Written by: Kevin Kindelberger
WWF Monday Night RAW 10/12/98
The go home show. Not much to say here. It is late and another tie in the ratings as both got a 4.7 while RAW won head to head while Nitro had a strong 5.3 opening hour. You know it says 4.7 for RAW but when it is a 4.7 and 4.9 I add it up to a 4.8. I will go with that. The good news is that a shit load of people watched wrestling. Wikipedia has it 4.8 to 4.6 and that seems right as Nitro got a 5.3, 4.3 and 4.4.
Vince is honking the horn of his Ferrari as the garage door is slow to raise. He yells about that and is put in a wheelchair and wants to know if it can go faster as he bitches…..
Match 1: New Age Outlaws v. LoD
So more dipshit teasing of whether or not Gunn is leaving and he is not, as he tells everyone that if they are not down with it then they can suck it!
Hawk is on the sidelines claiming he is sober and that he was addicted to painkillers etc. Lawler taunts him. Droz has taken his place. Not much action in the ring. DoA runs down and assaults Hawk and then Droz and then Headbangers run down and break the boombox over Road Dog’s head splitting it open.
NR Angle advancement. Overbooked. It is a six man tag match at the PPV with DoA v. LoD and then Outlaws v. Bangers.
Austin is invited to come to RAW tonight.
HHH is stripped of the IC title and this is a one night tournament.
Match 2: Steve Blackman v. Ken Shamrock
Blackman is getting his ass kicked. Shamrock is tearing into him as he has dominated the first three minutes of the match. Blackman bounces out of the corner and clotheslines him but he is taken down and Steve has to tap.
* 1/2Epic Squash. Shamrock is no longer over. Blackman is no longer a factor.
Blue Blazer comes down and kicks Shamrock in the head and then beats on Blackman before running off. Shamrock goes back after the ankle.
They show Vince in the back a couple of times.
Match 3: Val Venis v. Marc Mero
Okay, I was fucking around trying to figure out the ratings. The match was fast paced. Val controlled most of it. Mero was distracted by Runnels and then finished off. Jackie is pissed and assaults her after the match and is finally pulled off.
** Val is over tonight.
Sable runs down and goes after Jackie and it is a donnybrook. Finally they are split apart.
Mankind is in the Boiler Room and he is not worried about Shamrock as he swings a chair like a girl. If they do not like it they can Socko It! They face off at the PPV.
Match 4: Mankind v. Mark Henry
The IC title tournament is done without the announcers knowing who is going to fight to try and keep it more off the cuff I guess.
Mark recites a poem for Chyna. Creepy. Mark can do better than her!
Mankind is getting destroyed. Henry works over the ankle. Chyna has come down and watches. Henry goes up to the second rope and misses. Mankind beats on him now. He takes him down and takes off his sock and turns it into Mr. Socko and he applies the Claw and it is over.
** Nice win for Mankind. Henry was supposed to face the Rock at the PPV, I hope not.
Chyna gets in the ring and wants to know what he wants and he begs off leaving. Chyna is left in the ring looking perplexed.
A construction truck has arrived and it is Austin in the driver’s seat!
After the break he tells Cole to get out of here. It is a cement truck. Vince is lounging in the back and irate. Brisco in his droll drawl repeats what Vince states and will go check it out. Sarge trips and lands on Vince’s casted leg! Keystone Kops!
Match 5: Jeff Jarrett v. X Pac
JJ attacks him right away. Runs him into the corner with some speed. Pac fires back with some chops and takes him down with a forearm to the head. JJ knocks him down and then launches him with a big back body drop. Pac though comes back, goes up top and JJ is right there but he is knocked off and Pac misses. Pac turn a Figure Four from JJ into a cradle for two. After bouncing off the ropes for a minute or so Pac leaps into a powerslam. JJ whips him into the corner, misses and Pac stomps and kicks away hitting the ref too. Buster time but he runs right into a boot! JJ brings out the guitar case and opens it and it is Head and this allows Pac to roll up JJ for the win.
** Nothing great but fast paced.
Austin is pouring cement into Vince’s Corvette (not a Ferrari) convertible! Austin starts heading towards the ring.
After the break, here he comes! Jesus Christ that pop never gets old! Austin does not like being screwed over and that sealed Vince’s fate. Seeing as both are in the WWF he will make his life a living hell. As far as Sunday goes he will be glad to put on the striped shirt as he would make a damn good ref and the fans respond with a Hell Yeah. After those two big bastards beat each other up the only hand he will hold up will be his own and there is nothing Vince can do about it. Vince wheels himself out and Austin tells him to wheel his ass on down here. Now there is a police crew with K-9 Dogs and Austin still wants to go after him and then backs off ass the dogs bark. Austin acts like he is going after the dogs but rethinks that philosophy. Vince chastises him for destroying his property and he hopes the Steve Austin Construction Company has a pair of boots because he is going to need them. He will have a partner in the Rock and will face UT and Kane. Also, sometime tonight Vince warns him that he better watch his back. His life has been hell the past two weeks and the fans call him an asshole and this upsets Vince. Austin tells him what they are saying. The problems for him started after he lost the title and he discusses what happened to him after Austin lost the title. Jesus he is going over everything even getting jabbed in the ass. Payback will occur this Sunday and if Austin does not raise the hand of a new WWF champ this Sunday he will fire his ass. Austin doubts he has the balls to do that. Vince disagrees as his balls are the size of grapefruits and Austin will be picking seeds out of his teeth and reminds Austin that he will fire him. Austin glares at the riled dogs and the trainers do not seem to appreciate that.
Match 6: Val Venis v. Ken Shamrock
Semi-finals match and Shamrock blasts him from behind as Val comes down the ramp. Val tries to fight back but he is flung into the steel steps. Shamrock breaks the count even though the bell has not rung! Val gets his bell rung on the steps though. Now the match starts after Val is rolled into the ring and Shamrock goes after him. He flings him into the corner and puts him in a clutch. He breaks the hold and then chokes him out on th ropes. He works over the back but Val fires back but runs right into an elbow. Val muffs the boot and gets clotheslined. Ken gets a two count. Shamrock suplexes him for another two count. Shamrock hammers him and then applies a Boston Crab. Val is crawling towards the ropes but is pulled back to the center of the ring. Now he struggles again to the ropes. Shamrock is losing his leverage and Val finally gets there. Shamrock breaks the hold and works over the back some more. Crowd is silent. Odd that Shamrock rarely gets cheers anymore. JR just acknowledged that and he may be turning heel. Ken was never super over but was fairly so. Val gets in a little offense with a Russian sweep. Drops him after two elbows and gets a two count. Shamrock clips the leg and puts him in the Lock and it is over.
**1/2 Not bad. They are clearly unsure of what to do with Venis as he gets pushed and then loses and is even dominated at times.
Goldust comes down as Terri checks on Val. She runs. Goldust hangs Val up in the corner and kicks him square in the balls! He crawls towards Terri who cowers on the floor.
Vince and friends are looking at the car. Brisco says they could get a shovel! Mankind tries to find the keys and briefcase as he digs through the cement and Vince is getting pissed.
Rock is bragging that he has already beat Kane and Undertaker once. He does not want to be Austin’s partner. Brown and Henry come in and are not happy about that development. Rock will talk to them about it in a minute.
Match 7: Mankind v. X Pac
Pac gets manhandled. He is powerbombed. Pac ducks a blow but runs into him and staggers back. Pac is then flung into the corner. Mankind runs into a kick but he grabs and tosses Pac to the floor. Mankind heads after him and swings him into the steps. Foley has a chair and the ref talks him down. Pac is worked over in the corner but he runs into two boots and then struck with a spinning kick and it is Buster time. Mankind though is up and runs him over. He picks up Pac and tosses him and an uppercut sends him to the floor. Shamrock has come down and he hits Mankind in the ankle with the chair and Pac rolls him up for the win.
**1/2 Decent. It sets up their match at the PPV.
Shamrock gets in the ring and crushes Pac with a belly to belly and then knocks Mankind to the floor. Shamrock puts him in a headscissors. Pac is put in it. Mankind just stands there and tosses in a chair as Pac is getting his head squeezed off. Brisco and Patterson want Mankind in the back and lead him off. Shamrock finally breaks the hold.
Match 8: X Pac v. Ken Shamrock for WWF IC Title
Pac wants to fight and HHH is at the announce table. Pac is getting picked apart. Hammered in the corner and he is snapped over and stomped on. But Pac is game and fires back. They fight on the floor, but Shamrock gets the upperhand. He pulls him over the apron and chokes him out and Pac squeals like a stuck pig. Ned Beatty like. He breaks the hold and they are back in the ring. Pac gets to his feet and strikes with another spinkick. He stomps on him in the corner and it is Bronco Buster time. But Shamrock blocks and counters with the Lock and Pac gets to the ropes but he is pulled back and cannot escape and it is over.
** Okay. Shamrock needed one more shot as IC champ before moving on with him. He does not have much personality but could be a solid heel. Mankind comes in with a chair to make sure Shamrock does not hurt Pac further.
Match 9: Kane and Undertaker v. Rock and Steve Austin
All four go at it. The Rock flattens the Undertaker and then hammers him. Austin takes out Kane and then team up to dismantle UT. Austin is in first and he goes to work. UT comes back and works over the arm. Paul Bearer has arrived on the scene. UT slams Austin and then turns to Kane wanting to know why Bearer is here. Austin gets the foot up and then unloads. He pulls UT down and wraps his leg around the post. He works him over and tags in the Rock who goes for the Elbow but UT rises up so Rock kicks him and then drops the elbow. He gets two. Rock fends off Kane but turns right into a chokeslam. Kane gets the tag and he shortclotheslines the Rock and then drives his fist into him. Henry and D’Lo have come down. Rock is getting pounded in the corner. UT is tagged back in and he kicks the Rock and a hard right sends him down. He pulls him up, drives him into the corner and chokes him out and slowly dismantles him. Kane gets the tag and Rock fires off some shots but is kicked, however he ducks after the whip and DDT’s Kane. But Kane gets right up and gets decleated with a lariat. Rock is hung out to dry on the ropes and Kane leaps on him flinging him back into the ring and he gets a near fall. Undertaker gets the tag and he kicks the Rock in the head and then goes over and kicks Austin. Austin is unhappy and this allows Rock to be choked out by both men. UT tosses Rock to the floor and distracts the ref and Kane runs Rock into the barrier. Austin heads over and looks Kane off. UT though heads over and continues to punish the Rock. Kane is tagged in and Rock is kicked in the sternum, snapped over and put in a chinlock. Rock is up and counters with a Samoan Drop! Rock is able to make the hot tag. UT is in too and he is getting rocked with blows. Brown and Henry though have taken out the Rock. Austin gets tied up in the ropes after a big boot that does not really connect as Austin did a bad job selling it. UT goes for him but Austin is loose and down goes the Undertaker and he is nearly pinned. Thesz Press but Kane pulls him off and Austin goes after Kane and now he goes after the Undertaker too. The masked man that was behind Vince earlier. I did not point him out, I should have. He runs in and wallops Austin with the nightstick and it is the Big Boss Man! Now Austin is getting annihilated. Vince gleefully looks on.
***1/2 Nice main event. Nothing really great but it did the job setting up the PPV. Nice to see Boss Man back and hopefully he gets something to do.
**** They did set up the PPV relatively well. I am not a fan of cramming a tournament into one night especially right before a PPV. However there was some decent wrestling. The Austin scenes were classic. The Rock continues getting a big push. His break from the Nation will be complete at the PPV. Now the PPV does not look that great. LoD and DoA ending their long running and shitty feud. A tag title match that does nothing for me. IC title match could be solid. Rock and Henry not so much. Another UT and Kane match? Not too excited but I hope I am wrong.