Raw History: Episodes 276 & 277 – The One Where Val Venis Slept With Terri Runnels

Raw History
Episode #276
September 12th, 1998 | Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts | Attendance: 10,000

WWF Champion: Steve Austin (2) since 6/29/98
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Triple H (2) since 8/30/98
WWF Tag Team Champions: The New Age Outlaws (6 and 3) since 8/30/98
WWF European Champion: D-Lo Brown (1) since 7/20/98
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (1) since 12/7/97

Another Saturday Night episode of Raw!

RAW! Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler on commentary.

Edge vs. Jeff Jarrett w/ Southern Justice
This is such a cool looking venue. Some solid little exchanges at the start. It was worked at a quick pace, with more urgency than anything last week. It’s interesting here because neither guy could really take the loss. Edge was too new and Jarrett had a new persona. He debuted the Stroke, but it wasn’t yet a finisher so the match continued. The competitive match came to an end when Jarrett broke a guitar over Edge’s head, resulting in a DQ at 5:14. I’m over DQ finishes after last week, but at least we got a good match out of it. [**½]

Bradshaw vs. Droz
Following the solid pace of the last match, we got something different here. These Brawl 4 All guys were just here to wail on each other and that’s oaky. Droz busting out a three point stance for a clothesline was kind of cool. He has a football background and he did it against a much bigger guy. Bradshaw tripped him up shortly after and put his feet on the ropes to steal the match in 4:01. That was better than I expected. A hard hitting match for the time given. [**]

VIDEO PACKAGE ~ A video hyped the newly announced Breakdown main event, Steve Austin vs. Kane vs. The Undertaker. The match was made on Heat.

Marc Mero w/ Jacqueline vs. Miguel Perez
Oh my god, Miguel shaved his back! I don’t ever recall that happening. He threw himself into some spots. For example, his series of dropkicks had a lot behind it. Mero was less motivated and won in dull fashion via TKO at 3:38. Mostly a squash. [NR]

Backstage, the Oddities were interviewed. ICP handled most of it and threw threats at DOA. It wasn’t half bad.

The DOA w/ Paul Ellering vs. Golga and Kurrgan w/ The Oddities
Early in the match, Golga was thrown to the corner and the force caused the top rope to break. They kind of did nothing afterwards and then ICP ran in for a DQ and brawl at 1:54. [NR]

The Rock, getting a babyface reaction of sorts, made his way out to the ring. He said that despite his loss to Triple H at SummerSlam, he was still the “People’s Champion.” Rock promised to get revenge on Kane for Chokeslamming him last week. Short and sweet. Rock’s star was on the rise.

WAR ZONE!

SUMMERSLAM ~ They aired the ENTIRE Lion’s Den match. Ken Shamrock beat Owen Hart.

Southern Justice vs. Too Much
It’s odd to see Too Much as the babyfaces in a match. Nothing about them is likable, at least until they start hip hop dancing with a fat man in a thong. Anyway, the former Godwinns beat on their smaller opponents and kind of dominated this. They won with the former Slop Drop, now coined the Problem Solver, in 4:06. [½*]

Dustin Runnels vs. Vader
I miss time limits in matches. This had a 20 minute limit, though you knew it would never get there. Dustin offered a handshake to start, which got rejected. To be fair, it’s a much worse deal then what Godfather offers. During the match, Val Venis walked through the crowd with a sign saying “I HAVE COME.” Dustin spotted this and began praying, leading Vader to take advantage and hit the Vader Bomb. It got him his first Raw win in forever in 3:25. [¾*]

They kept hyping a Sable video package of her wrestling but it was apparently cut from the Network version.

Al Snow stormed through the crowd with Head. As he entered the ring, he uttered the “WHAT DOES EVERYBODY WANT?” that I believe gets used for his future entrance theme. He refused to leave the ring until a WWF official spoke with him. The Stooges answered and ordered him to leave the ring. Since Snow is signed, he wanted to know who he’d be competing against. When they refused to help, Snow hit Pat Patterson with a low blow and exited through the crowd. Not the best Snow segment, but the fans ate up Pat taking the low blow.

WWF European Champion D-Lo Brown and Mark Henry vs. The Headbangers
Before the match, the Headbangers got interviewed backstage and made jokes about only ever wrestling on Shotgun. JR said their best years were ahead of them. He was wrong. The action in the ring was surprisingly solid. D-Lo busted out the running powerbomb and showed off some decent chemistry with Henry. Mark absolutely needed to be in a team at this time. He was nowhere near ready to do singles stuff. Of course, this had to end without a finish as Chyna hit the ring to beat on Henry, resulting in a DQ at 5:23. As I said, solid little tag match. [**¼]

Officials pulled Chyna away but she went back on the attack. The fans popped hard for this and when she started throwing referees around. It took DX o show up and restrain her.

D-Generation X w/ Chyna vs. Kaientai w/ Yamaguchi-San
This is an actual match that’s happening. Honestly, it’s clear where these stables rank on the totem poles. That made this something of a squash, but a fun one. While Kaientai barely got in offense, they bumped like crazy for the DX boys. The only guy to really take any heat from Kaientai was Road Dogg. He fell victim to an insanely quick series of elbow drops and “suck it” taunts. Surprisingly, TAKA took the pin after an assisted X-Factor in 4:33. That was quite fun. [**]

Post-match, Chyna knocked out Yamaguchi-San. DX got a female fan to moon the audience to close the show.

MVP: DX
LVP: DOA

Raw History
Episode #277
September 14th, 1998 | San Jose Arena in San Jose, California | Attendance: 13,161

WWF Champion: Steve Austin (2) since 6/29/98
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Triple H (2) since 8/30/98
WWF Tag Team Champions: The New Age Outlaws (6 and 3) since 8/30/98
WWF European Champion: D-Lo Brown (1) since 7/20/98
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (1) since 12/7/97

Just two days after Raw Saturday Night, we’re back to Monday nights. And it’s live!

RAW! Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler hosted.

Glass shattered as WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin made his way to the ring. Before the show started, Vince McMahon, Kane, and The Undertaker had already come to the ring. A pissed off Vince said he was, “DAMN SICK AND TIRED” of watching Austin with the title and he had launched his “MASTER PLAN!” These were all the famous lines uttered in the video package for the Break Down main event. He announced that at the PPV, Kane and The Undertaker aren’t allowed to pin each other, placing the target squarely on Austin’s back. They’re also there to protect Vince if Austin attacks him. When Vince added that “Austin screwed Austin” to put himself in this situation, it caused Austin to hit him. So, Undertaker and Kane jumped him and hit a double chokeslam. Hilariously, Vince mocked Austin’s smack talk and flipped him off. Awesome work from everyone. It explained the PPV main event and was some of what made Vince such a good villain. Before officially leaving, Undertaker told Austin it wasn’t personal, just business. Vince threw in a note that Austin would defend the WWF Title against Ken Shamrock tonight. For some reason, Kane and Undertaker weren’t upset about that.

Jeff Jarrett w/ Southern Justice vs. WWF Tag Team Champion Road Dogg w/ Billy Gunn & X-Pac
CONTINUITY! They actually showed clips of the Jarrett/Roadie angle from 1995 and even played a bit of “With My Baby Tonight.” Two guys who clearly know each other well. It made for some solid exchanges, as there weren’t any botches and most of the offense looked smooth. Southern Justice pulled Dogg out of the ring, which somehow wasn’t a DQ. It led to a brawl between everyone outside, giving Jarrett the chance to use the guitar to hit Dogg in the throat, winning in 3:08. That was solid for the time given. [**]

TONIGHT ~ Sable vs. Jacqueline in the first ever Raw Evening Gown match! Triple H defends the IC Title against Owen Hart.

LAST NIGHT ~ On Heat, Ken Shamrock challenged Austin to put the WWF Title on the line at any time.

Outside, Road Dogg had to be taken out in an ambulance.

Backstage, The Rock called D-Lo, Owen, and Mark Henry candy asses and demanded they stay backstage.

Kane w/ The Undertaker vs. The Rock
The debut of Rock’s solo theme. BABYFACE ROCK! It was already working, as the crowd was crazy hot for this. It helped that Kane was a top heel, too. He threw Rock around on several occasions, showcasing his power. Rock is not a small man but Kane did it with ease. Rock’s big babyface rally got a big pop, as did his swinging neckbreaker near fall. The ref got taken out just before the People’s Elbow connected. The Undertaker interfered and beat him up outside. Mankind made his return to Raw and knocked Kane out with a sledgehammer. As Undertaker chased him off, Rock entered and beat Kane in 6:10. Energetic match. The crowd was hot and Rock was clearly motivated on this rise to superstardom. [***]

Undertaker challenged Mankind to a match tonight to end it all. And he told Mankind to bring the sledgehammer. Damn, this is a loaded episode.

Michael Cole interviewed Mankind, who gladly accepted Undertaker’s challenge. He used the hammer to destroy a Raw is War barrel. Mankind also noted that he survived the sledgehammer shot at SummerSlam because he mostly took the brunt with his hand.

Dustin Runnels stood in the ring and said we were all in hell. The WWF was stained with vulgar language and sex. That brought out Val Venis to make sexual innuendos and reveal his new movie. It’s called “The Preacher’s Wife” and saw him in bed with Terri Runnels. Val was the only babyface out here being a homewrecker. When Dustin fell to knees in despair at the sight, Val said the trait must run in the family.

VIGNETTE ~ William Regal is a REAL MAN’S MAN!

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Triple H [c] w/ Chyna and X-Pac vs. Owen Hart w/ Mark Henry
Remember when this was the European Title feud earlier this year? Loud “Nugget” chants by the hot crowd. These guys have wrestled often enough, and Triple H is hot off the best match of his career to date, so this mostly worked. It wasn’t anything new or special, but a fine bout. Eventually, everyone outside got involved. Henry pulled Chyna off the apron and got hit by X-Pac. HHH used the Pedigree to win in 5:24. Decent enough. [**¼]

A frustrated Mark Henry challenged X-Pac and Chyna to a handicap match later tonight.

WAR ZONE!

Mankind vs. The Undertaker w/ Kane
Both men showed up with sledgehammers. Somewhere, Triple H is foaming at the mouth. The referee prevented them from using the weapons, but these guys still brawled all around the ring. They got to use weapons from the dumpster Mankind rolled out and he got thrown through a table. Undertaker attempted murder by swinging the sledgehammer at Mankind’s face. He missed, but Kane chokeslammed Mankind into the timekeeper’s table. Again, Undertaker tried murder but Mankind moved. Undertaker hit the Tombstone on a chair and went for another death blow. However, The Rock popped out of the dumpster and pulled Mankind to safety. ROCK AND SOCK! No ending to this after around 7:15. Hella fun brawl, though. [***¼]

Edge vs. Gangrel
In an effort to sell this as a heated rivalry, they attacked each other before the bell. Commentary hinted at a past between them but we haven’t heard anything official from either competitor. Gangrel busted out a sweet overhead tiger suplex. He also became the first person to avoid an Edge dive, causing him to take a nasty bump outside. Gangrel added the Implant DDT and we got a double countout in 3:33. It was short, but action packed. [**½]

Post-match, Gangrel told Edge that his blood flows through his veins. Huh?

Chyna and X-Pac w/ Triple H vs. Mark Henry w/ D-Lo Brown
HHH mocked Henry by acting like a gorilla. I mean, that’s not racially sensitive. Chyna was dying to start, but Henry decided to wait for X-Pac. Henry held the advantage until X-Pac tried a suplex. When he couldn’t do it, Chyna entered and helped for a double suplex that got a THUNDEROUS pop. The fans badly wanted to see Chyna mix it up with the guys. When she got in and speared Henry, it got an even louder ovation. However, she made a mistake by coming off the top. Henry caught her with what was EASILY the best powerslam of his career. That got the win in 3:54. Okay, even that was good. This episode is nuts. [**]

WWF REWIND ~ The Howard Finkel vs. Harvey Wippleman Tuxedo Match from 1995.

Evening Gown Match: Jacqueline w/ Marc Mero vs. Sable
To this point, the only other Evening Gown match was at Unforgiven, when Luna beat Sable. It was time for Sable to get some true revenge on Jacqueline. She squashed her completely. The camera kept cutting to wide shots, as Jackie’s boobs popped out completely. Sable Bomb and strip ended this in 1:44. [NR]

Of course, the fans wanted to see Sable in her underwear, so she strips as well. AN unimpressed future Tori was shown in the crowd.

Michael Cole interviewed Ken Shamrock, who said it was time to get it on. This promo should’ve been on earlier.

WWF Championship: Steve Austin [c] vs. Ken Shamrock
Quite the match on paper. Austin is the top guy, while Shamrock has been protected for the most part since his debut. Austin came out firing, jumping Shamrock before the bell and bringing the fight to him. They mostly kept up a fast pace. Austin countering a hurricanrana into a stiff powerbomb was great. I needed more spots like that from Austin. It was actually kind of one-sided at points, with the company needing to establish that Austin must be more aggressive with a huge challenge coming up. Shamrock turned it around by knocking Austin off the top. Austin played the heel, doing things like rest holds, arguing with the official, and hitting a low blow. Eventually, Kane and The Undertaker hit the ring for a brawl, resulting in a double DQ at 12:14. That was a fun main event thanks to Austin trying different things. [***]

Kane dropped Shamrock with a chokeslam. They knocked Austin outside, but here came The Rock and Mankind to fight the brothers. Austin grabbed a steel chair from ringside and hit both Undertaker and Kane. Vince McMahon watched in horror from the stage. Austin took the chair and chased Vince to the back.

MVP: The Rock
LVP: N/A

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

#276: Last week lacked Austin, but this week also had no Kane, Undertaker, and barely any Rock. Strange. Thankfully, this episode worked much better than last week’s. There were several matches that were at least enjoyable and a taste of babyface Rock. #277: I don’t do this often but damn, what a show. It was as if the company was so ready to be back on Monday nights that they threw everything they had into this. Every match got at least two stars, with three cracking three stars, and the one that wasn’t rated was an Evening Gown match that gave the crowd something they wanted. The fans were hot throughout, none of the segments felt like a waste, and everything had a point. One of the most consistently entertaining episodes of Raw in history.