WWF: Breakdown – In Your House
September 27, 1998
Hamilton, ON, Canada
Copps Coliseum

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: X-Pac (9/21/1998)
Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (12/7/1997)
Women’s Champion: Jacqueline (9/21/1998)

Pretty epic video package to start the show. Lots of World War II imagery mixed in with Vince McMahon’s iron fist-type ruling of the WWF. His “master plan” will be complete tonight at BREAKDOWN – IN YOUR HOUSE.

Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

• Owen Hart vs. Edge

There’s some Canadian shenanigans going on to start, but I’m not going to pretend like I know what they are talking about. Owen is wearing a CFL jersey and gets called a “nugget” all the same. They play around with wristlocks and armbars to start. With how agile both guys are, you can imagine it’s good stuff. Edge picks up the pace with a headscissors takedown and clotheslines Owen to the floor. They do a fake dive, but then Edge makes him pay with a baseball slide. Edge comes off the apron, but Owen turns the tide with a powerslam on the floor. Back in, Owen tries to put Edge away with a missile dropkick and a gutwrench suplex. Owen gets distracted with more “nugget” chants. Edge starts running the ropes, but gets caught in a Belly-to-Belly Suplex for two. Owen grabs a chinlock. Edge gets cheered on and escapes, but runs into a boot in the corner for the victory roll finish from WrestleMania 10. Ross calls it out, too. Edge tries to mount a comeback, but Owen is a step ahead with the ENZIGURI OF CERTAIN DEATH. Owen heads up top, but Edge grabs him for the face-first electric chair drop. Edge hits a flapjack and follows up with a swinging neckbreaker for two. DDT by Edge scores another nearfall. Some suplex counters lead to a nearfall with a Northern Lights Suplex by Edge. Owen flips out of a vertical suplex and delivers a Bridging German Suplex for two. Edge avoids a corner charge and Owen does the Bobby Eaton bump. Owen fights off a superplex and when Edge tries to block a dive with both feet, Owen outsmarts him to go right into the SHARPSHOOTER. Edge kicks him off into the corner and grabs an inside cradle for 1-2-NO! A spinning heel kick takes down Owen. Hold up, a guy who looks similar to Edge has jumped the rail and catches Edge’s gaze. Of course, no security bother him, so obviously it’s just Christian making his WWF TV debut. With Edge distracted, Owen grabs him for a rolling clutch pin for the win. (9:18) Back-and-forth match with Owen carrying a still rather green Edge to a decent contest. ***

Elsewhere, Dok Hendrix and Sable tell us they will be talking to the winners of tonight’s matches on the WWF Hotline.

• Too Much vs. Scorpio & Al Snow (w/Head)

They remind us on RAW last week that Scorpio saved Al Snow from getting beaten up Vince’s stooges, so I guess Snow and Scorpio are being punished with Too Much. All the crowd can think about is Head. Scorpio starts off against Taylor. After Taylor elbows away a hammerlock, he runs into an atomic drop and a spin kick that takes Taylor’s head off. Taylor catches Scorpio in a pumphandle suplex and then moonwalks back to tag Christopher. Now we get Snow and Christopher. Head gets mocked, so Snow grabs him for a series of headbutts. Tag to Taylor, he runs into a BAAACK BODY DROP. Scorpio tags in and Snow tosses him a chair. While Scorpio baits the ref into a corner, Snow runs and jumps off the chair into Taylor in the corner. Sort of a one-man Poetry in Motion. Christopher nails Snow from behind and checks on Taylor. Scorpio tries to do the same move Snow tried, but the chair gives way. Whoops. They still commit to the spot as Taylor falls into Christopher’s manhood. Snow and Christopher are on the outside messing around with a chair. Christopher tries to leap off the chair into Snow, but Snow moves and Christopher eats the barricade. Meanwhile in the ring, Scorpio hits a flying splash on Taylor for two. On the floor, with Christopher down, Snow delivers a moonsault off the barricade. Back in, Taylor runs into a clothesline from Snow. Scorpio goes for one of his moves off the top, but Christopher crotches him and takes him to the floor for a suplex. Taylor delivers a springboard double sledge on Scorpio. Just not enough room between the ring and the announce tables to make that look good the way it was done. Back inside, Too Much gives Scorpio a double backdrop. Christopher follows up with a running bulldog. Tag to Taylor, Scorpio flips out of a second double backdrop and dropkicks Too Much down. Snow tags in and while the ref is with Scorpio, he takes out Too Much using Head. Oops, Scorpio gets whacked with Head as well. Nobody seems to care. Snow covers Taylor and Christopher is late saving the day with the TENNESSEE JAM. Now Scorpio is late with his dive to stop the pin. During all the confusion, Snow hits the SNOW PLOW on Taylor for the three-count. (8:05) A Memphis-y type match that was a lot of fun. Sue me, I enjoyed it. **½

In the back, Michael Cole is standing by with the Undertaker and Kane and wants to know who will win the WWF title tonight. Taker doesn’t feel it’s none of his business, but does tell him that they have come to an understanding. Tonight, we will see the total annihilation of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Ross of course is still convinced Austin can come through this.

• Marc Mero (w/Jackie) vs. Darren Drozdov

Jacqueline is announced as the WWF women’s champion, but still no belt. Mero jumps Droz to start, but Drozdov’s power shines through. Mero and Jackie decide to take a walk, but Droz brings him back to ringside and throws Mero into the steps. Back in, Mero hits the Mr. Wrestling II knee lift. Droz comes back with a jumping shoulderblock and a weak clothesline. Mero backdrops him to the floor though and hits a somersault dive. HE’S A BADD MAN! He shoots back inside the ring with a slingshot splash, but Droz brings up the knees. He hits a jumping back elbow and an atomic drop. There’s a powerslam for two. Jackie puts Mero’s foot on the bottom rope. With Droz distracted, Mero catches him from behind. He chokes Droz with some wrist tape. While the ref yells at Mero, Jackie comes off the top with her high heel shoe and whacks Droz. That’s enough to KO him for MARVELOCITY for the win. (5:12) Mero is certainly not the guy to carry anybody to a good match as we saw here with Drozdov. ½*

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• Falls Count Anywhere: Vader vs. Bradshaw

Cole talks with Bradshaw backstage before the match. Bradshaw is clean shaved with a comb-over style haircut. That look will never get over! Bradshaw says wrestling is survival of the fittest, not the FATTEST. What a bully! You would think this would start off violent, but it’s just your standard wrestling match. Bradshaw gives Vader a slam and an elbow drop for two. Vader delivers a body attack and elbow drops the thigh muscle. Here comes a splash off the ropes for two. Bradshaw comes back with a big boot and clotheslines Vader to the floor. He continues to club Vader on the floor. Bradshaw nails him with the ring bell. He hits another CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL on the floor, but only gets two. Vader ducks a few punches up against the ringpost. Vader connects with a short-arm clothesline and throws Bradshaw into the steps. With the steps apart, Vader drops the top half on Bradshaw. There is virtually no heat for this match. The crowd gets bored and starts playing with air horns. Back inside the ring, Bradshaw misses a Clothesline from Hell and goes flying out to the floor for some brawling up the aisle way. After a stiff lariat from Vader, they go back in the ring. Here comes the VADER BOMB, but Bradshaw kicks out. Bradshaw catches Vader with a nasty CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL. Vader kicks out. Bradshaw starts cursing at him and lands another one. Bradshaw then hits a Reverse Neckbreaker to finally get the win. (7:55) Crazy stiff contest, but nobody cared. Ultimately, this match did nothing for either guy. Bradshaw will continue to not get over until the Acolytes tag team starts up. As for Vader, this was his swan song at least on TV. He would continue to work house shows through October, but we won’t see him wrestling on TV anymore. Of course, Vader’s career is far from over. He returns to Japan, became the most improved wrestler in the world in 1999, became a two-time Triple Crown champion defeating both Taue and Misawa, won the All Japan world tag titles with Dr. Death, and won the GHC tag titles with Scorpio all over the next three years. So yeah, I guess leaving the WWF worked out for Vader in the end. *½

Over at the WWF.com table, Kevin Kelly and Tom Prichard set up Jason Sensation to do some impressions from everybody on the card tonight. Cute!

• D’Lo Brown vs. Gangrel

Brown takes it out on Finkel that he’s no longer the WWF European champion after last Monday night losing to X-Pac. D’Lo jumps Gangrel at the bell, but Gangrel comes back with a reverse back elbow. D’Lo slugs his way back only to take a double-arm suplex followed by a pair of corkscrew elbow drops. Never noticed before that D’Lo has “European Champion” written on his tights. D’Lo misses a flying elbow drop, but comes back with the Running Ligerbomb. YOU BETTA RECOGNIZE. Gangrel goes after D’Lo’s “injured ribs”, but that’s short lived as Brown hits a vertical suplex for two. Pretty nothing burger match. Lawler jokes about Canada being out of touch because somebody in the crowd has a “Hulkamania” sign. Mark Henry comes out and drives Gangrel into the ringpost. Back inside, D’Lo lands the SKY HIGH to finish off Gangrel. (7:50) Afterwards, Gangrel spits blood in Henry’s face and gives Brown the IMPALER to try and get his heat back. This was Gangrel’s first TV loss if anybody’s not paying attention. ½*

We get highlights from the end of RAW last week when the Undertaker and Kane beat up the Rock, Ken Shamrock, and Mankind one-by-one.

While the ring crew gets the cage settled, Michael Cole asks Ken Shamrock how far he’ll go to be the number one contender to the WWF title. Shamrock came to the WWF to become the WWF champion and nothing else matters. Get ready to knuckle up.

Dok Hendrix is elsewhere talking with the Rock. Tonight is the Rock’s night and he’ll be laying the Smackdown on those two monkey asses. Rock mentions something about “sugar coated testes” and everybody laughs. He’ll raise the People’s Eyebrow and then drop the People’s Elbow before one of them takes the Rock Bottom. When it’s all said and done, he’ll remain the People’s Champ.

Kevin Kelly is in the bowels of Copps Coliseum talking to Mankind. He asks Mankind a stupid question. As far as stupid things go, Mankind lists a few other things he finds stupid. The tops being Bill Clinton having sexual relations with a woman even Foley would have turned down in high school. Nothing rivals the People’s Elbow as the stupidest thing he’s ever seen though. He won’t lay down and sell that abortion. Oh, no. NEVER. As for Shamrock, he’s ready for him. Mankind wonders if “sugar coated testes” is a new breakfast cereal.

• Cage Match: The Rock vs. Mankind vs. Ken Shamrock

Winner of this one gets a WWF title shot presumably tomorrow night on RAW. Mankind tries to sneak out the door right from off the bat while Rock and Shamrock are beating each other senseless. Rock sees what’s happening there and puts a stop to it. Very different crowd than at SummerSlam as the “Rocky” chants begin. Mankind knees Shamrock in the corner, but turns around into a clothesline. Rock tries to leave through the door, but Shamrock stops that and catches Rock with a roundhouse kick of sorts. Shamrock continues to rule the ring for a while. He grabs an ab stretch on Mankind, so Rock walks over and applies an ab stretch on Shamrock for the DOUBLE ABDOMINAL STRETCH spot. Once that’s over, Rock tricks Mankind into teaming with him and then almost immediately turns on him. Shamrock tries to make a quick escape through the door and gets pulled back in by Rock and Mankind as they put the boots to him. A year before it’s a thing, the Rock N Sock Connection actually continue to double-team Shamrock. They even throw him into the cage together. How cute. Every combination conceivable takes turns double-teaming the one that’s singled out. The only combination the crowd turns on is Shamrock and Mankind. No doubt, this crowd is PRO-Rock. He comes back with a Hurricane DDT on Shamrock and sets both guys for a DOUBLE PEOPLE’S ELBOW! The crowd eats it up like CANDY! He climbs up the wall, but he’s pulled back down onto the top rope. Rock low blows Shamrock and catches Mankind charging for a ROCK BOTTOM! Cover, 1-2-NO! Shamrock makes the save. Big “Shamrock sucks” chants. Shamrock stops the Rock with a Belly to Belly Suplex and applies the ANKLELOCK! Just before Rock taps, Mankind kicks Shamrock in the face. Mankind begins to leave over the cage wall. Rock meets up at the rim and pulls him back inside by his hair. Shamrock tries to stop them both, but Rock kicks him away. Now Mankind kicks Rock down and can’t resist doing his Jimmy Snuka impression. He misses the Cactus elbow on Rock and takes yet another crazy bump in 1998. Shamrock goes for the door, but Mankind of all people prevents him from leaving. With Shamrock comes a chair into the ring. That’s bad news. Mankind ducks a swing and DOUBLE ARM DDT’s Shamrock. That allows him to bash Shamrock square in the face with the chair. Mankind goes for the victory climb over the cage wall. Like a smart person, Rock just lays on top of a KO’d Shamrock for the 1-2-3. (18:49) Entertaining as can be with some more crazy life-shortening risks taken from everybody here. ****

• Val Venis (w/Terri) vs. Dustin Runnels

Aside from “The Preacher’s Wife” video, this is the first we’ve seen of Terri inside the arena in nearly a year. She and Val make out and grope each other in the aisle right in front of Dustin. Terri also is wearing a purple nightie to match Val’s tights. Val has clearly opened a door in this woman that should not have been opened. After Runnels says his prayer, the match starts and he runs into a spinebuster. Runnels comes back with a random powerbomb. They go to the floor where Runnels does his inside-out clothesline sell. Back inside, Runnels takes back control but he’s lost his mojo. Venis comes back with a Russian legsweep and stands over Runnels doing his best Rick Rude impression. Val applies a camel clutch. Back to the floor, Venis drops him on the announce table. In the ring, Runnels counters a suplex, but misses an elbow. Val works a chinlock, but Runnels fights up and hits a DDT. They get into a superplex position as Venis drops Runnels onto the ring apron. Back inside, Runnels sidesteps a charge and dumps out Venis. Terri revives Val by using her womanly wiles. Back in, Runnels hits the RUNNING BULLDOG for two. Val never kicked out though. Whoops. Venis comes back with a powerslam and delivers the MONEY SHOT for the three-count. (9:08) Val and Terri make out in the middle of the ring while Dustin walks out totally defeated. *

• The New Age Outlaws & X-Pac vs. Jeff Jarrett & Southern Justice

The Outlaws jump Southern Justice and Jarrett from behind during their entrance. Gunn makes sure to still tell everybody to suck it if we’re not down with them. Once the match gets going, Jarrett gets stuck on the wrong side of town. The Shaky Knee Drop gets two. Road Dogg gets taken down by Canterbury from the apron. Tag to Knight, Road Dogg gets double-teamed. Canterbury lands a jumping elbow drop for two. He shuts down the Shake Rattle and Roll with a clothesline and tags Jarrett. He hits Road Dogg with a DDT for two. Double-KO spot ensues. Tag to X-Pac, he wipes out Jarrett with a spinning heel kick. He tries one on Canterbury and gets slam dunked. Stalling suplex by Knight on X-Pac. More heat on X-Pac. Jarrett puts X-Pac in a sleeperhold. The arm drops once, twice, BUT NOT THREE TIMES. X-Pac comes back with a back suplex. Both men are down! HOT TAG TO GUNN! Press Slam to Jarrett. Once Gunn gets thrown out, X-Pac comes in and gives Jarrett the Bronco Buster. Canterbury blocks the X-Factor and blasts X-Pac. Jarrett grabs the guitar, but Gunn gets it away from him. Gunn tries to *kabong* Canterbury, but ref Tim White stops him. Southern Justice double-team Gunn while Jarrett KABONGS X-Pac. Where is Road Dogg? Meanwhile, Gunn lands the ROCKER DROPPER on Knight for the win. (11:15) X-Pac is selling the guitar like he’s got a splinter in his right eye. Pretty by-the-numbers six-man tag. **

• WWF Championship: Steve Austin (c) vs. The Undertaker vs. Kane

Kane and Undertaker have separate entrances, but Austin jumps Taker during his entrance and whacks him with a steel chair. Kane tries to join and gets whacked as well. Austin and Kane brawl around ringside. They head into the ring as the bell sounds (without all three men in the ring?). Austin sidesteps a Flying Clothesline and hits the Bossman straddle. Kane dumps out Austin in front of Taker. Austin whips Taker into the steps knees-first and posts Kane’s nuts a few times. He hits Kane with a STONE COLD STUNNER, but Taker breaks up the pin. Kane lies there and sells the move for a bit. Taker beats Austin all over the ring. Austin comes back on Taker with the Lou Thesz Press and an elbow drop connects. He now has to keep Kane on the outside, but ultimately Austin gets pulled out. Taker hits Kane by mistake. They go nose-to-nose. Austin then shoves the brothers together. TV cables are used. Austin eats the Spanish Announce Table. Back in, Austin continues to get his ass stomped by Taker and Kane. Hey look, Commissioner Slaughter, Pat Patterson, and Gerald Brisco walk out the tunnel. Taker and Kane brawl with Austin up the aisle. Naturally, Austin tries to fight back as he starts teeing off on Kane and Taker, but Taker backdrops a piledriver. Austin winds up leaving the fight and goes to beat up Gerald Brisco. Commissioner Slaughter stomps Austin in the back of the head to stop him until Taker and Kane can grab him. They take Austin back to the ring. Taker applies a kneebar while Kane chokes Austin. That continues for a while to set up another Austin comeback which gets shut down. Austin rolls out and grabs a chair. He whacks Kane, but Taker whacks Austin with the same chair and covers him. Kane breaks up the pin and once again they go nose-to-nose. Oh boy.

While Taker pulls Austin up over the ropes, Kane comes off the top and lowers the boom on the whole situation. With Taker backed up, Kane covers Austin only for Taker to break up the pin. Taker turns on Kane and together, Kane and Austin send Taker out to the floor. Austin jumps Kane though and delivers a Russian legsweep for two. Taker is back inside and stomps Austin to the floor. Kane and Taker then discuss what to do next. Kane goes out and beats up Austin some more around ringside. Back inside, Taker and Kane both take turns getting nearfalls on Austin breaking up each others pinfalls. Taker and Kane go back to slugging it out. Double-KO ensues. Now Austin sees an opportunity and knocks Taker to the floor using Kane, but then Kane shuts him down with a slam. Austin avoids an elbow drop. Just as it looked like they were going for the Tombstone Spike spot, Austin shoves Kane off into Taker to crotch him up top. Austin tries the Stone Cold Stunner on Kane, but Kane shoves him off into a boot from Taker. There’s a DOUBLE CHOKESLAM to Austin. Both guys cover Austin and score the pinfall. BUT WHO IS THE CHAMPION? (22:03) With no announcement of who the new WWF champion is, Vince McMahon comes down, takes the WWF title belt, and returns to the locker room. Slaughter, Patterson, and Brisco stop Austin long enough for Vince to get into a limousine and ride off with the WWF title belt. Austin finally gets backstage and sees Vince and his limo. As long as Vince is far enough away, he flips off Austin and taunts him before leaving the building with the WWF title belt. This match is a better idea in theory than in practice. You’re stacking the odds against Austin which is what Vince would do. However, you can’t exactly have Taker and Kane beat Austin in five minutes which is more realistic, but a 22 minute handicap match isn’t acceptable to watch either. There wasn’t enough heat like you might expect for the Taker versus Kane stuff, which was a buzzkill. This was clearly just a finish to get people to see what would happen tomorrow night on RAW, which all the PPV buyers would have done anyways. *½

Final Thoughts: This was a WEIRD crowd. Not that there was a lot on this show to make them go crazy, but they were mostly quiet and only popped for the biggest of moments. I don’t know if *this* show was the reason, but they never did a PPV in this arena again. With Toronto right down the road, why bother? As for the show itself, this is a must-see if you’re a fan of the Rock. If the SummerSlam match didn’t do it, he’s certainly viewed as a made man after this show. Other than that, there’s not a ton to go out of your way to watch. The wrestling for the most part leaves a lot to be desired. Heavy “thumbs in the middle” show for the one and only Breakdown PPV.