Repost - King of the Ring 98

When I said "ongoing" I didn't realise it'd carry on going for quite as long as it has done. I believe this was done in March 2000 although my computer informs me I last altered the article in January 2002. I clearly didn't do much with formatting or ratings. Ah well, this is the original version.

The Furious Flashbacks – King of the Ring 1998

Welcome to what I hope will be an ongoing series of flashbacks. A look back at our past in wrestling terms. Today I’m here to look back at 1998 and a moment that changed our lives. Before KoR 98 the crowd was looking forward to Kane challenging Steve Austin for the WWF title in a first blood match and the potential for Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn to meet in the KoR finals. People were also thinking about the match that everyone remembers – Hell in a Cell. Undertaker against Mankind in the match that sealed Mick Foley’s legend. This was wrestling at it’s most extreme. Read on gentle viewer…

This PPV will be graded on the Furious Grading Scale. FGS grades are as follows –

A One of the greatest matches anywhere, ever.
A- Damn near perfect
B+ Excellent
B Very Good
B- Good
C+ Average
C Mediocre
C- Bad
D Terrible
F Hulk Hogan
U or Ungraded = Hacksaw Jim Duggan v Ultimate Warrior v Goldberg in a submissions only Ironman match. My worst nightmare.

Welcome to the 6th annual king of the ring hosted by Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler. The Hell in a Cell is hanging over the top of the ring. JR and the King discuss it. The opening match is usually the one to get the crowd worked up so here comes the Headbangers and WWF Light Heavyweight champion Taka Michinoku.

Headbangers/Taka Michinoku v Kaientai

Taka is wearing a skirt and “moshing”. Their opponents are Togo, Funaki and Mens Teioh. They are accompanied by Yamaguchi-san. This is back before Kaientai were a comedy act and before Taka joined. There are gasoline cans scattered around ringside as JR reminds us that Kane will set himself on fire if he doesn’t win the WWF title here tonight. Sign in the crowd – “Vader is Gay”. I dare you to tell him face to face. The Headbangers get massive pops for their signature moves. Kaientai bump their tiny little asses off. Taka was amazing back in 1998 so the crowd gives good pops for the entertaining match up. Kaientai isolate Taka and nail him with some fun double team moves. Pancake spin into a bulldog at one point. Nice. Taka wins the match for his team by giving poor Funaki a Michinoku Driver. Pretty good match. Not as great as Kaientai were in Japan or in their outings in ECW. Still good way to start a big PPV. Grade - B

Next up is Sable. What? Apparently she’s returning after an absence. I’m guessing that was when Marc Mero pinned her in a ‘Loser Leaves Town’ match. That crazy Marc Mero. Sable is here to announce Vince. The crowd comes out with unreal heat for Vince. This was before Vince had music but he still has stooges in Patterson and Brisco. Patterson slaps Sable on the ass as she leaves the ring and Sable belts Pat in the face. Oh, like Pat was interested. He’d rather have Brisco. I only just noticed how level headed and sensible Vince’s promos were back then. Wonderful stuff. He’s just become an evil caricature of himself now. Someone needs to show him the way he used to speak. “Your entire lives have been a symphony of disappointments. You probably, in all likelihood, were a disappointment to your own mother and father”. Brilliant stuff. However Vince goes on for sooooo looooong. Eventually he leaves. That’s it. Segment value – D

KoR Semi-final – Jeff Jarrett v Ken Shamrock

The King of the Ring tournament starts here! It’s J-E-double F. J-A-double R-E-double T. Ain’t he great. Jarrett is accompanied by Tennessee Lee and has an in ring experience advantage over tournament favourite Ken Shamrock. Less than a minute into the match and I caught Shamrock talking twice. Rookie. Jarrett spends most of this match selling Shamrock’s offence while Shamrock inexpertly throws him at ring steps and barricades. Back in the ring Jarrett starts working the leg. This was just after Owen Hart turned on Shamrock and broke his ankle. Shamrock comes back and “snaps”. He drops Jarrett on his head during a hurracurrana and puts him out of his misery with the Shamrock Ankle Lock. Jarrett taps quickly and Shamrock limps slightly as he’s interviewed by Michael Cole. “I didn’t come here to be second best”. But you were already second best in that match Scamrock. Grade - B Solid especially from Jarrett.

KoR Semi-final – The Rock v Dan “The Beast” Severn

The other King of the Ring semi is The Rock against Severn. Rock is accompanied by Mark Henry and Kama Mustafa (the Godfather). Referees send Kama and Mark to the back so that Rock can face Severn one on one. Severn gets a pop that’s just a little less than Shamrock’s. We see recap of Severn ripping the pectoral muscles of D’Lo Brown with a Rings of Saturn. Severn and Rock start out in an amateur style. Well Severn does anyway. Rock resorts to using right hands. Severn takes Rock down and slaps on a submission hold at every chance he has. The crowd goes out of it slightly but seems to pop every time Rock goes on the offensive. It’s easy to see why he was turned face just a few weeks after this. Both men are knocked down with a double clothesline and the Nation come back out to distract the referee while D’Lo Brown nails Dan Severn with a frog splash. This was the start of the D’Lo chest protector gimmick and he’s knocked Severn out of it. Rock gets the 3 count. The IC champ tells Michael Cole to “know his role and shut his mouth”. Grade – B- short and the crowd didn’t really care after Severn decided to put on a wrestling masterclass (well for about 3 minutes). Nice to see D’Lo.

Al Snow/Head v Brian Christopher/Scott Taylor

We have a quick recap of Al Snow’s attempt to get back into the WWF. Snow had been on loan in ECW for a while and working great matches with guys like Rob Van Dam and Shane Douglas. The WWF decided he had star quality and brought him back. This is his comeback match. It’s Al Snow and his tag partner Head (a mannequin head) against Too Much (Brian Christopher and Scott Taylor). They eventually became Too Cool and danced with Rikishi under hip hop names but this was back when they were a bit, well, queer. Al cuts a quick promo “boys, you’re about to get a little head like you never had before”. Like Vince before him Al Snow has no music. Jerry Lawler steps up to be the slightly biased referee in the match. This is clearly the ‘comedy’ match of the night. Al demonstrates some fine wrestling skills but spends most of the match arguing with ‘Head’ and protesting the shambolic refereeing of Lawler. Al does manage to breakout the wheelbarrow suplex at one point though but after a double bump Al has to tag in ‘Head’. Head cleans house but manages to get pinned by Brian Christopher while Snow covers Scott Taylor after a Snow Plough. Grade – C- not as appalling as it could have been because Snow is so good but downright stupid. Even JR tells us the match was “uglier than a bowling shoe”.

X-Pac v Owen Hart

Next up we have a face X-Pac (seriously, crowd goes nuts) against a heel Owen Hart who joined the Nation because he was getting no respect. X-Pac is accompanied by Chyna and her jaw (yikes). These two actually start at quite a slow pace but a beautiful fisherman suplex from Owen steps it up a bit. On the outside Owen whips X-Pac straight through the timekeepers table. Ow. X-Pac lands on his head. Back in the ring Owen slows it down with a sleeper which sort of alienates the crowd somewhat. Then they pull out the old sleeper reversal. X-Pac manages a reverse inziguri that no one spots (not even JR). X-Pac promptly lands a Bronco Buster (before it was called that or got popped). A top rope move goes very wrong before Owen back bumps off the top rope and Mark Henry squashes X-Pac on the floor before Chyna squares off against Mark to a huge ovation. Vader attacks Mark Henry. Owen has X-Pac in the sharpshooter (I’m sure I hear him squealing like a bitch) Chyna gets into the ring and gives Owen the sloppiest DDT in the history of none-women’s wrestling. Owen sells it for a couple of minutes and is busted under the eye. X-Pac rolls over and pins Owen. What? Owen basically jobbed the Chyna. Horrific booking. Grade – C+ not good. Too much stalling in what was a short match. A couple of brutal spots looked more sloppy than planned and the treble run in finish was complete overkill.

Out comes the fat man. Paul Bearer is out to talk to the crowd. Sign in the crowd – “The Real Phenom” with a picture of Mankind. So true. Paul talks about his son, Kane and how when he was growing up he wanted to be like the Undertaker. “You can laugh at the fat man all you like”. The crowd laughs. Paul leaves. Segment rating – U. Completely worthless.

WWF Tag team titles - New Age Outlaws v New Midnight Express

“Oh you didn’t know”. Out come the New Age Outlaws who are also accompanied by Chyna. Road Dogg runs his DX promo when it was still fresh. The Outlaws are the tag champs and are challenged by old school NWA tag champs The New Midnight Express (Bart Gunn and Bob Holly). The crowd is silent. This is why the NWA angle tanked. No one cared about it. James E Cornette accompanies the NME. Billy and Bart do some decent sequences considering their lack of ability and size. Billy uses the Rocker Dropper before he used it as a finisher and it’s barely sold. This match surprises me because I remember the Gunn v Gunn feud and it sucked but based on these pieces of action it should have been awesome. Also looking back it’s amazing how much Holly improved when he became Hardcore Holly. In the “Outlaw tag” match Road Dogg is isolated and beaten up while Billy struggles to get a tag. The “Outlaw tag” match swiftly became the standard in the WWF until the arrival of Edge/Christian, the Hardyz and the Dudleys. Even the Hardyz followed it back then. Billy finally gets in only for him to be nailed by Jim Cornette’s tennis racket. The NME nearly steal the win but Road Dogg breaks it up. Chyna takes Cornette out of the equation with a monster low blow. Holly then gets pinned off the Hot Shot onto the ropes. Grade – B- the Bart/Billy sequence was surprisingly great but the rest of the match was just standard tag action.

KoR Finals – The Rock v Ken Shamrock

As the KoR finals are about to begin the DX music kicks in again. Triple H is coming out to provide colour commentary on the KoR finals. After all he won KoR in 1997. Unfortunately he’s brought that skank Chyna out with him. It amazes me looking back at how dead the crowd was when the Rock came out. Just completely dead when he came out but the crowd got into his matches after they started. Triple H calls Rock “The Crock”. Triple H says something about posing in nudey magazines. What? I’m guessing he’s talking about Shawn Michaels because he thinks it’s funny but there is the future irony of him sitting next to Chyna. Triple H talks about the ham sandwich Shamrock ate earlier. I can’t really keep up with his commentary but this is some funny shit, which is why I’m looking forward to a face run from him. “When you say he was a one man band, do you mean he played his own instrument” – Triple H. His commentary is somewhat taking away from the match but who cares. Rock runs away from Shamrock most of the time and Shamrock gets a bit upset about it. Chyna joins the Spanish announce team. When asked if he speaks any other languages Triple H replies “I’m bi a lot of things but lingual is not one of them (long pause) did I just mean to say that?” Rock attacks Triple H at ringside and Triple H manages to slip in a Beavis and Butthead line “Testes, testes, one, two, three?” while repairing his headset. “The Rock’s lucky my middle name is sportsmanship” – Triple H (I thought it was Hearst?). Shamrock starts selling the ankle injury and Rock doesn’t really go after it. So much for psychology eh fellas. Rock lands a People’s Elbow to the delight of the crowd. Shamrock snaps, the crowd wakes up and the action hots up as the match heads to it’s conclusion. Rock lands a near fall with a huge powerslam. Shamrock gets a long two after a Northern Lights suplex. Rock gets another two after a clothesline. Both men are totally blown up. Shamrock gets another two count. The crowd is starting to get really excited as they continue to trade two counts. Rock protests to the referee about another two count and Shamrock pulls him down with the Ankle Lock. Rock taps out and Shamrock wins the KoR. Triple H informs us that Rock was screaming like a girl. Grade B- mediocre apart from the hot finish. Rock spent 90% of the match jawing with fans. Triple H commentary – A-. Excellent demonstration of the improving mic skills that would push him into the main event.

Hell in a Cell – The Undertaker v Mankind

They lower the Hell in a Cell as soon as Shamrock has left the ring (what, no coronation?) and we welcome Mankind who goes straight up to the top of the Cell as JR talks about the history of Mick Foley. Taker comes out second, still in his Dead Man persona, and follows Mick onto the top of the Cell. They fight for a few minutes using a chair and nearly falling through the Cell but then Taker throws Mick off the Cell and he comes crashing down through the Spanish announce table. “As God is my witness he is broken in half” – JR. The crowd is popping like crazy and they start showing replays. Out come the paramedics and Mick is loaded onto a stretcher. As they take Mick out the Cell is lifted to make way for the stretcher. As they head up the aisle the Undertaker makes his way down. Then we get the greatest shot in wrestling history.

The cameraman runs back up the aisle and comes face to face with Mick as he climbs off the stretcher and smiles. Then he pushes paramedics’ aside and heads back to the Cell and climbs up a second and final time. Those few moments are my favourites in all of wrestling history. It sends chills down my spine every single time I see it. Once they’re back up there everyone holds their breath. Taker lines up a chokeslam and Mick goes straight through the roof of the Cell. “That’s it he’s dead” – Jerry Lawler. Doctors come pouring into the Cell and Mick isn’t moving. Taker gets down into the Cell and is faced by Terry Funk who Taker chokeslams to buy Mick some time. Mick manages to get back up and does the worst sell of a punch I’ve ever seen but to be fair to him he’s concussed. Taker does his Top Rope Walk of Doom but Mick knocks him off. The referee locks them inside the Cell and Taker does a bladejob to buy Mick some more recovery time. Mick is visibly hurt. Taker nails Mick in the bad shoulder with the ring steps. Ouch. Back into the ring and Mick piledrives Taker on a steel chair. But only gets a two count. That’s outrageous frankly. He deserved the pin right there. But it’s not over yet. Mick reaches under the ring for a bag and produces thumbtacks. Hundreds of thumbtacks and scatters them in the ring. Mick locks in the Mandible Claw but Taker picks him up on his back and drops backward into the tacks. Mick rolls around in the tacks like a madman. JR is completely lost for words. Chokeslam on the thumbtacks and the crowd has been driven to near orgasm. Tombstone piledriver and it’s finally over. Grade – A. Sensational although not technically brilliant it was a work of art. In the words of Joey Styles “Oh My God”.

WWF title – Stonecold Steve Austin v Kane

The main event (like anyone cares) is Steve Austin against Kane for the WWF title. It’s a first blood match but if Kane loses he will set himself on fire. Austin is wrestling with an infected elbow, which is heavily taped. Austin exposes a turnbuckle in an attempt to open up Kane. Kane has the benefit of a mask in this match so should be much harder to bust open. This is a Pier Sixer. A donnybrook. A slobberknocker. For some reason the Hell in a Cell starts to descend again. Kane tries to trap Austin under the falling Cell but Austin just about escapes. Kane then gets trapped in the Cell doorway and the Cell starts to go up again. What? I still have no idea what the point of all the Cell raising and lowering business was all about. They fight around the entrance area and Austin takes a couple of decent bumps. They continue to brawl around the ring and Hebner takes a ref bump on the floor. As Austin pummels Kane in the corner Mick Foley comes running out and the Cell comes down again. Foley gets a stunner as I question what idiot made him do a run in after his Cell match. Undertaker comes out and hits Austin with a chair unintentionally. The referee spots Austin’s busted open head and the match is over. Taker pours gasoline on Earl Hebner and Kane nails Taker with a chair. Who booked this? It’s completely insane. Kane ends up getting nailed with a chair and stays down while he’s announced as the new WWF champion. We cut to a shot of Vince gloating and the WWF sign indicates the PPV is over. Grade - C. After the Hell in a Cell the main event had to be entertaining to score a good rating but it was nothing more than a brawl. It didn’t help matters that Kane isn’t particularly good.

Best matches –

3. Taka/Headbangers v Kaientai. Hot opener that got the crowd involved. Plus no one in the match really sucked or made any mistakes.
2. Ken Shamrock v Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett worked the injured body part in a style similar to Bret Hart. Shame Shamrock isn’t a big psychology man or we had a masterpiece on our hands.
1. Mankind v Undertaker. Mainly because Mick nearly killed himself twice but the heat the match got towards the end was phenomenal as the crowd hung on every moment.

Overall event grade – Well if this system worked on averages we’d be looking at a pretty average sort of C+ but the sheer entertainment factor of the Hell in a Cell knocks that up a whole point to B+. Not fantastic throughout but mostly entertaining with one amazing match.

If you want an event from the past to feature on the Furious Flashbacks why not drop me a line and request it? See what I think of your favourite wrestling event of all time. Or perhaps you want me to flashback to a PPV you hated the sight of but everyone else loved and you want the record set straight. Or perhaps you’d like to co-host one of these rock and roller coasters. Anyway, either way you know where I am. Until next time –

“You like the old shit?”

Arnold F Furious