Raw is War - April 27th, 1998

Austin and McMahon

Dude Love promo up on the stage where he calls Stone Cold a coward for attacking Vince McMahon. Lots of speculation all night that Vince is going to fire Stone Cold or strip him of the title at least for hitting him with the chair. Dude says that as he technically beat Austin last night (by DQ) he should have the title award to him. He also throws out a potential scenario where he’d wrestle the previous champion - Shawn Michaels - for the vacant belt. They must have really thought Shawn was coming back earlier than the 4 years it eventually took. Mick has the dudette dancers with him in bikinis and hippy body paint and they um…look great.

Later, Vince McMahon comes out. It’s during this segment that I notice the arena looks bigger than the previous month’s worth of shows. Likely because they were still bulk taping and alternating between live and taped episodes of Raw but the ringside area seems bigger. He says that Stone Cold hit him on purpose and that he has a “mild concussion”. Wild to see them using concussions as easily ignorable storyline plot points like a head cold. How the world has changed. He won’t fire Austin “yet” because firing is too good for him. He says that Stone Cold will defend the title tonight against Goldust because, in Vince’s words, even a deranged freak like Goldust is better than Stone Cold. “Anyone but Austin”

Vince also introduces “family friend, a warm, caring individual Gerry Brisco” to be the referee for that main event. Vince makes it crystal clear that if Austin touches Brisco he’ll lose the title and Gerry, after clarifying that Austin cannot lay a finger on him no matter what, then says that he’s not afraid of Stone Cold. We see Austin reacting backstage to this news, throwing chairs etc and wearing his “Stone Cold University” t-shirt which I’ll be honest, I always thought was lame. 

Backstage, Dude Love approaches Vince Mcmahon with lots of “we had a deal” talk, and is pissed off that Goldust is getting a title match and not him. Vince gets sketchy and angrily demands the cameras be turned off. A little glimpse of angry Vince as Dude has clearly said too much. So it IS a conspiracy.

While Goldust is being interviewed about his match (he’s definitely back to being just plain old Goldust) he’s jumped by Dude Love. No Luna to be seen, sadly. 

Multiple backstage segments for the main event where we get an awesome fired up Stone Cold promo where he doesn’t care who he has to beat, and also Vince prepping Gerry Brisco to call the main event “right down the middle '' wink wink. 

Goldust is definitely just Goldust again. He’s got his classic theme song, face paint, ring gear and entrance robe. Chimmel still announces him as TAFKA Goldust though. Vince sprints to ringside to grab the title belt and take over as timekeeper for the match. He is poised to ring the bell immediately which is pretty funny.

Brisco dares Austin to hit him and then starts counting Austin when he stands near the ropes to shout at Vince. He then counts significantly faster for Goldust on a cover than he had been. The fix is well and truly in. This is a really good match and after Austin hits the stunner and covers. Brisco counts to two and then sells his eye and Vince really earnestly shows concern for Gerry’s eye at ringside which made me laugh out loud. Dude Love runs in and attacks Austin and during the brawl, Vince tries to hit Stone Cold with the title belt and clocks Brisco instead! The match just ends here and Austin’s music plays. 

The Nation 

Raw opens with a tag match of Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock vs. The Rock and D’Lo I think? It doesn’t matter, as Owen immediately low blows Ken and wipes him out with a gorgeous spinning heel kick. Owen and The Nation beat down Shamrock and they do the Brian Pillman spot where Owen wraps a chair around Shamrock’s leg and diving stomps off the middle rope, seemingly breaking his ankle. Eventually, Blackman and Faarooq  run down and try to make the save. They don’t actually say Owen has joined The Nation but he does leave with them. The commentators confirm later in the show that Ken Shamrock’s ankle has been shattered by Owen Hart. What a heel turn.

D-Generation X vs. the World

This is the Raw with the DX invading WCW segments that WWE still show to this day. There’s a line up and pep talk from Triple H first. They’re at an arena where WCW is holding Nitro that night. They interview fans in the parking lot who say that they’d rather have gone to Raw, and that they got their Nitro tickets for free. In the years after, it would come out that most of these fans interviewed were plants, or at least told what to say. The comedy is that the WWF were claiming that a WCW show that was a legit sell out had given away tickets to fill the seats on the same night where Raw had not in fact sold out themselves. They go looking for security guards to try and get access to the building and as they roll their jeep down the ramp to the building car park, the door shuts on them. It’s pretty funny to imagine what would have happened if they had rolled on in. 

Triple H, Chyna and X-Pac come out to the ring later in the show and make it clear that they’re babyfaces in front of the live crowd. Lawler thinks the WCW stuff is hilarious but JR is playing a whole “i’m the bigger man” thing. This is the debut of Triple H’s opening spiel. “Are you ready?” etc. It took me years to catch on that he’s mimicking Michael Buffer who was ring announcing WCW at the time. Let’s get ready to rumble indeed. The Outlaws come out separately riding little green scooters presumably to mock the DOA who’s bikes they pissed on a few weeks ago. JR is outraged that the tag titles aren’t on the line in this Outlaws vs. DOA match, so I guess DX aren’t face yet. DOA do bring LOD out with them as backup. DOA gets a sneaky pin using twin magic and a roll up and then there’s a brief brawl and the babyfaces run off for some reason. I guess to make DX look strong.

Triple H and Chyna come out again later on but look angry and focused this time. Triple H offers a European title shot to “any member of DOA who wants it” Dan Severn comes running out for the title shot apparently believing he’s a member of DOA? Or maybe it was just a general open challenge but Triple H mentioned DOA because he’s still angry about them cheating earlier. Jim Cornette rushes out after and tells Dan that “he writes the checks” apparently not liking that Severn is doing his own thing so he takes down Cornette and “dislocates his shoulder with a submission hold” I’m hoping this is the dying gasps of this NWA invasion.

Undertaker and Kane…still? 

Hour two opens with The Undertaker vs. Barry Windham who has a lovely blonde diddler moustache. Barry is one of these guys that old timers endlessly sing the praises of but seems like just another big useless lad to me. Undertaker chokeslams the NWA trunks wearing blonde and tombstones him for a very quick victory. Post match he calls himself a dragon (multiple lazer pointers all over his face during it) and challenges Kane to come out and “finish it” Paul Bearer and Kane come out and Bearer begs for a truce which is funny given how much he’s the one who’s escalated it. He describes having to look after Kane after the Unforgiven match. I think seeing him on fire again at the PPV made him have a change of heart. This is the big reveal that Paul Bearer is Kane’s father. Meaning that Paul shagged The Undertaker’s mum. It was undersold really as up til now Undertaker and Kane were assumed that they had the same mother and father but thankfully Jerry Lawler is there to connect the dots for us. Undertaker looks confused and a little annoyed but doesn’t give us a big reaction and then it's a hard cut to commercial break.

Other Happenings

• Scorpio and Funk vs. The Headbangers for a shot at the tag titles. Funk moonsaults off the top to the floor which is mad. It ends in a double DQ and then the headbangers hit a sloppy power and glory superplex and splash combo on Scorpio after the bell and then all four men brawl until the ad break.
• Oh no, it’s Tennessee Lee. They choose now while talking about Double J’s concert at the PPV to hype the replay and that you can still order the show if you missed it. Like that’s the reason people would buy it. Jeff is fighting cowboy Bradshaw with his awesome theme song. This is my favourite version of Bradshaw. His offence all looks awesome and he’s just a big angry cowboy. It’s cool. Club Kamikaze (Kaientai) runs in and attacks Bradshaw but he fights them off because he’s massive.
• Another Val Venis promo where we see him getting a blowjob in a parked car. “I dropped my keys” and the girl disappears down to find them as we get to see Val “sell it” Seriously. When we return, King says he's dropped his keys under the table which I think means he wants JR to suck him off? Or that he wants to suck JR off? Either way, what is IS he talking about?
• Marc Mero comes out to the ring because i’ve enjoyed this Raw so far and he wants to ruin it. He calls out Sable. He feels like Sable embarrassed him by getting stripped at the PPV. Even though it was his fault. Sable finally kicks him to the curb after literally 6 months of build up. This is, by far, the longest running storyline in the WWF. They’re still feuding in August so this might legit be one of the longest running storylines in WWF history. She challenges Marc to a match for her freedom in two weeks on Raw. (Mero owns her contract y’see)

Raw is War - May 4th, 1998

Foley and McMahon

Video package recapping last week’s main event opens the show.. Vince holds Austin personally responsible for Brisco’s condition.

Mick Foley comes out as Mick Foley and says the Dude Love music makes him sick. He doesn't know who he is. He's facing Terry Funk tonight in a falls count anywhere match which he calls a sick joke by Vince McMahon as Funk is his best friend and hero, he’s pissed that Goldust got a title shot, and he refuses to be Dude Love anymore , refuses to suck up to Vince McMahon anymore. This is a big babyface turn. He says categorically that he'll never be Dude Love again, calls himself Cactus Jack and calls out Vince. The commentators play that up - he keeps changing his names even in just this one promo. He has no idea who he is. Vince comes out and says they have a lot in common and that the match with Funk is a reward, not a punishment. It’s his chance to become number 1 contender again. He basically challenges Foley to show he deserves a title shot by killing Funk tonight and he bigs up Mick who seems to be buying it. A big pep talk. He's manipulating him. Austin comes out with a grappling hook (?) and uses it to destroy the Love Shack set as Foley just stands and watches. Austin tears off his t-shirt shirt and looks RIPPED. Vince runs down to ringside and grabs the ring bell as a weapon to defend himself which was funny. 

Later in the show, we get a cheesy video package about Gerry Brisco narrated by Vince. Sickly sweet for comedy. This was good. Quotes by Gerry, kissing Vince's ass and thanking him. Vince is acting like Brisco has died.
Awesome video package recapping Foley and Funk's history together. Amazing as it seems now, they showed a lot of graphic footage from Japan. A lot of blood and barbed wire and beds of nails and explosions from their death matches. Really cool.

Stone Cold comes out for commentary for the main event. Austin has a crate of beers and for the first time we see Stone Cold chugging beers on Raw. King is bad mouthing Austin until he has the headset on and then starts sucking up which made me laugh. Austin is a pretty good commentator and really puts over the importance of the title and the toughness of both these men. Foley comes out as Mick Foley with no music. His first match ever as Mick Foley and not one of his alter egos. He beat Austin by DQ at Unforgiven technically which they're playing up. Pat Patterson comes out as ref. Austin hilariously accuses JR of being on this. He must not watch the show. He says Patterson has a "Stupid little haircut" The match is awesome - a wild brawl where everything looks great and painful and real. As they fight on the announce table, JR says "Monitors flying everywhere" which just simply isn’t true Jim. Get a hold of yourself. Fake sound effects play over Austin until he gets cut off. It’s supposed to be audio distortion. Vince is killing his mic. Censorship! Austin beats up King after accusing him of being behind it! This is wild. Funk moonsaults off the bleachers onto Mick in the crowd. Insane. Piledriver through a table to concrete. Austin was concerned about his beer being knocked over as they brawl back to ringside. Diving chairshot onto the announce table. Foley goads Austin to fight him. This was Awesome but the fans were really quiet for the finish which was Foley hitting a double arm DDT on a chair in the ring for the three count. The fans chant for Austin as Foley continues the beating. Austin throws beer at Foley as Mick leaves up the ramp. Patterson tries to hit Austin with a chair and takes a stunner instead. Another iconic Austin image with the smiling salute on the top rope. Vince comes out with the Dude stuff and dancing dudettes and symbolically seems to offer Foley the number one contendership as long as he's Dude Love. Dude sells out and after opening the show promising to never be Dude again, embraces Vince and accepts it. They dance together and Vince has no rhythm. 

The Nation

The Nation comes out with official new member Owen Hart. They have a new jazzed up theme but still not the proper new one that I remember. Owen is "co-leader" apparently.. That makes sense as joining the Nation had to feel like a step up for Owen who is coming off a couple of losses but The Rock would never share the leadership after everything he’s been through with Faarooq. Sgt kicks out everyone but Rock and Owen. Opponents are Faarooq and Steve Blackman. Gorgeous piledriver by Faarooq on The Rock. Cole says that Owen's family has abandoned him, which is uncool and untrue. They were all forced out/left in solidarity with Bret after Montreal. The Nation is Owen's new Family, apparently. JR brags about Raw's ratings. They've only just started beating WCW. People's elbow which gets some heat but still just a transition move mid-match. Chat about Owen and Rock being tag champs. Imagine haha. One has a much higher trajectory. Blackman's kicks and submissions look great. Double J costs Blackman the match because of course he does. They’ve been feuding since before Wrestlemania and still haven’t gone one on one.

Kane and The Undertaker…still? Seriously? 

Jerry Lawler is backstage and set to interview Paul Bearer about his revelation last week that Paul is indeed Kane’s biological father. Interesting edit here where Lawler is chatting with Bearer and they think the camera is off them. We overhear King asking Paul questions about "nailing Undertakers mother" and “slipping her the salami” Bearer tells the story and King laughs about it. Lads lads lads. Bearer was a studly 19 year old who Taker's mum seduced on the kitchen floor. Back from the commercial, King apologises for us having heard what was supposed to be a private conversation. This was really clever. 

Goldust vs. Kane. Punishment by Vince for Goldust not winning the title? No Luna this week either. Their onscreen pairing is finished which is a shame. Is Goldust a face now? It’s not super clear. Kane has his hand and wrist bandaged from being burned at Unforgiven. Undertaker runs out and attacks Bearer at ringside and then fights with Kane. Again.

D-Generation X vs. the world II

DX comes out to the ring  Classic, catch phrase stuff and they all “get their stuff in”. I still think they're acting like faces. The Outlaws are facing DOA later in a tag title match off the back of DOA beating them last week (albeit via twin magic cheating). The crowd chants for LOD. LOD then comes out and is vaguely homophobic towards DX. They want to turn the DOA vs. Outlaws tag title match into an 8 man tag. I can't imagine DOA will be happy that they've just been diddled out of a title match. Hawk leaves before the segment ends. Like Triple H is still talking and it cuts to LOD on the ramp for their reaction and Hawk is walking back through the curtain.

Sunny is with the LOD this week. She's underused in this role because she's gorgeous and better than Sable, but she's also coked out of her box and gone by King of the Ring which likely explains it. She's ejected from ringside by Sgt Slaughter. This is a running theme throughout the night where Sgt is clamping down on interference and keeps coming out to send people to the back. During DX's entrance, King makes a viagra joke which seems really weird but viagra was big news at the time as it had just been made available. Chyna is also ejected. They'd teased that this was going to be X-pac's first match since returning but he now leaves and says Chyna is the one wrestling! The commentators put it over huge. Big pop for Chyna getting in and hitting a hurricanrana on one of DOA. Eventually LOD and DOA turn on each other and brawl at ringside and the match goes to a no contest, though technically DX wins by count out. I guess DOA was upset at losing that tag title match.

Other happenings

• Edge promo video! Lost on the subway with creepy woman's voice. Mysterious patter.
• Dan Severn without his 90 title belts. He's a face now because he beat up Cornette. I really hope that's the end of the NWA invasion. JR promotes UFC 17 during this which is wild. A squash win for Severn.
• Video package of Sable working out which is exactly what it sounds like. Lots of sweaty close ups of her cleavage. She's facing Mero on Raw next week. 
• We’re supposed to get Marc Mero vs. Double J but Blackman rushes out and beats up Jeff and runs him off. 
• JR plugs that if you call the superstar line you can find out who ended up surrounded by police in Atlanta earlier today. No idea what that's about. If I had to guess, he’s talking about DX. This Raw (or next weeks, its hard to tell, they alternate) is pre-taped and so I think this is in reference to another DX invading WCW segment they’ve obviously already filmed. He couldn’t just say it was them on this Raw of course because they’re here tonight and that wouldn’t make sense.
• Another Val Venis video. The famous shot of him in the trees wearing a purple helmet. He has actual Jenna Jameson with him! Who is making very graphic sex noises. Between this and the blood and gore we just saw in the Foley/Funk video package last week - no wonder this was blowing people’s minds at the time. Insane. 

Raw is War - May 11th, 1998

Stone Cold vs. The Nation

Vince comes out (sans jacket and tie) to make a big announcement. The fans are hot. Austin will be in a tag match but we're given no more information about it. Dude comes out as a corporate Dude. It must be Vince's jacket and tie he’s wearing. Lol. He has glasses on, his false teeth in, his hair tied back and he’s trimmed his beard. He's doing an impression of Vince basically. He properly sucks up to Vince and hugs him. Vince brings out Gerry Brisco as guest timekeeper for Over the Edge. Then Pat Patterson as guest ring announcer. Then himself as guest referee. He says dates weird. "May Thirty One" He gives himself a big build up and hype. He also says abyss wrong. Patterson calls Vince the best there is, was and ever will be. 

Here I notice that JR has changed his look from his padded black and red WWF Warzone jacket to his classic denim looking shirt. They seem to have done away with the warzone jackets Because Michael Cole and Kevin Kelly don't have theirs either.

We see Austin arriving in a nice silver car which kills his mystique slightly. Couldn't have got a pick up? He’s furious to learn of Vince's announcements earlier.

Austin comes to the ring and demands to know who his partner and opponents are. Vince and Co appear on the titan tron to taunt Steve and refuse to tell him anything.

We see Vince talking to Austin's partner but we don't get told who, as the camera crops the shot..

The Nation makes their entrance and we learn that The Rock and D'Lo are Austin's opponents. Still no word on the partner! Subdued pop for Austin? Maybe because he's already been out tonight. It’s Vince! He's Austin's partner. He's still in his referee gear. More shade for WCW about senior citizens by JR on commentary. Wild seeing Austin and Rock in the ring. Its immediately really good. Austin beats up Patterson and Brisco and the fans love it. They are really hot for him after all. This is a really hot match all around. Stunner on D'Lo. Rock accidentally elbows his own partner on the pin break up. Vince gets in the ring, clotheslines his own partner from behind and the stooges put the boots to him. Austin fights them off. Dude Love runs in! Dustin (see Other Happenings) runs in! DX run in! Then the show just....ends. Wild hot stuff! I feel like Dustin and DX missed their cues as that feels like more of an "after Raw" thing and the show should have ended with Dude beating down Austin. But then maybe they're trying to spell it out to us that DX and Dustin are faces now. 

D-Generation X vs. The World III

JR promises us footage of the "DX assault" on WCW right at the show opening. They’re pushing this hard. This is the stuff about “WWF Superstars being arrested in Atlanta” thing they mentioned last week.

DX invades the WCW offices in Atlanta with the jeep. They point out what an ugly building it is (they’re right) and the cops are called. As the story goes, the executives and non-wrestling types working in the office thought it was real and when they called the authorities claimed “literally 20 guys with guns” were attacking the building.

Footage of DX invading CNN Centre. It looks like they're on a fan tour. This “invasion” looked pretty lame and the fact that it's just footage over the DX theme gives away that they didn't get much on this one. They just stand around looking at stuff with guest passes and doing crotch chops.

Final clip of DX in Atlanta, outside of the CNN building. They fire another weak shot at the outside of the building but we get dodgy CGI of them destroying the building instead. So DX are domestic terrorists now. 

Then they come out in the arena. The skits and promos make them babyfaces but they act like heels in their matches and feuds. Won't be long til the switch. X-pac talks more trash on Eric Bishoff "who?" from JR which tickled me. More catchphrases. Triple H says he loves Baltimore (the city they’re in). They are officially good guys now. They’re even feuding with heel stable The Nation. Owen comes out to his new Nation remix theme song. He has unfinished business with Triple H. I guess this is why Nation vs. DX at the PPV? But they announced the match and then gave us the build after. Then The Rock and the Nation comes out to their proper new theme at last complete with Rock soundbites! Big pop (from me)

Jim Cornette has replaced King on commentary during this match. Triple H vs. Owen but with the heel/face roles now reversed from their previous PPV matches. It looks like a lumberjack match with the Nation and DX at ringside. The DX/Nation feud lasts all summer. Feels like they've abandoned the plans for DX to stay heel and just quickly moved them on from the LOD/DOA stuff to pair them with a heel group instead which honestly is fair enough and smart. Triple H in army fatigues with the CNN press tour badge still hanging from the belt which is funny. This is another good match between these lads. Multiple very nice piledrivers in both directions. Goes to a no contest when the two groups start brawling at ringside.

Undertaker and Kane and Vader

This is the first time we've seen Vader since his run in during the Inferno match at Unforgiven. He was out since Feb thanks to Kane, who caved his face in with a wrench. Vader looks terrible here, wrestling in a t-shirt. He beats up Barry Windham. Sadly the NWA Invasion is still going. They botch a sunset flip. "I'm taping Nitro" sign which is so 1998. Heavy advert for UFC 17 on PPV by Cornette and JR on commentary. Still weird. Bob and Bart try to jump Vader and also get battered. They’re making Vader look strong for his PPV match with Kane.

Later, while King and JR discuss the segment from last week where Lawler and Bearer were overheard being lude about his mother, The Undertaker comes out and attacks King for the things he said.. Chokeslam in the ring and the crowd chant for a tombstone. Lights out for Kane’s entrance before he can deliver it. Kane is facing Vader on PPV but the Taker/Kane feud has never ended. Paul Bearer insinuates that Taker doesn't believe he's Kane's dad/shagged his mum so he'll prove it next week. They leave and Jerry gets the tombstone afterall. I loved this. They should have done this more in 1999/2000 too as Lawler plays a heel the entire time and goes after every babyface and supports every heel. I’d have given him a slap too.

Sable vs. Marc Mero

We see Sable stretching in his kickboxer gear. She looks great to be fair. I was never a big Sable guy but gorgeous is gorgeous.

As Sable comes out, King says "here they come" He's not even subtle. Pervert. JR is pretty misogynistic here when talking about Men vs. Women and intergender matches in general. Sable tried to gaslight Mero by saying she can't believe he let it get this far about a match she challenged him too. He shows that he could have hit the TKO easily but releases her, and then demands an apology. She kicks him in the stones and screams like a psycho at him before hitting an alright looking Sable Bomb (power bomb) where Marc does all the work.

Other Happenings

• We see Al Snow arriving while Kevin Kelly is waiting for Stone Cold. He's talking to head and wants to know where his seats are. He had been working in ECW for a while and this is his TV return. Happy to see him. 
• LOD vs. DOA. We're told DX is facing The Nation at the PPV. That's odd. There's no build for that at all. DOA uses twin magic again to win via being sneaky. 
• Another Edge video package! He runs around on the subway as a women’s voice says cryptic things about tormented souls and pain.
• Footage of Brawshaw teaching Taka Michinoku how to drive and smoke cigars. "He's like a big brother to Taka” apparently.  They get jumped again by Club Kamizake who aren't named this time by the commentators weirdly but I'm sure Yamaguchi-san (making his first appearance) shouted Kaientai during it.
• Jesus, it's Double J and Tennessee Lee. He's facing Faarooq who will challenge The Rock for the IC title on PPV. A match which has had almost no build since Unforgiven. In theory it's been building since December but they've taken the pot off the boil with that one, so to speak. Blackman kicks Jeff. Then the Nation ran in. Big brawl. Jarrett hits Blackman with nunchucks multiple times which Steve sells hard. Jeff seems to be showing more of a mean streak. 
• Supercut of all of the Val Venis promos so far. He’ll finally make his debut next week.
• Al Snow comes out to try and take King's place after he had been demolished by The Undertaker. Pat Patterson and security come out to get him as Al demands to see Vince. 
• Dustin Runnels comes out as himself and burns the Goldust gear in a big barrel. It's the OG silver and gold gear though because obviously he wants to keep the black and gold stuff. He’ll need that when he changes his mind. He calls out Vince on the mic (as was the style at the time) Talks about the Rhodes name. This is more Russo worked shoot bollocks. He'd do this same angle in WCW, TNA and again in WWF. He does at least keep it in kayfabe by mentioning the Kane match last week. Serious Dustin who looks to be getting a serious Dustin face turn.
• Terry Funk and Scorpio out next. Funk deserves more love for that amazing main event last week with Mick Foley. They're facing all 3 members of Kaientai. Tony Chimmel says it weird. Kaientai jump their opponents from behind. They're in the white and blue ring gear rather than the street gang clothes they have been wearing. Yamaguchi-San gives them a lot of build up and hype. He is a “successful businessman” who has issues with Taka and Kaientai are his hired goons. Cornette and JR give them a lot of love too, I assume because they’re all great wrestlers and they respect that. Bradshaw and Taka end up running in to save the faces from the numbers game. 
• Al Snow trying to get back into the building. Another shot at WCW about how there’s no free tickets for Raw “like some places”.  WCW has been openly mentioned a lot tonight.

Raw is War - May 18th, 1998

Austin vs. The Dude

Vince and the stooges (Patterson and Brisco) come out. Vince claims his devastating clothesline last week has injured Steve Austin and that for his own protection he's barred from the building and we see a clip of Austin being denied entry which is funny. The security guard is forceful but afraid. Austin is on form here. Dude Love comes out next  basically dressed as what would become Mankind but with a sports coat. (His suit includes sweatpants) He is talking like Vince still, and calling himself The Dude. Vince then calls out Dustin (who looks in a state in his black denim shorts) Vince takes issue with Dustin blaming him for his problems and for sticking his nose in their business last week. Dustin has an injured knee (he’d had knee surgery that week apparently) but Vince says he can face Dude tonight anyway. If he wins he gets a title shot instead of Dude, if he loses then he works for free for 30 days. Dustin accepts and clocks The Dude and then gets beat up 3 on one by Dude and the stooges until referees drag him off. 

Austin returns and beats the hell out of the security lad/indy wrestler who we saw deny him entry earlier and forces his way into the building. 

Austin comes to the ring. The crowd is insane for him. He says Vince needs to come out or he'll start smashing up cameras. Austin targets the stooges specifically. He wants to fight all 3 of them at the same time. Patterson says he doesn't suck, which must be a rib. Brisco calls Vince Mr. Mack-man which is always funny. Vince books Austin vs the stooges in a handicap street fight tonight "in the interest of fairness" 

Police look for Austin on behalf of that security guard from earlier and run into Jerry Lawler and a man covered in a blue sheet (more on that later).

Austin gets arrested and Vince taunts him in handcuffs. Tonight's handicap main event appears to be cancelled. 

Vince watches Austin be arrested some more across a couple of backstage segments.

We see that Austin has been released as the security guard just wanted an apology. Austin doesn't really give him one but is released anyway.
Dude Love does get his entrance. Ring gear, sports coat and hair tied back. Dustin apparently isn't cleared to wrestle which is an angle they'd never run these days. Dude wins with the mandible claw in a very short match. I think the knee surgery was legit.

Patterson and Brisco come out to no music and get a full introduction from Tony Chimmell. JR says Pat does rear end work at the Brisco Brothers body shop. Lol. Gay. Sgt Slaughter is then brought out as the special referee. We see a fan at ring side in a rubber Austin mask with an "oh hell yeah" sign standing next to Al Snow. That'll be important in a bit. Austin gives Sgt the bird so he clobbers him from behind and rings the bell. Patterson and Brisco double team Austin on the mat as JR cries bloody murder. Patterson uses a weapon. Sgt counts fast. Austin kicks out anyway and goes mental attacking them both. I’m waiting for him to take revenge on Sgt. Austin stuns Gerry and Pat. Sgt locks in the cobra clutch but Steve counters and stuns him too. Dude Love runs in and gets cleared out the ring. They brawl to ringside. The fan in the Austin mask runs in and hits Stone Cold with a chair. Austin unmasks him and it's Vince of course. It's enough to let Dude get control though. Dude makes Austin pass out to the mandible claw which is where Raw ends. Extra attitude gives us a couple of minutes of the heels celebrating off-air until Stone Cold chases Vince backstage. 

Jerry Lawler and Al Snow

We see King bringing someone into the arena covered in a blue sheet who he says is for his security (Austin hit him two weeks ago, Taker hit him last week) That’s fair. Or maybe stop being a dick and people will stop hitting you. 

Lawler gets his full entrance because they're in Nashville which is close enough to his hometown. We can see Dustin in the ring during this who didn't even get an entrance for his match with Dude Love. Main event push incoming. 

The sheet is removed - it's Al Snow, to provide security for the King in exchange for a meeting with Vince McMahon. JR mentioned ECW as Al Snow takes his position in the front row. 

Paul Bearer is the daddy

We see Paul Bearer at the DNA clinic with Kane. Kane is wearing a tracksuit and a balaclava to cover his face. Jesus Christ. This KILLS him. That's what the image at the start of this Raw is by the way. That's Kane.

More DNA testing clips. Paul oversells having his blood taken. He's great. 

Kevin Kelly in the ring with the DNA Doctor (named as such, probably not his legit credentials right?) who confirms Bearer is 100% Kane's father. Kane's music hits. "I'm not the little boy who cried wolf, I'm the fat man who tells the truth" Bearer calls The Undertaker's mum a two-bit whore! I gasped. Undertaker runs in so fast the camera misses him - by the time they cut to a camera angle of the entrance way, he’s already at the bottom of the ramp. He beats the life out of Paul but Kane saves his daddy. Vader runs in for the save. This marks only the 2nd time Kane and Vader have interacted since Kane injured him in February. JR mentions the Seinfeld finale for the 3rd or 4th week in a row during this segment which I didn’t feel was worth noting until he did it for the 3rd or 4th time. Probably a give away that they filmed a bunch of these episodes together. 

D-Generation X vs. The Nation

DX comes out together to the DX music for The Outlaws defending their tag titles against The Rock and Owen Hart of The Nation. No mention made of The Rock potentially becoming a double champion here. (Russo doesn't care about belts) DX are fully face now, but X-pac is deeply unlikeable. “Buffer fears Triple H” sign. I mentioned it before but it annoys me that it took me so long to twig that he was mocking Michael Buffer. They all rattle off their catchphrases. JR is still treating them like heels. It's pretty awesome seeing these two stables fully assembled, opposite each other with all the mid card gold involved. Wild brawl and when we come back from break the match has started proper. Only the 2nd Rock bottom I've seen in 11 shows somehow. Billy breaks it up before the 3 count. Faarooq runs in and piledrives The Rock behind the ref's back and Roaddogg gets the easy 3.  An actual finish - wild.

Other Happenings

• The recap of last week at the start of the show includes Dustin and DX's run in so that was planned after all. 
• Val Venis finally makes his debut against Scorpio. Ironic the man with the pornstar gimmick is making his debut here as according to Mick Foley’s first book (and lots of other people in the business to be honest) Scorpio has a legendarily huge penis. Good for him. JR straight up calls Val “a controversial character” which is what the WWF were going for at the time. More competitive than you'd expect from someone's debut. Scorpio almost wins. Cole kind of dumps all over Venis actually, calling into question his skills and saying that he’s talked a big game but doesn’t seem to be very good? He's really hard on him, very odd.. Val wins clean with the Money Shot (his top rope splash which looks great), which Cole somehow already knows the name of. Dirty boy.
• Another Edge video package. Spooky nonsense. If you’ve never seen these hype packages, they had him running around in subways and on city streets in the middle of the night, posing all cool with women dressed in leather as a woman’s voice tells us all about how he’s a tortured soul. That gimmick wouldn’t last but the performer certainly did.
• They're still plugging WWF the Music 2. That’s so out of date at this stage - it still has Psycho Sid and Bret Hart’s theme songs on it. 
• When Sable comes out, her tron has been updated to all footage of her working out and beating up Mero. "Sable raped me" sign really prominent on the hard cam. Classy. She calls out Mero. She wants to split amicably. He has a contract that says she's his property. JR makes a comment about slavery which is a touch on the nose. This contract stuff is 100% Russo. He did this angle multiple times in WCW and TNA too. Contacts apparently have this mythical quality like an item in a video game. Mero is facing Terry Funk. Marvellous Marc does a low blow but Sable reports him to the official like a good citizen, and then distracts the ref and helps Funk win. Maybe just let her go, Marc.
• LOD vs. DOA. This is a classic case of building a PPV match by just doing the match first. (They’re slated to face off again at Over the Edge) This is sloppy and full of botches. DOA wins with twin magic again. That's 3 times in a row which I guess makes them the heels even though they're right to be pissed since LOD diddled them out of a tag title match. LOD wants a 6 man next week and Hawk tells us we’ll find out who their partner is then. Sunny isn't here for this one. There’s a long, weird audio silence like something has been removed on the network at the finish of this one. I wonder if it was about Sunny.
• Kaientai (back in their street gear this week) vs. The Headbangers. None of these men are dressed appropriately to wrestle. They mention on commentary that the Godzilla movie is premiering at Madison Square Garden tonight. That's cool. They’re mentioning Godzilla cos the match has Japanese lads in it which is less cool. JR works hard to get Kaientai over. In real life as head of talent relations, you can believe he was just a big fan and was the one who signed them. In the end, Kaientai cheats so Bradshaw and Taka run in and make the save. This ends in a no contest officially. 

Raw is War - May 25th, 1998

Vince McMahon goes to jail

Vince opens the show flanked by the stooges and a couple of police officers and recaps last week’s events. He brags about what he’s done. “I assaulted Stone Cold Steve Austin, and I got away with it” We get that iconic shot of him savouring the moment and looking smug that eventually opens his tron video. Stone Cold then comes out, and calls him a stupid SOB, and has Vince arrested for assault. Monster pop. "I'm Vince McMahon" as the cuffs are slapped on him. Big “do you know who I am?” energy. “The leader of the wrestling world is going to jail!” screams Jim Ross.  Austin gets in some shots along the way, stomping Vince as he’s rolled out under the bottom rope which I presume the police officers didn’t see. Sarcastically calls him “hot shot” which is a funny throwback to when Vince had him arrested the night after Wrestlemania and kept calling Steve the same thing. He then has Patterson and Brisco arrested too for obstruction of justice! The stooges are also cuffed and led away. One of my all time favourite segments. He toasts Vince with a beer, then pours it all over his head and jacket.

We get multiple segments over the next hour where Austin is chatting with the police outside and we see Vince and the stooges sitting in the back of the squad card looking miserable. 

Eventually, Vince is released when he’s forced to apologise to Stone Cold who tussles his hair and calls him a good kid. 

Vince comes back out to the ring looking a state and delivers a promo. “I was forced to comply with conditions - a condition of apology which I DID NOT MEAN - and a condition that someone may be in the corner of Stone Cold at Over the Edge” (I’ve paraphrased slightly but I wanted to get the I DID NOT MEAN part because it made me laugh out loud.

He books Stone Cold vs. The Undertaker as punishment here tonight. That’s huge.

Sweet and saccharine video tribute to Pat Patterson much like the Gerry Brisco one a couple of weeks ago. Full of ribs, like talking about how amazing he was as a commentator and then showing footage of him with a young Vince tripping over his words and being just the worst commentator. English isn’t Patterson’s first language to be fair (he’s French Canadian)

Mr. McMahon comes to the ring before the main event and is announced as the special referee for Austin vs. Undertaker. Vince taunts some frat boys in the front row with the gun show which I thought was funny. 

Full Taker entrance. This is the first show in literally months where Taker and Kane haven't interacted at all. Undertaker moves very slowly considering there's only about 6 mins left of the episode. Vince looks very pleased with himself until Undertaker suddenly gets in his face. Taker seems to object to being used as a pawn by Vince. He grabs him by the throat and spikes him with a chokeslam. As he sets up a tombstone, Kane runs in (I spoke too soon) and he and his half brother brawl through the crowd. As the stooges tend to Vince, Stone Cold arrives and stuns Gerry and Pat and ties up Vince in the ropes and goes to crown him with a steel chair but Dude Love - the actual challenger at the PPV - makes his one appearance tonight to run in and take a chair to chair shot right in the face. Patterson continues his streak of not selling anything as he recovers far too quickly from the stunner and saves Vince, dragging him from the ring after untying his arms and the show ends with Stone Cold in the ring. (still no beer bash)

Sable

Marc Mero is still forcing Sable to be in his corner with this contract nonsense. Pure uncut Russo in this storyline in that it has some of this nonsense about contracts in wrestling, but also he hates women. 

Funny spot as Mero asks to be disrobed so Sable aggressively pulls his entrance robe off him awkwardly with no ceremony. Mero is wrestling Faarooq. He has an IC title shot at the PPV not that you know it from these Raws. The Rock has barely been on the show this month either it feels like. Mero uses Sable as a human shield on the outside. This Mero mistreating Sable angle has been going since before the Royal Rumble and even for me only having watched since Mania....it's tiring now. Sable shouts at Mero from the apron and it allows Faarooq to beat him with a clothesline. Seriously. Mero's forcing Sable to be in his corner has cost him two matches in a row. Mero challenges Sable to find herself a WWF superstar to represent her at the PPV. If Mero wins, Sable is gone. If Sable's guy wins then she's free. Watching it at the time, people assumed it would be either new boy Val Venis, or The Undertaker who notably doesn't have a match on PPV. Not really Undertaker's scene is it? We shall see.

D-Generation X vs. the World…..IV? V? It’s the last one.

DX at an airfield. They debate who is going to go up in a fighter jet. Roaddogg makes jokes about already being high. No one remembers this skit when they talk about this DX invasion stuff so there's probably a reason. 

Watching the DX guys interact here unscripted is good fun. They try hard to make each other corpse and Billy does when Roaddogg calls him Rockabilly. 

Eventually, Stock footage of someone in a fighter jet with Triple H's audio dub. He sky writes WCW sucks and drops a poo bomb on them. Literally, he drops a bomb that is apparently full of human waste. (he doesn’t obviously, that would be murder) This might be the reason no one really remembers these parts of the DX invading WCW stuff.

Back in the arena, it's The Nation’s Intercontinental Champion The Rock vs. D-Generation X’s European champion Triple H. Neither title is on the line. The Rock gives us a pre-match promo about "new wonder drug" viagra. He doesn't need it. That’s the punchline. He does talk about his match with Faarooq at the PPV. Nice to get some build for it at least! Lots of classic Rock-isms in this. The future of the WWF here in this match. This gets a little bit more time than most matches on Raw and is notably better than the Double J and Mero matches we've been subjected to. The fans are engaged too. The Rock clocks HHH with the IC belt behind the ref's back but Chyna stops the three count. The Rock hits the people's elbow. Chyna hits Rock with the European belt behind the ref's back but it only gets a two. This honestly does feel like a main event. As Mark Henry and Chyna get involved and distract and brawl behind the referees back, the match goes to a double count out. As The Rock backs away, he's jumped by Faarooq who hits an awesome looking piledriver on top of the steel ramp! Triple H laughs about it. 

Other Happenings

• DOA vs LOD 6 man tag. There’s no Sunny again. I think she’s just gone now. LOD 2000 brought out "Puke" as their partner. It's Droz. JR rattles off his football career and about what a great young athlete he is. Michael Cole makes a South Park reference - specifically to Stan’s always vomiting when he’s around a girl. Droz was famous for being able to puke on command and threw up during a football game on live TV. LOD 2000 and Droz win this one (I’m not calling him Puke) 
• Owen Hart has his new Nation music. He's facing new babyface (I assume after he beat up Jim Cornette)  NWA champion Dan Severn. They exchange submissions and holds to silence. Severn had the match won but The Nation ran in and beat him down. Rock bottom. Mark Henry splash. Owen tried to “Pillman” Severn's ankle like he did to Shamrock but officials stopped it. Loud Rocky sucks chants as soon as he appears.
• Another Edge promo. Same as the previous couple of weeks. These don’t have the creativity or variety that the Val Venis ones did.
• The Jackyl brings out Crackhead Bob and Hank the angry drunken dwarf from the Howard Stern show. JR pretends to be interested. They've come out to sad circus music. Jackyl tells us not to laugh. This whole segment is absolutely dire. He talks a lot about freaks and Oddities. It builds up to him eventually bringing out a new heel stable. The Oddities. Princess Luna, Golga (played by John Tenta AKA Earthquake), and the Giant Silva who is massive. They group hug the Jackyl. The Headbangers come out but the match is Golga vs. Headbanger Thrasher. Jackyl joins commentary. Jackyl (Don Callis) and JR being dicks to each other is very 2023 as this is the same thing they do on commentary in AEW. Golga wins and then the Oddities beat up the Headbangers and the referee. 
• Al Snow is in the crowd dressed as a bandito. He’s still trying to get his meeting with Vince. 
• Double J. At least there's no lengthy hype promo for him first but he does still have Tennessee Lee. He's facing Vader. Cole says he thinks Vader looks good. JR says he doesn't and is quite mean about Vader’s weight. This seems really mean and out of the blue but as head of talent relations, Jim Ross had been heavily involved in trying to get Vader and Yokozuna (who amazingly was still under contract) to drop some weight and had even sent them to one of those military fat camps where they’re locked in. Eventually they’d revert to just fat shaming Vader on TV hoping he’d take the hint. He didn’t. This all feels really cruel though. Vader has the match won but Kane runs in and beats him up. 
• Al Snow accosts Jerry Lawler at ringside about not delivering his meeting with Vince as promised and King fobs him off saying that Vince was sat right next to him (in disguise) last week so that counts. Snow is escorted out by security.
• Dick Togo vs. Taka Michinoku in a non-title match. Both men are still active in New Japan in 2023. This is good but the fans aren't really paying attention. JR and King spend the match talking about Taker vs. Austin and Rock vs HHH tonight. Taka wins clean and then Kaientai lays waste to him with a series of crisp, awesome looking moves. Bradshaw isn't here tonight to help his mate Taka sadly.