WWF: Raw is War
September 21, 1998
Sacramento, CA
Arco Arena

The current WWF champs are as follows:
WWF Champion: Steve Austin (6/29/1998)
Intercontinental Champion: Triple H (8/30/1998)
World Tag Team Champions: The New Age Outlaws (8/30/1998)
European Champion: D’Lo Brown (7/20/1998)
Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (12/7/1997)

TIME TO GET RAW! Your hosts are Shane McMahon and Jim Cornette. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are away working on the film “Man on the Moon”.

The show starts with the Rock making his way to the ring. We see that Mr. McMahon, Mankind, and Ken Shamrock are already there. Vince lets Steve Austin know he better think twice if he plans on laying a hand on him tonight. That’s when the Undertaker and Kane appear at the entrance ramp as Vince’s “business partners”. He again reiterates Steve Austin will not be leaving Breakdown: In Your House as the WWF champion. Vince decides to give the fans of Sacramento a treat tonight by putting Austin in a tag match with the partner of his choosing against the Undertaker and Kane, but his partner cannot be Mankind, the Rock, or Ken Shamrock. Vince mentions that he would be proud that any of the three in the ring became the WWF champion. The camera looks over at the Undertaker as he doesn’t seem too pleased with that comment. He continues to pump up the three guys in the ring as they all draw close to him. Vince puts them in a triple-threat match to win a shot at the winner of the WWF title match for Breakdown next week on RAW. Vince will even be the guest ring announcer for that match. All McMahon can say is, whoever wins the triple-threat match tonight won’t be facing Stone Cold Steve Austin next week. McMahon then leaves the three guys behind and heads back to the dressing room as the Undertaker and Kane follow.

WWF REWIND: RAW, 9/14/98. Jeff Jarrett lowers the boom on Road Dogg’s throat with the guitar neck!

• Billy Gunn (w/Road Dogg & X-Pac) vs. Jeff Jarrett (w/Southern Justice)

Gunn reads off cue cards this week so he doesn’t forget anything. If you ain’t down with that, Billy’s got two words for ya. Instead of a bruise, Road Dogg’s throat looks like he got razor burn from shaving. Ref Tim White makes all the seconds leave. Lots of counters and whatnot to start. Gunn grabs an armbar, but Jarrett fires back with a couple dropkicks. Don’t piss him off, folks. Gunn press slams Jarrett and ten-count corner punches him. On commentary, you can hear Shane and Corny put over Gunn more than usual. Jarrett snaps Gunn’s neck on the top rope and hits a flying bodypress, but Gunn rolls through for a two-count. Jarrett comes right back with a DDT for two. Gunn whiffs on a crossbody block and falls out to the floor. Jarrett goes out after him for some ringside violence. Gunn eats the steps and does his face-first bump. Jarrett gets thrown into the ringpost as both guys head back in the ring. Jarrett isn’t selling any of his missteps here. Gunn hits the Rocker Dropper to mount a comeback. He misses a Stinger Splash though and the ref gets a thumb in the eye. Whoops. Here comes the guitar. Ref Tim White gets the guitar away. Jarrett gets pulled into a reverse neckbreaker for the three-count. (7:30) Not all that interesting. Gunn just isn’t ready for a singles run. *½

Backstage, Michael Cole meets with Vince McMahon who is talking with Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara. He asks who would possibly volunteer to be Steve Austin’s partner tonight against the Undertaker and Kane. Vince doesn’t care who the volunteer is, Austin will be in the ring tonight with the Undertaker and Kane.

*GLASS BREAKS* Here comes the WWF champion Steve Austin to the ring. He vents about all the odds Vince McMahon is stacking against him. He’s taking the Undertaker’s allegiance or “business deal” as it’s being called with McMahon personally because Taker is trying to take his WWF title from him. Even the match stipulations where Taker and Kane can’t pin one another to win the match at Breakdown: In Your House are BS. As for tonight though, Austin doesn’t really care if a “mystery partner” shows up in his corner or not because he’ll face them both by himself because there’s no way they will ever finish him off. He wraps up the promo telling us not to expect Austin 3:16 at Breakdown, expect Austin 6-6-6. WOW. Is that like SUPER Stone Cold Steve Austin?

Earlier today, we see the Undertaker and Kane showing up to the arena in street clothes, which is quite a strange sight to see.

• The Oddities (w/Luna) vs. The Headbangers

No match. Once the Oddities make it to the ring, silly string gets shot all over the place. It’s all fun and games until the Headbangers pull out some sort of AEROSOL SPRAY CAN and sprays the Oddities in the eyes. Golga’s Cartman doll gets ripped apart. It looks like George “The Animal” Steele has ripped up a turnbuckle pad. So yeah, the Headbangers have turned heel. The people of Sacramento don’t seem too interested. N/R

In the back, Michael Cole meets with the Undertaker and Kane for an interview. Taker warns Stone Cold Steve Austin he better watch himself. He guarantees one of them will take the WWF title from Austin this Sunday at Breakdown. Tonight, Taker thinks Austin needs to get his “final arrangements” in order because if he shows up in the ring by himself, there’s going to be a funeral.

WWF RAW is brought to you by WWF: The Music Volume 2.

• Vacant WWF Women’s Championship: Sable vs. Jacqueline (w/Marc Mero)

They show Tori in the front row here. Weird how there was VERY LITTLE build to the return of the championship especially since this was a taped show. It wasn’t even mentioned on last night’s HeAT. You also don’t see the championship belt shown at any time here. Jacqueline controls much of the match and hits a DDT for a nearfall. Mero gets involved and chokes Sable on the middle rope. The Bossman straddle from Jacqueline misses. HERE COMES SABLE. We get some cat fight stuff. She delivers a backdrop and a couple clotheslines. She really is the female Ultimate Warrior around here. Mero gets a forearm shot off the apron. They wind up doing the Bobby Heenan finish which I’m sure was stolen from some other heel manager. As Sable goes to suplex Jacqueline back inside the ring, Mero trips up Sable and holds her leg as Jacqueline is on top of Sable for the three-count and wins the WWF women’s title. (2:51) Michael Cole is there to talk to Mero and Jacqueline in the aisleway. To celebrate their huge victory and Sable’s first pinfall loss on TV, Mero says he and Jackie are going to Disneyworld! ½*

ENTER THE WARZONE! Your hosts are Shane McMahon and Jim Cornette.

• The Undertaker & Kane vs. Steve Austin & BILLY GUNN?!?!

Vince McMahon reacts backstage yelling at Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco for screwing up and allowing a member of DX to team up with Austin. Weird because even Stone Cold looks surprised to Gunn’s appearance. The match breaks down into pairs to start with Taker and Kane in total control. Corny can’t believe someone would dare to come out and fight both Taker and Kane. Taker connects with a jumping lariat while Gunn sends Kane into the steps. Austin comes back with the Thesz Press complete with punches and an elbow off the ropes. Tag to Gunn, Taker corners him for some blows. Gunn punches back and hits UT with the Rocker Dropper for two. Austin tags in and gets pulled into a clothesline. Kane tags in and unloads with uppercuts, but Austin will not quit. He catches Kane with a Bossman straddle for two. Gunn is back in and walks into a goozle, but Taker smacks him from the apron allowing Kane to knock him to the floor. Taker then drops down and bounces Gunn off the steps. Cornette makes sure to mention Gunn is fatigued since he’s already had one match tonight. Back in, Taker and Kane continue to get heat on Gunn. Kane drills Gunn with the Flying Lariat for two. Austin makes the save and gives Kane the double bird. Double-KO ensues. HOT TAG TO AUSTIN! He pounds Kane into a corner and then tries the Stone Cold Stunner to Taker, but gets shoved off into Kane who gets the STONE COLD STUNNER from Austin. Cover, 1-2-NO! Taker saves the day, but that brings Gunn in the ring. Austin and Kane head to brawl on the floor while Taker gives Gunn a Chokeslam for a three-count. (8:37) Corny calls out that neither Taker nor Gunn were the legal men in the ring. Afterwards, Austin blasts both Taker and Kane with chairshots to the cranium. NOW THE BROTHERS ARE PISSED. Good luck, Stone Cold. **½

• Southern Justice vs. Disciples of Apocalypse (w/Paul Ellering)

Talk about your channel changer match. Lots of back and forth clubbering between 8-Ball and Canterbury to start. Knight uses his head to deliver a jawbreaker to Skull and gets two. Skull runs down Knight with a clothesline and a side slam for two. Ellering trips up Knight as all four men are brawling. Out of revenge, Jeff Jarrett comes down and KABONGS Ellering. Hilarious. Looks like the match just ends. The DOA boys are checking on Ellering to end the segment at around 3:00. Not sure who this match was for, but whatever. ¼*

Michael Cole speaks with Vince McMahon if he’s surprised Billy Gunn showed up to be Stone Cold Steve Austin’s partner earlier in the show. Vince is never surprised, but he is disappointed in Billy Gunn. He makes sure to let everybody know that the Undertaker and Kane are PISSED and Vince feels he’s not responsible for what they do later tonight.

The Real Man’s Man Steven Regal shaves his face in the woods with a straight razor – because that’s what a real man would do.

• Boot Camp Match: Al Snow (w/Head) vs. Commissioner Slaughter

Slaughter lets Snow ask the crowd all his questions about Head before nailing him with his army helmet. He beats Snow into the ring, arms himself with his belt, rips off Snow’s shirt, and starts wailing on him. Snow kicks down Slaughter and catapults him in for the chin-first corner bump. CLASSIC SLAUGHTER. Now Snow gets his revenge with the belt and Slaughter retreats to the floor. Snow grabs a chair and swings, but misses and connects with the ringpost. Slaughter pounds Snow down and grabs the chair himself for a chairshot to the head. He covers Snow on the floor and gets a two-count. Sarge takes a whip into the barricade and takes a chair to the ribs. Snow then sets up the chair and hits Poetry in Motion before that was a thing. Awesome. To pick things up a bit, Snow even delivers a moonsault off the barricade for 1-2-NO! In the ring, now Snow wants to do the Moonsault with the chair, but Slaughter moves. That staggers Snow into the COBRA CLUTCH. Corny and Shane have given up on Snow, but that’s when Snow runs Slaughter off into the corner. Snow grabs Head and swings at Sarge, but Slaughter ducks and applies the COBRA CLUTCH again. Snow goes to his knees, but then stands up and whacks Sarge into the nuts with Head. Slaughter then takes off one of his boots to nail Snow, but Snow evades the shot and kicks Slaughter in the nuts again. Snow thinks of using the combat boot, but uses Head instead and gets the win. (6:21) Al Snow is here to stay! Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson jump Snow after the bell, but SCORPIO runs down for the save. Actually a fun little brawl. It doesn’t go too far and doesn’t expose Slaughter too badly here. **½

Michael Cole checks in with the Rock backstage. Nobody tells the Rock what to do – not even Mr. McMahon. He knows he will one day to be the Best Damn WWF Champion and lets Mankind and Ken Shamrock aren’t in his league. Rock plans on taking his big right hand, lifting the People’s Eyebrow, and laying the Smackdown on both of them if you smell what the Rock is cooking. Regardless, the Rock is and will forever be the People’s Champ. He’s just a string of catchphrases at this point.

• Val Venis vs. Owen Hart

Dustin Runnels joins us on commentary. He is certain Val Venis is going to burn in hell. He says it a lot. Val has Owen’s number to start while Corny and Shane try to dig into what Dustin is thinking right now. Owen turns the tide with a powerslam and whips Venis hard into a corner. WHO’S THE NUGGET NOW? Corny thinks Dustin needs to make some changes around here in a different way than what he’s doing. And with that, he gets in the ring and grabs Venis. (2:33) Owen just lets Runnels do what he’s going to do. Next thing we know, Venis reverses a whip and delivers a spinebuster. Val then ties up Dustin in the ropes and slaps him around. Venis tells Dustin he actually felt bad for him, but not anymore. Venis asks Dustin if he’s ever seen his wife have an orgasm? That’s the segue to Val’s next film: “Something About Terri”. Over on the TitanTron, Terri says she’s changed her mind about a reconciliation because Val is a much bigger man. Val pops up from under the covers saying he’s searching for a kitty and will keep looking. Still tied up in the ropes, Dustin is literally crying. Val finishes telling Dustin that Terri’s fiddles were soooooo tender. Ugh. ¾*

• WWF European Championship: D’Lo Brown (c) vs. X-Pac

Trash talking to start. D’Lo can’t handle the crotch chops though. They do the failed hiptoss spot, but Brown catches X-Pac with a powerslam. D’Lo punches X-Pac back into a corner and then slams him for the D’Lo Legdrop. Clothesline by Brown gets two. He misses a corner charge and eats a roundhouse kick. X-Pac charges the corner, but fails for the Bobby Eaton bump. D’Lo lands an elbow drop off the second rope for two. He tries a springboard moonsault, but X-Pac rolls out of the way. X-Pac wins a slugfest and delivers a spinning heel kick. The Bronco Buster connects, but then he runs into the Sky High. Slow cover gets two. It could be time for the Lo Down, but Brown flies down into the X-FACTOR for the win. (5:17) Ladies and gentlemen, we have a *new* WWF European champion. Good match, but the finish felt rushed. Hopefully their rematches will get more time. X-Pac gets up on the announce table and crotch chops in front of Shane, who also is doing the crotch chop, because it’s 1998 and everybody is doing the crotch chop. **¼

• The Rock vs. Mankind vs. Ken Shamrock

Winner gets a WWF title shot next week on RAW. During the break, Mankind talks with Michael Cole. It’s vintage Mankind stuff you wouldn’t want to miss. In the ring, Mankind sits in the corner while Shamrock and the Rock trade blows. Why not. Mankind winds up working with the Rock momentarily as they stomp Shamrock down. There’s a double-team clothesline on Shamrock, but then Mankind turns on the Rock. He catches Rock with the Cactus Clothesline out in front of Corny and Shane. Shamrock takes out Mankind with a baseball slide. Shamrock then starts controlling the violence at ringside. He takes Mankind back in the ring, but Mankind pounds Shamrock down into a corner for the running knee. Shamrock surprises Mankind with a back suplex while the Rock comes back in the ring to put the boots to them. He lays the Smackdown on Mankind, but here comes Shamrock to walk into the slam to set up the People’s Elbow. Crowd goes NUTS for it. Rock then heaves Shamrock to the floor and pounds on Mankind, but he misses a wild swing and takes a Double-Arm DDT. Rock avoids a corner charge though, but Shamrock trips him up and we’ve got a ringside battle over at the announce table. Shamrock whips Rock into the barricade and levels Rock with a clothesline. Back in, Shamrock goes after Mankind, but nearly gets the Mandible Claw applied on him. Shamrock gets away from Mankind for the ground and pound. Time for a sleeperhold. Mankind is bleeding at the bruised area he suffered at the hands of Kane back at SummerSlam. Rock gets in the ring and applies the sleeperhold on Shamrock for the TRIPLE SLEEPER JAWBREAKER SPOT. With everybody down, Undertaker and Kane head down followed by Vince McMahon. Mankind gets the MANDIBLE CLAW on Rock, but Shamrock breaks it up and gives Mankind the Belly to Belly Suplex. There’s the ANKLELOCK, but the Rock taps him on the shoulder and Shamrock lets go of the hold thinking he’s won only to turn around into a clothesline. ROCK BOTTOM to Shamrock! Cover, 1-2-NO! Mankind makes the save. Taker then pulls Mankind out to the floor as he and Kane attack him. Apparently, ref Earl Hebner didn’t see it. Hebner tries to send them out, but McMahon plays innocent. Meanwhile, Rock finds the Hurricane DDT and gets two. It seems Vince wants the Rock to win. Shamrock finds the Hurracanrana and follows up with a powerslam for two. Rock sends Shamrock to the floor for Taker and Kane to unload on him. Once Shamrock is incapacitated, Undertaker and Kane go after the Rock. He gets beaten down by both brothers leading to a DOUBLE CHOKESLAM. With all three contenders down and out, the match ends in a no-contest. There’s no winner. (12:30) Hey look, Stone Cold Steve Austin walks down and assaults Mr. McMahon before he’s run off by Taker and Kane. I mean, it didn’t really look like they were in a hurry to save Vince though. ***¼

This was a step back, but nothing beats the *live* RAWs.

Back to a *live* SuNDAY NiGHT HeAT next time as we head to Breakdown. Until then, so long for now.

The World Wrestling Federation and Stridex presents “Breakdown: In Your House”
LIVE on September 27 from the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
ONLY ON PAY-PER-VIEW

MAIN EVENT: Triple-Threat Match for the WWF Championship:
Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. The Undertaker vs. Kane
D-Generation X vs. Jeff Jarrett & Southern Justice
Val Venis vs. Dustin Runnels
Bradshaw vs. Vader