Raw History: Episode 271 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 151 – Kaientai and Yamaguchi-San Chop Off Val’s PEEPEE!

Raw History
Episode #271
August 3rd, 1998 | San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California | Attendance: 9,703

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

RAW! Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler hosted.

The Nation of Domination opened the show. The Rock said he and Owen Hart were scheduled to face Steve Austin and The Undertaker later tonight, but wanted the title shot right now. Instead, out came Commissioner Slaughter. Rock ran him down before Steve Austin showed up. Austin hit the ring and got jumped. Undertaker was on his way, but stopped at the sight of Kane on the stage. He went after his brother, only to get attacked by Mankind. They brawled in the crowd while Austin fought off the Nation. He hit a Stunner on Owen but Rock hit him low. Rock escaped a Stunner and Austin ran him off with a chair. Chaotic start to the show that not only showcased the company’s star power, but their intriguing stories and the pace they were known for in the era.

Apparently, the WWE Network doesn’t have the Marc Mero/Golga match that opened the show. I’m not upset about that.

Brawl for All: The Godfather vs. Scorpio
Scorpio declined Godfather’s first ever offer of the Hos instead of fighting. Godfather was back in the tournament after Dan Severn withdrew. Severn cited that he had nothing to prove in a tournament like this. Godfather won a boring three round fight by decision. [NR]

Backstage, Michael Cole interviewed The New Age Outlaws, who said they weren’t afraid of their opponents tonight, Mankind and Kane.

Kane and Mankind w/ Paul Bearer vs. The New Age Outlaws
During entrances, the Outlaws pulled Mankind outside and began beating on him. It makes sense given how you don’t want Kane in command. Of course, that was quickly wiped out and Road Dogg found himself in trouble. Kane hitting the Outlaws with a double suplex was the highlight of this one. Chairs were brought into play for some brutal shots. Billy came close to winning but the referee was distracted. That set up Road Dogg to eat the Tombstone for the finish in 5:19. There were bits of this that ruled, but it mostly felt like a bit of a mess. [**]

After clips of Hawk’s embarrassing situation last week, he addressed the fans backstage. He apologized to them, Vince McMahon, Animal, and everyone. He is hoping for forgiveness and used his shoot name.

Hawk vs. Jeff Jarrett w/ Tennessee Lee
JR made sure to tell us how badly both guys needed a win. Apparently, Tennessee Lee has been having issues with botching interference lately. That was the case here, as he couldn’t get his belt off in time to cheat. Hawk hit a neckbreaker and that was it after 2:31. [NR]

Animal came out to congratulate Hawk, leading Southern Justice to show up and jump them. Yea, because all we need is more Godwinns/LOD. Droz also showed up to send Jarrett packing.

Vince McMahon made his way out flanked by the Stooges. He got on the microphone and predicted new Tag Team Champions tonight before continuing to plug his theory that Kane and Undertaker were in cahoots. He eventually called out The Undertaker to get a clear explanation. As soon as Taker hit the ring, Steve Austin followed suit to a huge ovation. He simply said that he just wants to get to SummerSlam and beat Undertaker. Anything else is irrelevant. As Austin went to leave, Undertaker noted that a wedge between them is what Vince wants. Taker offered Austin one of the Tag Titles, which Austin accepted. Taker said he’d have his back until SummerSlam. An okay segment with a hot crowd, but it felt like a retread and was kind of pointless.

Backstage, The Rock and Owen Hart said they didn’t care about how well Austin and Undertaker were getting along because they’d be champions.

STRIDEX TRIPLE ACTION ~ HHH and X-Pac had issues during the Triple Threat match last week.

WAR ZONE!

Number One Contender’s Match: Triple H w/ Chyna vs. X-Pac
Winner gets The Rock at SummerSlam. The Kliq usually knew how to deliver against one another. While this wasn’t one of their better outings, they did manage to give us something entertaining. HHH played more of the bully, as expected. He focused on his friend’s neck to wear him down. X-Pac made the big comeback, but was surprisingly stopped by a shot from Chyna, which led to the HHH win in 5:04. A solid little match. [**½]

The DX buddies rightfully argued after the match. X-Pac believed HHH and Chyna were working against him.

Kaientai w/ Men’s Toeh and the Yamaguchi-Sans vs. WWF Light Heavyweight Champion TAKA Michinoku and Val Venis
It’s the battle for Val Venis’ PEEPEE. If you want a reference that will date this show, JR said we’re in “Ryan Leaf Country.” This match plodded along until TAKA turned on Val and beat him up. That gave us a no contest or something around 1:40. [NR]

TAKA shouted that Yamaguchi-San’s wife was apparently his sister. Kaientai beat up Val and dragged him backstage.

GET YOUR WWF STOMP SERIES TWO FIGURES!

WWF European Championship: D-Lo Brown [c] w/ Mark Henry vs. Dan Severn
D-Lo wrestled this under protest because most of the people in San Diego aren’t legal American citizens. Okay, then. Severn was the one who busted up D-Lo’s ribs and gave him the chest protector gimmick. D-Lo did well for himself early on. Steve Blackman came down for a closer look. As Severn began throwing Brown around, Ken Shamrock came down. He beat up both D-Lo and Mark Henry for a DQ at 2:34. Not much of a match here. Dan Severn was not happy about this. [NR]

Kaientai beat up Val more backstage.

Tiger Ali Singh came out for his gimmick of paying people to do embarrassing things. He offered a woman in the crowd hundreds of dollars to strip. His assistant, Babu, picked an obese woman to do the stripping. She did the deed but as she went to strip off her bra, he paid her to put her clothes back on. Bad Attitude Era TV.

In the back, Yamaguchi-San got his sword and Val was on the chopping block.

WWF Tag Team Championship: Steve Austin and The Undertaker [c] vs. Owen Hart and WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock
They did a good job hyping this throughout the show. Though he’s the WWF Champion and the most popular wrestler in the world, it was Austin who took the heat. That worked, because the crowd was engaged with everything involving him. The Nation used all sorts of underhanded tactics to remain in control and keep Austin as the isolated one. Once Undertaker got the hot tag, he ran through everyone in sight. That set him up as the guy to pick up the win, using the Tombstone to retain in 11:12. I really kind of enjoyed this. The action was good, the crowd was hot, and nobody came out looking weak. [***¼]

Post-match, we got a big rumble. Mankind hit the ring to put Undertaker in the Mandible Claw. Kane followed and hit Mankind with a chair, but it was unclear if it was intention or if he was aiming for his brother. Undertaker took the chair and nailed Mankind again. CONSPIRACY! C-O-N-SPIRACY! The New Age Outlaws now arrived for a brawl and Austin rejoined the action.

Cut backstage where Kaientai had Val’s pants down and Yamaguchi-San lifted the sword to chop off his PEEPEE. The lights went out to end the show.

Reliving Nitro
Episode #151
August 3rd, 1998 | Denver Coliseum in Denver, Colorado | Attendance: 7,697

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

VIDEO PACKAGE ~ The show opened with a black and white video highlighting Goldberg’s run.

HOUR NUMBER ONE! Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan were on commentary.

NITRO GIRLS!

Diamond Dallas Page hit the ring for an interview with Mean Gene. It was here to hype the newly announced tag match where DDP will team with Jay Leno on Sunday against Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. It’s hard to think a Jay Leno match could pop a buyrate with only about a week’s notice. Anyway, DDP left through the crowd, but was then challenged by Jimmy Hart, who was with The Barbarian.

The Barbarian w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Diamond Dallas Page
No rib tape for the apparently healed DDP. It’s a miracle. The crowd was hot for the start of this but quieted when Barbarian took control. Barbarian got in way more offense than expected. Though it shouldn’t be surprising considering how DDP liked to make big comebacks. He did just that and knocked Hart off the apron. Barbarian blocked the Diamond Cutter twice, only for DDP to power through a third time and win in 3:27. I appreciated that creative little finish. This was entertaining. [**]

Larry Zbyszko took over for Heenan for some reason.

LAST WEEK ~ The Brian Adams/Goldberg stuff was recapped. The same goes for the DDP/Hogan match.

NWO NIGHTCAP ~ The awful Eric Bischoff Tonight Show parody was on again. I’m not even gonna bother. It sucked ass once again.

VIGNETTE ~ Bret Hart hype video.

Psychosis vs. Tokyo Magnum
Magnum got introduced by Disco Inferno and came out to Alex Wright’s theme. Amazing. About 15 seconds in, Scott Norton ran out to beat both up for a no contest. [NR]

Scott Norton then issued an open challenge to anyone in the back. Hugh Morrus answered, despite Jimmy Hart pleading with him not to, and took a powerbomb in a few seconds. Hilariously, there was no fight. He just walked in right into powerbomb position.

LAST WEEK ~ Bret Hart’s promo on how he respects Sting.

HOUR NUMBER TWO! Yes, it has been an hour and almost nothing has happened. Just Bischoff, a short match, and recaps.

NITRO GIRLS! The Nitro Party Pack got plugged next.

Mean Gene introduced WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Goldberg. He basically said that The Giant was in store for a hurting at Road Wild on Sunday because he was entertain the nWo Battle Royal. Seriously? That’s the best they could do for Goldberg? Also, how can he just join an nWo match? Anyway, Goldberg said he’d fight anyone to get to the Giant. That brought out Sting for a face to face with Goldberg because he’s in the match. That should’ve been a huge deal. Instead, it got quickly glossed over so Giant could come out and talk smack. Goldberg chased him to the back. Bret Hart came out to talk with Sting but got pushed away. So much is happening and still nothing is going on.

Backstage, Lex Luger was found unconscious by Sting.

Brian Adams w/ Vincent vs. Jim Duggan
You should know what to expect from these two. Lots of clubbing, raking, and nothing of interest. Vincent got on the apron for a cheap shot but it backfired and he ate a big boot. Duggan pulled the rope up on Adams’ crotch and it somehow wasn’t a DQ. Vincent came off the top with the 2×4 and took a beating with it from Duggan. Piledriver by Adams and that was all in 3:10. Trash. [DUD]

Mean Gene tried to find out about Lex Luger in the trainer’s room but was interrupted by Bret Hart. He denied any involvement with what happened to Luger and offered to be Sting’s replacement partner tonight.

After a break, Gene was sitting on a motorcycle in the aisle to plug Road Wild.

Raven, Lodi, and Sick Boy came out for an apparent Sick Boy/Kanyon match. Instead, Raven cut a promo saying that this wouldn’t happen and he insinuated that Kanyon joined the Flock. Lodi took the mic and threw insults at Saturn until Raven shut him up for being annoying. He seemed to break Lodi’s fingers. Saturn came out and cleaned house before hitting Lodi with a DVD. I have no idea what’s happening.

Backstage, Mean Gene caught Bret Hart talking with Scott Hall.

NITRO GIRLS!

More talking as Mean Gene and JJ Dillon brought out Dean Malenko. Dean admitted he lost last week and said he wasn’t going to cry about it. Chris Jericho was the better man and he’d tell him to his face if he was here. That brought out Jericho to gloat about the win and how Dean would never be in the ring with him again. Of course, that wasn’t true as JJ assigned Dean to be a special referee for Jericho’s match at Road Wild. Jericho threw a fit.

Heenan returned to commentary.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Juventud Guerrera
Our first match with some legitimate potential. They worked it at a fast pace with some solid offensive spots. Juvi hit a sweet dive and countered a powerbomb into a DDT for what will probably be the best looking move of the evening. His springboard dropkick looked less impressive. Eddie countered the Juvi Driver and won with the Frog Splash in 4:09. Best stuff on the show, but still nothing to write home about. [**¼]

More from Gene on his stupid motorcycle.

Stevie Ray came out with the TV Title again. He had a notarized statement that declared he was now officially the TV Champion in his injured brother’s place. Gene couldn’t find the notary symbol.

WCW Television Championship: Stevie Ray [c] vs. Lizmark Jr.
Stevie dominated this match> It was basically a squash. Around two and a half minutes in, Chavo Guerrero Jr. came out to say that he was going through Stevie’s stuff backstage. He found a fake notary stamp. Classic comedy. Stevie chased him to the back for a countout loss in 3:11. [NR]

HOUR NUMBER THREE!

Curt Hennig w/ Scott Norton vs. Konnan
Hennig attempted to jump Konnan during his awful opening spiel. It didn’t work. That seems to be happening a lot on this episode. Konnan held serve until Norton got involved. He still set up for the Tequila Sunrise but Norton got on the apron again. Hennig finally took advantage, choked Konnan with his shirt and won via Hennig Plex in 3:02. Boring. [*]

Kevin Nash showed up a bit too late to save his buddy.

Non-Title Match: WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
Though the title isn’t on the line, there’s history between these two. Mysterio actually won the title from Jericho, only to have the decision reversed last month. Rey brought the aerial stuff early, using a springboard dropkick and press to the outside. They worked through a commercial break. Commentary ignored a good chunk of it to discuss Bret Hart. We already know Bret is a bad guy so why they spend so much time trying to figure out his motivations is beyond me. Jericho took over and worked some awesome looking stuff. His octopus armbar was dope. When Rey made his babyface comeback, Jericho pulled the referee in the way of the move. Rey countered the Liontamer into a pin and Malenko showed up to count the three around 9:00. Despite the finish that shouldn’t officially count as one, I thought this was a very good match. Good action and a fast pace. [***¼]

NITRO GIRLS!

LAST WEEK ~ A recap of the Scott Steiner/Buff Bagwell segment.

Scott Steiner came out for a promo, saying that his mother called him and reminded him that he doesn’t bleed black and white. He bleeds red like everyone else. He took off the nWo shirt and said he quit. The fans and announcers bought into this like fools. He called out Rick to apologize and we got Buff dressed as Rick. He barked a lot and they ran down Rick until the real Rick showed up and chased them off.

NITRO GIRLS!

nWo Hollywood came out and cornered Kimberly before she could leave the ring. Bischoff made a bunch of references to how he gave DDP the chance to be a wrestler and that if it wasn’t for him, Kimberly would be a topless dancer somewhere. She slapped him and they grabbed her. DDP ran out but was quickly held back by the numbers game. From there, Bischoff made a bunch of bad sexual jokes and nobody came to DDP’s aid because WCW sucks. This went on far too long.

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Giant and Scott Hall [c] vs. WCW United States Champion Bret Hart and Sting
Sting is an idiot. Also, for no real reason, he came out to his old theme and the black and white paint. As usual in 1998, it doesn’t make sense. Bret worked against Hall like they were back in the WWF, giving us a solid little exchange. Sting tagged himself in and ran wild, dominating both guys. Yes, even Giant. Bret reached for a tag, only to get knocked off the apron by the impact of Sting throwing Hall into the corner. Sting eventually avoided a shot from the bat by Bret, which hit Hall instead. Sting covered and I guess that means new champions in 6:30. Sting gave this energy but it still wasn’t very good. [*¼]

Bret took the titles and left Sting alone to get beat up by Giant. Goldberg ran out for the save as the show ended.

Raw MVP: The Rock
Raw LVP: Tiger Ali Singh
Nitro MVP: Chris Jericho
Nitro LVP: Eric Bischoff

Raw Rating: 4.9
Nitro Rating: 4.2

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Raw: About half a good episode. Most of the first hour was useless, with only the opening segment working. The War Zone was great, other than the Singh segment. Even the Val stuff was campy nonsense, but kind of fun. HHH/Pac was solid and the main event was good. Nitro: Another shitty episode. They clearly didn’t have enough to fill three hours. Most of the first half of the show was recaps or nonsense promos. The Bischoff stuff continues to blow and they have horrible pacing issues. Also, this was a PPV go home show and almost nothing had any build. Terrible. These are getting difficult to finish. Jericho/Mysterio saved this from an all-time bad score.