What the World Was Watching: Monday Night Raw - March 30, 1998

-A video package recaps the big events at last night’s WrestleMania pay-per-view.

-Jim Ross and Michael Cole are in the booth and they are live from Albany, New York.

-Vince McMahon walks out with the new version of the WWF title, which will replace the winged eagle title that has been a staple of the company since 1988.  The crowd is so loud and rabid that McMahon does not even know if his microphone is working.  Austin snatches the new title from McMahon and McMahon goes back on what he said prior to WrestleMania and says he is proud of Austin for winning the title.  McMahon says that together they can make Austin the greatest WWF champion of all-time.  Austin sees through that scheme and takes offense when McMahon says he loves him.  After embarrassing McMahon, Austin reiterates that he will continue to do things his way and McMahon tells him that he can take the easy road and adapt or take the hard way and be forced to follow his plan anyway.  Austin takes ten seconds to think about it and then gives McMahon a Stone Cold Stunner.  Words cannot describe how awesome this segment is.  McMahon played it like his 1990s announcing personality and Austin showed that way of doing business was not going to be the way that the Attitude Era was going to proceed.  1 for 1

-McMahon is shown recovering in the locker room surrounded by his cronies.

-Opening Contest:  The Legion of Doom (w/Sunny) defeat Jose & Jesus when Hawk pins Jesus after a Doomsday Device in 34 seconds:

The only good thing about this repackaging is that it gives Sunny something to do.  The Legion of Doom roll through Jose and Jesus like the jobbers they are and after the match Sunny says that they should be known as “LOD 2000” from now on.

-Jim Ross says that the WWF tag team titles are being held up due to the wrong dumpster being used last night at WrestleMania and that the New Age Outlaws and Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie will meet in a steel cage match tonight.

-Kevin Kelly says that Vince McMahon has called the police and wants Steve Austin arrested.  After the commercial break, Kelly adds that Austin says that Vince does not have the balls to arrest him.

-Kurrgan (w/The Jackyl) beats Chainz with the Paralyzer at 2:12:

Chainz never knocks Kurrgan off of his feet in this squash, which continues Kurrgan’s reign of terror in the lower midcard.  After the match, Kurrgan keeps the Paralyzer on and drags Chainz to the locker room.

-Police officers are shown arriving at the arena and greeted by Vince McMahon.

-Jeff Jarrett (w/Tennessee Lee) defeats Aguila via submission to the figure-four leg lock at 2:36:

Jarrett continues to use the horse for his entrance, which boggles my mind because I forgot that he even had such a ridiculous entrance at this time.  The booking of this match shows the problem of the light heavyweight division because Aguila should be wrestling other light heavyweights, but there are not enough of them in the company so they end up as cannon fodder for Jarrett and other midcarders.  Lee promises a big surprise on next week’s show while doing commentary for this squash.

-After the bell, Steve Blackman runs out and floors Jarrett with a pump kick, but Jarrett recovers and knocks him out of the ring when Blackman tries to go after Lee.  This is a great crowd because they give this developing feud a huge reaction.

-Police officers are shown carrying Austin away in handcuffs.  Austin tries to go after McMahon despite the handcuffs and Austin promises that McMahon will pay.  Gerald Brisco reassures McMahon that he made the right decision.  After the commercial break, McMahon walks out with Brisco and Commissioner Slaughter and explains in a contrite voice that he felt Austin needed to cool off for twenty-four hours based on his actions earlier tonight.  2 for 2

-Triple H and Chyna inform us that the tonight the WWF as we know it will come to an X-rated end.

-Ross interviews Intercontinental Champion the Rock, who is backstage, and the Rock promises to lay the smack down on Ken Shamrock.  The Rock tells Faarooq that he opened his eyes to something new last night and tells him that he is why he is still the champion and he guarantees that the Nation will be stronger after tonight.  Faarooq appears to be unconvinced.

-Jerry “the King” Lawler comes out to do commentary for hour two.

-Ken Shamrock & Steve Blackman beat The Rock & Faarooq (w/The Nation of Domination) when Shamrock pins Faarooq after a belly-to-belly suplex at 4:22:

It takes Ross 1:25 to talk about Faarooq’s football background, which might be a new record.  The Rock’s heat is off the charts at the beginning of this match and it only grows when he refuses to get into the ring to fight Shamrock.  This proceeds with Shamrock and Blackman beating the tar out of Faarooq and the Rock walking out on Faarooq when Faarooq tries to make the tag.  They work that spot really well because the Rock at first holds his hand higher when Faarooq crawls to their corner and then decides to blow him off for good.  Rating:  *½ (3 for 3)

-After the match, Faarooq calls the Rock back to the ring.  The Rock returns and he and Faarooq brawl until the other members of the Nation and WWF officials separate them.  However, when the WWF officials leave and Faarooq calls the Rock back to the ring, the other members of the Nation turn on Faarooq and the Rock re-enters the ring to give Faarooq a Rock Bottom.  The Rock proclaims himself the new leader of the Nation.

-Kane giving Pete Rose a Tombstone is the 10-321 Rewind segment.

-European Champion Triple H and Chyna come out and Triple H says that he was right about Mike Tyson.  He accuses Shawn Michaels of dropping the ball and says that he is taking over and tonight is the genesis of D-Generation X.  Hmmm…so that’s where Michael McGillicutty got that line.  Triple H says that for allies to go to war he is looking at the Kliq and Sean Waltman walks out.  Ross’s lack of enthusiasm when Waltman comes out is pretty funny.  Waltman proceeds to cut a fun promo that runs down Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff and says that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash would be with him tonight if they were not being held hostage by WCW.  This segment nicely moved DX into Triple H’s control and overcame the audience’s hesitation to embrace a Triple H-led DX.  4 for 4

-Sable powerbombing Luna Vachon last night at WrestleMania is the Bop It Slam of the Week.

-The first Val Venis vignette is aired where he previews his new film “Live Hard.”

-Before the match, Luna Vachon comes out and demands a rematch with Sable.  After Sable agrees, she lays out what an Evening Gown match is.  Mero does not want Sable to accept the challenge, but Sable accepts anyway.  It’s a testament to Luna’s character that she didn’t become a face in the lead up to that match because the crowd popped huge at the suggestion that she wanted to strip Sable off her clothes.

-“Marvelous” Marc Mero (w/Sable) beat Taka Michinoku with a TKO at 1:36:

Throughout the match, Sable criticizes Mero’s heel tactics, but that distracts the referee and helps Mero hit a low blow to win.  So, that whole light heavyweight division?  Yeah, who cares about that.  After the match, Sable tries to tend to Michinoku and argues with Mero on her way to the backstage area.

-After the match, three Japanese men hit the ring and destroy Michinoku.

-NWA Tag Team Championship Match:  The New Midnight Express (w/Cornette) defeat The Headbangers (Champions) to win the titles when Bombastic Bomb pins Mosh after a Rocket Launcher at 4:00:

Before the match, Cornette brings out Dan Severn, who was in the midst of a four year reign as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion and should have been a bigger deal in the WWF.  The hype of Severn takes precedence over calling this match, which is standard fare.  After the bell, Severn gets into the ring and suplexes the Headbangers around.  This was the ideal role for Severn to kick ass and say very little, but that is not how he was treated during this run.  Rating:  ** (4 for 4)

-Steve Austin calls into the show and promises to show Vince McMahon how pissed off he is on next week’s RAW.

-As the cage is being set up for the main event, Kane and Paul Bearer walk out and Bearer promises that the Undertaker-Kane feud is not over.  He says that he had a dream where the ring was surrounded by fire and Kane stood tall.  He challenges the Undertaker to enter his dream and face Kane in a match where the loser will be set on fire.  Very nice promo by Bearer to setup an Inferno match between Kane and the Undertaker at Unforgiven and it was also a good use of time so that the cage could be constructed for the main event. 5 for 5

-Steel Cage Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship:  The New Age Outlaws beat Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie to win the titles when the Road Dogg pins Cactus after a spike piledriver on a chair at 4:38:

Funk is shown with a nasty deep bruise suffered at last night’s WrestleMania.  This match is being contested under pinfall and submission rules, so escaping the cage gets you nothing, and it assumes tornado tag rules as well.  The Outlaws tie Charlie to the cage by his neck with handcuffs, which is rather ingenious, and Cactus fights the Outlaws off for a while, but D-Generation X runs out and Sean Waltman, who is still being referred to as “the Kid,” blasts Cactus in the head with a chair several times as Chyna distracts the referee.  This gives the Outlaws the break they need to win the titles for the second time.  Rating:  ** (6 for 6)

-After the bell, D-Generation X destroys Cactus and ties Charlie tighter to the cage.  The Outlaws celebrate with Triple H and Waltman and the DX theme plays in the background, seemingly confirming that the Outlaws are the stable’s newest members.

The Final Report Card:  They really packed a lot into this RAW and it followed a format that the company should look into today where the first hour is packed with squash matches and a lead angle to keep people interested and then having serious and more risky angles play out in the next hour.  More power is handed to the lead figures of the Attitude Era from the New Generation as Triple H takes over D-Generation X and the Rock takes over the Nation from Faarooq.  This show was very instrumental in setting the tone for the rest of the year as well, with McMahon having Austin arrested for the first time and DX being reformed with Triple H, the soon-to-be named X-Pac, and the New Age Outlaws.  The show also continued to tighten the gap with Nitro and showed that the company was starting to benefit from an edgier product with Austin on top.

Monday Night War Rating:  3.8 (vs. 4.2 for Nitro)

Show Evaluation:  Thumbs Up