Written by: Kevin Kindelberger
WWF Monday Night RAW 10/26/98
Off of Havoc and the PPV main event being shown on TV, plus an overall solid show Nitro wins 5.1 to 4.5. RAW is taped and so next week will be an indicator of their response to the loss if they have one. I am not a fan of delayed title tournaments but we will see how they handle it…..
Vince comes down stating that Austin is here. He whines about what Austin did to him and how no one did anything and how the fans loved it. His feelings were hurt and he blames his cronies for not being there. Austin put a legal document in his pocket and so Vince brought a battery of lawyers and will fight him to the Supreme Court. Austin is on the screen and makes fun of him and Vince is pissed and leaves.
Match 1: Steve Blackman v. X Pac (c) for WWF European Title
Chyna missed a court date and was released after being arrested and has taken a leave of absence.
Vince is conferring with his lawyers to try and find a way out of the predicament due to the documents that Austin gave him.
To the match and Blackman is demolishing him. Pac came down to quite the crowd response…Steve whips him into the corner where he collapses and then drops a series of elbows. He works him over in the corner with a series of chops. Pac fires back but is slammed and is clotheslined to the floor. Regal runs down and attacks Pac and beats him up and here comes the fucking Outlaws and they try to get him off of X Pac and now the brawl is on. Regal wants a piece but is pulled off.
*1/2 Angle advancement.
Vince is screaming at his lawyers.
Cole is outside Austin’s door and states Austin will tell us what was in the papers.
Match 2: Droz v. Rock
They lock up and go back and forth until the Rock is taken down. Rock and Droz exchange armbars but Rock pokes the eyes and runs him into the corner but is run over with a shoulder block. Rock comes back with a DDT. Droz rolls him up for two but is clotheslined. Rock hammers him in the corner with some hard rights and as the ref pulls him back Droz connects with a few shots and gets two after a powerslam. Rock side steps a blow and drops him and then catches him and it is Rock Bottom time and now the fans explode for the People’s Elbow! It is over.
** Nice put over match for the Rock. Keep him in the spotlight….midcard match though.
Hawk is left behind.
Cole is at the door and Austin tells him to hold on and he has been advised not to say anything until later tonight.
Vince is still in conference. Some of the lawyers are leaving.
Road Dog comes out and he is with Motley Crue and X Pac will sing with them or some shit….really? I like Motley Crue but with DX I cannot take it seriously. Vince Neil looks fat…oh wait he is. DX looks like total dumbasses trying to rock out right behind them and sing with them. I mean total tools.
Vince is yelling some more about some sort of contract….
Here comes Kane.
Match 3: Kane v. Gangrel
Kane is predictably dominating. He knocks him to the floor and pounds him. Back in the ring Gangrel gets in one blow and is then picked up by the neck and tossed. Kane hammers him in the corner. Kane side slams him. Christian tries to stop Kane from going up and is kicked away. Gangrel is right there but is knocked back and nailed with a flying clothesline. Gangrel is goozled and chokeslammed. It is over.
** Extra star for Gangrel losing.
Christian leaps off the ropes and bounces of him. They try to double team and Kane easily holds them off. Edge runs in and clips the knee and they beat him up but Kane rises up and so they leave. Edge was over and they turn him heel? And they say WCW makes stupid decisions.
Cole spoke with Shane McMahon and the McMahon family will have a statement later.
Here comes Austin. Vince tells everyone that the cops knew it was a toy gun and that Vince would not be hurt or feel anything and he was correct (Um he banged him around in the wheelchair) and all Vince did was piss himself like a baby. He should or maybe should not listen to Austin. He has a brand new contract with the WWF and JR just shat himself with joy. It guarantees one title shot and that is all he needs. He is not quitting and that would be the only way he would leave. Vince comes out and screams for the wheelchair to be stopped and the fans call him an asshole. Vince is upset about that document and that his attorneys cannot do anything about it. But he will find a way and he wants to hear him say I quit. He cannot do anything about him being employed but he will fight tonight match and it is an “I Quit” match and his opponent will be Shamrock…..I smell overbooking. Vince chastises him for having no conscience and the fans call him an asshole and Austin points that out! He is upset about the contract and for 28 years he did his best and turned an under achieving kid into a monster and how drove a wedge into the family. Shane is out and Vince begs him to come to him but he refuses and Austin hands him the mic. Shane does not listen to him anymore. Shane thinks that what he did to Austin was wrong and so hired him back and after 28 years he finally has his attention. Why have stars come and gone and it has always been about his ego. Everyone has asked what it is like to be Vince’s son and he has lied for years and so it stops. Nothing is good enough for Vince and Shane is having a meltdown about how he wishes his daddy would be proud of him. But that will never happen as it has always been about Vince. Vince calls him his boy and Shane counters that he is not a boy but Shane McMahon as Vince cries. He had the brass to stand up to him and now he is just like him and he starts pouting. Vince does not want to be comforted. The fans agree with Steve that he had it coming.
Match 4: Tiger Ali Singh v. the Godfather
Godfather is not going to offer him any Ho’s tonight and pimping ain’t easy and then charges the ring knocking him over with a clothesline. Tiger flees to the floor and Godfather goes out after him only to be kicked and dumped on top of the barrier. Godfather slowly makes his way back into the ring and is knocked off the apron; this time Godfather pulls him down and whacks the leg against the side of the ring, but he is pulled into the ring and stomped on. Tiger dropkicks him. Godfather takes command, runs him from pillar to post and whips him with his belt but is snagged and bulldogged. Tiger gets a two count. Godfather knocks him to the floor and knocks him around for a bit. Back in the ring and Tiger pokes him in the eye and it has turned into a slugfest and they have ignored the ref as they brawled. The ref just rings the bell.
** Angle advancement. Neither character really inspires me but the Godfather is funny for my still teenage, sexist mind.
Finally they are pulled apart.
Vince is still sad as Cole tries to interview him and he is leaving the arena a broken man.
Break time as it is the Oddities v. Kaientai. I would rather have Kidney stones….kidding.
Match 5: Kaientai v. the Oddities
Going back and forth. No more Sable as a the role model. ICP get the tag and one of Kaientai is utterly destroyed. ICP owns the match but are DQ’d.
*
Ken Shamrock wants Austin to listen and says I Quit and that will be the only time Austin will hear those words. He talks about being the most dangerous man.
Match 6: Marc Mero v. Goldust
Goldust starts strong and he mounts and pounds Mero. Jackie distracts the ref and Goldust is nutted and then nearly pinned after a swinging neckbreaker. Goldust is choked out on the ropes but he uppercuts him and then strikes with an inverted atomic drop and clothesline. He crushes him with a bulldog, and Mero is hung up in the ropes. Jackie slaps Goldust and he enjoys and then kisses her! Goldust kicks him in the nuts and is DQ’d.
*1/2 A lot of DQ’s tonight.
Sable comes out and challenges Jackie at Survivor Series.
Socko and Head are talking….odd.
Match 7: New Age Outlaws (c) v. Mankind and Al Snow
Snow and Gunn start off and the latter gorilla slams him and then kicks him in the gut. Al rolls over and tags in Mankind. Gunn is a bit wary as he dances around him but they lock up and Mankind pushes him into the corner. But Gunn fires off some shots and Road Dog gets the tag and he decks Mankind a couple of times. The brawl heads to the floor. Mankind stomps away on Road Dog and then DDT’s him. Snow is in and he continues to hammer Road Dog. All four go at it and Mankind has Socko but Snow has Head and they argue and Road Dog rolls up Al Snow for the win.
** Okay.
D’Lo and Mark Henry run down and assault the Outlaws.
Match 8: Ken Shamrock v. Steve Austin
They brawl from the outset and go back and forth running off the ropes and striking with knee shots. Austin takes off his vest and chokes out Shamrock. Austin drives his shoulder into him in the corner. Shamrock though slugs right back but is back dropped to the floor. Austin goes after him and runs his head into the announce table and chokes him out with the cable. Shamrock kicks him in the nuts and lays Austin over the table and pounds away. Austin is run into the post and then over the barrier. Austin is backdropped onto the concrete. The brawl continues and Austin is run into the steps and kneed in the face dropping him on the ramp. Shamrock rolls him back into the ring and Austin crawls to the corner where he is stomped. Austin is whipped into the corner and down he goes and he is put in the Clutch. Austin fires back and it hits the Thesz Press and hammers away. Brisco grabs Austin and Shamrock gets poked in the eye and down goes the ref and Slaughter kicks him and so Austin goes after Sarge and Mankind comes down and puts Shamrock in the Claw. Austin comes back and cracks Ken in the skull with a chair. He wins. For some reason the three stooges of Vince run in and get Stunned…..why they would knowing what would happen is beyond me.
** Dull and overbooked but still had a few moments of fun.
**1/2 Disappointing RAW. Motley Crue just did not fit. There was not very much wrestling. With the Godfather having the longest match. The main event was not that great. Not much happened that I cared about. Why Rock is fighting midcarders is beyond me. He wins the number one contender match and it is like they do not know what to do with him. Really just a filler show. Not having a champ always seems to make a show feel somehow less, less dramatic and urgent unless the belt is up right then and there. Because there is no sense of urgency as we know there will be no champ until the PPV and no drama to see who the participants are.