-They tease giving away the Shawn Michaels press conference announcement to start the show, which is a really good strategy to keep viewers tuned in.
-Vince McMahon and Jerry “the King†Lawler are in the booth. Since McMahon doesn’t say where they are from, I would assume that they are still in Newark, Delaware.
-Opening Contest: Hakushi vs. “Double J†Jeff Jarrett:
Jarrett is carrying a guitar to the ring, which is the first time that I recall seeing him with one in a wrestling capacity. As both men prepare to lock up, footage of Jarrett’s attack on Ahmed Johnson at In Your House 5 is shown. Jarrett wins an opening sequence with a slam and taunts. Hakushi catches Jarrett with a flying shoulder block off the top rope and Jarrett bails after taking a dropkick. Jarrett teases leaving before changing his mind and he trips Hakushi before re-entering the ring. Jarrett pounds away as we go to a commercial break.
When we return, Jarrett has Hakushi in an abdominal stretch and is using the ropes for leverage. The referee eventually catches on and Hakushi hiptosses out. However, Hakushi puts his head down too early and Jarrett delivers a DDT. If this was 1994 this match would’ve been over. Hakushi misses a dropkick and Jarrett covers for two. A reverse body press off the second rope misses and Jarrett covers for two. Chinlock time and Hakushi fights out and makes the comeback. A flying forearm off the ropes gets two. Hakushi goes for a springboard splash, but it eats knees and Jarrett locks in the figure-four for the submission at 5:20. It’s sad what they were using Hakushi for at this point. I’m not happy that Jarrett didn’t work the leg at all prior to the figure-four either. Grade: C-
-Jim Ross is on the Slam Jam set and he hypes the Royal Rumble. We get another awesome Vader video package. “Scheme†Gene makes an appearance, but says nothing.
-Ahmed Johnson vs. Jeff Brentler:
Brentler tries to attack Johnson before the bell, but ends up taking a sick suplex. A Rock Bottom and ax kick follows. A spinebuster and the Pearl River Plunge send Brentler to the showers at 1:22. Absolutely brutal. After the match, Jarrett tries to hit Ahmed with his guitar, but misses and scurries away.
-Ted DiBiase is a guest on the Brother Love show. He is here to give the Million Dollar belt to a worthy wrestler and that worthy wrestler is the Ringmaster. The Ringmaster is the guy who would save the company over the course of the next two years: Steve Austin. After having the camera zoom in on his hand, Austin demands that people touch their screen so they can feel what success is like. Austin says that he’s going to be in the Royal Rumble and will show why he’s the Million Dollar champion. As a young mark, I thought this was lame (probably because I thought an old WWF talent was going to be the Million Dollar Champion), but looking at it 14 years later this was a solid debut interview.
-Goldust vs. Aldo Montoya:
Goldust attacks Montoya from behind and gives him a side suplex. Goldust dominates the action until Montoya catches him with a clothesline off the ropes. Montoya makes a plucky babyface comeback, but Goldust catches him with the Curtain Call out of nowhere for the win at 2:02. Since this was just a squash match and Montoya wasn’t a threat to anyone at this point, I’m not going to grade this.
-Shawn Michaels addresses the press at the Royal Rumble press conference and says that he is going to defy doctor’s orders and enter the Royal Rumble. He says that whoever is the WWF Champion at WrestleMania XII is going to be losing the title to him.
-“Scheme†Gene refuses to divulge to Ross what he is going to say on the hotline, but when Ross prods him further, Gene says that it will be to tell the fans that Vader is coming. You see, we already know that so that’s why he’s “Scheme†Gene.
-Diesel, Razor Ramon, and Owen Hart comment on Shawn Michaels announcement.
-They show the Bret Hart-British Bulldog WWF title match from In Your House 5. This was a cheap trick to try to win the ratings battle with Nitro, but it’s really counterproductive because you end up angering the fans who bought the show. In fairness, though, at least they aired this match several weeks after the pay-per-view and not the very next night, which is what Nitro did for Halloween Havoc ’98.
-The Undertaker and Paul Bearer say that Bret Hart was a glorious champion, but they are going to bring the title back to the Creatures of the Night at the Royal Rumble.
-McMahon says that Kathy Schreck of Chicago, IL has won the Royal Rumble sweepstakes and she’ll get free tickets. Poor Kathy.
-Billionaire Ted says that they need a new slogan for their show. All of the suggestions he’s given are old WWF slogans, until the Nacho Man suggests “This is where the big boys play.†The Huckster and the Nacho Man say that they are glad they aren’t in the WWF anymore because they don’t have to be tested for steroids. BURN!
-Tune in next week to see the Undertaker battle Isaac Yankem D.D.S.! Also, Owen Hart faces Marty Jannetty and the Ringmaster will be in action.
The Final Report Card: By this point, the WWF was doing a good job making Raw seem like an episodic TV show and as a result, the shows flowed smoother than past year’s. If you’ve seen the In Your House 5 title match, there isn’t anything outstanding about this show, but this show is still significant because it is where Steve Austin made his WWF television debut.
Monday Night War Rating: 3 (vs. 2.8 for Nitro)
Show Grade: C
