Skip to main content

What the World Was Watching: Monday Night Raw - March 2, 1998

by Logan Scisco

-A video package recaps the confrontation between Steve Austin and Mike Tyson on January 19th.

-Jim Ross, Michael Cole, and Kevin Kelly are doing commentary for the first hour and they are live from Cleveland, Ohio.


-D-Generation X comes out and Triple H says that the road to WrestleMania has begun.  He says Owen Hart is wearing his European title and that he is going to end his reign at WrestleMania.  WWF Champion Shawn Michaels says that DX is going to make Mike Tyson an offer he cannot refuse.  Michaels offers some generic comments about his WrestleMania bout with Steve Austin, which brings Austin out.  However, before Austin can say anything, the lights go out and Kane walks out as DX flees.  Paul Bearer tells Austin that Kane will prevent him from going to WrestleMania.  They go to the locker room, so Austin goes to the announce table, pushes Cole out of his seat, and cuts a promo saying that he is ready to face Kane and Tyson tonight and he will beat Kane with the lights on or off.  Decent opening segment to get things rolling (1 for 1)

-Mike Tyson, Shane McMahon, and his entourage are shown entering the arena.

-The Outlaws come to the ring in neck braces and there is a dumpster close to the ring.  The Outlaws show footage from their camera from last week’s attack by Chainsaw Charlie and Cactus Jack, argue that Charlie and Cactus will be charged with first degree murder, and that they cannot defend the titles due to their medical condition.  Commissioner Slaughter gets on the Titantron and says that the Outlaws will wrestle this evening and will defend the tag team championships.

-Opening Contest for the WWF Tag Team Championship:  The Disciples of Apocalypse beat The New Age Outlaws (Champions) by count out at 1:24:

This is a quick match that resembles a street fight as Billy Gunn blasts 8-Ball with one of the tag team title belts and then Skull is whipped into the nearby dumpster.  As the Outlaws approach the dumpster, Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie jump out and the Outlaws flee into the crowd.  Coupled with the Outlaws interview segment before the match this was entertaining.  (2 for 2)

-A video package chronicles the tensions between Marc Mero, Sable, Goldust, and Luna Vachon.

-Salt-N-Pepa’s performance at WrestleMania XI is our weekly WrestleMania Millennium Moment.

-“Marvelous” Marc Mero (w/Sable) beats Tom Brandi with a TKO at 2:41:

Brandi has become an afterthought as the Mero-Sable program has transitioned to Goldust and Luna Vachon and he gets the jobber entrance for this match.  Sable is sent to the back before the match, since Mero think she is getting too big of a crowd reaction.  A minute into the match Luna Vachon walks out and trips Brandi when he runs the ropes and that sets up a low blow and TKO from Mero.

-After the match, Luna gets into the ring to celebrate with Mero and kisses him.  Mero does not care for that and Goldust hits the ring and ambushes Mero.  A beatdown results until Sable runs in and makes the save.  Mero berates Sable for helping him and Sable pushes him to the canvas and Mero flees.  I don’t really care for Mero running away from Sable, since that makes very little sense from a practical point-of-view, but the crowd loved seeing Sable beat up Luna.

-European Championship Match:  Mark Henry beats Owen Hart (Champion) by disqualification when Chyna interferes at 5:40:

Before the bout, Commissioner Slaughter bars other members of the Nation of Domination from standing around ringside.  During the first minute of the match Chyna walks out and that helps Henry obtain control of the match.  It takes three times for Owen to lock in the Sharpshooter, but Chyna distracts him and forces him to release it.  Chyna pushes Owen off the top rope and into a Henry bearhug, but before Owen’s hand will drop for the third time and give Henry the title, she gets in the ring and gives him a low blow.  A fun big man-little man match that combined some nice psychology and did a nice job furthering the storyline of DX wanting to weaken Owen before WrestleMania.  This was probably Henry’s best match in the WWF up to this point.  Rating:  **½ (3 for 3)

-Vince McMahon is shown talking to Mike Tyson backstage.

-Taka Michinoku & The Headbangers defeat Barry Windham & The Rock N’ Roll Express (w/Jim Cornette) when Thrasher pins Robert Gibson after hitting him with Cornette’s tennis racket at 1:46:

Windham must not care anymore because he has not bothered to remove his entrance gear while wrestling in his last several matches.  This match barely gets going before all hell breaks loose and the WWF TV crew misses the finish.  As the Headbangers celebrate, Cornette challenges them to defend their NWA tag team titles against the Rock N’ Roll Express next week.

-As we enter hour two, Lawler joins Ross for commentary.

-Vince McMahon comes out to a chorus of boos, which he considers surprising, and introduces Mike Tyson.  D-Generation X walks out amid a sea of WWF officials and McMahon is not happy, fearing that this is going to be Austin-Tyson II.  Shawn Michaels tells Tyson that DX is not out to disrespect him and he calls him out.  Tyson says he is ready to go and McMahon is seemingly resigned to having it happen, so everyone clears the ring.  This immediately gets the fans attention and they do a staredown, but Michaels rips off Tyson’s WWF Attitude shirt to reveal a DX shirt underneath.  It’s funny to see Tyson as excited as an eight year old doing the DX crotch chops.  McMahon is not happy with this storyline development since it means that Tyson is not going to be an impartial enforcer at WrestleMania.  (4 for 4)

-After the commercial break, DX and Tyson’s crew are shown celebrating in the locker room.

-Steve Blackman beats Kama Mustafa by disqualification when the Nation of Domination interferes at 3:02:

Like Mark Henry’s match, Commissioner Slaughter bars the Nation of Domination from ringside.  This is Blackman’s third match against a Nation of Domination member in as many weeks.  Blackman and Kama go back and forth for a few minutes until Blackman catches Kama with a pump kick and ties him up in an armbar submission, which leads to a Nation run in and beatdown before Ken Shamrock makes the save.  Throwaway bout that probably sets up a tag team match of some sort next week.  Rating:  *½ (4 for 5)

-Tennessee Lee, Robert Fuller’s WWF gimmick which is just putting lipstick on a pig of his Colonel Robert Parker WCW gimmick, makes his debut and introduces the repackaged Jeff Jarrett, who has moved away from the NWA faction and reverted to his old 1993-1995 gimmick.  You know, the one that he denounced as comic and ridiculous when he returned to the company a few months ago.  Jarrett says that the NWA could not handle him and Lee is the world’s greatest promoter so that is why he has joined him.

-Jeff Jarrett (w/Tennessee Lee) beats Flash Funk via submission to the figure-four leg lock at 3:32:

As Jarrett is repackaged, Funk is heading that way as well as he is growing his hair out and ditching the hat and other elements of his entrance attire.  Funk seems to have the match in hand, but Lee crotches him on the top rope when he goes for the Funky Flash Splash and Jarrett applies the figure-four leg lock for the submission.  I hate when wrestlers have a submission hold and have not worked over the body part during the match.  Rating:  *¾ (4 for 6)

-Gennifer Flowers is introduced as a celebrity for WrestleMania XIV.  For those who are no attune to 1990s politics, Flowers allegedly had a decade-long relationship with President Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas.

-Cole interviews D-Generation X and Mike Tyson in the locker room and DX says that Tyson has joined because they are the hottest act going.

-A video package recaps the breakup of the Legion of Doom and their history in the WWF.

-Steve Austin comes out to wrestle Kane, but is attacked by D-Generation X and knocked out by Shawn Michaels with Sweet Chin Music.

-After the commercial break, Paul Bearer and Kane are still in the ring and Bearer sends Kane to get the timekeeper.  On his way there Kane beats up a fan in an Austin 3:16 shirt and the timekeeper is forced to ring the bell ten times in memory of the Undertaker.  After the timekeeper rings the bell, Kane destroys him with a chokeslam and Tombstone.  Bearer says that Kane has one Tombstone left and Lawler humorously points to Ross at the announce table.  Suddenly the Undertaker’s music hits and the lights go off and after the bells toll ten times, in a nice piece of continuity, lightning hits a casket by the entrance and the Undertaker emerges.  The Undertaker goes into a Shakespearean soliloquy where he says he told his parents in the other world that he would have to face Kane.  Kane makes fire appear near the entrance, but the Undertaker walks through the flames and tells Kane that no one will be there to save him at WrestleMania.  The Undertaker’s promo started to become a parody with all of the discussion of darkness and hell, but it closed well and the lead up to the Undertaker’s return was well done.  (5 for 7)

The Final Report Card:  A very important show in the WrestleMania build as Tyson seemingly aligns with D-Generation X, which stacks the deck against Steve Austin in the WWF title match, and the Undertaker returns to make a WrestleMania bout against Kane official.  There were probably some fans that were angry about the bait and switch pulled with the Austin-Kane main event, but there was no way that match was taking place considering how protected both men were at this point.

Monday Night War Rating:  3.8 (vs. 4.8 for Nitro)


Show Evaluation:  Thumbs Up

Comments

  1. I am not going to lie. I marked the f out over the Undertaker segment. Paul Bearer was also awesome during this time period.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This WM build was the fucking shit. Everything they did worked. The Austin/Tyson/HBK stuff, Kane/Taker, I wasn't huge on the outlaws/Foley send cactus build but I seem to be in the minority, Marc fucking Mero...it was all golden

    ReplyDelete
  3. He should have made a ton of money in WWE. Changing his name was terrible as former NFL player Monty Brown is a great selling point.

    ReplyDelete
  4. They should give Big E. or someone The Pounce as a signature move.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What was it, a criss-cross spear thing, right?

    ReplyDelete
  6. King Kong Brody could have been a difference maker in the awesome 92-94 WCW. He'd have fit like a glove teaming with Vader under Harley Race.

    ReplyDelete
  7. If Jarrett is smart he gets into the indies, maybe go work with Billy Corgan or something.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've always liked Jeff, I'd love to see what Punk could do with him. I'd imagine something pretty Memphis-y, but both of them can go.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Just totally taken aback by how many eyes were locked on wrestling on Mondays back in the day. A 3.8 for one show and a 4.8(!) for another. Hard to comprehend the more time that passes.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Easy money and more control. I doubt he'd accept toadying to Vince at this point.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kevin Nash made a point about how much he likes the indies now. They pay for his hotel, his car, etc, he just looks at it like a free road trip.

    ReplyDelete
  12. In today's WWE, the Austin/Kane match would have taken place and Austin would have pinned him clean.

    ReplyDelete
  13. He'd throw the guy to the ropes and shoulder block him from the 90 degree angle.

    ReplyDelete
  14. He's really gotta love the fact that he doesn't have to work, just makes his money with autographs.


    Addendum to the indies bit: a Jeff Jarrett shoot could make some real money.

    ReplyDelete
  15. They actually DID exactly that the very next year, when Austin beat a debuting Big Show relatively clean, right before WM. Still inexplicable to this day.

    ReplyDelete
  16. ARRRRGH THE BARBARIANDecember 24, 2013 at 7:07 PM

    Funny enough Edge and Jericho brought this up on Jericho's podcast. That was Cena's idea. They thought it was awful and Barrett should have won. One thing about these podcasts, especially with guys who don't have to worry about talking, is that it gives you a window into some great stupidity.


    Someone needs to get Goldberg on to explain Summerslam 2003

    ReplyDelete
  17. The beginning of my Markdom.
    Loved how they kept Austin and Michaels apart physically, besides Michaels doing this kinda heel shit.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Yep, and it was for 2 different reasons.

    1- To add suspense for their match
    2- Shawn's back was held by duct tape, so he probably couldn't do anything physical anyway without risking missing WM.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Brody would have sabotaged something. He did all the time. I could imagine him pulling something on a live PPV

    ReplyDelete
  20. A couple questions concerning the Brody incident;
    1). Did American wrestlers boycott wrestling in PR for any period of time after this, and
    2). Did American promoters blackball any PR wrestlers from working in the states?

    ReplyDelete
  21. 1: Not that I know of, though I'm sure a lot of guys started to refuse to go down there just out of fear.
    2: Not that I've ever heard.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I was at this show.


    Nose bleed seats.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I can't see Vince rolling the dice on someone so unpredictable as Brody. From what I read, he really was just a rogue talent who always did his own thing no matter the possible consequences. His character just doesn't fit in that WWF time period & I don't think Hogan would have trusted him. If it were to happen, he would have gotten Fuji for sure, & if he were to enter a program with Hogan, Stan Hansen would have been on the roster as a buffer between the two, being friends to both men. Regardless, Brody fits the NWA/WCW mold. It is where the American wrestlers who were popular in Japan went to, like Hansen, Abdullah, Cactus, & Vader. Brody tagging with any of them VS Road Warriors or Steiners. Brody VS Ron Simmons, El Gigante or Sting maybe.

    ReplyDelete
  24. KING KONG BRODY VS SHOCK MASTER.....BOOK IT

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm not sure how much changes with him. I don't think he ever signs anything with one of the big companies. He was a guy that did his own thing and was notorious for not doing business when he didn't feel like it.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Seriously, it still baffles me how awesome Taker was during this period, and how boring they made the character after 2004.

    ReplyDelete
  27. They were never gonna book Show right no matter what. He had a huge guaranteed contract and too many people in power resented that.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Brody was a fine talker. Look up his old St. Louis stuff. There's a couple of his promos covered here:

    http://placetobenation.com/titans-of-wrestling-11-classic-st-louis-wrestling/

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment