The following is a reprint of the Torch Newsletter review of WWF Raw from five years ago this week.

-Jason Powell, Torch assistant editor

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Torch Newsletter Archive
By Wade Keller, Torch editor
Aug. 17, 1998 - WWF Raw
Originally published: Pro Wrestling Torch Weekly newsletter #508
Cover dated: Aug. 22, 1998

(Taped 8/11 in Des Moines Iowa)... [Q1:]... They opened the show with Steve Austin pounding on Vince McMahon's dressing room door. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler introduced the show. AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" started to play as a hearse pulled out of a curtain beside the entryway. Ross and Lawyer speculated it must be Undertaker. However Austin came out of the drivers side door. He went to the ring and demanded McMahon come to the ring. He said he had 23 more beers, and would drink everyone of them unless McMahon came out. Patterson instead came out. Then Brisco, Slaughter and finally McMahon came out. Austin suggested McMahon was happy that he and the Undertaker had dropped the tag titles the week before. McMahon denied it. Austin threatened to "beat Undertaker's ass, shove him in the hearse", and said that if McMahon got in his way he'd do the same to him, hop in the drivers seat and drive all three down the Highway to Hell. Strong interview... Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn came to the ring and had a staredown as they went to break...

[Q2:]... Dan Severn beat Ken Shamrock and Owen Hart in a triple threat match at 4:40. Owen went right at Shamrock as Severn stood in the corner and stayed away from the action. Ross plugged the "first ever Lion's Den Match". He said the match would be held in a nine foot pit being specially constructed for Summer Slam. Finally, after five minutes, Severn finally got into the action, by pulling Shamrock off of Owen. But then returned to the corner. Shamrock got Owen in the ankle lock, and Severn moved in for the kill by putting his chokehold on Shamrock. Owen kicked away at Shamrock until he tapped. Severn refused to release the hold so Steve Blackman came in for the save. He got Severn's choke for his trouble. Severn and Owen raised each other's hand in a show of unity. Nothing special, but effective.

[Q3:]...Bart Gunn knocked out the Godfather eight teen seconds into the 3rd round. Bart tried to surprise the Godfather early by going for a takedown but the Godfather blocked it. Bart got in some nice punches, but the Godfather hit him with a nice left right combo. Ross said Bart was up unofficially after one round. At the start of the second round, Bart again tried a unsuccessful takedown. Godfather then trapped Bart in the corner and landed some nice shots that had Bart woozy. Bart managed to escape and hit him with a flurry of hard lefts that sent Godfather to the mat with one second left to go. It was all Bart in the third... They showed Shamrock and Blackman throwing stretchers around in the back. Then previewed Gangrel and went to break...Gangrel pinned Brian Christopher (with Scott Taylor) at 59 seconds. Gangrel drank the blood looking substance from his gauntlet. The Edge sat on the balcony during the match. Taylor attempted without luck to interfere. Gangrel gave Christopher the DDT for the win. Gangrel has a good chance at getting over, but the blood thing is going to get old quick. They showed Shamrock & Blackman trashing the interview set in the back.

[Q4:] ...DX was supposed to do an interview but a brawl broke out with the Nation. They interviewed "Bill Clinton" about his problems with Monica Lewinski. The impression was good, probably made it seem live to a lot of people, but kind of lame. Vince just can't avoid taking a shot at the government, especially Clinton... DOA (w/Paul Ellering) beat Too Cold Scorpio and Farooq at 4:29. DOA did their usual kicking, stomping and clotheslines. They said that Scorpio and Farooq are undefeated. Scorpio hit the 450 splash but the ref was distracted by DX and the Nation, whose brawl had made it out to the ramp. DOA did the switch, and rolled up Scorpio for the victory.

[Q5:] DX (w/o Chyna) and The Nation fought to an apparent no contest at 6:08. DX came to the ring and did the Suck It routine. The Nation minus Owen came to the ring with assorted weapons as the Warzone began. They had a good ECW style four on four brawl. About three minutes in, Rocky dropped "the Peoples Elbow" onto Road Dog for a near fall. At 3:30, Jeff Jarrett came to the ring and went after X-Pac. He shaved off a good strand of X-Pac's hair after Southern Justice interfered. With the rest of DX tied up with Jarrett & S. Justice, Mark Henry, D-Lo, and Rocky pounded Hunter with a ladder... Tiger Ali Singh and Abu came to the ring. Singh did his U.S. bashing routine. They then showed footage of Abu working out before Raw, both in and out of the arena. Tiger added that Abu didn't have time to bathe before the show. He said he would give $500 to the first American that would lick in between his toes. He removed his shoe and sock, and had huge clumps on "fungus" all over his foot. of course they found a taker. Pretty funny, but very remniscent of Ted DiBiase and Virgil.

[Q6:]... After break they showed Sable warming up for her arm wrestling match with Jacqueline. Sable came to the ring with the swim suit trophy she had stolen from Jackie and given to Luna. She told Jackie that if she had something she wanted, she should come and get it. After one attempted start (which Jackie broke) they began. Jackie jumped out front, and after about a minute, Sable started to come back, Jackie pulled away. She then pushed the table onto Sable, and hit her in the back with the trophy. The oddities and Luna came out for the save... Michael Cole interviewed Val Venis about his gauntlet match with Kaientai...

[Q7:]... Another repeated edition of "Droz's World" aired... Bradshaw beat Droz by a decision. Droz came out swinging but Bradshaw muscles him off. With 17 seconds left in the first round Bradshaw hit Droz with a solid jab. Bradshaw led after one. Midway into the 2nd round, Droz got in a nice flurry of punches. Bradshaw retaliated with two punches to the back of the head. In boxing, they would have been illegal, but no mention was made. Late in the round, Droz attempted the first take down of the match and got it. Droz trailed 10-5 going into the final round. Not much action in the 3rd as both men appeared to be blown up. The crowd booed the decision. I don't think they so much disagreed with the decision as Droz may be taking off a little bit. Bradshaw will meet Bart in the finals, next Monday... Lawler said speaking of somebody getting knocked out, here is Al Snow. They showed Snow in a bar with a beer and a shot in front of him. He was complaining about how he could have stayed in ECW, "but, no, we had to come to the WWF. They showed the head on the floor and Snow complained to the head that it was drunk and could not drive. He reminded the head that the cops said if the Head got another DUI he'd lose his license, and "friends don't let friends drink and drive"... Sable stormed towards the ring at the break.

[Q8:]... Dustin Runnels gave his weekly "sermon". This week he said that "the bible says your body is a temple. And as a result, we should be careful what we put in to it. Why then would you want to poison your mind. Well here is an idea for you. Instead of watching this next segment of the Warzone, try curling up with a good book. Something like Oliver Twist. Or Ivanhoe. Or my favorite the New Testament. Because he is coming back. God bless you all... Sable called Jackie a "bitch" and challenged her to come to the ring. Jackie and Mero appeared on the big screen. Jackie declined, because "those freaks are still running around". The oddities then busted into the locker room and attacked Mero and Jackie...

Taka Michinoku pinned Val Venis at 7:51. Val Venis came to the ring carrying a pink squirt gun. He gave a short speech, comparing himself to Clinton. Tao started out for Kaientai in the Gauntlet match. The rules were that if Val beat all the members of Kaientai, he would get five minutes alone in the ring with Mr. Yamaguchi. Lawler again interviewed the mock Clinton. It got really old by this point. Val pinned Tao with a fisherman's suplex at 1:14, followed by a powerslam pinfall over Funaki at 1:28. Val finished off Togo at 4:18 with a powerbomb followed by the "Money Shot". (I still wish they'd call it "The High Hard One") Taka, now wearing just a tank top and shorts wore down Val and scored the pin with the Michinoku Driver. Kaientai then all entered the ring and held Val so Mrs. Yamaguchi could slap him. Val eventually broke free and started shooting the pink super soaker all over the heels. When he hit Mrs. Yamaguchi, Lawler had the line of the night. He wondered out loud just what the substance was Val was spraying. He said "oh, it's DNA". Hysterical line... Ross said they were two minutes long but would stick with this as long as they could. When Undertaker's music began, the camera focussed on the curtain. However, Undertaker appeared at ringside. Austin's music then played as he made his entrance. Ross reminded everyone that this was not match but a confrontation. When Austin climbed in the ring Kane's ringpost fireworks exploded. The apparent Undertaker raised his head and revealed himself to be Kane in Undertaker's clothing. Kane and Austin brawled for about 30 seconds until they made there way back to the hears. Austin threw Kane in the back, slammed the door and gave him the double finger. He went to get into the drivers seat as the crowd went nuts, only to find the door locked and Undertaker in the drivers seat. Undertaker drove off as Austin stood there shocked. Very well done segment albeit a short one... This was one of the slower Raw's in a while. While nothing was very bad, it just didn't have the energy level I expect from Raw throughout. Could it be a result of the extra hour on Sunday night?... [JP]

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