What the World Was Watching: Monday Night Raw - April 13, 1998

by Logan Scisco

-A video package recaps Steve Austin ripping off his corporate suit on last week’s show.

-Jim Ross and Michael Cole are doing commentary and they are live from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

-WWF Champion Steve Austin comes out and calls out Vince McMahon under threat of holding the show hostage again.  McMahon hesitantly walks out with Gerald Brisco, Pat Patterson, and two police officers in riot gear.  Austin demands to know who he is facing at Unforgiven and McMahon says that he hasn’t decided that yet.  Austin asks McMahon if he wants to be WWF champion since his version of a title holder is himself and when McMahon looks puzzled, Austin announces that he will defend the WWF title tonight against him.  McMahon’s reaction to the challenge is priceless and Austin tells McMahon that he can’t leave the arena because he beat up his limo driver and cut all of his tires.  Austin gives McMahon thirty minutes to think over his challenge before he takes a cameraman backstage and whips his ass.  This was a nice setup for tonight’s big angle and it covered the scenario of McMahon trying to run away.  1 for 1

-McMahon is shown talking with Patterson and Brisco backstage, who urge him to face Austin and they give him a pep talk.

-Opening Tag Team Chain Match:  The Disciples of Apocalpyse (w/Chainz) wrestle Savio Vega & Jose to a no contest at 2:15:

Although the stipulation might imply that this is a big deal, both teams get the jobber entrance and D-Generation X comes out and lays out Chainz, who does a stretcher job.  DX then beats up Skull and 8-Ball before turning on Savio and Jose.  Ross insists that this is a no contest because you cannot have a disqualification in a chain match.  This was fine with me because it puts DX over two of the old gang warz factions that have hardly done anything since 1997.

-Shane McMahon is shown backstage talking with his father, Brisco, and Patterson and Shane tries to convince his father not to face Austin.

-Call 815-734-1161 to get the Steve Austin “Hell Yeah!” t-shirt for $25 (plus $6 shipping & handling)!

-Vince McMahon walks out, recaps his family’s history with the company, and reluctantly announces that he will accept Austin’s challenge for a match tonight.  Brisco and Patterson come out to give McMahon a high five and Ross says they have lost their minds and leaves the booth to try to talk some sense to McMahon backstage.

-Right after Ross leaves, the lights go out and without anyone to hold him back, Cole refuses to stop talking as the Undertaker walks out and destroys Aguila, El Pantera, and Scott Taylor who are scheduled for a tag team match tonight.  The Undertaker gets on the mic and says that it is time for Kane to come out of the darkness.  Cole just rants about how the Undertaker’s attack is not justified and while true, it just comes off as whiny.  1 for 2

-Steve Austin giving McMahon a Stone Cold Stunner two weeks ago is the Starburst Slam of the Week.

-Kevin Kelly reports from outside McMahon’s locker room and shows a piece of footage of Brisco, Patterson, Ross, and Shane arguing.  Vince tells Shane to get his gym bag and blows Ross off and tells him to go back and do his job.

-Taka Michinoku beats Jeff Jarrett (w/Tennessee Lee) by disqualification when Club Kamizake interferes at 2:27:

Flyers fall from the sky which hype Jarrett performing with Sawyer Brown at Unforgiven.  The flyer idea isn’t well thought out, though, because they fall into the ring, making this match seem like a bonus feature on the DVD of Newsies.  Both men briefly exchange moves before the Japanese wrestlers that attacked Michinoku on last week’s show appear and attack him again.  Ross and Cole call them Club Kamikaze, but they would eventually become Kaientai.

-Austin tells Jim Ross from the locker room that he is not surprised McMahon accepted his challenge and he will settle his issue with McMahon once and for all tonight.

-Patterson and Brisco give McMahon advice on how to counter the Stone Cold Stunner.

-Faarooq walks out with taped ribs and says that he is going to give the Nation of Domination another chance to kick his ass.  The Rock debuts his “do you smell what the Rock is cooking” line as he runs down Faarooq, but Faarooq gives the Nation salute, which signals Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman to run out and help him ambush the Nation.  WWF officials have to separate everyone as the crowd works up a HUGE “Rocky sucks!” chant.  This is setting up a six man tag at Unforgiven.  2 for 3

-Mick Foley retiring the Cactus Jack character last week is the 10-321 Rewind segment.

-Jerry “the King” Lawler comes out early to do commentary for tonight’s show, but Cole is still with us.

-Terry Funk & 2 Cold Scorpio beat The Quebecers when Scorpio pins Pierre with a 450 splash at 2:14:

Funk has abandoned the Chainsaw Charlie character, realizing three months too late that it was a bad idea.  Funk says that although Cactus Jack quit last week he is not quitting and he is forming a new team with a man that Vince McMahon has not given a chance and that new partner is Flash Funk, who Ross makes sure we know is “2 Cold.”  This is a good place to repackage Flash Funk into 2 Cold Scorpio since they are in ECW country and the crowd works up a loud “ECW” chant.  Of course, Cole the idiot doesn’t take the hint and keeps calling him Flash Funk.  The Quebecer Crash misses and Scorpio wins the bout for his team in an abbreviated match that could have been something really good if it was given five more minutes.

-Luna Vachon walks out and continues a trend tonight by calling out Sable.  However, the Artist Formerly Known as Goldust, dressed as Sable and mocks her bad promo skills.  They enact the way the Evening Gown Match is going to go with Luna ripping Goldust’s dress off.  This is quite disturbing until Sable runs in and briefly brawls with Luna, which excites the crowd.  3 for 4

-Non-Title Match:  The New Midnight Express (NWA Tag Team Champions w/Jim Cornette & Dan Severn) wrestle Ken Shamrock & Steve Blackman to a double disqualification at 3:45:

Before the match, Shamrock and Severn go eye-to-eye for a few seconds before the referee orders Severn to the locker room.  This is a decent, but uninspiring match where both teams keep brawling after the hot tag and the referee gets tired of trying to control the action so he just disqualifies everyone.  I really hate that finish.  Rating:  *½ (3 for 5)

-Kelly asks Vince if he is scared of facing Austin, to which he says he was not afraid of the U.S. federal government and is not afraid of Ted Turner, so he is not afraid of Steve Austin.

-The Headbangers are in the ring for the next match, but the Undertaker comes out again.  The Headbangers try to defend themselves, but he proceeds to destroy them.  The lights go out and Kane and Paul Bearer come out to a big pop.  Bearer says that next week the Undertaker will face Kane, but they will meet in the cemetery on their parents’ grave and not in the ring.  Bearer’s rants against the Undertaker are usually fun and this was no exception.  4 for 6

-The latest Val Venis vignette, which catches him in the middle of casting for his next film “Lust in Space.”

-Owen Hart (w/LOD 2000 & Sunny) defeats Billy Gunn (w/D-Generation X) with a schoolboy at 6:19 shown:

The commentary team announces that Owen Hart will meet Triple H for the European title at Unforgiven.  This match is booked as Owen facing a chosen DX member, which Triple H says was chosen based on an essay writing contest.  For backup in this match, Owen brings LOD 2000 and Sunny.  X-Pac has a funny jab at Ross on commentary by asking if Owen is a “twelve –time All-American.”  Triple H also makes jokes about Sunny’s skanky nature.  Billy dominates a lot of the action that happens over the course of two commercial breaks, which makes this a snoozer until Owen wins when Billy prematurely celebrates.  Rating:  *¼ (4 for 7)

-WWF Championship Match:  “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (Champion) and Vince McMahon (w/Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, Shane McMahon & Sergeant Slaughter) never compete:

Vince is dressed for this fight like Keith Hackney of the original UFC, towel included.  Ross makes a good point about this match by saying that if McMahon is hurt then it could harm the prospects of the company.  Vince slaps Austin and one hand is tied behind Austin’s back since Austin says he could beat Vince with one arm in the opening promo.  In a nice piece of storytelling, McMahon has Austin’s “Stunner arm” tied.  While having these two engage in battle would be an awesome moment at the time, logical booking prevails and before the bell, Dude Love comes out to veto the match in the name of love.  McMahon pushes Love down and Love tries to attack him with the Mandible Claw.  When Austin tries to get Love out of the ring so he can face McMahon, Love puts the Mandible Claw on him and McMahon angrily leaves, feeling Love stole his moment.  5 for 8

The Final Report Card:  Since I came to Scott’s blog in 2010 and recapped RAW, beginning with March 1996, the WWF has usually lost the Monday Night Wars against WCW.  For eighty-two straight weeks, Nitro defeated RAW in the ratings with an average margin of victory of 1.2 or higher.  However, after Decemer 22, 1997 RAW’s ratings rose above 3.0 and would never dip lower and THIS was the RAW that finally slaughtered the Nitro juggernaut.  It was unclear at the time whether this would be a one-off victory or the beginning of a trend, but with the benefit of hindsight this was like the Entente forces stopping the Germans at the Second Battle of the Marne in August 1918.  Although Nitro would win a few more victories over RAW after this night, this show marked a shift in momentum in the Monday Night Wars and by the end of the year Nitro was on the defensive.

As for the show itself, the Austin-McMahon interaction was great and although viewers were disappointed about Austin-McMahon not happening, it was the correct booking choice to continue a red hot feud.  This show was all storyline driven, as the in-ring product was poor, but it made two hours fly by and it is still an entertaining show sixteen years later.

Monday Night War Rating:  4.6 (vs. 4.2 for Nitro)

Show Evaluation:  Thumbs Up