WWF Raw – June 29th, 1998 – Gund Arena – Cleveland Ohio
It’s the night after King of the Ring, and the beginning of the Kane Era! WWF Raw kicks off with stills from last night’s main event, where Kane drew first blood on Austin thanks to a mishap with The Undertaker. During the commercials for Walker, Texas Ranger ten minutes before the beginning of WWF Raw, they put up a graphic featuring the new champion with his belt; it appears to be a stretched-out tag team title belt. If they were going to paste a belt onto an existing graphic, why use the wrong one?
Too much Thor, and not enough Spidey! It’s time for WWF Raw.
Vince McMahon strolls to the ring in black and white shoes, accompanied by his stooges Slaughter and Brisco. Pat Patterson, Jim Ross notes, could not be here due to a “recent loss” (partner Louie Dondero). In the ring is the WWF title belt under glass.
McMahon calls tonight a breath of fresh air, the WWF having been cleansed of foul language and that “unseemly hand gesture” of Austin’s. He praises the new champion Kane as one who, unlike Austin, has never so much as tasted alcohol or uttered obscenities. He’s also a patriotic champion; Kane’s only hand gesture is to salute the American flag.
Kane comes to the ring and, as his first act as champion, kicks aside a styrofoam head a fan has thrown in the ring. Paul Bearer dares fans to walk a mile in Kane’s shoes (which is next to impossible thanks to those giant lifts on his heels). Paul Bearer recalls having watched Kan “sh*t in a room” as a child with pictures of his brother around him. But tonight, it’s the Undertaker who stands in Kane’s shadow.
As Vince places the belt around Kane’s waist, Austin’s breaking glass startles him. Stone Cold, his infected elbow heavily bandaged, comes to the ring with a complaint: It wasn’t Kane who “drew first blood” on him, but The Undertaker.
Tonight, Austin wants a rematch for the title, a motion seconded by a “Hell yeah” from the audience. Vince agrees—provided Paul Bearer also agrees. A flustered Bearer, now sweating bullets, also agrees—provided Kane agrees. Stone Cold berates Kane for letting his big brother win the title for him, until Kane finally nods yes. Their bluff having been called, Bearer and McMahon go apoplectic.
When WWF Raw returns from break, a fan holds up a sign urging The Rock to stop making crack cocaine. That’s the most racist thing you’ll see on WWF Raw until next week!
Darren Drozdov “Puke” [sic] comes to the ring to a mixed reaction while Jim Ross announces the unique competition called, “The Brawl for It All” [sic]. Before Drozdov’s opponent comes to the ring, Sable delivers a message from Vince McMahon: Steven Regal has signed with the WWF. Coming to the ring to country rock music, Lord Steven nonetheless wears his puffy Blue Bloods robe.
Sable joins the announce desk, where Jim Ross asks her about her new contract. Sable cannot comment on that, but Jerry Lawler (now full-time announcer on WWF Raw) can comment on how good she looks. Jim Ross continues to press Sable on her relationship to Vince McMahon, which she again cannot comment on. Must have signed an NDA.
As the conversation with Sable continues, there’s actually a match going on. Jim Ross plays up Regal’s toughness and skill, speculating that he could contend for the WWF title. Drozdov ascends the ropes, leading the announcers to worry that he’ll vomit again. Well, it is June 29th. Regal sends Droz crashing with a double-underhook suplex off the top, then makes him tap out to the STF.
Later tonight on WWF Raw, Marc Mero competes in the Brawl For It All [sic].
Ken Shamrock, who won the King of the Ring tournament last night, comes to the ring with no crown, robe, or even a scepter. While speaking with Michael Cole, Ken Shamrock delivers an unusually halting promo, pausing every few words like he’s Lou Gehrig trying to contend with an echo. Shamrock gives opponent Rocky Maivia (whom the King insists he call The Rock) credit, even if he doesn’t agree with everything he’s done, like hitting him in the face with a chair.
Shamrock is interrupted by former King of the Ring Owen Hart, who challenges Ken to find out who the real king is. Shamrock accepts, but Triple H interrupts and challenges both men to a Triple Threat match; the winner will become the King of Kings. Will Triple H win? Obviously yes, otherwise it would be stupid to call himself the king of Kings anyway for the next few decades.
Backstage, Steve Blackman warms up for the Brawl For It All [sic]. The rules for the Brawl For All (as it’s actually called) involve rounds and points awarded for takedowns, knockdowns, and most punches landed. “The rules are very simple”, says Jim Ross. Tony Chimel begins the proceedings inauspiciously, announcing, “The following is a, uh, first round… Brawl For All contest.”
Both Marc Mero and Steve Blackman enter to one continuous entrance theme. At the bell, Blackman takes Mero down once, then again. Within seconds, the fans grow restless and boo the proceedings. Blackman takes Mero down again before the end of the first 60-second round. Unofficially, Blackman leads 25 to 0 at the end of round one.
As Blackman continues taking down Mero, Jim Ross explains that Marc Mero’s skill is in boxing, not amateur wrestling. Lawler says Mero will have to knock Blackman out, since he’s down so many points. “We want wrestling”, chant the fans, perhaps for the first time. There is no knockout punch coming, though. Blackman wins in a blowout, but perhaps to save Marc the embarrassment, the scores are not announced.
Outside Kane’s locker room, Kevin Kelly and his goatee await an interview.
The Skittles Slam of the Week is Chyna’s DDT to Owen Hart last night.
Back on WWF Raw, Kane tells Kevin Kelly that he accepted Austin’s challenge because he’s a greater champion than his brother.
Val Venis takes on Kaientai’s Togo, as announced by the Tony Chimel. I guess Val’s contract says he’s the only wrestler with penis references allowed in his matches. Cameras pick out Mr. Yamaguchi’s young wife, who sits at ringside. And I mean young; allegedly, she was 17 and still in high school (It is summer vacation, after all). Venis makes some baseball/sex references before the match.
Jim Ross announces “Footbrawl”, coming to the New England Patriots’ Foxboro Stadium in August. Meanwhile, Dustin Runnels talks to the announcers about spreading the word of God. He asks Jerry Lawler whether he’s a born-again Christian; Lawler replies that he’s as religious as the next guy, but it’s none of his business. I’m going out on a limb here and saying Jerry Lawler is not actually as religious as the next guy and never will be, barring some kind of Larry Flynt situation. Jim Ross tries to get Dustin to change topics, so Runnels closes with a Bible verse (from Pulp Fiction).
Anyway, Val Venis wins with the Money Shot while Jerry Lawler complains that he didn’t get to make any “Dick” jokes. Venis then gyrates in front of Yamaguchi’s wife (“Mrs. Yamaguchi-san, or Mrs. Mr./Mrs. Yamaguchi”), leading to a brief skirmish with Kaientai that ends with a steel chair and three concussions.
Edge is seen in the audience again. Backstage, Austin puts on his gear. Next on WWF Raw, says the graphic, it’s Stone Cold. Jim Ross says that Austin vs. Kane will be tonight. Together, this implies that the title match is next, which it isn’t.
Instead, WWF Raw (or WarZone) resumes with a Steve Austin interview.
The next match is actually the “King of Kings contest”. Hunter enters first, then Owen Hart, who gets jumped by Ken Shamrock during his entrance. All three men battle it out in the ring at the same time, which is how Triple Threat matches worked in the early days before they basically took turns. As WWF Raw goes to commercial, Owen covers Ken Shamrock with a bridging german suplex, but Hunter stomps him right in the junk.
During the break, Owen Hart used a jawbreaker to escape a triple-decker sleeper. With WWF Raw back on line, all three men are still in the ring, making submission holds like the Sharpshooter impractical. If WWF WarZone for PlayStation had Triple Threat matches, he’d have known better. Fans start making a commotion and shaking their (styrofoam) heads, then cheer as someone rings the bell prematurely. It must be a distraction so they don’t catch Triple H, lying on the mat, calling out “Sharpshooter” to Hart. Sure enough, Owen applies the Sharpshooter to Shamrock before Helmsley breaks it up again. Why is Owen taking pointers from his opponent, anyway?
Shamrock stumbles into a spinning back elbow on Owen, who twirls unconvincingly to the corner, where he lands on Triple H. Despite his “bad wheel”, Ken Shamrock shows know “surcease” as he gets into his zone. Hunter breaks up Shamrock’s ankle submission to Hart, then counters his huracanrana with a powerbomb. Chyna low-bridges Owen, who falls over the ropes to the outside. While Owen and Ken tangle on the outside, The Rock takes advantage of the distraction and hits Hunter in the face with the IC belt. Shamrock bumps Hart off the ring apron, then pins the prone Triple H. So not only did Triple H not win the King of Kings match, he was the one who took the fall.
The Rock, clad in shorts and loafers, celebrates his sneak attack until the rest of DX, who disagree with him hitting Triple H in the face with the belt, swarm him. This leads to a brawl on the stage between DX and the Nation. Back at ringside, Owen Hart puts the ring-post figure four (kinda) on the new King of Kings.
Jerry Lawler says that The Undertaker, seen earlier tonight in street clothes wheeling his suitcase into the arena, has a confession to make. Before WWF Raw goes to break, the Dead Man makes his entrance.
In the ring, Michael Cole questions Taker’s interference in last night’s match. Undertaker says he had to keep his brother from setting himself on fire, which “may have cost Stone Cold Steve Austin the WWF Championship”, in Cole’s words. “May?” notes an incredulous Lawler.
Vince McMahon interrupts the interview to accuse Taker of selfish motives. McMahon says Undertaker thinks he can beat Kane for the title, but not Stone Cold. He then warns the Dead Man not to interfere in tonight’s main event.
The JVC Kaboom! of the Week is Mankind’s fall from the cell roof to the announce table last night. If you’ve never seen that clip, you should seek it out!
We now see Bradshaw and the former Henry Godwinn warming up for another installment of the Brawl For All (whose name Jim Ross finally gets right). Ross speculates that this will be a slobberknocker. Instead, both men flail at each other like kids in a slap fight. Astonishingly, this action does not garner a better crowd reaction than the Mero-Blackman match. Bradshaw takes the first round almost by default, having apparently landed more punches amid all the flailing. Bradshaw gets some actual punches in during round two.
“The crowd chants “Boring!” while a slow-motion replay shows Mark Canterbury actually landing a punch. In round three, Canterbury makes one takedown and attempts another, which takes up most of the 60 seconds. Fans count down the final seconds and cheer that it’s over. Bradshaw wins.
It’s nine weeks till Summerslam, which uses “Highway to Hell” as its theme. It’s not the next pay-per-view, however; that’s Fully Loaded.
The LOD 2000 arrive without Sunny, whose absence Jim Ross attributes to her feeling “under the weather”. I didn’t know she still worked there. At least I didn’t think she was dead, which is what Jim Ross says about Paul Ellering, the Road Warriors former manager, whom they re-introduce to the crowd. Ellering brandishes a rolled-up copy of the Wall Street Journal on the way to the ring. Hawk calls former Cleveland Indians slugger Albert Bell a “stinkin’ loser” before handing the mic over to Ellering.
The Disciples of Apocalypse interrupt with their motorcycle engines. The two bald bikers step into the ring and stand in front of LOD and Ellering. Paul then introduces everyone to his new team: not the Legion of Doom, but 8-Ball and Skull. Less than two minutes after Paul Ellering returns completely out of the blue, he does a swerve, helping the DOA put the boots to the LOD. He even throws his Wall Street Journal at them!
Backstage, the Undertaker tells Kevin Kelly that no one tells him what to do. Does Vince think he can tell him what to do? Does he know who he’s talking to?
Steve Austin, as the challenger, enters for the title match first. Kane then makes his first of what will no doubt be many entrances holding the WWF title. Austin starts off with a flurry of punches against Kane, who for the second night in a row wears two long sleeves. Austin tries a stunner early on, whiffing on the kick to the gut, but Kane bails out. Stone Cold rams Kane into the ring steps on the outside of the ring, but Jim Ross warns that Austin can’t win the title on a countout.
Back in the ring, Kane chokes Austin in the corner, but Stone Cold fights back with a Lou Thesz press, then works over his legs (Kane’s, not Thesz’s). The action spills to the outside again, this time with Kane as the aggressor. Paul Bearer lands a cheap shot on the challenger before Kane puts Austin in a rare rear chinlock. During the rest hold, Undertaker begins sauntering to the ring.
Steve Austin kicks out of a flying clothesline but gets briefly stuck in another chinlock. He fights out but gets chokeslammed by Kane, who is obsessed with “topping his brother” (not like Lenny and Lodi, though). The only person getting topped tonight, however, is Kane, as Austin wriggles out of a tombstone attempt and stuns the champion to win the title back. It’s only the second time the WWF title has changed hands on WWF Raw.
Austin and Undertaker have a brief staredown, but when Bearer distracts Taker, Austin hits a stunner. The two brothers do matching sit-ups while Austin celebrates with middle fingers.
