Raw is War - February 15th, 1999

Wrestlemania Main Event

The show opens with WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels. He wastes no time in introducing the two men who will face each other for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania. First, Stone Cold Steve Austin. He received a monstrous ovation after beating Vince McMahon senseless in a steel cage last night, but he only won by the skin of his teeth when new debut from WCW Paul Wight got involved. Next, WWF Champion Mankind who also only retained his title last night by the skin of his teeth on a technicality when the Last Man Standing match ended in a draw. Mankind is limping and obviously hurting from the title defence. The two stare down and Shawn begins hyping the match but before he gets going, a neck brace wearing and limping Vince McMahon comes out. Stone Cold has a big smile on his face and he, Shawn and Mick all share a laugh over it. Vince is sore and speaks softly. He is a broken and humbled man, he says. The fans drown him out with “asshole” chants. He has 12 stitches in his head. He was thrown off the top of the cage! He says he wants to be a better man and start all over. The fans don’t like that and boo him. He says he wants to bury the hatchet with Stone Cold tonight and to start fresh. Another loud “asshole” chant drowns him out. This crowd is HOT. 

All Vince wants is for Austin to say that he’s sorry. And then the two can start fresh. Stone Cold says that he’s sorry. Sorry that he didn’t beat Vince’s ass even worse than he did! “If you think Vince McMahon is STILL an asshole, gimme a hell yeah?” The fans give him a roof shaking “hell yeah” Vince changes tactics and tells commissioner Michaels that Mankind didn’t win his match, and that if he wants to give the people what they want, he needs to book a rematch tonight for the WWF title between Mankind and The Rock. Mankind says that even by his standards he feels very beat up tonight so says that The Rock can have his rematch next week (which the fans actually boo, they want a title match tonight). The Rock comes out and says that The Rock won’t give him seven days to recuperate and that the title match will be tonight. The Rock insults Michaels and demands that he make the match tonight. Foley says that he doesn’t need commissioner Michaels to make the match, he’ll accept the challenge. Vince isn’t happy, and goads HBK into making “his kind of match” where there has to be a winner, a ladder match. Shawn Michaels fires back at The Rock a bit and does indeed book it - Mankind defends the WWF title tonight against The Rock in a ladder match! Vince says that at Wrestlemania, no matter who Stone Cold faces, the special guest referee for that match will be the newest member of The Corporation, Paul Wight, who comes out to No Chance and stands tall. He is a massive man. This was a great opening segment - a super hot crowd, all five men firing on all cylinders and I got a personal kick out of seeing HBK hold this version of the WWF title belt, and out of Mankind, Austin and Michaels having a laugh together in the ring. 

Backstage, the entire Corporation shakes hands with and hugs Paul Wight and are all smiles. Very odd seeing The Rock hug him, and Shamrock shakes his hand with a big smile on his face.

The Rock enters for the main event and gives a pre-match promo where he once again uses “Finally The Rock has come back….” which I didn’t think he started until 2000. He does a confusing promo where he compares himself to tequila. Mankind enters next but before the match starts, Stone Cold comes out to do commentary for this one, since he’ll face the winner at Wrestlemania. King is pretty funny, realising that he’s going to be next to Austin and starts sucking up. The two men fight around the ring and The Rock gets a steel chair. Michael Cole keeps talking over Austin to which he’s getting annoyed. Not in an obvious gimmicked way, but in the sense that he is legit annoyed at Cole and doesn’t say anything about it. He does ask where JR is though. I miss him too, Steve. The Rock works on Mankind’s leg just like last night, slamming it on the chair. He goes for the ladder and it backfires as Mick hits the ladder and then hammers it with the chair as it lays across The Rock’s chest. He slams The Rock and then mockingly does his own Corporate Elbow (which Cole calls Mr. Elbow) Mankind starts to climb the ladder but The Rock blasts him in the leg with the chair. He falls off and the ladder falls on him. The Rock uses chop blocks and stays laser focused on Mick’s leg. The Rock shows a real mean streak here, as he has all through his feud with Mankind. Mankind hammers The match descends into them taking turns hammering each other with the chair and then trying to climb the ladder. Mick’s bumps off the ladder are more painful looking of course. Have a night off Mick! Mankind uses the steel steps on the outside and sets up a piledriver through the Spanish announce table. Austin cheers Mankind on and wants him to climb the ladder and win. Rock uses a low blow to stop the piledriver and drives Foley through the announce table with a Rock Bottom. Mankind refuses to stay down - even Stone Cold is shocked that Mankind is back up so quickly and he stops The Rock from climbing and uses the Double arm DDT. Mankind gets Mr. Socko but The Rock drops him with a DDT. Someone at ringside really audibly shouts “three minutes” at them both. The Rock climbs the ladder and Mankind follows and they trade punches at the top. Foley gets the Mandible Claw with Mr. Socko as Paul Wight comes to the ring. He grabs Mankind by the throat and drives him to the mat with an awesome looking Chokeslam. He gestures “you’re next” to Stone Cold as The Rock pulls down the WWF title belt. The Rock becomes a three time WWF Champion thanks to Paul Wight and the Wrestlemania main event is set. The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, and new Corporate member Paul Wight will apparently be the special referee. Austin gives The Rock no time to celebrate and the show ends seconds after The Rock takes a Stone Cold Stunner. 

The Ministry vs. The Corporation

After seeing him lead the entire group through the backstage area, The Undertaker brings the entire Ministry of Darkness to the ring. They’re still using Undertaker’s original deadman theme music. The group now consists of The Undertaker and Paul Bearer, The Acolytes tag team of Bradshaw and Faarooq, Mideon, the 500lbs Viscera and The Brood - Gangrel, Edge and Christian. They’re an imposing sight! The Bossman apparently escaped after being abducted at the PPV. The Undertaker takes aim at Vince McMahon. He possesses untold power and he wants to take control of the entire World Wrestling Federation. How can The Undertaker be so confident? He says that he holds the key to McMahon’s soul and that while he was distracted by his petty obsessions, he has amassed an army. He speaks of a Higher Power even greater than him, and that he will own the World Wrestling Federation. The Big Bossman comes out to interrupt. He says that his attempts to take down the Corporation will fail. He challenges any three members of The Ministry to a match with Bossman and “two of my guys” and promises to “stick his foot in The Undertaker’s dead ass” 

Coming out to The Corporation theme is Bossman, Test and Shamrock to take on a three man team from The Ministry of Darkness. That team ends up being The Acolytes and Mideon. This match doesn’t last long before The Undertaker and the rest of The Ministry come out onto the stage dragging Shane McMahon with them. The Ministry keeps the Corporation at bay. The Undertaker says he could pull out Shane’s heart right now but he doesn’t think Vince would care. Shane begs The Undertaker “don’t kill me” and Undertaker gives Shane a letter to pass on to Vince and sends him running into the back. 

Shane McMahon - Champion

X-Pac and Triple H come out with something to say. King is a massive misogynist and says these two are embarrassments to their gender for losing to Chyna last night. I am confident Chyna could beat the hell out of Jerry Lawler very easily. Triple H is starting to look a bit more like main event singles Triple H. He still has his very long, straight dry hair but he's grown some stubble and he’s looking way bigger and more muscular. He challenges Chyna and Kane to a rematch. (Another person calling Kane “big red retard” which was a terrible nickname and they’re lucky it didn’t catch on but is also censored on the WWE network because its offensive) Shane comes out with Chyna and Kane and says that Chyna has the night off for doing such a good job at the PPV. X-Pac suggests “we trade one bitch for another” and says Shane should take her place. Shane says he’d love to but doesn’t have proper ring attire. Triple H pressures him to accept and prove he’s not “a puss”. Shane suggests that X-Pac’s European title should be on the line in this tag team match which X-Pac and Triple H accept.

Shane McMahon - in his altered DX jersey with “X-Punk” printed across it, comes out with Chyna and Kane to Kane’s music for the tag team match with X-Pac and Triple H. It’s a very WCW gimmick, to have a singles title on the line in a tag team match. Definitely a Vince Russo idea. Kane does all the wrestling for his team of course with Shane getting cheap shots on X-Pac on the outside when he can. As Triple H and Kane fight on the outside and keep the referee distracted, X-Pac beats Shane McMahon senseless until, with help from Chyna and blasting him in the face with the title belt, an unconscious Shane McMahon is put into a cover on X-Pac to win the match and the title. Shane McMahon is the new WWF European Champion! After the match, Shane celebrates with the Corporation with champagne and cheering as he tells Kevin Kelly “I’m going to Wrestlemania!” The best.

Other Happenings

• WWF Women’s Champion Sable comes out to a wild reaction. She doesn’t have her title belt with her but she is wearing sunglasses and wearing an incredibly revealing top. She talks about how busy she is with outside projects, promotes her Playboy cover and her upcoming TV appearances. She’s “gone Hollywood” and comes across as very stuck up and full of herself here. This is the beginning of a heel turn which is probably overdue. She disingenuously tells the people that she loves us all. Her “stalker fan” Tori rushes the ring but Sable asks the security to let her go and leave her. She recoils in horror when Tori tries to touch her and gives her a fierce dressing down. “You’ll never be like me, you’re just a wannabe like the rest of them” Sable has her arrested. Michael Cole repeats “new attitude” and “new demeanour” about four times. We get it. Sable’s a heel now.

• One half of the tag team champions Jeff Jarrett and Debra take on D’Lo Brown and Debra in a mixed tag team match. The two men trade finishes with the women breaking up the pins. The fans lose their minds when the two women start fighting, rolling around and cat fighting. With all four participants fighting in the ring, the referee rings the bell and throws out the match and the fans boo as the men hold the women apart. In the melee, Debra smashes Jarrett’s guitar over Debra! The fans are red hot for this whole segment. Owen Hart comes out to celebrate with Jeff and Debra. 
• Val Venis, accompanied by Ryan Shamrock, defends his Intercontinental title against Bad Ass Billy Gunn. Ryan gets up on the apron and gets knocked off, apparently hurting her ankle. The distraction allows Val to win and retain with the Fisherman suplex. Billy Gunn seems more concerned about her safety than her boyfriend Val Venis does. Val takes issue with her saying that “we” won the title and says the title only goes around one waist. He dumps her. He’s on a rocket to the top and there's no more room on this ride for her, so he says. She is a terrible actress and rather than upset, looks more bemused. Backstage after the break, Billy Gunn is consoling Ryan and is attacked by her brother Ken Shamrock. He’s presumably also upset at being cost the IC title last night too.
• Bob Holly defends his new Hardcore Championship against Steve Blackman. This is a brawl that goes immediately backstage and isn’t as good as Roaddogg’s efforts. In the parking lot with Blackman in control, Droz appears and uses a big metal something-or-other to lay out Blackman as payback for him defending Kevin Kelly last week and Holly retains. He heads out to the ring to celebrate with the belt but this time gets on the mic. He says that he is sick of being saddled with lame gimmicks and weak-ass partners. He issues an open challenge for the Hardcore title. His former tag team partner, the winner of the Brawl for All Bart Gunn comes out and says he’ll face him for the title next week. This is the first time we’ve seen Bart since he won the Brawl for all last summer.

Raw is War - February 22nd, 1999

Referee Ructions

The show opens, as so many of these Raw’s do, with Mr. McMahon. He’s out alone which actually is a surprise. In retaliation for assaulting Shane last week and for threatening him and the company, Vince has booked The Undertaker against Kane in an Inferno match tonight. We still don’t know what was in the letter that The Undertaker gave Shane last week. Vince warns us that tonight will be hard to watch and if you’re squeamish then you should leave now. Tonight we’re going to have “A good old fashioned roast” and it’ll be human flesh. This is Vince reacting to having his family threatened. He also says that this year's Wrestlemania main event is the biggest in history when The Rock faces Stone Cold. He brings out the man who’ll serve as special referee for that match, Paul Wight. He swaggers out to the Corporation’s theme song as the commentators put him over big - literally. They talk about how enormous he is. Vince stares in awe, and the two hug when Paul gets to the ring. He officially welcomes him to the WWF. Paul offers his heartfelt thanks as the fans chant “Giant sucks” Paul promises that the WWF will NEVER be the same, and that he is money in the bank. He takes credit for throwing Austin so hard he broke the cage, and for costing Mankind the WWF title. He says that he single handedly put the title around The Rock’s waist, and he did it for Mr. McMahon. The Rock comes out next and Vince looks surprised to hear his music. Paul claps for The Corporate Champion and Vince introduces him anyway. The Rock is all smiles when he gets in the ring and says that maybe he heard wrong. “Did this big jabroni say that he single handedly put the title around my waist?” “Oh yeah I said it, I’m surprised you heard it with that thick skull of yours” There’s already ructions! 

The Rock asks Wight if he thinks he can just walk his candy ass into “his company” and speak to The Rock that way. He calls The Rock “pebble” and that he’ll shut his mouth for him. Vince laughs it off and says they’re both only kidding but The Rock cuts him off. The Rock wants this new “overgrown 500lbs bag of monkey crap” to show the champ some respect, and Wight wants The Rock to show him a little gratitude for helping him win. Vince gets between them and Paul effortlessly picks him up and moves him aside and the two get in each other's faces. Mankind’s music plays before this goes any further. Mankind offers to be the second referee for the Wrestlemania main event. He wants to be included in the Mania main event more than anything, even as a referee and thinks he’d be good to have there to keep things fair. He says he can prove he's a good referee by doing it for The Rock vs. Paul Wight tonight, for the WWF title! Vince tells Mankind to shut up but Paul likes the idea! He wants a WWF title shot now. These two’s egos are out of control and The Rock accepts! Vince is very upset that his Corporation and his plans for the Wrestlemania main event are falling apart. After the break, the entire Corporation is involved in a shouting match, trying to calm both Rock and Wight down. 

Vince has a segment backstage where he tries to calm The Rock down and get him to make up with Paul Wight.

Another segment with Vince where he tries to calm Paul Wight down. Paul says that he’s here to be a leader and he wants to be WWF Champion. Then The Rock can follow him. 

Mankind is backstage in the boiler room in a homemade referee shirt - hes painted black lines down one of his white shirts - practising being a referee, shouting commands at invisible performers. Mankind comes out to referee this match but after he’s entered, Vince rushes to the ring and says this match is cancelled. The Rock then comes out anyway and Vince looks shocked. He’s still trying to talk The Rock out of it. The Rock sends Vince to sit at the commentary desk and tells Paul Wight to bring his “roody poo candy ass” to the ring. Vince is despondent at having lost control. Paul Wight comes out to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre theme song. He’ll have his own proper theme soon enough. Mankind rings the bell as Vince suddenly seems much more calm. The Rock and Paul Wight start beating on Mankind two on one. It was a setup! Vince gets in the ring and the three of them hug. They hold Mick up for Vince to clock him with a punch of his own. 

The fans chant for Austin but he doesn’t come and Vince holds his two superstars hands up in victory. Backstage after a break, the rest of Team Corporate is waiting for Vince, Wight and Rock backstage to celebrate and laugh about Mankind’s misfortune. Michael Cole spent most of the night calling Wight “Big Nasty” which I think was a WCW nickname that they probably couldn’t use.

The Ministry brings McMahon to his knees

Backstage, we get a little candid camera shot of Vince McMahon telling Kane that The Undertaker needs to burn in hell. After that, The Undertaker speaks from the shadows. He says that his Higher Power and master has his sights set on McMahon. The Ministry of Darkness will take control of the entire WWF. Some flames cannot be extinguished and the Lord of Darkness is one of them. He’s going to demonstrate just how serious his threat is. He has a surprise.

Vince comes to the ring and says that “no one does THIS'' to Vince McMahon, holding up the letter that The Undertaker gave to Shane last week. He wants The Undertaker to burn in hell for what he’s tried to do to The McMahons. He calls Kane “The Corporation’s personal instrument of destruction” He’d be right except in their many matches, Kane has never actually beaten The Undertaker, apart from the time Undertaker let him win on Raw during their whole “will they-won’t they” storyline. Vince joins commentary and Michael Cole asks him about the envelope. Vince gets very worked up. “It’s personal and nobody - not even The Undertaker - goes there” This is the first Undertaker match since the Buried Alive match at Rock Bottom in December. While the brothers wrestle, Paul Bearer brings a gift wrapped black parcel to Vince McMahon, leaving it on the announce table in front of him. Vince refuses to open it for a while while King goads him but he does eventually and it's a teddy bear. Vince pulls the headset off and looks like he's about to cry. He gets up and carries it around the ring. Taker and Kane in the ring just keep trying to push each other's faces into the flames to no avail. Vince goes to Paul Bearer, asking “what are you doing?” over and over. He looks like he's going to cry. Kane throws The Undertaker out of the ring and he does a great job of missing the fire. Kane climbs to the top rope and dives at The Undertaker who moves and Kane bounces hard off the announce table which doesn’t break. On the outside, Kane goes for a big boot which The Undertaker catches and places Kane’s foot on the flames which sets his leg on fire! The Undertaker walks around the ring and takes the bear from Vince, setting it on fire and throwing it up the entrance ramp. Vince drops to his knees weeping. What is the teddy bear symbolic of? And that’s how Raw ends - with the question unanswered.

Superstar Sable

Kevin Kelly interviews Sable again. She has her WWF Women’s title with her this week at least. Kevin says some of the fans have been taken aback by her change in attitude. She once again is very stuck up and full of herself. The stalker fan is in the front row again and this time Sable actually calls her into the ring. Sable asks Tori her name, and gets her to gush about how much she loves Sable. Sable tells her she's pathetic and kicks her out of the ring but before she leaves, Luna comes to the ring. She’s not her usual wild self and cuts a serious, emotional promo about how while not everyone can be as beautiful as Sable, it doesn’t make them less than her and they don’t use people. Sable is only the champion because of her looks. Sable says she doesn’t care about women, she only cares about men. The fans cheer like idiots. Sable then hits Luna and Tori with her title belt before smiling, waving and leaving. She’s so conceited! 

Other Happenings

• Gangrel and Edge of The Brood take on Public Enemy. This is during their VERY short run in the WWF as when they came in, they were treated very poorly by some of the guys (Bradshaw) for their perceived attitude issues and for picking WCW over the WWF in 1997. Christian very openly helps The Brood cheat for a bit and the referee does eventually notice and call for the DQ. Public Enemy bail out of the ring and grab chairs to even the odds but before they can use them the lights go out and they both get a bloodbath. During the break, The Undertaker has the rest of The Ministry beat up The Brood in the parking lot for losing their match.
• Val Venis comes out to be guest commentator for the next match which is Ken Shamrock vs. Bad Ass Billy Gunn with the winner facing Val for the Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania. Val makes some dirty jokes about Ryan and calls Shamrock a virgin. The fans chant “where’s your sister?” at Shamrock while riling him up. Val laughs about having used up Ryan and then dumping her. Val ends up getting involved and this match is thrown out. Ryan comes down to try and see what's happening as Shamrock shouts at his sister and drags her off backstage. 

• D’Lo Brown calls out Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett. They took out Mark Henry at the PPV, and took out Ivory last week so he wants them both. This handicap match doesn’t last long as Jacqueline and Terri Runnels - who I assumed were done with D’Lo - come out and Jackie does a missile dropkick from the top rope, sending him into a heel kick from Owen Hart and gets pinned. and then the Tag Team Champions beat him up. 
• Steve Blackman does his martial arts stick routine in the ring. He's set to face Droz who is wearing an even sillier hat than last time. Blackman wins clean with a big kick to the chest and then sore loser Droz uses Blackman’s own martial arts sticks to choke him out. 
• Intercontinental Champion Val Venis takes on Goldust in a non-title match. These two know each other very well but there's no mention of their feud over Terri a couple of months ago. The Blue Meanie, who Goldust demolished at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, comes to the ring and with the referee distracted spikes Val with a DDT on the floor and rolls him into the ring for Goldust to pin. 
• European Champion Shane McMahon, who retained the title with a ton of help last night on Heat, is warming up with Chyna. He poses in a DX tank top that has “X-Chump” printed across it. She gushes about how huge he looks. She’s a Corporate suck up now.
• Bob Holly - now rechristened Hardcore Holly - defends his Hardcore title against former tag team partner and Brawl for All winner Bart Gunn. Holly has become a lot more vicious since winning this title and smashes a glass pitcher over Bart’s head and then drills him in the head with a brutal chairshot, followed by another across the back! Bart returns the favour by smashing a mug from the commentary desk over Holly’s head and then hitting him with the ring bell! Holly uses a fire extinguisher and then a big box of ice and drinks that was kept under the ring, presumably for the staff. This is a lot more physical and hard hitting than the slightly goofier Hardcore title brawls we’ve had recently. Bart suplexes Holly on the steel ramp. The match progresses up to the top of the ramp where they hammer each other with weird weapons like a watermelon, a box of bananas and a bag of flour. Forget what I said about not being as goofy. A mysterious masked ninja appears and attacks Bart Gunn, throwing him off the stage and through a table! Hardcore Holly follows down and covers Bart Gunn to retain the Hardcore title. 
• Shane McMahon accompanies Chyna to the ring for her match with X-Pac. If X-Pac wins then he gets a one on one rematch for the European title. Triple H comes to the ring with X-Pac too. Chyna uses a low blow while X-Pac is trying to get his hands on Shane to take control early and dominates with forearms. She tries a bronco buster but X-Pac moves. With the referee distracted by X-Pac chasing Shane around the ring, Triple H Pedigrees Chyna in the middle of the ring allowing X-Pac to return and easily pin her. X-Pac will now take on Shane for the European title at Wrestlemania. 

Raw is War - March 1st, 1999

The Corporation: Attacked from all sides

The entire Corporation - and it’s a massive group with Vince McMahon, European Champion Shane McMahon, WWF Champion The Rock, The Big Bossman, Test, Ken Shamrock, Chyna, Kane, Paul Wight and flanked by Pat Patterson and Gerry Brisco. 

They open the show and Vince tells us that last week’s moment will be put in the museum of TV history as that moment where he showed weakness will never, never happen again. The fans loudly drown him out with “asshole” chants. Vince has a surprise for The Undertaker this week. He calls Kane forward, and says that Kane promised him that The Undertaker would burn in hell. He lied and now HE can go to hell instead. Vince fires Kane (and it's the first appearance of the gravelly well known “You’re fired”) The Corporation surrounds Kane and makes him leave the ring. An army of orderlies come to the ring to take Kane back to the insane asylum and to everyone’s shock, Chyna gets out of the ring and helps Kane fight them off! Chyna was rescued by Kane from Triple H last night on Heat so apparently feels like she owes him. Chyna says that Vince is making a mistake, and that Kane is an asset. She knows how to control him, and she’ll take accountability. Give him a match with Stone Cold Steve Austin tonight and let him prove himself. Chyna promises that Kane will beat Austin tonight and if he doesn’t then he's fired. Vince accepts. If Kane wins then he’s in The Corporation and safe from the asylum, but if he loses then Kane AND Chyna are fired. 

Mankind then comes out - he’s leading a campaign to be made special referee for the Wrestlemania main event. He asks Vince for another chance to prove himself tonight and asks to referee the Kane and Austin match. Vince agrees but says he wants something from Mick in return - no one holds as many victories over The Undertaker as he does, and he wants Mankind to beat The Undertaker again tonight. The lights go out and The Undertaker’s music starts. We can hear Vince in the darkness asking where he is and telling everyone to watch their back. Instead, Undertaker’s voice comes through the speakers. “McMahon, I’ve told you what it is I’m going to do, and I’ve told you what I’m going to take” and ends with a proper evil “Mwahahaha” type laugh. 

The Roaddogg, returning from injury after having to vacate the Hardcore title, challenges The Rock for the WWF Championship. I’ve no idea why he deserves a literal world title match but I guess its nice that The Rock gets to rack up some title defences during this reign. He’s still wrestling in a t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. Paul Wight who’s still scheduled to be the referee for the WWF title match at Wrestlemania comes to ringside to watch. The Rock once again steals Michael Cole’s headset and provides some trash talking commentary during this one too. Michael Cole really pushes Wight’s “Big Nasty” nickname which I think they were toying with making his actual ring name for a bit. Roaddogg gets a little offence but ultimately gets Rock Bottomed and Corporate Elbow’d for the victory. There was zero doubt. Paul Wight is The Rock’s cheerleader, clapping and cheering on The Rock. They’re really pushing that Wight and The Rock have become fast friends which doesn’t bode well for Stone Cold at Wrestlemania.

Vince McMahon joins commentary for The Undertaker vs. Mankind match, and reveals that The Undertaker will face The Big Bossman in a Hell in a Cell match at Wrestlemania. Michael keeps asking Vince what the meaning of the teddy bear was but Vince refuses to answer a personal question. These two work well together and trade big moves - they’ve had some classics, not even including the Hell in a Cell. Undertaker goes for his top-rope-walking axe handle but Mankind catches him in the Mandible Claw but Undertaker sends him to the outside. Vince really enjoys Mankind driving his knee into Taker’s head against the ring steps but Taker kicks a chair back into Mankind’s face and then hits him across the back with it. The Undertaker ends up losing by count out as he punches Vince in the face. He throws McMahon across the announce table and stands on the table, apparently wanting to either chokeslam or tombstone him through the table but The Bossman arrives with a nightstick to the knee and then repeatedly into the head, allowing he and Vince to escape. The Brood and The Acolytes chase them through the crowd as The Undertaker recovers. The entire Ministry is at ringside but Mankind is still in the ring. Undertaker plants him with a chokeslam. After the ad break, Vince escapes in his limo with The Bossman.

Kane (with Chyna) vs. Stone Cold is the main event. If Kane doesn’t win, he and Chyna are both fired from The Corporation. Kane only really wants to stay in the group so he doesn’t have to go back to the looney bin. The crowd is so loud for Stone Cold that you can barely hear Tony Chimmel announcing him. This is a good match which goes back and forth and has lots of heat. The fans are loud and excited too and Chyna keeps helping Kane cheat. They want to keep their jobs. Paul Wight comes to ringside and taunts Austin. It all breaks down and I think the referee messes up (it's Earl Hebner so he definitely did, he’s terrible) as he takes what is obviously supposed to be a ref bump but he stays up and keeps watching the match while selling his ribs. Austin and Kane then do lots of things like big chair shots and interference from Chyna that should cause a DQ but doesn’t for no reason. Even Cole and King comment on it. Eventually Paul gets in the ring and tries to mule kick Austin but hits Kane instead. Austin gets out of the ring, gives them the finger and leaves as his music plays. I think officially the match was a no-contest. 

Women’s Division? (and some Tag Title stuff too)

Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart come to the ring with Debra wearing a red satin dressing gown. She says that if anyone can take the tag team titles from her boys tonight, she’ll remove the robe. The open challenge is accepted by Triple H and X-Pac and the match starts fast and furious. Jeff and Owen are still feuding with D’Lo Brown. Last night on Heat, D’Lo and Ivory cost them a non-title match against Too Much. The champs isolate Triple H in the ring but he gets a hot tag to X-Pac. He hits the X-Factor on Jeff and has the match won but Debra distracts the referee. She is knocked off the apron and X-Pac goes to check on her like a proper babyface. Shane sends him into the ring steps and so X-Pac chases off after Shane leaving Triple H all alone. As the tag champs double team him, the referee calls for the bell and DX wins by DQ (so the champs retain) Ivory comes out for a stare down with Debra, who takes off with the champions and their belts. As they get to the top of the ramp, D’Lo jumps them and knocks both of them down which lets Ivory pull off Debra’s robe and real some lovely red lingerie. Jeff and Owen cover her up with the belts and they run to the back. Backstage, Debra challenges Ivory to a match later tonight. 

Luna comes out for her match accompanied by Tori. Luna says that she tried to reason with Sable but Sable attacked her and her number 1 fan from behind. Luna says that Tori stands by her now, not Sable. She’s standing up for herself, and she's standing up for all these fans that she used to get her where she is. Tori is dressed like a play school assistant and looks really meek and shy. Sable comes out in some new, more revealing ring gear as Cole and King promote her issue of Playboy which comes out next week. To everyone’s shock, Tori attacks Luna from behind! I guess she’s still Sable’s number one fan even after the abuse. Sable delivers a Sable Bomb to Luna and Tori tries to high five her but Sable leaves her hanging and leaves the ring without even acknowledging her. Tori keeps asking if that was good enough, begging for some acceptance but Sable just ignores her.

Debra faces Ivory in a one on one match - only Debra’s second match at all after the mixed tag last week. Ivory actually defeated Jacquline on Heat last night too so there's finally a women's division building. The referee ejects Jeff and Owen from ringside. Ivory has D’Lo Brown with her but he oddly doesn’t get ejected. As soon as the two start cat fighting, Jackie and Terri rush the ring and Jackie helps Debra beat up Ivory two on one while Terri goes on commentary and says no one better mess with PMS. Ivory gets a piledriver by Jacqueline and the three villainous women run off together. 

Other Happenings

• Backstage, Ryan Shamrock comes out of a locker room and fixes her skirt. She’s apparently found a new boyfriend after being dumped by Val Venis. The opening match is a triple threat for the Intercontinental title. Val Venis defends against Ken Shamrock and who was supposed to be Bad Ass Billy Gunn but Billy has been signed off due to an illness and can’t wrestle tonight (we see the doctor breaking the news to him and he was very upset) Instead he’s been replaced by Goldust by virtue of him defeating the champion last week in a non-title match. That’s actually pretty sensible booking! Goldust is accompanied by The Blue Meanie who after their short feud is now Goldust’s biggest fan and helped him beat Val last week. Ryan makes her way to ringside just as this match starts. The fans even chant “Shamrock’s sister” so I guess this storyline is more over than I thought. Goldust goes outside and starts to kiss Shamrock’s sister which enrages Kenny. He fights Goldust into the crowd leaving Val alone in the ring. The referee just throws this one out and Val retains apparently by count out? As Val celebrates, he’s jumped by Bad Ass Billy Gunn. 

• The return of Jim Ross! Very sadly, his latest Bell’s palsy attack was a bad one and he both noticeably looks and sounds totally different. He calls out the winner of the Brawl for All, Bart Gunn - he’s set to face professional wrestler and genuine celebrity Butterbean at Wrestlemania. JR says that Bart is having issues looking JR in the face. He takes issue with the fact that people keep refusing to look at him. He’s been mistreated. He wanted to come back at the Royal Rumble and he was told he couldn’t come back because no one wanted to look at him. This is really sad as they’re turning his real life health issues into a heel turn. Bart asks what this has to do with him. JR talks about how Bart bragged that he knocked out “JR’s boy” Dr. Death Steve Williams and tried to take JR’s dignity. JR fires up and starts slapping Bart in the face. Bart backs him up into the corner and Dr. Death runs in for the save. He German-suplexes Bart as JR encourages him to beat up Bart Gunn. Thankfully this storyline doesn’t last more than a couple of weeks. This was supposed to be JR’s big bitter heel turn but the fans cheered him.

• With Roaddogg still sitting in the ring after his match with The Rock, Al Snow comes to the ring and says he wants to pick up where they left off and he blames Roaddogg for him not becoming Hardcore champion at the PPV. Hardcore Holly also comes out and the three fight with Roaddogg laying them both out with a steel sheet. He tells them to meet him in the parking lot if they want a real right, and heads out to wait. Hardcore Holly is the first one out there and the two have a wild brawl. This is spread out over a couple of segments and is interrupted by Steve Blackman and Droz in a kendo stick match. Both men start with the weapon and hit each other back and forth, over and over. Droz wins when he’s the first to knock Blackman off his feet. 
• The Brood’s music plays and Public Enemy comes out dressed as The Brood. They challenge them to a rematch from last week. The lights go out and when they return, Rocco Rock is missing. Later in the show, Rocco would be found by his tag partner strung up and covered in blood. Pretty grizzly.
• After the Blackman and Droz match, the fight between Roaddogg and Hardcore Holly continues in a stairwell and back out of the building where Al Snow is waiting with a trash can. As the three men fight outside the arena on a dark night, referees finally come out to separate them. They even fight out into moving traffic! 
• The debut of the Mean Street Posse! Kinda! Rodney and Pete Gas, Shane McMahon’s real life besties, provide talking head interviews about how tough Shane McMahon is. They paint the picture of the group as rich punk bullies. Shane McMahon is the toughest man in the world apparently. I loved it. It was hilarious.

Raw is War - March 8th, 1999

Corporate Dissension 

Recap of what happened last night on Sunday Night Heat. The Rock called Paul Wight out to the ring as apparently the two are not friends after all. Paul arrives at the arena and heads to the ring and before the two come to blows, Stone Cold’s music hits. The Rock demands that Wight go and meet Austin on the ramp and he does, which lets Stone Cold come through the crowd and attack The Rock from behind. As he beats on him in the ring to everyone’s surprise, Paul Wight doesn’t make a move to help his Corporate buddy. Was that intentional or did he really not know what was going to happen?

Raw actually opens with WWF Champion The Rock. He demands that Paul Wight bring “his 500lbs bag of monkey crap” to the ring to explain himself and answer The Rock’s questions. It’s Vince McMahon who comes out though. Vince tells The Rock to stop washing Corporate dirty laundry in public. He says he knows it’s not The Rock’s fault, it’s the people’s. They place too much pressure and expectation on a WWF Champion. Vince promises to explain Paul Wight’s actions and to give The Rock all of his answers “in good time.” He does assure him that Paul Wight is a card-carrying member of The Corporation in good standing and that he can be trusted. The Rock says that he trusts Vince but he doesn’t trust Wight and runs down a few little coincidences where Wight’s actions have backfired on The Rock. All this talk does eventually bring Paul to the ring (still to No Chance in Hell because he doesn’t have his theme yet) Paul has had enough of all of this and offers to just give Vince his money back and quit. 

Mankind then enters and says that since he beat The Undertaker last week, that means he’s the second referee for the main event of Wrestlemania, and he offers to referee a match between Paul and Rock tonight. “If ya smell what The Sock is cooking?” Vince corrects Mick. He says that he is NOT the referee at Wrestlemania yet. He can have another opportunity tonight though, if he wrestles Stone Cold Steve Austin. He makes Paul Wight the referee for that match. Then Stone Cold comes out and says he’s sick of listening to all four of them talking about guest referees and guest commentators and to him it’s all a bunch of BS. He doesn’t care who the referee is tonight, he doesn’t care who the referee is at Wrestlemania. Stone Cold is going to Wrestlemania and he’s the next WWF Champion “and that's the bottom line, cuz Stone Cold said so'' 

Backstage, Mankind tries to convince Austin to team up with him on Wight but Stone Cold isn’t interested.

The Rock joins commentary for the main event which is Mankind vs. Stone Cold with Paul Wight as the referee. Four weeks into his career in the WWF, Paul has yet to have a proper match, still doesn’t have his more famous ring name and still comes out to Vince’s theme song. Paul demands to perform all the basic referee checks to amusement from Austin. Mankind is fighting to be added to the Wrestlemania main event as a second referee, and Austin is just fighting because he's focused on Mania and refuses to take his foot off the gas. 

These two work really well together and this match is no exception as they brawl around the ring. Mankind puts Austin on the announce table and climbs up the ropes and takes aim with a big elbow but Stone Cold rolls off. He comes back with a backdrop over the table and then stomps on Mick while Rock screams at Paul Wight to do something. The Rock reiterates that he doesn’t care who the referee is for Wrestlemania, or how many they are. Stone Cold keeps saying the same thing which kind of makes you wonder why the entire build has centred on who the referee is going to be, rather than on Stone Cold vs. The Rock for the WWF title. Terry Taylor speculates that Mr. McMahon must be happy as Paul Wight makes sure these two beat the hell out of each other. The match is good and the finish comes when after a long match of The Rock criticising Wight’s refereeing, he counts lightning fast to 10 while Austin is on the apron and declares Mankind the winner by DQ. Wight plants Mankind with a chokeslam but before Stone Cold and Paul get into it, Vince comes out to keep them apart. Vince and Wight leave together as The Rock gets into the ring to fight with Austin. Stone Cold sends him packing with a barrage of punches and the three Corporate members leave together. Commentary questions why McMahon isn’t letting them go after Austin two on one, and it's a good question.

The Ministry makes a sacrifice

The Ministry of Darkness in their entirety looked around backstage for The Big Bossman and beat up a bunch of jobbers. 

The Undertaker splits The Ministry up into smaller groups and spreads them out across the arena to watch out for The Bossman and capture him. 

As The New Age Outlaws celebrate their victory, The Undertaker comes out on the ramp. The Ministry comes through the crowd and attacks Billy Gunn, Roaddogg, Al Snow and Hardcore Holly and demolishes them. It doesn’t really make sense honestly because it's only been about 6 minutes since the segment where The Undertaker sent The Ministry off to stand guard in different places around the arena. The Undertaker promises that before this night is over, The Bossman will come face to face with “your maker, and the Lord of Darkness'' 

The Bossman finally arrives at the arena and gets jumped by the entire Ministry in the parking lot. Bossman tells Undertaker that “I ain’t been hard to find” which doesn’t make sense given that he wasn’t at the arena until now. After an ad break, they drag Bossman out onto the entrance ramp and strap him down onto The Undertaker’s symbol before raising him up into the air. The Undertaker tells McMahon that “one by one” your Corporation will fall, until there is only one and “she too, will be mine.” Bossman struggles and looks terrified as he hangs from the symbol and gets his hands free, dropping down to his feet. The Corporate team rush out en masse and attack, saving Bossman. The police arrive and arrest The Undertaker! The commentators make a big fuss about Paul Bearer being on the phone to someone - perhaps the Higher Power? The Undertaker rolls his eyes and gestures and his symbol which had Bossman strapped to it only moments before explodes into flames! The Undertaker is led to a squad car and loaded into the back wearing handcuffs. Mr. McMahon arrives to taunt Undertaker and tells him he better stay in jail. The police back Vince away as The Undertaker laughs in the back of the car.

Other Happenings

• One half of the tag team champions Owen Hart takes on D’Lo Brown in a “steel city street fight” and this is the first thing I remember about the first episode of Raw i ever watched. This episode of Raw is officially the point where in 1999 at the age of 10 I started watching WWF as much as I could. (It was a while before I had my own Sky and never missed an episode, I was beholden to friends giving me the tapes each week, which they didn’t always do) This is a physical match as they use trash cans and broomsticks on each other and brawl up the ramp. Owen hits a nice looking DDT onto the steel ramp with a thud which might have ended it if he'd been covered. There’s a sign really prominent during this one that says “Hogan Please Retire” which I’m sure Vince loved. 

• WWF Women’s Champion Sable comes out with Tori - her number one fan - and continues to ignore her. Sable gets on commentary, talks about her issue of Playboy and shows it to King. Luna is wrestling Tori, and attacks her and very quickly spikes her with a good looking DDT. Luna chokes Tori and the referee calls for the bell and ends it by disqualification. Sable calmly and coolly refuses to go and help Tori and ignores them both, eventually getting in the ring after Luna leaves. Sable helps her up, but then shoves her down and kicks at her before pulling off her t-shirt to expose her bra. Sable has turned into a really nasty conceited heel but the fans are still cheering her because the audience is 95% male. 

• X-Pac (with Triple H at ringside and for the pre-match promo) takes on Test (with a new theme song and back in the long leather trousers ring gear) along with Chyna and European Champion Shane McMahon who joins commentary. He is his usual hilarious obnoxious self, cheering on Test and screaming when X-Pac goes down. This is a good little match where Shane distracts X-Pac and allows Test to win. As Triple H chases Shane around the ring, he leads him right into a big clothesline from Chyna. This segment - especially Shane’s involvement - is another memory I have very clearly from watching this show back in 1999. Triple H gets on the mic and says that tonight he is going to find Chyna, drag her to the ring and humiliate her in front of the world. We’d see him backstage looking for her later.

• Chyna comes to the ring, not wanting to wait for Triple H to find her. She calls him out and he obliges, rushing to the ring to fight his former best friend. Before they get into it, Kane, who seems to have some feelings for Chyna, comes out and tries to fire a fireball at Triple H. He ducks and it blasts Chyna in the face instead. Backstage, Kane cradles her head and seems very upset about her condition.

• For the first time in a few months, The New Age Outlaws are together. Michael Cole hypes them as the most popular tag team in WWF history which I’m not convinced is true. They didn’t split up but they have been heavily focused on their own singles goals and titles since December. Billy Gunn will compete at Wrestlemania in a four corners elimination match (with Val Venis, Goldust and Ken Shamrock) for the Intercontinental title and Roaddogg is in a triple threat match with Al Snow and Hardcore Holly for the Hardcore title at Wrestlemania. Snow and Holly are The Outlaws opponents in this match. Holly and Snow bicker and in the end The Outlaws win with a spike piledriver on Holly.
• Backstage, Ryan Shamrock is sitting in Goldust’s lap kissing him while The Blue Meanie cries jealousy.
• Patterson and Brisco tip toe around in the back dressed as druids with miners lamps to look for The Ministry. There's a couple of these skits. Patteson just wants to find them and then tell Vince where they are but Brisco wants to fight them - he has amateur credentials! They bust into a room where they think The Ministry is but find The Godfather and his hoes. The Godfather sends them packing with some punches.
• Ken Shamrock takes on Goldust. Shamrock leaves the ring and attacks Goldust and Blue Meanie on the ramp when he sees Ryan is with them. Goldust sets up Shattered Dreams but he gets distracted when Meanie kisses Ryan against her will. Shamrock wins with a belly to belly, and then Ryan and Goldust run off together.
• Another Mean Street Posse video of Rodney and Pete Gas sharing stories about how tough Shane McMahon is, driving around in his expensive car smashing up mail boxes and the like. 
• The Godfather takes on Steve Blackman. Godfather offers two hoes to Blackman in exchange for throwing the match, which he takes. Its weird to see Blackman smile. Before he can leave, Droz rushes down and attacks him but Godfather makes the save. The two would be opponents working together until the lights go out and once again The Undertaker comes out and his Ministry attacks the men in the ring, this time demolishing Godfather, Blackman and Droz. “Bossman, how many innocent people am I going to have to hurt here tonight before you come out of hiding?” He says that tonight, one way or the other, there will be a sacrifice. 

Raw is War - March 15th, 1999

Vince McMahon mends fences

The Rock opens the show and addresses Wrestlemania and Stone Cold Steve Austin, which is a nice change from talking about the referees and Paul Wight. He promises victory at Wrestlemania in his usual catchphrase laden style. He then says that he cannot trust Paul Wight, and that on Heat last night Stone Cold said that it’s he and Wight that are in cahoots. I imagine that’s not exactly what he said but if it was, it must just be to mess with The Rock surely? Vince comes out to interrupt his champion. He seems angry at The Rock! He says that maybe this Rock stuff is going to his head. “You need a reality check Dwayne” He tells Rock that everything he has, he owes to Vince. Everything he did for his family - his father and grandfather. The WWF title isn’t The Rock’s, it's Vince’s. The Rock is starting to see the other side of the coin - he sold his soul to Vince to become champion but now he sees what being a Corporate champion under the thumb really means. 

He promises Rock that he isn’t going to lose the title, and that he thinks of The Rock as his son. Vince actually refers to Paul Wight as “The Big Show” during this for the first time. He reassures Rock that he is definitely 100% on their side and on their team and that The Rock can trust him. The man himself comes out next - he has the St. Valentine’s Day music as his theme again - and has a name plate that says “The Big Show” Paul Wight. He’s going to face Mankind at Wrestlemania. Big Show has taken issue with Vince implying that he’s not as quick on the uptake as Rock and Vince are. Vince tells him that he doesn’t like the tone of his voice and that he will do as he's told and paid to do and slaps him! Wight grabs Vince and slams him back into the corner, screaming in his face to never touch him again. Vince apologises. He’s flustered. He apologises to them both. “This is what Austin wants!” He books them as a tag team tonight against Mankind and Stone Cold and makes them shake hands.

Backstage, The Rock and The Big Show talk about their tag match tonight. It's very tense and unfriendly. 

The Rock enters first for the main event followed by his partner - The Big Show Paul Wight. Before the match, The Rock takes a moment to smack talk his opponents. The fans have caught on and loudly talk along with his catchphrases “roody poo”, “candy asses” and “if ya smell….”  Paul Wight is back to coming out to No Chance in Hell. He’s had two different theme songs just in this one episode of Raw! Make up your mind. Mankind comes out and goes right after both men, two on one but his tag partner Stone Cold is here to save the day. You’d never get this today as the Wrestlemania main event gets in the ring together and mixes it up. 

Austin and Foley work well as a team and Mankind bodyslams The Rock and does his own version of The Corporate Elbow until Big Show kicks him in the back of the head. The match breaks down and as Austin beats The Rock from pillar to post around the ring and drives him through the announce table with an elbow off the ring barrier, The Big Show is too concerned with Mankind to do what McMahon paid him to do and protect The Rock. The match is apparently thrown out as the show just ends with the four of them brawling around the ring.

Vince McMahon gets terrorised 

As Vince and Shane are leaving after Shane’s handicap match, The Undertaker’s voice speaks as we see The Ministry approaching Vince’s mansion. 

Backstage, an upset sounding Vince is on the phone to security at his house. After a match, Vince and Shane are distraught and on the phone to the local police. It's implied that the police won’t go because they’re watching on TV and think it's all a publicity stunt. Shane says he’ll call his friends instead. The phone rings and it's The Undertaker. “It’s almost 10 o’clock, do you know where your family is?”

They can’t do anything for his family and at home, but they can do something here tonight at Raw. He has a huddle with the entire Corporation to talk strategy. This all played out over several backstage segments in the McMahon’s locker room.

The Big Bossman faces Mideon inside a steel cage. Mideon would appear to be the only member of The Ministry that's here tonight because everyone else is at Vince's house. The match starts faster and is thankfully shorter than their dull match at the last PPV. As Bossman chokes Mideon with a chain, The Corporation comes to the ring. The cage door is open and Test, The Big Show, Ken Shamrock, Shane McMahon and yes, Vince too all climb into the cage and the entire group mercilessly beats Mideon senseless. Mr. McMahon gets on the mic and tells The Undertaker to watch and says that they’ll end him if The Undertaker doesn’t get away from his house. The Undertaker appears on the screen and says that The Ministry is happy to give their lives for the Lord of Darkness so they can go ahead and take Mideon. A car arrives in the driveway and the camera feed ends. Backstage after another break, Shane frantically calls the house as a scared Vince screams for him to keep trying.

Back at the McMahon house, the police finally arrive but can’t find anymore. After the Hardcore match ends, Vince and Shane get the news that the police arrived and no one was there and are revived until The Undertaker’s voice comes out of the phone and says that he knows what time “she’ll” be home and that he still plans on getting “her” and it ends on his symbol burning in Mr. McMahon’s front garden.

Triple H comes out to the ring and says that Kane may have accidentally burned Chyna but he was trying to burn him so he calls Kane out to the ring. Kane does and brawls with Triple H but I immediately noticed something off about Kane. It’s not him, and he has the version of his suit covering both arms again. My suspisions are confirmed when Vince McMahon comes to the ring demanding that Kane come and help him. He needs Kane to help him save his family from The Undertaker. Kane unmasks - it’s The Undertaker in disguise. The lights in the arena go out and when they return, The Undertaker is gone. “It’s just that easy McMahon.” This whole night has just been one long mind game.

The Outlaws trade places

Roaddogg takes on Intercontinental Champion Val Venis. Billy Gunn is also challenging for the Hardcore title tonight. This is classic wrestling booking where a champion has a pre-set title defence already booked for the PPV but has a warm up match on TV beforehand. No one expects either of those titles to change hands, because Billy is scheduled to be in the IC title match and Roaddogg is scheduled to be in the Hardcore title match at Wrestlemania. Roaddogg uses his juking and jiving punch combo, the shake rattle and roll knee drop and a pump handle slam for a near fall. Val gets a roll up and grabs the ropes but the referee catches him. Roaddogg plants Val with a nice DDT to win the match and the Intercontinental Championship! Billy Gunn runs to the ring to congratulate him! Backstage as Roaddogg has a victory promo, Billy is very happy for him but now he wants a title shot. He’s right to be annoyed honestly because his partner winning that title has ruined his Wrestlemania plans.

Billy Gunn challenges Hardcore Holly for the Hardcore championship. Roaddogg appears to have upset the apple cart and stolen Billy Gunn’s spot in the IC title match at Wrestlemania by winning the title. This is physical and unlike the other recent Hardcore title matches stays in the ringside area. Holly almost wins off a wicked chairshot to the head. The finish comes when Billy backdrops Holly over the top rope. I think the plan was for Holly to land on and break JR’s announce desk but he undershot and while his legs hit the table Holly landed hard and awkward outside the ring. There's a tense moment where it's not clear if he’s alright but Gunn gingerly rolls him back inside and finishes him with a Fameasser onto a chair and wins the match and the hardcore title! So The Outlaws took on each other's Wrestlemania opponents as a warm up and totally changed all the plans by winning the titles the other was chasing. Holly seemingly did enough damage to the table to break it and JR is done for the night. (See “Other Happenings”)

Other Happenings

• A construction crew comes out with plywood and constructs a second, smaller announce desk in between Cole and King and the ring. It takes several segments to get done and the sound of power tools is audible the whole time which is very distracting. 
• European Champion Shane McMahon comes out with his father Vince McMahon. Shane has challenged some former WWF Tag Team Champions to a handicap match tonight to prove how tough he is to X-Pac. It’s the Legion of Doom…played by Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco. Vince McMahon joins commentary to talk about how great his son is. Shane shows off some skills with a leapfrog, a dropkick and a deep armdrag. He gives them both a Bronco Buster in opposite corners and then uses the European title belt to lay them both out, dragging them into a heap and pinning both men at once. 
• With the construction completed at ringside, JR and Dr. Death comes out to reveal its mini announce desk. Last night on Heat, Tiger Ali Singh paid some guy in the crowd (a plant, it was actually WWF writer Ed Ferrara) to do an impression of JR. Dr. Death comes out and spikes him with a brutal german suplex, and powerbombs Tiger. JR takes position and does commentary on this match, talking over Michael Cole. The match in question is Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart defending the tag team titles against The Public Enemy. This match apparently offered out of pity because no one in the locker room likes Public Enemy. That’s true and they’ve turned it into a storyline. Jeff smashes a guitar over their head and Owen gets the pin. Commentary speculates that the referee didn’t call a DQ because he doesn’t like Public Enemy either. JR gets Steve Williams to go and get a cameraman to film him.

• A video package of Sable taking King on a tour of the Playboy mansion to promote her Playboy cover. There's lots of women in bikinis, implied nudity and Lawler being a creep towards them. Given that most of these women are in their early 20s they’re probably too old for him. Hugh Heffner actually does appear in this too. Afterwards, Lawler is in the ring with the magazine and welcomes Sable who’s apparently going to show us the whole spread. She’s wearing some pretty revealing black leather and mesh gear and looks quite “S & M.” Real talk - this is the best Sable’s ever looked. Cole talks about her new attitude but they’re still kind of oddly presenting her as a babyface while the fans cheer. It's messy. She unveils her cover and several censored pictures up on the titantron (the fans boo when they realise it's censored). She says there will be no more freebies and from now on if you want to see her, you need to pay for the privilege. Tori comes out onto the ramp in a red dress. She says the people can see her for free if they want. She’s very soft spoken and pretty wooden. Not a great promo. Tori has come to her senses and realised that Sable is just a woman and isn’t better than Tori. It's funny but if you close your eyes, she sounds almost exactly like Linda McMahon right down to the accent. She challenges Sable to a match at Wrestlemania. Tori strips off her dress and reveals her black underwear which gets a cheer from the crowd. This is the only way to turn a woman babyface in 1999. 

• For the third week in a row, we get another Mean Street Posse segment. It’s amazing. The best parts of these gets used for the video package at Wrestlemania for the Shane/X-Pac match. 

Raw is War - March 22nd, 1999

Stone Cold rolls into Wrestlemania

Before the Raw is War intro (which has been updated to include The Big Show Paul Wight) plays, Stone Cold arrives in the arena walking past a huge Coors Light beer truck in the parking lot and stops to make friends with the driver.

The WWF Champion The Rock along with Vince and Shane McMahon saunter to the ring. Vince looks surprisingly happy and relaxed given his recent family troubles with The Undertaker and The Ministry, and being only 6 days away from Stone Cold having a WWF title match at Wrestlemania. Vince says it's a privilege to stand in the ring with two great title holders who will not only walk into Wrestlemania with their titles but leave with them too. He hands off to European Champion Shane McMahon. He says that everyone knows that he can take X-Pac and he will beat him with the title on the line at Mania, but challenges him to a Greenwich Street Fight out in the parking lot tonight. Vince says that tonight when The Undertaker arrives he’ll have his hands full with “The Big Bossman and others” and he says that Undertaker and Austin are conspiring together, to divide his attention and stop him from focusing on keeping the WWF title away from Stone Cold. He says that as of now, his focus is entirely on keeping the WWF title in the Corporation and hands off to The Rock. The Rock talks trash, calling Austin trailer park trash and says Austin is drawn to The Great One and can’t help himself from watching on a monitor in the back. The Rock guarantees that Austin will never beat him. 

On the titantron, Stone Cold walks away from the monitor, apparently leaving the arena. Vince turns his attention to tonight - Stone Cold is facing The Big Show tonight. In the name of fairness apparently, he assigns The Rock as the referee of that match. Mankind comes out before Vince can sign off. Mankind has a better idea and that since hes “the best referee there is, the best referee there was and the best referee there ever will be” suggests that he wrestles The Rock tonight with the winner refereeing the Austin/Show match tonight. Which is the same stipulation as his match with The Big Show at Wrestlemania - winner refs the main event. The Rock tells Mankind to kiss his ass. “I gave that up for lent” Mankind knew they’d say no, so he went to see commissioner Michaels who gave him a contract setting that exact match for tonight. Mankind leaves and the promo continues - Vince asks The Rock if he minds beating Mankind one more time tonight. The glass shatters and Stone Cold is here - driving the massive Coors beer truck from the parking lot! He drives it all the way to ringside, parking it feet from the apron. This is another all time famous “Stone Cold with a vehicle” moment and he climbs up onto the roof and stands proudly on the truck trailer. An all time classic Austin promo to go along with it too - he is pissed off and as focused as he can be on the WWF title match at Wrestlemania. He is going to be the next WWF Champion. The Rock starts to retort but before he gets many words out Austin climbs down and grabs a hose, blasting the McMahon’s and The Rock with beer, drenching them in a beer bath. This is another one of those segments that's available in full on WWE’s YouTube channel. Vince is hilarious taking bumps and swimming around in the beer fully overselling as Shane flails around. The Rock would say years later that one of his biggest regrets is that he stayed at the back and tried to avoid looking silly during this segment and wishes he’d gone to the front and did more like Vince did and totally oversold it. Hilarious stuff, huge fan of this segment especially Vince and his comedy selling. Later, they’re seen drying off their clothes and Shane complaining about his title belt stinking of beer. 

Mankind faces WWF Champion The Rock in a non-title match with the winner refereeing tonight’s Stone Cold vs. Big Show main event. This match gets really physical right away and they pick up where they left off. The ref goes down and Mankind seemingly has the match won with a double arm DDT. The Big Show comes out to try and help and ends up getting The Rock disqualified by chokeslamming Mankind. Mankind is now the referee for Austin/Show tonight. Backstage a furious Big Show throws things around.

Vince McMahon makes his way to the ring wearing a suit jacket and nothing underneath after having all of his clothes ruined at the opening of the show. Vince gives a big robust introduction for The Rock, who’ll be joining commentary for this main event. He gives another big introduction to the potential referee for the Wrestlemania main event - The Big Show. They’re calling him Big Show more than Paul Wight now. Still doesn’t have his theme song though. The Rock and Big Show seem nice and friendly again after a couple of weeks of Vince playing peacekeeper. Mankind is the referee for this one. Stone Cold and The Big Show would wrestle each other on TV so few times in their careers that if you Google “Stone Cold vs. The Big Show” this match is not only the first result but is most of the results. Austin takes a moment to marvel at the size of his opponent but shows no fear. Big Show sells Austin’s punches huge, flailing his arms but he does at least use his power to take control early and Austin crumbles in the corner from a chop to the chest. Stone Cold uses a low blow and the ring bounces when Big Show falls which is very impressive. He easily kicks Austin so hard that he goes flying over the ring barrier. Show grabs Austin by the throat and walks around on the outside holding him up until Mankind jumps off the apron onto him to save the Rattlesnake. Austin exposes the top turnbuckle but Show counters a Stunner by showing Austin right into it himself. Austin to his credit makes Big Show look like a monster here by selling his every move with instant death. Mankind keeps interfering with punches but it makes no difference as Paul again blocks the Stunner and lays out the Wrestlemania challenger with a big boot. Big Show gorilla presses Stone Cold on the outside and drops him on the concrete which is a bump I can’t believe he took. Stone Cold counters and sends Show into the ring post but it doesn’t even phase him and he runs Austin into the post himself and follows up with more chops. Mankind grabs a chair and uses it to threaten Show into taking the match back into the ring. He misses an elbow drop and Austin fires up attacking with punches and clubs and elbows but runs right into a bearhug. Austin does fight out of it and comes back with a Thez press and a cover but Show kicks out so hard that Stone Cold flies across the ring. Austin hammers Show in the leg with a pair of chair shots and then four or five right to the head which makes Show stagger but not fall down. He follows up with a Stunner and wins the match 

but Show doesn’t stay down for long, getting right back up and assaulting both Austin and Mankind. The Rock rushes the ring and as Mankind and The Big Show fight on the outside, The Rock plants Stone Cold in the middle of the ring with a Rock Bottom and celebrates to close the show. 

Jim Ross goes to a frat house

Live via satellite from the “JR is War” party as Jim Ross and Dr. Death Steve Williams are at a frat house watching Raw with some college kids. Thankfully, this is the final week of the attempted Jim Ross heel turn and the storyline is dropped from Wrestlemania onwards.

JR and Dr. Death at the frat house. Jim blames Hardcore Holly for smashing his home made announce table last week.

The final JR and Dr. Death at the frat house segment is interrupted by Hardcore Holly who fights with Steve Williams around the frat house, breaking doors and smashing furniture as the feed cuts in and out and finally cuts.

Shane O’Mac: Street Punk

Vince gives Shane a pep talk for his street fight, and then has a go at poor Patterson and Brisco showing no sympathy for their beating and asking where his coffee is. (See “Other Happenings”) 

The Shane and X-Pac street fight in the parking lot doesn’t last long as four of X-Pac’s Greenwich Posse friends jump X-Pac. Shane gets in a sneaky low blow and the five rich punks speed off in a sports car. I’m a big Shane McMahon fan and I love the Mean Street Posse as a gimmick. It’s goofy and gets heel heat in the best way.

Other Happenings

• Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart defend the WWF Tag Team titles against The Brood team of Gangrel and Edge, but Christian keeps slipping in and going moves too without the referee realising. At Wrestlemania, the tag champions will defend the titles against the last two men standing in a battle royal on Sunday Night Heat earlier that night. Which seems like really odd booking but ok. Jeff and Owen have been feuding with D’Lo Brown and Mark Henry for over a month but Mark Henry is injured. Owen locks in the sharpshooter on Edge but The Public Enemy runs in for a brawl. The “no one likes Public Enemy” storyline continues as Jeff, Owen and The Brood turn on them 5 on 2. The lights go out and it’s Debra who gets a bloodbath and The Brood has disappeared in the darkness. This is all the build we’re getting for the WWF Tag Team titles match at Wrestlemania, and it ends up not being especially relevant anyway.

• Interview with Intercontinental Champion Roaddogg and Hardcore Champion Billy Gunn. They’re facing each other tonight in a title for title match. They have a little “may the better man win” promo. The match is after an ad break and is born out of the fact that these men had Wrestlemania matches set for the titles, but then ruined all the plans by winning each other’s targeted title belts. Which isn’t super logical booking but it is at least unpredictable. In less than four months, Roadogg has been a tag champion, Hardcore champion and Intercontinental champion which is very impressive. As well as the IC title, the Hardcore title is on the line in this match so you’d think this would be under Hardcore rules but it's not. Billy hits the Fameasser and would seemingly have the match and both titles won but Al Snow and Hardcore Holly - who want the Hardcore title - and Goldust and Val Venis - who want the Intercontinental title - run in and beat up The Outlaws who unite and fight off all four challengers.
• Backstage Patterson and Brisco cower in fear from an unseen threat. Returning from an ad break, it was Hawk and Animal who were upset with the unflattering impression last week. Paul Ellering is with them too and cheers them on as they assault both men.
• The Blue Meanie makes his way to the ring carrying a steel chair. He calls out Ryan Shamrock as he wants to give her a spanking. He’s jealous that Goldust is paying more attention to Ryan than him. She comes out and he starts doing exactly that but Goldust rushes out to save her, followed by her big brother Ken Shamrock who puts the ankle lock on Goldust until Meanie hits him with a chair. Goldust’s family makes their getaway.

• A black and white shot of a traditional family home with a jaunty theme song playing. This is the first tease of the character Beaver Cleavage.
• Sable takes on Ivory in a non-title match. Ivory has D’Lo Brown with her. D’Lo joins commentary and Terri and Jackie - PMS - come out to confront him. I thought this feud was done? The distraction lets Sable jump Ivory from behind. She’s been WWF Champion for close to 6 months but this is amazingly only her 3rd match. Sable gives Ivory a rough looking Sable Bomb (after struggling to lift her twice) to win the match. Tori runs in to attack Sable ahead of their women’s title match at Wrestlemania. 
• Kane vs. Goldust. As Goldust reaches the ring, he pulls a pyro blaster (called a flame thrower by King and Cole) and shoots Kane with flames who bumps off it. It’s Triple H in disguise. He’ll face Kane at Wrestlemania. He fights off the referees who try to stop him and beats Kane with punches and kicks to the head while Kane sells his face. 

• The Undertaker and The Acolytes of The Ministry of Darkness take on The Big Bossman, Ken Shamrock and Test of The Corporation in a 6 man tag team match. Its funny to hear the commentators talk about the Bossman/Undertaker Hell in a Cell in the same tones as the Mankind and Shawn Michaels Hell in a Cell matches. Everyone’s in for a real disappointment. It's a wild brawl all around the ring with Shamrock hammering on Faarooq with the ring steps and Bossman and Undertaker fighting off through the crowd. The match is thrown out and doesn’t have a finish.