Repost - Over the Edge 98

The Furious Flashbacks – Over The Edge ’98

Before you start thinking – no, this is not the one where Owen Hart died. This is the one from the previous year where Stonecold Steve Austin defended the WWF title against Dude Love. Before you start thinking that Dude Love matches suck this one was a little different. Vince McMahon desperately wanted to get the WWF title from champion Steve Austin and he recruited the Dude to capture the belt. Hence we got the corporate Dude Love complete with suit and false front teeth. He then went on to appoint Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco as match officials and Vince himself as the referee. Austin would win the title by Vince McMahon’s hand only.

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.

Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler welcome us to Steve Austin’s first major hurdle since winning the WWF title at Wrestlemania 14.

Legion of Doom (Hawk/Animal with Droz and Sunny) v DOA (Skull/8 Ball with Chainz)

This was after the O.L.D. had returned with a third member and a manager to cover up the fact that they couldn’t go anymore. DOA went on to be the Harris Brothers in WCW while Chainz was better know as Brian Lee. JR dates the O.L.D. on commentary when he points out they won the AWA tag titles in 1984. Hawk gets half isolated but demonstrates a perfect Hogan-esque no sell defence when he stands up out of a piledriver and then levels 8 Ball with a clothesline. Hawk actually looks badly out of shape but his timing is still pretty good. Hawk manages to miss a top rope clothesline and go flying out of the ring but fails to nail a simple clothesline in the ring. Blowing a clothesline. Oh dear. Hawk finally gets isolated properly by the DOA and they work him over with frequent tags (not that anyone notices - they’re identical). Animal even gets drawn into the ring by the DOA in some sound heel tag tactics. DOA then go to the completely inexcusable rest hold in a tag match. 5 minutes later Animal gets the hot tag and runs straight through both of the DOA. Animal nails a side suplex on 8 Ball but the DOA do the switch to confuse the O.L.D. but Animal powerslams the new man anyway and gets the 3 count. Match time – 15.55. Match rating – C-. Just really long with not much going on.

Out comes the Rock to talk to the fans here in Milwaukee. The Rock refers to himself as a blue chipper. He describes the locals ladies as “beer drinking, overweight, bearded, female pigs” and claims that’s why all the locals are drunk. Faarooq comes out to beat the hell out of the people’s champ ahead of their IC match later in the night. Faarooq goes to piledrive Rock on a chair but completely blows the spot and kicks the chair away. Rock is still down selling the neck. Segment rating – C-.

Jeff Jarrett w/Tennessee Lee v Steve Blackman

Tennessee Lee is in the ring and he’s here to introduce J-E-double F, J-A-double R-E-double T. It’s double J – ain’t he great! Blackman starts out attacking Jarrett out on the floor. Blackman military presses Jarrett back into the ring and nails a drop kick. Jarrett manages to get back into it after Blackman sets himself too early for a backdrop. Jarrett gets caught dropping from a kip up and Blackman delivers a nasty German suplex. Jarrett is tied into the tree of woe and Blackman goes outside to stretch Jarrett in the corner. Tennessee Lee begins to interfere by holding the leg of Blackman. Jarrett takes advantage of the distraction by whipping Blackman into the guardrail. Al Snow has appeared through the crowd and has joined the Spanish announce team dressed as a Mexican. Jarrett nails a nice drop kick back in the ring. Blackman misses a big splash off the second rope. Jarrett nearly gets caught with a backslide though. Snow is removed by security to loud chants of “head”. Jarrett goes to a sleeper (probably to check out Al Snow). Blackman gets out and goes straight to the sleeper but Jarrett suplexes him out of it. Blackman blocks a Jarrett suplex and nails one of his own. Blackman with a lethal kick as Jarrett comes off the ropes. Blackman nails Jarrett with one of his ‘sticks’ but only gets a two count. Lee nails Blackman with the discarded stick and Jarrett pins him for the 3. Match time – 10.28. Match rating – C. Nothing special from either man.

‘Marvellous’ Marc Mero v Sable

Sable is wrestling for her freedom from Mero while if Mero wins Sable is out of the WWF forever. Sable was supposed to pick someone to represent her but she chose to wrestle herself. Mero seems to have had a change of fortune and lies down for Sable but then reverses her and pins her. Ha, ha, ha. That Mero, what a card. Match time – 29 seconds. Match rating – hilarious but sadly – F.

Kaientai (Dick Togo/Mens Teioh/Sho Funaki) w/Yamaguchi-san v Taka Michinoku/Bradshaw

Bradshaw comes out to his awesome New Blackjacks music. Bradshaw press slams Taka onto Kaientai who are on the floor. Funaki and Taka start it out but Taka soon tags Bradshaw in. All of Kaientai run away from the rangy Texan. Bradshaw tags Taka back in and he gets isolated against Teioh. Kaientai continue to run away from the biggest man in the ring (as king points out he looks like Godzilla). Taka gives Togo a tornado DDT. Teioh does a pescado onto Bradshaw who catches him and slams him. Taka nails an Asai moonsault on Funaki. Togo with a wheelbarrow bomb on Taka. Funaki in with a standing vertical suplex on Taka. Teioh in with a double arm suplex. Togo uses remarkable speed and agility to nail a corkscrew splash. Togo nails a massive powerslam but Taka just keeps kicking out. Teioh and Funaki then nail Taka with a version of a 3-D except with a DDT instead of a neckbreaker. Bradshaw has to make the save. JR calls Bradshaw “a horse”. Togo with a Swanton Bomb on Taka which JR calls a headbutt. Excellent triple teaming from Kaientai – Boston Crab into a Camel Clutch into a drop kick to the face. Teioh with a piledriver on Taka. Taka fights back with some spinning heel kicks and tags in Bradshaw. Bradshaw catches Teioh in mid air while shrugging off the other two and slams him before nailing Funaki with a big powerbomb. Bradshaw with a release Tiger Suplex on Teioh. Taka with a missile dropkick and a Michinoku driver on Togo but the other two break up the count. Teioh with a chokeslam and Togo nails a huge Senton Bomb and pins Taka for the 3 count. Match time – 9.49. Match rating – B+. Awesome match but how come they let them have 10 minutes but gave the O.L.D. longer in their snoozefest.

Intercontinental title – The Rock (c) v Faarooq.

Rock is selling the neck injury from earlier in the night. But how much is he selling? It’s taken him 6 minutes so far to get to the ring and he still isn’t there. Ron Simmons was trained by Hiro Matsuda (the guy who trained Hogan – I am the fountain of knowledge). Faarooq quickly rips off Rock’s neck brace and starts beating the hell out of him. Rock goes for a strategic retreat after less than a minute of the match. Faarooq throws him back in. Rock gets control and lays in some terrible elbows on Faarooq. Scoop slam from Rock and he nails the People’s Elbow before it was a finisher and gets a two count. Sign in the crowd – “Goldberg fuckin sucks”. Strange how the WWF guys didn’t take that sign away. Faarooq with a big bearhug front slam and Rock is completely blown up after 5 minutes. Well maybe not completely but he’s spending a lot of time on the deck. Rock sneaks in a pin with his feet on the rope and this one’s over. Match time – 5.31. Match rating – D. Faarooq remembers after the match that he was meant to work the injured neck and piledrives Rock twice. The Nation runs down and beats the hell out of Faarooq but DX come out for the save.

Mask match – Kane w/Paul Bearer v Vader

This is a slobberknocker and no mistake. Vader dominates Kane in ways not seen to this point. Kane comes back with a suplex on Vader. Kane with a scoop slam on Vader. Impressive power. Then follows up with a clothesline from the top. Vader stiffs Kane with some big rights and lefts but Kane comes back with another clothesline. At 5.40 Kane gets Vader up with a chokeslam. Vader rolls outside and gets a wrench and he hits Kane in the gut and back with it. Big avalanche in the corner and a clothesline as Kane comes out. Vader misses a moonsault as Kane sits up and Kane has Vader up in the tombstone and gets the 3 count. Match time – 7.27. Match rating – C+. Could have been much worse. Vader gets unmasked and Paul Bearer puts the mask on and mimicks the Mastadon. Michael Cole interviews Vader after the match and he calls himself a “big fat piece of shit”. Hilarious.

Michael Cole does a presentation in the ring about wrestling legends (the WWF used to do this all the time). The first legend is Mad Dog Vachon (complete with his fake leg). The second legend is 2 time AWA champion The Crusher. Milwaukee is Crusher Country apparently. Amazingly Mad Dog is given some mic time on PPV. What? Jerry Lawler gets so upset with the situation he climbs into the ring and asks the Crusher to act his age but he’s worried he’ll drop dead. Crusher attacks Lawler but not after Lawler manages to knock Mad Dog’s wooden leg off. Lawler gets back into the ring and steals Mad Dog’s leg and tries to waffle the Crusher with it but has no luck. Lawler gets huge heel heat from the crowd. Segment rating – a waste of good PPV time or a chance to see Mad Dog Vachon get his leg ripped off on TV? You decide.

D-Generation X (Triple H, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn with X-Pac/Chyna) v The Nation (D’Lo Brown, Kama and Owen Hart with Mark Henry)

D’Lo and Road Dogg start it out. Road Dogg goes through his limited offence before tagging in Billy and D’Lo tags in Owen. Billy Gunn is also a horse according to JR. Billy shows his power with a gorilla press slam. Billy calls for another and Owen rolls out of it. Then he nails a spinning heel kick and a back body drop before going for a sharpshooter. Billy gets out and tags in Triple H. Tilt-A-Whirl backbreaker on Owen and Road Dogg tags in. RD with a leg drop. Triple H comes back in but Owen hits a low blow. Kama comes in for the first time and works Triple H over in the corner. Triple H tags Billy back in. Kama kicks the hell out of Billy and then tags him with some hard rights. Billy gets caught in the wrong part of town and gets worked over in the heel corner. D’Lo has tagged in and Triple H gets back in. Triple H stomps a mudhole in D’Lo. DX with another tag and RD hits his shaky knee drop. The Outlaws work a double team on D’Lo. Gunn with a big suplex on D’Lo. Triple H tags in and hits a backbreaker. DX have had excellent tag team continuity thus far. X-Pac hits a cheap shot on D’Lo. Kama manages to get the tag and he levels RD with clotheslines. The heels work over RD in the corner and Owen tags in. Owen nails a piledriver but RD kicks out. Neckbreaker from Owen. D’Lo switches with Owen although they could have made the tag. Nice heel work. Chyna is looking dog ugly at ringside. D’Lo with the Sky High on RD. Owen and D’Lo do the no tag switch again (nice). RD nearly gets a pin on Owen but Owen gets out and puts RD in the sharpshooter but Triple H breaks it up again. Inziguri from Owen and he tags out. JR references back to when Owen put Shawn Michaels out with that move. RD has been isolated for a couple of minutes now and D’Lo hits him with a moonsault but only gets a two count. D’Lo misses a senton. Gunn comes in and cleans house and all 6 men are in the ring. Rocker Dropper on D’Lo from Billy. Triple H and Billy spike D’Lo with a piledriver on the European title belt. Owen sneaks in and gives Triple H the pedigree on the belt and gets the 3 count at 18.02. Match rating – C. Unbelievably poor considering the talent. Lots and lots of nothing. Lots of it.

WWF title (referee – Vince McMahon, timekeeper – Gerald Brisco, ring announcer – Pat Patterson) Stonecold Steve Austin (c) v Dude Love

Pat Patterson’s ring announcing manages to absorb (or perhaps suck) nearly 10 minutes of PPV time. The Undertaker appears pre-match (as if enough PPV time hadn’t been wasted already) to be in Austin’s corner. Austin starts out by giving Vince the finger. Vince responds by giving Dude Love one of the fastest counts in wrestling history. The crowd chant “Vince is gay”. That’s attitude for ya! Dude’s false front teeth fall out so Austin throws them into the crowd. Austin hits a Lou Thesz press and throws Dude to the floor. Dude reverses Austin into the steel steps and takes the advantage. Dude gets a two back in the ring off a side Russian legsweep. Austin gets back into it with a series of clotheslines and stomps the Dude in the corner. As he whips Dude out Dude slaps on the Mandible Claw but Austin gets out by tying him up in the ropes. Austin gets thrown into the Spanish commentators. Pat Patterson reminds the crowd that this match is no DQ.

Dude takes advantage of the new ruling by choking Austin with a mic cord. Austin retorts by whipping the Dude into Gerald Brisco and clotheslining the Dude into the front row. Ouch. The Dude landed right on his head. Austin drags Dude back into the ring but misses a leap onto Dude’s back over the rope. Dude hits a neckbreaker on the floor as Austin had bailed. Patterson tells the crowd that falls count anywhere.

Dude gets a two count off a backslide in the aisleway. There are various cars parked in the entranceway as part of the show’s gimmick. Austin gets backdropped onto a car. Dude utilises the car by slamming Austin’s head into the hood. Dude takes a flapjack onto another car. Austin goes for a stunner on top of a car and Dude throws him off and over another car. Damn that’s a big bump for a man with his injuries. Dude sunset flips him off the car and onto concrete. Dude waffles Austin with a lead pipe and Austin is busted. Dude suplexes Austin on concrete. Dude misses an elbow from a car and lands hard on concrete. Back in the ring Patterson trips Austin and hands Dude a chair. Dude works Austin over with the chair but only gets a two count. Dude catches a boot into a chair in the corner and Austin gets back up with the chair. Dude is KO’d but Vince doesn’t count. Dude gets back up and misses a chairshot that connects with Vince. Damn that was a stiff shot too. Austin hits the stunner on Dude Love and Mike Kiyota comes in to count but Patterson pulls him out. Dude locks in the Mandible Claw and Austin is down. Patterson and Brisco both try to make the count for Dude but Taker intervenes. He chokeslams Patterson and Brisco through the announce tables. In the ring Austin is back up. Stunner! Austin counts Dude down with Vince’s unconscious hand. Austin retains at 19.03. Match rating – B+. A bumpfest considering how hurt both guys always were.

Best matches –
3.Kane v Vader. Decent big man encounter and great display of strength from Kane. Who says I never give the guy credit?
2.Kaientai v Taka Michinoku/Bradshaw. Shame nothing ever came of this little Japanese invasion.
1. Steve Austin v Dude Love. The WWF title. Nice to see a good match in the main event in 1998. This was before Austin gave up bumping because of his neck injury and it shows.

Overall PPV rating –
Outside of the main event the show isn’t that great but I think everyone at the time bought it for the main event anyway. If you like Austin and/or Foley this is worth a watch. Otherwise – there are better shows. PPV grading – C+. I can’t give any higher based on all the meaningless filler.