OOOLD SCHOOOOL

[Onyx2]

As a counterpoint to air_raid's excellent WCW recaps, strobogo over at NeoGAF has just completed recapping WCW 1998 and is in the process of logging the lot - with GIFs - over here:

 

http://legitshook.squarespace.com/

[air_raid]

This is probably the best thread to dump this. I was bored the other night and my cupboard door was open and I remembered a post I had thought about making in this thread about quotes of various guys' entries in the 1995 PWI 500 to see if there was anything funny or interesting about anyone that went on to greatness, anybody tipped for stardom that subsequently failed miserably, or just anyone interesting that was an Indy guy at the time of writing but went on to become any kind of name in the Big Two, i.e. Crash The Terminator (Hugh Morrus) and Moadib (Ahmed Johnson) I recall are both in there.

 

What I actually caught myself doing was taking photos of the various crap I have come to have accumulated from my years as a fan, without diving too deep into the shelves. A lot of stuff including my NWA tapes, lots of magazines, some of my video games, most of my figures and one or two assorted bits of merchandise are in my loft ("wrestling shine" as my BFFF puts it) and I haven't gone deep into the cupboard, got my Japanese stuff out the drawer, or gone up the loft yet, so this is a work in progress, but thought I'd dump my snaps in here and update later on.

 

The pics are just mobile snaps, not great quality, but this is a bit of a personal "remember what crap I've got" thing rather than a "look at the pretty pictures" but I still thought it was interesting enough to share, even from a "look how much money this goon has wasted" point of view.

 

Magazines/Calendars

• A selection of Power Slams, a couple of older ones I recently acquired from Benny, a couple of more recent ones. I was spoiled for choice.
  
• A couple of shots of some of the "insider" mag publications I've kept. Should have the 1998 PWI Almanac knocking about somewhere.
  
• I always enjoyed picking up WCW or nWo related crap.
  
• A couple of my favourite WWF kayfabe publications. It's hard to say which one I loved more.
  

 

Books

• My WWE-affiliated autobiographies, including my signed copy of Have A Nice Day.
  
• Other books including a cracking NWA one which was a Christmas present from my ex, which I thought was very thoughtful. I don't know why I felt like putting Wrestling With Shadows and Beyond The Mat there, but I did.
  

 

Music/Games

• The WWE CDs I have, with the Germany tour poster. Should have dug my Slam Jam tape and WrestleMania single out too, they're in the "shrine."
  
• The only games I had to hand. There are several others knocking about, even for systems I don't own any more.
  

 

Figures

• Recent boot sale finds. What a faction that is.
  
• Most recent Hasbro eBay acquisition. Crawling slowly to a complete collection.
  

 

Tapes/DVDs

• Token shot of some WWF/E DVDs, nothing too interesting. I basically have every "Coliseum" era non-PPV release apart from Year In Review '96 and a handful of post-97 profile tapes, and a shitload of PPVs from 87-97 and cherry-picked ones thereafter up to Mania XX. Most of the DVDs are profiles and the "historical" ones - WCW, AWA, World Class, title histories.
  
• Favourite profile signed by the subject, my hero.
  
• Some of the official ECW and WCW tapes, the latter of which I bought every one except Fall Brawl '98.
  
• The newer WCW tapes that you used to get in Woolies.
  
• Thrown together - early 90s WCW, WWF wank fodder and a couple of USWA/World Class rarities I found tucked between BMX Bandits and Red Sonja.
  
• My DVDs of shows I've attended over here and random others. Absent are my 1PW DVDs which a mate that came with me has borrowed recently.
  
• One shot to capture how many ROH DVDs I have, a few classic titles, and a shot of the covers of all of 2010s releases, most of which I still have never gotten around to watching.
  

 

Clothing

• Front and back of the first wrestling shirt I bought. He was WWF Champion at the time too.
  
• My nWo classic T, Wolfpack T (bought in Florida in July '98 at the peak of the nWo civil war) and Big Kev's Wolfpack hockey jersey.
  
• Front and back of my KES shirt signed by Davey Boy Smith Jr.
  

 

Still to come - other posters/flyers, annuals, sticker books, Misawa/Kawada figure double pack, tickets and tour programs, Bret Hart's sunglasses.

[bAzTNM#1]

The newer WCW tapes that you used to get in Woolies.

Like me, you're missing "Great American Bash 2000". Was that ever released as a single VHS over here? I only ever recall it in one of those big VHS boxsets of various WCW PPVs in 2000.

[Big Rob]

They got everywhere, too. I remember picking up a five VHS box set of the WCW PPVs from 2000 at a boot sale for about

[Professor Paul's Bin]

 

WCW Halloween Havoc 1999

 

"The Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of..." - This can certainly be said for this Pay Per View. Terrible.

 

I finished work and decided to watch Halloween Havoc 1999 for the first time and I was very disappointed. I wasn't expecting much for a Pay Per View from WCW around this time but I thought it would be better than it actually was. As far as I know this was the first Russo Era Pay Per View and you can really tell. WCW comes across as trying to be really edgy, dark and too much like a shit WWF copy. There was just unnecessary language, mild nudity, violence and blood. All of which were done very poorly.

 

Opener is a Cruiserweight Title match involving Disco Inferno. Disco wins with some sort of Stunner to retain the title.

 

The WCW Tag titles were up for grabs between the First Family (Brian Knobbs and Hugh Morrus), Harlem Heat and Konnan & Billy Kidman. In a match that didn't really make much sense. Anyway this is absolutely awful and the camera misses the majority of the action which happens backstage involving a table. There is also a horrible spot where someone gets Irish Whipped into some empty cardboard boxes which are neatly stacked near the exit to the arena. Eventually Booker T ends up hitting someone with a mummy and then Stevie Ray goes for the pin where they win. This isn't announced for about 60 seconds and the crowd in the arena don't even know its happened.

 

I found myself enjoying the Eddie Guerrero Vs Perry Saturn match actually and it was starting to become one of the better matches I've seen involving Perry Saturn. Up until the last few moments of the match where Ric Flair interrupts the match with a fucking crowbar to beat down Eddie. This was due to Eddie stealing Flair's rolex before the event. After the match Flair also attacks Kidman and Torrie with the crowbar.

 

Buff Bagwell comes out cutting some horrible promo mentioning that WCW has two writers from up North to change the state of WCW. One of the those moments in wrestling where you grit your teeth in embarrassment. Jeff Jarrett comes out with a guitar..

 

Next Goldberg is battering Sid in a puddle of blood backstage.

 

Brad Armstrong comes out to face some German Bloke called Berlin. This was a dire beatdown and it didn't really serve its purpose. You'd have thought that they'd have got Berlin to destory Armstrong here but he won with something like a Neckbreaker.

 

Rick Steiner Vs Chris Benoit also happens. Dean Malenko ends up smacking Benoit over the head with a chair for Rick Steiner to get the win. On a plus note Rick Steiner came looked better than usual with his cool beard and singlet. But that can't excuse another crap match.

 

Lex Luger Vs Bret Hart is next, from the pre-match promo Bret Hart doesn't give a fuck and he doesn't show any sort of drive when he is making his down the isle towards the ring for his match. Bret is selling a knee injury from last weeks Nitro and ends up taping after a few minutes to a Boston Crab to Luger.

 

Sting Vs Hogan is next, from somebody who hasn't watched this event before I began looking forward to this match and hoped it didn't disapoint. Of course though, this is WCW. Hogan came to the ring and told Sting to pin him and he did. Sting retained the title.

 

Goldberg Vs Sid is the next match for the night. Hall and Nash attack Goldberg before the match and attack him on the isle for a few minutes. Goldberg recovers from the beatdown in a matter of minutes and pins Sid for the WCW United States Title.

 

Sting cuts a promo challenging anyone for the title.

 

DDP Vs Ric Flair in a strap match - This was probably the best match on the card but after all the shit I had sat through I ended up skipping this. I wasn't sure what happened in the end but The Filthy Animals seemed to get revenge on Flair and threw him into an Ambulance. I thought that was nice of them to have the courtesy of putting Flair in an ambulance following his match and beatdown.

 

Next Seek and Destroy hits the arena for the third time that evening and Sting makes his way to the ring with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. None other than Goldberg answers Sting's challenge. In a short match between the two which isn't a memorable one Goldberg soon pins Sting to become the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Goldberg fucks off with both his belts. Sting is left in the ring and Reverse DDT's the referee.

 

What a pile of shit.

[The Cum Doctor]

Decided to start doing 1998 RAWs/PPVs last night. I can never stick to these things though so lets hope I can get further this time.

 

WWE RAW 05/01/1998

 

We open with Steve Austin and he's basically just talking a lot of shit at the moment. The main jist of that is that he's gonna kick people's arses if they are in the Royal Rumble. Basically he's gonna arrive, raise hell and maybe not leave.

 

Farooq w/ Kama Mustafa and D'Lo Brown vs. Ken Shamrock

 

The Rock volunteered Farooq for this match. Shamrock was doing his whole bleed from the mouth thing during this point, but he was also making Nation members tap, so they want revenge for that naturally. There seems to be a story here with The Nation not doing any damage when Shamrock is on the floor. Farooq seems a bit annoyed by that. I would be too. Useless pricks. So he sends Shamrock to the floor again and once again The Nation just stand over Shamrock like diddies, and then The Rock shows up for good measure. While all of this is going on, Farooq does some major damage to the ribs of Shamrock before deciding the Chinlock is the best way to go. Hmm. The Nation end up costing Farooq the match because they hit him with a chair accidentally and Shamrock makes it 3 for 3 for Nation tapouts.

 

The Rock is in the ring with Ken Shamrock and these two men will be facing off at the Royal Rumble. Steve Austin hits the ring and lands a Stunner on Shamrock and then The Rock takes the same punishment and then heads out through the crowd. He's not fucking about on this show.

 

Jim Cornette turns up on my screen and we go to commercials. Forgot he was in WWE at this point. Jim Cornette says there needs to be more respect for tradition and competition. The president and vice president of the NWA are here and have the title belt with them as well. The fans clearly care a lot about that belt as they boo it. The winner of the next match will be the NWA North American Champ. And thus we have this...

 

Barry Windham vs. Jeff Jarrett - NWA North American Championship

 

The fans don't seem to care about Windham much when he comes out, but things liven up as JJ walks into the arena, because the fans seem to hate JJ. This pretty much telegraphs who's going to win this match. Jarrett is determined to be the biggest prick possible in this match and Windham gets more wound up as things go on, which turns out to be to the detriment of JJ, as he hands out a bit of a beasting. The match is a bit on the shit side after a while as it all just falls to pot. Cornette decides to help Jarrett win the title with a shot with the racket and that gives the match to JJ. Shit match for a segment I can't remember from the time and likely didn't give a shit about and I can see why. Funny part is the commentator going on about how something doesn't smell right. FUCKING DUH !!! Austin gives JJ a Stunner and then does some strutting. The best advice to anyone due in a match is to not bother turning up on this episode of RAW.

 

Backstage, with Ken Shamrock and he says both he and Steve Austin are marked men and he'd be happy to have it man to man and eye to eye. This is quickly followded by Sunny heading down the ramp. She is going to be the guest ring announcer for the next match. She was over as hell, you've got to give here that.

 

Sniper and Recon w/ Jackyl vs. Skull and 8-Ball

 

Fuck sake. The Truth Commission. This match has the potential to be an absolute horror show. I need maximum stupid antics from Jackyl at ringside to keep this one fun. To be fair, nobody really hangs about out there and they at least manage to keep me from wanting to turn it off. Jackyl has this weird thing going on where he doesn't mind the guys making mistakes as long as they give their all. A proper motivator to be sure. I wonder how he'd feel if they lost. Kurrgan waddles down to the ring as DOA get the win out of nowhere. What the fuck just happened there.

 

So, post match, The Truth Commission and DOA are doing battle, and The Truth Commission have the advantage of the numbers, and Kurrgan gives the claw to some poor fucker in the ring. I have no idea what one that is. Jackyl decides to get into the ring and he slaps Kurrgan and then heads for the floor and flashes the peace sign. Aye, that's one way to do things I suppose.

 

We've now got D-Generation-X heading for the ring, and Triple H is in a wheelchair, getting pushed to the ring by Chyna with HBK leading the way. The fans give HHH nothing but grief while he tells Owen Hart that he wasn't good enough to get the job done against HBK, and also manages to get a "wood" joke in there before challenging Owen Hart to head to the ring. Owen Hart is on the big screen and he says that he wants HHH to heal up before he faces HHH, and then he's gonna break the left leg of HHH, which only serves to make HHH mock him. Not the most fun of promos considering who was all involved there, but I suppose it got the job done.

 

Savio Vega w/ Los Baricuas vs. Owen Hart

 

Los Baricuas were still around at this point? At least I still get their god awful theme music though, and this match could be naw bad. Baricuas try and play the numbers game early, but all that does is leads to a kicking for Savio Vega. You know you're not a good faction when you try and use a four on one advantage and can't succeed in doing so. DX turn up though and that distracts Owen enough to get Savio Vega back into the match. Vega can't keep control of a match on his own though and Owen eventually comes back into the match until Baricuas get involved again and lay a bit of a gang beating on Owen Hart. This is almost six on one here. That is, until a referee comes out and sends Los Baricuas to the back but one of them gets on the apron which makes no difference as Owen gets the O'Connor Roll for three. My goodness. Six on one and they couldn't get the job done. What a bunch of jobbers.

 

Los Baricuas deliver Owen Hart to Triple H and he unloads with some slaps to the face. Just because the four of you couldn't beat one man, there's no need for this. DX then hand over the money to what appears to be their hired guns. At least that's better than bad losers.

 

Paul Bearer is heading to the ring. Last week The Undertaker went to the ring and helped Kane. Paul Bearer is a total wreck heading to the ring. Looks like he might have spent a few days on the sauce actually. He goes on a drunken rant in the ring and nearly falls asleep standing up doing so. Okay, so he probably hasn't been drinking, but this promo isn't doing the theory any good. Bearer says that Kane has left him because The Undertaker has poisoned his mind. Bearer just wants Kane to come home. Well, it had the amusement factor of a wrecked Paul Bearer.

 

We go backstage and Steve Austin attacked Mark Henry. He didn't attack The Headbangers who were there though. Fuck sake, even Austin doesn't care about them enough to stunner them anymore.

 

"Marvelous" Marc Mero w/ Sable vs. Tom Brandy

 

Brandy has come to the rescue of Sable apparently. This isn't enough to make the fans give a toss about him though as he is met with pretty stone cold silence. I'd meet him with silence as well. Sable is over as anyone at this point, mainly thanks to Mero being such a great asshole, and as such, Mero is over as hell as well. Brandy seems to just be some sideshow. Mero accidentally falls on Sable and gives her grief for it. Mero continues to case bother for Sable as he knocks her out of the arms of Brandy. However... Steve Austin hits the ring and lands the Stunner on Mero and then mocks him with some shadow boxing. He goes to the floor and stares at Sable before deciding to walk away from that idea. That was some fun Sable/Mero related stuff before Austin turned up.

 

Flash Funk vs. The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust w/ Luna Vachon

 

Goldust has blacked up for us this time, and he's playing the role of Shaft for us this evening, complete with a ripoff of the Shaft theme tune. If you're going to try and get under the skin of someone, you might as well do it right. Goldust has an afro wig too. Funk is absolutely fucking fuming as you would expect and he unloads big time on Goldust. Goldust is vicious as hell as well though and is happy to lay quite the beating on Funk. We end up getting quite a heated wee two sided brawl. I wish the crowd cared a bit more about it, because even for this one match, the story they were telling was a lot of fun. Luna throws Funk off the top rope and that leads to the DQ for Flash Funk.

 

Goldust with the Curtain Call on Funk and then Vader turns up and gives Goldust a doing and he does a runner. I forgot they had a match at the Rumble later in the month. He gives Funk a hug and then does a wee bit of dancing.

 

The Headbangers vs. The New Age Outlaws

 

Gee, I wonder how this one is gonna go. Outlaws were the champs at this point. The action in this one is a bit non-stop early, so they kind of lose the crowd a bit when the match slows down to a crawl pretty soon after. The Godwinns head to the ramp though which gets the fans a wee bit more exciteable. They have a tag title match coming so neither team seems to be sure what to make of it. Mosh and Dogg Dropkick each other in the balls, and if they planned that spot, kudos to them, because that can't have been an easy one to execute if that was the case. After a not so hot tag, and more sloppy action between all four men, the Stage Dive fucks up and the Outlaws get the win from it.

 

Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie not hit the ring and the Outlaws get the hell out of there.

 

We now have a statement from Don King about Tyson and his involvement in Wrestlemania. He says we're not quite there. He sounds particularly hopeful though. Fucking hell, Don King knows how to sell something, doesn't he? He's making me excited for the show and it happened sixteen years ago!

 

It looks like we're going to be closing the show with Shawn Michaels in the ring and he says he's gonna call out The Undertaker according to Jim Ross. Shawn Michaels is not afraid of his casket match as he has beaten The Undertaker time and time again. The main jist of what Shawn Michaels says is that he's going to beat The Undertaker. HBK wants The Undertaker to come to the ring. The casket is now at the ring and HBK thinks his DX buddies are in the casket. HHH and Chyna are on the ramp and are trying to get HBK's attention and it's now clear that they're not in the casket. The Undertaker comes out of the casket and drags HBK into the casket and we get a belter of an ending.

 

Erm... well, it's not boring and everything is hot as hell. Steve Austin causing carnage for fun got tiresome very quickly. The Mero/Sable stuff was fun. Goldust was glorious and Funk looked good against him. The show on the whole was fun I suppose and it was a cracking hot ending which cut to the end quick enough to leave a "WHAT THE FUCK?!" feeling when it was all said and done.

[dopper]

The newer WCW tapes that you used to get in Woolies.

Like me, you're missing "Great American Bash 2000". Was that ever released as a single VHS over here? I only ever recall it in one of those big VHS boxsets of various WCW PPVs in 2000.

 

I think Slamboree 2000 (the month before Great American Bash) was the final WCW ppv to be released over here.

 

The final 10 ppvs before Vince bought them out (Great American Bash from June 2000 to whatever they called the last one in March 2001) were never released in the UK.

[The Cum Doctor]

WWE RAW 12/05/1998

 

We open with DX saying they're gonna be there, and HBK moons the camera. And people are complaining about the DX of recent times being childish? This stuff is absolutely pathetic.

 

The Godwinns vs. The New Age Outlaws vs. The Headbangers vs. The Truth Commission

 

The action is going to be non-stop at least. I love matches with number of people in it because you can ensure that it's not going to be boring. It could be a lot of crap sure, but it won't be boring at the same time. This fan is at least one which manages to be fun as well as that. The fans are hot as hell when it comes to the New Age Outlaws being hated, and they're even happy to see the Godwinns hand out a beating to them, which is great to see. Road Dogg gets a cheap win though when he uses something that was hidden in his tights to get the pin, and the audience is absolutely fucking fuming. That is world class. The replay confirms that the object was indeed in the tights of Road Dogg. Nae luck. Why did nobody make the save though?

 

Steve Austin is in the arena now, and during the commercial break, Austin decided to attack The Godwinns. Austin then brings his truck into the arena. Michael Cole asks Austin about being a marked man, and Austin takes a pen from Michael Cole and draws a target on his chest and shows that he doesn't give a fuck. He says the people saying that are full of crap. The fans are eating up absolutely everything that this guy says and are absolutely nuclear. Mental that someone on here tried to suggest that Daniel Bryan is at that level.

 

Kurrgan w/ Jackyl vs. Jimmy Cicero and Lance Diamond

 

Always fun to see jobbers getting torn apart. I've never been hot on Kurrgan, but I'll be damned if he doesn't look like a proper badass. He basically just runs through the two guys and then lays them over the top of each other and gets the pin. Kurrgan takes a football helmet and tears it apart post-match just because he can.

 

Backstage at the DX limo and Owen Hart has attacked HHH. HBK is in there with them now and then the limo drives away. This is probably not going to end well for Owen Hart.

 

Marc Mero is talking into the microphone but there's no sound coming from it. Sable is now going to head for the ring. JR assumes that was the idea behind what Mero had to say. Mero then brings Goldust to the ring dressed as Sable. The fans don't seem to be too happy with this. I am though. Goldust is pretty amusing at this point.

 

Vader vs. "Marvelous" Marc Mero w/ GoldSable

 

Mero doesn't seem to be intimidated by Vader which seems to be a wee touch against type for him at this particular point, but he shows why as he takes Vader's shots and then comes back and hands out a beating of his own. He certainly has confidence in his own skills, that's for sure. Sable heads for the ring now and the fans completely lose their shit. She heads for Goldust now and Mero has a lot to say. Sable kicks Goldust in the arse and the fans love that. Mero doesn't love that and he wants to send Sable to the back, and the audience is fucking fuming again. They're an angry lot tonight! Is there a match going on here? Pepperidge Farm haven't forgotten and neither has Vader. Goldust hits Vader with a coconut and the referee has seen enough. All sorts of insanity going on during this. A great fun match this.

 

D-Generation-X are back in their limo, and there isn't much noise coming from that thing. HBK, HHH and Chyna get out of the limo leaving us all to ask where Owen Hart is.

 

Steve Austin attacked Vader in his dressing room.

 

D'Lo Brown and The Rock w/ Kama Mustafa vs. Ken Shamrock and Mark Henry

 

I'm actually interested in how Mark Henry looks here. I've been under the impression that he only started to look properly decent when he had his run with Booker T around 2006 time, and then moreso when he won the ECW title later. Even at this point, The Rock's punches look great. Shamrock just hands out a beating to anyone that moves though. Henry's lucky he's not walking into the ring or he'd probably get it too. This match is mainly a set up for Mark Henry to join with the Nation, which he does when The Nation look to be in major trouble. The referee doesn't have a clue what to do. The Nation just lay on a beating and the referee finally decides to ring the bell after that happens.

The Rock lands the Rock Bottom and then Mark Henry counts the pin for him, as The Rock decides to add some insult to the pretty serious injury that Mark Henry seems to have inflicted. Farooq doesn't seem to amused by this inclusion to the Nation. Oh aye, but Kama Mustafa is okay?

 

The Rock says backstage that they got Mark Henry all for Farooq, but he still isn't amused because he's a selfish fucker.

 

D-Generation-X are heading for the ring, and apparently Shawn Michaels has an announcement for The Undertaker's family. That doesn't sound like this is going to end well. The reaction for DX on this night is VERY mixed. HHH has something to say about Owen Hart before HBK says anything. HHH says that Owen Hart got "the big flush" and it appears to be that Owen Hart got a proper kicking in the back of the limo. Shawn Michaels has the mic now and before he moves onto The Undertaker, he has words for Mike Tyson. HBK says he'll dance on Tyson's face if he gets involved in his face, and NOW we move onto The Undertaker. Owen Hart is in the arena though and that makes HBK rethink things. Everyone wants to brawl with each other. That was a lot of fun, but gutted we never got some insulting of The Undertaker's family.

 

Skull and 8-Ball vs. The Rock N Roll Express

 

Jim Cornette brings out the RNR. It feels kinda weird seeing the Express acting like heels. Ricky Morton doing a dash for the corner to hide behind his partner was amusing purely because of that. Jim Cornette decides to hit the ring and hit one of them with a racket and the referee turns around. The referee calls for the bell and he DQs the RNR. Idiot.

Cornette eats a right hand following that. That was a bit shit.

 

Mankind vs. The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust w/ Luna Vachon

 

Goldust is playing the role of Dude Love for us this evening. Obviously Mankind isn't too happy with this. He just hands out a total pasting and Goldust doesn't even get a punch in before Austin hits the ring and hands out the Stunners. Not really much to say about this, other than Austin's stunners are getting fucking annoying.

 

Vince McMahon is now on the screen and he gets booed. He's on the screen to talk about Mike Tyson, and he is going to be at the Rumble, and he's also going to be on RAW next week so as he can make an announcement.

 

Los Baricuas vs. TAKA Michinoku and Scott Taylor

 

Admittedly I don't know who it is that's tag teaming with Savio Vega. Sunny said Jesus something or other, so I'll just settle with calling him by that name. I wonder if they prove to be as inept as they were last week though. Not even two members of DX added to the four of Los Baricuas managed to make things any better for them. This is actually a real fun tag team match with all sorts of cool shit going on, and nothing more so than Jesus finishing the match with a Super Reverse Suplex. Los Baricuas then lay on a beating on both Taka and Taylor. I guess Los Baricuas aren't as inept as usual.

 

Owen Hart hits the ring and he completely creams Miguel with it right in the face. Fuck sake Owen, calm down there. He hands out a beating to the rest of them.

 

Shawn Michaels is now back in the ring and we're finally going to get that stuff from him about The Undertaker. He reminds us of Kane and Paul Bearer splitting, and then says that DX would be happy to accept Kane as a member of DX. He then brings Kane out as their newest member. The Undertaker's music hits though and he heads for the ring. I guess this wasn't quite what they were expecting. The Undertaker would appreciate if HBK left Kane out of this as it has nothing to do with him. He also says he's going to punch a hole in his forehead. That's not a way to get co-operation. HHH hits The Undertaker with a crutch and then HBK with the Sweet Chin Music and then he lays on a beating with the crutch and the fans aren't happy with this turn of events. So much for the mixed reaction from earlier. The lights go out and Kane probably gets the biggest pop of his career so far as he is now heading for the ring. He clears us of DX and then heads back up the ramp. That is a cracking segment right there.

 

We're going to close the show with a bunch of superstars in the ring now and we're going to get a Royal Rumble drawing. Ken Shamrock hits the ring and he and Henry start to brawl. Honky Tonk Man then hits the ring during all of this. He's staying out of the way of the massive barmy that's going on. Austin tries to hit the ring and everyone wants a piece so he gets the fuck out of there, and that kicks off yet another massive barmy. The Nation and Los Baricuas manage to get him at the top of the ramp though. Looks like yer rumble draw isn't going to be happening folks, but that doesn't bother me, as that is a world class go home segment for the Rumble.

 

That was actually a cracking go home episode of RAW before a PPV. All sorts of brilliant fued building, good segments, naw bad action in the ring and the massive barmy at the end. Can't argue with any of that really. Next up... THE RUMBLE!!!

[The Cum Doctor]

WWE Royal Rumble 1998

 

"30 men will batter each other."

 

The intro video actually says that at one point, which amuses me for reasons I can't really understand. Anyways, this is a rumble with plenty of big stuff happening, mainly the target which appears to be on the head of one "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

 

We can see Mike Tyson in the stands and he seems to be getting booed pretty massively here.

 

The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust vs. Vader

 

The point of Goldust has been clear before now, but for the life of me, I have no idea what on earth the deal is with his current attire. Vader of course hands out a beating. Goldust comes into the match in bits and bobs but it's ultimately the Vader show for much of the match. He even decides he wants to drop steps on his head but that doesn't work out for him. Goldust winds up taking a whole number of cheap shots to get himself back into things. Goldust makes the mistake of kissing Vader, and thus this wakes Vader up and he decapitates Goldust with a clothesline. We get a fantastic visual to end the match as Vader lands a Vader Bomb with Luna on his back and takes what is actually quite a routine win for the big man. Not a great match.

 

Steve Austin tells Michael Cole to park his truck and he's gonna get his arse whipped if he gets a scratch on it. The Godwinns follow Steve Austin into the dressing room.

 

Battallion, Tarantula and El Torrito vs. Nova, Mosaic and Max Mini

 

Mini action can be a lot of fun. Plus, it's a six man tag, and I've always been a sucker for multi-man tags like this, so I'm looking forward to watching it. If you like Arm Drags, this match is for you. I wish I had done an Arm Drag count before the match started, because I get the feeling the number of Arm Drags would be absolutely ludicrous. Jeezo, as I type all of this out, all of them are stll landing Arm Drags, but Tarantula decides to hand out some serious beatings now and that should put an end to the Arm Drags. Things get pretty brutal when the heels are in control as they just brutalise poor Max Mini. Sunny helps Mini hand out a kicking which annoys me considering the heels weren't doing much wrong, rule breaking wise. Everyone busts out some badass dives, with Mini winning that exchange. So when you get past the Arm Drags, this match turns out to be a lot of fun, but it takes a long time to get past that point.

 

The Rock © vs. Ken Shamrock - WWE Intercontinental Championship

 

Shamrock is actually a lot more cautious than he usually is. The stakes and the occaision clearly making a difference to the game plan of Ken Shamrock. It's actually a sign of things to come as far as the pace of the match in the first few minutes goes. As the match goes on, the pace picks up whenever Shamrock gets control of things, and The Rock does everything he can to slow things down whenever he can. The Nation hit the ring and Shamrock deals with them, but The Rock uses the chance to use the brass knux, but that doesn't work and The Rock can't believe that. Shamrock gets a win with the Belly 2 Belly Suplex, but the referee never seen how The Rock got put on the canvas. He DOES see the knux in the trunks of Ken Shamrock, and the referee calls for a DQ to Ken Shamrock. I think you can guess the fate of the referee. Not a bad match, but a bit dull really.

 

The New Age Outlaws © vs. The Legion of Doom

 

This is the return of LOD after they took a bit of a pretty bad doing at the hands of DX. LOD get a serious amount of payback at the start of the match. Hawk seems to be especially annoyed by the whole thing as he gives Road Dogg a total pasting for a while. After that point though, this match kind of falls off a cliff a bit. What I love about the Outlaws is the way that whoever is on the apron riles up the crowd big time, meaning that the crowd only get more and more mental as the match goes on, mainly thanks to what the guy on the apron is doing. Hawk is handcuffed to the ringpost and the referee seems to think this is all fair game. Fuck sake. Why are referees always made to look like fuckwits? The match ends when the Outlaws use a chair as Animal was about to finish the job of his own. That was a bit shit.

 

The Royal Rumble Match

 

I've always said that everybody loves a rumble. Even bad rumbles tend to be entertaining at least. This match is known for a number of things. One of the main things is the "Three Faces of Foley" aspect as we get to see every gimmick that he has in the same match. The main aspect however was the bounty on Steve Austin and everyone trying to take him out of the game. The Nation's interaction with him is the main highlight of that. There's actually quite a lot of dull stuff going on here, which is kinda surprising. The last couple of RAWs made it feel like there was all sorts going on. You know, considering there was a bounty on Austin's head, not many people paid much attention to him. All in all, this Rumble match is more frustrating than it is bad.

 

Shawn Michaels © w/ D-Generation-X vs. The Undertaker, Casket Match - WWE Championship

 

Don't know why it took me so long to get round to watching this match. Memory tells me that this was a pretty good outing. Too many Taker matches start the same way. Smaller guy avoids Taker and lands punches until Taker finally hits a big move to turn things around. I suppose it's as good a way to start a match as any as it sets the tone for the rest of the match most of the time, and it was the same here with Taker looking to slow everything down while HBK was constantly hitting the ropes and moving around whenever he had the chance. HBK also used any cheap trick he could, bringing the steps into play on the floor and coming out of the casket with powder to the eyes as early examples. As you'd expect from two guys with this amount of talent, this match is terrific fun, and easily the best casket match ever and a worthy main event.

 

The rumble match drags this one down a bit as it was disappointing and added to the minis and the tag title match, it just doesn't help matters. Some solid undercard stuff though, and the main event is well worth a look.

[Devon Malcolm]

I thought the Goldust v Vader match was a cracker. I never bothered with the Minis match, what a stupid fucking match to have on at an Attitude Era Royal Rumble

[The Cum Doctor]

I might even count the arm drags in that match later tonight when I get the time. I get more and more curious any time I think about it, so I'm gonna have to do it just to shut my head up.

[Dr.PeterVenkman]

Just watched World War 3 '95, only ever seen highlights of the battle royal, what a shite idea that was, you missed every elimination until they got everyone in one ring

 

I imagine it was a great idea on paper but it was wank in practice, that's even without the bollocks finish

[King Pitcos]

Having never watched much of Rumble '98, I had no idea they did the bounty thing with Austin that year too. Why bother doing it again in '99 when he'd already beaten the same circumstances?

[air_raid]

Having never watched much of Rumble '98, I had no idea they did the bounty thing with Austin that year too. Why bother doing it again in '99 when he'd already beaten the same circumstances?

 

I don't think there was an explicit "bounty" as such, just that Austin was considered a target/"marked man" because he'd randomly been interfering in everyone's matches on Raw and stunning them just for fun, so everyone hated him. Or at least, that's how I remember it.

[SpursRiot2012]

Yeah. That's my recollection of it also.