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WWF Monday Night RAW 06-01-98

Live from Rosemont, IL

Airdate: June 1, 1998

Attendance: 13,681 (sold out)

Hosted by Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Kevin Kelly, & Jerry “The King” Lawler

What will be the fallout from the PPV main event? Who will win a six-man elimination match between DX and NoD? Who advances to the quarterfinals of the KOTR? What’s up with Undertaker? Who’s ready to get RAW?

POINT OF CLARIFICATION: I attended this show, but I don’t believe I’ve seen it with commentary, etc. Should be interesting.

Mr. McMahon narrates the highlights of the main event from last night in true heel fashion.

Opening montage.

In the ring, a battered Mick Foley stages a sit-down. While he mentions that he lost his teeth twice, Foley apologizes. He calls out Mr. McMahon who approaches the ring alone. With the Chicago faithful chanting “Au-stin,” Foley apologizes for having to take a sabbatical, wants to return at 100%, and remain the #1 contender.

On the other hand, a flustered McMahon calls Foley a “failure.” He instructs Foley to beg, but Foley refuses to be “embarrassed on national television.” As McMahon calls him an “embarrassment,” Foley gives props to Austin. He explains that last night’s chair shot “felt pretty damn good.”

While McMahon challenges him to do it again, Foley grabs the chair, but McMahon reminds him of his family and financial responsibilities. Foley instead sits down as McMahon berates him. McMahon informs Foley that the reason behind his not firing Austin is because “he makes me richer.” Conversely, Foley makes McMahon “sick.” McMahon fires Foley.

Outside the Rosemont Horizon, the Road Warriors and Puke mentally prepare for the street fight.

RAW is WAR is sponsored by Cinnaburst, Castrol GTX, WWF: The Music Volume 2, and Super Soaker.

As Kevin Kelly interviews him, Puke, uh, pukes on him. Ew. The Road Warriors and Sunny join him and are ready to “kick some ass.” Chainz arrives via motorcycle, but 8-Ball and Skull attack the Road Warriors from behind to start the fight.

Match 1 (Chicago street fight): The Road Warriors & Puke versus the Disciples of Apocalypse

Highlights:

Rating: DUD

Summary: Waste of time as it became a setup for Undertaker’s entrance.

Backstage, Undertaker yells for “McMahon.”

Prior to the next match, Venis grabs the microphone and iterates sexual innuendos.

Match 2: Val Venis versus Papi Chulo

Highlights:

Rating: **

Summary: Showcase match for the bigger Venis.

Undertaker approaches the ring prior to the commercial break.

Following the break, Undertaker’s “pissed about Vince McMahon.” Join the club! He describes his early WWF days as the “slayer of the dragons” while taking a veiled potshot at Hogan and Warrior. Next, he mentions his two reigns as WWF champion. He feels his reigns were kept short due to his image. Despite that, he remains loyal.

When McMahon’s favorites left town (a.k.a. went to WCW), he forced Undertaker to wrestle his own brother. Why? “Because it’s all ratings.” Afterward, he never “lost (his) smile.”

Meanwhile, Austin rises to the top. Although Undertaker has nothing but respect for Austin, he’s done with the shenanigans. He demands a shot at the WWF title and calls out McMahon.

As Mr. McMahon approaches the ring, he criticizes Undertaker for “chokeslam(ming him) to hell last week.” Also, he complains about Undertaker’s “hover(ing) over me like a giant vulture last night.” He then has the temerity to ask: “What have you done for (me) lately?” Who is he? Janet Jackson?

Nevertheless, McMahon brings up painful family history, and Undertaker saunters toward him. McMahon sidesteps him and offers him the #1 contender spot—only if he defeats his opponent TONIGHT. Who’s his opponent? Of course, his opponent will be…Kane.

HOT TAKE: Pure example of a worked shoot transforming into a McMahon promo. All shots reeked of truth albeit subtle. Let’s hope these don’t become the norm.

TV Rating: 4.6

JVC KABOOM OF THE WEEK: Undertaker chokeslammed Patterson through the broadcast table last night.

DX interrupts a Sable photo shoot with Super Soakers. Hijinks ensue.

Stills from the Mero-Sable match air.

1998 King of the Ring tournament:

  1. Ken Shamrock versus Kama
  2. Mark Henry versus Terry Funk
  3. Jeff Jarrett versus Faarooq
  4. Marc Mero versus Steve Blackman
  5. The Rock versus Vader
  6. HHH versus X-Pac
  7. Dan Severn versus D’ Lo Brown
  8. Owen Hart versus 2 Cold Scorpio

Prior to the next match, Mero grabs the microphone as the Chicago faithful chants “Sab-le.” After he disparages Sable, Mero introduces his new valet—Jacqueline--yet another WCW defection.

Match 3 (KOTR qualifier): “Marvelous” Marc Mero (w/ Jacquelyn) versus Steve Blackman

Highlights:

Rating: **½

Summary: Blackman brought the workrate while Mero brought the heat and high-flying.

Earlier today, Austin was a guest on the Q101 MANCOW morning radio show, and Mr. McMahon called it to harass him.

Vignette for Edge airs.

WAR ZONE!

HHH does his usual spiel and tells NoD what he thinks they should do.

Match 4 (six-man elimination): DeGeneration-X (w/ Chyna & X-Pac) versus the Nation of Domination (w/ Mark Henry & Kama)

Highlights:

Rating: ****

Summary: Give this thing ten more minutes, and it’s a MOTY candidate. As it was, it was rushed to get to the screwy finish enabling Shamrock’s return.

TV Rating: 4.8

After the match, Shamrock pummels Owen and applies a belly-to-belly suplex. The NoD outnumbers Shamrock until Severn helps him clear the ring. They exchange glares at one another, but Severn leaves without provocation. As HHH takes exception to the interference, Shamrock takes him down and ensures HHH had multiple noses. Officials separate them, and Shamrock argues with Tony Garea.

Backstage, Mr. McMahon makes a deal with Kane. I smell chicanery.

Prior to the next match, Tennessee Lee introduces his newest tag team—Southern Justice, the former Godwinns.

Match 5 (KOTR qualifier): “Double J” Jeff Jarrett (w/ Tennessee Lee) versus Faarooq

Highlights:

Rating: DUD

Summary: If this wasn’t for the KOTR, then it’d be worthless.

TV Rating: 4.1

Humanitarian plug airs.

King of the Ring ’98 will be LIVE on PPV on 6/28! Order NOW! Does anything happen at this show?

Match 6 for the WWF Light Heavyweight title: Taka Michinoku (champion w/ Bradshaw) versus Sho Funaki (w/ Mr. Yamaguchi)

Highlights:

Rating: **

Summary: Plenty of high-flying, but the Chicago faithful’s not crazy about spot-fests this evening.

Backstage, Paul Bearer alongside Kane is extremely confident that Kane will become WWF champion.

Outside the arena, Snow berates Head.

Match 7 (KOTR qualifier): Terry Funk versus Mark Henry

Highlights:

Rating: *

Summary: They tried, but I’ll give Funk credit for putting Henry over.

Austin not only heads to the ring but also joins the broadcast team much to Mr. McMahon’s chagrin.

Match 8 (#1 contender): Undertaker versus Kane (w/ Paul Bearer)

Highlights:

Rating: **

Summary: Although the stakes were high, the storyline lacked flow.

TV Rating: 4.43

After the match, Kane approaches the broadcast table to confront and intimidate Austin. Before leaving, he sets the ring posts ablaze. Meanwhile, Foley and Undertaker brawl at ringside, and Undertaker rams him face-first into the steps. Foley recovers and rams Undertaker into the steel railing while Mr. McMahon changes his mind about Foley’s future endeavors. Countering a piledriver, Undertaker backdrops Foley on the floor. The brawl continues as the show goes off the air.

Conclusion: With the main event being storyline-centered, the seeds have been planted for the next PPV. I’m certain next week’s episode will shed further light.

In addition, Henry, Jarrett, and Mero advanced to the quarterfinals of the KOTR tournament. Mero also obtained a new valet which might make Kevin Sullivan jealous. The DX-NoD elimination bout was much better than I expected. Without any question, this episode, for the most part, kicked ass.

Could it finally overcome Nitro in the ratings?

Final TV Rating: 4.35

Who won? Absolutely! The tease of both Foley and Undertaker throughout the episode kept viewers from switching to Nitro. Conversely, almost everyone expected a non-finish in the main event of Nitro only to serve up Sting’s decision beyond 10pm. Smart viewers would watch RAW and switch to Nitro to see the remaining minutes and the surprise. To put it bluntly, Nitro got GOT.

Stay tuned for WCW Thunder 06-04-98!

Comments? Suggestions? Send them to me at rsg@rockstargary.com and follow me on Twitter (@rockstargary202).

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