Live Feed Mania – WWF Monday Night Raw 08/09/99

WWF @ Chicago, IL – AllState Arena – August 9, 1999 (13,713)

We’re two weeks away from Summerslam 1999 which means two number one contenders and they’re both Richard Land.

Dark Match!

Meat (w/ Terri) vs. Kurt Angle

Woah we’re starting off hot with pre-debut Kurt in plain black short tights, keeping up with Stasiak and his neckbreakers. Kurt shows good timing on when to counter a whip into the turnbuckles, as well as how to bounce off the ropes. Overhead belly-to-belly is ignored by Meat who lands a kinda F5 move but he lands with his opponent like a front suplex.

Angle tries for a Sunset Flip but it gets blocked by Meat, who isn’t able to do the same with a top rope Superplex. Angle lands a lovely powerslam which causes Terri to get up on the apron which somehow helps Stasiak block a corner charge and finish with the Reverse DDT at 5:27.

This wasn’t anything amazing but I’ve seen a few of these working-on-the-job matches where the newbie looks completely lost, and Kurt did not look like them which is all you can ask of someone in this position.

Billy Gunn (w/ Chyna) vs. Chaz (w/ Marianna)

Aired on Shotgun Saturday Night – 08/21/99

So Mosh stopped being a Headbanger when Thrasher was out injured and became Beaver Cleavage. Then he stopped because it was shit. So he became Chaz, complete with the Jimmy Hart version of Loser by Beck entrance music until Marianna accused him of assaulting her but then it was revealed that she was making it up because women are untrustworthy whores who can’t be trusted and Vince Russo is married.

Billy Gunn is billed simply as “Mr. Ass” because this was during the period where his promos were about ass and only ass. I’m not saying Billy had the makings of a varsity athlete or anything but he was told to wear concrete shoes and ordered to swim as soon as they changed his character like that.

Chaz manhandles Gunn who grabs the ropes and insists he let go. Chaz takes him down with armdrags and hip tosses while Gunn sells like crazy, leading him to taking a breather outside so Chyna can punch Chaz. Jackhammer takes down Chaz, allowing Gunn enough time to moon Marianna. Chaz is fired up enough to make a comeback, riding Gunn’s head in the ropes like a bucking bronco. He tries to land a high arse in the corner like The Headbangers would, but Billy grabs him and turns it into a back suplex before simply planting him with The Fameasser at 3:41

Billy was a decent midcard singles act that got a lot more criticism than what was deserved…but there was no way he was ready for The Fucking Rock on PPV when one of his trademark moves was showing everyone his thong while he was overselling for Chaz.

Miguel Perez, Jose Estrada Jr. & El Merenguero (w/ Savio Vega) vs. Papi Chulo, Pantera, & Apollo Dantes

Aired on Super Astros 08/29/99

Woah woah woah sweet child of mine, Los Boricuas were still around by August ’99? Ah a quick check reveals this is their last WWF match after doing nothing for months. Weird.

Production misses most of the dives to the outside because I guess they weren’t expecting that kind of thing on Super Astros. Papi lands a lovely Frankensteiner on Jose before Pantera lands a head-first tope with everyone joining in. Except Dantes who mostly splats on the outside which causes Carlos Cabrera to quietly curse. Papi busts out a wonderful Fosbury Flop. Everyone tags in to land a cool looking move like a standing moonsault or German Suplex but crowd has switched off. Papi and Miguel start chopping one another loudly which the crowd appreciate a lot more than those damn flips. Miguel’s foot goes out under him as the crowd groans and then we got more chops as this can’t end quick enough. It breaks down and Pantera hits a moonsault before El Merenguero ignores him to land a Reverse Suplex off the top at 6:38.

Very messy match that the crowd didn’t want a part of but the finish was nice enough for Terry Taylor to remark “nice finish” on commentary.

WWF Intercontinental Title

WWF IC & European Champion D-Lo Brown vs. Prince Albert

Aired on Shotgun Saturday Night – 08/21/99

Hell yeah Euro-Continental Champ D’Lo. Crowd loves him. Only the IC title is on the line tonight. On Shotgun?

D’Lo soaks up the love from the crowd allowing him to land a top rope crossbody for two. Albert misses a Pump Kick so D’Lo yells “WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?” because he was the coolest guy on the roster. D’Lo lands a moonsault he was supposed to miss because Albert rolled into it, but everyone pretends it didn’t happen and moves on with their lives because only weirdos focus on wrestling mistakes. Albert sticks D’Lo with an elevated butterfly suplex before going to the…nerve hold? I forgot how lame Albert was in ’99. He’s another one who would get really good by 2002. D’Lo has a weird habit of running past someone and instead of continuing to run and bounce off the ropes, he stops and turns around to face his opponent so they can deck him. Albert splats D’Lo with the Torture Rack Neckbreaker but doesn’t go for the pin like a dumb-dumb. Instead he tries his own D’Lo Leg Drop but misses, allowing the double champ to come back with a calf kick. D’Lo kicks Albert’s piercing kit into his giant head and finishes with the Lo Down at 7:16.

I can understand why D’Lo wouldn’t have his whole mind in the game here because he has Jeff Jarrett at Summerslam. Oh and also being so much better than rookie Albert.

Max Mini vs. Mini Nova

Aired on Super Astros 08/29/99

Max Mini is OG Máscarita Sagrada Jr., Mini Nova is sadly not Simon Dean but I’m sure people have called him that behind his back anyway.

Nova attempts to trick Mini into going under his legs but instead butt stomps him. He tries it again but Mini knows what’s coming so he turns it into an Atomic Drop, with Nova demanding the ref check his arse. Crowd pop for small arses. Mini should have taken on The Rock instead of Billy Gunn. Mini lands a frigging Diamond Cutter of all things to set up a Bronco Buster which the crowd really appreciates. Nova comes back by launching Mini into the top rope but manages to splat himself into it on another attempt. Nova flies through the second rope to the outside to set up a crazy Asai Spinning Body Attack from Mini.

We clip ahead for some reason to Nova blasting his opponent with an airplane spin but Mini is man enough to land a sit out dropkick off the second rope regardless. Tornado DDT looks great but doesn’t end it, instead Mini wins with a spinning roll-up at 4:12 to a reaction so loud Kevin Kelly yells “wow what a pop!” into his headset.

I love Max Mini and even this encounter with someone he wasn’t completely gelling with was tearing the bungalow down.

The Godfather vs. Scotty Zappa

Aired on Shotgun Saturday Night – 08/21/99

The Godfather gets a lovely pop followed by loud boos when he pretends he forgot his Hos. Oh there they are! Zappa has been a TV enhancement talent since 1992 so Godfather doesn’t know if he should offer Hos to a guy like him so he decides he should kick his ass instead. One of The Hos tries to cover herself up as she exits the ring and Taylor says “well she’s fired.” Zappa gets thrown outside and is so transfixed by the blatant human trafficking on display that Godfather is able to cheap shot him before landing a leg drop and a Ho Train which in turn sets up an enthusiastic Pimp Drop at 1:32.

Kelly gets a genuinely good line in afterwards: “well he doesn’t get paid by the hour…oh wait yes he does.”

Lawler and Ross settle down in the booth with Lawler appreciating a sign that says “not even KISS can save Nitro.”

And then whoever it is stops recording so he can enjoy Jericho’s debut by himself.

Also occurring but not recorded:

Mideon & Viscera vs. Derek Dukes & Tony DeNuche

Featured the debut of Chris Jericho as he interrupted the Rock’s in-ring promo on the Big Show:

Gangrel pinned Christian after spitting blood in his face, moments after Christian attacked the Hardy Boyz on the floor; after the bout, Edge attempted to make the save but was triple teamed by Gangrel and the Hardyz; Michael Hayes then attempted to make the save but the same result occured

Val Venis pinned Jeff Jarrett (w/ Debra) with a roll up after Jarrett became distracted by Debra on the apron; after the match, Debra left ringside with Venis
Kane & X-Pac defeated WWF Tag Team Champions the Acolytes to win the titles at 4:36 when X-Pac pinned Farooq by reversing the Dominator into the X-Factor; after the bout, the Road Dogg came ringside to celebrate; moments later, X-Pac took the mic and prompted Kane to speak, but without his voice box; Kane then said “Suck it!” (Kane & X-Pac’s first appearance with their mixed entrance music) (Best of Raw Vol. 1 & 2)

Test & Ken Shamrock defeated Steve Blackman & Joey Abs when Test pinned Abs; after the bout, Test locked Abs’ ankle in a steel chair and jumped on it before chasing Shane McMahon, who did guest commentary for the match, backstage
The Road dogg pinned WWF Hardcore Champion the Big Bossman in a non-title match after Al Snow interfered and hit the champion with Pepper’s dog cage
The Rock defeated the Big Show via disqualification when Chris Jericho interfered to break the cover after the People’s Elbow; after the bout, Billy Gunn attacked the Rock

Chyna defeated Triple H and the Undertaker in a No DQ falls count anywhere match by pinning Triple H after Steve Austin interfered, hit Triple H with a chair on the floor, and laid Chyna across him; Shawn Michaels was the guest referee for the bout while Jesse Ventura did guest commentary; due to prematch stipulations, Chyna became the #1 contender for the world title at Summer Slam, taking the spot away from Triple H

Overall: I mean it’s the last WWF appearance of Los Boricuas, you don’t need me to tell you if you should watch this or not.

I’ve been Maffew