XIV is here.
Summer Slam 1998 Madison Square Garden
JR/Cornette.
(Dark – 2 Cold Scorpio d. Terry Funk)
1. Teioh/Funkai d. Lawler/Taylor
-cause they would. Too Cool may lose every single match.
2. Adam (w/Ring Boys) d. Vader
This will wrap Vader up. They do the big underdog thing. Young Adam coming out of nowhere to beat the monster Vader. Edge is largely dominated, but wins on the fluke roll up – the Ring Crew lifts Edge up afterward – as if he had won a title, Vader, embarrassed, leaves the company. That kinda thing. Now, they can further split between the two halves of the ring boys – no one’s turning, still a way to go – but we start to give E and C the personality that they’d have after their heel turn. A funny coat here – a pair of wild sunglasses there. They can grow their hair, they start to call Adam, Edge. If sometimes the Hardys though they were dicks, that would be okay, but the Hardys are good boys, they don't want to come off as jealous. Owen's pretty busy in this stretch, but when he notices the increasing attitude on his ring boys, he slaps a hold on them and makes them cry. Owen calls Adam, "Adam" and Edge and Christian mutter about that.
3. The Abolitionist Ulysses Morley d. The Southern Man Dustin Rhodes
Morley goes over in a solid match. Wins with the Liberation Falls splash. Jarrett enters after – he and Dustin attack with the Confederate flag. Dustin chokes Val out with the flag while Jarrett attacks. Face save by Mero. Leading us right into...
4. Southern Man Jeff Jarrett (w/Dustin) d. Marc Mero (w/Morley)
This is it for Mero, like with Savio, Jarrett gets Mero in the figure four – won’t break the hold, gets the submission – Mero has to be helped from the ring – Dustin and Jarrett wave the huge confederate flag after the match. Southern Men! “The Southern Man ended that Puerto Rican’s career…The Southern Man just ended Mero’s career. Watch your heads, you goddamn northerners. Read your good book – Read about the Chosen Man – Read about the Southern Man” They wave the Confederate Flag. It’s a good time.
5. Taka d. Togo (w/K-DX)
Workrate! Taka gets the big win, battling all 3 guys to get the fall. If I could use him more he'd get strapped up. If you haven't seen Taka work recently, in 2006 he may be at the top of his game.
6. Tags: Nation (w/Markie/2Cold) d. Outlaws d. HHH/Waltman
Rock and DLo recapture the tag titles. Big hip hop contingent at MSG; I'm looking for more black faces in the crowd, now is where they reach out to the African-American sports fan, keeping Rock and DLo hip hop, having them do whatever's current hopefully widens the base, and the confederate flag stuff then gets more heat and doesn't come off anachronistic.
Things to get over – the Rock/HHH personal feud intensifies. Let’s see Rock get the fall on Hunter. There’s an outside interference spot with 2 Cold – Waltman has the fall on DLo – but 2 Cold interference breaks it up, leading to a 2 Cold/Waltman outside spot. And – we get the break up the Clique. Dogg/Gunn and HHH/Waltman completely break down, they start the match together – with Rock and DLo having to battle four guys – but then, the Outlaws have a chance at the fall – the Clique breaks it up – the Clique has a chance at the fall – the Outlaws break it up. So, they break down into a full on war – and the Nation takes advantage. Rock Bottom on HHH and they regain the straps.
After the match, Billy and the Dogg go off, beating HHH and Waltman down with chairs – injuring HHH. It’s a break up.
7. IC Submission Match: Steve Austin d. Ken Shamrock
They keep Austin white hot here – he wins the IC, wins the Triple Crown (fireworks, fireworks, fireworks) and gets Shamrock to submit. I don’t know to what, Austin didn’t have a submission hold. Well, have his use the million dollar dream. Choke him out. We didn’t do Austin/Ted, of course, but that will be a fun nod to the actual reality. A tear in the space time continuum. That takes most of Shamrock’s heat away of course, first we leave the Octagon – then he gets choked out – now he’s basically just another wrestler. But Steve takes his heat. Austin beat Bret clean and chokes out Shamrock. Austin’s won the IC – Austin’s won the Triple Crown.
As we ready for the main event, the TitanTron lights up...H....B....K.....
Shawn Michaels, gone since the night after Mania, enters, comes to the announce, and joins JR and Cornette. It's babyface Shawn now, Shawn says he's not coming back, his back is shot and it's kind of a weight off his mind, but he couldn't miss the opportunity to watch Owen Hart, his oldest rival, meet Cactus Jack here at Madison Square Garden. Michaels gets a good reaction after being gone 5 months.
8. WWF Title: No DQ: Cactus Jack d. Owen Hart
And so has Foley. When you think one, you think the other. By and large, you may note, the angle we’re doing here is the angle they did with Foley and Michaels. So, the match here is the one they did with Foley and Michaels at Mind Games. Which was excellent. Owen takes a table bump, Foley takes bumps to the floor. Foley does his cactus clothesline and the apron elbowdrop. We’ll have Foley fight out of the sharpshooter. Owen fights out of the mandible claw. We do barbed wire stuff – and that’s our finish – the finish comes when Jack gets Foley wrapped in the barbed wire – tied up around the ropes – Foley beats Owen savagely with a chair – and then sets Owen on fire.
Which, is a good heel move, setting Owen Hart on fire.
That’s enough to get Owen to submit. Although not immediately, not until JR and Cornette and even HBK are freaking out.
Cactus smiles sickly as Owen’s extinguished, Foley takes the strap and even the MSG crowd should boo him. Hopefully. Foley’s pretty popular in New York. The show ends on the bloody Foley, his sick smile shining through as he raises the WWF belt high. Foley’s won the WWF Title. Cactus Jack has won the Triple Crown.
In the NWA…Davey Boy Smith beats the Anvil. Page wins, Curt Hennig beats Scott Hall, your new tag champs – Norman Smiley and Ernest Miller, who go over Juvie and Silver King. I'm sorry, not my first choice. Saturn regains the US, beating Dean. And Jericho keeps the world title, beating Raven.
Fall Brawl – 1998 Winston Salem
NWA Title: Chris Jericho d. Raven
US: Perry Saturn d. Dean Malenko
Tags: Norman Smiley/Ernest Miller d. Juvie/SKing
Curt Hennig d. Scott Hall
Alex Wright d. Disco Inferno
DDP d. Konnan
Davey Boy Smith d. Anvil
Norman Smiley/Ernest Miller d. Steiners
In ECW…Spike Dudley gets a win, as do Sabu and Shane Douglas. Dreamer beats Bigelow. Justin and Lance keep over the Dudleys again. RVD keeps the TV, beating Jerry Lynn. And Taz keeps the ECW title, beating Masato Tanaka.
November to Remember – 1998 New Orleans
ECW Title: Taz d. Tanaka
TV Title: RVD d. Jerry Lynn
Tags: Justin/Lance d. Dudleys
Tommy Dreamer d. Bam Bam Bigelow
Douglas d. Candido
Sabu d. Nova
Spike d. Danny Doring
Meanie/Roadkill d. Jake Roberts/Mabel
Survivor Series will come from St. Louis.
The night after Summer Slam, the show, of course, opens on the Triple Crown, which is in the ring, and we see the names…
PEDRO MORALES
BRET HART
SHAWN MICHAELS
OWEN HART
STEVE AUSTIN
CACTUS JACK
Owen music. Owen – not coming to the ring – but instead, on the video screen. He’s in the hospital after the fire attack the night before. Says he apologizes for not being able to come to the arena, but it is a tradition for the previous holder of the triple crown to pass it onto the next winner – so, even though the doctors wouldn’t let him leave, he had to do this. So, he wants to introduce the man who won the IC Title at Summer Slam – Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Glass. Austin. Big pop. Austin says there aren’t too many things in this world that touch him, six pack, couple of shotguns, pretty much it. But to stand here with the Triple Crown, knowing as all wrestlers do that it’s the ultimate honor in this sport….
Car crash. Cactus. Foley to the ring, big heel pop.
And Owen says, and I also have to introduce, the new WWF Champion, and also now a Triple Crown winner – Cactus Jack….
….Foley says he wants to thank all his hardcore pals out there, and he wants to thank kerosene, and he wants to thank the flammability of Canadians. After a decade of blood and barbed wire – he’s got the Triple Crown!
Austin says not so fast. Each man holding part of the Triple Crown – and they brawl, reprising the finish of that battle royal.
Regal enters, yells at the ruffians to cease and desist. Says to see two grown men, well, perhaps not grown and perhaps not men – but nevertheless, to see them fighting over something as trivial as a trophy is embarrassing. Regal doesn’t care if Steve Austin walks out of that ring with that Triple Crown or not – but Regal will be making his WWF PPV debut at the Survivor Series, and all he cares about is that Steve Austin brings the Intercontinental belt to St Louis, because Steve Regal will be bringing it home to the Queen.
Austin goes after Regal – they brawl in the aisle – Cactus then holds the triple crown high – when he is attacked from behind by Owen…who, of course, is not in the hospital, no, he’s right there, even though he's heavily bandaged – and he goes off on Foley – big pop as Owen attacks Foley – but then Owen is overcome – Foley gets an advantage and Owen can’t make it up – Foley puts it to Owen savagely again – and Owen has to be stretchered out. ‘Cause he was just set on fire and all. And he ain’t working Survivor Series, so they take him out of the picture for a few months.
We’ll get Regal/Austin at Survivor Series. The title match is below. The actual physical possession of the Triple Crown will be held up by the WWF to a point determined later.
The Hardys finally will get their PPV shot (Let them play...Let them play) – and E and C don’t, which frustrates them coming off the Vader win. They'll feed Lawler/Taylor to the Hardys. Also being fed to the Hardys….we meet Trish Stratus, they put her hair in a ponytail, downplay the crazy bombshell make you cry a little bit body, and have her work in the WWF office.
Wrestlers will hit on her, of course, but she politely declines, as we see on RAW.
Except – she kinda has a crush on Jeff.
Jarrett/Bob. Bob now gets to be the good Southerner.
Another Morley/Dustin.
Waltman/2 Cold, coming off the tag title stuff.
We now find out what Al was talking about at the battle royal. He's keeping the crazy Al gimmick from the first run, just adding Head - he now can have these rants about the slights against him to Head - better than that - Head is who is telling him about the slights. Head's talking to him in a David Berkowitz Son of Sam type of way. Crazy ass Al. Anyway, he’s back from barbed wire city, where he saw horrible, horrible things. Man’s inhumanity to man, and Bubba Ray Dudley naked in the shower. When he came back, everyone in the locker room paid their respects, which is the right thing to do for a man let out of prison. The Hardy Boys – paid their respects. Cactus Jack – paid his respects. Well, he didn’t actually say anything, but that’s because he’s pre-verbal. He grunted and clicked his tongue – and that’s enough for me. But the Undertaker – the Legend of the WWF – HE IGNORED ME – HE IGNORED ME AND NOW I’M GOING TO KICK HIS ASS!!!
So, we get Undertaker/Al. This is still Al’s old gimmick, which I enjoyed, but it’s also a rib on the Undertaker and other locker room vets, who get upset when codes like this exact thing are broken. Undertaker tries to explain, “Al, just didn’t see you there man, lighten up.” Al attacks violently. YOU WILL NOT DISRESPECT THE SNOWMAN!! The Taker chokeslams, tombstones. When Al comes to – he does his moonsault to nothing. ‘Cause Al’s crazy for doing this. Crazy motherfucking Al. ECW may have sent him totally over the edge. He's talking to a mannequin's head, for the love of Pete.
Tags…Nation v. New Age Outlaws. Rock keeps doing his act. Rock/Dogg are a good verbal mix. Dogg says he's blacker than the Rock.
For the World Title – it’s Jack against a man he’s never beaten – Ken Shamrock. And that’s the interest, can Foley finally get over Shamrock.
Shamrock says he’s sick that Cactus Jack, who he tapped out by the way, is WWF Champion. It’s embarrassing to be part of a company that would put its championship belt on someone so depraved. Jack says speaking of embarrassing – if he had known that all it would take to get Shamrock to submit was a sleeper hold, he would have used it himself. But since it’s the crowd that generally goes to sleep when Shamrock talks, he thought that finish was sort of fitting.
They set up the title match. But now it’s on Jack’s terms. It’s gonna be in something like the Octagon – but instead of that – it’ll be in a 20 foot high completely enclosed cage.
They're gonna call this match…Hell in a Cell.
Yeah, that’s which match we're getting. Except no Undertaker/Foley. We’ll do Shamrock/Foley. And we’re gonna get that match. Foley’s got some bumps to take.
So, Cactus Jack/Shamrock in a Cell for the title, Austin/Regal for the IC, the Nation defending against the New Age Outlaws, Al Snow on a suicide mission against the Undertaker, Waltman and 2 Cold, the Southern Men again – Jarrett against Bob, Dustin against Morley – plus the Hardys finally debut on PPV. It’s Survivor Series '98 – call your local thing!
