WWF Sunday Night Heat - November 15, 1998
by Scrooge McSuck
- In my last review, I did the show leading up to SummerSlam '98, and we found out a few things. The horrible structure of backstage stuff, a deep roster, and #2 doesn't matter because all the matches sucked anyway. Now we flash forward a few months, and it's time for Survivor Series: Deadly Games!
For those who forgot, during the fall of '98, Vince McMahon finally succeeded in getting the title off of Steve Austin at Breakdown, thanks to a horribly unfair triple threat with Kane and the Undertaker. The only problem was that both men pinned Austin at the same time (yeah, right), and in their own match to determine a champion, special Referee Steve Austin refused to award the title to either, and was fired for it. But then Shane McMahon became a main character on Raw and "rehired" Steve Austin, guaranteeing him a spot in the tournament, and a future shot at the title... if he doesn't win the tournament. Plus the Rock was now on McMahon's shit list. And Steve Regal is a Real Man's Man. Now, for the show!
- We're live from St. Louis, MO at the Kiel Center! Michael Cole and Jim Cornette are in the broadcast position for tonight's show. Wonderful sign of the night: McGwire 70, Sable 69.
- L.O.D. 2000 vs. The J.O.B. Squad (w/ Al Snow):
(Animal & Droz vs. Bob Holly & Scorpio)
Last week on Heat, Droz and Animal delivered the Doomsday Device on Hawk, following a match between Droz and Jeff Jarrett. I guess this was BEFORE the suicide attempt on Raw by Hawk. L.O.D. attack to start. Animal catches Scorpio with a powerslam, followed by a diving shoulder tackle. Scorpio ducks a clothesline and connects with a spinning heel kick. Holly tags in and works the arm. Animal comes back with a scoop slam, and Droz tags in, missing an elbow drop. Inverted atomic drop by Holly, followed by a clothesline. Irish whip, and Droz connects with a diving clothesline for a two count. Slugfest time, with Droz winning and dumping Holly out of the ring. Double clothesline to Scorpio, with an over-sell to boot. Doomsday Device time, and the lame-version connects... but no cover? Holly knocks Animal out of the ring, Al snow runs in to nail Droz with head, and Scorpio falls on top of him for the three count! That couldn't have been any more than 2-minutes. What you would expect from a 2-minute tag team match.
- Totally Twister Game Center! Superfans George and Adam are standing by to demonstrate the game. Kaientai joins us now to play the game, and I'm sure this is the origins to Funaki being allowed to talk for 20 seconds later on in his career.
- Val Venis vs. Tiger Ali-Singh (w/ Babu):
Now there's someone who completely vanished from WWE History, even being excluded from their Encyclopedia. I'm talking about Singh, of course. Last week on Raw, Terri Runnels knocked Venis in the balls for not allowing her to be at ringside for his match. I'm amazed Val Venis managed to remain on the WWE Roster for more than a decade. Singh tries a sneak attack, but that doesn't work. Venis misses a charge to the corner and gets a middle-eastern mudhole stomped in his butt. Venis roids up from the corner and nails Singh with a clothesline. Irish whip, and Venis catches Singh in an abdominal stretch. Singh comes back with a questionable low blow and a clothesline. Irish whip is reversed, and Venis with a series of knees to the midsection. Russian leg sweep by Venis, followed by a series of mounted rights. Venis heads to the top rope, but Singh crotches him. The action spills out of the ring, with Singh controlling the action. The Godfather runs in to attack Singh, for whatever reason. Back inside, and Venis connects with a Fisherman Suplex for the three count at around the 3:00 mark. What the hell was that? Did the Godfather and Singh have an issue on Heat that I forgot about?
- We get a LONG montage, highlighting all the superstars and storylines featured heading into the Deadly Game Tournament. There's a lot of stuff going on, and to my amazement, a lot of it went off pretty well, with at least three of the storylines making sense into 1 big scenario. Hey look, the Big Boss Man is back!
- The D.O.A. come out for a match, but The Acolytes attack from behind, before we even find out who the D.O.A. is supposed to be fighting. Bradshaw lays a beating on one of the D.O.A. with a steel chair, and Faarooq is working over the other with the ring steps. In the ring, Paul Ellering is taking a beating and they perform a double-team powerbomb on Ellering.
- Backstage, Kevin Kelly is with the New Age Outlaws. Road Dogg references All My Children and several of the characters on the show (an ABC soap opera), earning brownie points from me. The Head Bangers, Mark Henry, and D'Lo Brown ambush the tag champs and everyone brawls. They'll be competing in a triple threat match for the tag team titles on the PPV.
- Recap of the Sable/Jacqueline feud. Two months ago on Raw, Sable and Jacqueline fought for the returning Women's Championship. With a little help from Marc Mero, Jacqueline won the match and the title. Later on, Jacqueline cut off a length of Sable's hair and started wearing it among her own. This brings Sable out to talk, and this brings out Mero and Jacqueline to perform a classic sneak attack.
- Steve Blackman vs. Gangrel (w/ The Brood):
Clips from Raw, where the Blue Blazer and Owen Hart worked Blackman over. Don't get me started on that storyline, again. The Brood consists of Edge and Christian at this point. I only mention that because of the Gangrel/Hardy Boyz thing from the summer of 1999. I still love Gangrel's erntrance. Last week on Raw, Kane chokeslammed all three Brood members to hell, then tried to set them on fire. Gangrel charges into a spinebuster, but Blackman misses a follow up elbow. Gangrel with a series of rights. Irish whip reversed, and Gangrel puts Blackman down with a shoulder block. Blackman comes back, pounding away on Gangrel. Gangrel with a big clothesline for a two count. Snap suplex into a cover by Gangrel for another two count. Gangrel with a series of knees to the midsection, then drops Blackman across the top rope, throat first. Irish whip and back elbow by Gangrel for another two count. Whip to the corner, but Gangrel runs into a boot. Slugest! Blackman with a thrust to the throat followed by a dropkick. Belly-to-belly suplex by Blackman. Irish whip, and Blackman connects with a diving shoulder. Edge with a missile dropkick behind the referee's back, and Gangrel connects with the implant DDT for the three count. Christian to the top rope with a diving headbutt, just for the hell of it. After the match, The Blue Blazer repels from the ceiling, but he doesn't come all the way down, so he's a pinata for Blackman. Yeah, judging from body language, the "Blazer" doesn't seem terribly comfortable coming down from the ceiling. Oh, and the match is what you would expect from a three minute match.
- Vince McMahon and the Stooges come out with the WWF Championship belt. He calls out the Rock, Steve Austin, and Shane McMahon, for what I guess is a verbal beatdown. The Undertaker and Paul Bearer show up uninvited, and it's time for a brawl between Undertaker and Austin. Now X-Pac and Undertaker and Rock/Austin. Now Boss Man/Undertaker. Now Mankind/Undertaker. Goldust comes out to brawl with Boss Man. Regal goes after X-Pac. Shamrock goes after Goldust. Jesus goes after Santa Claus. Easter Bunny goes after Humpty Dumpty! It's chaos! It's excitement! It's the Survivor Series! It's Deadly Game!
Final Thoughts: Just as much of a mess as the last episode of Heat I sat through. A few matches that lasted barely longer than one of my piss breaks and a lot of backstage segments. I will give credit for using the top of the card guys on these shows live, rather than just using the broadcast to show clips of this stuff happening on Raw. Yes, it was a pre-PPV show, but that was the norm for Heat on an average week, as well. Again, if you're looking for a nostalgia fix, just skip from this time through most of 1999. It's a mess.
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