WWF Results ... by Chris Hyatte
King of the Ring - 6/28/98
It seemed like a perfect plan. To deflect some of the heat that WCW is currently basking in, the WWF used their June pay per view, the sixth annual King of the Ring, to keep fan's interest and dollars on their product. In order to do so, the WWF supplemented the usual tournament and obligatory WWF title defense of current champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin with the second "Hell in the Cell" match ever (not counting the arguable "match" that was on RAW a few weeks back). By putting the Undertaker in the cage against Mankind, they hoped to remind everyone captivated by the idea of pro basketball players in the ring that the WWF still had the best product around. It was a good plan, but like many good plans, there were some stumbling blocks.
Much like last year, where they had to scramble the card around when a few wrestlers became injured, this year's lineup was placed in jeopardy when mega-stars Austin and the Undertaker had injured their elbow and ankle respectively. Even though they took a week or so off and rested up as much as they could, the quality of their matches were still very much up in the air. It really could have gone either way tonight, and I have to say, the way it eventually went had to be seen to be believed.
-opens with a video production dealing with the two main events and the angles that connects them. Freddie Blassie does the voiceover and implicates heavy religious themes.
-A fireworks display and a jacked up Jim Ross welcomes us to the Igloo in Pittsburgh, PA.
-Ross and Jerry Lawler extol the evil virtues of the "Hell in the Cell".
FIRST MATCH: The Headbangers and Taka Michinoku vs Kaientai.
This was dubbed as a special "bonus match" just for us fans. After hitting the ring, Michinoku took off his robe to show a Headbangers t-shirt and a plaid skirt. Kaientai came to the ring with their manager Yamaguchi San. The announcers took a moment to show us the gas cans filled with gasoline that will help ignite Kane, should he lose.
Highlights & Lowlights:
-Usually being the smallest men in the ring, it was kind of cool to see the Headbangers be the biggest men in there.
-The 'Bangers even held there own against the technically superior opponents.
-There was a nice sequence of moves on Michinoku's part against Tanaki. A dropkick to the corner, followed by a seamless mount to the top rope/missile dropkick, and finished with the No Hands Springboard Plancha.
-Michinoku was the one who took all of the triple teaming, probably because the American's wouldn't have been able to keep up.
-After knocking down Michinoku, Tanaki gave the Headbangers a double middle finger.
-Dick Togo gave Michinoku a face first power driver. Tanaki helped him by driving Michinoku's face into the mat with a Free Hand Bulldog.
The end came after the Headbangers dropped Michinoku onto Tanaki with a Double Flapjack. A Michinoku Driver won the match for the good guys. Forgettable, but enjoyable all the same. It's also a glaring reminder of the so far useless Light Heavyweight belt and it's champion.
-There was a bit of bad timing. Jim Ross sent it out to the Superstar Hotline room where Dok Hendrix was supposed to talk to Val Venis. Unfortunately, Hendrix was just finishing up with Venis and ended the segment as soon as we got there. Ross stumbled a bit when trying to get back on track.
-Then he pushed the superstar line.
-Sable came out to a nice pop, and introduced Vince McMahon.
-Vince came out with Patterson and Brisco. Sable was about to leave, but Patterson gave her a little pat on the butt. Sable turned around and slapped him right in the face. Jim Ross cracked me up with this line:
"Well Patterson, getting into trouble by entering territory that he may not be familiar with."
-That was better than anything I could have come up with.
-Patterson yelled at Sable to get the Hell out of there. Brisco tried to move on by grabbing the mic and demanding that the fans show some respect for, "Mr McMahon."
-Then Vince grabbed the mic and basically called everybody in the arena an utter disappointment. He commented that all of their parents must be very disappointed by them. Basically, this served two purposes. To draw cheap heat, (which he doesn't need) and to kill time. After the monologue, Vince stared at a bunch of fans in the front row who were chanting, "VINCE SUCKS".
SECOND MATCH: Jeff Jarrett vs Ken Shamrock (King of the Ring Semi-Final)
Tennessee Lee introduced Jarrett, who came out under his impressive fireworks display. In the ring, Jarrett grabbed the mic and said, "Three words, AIN'T I GREAT?" The fans screamed it along with him, showing that perhaps Jarrett does have a chance of breaking out. Ken Shamrock stomped to the ring, and did his obligatory "zone out" routine at the ring steps. Jarrett attacked right away and it was on.
Highlights & Lowlights:
-Having settled into their seats, the fans were rather quiet for this match.
-At one point, we hear Jarrett call for a clothesline, and receive one as requested.
-On that very same clothesline, Jarrett purposely flipped head over feet to sell it. He certainly didn't have to sell it that strongly, but he knows that part of his job is to make his opponent look as good as possible. That is a mark of a true wrestler.
-A distraction by Tennessee Lee allowed Jarrett to clip Shamrock in his leg. Jarrett worked on his leg from that point on to the finish.
-Both men enjoyed moments of control.
The end came after Shamrock dropped Jarrett on his head with a NASTY Hurricarana. It looked like Jarrett's head slammed into the mat. An Ankle Lock wrapped things up quickly after that. After the match, Michael Kole talked to Shamrock at ringside, Shamrock said that his work wasn't done yet. The match was good, but it seemed a bit off. Jarrett was my dark horse pick to win, which is why I don't do predictions.
-spot for the DX videotape
THIRD MATCH: Rocky Maivia vs Dan Severn (King of the Ring Semi-Final)
The Rock came to the ring with the Godfather and Mark Henry, but WWF officials quickly chased them backstage. Severn came to the ring with a look of sheer fury on his face. No fast attacks for this one, they both started off cleanly and in their corners.
Highlights & Lowlights:
-Early into it, the Rock did a great job showing frustration as Severn kept on taking him down to the mat. He sold the idea (and fact) that Severn is a more skilled mat wrestler than he is.
-After putting Severn down with a clothesline, the Rock parodied Severn's ring mannerisms and got a nice response from it.
-Severn's style of grappling and Maivia's more conventional style blended together nicely at times, and poorly at others.
The end came quickly enough when both the Godfather and Henry came back out to distract the ref. This allowed D-Lo Brown to come out from the seats wearing a body shield over his chest. He gave Severn a top rope Frogsplash, which made for an easy Maivia win. Once again, Kole talked to the winner, who said that Shamrock would be easy pickings.
-a video montage of Al Snow and his return to the WWF.
FOURTH MATCH: Too Much vs Al Snow and Head (If Snow wins, he gets a meeting with Vince McMahon, if he loses, he must leave the WWF)
Too Much consisted of "Too Hot" Scott Taylor and "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher. Al Snow is Al Snow and Head is his mannequin head. After Too Much hit the ring, they went to Snow backstage, who was busy arguing with his Head. He argued with Lawler a bit then went to the ring with no music whatsoever, which helped facilitate the awkwardness of the match in general. Ross commented that there was no ref, then it was announced that Jerry Lawler himself would be the guest referee. Lawler put on a ref shirt, put on his crown, and hit the ring. Snow placed his head on the corner, yelled it a bit, and things got underway.
Highlights & Lowlights:
-Although a few mannequin heads were seen in the crowd, there was very little heat for this one.
-Ross was really struggling to go at it alone. He needs a second man to converse with.
-Lawler played up the bad ref angle with zeal, yelling at Snow any chance he had. He even stopped Snow from throwing a punch at one point.
-Snow pulled off a nasty top rope sunset flip on Christopher. Too Sexy's head bounced off the mat.
-With Christopher on the floor, Snow backflipped Taylor onto him. Taylor's feet smashed right into Christopher's face.
-With both men outside, Snow walked all the way to the entranceway, then ran full tilt at Christopher and clotheslined him. Christopher patiently waited for him to do it, making the whole move seem too telegraphed.
-Immediately after that move, Taylor nailed Snow with a Springboard Body Block.
-In a nice bit of double teaming, Too Much gave Snow a double Atomic Drop on his butt, then Christopher held Snow's head and Taylor gave him a sliding dropkick into the face.
-Taylor moonwalked to his corner. Piper would have been proud of his up to date ring moves.
-Snow eventually tagged in his Head and proceeded to nail Too Much with them.
-Then Snow nailed Christopher with the "Snow Plow" and went for the pin, Lawler refused to count.
The ending went like this, Snow pinned Taylor, Christopher pinned the Head after jamming a bottle of "Head and Shoulders" shampoo in it. Lawler made the three count, and declared that Too Much were the winners. You see, with the bottle, the Head now had "Shoulders" and was pinnable. Ross apologized to us for this debacle, and rightly so.
-video montage dealing with the feud between Owen Hart and X-Pac.
SIXTH MATCH: X-Pac vs Owen Hart
X-Pac came out with Chyna and under his theme song. After he complimented the DX smoke bombs with some Crotch Chops, Owen came out. X-Pac started things off by dropkicking Owen in the face before he could even get into the ring. The match got going.
Highlights & Lowlights:
-Owen seemed a bit on the pudgy side.
-X-Pac took it early with his great kicks and spin kicks. Great looking stuff there, why Bischoff fired him is beyond me.
-X-Pac sold the Hell out of every bump he took, perhaps to show that he is back to 100%.
-This was the most back and forth match of the night.
-X-Pac clotheslined Hart on the back of his head from the ring apron to the floor.
-Owen responded by hurtling X-Pac into the Timekeepers table. X-Pac crashed into it and made a huge mess. Great spot. Lawler said that the bad news was that Finkle didn't get hurt in the spot.
-Owen gave X-Pac a gourdbuster onto the Spanish announcer's table. It cracked the top of it.
-During a rest period where Owen had X-Pac in a sleeper, we could see the two men have a conversation.
-For the first time in a long time, X-Pac performed his "Bronco Buster". Homoerotic implications notwithstanding, it was nice to see that again.
-Owen went for a top rope superplex, but he ended up on the mat and X-Pac ended up on the ring floor outside.
-Owen had an ugly cut next to his eye, and started to bleed. It was obviously hardway.
-At that point, Mark Henry ran out and bellysplashed X-Pac. Chyna confronted him and they went nose to nose for a bit, then Vader came out and slammed into Henry. Vader bounced off the big guy and went down himself. He got back up and the two went at it.
While that was going on, Owen put X-Pac in the Sharpshooter, but the ref was too busy with the big men. Chyna came in and DDT'ed Owen on his FACE. X-Pac draped an arm over Owen and scored the win. Solid match and a great PPV return for X-Pac. If he can stay uninjured, we can expect some great work from him.
-Ross plugged a show in England on December 6th
-Paul Bearer came to the ring and killed time by saying that the Undertaker couldn't keep him away from tonight. At one point, he said, "How do you think this makes me feel?" To which a fan was heard yelling, "LIKE A FAT PIECE OF SHIT!"
-spot for the next PPV, In Your House: "Fully Loaded". It was heavily focused on Degeneration X.
SEVENTH MATCH: The New Midnight Express vs the New Age Outlaws (WWF Tag Team Championship Match)
Billed as the second bonus match of the night, The NAO came to the ring first and went through their usual pre-match routine. The fans reacted nicely. Jim Cornette came out with his team, who wore the NWA tag team belts, but Ross was quick to point out (and rather snottily, I may add) that this match was for the "real" belts. Oddly enough, Cornette didn't have his tennis raquet with him. The bell rang and things got going.
Highlights & Lowlights:
-At first glance, this is a blow off match. But in reality, there was enough youth, skill, and experience in there for a pretty decent outing.
-There was a bit of heat, and some nice pre-lockup theatrics once "Bombastic" Bart and "Bad Ass" Billy stepped into the ring. For you newcomers out there, they are brothers and former tag champions.
-When they finally went at it, they performed exactly as expected of two brothers who have trained together for most of their lives...flawless, hard impact, smooth wrestling.
-Much like Jarrett earlier that night, Bart flipped head over feet off a Billy clothesline. He didn't have to sell it that strongly, but he wanted to make his younger brother look good. A true professional.
-While standing over Road Dog, "Bodacious" Bob did a mock Crotch Chop".
-Bad Ass went to piledrive Bodacious, but Cornette hit him with a tag belt. Cornette looked so naked without his tennis raquet.
-Cornette tried to hit him again when he rolled up Bob. This time, Bad Ass saw him and stood up with a fist raise. Then Chyna came in and nailed Cornette in the crotch. It took a bit too long for Chyna to get in there.
Bad Ass finally pinned Bodacious Bob after he and the Road Dog gave him a double Hot Shot on the ropes. A nice match, pretty forgettable, but well tuned. It was more RAW worthy than PPV, but it was a bonus match.
-Kevin Kelly was backstage online with Dustin Runnels. Dustin asked all of us to say a prayer for the wrestlers tonight. Turns out, one of the wrestlers really needed some prayers before tonight was over.
-Triple H came down with Chyna to help color call the King of the Ring final. He hit the ring and did his routine, then got himself settled in next to Ross. Hunter made some hysterical comments during his segment, which I will transcribe as they come up.
EIGHTH MATCH: The Rock vs Ken Shamrock (King of the Ring Final)
The Rock came to the ring without any members of the Nation. During his entrance, Ross talked to HHH about the boost one receives after winning the KOTR, HHH responded by saying, "The King of the Ring is without a doubt, a stepping stone to the top rung in this business. You just can't pose in any nudie magazines, or they'll take your crown away." An ironic statement, since very early in his life, it was rumored that HHH did pose for a few of those type of magazines. Shamrock hit the ring with a wild look in his eye, playing up some of the bad blood that these two men have had. Before the bell rang, HHH had this to say:
"Keep it clear. This is the WWF. These are real athletes. These are not old men, stumbling around the ring. This is where the athletes go."
Highlights & Lowlights:
-They spent a good 30 seconds after the bells rang just staring at each other with their arms out, ready to lock up.
-HHH, "Rocky better hope that Shamrock doesn't end up with that foot shoved way up between those two glutial cheeks of his."
-Shamrock scored first real contact with a huge leg kick right in Maivia's chest.
-At one point, Chyna joined the Spanish commentators and displayed some bilingual talents.
-After Ross asked HHH what Chyna was saying, he responded, "Something about Taco Bell." Ross then asked, "You're not bilingual?" To which HHH said:
"There are a lot of 'bi' things I am, but 'lingual' isn't one of them." He waited a beat, then said, "Hey wait a minute. Did I mean to say that?" Ross said probably not, but they were live. Great stuff.
-Maivia took a bit of rest time outside, then he saw HHH at the announcer's table and they jawed at each other a bit, Hunter, "You don't want none of me, fuzzy top." Then HHH drank some water and spat it at Maivia. Maivia shoved him down. HHH got back up, but the ref blocked him. Meanwhile, Shamrock attacked Maivia.
-It was during this segment that we see a HUGE sign reading, "AL ISAACS IS DA MAN".
-Once he regained his composure, HHH put his mic back on and said, "Testes, one , two,....THREE?" Lawler laughed at that one.
-Maivia tossed Shamrock over the top rope, but Shamrock's hand got caught between the ropes. The ref quickly freed him. It seemed like an accidental occurrence.
-After nailing Shamrock with a clothesline, Maivia leaned against the announcer's table and just stared at HHH.
-Maivia dropped Shamrock throat first against there railing, but he missed the spot completely and Shamrock barely grazed the railing.
-HHH, "Rocky is lucky that my middle name is sportsmanship, or I would end this right now by sticking my foot up his ass."
-The Rock hit Shamrock with the DDT. Maivia may have the finest looking DDT in the business now that Arn Anderson is retired.
-Jim Ross commented on how WWF wrestlers compete while injured. HHH followed that up with this:
"That's what separates champions from losers in the WWF. Not how much stroke you got with the guy running the show. Not how much you can stick your nose up the butt of the guy running the show."
-One of the biggest pops of the night came from Maivia's "People's Elbow".
-Maivia performed another DDT, this time it was a swing around variation.
-Shamrock did a sequence of moves (elbow of the ropes, spin kick, powerslam) that really got the crowd going.
-There were a lot of pin attempts towards the end.
-Shamrock went for the Hurricarana, but Maivia turned it into a Hot Shot.
The match ended when Maivia stood over the downed Shamrock. Shamrock wrapped his arms and legs around Maivia's leg and took him down. He quickly turned it into the Ankle Lock. The Rock strained for a bit, really tried to fight, but eventually, he tapped right out. Shamrock won the King of the Ring. One more bit of humor from Helmsley:
Ross, "SHAMROCK, SHAMROCK, SHAMROCK...THE KING OF THE RING!!!"
HHH, "JR, maybe you should say it 5 or 6 more times."
-The "Hell in the Cell" was seen being lowered. Ross and Lawler did one last bit of hype for it.
NINTH MATCH: Mankind vs the Undertaker (Hell in the Cell).
Mankind came out first with a chair in hand and immediately climbed to the top of the cage. He stood there and waited for the Undertaker. The Undertaker came out, stripped off his costume, and climbed the ring to meet him. The bell didn't ring, but the match began on the roof.
Highlights & Lowlights:
-Mankind used his chair within 10 seconds of the Undertaker's arrival.
-At one point, a portion of the roof caved in as they were on it. It took a quick moment for the menb to regain their bearings. I considered them lucky for not hurting themselves. What a fool I was.
-What came next is quite simply..the most awesome spot in the HISTORY of this sport. What happened next will forever go down in the archives as THE BUMP by which all other bumps will be judged.
-Undertaker grabbed Manmind, and pitched him OFF THE ROOF OF THE CAGE AND 16 FEET DOWN INTO THE MEXICAN ANNOUNCER TABLE. I promise you, NOBODY has ever seen that before.
-I really don't think Ross knew that it was coming, what followed is every word Ross and Lawler said during this spot.
Lawler, "Oh my God. Look out! Look ouuuuooooooHH!"
(Mankind crashed)
Ross, "GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY, GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY, HE KILLED HIM!!!!!
Lawler, "Oh my God"
Ross, "AS GOD AS MY WITNESS, HE IS BROKEN IN HALF!!...(pause)....Oh my God! Somebody get out here, really, I mean it."
Lawler, "He needs some help."
Ross, "My God, I...."
Lawler, "This is over"
Ross, "....cannot. I cannot believe...."
Lawler, "This is over right here."
Ross, "...that..that..that cage..."
Lawler, "It's over."
Ross, "..is over 16 feet high."
-Then they showed three replays of the bump. It was incredible, no matter how you looked at it.
-Terry Funk and some officials came out to tend to Mankind. Even Vince came out to check on him. They raised the cage so the stretcher could get out there quicker. The Undertaker never left the roof, so he rose with the cage. Finally, they had Mankind stretchered and the cage lowered back down. The UT started to climb down when..
-Mankind got off the stretcher and went back to the cage. He was smiling. He climbed back up the cage to the roof. The Undertaker followed.
-What followed was the SECOND most awesome spot I have ever seen before in my life. Mick Foley is now officially the TOUGHEST son of a bitch on the planet.
-The Undertaker grabbed Mankind and chokeslammed him THROUGH the roof and onto the ring mat. How Foley got away without breaking his neck is beyond me. Again, Ross and Lawler seemed to be a shocked as we were:
Ross, "Good God, GOOD GOD! WILL SOMEBODY STOP THE DAMN MATCH? ENOUGH'S ENOUGH! THE POOR SONOFA...HE'S BROKEN IN HALF".
-Again, Funk and some officials tended to Mankind, but the Undertaker jumped down to the mat, (His ankle almost gave away when he landed). Terry Funk yelled at him, and received a chokeslam for it. They locked the cage door and the match kept going.
-Mankind was bleeding from the mouth and had what looked to be a piece of snot hanging from his nose. Ross anmd Lawler speculated that it could have been a splinter from the table, or even one of his teeth.
-Mankind was even able to launch an offensive, and he even drew some blood out of the Undertaker. (Even though we could practically see the UT reach for his blade after Mankind rammed his head into the cage).
-Mankind gave the UT a piledriver on a chair.
-He followed that up by giving UT a legdrop with a chair across his leg.
-Mankind went under the ring and produced a sack. He reached in and dumped a handful of THUMBTACKS on the mat. He dumped another handful, then dumped the whole sack on the ring.
-He tried to knock the UT down on them, but UT fought back. Mankind then put the Mandible Claw on the Undertaker and jumped on his back.
-UT fought him, then picked Mankind up piggyback style and DUMPED Mankind on the thumbtacks. Mankind rolled around in agony.
A Tombstone finished him off and the Undertaker won the match. After being tended to by Funk and an official, the crowd showed their respect by chanting, "FOLEY, FOLEY". Then Foley got a rousing standing ovation as he was helped out of the ring. One fan could be heard saying, "Standing ovation Mick, standing ovation." I can't think of any single person who deserved it more. Mick Foley gave you something that was worth TEN TIMES the cost of the pay per view. Like him or hate him, he put on a show.
-Lawler looked at a thumbtack as Ross reminded us that there was one more match left.
-video collage dealing with the main event.
TENTH MATCH: Kane vs "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (WWF Heavyweight Title Match: First Blood Rules)
Simply put, the first man to start bleeding loses the match. Should Kane lose, then he would set himself on fire. Other than that, there were no real rules. Kane came to the ring first with Paul Bearer. Austin came to the ring with his arm heavily bandaged. Austin started the match right off by going on the offensive.
Highlights & Lowlights:
-Austin started off strongly by nailing Kane with his belt twice, then taking off one of the turnbuckle pads.
-Ross mentioned that Austin had a badly infected elbow and spent some time in the hospital last week with a huge fever.
-Kane went for the Tombstone, but Austin backed out of it and threw him out of the ring.
-For some reason, the Hell in the Cell cage started to lower. Ross screamed conspiracy.
-With the cage lowered down to eye level, Kane threw Austin into it. His head bounced off it and he hit the floor.
-Kane tried to place Austin's head between the descending cage and the floor where it would land. It didn't work as well as it could have, but Ross sold it well enough.
-Austin sent Kane halfway through the cage door. Then the cage started to rise again. At one point, Kane was hanging in the doorway while it was mid air.
-Austin had a bloody scratch on his back. Ross assured us that referee Earl Hebner would end the match when he decided that someone was bleeding significantly enough.
-The two took it to the ring entrance. Unlike last month's Austin/Dude Love matchup, there were no props to play around with.
-We see Vince McMahon and Sable watching the match from a luxury box.
-Kane dropped a guard rail onto Austin. Austin blocked it with his hands, but still sold the impact.
-After throwing Kane's head into the announcer's table, Austin took a small fan (wind machine, not punk ass mark) and bashed it across Kane's head.
-Kane mounted the top rope and went for the clothesline, Austin sent his head crashing to the mat. The cage stayed halfway between the floor and the sky.
-Hebner went down after Kane sent Austin flying into him.
-Just as Austin seemed to be wrapping it up, Mankind limped out with a chair and a sick smile. He had spots of blood all over his body. Austin dropped him with the Stunner.
-Kane caught Austin by the throat. Austin kicked him in the crotch and dropped him with the Stunner too.
-At this point, the Undertaker limped down to the ring with a chair. He went to hit Mankind with a chair....
-...at the same time, Austin produced a chair and tried to hit Mankind...
-....Mankind ducked and UT ended up hitting Austin's chair, which hit Austin in the face as well. UT threw Mankind out of the ring and then poured gas on Early Hebner to revive him. Austin started to bleed big time.
Austin blasted Kane with a nice top rope clothesline, then whacked him with two HUGE chairshots. He waited for Kane to get up for a third shot when Hebner woke up, saw Austin, and called for the bell. Kane won the first blood match and won the title. The show ended with a shot of Vince, smiling broadly as a new champion was crowned.
You know, not once did we hear the words, "RAW" or "Tomorrow night". That is a claim WCW can NEVER make.
The first hour and a half was rather routine, and even a bit awkward. The crowd wasn't very into it and nothing all that exciting was happening. Then Owen hart and X-Pac went at it, and from there, this became PPV of the Year material. Mankind put on the performance of his LIFE and by all rights, should be dead by now. Austin was still a bit tired from his injury, so his match wasn't as good as the classic brawl last month, but he still gutted out a wild performance. I don't care if you saw it or not...BUY THE REPLAY AND TAPE IT!!!! This is a card that they will be talking about for the next 10 years...and Mick Foley's legend is now set in stone. I PROMISE you, even though Herb Kuntz is going to hate the card, THIS is what the world will be talking about for quite sometime. Karl who? Dennis who?
This is Hyatte (who?)
Chris Hyatte