment.

Val Venis was wheeled to the ring by John Bobbitt and Mrs. Yamaguchi-San. Bobbitt is famous for having his penis cut off by his wife back in 1993. Val cut a somber promo with an ice pack on his junk. It was all a ruse (sounds like DX earlier, huh?) as he stripped off his clothes and said he was standing at full attention. Apparently, Bobbitt cut the lights off last week before his PEEPEE got cut off. Why Bobbitt was there in the first place is anyone’s guess. Val then dumped Mrs. Yamaguchi-San because she was too much trouble. Val also threw a AA battery at her. This show makes no sense.

Edge was shown in the crowd.

Brawl for All Quarterfinals: Bradshaw vs. Marc Mero
Mero lost last time out, but advanced due to a Steve Blackman injury. This was nowhere near as fun as Savio/Droz. Bradshaw was gassed by round three. Mero landed punches, while Bradshaw got in takedowns. They went to a damn fourth round for a tiebreaker, yet that didn’t produce a different result. Instead of going to a fifth, Bradshaw won via decision. [NR]

Backstage, Cole’s string of bad interviews continued. Undertaker said he’d do his explaining in the ring. At least he didn’t beat up Cole.

Before the main event, Ken Shamrock came out and attacked Owen Hart. That set up a brawl where DX got involved. Shamrock put Owen in the Ankle Lock until officials got him off. That meant Owen had to be replaced in the main event and it was with D-Lo, meaning all our champions were in one match.

WWF Tag Team Championship: WWF Champion Steve Austin and The Undertaker [c] vs. WWF European Champion D-Lo Brown and WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock vs. Kane and Mankind w/ Paul Bearer vs. The New Age Outlaws
The pop for Austin was insane. JR noted how teammates can’t pin each other, avoiding the Outlaws finish from a few months ago. A fan attempted to run in during the opening minutes. Mankind didn’t trust Kane, so he chose not to stand next to him on the apron, opting to go by the Rock. ROCK N’ SOCK CONNECTION! Lots of action in this one. Things moved along nicely, with plenty of quick tags to keep someone fresh and interesting in there. It helps that everyone has a personality and is over. The crowd ate up everything. Every little move got a pop and the People’s Elbow got a huge reaction. Things eventually broke down into a huge chaotic mess. Undertaker Chokeslammed D-Lo but then took one from his brother. Kane covered and we got new champions after 14:29. That was a blast. Lots of fun, plenty of action, and some intriguing storyline stuff. [***¼]

Post-match, Austin and Undertaker had an intense staredown. Undertaker sat up kind of easily, almost as if he lost on purpose.

MVP: Steve Austin
LVP: Bradshaw

Raw History
Episode #273
August 17th, 1998 | Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa | 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 (2) and Mankind (4) since 8/10/98
WWF European Champion: D-Lo Brown (1) since 7/20/98
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (1) since 12/7/97

Two straight weeks with a backstage segment to start. Steve Austin unsuccessfully attempted to barge into Vince McMahon’s office.

RAW! Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler hosted. We’re taped this week.

A hearse backed into the arena and the fans were unsure how to respond. Apparently, “Highway to Hell” was playing but damn copyright laws means it’s not on the Network. Steve Austin stepped out to a huge pop. Austin called Vince out and said he’d hold up the show until he arrived. It took a while, as the Stooges arrived first, but Vince showed up. Austin knows Vince is happy they’re not the Tag Team Champions anymore, but one good thing came from it. Austin isn’t bound to Undertaker anymore. He promised to stuff Undertaker into the hearse and warned Vince not to get in the way or he’d end up there with him. Hot start that gives us something to look forward to.

Dan Severn vs. Ken Shamrock vs. Owen Hart
Okay, here’s some serious potential. However, we mostly just got a singles match. Dan Severn chose to watch from the side as Owen and Shamrock went at it. From an angle perspective, it made sense. Dan kept saying he had nothing to prove, while Ken and Owen were feuding. To be fair, Ken and Owen were doing some entertaining stuff throughout this, so Dan wasn’t truly missed. As soon as Ken put the Ankle Lock on Owen, Dan snatched him up in the Dragon Sleeper. Owen decided not to worry about winning, choosing to stomp on Shamrock as he passed out, giving Dan the win in 4:43. I love that strategy from Dan. More people should use it. The action was also quite solid. [**¾]

Dan Severn refused to break the hold for officials. Steve Blackman ran out and took out Owen. He stared down Dan until he let go. Dan then put Blackman in the hold and Owen got in more cheap shots. Dan and Owen finally left, high fiving as they exited. Shamrock got up and nearly SNAPPED.

Brawl for All Semi-Finals: Bart Gunn vs. The Godfather
During the entrances, a fake Bill Clinton called in for Monica Lewinsky jokes. Godfather chose not to offer Bart the Hos due to the attack last week. For further build, these two had an altercation on Heat last night. Godfather did well enough, but took some big shots towards the end of the second round. Early in the third, Bart knocked him out with a right. Another surprisingly fun contest. Bart was an animal. [NR]

While Blackman and Shamrock threw fits backstage, Michael Cole informed us that Owen Hart’s trainer for the upcoming Lion’s Den match was Dan Severn.

Brian Christopher w/ Scott Taylor vs. Gangrel
The Raw debut of Gangrel! I love this theme/entrance said everyone ever about Gangrel. He made his TV debut on Heat a night prior. Edge watched from the crowd with intent. Even with Taylor interference, Gangrel won with the Implant DDT in 1:03. A squash that gave us our first real look at Gangrel. [NR]

Michael Cole got word with an angry Shamrock and Blackman. Shamrock just said he’d break Owen and Dan’s bones and threatened to do the same to Cole if he didn’t leave.

An interview with DX never happened because the Nation showed up to brawl. They have a Street Fight scheduled for later.

The DOA w/ Paul Ellering vs. Faarooq and Scorpio
How are people supposed to care about this? These guys mean nothing and the fans want stuff like the Nation/DX Street Fight. As this went on, with Scorpio doing his best to make it work, we got cuts to the DX/Nation fight backstage. Clearly, that’s what matters. The DOA boys pulled off twin magic as DX and the Nation fought to ringside, to steal this in 4:31. It happened, and I credit Scorpio for making it watchable. [*½]

WAR ZONE!

Street Fight: D-Generation X vs. The Nation of Domination
Guys were allowed to bring whatever weapons they wanted with them. The Rock chose a ladder, hinting at SummerSlam. I appreciate the guys wearing street clothes for this. That doesn’t happen often enough. Big brawl right out of the gate with bodies and weapons everywhere. The crowd was also red hot for this. Honestly, DX was boring as hell for me for most of 1998 but this Nation feud has made them somewhat fun. They flubbed a spot where the People’s Elbow was supposed to come with a cookie sheet on Road Dogg’s face, but it got kicked off during Rock’s long setup. He then took a piledriver on a cookie sheet. Jeff Jarrett and Southern Justice strolled to ringside to attack X-Pac. I believe something happened between them on Heat to ignite this feud but it’s never mentioned so it feels random. With them beating on Pac and the Outlaws out cold, HHH was left alone to take a beating using the ladder. This could’ve been dope, but the Nation simply walked off instead of going for the pin, so we got a cheap no contest finish around 6:30. A hot match with a hot crowd. Lots of action and it advanced ongoing angles. It just needed a finish. [***¼]

Tiger Ali Singh came out to ruin this episode. He offered a fan $500 to lick between his servant’s toes. Babu, the servant, was sweaty from hard work all day. It was an awful, gross segment that I won’t bother recapping too much.

Gratuitous shots of Sable warming up for the arm wrestling match.

LAST NIGHT ~ Jacqueline challenged Sable to an arm wrestling match for tonight. Sable threw her typical insults at her.

Sable came out carrying the bikini contest trophy that doesn’t belong to her. THIEF! Arm wrestling contests almost never go well in wrestling. This one actually didn’t feature the over abundance of stalling we’re used to, so I liked that. They legitimately went at it for the most part and the crowd was hot. Jackie pulled away when she was on the verge of losing and shoved the table over onto Sable. She broke the trophy over Sable’s back. The Oddities and Marc Mero ran out to keep things from escalating. You know what? I didn’t hate that. Didn’t particularly like it, either, but better than I thought.

Michael Cole interviewed Val Venis about facing Kaientai in a Gauntlet Match. He made reference to how he could go all night and if he won, he gets Yamaguchi-San one on one.

DROZ’S WORLD ~ Why are these a thing? It’s not like Droz is getting a legitimate push. He just spoke about his tattoos, piercings, and such.

Brawl for All Semi-Finals: Bradshaw vs. Droz
This one got a “Tale of the Tape” to hype things up. Droz’s section literally noted his ability to puke on command. I mean, if he did it during a fight it would probably take down Bradshaw’s defenses. This was a solid little slugfest that saw Bradshaw win via decision after three rounds. [NR]

Commentary informed us that Al Snow was now a member of the WWF roster. Zero explanation was given for why this happened after he lost at King of the Ring against Too Much. It led to a clip of Al talking to Head in a bar, saying he was coming to WWF as part of the JOB Squad.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ~ Dustin Runnels gave us another PSA telling us to read a good book instead of watching the next segment.

Sable came to the ring demanding a fight with Jacqueline. She answered surprisingly quickly on the Titantron. Like, way too fast for someone not expecting this challenge. Jackie and Marc Mero challenged Sable to find a partner and face them in a mixed tag at SummerSlam. The Oddities burst into their locker room and beat them up.

Gauntlet Match: Kaientai w/ Yamaguchi-San vs. Val Venis
Men’s Teioh hit the ring to get us started. Val put him away with a fisherman suplex at 1:12. The highlight was Teioh doing his own version of the Venis grind. Funaki entered and jumped right into a powerslam to get eliminated at 1:26. The awesome Dick Togo was next in line. His portion of the match got messed up by another fake Bill Clinton call. This was the kind of thing they did way too often in 1993. Despite that, these guys had an entertaining back and forth. Val bested him with the Money Shot in 4:20. TAKA was the final entrant, giving Val a chance at revenge. This was another solid section. Val missed a move off the top and took the Michinoku Driver for his first loss at 7:55. Entertaining stuff. It moved along briskly and had some good exchanges. [**½]

Val took a beating from Kaientai until he pulled out a giant flesh colored Super Soaker and squirted them. Yup.

Time for the big show closing confrontation between Steve Austin and The Undertaker. Austin came out after The Undertaker, who kept his back turned. He flipped his hair back, fire exploded from the turnbuckles, and it turns out it was Kane dressed as Undertaker. SWERVE, BRO! Kane dressed as Undertaker is a wild look. They brawled up the aisle and to the hearse that Austin parked there earlier this evening. Austin threw Kane in the back, but couldn’t get into the car. That’s because it turns out, The Undertaker was in the driver’s seat! He drove away to end the show. Fun way to close things out.

MVP: The Rock
LVP: Tiger Ali Singh

4.0

The final score: review Poor

The 411

#272: Not a good episode. The main event worked as it brought together plenty of ongoing angles in a nice way. Droz and Savio also had a surprisingly fun Brawl for All battle. Pretty much everything else missed the mark. There was barely any wrestling and the angles to replace it (like DX being corny and Val doing something similar) weren’t good. #273: I really liked this episode. Of the four main matches, three were good and the other was better than expected. The Austin/Undertaker/Kane angle was fun without dominating the show as it has in the past. I dug the DX stuff, too. The only things holding this episode back were the Bill Clinton jokes, Tiger Ali Singh, and some of the Sable stuff.