Mike Reviews WWF Raw is War 23rd November 1998

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I decided to let Cage Match select the review this week, with this episode of Raw coming it at nearly 9 out of 10, which is pretty darn impressive. We’ve got Rock, Mankind, Stone Cold, Undertaker and Kane all showing up here, which was pretty much all of the biggest stars in the company at the time, so that should hopefully mean we get something entertaining.

If you’d like to view the card for Raw is War 23rd November 1998, then please feel free to click below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=2048&page=3

The event is emanating from Columbus, Ohio on the 17th of November 1998 and aired on 23rd November 1998

Calling the action are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

We open up with clips from the previous episode of the show, where Ken Shamrock joined up with Vince McMahon’s Corporation stable and Stone Cold ended up beating The Rock by DQ when The Undertaker sauntered down to the ring and cleaned Austin’s clock with a shovel because Austin needed a feud to keep him busy leading up to the Royal Rumble.

Vince McMahon Jr., Shane McMahon, and the stooges of Pat Patterson, Gerry Brisco and Sgt Slaughter, join us for some promo time. Vince says that he had nothing to do with Taker attacking Austin last week, and we can believe him because he never lies. Sometimes the fruit is hanging so low that it’s practically under the Earth’s core, so I’ll just move on. Anyway, Vince notes that Sgt Slaughter has graciously stepped down as WWF Commissioner, so we’re going to have a new one tonight. Stone Cold will remain Vince’s sole responsibility however. After a decent build-up, Vince introduces Shawn Michaels as the new Commish, which has the announce team wondering if that’s a good idea seeing as how Shawn doesn’t tend to take direction very well. It’s funny listening to Jim Ross gush about how nice it is to have Shawn back when you know how much chaos Shawn had caused backstage in the 4 years prior to this (likely leading to Ross himself having a few sleepless nights along the way). Shawn books The Rock against X-Pac, with the WWF Title on the line. They sell that as a big thing that all the Heels are annoyed about, but Rock should have enough about him to beat X-Pac. It’s not like Shawn booked Rock against Kane or something.

Kevin Kelly is backstage with Insane Clown Posse and The Oddities, where ICP asks The Oddities to cover for them tonight. The Oddities agree, but Luna Vachon thinks it’s very disappointing that the original match won’t be taking place.

Opening Match
The Head Bangers (Mosh and Thrasher) Vs The Oddities (Golga and Kurrgan) w/ Giant Silva, Luna Vachon, Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J)

The Head Bangers had gone Heel sometime over the late summer/early autumn months and had clobbered ICP numerous times, who had been spending most of their time rapping The Oddities down to the ring. ICP were supposed to wrestle The Bangers here tonight, but now that ICP have backed out we’ve got The Oddities subbing in for them. The commentary team are already talking about how ICP and The Oddities don’t really gel as personalities. which pretty much puts a neon sign up to what the finish is going to be. And indeed, ICP cost The Oddities the match and The Bangers pick up the win.

WINNERS: THE HEAD BANGERS
RATING: N/A

Thoughts: This was barely a match. Golga was played by the late John Tenta and he was a good worker, but he very rarely got a chance to show it whilst playing this character

ICP and The Head Bangers beat down The Oddities following the bout, with Vachon even getting her hair cut off. That was a pretty heavy heat angle for a lower card feud.

We get clips of Kane destroying people, as he almost set The Brood on fire one week due to being so unhappy about Paul Bearer betraying him in favour of managing The Undertaker. Maybe he was just trying to say how hot he thought they were? It’s hard to communicate when you’re a crazy masked wrestler who can’t talk, have some compassion people!

Match Two
The Blue Blazer Vs The Lethal Weapon Steve Blackman

The gimmick here is that Owen Hart supposedly “retired” from the WWF after injuring Dan Severn, but everyone suspects that he’s Blue Blazer here, as that was Owen’s gimmick in the WWF before he started going by his own name. Blackman gets the better of things in the early going until Blazer is able to go to the eyes and take over. Blazer hasn’t even taken off his entrance robe here, and he applies The Sharpshooter, which forces Blackman to make it to the ropes. The crowd doesn’t really seem to know what to make of all this, but the wrestling itself has been fine. Blackman eventually makes the comeback and takes Blazer out with a kick for the three count.

WINNER: STEVE BLACKMAN
RATING: *

Thoughts: This was too short to be rated any higher, but it was enjoyable enough for what it was

Owen Hart actually shows up following the bout and clocks Blackman, leaving questions as to who was under the mask. This would lead to a series of red herring (or should that be blue herring?) Blazer’s over the coming weeks, with Jeff Jarrett and even Koko B. Ware donning the outfit at different points.

We get clips of Stone Cold Steve Austin collapsing at a House Show as a result of Taker clobbering him with the shovel last week.

Commissioner Michaels and Vinny Mac are arguing in the hallway about something.

Match Three
D-Lo Brown and Sexual Chocolate Mark Henry Vs The Brood (Edge and Gangrel) w/ Christian

Jim Ross referring to The Brood as “cool guys” is pretty funny, because if it’s anything we know about vampire covens it’s that they know how to have a most tubular time. Mark Henry was in a storyline at the time where he was trying to get a date with Chyna, including him agreeing to drop a sexual harassment lawsuit against Chyna if she would agree to go on a date with him. Sex didn’t even have to be involved! I mean, if that’s not thoroughly reasonable then I frankly don’t know what is. Anyway, this is one of Vince Russo’s “shades of grey, BRO” matches, as neither of these groups are really babyfaces, so The Brood kind of slip into that role in the early going by shining on Brown, with the action being enjoyable.

Eventually Edge gets cut off by the Brown/Henry tandem, and he sells well whilst on the defensive. The crowd gets into the match as well, so the in-ring aspect is good and the match has a decent atmosphere for the most part as well. Henry is the only wrestler in the match who isn’t really any good, but he would improve in time to become a serviceable monster Heel, although I never really thought he got as good as others tend to. Brown eventually misses a Swanton Bomb from the top rope, and that allows Edge to make the hot tag to Gangrel, who starts Vampiring up on the Henry and Brown team, even managing to bump Henry with a Hart Attack clothesline at one stage. Things breakdown following that, with Chyna distracting Henry so that Gangers can roll him up for three.

WINNERS: THE BROOD
RATING: **

Thoughts: This was a decent TV match, with some nice wrestling from Brown and Edge especially. This was a good example of how the WWF was using a mixture of young up and coming wrestlers (Edge and Brown) and journeyman wrestlers who hadn’t had a proper shot at the big time yet (Gangrel) in order to put on a fresher product than what WCW had at the time. Due to not being able to bring stars in, the WWF had to focus on creating their own, and the result was entertaining matches like this that the crowd was into because it saw these guys as actual stars and not just card fillers

Henry doesn’t seem too bent out of shape about losing because he’s just happy to see Chyna. Chyna agrees to go on a date with Henry, and he’s thrilled. That was funny stuff from Henry there, with Brown doing a good job as the exasperated straight man as well.

Stone Cold is at the hospital and is getting cranky with his doctor’s. The doctor asks Stone Cold to sleep off the concussion and then take a couple of weeks away from wrestling. He’s not best pleased about that, as you might imagine. Notably Austin takes a sedative in order to help him sleep, which might leave him groggy if someone were to attack him, but how likely is THAT?!

Commissioner Michaels is hanging out with The New Age Outlaws and X-Pac, and they seem pretty chummy.

Match Four
Marvellous Marc Mero Vs Goldust

Mero had been going through a split with Jackie Moore at the time, whilst Goldust had been having issues with ex-wife Terri Runnels. Say, maybe those two spurned women could form a man hating faction of some kind? Vince Russo is booking and he seemingly hates women, so nothing is off the table! And as I type that, Runnels joins us whilst Mero and Goldust are having a decent fast paced match, with Goldust ostensibly playing the role of the babyface. Mero and Goldust trade near falls like they’re 15 minutes deep into a gruelling match after really only wrestling for roughly 2 minutes (it was the Attitude Era, that kind of stuff was the norm at the time). Moore joins us as well, and clocks Goldust right in his Golden Globes, whilst Runnels clocks Mero right in his confetti gun, and that appears to be a no contest of some kind.

NO CONTEST
RATING: ½*

Thoughts: This never really had much time to go anywhere until the non-finish, but they were working hard for the time they were given

A cute nurse at the hospital asks Stone Cold for his autograph, and Austin takes a break to cut a promo on The Undertaker. However, as we leave the hospital, we see that a hearse is waiting outside…

Match Five
WWF Hardcore Title
Champ: Mankind Vs The World’s Most Dangerous Man Ken Shamrock Vs The Big Boss Man

Mankind had previously been aligned with The Corporation, but Vince screwed him out of the WWF Title at Survivor Series 1998 and now he finds himself on the outs, with Shamrock and Boss Man still being card carrying members, which basically makes this one of Vince Russo’s favourite match types, a glorified handicap match. Boss Man and Shamrock work Mankind over for the majority of the match, with Mankind selling it well. This sort of booking trope is actually quite effective if you don’t overdo it, as the crowd gets behind Mankind whenever he fights back against the insurmountable odds. The problem is when you over do the trope, which usually happened with Russo because he had no restraint.

Vince and Shane join us as the beating continues, with Boss Man and Shamrock using the nightstick to work poor Mankind over. Interestingly neither one of them seems that bothered about getting the pin, and that keeps giving Mankind avenues to fight back, with the crowd continuing to be behind him. Boss Man tries to brain Mankind with a chair, but Mankind ducks and Shamrock takes it instead, leading to Mankind getting a DDT on Boss Man for a triple down. Los McMahonos start teasing that they might come down to ringside following that, but stop in the aisle whilst Mankind applies the Socko Claw to Sharmock. Boss Man saves Shamrock, but Al Snow and the J.O.B Squad run in to help Mankind and that leaves to Shamrock receiving some Head from Snow leading into Mankind getting the three count.

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: MANKIND
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: This was good fun, with Mankind selling well and timing his comebacks just right, whilst Boss Man and Shamrock were believable on offence. I personally would have had the Heels slip on a banana peel and have Mankind win that way rather than having outside interference, but Boss Man and Shamrock had only just started teaming and would soon be going for the Tag Titles, so I can understand why they wanted to protect them a bit with that finish

Meanwhile, Undertaker and Paul Bearer are kidnapping Stone Cold, with the sedated Austin being unable to mount much opposition.

Match Six
WWF Light Heavyweight Title
Champ: Christian Vs The Man, The Myth, The Legend, Duane Gill

Gill had been an enhancement talent for the WWF for years, and had recently showed up at Survivor Series 1998 as a mystery opponent for Mankind and they kept him around for a bit following that, leading to Gill playing a Goldberg cosplay act in the form of Gillberg. Commissioner Michaels apparently booked this, perhaps to amuse himself if nothing else. Christian can easily win this one multiple times, but he decides to keep pulling him up, which is usually not the smartest tactic. This is basically a Christian squash, with Gill taking some nice bumps and selling everything well, which you’d expect from a guy who has looked at more lights than a football groundsman. However, The J.O.B Squad ends up running in for the distraction and that leads to Scorpio clocking Christian behind the referees back so that Gill can get a three count and the belt.

WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: DUANE GILL
RATING: DUD

Thoughts: Had Gill won the belt for a couple of weeks and then lost it back then this would have been a useful way of showing that no Title match was a forgone conclusion and it wouldn’t have really done much damage to the belt either provided that Christian crushed Gill in the rematch. However, Gill ended up having it until something like February 2000, and during that time the belt may as well have been retired due to Gill mostly getting squashed every week as Gillberg. The WWF was never really serious about lighter weight wrestlers, but this just put the full stop on it

Gill cuts a nonsensical victory promo following that, but he does seem genuinely happy to be the Champion at least.

Meanwhile, Undertaker and Paul Bearer tease that they’re going to bury Stone Cold alive somewhere out in a field. However, when Austin tries fighting back they put him down again and decide to embalm him alive instead. Ross’ “bah God, what is wrong with these people?!” is pretty great and a reasonable response to all of this madness.

The Godfather and his lovely ladies of the night join us for a match with Tiger Ali Singh, who is accompanied by Babu, who would also wrestle in ECW as El Puerto Ricano. Godfather says that Singh can wrestle him tonight, or he can pay a small fee and take one of his ladies for the evening. I was a bit younger at the time and wasn’t watching Raw regularly as I didn’t have satellite television, but it’s amazing to me just how overt they were with this Pimp gimmick. There was little to no innuendo or tongue in cheek stuff going on (unless you count what happened back at the hotel if a wrestler took Godfather up on his offer of course). Godfather was a pimp offering up his ladies in exchange for money and that was basically that. Honestly it’s no wonder they got complaints at the time from disturbed parents. Don’t get me wrong, sex work is still very much work and there should be less of a stigma attached to it and sex workers really need better support and protection from law enforcement, but I’m not sure if that’s the sort of a debate upon which it’s intricacies are best placed to be discussed on a wrestling show written by Vince Russo. Anyway, Steve Regal joins us and he’s a bit perturbed because he thinks Singh can afford better “slappers” than what Godfather is offering. Regal and Singh end up attacking Godfather, but Val Venis makes the save, thus creating the tag team of Supply and Demand in the process.

Rock is backstage with Vince, Shane and Commissioner Michaels, and he doesn’t seem happy about his match later. Again, it’s X-Pac dude, you’ve probably had bigger pieces of sweetcorn in your post workout trips to the water closet. Stop whinging.

After the break we see Michaels and Earl Hebner having a chinwag backstage as well.

Match Seven
WWF Tag Team Champs The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and B A Billy Gunn) Vs The J.O.B Squad (Bob Holly and Too Cold Scorpio) w/ Al Snow, Duane Gill and Head

The J.O.B Squad is made up of wrestlers who are sick of being lower card enhancement guys and now they’re going to start fighting back. The crowd is going nuts during this and chanting about something I can’t make out, but it’s nice that the match has some atmosphere at least. Both of these teams are ostensibly babyface, so neither one really works Heel and instead the two tandems trade momentum without either really cheating. Road Dogg eventually manages to block a Scorpio top rope splash by getting his boot up and that leads to Gunn getting a tag and running wild, looking awesome in the process. Things breakdown following that and this leads to Mankind coming down and hitting Gunn with a leaf blower of all things, which allows Scorpio to get the pin.

“Well, it’s different, I’ll give you that”

WINNERS: J.O.B SQUAD
RATING: *1/2

Thoughts: Gunn looked liked the next superstar babyface of the company in this one, which is a testament to how giving a partner Dogg was but also a testament to just how good Holly and Scorpio were at their jobs when it came to making their opponents look good. It was undone a bit by him jobbing to a freaking LEAF BLOWER of course, but up till then he looked incredible here. The match itself was fine, just too short

Boss Man and Ken Shamrock run down to attack Mankind and The J.O.B Squad, with The Outlaws not helping either group and The Corporate guys not really caring about attacking The Outlaws. This was to briefly tease The Outlaws going Corporate, which didn’t end up happening.

Meanwhile, Undertaker and Paul Bearer try and embalm Stone Cold, as we still don’t really have much idea as to the motivation of Undertaker doing all of this outside of some vague stuff about Austin standing in the way of The Ministry of Darkness, which doesn’t really make sense as it was Kane that screwed Taker out of the WWF Title at Survivor Series 1998. Speaking of whom; Kane then randomly shows up to make the save, although I’ve no idea how he found them, and that leads to Austin managing to escape.

Main Event
WWF Title
Champ: The Corporate Champion The Rock Vs X-Pac

Commissioner Michaels kicks out all of the faction members prior to the bout to ensure that this is a proper one on one contest. X-Pac was the European Champ at the time of this, so he can be a double Champ by the nights end if he wins here. X-Pac shines on Rock to start, but Rock ends up running X-Pac crotch first into the ring post for the cut off, which X-Pac of course sells really well. This is a good dynamic actually, with Rock being the bigger stronger bully, whilst X-Pac is the smaller gutsy wrestler fighting from underneath. It’s funny to see X-Pac being such an effective babyface here when he would go on to be so hated by the time the 00’s rolled around, to the point that the term “X-Pac Heat” was created in order to describe the phenomenon.

Rock ends up working a chin lock whilst Los McMahons join us to watch from the entrance way. X-Pac manages to catch Rock with a spin kick for the double down and that leads to the comeback, with X-Pac getting some near falls in order to show that he’s capable of winning the belt, which helps make him look like a genuine star player. Rock does a great job of making X-Pac’s offence look good as well, as he was usually pretty generous when it came to stuff like that. Rock tries bringing a chair into the ring, but Shawn dis-arms him, only to then hit X-Pac whilst the referee is distracted by the McMahon Family, leading to the Corporate Elbow from The Rock for three.

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: THE ROCK
RATING: ***

Thoughts: This was a good match by Raw from 1998 standards, as they were given enough time to actually tell a story and X-Pac looked good until it was time to get pinned. Rock made X-Pac look like a genuine contender here and the crowd was into the action, so it was a solid way to close the show as now you want to see D-X rebound and get vengeance on Shawn and The Corporation

The McMahons, Rock and Shawn all crotch-chop from the aisle whilst Boss Man and Shamrock beat up D-X to close us out.

In Conclusion

You don’t really watch these 1998/99 Attitude Era episodes of Raw for the match quality as it wasn’t until 2000 that the WWF really started caring about that stuff again, with Raw mostly being made up of short matches with screwy finishes during this Era of the show. It was a very effective formula at the time of course, but it hasn’t held up that well to the ravages of time in my eyes. That’s just me though, I know a lot of folks still really enjoy watching this and think it was the peak of wrestling, which just goes to show that art is subjective I guess.

Mostly you’re watching these for the Sportz Entertainment, and if you happen to get a decent match once in a while then that’s a bonus. This show had a couple of fun decent matches and the storyline advancement was present elsewhere on the show, making for a solid 2 hours of television. I’m not sure this quite deserves the really high rating it has on Cage Match, but it was certainly a decent episode of Raw is War, especially by 1998 standards. It was certainly a more dynamic product than what WCW was producing at the time, which was why the WWF was winning.