STW - Over The Edge 1998 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Before we get into our topic - Superstar Billy Graham sadly passed away. Bruce - Superstar was one of a kind wasn’t he?

Eldridge Wayne Coleman held the WWF title for one year - winning it from Bruno Sammartino before dropping it to Bob Backlund. Your friend and mine Dave Meltzer wrote this,

“With no Superstar Billy Graham, there is no Hulk Hogan. And Hogan may be the most important character of this generation. There may have been a Ric Flair, but he would be very different outside the ring than this Ric Flair. There would have definitely been a Dusty Rhodes, but not what Dusty Rhodes ended up being. Vince McMahon would probably have been the owner of the WWF, but without the prototype of what a sports entertainer should be created by Graham that became his vision, his vision would have been very different. Plus there would be no Hulk Hogan to execute it.”

That’s a pretty fair way to describe Superstar wouldn’t it be?

After his WWF title run was over, he spent a lot of time in 1980 with Paul Boesch and Houston wrestling did he not?

The Billy Graham in 1987 was not the Billy Graham of old was he?

He fueded with Butch Reed and would even main event one last Madison Square Garden show in August of 1987…and he would sell it out in his first appearance at MSG in 4 years. Bruce - were you at that show? What was the atmosphere like for Billy in the Garden?

Billy would be given a shot as a manager of Don Muraco and then as a color TV commentator - but it just didn’t work did it?

Were you happy to see Billy & Vince come back together after years of issues for him to get into the Hall of Fame?

When was the last time you saw Superstar?

What is his legacy do you think?

Let’s get into the topic at hand - Over the Edge 1998!

We covered Unforgiven 1998 way back in the archives and just did a remix of it last month. We’re coming out of Dude Love challenging Steve Austin for the WWF Title and the 83 Week streak ending.

What we walk into after Unforgiven is a lot of rumor and innuendo as we always do. Now you may not deal in rumor & innuendo - but there was a lot of it at the time about “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair and his contract status with WCW at the time. Flair & WCW at this point had filed lawsuits back and forth regarding missed dates & opportunities - did anyone on the WWF side think Flair coming into the company was possible or a good idea?

Would Ric had been a good fit to work with say Steve Austin or even on the other side of the new top heel in the company - Vince McMahon?

Do you wish you could’ve gotten Ric at this point in time - maybe before his confidence was shot?

The other rumor & innuendo at the time - and shockingly enough also about Eric Bischoff - is that he had more enemies than friends in the WCW locker room at the time. People like Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko & Eddie Guerrero were openly discussing while visiting the ECW Arena locker room about how they couldn’t wait to get out of their contracts. Did you hear or get any feelers at the time from talent in WCW making sure the WWF knew when their deals were done they were interested in talking?

You’re also named in part of the lawsuit regarding the failure of the USWA. From the Observer:

“Where Titan Sports get involved in the lawsuit is the claim that Burton, Lawler, McMahon, Bruce Prichard, Jim Ross, Shane McMahon and Arnold Skaaland had a meeting with Mark Selker telling them Burton was a respected television producer and well-known within the wrestling industry. Burton had told Mark Selker he was getting a deal buying the company for only $1.1 million because Lawler was unaware of the potential income from television advertising sales the business could generate. Lawler claims to have been aware of the potential income the shows could generate but that he and Jarrett ran a low overhead company and weren't willing to spend the money to hire people to attempt to sell the time.”

Bruce - tell us who Mark Selker is, who Larry Burton is, and what this whole mess is all about?

Business is a-booming. According to research by the Observer, attendance is up from March of 98 compared to March of 97, with a 82.5% increase, 50% of the house shows in March were sold out compared to 7.7% in 97, cable ratings are up 56.3% and Mania pay-per-view income generated went from $2.46 million to $10.79 million. With the ratings streak finally coming to an end, did it feel like the WWF was ready to run away with the Monday Night War?

Merchandise is starting to spread out of just WWF shows but into the malls of America with Austin 3:16, DX and even the Scratch logo that you came up with Attitude shirts exploding. When was the first realization of how quickly the merch had become a part of pop culture?

The Raw after Unforgiven and to begin the Over the Edge build is most well known for the DX invasion of Nitro. Bruce - where did the idea come from? How did you come up with it? How important is this in the grand scheme of the Monday Night War or do you think it’s an overrated piece of the history?

That episode of Raw is the most watched Raw in the history of the show - mainly because Nitro was tape delayed due to the NBA Playoffs. It broke it by a full point, 5.71 rating with a 8.20 share in 4,188,000 homes. It was at that time the single most watched pro wrestling show in the history of cable television. You ever imagine - up until this point - that 4 million people would be watching Monday Night Raw?

The show’s story is based mostly around Dude Love expecting to walk right back into a match with Steve Austin for the WWF Title even though Austin hit McMahon with a chair the night before. When Dude Love is informed he will not be getting a shot but Goldust would be instead, he would scream and act out of character towards Vince McMahon before Vince said to cut the cameras. This worked shoot stuff worked very well in the beginning did it not?

Goldust vs. Austin is the main event and Vince makes himself timekeeper - you know to ring the fucking bell when he wanted to so he could screw Austin out of the title like he did to Bret Hart - but you know Bret never got out over getting screwed - and also had Brisco as referee. Brisco tries to fast count Austin, but finally when Austin hits Goldust with the stunner, Brisco counts to 2 and acts like he has something in his eye. Foley - still as Dude Love - comes out - hits Brisco with a chair by accident and that’s the end as Austin Must Pose. Drama at its finest is it not Bruce?

Adam Copeland gets a try-out - managed by the Jackyl - and beats Droz. Did you see Edge as a possible top guy in 1998?

Owen Hart would turn heel on Ken Shamrock to join the Nation on Raw. How did Owen fail as a babyface?

Wally Yamaguchi debuts as Kaientai’s manager. How did Wally come to be in the WWF?

Undertaker destroys Barry Windham on this Raw and even Meltzer would point out Barry was looking…out of shape. Barry wouldn’t be around for much longer in the WWF. Was it just time to move on?

After the match - Undertaker calls out Kane and when Kane comes out with Paul Bearer, Paul announces that Kane is actually his own son. You loved putting all this together didn’t you?

Dan Severn answers a Triple H open challenge - although Cornette stops Severn and is put in an armbar / choke to split up the Severn / Cornette pairing. The Observer would report this:

“A decision was made to get Severn away from Cornette for whatever reason, and they injured Cornette to explain his absence from TV for a few weeks while he went on vacation. Neither Cornette nor Severn knew of the angle until the night it was done and the explanation given was that Vince Russo had given McMahon a list of all the faces and all the heels on the roster (and by saying that it shows that every statement made in the press about WWF getting rid of the face/heel concept because it's outdated and passe is a crock by their own internal admissions), and as you could imagine, the list is heavily weighed on the heel side and they needed to get some heels onto the face side.”

This…this is something Bruce. But honestly…nice guy…but it didn’t matter where you put Dan right?

Corny doesn’t just go on vacation but get married and Russo is tried out on doing Shotgun - even though Russo is doing the New York version of Shotgun already. How far did Vince Russo on commentary go? Why did it stop?

The next night in Richmond Raw is taped. It’s reported that Edge would defeat Matt Hardy - what a legacy that’s about to become - in a dark match with Edge playing a geeky babyface role. What other gimmicks do you remember being thought of for Adam Copeland before the dark, silent brooding Edge gimmick is how it landed.

This is the Raw taping where Vince McMahon introduces Steve Williams as a heel killer and destroys Too Cold Scorpio in a dark match - but in the Observer it’s reported he looked bad. What’s Vince’s reaction when he comes out, puts over Steve, and then the bell rings?

There’s a promo that Owen cuts that night that says that his family deserted him and the Nation was his new family. But it never airs. Was that a direction change? Did Owen have an issue with it?

From this point forward, the Nation of Domination is now only known as the Nation. Was it time for a fresh paint of coat?

From the Observer

They did a Love Shack, but Mick Foley came out as Mick Foley and complained about not being the No. 1 contender and challenged Terry Funk to a falls count anywhere match. He said he would never do the Dude Love character again and that he never wanted his wife and son to see him dancing around with strippers like he did the previous night. He threw the Dude Love outfit in McMahon's face. McMahon told him if he destroyed Funk that he could become the top contender and slapped him in the face. Austin ended up chasing McMahon all over the place and then destroyed the Love Shack set.

This is a great segment that really sets the stage for what we’re about to see, but the Love Shack had to go did it not?

There’s this great vignette on Jerry Brisco, making it seem like a babyface personality piece with his wife, family, his history and credentials, the Body Shop business in Tampa…and in this day and age it helps him more to get over as a heel. Did you help shoot and put this together?

Then…the show makes quite the turn. “Lawler interviewed Bearer who said that when he was 19, he was a virgin stud and Undertaker's mom was scantily clad and seduced him on the kitchen floor.”

Yup. According to Meltzer, the angle is to be built up to a DNA test to prove that Paul is the father and that the producer of the Jerry Springer show and Basil DeVito of the WWF had been working on forging a business relationship together. Your two audiences really worked together at the time but was there any talk of Springer showing up at this point in time?

Sable challenges Marc Mero to a match and Meltzer would report this would probably be the spot where Mero gets a new valet. Did Marc need a valet to keep this story going?

I spoke to Jeff Jarrett about this time period recently and we discussed how he would wrestle Marc Mero twice in one night and Steve Blackman missed his cue three times. How hot is Vince backstage at this?

“Outlaws & HHH & Chyna beat LOD & DOA when LOD & DOA fought amongst themselves and brawled to the back. What a feud that's going to be. Four guys who stand there and throw blows and never sell. Chyna tagged in once doing a huracanrana on one of the DOA's. DX laughed at both teams afterwards.

The entire focus of the eight-man was on Chyna's appearance and everyone sold big for her and she was never put in a position to sell for anyone.”

Look - a lot can be said about the Road Warriors and the Harris Brothers. But for the focus of the match to be Chyna said a lot about her stature in the company at the time did it not?

On the finished product the first vignette of Edge airs being dark and brooding and also the Val Venis - Jenna Jameson vignette airs. Bruce chat me up - which one was your favorite to shoot?

From the Observer

“Finally it was Mick Foley from East Setauket, New York against Funk with Pat Patterson as ref and Austin, drinking beer at ringside, doing color.

They brawled all over the place. They did hard chair shots including Foley bleeding from the back of his head. Funk moonsaulted Foley off a mezzanine. Foley piledrove Funk through a table. Lots of ECW chants. Foley suplexed a concession stand worker plant. Funk kept kicking out of big moves until Foley pinned him after a piledriver on a chair. Foley kept beating on him until Austin hit the ring. Patterson tried to break it up but Foley put the claw on him. Austin broke that up. Patterson grabbed a chair to hit Austin but he moved and hit Foley. Austin used a stunner on Patterson. It ended with McMahon dancing to Dude's music with two strippers and Foley came back out and McMahon gave him back his outfit and he danced around like Dude Love again with the strippers.”

The ending scene of Vince shucking and jiving with the girls is what lives in infamy but the Funk vs. Foley match is an all-time Raw classic is it not?

Listen to the cast of people at Dory Funk’s training camp. Solofa Fatu - which according to the Observer is going to lead to his return as part of a Samoan gang with Samu and to be managed by Afa, John Tenta - also reported by the Observer to be put into a mask to feud with Austin, Paul Silva a 7-3 former basketball player from Brazil who will end up in the Oddities, Erin O’Grady - the future Crash Holly, Vic Grimes, Shawn Stasiak, Matt Bloom (the future Albert and current coach in the Performance Center), Andrew Martin (the future Test), Emory Hale (the future Wall in WCW), Droz, David Heath (who will become Gangrel) and Dan Severn.

Were there plans of putting Tenta & Austin together before something changed?

It was written in the Observer that Severn and Dory had to squash their heat to get Severn there. Were you part of those conversations? Why was it important to send Severn to a training camp at this point in his career?

The WWF takes WCW to court - for a different reason. To help Steve Regal get out of his WCW 120 day non-compete clause and WCW drops the case before the judge rules on it. Why was this a special case for the WWF to go after?

How excited were you to have Steve Regal on the team?

Why did he end up being a Real Man’s Man?

From the Observer

“Dennis Brent will be taking over the magazine duties from Russo, who will be spending more time writing the television show. If he's in any way responsible for the Raw product of late, then he's doing one hell of a job. Lynn Brent, the wife of Dennis, who worked as a p.r. assistant for WCW until last week, will also be joining the WWF in a similar role”

Bruce - chat me up about Dennis & Lynn Brent.

It’s also reported in the Observer that you & Victor Quinones are put in charge of the new WWF Latino project that would become Super Astros. How does that deal all come together Bruce?

How important is WCW being preempted and moved around for you to capture the level of viewership you were able to for Raw?

Over the Edge is taking place in Milwaukee and Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon are invited to the show as special local guests. Why bring in these two? This a Cornette idea?

The name Kaientai is decided upon instead of Klub Kamikaze. How is that decided upon since their name in Japan was Kaientai DX?

Well - your friend & mine Eric Bischoff goes on the return of live TV to Nitro and cuts a promo on Vince McMahon.

From the Observer

So the ante was upped once again, in a clever, if a little mistimed interview by Eric Bischoff. What made the 5/11 battle so important, is because there is no denying the WWF is on an ascending curve of interest. There is also no denying WCW business is remaining at an incredible level.

Raw on 5/11 did a 4.72 rating and 7.05 share, the highest rating in its history in a head-to-head situation. Nitro did a 4.26 rating and 6.67 share, and more important for comparisons sake, a 4.14 over the head-to- head two hours, losing every quarter hour and realistically losing by nearly six-tenths of a point, the most significant ratings edge for the WWF in years. The Nitro replay did a 1.11 rating and 5.35 share.

WWF drew first blood hours before either show had even started, as they flew DX to Atlanta to try and embarrass WCW. They went to the WCW headquarters in Smyrna, GA. Hunter Hearst Helmsley made fun of not being able to read the Private Property, No Trespassing sign and started filming some footage to try and embarrass the competition later that night. Apparently Nick Lambros called 911 to try and get them arrested for trespassing and lewd actions and the police came, and while they weren't arrested, they were cited and detained for a few minutes to a half hour depending upon which story you believe. They also went to CNN for a completely lame skit where they asked to visit Ted Turner and their own camera people got scared and wouldn't film them, and the segment largely saw them hang out with a dozen fans on a lunch break crotch-chopping themselves.”

Let’s pause there. Capturing that momentum was genius and great for the company - but who’s idea was it to send DX to WCW again? Were you there for this?

After the WCW initial invasion and then when DX returns to the CNN Center to invade the WCW headquarters again - did you know you were turning DX babyface?

Now…do you think without the WWF sending DX again…Eric Bischoff goes on TV to challenge Vince?

Back to the Observer

The ante was upped, both brilliantly and stupidly, by Bischoff early in the show. Bischoff came out on a huge bike and gloated about McMahon sending his wannabees to see him when they all know he isn't there since they know on Mondays he's at Nitro. He then said how Sean Waltman wanted an apology from him, said that Waltman was nothing but a little puppet for McMahon, told Waltman to "bite me" and claimed that he apologizes to no one. Bischoff challenged McMahon to show up in Worcester and meet him in the ring. It was brilliant, despite the whining the rest of the night both on the air and behind the scenes about it not being fair from those in the WWF--the same reaction WCW had two weeks ago in Norfolk. He made it clear for people to not buy the PPV thinking they're going to see that confrontation so nobody would construe it as false advertising, saying that McMahon wasn't going to show up, and hinting if he did he'd knock him out. The fans, who hate the Bischoff character, realized quickly that this interview wasn't storyline and it was a shoot, and he got tremendous babyface pops for his speech from the sold out throng in Kansas City, even if they knew later in the show when he came out to play heel character with Hulk Hogan that it was back to fantasy and they easily booed him.”

Bruce - are you watching this live? Is anyone from the WWF? What are the phone calls that go around when Eric cuts this promo?

What is Vince’s reaction?

Who is the one who instructs commentary to change while it’s being taped live? Is that Vince?

From the Observer

So we've got a 41-year-old man riding a bike in a leather jacket with dyed hair and a man who spent years getting his masculinity, or is it muscularity, from a steroid needle and even at 52, also with dyed hair, is strutting around in a sleeveless t-shirt four sizes too small acting as if he's tougher than all his wrestlers. Both are making themselves bigger stars than their employed entertainers, and, as it turns out, both, McMahon in particular, are great performers in front of the camera.

Bischoff was brilliant because McMahon won't be there in Worcester. By not being there, it means he's backed down from the challenge. Not in real life because it's all stupid to begin with, and of course everyone that needs to pretend whatever they need to pretend will pretend. He was also brilliant because the DX segments have now become obsolete. He positioned them as the messenger boys instead of the bad asses. Waltman's comeback on Raw telling Bischoff to "suck it" got a big pop live in Baltimore from fans who didn't know what Bischoff said in the first place, but it was an incredibly lame comeback and came off as pathetically transparent, albeit with a good delivery, in his trying to act like he's not a puppet of McMahon when the ante was already upped on the other show establishing him as a bit player in this game. Of course where Bischoff's brilliance turned into stupidity, at least for this week, was coming out at about 8:35 p.m. to make his speech instead of two hours later, which was probably responsible for enough of a "swing vote" to turn onto Raw to find out what the comeback was going to be.”

What did you think of the idea of it - and do you think it helped WCW any?

During Raw and on commentary JR would rip on their headquarters being in in an industrial park in Smyrna, WCW’s failed MTV special two days before and saying this wasn’t the seniors tour, right after 53-year-old Terry Funk wrestled and in the middle of a match that featured 52-year-old Vince McMahon. Cornette also got his digs in at Bischoff for their long time hatred, saying it takes a lot of guys to challenge someone you know isn’t going to accept.

Raw opens in Baltimore with the new Dude Love, hair lightened, beard well groomed and says he found his smile (with new teeth) and dressed in a suit & tie…being the height of corporate and Vince is great in this segment just standing there glowing like a proud father. Brisco & Patterson are announced as guest timekeeper & ring announcer and when Vince goes to introduce the referee - has to go to the back because no one comes out. Patterson grabs the mic and introduces the best there is, best there was and the best there ever will be - except Pat didn’t say it exactly like that because he’s Pat - and McMahon comes out in the tightest ref shirt ever seen. Bruce - how great is this segment?

Al Snow would show up at the back door as he was finishing up his ECW run. What did you think of the Head gimmick when you first saw it?

The first plug of Steve Austin being a part of Celebrity Deathmatch takes place and man what an amazing pop culture deal that was for the WWF wasn’t it?

From the OBserver

Bradshaw taught Taka Michinoku how to drive and smoke a cigar with all the stereotypical stuff where Taka is coughing because he doesn't know how to smoke and about to crash because he doesn't have a clue how to drive. The guy is 24-years-old and they portray him like he's a child because he's a foreigner.

This…was supposed to help get Taka over? Bradshaw?

“Sable and Marc Mero did their angle. Mero picked her up and could have given her the TKO but put her down and told her to apologize for ruining his career. Thankfully she didn't, because if she had, she would have been 30 seconds premature. She kicked him low and gave him a power bomb and left him laying.”

Holy…shit Bruce. This moment of Sable hitting Mero with a power bomb gets a gigantic pop. Marc doesn’t get enough credit for his role in this feud does he?

“DX did an interview but Hart came out and challenged HHH and brought the Nation with him. They had a match that would be considered average at best, ending when Hart bit Helmsley's ear and Helmsley bladed the ear and everyone ran in for the no contest in 6:28.”

Putting the Nation and DX together was just a natural fit was it not?

“Dustin came out and burned his Goldust outfit and blamed McMahon for everything and did his latest babyface turn. It didn't seem like anyone cared as there was no reaction”

At this point in time Dustin needed something new did he not? But this wasn’t it was it?

The main event of this Raw was Austin teaming with Vince McMahon - for Vince’s first official match ever - against the Rock & D’Lo Brown. Man what a spot for D’Lo to be in…it goes to a no contest. Austin never tags out but Vince finally clotheslines him and it turns into a big schmozz with the Nation, DX, Dude Love & even Dustin coming out. Vince just liked wearing the small shirt on TV didn’t he?

There’s a backstage incident I want to bring up because I find it interesting. There’s a show in Hamilton, Ontario that Mark Henry & D’Lo Brown were scheduled for, but because they were detained so long at the border, decided to no-show and they’re heavily fined. This is all according to the Observer but any memories of this?

The fallout from the Bischoff challenge is severe. Jerry McDevitt writes a threatening legal letter to Bischoff and the WWF complains to cable companies about WCW intimating McMahon might be there claiming WCW was using bait & switch tactics on the consumers in promoting Slamboree and by the end of the week, Gene Okerlund and Jim Ross had turned up the heat on 900 line reports.

How angry is Vince if McDevitt gets involved?

From the Observer

Bischoff, on the other hand, was totally out of control, doing two interviews on Thunder on 5/14 from Durham, NH, in one of which he read the McDevitt letter, a training video (which aired twice) showing him preparing for the match that wasn't going to take place, then teased throughout the PPV show that McMahon might be there before having Michael Buffer introduce a Bischoff vs. McMahon match with McMahon not being there, the fans counted McMahon out of the ring and Bischoff had the ref award him the match via forfeit. And he didn't even stop there, as Bischoff kept it up the next night on Nitro claiming a win the previous night, by which time the story had already gone well past running its course.

Vince attends Stephanie’s graduation instead - but does this ruffle his feathers the way Eric does this?

There’s no retaliation the next night on Raw - no DX skit, barely any shots at WCW either, is that a direction from McDevitt?

Here is McMahon's Internet storyline response to the Bischoff challenge to appear in Worcester, MA was, "I consider Eric Bichoff’s Challenge a cheap and desperate tactic to increase WCW PPV Buys. I will not do anything to help WCW increase their PPV Buys. Therefore, I will not appear at Turner's next PPV as invited. However, if Mr. Bichoff (sic) is hell bent on fighting me, then such a fight can be arranged at any time, in any parking lot in the country, void of television cameras, photographers and public announcement."

Vince was dead set on that wasn’t he?

Also it tickled me that he spelled Eric’s last name wrong twice in his online response. He did that shit on purpose didn’t he?

“Raw on 5/18 from Nashville drew a sellout 11,528 paying a city record of $241,804.”

Bruce - you’re just setting records & records aren’t you?

Austin is barred from the building but Austin decides he’d rather get drunk in his car than try to fight to get in. Vince calls out Dustin Runnels and cuts a promo on him about dumping the Goldust character and puts him in a match with Dude Love where if Goldust wins he gets the title shot against Austin but if he loses he won’t get paid for the next 30 days. Was there a long term plan with Dustin?

Al Snow is programmed with Jerry Lawler to really get his debut over…nobody knew what to do with Al did they?

From the Observer

Val Venis finally came. He debuted on TV pinning Scorpio in 6:09 with a splash off the top, called, inappropriately enough, the money shot. They tried to work Japan style. Venis has potential but was pretty green. He got a big reaction from the vignettes coming out and the people at first reacted to him like he was a star and women screamed, but the fans weren't into the match at all. He basically did the Rick Rude hip gyrations and tried to wrestle. Scorpio did some nice kicks.

I really enjoy that write-up from Meltzer. But Bruce was Val green at this point? Did the match fit the character? Do you consider it a success?

Austin finally beats up a security guard and comes into the building to challenge Vince, Pat & Brisco. This would lead to Pat & Jerry wrestling Austin in a street fight in the main event. Did it take much convincing to get Pat & Jerry back in the ring?

The story continues with Sable & Mero and Marc reveals that Sable has a contract with him and that he was going to be holding her hostage and she has to do whatever he says. I think Marc was tremendous at this role was he not?

Sunny is not with LOD for their match against Chainz & Skull but that LOD will soon have a third partner. How messy was the Sunny situation at this time?

Dude Love would get the win over Dustin Runnels if anyone cared but Austin gets arrested for attacking a security guard and now the main event is in jeopardy. Did you guys do this too often with the police & Austin? Austin gets out of it by…sort of apologizing to him…which makes those cops the most lenient cops ever so stay careful in Nashville folks.

From the Observer

Dr. Charles Worsly then revealed that without a shadow of a doubt, Paul Bearer is Kane's father. Bearer then called Undertaker's mother a two-bit whore (using those exact words no less). So Undertaker naturally came sprinting out, and attacked Kane. Why the hell was he attacking Kane? Eventually he went after Bearer once he choke slammed Kane, but Kane came back and choke slammed Undertaker. Vader ran in and attacked Kane and Undertaker chased Bearer down the ramp. Somehow he never caught him. I guess they need to mention that Bearer has deceptive quickness for a man of his size.

I mean having anyone chase after Paul Bearer isn’t the best idea - but a two-bit whore…really pushing the Attitude Era aren’t we?

“Finally, Austin wrestled Brisco & Patterson with Slaughter as referee. Even though 15% of the audience had dropped off by this point as nobody wants to see last week's angle in the main event, I got a kick of watching Patterson wrestle. The guy was one of the greatest workers this business ever had, as there are very few wrestlers of the early 70s if you watch them on tape, whose work would stand up to today's standards of the top guys. Patterson's work in his prime (not his charisma, but his timing and workrate) was equal to Austin before the injury. Anyway, at 58, he was out there and it was almost a miracle in that he worked better than 90% of the guys in the WWF. Then at two minutes, reality hit and he gassed out. He was wearing a shirt that said first IC champ Rio de Janeiro (where he won the non-existent tournament to create the title in 1979) while Brisco wore a Brisco Brothers body shop shirt. When Austin made his comeback after giving Patterson and Brisco stunners, Slaughter put him in the cobra clutch, but Austin broke it and gave him a stunner. Then a fan wearing an Austin mask hopped the rail and

attacked Austin, pulled off the mask revealing Vince McMahon.”

This is just some great gaga isn’t it Bruce?

The go-home Raw is taped in Chattanooga before another sellout paying $150k. Edge gets another dark match - this time pinning Buddy Landel. Bruce for those who don’t know - what can you tell us about Buddy Landel?

Austin gets his comeuppance on McMahon, Patterson & Brisco by getting them arrested for assault and then obstruction of justice. Do you think Dude Love got hurt by the build being really all about Vince & Austin?

From the Observer

LOD introduced new partner Puke (Darren Drosdov) who came to the ring and supposedly Puked, although it must have been a work since he left no real mess. They beat DOA when Puke pinned Chainz with a power bomb. No heat at all.

Bruce - just give me a “He’s going to puke” in Vince’s voice please.

From the Observer

They cut to McMahon in the police car telling the cops they can't arrest him because his lawyer is Jerry McDevitt. McMahon was overacting in this segment.

Jerry McDevitt gets his name dropped on Raw like this tickled me.

“Severn beat Hart via DQ when Severn got him in the cross armbreaker and the rest of the Nation ran in for the DQ and destroyed Severn leaving him laying. I guess this sets up Severn going to Shamrock and Blackman to form a group called The Shooters.”

Was this the original plan with Severn, Shamrock & Blackman? I mean it seems logical.

From the Observer - now for the Vince Russo portion of Raw

“Jackyl came out for a great interview with Crackhead Bob and Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf from the Howard Stern show. Jackyl's new group is going to be the collection of human oddities. Hank did an interview and was swearing like crazy. Jackyl brought up Hank winning the Best looking award in the Internet and talked about how people on the Internet make fun of people like this and Americans do. His new group consisted of Princess Luna, Golga (John Tenta) and Paul Silva, the 7-3, 400-pounder who was said again to look amazingly facially like Andre the Giant.  Golga then pinned Thrasher in a horrible match.”

Bruce - the birth of the Oddities featuring characters from the Howard Stern Show. Walk me through this from your part of this.

What is John Tenta’s reaction to the Golga gimmick?

Why didn’t Don Callis last in this gimmick - was it because you didn’t like him?

From the Observer

An amazing bit of commentary during the Vader vs. Jeff Jarrett match. Michael Cole talked about how Vader was in the best shape of his life, the typical brainless nonsensical diatribe announcers say about guys that have been around for a long time but are kind of flat, and Jim Ross came back saying he thought Vader was out of shape, and Vader's belly is clearly far bigger than usual and maybe the biggest yet, but it's the first time in the history of the pro wrestling universe that an announcer has made that observation of a headliner while building up an important PPV match.

Yes - that conversation actually happened to help build Vader in his mask vs. mask match against Kane at Over the Edge. You wonder why Vader didn’t get over Bruce.

“Austin agreed to not press charges against McMahon if he apologized. McMahon didn't want to, but reluctantly did. McMahon, Patterson and Brisco came out for an interview. They said that to get Austin to drop charges, Austin could pick someone to come to ringside to make sure McMahon referees the match at the PPV fairly. It'll probably be Runnels or Funk. McMahon then said that in the main event on TV, Austin must defend the title against Undertaker and McMahon would be the ref. And naturally, just one day after complaining to cable companies about bait & switch by WCW, that match never takes place.”

This is to pivot Undertaker into this story - but my goodness - just two weeks after finding out his brother isn’t his brother…it’s like it never happened. Was that a frustrating part of the story for you?

“Faarooq beat Mero due to help from Sable. After the match Mero told Sable she could pick any wrestler in the WWF, and if Sable's wrestler can beat him without Sable helping him, then she can be out of her contract, but if Sable's wrestler loses, Sable has to leave the WWF.”

This is a great gimmick and one that could’ve really helped someone. Was the plan always for it to be Sable in this spot - or was there talk of someone else getting the rub instead?

“McMahon came out to ref the main event. Undertaker came out and choke slammed McMahon. Kane ran in and he and Undertaker brawled, taking Undertaker out of the picture. Austin came out and used the stunner on Brisco and Patterson and tied McMahon up in the ropes. Dude came out with a chair, but Austin got the chair and nailed Dude. Finally Austin gave McMahon the stunner as the show ended.”

A whole lot of chaos to close the build to the pay-per-view. Taker didn’t mind choke slamming Vince did he?

Let’s talk business before we get into the pay-per-view.

“House shows this weekend saw 5/15 in San Jose draw 12,367 and $234,240, 5/16 at the Pond in Anaheim, CA drew a sellout 14,563 and $231,561 and 5/17 in Birmingham drew 10,292 paying $199,363. Merchandise for the week was $488,668 or $10.02 per head.”

My goodness Bruce look at those numbers. Were you seeing an increase in your pay with the increase of business?

I bring that up because this is also brought up in the Observer:

“In Anaheim, the match hyped for months with Austin vs. Mero with the sellout crowd never took place. The idea originally was for Austin to beat Mero and win Sable, who would be put up by Mero to get a shot at the belt, in this match, but that was many storylines ago. Remember when Sable was getting the flowers and that was just forgotten and when Austin gave Sable the look once or twice and how it was Sable that was modeling the Austin t-shirts which apparently originally was all going to be tied together as a big Savage/Elizabeth but more sleazy marketing deal. Anyway, that was smartly nixed because Austin doesn't need anyone invading his spotlight, but they still had the challenge from the previous Anaheim show on their hands. As it turned out, Sable gave Mero a low blow so he was injured before the match ever took place, and Maivia took the spot and Austin beat him.”

House show gimmicks are one thing - but was there a real plan to program Austin & Mero together over Sable?

Now Over the Edge…the show does…well at the box office. 203,000 buys but almost 100,000 buys down from Unforgiven. Is this why the office pivoted from Dude Love?

It’s still up 60,000 over the May 1997 pay-per-view, a Cold day in Hell - but not the results you’re looking for right?

The show is considered a thumbs down by the Observer readers with 47.7% voting for that.

Here’s what Meltzer had to say:

“The WWF's Over the Edge PPV on 5/31 from Milwaukee just continued the same pattern of most of the group's recent PPV shows, only taken to the extreme.

Taken to the extreme is not a figure of speech regarding copying ECW, but a figure of speech regarding the typical pattern of having a really good main event and a weak undercard. In this case, the undercard was far worse than the usual weak standards topped off, or bottomed off more accurately by the saddest angle of the year. And in this case, the main event with Steve Austin vs. Dude Love was possibly the best match so far this year in the United States, which, while it was a great match, also points out in bold letters just how weak this year has been when it comes to producing off-the-page matches.”

Was the undercard an issue in your mind? Is that a talent relations issue?

“All of a sudden, the red-hot WWF product, was exposed before a sellout of 9,822 fans paying $186,383 and another $93,672 in merchandise. No, the most important entity Steve Austin is no fraud, and he and Dude Love put on an excellent brawl, heavily booked but not overbooked, to divert from the actual minimal amount of in-ring wrestling. But what everyone knows to begin with became more obvious, the current success of the WWF is a pyramid balancing on its head--the head of Austin. It's not the first time a company has been built around one wrestler and it won't be the last, but it's precarious when the wrestler involved is working in an era where injuries are frequent and he's working on more than his fair share of them, and he's not exactly playing patty-cake out there like Hulk Hogan did and still does to where the risk of a future major injury really isn't that great. While a lot of guys, and nobody more than DX, are over like crazy doing interviews and ring introductions and delivering cool catch phrases, it was painfully obvious that the fans in Milwaukee didn't care about seeing them wrestle after a few minutes. And having to do a lengthy match also exposed that in the ring when the catch phrases end, they are all three the same wrestlers that couldn't get over until they were put in a position to have a cool ring entrance.”

Yes it’s the evolution of the business but it’s hard to disagree with what Meltzer is saying here. You’re one bad bump, one bad back drop, one bad anything from Austin being seriously injured - and who’s next to step in? This era gets hidden a lot from discussing this because of the tremendous growth in the company off Austin’s back, but the company would’ve been severely crippled - pardon the pun - if something did happen to Steve don’t you think?

“1. Legion of Doom 2000 beat Skull & Eight Ball in 9:56.

Chainz was in the corner of Skull & Eight Ball while Sunny was back with LOD, who also had Darren Drosdov in their corner. They seemed to tone down Drosdov's name as Puke, although they didn't drop the Puke name altogether, but emphasized his name as Drosdov and in the graphic called his "Droz" instead of Puke. I guess they didn't want to make subliminal suggestions by using the word Puke too often while this match was going on. They did try but the crowd wasn't into it, and they aren't very good which doesn't help. The idea was for Sunny to bring life to the LOD, but the end result seems more to be that they are sucking the life from her, which is almost amazing when you put out someone who looks like that dressed like that in front of today's early 20s wrestling audience and she can't even arouse their interest once the match starts. The twins worked on Hawk until Animal hot tagged in. Eight Ball pulled the switch, to tease the television finish, but Drosdov clotheslined him in the back from the apron and he staggered into Animal's powerslam for the pin. Based on the response, it appeared most people hated this match a lot more than I did. 1/2*”

None of this worked and the hokey pokey over Droz, Puke whatever, and then Sunny being back in after being gone - just seemed so hastily thrown together. LOD 2000 was a failure was it not?

“Rocky Maivia came out for an interview but Faarooq did a run-in and they began brawling. Maivia tried to hit Faarooq with a chair but instead hit the ropes and the chair rebounded in his own face and knocked him out. Faarooq was then supposed to piledrive Maivia on the chair, but the chair had a mind of its own and apparently got up and walked away or something. Anyway, the piledriver missed the chair by a mile. Since the

plan was for Maivia to do a stretcher job and get a "serious injury," on a spot that was totally missed (especially since Maivia was just fine after being given this incredible piledriver on the ramp on television just last week), the announcers were put in a terrible position. Jim Ross called it as a piledriver on the chair, trying to sell the storyline. Jerry Lawler said he thought the piledriver missed the chair. They never showed a replay. Maivia still did the stretcher job. Later in the show it was announced that Sgt. Slaughter was ordering Maivia to defend the title or forfeit it, which was weird because it put Maivia in the babyface position.”

This is just one of those things that happens but my goodness what a mess this was Bruce.

“2. Jeff Jarrett pinned Steve Blackman in 10:18. Despite the elaborate ring entrance, Jarrett just doesn't get over. Match was marred by a lack of heat and missed spots, although occasionally when Blackman timed a kick right it woke you back up into paying attention. Al Snow was in the Spanish language announcers booth with the heat wearing a sombrero before security took him away. Probably the highlight was when Blackman moved, Jarrett nearly hit Tennessee Lee, and Blackman got him from behind in a great Japanese rolling crotch hold. Jarrett brought in one of Blackman's sticks, but Blackman got it away and used it on him and went for the pin, but Lee put Jarrett's foot on the ropes. Blackman then went to the top rope but Lee hit Blackman with the stick and he fell off and was pinned. The finish only served to make Blackman look like an idiot since he, as the babyface, lost to basically the same spot that the heel didn't lose to. 1/2*”

This didn’t click as well did it?

“3. Marc Mero pinned Sable in 21 seconds.

This was billed as Sable having a mystery wrestler to face Mero and if Sable's wrestler won, she'd get her freedom. If Mero won, Sable would have to leave the WWF forever. Sable said she wanted to take the match herself. Mero then got all apologetic to Sable about their past relationship and blamed the wrestling business for ruining their relationship (now that wouldn't exactly be a first). Mero said he was sorry and laid down to let Sable pin him to get her freedom, but when she covered him, he reversed her and held her down for the three count. The crowd didn't react at all to this. Sable tried to cry doing an interview but she just isn't very good as an actress, and they tried to make a big deal of her having to leave and showing her taking her bags and leaving the building "for the last time." A blind man could see where this angle is going.”

I don’t care what Meltzer says - this is some great heat for Mero and yes the crowd didn’t react to it but it still worked. I still don’t know how the hell Mero didn’t end up higher on the card because of this and the lack of depth - but you tell me Bruce. What did you think?

“4. Dick Togo & Mens Teioh & Sho Funaki beat Taka Michinoku & Bradshaw in an unannounced three-on-two match in 9:54.

This was easily the second best match on the show but also had no crowd heat and was impossible to take as any kind of a match because of the size difference with Bradshaw to begin with, and how the size difference was played up making the Japanese heels look like midget comedy figures which made the match nothing compared to the level these guys work at in Japan, which could have been duplicated in the U.S. despite closed minds (see ECW Barely Legal for proof of that). Apparently it wasn't completely decided about adding this match to the show until the day of the event, and my belief is they realized how weak the undercard was going to be and having to shorten two of the matches due to injuries and that left an opening in the show and the Japanese guys can work. Taka worked almost the entire match, and when Bradshaw would tag in, the Japanese would run away. Bradshaw finally made the hot tag and destroyed the Kaientai guys including a power bomb on Funaki until Togo hit him with a low blow. Bradshaw recovered to give Teioh a Tiger suplex. Taka finally hit the Michinoku Driver II on Togo, but Teioh made the save and used his chokeslam on Taka. Togo then pinned Taka after a high senton bomb. Somewhere during the match Teioh injured his back and he couldn't wrestle the next night at television. **½”

Bradshaw looks GIGANTIC in there with Kaientai. But it just looks silly. Did you need another babyface with Taka instead and Bradshaw was the only one available?

“5. Rocky Maivia pinned Faarooq in 5:02 to retain the IC title.

Maivia was introduced twice and never came out. Finally Sgt. Slaughter came out and gave Maivia a ten-count to get to the ring or he'd forfeit his title, which immediately should have put him as the face. It didn't matter because the psychology of this was already completely screwed up. Maivia came out with the belt in a neck brace. Faarooq then attacked Maivia, took off his neck brace and began hitting him. They worked the match with Maivia no longer selling the neck injury that was supposedly so disabling. The crowd had no clue how to react because even though Maivia was put in the face position, they didn't dislike Faarooq, but could have cared less about him, and didn't like Rocky. Again no heat. Faarooq then scored a pin out of nowhere with the ref counting three but Maivia getting his foot on the ropes. The spot should have been a big pop for the title change but nobody cared. Ref Tim White saw the foot on the ropes and re-started, and Maivia immediately took Faarooq down with a leg-dive and with both feet on the middle ropes, pinned him. Again no reaction. The fact Faarooq couldn't beat a "dead" Maivia forced into the ring only served to kill his standing, and the two piledrivers after the match he gave Maivia drew no reaction either. Finally Owen Hart and the rest of the Nation made the save, and DX then did a run-in to save Faarooq. DX' run-in got a reaction but it was clear by this point nobody cared about Faarooq. -*”

What the hell happened with this Bruce? This is all over the place and helped really no one. Who put this together?

“6. Kane pinned Vader in a mask vs mask match in 7:20.

Vader was working this match with a pulled hamstring. He had noticeably dropped some weight since his TV appearance taped two weeks earlier. But the two didn't work together well at all. They tried to act as if nobody had ever seen Vader without a mask on before and they'd get a chance to see him unmasked if he lost. Earl Hebner was back as referee for this match. Finally Vader hit a hard clothesline and missed a moonsault. Kane used the tombstone piledriver for the pin. Match had no heat. Vader unmasked, and then did an interview saying that he was nothing but a fat piece of shit who had just gotten his butt whipped and was nearly crying. DUD”

First things first - how good was it to see Earl Hebner back in the ring?

It was time for Vader to go back to Japan at this point wasn’t it?

Were you happy to see Kane moved from this program?

“If that wasn't bad enough, what should have been one of the best parts of the show turned into the worst. Mad Dog Vachon, who is very barely mobile with an artificial leg, was nearly carried into the ring, and came out with The Crusher, a native of Milwaukee who was the biggest single drawing card in the history of pro wrestling in the city, known throughout the years as "The Wrestler who made Milwaukee famous" with his trademark cigar in his mouth like his old 50s street thug character. Crusher got the expected huge reaction. Michael Cole brought up all the AWA singles and tag team title reigns both men had and brought up Crusher's famous tag team with Dick the Bruiser. Lawler acted as if he had never even heard of them, even to the point of asking which one was Crusher and which one was Mad Dog. Vachon grabbed the mic and said that people ask about his daughter wrestling (Luna) but that it's not his daughter but his niece but he loved her like a daughter and she does a great job, and then thanked Vince McMahon for taking wrestling to a worldwide stage.

Lawler hit the ring and Crusher protected Mad Dog and hit Lawler with the single most pathetic bolo punch in history. But it got a huge pop as people wanted to see Crusher do one last bolo punch. Lawler barely sold Crusher's big move, but then again, it would have had no credibility had he sold it It would have been great for the people live if it had just ended there. But then Lawler jumped in the ring to take Mad Dog's artificial leg off (and apparently as comedy, Lawler actually went for the good leg first) and Crusher chased him away again, but unfortunately then it became obvious Crusher couldn't move at all.

At this point Lawler took off his robe, and he's really looking unathletic these days, and Crusher, who looked fine in a shirt, took off his shirt. That got no pop and was really sad because all those fans in Milwaukee probably remember Crusher as their powerhouse since for his time he was that, and instead reality struck with his shirt off and he looked no different than any other 71-year-old man.

The skit ended with Crusher hitting Lawler with Mad Dog's artificial leg, which may have been a big deal since everyone remembered what happened when Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels traded using it in their match. It's a big deal because, as mentioned before, the last memory of Crusher that any of these fans will ever see is of this crippled old man unable to move taking off his shirt rather than a memory of this grizzled old powerhouse.”

You tell me Bruce - what did you think of all this?

“7. Owen Hart & Kama Mustafa & D-Lo Brown beat Hunter Hearst Helmsley & Jesse Jammes & Billy Gunn in 18:33.

A disappointing match with the exception of the performance of Hart, who was good, and Brown, who was good in spots. Helmsley was the only wrestler the crowd reacted to as a star once the match started, although DX got a huge reaction for their ring intros and entrance. Jim Ross tried to emphasize the youth in the WWF saying D-Lo is in his early 20s (I've got him listed as 29 although that could be wrong) and Jammes in his 20s (he's 32). The crowd started a "boring" chant about 13:00 in. After a boring match, they had a pretty good finish, with Chyna getting involved and attacking poor Mark Henry. Brown got spike piledriven on a tag title belt by HHH and Gunn but was saved. Hart then used Helmsley's own Pedigree on him on the title belt and got the pin. *½”

Bruce - NOTHING WORKED ON THIS UNDERCARD. It was a miracle we got to the main event wasn’t it?

“8. Steve Austin retained the WWF title beating Dude Love in 22:28 with Vince McMahon as referee, Gerald Brisco as timekeeper and Pat Patterson as ring announcer.

The ring introductions took forever, but were great in a campy bad way, especially compared to what took place earlier. Howard Finkel first introduced Patterson, claiming he was a Canadian hero along the lines of Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Anne Murray, talked about his winning the Intercontinental title in a grueling tournament in Rio de Janeiro (whereupon Jim Ross said, "wink, wink") and said he was a great role model for children. Patterson then introduced Brisco, plugging his body shop in Tampa with the address and phone number and even the motto and said he would be the first Native American to be inducted in the WWF Hall of Fame (there was even a line about Jay Strongbow, who of course wasn't really a Native American) and called him the reincarnation of Jim Thorpe. Then he introduced Vince McMahon, who was strutting around with his Mil Mascaras at 50 walk and flexing his arms. Patterson refused to even announce Austin's name. Before the match started, Undertaker came out as Austin's guy to watch to make sure McMahon officiated the match fairly.”

This is just fucking great Bruce. This makes up for the whole undercard does it not?

“The crowd was going nuts for almost every spot. The one spot that didn't get a reaction was when Austin stomped on Love's false teeth. Jeez, Eddie Graham and the Great Malenko built an entire industry in Florida around that spot in the 60s and three decades later it's not even good for a pop. Love was hip tossed onto the Spanish announcers table.

Patterson then announced it was a no DQ match, which wasn't the announced plans, to show they're changing the match as it went along. Love took a bump on the timekeeper's table wiping out Brisco and took a sick clothesline while sitting on the guard rail onto the floor. Austin was walking on Brisco. Love came back with a neckbreaker on the floor and at that point Patterson announced it was a falls count anywhere match. Austin came back with a wind sprint clothesline. Love backdropped Austin onto the hood of one of the broken down cars set- up for no reason in the aisle, with Austin's boots kicking in the windshield. Love did a sunset flip off the roof to the floor. Dude got a lead pipe and hit Austin in the back of the head with it and Austin came up having bladed himself on the forehead all bloody. Love used a suplex on the floor and McMahon, who was doing the act of doing fair counts for both men because Undertaker was always watching him, but heavily rooting for Love, wanted Love to do the pin but instead Love wanted to drop the elbow off the car. Austin moved although Love thankfully protected himself more than usual landing feet first on the bump. McMahon then called for a chair and Patterson gave Love a chair and Love hit Austin in the back with a chair and used his double-arm DDT on the chair but Austin kicked out. After a hard clothesline, Austin got the chair and delivered a sick chair shot to the face. McMahon, for the first time, just stood there and refused to count as Austin had Love pinned. As Austin got up and started yelling at McMahon, Love got up and tried to deliver another chair shot but Austin moved and just like last month, McMahon was knocked out by a hard chair shot. Austin used the stunner, but McMahon was KO'd and couldn't count the fall. Ref Mike Ciota ran in and at the count of two, Patterson pulled him out of the ring and decked him. Love then put the mandible claw on Austin, and Patterson jumped in to make the three count but Undertaker pulled Patterson out of the ring and choke slammed him, at 58 years old with Patterson kicking his feet way up to get even more of an affect from the move, through the American announcers table. Brisco then jumped in and the same thing happened to him through the Spanish announcers table. Austin then got out of the claw and delivered another stunner and while covering Love, grabbed McMahon's hand and counted to three and the bell rang signifying that he won. ****½”

This is the match of just gaga and it’s fucking tremendous and you should go out of your way to watch it. How fucking great is Patterson taking that chokeslam?

Where did the idea of the changing of the stipulations come from?

Does this whole segment save the show in your mind?

At the end of the night - did you know that you couldn’t do another Austin vs. Love main event?

Was there any consideration to doing Mankind or Cactus Jack vs. Steve the next month?

We all know what happened next month at King of the Ring - and be sure to check that out in the archives!