WWF: Raw is War
November 2, 1998
Houston, TX
Compaq Center

The current WWF champs are as follows:
WWF Champion: Vacant (9/28/1998)
Intercontinental Champion: Ken Shamrock (10/12/1998)
World Tag Team Champions: The New Age Outlaws (8/30/1998)
European Champion: X-Pac (10/18/1998)
Light Heavyweight Champion: Christian (10/18/1998)
Women’s Champion: Jacqueline (9/21/1998)

Will the McMahon family CRUMBLE? Find out tonight on RAW.

TIME TO GET RAW! Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

SHANE MCMAHON comes out to the ring to start tonight’s show and looks pretty happy to be here. Ross and Lawler discuss that Vince McMahon is not here tonight. Shane gets on the mic and refers to himself as the acting Chairman of the WWF in his father’s absence. He announces that Stone Cold Steve Austin will get his WWF title match the night after Survivor Series on November 16. Without further ado, Shane brings STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN to the ring. While Austin hits the four corners, we cut to the backstage area to see a limo appearing to the building. GERALD BRISCO, PAT PATTERSON, and COMMISSIONER SLAUGHTER are joined by the BIG BOSS MAN who gets out of the limo. They cut away and “help” Vince get into his wheelchair that was brought for him. We now see Vince and Austin on a split-screen. Next thing we know, we hear Vince’s voice as he, his stooges, and the Big Boss Man appear on the ramp. Vince looks and sounds pretty confident – unlike what we saw last week blubbering over his son. Any decision for Vince to retire is just “wishful thinking” on that person’s part. Vince quiets down for the crowd to chant “asshole”. While everybody it would seem would be happy for Vince to retire – and maybe even DIE, dying is the only way he would ever step down as chairman of the WWF. So much for “passing the torch”, it would appear. No family, no friends, and no WWF superstars should come to his funeral. When he dies, Vince says he wants to go STRAIGHT TO HELL, which is exactly where he’s been lately thanks to his son Shane and of course Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince points at the ring and says something away from the mic to Gerald Brisco. He then relieves Shane of his corporate responsibilities and considers him no longer an officer of the WWF. If Shane wants to remain employed, the only job available to him will be as a “lowly referee”. Shane does a “ahh c’mon” face. Vince then mentions if Shane sucks at being a ref, he’ll be demoted to being a member of the ring crew. Vince claims he’s scarred by Shane when Shane told him that they were a lot alike after all. Vince denies the claim, but does think Shane just like his MOTHER. As for Austin, Vince wishes there was something he could about his contract, but he can’t. He changes Austin’s plans saying Austin’s shot at the WWF title won’t come the night after Survivor Series. Instead, he’ll get his WWF title shot *at* the Survivor Series, because now Austin will be part of the WWF title tournament. In his first round match, Austin will be facing the Big Boss Man. GOOD LUCK. Boss Man rips off his shades and reacts accordingly. Vince has one thing left to say about the audience – for the record, he’s not the one who is the asshole. In fact, it’s the audience. Vince then thanks the audience (I guess) and makes his exit with his stooges and the Big Boss Man.

WWW.STONECOLD.COM. LOG ON!

They show us what happened during the break. Vince McMahon was wheeled down to the announce table to tell Ross and Lawler they better get their *youknowwhat* straight because they need to remember who signs their checks. He then points up to the blue steel cage hanging from the ceiling and says somebody tonight is going to serve hard time. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

• The New Age Outlaws & X-Pac vs. Gangrel, Edge & Christian

Looks like the DX boys are getting along real well, which is still confusing to me since they have had “break-up” vibes for months now. This is the RAW debut of the Brood as a crew. They appeared yesterday on HeAT as a team, but this is the first time on RAW. X-Pac and Edge start us off. This makes you wonder what these two could have done with twenty minutes. X-Pac catches Edge with a spinning heel kick, but gets caught coming off the ropes with a spinebuster. Tag to Christian, they deliver a double slam followed by a double-team wheelbarrow splash. Whoa! Christian lands a gutbuster off the shoulders for two. He eats a roundhouse kick allowing X-Pac to tag in Road Dogg. Ross says Chyna is “conspicuous by her absence” as she’s handling her legal issues with Mark Henry /// recovering from reconstructive surgery. Road Dogg hits the Shake Rattle and Roll for two. Christian turns things around with a jumping dropkick. Edge tags in for a side slam / reverse DDT to Road Dogg. Gunn and X-Pac EXPLODE on the Brood as we’ve got a pier-six brawl on our hands. The arena goes DARK and Kane’s music hits. (4:30) Here comes KANE to the ring. Nobody in the ring seems very concerned except for Billy Gunn. He runs after Kane, but gets clobbered. Gangrel takes Gunn with him with a clothesline over the barricade. X-Pac gives Christian the Bronco Buster while Kane walks in and CHOKESLAMS Edge. Why? X-Pac turns around into a CHOKESLAM as well. As Christian staggers up, he walks into a CHOKESLAM to make it three. WHAT’S HAPPENING? Kane sets the corners on fire, the arena goes red, and Kane heads back to the locker room. WHAT A DEADLY GAME. *½

During the break, Michael Cole tried to catch with Vince McMahon to see how he was doing with the Big Boss Man leering over him. In a hilarious moment, Boss Man goozles Cole while Vince asks him how he’s doing. Ross and Lawler don’t really like what they are seeing here.

They take us back to last night on HeAT when the Hardy Boyz DEFEATED LOD 2000.

• Droz vs. Road Warrior Hawk

They will finally get this score settled. Oh wait, nevermind. Hawk is walking drunk to the ring. Droz decides to beat the crap out of Hawk for coming to the ring in this condition. Animal walks out to hopefully be the voice of reason, but the Legion of Doom don’t break up other people’s fights. The match never starts. Animal ends up getting Droz off Hawk. Animal then yells at Hawk for being messed up and leaves with Droz.

Moments ago as Vince was wheeling down a hallway and ready to go out a door, Jim Cornette tries to come through the door at the same time. The Big Boss Man is right there to choke Cornette up against a wall. Vince yells at Corny to quit wearing his outlandish jackets and get with the program on commentary. Apparently they were looking for him. Vince says if he can’t stop with the 1980s rasslin’ crap, he can get the hell out of the WWF. Wow, there’s some life imitating art for ya.

Elsewhere, Michael Cole who has recovered from the assault he suffered at the hands of the Big Boss Man is ready to interview Mankind and Al Snow (with HeAD). Cole points out they teamed up last week against the New Age Outlaws and didn’t get along. He wants to know how this week will be different. Snow and Mankind pretty much argue over who is crazier.

ZZ Top is in the building tonight.

• Mankind & Al Snow vs. Golga & Kurrgan (w/Giant Silva & Luna Vachon)

This seems like a very early (if not the first time) we’ve seen Mankind wear a happy face tie. Mankind and Al Snow look to break down Kurrgan to start. Kurrgan eventually boots down Mankind and tags in Golga. He hits an avalanche and an elbow drop gets two. Ross explains that Vince McMahon just had an altercation with Howard Finkel backstage. Back in the ring, Mankind finds the Double-Arm DDT on Kurrgan. While Golga and Snow are brawling, Mankind looks for Mr. Socko and can’t find him. Snow is up on the apron and cracks HeAD over Kurrgan’s cranium. Since Mankind can’t find Mr. Socko, he pulls off his shoe and uses a sock he was wearing. Oh boy. Snow doesn’t understand what’s happening. Mankind LEAVES to go find his friend Mr. Socko. That leaves Snow to take a Side Walk Slam from Kurrgan. Golga misses a running legdrop. Snow starts to fight off both guys. It works for a little while, but Kurrgan grabs him for a CHOKESLAM leaving Snow down for a GOLGA SPLASH for the win. (4:36) Wow. That was nuts. Entertaining though! ¾*

Moments ago backstage, we see Mr. McMahon and the Big Boss Man wheel up to a group of people watching the monitor. One of the guys sitting around is SHAQ~! That man just can’t stay away from a camera. The NBA was going through a lockout period meaning the players were on strike and there were no games. So hey, what else is Shaq going to do? Vince confronts him about whether or not he’s got a backstage pass. Shaq stands up wearing a WWF t-shirt and tells Vince he doesn’t need a backstage pass. Vince tells Shaq if he doesn’t have a backstage pass, he needs to get out. Well, Shaq sits back down and mouths “asshole” to the camera. I guess he’s not leaving. He’d rather hang out with Scott Taylor and Bob Holly of all people.

• Goldust vs. Steven Regal

Oof, Regal sounds pretty messed up here. I don’t like it. He sends out an open challenge to see if there’s any real men in the WWF – and he gets Goldust. As talented as Regal is, he was just in no condition to be in the ring on this night. As Regal throws Goldust to the floor, out comes MARLENA out to ringside – wearing a golden dress and holding a cigar just like the old days. If you’ll recall, she and Val Venis are pregnant. She tries to get Goldust’s attention. Regal pounds Goldust in the corner with some forearm shots. Goldust finds a running bulldog for two. As Goldust sets up Regal for Shattered Dreams, the lights go out and Kane’s music hits. Oh boy. Kane heads to the ring and delivers CHOKESLAMS to Regal and Goldust. (5:00) In comes Marlena, she goes to check on Goldust. Kane eyes Marlena and GOOZLES her! Oh my. A bunch of WWF officials head down to try and stop the big man. Kane decides to let her go. Since somebody has to go down, TONY GAREA takes a CHOKESLAM instead. He does the awesome 1970s shaky sell job. Now set those corners on fire, Kane! ¼*

They show us for the first time the WWF title tournament brackets for the DEADLY GAME at Survivor Series LIVE on PPV on November 15.

Backstage, we catch Vince McMahon talking to Mankind. McMahon says that if Mankind will not interfere in the IC title match coming up next, he’ll give Mankind a gift. Mankind accepts, and Vince hands him an old, literally broken in half, WWF championship belt that’s held together with duct tape – and refers to it as the WWF Hardcore championship belt. I mean, the word “HARDCORE” is written on the duct tape with a sharpie. Mankind loves it. Vince says he may have lost a son tonight, but thinks maybe he’s gained another one. Mankind goes all Leave it to Beaver on him and gives Vince a “Gee, thanks, Dad.” Vince stops on his way out, but doesn’t say anything and wheels out. LOVE IT. Humble beginnings for the WWF Hardcore title that would stick around until the end of the Attitude Era.

SLAM OF THE WEEK (brought to you by 989 Studios “Cool Boarders 3: RAW, 10/26/98: The Rock gives Droz a Rock Bottom and the People’s Elbow.

ENTER THE WAR ZONE! Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

• WWF Intercontinental Championship: Ken Shamrock (c) vs. The Rock

We catch Shamrock heeling it up on the way to the ring jawing with some ringside fans. During the break, a camera caught Vince McMahon backstage going over something with Shamrock. ARE THEY IN CAHOOTS? After Rock’s entrance, Vince gets wheeled out by his stooges. Since he has a problem with the people, Vince has a problem with the People’s Champion. If Rock doesn’t WIN the IC title tonight, Rock doesn’t go to the Survivor Series. The crowd sounds really disappointed. He also won’t be the #1 contender to the WWF title anymore, so this is a MUST-WIN for Rock. Rock unloads on Shamrock to start. Funny how the roles have changed for these two in a short amount of time. Shamrock catches Rock with a back elbow and buries some knees into him. SHAMROCK SUCKS. He hangs Rock out to dry and soaks up the boos. To the floor we go, we get some ringside violence with the Rock in control. Shamrock cuts him off with a clothesline and runs Rock into the steps. They fight over to the announce table where Shamrock gives Rock a slam. Back inside, Shamrock eggs on the crowd to boo him until Rock explodes on him with a clothesline. Shamrock comes out of nowhere with a hurracanrana and a Belly to Belly Suplex sets up the ANKLELOCK. Can Rock make the ropes? Vince and the stooges are watching on from the ramp by the way. Rock reaches the bottom rope, but runs into a double-KO. Rock turns over onto Shamrock for a count of 1-2-NO! Rock punches back and finds a swinging neckbreaker for another nearfall. Shamrock catches Rock for a powerslam for two. He stays on top of Rock, but Rock manages the Hurricane DDT for 1-2-NO! This crowd really wants Rock to win. Ref Tim White gets wiped out by the Rock by mistake. Shamrock grabs a chair and that brings a smile to Vince’s face. He goes to whack Rock, but Rock moves and the chair bounces off the top rope back into his own head. As Shamrock staggers up, he turns around into a slam to set up the PEOPLE’S ELBOW. YES! Rock covers, but there’s no ref. Shamrock grabs the chair again while Rock wakes up the ref and whacks Rock in the back. Well, the ref sees the chairshot and DQ’s Shamrock to end the match. (8:00) Looks like Rock will now be free the night of Survivor Series since he didn’t win the IC title. Vince calls Rock the “People’s Chump” and gets wheeled back to the locker room. Good match with a lot of heat. ***

Survivor Series: Deadly Game ad airs.

When we return, they take us back to Moments Ago when Vince screwed the Rock out of going to Survivor Series and a shot at the WWF title.

We go back to the locker room to see the Rock pissed off kicking chairs and flipping furniture. He’s looking for that piece of trash Vince McMahon.

• Jeff Jarrett (w/Debra) vs. Val Venis

So after Terri Runnels announces she’s pregnant with Val’s baby, Val doesn’t want to take responsibility for getting Terri Runnels pregnant, and he’s still the babyface here. If only the fans would actually turn on him, but he kept doing this same shtick not realizing he did anything wrong because he’s a porn star who wags his dick at everything and doesn’t see sex the same way as most humans especially in 1998, until he eventually couldn’t ignore the boos any longer and actually turned on the fans. He becomes angry at their reaction to how he’s handled the Terri Runnels situation, not because he feels guilty for what he’s done. That would have been an interesting avenue to explore. Oh, but the girls can’t help but laugh at his double entendres and HILARIOUS dick jokes, so his female fans forgive him and just want to sex him up. Ross and Lawler are still wondering about Jarrett and Debra’s relationship. JR tells us this is a rematch from last night’s episode of HeAT, which I had COMPLETELY forgotten about. Onto the match, there’s a quick and sudden abdominal stretch applied by Venis. Jarrett hits a DDT, but it doesn’t seem to do much. He runs into a Spinebuster from Val. Venis buries the knees into Jarrett and hits a Russian legsweep. Val stands over Jarrett for the Rick Rude pose. As Venis goes up top, the BLUE BLAZER appears and shoves Val to the mat for the DQ. (2:30) OF COURSE THAT’S OWEN HART. Jarrett gives Val the STROKE and leaves with his gal pal Debra. ½*

A pair of Houston’s Finest have shown up to the building. Commercials!

When we come back, Vince McMahon and his stooges are speaking with some cops. He tells them that the Rock has threatened his life and destroying property, so Vince would like to have the Rock arrested.

• The Headbangers vs. D’Lo Brown & Mark Henry

The winners face the New Age Outlaws for the WWF tag titles at Survivor Series. The Headbangers continue to mock the New Age Outlaws. We’ve got “Dumb Ass” Rockabilly (Mosh) and “Puppy Dog” Jerky James (Thrasher). Pretty funny, but the Headbangers haven’t been taken seriously – possibly ever. Thrasher makes the claim that Gunn has ass implants.

Ross – “I know a lot of you are into the internet. StoneCold.com will be launched tomorrow with a LIVE net cast with Stone Cold at 7PM Eastern / 4PM Pacific.”

Big brawl to start with Henry and Brown letting the Headbangers know they better recognize. Mosh and Thrasher make a quick comeback, but Henry tags in and catches a crossbody block from Thrasher. Mosh flies in with a missile dropkick to give Thrasher a nearfall on Henry. HE PINNED THE ROCK! The ‘Bangers deliver the leapfrog body guillotine to Henry. D’Lo pulls the top rope down on Mosh and drops him on the ring apron. Back inside, Brown tags in and delivers his signature legdrop. WHO SUCKS NOW? D’Lo hits a flying elbow for two. Mosh blocks a corner charge bringing up his boot. Henry and D’Lo continue to get heat on Mosh. The Headbangers want to heel it up, but they can’t touch D’Lo in 1998, so they have to work babyface. Brown misses something off the middle rope allowing a tag to Thrasher. There’s a double suplex on Henry while the ‘Bangers give D’Lo a double flapjack. The crowd finally wakes up. As Thrasher hits a pescado on Henry, the lights go out because KANE has returned. The match stops as Kane delivers a DOUBLE CHOKESLAM to D’Lo and Mosh. (5:30) WHO CAN CONTROL THIS DEMON? With Paul Bearer back in Taker’s corner, it’s a fair question. There’s nobody left to control Kane! Also, we still don’t know who will face the Outlaws at the Survivor Series, so there’s *that* as well. *½

Back in the locker room, the Rock gets cuffed and stuffed. He tempts them with donuts because of course he would, but they don’t take the bait. Vince – “See ya, pal.”

In the arena, OWEN HART comes down to the ring. Ross brings up the fact that Owen put Dan Severn on the shelf five weeks ago on RAW. At Dan Severn’s request, Owen came to announce he’s no longer an active WWF wrestler and has retired. He left his home in Calgary to hear what Severn has to say, so out comes DAN SEVERN wearing a cervical collar. Severn says he’s not here to get an apology from Owen. He lets Owen know that he’s not fooling anybody about the Blue Blazer gimmick and just wanted to let Owen also know that he’s *scum*. Owen shoves him down and clotheslines a man wearing a cervical collar. STEVE BLACKMAN runs down and chases away Owen. Leave him alone, he’s retired!

When we return from commercials, Steve Blackman watches over the ambulance while Dan Severn is taken away to the hospital. Backstage, Blackman eyes Owen Hart and jumps him. Next thing we know, the BLUE BLAZER attacks Blackman from behind. He grabs Blackman from behind and applies the Dragon Sleeper submission. Owen breaks away from the referees and stomps the crap out of Blackman. WHO IS THE BLUE BLAZER? WHO IS THE YELLOW DOG? WHO IS THE MIDNIGHT RIDER? I’M SO CONFUSED.

The cage gets lowered down to the ring. We take our final commercial break to find out who is going to suffer some hard times.

When we come back, Vince McMahon gets wheeled out and taken down to ringside over by the commentary tables by Pat Patterson, Commissioner Slaughter, Gerald Brisco, and the Big Boss Man. After Boss Man and Vince’s Stooges make sure the cage is secure and the door is locked with them inside, Vince has Boss Man abuse his stooges for allowing Vince to be kidnapped and embarrassed by Stone Cold Steve Austin. The stooges fight back because it’s 3-on-1 and they are all former wrestlers. All Vince wants is their 100% allegiance and this will all end. This builds until Vince orders Boss Man to strip them of their clothing. Even Ross is having pity on the stooges. When Austin hears clothing will be removed, he runs down to save us all. He climbs over the cage wall and stomps the shit out of Boss Man. He’s not here to save the stooges, he just wants him some of Boss Man. To show that Patterson is in McMahon’s corner, he grabs Boss Man’s nightstick and whacks Austin in the hip. Austin NO-SELLS and goes after Patterson. Boss Man starts using his nightstick on Austin until we see Shane McMahon show up to get Boss Man’s attention. It looks like Boss Man is ready to wail away on Shane, but Vince calls off the Boss Man and has him get out of the ring. This is brilliant. It makes Boss Man continue to look strong without having to get his ass kicked again by Austin, which makes their match at Survivor Series still seem important. Vince points at Shane, but Shane gives him the bird in return. Oh boy. We hear the Undertaker’s music hit and here he comes joined by Paul Bearer. He meets Austin inside the cage and they do some back and forth brawling. Now the arena goes dark and then red as Kane comes down to ringside. Once he reaches the steps, KANE SETS THE CAGE ON FIRE. He now gets inside the cage and joins the Undertaker and Austin for a huge brawl as the show draws to a close.

This was a fantastic ending to RAW that I don’t think gets talked about enough with the way everything was intertwined to set up Survivor Series real nice. Is this the end of the blue cage?

Until next time, so long for now.

The World Wrestling Federation presents “Survivor Series: Deadly Game”
LIVE on November 15 ONLY ON PAY-PER-VIEW from the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri

CARD INCLUDES:
THE DEADLY GAME TOURNAMENT FOR THE WWF TITLE: (see brackets listed above)
WWF Women’s Championship: Jacqueline (c) vs. Sable