PPV REVIEW: WCW Halloween Havoc 1998

October 25, 1998 
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada

To this day, the first Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior contests remains one of pro wrestling's most talked about matches. 

The main event of Wrestlemania VI, the match is memorable not only for being a bayface vs. babyface match at a time when such things were rare in the World Wrestling Federation, and not only because it put the Intercontinental Champion up against the WWF Champion.

Mainly, it's so well remembered because it saw two larger-than-life superheroes collide in a dramatic, captivating battle for the ages, a compelling, well-told story that stands the test of time almost thirty years later.

On that night in April 1990, the stars had aligned and Hogan and Warrior had managed to create history together in the best possible sense of the term.

Now, eight years later, things were radically different.

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Hogan was now a fully-fledged heel, riding a new wave of momentum as the crooked, cowardly leader of the New World Order. As for the Warrior, he'd just about stripped the last semblance of logic and sanity out of his character and was now an unhinged caricature of the man he'd been back in 1990.

As for their in-ring performance, while neither man had been renowned for their athletic prowess (at least not on an American stage), both were now past their prime and arguably hadn't put on a good match in years.

Still, there was money to be made in a Hogan/Warrior rematch and tonight, eight years down the line, in a different company, we got that rematch.

Hogan vs. Warrior II

Tonight's show began with a reminder of the ridiculous build to Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. (Ultimate) Warrior, including that time Warrior appeared in Ho Kogan's mirror to frighten him and other such nonsense.

That took us to an introduction from Tony Schiavone and his broadcast colleagues Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan and Iron Mike Tenay.

With the Hogan/Warrior match the only thing on anyone's mind, Schiavone reminded us that Bobby Heenan had been there eight years ago when the two had previously met back at Wrestlemania 6.

From there, it was down to Mean Gene Okerlund for an interview with Rick Steiner.

Buff Has Rick's Back

The Dog Faced Gremlin told us that his match against Scott Steiner (a do-over of the abomination that took place that the previous month's Fall Brawl 1998) was not about Brother vs. Brother but simply about him kicking Big Poppa Pump's ass.

That brought out former Steiner sidekick Buff Bagwell, who declared that he had severed all ties with Scott and the nWo and wanted to watch Rick's back tonight in order to stick it to that no-good Scott.

Abiding by the First Law of Pro Wrestling, which states that all babyfaces are naturally gullible and a bit dumb, The Dog Faced Gremlin said he was happy to have Buff in his corner.

I wouldn't say this opening segment was highly entertaining, but it served its purpose.

World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship Raven's Rules Match
WCW World TV Champion Chris Jericho vs. Raven

What was entertaining, however, was the opening setup to tonight's match.

Previously unadvertised, Raven took to the microphone to declare that since he'd been given no notice of this match, he didn't feel much like competing and was going to leave.

After Mike Tenay quite rightly questioned why anybody would just walk out on a title shot because they didn't feel like wrestling, Chris Jericho got on the mic to declare that he didn't feel much like competing either, but that he owed it to the Jerichoholics.

Pretending to praise the former ECW star, Jericho called Raven a loser, which prompted the challenger to rush the ring and get the match underway.

And what a match it was.

Though relatively short, this was one of the best matches Raven would have in WCW, with an explosive start and a rabid crowd all the way through to the finish.

Speaking of the finish, that came when Jericho slapped on the Walls of Jericho and Raven, who had owned up to being on a losing streak, quickly tapped out.
Your Winner and Still WCW TV Champion: Chris Jericho

After Jericho had gone, the New World Order's music struck up and despite the fact that it could have been for any member of nWo Hollywood, Tony Schiavone somehow instinctively knew that it was Hulk Hogan.

He then acted all surprised that the former champion was on his way out.

Psychic Tony's premonition came true, and Hogan came out with Eric Bischoff to gloat about 'sacrificing' his nephew, Horace Boulder.


It was a typical Ho Kogan promo, entertaining for what it was, but not exactly clear on what point he was trying to make.

Indeed, it was only after talking about being up Horace for five minutes that Ho Kogan quickly reminded us he had a match with Warrior later on in the show.

If I had to guess, I'd say the gist of the message here was that if he was prepared to do that family, imagine how much worse things were going to get for Warrior.

Meng vs. Wrath

A solid though unspectacular outing, this one was even shorter than our opening contest, though unlike Jericho/Raven, a few short minutes was more than enough for Meng and Wrath.

Two played to their strengths to produce an OK match that only got exciting at the finish when Wrath got his large opponent over his shoulders and drilled him to the mat for the three count.
Your Winner: Wrath

Out in the Internet Location, Billy Kidman displayed all the personality of a wet teabag as he told Lee Marshall that he didn't care whether it was Disco Inferno or Juventud Guerrera that he would have to defend his cruiserweight championship against later on in the show.

Both Disco and Juvi were about to go at it, with the winner earning a title shot later that night.

Cruiserweight Championship Number One Contender's Match
Disco Inferno vs. Juventud  Guerrera

There must have been something in the water tonight. Like Raven before him, Disco Inferno had probably the best match of his WCW career here in a very enjoyable effort against Juventud Guerrera.

Disco was doing the old gimmick where he was pretending to have made weight in order to compete in the cruiserweight division.

Here, both he and Juvi turned up motivated to work, and it paid off big time for them.

Whilst there may be some that will argue this wasn't a technically-solid effort, you'd have to be completely soulless not to have found this match very entertaining.

After a good back-and-forth, Disco surprised everybody but hitting a wicked piledriver to get the pin.
Your Winner and New Number One Contender to the Cruiserweight Championship: Disco Inferno

Following a short routine from the Nitro Girls (who were making their PPV debut here), Scott Steiner came out to cut one of his ever-so-eloquent promos.

Fumbling his way through every other sentence, Steiner challenged his brother and Buff Bagwell to a tag team match against himself and The Giant, with the tag team titles on the line.

This brought out J.J. Dillon, who agreed to book the match on the condition that, should Scott and The Giant lose the tag titles to Buff Bagwell and Rick Steiner, Rick would face Scott in a 15-minute match.

The nWo members agreed, and this one was on.

At no point did anybody bothers to mention that Scott Steiner wasn't even one of the tag team champions. WCW = logic.

Fit Finlay vs. Alex Wright

As the combatants made their way to ringside, the announcers told us that this was something of an old rivalry stretching back to an incident in which Fit Finlay broke the leg of Alex Wright's father.

It's worth pointing out that Alex's father, Steve Wright, was also a wrestler and had wrestled some matches with Fit. This wasn't just Finlay going around being an ass and breaking people's daddy's legs.

Revenge must have really excited Das Wunderkind, which is the only reason I can think of to explain the bulk in his trunks that I can't unsee.

Either that, or he was after stealing Lex Luger's Total Package gimmick.

Proving that this was by far one of the best WCW Pay Per Views of the year (which isn't saying much), Wright and Finlay ensured Halloween Havoc 1998 had another good match, with a short and enjoyable outing which drew heavily on both men's European style.

After a good effort from both men, Wright blasted Finlay with a simple neck-breaker to steal the victory.
Your Winner: Alex Wright

Out in the back, Lee Marshall tried to get through to Ernest Miller and convince him that he couldn't call himself The Greatest because somebody else (Muhammad Ali) had already used that name.

"Who is this imposter?" quipped Miller, which was pretty funny.

The segment might not have achieved much, but it was comical.

Saturn vs. Lodi

Well, this one was kind of dumb, but in a way that you couldn't help but smile at.

In this short squash match, Lodi was far more interested in waving his signs than in competing and would do anything to get away from Saturn so that he could go and hold them.

Unamused, Saturn dismantled the former Flock member in about 20 seconds, picking up a quick win.
Your Winner: Saturn

Whilst all of these matches have been fun so far, you do get the distinct impression that most of them were mere filler.

Saturn/Lodi, Finlay/Wright and Wrath/Meng, as fun as they all were, were Nitro matches, not major PPV matches. At least the next match had some significance, even if only from a kayfabe standpoint.

Before that, however, the announcers took us back to Nitro to show us Buff Bagwell swinging a chair at Scott Steiner and giving up his nWo membership to assist Rick Steiner.

The Nitro Girls gave us a show for a few minutes, and then it was finally back to the action.

World Championship Wrestling Cruiserweight Championship
WCW Cruiserweight Champion Kidman vs. Disco Inferno

Halloween Havoc 1998 must surely be one of Disco Inferno's favourite nights of his career.

Going up against Kidman, the mid-card comedy act turned it up a notch to deliver his second strong performance of the night.

Sure, his trash talking may have left a lot to be desired (who calls anybody a 'pipsqueak' seriously?) but the challenger worked well with reigning champion Kidman to really capture the fan's attention and hold it throughout the duration of a good pro wrestling match.

Alas, tonight wasn't to be Disco's night. Despite dominating proceedings, the former TV champion was flattened by Kidman's shooting star press and pinned.
Your Winner and Still WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Kidman

Up next, the one you've all been waiting for.

Kinda.

World Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Championship
WCW Tag Team Champions The Giant & Scott Steiner vs. Rick Steiner & Buff Bagwell

So, despite having never won the title, Scott Steiner was now one-half of the WCW tag team champions and was all set to defend the belts with The Giant against his brother and former best friend.

From a pure wrestling standpoint, this one wasn't much to write home about, but from a storyline and entertainment standpoint, it was golden.

After going back and forth with his brother and The Giant, Rick Steiner looked to have the whole match sewn up, only for Buff Bagwell to call for the tag.

Rick obliged and got kicked in the nuts by his partner.

Apparently, trusting Buff had been a dumb move all along (whodathunkit?). His work accomplished, Buff ran off, leaving Scotty and Giant to do the double-team on Steiner.

The two battered their opponent, then Scotty held Rick in place as Giant scaled the top rope. While the resulting missile dropkick which followed was admittedly very impressive, Giant took so long getting his position atop the ropes that it completely took you out of the moment.

Anyway, Steiner moved, Giant's dropkick hit Big Poppa Pump, and one top-rope bulldog to Giant later, Rick Steiner was the tag team champions.
Your Winner and New WCW Tag Team Champion: Rick Steiner

Scott tried to run, but Rick attacked and brought him back to the ring.

Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner

The drama continued, with the crowds getting fully behind Rick as he gave his brother a long overdue, and well-deserved ass kicking.

Unfortunately for the Dog Faced Gremlin, his moment was ruined by the arrival of a man disguised as President Bill Clinton (complete with rubber Clinton mask).

Stevie Ray ran out and handed Clinton a Slapjack, which he used to take out Rick and referee Charles Robinson before revealing himself to be not the United States President but, of course, Buff Bagwell.

The bell sounded, but this one was not over yet.

Scott made the cover on his brother and Buff used an unconscious Charles Robinson's hand to make the count. One...two...Rick kicked out!

Scotty gave his brother a top rope frankensteiner...One..two...Rick kicked out!

Then Rick made a comeback, floored both Buff and Big Poppa pump and made the cover. Nick Patrick ran in to make the count, and this one was over.
Your Winner: Rick Steiner

Afterwards, a battered and bewildered Buff Bagwell was seen calling out for 'Monica.'

Get it?

Because he was Bill Clinton!

*Insert eye-roll emoji here*

Finally, the feud that had started way back at Superbrawl VIII (when Scott first turned on Rick) was over, and it couldn't have ended in better fashion.

Again, it wasn't great technical wrestling, but it was fantastic storytelling that had the crowd completely invested. That blow off was well worth the wait.

Speaking of matches that were a while in the making, we next got a video package looking at the time Scott Hall turned on Kevin Nash at Slamboree 1998 and Scott Hall's descent into alcoholism. The two former best friends would meet next.

Scott Hall vs. Kevin Nash

Very much the same as the earlier Steiner vs. Steiner stuff, this was less about great wrestling and more about great storytelling. With Scott Hall playing drunk but then revealing he was actually just joking, The Bad Guy annihilated his friend in the early going and even took to the microphone to mock him.

Just when you thought Kevin Nash was out for the count, he staged a comeback and just beat Hall to a pulp, right up to the point that he could no longer stand up under his own strength.

The crowd were into every last move, giving one of the loudest reactions of the night just because Nash lowered his singlet. This, of course, was a precursor to not one, but two Jackknife Powerbombs.

The story here was that Nash was merely trying to beat some sense into his buddy and wasn't interested in actually beating him, in a wrestling match.

This explains why he then walked off, leaving a barely-conscious Hall to pick up the win via count out.
Your Winner via Countout: Scott Hall

More Nitro Girls followed. Damn, those were some good-looking women.

World Championship Wrestling United States Championship
WCW United States Champion Bret 'The Hitman' Hart vs. Sting

Sharpshooter vs. Scorpion Death Lock.

As a kid, Sting vs. Bret 'The Hitman' Hart was always one of those dream matches that I always longed to see.

Since we didn't get WCW PPVs over here in the UK 20 years ago, this is literally the first time I've seen this "dream match," and man, was I ever disappointed.

Rather than the absolute masterpiece these two could have put on just a year or two earlier, we got a slow, sluggish outing with Bret, in particular, doing the bare minimum.

In the end, the ref took a tumble and Bret beat up Sting with a foam baseball bat until he was unconscious. He then revived the referee, slapped on the Sharpshooter and when an unconscious Sting couldn't answer the count of three, this one was over.

What a waste.
Your Winner and Still WCW United States Champion: Sting

The next ten minutes was dedicated to Sting been wheeled off on a stretcher, so whilst that's going on, I'll take the time to point out two (mostly irrelevant) things that I noticed in this match:

1: Sting had a full on goatee beard which, with his red Wolfpac facepaint made him look a bit like Satan. That's not a compliment.

2: I'm pretty sure Bret Hart had different theme music every time he appeared on PPV.

Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. Warrior

And so ladies and gentlemen, here we have it: The long-awaited rematch between (Ultimate) Warrior and Ho Kogan that was eight and a half years in the making.

Having apparently relocated from Parts Unknown, Warrior was build as coming from the One Warrior Nation.

This was a nation which also included The Disciple, technically making it a Two Warrior Nation.

The man looked great, probably not as physically impressive as he'd done the previous month at Fall Brawl 1998, but then that was partly due to the novelty value of having not seen the man on a PPV since King of the Ring 1996.

Sadly, whilst he may have looked great, nothing he and Hogan did actually was great.

Though some spots weren't quite as bad as you'd expect, so many others were so horribly done, and so horribly botched, that the whole thing became laughable.

At one point, Hogan was supposed to leap over a prone Warrior and knock into Nick Patrick, but Patrick wasn't quite in position, so Hogan jumped over Warrior, stopped, turned, and then mowed down Patrick, making for our third ref bump of the night.

Just for good measure, Hogan then dropped a knee on the referee's head, the exact same spot we'd just seen in the earlier Bret/Sting outing.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Hogan later went to throw a fireball at Warrior but something went awry.

Warrior sold the fireball before it had even been thrown, and then it basically blew up in Ho Kogan's face.

Seriously, it was so comically bad that it was almost a relief when Horace Hogan came down and decked Warrior with a chair, finally giving Ho Kogan the chance to avenge his loss at Wrestlemania 6.
Your Winner: Hollywood Hogan

Post-match, Horace embraced his Uncle Hulk then doused a defeated Warrior in lighter fluid. Fortunately, Doug Dillinger and Random Security Man came down before the evil Hogans could set Warrior on fire.

World Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page

In his 2018 WWE Hall of Fame speech, Goldberg mentioned Diamond Dallas Page bringing him "15 pages" of an outlined plan for the match. Clearly, such meticulous planning paid off because this was arguably Goldberg's best WCW matches, if not one of the best of his entire career.

Without losing any of the aurae that had made Goldberg a star in the first place, both he and Page came out of this dramatic main event looking like true superstars, and whilst the reigning champion may have gone an alleged 155-0 thanks to a Jackhammer, he did so only after helping cement the idea that DDP truly belonged in the main event.
Your Winner and Still WCW Champion: Goldberg

And that was just about that.

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After a run of utterly dismal shows, World Championship Wrestling appeared to have corrected course with Halloween Havoc 1998 and gotten back to their usual PPV formula: 

An enjoyable undercard followed by a lacklustre main event.

Of course, whilst Goldberg/Page was technically the main event (and a very good one to boot) we still got the hilariously terrible Hogan/Warrior clash that also constituted as a main event, and has since gone down in history as one of the worst main events of all time. 

Apart from that and the disappointing Hart/Sting match (which I've actually seen a lot of other people praise), this was actually an enjoyable show, though not one that's going to be on your Must-Watch list. 

Track down Hogan/Warrior just to see pro wrestling at its absolute worst, but otherwise, maybe watch Halloween Havoc 1998 if you simply need to kill time for a while. 

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1998 events reviewed so far

1. WWF - Royal Rumble 1998 
2. WCW - Souled Out 1998
3. WWF - In Your House 20: No Way Out of Texas 
4. WCW - Superbrawl 1998
5. WCW - Uncensored 1998 
6. WWF - Wrestlemania 14 
7. WCW Spring Stampede 1998
8. WWF - In Your House 21: Unforgiven
9. WCW Slamboree 1998
10. WWF - In Your House 22: Over The Edge
11. WCW Great American Bash 1998 
12. WWF - King of the Ring 1998
13. WCW - Bash at the Beach 1998 
14. WWF - In Your House 23: Fully Loaded 
15. WCW - Road Wild 1998
16. WWF - Summerslam 1998
17. WCW - Fall Brawl 1998
18. WWF - In Your House 24: Breakdown
19. WWF - In Your House 25: Judgement Day 

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PPV REVIEW: WWF Judgement Day 1998 - In Your House 25

October 18, 1998, 
Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois

Apart from a single year (1999), Judgement Day was one of the WWF/WWE's regular B-Level pay per views that the company ran every year for over a decade. 

Before it became an annual attraction, however, there was this:

The first ever Judgement Day pay per view.

The 25th instalment of the In Your House franchise (which would end in just a few months), tonight's show would see The Undertaker and Kane go at it in the latest chapter of an ongoing storyline that would last literally for years.

This time, however, the vacant World Wrestling Federation Championship would be on the line and none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin would be the special guest referee.

Would The Phenom win his third WWF Championship tonight? Would Kane pick up his second in the space of a single year?

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Would Austin even bother to show up for his special referee role, a role he had been quite open about not wanting to take?

Let's head to the Rosemont Horizon to find out:

Austin Violated McMahon

Our opening video package reminded us that Austin had lost the WWF title in a triple threat match against Kane and The Undertaker at Breakdown: In Your House 24.

Since both ‘Taker and Kane had pinned Austin at the same time, they would go at it in tonight’s main event to determine a new champion, with Austin as the referee.

McMahon had decreed that Austin would have to ‘humble’ himself and raise the hand of the winner or else be fired from the World Wrestling Federation.

This was all interspersed at random intervals with sound bites of McMahon claiming Austin had violated him.

I don’t care to go through all the episodes of Raw to find out what that’s about, but there you have it:

Austin violated McMahon and now he would have to referee tonight’s main event.

After the usual greeting from our announcers, Jim Ross and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler, it was onto our opening contest.

Al Snow (w/ Head) vs. Marvellous Marc Mero (w/ WWF Women’s Champion Jacqueline)

Earlier, on Heat, Al Snow had cost Jeff Jarrett a match against Scorpio, so Jeff tried to insert himself into this match and make it a triple threat.

Instead, he got sent packing by referee Tim White whilst Marc Mero launched an attack on the former Leif Cassidy.

After that, we got a pretty hot opener which the crowd were really into, mainly because of how over Al Snow (or at least his Head) was.

Mero used Jacqueline’s interference several times to gain control but it still wasn’t enough.

After some fun action, Snow reversed T.K.O into a Snow Plow to win the match.
Your Winner: Al Snow

Before the next match, we were shown a clip from Heat in which Stone Cold Steve Austin was met by Pat Patterson, Gerald Briscoe, and Sgt. Slaughter as he tried to go up to the wrestler’s locker room.

Austin was told that he wasn’t allowed in that locker room tonight and would have to change in the referee’s dressing room, which was basically a dingy stock room.

Six-Man Tag
The Disciples of the Apocalypse (Skull, 8-Ball, and Paul Ellering) vs. LOD 2000 (Hawk, Animal, and Droz)

Yes, both teams were still hanging around this late into 1998, mainly so that LOD could have somebody to wrestle whilst doing that angle in which Hawk was an addict/alcoholic and Droz wanted to take his spot.

Despite being a six-man, this was more like a handicap match, with former LOD manager and current DOA man Paul Ellering tagging for all of 15 seconds to kick Droz in the gut and hit him with a drop toe-hold.

Other than that, absolutely nothing remarkable happened.

The match wasn’t terrible - I’ve seen far worse, trust me- but it felt more like card-filler than anything else.

Only the crowd’s love of their hometown heroes, Hawk and Animal, made it seem better than it was.

In the end, Hawk and Animal hit the Doomsday Device (JR once again called it the Devastation Device) but Droz snuck in and stole the three count.
Your Winners: LOD 2000

Afterwards, Hawk looked pissed at Droz stealing the glory, but Droz himself seemed more concerned with celebrating along with Animal.

Prior to the next match, JR told us that this was the biggest crowd the WWF has had in the Rosemont Horizon since Wrestlemania 13.

World Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Championship
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku (w/ Yamaguchi-San) vs. Christian (w/ Gangrel)

It would be easy to think the WWF had given up on their Light Heavyweight Championship.

Taka Michinoku hadn’t defended the title on PPV since February’s No Way Out of Texas: In Your House, when he beat Pantera.

Since then, the Japanese star had defected to the dark side by joining forces with former rivals Kai En Tai, and was now defending the title.

This time, his opponent was Christian, who was wrestling in his first PPV match after debuting during the Edge/Owen Hart match at the previous month’s Breakdown.

Christian had been revealed to be Edge’s brother, and had aligned himself with his brother’s vampiric nemesis, Gangrel.

Backstory aside, this was a decent match that was hurt by the crowd not giving a damn about either man nor about anything they did.

After an otherwise fun, seesaw battle, Christian reversed a Michinoku Driver to capture the title in his debut match for the company.
Your Winner and New WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: Christian

And that was the end of Taka Michinoku being seen as any kind of a star in the World Wrestling Federation.

Val Venis (w/ Terri Runnels) vs. Goldust

After failing to get the better of Val Venis as good ol’ Dustin Runnels, the second-generation star had returned to the Goldust gimmick that made him famous, and was now utterly adored by the live crowd.

Looking to avenge his loss the previous month (and seek some revenge for Val stealing his wife) Goldie went at it with the wrestling porn star in a good, entertaining contest that went down well more because of the characters and their rivalry than because of any of the actual wrestling moves.

Not that what they did wasn’t good. This was a good effort which ended when Terri Runnels distraction backfired, allowing Goldust to kick his rival in the goolies behind the referee’s back and score a three count.
Your Winner: Goldust

Prior to the next match, Michael Cole showed us clips of Ken Shamrock beating up Triple H backstage after an injured Hunter was forced to hand his Intercontinental Championship to The World’s Most Dangerous Man.

Cole was interrupted by X-Pac, who promised to take care of Shamrock the following night on Raw. Tonight, however, he was all about reclaiming the European Championship from D’Lo Brown.

World Wrestling Federation European Championship
WWF European Champion D’Lo Brown vs. X-Pac w/ Chyna

I’ll just go ahead and say it - this is one of the most amazing matches I’ve watched in a long time.

Proof that you don’t need to be a main event star to have the crowds eating out of the palm of your hand, both champ and challenger turned it up several notches to deliver the absolute best match of their fall ‘98 rivalry, and one of the best matches of 1998 period.

Just watched @TheRealXPac vs. D’Lo Brown for the European title at Judgment Day 1998. Absolutely amazing, one of my new favourite matches!

— Retro Pro Wrestling (@retropwrestling) 18 March 2018

After a really good outing, X-Pac caught D’Lo coming off the top rope, hit him with the X-Factor, and became a two-time European Champion.
Your Winner and New European Champion: X-Pac

Out in the back, Michael Cole told us there was a rumour going around that Paul Bearer had just walked into The Undertaker’s locker room.

Once again, Cole was interrupted, this time by The Headbangers.

Mosh and Thrasher were now heels, and were set to challenge the New Age Outlaws for the tag team titles.

Before that, however,  they fumbled their way through a bunch of insider terms in a goofy, cringe-worthy promo.

World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions
WWF Tag Team Champions The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg Jesse James & Bad Ass Billy Gunn) vs. The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher)

Looking right at home in their new roles as the brash and violent bad guys, Mosh and Thrasher dominated almost the entire length of this long, drawn-out tag team title contest.

Whilst some would argue that this was a bad thing (certain chinlock spots did seem to drag on), this writer would disagree strongly.

Road Dogg and Billy Gunn did their best to make their opponents look like a serious threat to the titles, and the match itself did have some fun scattered here and there.

Besides, the crowd were hot for the New Age Outlaws from start to finish. At one point, Billy received what was legitimately one of the biggest pops of the night just for taking his shirt off.

The fans kept up this fever-pitch show of support throughout the contest, chanting the Outlaws' and DX's catchphrases as the champs took it in turns to get their asses handed to them by The Headbangers.

Fed up with the foul play from Mosh and Thrasher and unable to counter it with more above-board tactics, Road Dogg finally grabbed The Headbanger’s boom box and brought it across his opponents’ head, causing the DQ finish.
Your Winners by Disqualification: The Headbangers (New Age Outlaws retain the titles)

Out in the back, Michael Cole began telling us about Paul Bearer apparently going into The Undertaker’s locker room before he was interrupted by Mankind.

On his way to challenge Ken Shamrock for the Intercontinental Championship, Mankind first told Cole that Shamrock’s interviews were the second biggest cause of teenage suicide, which was harsh but hilarious.

He then began engaging in some bizarre puppetry in which he asked Mr Socko what kind of underwear he was wearing.

This of course, just gave Foley an excuse to rip off his sock and reveal a mandible claw.

World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship
WWF Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock vs. Mankind

Though not the best match on the card, this was a solid outing that served its purpose well.

Early on, it seemed as though Mankind was trying to wrestle Shamrock’s style of match, trading holds and reversals with the champion until the whole thing broke down into the typical Foley-style brawl.

In a unique finish, Shamrock slapped the ankle lock on the challenger, but rather than submit to it, Mankind put the mandible claw on himself and passed out.
Your Winner and Still Intercontinental Champion: Ken Shamrock

Afterwards, Howard Finkle announced that Shamrock was the winner ‘via Mandible Claw’ which sent Shamrock into one of his trademark hissy-fits, attacking Mankind and suplexing the referee.

I know having Ken Shamrock ‘snap’ like this was supposed to make him look dangerous and unpredictable, but it always just made him look like a crybaby, which isn’t exactly what you’d expect from a babyface.

I also know that I say this every time we review a show where Shamrock does it, but honestly, it's one of the dumbest things ever and is worth repeating.

Bossman Blocks Cole

Backstage, Michael Cole’s hopes of getting an interview with Vince McMahon were shot down by Big Bossman.

Last seen on PPV teaming with The Steiner Brothers to face the nWo at WCW Souled Out 1998, the former Big Bubba Rogers had returned to the WWF just a few weeks prior and was now serving as McMahon’s security/bodyguard.

Bossman reminded us that he was the law, order, and justice of the World Wrestling Federation, and that meant there was no chance of Cole getting his interview.

It’s funny, I was never the biggest fan of Bossman’s matches, but he was always a compelling heel character and delivered some good work here.

For the record, the last time we saw him on a WWF PPV was at the 1993 Royal Rumble.

Mark Henry vs. The Rock

So, on the back of his many catchphrase and general bad-assness, The Rock was now a fully-fledged babyface and, to prove it, he recently got attacked on Raw by his former Nation of Domination cohort, Mark Henry.

Meanwhile, Henry also has a confusing thing going on with Chyna. He had filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her but then dedicated a ‘poem’ to her before this match.

Once the bell rung the action was short if not necessarily sweet.

It wasn’t a bad match by any standards, but it was hardly the sort of thing anybody would be talking about even the next day.

In the end, Henry scored the upset with a big splash.
Your Winner: Mark Henry

Post-match, The Rock looked on, bemused.

Something tells me this loss wouldn't hurt his career very much.

World Wrestling Federation Championship match (title vacant)
Kane vs. The Undertaker

Special Guest Referee: Stone Cold Steve Austin

Kane and The Undertaker has a great match back at Wrestlemania 14, and their Inferno match at Unforgiven 1998, though not on a part with their initial outing, was a spectacle in its own right.

In this, their third PPV meeting of 1998, however, the two really failed to put on a good show.

Of course, it didn’t help that the crowd were initially more into Guest Referee Steve Austin than anything the Brothers of Destruction were doing, but even when the initial obsession with Stone Cold wore off, this match failed to capture the intensity and creativity that Austin’s own main event bouts had delivered throughout the year.

This slow, aimless match came grinding to its conclusion when both competitors decided to turn on Austin and beat him up.

Paul Bearer then came down with a chair and begged Kane to let him be the one to take out Undertaker.

Instead, Bearer turned on Kane, who barely flinched when struck with the chair.

As Kane questioned Bearer’s treachery, Undertaker picked up the chair and laid out his brother, only for Austin to recover and knock out The Phenom with a stunner.

Stone Cold then counted both men out and declared himself the winner.
No Contest

Afterwards, Austin dared McMahon to fire him just as the Chairman had promised to do.

When Vince no-showed, Austin took us on a brief tour of the backstage area to look for him, then came back out to call the boss out a second time.

This time Vince appeared and was greeted with a rapturous chant of ‘Asshole! Asshole!’ from the live crowd.

‘I can’t hear a word you’re saying because you got eighteen thousand people calling you an asshole!’ quipped Austin, showing a mastery of the mic that is truly lost in today’s product.

Asshole or not, Vince delivered his first ever ‘You’re Fired!’ line to Austin, effectively terminating him from the company.

Never one to let a mere thing like being fired rattle him, Austin vowed that Vince hadn’t seen the last of him, then celebrated with the crowd and a couple of beers.

Austin would indeed be back just 24 hours later, when he appeared on Raw, made Vince wet himself, and revealed that Shane McMahon had signed him to a five-year contract.

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Since I first started reviewing these Attitude Era shows, I’ve said many times that they were characterised by a poor undercard followed by a hot main event.

This, however, was exactly the opposite.

With D’Lo Brown and X-Pac stealing the show, most of the other undercard matches were reasonably entertaining, all building up to an awful main event which really showed why they needed Austin back in the ring.

For storylines and a taste of the Attitude Era at its most chaotic, this one is worth a look, but as far as matches go, just watch the European Championship match and then skip on to something else.

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1998 events reviewed so far

1. WWF - Royal Rumble 1998 
2. WCW - Souled Out 1998
3. WWF - In Your House 20: No Way Out of Texas 
4. WCW - Superbrawl 1998
5. WCW - Uncensored 1998 
6. WWF - Wrestlemania 14 
7. WCW Spring Stampede 1998
8. WWF - In Your House 21: Unforgiven
9. WCW Slamboree 1998
10. WWF - In Your House 22: Over The Edge
11. WCW Great American Bash 1998 
12. WWF - King of the Ring 1998
13. WCW - Bash at the Beach 1998 
14. WWF - In Your House 23: Fully Loaded 
15. WCW - Road Wild 1998
16. WWF - Summerslam 1998
17. WCW - Fall Brawl 1998
18. WWF - In Your House 24: Breakdown

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PPV REVIEW: WWF Breakdown 1998 - In Your House 24

September 27, 1998
Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Despite featuring prominently on the advertising for tonight's show, D-Generation-X leader Triple H was nowhere to be seen tonight. 

After capturing the Intercontinental Championship in a star-making performance against The Rock at Summerslam 1998, Hunter had gone down with a knee injury and had been forced to sit this one out.

Meanwhile, The Rock's career remained unscathed despite the Summerslam loss.

Tonight, he looked to continue his natural rise to the top of the WWF hierarchy by taking on Ken Shamrock and Mankind for a shot at the WWF Championship.

Speaking of that title, reigning champion Stone Cold Steve Austin was set to put it on the line against Kane and The Undertaker, a match that served as the latest chapter in his on-going battle with the evil overlord, Vince McMahon.

Here's what happened when the World Wrestling Federation rolled into Ontario for In Your House 24: Breakdown.

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Vince McMahon is Basically Hitler

As often happened with 1998 WWF PPVs, tonight’s show began with a video package which depicted the evil Vince McMahon as a Hitleresque dictator.

Interspersing shots of a maniacal McMahon worth stock footage of tanks, war, and -weirdly- MLK’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, the video told us the story of Vince stacking the odds against Stone Cold Steve Austin by putting him against both Kane and The Undertaker.

This was a move that McMahon was certain would finally dethrone the WWF Champion once and for all.

From there, we got our usual greeting from Jim Ross and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler, who informed us of the recently-added stipulation that Austin would be stripped of his title should anybody interfere in the match.

With that, it was onto our opening contest.

Edge vs. Owen Hart

After making his PPV debut the previous month at Summerslam, Edge had his first PPV singles match here with the one and only Owen Hart.

The future Hall of Famer looked clumsy in the early going, but soon found his confidence and worked a good match with his veteran opponent.

Not the best match by any stretch, but certainly a solid and enjoyable outing, this one came to an end when a mysterious blonde-haired guy came from the crowd and distracted Edge.

As the youngster looked with confusion, asking the man who would become known as Christian what he was doing there, Hart seized his opportunity, rolled up Edge and scored a quick three-count.
Your Winner: Owen Hart

Afterwards, Edge headed out into the crowd in pursuit of the mystery man.

Too Cool (Too Sexy Brian Christopher & Too Hot Scott Taylor) vs. Al Snow & Scorpio

Back at King of the Ring 1998,  Al Snow faced Too Cool in a handicap match. According to the story, if Al had beaten Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor, he would have been granted a meeting with Vince McMahon to discuss being rehired by the WWF.

Ultimately, Snow had lost that match, but finally got a WWF contract anyway by beating Sgt. Slaughter in a Bootcamp match on Raw.

Despite Slaughter being retired and a good few years older than Snow, the announcers told us multiple times that Snow’s win had been an upset.

Anyway, now Snow was teaming with Scorpio, the two having a common bond thanks to their previous runs in ECW.

The match started well, with a really good exchange between Scorpio and Scott Taylor, and did have some fun spots both inside and outside the ring that ultimately meant this had all the makings of a really good match.

Unfortunately, it was let down by a couple of things.

1: Scorpio trying to use a chair as a springboard to launch himself at Too Cool, only for the chair to collapse and cause Scorpio to fall on his arse. Taylor and Brian Christopher still sold the move anyway, which was dumb.

2: A confusing finish where everybody tried to pin everybody else but the ref stopped counting before someone could break the fall.

In the end, Al Snow hit the Snow Plow for the three.
Your Winners: Al Snow & Scorpio

Post-match, Scorpio had a word with Snow for accidentally hitting him on the head with, erm, head.

The Demons of Destruction Talk

After waging war on each other back at Wrestlemania 14, Undertaker and Kane were now on the same page and were looking forward to taking out Stone Cold Steve Austin later in the show.

The Demons of Destruction, as JR called them, told Michael Cole to stop poking his nose in when Cole asked which one of them would get the fall over Austin and become champ.

According to The Undertaker, he and Kane had come to an understanding, and that’s all he was prepared to say on the matter.

Marvellous Marc Mero (w/ WWF Women’s Champion Jacqueline) vs. Droz

If ever there was a definition of ‘filler match, this was it.

The most interesting thing here was that the company had brought the Women’s Championship back, and Jacqueline had apparently won it that week on Raw but did not bring the title to the title with her.

The other interesting thing was JR making reference to Johnny B. Badd (‘he’s no longer a badd man’) which he had done regularly since Mero turned heel.

Speaking of heels, the match came to an end when Mero distracted the referee, allowing Jacqueline to jump off the top and hit Droz with the heel of her shoe.

Mero then hit Marvelocity (Shooting Star Press) to win what was a decent but immediately forgettable match).
Your Winner: Marc Mero

Backstage, a clean-shaven Bradshaw told Michael Cole that he wasn’t there to wrestle ‘that fat bastard’ Vader but to fight him.

‘Vader, this is survival of the fittest, not the fattest,’ said the Texan before storming off ready to fight.

Falls Count Anywhere: Vader vs. Bradshaw

It still bothers me how badly Vader’s career was screwed up in the WWF.

Here, the big man went up against Bradshaw in a mediocre Falls Count Anywhere match that nobody remembers.

Nothing memorable happened apart from a couple of stiff spots which culminated in the most lacklustre of finishes:

A Rude Awakening from Bradshaw for the win.
Your Winner: Bradshaw

Apparently, the show next had Jason Sensation doing some impressions, but the version I’m watching (an original copy of the show and not the WWE Network edit) skips over that and goes straight to our next match.

D’Lo Brown vs. Gangrel

Here we had Gangrel making his PPV debut against  D’Lo Brown, who was still seething from losing the European Championship to X-Pac a few days earlier on Raw.

To be honest, I’m not sure if D’Lo was more angry about losing the belt or about the fact that he hadn’t had time to get new attire made since his loss.

He wrestled this match wearing tights emblazoned with the words ‘EUROPEAN CHAMPION.’

Anyway, the match itself was decent, though not enough to elicit a reaction from the live crowd.

Two decades later, it’s funny how something Lawler said on commentary would prove to be so true:

That because of Gangrel’s unique look and awesome entrance people forget that he is, or at least was a talented wrestler.

Here he put up a good showing against D’Lo but came up short when Brown’s Nation teammate, Mark Henry, ran interference.

D’Lo hit Sky High and got the three count.
Your Winner: D’Lo Brown

Afterwards, Gangrel got revenge by spitting ‘blood’ in Mark Henry’s eyes and then beating up D’Lo Brown.

A part of me thinks that match might have been better if it had a reason behind it that could have made the fans care.

Instead, not unlike the earlier Mero/Droz match, this seemed like your average Raw mid-card bout.

Sugar Coated Testies

On Raw, Ken Shamrock, Mankind, and The Rock met in a triple threat match to determine the next challenger to the WWF title.

That match was cut short when The Undertaker and Kane beat all three men up, so tonight we were going to have a rematch, this time inside a steel cage.

Before that, Michael Cole interviewed Shamrock, Doc Hendrix spoke to The Rock and Kevin Kelly had a word with Mankind.

Shamrock vowed that he would stop at nothing to become champion, whilst The Rock delivered all his catchphrases and said something about sugar coated testies.

Mankind wondered if sugar-coated testies were a new kind of cereal, though not before calling The People’s elbow the stupidest thing he had ever seen, promising that ‘I will not sell that abortion!’

With that, it was onto the match.

Triple Threat Cage Match
Winner Becomes #1 Contender for the WWF Championship
Mankind vs. Ken Shamrock vs. The Rock

Pinfall, submission, or cage escape rules apply here.

Also, judging by the crowd, The Rock was a full-on babyface here.

The Canadians loved him and it was clear from the outset that the time was night for The People’s Champion to be propelled into the main event scene.

As for the match itself, it started off fairly average but quickly built up into a dramatic, hard-hitting contest that kept you on the edge of your seat, legitimately guessing as to the winner.

Towards the finish, Mankind tried to dive off the top of the cage with an elbow but got nothing but canvas.

Whilst he was out (and The Rock was already out), Shamrock tried to escape through the cage door, only for Mankind to drag him, along with a steel chair, back in the ring.

The two brawled to their feet, where Foley smashed The World’s Most Dangerous Man with the chair and tried to escape the cage.

At the same time, The Rock pinned Shamrock and this fantastic contest came to an end.
Your Winner and New Number One Contender: The Rock

Afterwards, Mankind literally tore his hair out in frustration and Ken Shamrock ‘snapped,’ storming around the ring like a child throwing a tantrum.

Shamrock did this every time he lost and we were always supposed to cheer for him as a babyface.

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

So, after dumping Marlena (Terri) to shack up with Luna Vachon for a run as BDSM Goldust, Dustin Runnels had disavowed that character altogether in order to preach about morality and good value.

His role as preacher obviously meant he many things morally wrong with wrestling porn star, Val Venis.

So, he did what any bible-thumping preacher would do: He attacked Val and beat the crap out of him.

Val responded the only way he knew how:

By shagging Dustin’s wife.

That led us to our match tonight, and to Terri Runnels looking insatiably hot as she came to the ring with Val, getting molested by him the whole time.

Moving at a much faster pace than you might expect, this turned out to be a good match, although one that you’d no doubt instantly forget about.

With the announcers playing up the fact that Dustin was driven to distraction by his wife’s blatant adultery, it came as little surprise when Val Venis money-shotted his way to victory.
Your Winner: Val Venis

Post-match, Venis molested Terri some more whilst Dustin skulked off backstage, dejected.

Six-Man Tag
WWF European Champion X-Pac and The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg Jesse James & Bad Ass Billy Gunn) vs. Jeff Jarrett & Southern Justice (Mark Canterbury & Dennis Knight)

One month after getting his head shaved by X-Pac at Summerslam 1998, Jeff Jarrett teamed with his new associates Mark Canterbury & Dennis Knight (formerly The Godwins) to battle the new European Champion and his D-Generation-X teammates, the New Age Outlaws.

Of note, this is the first PPV that saw Jarrett (who had once again ditched the country music star gimmick) bring a guitar to the ring with him. This is something that he would do pretty much for the rest of his career.

This started off reasonably well, with some hot action and a good exchange between former buddies Jarrett and Road Dogg, but it quickly settled down into a mostly lifeless match with few, if any, redeeming spots.

After a dull outing, Jeff Jarrett smashed X-Pac with his guitar outside the ring whilst Billy Gunn hit the as-yet-unnamed FameAsser on Mark Canterbury for the pin.
Your Winners: X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws

Post-match, they sold the chair shot as being as bad as an actual gunshot, with concerns about whether ‘Pac might have wood splinters in his eyes.

World Wrestling Federation Championship Triple Threat
WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker vs. Kane

Even though this was technically a triple threat, Vince McMahon had ordered that Kane and Undertaker could only pin Austin, not each other.

He had also decreed that Austin would lose the title of any of his ‘friends’ got involved, which was odd considering Austin was supposed to be the ultimate loner.

As it turned out, that caveat was unnecessary (though a useful red herring), but the Undertaker/Kane thing did lead us to the brothers’ inevitable falling out over who would pin Austin.

After a long and entertaining brawl (better than I’ve seen a lot of other people give it credit for), both pinned the champ at exactly the same time.

Howard Finkle made the ‘And new...’ announcement, but couldn’t tell us who the new champ actually was.

In the end, it didn’t really matter, as Vince McMahon came down, took the Smoking Skull belt, and rode off in a limousine with it.
Your Winner and NEW WWF Champion: ???

How's that for ending the show on a cliff-hanger.

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Though I can understand why not everybody was a fan of that main event, it was typical of the ‘f**k the rules’ brawling style that was so typical of the WWF main event scene at the time, and it actually worked pretty well.

As for the show as a whole, this was an odd one.

Outside of the last three matches, nothing much seemed to matter. 

Edge/Owen, MeroDroz, and D’Lo/Gangrel were as random as you could have asked for and didn’t seem to have any point to them, whilst the best thing about Venis/Runnels was seeing Terri looking stunning.

Not that I’m saying this was a bad show. Most of the matches were decent enough, just not the kind of classics that would make it must-see viewing 20 years later.

If there is one reason to watch this show, it’s The Rock. 

This wasn’t the best he ever performed, but it was the first PPV where you saw that the former Rocky Maivia wasn’t just over, but was Main Event Superstar over, and during the hottest period in the company’s history, that’s saying something.

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1998 events reviewed so far

1. WWF - Royal Rumble 1998 
2. WCW - Souled Out 1998
3. WWF - In Your House 20: No Way Out of Texas 
4. WCW - Superbrawl 1998
5. WCW - Uncensored 1998 
6. WWF - Wrestlemania 14 
7. WCW Spring Stampede 1998
8. WWF - In Your House 21: Unforgiven
9. WCW Slamboree 1998
10. WWF - In Your House 22: Over The Edge
11. WCW Great American Bash 1998 
12. WWF - King of the Ring 1998
13. WCW - Bash at the Beach 1998 
14. WWF - In Your House 23: Fully Loaded 
15. WCW - Road Wild 1998
16. WWF - Summerslam 1998
17. WCW - Fall Brawl 1998

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