Live Feed Mania – WWF Monday Night Raw 05/11/98

Baltimore, MD – Arena – May 11, 1998 (8,069 paid; announced as a sell out)

More Live Feed fun courtesy of Kirby Dream’s brother: Richard Land!

We’re on the road to Over The Edge and it’s the episode with the DX jeep tank.

We start with raw footage of DX with their double-parked vehicle. Ah I’ve seen these clips, they’ve circulated around for years. Bruce Prichard is directing HHH to point the cannon at the CNN Building. “Do you want me to straddle it again?” asks HHH whose hair is at Fabio levels of confidence.

D-X’s invasion of “Hotlanta” is over so they pretend to fire the cannon at the building in a way that was cool in 1998 but you couldn’t do today. If they fired an actual rocket into an average AEW Collision taping there’s a good chance they’d not hit any fans anyway.

The Headbangers vs. Jose Estrada & Jesus Castillo

Aired on Shotgun Saturday Night 05/16/98

JIP as J.R., Cole and Cornette are all yelling at whoever is talking in their ears. Mosh uses Thrasher to land a white boy tope to the outside. Jesus misses a Patera Charge allowing the Headbangers to land the AWA Special. Thrasher gets a pop simply for lifting his skirt up. Jose tags in to take a back bodydrop and an overdramatic eye poke the crowd mildly enjoys. Second rope superplex onto a smiling Thrasher gets two. Jose lands the spinning wheel kick that all Puerto Ricans knew apparently. Crowd really get behind Mosh as he’s double teamed behind the refs back and misses a Headbangers pin due to distraction because some formulas will work in any period of history. Crowd chant “USA” before remembering where Puerto Rico is located and stop. Los Boricuas manage a nifty top rope dropkick-powerbomb combo while Kevin Kelly talks about Merv Griffin. Mosh gets the tag that’s supposed to be hot but the crowd have switched off so the ‘Bangers quickly put away Jesus after the Stage Dive powerbomb-legdrop combo.

Started off solid but the crowd can’t be arsed to watch a match for longer than four minutes and stay interested in 1998.

Mosh catches his own spit in an impressive manner. Mosh then bothers Cornette and spits in his Sprite. “Well I’m not going to drink it now!” lies Jim. Crowd enjoyed The Headbangers even though they were to rock music what the Dynamic Dudes were to skateboarding.

J.R. points out Cornette must be off his diet if he’s drinking Sprite again. Cornette says “he only gained 7lbs which isn’t bad for one week” and Ross laughs his arse off. “From eating normally!” Kelly asks about the weight of his new ball-and-chain, and Cornette says she has a nice attitude. “It’s the closest I can get to marrying one of the boys!”

‘Too Hot’ Scott Taylor vs. Papi Chulo

Aired on Shotgun Saturday Night 05/16/98

Taylor’s ambient theme music gets a pop from the crowd. I never thought it fit the team and the same can be said for Papi’s synth song composed for a prime time cop drama that was cancelled after two episodes.

Taylor has a mullet and bumfluff and looks very Memphis. Papi is working face as Kelly points out “even his fingernails are pierced.” Crowd chant BORING as both lads go through a mid-speed basic lucha sequence. Cole jokes this is a rematch due to fan demand. Kelly says yes, it was “a boisterous bunch from Luxembourg” that wanted it. Fans start going nuts for some reason and it’s revealed to be Lawler walking out in full gear. Cornette can’t believe Jackie Gleason gave up his bedsheets that easily. Taylor lands a T-Bone Suplex then excitedly yells at the commentators about how great it was. I didn’t realise Taylor aped his tag partner so much during this period. Chulo misses a huge turning swanton, causing J.R. to remark that he won’t be doing that in a few years. Guess again. Taylor misses his own to set up a daft Arabian armdrag that half the crowd laugh at. Chulo splats Taylor with a rolling legdrop with no give (“he just splatted him on the back of his head!” yells Corny) before Lawler trips up Chulo so he get can distracted enough to use his foreign something-or-other to set up the heel win with most of the crowd cheering at 6:04.

Slowed down unimpressive action that was the wrong type of match for this crowd.

Barry Windham vs. Rich Myers

Aired on Shotgun Saturday Night 05/16/98

Windham here looks more like Buddy Rose than himself. Rich is a reliable local job guy for WWF going back to 1992.

J.R. and Cornette jaw-jack playfully over what Cornette has turned Windham into. Ah that explains it, Cornette’s been feeding him. Cornette calls J.R. a kind announcer, “yeah, the kind that should be fired!” Turning backdrop impresses J.R. but as soon as Windham starts laughing at Rich’s strikes, he talks to Cornette about his flight and pills set-up for after the show. Windham waves “bye bye” at the camera before a flying lariat ends it at 1:51.

Cole points out a sign that says “BRING BACK THE MULKEY BROTHERS.” Cornette appreciates it because he was “just talking to Randy!” Ross points out there’s a “MICHAEL COLE IS A GEEK” sign and Cole positively responds “eh, it could have said something worse.”

Savio Vega vs. Chainz

Aired on Shotgun Saturday Night 05/16/98

Russo joins us at ringside for commentary next to Cornette in a surreal moment. Ross instructs Russo to put over “his neighbourhood guy Savio Vega” for the WWF NY show they were still pumping out. Russo attempts to leave because the rest of the feed will be done in post but he has to wait until Chainz finishes parking his motorcycle at ringside. Cornette jokes “I thought he’d never leave! His bucket head ruined my perfectly set-up head-set!”

Ross and Cornette laugh about Russo bringing his own photographer for the WWF Magazine and joke about it not making print. There’s a match happening but if you’re wanting play-by-play for these two then you weren’t watching WWF in 1998. Ross puts over the loud crowd at ringside, Kelly points out they were imported. Crowd briefly chants “LOD” apparently mistaking the three letters of “DOA” for something else. Or maybe they were bored. What, Brian Lee vs. the fattest martial artist since Elvis isn’t exciting you? Vega lands a big kick that Chainz doesn’t really react to as the crowd are boring of this. Vega lands some more kicks with a big one sending him over the ropes but crowd doesn’t have any idea who to get behind and Chainz’s selling is awful. Big swinging kick ends it at 4:58 and Lee was mercifully gone from WWF a month after this.

NWA Tag Team Champions Bob Holly & Bart Gunn vs. Steve Corino & Julio Sanchez

Aired on Shotgun Saturday Night 05/16/98

“Now you’re going to see a real tag team!” yells Cornette, possibly for TV but possibly not. Commentators rag on Fink for mixing up Bodacious Bart & Bombastic Bob’s nick-names. “And no-one in the office can spell Bombastic!!”

(edit: I checked the finished product, they don’t get Fink to re-do the entrances. Instead Cole and Kelly mock him for messing them up and wondering if he’ll ever get them correct.)

The Express start off slowly as J.R. angrily yells “well do something aggressive godammit” in an amazing moment because I was thinking the same thing. Sanchez and Corino land armdrags and stereo Frankensteiners to little reaction (sarcastically described as a “big pop” by J.R.). Corino attempts to work over Bart Gunn but no-one cares so J.R. starts calling the action while doing a Gordon Solie impression. “I remember Pak Song and uhhh Stardust and uhhh the talent was flowing profusely uhh.” Cornette puts over the Express’ double-teams so I’m glad someone is enjoying this match. They do have a nice spot involving Holly turning his back to Gunn to turn so he can land an Atomic drop to set up a blind lariat. Corino gets a moment of hope after a DDT and a tag to Julio. Sanchez gets no reaction but the Express still feed for him until they land their version of Total Elimination which ends with Julio landing on top of Gunn and Cornette laughing in disgust.

Oh and then The Headbangers run out for the DQ at 6:15 as Cornette yells “Jesus Christ, that was early!” and is not ready to jump out of his chair and run with the pair of them to the back which was either a rib or miscommunication but only Cornette was watching the match anyway.

(edit: here’s the finished version, where they tried to use another camera angle but Kelly on commentary has to call it like he saws it: “well he landed on Bart but nonetheless…”)

Ross says thanks for watching Walker, Texas Ranger! In ten minutes time we have Steve Austin and Mr. McMahon interacting! Also Sable has a public confrontation with Marc Mero! Oh and D-X show up to the WCW offices! All this and more!

Cole again points out the “MICHAEL COLE IS A GEEK” sign and is saddened by the kid holding it being the same age as his son. J.R. signs something for a small child yelling “hey mister!” who is presumably not Cole’s kid. Well he doesn’t ask for Cole’s autograph so maybe it was.

We get a recap of last week’s crazy Mick Foley vs. Terry Funk brawl because McMahon ordered Foley to do so. Then McMahon does his best to make Austin corpse doing the Dude Love knee dance and THAT’S YOUR LOT.

Also from this taping:

Raw is War – featured Jim Ross & Michael Cole on commentary for the first hour, with Jerry Lawler replacing Cole for the second hour; included an opening in-ring promo by Vince McMahon in which he said WWF World Champion Steve Austin would be in tag team action later in the night and would be notified as such when he arrives to the arena; McMahon then introduced Dude Love as the #1 contender, with Mick Foley coming out in a suit and tie, with a copy of the Wall Street Journal, and putting on reading glasses before describing himself as the future WWF World Champion, with the two then hugging; McMahon went on to introduced Gerald Brisco as the guest timekeeper for the Austin vs. Dude Love match at Over the Edge and Pat Patterson as the guest ring announcer; McMahon then went to introduce the guest referee for the bout, but no one walked out and no music was played; McMahon walked backstage, with Patterson eventually introducing the referee as “the best there was, the best there is, and the best there ever will be, Vince McMahon;” McMahon then walked back out in a sleeveless referee shirt and all four men raised their hands as Dude Love’s music played; Kevin Kelly was then shown standing in the parking lot waiting for Austin’s arrival, with Sable walking by and declining to speak to Kelly; included footage of WWF European Champion Triple H, X-Pac, WWF Tag Team Champions the Road Dogg & Billy Gunn, and Chyna being driven in a jeep to WCW’s offices in Atlanta; footage then showed security having them move out of the way so others could come in the building and of some in the visitors cheering DX on; Ross then noted that WCW called 911 on DX; featured Kelly waiting for Austin only to find Al Snow, with Head, saying he has tickets for the show and asked how to get to his seats; included an ad promoting Celebrity Deathmatch on MTV, featuring Austin; featured footage of Kelly in the garage as Austin arrived to the arena; following the commercial break, footage was shown of Kelly informing Austin of McMahon’s announcements earlier in the show regarding Over the Edge and being in a tag match later in the show; Austin eventually grabbed the mic from Kelly and went looking for McMahon himself; included footage of DX at CNN Center earlier in the day, being met by fans and security, and being told they couldn’t film because it was private property; featured a vignette promoting the debut of Edge; included footage from earlier in the day of Bradshaw teaching Taka Michinoku to drive in the parking lot, as fans watched from outside the parking lot, and giving him a cigar to smoke; when they pulled back into the lot, both men were attacked by Kaientai, as Yamaguchi-San oversaw; Tony Siragusa of the Baltimore Ravens was shown sitting ringside; featured an in-ring promo by Austin, in which he was interrupted on the big screen by McMahon, with Brisco and Patterson, with the three covering up their eyes, ears and mouth in relation to Austin’s match later in the night; included a vignette promoting the debut of Val Venis; featured an in-ring segment in which Sable took the mic and called for Marc Mero to join her in the ring; moments later, the two squared off before Mero hoisted Sable up for the TKO, let her go, and told her to apologize for trying to ruin his career; Sable responded with a kick to the groin and hit a powerbomb; after the two left the ring, the Undertaker confronted Lawler at ringside, yanked off his headset, assaulted Lawler, and hit the chokeslam; as Taker attempted the tombstone, the lights went off and Kane’s music played, with Kane and Paul Bearer walking out and Bearer saying everything he told Taker to that point was true and he would prove the following week that he was Kane’s father; before Taker attacked Lawler, Lawler apologized for the things he said about Taker’s mother the week before; after Kane and Bearer left, Taker yanked Lawler up and dropped him with the tombstone; following the commercial break, Snow came out with Head and joined Ross on commentary; moments later, Patterson and Brisco directed security to escort Snow away, with Snow telling them that he needed to see Vince; included footagte of DX outside the CNN Center, with a graphic then showing a missile blowing up the building; featured a segment in which Dustin Runnels walked out with his Goldust costume in hand, put it in a trash can, poured gasoline on it, and lit it on fire; he then took the mic and said he worked too hard for Vince the past three years, said Vince took his dignity away from him and caused him to lose his father and his wife; he went on to say Vince was punishing him every day and said “Goldust dies tonight;” included a backstage segment showing Vince talking to Austin’s mystery tag team partner later in the show; featured footage of Snow trying to get in the building but being blocked at the door:
Vader pinned Barry Windham (w/ Jim Cornette, NWA Tag Team Champions Bob Holly & Bart Gunn) at 2:07 with the Vader Bomb; during the bout, it was announced Vader would face Kane at Over the Edge in a mask vs. mask bout and UFC 17 was heavily hyped by Jim Ross; after the match, Vader fought off Holly & Gunn (Vader’s return match after a 3-month absence)

8-Ball (w/ Skull) pinned Road Warrior Hawk (w/ Sunny & Road Warrior Animal) at 2:31 with a small package; the match was Hawk vs. Skull, but Skull and 8-Ball switched places late in the bout behind the referee’s back; during the match, it was noted DX would face the Nation at Over the Edge in a 6-man tag team match

Faarooq (w/ Steve Blackman) defeated Jeff Jarrett (w/ Tennessee Lee) via disqualification at 2:06 when Mark Henry & Kama interfered, moments after Blackman attacked Jarrett on the floor and Farooq attempted the Dominator; prior to the bout, it as noted Blackman would face Jarrett and Farooq would challenge WWF IC Champion the Rock, with the Nation barred from ringside, at Over the Edge; after the contest, Farooq and Blackman were beaten down by Jarrett, Henry, and Kama, with Jarrett choking Blackman with his own nunchucks until referees intervened

WWF European Champion Triple H (w/ Chyna, X-Pac, WWF Tag Team Champions the Road Dogg & Billy Gunn) fought Owen Hart (w/ WWF IC Champion the Rock, Mark Henry, Kama, & D’Lo Brown) to a no contest at around the 9-minute mark in an impromptu non-title match when Chyna grabbed a steel chair to hold off the Nation from getting in the ring; Jim Cornette joined Jim Ross on commentary during the bout, where he remained for the remainder of the show; prior to the bout, X-Pac said WCW tried to have them put in jail when they visited Atlanta earlier in the day and went on to cut a promo on Eric Bischoff, saying he wouldn’t kiss Bischoff’s ass and that’s why he doesn’t work for him anymore; moments later, Hart interrupted Triple H and said they had unfinished business; after the bout, Sgt. Slaughter and multiple referees came out to prevent a brawl between DX and the Nation (the match began during the commercial break)

Sho Funaki, Mens Teioh, & Dick Togo (w/ Yamaguchi-San) defeated Terry Funk & Scorpio via disqualification in a handicap match at 3:17 when Bradshaw, with his bullrope, & Taka Michinoku interfered and cleared the ring; prior to the bout, Yamaguchi-San introduced his team, with Kaientai coming out from under the ring to attack Funk & Scorpio from behind

WWF World Champion Steve Austin & Vince McMahon (mystery partner) (w/ Gerald Brisco & Pat Patterson) fought WWF IC Champion the Rock & D-Lo Brown (w/ Owen Hart, Kama, & Mark Henry) (mystery opponents) to a no contest at 8:18 when Vince, Brisco, and Patterson attacked Austin; following the Nation’s entrance, the Rock took the mic and said the Austin / Rock rivalry was continuing; following Austin’s entrance, McMahon, from backstage, introduced himself as Austin’s partner; after the bout, Austin fought off McMahon, Brisco, and Patterson until he was attacked by Dude Love; just as the show ended, Dustin Runnels and DX ran out to make the save (The Best of Raw Vol. 1 & 2)

Dark match after the taping: The Undertaker defeated Kane (w/ Paul Bearer)

Overall: A fun, brisk watch best enjoyed for the commentary between people in happier times, because there was nothing to recommend in the ring.

I’ve been Maffew.