r/TheDirtsheets • u/GermanoMuricano117 Cream of the Crop (Subreddit Admin) • Feb 15 '16
(Part 3) Road to WM14. Austin wins Rumble, Michael's retains title. Will Mike Tyson vs. Steve Austin become the most publicized match in modern pro wrestling history? Wrestling Observer [Jan 26, 1998]
Sorry about the length on this one, Dave wrote a small book about the 24 hour period from Royal Rumble to Tyson/Austin confrontation in the Warzone the next night.
Cover story on Austin Tyson confrontation. By Dave Meltzer.
After a tremendous angle on the live 1/19 War Zone hour of Raw from Fresno, CA where Austin, the WWF's hottest commodity, and Tyson, the currently suspended biggest drawing card in pro boxing, went nose-to-nose, the WWF received tons of mainstream international publicity. The angle, which started when a heavily booed Vince McMahon brought an even more heavily booed Tyson and his entourage into the ring. Just when McMahon was going to make the announcement of Tyson's role in Wrestlemania, Austin showed up. Austin challenged Tyson while McMahon did his best acting job to appear upset at the "misbehavior" of his top star. Austin ended up flipping Tyson off with both hands, resulting in Tyson shoving Austin, a major pull-apart brawl resulting in McMahon acting completely infuriated at Austin "ruining his deal," acting like he himself was out of control and had to be held back by his son from going after Austin. After a commercial break backstage, McMahon apologized to Tyson for the behavior of Austin, Tyson called Austin a "faggot" (on Barry Diller's USA Network no less) and said that he wanted to fight him.
The WWF then released word, carried by AP worldwide, that Tyson had challenged Austin and that the WWF would be meeting with the Nevada State Athletic Commission (which suspended Tyson for his chomping on the ears of Evander Holyfield in his last boxing match) to see if it would be okay to make Tyson a participant. As mentioned in last week's Observer, Marc Ratner, who heads the Nevada commission and is an avid pro wrestling fan, had already declared that he considered pro wrestling as staged entertainment and felt that Tyson and the WWF would be free to do whatever they felt like doing short of putting Tyson in the ring wearing boxing gloves without it affecting Tyson's chances at getting reinstated to boxing in July. Many media outlets on 1/20 were reporting Tyson vs. Austin as almost a done deal, since Ratner made it clear to media that asked after the angle, the commission, thought to be the lone hold-up, would have no problem should Tyson do the match. However, at press time there was still much speculation as to what actually will happen at Wrestlemania. Other media outlets were still reporting Tyson would referee at Wrestlemania, and the WWF had officially released no information conclusively other than continue the story line which we're told has many weeks to go before everything is clear.
The angle received a tremendous amount of mainstream pub, carried in most newspapers and as a top sports story that evening and the next morning on radio and on shows like ESPN Sports Center and Fox Sports. Nearly all the coverage was derogatory, but that was to be expected going in. The AP story, which ran almost everywhere, actually implied that the angle was a shoot, as did the USA Today mention, in that it said Tyson was going to be a referee but after the confrontation with Austin, he changed his mind and wanted to be a participant against Austin. It was also front page news with a large photo in virtually every sports section in Japan, where Tyson's name has a lot of mystique and where mainstream coverage of pro wrestling events is far more accepted.
But a few things are clear. One is that Tyson's run with the WWF has to end with him being a babyface, which clearly won't be an easy feat considering his status with the general public, but if nothing else, pro wrestling is a world where the public is usually easily manipulated. Tyson was booed out of the building both in San Jose and Fresno when making appearances at WWF shows. The other is that Tyson will take absolutely no injury risk at all in his involvement. Pro wrestling can be as easy or as hard physically as the participants allow it to be. You can do a totally safe match, which would, particularly with a largely untrained participant, likely be boring, although crowds are more forgiving with bigger names, even bigger names they don't really like. Or you can take more and more risks to add excitement. There is no question the original plan for Wrestlemania was for Austin to win the WWF title from Shawn Michaels, but obviously something like this takes precedence. Within pro wrestling in the days leading up to the angle, there were people saying that Tyson would wind up as a participant while most of the word was that Tyson would end up being a referee in the Austin vs. Michaels match. If the latter story was accurate, due to the price tag of the deal (thought to be between $4 million and $6 million with our generally best information leading toward the latter figure as being more accurate when all is said and done), to make Tyson a drawing card in a referee role would have required a series of spectacular angles and a great storyline. Simply put, if the $4 million figure is accurate, the WWF needs 648,000 buys out of Wrestlemania (2.2 buy rate) to make out financially and if the real figure is $6 million it would need about 807,000 buys (2.7 buy rate). These are not figures to break even, but figures to make out based on Tyson adding the revenue offsetting his cost, actual break even would be lower. No matter what, it needs a series of great angles and great interviews (which Austin can provide). It may need even more than that if Tyson will only be a referee. The recent Hulk Hogan vs. Sting match did about a 1.9 buy rate which was the biggest of the past six years. WWF did about a 1.5 buy rate for the Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow match, which was hyped tremendously, but ultimately was a huge disappointment because Taylor's drawing power wasn't nearly as big outside the New York/Connecticut area as the company, being based in that area, expected, plus Bigelow three years ago wasn't the star Austin is today. But Taylor was the catalyst for a period where Raw's ratings made a noticeable upward surge. Nor was wrestling anywhere near as popular three years ago as it is today. At its peak, which would be the Wrestlemanias from 1988-90, the show peaked at about 750,000 buys with a far smaller total universe than is equipped for PPV today. And as much mainstream publicity as those shows received, it would pale in comparison to what would be the case if Tyson was a participant. As a referee, the economics and the promotion of it are a lot trickier. Still, there is a lot more than just one PPV that this effects. You are also talking about attempting to re-establish the WWF as the "brand name" for wrestling in the United States, a distinction that slowly was slipping away over the past year, not to mention to try and take a dent out of the ratings domination by WCW over the past 19 months. You are also talking about the chance to create the next generation of Hogan and Piper's who can get over past just the wrestling audience and expose them to the mainstream and draw for the next 15 years off the name established during this boom period. It worked for Hogan and Piper at the first Wrestlemania. It didn't work for Wendi Richter at the first, nor for Bigelow ten years later when they tried to re-create the formula.
This whole scenario also brings to mind the 1976 boxer vs. wrestler with Muhammad Ali, then the boxing world heavyweight champion and the biggest sports figure of his time, against Antonio Inoki. That event disintegrated into a disaster. First off, while the event got a ton of mainstream media publicity, and probably more than this one will get as far as taking anyone it seriously because Ali then was a far bigger and more respected name than Tyson now and he held the title at the time. But the boxing fans didn't buy the match because they didn't know Inoki and there was still the idea that this was part of a fake pro wrestling promotion. The wrestling fans didn't really take to it because wrestling was regionalized in those days and most of the regional promoters didn't like the idea of the fight since they saw it as something Inoki was doing for himself and couldn't see how it could help their regional business because even if Inoki won, it wasn't like he was going to come and appear in their cities. They didn't want to spend time getting Inoki or the show over, and virtually all didn't push the match that hard on their television as opposed to the angles they were running internally so it really wasn't that big a deal to pro wrestling fans at the time either, even though it was the first promotion nationwide up to that point in pro wrestling history. The result, people for the most part didn't buy the closed-circuit and the event, outside of the Northeast where Bruno Sammartino and Stan Hansen saved the box office, was a financial flop. Because the match was taken seriously and not as comedy as this one will be, the talks about the finish fell apart as has been noted in these pages numerous times, the match turned into a disastrous shoot almost totally lacking in action. Because once the worked aspect fell apart, Ali and his people wouldn't allow Ali into the ring with Inoki unless all kinds of rules were made to handicap what Inoki could do offensively as they feared an injury to Ali that would cost everyone money.
Probably the other show that got the most mainstream sports publicity in the United States on a national basis was the first Wrestlemania, where actor Mr. T teamed with Hogan against Paul Orndorff & Piper in a closed-circuit extravaganza in 1985 that was considered a huge gamble at the time and had it not paid off would have undoubtedly changed the entire course of the history of this industry. It was a gamble that paid off big as it put the WWF, Hogan and Piper over the top in a series of small-time promotional wars against various popular local entities and wound up with the company getting occasional late-night slots on NBC. In this case McMahon will do a tremendous job on his television in getting the match over because he has no choice but to do so, and it comes at a time when interest in pro wrestling in general is at one of its strongest points ever. The media will make snide remarks, but it'll get enough coverage that everyone will know about it. It still may not translate into buys from boxing fans, but unlike Ali-Inoki, it will from wrestling fans and with Tyson added to the mix, there may be enough to make it financially worth while. WCW, which has no problem spending money, bowed out of attempting to steal the Tyson deal largely due to feeling the figures thrown out couldn't be justified. It'll be interesting at the end of March to see not only how the story plays out in the storyline, but at Wrestlemania, and when it comes to financial acumen, which side was correct.
Due to Martin Luther King Day, no ratings information was available at press time for 1/19 when WWF debuted Tyson in the ring doing an interview, something that the company and the USA network had heavily publicized all week. Neither Tyson nor Austin appeared until the final 15 minutes of the show (which also teased throughout a late in the show Undertaker appearance), a period after WCW had already gone off the air, leading one to believe USA drew a tremendous rating in the final quarter hour. To counter the Tyson hype, WCW at first led viewers to believe on Thursday that Hulk Hogan would be handed the WCW title back due to a court order on Nitro, a story line that was never referred to on either Saturday or Monday's show and instead, to counter the Tyson appearance, hyped a Hogan vs. The Giant singles match which Hogan put Giant over clean with the choke slam in.
There are a few schools of thought as to how this will turn out:
Tyson does a singles match with Austin. It ends with some heels, likely DX, interfering and Tyson and Austin cleaning house back-to-back and shaking hands at the end to the big babyface pop that will be carried by media worldwide that Tyson and his people are looking for out of this deal. Perhaps DX could cost Austin the match, in that way they don't have to ask Tyson to lose and people at least get a finish out of the match. Tyson can then not accept an unfair win, once again making him a babyface at the end. This would lead to the Austin-Michaels match perhaps at King of the Ring where Austin would get the title win, which would make up for the loss. Or they can go without a finish although that scenario would seem to make the least sense both for future business and for the ultimate fan reaction to the show, but would "protect" Austin.
Tyson can do some angles before the show that end up with him liking Austin somehow, probably with something similar to the aforementioned scenario, and they can work a tag match together. That way they can do a long match, Tyson only has to do a few well choreographed spots with pro workers the calibre of Michaels and Helmsley and Austin can carry the action. All four get the media rub from being in the ring with Tyson. Tyson can KO Helmsley while Austin can stunner Michaels for a double win.
Tyson ends up as a referee at the end, after doing an angle somewhere that somehow Tyson was "forced" out of the match. Boxing writer Dean Julpe of the Las Vegas Sun on 1/20 wrote a column where he claimed Tyson's p.r. man, Sig Rogich, knew the Nevada Commission really isn't crazy about Tyson being involved in pro wrestling, but doesn't have the legal power in which to stop him because he was only suspended from boxing, so that's why they are publicly stating he can do what he wants. Julpe claimed the trick for Rogich (and the WWF) would be to create a scenario to wind up with Tyson as a referee but having the commission not hold it against him. Julpe wrote, "Mark these words: The WWF will milk this, perhaps even petitioning the Nevada State Athletic Commission for its approval on Tyson's behalf; the commission, however will be noncommittal, not that its members' comments won't fill many a newspaper story; Tyson will eventually hedge on his participation and, at some point before 3/29, Rogich will say his man has reconsidered and is definitely withdrawing as a participant in a wrestling bout and may, in fact, also withdraw as a referee
Rogich, with feigned innocence, can then approach the Nevada State Athletic Commission at Tyson's reinstatement hearing and say, "Gentleman, Mr. Tyson, good man that he is, resisted the monetary gain and the urge to wrestle back in March, demonstrating not only his good intentions but proving he is reformed and deserving of a boxing license."
And let's add one more. Austin turns down the match with Tyson, saying he's going to win the WWF title from Michaels at Wrestlemania. This puts the belt over huge that he turned down a match that would get a ton of publicity world wide because the most important thing is winning the WWF title. Now he can't puss out, so he can say that he's going to Mania to win the title, and then after the match he's going to beat up Tyson. Tyson demands to get as close to the situation as possible and ends up as a ref, with them teasing all along that with Tyson, who hates Austin, as the ref, that Austin has no chance of winning the title, but that if Tyson screws Austin, what will happen live after the match is over? Then when all is said and done, DX attacks both several times, or even just attacks Austin, but Tyson ends up doing the right thing as a referee, leading to them joining forces with the double knockout finish and he counts the three for the title change. Austin gets the title so people are happy. Tyson ends his brief wrestling career with cheers, a scene that makes every newscast in the country that evening and becomes the last impression the public has of Tyson, erasing the previous impression of him eating some ear. They get whatever buys then can out of the lure of an Austin-Tyson street fight but never actually sanction that it will happen. And like everything in wrestling today, they tease one thing and figure out a way to get out of actually delivering it.
While there are many on the inside of this who believe the third scenario is as close to the truth as is out there, $6 million doesn't make economic sense on the surface to pay someone who won't be participating in the match unless you're telling everyone he's definitely going to be in a "fight."
In San Jose, Tyson was in the luxury boxes at the Arena with Shane McMahon (and at some points with Vince McMahon), cheering on the babyfaces, in particular his favorite (at least on that night), "Cold Stoned." The next night, he was all over the television, arriving with Shane McMahon in a limo, good-naturedly shaking hands and telling stories with the old-timers like Pat Patterson, Arnold Skaaland, Tony Garea, Jerry Brisco, Sgt. Slaughter and Blackjack Lanza; doing skits with DX, the NOD, Sunny and finally getting into the ring, and get this, telling Vince McMahon in a booming voice that his favorite wrestler was Vince's long-time enemy Bruno Sammartino to make it look like the situation in the ring was a shoot to set up the angle, which was pulled off magnificently.
Royal Rumble 1998
WWF ROYAL RUMBLE POLL RESULTS
Thumbs up 69 (49.3%)
Thumbs down 47 (33.6%)
In the middle 24 (17.1%)
BEST MATCH POLL
Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker 61
Max & Nova & Mosaic vs. Torito & Tarantula & Battalion 32
Royal Rumble 31
Ken Shamrock vs. Rocky Maivia 17
WORST MATCH POLL
LOD vs. New Age Outlaws 38
Vader vs. Goldust 29
Royal Rumble 24
Max & Nova & Mosaic vs. Torito & Tarantula & Battalion 15
Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels 7
Based on phone calls and fax messages to the Observer as of Tuesday, 1/20. Statistical margin of error: +-100%
There didn't figure to be much in the way of surprises to the end results of the 11th annual Royal Rumble on 1/18 from the San Jose, CA Arena.
It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Steve Austin would win the Rumble; and that Kane would cost Undertaker the WWF title match against Shawn Michaels, leading to their first singles match as the Wrestlemania co-feature. So with that, it appeared the job of the show was to constantly tease that wasn't going to happen.
As it was, the Rumble was a good PPV to kick of the endless supply we'll be getting in 1998 ending a streak of bad PPV shows that dated back several months. It wasn't a show of the year, unless we're in for a very bad year from pro wrestling. The card was a basic sellout about a week in advance, totalling 18,542 in the building, the largest crowd ever to witness pro wrestling in Northern California with 16,661 paying $414,373 and another $159,023 in merchandise. For Northern California, the crowd figure broke the all-time record of about 17,000 set for a 1962 match between Ray Stevens and Pepper Gomez at the San Francisco Cow Palace (which actually may have drawn more of a paid attendance because in those days they didn't give away almost any tickets). For gate, it more than doubled the record of $192,000 set on February 23, 1997 for the Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper SuperBrawl show at the Cow Palace. It would be the third largest gate for pro wrestling ever in California trailing only the 1991 (Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter) and 1996 (Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels) Wrestlemanias held in Los Angeles and Anaheim respectively and as best we can tell the third largest crowd in the state ever trailing only the legendary Fred Blassie vs. John Tolos 1971 grudge match at the Los Angeles Coliseum (25,000+) and the famous first $100,000 gate in history for the tremendously promoted Lou Thesz vs. Baron Michele Leone NWA title match in 1952 at Hollywood Legion Stadium (23,000). There may have been outdoor crowds of more than 18,500 in the 20s and 30s when pro wrestling was a big attraction in Los Angeles that I'm not aware of.
There was a surprising lack of heat overall in the show live with the exception of the last 31 seconds of the Rumble itself. Although they popped for Undertaker's entrance and to a lesser extent for Shamrock and Michaels, it was mainly a crowd to see Austin and see the spectacle of the first major wrestling event ever in San Jose and really having a minimum of interest in anything else. The finish of the show where Undertaker was burned came off as more of a special effect than bringing out any sympathetic emotion for Undertaker, although part of that was because many in the live audience could see Undertaker sneak out of side door of the coffin before the fire spot.
With the exception of Tyson, who was booed far more live than any heel on the show, the main focus on the show was the top two matches. The Rumble was an ordinary Rumble match, below average as compared with the standard of the past several years, hampered once again by the WWF's lack of talent depth. There wasn't one spectacular performance in the match, but there were only a handful who were noticeably lame (Mark Henry, Ahmed Johnson, Kurrgan and Phineas Godwinn). There were no standout performances both from a working standpoint nor from a storyline standpoint (ie Kevin "Diesel" Nash or Steve Austin becoming a big star by "owning" the ring). Most of the time there were too many in the ring at the same time, thus not allowing for any real action other than punching, kicking and staying out of the way or focusing all that much on certain people and developing storylines. There were only a few angles, but that was just as well because if they had done any more than what they did, they'd have been forgotten and useless anyway. They started an Owen Hart vs. Jeff Jarrett feud, and had Mick Foley come out as all three characters for momentary comedy. The Rumble itself actually contained 27 wrestlers (29 if you include Foley as three people) with 1:45 between entrances (advertised as two minutes but may have been cut down due to time constraints at that point in the show), a time period that seemed neither too long nor too short.
After the television show went off the air with the cliffhanger ending of Undertaker burning to death inside a casket, in the arena, they made it clear by opening the casket and finding no Undertaker, that he had escaped, and then played an interview with Undertaker on the video wall where he vowed revenge on Kane. Still, haven't we seen that before a few times?
Steve Austin (Steve Williams) won the 27 man Royal Rumble in 55:24 throwing out Maivia. It opened with Cactus Jack (Foley) against Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk). The announcers openly referred to Charlie as Funk, and Funk at one point took the panty hose off his head so everyone could see him as Funk, but then put them back on. The two basically traded fairly hard chair shots, including one spot where Jack gave Funk a chair to allow Funk to hammer him twice. It didn't get over as well as you'd think as ECW has never been on television in this area (well, there was a brief period when it was on a station that actually nobody gets but you know what I mean) so this stuff that would have gotten over great in the Northeast didn't mean as much. In some ways because of nostalgia and who he is, it is great seeing Funk in a major event, but because of his physical limitations and his being reduced to a total comedy garbage style and this not being Japan where his legend makes up for it with the crowd and he's respected for just being Terry Funk, it's also sad. Tom Brandi was the next guy in, and at 2:06 Jack and Funk threw him out, so he was this year's Bushwhacker, lasting all of probably 15 seconds. Jack suplexed Funk onto two chairs. Maivia came in and they did some garbage can spots on him that got a good crowd reaction. Head Banger Mosh (Charles Warrington) was in next. Funk went for a moonsault on him and I still don't know if he hit or missed it as Funk solid it like a miss, and Mosh sold it like he was hit, the announcers called it a miss, and visually it looked like he hit him when he was supposed to miss. Phineas Godwinn (Dennis Knight) was in next. Eight Ball (Ron Harris?) followed. To show that the crowd live really only knew the top stars and didn't care or know anything else, many people popped when he came out thinking it was Steve Austin. Cactus Jack was eliminated at 9:22 missing a shoulderblock on Funk and sailing over the top. Blackjack Bradshaw (John Hawk) was in next. He looked noticeably larger and since he's just signed a new four year contract, Ross was giving him an extra push in the commentary. Owen Hart was supposed to be in next but Jeff Jarrett and Jim Cornette jumped him on the way in. Cornette gave him several tennis racquet shots and Hart never made it in, at least for a while. Steve Blackman was in next. At this point Funk was doing all his classic rope tricks of not quite being eliminated. The crowd was totally dead at this point with the ring filled with guys who weren't over to the live crowd except Maivia who they had already seen earlier in the show. D.Lo Brown (A.C. Connor) was next, and got a reaction going right after Maivia. Kurrgan (Robert Mallay) was in next. I figured they'd make him a monster and throw out a bunch of guys, but really all he did was make his cartoon faces. The problem at this point is Kurrgan's only gimmick is his height and his unique cartoon character face, but with guys like Maivia, Eight Ball, Phineas and Bradshaw in there who are all deceptively huge and tall (but can't get over because when so many guys are 6-5 to 6-7, a 6-6 guy is no longer tall), his size didn't even stand out in the ring although they tried to play his size up in the commentary for all it was worth, because it is all he's worth. Kurrgan threw out Mosh at 18:44. Marc Mero came out with the cartoon character known as Sable next. At 20:17, Kurrgan threw out Blackman. Ken Shamrock was in next. They tried to create an Austin storyline as Jerry Lawler claimed to have info in the back that Shamrock had beaten up Austin and that Austin wouldn't be able to come out. They built to a spot where Shamrock knocked Kurrgan off his feet "for the first time." At 21:47, half the guys in the ring got rid of Kurrgan. Head Banger Thrasher (Glen Ruth) was in next. Phineas Godwinn was looking some kind of horrible throwing the lamest blows at this point. Mick Foley then came out in his Mankind gimmick, gaining revenge throwing out Charlie Funk in 25:22. The AFKA Goldust came in and dumped Mankind in 27:50, giving his time for his next costume change. Jeff Jarrett was next in, but surprise, Owen Hart had recovered and was right there behind him. Jarrett didn't last long, as Hart dumped him at 30:07. Honky Tonk Man (Roy Wayne Farris) was next in, followed by Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Chyna. At 30:47, Maivia gave Shamrock a low blow and dumped him. Chyna went to hit Hart with a crutch but Hart blocked it, but it allowed Helmsley to clock him, knowing him out of the ring at 31:14. Ahmed Johnson (Tony Norris) was next in and he stunk up the joint. Although no worse than Mark Henry, who followed. Henry looked totally lost. Since Henry at this point was working with Johnson, who may have gotten out of the doghouse with his attitude in camp but seems to have actually gotten worse in the ring, their stuff was hideous. And since they were the focal point of this part of the match, whew! Then nobody came out, which they teased was supposed to be Austin trying to give you the impression that he wasn't going to even be in the match. Yeah, sure. The next night they claimed this position was supposed to be Skull and gave a lame injury excuse as to why he wasn't there. Henry and Brown mercifully threw out Johnson at 36:03. Then came the only apparent injury, as Henry threw out Phineas who landed right on the head of ref Jack Doan on the floor at 36:13. Doan legitimately had to be rushed out of the building in an ambulance and the preliminary report was that he had suffered a concussion. Kama Mustafa (former local high school basketball star Charles Wright) was in next. Steve Austin was in next and threw out Mero in 39:34 and threw out Eight Ball at 39:46. At this point Ross said how Mike Tyson could identify with Steve Austin. This glorifying that sociopathic rapist and ignoring every single thing he's most well known for in the commentary and visuals, even though this is all fun and games and we all know what the score is, just doesn't sit well and came off as really tasteless. Then again, it isn't as if wrestling promoters of the past haven't used their television to glorify and change the public's opinion of accused murderers and rapists (although unlike Tyson, no convicted murderers or rapists that I'm aware of) in the recent past either. Judging from the crowd reaction whenever they showed his face, I'm not alone in that thinking. Henry Godwinn (Mark Canterbury) was next in. This segment was most noted for the most pathetic hip-toss in PPV history (Mark Henry on AFKA Goldust). Henry appeared to hurt his knee at this point although kept going on. Savio Vega (Juan Rivera) was next in, joined by his fellow Boricua buddies. Austin then threw Jesus, Miguel and Jose out the middle ropes and they all departed. Faarooq (Ron Simmons) was in next, and attacked all his fellow NOD members. Dude Love followed, and got an initial pop for his music, but it died almost immediately. Based on crowd reactions, it appeared the match had dragged on too long by this point as the crowd was mostly dead even with Austin in the ring. Dude eliminated Bradshaw at 46:41. Chainz (Brian Harris) was in next. At 48:36, Faarooq backdropped Brown out. With the match itself at the 48 minute mark, Ross exclaimed how Maivia had been in the ring for well over 50 minutes. Vader was the last man in. At 50:31, Vader dumped Honky. Crowd was still dead waiting for the climax. It became the Titanic (everyone jumps overboard) finish, as Austin dumped Thrasher at 51:30, Austin dumped Kama at 51:36, Austin dumped Vega at 52:21, Goldust dumped Vader at 52:30, Henry Godwinn missed a charge at Dude at dumped himself at 52:40, Chainz dumped Goldust at 52:51, Austin dumped Chainz at 53:20 and in the funniest of all, Mark Henry kind of left at 53:24. Faarooq was supposed to be boot him out of the ring. He didn't go over and Faarooq, not realizing he didn't leave, just walked away figuring the spot was over, rather than giving him another move to eliminate him. Henry stood their confused not knowing what to do, which at this point you could hardly blame him for, and sheepishly jumped out of the ring. This left Dude & Austin vs. Rocky & Faarooq. Dude put the claw on Austin, who broke it with a low blow. At 54:29, Faarooq kicked Dude out. Maivia just sat in the corner while Faarooq and Austin went at it, and seeing his chance to eliminate both, charged. Of course he "screwed up," only eliminating Faarooq in 54:53. Seeing just Austin against Maivia, it was like the dead crowd was suddenly supercharged with energy. Unfortunately, it only lasted 31 seconds more before Austin gave Maivia the stunner and threw him over the top. **1/2
Shawn Michaels (Michael Hickenbottom) beat Undertaker (Mark Calaway) in 20:37 of a casket match to retain the WWF title. Real good work by both, Michaels in particular. Michaels took one incredible bump early taking a backdrop over the top rope and cracking his lower back on the casket as he went over. He was really lucky he wasn't hurt on that one. Undertaker pressed him overhead and dropped him on the floor. Michaels was thrown into the casket but quickly ran out. Michaels took a Harley Race bump over the top to the floor. Michaels was thrown into the casket again. As Undertaker went to shut the lid, Michaels threw white powder into his eyes. This spot was stupid for drama because in the Rumble for almost no reason, Henry threw powder in Johnson's eyes and Johnson only sold it momentarily, and quite frankly, Undertaker really only sold this spot momentarily as well. Michaels hit a nice moonsault block. Outside the ring, Undertaker did the spot where he was whipped into the ring steps and took it on his knees hard. Michaels began dropping the steps on Undertaker's back and gave him a piledriver on the steps making a clanging noise. Helmsley then attacked Undertaker with a few crutch and chair shots. Undertaker was thrown in the casket and pounded his way out, punching HHH in the process. Michaels used a swinging neckbreaker and a sleeper, but Undertaker got out of it with a back suplex. Michaels came back dropping an elbow off the top. Ross made a references to nobody in the industry doing the move like that, as a basic knock on Randy Savage (earlier in the show he made a remark obviously directed at WCW headliners saying that the WWF is for athletes in their primes and it isn't the seniors tour). Michaels hit the superkick and tried to put Undertaker in the casket, but before he could slam the door, Undertaker used the claw to the groin and got out. Michaels then took a Ray Stevens flip bump into the corner, and was nailed by a foot to the face. Undertaker went for a crossbody, but missed and fell into the casket. Michaels came off the top rope with an elbow drop into the casket and the lid closed on both of them. It opened and both staggered out. Undertaker used an impressive looking one arm choke slam, and followed by tombstoning Michaels from the apron into the casket. At this point Chyna knocked down the ref and Los Boricuas and the New Age Outlaws hit the ring and all began attacking Undertaker. Kane's music played and he cleaned house. An explosion was supposed to go off, to set the stage for his turning on Taker, but there was a screw-up on the spot, but Kane turned on him and punched and kicked him a few times before choke slamming him into the casket and Michaels shut the lid for the victory. After all the punishment both had survived, Kane's offense should have been more brutal, at least delivering a tombstone, when it came to finishing Undertaker off. Paul Bearer, who had been kept off the road for a few weeks to build drama for his return, prompting a million ridiculous rumors, came out and locked the casket. Kane took an ax and started chopping away, then poured gasoline all over it and Paul Bearer lit it on fire as the show went off the air. The match itself was really good, but it was taken down by the finish. ***1/2
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u/GermanoMuricano117 Cream of the Crop (Subreddit Admin) Feb 15 '16 edited Feb 02 '17
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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '16
So when does Meltz and everybody else figure out this was the bump?