WWF: Sunday Night Heat
August 2, 1998
Anaheim, CA
Arrowhead Pond

The current WWF champs are as follows:
WWF Champion: Steve Austin (6/29/1998)
Intercontinental Champion: The Rock (12/8/1997)
World Tag Team Champions: The Undertaker & Steve Austin (7/26/1998)
European Champion: D’Lo Brown (7/20/1998)
Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (12/7/1997)

IT’S GETTING HOT IN HERRE. Your hosts are Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, and SHANE MCMAHON. Vince introduces his very own son Shane McMahon to the audience as the host and STAR of the new show. This is our first real introduction to the Shane McMahon character as in the past, he’s only been on-screen in random cameo roles or refereeing duties. He’s loud and he’s trying way too hard, but he’s got two lingerie models with him and since it’s 1998, that’s all you need to make people love you.

• Jeff Jarrett (w/Tennessee Lee) vs. Edge

Jarrett attacks Edge with the man’s own jacket to gain an advantage to start. Edge comes back with a flapjack and a SPEAR. Tennessee Lee distracts Edge allowing Jarrett to knock him off the apron onto the guardrail for the Pillman bump. Jarrett wipes him out with a baseball slide. Back in, Jarrett hits the STROKE – a *new* move from Double J. Going up top, Jarrett delivers a flying body press, but Edge rolls through for a nearfall. Jarrett winds up Edge and lands a DDT. The makeup lady comes by and powders Shane’s face. Wow. He’s over here making plans with the girls after the show. Edge hits a series of suplexes leading into a sitout front suplex for two. He delivers an inverted atomic drop and clotheslines Jarrett to the floor. As Edge goes to suplex Jarrett back in the ring, the ref catches Tennessee Lee trying to grab Edge’s leg. Their plan has been THWARTED. Edge follows through with the vertical suplex, but then Jarrett goes to the eyes. He whips Edge off the ropes, but Edge reverses the whip. Not looking at what he’s doing, Tennessee Lee trips up Jarrett. Edge covers Jarrett and that’s enough for the three-count. (4:00) Needless to say, Jarrett lets Tennessee Lee know he screwed up after the bell. ¾*

Mario Lopez and Amy Hunter Cornelius from USA Network’s PACIFIC BLUE are in the crowd.

Elsewhere, Triple H is talking with X-Pac and Chyna backstage. JR wonders if the WWF European championship has put a wedge between Triple H and X-Pac. They are coming to the ring – NEXT.

When we return from break, Triple H, X-Pac, and Chyna head to the ring. For some reason, Jerry Lawler is there to ask the questions. LET’S GET READY TO SUCK IT. Lawler lets Triple H and X-Pac know Mr. McMahon has ordered a match between them for RAW and the winner gets an IC title shot at SummerSlam. X-Pac says Vince can suck it – because he and Triple H are PROS. Triple H says Vince has never liked D-Generation X since the beginning. In fact, DX has been the most “titillating” parts of the show. Now Triple H starts asking chicks in the audience to “show the goods”. When Triple H gets what he wants from a hot chick in a leather vest, HIT THE MUSIC.

Stone Cold is backstage drinking a beer.

DROZ’S WORLD. They are trying hard to look like an MTV doc. Droz talks about he can throw up when he wants to and people react saying how gross he is. I like his Ford Bronco.

• Kaientai (w/Yamaguchi-san) vs. The Headbangers & Droz

CHOPPY CHOPPY YOUR PEE-PEE is still fresh in everyone’s minds. Val Venis and Mrs. Yamaguchi watch the match from the tunnel. Mosh and Funaki start us off. Mosh levels Funaki with a big backdrop. Tag to Droz, they give Funaki a leapfrog stun gun for two. Meanwhile, Venis and Mrs. Yamaguchi are all over each other. He winds up getting double-teamed by Togo and Teioh with a double face slam. Commercials! When we come back, Thrasher is in trouble. JR says someone from HR has told Lawler to apparently take the rest of the night off. Funaki misses a flying elbow to set up a tag to Droz. Nobody seems to care. All six-men inside in the ring now. Kaientai are thrown into each other. Droz gives Teioh a Demon Bomb for the win. (3:52 shown) Val sends Mrs. Yamaguchi back to the locker room and heads down to ringside, but Yamaguchi-san and Kaientai decide to fight another day. Possibly tomorrow night on RAW! Val heads over to Mario Lopez and Amy Hunter. He wants to make a move on Amy, but AC Slater over here tries to defend her honor. He winds up jumping the rail and takes Venis to the floor like no problem. OH MAN. Hope Venis got an extra $100 for that one. Commissioner Slaughter and other security escort Lopez to the back. Amy Hunter can’t BELIEVE what just happened. *½

They take us back to In Your House: FULLY LOADED to show the highlights from the Sable and Jacqueline bikini contest. The handprints are CENSORED. They show the night on RAW when the decision was reversed awarding the giant trophy to Jacqueline and later Sable giving Vince the angry double bird behind his back before ripping off her shirt to show her not-so-conservative swimsuit.

• WWF European Championship: D’Lo Brown (c) (w/Mark Henry) vs. Ken Shamrock

D’Lo fails to bum rush the show on Shamrock. He throws and kicks D’Lo around, but then Brown backdrops Shamrock to the floor to run down by Henry. Back inside, D’Lo takes over on Shamrock while Dan Severn and Steve Blackman heads down to ringside. JR explains Blackman is friends with both guys, but Severn and Shamrock are mortal enemies. D’Lo hits the flying elbow off the second rope for two. Shamrock comes back with a Belly to Belly Suplex, but can’t capitalize. Nice hurracanrana from Shamrock. The momentum from the move sends D’Lo to the floor out in front of Severn. He then provokes Severn who attacks D’Lo and gets Shamrock DQ’ed. (2:53) Blackman does all he can to keep Shamrock from attacking Severn. Since he can’t touch Severn, all Shamrock can do is lose his freaking mind around ringside. ¾*

In the back, Paul Bearer is standing by with Kane and Mankind. He doesn’t care who the WWF tag team champions are, he just wants the tag belts back.

Elsewhere, Bart Gunn is seen hanging out with Shanna Moakler (from Pacific Blue!) and they are talking about the time he knocked out Dr. Death Steve Williams in their Brawl for All contest. She wants Bart to show her some of his “moves” before she tells us “Pacific Blue” is coming up next on the USA Network. Better watch out Bart, she’s dating Oscar De La Hoya!

• The Rock & Owen Hart vs. Kane & Mankind (w/Paul Bearer)

The winner meets Steve Austin and the Undertaker tomorrow night on RAW for the WWF tag belts. Owen and Mankind start us off. Mankind snaps Owen’s arm over his shoulder, but of course Owen flips and flops to escape. Mankind runs him down with a clothesline, but misses an elbow drop off the ropes. The Rock tags in and pounds away. Mankind goes to the eyes and runs Rock into Kane’s boot before a tag. Kane chokes Rock in the corner and clotheslines him down. Rock comes back with a Hurricane DDT for two. Crowd is chanting “nugget” at Owen. Kane takes a clothesline out to the floor, but lands on his feet and hops back up on the apron to snap Rocky’s neck on the top rope. Here comes Kane with the Flying Clothesline. Commercials! When we return, Mankind is in trouble. He avoids the Spinning Heel Kick from Owen and lands a Double-Arm DDT. Tag to Kane, he punches away on Owen and lifts him up for a choke. Big boot puts down Owen. He goes for a Chokeslam, but Owen kicks back at him and delivers an enziguri. Owen hits the Missile Dropkick for two. He charges Kane again and gets goozled for a CHOKESLAM. It’s time for the Tombstone, but Rock breaks it up. Mankind drags Owen out to the floor and Kane joins him for a beatdown. Rock joins the other three to fight, but Owen makes it back inside just at the last second to help his team win via countout. (6:44 shown) So it looks like we’ll see Owen Hart and the Rock against Steve Austin and the Undertaker – tomorrow night on RAW. *½

Backstage, Michael Cole talks to Steve Austin about a possible conspiracy – all because Austin threw the Undertaker a beer on RAW last week. Right after that happened, Kane and Mankind jumped Austin and Undertaker didn’t lift a finger to help him out, so basically we aren’t any closer to finding out what’s going on with these two guys than we were several weeks ago. When asked if the WWF tag titles are in jeopardy, Austin says somebody is getting their ass beat tomorrow night on RAW and he doesn’t care who it is. NOW LEAVE MICHAEL COLE BECAUSE AUSTIN IS GETTING PEEVED.

That does it for this first Sunday Night Heat. RAW IS NEXT. 1998 is BACK, BAYBEE.