The SmarK DVD Rant for the Best of RAW Volumes 1 & 2
– OK, so the RAW 15th Anniversary DVD set pretty much sucked and I noted that a better buy is to seek out this 2001 DVD release, so I figured that I might as well put my money where my mouth is and review that one as a counterpoint. As a note, this was originally released as a pair of videotapes and then transferred onto DVD with some extra stuff once the DVD era began for the WWF. Remember “tapes”, kids? Ask your parents.
Volume One / Disc One
– Hosted by Michael Cole, early in 1999.
– We start in December 1997, with Vince McMahon calling out Intercontinental champion Steve Austin that night after the D-Generation X PPV. We’re in a weird letterboxed format for some reason. Vince DEMANDS that Austin defend the title against the Rock tonight, or there’s gonna be consequences. This was hugely notable, as it was the real start of Vince as Evil Owner and the proper kickoff to the feud. Vince gets offended by Austin’s language and Austin swears at him in response in a funny bit.
– So at Wrestlemania XIV, Austin wins the big belt.
– The night after, Vince awards the new Big Gold Eagle belt to Austin, who tosses aside the old version and hits Vince in the leg with it in a nice subtle joke. You know what’s great? Watching DVDs with “WWF” unbleeped and turnbuckles unblurred. Of note here: Austin cuts himself on the new belt’s edge, and later asks for a new one to be made, which gives us the Smoking Skull Belt. Vince tells Austin to either do things the easy way or the hard way, and Austin gives him a stunner to make his choice.
– Onto the Rock, as he takes over the Nation and smashes Ken Shamrock in the face with a chair.
– Next up, Undertaker meets his evil brother, Kane, and gets beat up a lot. Then Kane apparently joins with him and they beat up other people, but then it was a swerve and Kane beats up Undertaker again. Undertaker’s acceptance speech for the match at Wrestlemania is simultaneously one of the most awesome and yet incredibly stupid things done during this time period.
– Onto D-X, as X-Pac returns from WCW hell and we go through a quick primer on their wacky antics.
– The breakneck pace continues as Cactus Jack returns with faux-widescreen again and has a really good brawl with HHH late in 1997. The original video was only 60 minutes, which explains the Russo-like pacing of the editing. We get clips of the match omitted from the new DVD, as Jack and Terry Funk drop the tag titles to the New Age Outlaws and the new version of D-X is officially born.
– More greatness left off the new DVD, as Mick Foley returns the next week and tells the fans to go to hell for chanting Austin’s name instead of his. This sets up his return as Dude Love and the feud with Austin and subsequent **** main events.
– Back to D-X as they go from badass heels to fun-loving faces, and parody the Nation.
– Speaking of fun-loving, it’s that new sensation Val Venis and his epic feud with Kaientai. Man, they had NO idea what they had with Kaientai. If they had put them AGAINST each other instead of teaming them all up, they could have milked their light heavyweight division for months ala WCW. So again we get more stuff left off the new release, like “choppy choppy your pee-pee”. Hey, it was embarrassing, but you can’t just pretend it didn’t happen. Otherwise we wouldn’t have been subjected to Jerry Bruckheimer’s Pearl Harbor.
– Back to Austin and McMahon in May 98, as Vince admits that he assaulted Austin and thus gets himself “arrested” as a result. This turns into a brawl between Undertaker and Kane and finishes with Austin giving Vince yet another stunner and trying to break a chair on his head while he’s tied in the ropes.
– And then we jump ahead to Undertaker and Kane winning the belt from Austin in a horrible match in September of 98, only to have Austin crashing the awarding ceremony the next night by driving into the arena in a Zamboni. The pissed off brothers break Vince’s ankle in retribution for neither being named the new champion.
– And so Vince goes to the hospital, and we meet Mr. Socko. And then again this one goes where the other didn’t, showing Mankind getting the win with the sock. Small thing, but it makes all the difference.
– So Austin’s abuse of Vince continues, with the forced enema at the hospital, then the old “cement into the convertible” prank, which leads to Austin getting “fired” at Judgment Day 98. The next night, Undertaker goes all evil again and forms the Ministry of Emo with Paul Bearer. Seriously, would you fear a guy dressed in leather with a barbell through his eyebrow?
– Back to Vince, as he blames the fans for Steve Austin’s abuse of him, but Shane McMahon debuts as a performer and aligns himself against his dad.
And that’s it for the main program – all killer, no filler, chronicling the era that people actually wanted to see in the DVD. But wait, there’s more!
Extras
– Back to the week after D-Generation X, as Rocky bitches at Austin for stealing the IC title belt, so Austin gets revenge by throwing it into the river. Sadly, we STILL don’t get “The Rock thinks you should fire him” in any form. Why no love for early Rock? Why? The throwaway bit with the pager and the “316” had escaped my memory, but I remember that whole run being great back in the day.
– From January 5 1998: Shawn Michaels calls out Undertaker so he can challenge him to a casket match at Royal Rumble. However, we get the druids bringing out a defaced casket instead, which everyone assumes is Hunter pranking Shawn again. This time it’s really Undertaker, and Shawn gets beat up.
– From March 9 1998: Austin is all pissed off because Vince feels that Mike Tyson is “the baddest man on the planet”, and he stages a sit-in to protest. This is where some editing would have benefitted, as we run through 9 minutes of Austin verbally abusing various McMahon stooges before Vince finally comes out and they do some verbal sparring. This actually goes nowhere.
– From March 1998: Kane beats up a guy in a gorilla suit. Wouldn’t be my choice.
– From April 13 1998: Vince McMahon v. Steve Austin in the match that turns around the ratings war. The “match” of course never happens, as Dude Love returns as Vince’s new henchman and beats the hell out of Austin, setting up Unforgiven 98. I kinda think Cactus Jack would have worked better in that role, especially if they weren’t playing up the past relationship between Dude and Austin, but the matches ruled either way.
– From April 20 1998: Kane and Paul Bearer dig up Undertaker’s parents’ graves and set them on fire. Man, we’ve just seen that angle SO MANY times over the years, I’m sick of it. Can’t writers find another plot twist BESIDES “evil brother murders parents and then digs up corpses and sets them on fire”? Man. So stupid, how can you not love it?
– From May 4 1998: Mick Foley presents “The Love Shack”, as he’s confused about his identity again following Unforgiven because Goldust was named the #1 contender while he’s stuck wrestling Terry Funk in a hardcore match to keep him out of Vince McMahon’s hair. So he turns his back on Vince and his Dude Love attire and wants answers from Vince RIGHT NOW. So Vince comes out and reassures Mick that he values guts like his, and offers him the #1 contender spot back if he beats his best friend and pulls out his heart. They should have given these two a sitcom on the WB, it’d have saved the network.
– From May 11 1998: The Rock and D-Lo face Steve Austin and a mystery partner…Vince McMahon. Rock attacks Austin to start and Steve quickly cleans house, including beating up the Stooges, then chases Rock up the railing and drags him back to the ring. Austin suplexes him back in for two, but D-Lo comes in and stomps Austin down. Austin comes back with the Thesz Press, but D-Lo tosses him, where Patterson gets a cheapshot in. Hey, wait, I don’t think Vince is really there to help Austin! Back in, D-Lo slugs away in the corner, but Austin was just playing possum and blasts out of the corner with a lariat when Rock comes in. He beats Rocky to the outside, but gets whipped into the railing as a result. Back in, Rock gets two. The People’s Elbow gets two and we hit the chinlock. Austin comes back with a sleeper, but protesting from Vince allows D-Lo to break it up. D-Lo comes in legally and goes up with a flying fistdrop for two. Back elbow gets two. Rock comes back in with another chinlock (thus showing why his online nickname used to be “Chinrock” in some circles) before trying Rock Bottom. Austin blocks and slugs out, and they clothesline each other for the double KO. D-Lo sneaks in with a legdrop to keep Austin down, and then tags in for the frog splash, which misses. Austin goes for the hot tag…and then flips off his partner instead and makes his own comeback. Sure, why not? He stomps the mudhole on Rock and then sends D-Lo into him, setting up the stunner. And then Vince “turns” on Austin to set up the big heel beatdown and Sportz Entertainment Finish at 8:30. Austin and Rock were just insanely entertaining during this period. **1/2
– From May 18 1998: Steve Austin v. Pat Patterson & Gerry Brisco. Brisco’s body shop t-shirt gives JR his “Patterson does rear end work there” joke for the match. Sgt. Slaughter is guest referee to really stack the deck. And they show a fan at ringside wearing an Austin mask to set up the payoff. Show the banana, show the banana, slip on the banana, as Richard Donner put it. The stooges attack and go after Austin’s leg, and Patterson pulls out a pair of brass knuckles and gets two. Austin makes the comeback and tosses Brisco, then crotches Patterson on the top rope and stomps him in the corner. Brisco desperately grabs for Austin’s leg, but Austin continues kicking their asses unabated. KICK WHAM STUNNER for Brisco, and KICK WHAM STUNNER for Patterson, and hey, let’s have one for the Sarge for fun. No finish as Dude Love runs in about 3:00 and brawls with Austin on the floor, and that masked fan jumps the railing and reveals himself to be Vince McMahon. The usual silly brawl here.
– From June 14 1998: Steve Austin & Undertaker v. Mankind & Kane in the forgotten Hell in the Cell match. So forgotten that I had forgotten about it, too. Mick Foley has now morphed into Corporate Mankind following the “death” of Dude Love, and this apparently marks the debut of the shirt-and-tie look according to the commentary. Undertaker fails to show up even after two ring introductions, so Austin goes it alone because he’s a real man. Kane and Mankind attack him on the ramp while Paul Bearer locks everyone OUT of the cage…but Undertaker shows up via a hole in the ring and gets some revenge on him. There’s another Russo favourite: People showing up from under the ring. Kane tries to break through the ceiling while Bearer does a gory bladejob (for a manager) and Undertaker beats the hell out of him. Austin just kills Mankind with a chair and then goes after Kane on the ceiling while the crowd goes insane. And we just end it there. Not actually a match, just an angle.
– From July 20 1998: The Rock defends the Intercontinental title against X-Pac in the other half of the show where D-Lo got the European title from HHH. Giant D-X v. Nation brawl to start and we take a quick break while the refs restore order. Back with the start of the match, as only Chyna is left at ringside. X-Pac grabs the headlock and hiptosses Rock into some crotchchops, but misses a charge in the corner. Rock follows him out with a lariat for two. Rock chokes him out on the ropes and follows with a stungun for two. He dumps X-Pac and drops him on the railing while putting the moves on Chyna, and back in for two. And we hit the chinlock, and into a samoan drop for two. Neckbreaker gets two. Back to the chinlock, and that sets up the People’s Elbow for two. X-Pac comes back and gets the broncobuster, but walks into a powerslam for two. X-Pac tosses Rock and then fakes a knee injury to allow Chyna time to hit Rock with the IC title, and then he miraculously recovers and gets two. Rock comes back and slugs him down in the corner, but the ref gets wiped out and X-Pac hits the spinkick as D-Lo and HHH run in. HHH gets rid of D-Lo and it’s KICK WHAM PEDIGREE for the Rock, which seems to spell the end. However, another referee comes in and stops the count, calling for the bell at 9:47 in a cheap DQ finish. Funny to look back on the days when Sean Waltman was carrying the work in a match like this. *** The match was more notable for D-X enticing a chick in the audience to flash the camera, although it’s sadly still censored here.
– From September 14 1998: Mankind v. Undertaker in a street fight. Mankind has now turned face as a result of Summerslam 98, and there’s a dumpster full of weapons at ringside. They brawl at ringside right away and Taker rams Mankind’s claw hand into the stairs, then rams the stairs on it for good measure. Mankind fights back, but Taker runs him into a table and they head back in. Taker slugs him down and puts him on the floor, but Mankind finally fights back with a necksnap before Taker kicks him into the dumpster. He grabs a sledgehammer, but hits the stairs instead of Mankind’s face, so Kane intervenes on behalf of his brother and chokeslams Mick on the timekeeper’s table. Taker still can’t hit him with the hammer, and Mick gets a chair and fights back with that, but Taker boots it back in his face and kills him dead with the chokeslam and then kills him extra super dead with a tombstone on the chair. Sadly, he gets greedy and wants the hammer again, but now the Rock pops out of the dumpster and makes the save as part of his fake face turn, and it’s a good old Sportz Entertainment Finish at 7:00. Just a total Undertaker squash. **
– From September 28 1998: Mankind, Ken Shamrock & The Rock v. Undertaker & Kane. Shamrock fights with Mankind for a bit before the match, and JR clarifies “This is not a match, it’s a simple confrontation between rivals who have been forced to be tag partners before the match has started.” Yup, sounds pretty simple to me. For whatever bizarre reason this is listed as “The European title on the line” in the menu, despite having nothing to do with that title. The brothers clear the ring of everyone but Rock to start and hit him with a double boot and Taker gets the ropewalk. Over to Kane for some choking in the corner, but Rock comes back and slugs away, into a clothesline. Mankind comes in and slugs away in the corner, and it’s over to Shamrock, who turns on his partner until Rock beats on him to stop him. Taker gets two on Shamrock off all that. Ah, Russo and his wacky tag team partners. Short-arm clothesline from Undertaker gets two on Shamrock and the brothers work him over in the corner, giving Kane two. Kenny comes back with a dropkick and rana and makes the tag to Mankind, who puts Kane on the floor with a Cactus clothesline and follows with a somersault senton off the apron. Taker quickly capitalizes by attacking him from behind and sending him into the stairs, however. Taker posts him and they head back in for Kane’s flying clothesline, which gets two. Taker chokes away in the corner and stops Mankind’s comeback with a clothesline for two. Kane tosses him and sends him into the stairs, and Taker hangs him with a TV cable, and Kane adds a sick chairshot to the head to put him out. And you thought Ricky Morton took an ass-kicking as face-in-peril. Back in, Taker gets two off all that. Over to Kane, but Mankind comes back with a neckbreaker, only to have Shamrock screw things up by getting in too soon. So it’s back to the dark side of the ring for more punishment until Mankind gets the DDT on Kane. Hot tag Rocky and he hits Undertaker with a DDT for two. People’s Elbow (at that point the most over move in the business next to maybe the Jackhammer) gets two. It breaks loose in Tulsa and Shamrock fights to the floor with Kane while Rock pounds on Undertaker in the corner and trades off with Mankind, and finally the faces start working as a team. Shamrock comes in and gets booted, but reverses another one into the anklelock, and it’s a brawl again. Taker blocks Rock Bottom with a clothesline in an awkward spot, and my thoughts are confirmed when they repeat it and Rock gets the pin at 12:40. This was Perfectly Acceptable Wrestling with a clean finish that put Rock over strong as the Next Big Thing. ***1/4
– From October 14 1998: Mankind v. Mark Henry in the first round of the IC title tournament. This isn’t here for the match, but for the finish. They slug it out in the corner and Henry fights him off with a clothesline. He pounds him down and adds a splash while Chyna watches from ringside. Mark goes after the leg and tries a splash onto the knee from the second rope, but that misses and Mankind comes back, but his leg gives out. He manages to fight back with the double arm DDT, then history is made as he takes his shoe off and gives the world The Mandible Sock for the first time to finish at 3:09. Quick and painless as a match. *
So there you, a very effective companion to the RAW 15th collection at the very least, and tomorrow night we’ll continue on with disc two, covering 1999-2001.
