WWF Survivor Series 1998

So, with the upcoming Survivor Series featuring the finals of a tournament to crown a new WWE Champion, I thought it'd be timely to review the 1998 instalment which worked along the same concept. It's a curious case of the show as a whole being better than the matches that it consists of. Individually, they're pretty average bouts, but the overall story told in that one night makes the show quite fun.

 

Mankind vs Duane Gill

Pretty infamous match. Bit harsh of Mankind to jump Gill before he even gets in the ring, as if the result wouldn’t be obvious anyway. Quick double-arm DDT gets the win.

Jeff Jarrett vs Al Snow

Dug Al Snow’s flip off the ring stairs onto Jarrett right at the start. From there, we have a quick three-minute match, with Jarrett looking great. Lovely crisp looking punches, and Jarrett’s performance makes up for the fact that Snow looks a bit off, maybe a step or so behind. Snow wins with a Head shot.

Big Boss Man vs Steve Austin

Another quick match, this one being more angle than match. Austin is on fire early, laying into Boss Man, before a low blow turns the tide. It also slows the match right down, with Boss Man’s offence making a three-minute match drag. Austin makes a comeback only for Boss Man to assault him with his nightstick for the DQ.

Steve Regal vs X-Pac

The beloved “Real Man’s Man” era of Regal. The quicker X-Pac dominates, until he misses a corner charge, and Regal grounds him to take over. Love the nasty kneedrop to the head, and Regal catapaulting X-Pac halfway across the ring. Aside from that, a lot of this is just killing time until the end – it’s logical, but not particularly exciting. They fight outside, and both guys get counted out. Odd that the longest match so far gets a fuck finish, though we’ve not had a clean win yet.

Ken Shamrock vs Goldust

This starts off really well. Clearly, neither guy is afraid to lay in the shots here, with Goldust especially laying in some lovely punches when making his comeback. Another abrupt ending, sadly, as the ref prevents Goldust hitting Shattered Dreams, allowing Shamrock to hit a sloppy rana, the belly-to-belly and the ankle lock for the win. You can tell there’s a better match just dying to get out.

The Rock vs Big Boss Man

Makes Gill/Mankind look like an epic. Roll up, 1-2-3

Undertaker vs Kane

Pretty half-arsed effort by both guys. Some basic plodding brawling outside the ring kicks things off. I did appreciate the idea of Taker working over Kane’s leg early on, even trying a figure four, but they soon brushed over this idea and continued to brawl. I liked Kane blocking a Taker chokeslam and hitting one of his own before the inevitable dumb ending. Paul Bearer distracts Kane from the apron, and he walks into a tombstone for the Taker win. Bland.

Mankind vs Al Snow

Head has Mr Socko tied around it, with backstage footage revealing it was Vince who put it there. Just like the last match, we kick off with some outside brawling, as Snow hits chairshots that don’t get him DQd. Foley flapjacks him onto a chair in a fun spot.  Back inside, Vince’s plan is revealed, as the sight of Sock on Head drives Foley berserk, though Snow is still able to hit a powerbomb for two. Foley SPIKES Snow with a double-arm DDT and puts on the Socko claw to win.

The Rock vs Ken Shamrock

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Shamrock has had the two best matches of the night so far, his intensity seemingly wont let him half-arse a match. They go at it with real urgency from the start, with no resthold in sight – until the Big Boss Man comes out again, with his presence almost urging Shamrock to lock on a chinlock. Shamrock atones for the shitty rana from earlier by catching Rock midring with a beauty. I loved the Rock taking advantage of Boss Man distracting the ref by giving a lowblow to the heel Shamrock. Rock Bottom attempt is reversed to a belly-to-belly, and Boss Man tries to throw Shamrock his nightstick. Of course, the Rock intercepts it and waffles Shamrock with it. Really fun match, highlight of the show so far. At the time, it never occurred to me that Shamrock was in the ascension at the point Boss Man threw the nightstick….

Sable vs Jacqueline

There’s a great bit of Lawler commentary at the start, where he refers to Sable getting jumped from behind on Heat earlier, calling her an idiot, only for her to get jumped from behind here. Lawler loves it. Really basic match, with Marc Mero and Jacqueline bumping around to put Sable over. Sable Bomb is enough to win the women’s title

Mankind vs Steve Austin

Obviously this isn’t given enough time to reach the levels of some of their greater matches, but this is still pretty fun. Loved Austin disrobing Foley during the match, including taking his shoes off to use as a weapon. They predictably brawl outside the ring, before going inside for a long Foley chinlock. This is ended by Foley hitting a double arm DDT on a chair for two. We head into overbooking central, but it’s actually all pretty entertaining. Austin hits the stunner, but Vince pulls out the ref and decks him. A second stunner sees Shane McMahon come out (during the storyline where Vince had demoted him to referee), only to flip Austin the finger and not count. A Gerry Brisco chairshot gives Mankind the win. Despite the long chinlock in the middle, this was still fun and the run-ins were done to perfection. Arguably Russo’s finest hour

The Rock vs The Undertaker

By now the “wrestlers are outside brawling within the first two minutes” trope is getting overplayed. It’s like the company had run out of ways for matches to start. Taker takes a big bump to the floor, so he’s putting in a bit more effort than with the Kane match. They brawl in the crowd, as X-Pac and Regal are probably sat backstage complaining that they were counted out in their match. Boss Man comes out yet again, and again the Rock uses his appearance to hit his opponent in the bollocks. Kane comes out and chokeslams Rock to screw Taker over, putting Rock in the final via DQ. This was passable.

The New Age Outlaws vs the Headbangers vs D-Lo Brown & Mark Henry

This was an almighty mess, and likely only made the card to provide some breathing time for the Rock before the final. There was no real structure on display here, and a continued lack of logic, with guys trying to make pins, despite having another opponent stood right next to them ready to break it up. The referee also made some horrifically business-exposing counts on pinfalls, seemingly refusing to count until he was sure someone was in place to break it up. There were some good moments though: I dug Mosh’s springboard crossbody to the outside, and I enjoyed the double-teaming by the Headbangers. Also worth noting that Mark Henry was already pretty decent by this point, selling his leg pretty well and looking like a brick wall. Billy Gunn picks up the win eventually with a piledriver on Mosh.

The Rock vs Mankind

You could really tell both guys were beginning to run on empty, both physically and mentally. I did appreciate the cautious start, with both guys slowing the pace and not rushing into anything. However, they didn’t really seem sure how to fill the time here, with the early parts split between dull brawling outside the ring and Mankind chinlocks inside the ring. Luckily, Foley takes a few choice bumps to increase the excitement of the match in the second half. He lets the Rock hit the stairs into him, ending up trapped beneath them on the floor. He hits a nice elbow from the apron to the floor and, most impressively, goes crashing through the Spanish announce table with a missed elbow spot. The tempo increases inside the ring with a few nearfalls, before the finish of Rock locking in a Sharpshooter, and Vince calling for the bell in the first (and best) Montreal screwjob reference. Started poorly, but got somewhat decent by the end.

Best of Reslo Vol 2

Yep, a mere four years after posting the first volume of the Best of Reslo, here is the second issue. Never let it be said this blog isn't punctual.

Bull Power vs Otto Wanz
Bull Power is, of course, better known as Vader. This appears to be for the CWA in Austria, and they've even sent the suave Bryn Fon over to present the show from ringside. Power is the defending champion. This seems to be fought under last man standing rules with a rounds system and this, coupled with the large partisan crowd who roar everytime Wanz gets on offence, makes it feel like a Rocky film. This is added to by the fact that we're clearly not too far from Wanz's 1990 retirement, so he looks a bit past his prime here taking on a young, brash beast in Power.

Power quickly decimates Wanz in the corner with the strikes we all know and love him for. Wanz fires back and backs Power into a corner, showing he's not intimidated. Power takes over and has Wanz bleeding on the floor in an armbar as the first round ends. Round two shows Wanz is bigger than Power, but is clearly less mobile and less dynamic. Wanz is not afraid to lay in his blows and his size means it looks pretty painful when he puts his weight behind each blow. The third round kicks off with Power slamming Wanz with relative ease, then going for a sunset flip almost as if to show off. Wanz looks punchdrunk and ends the round crumpled in a heap. The rounds break gives him a chance to catch his breath, however, and he hits Power with a suplex and some full weight blows, then takes Power to the mat, where he's more dominant. Round five sees the momentum switch again, with Power hitting a big top rope clothesline like a freight train. Every time Wanz gets back up, Power knocks him straight back down.

The momentum starts to shift permanently in round 6 as Wanz clotheslines Power over the top rope. This feels like a big moment and Wanz keeps on him, ramming his head into the ringside tables. Back in the ring, Wanz hits his own slam on Power and the round ends with Power looking in danger. Wanz starts round 7 on fire, and Power's second Orig Williams has to call a timeout very early in the round. Power tries to fire back, but his blows are less powerful and less effective than earlier. A missed avalanche outside the ring sends Power into the ring post and the end feels nigh. One last clothesline in the ring keeps Power down once and for all, giving the win and the title to Wanz.

Fit Finlay vs Kid McCoy
This is a cage match, and the environment very much favours Finlay here. McCoy uses some nice tricked-out matwork to escape an armbar, only to find Finlay doesn't care much for that, as Fit just strikes him back down to the mat. Beautiful in it's simplicity. Finlay beats poor McCoy down with intent, ramming the back of his head into the sturdy looking cage and slamming his head in the cage door. McCoy prevents an escape attempt and tries to squeeze Finlay's head in the cage door instead. Fit is soon back in control, and goes to work on wearing down McCoy. Being the more agile, McCoy makes quick, sudden comebacks to catch Finlay off guard. I loved Finlay hurting his hand by punching the cage as McCoy ducked. However, McCoy is soon out on his feet and bleeding as Finlay rams him face-first into the cage over and over again. One final attempt by McCoy to stop a Finlay escape is broken by a headbutt, and Finlay drops to the floor in victory. Fun in a brutal way.

Pat Roach vs Ray Steele
This is fought under a round system, best of three falls. Steele looks good to start, but Roach uses his size advantage to deliver hefty blows. Roach looms over Steele like a giant grizzly bear. They work a nice knucklelock to end the first round, and Roach seems reluctant to let go, with Steele having to kick himself free. In the second fall, Roach controls, whipping Steele between the turnbuckles and hitting a backbreaker for the fall. Roach continues to control with some big bombs in the next round, but Steele ducks one and hits a backslide to even up the falls. Round 4 kicks off with Roach changing tack and working over the arm of Steele, showing some nice fluid matwork for a big man. Steele tries another backslide, but Roach is in the ropes, and a big boot and slam win the fall and the bout for Roach. Fun competitive match.

Skull Murphy vs Pat Roach
Murphy is a total shit here, using all manner of skullduggery to control the early stages. He particularly like grinding his wrist guard into Roach's face. This fires Roach up, hitting a big backbreaker, but every time he gets control, Murphy will gouge his face or go back to the wrist guard to take over. Unfortunately, he goes back to this tactic too many times, with the ref forcing him to take it off and his control sections have only angered Roach rather than hurting him, so he's left with a big angry bear and his main weapon gone. Roach grabs the wrist guard and grinds it into Murphy's face for revenge. A backbreaker is to close to the ropes to get the pin, but Murphy's attempted comeback is thwarted when he misses a slingshot splash. Roach decks him with a big boot and a slam for the victory.

Eddie Gilbert & the Original Midnight Express vs Mighty Thor & the Terminators
JIP from Windy City Wrestling, with the Midnights working over one Terminator in their corner. He does get to power out of a headlock, but keeps running the ropes to hit clotheslines instead of making the hot tag, and gets downed again. Idiot. He reverses a double backbodydrop into a rather swank double sunset flip and makes the hot tag to Thor. A six-man melee breaks out, and Gilbert ends up pinning Thor whilst holding the ropes. Short and pointless.

Cool Cat Jackson vs Richie Brooks
Another cage match on this set. Jackson gets rammed into the cage early, but recovers in time to grab Brooks' leg as he straddles the top of the cage, which has to be painful. There does seem to be a bit of an absence of selling in the match. A big suplex from the top of the cage should put both guys out for a while, but both are soon up on their feet again ready for the next spot. I do like Brooks trying to escape whenever he gets an opening. In a Chris Hero-esque moment, Brooks prevents Jackson escaping the cage by holding a cravate despite falling all the way from the top of the cage to the canvas. Brooks downs Jackson again with a monkey flip, but tries a top of cage splash instead of escaping. His stupidity is rewarded by missing. Both are still back on their feet in seconds, but Jackson hits a slam and a legdrop before anticlimatically exiting the cage door.

Steve Jones vs Mongolian Mauler
Jones, delightfully, is William Regal billed as a Welshman, famously told by Orig Williams not to speak for fear of blowing the gimmick. Mauler is probably not Mongolian either, but he is a terrible ham, overacting to a distracting degree. Jones hitting a running crossbody looks odd coming from him. A lot of this match is Jones bumping and selling for the Mauler's dubious looking offence. The bout ends with both men outside and Mauler belting Jones with chairs for the DQ. Jones' mentor Orig Williams comes down, not so much for the save, but just to break the two up, as Jones is fired up. Fun look at a young Regal here, just wish he had a better opponent.

Moondog Rex vs Steve Wright
Looks like they've paid to ship Bryn to Austria again. Steve Wright is, of course, the father of Alex. The ref here has a whistle that he blows an annoying amount of the time. There's a fun armbar spot to start, which end with Wright ascending the ropes for an armdrag. Rex clearly doesn't care for this cutesy nonsense, and punches him back to the mat. The problem with the match is that there is no real flow, just a few fun moments bolted together. There's a spot where Wright shows impressive strength to lift up Rex from an armbar, another spot where Wright pointlessly ties himself into a ball, but put together it doesn't quite work. The end sees Rex trying to ram Wright's head into a bone, but this fires Wright up who reverses the move, hits a big top rope kneedrop and a top rope sunset flip for the win. Not great.

Orig Williams vs Barret
Orig Williams was the master showman of Welsh wrestling, and his autobiography is a tremendously entertaining read. He doesn't do anything particularly fancy in this match (which is more or less a squash), but the crowd reacts to everything. Loved seeing him bust out a stump-puller before picking up the win with a backbodydrop.

Kamala vs Jerry Lawler
We're joined in progress with Kamala all over Lawler with his basic offence. Lawler kicks out of a splash at 2, and makes a full-on, strap-down, fired-up comeback. I love Kamala selling each Lawler punch like a tree about to fall over in the wind before finally being sent to the mat. Lawler misses the fistdrop, and they wind up outside the ring. Lawler is able to nail Kamala with a chair and gets in to beat the count for the win. Nice ending to keep both looking strong.

Giant Haystacks & Klaus Kauroff vs Boston Blackie & Cool Cat Jackson
Best of three falls rules apply here. The faces work over Kauroff early, rightly picking him as the weak link of the team. However, as soon as Haystacks is in, he casually destroys Jackson, and lets Kauroff pick over the remains. A slam gifts him the first fall. The second fall continues in this manner, until Haystacks makes the mistake of uncovering the turnbuckle pad and gets rammed into it himself. Blackie comes in like a house of fire and, struggling, he's forced to tag in Kauroff. Blackie soon polishes him off with a second rope splash. The third fall sees Blackie remain in control, until Haystacks clotheslines him as he runs the ropes, taking the wind out of his sails. Though he is able to get the hot tag after avoiding a Haystacks corner splash, Jackson is not fully recovered and Haystacks drops an elbow on him to keep him down for a standing ten count and the victory.

No Mercy 2006

Gregory Helms vs Matt Hardy
Both guys fail to get an advantage early on, which backs up JBL's claim that they are like carbon copies of each other. Thus Helms has to use aggressive tactics to take over, with a vicious kick to back. Hardy fires back, and nails a pescado to the outside. Helms comes backwith a 2nd rope legsweep. I really like the palpable send of hate here, as inbetween moves both guys are happy to lay in a nasty blow, like Helms punching Hardy in the back following a failed pin attempt. A nice meaty mid-ring slugfest even has JBL going "Wow" as Hardy floors Helms with a big right. Hardy gots for the Twist of Fate, but Helms reverses to hit a neckbreaker. He nails the same moves two more times, but is caught going up top with a Side Effect. Hardy then copies Helms by hitting 2 more Side Effects, but also like Helms makes the mistake of going up top and meets knees on a moonsault. Carbon copies, see? I really like the way this is so back and forth, rather than one man maintaining an advantage, as it again backs up how even they are. Helms nails a top rope Shining Wizard, but Hardy gets a foot on rope. The ending is pretty choice too as it plays back to the Smackdown matches that had lead here. In those, both had picked up wins via low blows when the ref was distracted. Here, the referee moves out of the way as Hardy is pushed towards him, but Matt blocks the low blow attempt from Helms, and nails the Twist of Fate to win. Really hot opener.

Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs KC James & Idol Stevens
Both teams have females management: Ashley with Kendrick and London, and Michelle McCool with James & Stevens. Interesting that Stevens is the only one of the 6 still on WWE TV. Londrick dominate proceedings early, whilst JBL heavily puts them over on commentary. Stereo dives pop the crowd. However, London takes a nasty bump getting pushed off the top by James to give the heels advantage. Stevens and James take it in turns to lock holds on London on the mat, building up some crowd sympathy. They also work a proper heat section on London, holding him by the leg in their corner to stop him getting the tag to Kendrick then, when London looks like getting the tag, knocking Kendrick off the apron. I love it, and so does JBL. Kendrick gets the hot tag eventually, but his Sliced Bread attempt is blocked by Stevens shaking the rope as he tries it. London takes Stevens out in turn with an insane suicide dive. These two teams just have terrific chemistry together, and you wonder why Stevens and James didn't last on the main roster. Londrick get the win after a frantic final few minutes, hitting Sliced Bread on James, followed by a London shooting star from Kendrick's back for the win. Great match.

MVP vs Marty Garner
This is MVP's debut. JBL is apoplectic. MVP's arrogant strutting is quite enjoyable, but this is obviously a squash. Garner doesn't really get any offence in before MVP nails him with a vicious lariat and the Play of the Day to win. The ranting from JBL is the most entertaining thing about this match.

The Undertaker vs Mr Kennedy
Slightly hard to find the Undertaker as intimidating as usual as his fake tan starts running down his head at the start of the match. Taker starts working over the arm of Kennedy early, with him hoisting Kennedy up in the air by the arm being particularly impressive. Kennedy manages to block Old School by armdragging Taker off the top. Kennedy's selling of the arm is remarkably consistent, though he does try punching Taker with the bad arm which leads to Taker Flatlining him. In the midst of all the arm-offence, Kennedy does manage to take a turnbuckle pad off. When he does get on offence, Kennedy is nicely vicious, but makes the mistake of trying to get his breath back, giving Taker time to regain control. You get the impression Kennedy is putting in some real effort here, knowing what an opportunity this match is. Certainly, he seems a lot less half-arsed as he has done in recent years. Problem is that when Kennedy is on offense, it's a bit dull. His offence here is mainly based around kicks and hammering Taker in the corner. It's done with intent, but doesn't exactly enthrall the audience or myself. Piledriver from Kennedy (daftly called a Tombstone by Michael Cole) gets 2, and Kennedy reacts by pounding Taker in the face in frustration. It's like he's really selling the story of the match well (cocky upstart desperate to beat legend), but his offence isn't good enough to match up. In the middle of his hottest spell of offence, he puts on a resthold and the match cools down again. Taker hits a chokeslam, but Kennedy is able to reverse the Last Ride and ram Taker's head into that exposed turnbuckle. I'd forgotten all about that, which made for a nice little surprise. Swanton Bomb gets two for Kennedy. Kennedy tries to nail Taker with the US title, but Taker blocks it and uses it on Kennedy instead, giving Kennedy the DQ win. All that for such a shitty finish. Really out of nowhere considering Taker had just done the zombie situp and looked ready to win. Story of the match was better than the work within.

Rey Mysterio vs Chavo Guerrero
This is a falls count any match. We get some brawling to start, though it really isn't either mans forte. After a nasty dual bump to the floor from the top rope, Chavo takes over on the outside, which works because he's a bit better at looking aggressive. Rey hits a rana from the ring entrance, but it's really stifling to both guys to work this kind of match. A lot of the offence on the outside involves finding different ways to hurt the opponent on the guardrails, which these two are better than. At least Chavo catching Rey in a wheelbarrow and swinging him into the barricades and chairs is fun. After some mediocre brawling in the crowd, Rey hits a 619 from a staircase and pins Chavo following a crossbody the same stairs. Not the best match from these two.

William Regal vs Chris Benoit
Regal has been involved in some backstage hijinks trying to find Finlay and getting himself in trouble, leading to Teddy Long booking him against a mystery opponent. This is Benoit's return match following an extended break. Some of the opening matwork is superb, as both guys make it look like they're really working for the holds. They exchange blows and Christ, Benoit's chops sound like gunshots. You can hear the connection when Benoit headbutts Regal, which is unnerving in hindsight. Regal is busted open from this. They continue in much the same manner as you'd expect, with battles over matwork and some nasty stiff shots. Benoit even chops Regal directly on the head wound. Benoit hits a Dragon Suplex on Regal and locks in the crossface to win. Typically good match from these two as you'd expect, but with some of the stiffness involved, quite hard to watch with the knowledge we have now.

King Booker vs Finlay vs Batista vs Bobby Lashley
This is a fatal-fourway match for the World Heavyweight title. Finlay wisely bails early to let the faces dominate Booker, though he swiftly returns to help the King isolate Batista. Predictably we soon get segments when two guys are down, from moves which normally wouldn't stun them, leaving two men to go at it. Booker vs Lashley actually works well thanks to Booker selling and making Lashley look decent. Finlay soon turns on King Booker and then takes out Batista leaving him 1-on-1 against Booker. Finlay starts to dismantle Booker, then takes over on Batista when he returns. Got to love Batista trying to break an armbar by Samoan dropping Finlay, only for Finlay to hold on to the arm and retain the hold. Even better is Lashley trying to make the save, only for Finlay to start working on his leg. Lashley still moves around the ring really awkwardly, which makes his offence look a bit weaker than it should, so it's quite funny when Hornswoggle appears from nowhere to punch him in the nuts as he prepares to hit a Spear. We get to a point where we've got Batista vs Lashley left in the ring, which gets almost no reaction until Dave spears Lashley. Clearly they don't care about Lashley. That said, their segment is quite fun, as two massive men throw bombs at each other, including a nice overhead suplex by Lashley. Big Dave soon takes everyone down with spinebusters, then Batistabomb's Finlay, but Lashley comes out of nowhere with a huge spear on Batista and Booker steals the pin. Seems like a bit of a dick move by Lashley really. None of this was dull, and some of it was even good, but none of it was memorable. Really, there was no match structure, just decent segments bolted together.

(Everything I Do) I Do It For Youtube: William Regal & Paul Burchill vs Scotty 2 Hotty & Funaki (WWE Smackdown 01/09/05)

I thought this would be a nice way to start: one of my all-time favourite wrestlers (Regal) and a wrestler who I once met in Coventry (Burchill) taking part in some squash action. This was Burchill's in-ring debut, having attacked Scotty the previous week on Smackdown. Burchill is noticably leaner here than he was in his ECW days. The match starts with the faces clearing the ring, an ominous start for Burchill's in-ring career. After all, your debuting heel probably shouldn't be clotheslined out of the ring by Funaki. After Regal takes control against Funaki, Burchill tags in and signs get even worse as he immediately bumps huge for a pair of Funaki armdrags and a monkey flip. When the Brits finally get a sustained run of offence, they make it count, Regal with a nice exploder suplex and Burchill throws a nice stiff double sledge to the chest. The short length of the match is pretty restrictive here, as the hot-tag to Scotty would have been more effective with another couple of minutes offence from Regal/Burchill. The end comes with Burchill hitting a shoulderbreaker on Scotty and follows it with a Fujiwara armbar (The Royal Mutilation) that actually looks like he's wrenching Scotty's arm out. Too short to effectively debut Burchill, but his periods of offence looked good.

Link: Regal & Burchill vs Scotty & Funaki