Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 2/26/1998
From: Tacoma, WA
Opening Contest: WWF Lightweight Champion Taka Michinoku vs. Brian Christopher: Christopher wastes no time getting the early advantage by scoop slamming Taka and the crowd greets him with boos as he taunted the fans. Christopher continued with a hip toss sending Taka into the corner and mocked Taka by bowing to him. Taka lands on his feet on a German suplex attempt and dropkicks Christopher followed by a clothesline to the floor. Taka hits a middle rope moonsault to take Christopher out on the floor! Christopher drops Taka across the top rope from the apron to regain control of the match. Christopher plants Taka with a full nelson face buster and taunts the crowd while Taka is on the canvas. Christopher keeps his control with a back breaker.
Christopher puts Taka on the top turnbuckle and is met with a few right hands. Taka plants Brian with a tornado DDT and dropkicks a seated Christopher. Christopher fights back with a sit down power bomb to counter a hurricanrana for a near fall! Taka counters another power bomb attempt and gets a rollup for the win. (**3/4. It was a good opener and Christopher should be credited with being a fantastic heel. I thought they worked very well and fit in quite a bit for seven minutes of action.)
Second Contest: NWA Tag Team Champions the Headbangers vs. The Quebecers: Thrasher and Jacques kick off the match with Jacques hitting a dropkick as Thrasher was doing a taunt. Thrasher recovers and takes Jacques down tot he canvas several times. Mosh comes off the top to clothesline Jacques. Pierre tags in and tries his luck with Mosh hitting him with several strikes. Pierre controls Mosh following a shoulder block and works over Mosh in the corner with punches. Mosh splashes Pierre in the corner followed by a backdrop. Thrasher tags in and yanks Pierre down to the canvas. Jacques delivers a cheap shot from the apron to stop Thrasher’s momentum. Jacques tags in and keeps Thrasher down with a leaping elbow strike.
Quebecers double team Thrasher when Jacques scoop slams Pierre onto Thrasher. Jacques punches Mosh on the apron and Thrasher gets dropped across the top rope for a near fall. Jacques punches Mosh to allow a double team again as Pierre splashes Thrasher in the corner for a two count. Quebecers hit a leg sweep/clothesline combo but Thrasher won’t stay down. Thrasher avoids a right hand and Pierre clotheslines Jacques. Thrasher takes care of Pierre before tagging in Mosh. Mosh cleans house with scoop slams and the Headbangers are clotheslined quickly. Pierre goes to the top looking for the Tower of London and they hit it! Thrasher comes off the top to splash Pierre and they get the win. (*1/2. The guys recording the match thought it was horrible, but it was basic and I didn’t think it was horrendous.)
Third Contest: TAFKA Goldust vs. Bradshaw: Goldust starts the match working over Bradshaw with right hands. Bradshaw comes back with a backdrop and knocks Goldust to the floor. Bradshaw follows Goldust up the aisle way and prevent shim from leaving. Bradshaw sends Goldust into the ring steps. Bradshaw works over Goldust in the corner until a low blow stops that. Goldust sends Bradhsaw into the corner and connects with a clothesline. Goldust dumps Bradshaw to the floor where Luna gets a few shots in. Goldust comes to the floor and is pummeled by Bradshaw. Luna chokes Bradshaw over the top rope when they returned to the ring. Bradshaw continues to fight back with kicks but Goldust smothers him in the corner. Bradshaw big boots Goldust after avoiding a clothesline. Bradshaw clotheslines Goldust several times and grabs Luna on the apron. Goldust accidentally hits Luna and Bradshaw hits a clothesline for the win. (*1/2. Goldust is an over the top character and the fans wanted Bradshaw to kick ass and he did just that. It’s an effective segment that the fans ate up.)
Fourth Contest: WWF European Champion Owen Hart vs. Triple H: Owen avoids a sneak attack and clotheslines Hunter followed by stomps and strikes in the corner. Owen atomic drops Hunter and hits another clothesline for a two count. Owen plants Hunter with a neck breaker and a knee drop. Owen mounts Hunter with several right hands. Hunter stops Owen with a face buster across his knee and plants Owen with a DDT. Helmsley works over Owen in the corner and hits a high knee lift. Helmsley takes Hart down with a snap suplex and hits a knee drop for a two count. Hunter drops Owen to mat with a knee lift for a near fall. Hunter runs into a big boot and a clothesline from Owen to keep both men on the canvas. Hunter attempts the Pedigree but Owen counters only to be kicked into the corner and falls down onto Hunter’s groin.
Owen avoids a kick in the corner and rams Hunter groin first into the ring post from the floor. Owen hits a top rope missile dropkick but only manages a near fall on the cover attempt. Hart hits a spinning heel kick for a two count. On the floor, Owen works over Helmsley with uppercuts. Chyna tosses Owen shoulder first into the ring post on the floor. Helmsley has the cover and pins Owen to apparently win the WWF European Championship. A second referee comes out and tells the referee what happened just moments ago. Helmsley comes back out and is shoved down by Earl Hebner, which would seemingly happen often in his career. Owen recovers and nearly pins Hunter with a rollup. Owen hammers away on Helmsley in the corner.
Hart comes off the ropes to hit a clothesline and kicks Hunter on the side of the head! Owen goes for the Sharpshooter but Chyna enters the ring and causes the disqualification. (**1/2. It’s an enjoyable match and I like they almost did a title change because even for a moment they tricked the fans into thinking the title change had happened. A good match for a house show, I’d say.)
Fifth Contest: The Godwinns vs. Skull & 8-Ball: The fans were wanting the Legion of Doom, but they get the DOA and you can tell they weren’t excited about it. Henry and Phineas works over the DOA to start the match. Skull and 8-Ball bring the action to the floor and all four men are brawling. They are beating each other up with belts or straps it looks like. Yeah, that are whipping each other with straps. Skull side slams Phineas on the canvas but Henry comes back with a clothesline. 8-Ball ends the dreadful match with a rollup on Henry. (DUD. They just brawled each other and nobody cared.)
Sixth Contest: Marc Mero vs. Tom Brandi: Brandi and Mero brawl on the floor with Brandi getting the better of the exchange. Mero sends Brandi into the ring post shoulder first to get the cheap advantage. Mero works over Brandi in the corner and appears to have tape to choke Brandi on the canvas. Mero plants Brandi with a back suplex. Sable is at ringside distracting Mero from victory. Brandi hammers away on Mero in the corner and hits a weird looking spear. Brandi counters a back suplex by landing on top for a near fall. Mero attempts a TKO but Brandi counters with a DDT for a two count. Brandi nearly wins with a rollup. Mero collides with Sable on the apron but Brandi only gets a near fall. Mero low blows Brandi and hits the TKO for the win. (1/2*. Mero is a great heel character, but I don’t think Brandi was a believable face character and fans just didn’t care about him.) After the match, Luna runs down to try and get her hands on Sable but Goldust and Mero prevent that from happening.
Seventh Contest: WWF World Tag Team Champions New Age Outlaws vs. Cactus Jack & Terry Funk: Dogg and Gunn decide that they don’t want to wrestle but Funk and Jack stop them on the aisle way. Jack rams Gunn face first into the ring steps and hits Dogg over the head with a board. Jack hammers away on Dogg in the corner as the match legally starts. Jack hits a running knee strike on Dogg in the corner. Jack hip tosses Dogg to the corner and Gunn comforts him. Jack rams Dogg head first into Billy’s midsection and dumps Dogg to the floor. Funk hits Dogg over the head again with the board. Funk works over Dogg’s arm and Jack works over the arm as well. Jack wrenches the arm but doesn’t realize it’s Funk this time but Dogg gets clotheslined anyway. Gunn comes out and gets worked over briefly. Gunn hits Funk with a baking sheet and helps Dogg out with Jack.
Jack tosses powder into Dogg’s face and keeps control with strikes. Dogg decks Gunn on accident since he is still blinded. Jack grabs both mens groins and keeps Dogg on the mat. Jack has a hockey stick and a puck! Cactus attempts a slap shot but Gunn saves Dogg by ramming Cactus groin first into the ring post. Gunn drops Cactus throat first across the top rope. Gunn drops Jack throat first across the guard railing. Gunn gets legally tagged in but misses a jumping shot with a cooking sheet and drops to the canvas after hitting the corner. Funk tags in and jabs the champs. Funk plants both Gunn and Dogg onto a chair with a DDT. Jack enters and hits the champs with a cooking sheet to prevent a spike piledriver on a chair. Gunn hits Funk with the tag belt and Dogg gets the cover for the win. (**. It was mostly a brawl, but it was still enjoyable for what it was. Funk kind of no sold the tag shot after the match, but oh well.) After the match, Jack and Funk brawl with the champs to the backstage area.
Eighth Contest: Chainz vs. Kane: Chainz has the early advantage but as soon as I typed that he gets thrown into the ring steps. Kane hits a top rope clothesline and it’s just a matter of time. Chainz tries to deliver big boots but Kane stops for a choke slam. Chainz low blows Kane and hits a piledriver but Kane sits up quickly and plants Chainz with the tombstone for the win. For a squash match, Chainz got a couple of decent moves but there was never any doubt. After the match, DOA enter and attack Kane but Paul Bearer stops his man after he takes care of them.
Main Event: WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock: Rock attacks Shamrock from behind and hammers away on Ken in the corner. Shamrock big boots Rokc and connects with several clotheslines sending Rock to the floor. Ken gets distracted by the Nation but drops Rock with an elbow strike and dropkick. Rock battles back with right hands but runs into a kick to the chest several times. Rock plants Shamrock with a DDT and mounts Ken delivering right hands. Rock sends Shamrock to the floor. Kama gets a few cheap shots in on Shamrock while the referee is distracted. Rock scoop slams Shamrock and hits the People’s Elbow for a near fall. Rock keeps control of Shamrock with a sleeper hold but doesn’t get a submission.
Shamrock hits a cross body and nearly pins Rock. D’Lo Brown distracts the referee while Shamrock had a rollup. Rock plants Shamrock with a float over DDT for a two count. Shamrock hits a heel kick but Rock battles back with right hands. Ken plants Rock with a power slam but only gets a two count. Shamrock takes Rock over with a hurricanrana. Ken misses a clothesline and hits the referee on accident. D’Lo whacks Shamrock over the back with a steel chair! The bell sounds and it looks like the match has ended giving Shamrock the win by disqualification. (*1/2. If they didn’t go the direction of a cheap finish this probably would have come across a lot better. People still cared about the feud, which was interesting to here the crowd reactions to both men.) After the match, Shamrock hits a belly to belly suplex and Rock bails. A few fans are throwing garbage into the ring making this seem like a far bigger deal than it is.
Final Thoughts:
While there weren’t any earth shattering matches or anything memorable, I found myself enjoying the show. Christopher/Taka is the match of the night. I think they kept everything at a reasonable length and thus I didn’t get annoyed with the action.
Thanks for reading.