WWF: Glass Shatters

[packerman120]

The Royal Rumble

Who will win the match? Triple H

Who will get the most eliminations? Owen Hart

Who will be in the final four? HHH, Owen, Ultimate Warrior, Rock

Who will be the iron man of the match? Owen

Comments: SWERVE!

 

Shawn Michaels vs. Ken Shamrock

Comments:

 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Mankind

Comments:

 

The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust vs. Vader

Comments:

 

The Nation of Domination vs. Ahmed Johnson, Animal, Flash Funk, Steve Blackman, and Blackjack Bradshaw

Comments:

 

Jesus vs. Taka Michinoku

Comments:

 

Tiebreaker questions:

Who will win the Free-For-All match? Headbangers

Will any matches end via DQ or countout? No

How many titles (out of two) will change hands? 0

Name the five mystery entrants: The Ultimate Warrior, Kane, Jake Roberts, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair

Here are some hints. All five have wrestled in the WWF before and held championships. One is an NWA legend. One is a returning star from a failed gimmick. Two are WWF legends. None of them are different faces of Foley, only one Foley allowed in this match.

 

15 points in the contest itself (3 points for the winner of the Rumble, 2 points for the World title), and 8 points to determine ties by. Best of luck!

[daulten6]

The Royal Rumble

Who will win the match?

Triple H

Who will get the most eliminations?

Kane

Who will be in the final four?

HHH, Owen, Rock, Kane

Who will be the iron man of the match?

Owen Har

Comments:

 

Shawn Michaels vs. Ken Shamrock

Comments:

 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Mankind

Comments:

 

The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust vs. Vader

Comments:

 

The Nation of Domination vs. Ahmed Johnson, Animal, Flash Funk, Steve Blackman, and Blackjack Bradshaw

Comments:

 

Jesus vs. Taka Michinoku

Comments:

 

Tiebreaker questions:

Who will win the Free-For-All match?

The Godwinns

Will any matches end via DQ or countout?

No

How many titles (out of two) will change hands?

None

Name the five mystery entrants:

The Ultimate Warrior, Ricky Steamboat, Shane Douglas, Ric Flair, Kane

Here are some hints. All five have wrestled in the WWF before and held championships. One is an NWA legend. One is a returning star from a failed gimmick. Two are WWF legends. None of them are different faces of Foley, only one Foley allowed in this match.

[solidliquid777]

The Royal Rumble

Who will win the match? Owen Hart

Who will get the most eliminations? Vader

Who will be in the final four? Owen Hart, Vader, Foley and The Rock

Who will be the iron man of the match? Owen Hart

Comments:

 

Shawn Michaels vs. Ken Shamrock

Comments: Shamrock wins a fall. 2-1

 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Mankind

Comments: Somehow Jarrett wins but not cleanly

 

The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust vs. Vader

Comments:

 

The Nation of Domination vs. Ahmed Johnson, Animal, Flash Funk, Steve Blackman, and Blackjack Bradshaw

Comments: Dissention leads to the loss

 

Jesus vs. Taka Michinoku

Comments:

 

Tiebreaker questions:

Who will win the Free-For-All match? The Godwinns

Will any matches end via DQ or countout? Yes

How many titles (out of two) will change hands? Zero

Name the five mystery entrants: Tully Blanchard, Mabel/Viscera, Bob Backlund, Yokozuna and Earthquake

[Anderz]

The Royal Rumble

Who will win the match? Owen Hart

Who will get the most eliminations? Vader

Who will be in the final four? Owen Hart, Vader, Cactus Jack and The Rock

Who will be the iron man of the match? The Rock

Comments: I hate to follow the crowd; but Owen is the obvious choice. Sometime obvious is a good thing. I know you're a big Vader fan so I reckon he'll clean out a bucket load of guys on his way to the last four.

 

Shawn Michaels vs. Ken Shamrock

Comments: Keep the gold around Michaels until Mania; but that doesn't mean you can't have a little fun along the way. Shamrock to win by DQ, and lose clean in a rematch at NWOOT.

 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Mankind

Comments: Jarrett somehow sneaks a win; causing Mankind to go over the edge and become Cactus in time for the Rumble.

 

The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust vs. Vader

Comments: Move the Mastodon on to something else.

 

The Nation of Domination vs. Ahmed Johnson, Animal, Flash Funk, Steve Blackman, and Blackjack Bradshaw

Comments: The Nation should ..... Dominate.. this match.

 

Jesus vs. Taka Michinoku

Comments: Keep the belt on Taka until a better option comes along.

 

Tiebreaker questions:

Who will win the Free-For-All match? The Headbangers

Will any matches end via DQ or countout? One

How many titles (out of two) will change hands? Zero

Name the five mystery entrants: The Undertaker, Sid Vicious, Greg Valentine, Fatu, Honky Tonk Man

 

 

I wanted to get some better feedback to you; but I haven't had chance to sit and do it properly. I'll get to it soon, I promise!

[Beejus]

MCI presents: The 1998 Royal Rumble

 

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WWF 1998 Royal Rumble

January 18th, 1998

Held at: San Jose Arena in San Jose, California (South West)

Attendance: 17,562 (sell out!)

Show Runtime: Two Hours and Fifty-Eight Minutes

Rating: B

PPV Buyrate: 0.70

This show increased our popularity in 29 regions.

 

Hour Long Free-For-All

Recap Video: Ken Shamrock taking on D-Generation X (B)

Miguel d. Bob Holly (E+)

Michael Cole interviews Los Boricuas, Savio promising victory next against Bob Holly, tonight against Taka Michinoku, and later in the Royal Rumble (E+)

Aguila and Brian Chrisopher d. Shannon Moore and Cham Pain when Brian hits Moore with a Tennesse Jam (E+)

Recap Video: what started at Survivor Series and is ongoing as Owen Hart tries to work through Vince McMahon to get to Shawn Michaels (C+)

Jim Ross interviews Ken Shamrock and gets his thoughts on Shawn Michaels (C+)

Headbangers d. Godwinns to gain entry into the Royal Rumble match (D+)

Freddie Blassie does a voiceover for the Royal Rumble opening video, which especially highlights D-Generation X, Owen Hart, and Steve Austin (C+)

 

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Goldust, Luna, fans, and commentary were all stunned when Vader brought out his “secret weapon” for the night, the former Marlena, Terri! We started the night off with this match, because it was bound to be a hot one that would really get the crowd pumped up. These two didn’t disappoint; the crowds didn’t even seem to mind it being a little shorter than most matches of this caliber. JR’s announcing helped that, as he talked about how the wrestlers like these two who are also in the Rumble will be trying to put their regular matches away quickly. Luna did some good work at ringside here, running around like a nut and yelling at Terri across the ring. Goldust controls the match only via cheating, either his or Luna’s, but once Vader gets away from that, he squashes Goldust like a bug; making a great picture for the highlight reel by hitting the Vader Bomb after Luna jumped on his back.

Match Time: 11:54

Rating: B

 

We head backstage to where Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson are watching the Rumble with myself. I’m talking to them about how things seem to be working out as of late, and as long as Slaughter doesn’t screw anything up for us, we could see two of my own handpicked favorite wrestlers competing for my World title at my next Wrestlemania! The crowd didn’t like that idea, as I could hear them booing pretty loudly from in the gorilla position. I improvised well here, if I must say so myself; Brisco made some great expressions too, kissing my ass with gusto. Patterson’s performance was subpar without notes though, as he nearly spilled the beans on who would be in the match.

Rating: C-

 

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We figured that if we just threw everybody into this one, then the guys like Henry and Ahmed won’t look as bad. While this worked for Ahmed, the vocal crowd really didn’t like seeing Mark Henry out there. JR helped this match a lot from commentary, and I think I picked up Animal and Rocky learning some better performance and brawling skills from one another, respectively. We thankfully kept it short as ten man tags go. It went home pretty quickly, with a giant brawl that led to Miavia getting ready to cradle up Funk, but Blackman ducks a flying Faarooq shoulder block and he lands on Rocky! The two leaders of the Nation are on the outside arguing, which brings the attention of D’Lo and Kama to the outside as well. In the ring, Ahmed hits a big spear on Henry and picks up a surprising win!

Match Time: 11:37

Rating: C+

 

Jim Cornette is backstage at the interview area, and he’s standing by with D-Generation X. He asks Shawn about his match tonight, saying that there are a lot of people who think that if Shamrock snaps out there, he might just break Shawn’s ankles and become the WWF World champion right here tonight. Michaels laughs, telling Cornette that the only thing Kenny is going to snap tonight is a blood vessel. “Triple H” is standing behind them, trying to give Chyna a piece of celery. Jim turns his attention to him, and he puts the celery in Chyna’s cleavage before talking about the Royal Rumble. Hunter says that he’s learned from the best Rumble participant in history, the most iconic two-time winner ever – speaking of course of Shawn while taking a dig at Hogan at the same time – and says that he’s going to pay special attention to “the nugget Hart” on his way toward making this WrestleMania a degenerate’s dream match. Cornette asks them what would happen if the two DO have to face one another at WrestleMania, and Shawn says that they’ve talked about it, and they have decided the only stipulation they would face one another in: which man is the better judge in a wet t-shirt contest. This segment was much better on paper than what it seemed to be, as all three did great jobs improvising here. Cornette had a bit of a poor performance, not reacting well enough to DX’s antics.

Rating: C+

 

We hit a minor segment here during an intermission, as JR and Lawler talk about earlier when everyone drew their numbers for the Rumble. In pre-taped footage, Sunny is manning the tumbler. First we see Vader draw, who smiles at his number; Hunter Hearst Helmsley who starts propositioning Sunny, until Chyna pulls him back and makes him draw a number, then pulls him away; the New Age Outlaws, who show one another their numbers, and then trade them between themselves; Savio Vega, but he’s immediately pissed off because she says the rest of Los Boricuas are not allowed in the Rumble, causing a lot of screaming in Spanish; we don’t get to see which face of Foley is in, as he draws the number while wearing Mankind’s mask, Dude Love’s headband and sunglasses, and Cactus Jack’s attire, drawing his number while laughing maniacally, doing a Charleston with Sunny, and then screaming “Bang bang!” before walking off; and finally we see Owen Hart, who draws his number and looks at it stoically, nodding in acceptance. From there we go to Sunny and Jim Cornette live at the announcer’s table alongside JR and Lawler. Ross talks about the Royal Rumble; the four discuss who they think will be winning the Rumble. Lawler and Sunny do some good improvising, as she is keeping Cornette between herself and the dirty old “King” and he keeps trying to flirt with her. JR holds his own when off-script, looking good here as he asks where Honky is, because he should have been here with the four of them too, but it gets left behind Jerry and Sunny’s games. JR says that he feels a big man like Vader should be winning the Rumble, Cornette goes for Jeff Jarrett, Lawler says that he thinks “The Rock” could win it all, and Sunny – pointing out that everyone knows she has a thing for “the little guys” – says that Owen Hart could finally step out of the shadows and win his trip to WrestleMania! The crowd didn’t get behind Sunny’s performance, but this definitely gave a few names for people to think about when we get to the Rumble itself later.

Ratings: C+ (drawing) / D+ (announcers)

 

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The comedy bits with Mick have been great, but once he settles down into a role, he really shines in his matches. We gave this match plenty of time, because the crowd was dying with the intermission; why did we even do that? Remind me to fire the person who suggested it. Anyways, some great action here brought them back in a big way, and JR’s friendship with Mick really came through while Jeff was cheating his way toward what looked like a win. But as Jarrett looked like he was going to pick up the victory, he took a quick moment to gloat after throwing Mankind out of the ring. However, this gives Mankind time to pull off his mask and go under the ring, coming out the other side wearing a Cactus Jack shirt! Mankind has been in a grueling match, but Cactus Jack hasn’t, and he fires off big punches on Jarrett, before finishing him off with the Double Arm DDT for a pinfall victory, ending Jarrett’s unbeaten streak! Besides, who would actually want to watch an extended undefeated streak storyline? After Jack has left, Jarrett can be heard saying this isn’t over yet!

Match Time: 16:01

Rating: B-

 

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Sunny joins commentary again for the Little Bastard title match, as the Japanese fight the Mexicans. Was that a war at any time in history? I don’t know; I doubt it. The crowd is hot again now, but they couldn’t give two shits about this match. The little Japanese kid wins. I know we’re only doing this title because WCW is doing so well with theirs, but dammit why is this crap on my pay-per-view? Eight minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

Match Time: 8:12

Rating: D-

 

Now, Howard Finkel hits the ring in order to introduce the men in the WWF World Championship match.

 

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First out is Ken Shamrock, who really looks ready to go here. He slaps himself on the ring steps, which is an interesting visual but in a way also looks silly. Don’t tell him I said that.

 

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This new DX theme really gets the crowd to pop out of their seats, as Shawn Michaels comes out along with “Triple H” and Chyna. Shawn gets the usual flamboyance out of the way, and the match begins!

 

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A lot of us were gathered backstage to watch this one, as we know how Shawn will always bring his “A” game for a pay-per-view. We really debated putting this one on now or at the end of the show, knowing how good this match would likely be. Helmsley on the outside immediately does his job, distracting Ken and allowing Shawn a free shot to begin the match. The audience starts this match cold, but it doesn’t take long for these two to get them back to the top of the spectrum. Michaels takes over from there, rattling off big moves that wear Shamrock down fast. Shawn goes for a bunch of covers, but none earn him a fall. Shamrock fights back up from underneath, but after taking a belly-to-belly suplex, Shawn complains to Earl Hebner a bit, which allows Helmsley to come in and hit a Pedigree! Shawn crawls over and makes the cover, winning the first fall.

 

During a rest period, other officials come out and run Hunter off to the back, but Chyna remains. Shawn keeps the pressure on, controlling the first few minutes of this one, but without Helmsley there to help him cheat (instead just the stoic Chyna, who doesn’t move much regularly) then Shamrock is able to fight back, and on the outside of the ring, he hits his hurricanrana on the floor! Shawn takes his time to slide back into the ring, but Ken quickly tackles him down, locking in the ankle lock, and Michaels taps out almost immediately! JR and Lawler have a good discussion on that during the second rest period, as Ross talks about how Shawn tapped out so fast, but Jerry instead puts over the intelligence of “fighting another day” in the next fall, rather than risk injuring himself.

 

Helmsley joins us in the gorilla position to watch the final fall. Shawn and Shamrock have gone on with this one for a while, but neither of them is blown up. At this point the two throw it all at one another, with Shamrock going for constant submissions while Michaels keeps going for big, impactful moves that try to knock Ken out. He hits the big elbow drop, but Shamrock catches the foot when he tries for the Sweet Chin Music; Shawn is able to hit an enziguri that keeps him from being locked into the ankle lock again. Shawn gets an advantage again by locking on a sleeper, and he slides his left foot out under the rope – and Chyna springs into action, unlacing his boot and sliding a bag into it. JR goes crazy, talking about how she’s slipping Michaels a foreign object, but Lawler says it isn’t cheating unless he gets caught using it. Shawn relinquishes the sleeper voluntarily when he may have had it won, and he cockily stands over Shamrock, crotch chopping and telling him to suck it. An argument with Earl Hebner lasts a few seconds too long, however, as Shamrock wakes up to see Shawn’s crotch above him, and he screams – he’s snapped! Shamrock flips Michaels around, taking him down with an ankle pick from the ground, and he applies the ankle lock! Shamrock screams, and… and… and… *SNAP!!* Ken actually releases the hold as Michaels starts yelling that “it’s broken, he broke it!” Chyna gets on the apron, and Helmsley rushes down to the ring, as Shamrock is in shock. Ken turns to talk to JR and King, asking them what’s happening. He turns back around – SWEET CHIN MUSIC! Behind Shamrock’s back, Shawn took off his boot and passed it to Helmsley before anyone could see anything, and he quickly got up and hit a right-footed superkick! He falls on top, and amidst his confusion, Hebner counts the one, two, and three count that keeps the title in DX. As Shawn and Hunter head up the ramp, they cackle like old hens, as Michaels dumps the bag out of his boot, revealing broken pieces of celery.

Match Time: 21:01

Ratings: C (intro) / B+ (match)

 

We cut to some quick Royal Rumble promos in order to let the crowd catch their breath, starting with Blackjack Bradshaw. He talks about how pissed off he is that his partner won’t be in there tonight thanks to the Nation, but that just means he’s gonna be throwing them out one by one in order to make it up to him! He underperformed a little, but did improvise well. We head to Ahmed Johnson and Animal next, who say that they are both dedicating this match to Hawk, who is sitting at home watching this on pay-per-view when he should be here raising hell at their side. Animal seemed to be delivering a better performance than before here, maybe being forced into singles action isn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened to him. Faarooq and “The Rock” Rocky Miavia are on next, Faarooq saying that with all five members of the Nation of Domination in the Rumble, it’ll be divide and conquer, and the Nation will stand tall at the end. Miavia, however, seems to have other things in mind, as he says he will be going on to become a double champion at WrestleMania, so long as Faarooq and the rest of the gang can keep their monkey asses in line. Faarooq shoots a vile glare at Rocky, as we cut to Mankind. He’s dressed as he was earlier, in different pieces of all three of his personalities, and he debates with himself as to who will be in the match. Mankind first, screeching that “Vince is only letting one of us in the match!” He changes to a cool voice to say that “You need to relax, Manny; it ain’t no thang, cool cat! One of us, all of us, it don’t mattah!” Both of them give way to a cold stare, and he says “Only one? Well that just means whichever one of us it is, is going to have to do three times as much damage. BANG BANG!” Mankind screeches again, and we fade out of him as he laughs, saying to have mercy. Mick had the best performance of this whole segment, enjoying being off-script and really selling the three personalities all at once. Speaking of crazy people, Chainsaw Charlie is shown, just swinging his chainsaw in a circle, finally getting close to the camera to say he’s going to cut the other Rumble participants down to size. Kinda creepy. We end with Owen Hart, who talks about how winning the Royal Rumble tonight would mean a lot to other wrestlers of the WWF, but the person it would mean the most to is him, because it’s the only way Vince McMahon would ever give Owen the chance to face Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania for the WWF championship.

Rating: C+

 

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The 1998 Royal Rumble

The first entrant down the aisle is

. He struts his way down to the ring as JR and Lawler talk about being the first man; that only Shawn Michaels has won the Rumble from number one. As much as Jeff would’ve been pleased to just get two minutes to strut and yell at the crowd, his eyes go huge as the person who drew number two is

! This one becomes Bradshaw beating Jarrett from pillar to post at the start, and he tries to throw him out but Jeff pokes him in the eyes to stop that. Jarrett does a lot of running away, until #3 is

. King jokes that this may be part of why Savio was so upset about being the only member of Los Boricuas allowed to enter. He helps Jeff right away, as two smaller guys tend to do; though eventually they turn on one another, every man for themselves and all. #4 rushes out as

, who helps Bradshaw out of his predicament. It begins to look like a tag team match, as Marty and Bradshaw fight with Savio and Jarrett. Two minutes goes by without anything important, as the fifth entrant is

, who takes some extra advice from The Jackal on the way to the ring. Kurrgan wastes little time, grabbing Savio by the face and throwing him over the top rope! Jannetty runs at him, but Kurrgan puts up a boot, and the force of him hitting it makes Marty do a flip! Marty gets lifted up and tossed effortlessly by Kurrgan. The crowd really get on him though, giving Kurrgan some real, “we don’t want you here” type heat. Jarrett hides in the corner while Bradshaw and Kurrgan fight with one another. The crowd pops huge as number six is

! JR talks about how Owen is the odds-on favorite to win this match, and he shows that by slipping in and eliminating Kurrgan AND Bradshaw! Jarrett tries to sneak up on Hart, and that becomes a good little wrestling match. Mosh is out next, but he doesn’t do much. The first surprise of the night is the return of

, who is back to his savage Samoan roots. He goes after Owen, changing the players in each fight for the moment. Number nine……

 

*snore*

 

*snore*

 

*snore*

“What’d you think, Vince?”

*snore*

“Vince?”

*snore*

“Vince? Hey!”

*sno--*

What? Huh? Oh. Gorilla. Sorry. Hey, you all were watching it! It’s been a long past few days, goddammit!

 

Okay, well I guess we’re at number 19 now. Jeff Jarrett is still in there, Owen is still hanging on, Faarooq came in and threw a bunch of people out, and Vader just came in. Cactus is in there, and so is Jesse James. And #19 is… Bart Gunn. Monsoon woke me up for this? Jack and Vader are brawling, which has the crowd going wild. I don’t know why. Jeff and James attack Bart as soon as he hits the ring, while Owen and Faarooq are trading punches in the corner. Faarooq and Vader find one another, just as Cactus and Owen team up to face off with Jarrett and James. The two attack with big clotheslines, and while James ducks Hart’s somewhat, Jack finds the mark, and he sends Jarrett over the top and down to the floor!

 

Time for number twenty, and it is

! Hunter joins up with “The Road Dog” and the duo start assaulting Owen Hart. While that goes on, Cactus and Vader brawl again; and Faarooq takes a breather. The two minutes end, and another surprise goes on as out comes

! Slaughter may get some audible groans from the audience on his way down to the ring, but once he starts helping Hart by trading blows with Helmsley, they warm up to him in a hurry! “Sarge” puts up a good fight, and when Chyna jumps on the apron, he ducks a wild punch by her and locks her in the cobra clutch! The next entrant coming down is

though, and as Slaughter is already partway over the ropes, both the Outlaws and Hunter dump him over. JR notes, however, that Chyna should not prove to be a factor in this match from here out. In a nod to continuity, Billy wastes no time in getting rid of “brother” Bart, clotheslining him out while Bart was getting his bearings after a vicious blow from Vader. Cactus gets a new person to play with, as number twenty-three is

, and these two go right for one another! They roll around on the mat, hitting heavy punches on one another. Triple H keeps putting people between himself and Owen, who has been in this match for quite some time. Faarooq breathes a sigh of relief when number 24 turns out to be a Nation member,

. “The Rock” comes in and starts punching at Cactus and Charlie against the ropes, and Faarooq comes over to help on that. Vader takes a breather, but then he goes over and spins Miavia into the corner, hitting him with some hard punches.

 

Faarooq is about to help Rocky, but then number 25 is

! Johnson makes a beeline for his enemies, and Rocky finds his way over to them to start trying to help there. Jack and Charlie have meanwhile started brawling with the Tag Team champions, but with an assist from Helmsley, the Outlaws are able to knock the two wild men out of the ring! The two of them get ready to fight with one another, but instead, they look back into the ring, before walking out together. Thrasher comes out next, joining Owen, Faarooq, the New Age Outlaws, “The Rock”, Ahmed, Hunter, and Vader in the ring. Vader and Faarooq fight, while the Outlaws double team Hart. Hunter and Rocky eye one another up, seeming like they could come to blows, but they decide to sit back instead. Johnson interjects himself upon Faarooq, and looks ready to throw the Nation leader out – but “The Rock” sneaks over and tosses Ahmed! He nearly throws Faarooq over as well, but he landed on the apron. He questions Miavia about it, but Rocky shrugs it off. Four men left to enter and two of them are surprise entrants, as

makes his way to the ring. Hey, that guy looks familiar. I feel like he’s important. Wait, where’s Sable been at all night? Is she coming out yet, with that guy who she might be married to? Hey guys, you take over, I’ll be right back; I have to go make sure of some… things.

 

Hey, Tully Blanchard is in the ring! He surprised a few people, especially given that he got a decent little pop from the south California crowd here. He’s holding his own fighting with Owen, while Hunter and the Outlaws tease Vader. But Hunter gets the hell out of there when Hart turns and finds them, and with Vader’s help, they eliminate the Tag champs simultaneously, leaving Hunter all alone! JR notes that we are only two more entrants to go. Number 29 turns out to be another Nation member,

. Kama starts helping Faarooq, and with three members of the Nation in the ring, they are able to muscle Vader out to the floor! And then, it’s time for number thirty…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

……as the lights in the arena all go out……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The lights come back on and THE UNDERTAKER IS IN THE CENTER OF THE RING! The crowd goes crazy, as Taker immediately grabs Mero and chucks him out, and Tully soon follows suit after Taker clotheslines him out. The Nation assembles, and they start trying to bring the dead man down, rushing him. They actually do start to get a three-on-one advantage going, but a double cross sees “The Rock” strike out on his own by throwing all three men over – but Taker hangs on, only teetering before coming back in… but that means he eliminated both of his brethren! It’s the final four!

 

The crowd is still shocked to see The Undertaker in there, but there he is, alongside an exhausted Owen Hart, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Rocky Miavia. Hunter and Rocky decide to team up, and they go after Owen – but the Taker doesn’t like that, and he goes after the two, pulling Hunter aside while Owen and Miavia go at it. There are a few close calls for Hart here, as “The Rock” has been doing particularly well in this Rumble. Hunter is trading fists, but that strategy doesn’t work out too well for him as Taker is better at that. Some leverage goes a long way on the other side of the ring, as Owen trips Rock and slingshots him, catapulting him onto the ropes, before shoving him out to the floor! JR says that the Intercontinental champion will have a lot to answer to when he gets back to the Nation!

 

“Triple H” is no fool, and he quickly starts trying to play Owen and Undertaker against one another; ducking between them so that they go at it and he gets to rest. Chyna tries to get up and do something, but Undertaker doesn’t “play that” as the kids say; he punches her down to the floor, and then grabs Helmsley around the neck, slinging him over the top rope to give us the final two men!

 

Hart takes a quick moment to taunt Hunter, but quickly is all business in the face of The Undertaker. JR is exasperated on commentary, but his announcing has definitely been a joy to listen to for this match. He says that Owen has been in this for over an hour now, but Undertaker just came in at number thirty. King says that in ten years, nobody has ever won while entering at number thirty. Even with selling how worn out he is, Hart charges at Taker, and he hits him with a clothesline! Taker shakes his head, so Owen clotheslines him again! He hits the ropes a third time, but Undertaker goozles him – so Owen kicks him in the stomach, hits the ropes, and takes down Taker with a spinning wheel kick! Hart is all over Undertaker, trying to wear him down, but Undertaker kicks him away. Taker climbs to his feet, but a missile dropkick takes him right back off of them! Owen starts scrambling back to his feet using the ropes. But Taker sits up! He gets to his feet at the same time that Hart does, and he rushes him – Owen pulls down the top rope, and Taker goes over!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the apron, where he lands on his knees! Hart gets to his feet and starts trying to punch Undertaker down, but it’s to no avail – Taker holds on to the top rope with each punch. Undertaker grabs Hart’s arm, and he hauls him over the top! Owen holds on, and he looks to skin the cat back in! The match continues, and the fans are stunned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But Taker hits a legdrop, falling off the apron himself, but not before Owen’s feet hit the floor! It’s over! It’s all over!

 

The match is over! The Undertaker has done it – he returned to the WWF after a month of being on the shelf thanks to his brother, and he won the Royal Rumble! He’s going to WrestleMania! Hart can be seen getting back up on the floor, and he curses, shaking his head as officials help him to the back. He shows some proper respect to Undertaker before leaving. As Taker kneels down in the ring, the lights go out – but they come back on in red, as it isn’t his music playing…

 

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It’s Kane!! He and Paul Bearer come to the mouth of the entrance, and the two brothers stare at one another from across the San Jose Arena! The pay-per-view goes off the air with this chilling exchange, and Jim Ross telling fans to join us tomorrow night on Raw is War!

Match Time: 71:51

Rating: B (Rumble) / A (staredown)

 

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----------------

 

There it all is! Here are the stats for the show.

 

The Rumble:

Who will win the match? Taker

Who will get the most eliminations? Faarooq

Who will be in the final four? Owen, 3H, Rock, Taker

Who will be the iron man of the match? Owen

Shawn Michaels d. Ken Shamrock

Mankind d. Jeff Jarrett

Vader d. Goldust

Ahmed Johnson, Animal, Flash Funk, Steve Blackman, and Blackjack Bradshaw d. the Nation of Domination

Taka Michinoku d. Jesus

 

1. Jeff Jarrett - eliminated 13th, by Cactus Jack

2. Blackjack Bradshaw - eliminated 4th, by Owen Hart

3. Savio Vega - eliminated 1st, by Kurrgan

4. Marty Jannetty - eliminated 2nd, by Kurrgan

5. Kurrgan - eliminated 3rd, by Owen Hart

6. Owen Hart - eliminated last, by The Undertaker

7. Mosh - eliminated 5th, by Faarooq

8. Fatu - eliminated 13th, by Vader

9. Flash Funk - eliminated 6th, by Faarooq

10. Faarooq - eliminated 26th, by Rocky Miavia

11. Animal - eliminated 8th, by Faarooq and D'Lo Brown

12. Steve Blackman - eliminated 12th, by Vader

13. Honky Tonk Man - eliminated 7th, by Faarooq

14. D'Lo Brown - eliminated 9th, by Steve Blackman

15. Road Dog - eliminated 21st, by Owen Hart

16. Goldust - eliminated 11th, by Vader

17. Cactus Jack - eliminated 17th, by the New Age Outlaws

18. Vader - eliminated 22nd by Faarooq, Kama, and Rocky

19. Bart Gunn - eliminated 15th, by Billy Gunn

20. Triple H - eliminated 28th, by The Undertaker

21. Sgt. Slaughter - eliminated 14th, by Triple H and the New Age Outlaws

22. Billy Gunn - eliminated 20th, by Vader

23. Chainsaw Charlie - eliminated 16th, by the New Age Outlaws

24. Rocky Miavia - eliminated 27th, by Owen Hart

25. Ahmed Johnson - eliminated 18th, by Rocky Miavia

26. Thrasher - eliminated 19th, by Faarooq

27. Marc Mero - eliminated 23rd, by The Undertaker

28. Tully Blanchard - eliminated 24th, by The Undertaker

29. Kama Mustafa - eliminated 25th, by Rocky Miavia

30. The Undertaker - winner

 

Prediction Contest Results

The Final Countdown: 11

 

crackerjack: 9

daulten6: 9

smwilliams: 9

RKOwnage: 9

TheBigBad1013: 9

Warhawk8492: 9

 

CPBHBK: 8

jscotty: 8

Midnightnick: 8

packerman120: 8

Pteroid: 8

Smasher1311: 8

solidliquid777: 8

 

Matt Shannon: 7

Zergon: 7

 

|Anderz|: 4

 

TFC wins the first prediction contest! I will PM him a prize in the near future. Let me know what you guys thought! Can't wait to hear the reaction for my first Royal Rumble match... even if tired old man Vince fell asleep on part of it

[CPBHBK]

WOW!! Great Show Beej, very nice ending.

[The Final Countdown]

YES! Nailed it! Owen immediately jumped to mind as my choice to win, just as he did for almost everyone else. It seemed like the clear, obvious answer, but if there's one thing I've learned from War of the Thrones it's that you almost never take the seemingly clear cut route. I still probably would have gone with Owen if I'd been one of the first to predict, before the numbers added up for him and I saw that most of us seemed to view him as the obvious candidate. Then my next thought was HHH, for an all-DX main event and potential HBK face turn.

 

It wasn't until I was filling out the mystery entrants section that Taker occurred to me. It seemed crazy, especially with his ongoing feud with Kane, but I think that just adds more intrigue to the build for Mania. I felt much better about my choice when I saw Owen come in at #6, though you still managed to fake me out a couple of times in that ending sequence.

 

OK, enough about me. Great show! Vince "falling asleep" during the Rumble was a genuine laugh out loud moment for me. It was a creative way to streamline the Rumble writeup. And yet you still gave us all the necessary information while skipping a lot of the mid-Rumble filler. As intriguing as Shawn vs. Owen would have been post-Screwjob, I think Shawn vs. Taker is equally interesting with Kane in the mix. And I presume Owen will be paired up with Hs, so he'll still be prominently featured at Mania.

 

The finish of the World title match was clever. That has to be the first time celery has ever factored into the finish of a PPV match, but it's such a DX thing to do that it fits.

[SkipMartin]

Taker is going to make sure Shawn does the right thing at Wrestlemania.

[Beejus]

Big Three Recap for Week 2, January 1998

 

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Figure 4 Online

Big Three Recap – Week 2, January 1998

 

WWF Raw is War Report!

The WWF put on a decent go-home Raw before the Rumble, but definitely not a show to write home about. Most people could find something they liked on the show, but let’s hope they did a better job with the pay-per-view itself. A lot of title matches though, which was nice to see.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley d. Blackjack Bradshaw to retain the European title; The New Age Outlaws d. The Headbangers to retain the Tag Team titles; The Rock d. Blackjack Windham to retain the Intercontinental title; Owen Hart d. Marc Mero; no contest between Ken Shamrock, Mankind, and Vader vs. Shawn Michaels, Goldust, and Jeff Jarrett

We rated the show at a B-; worse than last week but not by a whole lot.

 

WCW Nitro Report!

Nitro came from The Spectrum in Philadelphia this week, and they knocked it out of the park for the sell-out crowd.

Skit involving DDP and Randy Savage; Rocco Rock d. Louie Spicolli and Alex Wright in a three way dance; skit involving Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart; Curt Hennig d. Glacier, Chavo Guerrero Jr., and Dean Malenko to retain the US title; Steve McMichael d. Fit Finlay; backstage segment with Sting and Scott Hall; The Giant, Kevin Nash, and Ric Flair d. Sting, Bret Hart, and Roddy Piper; Randy Savage d. DDP

Bret Hart was once again the star of a fantastic show. We rate this one at a B+.

 

ECW Hardcore TV Report!

ECW continues to rock the Hammerstein Ballroom week after week, continuing to get better as they go. This was yet another show that proved how people should be watching Hardcore TV if they want the best action.

Brawl involving Tommy Dreamer and RVD; Taz d. Jason Knight; skit involving Bam Bam Bigelow, Chastity, and Shane Douglas; The Sandman d. Shane Douglas; Jerry Lynn and D-Von Dudley d. Sabu and RVD

Another slightly better C- rated show, but we are hearing rumors that could change things. ECW present Guilty as Charged the night before the Royal Rumble, so we shall see what happens there.

 

ECW Guilty as Charged Report!

We thought last month that ECW were trying to help the WWF by taking away buyers for Starrcade, but this time they held their pay-per-view before the Royal Rumble! The buyrate was again registered as a 0.00, but there was no Rob Van Dam to steal the show here tonight. Which means that the rumors may be true: that RVD has fled ECW.

Pitbull II d. Little Guido (37)

Phil LaFon d. Spike Dudley (39)

Roadkill d. Big Dick Dudley (32)

ANGLE: Skit involving The Sandman and Joel Gertner (39)

Chris Candido d. John Kronus (36)

Jason Knight NC Chris Chetti (34)

ANGLE: Skit involving Chastity and Tommy Dreamer (54)

Buh-Buh Ray Dudley d. D-Von Dudley (45)

ANGLE: Confrontation between Bam Bam Bigelow and Sabu (46)

Taz d. Darren Drosdov to retain the ECW World Television title (56)

ANGLE: Confrontation between Taz and Shane Douglas (60)

Bam Bam Bigelow d. Sabu (64)

Shane Douglas d. Doug Furnas to retain the ECW World Heavyweight title (61)

We rate the show as a C, just as good as last month’s PPV. Perhaps RVD wasn’t the golden goose that we all thought he was, as ECW are doing just as well without him on the card?

 

WWF Royal Rumble report!

The WWF were in San Jose for the Royal Rumble, and the show was as good as you would imagine. The WWF may still be reeling from the loss of Steve Austin, but they seem to have found a formula that may make up for it; as the winner of the Royal Rumble was the only person in the WWF currently who definitely matches Shawn Michaels in sheer popularity, The Undertaker. One must wonder what will happen now with Owen Hart and Kane, as Taker/Kane and Shawn/Owen were looking like locks to main event WrestleMania 14, but unless Kane takes the title until then, that appears to not be the plan anymore. We do hear that the WWF got a warning again from DirecTV for a buyrate that wasn’t up to snuff for what they wanted. You can find a full write-up for the Royal Rumble elsewhere on the site. We rated the show as a B; most people liked the vast majority of the show.

 

Monday Night Ratings War!

WWF Raw is War

Monday at Primetime on USA Network: 3.89 (+0.14)

Monday at Primetime on TSN: 0.96 (+0.03)

Friday at Primetime on Sky Sports: 1.06 (+0.09)

(Shotgun Saturday Night draws a 0.09 rating on Syndication.)

 

WCW Nitro

Monday at Primetime on TNT: 5.23 (+0.03)

Monday at Evening on Galavision: 1.70 (-0.01)

Wednesday at Afternoon on Foxtel Australia: 0.21 (same)

(Saturday Night draws a 0.60 rating on TBS.)

 

From the desk of Vincent K. McMahon:

“The fans loved the return of the Taker at the Royal Rumble last night. Most people were clamoring for Owen to win it, and in any regular circumstances, he probably would have. However, Shawn came to me a few weeks ago and said that he was worried about facing Hart one-on-one. So, short of doing that match, we went with the one person who could sell out WrestleMania alongside Shawn. Mark will do a great job in the main event, and we can tie it into their feud from last year as well. As for Kane, well, we have plans for him. The character and Glen are doing well, and to be honest, if we’d have booked him to lose his first match with Undertaker right now, he may have lost a lot of steam.

 

“A lot of good feuds are getting their start from the Rumble, and the stuff with the Nation has been getting better and better as it goes. Before the show started, I gave a big, rousing speech to the locker room about how we can’t become complacent – and anyone who seems that way, will have to answer for it after the show. Fortunately, everyone took that as a cue, and everyone performed past expectations. When the show was over, I gathered them all together again, this time to tell them all how well things went. Special attention was given to Owen, who was praised for being the iron man of the Rumble; Shawn, told he was awesome for all the things he has done (though I did notice he was favoring his back a bit more than usual); and Shamrock, who I complimented on the past two months of delivering solid main events.

 

“DirecTV have been breathing down my neck, but it’s not that our buyrates are low; just that they aren’t where they want them to be. Of all people, Bruce and Russo both seemed upset that they didn’t appear at the Rumble. They aren’t on-screen talent and have shown little to no interest in being so, which confused me. I told them both to just go home for a few weeks.

 

“I had a rather interesting conversation last Thursday night, however. Despite our working agreement, I don’t often talk to Paul Heyman. He just isn’t a person I would get along with in a non-business atmosphere. But Paul called me up, and amidst a flurry of profanities, he told me that he doesn’t have the funds to do it, and that’s why he’s asking me for a favor: to destroy Michinoku Pro Wrestling for him. Apparently, they have pulled his golden goose out from under him for a few months, as RVD left ECW to go on tour with them. I may consider taking him up on some of that, as we could use a few more of those flippy little bastards for our lightweight division. Of course, I made Paul agree to help me out in the future if I do so. I don’t know what I’ll use this favor on, but I’ll be sure to keep it in mind.”

 

--------------------

 

Thanks for the feedbacks guys, and yeah, I guess TFC has learned how I do things I laughed so hard to myself when I thought up the celery thing. I think the IWC would have crapped on that as the finish, but I could just picture Vince, Shawn, and Hunter laughing about that backstage. I probably would have done Owen as the main event, but tbh, I haven't felt like he's getting over enough. Meanwhile, Shawn and Taker are at 85 and 87 popularity, respectively; and feuding them can only yield good things. It's made me have to restructure the WM card as we know it, but hey - that's what happens when Glass Shatters!

[The Nickman]

That was just brilliant. Taker returning and winning the Rumble is a MUCH better outcome than boring old Owen Hart winning it, IMO.

 

Great work, can't wait for the next RAW!!

[LordJaguar]

Just caught up on this dynasty and boy did I miss a lot! I can't wait to see what effect the Taker's win has on the future of the WWF...

[TheBigBad1013]

I'm a bit late to the party but I really enjoyed the Royal Rumble pay per view. Great job, man! Especially on the Rumble match itself. It has to be tough to write a huge match like that, but you did a great job of it.

[Beejus]

WWF Raw is War / War Zone - 1/19/1998

 

Happy thanksgiving, my fellow 'muricans! How about some shattered glass to go with your turkey? This show ended up a little longer than usual thanks to some big segments, but I got it all finished up, so enjoy!

 

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WWF RAW is WAR / War Zone

January 19th, 1998

Held at: The Cow Palace in San Francisco, California (South West)

Attendance: 11,089 (sell out!)

Show Runtime: Two Hours

Rating: B+

This show increased our popularity in 22 regions.

 

Pre-Show:

Dressed as Sgt. Slaughter, TAFKA Goldust, as “Sargedust”, welcomes everyone to the show (B-)

Terri Runnels titillates the audience for a few minutes (E+)

Hunter Hearst Helmsley and the New Age Outlaws d. Vader and the New Blackjacks (B-)

 

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Let me just say, back in the Gorilla, we were damn excited for this show, coming off of last night. We had high hopes for things to go well with Mark back on screen again. The show opens up with a still frame recap of the pay-per-view, starting with the image of Vader hitting the Vader Bomb on Goldust with Luna on his back; Shawn retaining the title with the use of *snicker* celery sticks, that crazy bastard. We had some clips from the Rumble itself, mainly of Owen coming out at number six and the huge shock of Undertaker returning. We slipped in “The Rock” throwing out Faarooq, and ended on the shot of Taker knocking Owen off the ropes, and then Undertaker in the ring. I would commend the production staff for doing a good job, but they were just displaying photos that were taken throughout the night, so it’s not as if they did anything difficult.

Rating: B-

 

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We waste no time in sending The Undertaker out there for the fans to see, and as JR says, they shake the Cow Palace’s rafters with the standing ovation they give to even just the darkness and the opening toll of the bell. This new entrance music really gets them going too, as Undertaker makes the lights turn back on by raising his arms and enters the ring. He takes the microphone and says that as great as it is to be back in the WWF, he knows that being back puts a target on his back. So, he entered the Royal Rumble, because if he was going to have a target on his back, he might as well get the biggest target placed on his back as he can. He adds that in all the accomplishments he has achieved in his career, this was his first Royal Rumble victory, and the first time anyone has ever won from number thirty. Changing gears, he talks about how he knows his brother would be wanting to face him at WrestleMania 14, but he doesn’t think Paul Bearer would ever have thought of this – now there is no way for Kane to get into a match with him, because his dance card is full with someone else who needs taunt a lesson in the dark side.

 

These words bring out D-Generation X, who feign being frightened but yet don’t walk down the ramp to meet Undertaker to the ring either. Shawn and Hunter share a microphone, as Michaels laughs off Undertaker’s words; he says that he’s almost glad Taker won the Rumble, because after he defeated him in Hell in a Cell, he knows that there’s nothing to be afraid of in the dark. Undertaker smiles, saying that apparently, Shawn doesn’t remember too much of what happened at Badd Blood; but he admits to having lost the match, under circumstances. He is really performing well here tonight, enjoying the freedom of improvising with Shawn. Hunter says that it was a tougher match later that night, when he was digging up Taker’s old lady to give her old bones the one that she was missing. He adds that he went out and found some of Undertaker’s “creatures of the night” but got reminded just how boring goth chicks are. Shawn tells Undertaker that he faced him twice last year, and if he makes it to WrestleMania, then it’ll be “third verse, same as the first, as the funeral dirge dances to the Sweet Chin Music!”

 

Finally, I come out to the ramp, halting all further conversation. I first say that I don’t care about their petty squabbles, because I have some huge, breaking news to talk about later in the evening, and it will heavily impact the main event of WrestleMania. I tell all of them that however as much as we would like to look forward to such a match, there are still two months between now and WrestleMania, and that road takes us to No Way Out of Texas in Houston on February 15th. I add that even despite my congratulations to The Undertaker for winning the Royal Rumble, there have been a slew of complaints that he should not have been allowed in the match, as nobody could prepare for him. So, I then inform everyone that next week in Phoenix, Arizona, just to make sure that everyone got a fair shake, I am personally going to handpick nine other WWF superstars, and we will have an over-the-top battle royal where The Undertaker will compete to keep his WrestleMania World title match! But, just to make sure he doesn’t have any ring rust, The Undertaker will be in the main event this evening against another champion, but in a non-title match; The Undertaker will face off against “The Rock”! Thanking everyone, I head backstage, as Shawn says one last thing. That if Taker does get past the ten men next week, he should dig himself another burial plot; because if he doesn’t, and he does end up facing “The Icon” at WrestleMania, then he’d better not be a dead lay, because Shawn can go all night! Hunter then says “oh, and one more thing, Taker… suck it!” The two degenerates crotch chop toward Undertaker, who says that he has walked through Hell before, and if Vince McMahon wants to throw nine men to the biggest wolf in the pack, then just like Michaels at WrestleMania, they will all rest in peace. This was an amazing segment to start the show with, and just to be ready for such a thing, we cut to Jim Ross and Jim Cornette at ringside just to let the crowd calm down. JR hyped the rest of the show, saying that later tonight he will be in the ring talking to Ken Shamrock and despite him not being here tonight, we will be talking to Owen Hart as well. Cornette talks about the big main event tonight, and he hypes up my major announcement later. A good job by the two at trying to make sure everyone stays tuned in to us tonight instead of flipping to Nitro.

Ratings: A (wrestlers) / C (commentators)

 

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JR does a great job putting this match over, crying foul every time Mankind gets distracted by Los Boricuas around ringside. There’s some good action to be had, and the crowd eat out of Mick’s hands no matter what he does anymore. Mankind almost has this one won with the Mandible Claw, but out of nowhere Jeff Jarrett leaps off the top rope and smashes a guitar over his head, drawing a disqualification. Honestly, hold onto your seats for this one, because there are a lot of non-finishes like this all night tonight. Jeff starts to leave the ring, but instead he bothers Howard Finkel to give him a microphone. He gets Mankind’s attention, and says that he’s learned a valuable lesson after the Royal Rumble: if you fight one face, you fight all three. Jeff tells him that with that in mind, he’s enlisted himself the best help you can find… and into the ring comes The New Age Outlaws! Billy and Jesse stomp away at Mankind, before hitting him with a spike piledriver, and along with Jarrett, they leave the area laughing amongst one another.

Match Time: 8:19

Rating: C (match) / C (attack)

 

When we come back from a break, Jim Ross is in the ring and he introduces “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Ken Shamrock. JR asks Ken about his disappointing loss at the Royal Rumble, but Ken is positive, albeit let down at the way things went. He says that Shawn used deceit in order to retain his title because he knew he couldn’t defeat Ken in a straight matchup, and says that he can’t wait to get another shot so he can win put the title around his waist where it should belong! JR starts to wish him good luck in the event of that happening, and damned if JR doesn’t seem to be handling this interview better by showing more charisma. That’s when he gets interrupted by myself. I come out to the ramp and tell Shamrock that unfortunately, there are other challenges that “Mr. Michaels” will be taking on, as after failing at two pay-per-view title defenses, he needs to fall into the back of the line and let others move ahead of him. The crowd really boo at that, I know I have them in the palm of my hand right now. That’s when I lay out the “law of the land” to Shamrock, saying that I wouldn’t give him another match no matter what, because I just don’t like him. “It’s nothing personal,” I tell him, “but you come from outside my company. You made your name somewhere else, in the UFC. And you need to realize, that the only way anyone becomes a name in MY company, in MY sport, is through ME.” I simultaneously cut off the boos but also fan the flames to get them hotter by name-dropping guys like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Razor Ramon, Diesel, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels – all men who at one time or another played by my rules, and became huge stars because of it. I then add that there are hundreds of men throughout the wrestling world who would gladly come in and do whatever I ask of them in order to be a superstar again; as opposed to someone coming in from outside of my world and trying to be someone based upon that. Just to prove the point, I tell Ken to think about that later tonight, when he has to go into that very ring against a man like… The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust! The crowd is excited for the match, but still boos as I tell them that Ken needs to leave the ring now, as we have a lot more good show to come!

Ratings: B- (interview) / B+ (angle)

 

The New Age Outlaws are backstage leaving for the evening, when they are approached by the Honky Tonk Man, who is after an interview. Honky asks if they remember him, and all the good times they had. Billy tells him he must have forgotten a lot in his old age, and James laughs that they do have good memories, especially that the last time they saw Honky, he had a guitar hanging around his neck. Honky doesn’t remember that, instead saying that as “the greatest Intercontinental champion and interviewer in WWF history” he is here to ask them why they have sided with Jeff Jarrett to team up on Mankind? James says they are using the “KISS method of keep it simple, stupid” by hitting the weakest, dumbest person in the WWF. Gunn adds that the money Jeff is giving them didn’t hurt either. He’s just utterly terrible tonight; improvising is not Billy’s strong suit like James can do. Honky is enjoying it though, and he signs off by saying that “his old friends” seem to have a good plan, and saying that it was entirely his idea that the two ever teamed in the first place before throwing it back to JR and Cornette.

Rating: C-

 

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Rikishi Fatu makes his way to the ring to face off with Shannon Moore next. The crowd still isn’t pleased by Shannon, but this one is extremely short anyways. JR and Cornette do a good job of building up the surprise of Fatu’s entrance into the Rumble last night, and they wonder why he’s back in the World Wrestling Federation without his cousin to go after the Tag titles. Cornette in particular makes us crack up by saying that there’s always a Samoan in the woodpile somewhere. This is a complete squash, and Rikishi finishes it with a Banzai drop.

Match Time: 3:05

Rating: D-

 

Backstage, I am on again, this time talking to The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust, who is alongside Luna Vachon. The camera catches that I tell Goldust how I appreciate his cooperation tonight by taking on Ken Shamrock. He waxes some weird crap about how he never blamed me for the way he feels about his father, and for letting him do what he does and be the true version of himself, he’s grateful to me. Despite my mastery of wordsmith status tonight, I don’t know, he’s just not making sense to anybody tonight. I say about how his father was just like Shamrock, someone who thought they were a big deal because they had a reputation outside my company; Goldust ends the segment saying that he knows that, and that’s why no matter how bizarre he is or has ever been, he and Luna know exactly what he’s doing. We are trying out a new gimmick on him, a weird version of intelligent psycho. After watching him debut it and play with it later as well, Pat called it was a big success. He also commented that my performance here looked very good, but Dustin was fairly poor, getting a little overwhelmed by trying to sell his new gimmick too much perhaps.

Rating: B-

 

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Strange happenings as “The Rock” joins commentary, but he and JR really end up clashing. Not a huge surprise I suppose, as Jim is a pretty straight-laced guy while Rocky tends to be overbearing when he’s playing his role. The announcing and color really help this one though, which is an extremely short match that sees Flash Funk squeak out a victory with a fast rollup. Ahmed Johnson rushes out to ringside, as Jim Cornette gets up to interview the two. Cornette congratulates Funk on his victory tonight, asking them what their plans are for the future. Ahmed says that they’re going to keep taking the fight to the Nation, leading to No Way Out in Houston. Funk says as funky as it was getting the win in five-on-five, it’s time to be more specific. That’s why he and Ahmed want to take on Faarooq and Rocky in Texas! Cornette asks if he’ll be bringing any Funkettes, and that unfortunately throws Flash off. Come on Jim, what are you doing out there?! Ahmed says something resembling that they’re going down as we get out of there.

Match Time: 5:01

Ratings: E+ (match) / D+ (interview)

 

Sable!! She’s back in the makeup room getting all done up, and damn is she looking good. I think that aside from me, this has just become my favorite part of this show, as she adjusts her dress to show the proper level of cleavage. Mm yes. Then along comes that guy. What did they say his name was again? Mike Martin? I’ll go with that. The boxing guy is here, and he’s giving her flack about what she’s doing. She’s doing whatever I tell her to, dammit! Exactly, as she says that I asked her to be there for my big announcement later; but he says she isn’t going to be on TV looking like this, and he grabs her by the wrist and pulls her out of the room, saying that they’re leaving the arena altogether! You sonuvabitch, Mike!

Rating: C

 

Rocky Miavia, Mark Henry, and Kama Mustafa are backstage alongside Jerry Lawler. “The King” asks Miavia about taking on The Undertaker tonight, and what he thinks of Ahmed Johnson’s challenge for No Way Out. “The Rock” says that “as ‘The Rock’ I know how in demand I can be. Whether it’s the Nation and their enemies or helping out a good personal friend like Mr. McMahon, ‘The Rock’ says that all of them can bring it on and ‘The Rock’ will knock them all down.” I get a snicker as he adds that it doesn’t matter if they’re big, bad, funky, dead, or incoherent. Despite his underperformance, Mark Henry does seem more menacing than usual tonight.

Rating: C

 

We end the Raw is War portion of the evening in a dark room, where you can hear Paul Bearer cackling. The lights turn a dim red, as Kane stands menacingly behind him. Paul talks about – what else – The Undertaker, as he says that Undertaker can run all he wants, but he can’t hide from his past. He says that Kane will never stop hounding him, until he has paid for his sins! Kane nods his head, and just that is enough to make it look like he’s getting better at this. Paul performed poorly though, but mostly because Kane just overshadows him so much lately.

Rating: B-

 

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After the opening pyro to War Zone, we circle the arena as Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler talk about what’s coming up in the next hour; most notably a phone interview with Owen Hart, Rocky Miavia against The Undertaker, and just what is my big announcement?

Rating: C

 

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Our second hour starts off with a short squash match, as Marty Jannetty beats down young Scoot Andrews. JR and King do a great job in this match of putting Marty over as a former Intercontinental and Tag Team champion, but the crowd don’t care for a squash match after they were so hot. Marty gets the win with a top rope fistdrop.

Match Time: 2:52

Rating: E

 

We head backstage, where D-Generation X are watching the show on a monitor. Hunter asks Shawn if he knows that guy, but Shawn says he looks familiar, but no. The two joke about Owen Hart not being in the arena tonight, phoning in an interview with Jim Ross later; saying that Owen should just go ahead and call up his other whiny brothers and leave like they did. Shawn says maybe he can’t be here because he’s too busy sucking it. Hunter tells Shawn that he and Chyna were talking, and she said that he might be afraid of The Undertaker (which gets a funny “dirty look” from her). Shawn turns to Chyna and says that she doesn’t have anything to worry about; if ‘Taker makes it to Mania, then “The Showstoppa” will do what he does best, and that’s lay him out like a cheap hooker. The two are interrupted as Sgt. Slaughter enters the locker room, and he cuts them off so they can’t say anything. Unfortunately that is a design flaw of this segment, as it really doesn’t go over as well with only Sarge talking. He mostly addresses Helmsley, telling him that next week, whether he likes it or not, he will be defending his European title against someone who really impressed him at the Royal Rumble, Ahmed Johnson! DX were on a roll in their half of the segment, but unfortunately that ended with Slaughter.

Ratings: B- (DX) / D+ (Sarge)

 

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The semi-main event tonight wasn’t as good as I was hoping for. Most of that boiled down to the booking, as Shamrock was booked to look exceptionally good coming off his loss last night. JR did a great job of talking about what I told Ken earlier in the evening, and this one had some good action. The crowd was pretty average throughout, though. Vachon’s involvement from outside kept being a thorn in Shamrock’s side, but he did show a bit better performance as he worked Dustin’s leg to try and set up the ankle lock. The ending to this one went off perfect; as he went for his hurricanrana, Goldust blocked it but held him there for an uncomfortable amount of time, and when he brought Ken down with a powerbomb, he started crawling on top of him, even trying to give him a kiss. Shamrock throws Goldust off of him, and he immediately snaps, hitting a belly-to-belly suplex and locking in the ankle lock! Goldust taps out, but Ken won’t release, screaming at Mike Chioda to get out of his face. A bunch of officials rush out, including Patterson, Brisco, Brooklyn Brawler, Chad Patton, and Tim White, as they try to get Ken to let him go. The decision gets reversed to a disqualification win for Goldust, and that’s when Shamrock finally belly-to-belly suplexes Chioda, as Luna pulls Goldust out of the ring, as she screams bloody murder at Shamrock. JR says that Ken has snapped here tonight, and Lord, have mercy when he next sees Goldust.

Match Time: 8:15

Ratings: C (match) / C+ (aftermath)

 

We now go to Jim Ross at the commentary table, where he has his phone interview with Owen Hart. This one is pretty straightforward, as Owen talks about DX and myself; saying he has not given up his quest to face Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania just yet, and he will be in Phoenix, Arizona next week on Raw in order to enter the battle royal! About me, he says that he will owe me another Hart induced black eye for mentioning his brother’s name like I did earlier.

Rating: B-

 

Backstage, we go to Sunny, but more importantly, she brings in me as her guest at this time. Patterson and Brisco are there backing me, as I make my big announcement: next week in Phoenix, Arizona, one of the biggest names in all of sports will be on hand: “The Baddest Man on the Planet”, “Iron” Mike Tyson! Brisco and Patterson applaud behind me, and damned if that old Gerry doesn’t keep seeming to get better at showing performance almost every week. Sunny looks dreadful here, slurring a little bit of her speech, but it doesn’t kill the segment much as the crowd pops huge for the announcement.

Rating: B

 

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Undertaker and Rocky put on a great match here, and the crowd are eager to see Taker back in action. “The Rock” does a great job of getting under the crowd’s skin with some good heel work, and who would have ever guessed that back when he debuted? Faarooq comes out at a time for a commercial break, and he stands by at ringside to watch on. Toward the end, Earl Hebner gets bumped, and Rocky hits a big DDT! Seeing Earl still down, The Rock goes out for a chair. He is ready to level Undertaker with it, but this is when Faarooq springs into action – taking the chair away! He drops to the floor, and Rocky goes out to argue with him over it. Undertaker recovers, and he ignores the two as he wakes up Hebner. Rock and Faarooq are too embroiled in their argument to even pay attention, and Miavia gets counted out! That really sets the Nation members to arguing, as Rock is heard saying that he could have won it! As they leave, Undertaker stands in the ring, soaking in the crowd’s adulation, until BOOM! The pyro goes off and the arena turns red as Kane comes to the top of the ramp! The brothers stare on at one another, as Kane slides his finger across his throat and points it at his brother. Undertaker looks back to him, and he raises his arms, turning the arena from red to purple. That just sounds goofy to put it into words, but the crowd eat it up as JR says that’s all the time we have this week and signs off from San Francisco, urging fans to tune in next week to see Mike Tyson!

Match Time: 12:17

Ratings: B (match) / A* (angle – yes, a 100!)

 

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WWF Shotgun Saturday Night

Announcers: Jim Ross, Jim Cornette, and Michael Cole

Rating: C

 

Matches:

Steve Blackman d. The Brooklyn Brawler with a Bicycle Kick (E+)

Kurrgan squashes Cham Pain with the Paralyzer (E-)

The Headbangers d. Michael Modest & Scoot Andrews with the Stage Dive (D-)

Los Boricuas (Savio Vega & Miguel) d. Bob Holly & Bart Gunn after interference from Jose and Jesus (D)

Jeff Jarrett d. Blackjack Windham by holding the tights during a rollup (C-)

 

Segments:

Raw recap videos: The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Mr. McMahon opening Raw segment (B-) ; Ken Shamrock is spoken to by Mr. McMahon, who books him against TAFKA Goldust, and then the highlights from their match © ; Undertaker takes on Rocky Miavia, who argues with Faarooq until Kane emerges and has a staredown with his older brother! (C+) ; following the main event, Mankind chases Jeff Jarrett out of the arena (C+)

 

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[Warhawk8492]

Outstanding booking and a great show!

[The Nickman]

This is my absolute favourite diary, Beejus. Keep up the excellent work!!

[Beejus]

Big Three Recap for Week 3, January 1998

 

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Figure 4 Online

Big Three Recap – Week 3, January 1998

 

WWF Raw is War Report!

Titan Strikes Back! With The Undertaker back on hand, the WWF put on a great show that saw a lot of good matches and great angles. From Survivor Series, we would have sworn that the WWF were heading for Michaels vs Austin and Undertaker vs Kane for WrestleMania for sure, but now where does Kane go? There are so many questions and no answers as of yet, but Mike Tyson is going to be on Raw next week, and that could be huge!

Mankind d. Savio Vega by DQ; Rikishi Fatu d. Shannon Moore; Flash Funk d. D’Lo Brown; Marty Jannetty d. Scoot Andrews; TAFKA Goldust d. Ken Shamrock by DQ; The Undertaker d. Rocky Miavia by count out

The WWF hit this one out of the park. A solid B+ for an awesome show.

 

WCW Nitro Report!

WCW were in Oklahoma’s Rose Garden Arena for Nitro this week, which saw a great World title match! Unlike the WWF, however, there weren’t many huge shocks and surprises, which leads into how we actually rated these shows so closely.

ANGLE: Backstage segment with Bret Hart and Hollywood Hulk Hogan; Buff Bagwell d. Goldberg; ANGLE: Backstage segment with Kevin Nash and Lex Luger; Meng d. La Parka; ANGLE: Skit involving Ric Flair and Sting; Raven d. Chris Jericho; ANGLE: Confrontation involving Roddy Piper and Randy Savage; Diamond Dallas Page d. Kevin Nash; Hollywood Hulk Hogan d. Scott Steiner to retain the WCW World Heavyweight title

WCW definitely put on a great show, but the WWF just barely eke them out here. Maybe it’s just because we’re so used to seeing Nitro get such fantastic reviews compared to the WWF. Hollywood Hogan was definitely the star of this show, which we rank as a B+ yet again.

 

ECW Hardcore TV Report!

The Hammerstein Ballroom had no Rob Van Dam this week, but what it did have some was great ECW action!

ANGLE: Confrontation involving Bam Bam Bigelow, Shane Douglas, and Tommy Dreamer; Ballz Mahony d. John Kronus; Shane Douglas d. The Sandman; Taz d. Jerry Lynn

A C- out of Paul this week. The show went down well with viewers, and Shane Douglas definitely stole the show; but without RVD, can they keep this up in the long term?

 

Monday Night Ratings War!

WWF Raw is War

Monday at Primetime on USA Network: 4.00 (+0.11)

Monday at Primetime on TSN: 0.96 (same)

Friday at Primetime on Sky Sports: 1.14 (+0.08)

(Shotgun Saturday Night draws a 0.10 rating on Syndication.)

 

WCW Nitro

Monday at Primetime on TNT: 5.31 (+0.08)

Monday at Evening on Galavision: 1.75 (+0.05)

Wednesday at Afternoon on Foxtel Australia: 0.21 (same)

(Saturday Night draws a 0.65 rating on TBS.)

 

From the desk of Vincent K. McMahon:

“What a week! We broke a 4.0 on Raw, getting us closer to Nitro than we’ve been in weeks! Probably the closest since their New World Order crap started. Who would’ve thought that bringing Mark back like that would be such a winning move? And who made that winning decision? I did! So I just stuck it to Eric and his good ol’ boys on this one!

 

“The problem is that we still aren’t completely sold on the main event for No Way Out of Texas, which is why we didn’t announce one as of yet. But Mike Tyson coming in will be a huge coup; not sure if we’ll use him for that show or not, but if we can, we could definitely use the star power he would bring to it. I felt this past Raw did a lot in showing that we are still a force to be reckoned with, and we will continue to do so each week until we’re finally winning the ratings.

 

“Ugh… had to make a contract offer to some new lightweights. We just don’t have enough to sustain a division like WCW does. This is starting to cost me money, and I don’t like things that start costing me money. This division better start paying off FAST or else I might just have to pull the plug and give that time each week to, I don’t know, Sable, or something.”

[Beejus]

WWF Raw is War / War Zone - 1/26/1998

 

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WWF RAW is WAR / War Zone

January 26th, 1998 (Week 4)

Held at: Arizona Veterans Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona (South West)

Attendance: 14,177

Show Runtime: Two Hours

Rating: B

This show increased our popularity in 7 regions.

 

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I start this episode of Raw in the center of the ring, with all kinds of press and paparazzi surrounding the area, and with no adieu, I welcome to the ring… “Iron” Mike Tyson! Mike walks down to the ring and we do a lot of just media blitz stuff, shaking hands and posing for photos, until I drop the big bombshell – Mike Tyson will be the special enforcer for the main event of this year’s WrestleMania!! The crowd cheers that one, as I really am working them well. Mike starts to thank me for the opportunity to be a part of WrestleMania, but it seems like mentioning the main event of WrestleMania is what it takes to make the bells toll and we are joined in the ring by The Undertaker! The crowd are really eating this all up, as he takes my microphone and addresses Tyson directly; telling Mike that despite this battle royal later this evening, there’s no doubt in his mind that he will be the man standing in the ring for the main event of WrestleMania. I quote: “as much as I respect what Mike Tyson has means to the world of boxing, there’s no man in this sport of wrestling who holds more respect than The Undertaker,” and tells Mike that if he stands in his way at any point, he will not hesitate to knock him out of the way! Undertaker is really improvising well here tonight as well, and he really looked good. This doesn’t become physical; they just end with a staredown as all the security people stand on the ready. We go to Jim Ross and Jim Cornette at ringside to talk about what we just saw, and both of them do well without a script, as we let them just let their emotions pour into this and they were all the better for it.

Ratings: B (Vince/Tyson) / B (Taker/Taker) / C (commentary)

 

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Our first match is a bunch of flipping and flopping around. These guys look like fish out of water, not supreme athletes. We managed to get a contract with someone who was recently seen in WCW, hopefully he can help make our division look better. JR and Cornette do a good job of building this match up, but the only good part is JR insinuating that Christopher is “a prince”. The one that’s the champ pins one of the other ones, I don’t care, you don’t care, let’s move on.

Match Time: 4:36

Rating: D

 

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When you need a good match, just have cowboys beat up Hispanics, oh yeah! JR and Cornette put over this one well, but this one is all about Bradshaw and Windham beating the crap out of the other two guys. The crowd seemed a little upset that it was over so quickly, so apparently they want to see a lot more of the Blackjacks. Windham gets the win with a running lariat over the hairy one.

Match Time: 4:40

Rating: D-

 

We come back from commercial break to see Jim Cornette now backstage, and he stands by with Owen Hart. Jim asks Owen about his plans for the evening, and Hart proceeds to stammer and stutter. I don’t know why we try giving him a live microphone because he is just as bad as he was about it in ‘94. Through all the issues he has with it, Owen says that he wants a match with Shawn Michaels and that he will stop at nothing to get it.

Rating: C+

 

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Cham Pain waits in the ring as to the ring comes THE GORGEOUS SABLE!!!!! Now this is how you have a show, get that cleavage and leather on camera yeah! Oh yeah, that Mitch Meathead guy is out too, and he’s in the match. Everyone boos when he tells Sable to sit at commentary during this match so that she doesn’t get in the way, and it’s no wonder the crowd don’t care about this match. It features way too little Sable at ringside – and she’s even sitting down so you can’t get a look at that ass – and it doesn’t last long enough to appreciate her. This was stupid, was I drunk when I booked it?

Match Time: 1:32

Rating: E+

 

“The King” Jerry Lawler is backstage now along with The New Age Outlaws and Jeff Jarrett. Lawler asks them about their thoughts on Mike Tyson, and the Outlaws say that they know all about Mike Tyson – “Road Dog” even says that he knows the cheat code to fight him by heart. Billy says that when he faces Ken Shamrock tonight, he’s going to knock him out in the first round “just like Mike” to prove how big a fan he is. Jarrett changes the subject, saying that he’s here to talk about the man – or men – he is paying the Outlaws to help him with, and that’s Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack. Jeff lays out a challenge to all three of them to meet he and the Tag Team champions at No Way Out of Texas in a six-man tag team match.

Rating: C

 

We then head to Sgt. Slaughter who is in an office setting. Into the room walks Gerald Brisco, of all people, and he starts to talk to Sarge about how he needs to stop doing things that counteract “Mr. Mac-man”. Slaughter asks Brisco why he follows me around so much, and Gerald reacts almost violently, saying that I’ve been a great provider of quality entertainment for years, and is all of our bosses – he says that any one of them could be replaced, and he’s not about to do that. Brisco had been in a bit of limbo lately, acting like a kiss-ass, but never to this level, and it seems that his heel turn here was a complete success.

Rating: D+

 

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We head to the ring for the main event of the first hour, as Hunter defends the European title against Ahmed Johnson. This match probably could have gone on longer, and the crowd wasn’t too happy about how short it went. You could also hear almost an audible groan when the title was announced as being on the line, and that just doesn’t make sense; I guess they just figured that Johnson wouldn’t be winning then. Helmsley really impressed me by taking complete charge of this match, and obviously his performance is getting better. JR tried to make it look like Ahmed had a chance, but once “The Rock” came down and stuck his nose into the match, Johnson was thrown completely off. It didn’t take long for the Pedigree to hit and Ahmed was looking up at the lights. Before Hunter went backstage, Shawn Michaels comes out to the stage, and the two cut a promo. Shawn talks about how he’s jealous that he wasn’t allowed to meet “Iron Mike” first, but tells Undertaker not to worry about Tyson getting “in his way” because the only thing coming his way if he makes it to the main event of WrestleMania will be some Sweet Chin Music! Hunter tries to pick on Owen Hart for his horrible interview earlier tonight, but it doesn’t play off very well. The two start pointing out random women in the audience and calling them “low class Arizona skanks” as this portion of the show ends.

Match Time: 7:23

Ratings: C- (match) / B (promo)

 

 

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The War Zone begins with Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler at ringside, discussing the ten man battle royal tonight as well as “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Ken Shamrock taking on one-half of the World Tag Team champions, “Badd Ass” Billy Gunn. JR backs Shamrock, saying that Billy is going to tap out, but Lawler of course backs Gunn, saying that he’s going to “crack the world’s most dangerous nut once and for all”.

Rating: C

 

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“The Rock” is out to start the hour, as he defends the Intercontinental title against Bart Gunn. The crowd is actually far more into this one because of the title being on the line, which I assume must mean they love Miavia holding it. JR and Lawler do a great job building this one up as a potential “Cinderella story” for Gunn, but there’s not a chance really, and Rocky puts this one away with the Rock Bottom. Bart’s performance here did look a little better than usual, at least. The champion heads backstage during commercial break, and then we see him talking to Michael Cole. Miavia talks about interfering in Ahmed’s match earlier, and while “The Rock” says that he could care less about keeping the European title on Helmsley, he wanted to send a message to Johnson that you can’t stop “The Rock’s Nation”. Faarooq comes on hand then, and he corrects him by saying that you can’t stop “the Nation of Domination,” and adds that if Rocky would’ve been thinking, Ahmed might have won that title so he could lose it to a member of the Nation. Miavia tells Faarooq not to worry about it so much; he needs to just focus on winning the battle royal tonight so he can “bring home the big gold” at WrestleMania; “like a good leader should.” Faarooq shakes his head, and goes back to his warming up as Miavia can be seen smirking to himself. The worst part of this was Cole, who was left in the dust between these two.

Match Time: 5:39

Ratings: C- (match) / C (interview)

 

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Who would have ever thought a few years ago that in the final hour of Raw we would see two singles matches featuring both Gunns? We probably should change Bart’s name to something else so that these two don’t have the association anymore, but if we rebrand him nobody will ever know who he is. Anyways, this one is a good match, JR helps from the outside but he didn’t really have to help it a whole lot. Jesse James sticks his nose into the match a few times from outside the ring, but Cactus Jack comes out and chases him off, leading to Shamrock hitting the belly-to-belly and locking on the ankle lock, until Billy taps out. We see the Honky Tonk Man coming down the aisle, as JR says that Honky was to get an interview with whoever won this one. But it’s a swerve, as Honky smashes the microphone over Shamrock’s forehead! It was a black wig, and as Lawler says: “It was Honkydust all along!” The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust is dressed as Honky, and he lays a beating on Ken as Luna circles around them screaming. Dustin really has problems sometimes being overwhelmed by Vachon, but this was a good beatdown segment regardless.

Match Time: 11:57

Ratings: B- (match) / C (angle)

 

Owen Hart is backstage lacing up his boots, but he’s joined in his locker room by myself along with Brisco and Patterson. I’m the only one who says anything, as I tell Owen that I hope he didn’t pack his street clothes away too tightly; because he is not taking part in the battle royal. I tell him that, in fact, I don’t know why he even showed up here tonight, because he was never intended to be on the card. He should have just drove on through to next week’s show, because there he will have a match. But as for tonight, he can just pack up his things and get out of my arena! I really did a great job improvising here, and I think I even taught old Pat a thing or two. We go to a commercial, and when we come back Owen is on his way out of the building when he hears a commotion elsewhere. He investigates to find Sable being hit on by Hunter Hearst Helsmley, as Hunter is asking her to come back to the hotel with he and Shawn later. He even mentions that “they had a really good time that one night”, showing that his improv work is back on form by now as I wouldn’t even have thought to prompt bringing that up. Owen breaks it up, saying that the lady has made her decision and Hunter can just get out of here. Helmsley, having wrestled a tough match earlier and being faced off by a pissed off Owen, backs down, telling Sable “call us!” She thanks him for the interjection, and Owen heads out for the night.

Ratings: B+ / B-

 

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Jim Ross really puts this one over as “a Mr. McMahon power play” as he talks about how I said last week that I handpicked these nine men to be in the match for another shot at WrestleMania. This one is held as just a battle royal instead of like the Royal Rumble, as all ten men start in the ring. During this match, Vader debuted a new gimmick that we called “Wrestling Machine (Brute)”, and Gorilla said that based on fan reaction it rates at about an 84 out of 100. Undertaker wastes little time in tossing out both of the Godwinns, and Faarooq and Mark Henry work together somewhat to eliminate Animal. Faarooq throws Mark Henry out though, apologizing but not seeming very broken up about tossing his teammate. The crowd isn’t too upset about that either, as they weren’t thrilled to see him anyways. Taker also eliminates Goldust, but the lights go out on the arena! The ominous music of Kane plays, and with a loud boom, the younger brother of The Undertaker marches down to the ring with a purpose! Kane gets right into the face of his brother, but he makes the mistake of shoving Vader out of his way to get there. Vader wheels Kane around, and he gets right into his face! Kane and Vader look ready to go at it, but Rikishi Fatu hammers Vader in the back and tries to eliminate him – Vader reverses and throws Rikishi out! Vader then gets back in Kane’s face, and Undertaker then clotheslines both of them over the top rope! Kane tries to get back into the ring, but Vader pulls him away, and the two behemoths start brawling for the back! Vader seems to look better at his brawling as well, but that’s neither here nor there as the three people left in the ring are Undertaker, Faarooq, and Mankind. None of these men like each other, and it shows as they just pound on whoever is moving. But Jeff Jarrett comes out and smashes Mankind with his guitar, leading to Faarooq dumping him out as Jarrett makes himself scarce in a hurry. Down to Faarooq and Undertaker, and while both men have their chances, a chokeslam from Taker knocks the wind out of Faarooq’s sails, and he is able to scoop him up and dump him for the victory.

Match Time: 12:30

Rating: B

 

Mike Tyson makes another appearance at the end of the show then, as he climbs into the ring to raise the hand of The Undertaker. Taker doesn’t seem to know what to make of Tyson, who continually wants him to parade around the ring to celebrate his win. Mike goes to lift Undertaker’s arm again, telling him “just pose for the cameras”… when out of nowhere one of the cameramen hits Taker with a superkick! Off comes the disguises, and D-Generation X start to beat the crap out of Undertaker! Tyson stands in the ring off to the side, watching it all go down; and he takes off his jacket to reveal a DX shirt underneath! JR and Lawler go crazy, as Tyson punches Undertaker down while Shawn and Hunter held his arms. The four lift the body of Undertaker off the mat and pose with him, all giving the “X” crotch chop symbol, to all the media around the ringside area, as the credits information comes up and we fade out for the week, as Jim Ross says that there may be hell to pay for D-Generation X next week!

Rating: B+

 

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WWF Shotgun Saturday Night

Announcers: Jim Ross, Jim Cornette, and Michael Cole

Rating: D+

 

Matches:

D’Lo Brown and Kama Mustafa d. The Headbangers after D’Lo’s Lo-Down on Thrasher (C-)

Kurrgan squashes Shannon Moore with the Paralyzer (E-) (Kurrgan’s gimmick is changed to Monster (Brute), which rated 77)

“Marvelous” Marc Mero d. Flash Funk, as after Mero started arguing with Sable, Funk interrupted and got blasted with a knockout punch to give Mero the pinfall (D)

“The Mastodon” Vader d. Henry O. Godwinn with the Vader Bomb, despite a distraction by Phineas ©

 

Segments:

Raw recap videos: Mr. McMahon introduces Mike Tyson, who is told by The Undertaker to stay out of his way at WrestleMania (B+); in the battle royal, Vader gets in Kane’s face, leading to Rikishi Fatu attacking him from behind (C-); Mike Tyson joins D-Generation X to close the show by beating down The Undertaker (B+)

Marc Mero and Sable are arguing backstage, when Flash Funk, who knows a little bit about pleasing ladies (his words) steps in; a match is made for later in the evening (D+)

Jim Ross climbs into the ring after Vader’s match for a word with “The Mastodon”, who says that he doesn’t know why Rikishi stuck his nose where it didn’t belong on Raw, and he doesn’t know if he and Paul Bearer and Kane are working in cahoots, but he does know that all they’ve done is pissed him off! ©

[The Nickman]

Great work, Beejus, this diary is from my favourite time period. Please keep it up.

 

I've gotta ask though, what made you decide to attempt this without Austin??

[Beejus]

Great work, Beejus, this diary is from my favourite time period. Please keep it up.

 

I've gotta ask though, what made you decide to attempt this without Austin??

 

I was going to wait until I had an update before replying to this, but since I haven't had the time to do so yet I'll just answer now. I had two reasons for this; number one was because with Austin not active anymore, it clears the top of the card wide open for new people to jump to the top, which wouldn't have happened back then because of the Austin Train moving full speed ahead. Guys like Owen or Shamrock were big time faces at the time, but no matter how good they looked they were never going to get a real shot at the strap with "Stone Cold" on top. That means here we have an opportunity to see different people get a chance.

 

The other reason, and this is my own personal take, is the same as my advice to anyone who asks me about a new diary they should start: you should do games that not many people have actively going on, and if it is something that's done a lot, find your own hook. A lot of people do games set in the Montreal Aftermath mod, but nobody ever thinks of removing such a huge star from the equation, because theoretically it would destroy you. Now, for WCW it wouldn't be as bad, as even without someone like Hogan, Bret, Sting, etc., there are still a huge amount of popular wrestlers you can shift into that position. But in the WWF, the only people who start this game around a B to B+ popularity are Austin, Michaels, Undertaker, and Vince McMahon. None are considered under icon.

 

Throughout my year, obviously there will be some things that happen just like real life, because Austin had nothing to do with them. But that void at the top of the card will need to be filled, so you're bound to see something here that you'll not see in any WWF '98 diary anywhere else. That helps my game stands out just that little bit more. I'm just glad to see anyone enjoy it, and special thanks go out to Matt Shannon for nominating me for the DOTM even before I'd even gotten a show posted all month. I don't know if I'd feel like I deserve the win (I really didn't post much in here while working on War of the Thrones) but I am very appreciative of any votes I may get

[The Nickman]

Well, keep it up, mate. I'm currently watching old WWF episodes from 1998 so I'm super keen to see where you go with this. Great work so far!

[Beejus]

Big Three Recap for Week 4, January 1998

 

The holidays are long over and so it's time for me to get back to work!

 

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Figure 4 Online

Big Three Recap – Week 4, January 1998

 

WWF Raw is War Report!

Mike Tyson made his first appearance on Raw this week, and he did so first by being named the special enforcer for the WrestleMania main event, then with a talking-to by The Undertaker and by the end of the show by joining with D-Generation X! This certainly puts some drama into the match, as how will this go? All in all, we saw a fairly solid outing from the WWF, as we begin February and the march to WrestleMania. One must wonder how many more twists and turns will be packed into the event on March 29th. Overall, we rated the show a B; a low B, but a B nonetheless. Feedback has been positive, most viewers really enjoyed the show.

 

WCW Nitro Report!

The night following Souled Out (see below for full report), WCW Nitro was held from the DCU Center in Massachusetts, and the sold out crowd witnessed a very good show. It did not feature a surprise quite as impressive as Mike Tyson, but the return to the nWo by The Giant as Scott Hall’s surprise tag team partner went over very well. Hall put in the star performance of the show for sure, having a huge part in the main event as well as a great segment earlier where he called out Sting.

ANGLE: Brawl involving Bret Hart, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, and Kevin Nash; Scott Norton d. Louie Spicolli; Mortis d. Eddy Guerrero; ANGLE: Confrontation involving Sting and Scott Hall; Meng d. Ernest Miller; ANGLE: Confrontation between Diamond Dallas Page and Randy Savage; Lex Luger double count out with Ric Flair; Scott Hall and The Giant d. The Steiner Brothers

We rated the show as a B; a slightly higher B than what Raw got, but just barely. Most people really enjoyed the show.

 

ECW Hardcore TV Report!

This week’s Hardcore TV was brought to you from the Hammerstein Ballroom, and featured two big multi-man matches, one of which was for the World title!

ANGLE: Confrontation involving The Sandman and Shane Douglas; Pitbull II d. Chris Chetti; ANGLE: Brawl involving Bam Bam Bigelow and Taz; Taz d. Sandman, Phil LaFon, and Bam Bam Bigelow; Shane Douglas d. Tommy Dreamer and Sabu to retain the ECW World Heavyweight title

The show may not have been a huge jump from last week, but it definitely was another step forward for ECW. We rate it as a C- as the show went down really well, and some fans have said it was nothing short of excellent.

 

Monday Night Ratings War!

WWF Raw is War

Monday at Primetime on USA Network: 3.83 (-0.17)

Monday at Primetime on TSN: 0.95 (-0.01)

Friday at Primetime on Sky Sports: 1.16 (+0.02)

(Shotgun Saturday Night draws a 0.09 rating on Syndication.)

 

WCW Nitro

Monday at Primetime on TNT: 5.26 (-0.05)

Monday at Evening on Galavision: 1.74 (-0.01)

Wednesday at Afternoon on Foxtel Australia: 0.21 (same)

(Saturday Night draws a 0.57 rating on TBS.)

 

WCW Souled Out report!

Perhaps the death of the WWF was spoken too soon. WCW/nWo Souled Out, while not a critical flop by any means, is a show that is best summed up as “what could have been?” Emanating from the Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey, a packed house of 21,000 and a PPV audience of 0.53 witnessed what should have been the first match of the year candidate, as finally after all these years, WCW delivered on the match that the WWF couldn’t do back in ’93: Hulk Hogan versus Bret Hart. But things did not go as anyone expected – even though we should have.

 

The Steiner Brothers d. The Flock (Sick Boy and Riggs) to retain the WCW World Tag Team titles (64)

Prince Iaukea d. Hammer (40)

Rocco Rock d. Lenny Lane (38)

Glacier d. Kidman (43)

ANGLE: Skit involving Scott Hall and Sting (78)

Wrath d. Goldberg (57)

ANGLE: Skit involving Ric Flair, Lex Luger, and Kevin Nash (78)

Curt Hennig d. Chris Benoit to retain the WCW United States title (66)

Eddy Guerrero d. La Parka to retain the WCW Cruiserweight title (62)

ANGLE: Backstage segment with Roddy Piper and Randy Savage (82)

Davey Boy Smith wins the WCW World TV title from Perry Saturn (54)

ANGLE: Skit involving Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart (94)

The Outsiders d. Harlem Heat (78)

Hollywood Hulk Hogan d. Bret Hart to retain the WCW World Heavyweight title (84)

 

It wasn’t as though the main event was a *bad* match. But Bret Hart was been on a roll of late as he has been trying to prove that Vince McMahon was wrong to turn him away; a match that should have been better against Hulk Hogan is a black eye on all that hard work. Rumors of Hogan sandbagging Hart are sure to come; but most would say they simply did not like the ending, with the standard New World Order run-in leading to the legdrop and pin. Thanks to an overall lackluster showing – mostly by the rather “midcard” feel of the start of the show – the crowd was all but gone by that point. Even a title change wasn’t enough to bring them back. As much as we hate to do this, we have to rank the show at a B+ which is no better than what we’ve been labelling Raw and Nitro. It should have been, could have been, the show that we talk about all year. After all, Bret Hart was definitely the star of the show, and it is thus far getting fantastic reviews. However, it’s overall going to be forgettable. We can only hope that they learn their lesson by SuperBrawl VII.

 

Big WCW Turn in the works!

We understand that as early as WCW Saturday Night, plans are to turn The Barbarian face. No word on where that leaves Faces of Fear partner Meng.

 

ECW on fire!

One person who you wouldn’t associate with the kind of hardcore brawl that you typically see from Extreme Championship Wrestling would be a legend like Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. But we are breaking the news right here, right now, that Steamboat has signed on with the Philadelphia promotion to work as a backstage road agent! Most feel that it was likely former partner Shane Douglas who convinced Ricky to sign.

 

Poll Result!

Not long ago we ran a poll on the website asking who you all felt was the most entertaining wrestler in the world. The winner has been declared as none other than “The Showstopper” Shawn Michaels!

 

Top prospects!

Heartland Wrestling Association may have struck gold by signing one year pro The Messiah earlier this month. He showed some great potential when he performed for them, and the day could come sooner rather than later when he gets called up to the big leagues!

Also, some have been calling out for Dustin Rhodes to get a better push, as his portrayal of “The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust” is definitely stellar. Most feel that Rhodes is loaded with potential, and all he needs is the right shove in the right direction to become one of the bigger stars in the WWF.

Some industry veterans are also claiming that Erik Watts could make a big splash if given another chance, but we think that it was probably just Bill talking.

[The Nickman]

Great to see this one rolling again Beejus!! Hope you had a great Christmas and New Year period

[Beejus]

WWF Raw is War / War Zone - 2/2/1998

 

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WWF RAW is WAR / War Zone

February 2nd, 1998 (Week 1)

Held at: UNM University Arena in Albuquerque, New Mexico (Mid-South)

Attendance: 14,586 (sold out!)

Show Runtime: Two Hours

Rating: B

This show increased our popularity in 12 regions.

 

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Rather than the show starting with JR and Cornette at ringside, Jim Ross opens the show in the ring to interview D-Generation X. Shawn does most of the talking, laughing at how people would think he didn’t have a contingency plan set up for WrestleMania already. He says that he knew “the Vin-man” wouldn’t be able to resist putting Mike Tyson in a great position for the main event of WrestleMania, so Shawn and Hunter went to see him earlier in the evening before the show went on the air. JR says he’s “sick to his stomach” which makes Shawn call attention to his gut and ask if he’s pregnant. Ross shakes his head, leaving the ring (you can tell he really enjoyed not having a script here) as Shawn takes over. He talks about Undertaker, saying that this being his first time (making sure to slip in a virgin joke there) of winning the Royal Rumble compared to the twice that Shawn has won it, he’s going to give him some advice – winning the Rumble is only the beginning of the road to WrestleMania; and Taker should know better than anyone now as to how difficult it can be to defeat “The Showstopper”. He goes on to add on the nickname of “Mr. WrestleMania” to himself, and saying that if Undertaker thinks Shawn can turn it up at shows like Ground Zero and Badd Blood and Survivor Series (drawing boos as they all laugh) then just wait until they see one another at the biggest show of the year. The big *gong* brings everyone to their feet as The Undertaker steps out onto the top of the ramp. Undertaker says that it’s been a year since he last got a shot at the World Heavyweight title, and he won that over one of Shawn’s buddies. He goes on to say that only a year before that he buried another of Shawn’s old buddies at WrestleMania 12. He questions Shawn’s claim of being “Mr. WrestleMania” by saying that when the dust settles at this WrestleMania, he will have lost not only his reputation but also his title. Undertaker struggled a little bit here, but the crowd was on the edge of their seats anyways as we finally head to a commercial break.

Ratings: B / A

 

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A fairly short match here between Owen and Savio. There was enough of it for there to be some good action, and the crowd got into it some based on the skills of both men, but it was over pretty quickly. Hart wasted little time in locking in the Sharpshooter and getting the submission. JR did a good job talking about the feud between Owen and DX, though. Where this one becomes interesting is when Sable’s guy comes down to the ring with a microphone. Sable is kept in the background, which is complete bs. He gives Owen hell for sticking up for Sable last week, saying that she’s his wife (wait, she’s married?! To THIS guy?!) and Owen try to can’t steal her from him like that! He tells Owen that there’s no way this is going unpunished, and that’s why he wants Owen at No Way Out of Texas! Hart says that he was only trying to help, but he’s been watching for a while now, and he thinks that Marc needs a lesson in respect for women – he accepts the challenge! Sable is caught in the middle… mmm, that sounds like a great idea…

Match Time: 5:44

Ratings: D+ / C+

 

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As this one starts, it is mentioned that there will be a big six-man tag team match at No Way Out that this match is a preview for, as the three members of the Nation of Domination take on the New Blackjacks and Steve Blackman. A different version of the Nation is in action here, as Kama Mustafa teams up with Mark Henry to take on the New Blackjacks. The crowd isn’t altogether into it, though they do find time to gang up on poor Mark with some not so friendly chants. The action is good though, and JR is always happy to see the big hosses go at it. The big ending sees Henry accidentally hit Kama, leading to Barry catching him with a running lariat to pick up the pin for his team. JR mentions that it was mainly due to Windham and Bradshaw’s better team experience. D’Lo hits the ring, as does Blackman, and the six men have a big brawl as we head to a commercial.

Match Time: 6:17

Ratings: D / E+

 

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Michael Modest never stood a chance here as Animal steamrolls him with slams and clotheslines, before hitting a ring-shaking powerslam to pick up the win in short time. Animal looked good here, this one was mostly a quick squash to remind everyone that Animal is still a force to be reckoned with.

Match Time: 1:58

Rating: D-

 

JR throws us to some footage from an autograph signing earlier this past week, where Vader was signing some things and talking to some kids. But out of a curtain behind him comes Rikishi Fatu, who assaults Vader with some big punches! Vader fights back though, and security have to try and separate them. Ross talks about how these two have inked a contract to face one another at No Way Out of Texas, and says it should be nothing less than a slobberknocker.

Rating: B-

 

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First off, back at the cage stands Michael Cole, who interviews Flash Funk and Ahmed Johnson regarding their No Way Out of Texas matchup against Faarooq and “The Rock” Rocky Miavia. Cole underperforms as usual, but Flash performed pretty poorly as well. Afterwards, Funk goes out and has a quick match against one of the jobbers in Los Boricuas. JR and Cornette put over the tag match in Houston, and the Tumbleweed puts Funk over for this one as even I’m getting a bit bored with this show.

Gorilla’s road agent note: It was Jose of Los Boricuas, not just “some jobber”.

Match Time: 3:09

Ratings: D+ / E

 

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Our Raw is War main event features Bart Gunn taking on Jeff Jarrett. These two are pretty solid wrestlers, so this match has some good action, but the crowd knows damn well who’s winning this one, so they head to the restrooms here so they don’t have to hold it during the pyro display to start War Zone. Jim Ross has an uncanny ability to make anyone look like a threat, but Jeff finishes this one off with the figure four leglock pretty efficiently.

Match Time: 6:04

Rating: D+

 

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We head to the booth after the show’s beginning to see Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler, and they hype that we will see The Undertaker later tonight, and also a main event of Mankind taking on one of the World Tag Team champions, “Badd Ass” Billy Gunn. JR throws it to Sunny backstage, who is standing by with Mankind. Sunny tries to look creeped out by him, but she performs poorly. Mick has a rare off-night, as he struggles to think of good lines about Jeff Jarett and the New Age Outlaws. He says that he may not have pretty hair like Jeff or the Outlaws, but after they meet Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack at No Way Out of Texas in the hardcore six-man tag, they’ll make the three pretty boys look real ugly.

Ratings: C / C

 

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Shamrock remains fairly popular, and we definitely aren’t just shuffling him into the midcard if we can help it. Here he puts away Phineas Godwinn, who impresses with a bit of better performance during this match. This one is mostly all about Ken though, as he puts away PIG with a belly to belly suplex and the ankle lock for the tapout victory. Ken heads backstage after the win, but before Ross and Lawler can talk about what’s coming up next, JR says he’s getting something in his headset – heading backstage we see that The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust has attacked Shamrock again! He’s beating Shamrock with a chain, whipping him with it as Luna jumps around screaming at him, whipping Goldust with a leather whip as he starts choking Ken with the chain in a camel clutch position. Only one person seems to happen by and see what’s happening, and that’s The Undertaker! Taker shoves Luna aside and punches Goldust away from Shamrock, sending the heels scurrying. Taker helps Shamrock to his feet, and he really comes across as a complete badass here. Goldust’s performance was not so good though, as Vachon’s antics made him just look weird.

Match Time: 6:09

Ratings: C- / C+

 

We cut in during a commercial break (because USA allowed us to do that, to try and keep people from flipping away during commercials) to see D-Generation X plotting. Shawn is talking to Mike, Hunter, and Chyna about “the plan”, that they’ve got to do this just right or it won’t work at all. He says that “the big man” is on their side – but he stops when he notices the camera, and tells Chyna to take care of that. She palms the camera lens, shoving the cameraman out of the room and slamming the door. Shawn did a superb job off-script here, coming off like a real star, but Chyna underperforms.

Rating: B-

 

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The Intercontinental title is on the line as former champion Marty Jannetty gets a title shot. It boggles the mind to see Marty putting on these great singles matches on Raw lately given how upset he left a few months ago, but I guess he got over it when we got back in contact with him and said we wouldn’t be bringing him in to team with Al anymore. JR does a great job of putting over Marty’s last run with the title back in 1993, but no matter how good this match is the crowd just doesn’t seem to get into it. “The Rock” seems to be brawling better tonight to keep Jannetty down. The title being on the line really is a great driving force in this one, and Marty really looks like he’s trying to win it by locking in a bunch of pin attempts to tire Rocky down. In the end, the title is the major focus, as Rocky smashes it into Marty’s face behind the back of Mike Chioda, leading to a tainted victory in what was just a pretty solid matchup.

Match Time: 8:38

Rating: C

 

We head back to my office, where I’m sitting alongside Brisco and Patterson. Sgt. Slaughter is in the room, and amid all the chaotic discussion going on, Slaughter says he’s using his commissioner’s powers to sign the main event of No Way Out of Texas: two of Vince’s seemingly “chosen champions” Goldust and Hunter Hearst Helmsley will take on Ken Shamrock alongside his partner The Undertaker! Slaughter leaves in a huff, but he underperformed here despite it being a good segment on its own that gave us a solid tag team main event for the pay-per-view.

Rating: B-

 

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Main event time now, as New Age Outlaw “Badd Ass” Billy Gunn comes out alongside partner “Road Dog” Jesse James. They save the usual spiel, jumping straight into the match as Billy takes it right to Mankind. When JR talks about the unfair advantage of James being at ringside, Lawler says it’s even more unfair that Dude Love and Cactus Jack are always in Mankind’s corner. This one has some good action, and finally the crowd is really into a match as they cheer Mick on. Jesse does interject into the match a few times behind Earl Hebner’s back, but Mankind is deranged enough to keep coming back. He finally starts fighting off both men, but a guitar from behind crashes down upon his head as Jeff Jarrett interferes, drawing the disqualification win for Mankind. The three men scamper to the back as security are all over this one, but they do stop at the ramp to laugh at Mankind as we go to commercial, JR urging fans to stay right here for a visit from The Undertaker. This was absolutely the best match all night.

Match Time: 12:27

Rating: B

 

The Undertaker is back out in the ring when we come back, and he talks about how he isn’t about to let DX catch him completely off-guard again. He says that despite not really planning to get into the fray with Shamrock and Goldust earlier, he saw what was happening and had to get involved; the plus was in putting his hands on someone who has been one of “Vince’s goons” in the past few weeks. Taker says that anybody who wants to stand in his way will definitely rest… in peace. He gets a lot of cheers during this, masterfully interacting with the crowd. That’s the point that I, along with Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco, come out through the curtain. The crowd boos loudly at the interruption, as we stop at the end of the entrance ramp without climbing into the ring. I tell Undertaker that he needs to watch his mouth, calling him out on saying that I have “goons”; I turn it around and say that “The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust is a man who just needs a little bit of guidance and freedom of expression, and that’s what I’ve given him.” I’m really enjoying not having a script here, and I’m performing quite well, if I do say so myself. I talk about how the people who help me out are “those who are in need of something I can provide” and that brings me to the point: I get some huge jeers from the crowd when I announce the man who has just signed a lucrative contract to the WWF and myself, who will do anything I please as long as he gets what he wants – Kane! The lights go out and Kane and Paul Bearer come out of the back, and Kane steps into the ring as Paul stands next to us. Kane looks like the tips we gave him earlier are helping as he shows more charisma behind his body language. Kane goes nose-to-nose with Undertaker, and he causes the lights to go out by bringing his arms down.

 

The lights come back on then with a boom… but in green! And in that lighting we see that D-Generation X have hit the ring in full force, once again attacking The Undertaker! Shawn, Hunter, and Tyson lay into him with punches and kicks, and Michaels even hits him with the World title to really take down the Taker. They look like they’re about to feed him to Kane, but the fans come alive with the sign of the cavalry! Not only Owen Hart but also Vader rush past us and hit the ring, knocking DX and Kane around with dropkicks from Owen and big punches and clotheslines from Vader. Undertaker does his iconic sit-up, and with the odds more even, the heels leave the ring; DX scatter, but Kane requires a big clothesline from Vader to be sent out, but he lands on his feet just like Undertaker always does. Undertaker’s performance here was very good, as he took a hell of a beating from DX. The show ends with DX sending crotch chops their way as Undertaker, Vader, and Owen stand tall in the ring, daring them to come back.

Ratings: A / B-

 

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WWF Shotgun Saturday Night

Announcers: Jim Ross, Jim Cornette, and Michael Cole

Rating: C-

 

Matches:

Brian Christopher squashes Shannon Moore with the Tennessee Jam (E)

Kurrgan d. “Spark Plugg” Bob Holly with the Paralyzer (E+)

Taka Michinoku d. Scoot Andrews with the Michinoku Driver to retain the Light Heavyweight title (E+)

D’Lo Brown, Kama Mustafa, and Mark Henry d. The Headbangers and Bart Gunn after interference from Rocky Miavia (D-)

 

Segments:

The show opened with “The Rock” Rocky Miavia talking to D’Lo Brown and Kama Mustafa. The camera didn’t catch much of it, but he seemed to be telling them that “The Rock’s Nation” is where they should place their loyalty, and tonight he’ll show them why. (C-)

Following his match, Taka Michinoku is attacked from out of the crowd by El Dandy! The Mexican leaves the Light Heavyweight champion lying on the ground in a heap! (E-) Note: El Dandy’s “No Gimmick Needed (Unique) gimmick rated an 81.

Raw recap videos: the opening segment involving Shawn Michaels and Mike Tyson confronted by The Undertaker (B); Vader getting in a huge brawl with Rikishi Fatu, leading to a staredown with Kane at the end of the show (C-); Marc Mero calling out Owen Hart (C-); TAFKA Goldust assaults Ken Shamrock until The Undertaker makes the save, leading to the main event being made for No Way Out (C+)

 

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[Beejus]

WWF.com special report: No Way Out of Texas prediction contest!

 

A huge tag team main event, only a month away from the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania 14! On February 15th, 1998, anything can happen when there is……

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No Way Out of Texas!

WWF In Your House #20

 

Tag Team Warfare!

The Undertaker and “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Ken Shamrock take on The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust and D-Generation X member “Triple H” Hunter Hearst Helmsley!

 

Respect Your Woman!

“The Black Hart” Owen Hart looks to beat some respect into “Marvelous” Marc Mero, who has disrespected Sable one too many times!

 

The Nation takes on its biggest foes!

In two separate matches, The Nation of Domination will be in action! Faarooq and “The Rock” Rocky Miavia take on “Pearl River Powerhouse” Ahmed Johnson and the fun-loving Flash Funk; also D’Lo Brown, Kama Mustafa, and Mark Henry will take on “Lethal Weapon” Steve Blackman and the New Blackjacks!

 

Two Big Bulls Run Against One Another!

Rikishi Fatu goes one-on-one with “The Mastodon” Vader!

 

No Disqualification, No Countout… No One to Tag?

In a hardcore match, the New Age Outlaws team up with Jeff Jarrett to take on… Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack?

 

Light Heavyweight Championship on the line!

Taka Michinoku has a new contender for his championship in the villainous El Dandy!

 

Card subject to change.

 

NOTE: There remains one episode of Raw between now and No Way Out of Texas. Just FYI.

 

No Way Out fan scorecard

The Undertaker and Ken Shamrock vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley and TAFKA Goldust w/Chyna and Luna Vachon

Comments:

 

Owen Hart vs. Marc Mero w/Sable

Comments:

 

Ahmed Johnson and Flash Funk vs. The Nation of Domination (Faarooq and Rocky Miavia)

Comments:

 

The New Blackjacks and Steve Blackman vs. The Nation of Domination (D’Lo, Kama, and Mark Henry)

Comments:

 

Vader vs. Rikishi Fatu

Comments:

 

Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack vs. Jeff Jarrett and The New Age Outlaws

Comments:

 

Taka Michinoku vs. El Dandy

Comments:

 

Tiebreaker Questions

1. What match will be the highest rated on the card?

2. What match will be the lowest rated on the card?

3. How many turns might there be?

4. Which of the advertised matches may NOT take place?

5. What match will open the show?

 

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In case you missed it, Raw is War/War Zone/Shotgun is posted just above this. To Nickman, thanks for all the support brutha! The holidays were fun, but I'm just as glad to get them over with and be back into the routine of entertaining you all with my TEW prowess!

[The Nickman]

Another good show, Beej!