WWF RAW 4/5/1999

It seems that things are picking up. The Ministry has brought Stephanie into play and continue to harass the McMahon’s. Austin is champ again and I doubt it will last too long because him chasing the title is far more compelling. The good news is that the Rock looked strong last week and he is now getting babyface pops. His phenomena is truly astounding as he started getting over as a heel, turned face and then heel, and now he is getting over again as a heel, and one that feuding with Austin. Other than that, not much really happens. The mid-card is mired in the same kinds of feuds. They exchange the IC and Hardcore belts. The European belt is absolutely pointless. What happened to Regal? Anyway, Show has already flip-flopped from heel to quasi-face and will probably do so a dozen more times before the end of the year. RAW only dipped slightly to a 6.2 off of a 5.9 and 6.5. Nitro rose to a 4.3 and all hours were in the 4’s with the third getting a 4.5.They start off with Vince and his little girl Steph talking about Undertaker and what a monster he has become.

Match 1: X Pac and Kane v. Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett (c) for WWF Tag Titles

Pac dropkicks Owen but he is taken down and hammered. Here comes JJ and he keeps after Pac with some stomps and punches. Pac reverses a whip, and he flips over and then strikes with a flying clothesline. Owen gets the blind tag and he takes down Pac with a spinning heel kick. They doubleteam him. Pac is whipped into the corner by JJ but he runs into a boot. Pac runs at him but is picked up and powerslammed. Owen slams Pac, after the tag, and then sideslams him. Pac is thrust into the corner with some velocity and suplexes him. Owen gets two. Owen works him over and here comes JJ and the fans chant for Kane as Pac is put in a sleeper. Pac is up and counters out with a back suplex. JJ and Pac are crawling to their corners. Owen gets the tag and pulls Pac away from Kane and he headbutts the nuts and then bodyslams him. Owen goes up to the middle rope and leaps into a boot. Both men are up and Owen is whipped into the ropes and they both collide giving each other clotheslines. Both are now down. Kane gets the tag and JJ does to. Kane goes up top and strikes with a lariat and he beats the Hades out of the heels with big boots and clotheslines. JJ is goozled and chokeslammed. Owen is Bronco Busted in the corner. But Kane turns and goozles X Pac! But he picks him up and gorilla slams him on top JJ and they get the win….

*** Wow. A decent, and clean match on RAW for the undercard. Sure X Pac was not the legal man but hey those are just niggling details!

Vince is with Shane and Steph. He does not give a damn about tonight. He does not care about anything. Shane is running the show. He goes out and the Corporation is out waiting for him and he tells them that they are going to take care of business Corporation style….damn there are a lot of members.

X Pac is being interviewed and he has no idea where Kane is at but does state that he and Kane can beat anyone at anytime.

Here comes Shane leading the Corporation. Rock has the Austin belt….there is the new feud and future rematch. Shane talks about this being the dawning of a new day and they are sweet. According to the Corporate scoreboard it is Shane 1-0 against Austin and that does not include him screwing him months ago. Now he puts the ass kicking on the TitanTron that was delivered to Austin last week. He asks each their opinion. Seeing as Show intevened last week then he has to face two members in a match tonight: Rock and HHH. HHH tries to be a comedian and tells Big Show to change his name to No Show…..he calls the fans nimrods and the losers at home will get to see the Rock and HHH standing together and they will kick Show’s big fat, hairy ass. Now the Rock. The Rock wants to check him into the SD hotel but he is pretty damn sure he will break the toilet. He makes fun of Wight’s voice with a deep mumble. He will get beat up by both men tonight. He gets a Rocky chant started and Show will realize that Rock is the People’s Choice and Champ. He gets pissed when they sing along and do it wrong. They still do it half-heartedly and wants to know if everyone can smell what the Rock is cooking. Shane has the Austin belt put around Rock’s waist and wants the camera panned on it. Austin will never get it back as they have a picture of the belt on the Tron….I would like to point out that Bossman is there, chilling and just fine!

Corporation is high-fiving and giddy in the back. Shane enters the room where Vince/Steph are. Shane is all excited and tells Vince his plan. Vince does not care and snuggles his daughter…..creepy like. But she wants him there and no one else. Steph gives Shane props but Vince is worried about provoking Show and Austin.

Ivory is in the ring and she has a question for PMS. She wants to know if it is always their time of month and they are cramping her style. She admits Jackie is tough. Terri is a priss with a snotty attitude and she is begging Terri to come down and meet face to face, fist to fist. Here they come but Terri finishes the rest of the way on her own and shows off her ass getting in the ring. Ivory chases here around the ring and catches her. She tears off the short and Terri has nothing else on and covers her boobs with her hands. Cue the Undertaker. The Ministry stands up on the stage and Bearer and UT come out last. They take their time coming down to the ring. He knows Vince is watching and has his precious daughter by his side. He wants him to hold her tight and give her his regards. UT has a secret and that is tonight there will be a sacrifice.Essentially he is going to sacrifice Steph and there is not a damn thing Vince can do about it.

Vince screeches for more security. Shane and Vince assure a haggard Stephanie. Vince may have to give UT what he wants. Shane and Steph do not want him to do that.

Match 2: Al Snow v. Hardcore Holly (c) for WWF Hardcore Title

Holly and Al hammer each other….non-title and non-Hardcore match. That sucks. Snow bumps him to the floor and then flips out on top of Holly. Snow pounds him and grabs a chair but the ref admonishes him and Holly blindsides him. He has the chair but the ref takes it and Snow takes advantage and he goes to whip Holy into the barricade but Holly reverses it. Back in the ring, they both go off the ropes and Holly dropkicks him. Holly slams him and gets a two count. Holly hammers him in the corner and Al is whipped into the corner but Holly misses the charge. Al runs up top and he leaps and gets two after the flying crossbody. Holly is sent for the ride and clotheslined. Holly fires back and beats on him in the corner. Al ducks the clothesline and Al grabs him and finishes him with the Snow Plow. Here comes Dr. Death and he beats up both. His back suplexes look fucking painful.

**1/2 I will add the extra half for the clean finish. The ending was rare. Al’s most dominant match in a long time.

Shane tells the technicians to keep Austin’s belt up on the TitanTron and giggles.

Here comes the Outlaws and both do their thing.

Match 3: New Age Outlaws v. the Brood

Outlaws are still over that is for sure. Gunn sounds a bit slurred everytime he is on the mic. Gunn and Gangrel start off and the latter is getting worked over. Gunn has the arm and tags in Dogg who kicks him but Gangrel fires back and Edge comes in and kicks a hole in him. Road Dogg is hammered and the Brood drop him throat first onto the top rope. Gangrel holds him up as Edge clotheslines him. Road Dogg is grounded in a chinlock. Road Dogg gets to his feet and is knocked into the corner and hammered. But Road Dogg fends him off and Gunn gets the hot tag and unloads on both Brood members. Now all four are in the ring and the Outlaws are dismantling them. Christian hobbles down and the Famouser finishes him off after he was tossed into the ring….

** Not bad. Not sure how the ref does not figure out that Christian is not in the match. I was wrong it was Christian who gave up the location of Steph last week after the blood drop. Undertaker flogged him for punishment.

JR is with Austin and the latter got the belt to piss off Vince. He has been chilling all night but he is the champ and that is all that matters. But if they put if the belt one more time it will cost the McMahon’s a lot of money and when JR asks for him to elaborate but all Steve says is you will see.

Match 4: Ken Shamrock v. Viscera

Shamrock starts strong but he is caught and nearly pinned after the powerslam. Viscera nails him with some clubbing blows. Ken fires back and unloads on him with a slew of punches and kicks. Shamrock strikes with a belly to belly! The lights go out and here comes the Ministry but he stays and pounds on Viscera and the Brood and friends swarm the ring and destroy Shamrock. UT and Paul is watching from the top of the ramp and Ken is carried off.

NR Angle advancement.

Shane is calming down the troops thinking it is a trap. Okay…..

Ken is dumped into a trunk and it drives off.

Match 5: Val Venis v. Mankind

Val does his thing and talks about getting things wet and watch it get rock hard. Mankind has the mic and tells Long Island hello. Mankind is on the cover of Newsday and tells everyone. If they are not down with it then they can and the fans finish: Suck It. But it was not that and he states: Beep Beep. Foley chants echo as they go at it. Mankind knocks him to the floor after a running forearm. Val gets back in the ring and they fight for a bit but Val pushes him into the corner and hammers him. He whips him into the opposite corner and sandwiches him. He tries again but is picked up and spiked. Mankind mounts and pounds him and then gets two after a running legdrop. Mankind stomps on him and sets him up on the ropes and runs at him but Val dodges and pulls down the rope. Out goes Mankind. Val follows up with a baseball slide and he goes out and hammers Mankind. The fans chant for Socko as they reenter the ring. Val goes for a suplex but it is blocked and Mankind counters with one of his own. They exchange blows but Val pushes him into the ropes and off the rebound gives him a spinebuster. Val goes up top but Mankind is up and shoves him thus crotching him. He applies Socko and pushes him off the top and Val tumbles to the apron and floor. Mankind is in pursuit and he bashes his head into the steps. Back in the ring he beats on him in the corner. Val tries to fight back but misses and is planted with the double-armed DDT. Socko Time! It is applied and it is over.

*** I may be overrating this a bit but it was enjoyable. All action for about five or six minutes. Clean win too!

Vince an Steph are flanked by security and the lights flicker and Vince is worried.

The Ministry is meeting and taking orders from the Undertaker.

Match 6: Godfather v. Goldust (c) for WWF IC Title

Godfather reminds us that pimping ain’t easy. He is not sure whether or not to offer the Ho’s to Goldust. Goldust is crawling towards one and so Godfather decides to just kick his ass. Godfather goes off on him, but Goldust fights back and runs after the Ho’s and Godfather chases him down and back in the ring knocks him down with a big boot. Godfather runs him over and drops the elbow getting two. Goldust back suplexes him and he sets up the Ho Train and squashes Goldust. Meanie grabs Godfather by the leg and so he heads out and knocks him out. Goldust jumps out and clotheslines Godfather. Ho’s go after Meanie. Godfather hammers Goldust and runs him into the barrier…..countout for both. That was quick. Lawler is confused too. That could happen EVERY match.

** Shitty ending.

Vince is on the phone and states Steph will be fine and the lights flicker and go out. Steph screeches and Vince bellows and there is a commotion.

Now the Ministry comes out with a blanket over someone….So the Corporation just watched Ken being taken away and they stand there and just watch the Ministry run around in the back. Now everyone stands there as the figure is hoisted up on UT’s symbol. It is not Stephanie as she is in the back with her daddy. UT told Vince there will be a sacrifice tonight (Terri or Ivory is my guess) and while it is not who he wants she will do. I figured they could not get her out of the room filled with police….who are doing nothing as a sacrifice occurs. Lame. UT is babbling his nonsense and Vince screams for UT to stay away from Steph. I think that was Ryan Shamrock….well, Lawler thought so.

Here comes Shane McMahon who is non-plussed by all the going’s on. He is introducing the Corporation.

Match 7: HHH and Rock v. Big Show

HHH is making fun of the fans. He calls them nimrods again and they can all Suck It. Now Rock has come down and he is pissed that they try to say Roody-Poo Candyass so he stops and yells at the crowd that this is not sing-a-long and they finish that too! He grins a bit and the fans still keep doing it and giggle!

HHH starts off and he floats around like a butterfly, bobbing and weaving. He dropped by a big headbutt. HHH backs up into the corner and lures him in with a kick and he punches him but his whip attempt fails and he gets sent for the ride and back bodydropped. Show headbutts him again. Rock gets the tag and before he gets in the ring Show elbows him over and over. Rock fires back but now he too is dropped by a headbutt and now he is clobbered by a big right and yet another headbutt. Rock rakes his eyes and tags in HHH and he gets in no offense. Show gives him a backbreaker and slaps the skin off his chest. HHH gets the boot up off the whip and now he pounds him with some fisticuffs. He climbs behind him on the ropes and batters the skull but he is picked up and flipped over and slammed down onto his back. HHH recovers but he is whipped and nailed with a big boot. Shane runs distraction and HHH clips the back of the knee. Rock gets the tag and he pounds him but now Show takes charge. Show demolishes the Rock and then goes over and hits HHH. He goozles Rock but Chyna uppercuts him in the nuts and we get a DQ. Now all tear into him. Rock knocks him out with the WWF belt and all five stomp a hole in him as the fans chant. People’s Elbow. Cue Austin and the Rock goes after him and gets demolished. Austin runs in and takes out HHH and Rock gets some more and he cracks their skulls together. HHH is Stunned. Rock wallows in the corner and is stomped. HHH is already up…..he runs at Show and gets chokeslammed. Rock still has the belt as the Corporation backs up the ramp.

** Not much here. Angle Advancement.

Shane puts the belt back up on the TitanTron and reminds Austin that he will not get any closer to it. He will leave it up for the rest of the night. Austin grabs a chair and heads up to the Tron. He calls over Show and wants it brought down! Show is pulling down on it. It slowly comes and it is pulled all the way to the floor. Austin cuts through it from the other side! Beer Thirty baby! He rips a hole all the way across the screen.

***1/2 Easily one of the better RAW’s in quite some time. There was some actual wrestling. There were clean finishes. Like the nWo angle, the Corporation is getting too big. Also, there are so many damn inconsistencies. I know it is wrestling but the plot holes and reactions or lack of by Shane and the Corporation are so large you could fly a plane through them. That being said it is still intriguing and entertaining. No I still do not like the Ministry but at least they are having them do something, such as stalk the McMahon’s and the Corporation instead of long ass promos that make no sense. Hopefully they can follow up next week.