WWF RAW 2/22/1999

I said this with my Nitro post. With me posting a lot lately there is not much else to say: Nitro got a jump to a 4.8 but RAW won handily with a 5.55.

Vince comes down and tonight is not for the squeamish and there will be a roast; not the comedic kind. There will be an Inferno Match with Undertaker and Bossman (I think it was him). Now Vince is doing his Schiavone by hyping up how great WM will be. He calls out the special referee for that WM match and it is Paul Wight. He comes down and talks about walking through fire for Vince, and he will change the WWF and it is money in the bank. The fans chant that the Giant sucks as he talks about Austin’s first hand experience with the Giant and him slamming. He also gave the belt to the Rock and continues to brag as the Rock will win at WM. Here comes the Rock. Rock thinks his hearing is off as he heard some boos. Rock then says that he heard this guy tell everyone that he got the Rock the title. Wight agrees he said that he is suprised that Rock could hear with that thick skull of his. Rock goes off and calls him a Roody-Poo and does his thing about this being his show and walking down Jabroni Drive etc. Giant warns him that he will close his mouth with his fist and calls him Pebble! Vince tries to calm things down by claiming they like to joke in the Corporation. Rock is not joking and Giant has three seconds (he repeats that) to get his candy ass out of the ring before he beats it. Giant lifts Vince out of the way and he and the Rock jaw back and forth. Here comes Mankind and he wants them all to get along. He offers to be the moderator. He pulls out Socko dressed up as a ref. He wants to show the Commissioner that he has the pride and inter-testicular fortitude and he will be the second ref at WM. A warm up would be tonight with the Giant and Rock fighting and he being the ref. Vince tells him to beat it, but Giant grabs the mic and wants to do it. Rock asks if he wants to go one on one with the great one and to check in to the smackdown hotel and Rock is ready to rumble tonight.

It is Kane v. UT.

Corporation is arguing in the back.

Match 1: Brood v. Public Enemy

Public Enemy! Where did they come from? Brood hammers them right when PE enters the ring. Rock is doubleteamed. Grunge trips up Gangrel and now PE destroys the Brood. Grunge tosses Rock on top of Edge and now all four are pounding each other…..the ref calls for the bell. PE goes out and gets chairs but the lights flicker and fade as the Brood beats on PE and when the lights come back on and PE is covered in blood.

NR Not really a match.

During the break the Brood gets beat up for being DQ’d by the Ministry.

Match 2: Billy Gunn v. Ken Shamrock

Shamrock runs at the announce table where Val is at and he is met by a Gunn clothesline. Gunn hammers him and back in the ring gets two after a neckbreaker. Gunn assaults him in the corner but misses the splash after the whip. Shamrock drops him and gets two. He stomps on him and as the crowd tells him he sucks he gets another two count after a DDT. The crowd taunts Ken about his sister and that angers him so the Gunn is able to hit the Rocker Dropper. Shamrock makes a comeback and pounds him in the head. Gunn tries to fend him off but cannot. Gunn is knocked to the floor. Val tosses him back in but Shamrock leaps out and runs Val into the steps. Now Gunn runs out and runs Ken into the post. Now Ryan Shamrock runs down and she screeches at Ken and he leads her off. I guess the match is called off….

**1/2 Nice brawl.

Vince is trying to talk Rock out of fighting the Giant….or the Big Nasty Paul Wight. He declines and will fight him.

Sable was on Regis and in Playboy. She is in the ring with Kevin Kelly and she is acting all uppity. She brags about being on Regis and calls in her admirer again. She states that she may have been hard on her. She asks her name and it is Torrie. She asks Torrie what is so great about Sable. Torrie basically orgasms in telling her how great she is. Sable calls her pathetic and to get a life. She is also a wannabe. Torrie acts like she is going to cry and is called a skank. Damn Luna looks like a man, an ugly one….oh, here she comes. Luna is changing roles again and she admits that not all women can be Sable. They have to deal with the cards dealt and do not use people. The only reason Sable is WWF champ is because of her looks. Sable laughs it off and does not care about women and only cares about men. She tells Luna to reshuffle her deck. She demands her music started and then belts both with the belt.

Vince is talking down the Giant….it is a title match. Rock will be knocked back down the pecking order.

Match 3: D’Lo Brown v. Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett

Brown is doubleteamed but he is game and it goes back and forth for a bit. Jackie runs down and takes out D’Lo allowing Owen to get the pin. Owen and JJ dismantle him afterwards….handicap match because they hurt Mark Henry and Ivory.

** Angle advancement.

Mankind is yelling to himself about rules.

Match 4: Paul Wight v. Rock (c) for WWF Title

Mankind comes down first and Vince follows and states there is no match. Cue the Rock and he begs to differ and tells him to go to the announce table. He calls out the Giant and tells him to get his candyass out here so he can kicks his ass.

Rock goes over and beats up Mankind and the Giant joins in as Vince giggles. He gets back in the ring and hugs Rock and Giant. Mankind staggers to his feet and Vince knocks him down with a hard right. The crowd chants for Austin.

Corporation are now celebrating in the back.

Match 5: Steve Blackman v. Droz

Droz attacks him in the corner. They go back and forth for about three minutes and Blackman wins with a kick to the throat. Droz attacks him after the match.

**

Vince wants Kane to set UT on fire.

UT is babbling nonsense about how Vince’s true troubles are only beginning and Austin pales next to him. UT’s flames cannot be extinguished. The WWF will be his as there will be another surprise.

Match 6: Goldust v. Val Venis (c)

Non-title. Sorry, I got distracted. I was watching a clip from WCW in 2001, amazing how it all comes apart….my bad. But I did watch the match. It went back and forth but Blue Meanie came down and took out Val allowing a baffled Goldust to win.

** Decent.

Shane is bragging about the European title, showing it off and Chyna tells him that he will keep it forever or some shit.

Match 7: Hardcore Holly (c) v. Bart Gunn for WWF Hardcore Title

They get in each other’s faces and they slug away. Holly knocks him to the floor and he dumps a pitcher into his face and blasts him with a chair. Gunn fires back and shatters a mug in his face! He grabs the ring bell and decks him with it. They beat each other and Gunn has a chair but eats an extinguisher instead, the spray that is. Holly whips him into the steps. Holly’s suplex is blocked and Gunn nails him with one getting two. He follows up with a DDT….they are on the ramp grating. Holly is thrust into the steps and sprayed for the extinguisher. Now they brawl up the ramp; Gunn is run into the steel scaffolding. Gunn kicks him down and breaks a random watermelon over his head! Holly takes him down now and bashes him over the head with a crate of bananas! They destroy each other with a series of objects. Gunn breaks a bag of flour over his head. A masked dude comes out and takes out Gunn and knocks him off the ramp into a table and Holly gets the win.

*** Fun match.

Shane comes down and with Chyna challenges Pac. He runs down and attacks Shane but is nutted by Chyna and she hammers him.

Match 7: Chyna v. X Pac

She goes for a Bronco Buster but misses and Pac chases Shane who manages to stay ahead. HHH gets in the ring and Pedigrees her. Shane is still running and Pac covers her for the win. Pac goes to WM to face Shane because he won.

*1/2 That was a mess but it worked for angle advancement.

Match 8: Kane v. Undertaker

Vince comes out and hypes up the match and then calls out Kane. He and Undertaker battle back and forth as fire rings the ring. Kane powerslams him. Kane works him over for a bit and then suplexes him. Paul gives Vince a present. They continue to beat each other. Vince opens the box and it is a teddy bear and Vince looks sick. Kane is being choked out on the ropes but Kane gets to his feet only to be knocked back to the corner. Vince is asking Paul what he is doing as he walks towards him. UT is tossed to the floor. Kane goes up top and leaps, misses UT and crashes into the announce table. Kane and UT brawl and Kane has a chair but he is hit and his foot catches on fire. Vince stares at the bear and screams why as UT takes it and lights it on fire. Vince cries as it burns.

**1/2 Solid back and forth and adds an interesting dimension for once with the Ministry….my guess: Stephanie.

*** This was a fun episode. There was some okay wrestling. The Giant match with the Rock was obvious…WCW would have been crucified but it still worked for setting up WM….well, kind of. I would think that Austin would be there and he would get his ass kicked. They need to set up some heat between Austin and Rock. Mankind has been pushed out of the main event at WM, so why have him keep getting his ass kicked unless he is going to be involved in the main event or another Rock and Mankind match, which would be sweet. Overall a good show, but like I said it could have been better.