Written by: Kevin Kindelberger
WWF Monday Night RAW 7/20/98
The follow up last week to Goldberg winning was not too bad. They brought out Michaels but it could have been better. Anyway it is late and I will make it up later with a longer preamble but RAW rose back up in the ratings to a 5.0 off of hours of 4.6 and 5.4. Nitro got a 4.4 off a 4.7 and then it dipped to a 4.2 for the next two hours.
Vince comes down as he has a special announcement. He states it is a time of reflection and he goes back two weeks to the Undertaker becoming the number one contender. He wants to know where Kane was, and jokes if UT bought a Kane suit or if Kane was locked up. They show Vince asking whether or not Kane and UT are in cahoots with Vince being told to go to Hell. He claims it was his idea for the rematch last week and rambles about the stipulations and what happened. Vince wants some more reflections and now Road Dog was about to be pinned and UT was going to make the count for his brother after pulling Austin away from making the earlier count. There was one more piece of evidence. Kane wiped out Austin before he could attack UT. He calls out UT who does not take forever coming down. Vince is disappointed in the Undertaker and his feeling were hurt by being told to go to hell and humiliated as he was the one who made the Undertaker who he is. If UT wants to be the champion he could be then he needs to start showing respect to the proper people. He cannot do it with just the fans he needs him. Last week his actions were disrespectful, disparaging and insolent and he will not take it anymore. He needs to show the proper respect so he will not become a flash in the pan champ like Austin is destined to be. Vince wants to know if they are in cahoots and screams for him to answer “dammit” and UT will not respond, so Vince turns to the subject of retribution. If UT wants to be the champ he needs to learn a lesson the hard way. He does not want to do this and it will hurt him as much as it will hurt UT, but lessons have to be learned to make great champions so he has to face Kane and Mankind tonight at the same time. Vince dismisses him. Before he leaves, Vince stops him and tells UT that he can go to hell. Vince is goozled and chokeslammed, Pat and Brisco run down and get it too as does Slaughter!
Match 1: HHH (c) v. D’Lo Brown for WWF European Title
I forgot about that title! Brown bodyslams him but is grabbed and slapped upside the head only to be shoved into the ropes and back elbowed. Brown jaws with the crowd and turns into a clothesline. Brown fires back but telegraphs the back drop and HHH goes for the Pedigree but he escapes only to be clotheslined to the floor. He and Chyna jaw at each other and he swings but misses and is dropped by a shot from Chyna. He is rolled back into the ring and HHH gets in some moves and allows himself to be powerbombed. Leaped right into it. Brown gets two and then hammers him in the corner and chokes him out for good measure. Rock pops HHH in the head two. Brown whips him into the ropes and gets two after a spinkick. Brown pulls him up and sends him into the corner and sandwiches him. Brown delays and runs into a high knee, and telegraphs the backdrop again and gets another knee and now a clothesline with HHH getting two. HHH pounds him, and then suplexes him. Rock trips up HHH and Chyna comes in from behind and shoves him into the post. HHH powerslams Brown and Henry comes down but Chyna heads him off. HHH is going for the Pedigree but Rock comes in and gives him the Rock Bottom and Brown covers him for the win.
**1/2 Not bad, Chyna gets old though.
HHH is pissed and yelling in the back. SWEET JESUS FUCK. X Pac screams that Rock will not smell what he is cooking or some shit and yells Beeyatch! Horrifying.
Match 2: Pierre v. Dr. Death
Barry Switzer talks about how dangerous Steve Williams is.
Round 1: Steve takes him down by the leg and Pierre swings wildly as does Steve and they exchange shots. Pierre is down again. Pierre tries but cannot. He is slow to get up. Steve pops him and throws him down.
Round 2: Pierre is taken down and Williams wants him to hit him and so he does but he is backed into the corner. Death nails him with a right and he is staggered but saved by the bell.
Final Round: Pierre is being outscored by thirty. Death fires off shot after shot but Pierre is fighting back and gets in some shots but hugs the ropes. Pierre is slow but is game. Williams is prancing and Pierre is done.
*** Best fight yet and the crowd even got into it a bit too.
Yamaguchisan is at ringside with his wife and tells her to get in the ring to be punished. He wants her to hold open the ropes wider. He tells her to get on her knees and he has pulled out a paddle and he waves it around thrusting his hips. Val runs down and takes the paddle and runs him and Kaientai off. He helps her out of the ring and carries her off. Nice panty shot!
Match 3: DoA v. Animal
One member of DoA is to take on Animal but he is solo and they are not. They assault him. They go to run him over their bike but Hawk makes the save but Animal is laid out.
Match 4: Jeff Jarrett v. Steve Blackman
Southern Justice is down there too so Blackman leaves. JJ wants to be awarded the match but Steve comes back with Shamrock. Steve unloads on JJ and gets a near fall but misses the elbow drop but is caught and Steve nearly muffs the backbreaker. Steve nails him with a flying forearm and gets another two count. Shamrock keeps Justice at bay but JJ gets the upperhand and goes for the Figure Four but is kicked off and clotheslined and it is over.
*1/2 JJ is worse off here than he was in WCW. But no more feud with Mongo is nice.
Owen runs down and swings Shamrock into the steel steps. I need to pay closer attention, as JJ was finished with a running kick to the gut.
JR is in the ring with Austin. He tells Austin that he does not know who is on his side or not. Austin responds that what is on his mind is that JR has bad breath. Austin would like to know if he has a partner or is taking on all three. He then states he does not really care but runs down all the theories. He hopes UT was out to screw Vince as he deserves it. Here comes Vince who tells him to wait a minute and cannot believe Austin thinks he deserves to be screwed and the fans agree he does. Vince responds that he is going to be doing the screwing tonight. Steve has to face Kane and Mankind too or something. Steve counters he is not a puppet and he will not face them, I guess UT had left. Vince tells Austin that if he leaves then he will be stripped of the title and UT will get it. Steve will face the two and when he is done he is going to beat the shit out of Vince!
Match 5: Owen Hart v. Farooq
Farooq does not waste any time and slams Owen around. Owen pokes the eye and chokes him out in the corner as the crowd calls Owen a nugget. Owen bodyslams him and goes up to the middle rope and drills him with an elbow drop getting two. Farooq bounces back right away and takes out Owen and he gets two. But Owen kicks him and nails him with a swinging neckbreaker and after a two count connects with a backbeaker and he puts Farooq in the Crab. Farooq finally powers out but is bulldogged on the telegraphed backdrop. Owen grabs a mic and tells the crowd to shut up as he is not a nugget and then goes over and gets two after an enzuguri. He is getting angry as he yells at the crowd to shut up. Farooq reverses a whip and crushes him with a powerslam and gets a near fall. Farooq jumps on his back as he straddles him and then jumps onto a boot and is kicked. Owen slowly heads up top as the fans chant nugget but he hits the missile dropkick. Owen though leaps right into a spinebuster and he is bodyslammed. Farooq goes up top and misses and Owen wastes no time and turns him into the Sharpshooter and it is over.
*** Nice clean win for Owen!
Shamrock chases Owen off.
Paul is with Mankind and Kane….nothing said.
Jackie is slurring in the ring about Sable, calling her a sow and tells her to lose weight and calls her a skank and tells her to come down and raise her hadn in victory. Sable comes out wearing a mumu and calls Jackie a tramp. She gets in the ring and is called names such as fat and Jackie tears off her dress and she is in a bra and panties. She knocks Jackie to the floor and struts her stuff and then after she leaves Edge runs out and knocks out Mero.
Here comes HBK. He flexes and goes to the announce table and has to scoot the chair forward as fans keep hitting at him.
Rock brags that he will win tonight and now the Nation has the European title match.
Match 6: Rock (c) v. X Pac for WWF IC Title
Nation and DX sent to the back but Chyna is allowed to stay. Pac puts him in a headlock but is run over but comes back with a weak hiptoss. He misses the Buster in the corner and is decleated with a clothesline. Rock gets two. Rock has him in a headlock and punches him in the head and then chokes him out on the ropes. Now they exchange chops and Pac is hotshotted right into the top rope with some serious speed. Pac is nearly pinned. Rock tosses him to the floor. Rock goes after him and drops him throat first onto the railing and now rolls him into the ring where he gets two. Rock has him in a rear chinlock. Pac gets up but is dropped via Samoan Drop and Rock gets two. Pac is sent for the ride and is gut punched and nearly pinned again after a swinging neckbreaker. He goes back to the chinlock. Rock breaks the hold, and Pac ducks and faceplants him, which got him the win last week but he cannot follow up and finally does but only gets two. They are both slow to their feet and it is Bronco Buster time. Rock staggers to his feet but reverses the whip only to run into an elbow but Rock powerslams him for two. Rock yells at the ref and is sent to the floor. Pac is selling the knee. Chyna is on the apron and Rock waits an hour and allows himself to be hit with the IC belt and he rolls conveniently to the middle of the ring but he gets his shoulder up at the last second. Rock is up and they slug one another. Rock is reversed right into the ref and Pac kicks him in the head. Here comes D’LO but HHH is right behind him and crotches him up and knocks him to the floor and HHH Pedigrees him. Pac rolls over and another ref runs down and stops the count….
***1/2 Goddamn I hate this shit, it is so arbitrary, as it could happen every match. It takes one out of the match, either allow it to happen all the time or have no cheating.
Chyna decks the ref and now the Nation and DX are down and brawling.
Match 8: Kane and Mankind v. Steve Austin
Austin runs down and clocks Mankind with the belt and goes off on Kane but he is overwhelmed and mauled. They pan to a giddy Vince in the back. Kane whips Mankind at Austin who clotheslines him and then Kane too. Kane is whipped into the steps. He goes back into the ring and clotheslines Mankind and gets two. But Mankind gets him in the Claw and they fall to the floor. Mankind is run back into the post a few times. Kane runs over and hits Mankind more than Austin. He and Austin are in the ring and Austin Thesz Presses him but Mankind pulls him to the floor only to get his head rammed into the table. Both roll back into the ring after randomly stopping the fight. Kane is right there and hits him and is nearly Stunned but pushes Austin into Mankind and now they start beating him. Mankind is on the apron and now it is a normal tag match I guess. UT has come down and has a chair. He gets in Austin’s corner. Mankind is in and Austin hits him a few times but is tossed to the floor and Bearer hits him with a shoe and Mankind cracks him with the chair. Austin is rolled back into the ring and pounded in the corner but Mankind misses the running knee and Mankind Stuns him. Kane makes the save and goozles Austin and they tussle back and forth as Austin nuts him and UT has the chair up but hits Kane but it seems to be an accident. Austin leaves them all lying after hitting them with the chair.
*** Not bad. Austin was a bit too strong for my tastes. He took out both Kane and Mankind and then belted UT. But it worked.
***1/2 Best RAW in some time. It was fast paced and set up the PPV. Rock really needs to get out of the Nation. But the Austin feud with Kane and Mankind is decent with the Undertaker on the fence. Owen and Ken in the Dungeon should be okay. They had a decent Brawl match. Sable looked nice and the wrestling was solid. Overall pretty good.