Raw is War - June 28th, 1999

CEO Austin’s Last Laugh

The McMahons - once again full owners of the WWF - lead the entire Corporate Ministry to the ring looking jubilant as balloons and confetti rain down on the crowd and arena. They gloat about having kicked Stone Cold’s ass, and promise that tonight will be a night no one will ever forget. Vince passes it over to Shane who excitedly fires Stone Cold as CEO. Vince is very happy to tell us that now Austin is right back to the bottom of the ladder. We’re talking working on the ring crew, only wrestling on Shotgun Saturday Night level. 

Vince does say that Austin will have a match tonight - a preliminary match - and the fans can stick around to see Stone Cold assist the ring crew after the show. Vince also celebrates the domination of The Undertaker, and the complete harmony of the entire Corporate Ministry. Triple H and The Undertaker are now working as a team and as a reward The Undertaker can defend the WWF title at Fully Loaded against Triple H. I want to point out here that Mideon is wearing Shane McMahon’s retired European title belt during this. The Big Bossman - coming out to his 1980s babyface theme song - interrupts. He was kicked out of the Corporate Ministry last week. Bossman squares up to Vince and Shane and they all hug! He was with them all along. It’s never expressly stated but this is the answer to “who raised the briefcase at King of the Ring?” Corporate interference was banned so they faked him being kicked out so he could interfere and then immediately welcomed him back. The former CEO Stone Cold Steve Austin interrupts next and gets a thunderous ovation. Austin reveals that while he was still CEO, he took the precaution of writing himself a new contact. A large pay rise, a provision where he can now attack the McMahons whenever he wants, and a WWF title shot here tonight on Raw, with all outside interference banned or else Austin wins the title by DQ! Stone Cold was thinking three moves ahead it seems, knowing that he might get screwed at King of the Ring.

Michael Cole interviews Mr. McMahon about tonight's WWF title match. Is Vince worried? No, he isn’t. He and Shane took Austin’s heart last night so he has no chance tonight. 

The main event is The Undertaker defending the WWF Championship against Stone Cold Steve Austin. If there is any outside interference in this match, The Undertaker will be disqualified and Austin gets the title. Paul Bearer probably doesn’t count as interference though. Interestingly it was on Raw the night after the King of the Ring PPV last year that Stone Cold regained the title from Kane. This crowd has been red hot all night and they exploded for Austin. Stone Cold uses his signature offence early with the Thez Press and the big elbow rebound off the ropes for a near fall. He hammers Undertaker in the corner with stomps and right hands and goes for a Stunner but Taker immediately backs out of the ring and the brawl goes around the ring - Austin’s trademark. Paul Bearer goes get some cheapshots in and The Undertaker dominates in the ring, grinding down Stone Cold with a long sleeper hold. Stone Cold does eventually fight out of that and the two go back and forth trading the advantage. After a big double clothesline spot, Austin mounts his comeback with stomps in the corner and as The Undertaker counters and goes for the Tombstone Stone Cold slides out the back and hits the Stunner! Paul Bearer pulls the referee out of the ring before he can count to three. Austin quickly punches out Paul Bearer and gets the referee back in, countering a chokeslam attempt into a second Stunner and just like that, Stone Cold Steve Austin wins his fourth WWF Championship!

He tries to celebrate but The Undertaker hits Austin in the head with the title belt, busting his head wide open. A bloody Austin tries to fight back but The Undertaker overwhelms him and rains punches down on his open wound as referees try to split them up. 

Will the real DX please stand up?

Michael Cole welcomes the 1999 King of the Ring Bad Ass Billy Gunn to the ring. He’s still wearing the tag title belt he stole from Bradshaw last week. He brags about having beat three guys at the top of their game which JR scoffs at. Shamrock and X-Pac were both injured and he had help from The Big Show in beating Kane. It doesn’t really put him over to have JR undermining him the whole time. Mr. Ass is facing Bradshaw tonight because he wants his belt back. As he talks, the proper version of My Time cuts him off and Triple H and Chyna make their way to the ring. Billy readies for a fight. His question is about money - his, Chyna and Mr. Ass’ royalty checks have shrunk since leaving DX because X-Pac and Roaddogg get all the money for the D-Generation merch, not them. The three of them agree that they were the real DX and that they should be getting all the money from the DX merch sales. 

Triple H says that he’s busy focusing on the WWF title so he’s going to loan him Chyna and the two of them can go after “what is rightfully ours”. They don’t want the name or anything else, they just want the cash. Mr. Ass agrees. As the three of them pose to the DX theme music, The Rock - furious at Triple H for costing him the WWF title last night - sprints to the ring and blows right past Chyna and the new King of the Ring to attack Triple H until referees separate the two.

The Rock comes out first for his match with Triple H. He does a pre-match promo running through his catchphrases. He had The Undertaker beat multiple times last night but isn’t champion thanks to Triple H. He is so popular now, it’s insane. He is getting close to Austin’s level, certainly with the live crowds. I know I mention Triple H’s theme music a lot but I really do love My Time and I’m so happy he has the proper version of it now. The Rock takes control early and dominates Triple H with a near fall off a DDT and as he hammers Triple H down in the corner with right hands, the new King of the Ring Mr. Ass runs in with a tiny little baseball bat which JR calls a club and knocks The Rock out cold. The Rock wins by disqualification and the heels just leave together. 

In the back, Mr. Ass is talking to someone off camera, giving them the instruction to only come and help if he needs them. After an ad break he enters to face Bradshaw. Bradshaw and Faarroq are the Tag Team Champions, but Billy stole one of the belts after scoring the victory in a six man tag team match last week. So I guess in Billy’s mind he and Faarooq are the tag team champions. Bradshaw starts fast with a clothesline, a big boot out of the ring and some chops and throws to the ring steps. He physically dominates the new King of the Ring, which is odd booking. This is a show where Mr. Ass should have come in with all this momentum and picked up an easy win. He does get some offence in and moons Faarooq. Thres a miscommunication and Faarooq hits Bradshaw but X-Pac is there to hit a heel kick on Mr. Ass which sends him into a Clothesline from Hell with Mr. Ass flipping inside out! Bradshaw regains his tag team title belt. Chyna runs down to attack X-Pac, but Roaddogg is there to make the save and X-Pac and Roaddogg send Mr. Ass and Chyna packing. 

Jeff Jarrett with Debra (Yes King, with “the puppies”) defends his Intercontinental Championship against X-Pac. Before the match Jeff throws King some of his new merch. It’s a “show me your puppies” t-shirt. King actually enormously gets on my nerves during this match talking about puppies and nothing else relentlessly the entire time. The fans start chanting for “puppies” too though so it's not just him in this era. X-Pac counters a long sleeper spot into a pair of spinning heel kicks and then a dropkick into a sitdown powerbomb. X-Pac has control and hits the Bronco Buster. Mr. Ass runs down and tries to hit X-Pac with Jarrett’s guitar but eats a spinning heel kick instead. X-Pac gets the guitar and knocks out Jeff! He has the IC title in the bag but as Debra distracts the referee, The King of the Ring slides in and lays out X-Pac with the Fameasser allowing Jeff to retain. Billy attacks X-Pac again until Roaddogg runs out for the save again. Chyna follows and for the second time tonight we have a four person brawl between the former DX members. Officials do separate them eventually. For the record, I’ve mentioned that Billy won the King of the Ring significantly more in this review than anyone did on Raw.

The Big Shot

Hardcore Holly - The Big Shot - comes out to the ring. He is unimpressed by The Big Show’s dropping a car on him last week. But he says he’ll get back to Show and right now he wants to focus on Kane. Kane chokeslammed him last night when he tried to interfere in Kane’s quarter final with Big Show. His challenge is accepted by Kane pretty quickly. Holly isn’t afraid of Kane and actually puts up a good fight, knocking Kane off the top rope and drop kicking him to the outside. The Big Show comes down during this having beef with both men. Holly distracts the referee and Show drives Kane down with an enormous Show Stopper chokeslam. Kane knocked out Show with a chair to win his quarter final match last night (though Show did cost Kane his semi-final match so you’d think they’re even) Holly pins Kane with one foot on his chest but then doesn’t get to celebrate as Kane kills Hardcore with not one, not two, not three but four chokeslams in a row! Referees manage to get him out of the ring before the carnage can continue.

Other Happenings

• In a match booked by the McMahons, Ken Shamrock faces Steve Blackman in a weapons match. Shamrock is still badly injured after Blackman hammered him with a kendo stick and gave him internal bleeding before the King of the Ring. Injuries that let eventual winner Mr. Ass easily eliminate Kenny via referee stoppage. Before the match, Shamrock makes it clear to Vince McMahon that he is going to get him no matter who he sends to stop him, and calls out Blackman showing no fear. Blackman tackles Steve on the ramp and sends him to the ring steps but immediately starts selling his ribs and midsection. Shamrock’s weakened state leaves him open and Blackman rips off his t-shirt to expose bandaged ribs and just wears him out with weapons and blows from various martial arts sticks. With Ken bleeding from the mouth and in a bad way, Blackman doesn’t even bother beating him and just calmly packs up his weapons in a bag and leaves. This wasn’t even a match, it was a hit job. After the break with blood pouring from his mouth Ken Shamrock refuses medical attention. 

• Backstage Kevin Kelly interviews Chaz. This is Mosh of the Headbangers and recently Harry “Beaver” Cleavage. They’re doing the whole “omg he’s breaking character, it's a shoot” thing where he’s dropping “gimmicks” and just being himself. “A fun loving kid from New Jersey”. This is 100% pure, uncut Russo. It has never worked which is why the WWF stopped him from doing it too much but then he’d go to WCW and run this into the ground with no supervision and tank an entire company with it. It’s funny though because I thought the Beaver Cleavage incest thing with his “mom” lasted longer than three weeks. His mom is in fact his girlfriend “Mariana” and will act as his valet and manager.
• Meat accompanied by the all-female stable of PMS (Pretty Mean Sisters, Jacqueline, Terri Runnels and Ryan Shamrock) takes on the newly gimmick-dropping Chaz. Meat gets distracted by his own ladies and Chaz picks up a win with a sort of backwards Death Valley Driver.

• WWF Women’s Champion Ivory accompanied by Nicole Bass comes to the ring. Ivory runs down the plastic Barbie-dolls who just “take it off” and that she’s a real champion. Ivory says they can do a remake of Rocky and issues an open challenge to any woman in the audience to challenge her for the title. A girl gets in the ring wanting to take the challenge. Security stops her but Ivory is pretty funny here. “Come on, it's all fake anyway right?” The girl changes her mind, deciding she doesn’t want to get hurt but Ivory slaps her. The challenge tackles the champion but Nicole Bass pulls her off and drills her with a massive powerbomb! Nicole actually tries to keep attacking but Ivory stops her and helps the fan to her feet, just to clothesline her down again! The head of security does step in at last to split them up and save the fan.

• This week's black and white, candid camera “GTV” footage isn’t just the usual security camera footage and whoever is behind it has gone out with a camcorder themselves to film stuff. We see Test and Stephanie McMahon leaving a hotel together! After the Meat/Chaz match Test is interviewed by Terry Taylor about this and he’s jumped by Shane McMahon and the three members of the Mean Street Posse. It’s a vicious beating until referees and officials manage to break it up. 
• Backstage as Michael Cole tries to get a medical update on Ken Shamrock and Test his interview is interrupted by a brawl. Droz and Prince Albert beat up Val Venis and slam him into a metal shutter door. 
• The Godfather, who tonight has four hoes with him, runs through his “I love weed” pre-match promo. He’s facing Edge. Jerry Lawler almost gives himself an aneurysm trying to shout as many Austin Powers quotes as possible at the hoes. Austin Powers 2 came out in July 1999 so that's actually pretty current for him. This match only just gets going as Droz and Prince Albert make their way out to the ring to watch the match. As Godfather hits the Ho-train in the corner, Droz gets on the apron to distract the referee which lets Albert muscle the 300lbs Godfather into a very impressive gorilla press slam. Edge recovers and hits a spear and wins the match. Droz and Albert attack Godfather after the match and then capture one of the hoes, apparantly to give her a piercing against her will. They grab her tongue with a pair of pliers and Edge actually gets back in the ring and makes the save. He and Godfather were opponents but Edge isn’t a bad guy and won’t let that happen. The hoes swarm Edge in thanks and Godfather seemingly lets Edge take the one in the red dress that he rescued. In the crowd Gangrel watches on and seems to disapprove of Edge’s actions. 

Raw is War - July 5th, 1999

Steel Cage

Michael Cole interviews The Rock about his steel cage match Triple H tonight. The Rock asks Cole to model his new t-shirt and hands it over his face. The Rock says that Triple H can dream of being WWF Champion all he wants, he has to go through The Rock. He calls Mr. Ass a “nothing, a nobody, a peon to The Rock” which is true but he shouldn’t say it. That’s the King of the Ring!

The main event is a steel cage match between Triple H and The Rock. The Rock is aggressive early and hammers Triple H down in the corner and climbs to the top rope to escape but Triple H catches him and he takes a cool looking bump off the top turnbuckle and Triple H is able to take control. Triple H tries to escape out the door and Chyna slips him some handcuffs which he uses as a weapon and punches The Rock in the head. Triple H dominates but The Rock battles back with a DDT. He crawls to the door and Chyna slams the cage door on his head and knocks down the referee. Chyna goes into the ring and gets Triple H and pulls him out of the cage but there's no referee to ring the bell! The Rock follows and after booting Chyna in the gut battles Triple H up the ramp. The two fight back to the ring and The Rock counters a Pedigree attempt into a catapult into the steel cage! The Rock gets Triple H back inside the ring as the referee wakes up and has no idea either man was even outside the cage! The match continues. The Rock throws Triple H up into the sides of the cage bouncing him around from pillar to post and lands a Samoan drop. The match continues and The Rock even uses an axe handle off the top rope but Triple H comes back with a facebuster across the knee and a shot to the cage. Both men are down and the fans have been loudly chanting “Rocky” all night! Triple H gets over the top of the cage and The Rock gets a handful of hair and drags him back inside. The two end up sitting on top of the cage trading punches. Triple H calls for Chyna to get him a steel chair which she does and hands to him. Triple H cracks The Rock right in the head but instead of easily climbing down to win he decides to get back in the ring and head for the door but he falls and crotches himself on the top rope! Triple H crawls for the door as The Rock lays on top of the cage. The Rock revives and just barely makes it to the floor before Triple H does! The Rock is the winner! This was a great match. Mr. Ass runs to the ring and gives The Rock a Fameasser out on the floor at ringside. He throws The Rock into the ring and this former DX member alliance of Triple H, Chyna and Mr. Ass beat down The Rock in the ring to close the show.

The End of an Era

The show opens with a video recap of Stone Cold regaining the WWF title in last week’s main event and a revelation as on Sunday Night Heat The Undertaker challenged him to a rematch for the title at Fully Loaded in a First Blood match. In the arena all's right with the world as the new WWF Champion swaggers to the ring, title belt swinging. Stone Cold rules again. 

Austin takes great pleasure in having taken four months of McMahon planning to keep the title away from him but last Monday he took those plans and shoved them up Vince’s ass! He accepts The Undertaker’s challenge for a First Blood match at Fully loaded and reminds us that The Undertaker cost him the last First Blood match (against Kane at King of the Ring 1998) Vince comes out and says that the WWF isn’t big enough for the both of them and one of them has got to go and go for good. He offers to add another stipulation, in writing, that if Austin defeats The Undertaker at Fully Loaded then Vince will never, ever again appear on WWF TV and will have nothing to do with Stone Cold. But if Austin loses he can never again even attempt to become WWF Champion. Austin’s own lawyers can even draw up the contract. Stone Cold accepts what Vince calls “one way or the other, the end of an era”. 

Kane and The Undertaker…again

The Big Show forms an uneasy tag team with someone he’s had a lot of issues with lately in Hardcore Holly. They’re supposed to face Kane and X-Pac but X-Pac has been arrested so this is now a handicap match with Kane going it alone. Holly’s gimmick now is that he’s either very brave or very stupid as he keeps picking fights with super heavyweights like The Big Show, Kane and Viscera. Holly starts telling both the referee and his partner that he’s in charge. JR and King talk about The Undertaker during this? Some stuff happened over the weekend on Shotgun Saturday Night and Sunday Night Heat that pointed towards Kane and The Undertaker being buddies again but they don’t say what that “stuff” was. The Big Show has accused Kane of being in cahoots with The Undertaker anyway but I’d imagine it’s just a case of The Big Show having crossed paths with them both and so it feels like they’re both after him. The Big Show easily dominates Kane and tags out to Holly. The Undertaker and Paul Bearer make their way to the ring and as The Big Show is distracted Kane chokeslams and pins Hardcore Holly. Kane and The Undertaker work together beating down The Big Show, even double suplexing him! Kane leaves without acknowledging The Undertaker. Do they just have a common enemy, or are they working together? The Undertaker smacks The Big Show in the head with a steel chair, which Kane stopped to watch. Show is bleeding badly. 

Wasting Police time

Out in the parking lot Chyna has called the police - her car has had DX spray painted on it. She says that she saw Roaddogg and X-Pac do it. Her car is ruined and she wants them arrested. Later in the back after asking Sgt. Slaughter who doesn’t know where they are, Howard Finkle tells the police where to find DX. What a grass. We know they're police because they're wearing black t-shirts that say "Police" on them.

Michael Cole interviews Chyna and Triple H. She is furious about her car being vandalised. Triple H is more angry that he has to face The Rock again. He wants to be WWF champion so what is beating The Rock going to get him? Fair question

Roaddogg takes on Val Venis who is still a little beat up from earlier tonight with Droz and Prince Albert. As the match gets going, X-Pac is led to the ring by the police already in cuffs. They handcuff Roaddogg two and both members of DX are arrested! Backstage Mr. Ass and Chyna enjoy watching it on a TV screen. Out in the parking lot X-Pac and Roaddogg are loaded into the back of a police car and driven away.

Mr. Ass with Chyna takes on Meat with PMS. The King of the Ring wins easily with the Fameasser. PMS gets in his face and is obviously taken care of by Chyna. She DDT’s Jackie and Billy DDT’s Meat. Chyna gets some spray paint out and after spraying some on Terri’s butt while she tries to run away, they lay Jackie and Meat next to each other and spraypaint “DX” across their bodies and on the ring mats. JR insinuates that Chyna vandalised her own car. Well yeah, duh. 

Other Happenings

• The Hardy Boys (with their generic production track theme music) accompanied by Michael Hayes get the Tag Team title match that they won at the King of the Ring. Last night on Heat, The Hardys faced X-Pac and Kane and when The Acolytes ran in Bradshaw was given a Tombstone onto the ring steps by Kane. Bradshaw apparently has a concussion now and has been told not to compete here but he punches out an official backstage and does anyway. They’ve given The Acolytes an excuse if they do lose this one but imagine them using a concussion as a storyline nowadays. The Hardys are quick and actually get some reactions from the fans with some impressive flips and dives. The Acolytes are so big and brutal and physical so its a nice mix of styles. As Faarooq is distracted fighting with Michael Hayes, Jeff breaks his cane across Bradshaw’s head and Matt lands a tornado DDT for the upset pin! The Hardy Boys are the new WWF Tag Team Champions!

• This week’s GTV cuts off a victory promo by Matt Hardy, showing Droz and Prince Albert getting dressed up as hoes. Droz seems to quite like it which allows King and JR to be deeply homophobic about it. That leads into the next match as The Godfather with two real hoes (one of which is played by future WWF Women’s champion and hall of famer, women’s wrestling legend Lita!) who then calls out Val Venis. Last night on Heat Godfather and Val defeated Droz and Albert in a tag team match and by the stipulation, that’s why Droz and Albert are hear dressed up as hoes complete with makeup and wigs. The Godfather is wrestling Gangrel and just because there isn’t enough mid-card storyline jammed into this one segment, JR and King talk about how Gangrel seems to be pulling away from The Brood and is unhappy with Edge and Christian. The Godfather wins a short match with a leg drop and then Droz and Albert attack Val Venis on the outside. Gangrel spikes Godfather with a DDT to stop him from helping and then Gangrel joins in the attack on Val Venis. Christian and Edge come out to get him, saying that this is nothing to do with them, confused about why he’s attacking Godfather and Val. Droz and Albert leave Val and Godfather laid out, still wearing their tight dresses but having lost their shoes.

• Backstage Stephanie McMahon warns her boyfriend Test to be careful tonight. He heads to the ring and faces Joey Abs, the newest member of the Mean Street Posse. In real life, Joey doesn’t know Shane etc and was added to this group so they’d have a real trained wrestler to hold up his end in matches like this one. Test attacks him on the ramp and dominates Joey. He’s changed up his ring gear again and is wearing the long leather trousers and black vest combo that I know him best for. He shows some impressive moves with a gutwrench powerbomb but this is just two guys doing moves and not really selling anything. Test hits a sit-down chokeslam and Shane McMahon aggressively drags his sister to ringside. The distraction lets Rodney and Pete Gas jump him from behind and Shane restrains his sister and makes her watch all three Mean Street Posse members violently beat Test in the ring. Shane angrily rants like a mad man. “Never with my sister, never!”. 

• D’Lo Brown comes to the ring. He’s been challenged to a hardcore match by Al Snow. As he talks, Snow slides into the ring from behind and hits him with a steel sheet. This is a Hardcore title match, and when they fight to the outside D’Lo backdrops Snow out into the crowd and the two fight through the crowd. D’Lo has actually started a feud with Mideon on Sunday Night Heat over the European title, which Mideon now claims is his. I believe that he is now recognised as the European champion, technically given the title by Shane McMahon after finding it in his gym bag. These two fight in the concourse and D’Lo uses a payphone as a weapon. Snow uses a shovel as a weapon and D’Lo returns the favour and it looks like it hit him in the face! Brown lays Snow on a dining table and then jumps from another with a splash which looked cool! Snow slams Snow through a table and might have the match won until Mideon appears from behind a curtain and knocks another table onto him. Al Snow disappears behind the curtain and appears at the top of it riding a forklift. He drops onto D’Lo from on high through a table to win and retain his Hardcore title! 

• Jeff Jarrett defends the Intercontinental Championship against Chaz. Personally I think his girlfriend Mariana is a lot more attractive than Debra but the “we want puppies” chants start early and loudly. This match is very short and Chaz does hit a few moves but with a distraction from Debra Jeff Jarrett wins and retains the title. After the match he tries to hit Chaz with his guitar but he’s rescued by Thrasher who sends Jeff running. So Mosh is now Chaz but he has his previous tag team partner back. Will Thrasher get a new name too, or will they just be The Headbangers again? 
• Edge takes on The Big Bossman. Edge seems to be back to getting a little singles push again as we’ve seen him in singles action and heard his solo entrance music a few times lately. That plus Gangrel seemingly turning on his Brood brothers and there are changes afoot. Edge is fast and strikes and moves but Bossman is big and strong. It’s a classic combo. Edge wins clean with a spear but Bossman doesn’t even sell and hits Edge with his nightstick before handcuffing him to the top rope. He continues the beating with the nightstick to the ribs and head and even hits the referee. Christian runs down and saves his tag team partner but when he stops to try and unlock the handcuffs Bossman hits him with the nightstick and handcuffs him too. Bossman hammers them both with shot after shot and the obvious question is - where is Gangrel? 

Raw is War - July 12th, 1999

The Brothers of Destruction

The show opens with the WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin. He has the proper belt and not his custom Smoking Skull belt, for anyone interested. I prefer this one. He has the contract drawn up for his and McMahon’s stipulations for the First Blood match at Fully Loaded. Vince comes out in a wheelchair. This is legit as he was in a motorcycle accident on the 4th of July. JR telling us that reveals that last week’s Raw was pretaped as that was on the 5th of July and Vince was fine. Austin gets out of the ring and gives Vince the contract to read and a pen, demanding he sign it and make this official. Vince gets his reading glasses out and takes his time. JR actually name drops Mont Blanc pens which popped me personally. Vince tells Austin to sign first, but Stone Cold stops short and demands his Smoking Skull belt. I knew that was going to be a thing. Austin tells Vince he won’t sign it until he gets his belt. 

The lights in the arena go off and Kane’s music plays much to everyone’s confusion. Austin starts aggressively questioning Vince and actually steers his wheelchair to use as a human shield. The Undertaker jumps Austin from behind, hitting him with the Smoking Skull belt! Austin gets busted open and The Undertaker uses a fountain pen to extract some of Stone Cold’s blood which lets Vince sign the contract in Austin’s own blood. Humorously when he tries to leave Vince’s electric wheelchair struggles with the ramp and Shane has to run down and get him. Backstage after an ad break, Austin gets some stitches in his head.

Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett with Debra comes out to demand some respect for “the greatest intercontinental champion of all time” but a heavily bandaged Stone Cold Steve Austin sprints to the ring and drops him with a Stunner. He wants a fight with The Undertaker tonight. The Big Show then comes out and says that The Undertaker and Kane are so obviously back together that it would end up being a handicap match and so he offers to help out Austin and be his back up/partner for this fight tonight too. Stone Cold accepts. As Austin leaves, Jeff gets back in the ring and asks for the music to be cut so Stone Cold goes back down and drops him with a second Stunner. 

The Undertaker enters first for what I thought sounded like an unofficial challenge at the time but is now a proper tag team match. Kane enters carrying a huge metal wrench. The Big Show knocked him out with it last night on Heat. It is surreal seeing this version of The Undertaker and Kane together. Paul Bearer isn’t here but that hasn’t been addressed. The Big Show enters first for his team and Kane wastes no time going right to him, swinging with the wrench and the two of them fight on the ramp. The Undertaker goes to help and as the two brothers double team Big Show, Stone Cold arrives. Austin with his big comedy bandage fights with The Undertaker while Kane and The Big Show fight in the ring. It's a chaotic scene all over the arena. The Undertaker kicks Austin off the ramp down to the concrete and they pair try to slam each other. The Big Show throws Kane around easily at ringside, chopping him in the chest and effortlessly throwing him into the security wall. Austin gets control of his fight with a low blow and chokes The Undertaker with a cable. In the ring Austin hits Thez press and tries to expose one of the turnbuckles while The Big Show hits Kane with the ring steps! As all four men get into the ring Kane tries to chokeslam The Big Show but he retaliates with one of his own. 

Austin and The Big Show double team The Undertaker and Kane goes to get his wrench from the ramp. He hits The Big Show from behind which knocks him out! With a two on one advantage on Austin he seems to be doomed. Kane chokeslams Austin so hard that the bandage pops off Austin’s head! He doesn’t get the cover though as Big Show breaks it. The chaos continues and after The Undertaker manages to bust Stone Cold open again and he brawls with The Big Show on the outside Stone Cold is able to hit the Stunner on Kane and officially win this tag team war. 

X-Pac, Kane and D-Generation X

D-Generation X’s music plays but no one comes out. X-Pac and Roaddogg are backstage and are busy - they tar and feather Howard Finkle for stooging them out to the police last week! 

The two final Degenerates do come out to the ring and they call out Triple H, Chyna and Mr. Ass. X-Pac challenges them to a match at Fully Loaded. Kane then comes out and X-Pac tells him that he’s always been straight with him. He can’t let his brother use him and if Kane really is with The Undertaker again then he’s going to have to make a choice because he won’t have anything to do with The Undertaker. 

Before Kane can respond Triple H, Chyna and Mr. Ass rush the ring and attack Kane and DX. The Undertaker quickly follows and comes to Kane’s aid! He stops to talk to his brother. The Undertaker tells Kane that he won’t make him choose. But X-Pac will. The plot thickens. Kane seems to consider going with The Undertaker but he stops at the bottom of the ramp and looks back at X-Pac! 

Michael Cole interviews, as Mr. Ass calls them, “the real DX” team of Triple H, Chyna and Mr. Ass. Triple H accepts the challenge for Fully Loaded on Chyna and Billy’s behalf and then challenges them plus Kane to a six man tag team match tonight.

On the way to the ring for the six person tag, Roaddogg asks X-Pac if they can really trust Kane. X-Pac seems sure of his friendship. For the match, Triple H, Chyna and Mr. Ass come out to the DX theme music, as do X-Pac and Roaddogg. Kane’s music does play twice for his entrance but Kane doesn’t come out. Triple H says that since its now three on two, they can just hand over the rights to DX now and then they won’t get their asses kicked. X-Pac has two words for them. The Rock arrives to take Kane’s spot! He wants to get his hands on Triple H ahead of their match at Fully Loaded, which will be a strap match. For the third week in a row, JR refers to Mr. Ass as “Brad Pitt with an attitude” whatever that means. This is a great match - the crowd is electric for it and the action is fast and furious. Roaddogg has gotten over his fear of striking women and just lays into Chyna more than once. The Rock hits Mr. Ass with the People’s Elbow and the 1999 King of the Ring takes the pin in this match. 

We saw them huddled together talking earlier but now Michael Cole interviews The Undertaker and Kane. It would appear that they are indeed united. Kane keeps his back to the camera while The Undertaker speaks. He doesn’t seem as sure. He would of course still team with him in the main event. 

Test McMahon

This week’s GTV shows Joey Abs of the Mean Street Posse trying to win Stephanie McMahon back. They apparently used to date! 

Test runs the gauntlet against all three members of the Mean Street Posse. They play rock-paper-scissors and Pete Gas goes first. Test beats him up easily, throwing him into the ring steps and hammering him with punches. He throws him up and over the Spanish announce table and then into the ring to be easily pinned after a top rope elbow drop. 

Pete gives Test a low blow which lets Rodney get some punches in but he’s quickly dumped with a gutwrench powerbomb. Test lays him out with a big boot and finishes him with a pumphandle slam. Test stupidly turns his back on the entrance ramp even though he knows Joey Abs is next and sure enough Joey gets him from behind. Test has him beaten easily too but Shane McMahon runs in and attacks his sister’s boyfriend. Shane calls down his hired hitman Steve Blackman but before he can do too much damage Ken Shamrock sprints to the ring and attacks Blackman, and those two fight off through the crowd. In the ring with a four on one advantage, Shane and the Posse use a steel chair to try and break Test’s ankle. Stephanie runs out to save Test and Shane elbows her in the face by accident. The fans react strongly to it with a loud boo and “asshole” chants while Shane and the Posse frantically get her out of the ring to take her for medical attention. She was knocked out by that elbow! 

Other Happenings

• Gangrel vs. Edge. There has been some dissension lately but last night on Heat Gangrel actually gave Edge his Impaler DDT finisher and cost Edge a match with The Big Bossman. This is a competitive match and the commentators speculate on what Edge may have done to upset Gangrel, and who’s side Christian will pick in this situation. Gangrel takes ages to awkwardly get to the top rope and Edge knocks him off balance with a dropkick and then follows up with a nice hanging neckbreaker. Edge hits a jumping tornado DDT and then a spear but doesn’t go for the cover and peppers him with punches instead. Gangrel rolls out of the ring and just leaves. They fight over next to Gangrel’s fire pit that he uses to make his entrance which is still burning away. Gangrel shoves Edge into the pit and in a cool visual he just disappears into the flames!

• Promotion for Jesse “The Body” Ventura who’ll be a part of Summerslam. That was pretty big news at the time as he’d become governor of Minnesota not long before.
• Val Venis and The Godfather challenge The Hardy Boys for the WWF Tag Team titles. Last night on Heat The Hardys defended against Droz (still wearing women’s clothes) and Prince Albert but Val and Godfather got the champions disqualified by attacking Albert on the outside. The Godfather has five hoes this week, and he and Val both do their opening promos. I bet the promos end up being longer than the match is. The Hardys debut their proper theme song here! They’re still using this music in 2023. Matt and Jeff have a little bit more confidence now and actually take control of Val in the early going. The Godfather gives Matt the Ho-train and Jeff the Pimp Drop (death valley driver) followed by a Money Shot from Val Venis. They have the titles won but Michael Hayes jumps into the ring and hits Val with one of the tag title belts to save the championships by disqualification. The Acolytes rush down the ramp and jump the tag team champions from behind but back off when Godfather and Val try to join in.
• The first “Countdown to the Millenium” clock appears! This is the countdown to what would end up being a very important debut. 

• A very odd video package for Tori which I can’t really describe. She was in the bath. 
• Droz is interviewed by Terry Taylor ahead of his open challenge to someone for an Evening Gown match. The first man to have his dress stripped off down to his bra and panties loses. He comes out to the ring wearing a dress and is deadly serious about it too. It’s accepted by Hardcore champion Al Snow. He wants it to be hardcore rules too! The two trade shots from trash can lids and cookie sheets on the outside and try to strip each other's dresses off. In the end Al Snow wins by using a pair of tongs on Droz’ privates and then whipping his dress off. He follows up with a stiff chairshot to the head and then a cool dive driving Droz through a table. While he does that, Prince Albert slips to ringside and drives a railroad spike through Head and when Snow notices he freaks out.

• Backstage Mark Henry - with some new ring gear - gets checked out by the doctor ahead of him and D’Lo Brown facing The Acolytes in a number one contenders tag team match. The doctor breaks the news that Mark’s blood pressure is too high and it's not safe for him to wrestle. I’ve mentioned that he looks like he’s put on a lot of weight lately and this is the WWF trying to shame him. They did the same thing to Vader last year. Shame him for his weight on TV and force him to lose weight. The Acolytes still come out for the match and want a fight. No one accepts so they go to find someone and are intercepted by Hardcore Holly. He has more guts than brains as he slaps Bradshaw and then is quickly and easily beaten silly by the former Tag Team Champions. He is eventually rescued by The Big Show who has developed a little respect for The Big Shot lately as Holly continually picks fights he cannot win and isn’t smart enough to stay down.

• Backstage, Shamrock and Blackman’s fight continues until eventually a bunch of wrestlers I don’t recognize manage to get in and split them up. Probably trainees from Shawn Michaels' wrestling school as they were often around for try outs and such. 

Raw is War - July 19th, 1999

End of an Era

The show opens with an awesome video package for the “End of an Era” stipulation at Fully Loaded between McMahon and Austin.

Vince McMahon (pushed in his wheelchair by Triple H) leads the Corporate Ministry (minus Shane McMahon and Chyna who are busy with their own storylines) to the ring. The Undertaker, Paul Bearer, the wheelchair pushing Triple H, The Big Bossman, European Champion Mideon, Viscera, Bradshaw and Faarooq. Vince says he hopes everyone has their cameras because tonight will be history. This is the last time we’ll ever see Stone Cold as WWF Champion. He basically recaps what the main event of the PPV is for those of us who haven’t been paying attention. He is so confident that The Undertaker will win that he is risking everything. He guarantees that Austin will lose - interesting at this point, every time Vince had guaranteed something it had happened. He reminds Undertaker that HIS career is on the line. The Undertaker takes exception to that and tells Vince that no one threatens him. He has his own personal problem with Stone Cold and he’s going to win the WWF title but for himself, not for Vince. Vince gets angry - Vince signs the checks and he made The Undertaker. Taker tells Vince that no one made him and no one tells him what to do. Triple H gets in his face now! 

They threaten each other and the Corporate Ministry seems to finally be on the way out. Triple H tells Vince that he made a mistake trusting The Undertaker. Triple H has been sucking up to Vince more and more and thanks Vince for making him and says he’s nothing without Vince. He wants to take The Undertaker’s place at Fully Loaded! Vince agrees with Triple H and books it for tonight - The Undertaker vs. Triple H and the winner will be the one to face Stone Cold for the WWF title in the First Blood match, and the loser will face The Rock in the Fully Loaded strap match. So basically if Triple H wins he and The Undertaker switch matches. Stone Cold’s music hits and the crowd erupts. Austin drives into the arena in a “blood mobile” which is one of those mobile blood donation trucks that I don’t think they have in the UK but I’ve seen on TV shows and in movies in America a bunch of times. Austin does have a big plaster on his head and still has a fresh wound on his head thanks to The Undertaker. He promises to lock The Undertaker in the blood mobile so that he can “take a donation” from Mr. McMahon tonight. Backstage after an ad break Shane reassures Vince that everything will be ok, and he seems to have full faith in Triple H. 

Backstage we get more of Triple H sucking up to Vince McMahon, applauding his contract for the End of an Era match and calling him a genius.

There’s a cameraman following Austin around all night, waiting for his attack on Vince McMahon.

For the main event, Triple H has Chyna with him but also wheels Vince McMahon to ringside to watch. Vince seemingly believes that the safest place for him to be from Austin is at ringside next to the commentary desk. The winner of this match faces Austin in the End of an Era First Blood match at Fully Loaded, and the loser faces The Rock in a strap match for the number one contendership at Summerslam. Vince is happy watching these two men fight for the right to face Austin but the fans are quiet for this heel vs. heel match. Triple H’s evolution into his main event form has been really great to watch over the last couple of months. As the two trade moves and nearfalls, backstage Stone Cold grabs the cameraman and tells him its showtime, they’re off to get Vince. 

As The Undertaker picks up Triple H for a Tombstone, Austin rushes the ring and attacks Undertaker as The Rock runs down and attacks Triple H. They pair off and fight into the crowd and up the ramp. Stone Cold gets The Undertaker locked in the blood mobile just like he promised and returns to ringside, using the Smoking Skull belt to split open Vince McMahon drawing blood! 

Vince sits in his wheelchair bleeding until Austin knocks him over. Stone Cold celebrates with beer as Paul Bearer unlocks the bloodmobile and The Undertaker returns to the ring, jumping Austin from behind and splitting his head open again with a beer can! The show ends with Vince and Austin laying together, both bleeding and covered in their own blood as The Undertaker stands tall and poses with the Smoking Skull belt. 

Brotherly Love

The Big Show and Hardcore Holly take on Kane and X-Pac. Last night on Heat The Big Show, who is feuding with both Kane and The Undertaker separately and that forced a reunion, gave X-Pac his Show Stopper chokeslam and Kane was too busy with The Undertaker to see it. The Undertaker also helped Kane beat down The Big Show later in the night. X-Pac wants Kane to choose between he and The Undertaker, but The Undertaker isn’t making Kane choose which is manipulative if nothing else. There’s a lot of layers to this. While Kane and The Big Show fight on the outside, The Undertaker comes to the ring and plants X-Pac with a massive chokeslam which Kane didn’t see. The Undertaker gets the ring steps and knocks out The Big Show and Hardcore Holly. The Undertaker tells Kane to come with him and they start to leave but when Kane sees X-Pac is hurt he goes to check on his friend. The Undertaker tells Kane to leave him and come with him but as they discuss things, a replay of The Undertaker’s carnage is shown on the titantron. Kane, upon seeing that it was The Undertaker who laid out X-Pac, is furious and makes his choice! He spikes The Undertaker with a really awesome looking chokeslam and picks up X-Pac, carrying him to the back for medical attention for his neck. Kane has chosen X-Pac over his own brother and the fans loved it. “Kane never had a heart until he met X-Pac” says JR which sums it up beautifully. A tearful X-Pac gives Kane a big hug on the ramp which gets a huge cheer too. 

King Ass

Roaddogg faces Chyna in a dog pound match. Both participants have a dog collar on and it is joined in between by a chain. We saw Roaddogg face Mr. Ass in one of these before King of the Ring but that didn’t really get going properly as Mr. Ass never put the collar on and just attacked before the bell. Roaddogg actually mentions that Triple H and Chyna are romantically involved which is the first time that’s even been mentioned on TV. The same as last time, Chyna refuses to put the collar on, Mr. Ass jumps him from behind and then the pair of them use the collar and chain to hang Roaddogg over the top rope until X-Pac runs in and makes the save. 

Backstage as The Rock arrives at the arena we get the debut (as far as I know) of the “It doesn’t matter what your name is!” bit. He did sign the guy's autograph though. He’s facing Mr. Ass later.

The Rock is on his way to the ring and meanwhile Triple H tells Chyna that he has to stay with Vince McMahon so she can go and help Mr. Ass. The Rock enters first for the match and Billy Gunn does have Chyna with him. The Rock’s pre-match promo focuses on shoving things, forcefully, up Mr. Ass. 

His popularity is unbelievable at the moment. Billy does have some nice new King of the Ring tights with crowns above the lips. King Ass. His having won the tournament three weeks ago has barely been mentioned since he won it. JR drops some more casual misogyny during this asking if Chyna knows how to bake. Who cares, Jim? Mr. Ass gets in plenty of offence and grinds down The Rock and uses a chinlock until The Rock fights back. The Rock plants Mr. Ass with a Rock Bottom and as he bounces off the ropes for the People’s Elbow Chyna hits him in the back with a steel chair. Billy follows up with a Fameasser and amazingly, Mr. Ass defeats The Rock!

The Young and the Restless

Backstage with the McMahons still talking strategy with their best buddy Triple H, Vince jumps when the door is knocked but it’s only the Mean Street Posse. After the commercial break, Shane McMahon leads his Greenwich boys to the ring. The fans chant “asshole” and Shane says Test is the only one in this arena, but he’s here to apologise to his sister Stephanie for accidentally knocking her out last week. He asks her to come to the ring along and after a brief chat with Test backstage where she asks him to trust her and remain there, she does go to the ring alone. He does apologise for hitting her, but blames Test and says its all his fault. Shane says that Stephanie needs to be with his friend Joey Abs, who says that he’s willing to forgive her and give her another chance. She slaps Joey and demands to have her own life. As she leaves Shane hilariously talks all “street” and says they’re going to do it Mean Street Posse style. It’s 1999 though so its possible he actually thought he was cool.

Test takes on Steve Blackman. Blackman attacked Test last week which furthers the narrative that he is the McMahon’s hired hitman. He has his duffle bag full of weapons with him but Test attacks before he gets in the ring. Blackman was challenged by Ken Shamrock last night on Heat to a non-sanctioned “iron circle” match at Fully Loaded. Basically a circle of cars in the parking lot. Test seems to have this match in the bag until Shane McMahon, Rodney, Pete Gas and Joey Abs run in and attack him. They pin him down so Shane can talk trash until Ken Shamrock runs in with a baseball bat to chase the four of them plus Blackman out of the ring and save Test. Blackman at ringside has some dangerous looking martial arts weapons with hooks on them! After the break, Blackman packs up his bags and leaves.

Other Happenings

• Kevin Kelly is standing in for Jerry Lawler tonight who is having transportation issues apparently. I bet he’s been arrested again. King is actually visible at ringside all during the show as this Raw is pre-taped so he must have just been unavailable for the audio dub. He does join the show mid-way through. 
• At a press conference earlier this week, Vince McMahon announced that Governor of Minnesota Jesse “The Body” Ventura will be the special referee for the WWF title match at Summerslam. That was huge news at the time. 
• Val Venis and The Godfather vs. The Acolytes vs. Droz and Prince Albert vs. The Hardy Boys in a four corners elimination match for the WWF Tag Team Championships. There’s actually quite a lot of story feeding into this one, and the tag team division has picked up enormously in terms of depth since Wrestlemania. Weirdly only Val Venis and The Godfather got televised entrances. Prince Albert and Droz are the first team eliminated (and quickly too) thanks to a stiff clothesline from hell from Bradshaw on Albert. Bradshaw is physically dominant until Val plants him with a big spinebuster and he tags out to Jeff Hardy. The Godfather actually hits Bradshaw in the head with his Pimp Cane behind the referee’s back which lets Val Venis eliminate The Acolytes with a roll up. The Godfather and Val Venis seem to have the match well in hand but Bradshaw trips Val off the top rope as he’s setting up the Money Shot and that lets Matt Hardy hit a top rope hurricanrana to retain the Tag Team titles. 
• The week’s GTA is Ben Stiller and his entourage of Pee Wee Herman, Kel from Keenan and Kel and Janine Garofalo (Yes, really) in a dressing room. Ben gets very animated talking about how much he loves “that chick Debra’s puppies”. They then spot the GTV camera.
• Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett comes to the ring with Debra after GTV and he says no one gets to see Debra’s puppies and that when Stone Cold loses the End of an Era match, he won’t be able to win his Intercontinental title either. He is defending the title against Christian who debuts his own solo theme music. It’s not very good. Christian still hasn’t declared who’s side he’s on in the Brood breakup between Edge and Gangrel. Christian is impressive here hitting move after move for close near falls. He hits the Unprettier but Debra has the referee distracted so there’s no three count. Debra brings in the guitar, Christian unarms her and as he argues with the referee Jeff Jarrett hits the face planting move that he’d later call The Stroke (it’s basically The Miz’s Skull Crushing Finale) After the match, Jeff Jarrett gets a bloodbath. Just then, Edge walks to the ring and Jeff attacks him. It looks like Gangrel framed him for doing the bloodbath. They’re scheduled to face each other at Fully Loaded for the Intercontinental title. On the plus side, it seems like Christian is friendly with Edge so he’s picked his side. Backstage during the break a bloody Jeff Jarrett promises to “get gothic” on Edge’s ass at Fully Loaded.

• The Hardcore Champion Al Snow comes out looking even more deranged than normal. He hasn’t slept and is carrying a cloth bag. Prince Albert drove a railroad spike through Head and Snow screamed at the commentators about it. He can apparently hear Head screaming all the time and it’s driving him insane. That’s pretty dark! His opponent is The Big Bossman who comes out and watches on as Snow flips out at ringside and throws chairs and other weapons into the ring including a prosthetic leg. He begs Bossman to hit him, who agrees and cracks Snow in the jaw with his nightstick. Bossman handcuffs Al to the ropes and beats on him with his nightstick over and over. This isn’t a hardcore match so Snow wins by disqualification I guess. The pain seems to have given Al some relief from Head’s screaming. 
• Edge teams with D’Lo Brown to take on Gangrel and the European Champion Mideon. D’Lo will challenge Mideon at Fully Loaded. D’Lo and Edge work pretty well as a team with D’Lo trying to help Edge get his hands on Gangrel. D’Lo wins it for his team with a Frog Splash on Mideon. 
• Another “Countdown to the new Millennium” clock. We all know who’s debut this heralds but I’m not saying it until he appears.