What the World Was Watching: Monday Night Raw - May 18, 1998

by Logan Scisco

-A video package recaps how Vince McMahon has stacked the deck against WWF Champion Steve Austin at Over the Edge and the end of last week’s show where Austin and McMahon were in a tag team match against the Rock and D-Lo Brown.

-Jim Ross and Michael Cole are in the booth and they are live from Nashville, Tennessee.

-Vince McMahon, Pat Patterson, and Gerald Brisco walk out and McMahon announces that his “devastating clothesline” gave Steve Austin a mild concussion.  He announces that for Austin’s protection he is barred from the arena.  Austin shows up and tells the security guard that he is coming into the building one way or the other.  Dude Love walks out, in a suit of course (it’s so weird seeing Foley with slicked back hair in this role), and promises that Over the Edge will be a special night for everyone that hates Austin.  McMahon then calls out Dustin Runnels, who has a bad knee due to knee surgery, and then books him to face Love.  The stipulation is that if Runnels wins he will become the number one contender to the WWF title and get the Over the Edge title match against Austin, but if he loses he will have to work for thirty days without being paid.  The heat for this segment is off the charts and the great thing about the Austin-McMahon angle was its ability to elevate, albeit temporarily, some of those who were involved in it.  1 for 1

-Jerry “the King” Lawler is shown helping someone covered in a sheet out of a van and escorts them into the arena.  The security guard checks to make sure it’s not Austin and lets them in.

-Opening Contest:  Val Venis beats 2 Cold Scorpio with the Money Shot at 6:10:

This is Venis’s debut and he gets a good reaction, which is why vignettes work before debuting a character.  It’s sad how quickly the WWF gave up on the Funk-Scorpio team because the tag division was really devoid of talent at this time.  It’s not really clear if Venis is a face or a heel, so that leads to the crowd being unsure of how to react to Scorpio’s role in the match.  Even though you anticipate a squash, this ends up as a very competitive match whereby Scorpio is playing the 1998 version of Tito Santana.  It’s too long for a debut, though, and the crowd loses interest despite the match being technically proficient.  Venis also didn’t really show a lot of dimensions to his character to distinguish him from a generic wrestler.  Scorpio misses a moonsault and Venis takes advantage to win.  Rating:  ** ¼ (2 for 2)

-When the security guard will not let Steve Austin into the building, he assaults him.

-Austin walks out to the ring and calls out McMahon and his stooges.  He proposes a three-on-one fight between them and McMahon hilariously backs out by saying that he does not show up to a street fight in a tweed jacket.  The stooges cut small promos on Austin and McMahon decides to book a two-on-one street fight and won’t tell Austin which two of them he will fight.  This had a lot of great back and forth, probably capped by Patterson denying that he sucked and Austin saying that he thought he did as a small inside reference.  3 for 3

-Another vignette for Edge is aired.  We must embrace the Edge and let go….

-Lawler tells his disguised man that he is there to protect him and not to get makeup or enjoy the other amenities backstage.

-Sable comes out and calls out Marc Mero and proposes an amicable split.  Mero says that’s not possible because she signed a contract two years ago that made her his property.  Ross makes a hilarious comment about how the Emancipation Proclamation ended contracts like that.  Mero demands that she get into his corner for his match with Terry Funk tonight.

-Terry Funk defeats “Marvelous” Marc Mero (w/Sable) with a DDT at 4:01:

Funk and Mero brawl back and forth until Funk knocks the referee down while pounding on Mero in the corner.  Mero hits a low blow, but Sable hops on the apron to tell the referee about it, allowing Funk to surprise Mero with a DDT and win.  Predictable ending and this was too rushed to really draw anyone in.  Funk recovering seconds after Mero’s TKO to get to the finish was also ridiculous.  Rating:  *¼ (3 for 4)

-Police officers arrive at the arena to arrest Steve Austin.

-The 1-800-COLLECT Rewind segment is the Undertaker destroying Jerry Lawler on last week’s show.

-The police investigate whether Lawler’s disguised man is Steve Austin.  They realize it is not and move on.

-Call 1-900-737-4WWF to hear about the recent fortunes of a former WWF television announcer!

-Chainz & Skull beat LOD 2000 when 8-Ball pins Animal with an illegal switch at 2:39:

Since LOD 2000 and the DOA are booked to face each other at Over the Edge, Chainz & Skull face DOA so as not to give that match away for free.  Based on Ross’s commentary, this feud is quickly turning into nearly every other LOD feud since the summer of 1997 where the storyline is “can these old guys still fight?”  Things get really sloppy when all hell breaks loose and 8-Ball sneaks in out of the crowd to give the DOA another win via illegal switch.  I’m over that finish and this feud at this point.  After the match, the LOD demand a six man match against the DOA next week and they will bring a mystery partner with them.

-This week’s Celebrity Deathmatch features Steve Austin.

-Ross discusses that Paul Bearer is using DNA testing to confirm that he is Kane’s father.  Kane wears a ski mask at the medical clinic as his DNA is being taken because he has awful burns on his face (allegedly).

-Lawler comes out to do commentary and Ross makes fun of him by saying that he’s a grown man wearing a crown carrying around another man in a blanket.  Lawler unveils the man to be Al Snow and says that he has promised Snow a meeting with Vince McMahon.  Snow wants his meeting with McMahon immediately and won’t shut up on commentary, so Lawler relocates him to the first row.

-#1 Contender’s Match for the WWF Championship:  Dude Love (w/Gerald Brisco & Pat Patterson) defeats Dustin Runnels at 2:19

Runnels gets the jobber entrance so astute wrestling fans know that his odds aren’t very good.  Runnels is wearing an “FU” shirt, which is a piece of Goldust merchandise so I guess he hasn’t fully ditched the character after all.  After some quick brawling, Runnels hits the bulldog, but Brisco distracts the referee and that allows Love to apply the Mandible Claw (or Love Handle if you prefer) to win.  1997-1998 has not been a good year for Goldust.  He lost his wife for thirty days to Brian Pillman and now he doesn’t get paid for thirty days.  With this quick match, which made Runnels an afterthought, they’ve pretty much destroyed his new, non-Goldust persona’s credibility.  This may have happened because Runnels had knee surgery done just prior to this show.

-Police officers come to Steve Austin’s locker room and arrest him.  After the commercial break, McMahon and his stooges come to Austin’s locker room and gloat as he’s taken away.

-Dick Togo & Mens Teioh (w/Yamiguchi –San & Funaki) wrestle The Headbangers to a double disqualification at 5:30:

The Headbangers are attacked by Kaientai on their way to the ring and the flow of this bout, like many of Kaientai’s matches is disjointed between some nice tag team moves.  Eventually, Funaki gets into the ring to assist a beatdown of Thrasher and that triggers Bradshaw and Taka Michinoku running out to the ring and triggering a double disqualification.  What a waste of time this was.  Rating:  ½* (3 for 5)

-Call 8-15-734-1161 to get your Raw is War play ring for $32.99 (plus $9 shipping & handling)!

-Vader hitting a Vader Bomb on Barry Windham on last week’s show is the Slam of the Week.

-More clips of Paul Bearer and Kane at the DNA facility are shown.  Bearer doesn’t like needles and he’s hilarious in this segment with his crack of “I’m going to show people I’m Kane’s daddy!” at the end.

-WWF Tag Team Championship Match:  The New Age Outlaws (Champions w/Chyna) beat The Rock & Owen Hart when The Road Dogg pins the Rock at 4:48

This is also a preview of Over the Edge, where the Outlaws and Triple H will face Owen Hart, Kama Mustafa, and D-Lo Brown.  The crowd works up a cool “Rocky sucks” chant to match the beat of the Nation’s theme music as the Nation heads to the ring.  Looking back at this feud, I have no idea why I rooted for DX since their sophomoric antics do not translate well at all sixteen years later.  DX and the Nation brawl before the bout and it takes a commercial break to settle things down.  Owen has incorporated a new piece of his gimmick where he bites his opponent’s ears and draws blood.  Faarooq gives the Rock a piledriver behind the referee’s back when all hell breaks loose and the Outlaws manage to retain the titles.  If this was given ten minutes it would’ve been very good since all of the guys in this match had good chemistry with each other.  Rating:  ** (4 for 6)

-Steve Austin is shown sitting in the police cruiser and Ross wonders why they haven’t taken him to jail yet.  The answer comes after the commercial break as Austin gives an “apology” to the security guard (Austin just tells the guard he’s so stupid he didn’t let him into the arena and flips him off) and walks off as a free man.

-Kevin Kelly hears from the doctor who conducted the DNA test on Paul Bearer and Kane that Bearer is Kane’s father.  When the lights go out for Kane’s entrance, Ross jokes with Lawler than the Undertaker has appeared behind them.  Bearer tells the Undertaker that his mother was a whore and the Undertaker charges the ring.  When the Undertaker gets beaten down, Vader makes the save and brawls with Kane as the Undertaker chases Bearer to the locker room.  The crowd is really into seeing Bearer get destroyed by the Undertaker, which is a testament to how well he played this role.  5 for 7

-Handicap Street Fight with Sergeant Slaughter as Guest Referee:  “Stone Cold” Steve Austin wrestles Pat Patterson & Gerald Brisco to a no contest at 4:16:

Ross tells the audience that Patterson does “rear end work” at the Brisco Brothers Body Shop (which Brisco wears a t-shirt advertising).  Patterson has a t-shirt emphasizing his first Intercontinental title reign.  The fact that Slaughter is referenced as “Sergeant” and not “Commissioner” Slaughter anymore is telling as the WWF is trying to streamline its authority figures.  Slaughter takes offense at Austin’s banter before the match and he clotheslines Austin from behind to give Brisco and Patterson the advantage.  After Austin gives Patterson and Brisco a pair of Stunners, Slaughter tries to put him in a Cobra Clutch, but Austin gets out and gives him a Stunner.  Dude Love runs out and he and Austin brawl when a fan in a Steve Austin mask comes out of the crowd and hits him with a chair (coupled with a funny strut by McMahon that mimics Austin’s head bob).  Austin doesn’t sell it and the fan is soon revealed to be Vince McMahon.  After a brief fight, Love puts Austin in the Love Handle and McMahon and his cronies triumph as we go off the air.  Rating:  ½* (5 for 7)

The Final Report Card:  Aside from the disappointment that was Dude Love-Dustin Runnels, this show still had its fun moments.  Ross and Lawler’s banter throughout the second hour is fantastic and really brings the show up another notch.  There was not a great deal of angle advancement on this show, but that didn’t matter because the Nashville crowd was hot for everything and treated the main event like WrestleMania VI.  The feud with Love is one of Austin’s more underappreciated programs and it was a vital part of making Austin a blue-collar hero.

Monday Night War Rating:  5.3 (vs. 2.51 for Nitro)

Show Evaluation:  Thumbs Up