Grilling JR - Fully Loaded 1998 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Today we’re looking back at the height of the Attitude Era in 1998 - as we’re coming off Hell in a Cell 1998 with the infamous Undertaker - Mankind…match I guess you could call it.

Be sure to check that our in the archives over at grillingjronyoutube.com…

But let’s kick off the night after that show when Raw and Nitro went head-to-head and it was a total annihilation the night after King of the Ring. Raw draws it’s 3rd highest rating in the history of the show and the highest rating going head-to-head against Nitro. Do you think the buzz of the Taker - Mankind match helped push it to a new level?

It’s summer…and it’s notorious for - well, back then…viewing to be down considering there’s so much to do in the summer but the WWF is just growing its audience from week to week. Does that prove that just because “wrestling is cyclical” if you’re providing great content people will watch?

Now you’ll notice in this episode that we do not discuss Brawl for All…as we will discuss that all in great detail next week on our episode covering it…but this is the show where that concept launches.

WCW had Hulk Hogan with Karl Malone and DDP in the main event while Raw closed with Austin vs. Kane and Vince involved. Combined…the final quarter drew a 9.93 and a 17 share…that’s just an amazing number looking back isn’t it?

The show is from Cleveland and it opens with Vince, Gerald Brisco & Sgt. Slaughter coming out. Pat Patterson is missing after Lou Dondero passed away the day before with a heart attack. JR - what can you tell us about Lou Dondero and how important he was to Pat and the WWF?

The story obviously is that Vince is finally going to present the person who wasn’t Steve Austin with the WWF Title belt. Austin comes out to challenge Kane for his rematch since the Undertaker was the real reason for losing. Vince said Austin could have a rematch if Paul agreed, Paul said he could have a rematch if Kane agreed and then Kane agreed and pissed off Vince & Paul and set up the main event. With all the eyes on the show to open coming off Taker & Mankind - this was the perfect segment to build to the main event later on that night wasn’t it?

What did you think of the plan to have Kane win the title and drop it right back the next night to Steve? Was this all for ratings - or was it smart booking in your mind?

From the Observer

In a real surprise, Steven Regal came out to no fanfare to beat Darren Drosdov with the Regal stretch in 4:41. Jim Ross was trying to get Regal over but it was amazing that he was brought in basically to be a backdrop for Sable playing remote control robot in the background saying "I'm sorry but I can't answer that question." It was almost as if someone wanted to make sure Regal didn't have a chance to get over in his debut, and luckily for them, they got their wish.

This is just one of those real odd intros to a piece of talent like Steven Regal. Why the cold intro - was Regal ready to be on TV?

From the Observer

Val Venis beat Dick Togo in 3:03. Although the crowd had no interest, the wrestling was real good here. Match was mainly a backdrop for the angle where Venis tried to do a low rent version of the Rick Rude-Jake Roberts angle where he started coming on to a Japanese model said to be Yamaguchi-san's wife. Actually Yamaguchi-san's real wife is a sometimes pro wrestler that nobody should ever mess with.

Anyway, Yamaguchi went after him and slapped him but Venis threw him down and then clocked all the members of Kaientai when they tried to help him with hard chair shots. There were no Val Venis and Dick jokes because Dustin Runnels was on commentary, and kept asking everyone if they'd accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into their lives. I'm assuming they are taking a new tact in turning him heel because boy is that character obnoxious.

I mean you talk about a mix of creative. Dustin talking about Jesus…Val hitting on a wife. Dick Togo. There’s a lot going on here JR…

Shamrock, coming off being King, defeated two other kings in Owen Hart & Triple H in a three-way dance. What did you think of the evolution of these types of matches, three and four way dances?

On this Raw LOD would come out and announce Paul Ellering as their manager. Ellering instead has DOA come out and jump them and announces he’s going to manage them instead. Two questions - bringing in Paul Ellering here and then not being with LOD…chat me up…

LOD’s previous manager, Sunny, had some issues according to the Observer.

“They said Sunny wasn't there because she was under the weather. Actually on 6/26, due to her no-shows at autograph sessions and erratic behavior over the last month or two, Sunny was given an ultimatum by the company to either attend a counseling program or rehab, I'm not sure which, or get terminated, and she accepted the counseling program and won't be back until completing whatever it is they mandated her for. Apparently Sunny is also having among other things a difficult time dealing with Sable having shot past her, and her being stuck with LOD which turned into personal quicksand for her career.”

Was that the real issue JR?

“Finally Austin beat Kane to win the title in 8:26. It was another good brawl. Austin got out of the tombstone and hit the stunner for the finish. After the match Austin also gave Undertaker a stunner. As you can imagine, the place went totally nuts. Both brothers sat up simultaneously after Austin had left the ring. After the show went off the air, Undertaker beat up Kane and left him laying.”

This is one of those moments that everyone remembers, the pop is amazing…but Kane only holding the title for one day…was it worth it in the long run?

The next night from State College Raw is taped but the commentary is live. During a Shamrock - Double J match you thank the fans for making Raw the most watched program on all of cable television that week. This was a big moment for the company was it not?

Vince announces the main event at Fully Loaded as Austin & Undertaker having to team up…you knew at this point you were building to Austin against Undertaker at SummerSlam right?

Mabel comes out of the crowd to attack Shamrock…why bring back Mabel at this point to help put over Shamrock? What was it about Nelson Frazier?

D’Lo Brown would begin wearing his protective vest at this time…was this something you think D’Lo needed to separate himself without a completely new paint of coat?

Just two nights after King of the Ring…Foley is back in the ring for an interview segment.

From the Torch

McMahon entered the ring and called out Mankind, Kane, and Undertaker. McMahon complimented Mankind on his effort at King of the Ring and thanked him for all he has done for the WWF. He said he feels his pain. McMahon called Kane the stupidest man he’s ever seen in his life for giving Austin the title shot. He then called Undertaker an evil, diabolical excuse for a human being and accused him of almost killing Mankind at King of the Ring. He said the TV main event would be a Triple Threat match among all three to determine the new number one contender.

Did you have any reservations about Mick working just two days after King of the Ring?

Did you think he would eventually have to be turned babyface after the bumps?

Marc Mero & Jacqueline are talking about how Sable has been unable to fulfill Mero’s needs and Sable comes out and said that Mero needed viagra. Jackie calls Sable a skank and challenges her to a bikini contest at Fully Loaded. This…isn’t something you’d see on TV nowadays is it?

This is the infamous episode which featured the DX mocking the Nation parody took place. Looking back the focus of this - and it’s not on the WWE Network on Peacock - is about DX dressing up in blackface and the world was a whole lot different in 1998. But Jason Sensation knocks it out of the park as Owen Hart. What did you think of the segment then…and now?

Now for the main event…from the Torch

“McMahon came to ringside to do commentary for the Triple Threat match. Steve Austin then came to ringside, gave McMahon the finger, and sat at the other end of the announcers’ table.

Mankind came to the ring first, followed by Kane. Undertaker’s music played twice, but each time he didn’t come out. McMahon entered the ring and made the ring announcer say, “Due to the fact that Undertaker isn’t here because he is chickensh–, Mankind will wrestle Kane one-on-one.” He added that the match would be no holds barred, falls count anywhere. Mankind, who was sitting at ringside, said, “I have given enough and am not going to give anymore. I will not under any circumstances fight my friend Kane.” Kane stepped out of the ring and grabbed a chair. He hit Mankind from behind with a chair. Kane threw Mankind into the ring and scored the pin. Kane unmasked to reveal Undertaker dressed as Kane, so Undertaker is the number one contender.”

Once again…one of those classic angles…but my goodness it’s the best way to get Foley on TV and Taker as the new #1 contender was it not?

From the Observer

“The World Wrestling Federation kicked off promotion for its biggest non-PPV endeavor in many years, the 8/8 house show entitled "Footbrawl" from Foxboro Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, an event that will be co-promoted by the football team.

The event kicked off on 7/1 with an arm-wrestling match with Vince McMahon and Steve Austin. The event was held on a lagoon near the Cambridge Mall Galleria, before a crowd estimated by various sources as between 2,000 and 4,000. McMahon did every heel arm wrestling stalling tactic before locking up, and eventually when they did, Austin put him down. This led to Austin asking the fans if they wanted to see McMahon thrown in the lagoon which they did and McMahon wound up taking the dive. Dok Hendrix was also thrown in the lagoon for good measure. However, early ticket sales have been a huge disappointment based on the current standards of the industry. As of press time, the event had sold 2,000 tickets for $60,000.”

This event is canceled just a week later due to no increase in sales - how did this miss when wrestling was so hot at this time?

Austin and Foley miss weekend shows in Canada due to both being banged up. Of course Foley from King of the Ring but Austin’s staph infection in his elbow just couldn’t get better. How hard is it to take Austin off the road when business is so hot?

Steve Austin even has a photo shoot to be on the cover of TV Guide. In 1998 - what exactly did that mean compared to now?

WCW attempts to counter the WWF’s full-court press in the ratings war by presenting Hulk Hogan vs. Goldberg as the main event of Nitro on July 6th. The talk - still 25 years later - is the fact that Hogan vs. Goldberg never took place on pay-per-view. Do you think that was a massive misstep by WCW?

The next week, Karl Malone & Dennis Rodman headline Bash at the Beach coming off their NBA Finals series - obviously along with Hulk & DDP - but Raw wins the ratings war coming off their pay-per-view. With the success of Mike Tyson just a few months earlier with the WWF…was there worry that Rodman & Malone could help WCW…and when it doesn’t happen does it just prove the WWF’s creative was head and shoulders above WCWs?

From the Observer

“Raw opened with the introduction of Shawn Michaels as the new color commentator. Michaels was a total babyface both in shaking hands, demeanor, and everything else. I can understand the idea of wanting him there because he's a big star and he's making $15,000 a week staying home when he can't wrestle. At the same time, it came off as a desperation move based on losing the ratings for one week because his big return should be a shock to either join with DX or be against them and now he's around and they're around and it's like WCW where the angle isn't acknowledged anymore to the point that when he comes back, there's no angle or if they try and do it months down the road it won't mean half as much if they've all been around and nobody talked about it, and his return to the arenas and PPV won't be as big a deal when he's been on TV every week for months. Even forgetting all that, more importantly, there is a very serious part of all this. As great a performer in the ring as he is, and he's probably the most talented guy overall of our generation, he's suffered a lot of concussions and while he can get away with being flighty on interviews because it's in his character, it becomes too frequent and scary a reminder of reality to see him for two hours talking because he's too far out there.”

Was Vince just looking to get a return on Shawn and his paycheck at this time?

Did you see a road of Shawn returning at this point in time?

What was he like to work with as a color commentator?

Do you think the DX storyline needed to be cleaned up - or was the product so different just 4 months later it didn’t matter?

Owen got his revenge on Jason Sensation on this Raw but there’s a line in here that I wanted to point out…

“This whole angle was fantastic. Sensation did Owen while Owen was backstage seething. Actually it was the best work Owen has done as well. They set up a spot where he did Bret so Michaels could get in his dig at Bret for being a mid-carder. Finally Owen came out and attacked Jason, and slapped around Lawler who tried to protect him, and again it made Michaels look like an idiot just standing there and doing nothing. Hart put the sharpshooter on him. The funny thing was watching Jason tapping out, like in a bar brawl you tap. Finally the Nation tried to pull Hart off but he was persistent until DX showed up making the save.”

THIS. This could’ve been the heel Owen that could’ve drawn a lot of money couldn’t it?

Kane & Mankind defeat the New Age Outlaws to win the tag team titles on the show with the help of D’Lo Brown. We’re starting to get to the point where titles were changing almost every week, between the World Title and Tag team titles - is this the new way of the business?

From the Observer

Val Venis came out and did a promo showing Mrs. Yamaguchi-san under the sheets with him. Obviously this was going to happen, but it seemed about six weeks premature on the angle.

Anyway, it's kind of funny where they do the modernized version of Jake & Cheryl Roberts with Rick Rude, but nowadays Rick Rude not only gets to sleep with Cheryl by the third week of the angle but is the clear-cut babyface for doing so.

The business did quite change from 1988 until 1998 as reflected in this story did it not?

Raw the next day in Bethlehem is taped for July 14th. With how hot business was - was there ever any talk of moving Raw to live every week at this point do you know of?

D’Lo would win the European Title from Triple H on this Raw which is another step in the right direction for D’Lo. This title meant a lot more for D’Lo than it did Hunter right?

The show would also feature the first promo airing for Sunday Night Heat which debuts on the USA Network on August 2nd. How did this deal come to be?

Dan Severn is announced as being the special referee for the Ken Shamrock vs. Owen Hart dungeon match at the show. Did Dan ever have a chance in getting over in the WWF?

From the Torch

“Marc Mero and Jackie came to the ring. Jackie ripped into Sable with trash-TV style insults. Jackie joked that Sable might get liposuction to lose weight in time for the PPV, but that could be dangerous if the doctor let the air out of the wrong place. Sable came out in an unflattering dress and called Jackie a tramp. When Ross said Lawler has a dirty mind, Lawler said, “You know what they say, a dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Jackie ripped off Sable’s dress revealing black underwear. Sable threw Jackie to ringside and paraded around the ring. Lawler could barely control himself.”

We’re just leaning all the way in to T&A at this point aren’t we?

Austin, Taker, Mankind, Kane & Vince are in every main event segment really coming off Hell in a Cell to Fully Loaded. Even with injuries and the depth chart being thin - was anyone worried about any type of over exposure?

Year over Year - the difference in business is crazy. Canadian Stampede - one of the most well remembered WWF pay-per-views, 165,000 buys. This show…305,000. That’s quite the increase in one year isn’t it JR?

The show is…voted as a thumbs down from the Wrestling Observer readers. Let’s get into it!

From Meltzer

“There isn't much to say about the WWF's Fully Loaded PPV show on 7/26 from Fresno, CA. The undercard was a little better than has been the standard for WWF shows, but still nowhere close to the level of WCW. The main event was nowhere near the standard of most recent WWF PPV main events, but still worlds above most WCW PPV main events. My feeling when the show was over is that it was just a Sunday afternoon wrestling show, not good and not bad, with a few surprises and clear messages being sent. There were no cheap DQ or count out finishes, which is a rarity for any American show, although there were a few too many ref bumps and constant outside interference, not only for falls but for teasing falls. I'm really enjoying the WWF booking, because often bookers get carried away with misdirection (fooling people by not delivering the obvious, except that misdirection isn't always the best thing for business when you have an obvious money drawing angle) but it just seemed a lot of the misdirection on this show worked.”

I think Meltzer is spot on at this point in time in terms of the creative and this show itself - what say you?

“The show sold out the Selland Arena to the tune of 9,855 fans (8,835 paying $179,435 plus $71,239 in merchandise) several days ahead of time.”

There just wasn’t a pay-per-view for a long time that wouldn’t sell out would it JR?

“1. Val Venis pinned Jeff Jarrett in 7:50.

Venis teased that he was going to take off his trunks but was interrupted by Jarrett's music and the voice of Col. Tennessee Parker Lee. Kaientai and Wally-san came out but they sent Kaientai to the back and put Wally-san on color commentary. BAD MOVE. Yamaguchi spent eight minutes trying to say there would be a surprise on Raw for Venis. As for the match, Venis looked green and it was kind of herky jerky early, but Jarrett did a good job and it turned out to be a lot better than your typical Titan prelim match. A lot of near falls until a ref bump. A ref bump in the opener??? Venis, who had a cut cheek was on the top rope. Lee swept his leg causing him to crotch himself. Jarrett superplexed him off the top and set up a figure four, but Venis

turned it into an inside cradle for a good near fall. Jarrett wound up colliding with Lee and Venis got behind him with a rolling reverse cradle for the finish. **¼”

Wally Yamaguchi on commentary - chat me up.

Was Venis green at this point in time in his work or in the gimmick do you think?

“2. D-Lo Brown pinned X-Pac in 8:26.

This was originally to be a European title match, but was then switched to a non-title match, I guess for no other reason than to telegraph that Waltman was going to win, and then have him lose. Match had no heat. X-Pac took a really fast and hard bump into the corner. Brown missed a moonsault. Finish saw Kama hit X-Pac with a clothesline, X-Pac turned around and decked Kama, and when he turned around again, he walked into what they are calling a Sky high, which is Brown's really cool version of a power bomb for the pin. Considering how good a worker X-Pac is, and how Brown is getting his first real career push and is a good worker himself, this was pretty disappointing. *¼”

Was Waltman still trying to find himself after his injury and being off for as long as he was? Was this a disappointment from what you remember?

“3. Faarooq & Too Cold Scorpio beat Terry Funk & Bradshaw in 6:51.

It is very clear WWF is trying to use legends of the past like Funk and Vader jobbing to the lowest ranked young guys in the company to send the message that even the old guys who were great are passe.

Funk announced it would be his last match for six months because he's all beat up, and Bradshaw acted pissed since this supposedly was the first he'd heard about it and went to the ring with a bad attitude. No heat again.

Finally Scorpio pinned Funk after the firebird (450) splash. Bradshaw attacked Funk after the match, causing Scorpio to try and save him, but Scorpio took this awesome spin bump off the floor from a Bradshaw clothesline. While Bradshaw still comes off as an uncharismatic overpushed bland WWF big guy type, his work has really gotten better this year. When Faarooq tried to make the save, Bradshaw clocked him with a hard chair to the back. *¼”

It was time for Terry to take some time off wasn’t it?

It’s kind of ironic looking back seeing Faarooq & Bradshaw on the opposite ends of this tag team match with no build and by the end of the year they’re Acolytes right?

“4. Mark Henry pinned Vader in 5:03.

With the exception of the finish, this was move-for-move the same match they did the previous night in San Francisco, except

Henry seemed to freeze here and they screwed up a lot of early spots and had a lot less heat. Henry screwed up the timing on the first bodyslam and the match fell apart from there. Finish saw Vader splash Henry off the middle rope but Henry kicked out, and Henry delivered a powerslam and a big splash and Vader didn't kick out. Clearly it's time for Vader to move on, but at this stage of his career, there may be nowhere left to go. 1/2*”

We all knew Vader wasn’t meant for the WWF for much longer - but the work here with Mark Henry was not good was it?

“Mankind, Kane and Paul Bearer came out. They were running a storyline throughout the show that Undertaker had not shown up and they didn't know where he was. Bearer said he was a coward. New Age Outlaws came out and challenged Mankind & Kane for a tag title match on Raw the next night and it turned into a pull-apart brawl. Again, this misdirection, which would lead you to believe that Mankind & Kane were going to have to retain the titles in the main event, seemed to work, but they are already in danger of making the misdirection into what is predictable now that they're setting the pattern.”

Is this the first attempts at swerves, bro?

“5. DOA beat LOD 2000 in 8:50.

Again no heat at all, but it started out as a fast-paced match with both teams more aggressive than usual. They really tried, but they just don't work together well but this was worlds better than their house show matches. Hawk missed a shoulderblock and flew out of the ring. Paul Ellering was also very aggressive and kicking the hell out of him. After Ellering tripped Hawk about 5:00 in, the match started falling apart. It got scary bad by the end.

The LOD hit the Doomsday device on one of the Grimm Twins but the other saved. Then the Twins did a switch and the illegal guy hit a DDT on Animal for the pin. They were missing spots left and right in the last few minutes. Again the pattern in its third match in a row of wrestling legends going down to clean but weak finishers. What has killed LOD, besides themselves, is that their whole aura was based on not doing jobs, and in this environment they can't be protected like than anymore. But in the WWF, every wrestler uses the DDT as a transition move and it's the most overdone maneuver in the entire federation that nobody ever loses to, so when LOD loses to it, it just leaves them that much more dead. 1/4*”

You can see the WWF is working on elevating guys over the veterans…but were they the right guys to be elevated?

“6. Owen Hart beat Ken Shamrock in 4:53 in a match taped in the basement of Stu Hart's home in Calgary a few days earlier.

It's hard to pull something like this off because of the limitations of not having a ring, and it seeming to be dead with no crowd, but they worked very stiff and believable, at least by WWF standards, and it was real good for what it was. Both banged each others' heads into the wall hard. Hart, holding onto a ceiling pipe, took Shamrock over in a huracanrana. At one point Hart smashed Shamrock's head through the low ceiling, which clearly had many heads smashed through it over the years.

They did their house show finish, with Hart getting the sharpshooter but Shamrock with a nice reversal into an ankle lock. This time Hart got out of the ankle lock. Shamrock went to kick Hart, but instead kicked ref Dan Severn. Hart then KO'd Shamrock hitting him upside the head with a dumbbell. Hart got behind Shamrock and began tapping Shamrock's hand on the mat and when Severn staggered to his senses, he saw the tap and ruled Hart as the winner. ***”

For what this is, it’s tremendous is it not? Like the concept seems off but all three of these guys pulled it off didn’t they?

“Vince McMahon came out with Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco and Sgt. Slaughter. They teased the idea of Undertaker no-showing, and McMahon announced as the promoter he was going to give the fans a suitable main event sub, and brought out Brooklyn Brawler.”

I mean…Brawler’s done worse right?

“7. Rocky Maivia retained the IC title going to a 30:00 draw with HHH in a 2/3 fall match.

This was probably the longest match of either man's career and under the circumstances they worked real hard and did a good job. It's a real risk in today's environment booking a match this long unless you have a super worker, or preferably two super workers, in there. The match had its weaknesses because it went so long and didn't have one super worker, but it was still world's better than when ECW has sent its guys out there for too long matches. HHH finally started a comeback with a high knee, but was cut off by a hot shot. It was clear at this point the two men were out there too long because the crowd was losing interest, which says more about fans tastes than about the work of the two because they were doing very well. Kama came out for a teased run-in, but the Outlaws blocked him. Brown then came from another direction and was on the top rope, but HHH swept his leg and he wound up crotched on the top rope. As Helmsley turned around, Maivia hit him with the rock bottom (uranage) for the pin in 20:21.

I should mention that the fact they were going long was telegraphed only a few minutes into the match when Jim Ross talked about keeping track of the time limit. Since they never talk about time limits, it didn't make the result obvious, because they could have done one of those 29:59 pins, but it did make it clear to everyone they were going the distance. For realism, when they go long, they need to bring up the time limit (when the bell just rings out of nowhere with no discussion of the time limit in the announcing the finish comes across as totally lame), but probably not until they are already 20:00 in. Anyway, in the second fall Maivia then hit the ref with a chair when HHH moved, and Chyna gave Maivia a low blow and a DDT on the chair leading to HHH scoring the pin in 5:02. This left actually just 2:24 for a deciding fall. With the original ref carted out, the fall started with no ref and HHH went for a pin. Earl Hebner ran from the back almost as fast as he ran out of the ring in Montreal to count, but Maivia kicked out. At the 2:00 left call, the crowd died. The usual reaction to that call is a surge in intensity. They really didn't do a good job in the last 2:00 as compared with most matches of this type. Maivia used a Samoan drop for a near fall, which Ross noted was shades of his grandfather (actually I probably saw more Peter Maivia matches than all but a few people still living or at least semi-coherent in this universe and can't recall him ever using that move, but later Samoan wrestlers did use it as a trademark). They tried to time the finish where HHH would hit the Pedigree and the bell would ring, although they missed by about four seconds. After the match the Nation attacked HHH, but the rest of DX made the save. ***¼”

This is a big step for both of these guys - and Meltzer has some valid points and complaints in it. It’s hard to retrain the audience for this time of stuff right? How do you think Rocky & Hunter handled themselves in this 30 minute match?

“It was time for the bikini contest. But before the contest, Dustin Runnels came out and started praying for the lord to forgive the fans and the participants for what they are about to see. Nobody has figured out how to react to Runnels at this point.

Jackie came out wearing a strippers' g-string. Both women deserve credit as they had obviously trained very hard and dieted very hard for this. We could see the dreaded nipple shot from Jackie, which, of course, was played up as not supposed to happen but clearly the camera was right there for it and it was a planned high spot. Sable came out wearing a halter top, claiming her boss, the evil Mr. McMahon, said to dress conservatively. But claiming her freedom of expression and standing up to her boss (hey, whatever happened to that storyline explanation on why she never left after losing the loser leave town match? Is this WCW or what?) she removed her top and had nothing on but body paint shaped like hands to cover her nipples. Mero acted furious and took a bump from a really weak looking slap. McMahon ran out furious and put his sports coat over Sable and dragged her to the back playing the old party pooper role. Sable got more cheers and was awarded the win even though Jacquelyn probably had the better body of the two but they both were in shape and that's all a matter of taste..”

What is there to say JR?

“8. Undertaker & Steve Austin beat Mankind & Kane to win the WWF tag titles in 17:28.

Austin worked really hard but had to carry the match for the other three, and thus even though it was a better than average match, it was way below the standards of most WWF PPV main events and WWF sells its shows on its main events. It wasn't a bad match, but just that the expected standard is so high it was disappointing. Undertaker came out to new music. I wouldn't have messed with that trademark. They teased Undertaker and Austin breaking up from the start. Undertaker, who has gained a lot of weight, probably because he can't train on his ankle, appeared to gas out about 5:00 in, which is better than the night before when he gassed out almost immediately. Kane used a choke slam on him and Mankind a double arm DDT, but Austin made the save for him. Austin sold for the next several minutes before being hit with a choke slam by Kane, and Kane protected Austin on the bump noticeably more than he would anyone else (hey, when the meal ticket has a bad neck, you protect him). He teased a tombstone, but Austin got free and hit Kane with a chair and went for the tag. At first they acted as if Undertaker wouldn't tag in, but after teasing it, he did tag, and gave high choke slams to both Mankind and Kane, then put the tombstone on Kane for the pin. Undertaker then grabbed both tag belts and left, leaving Austin in the ring without a belt. **¾”

Out of the 4 guys only Kane is really healthy - but still I think this is better than it gets credit for back then - what say you?

Not every show can be a King of the Ring type show like it was last month - but looking back there’s a lot on here that just seems like filler does it not JR?