The SmarK Rant for WWF Survivor Series 1998–DEADLY GAME!

The SmarK Rant for WWF Survivor Series 1998 – DEADLY GAME! 11.15.98

So I figured that with another Survivor Series title tournament looming and probably a similar storyline, we might as well take a trip back to the apex of Vince Russo’s career as a booker and the greatest thing he ever shat from his brain womb.

Live from St. Louis, MO

Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. This must be the WWE 24/7 edit because it’s already bleeping out “WWF” references.

Mr. McMahon and his stooges are out to kick off the tournament, and oddly Vince doesn’t get bleeped when he says WWF. And the microphone has the scratch logo intact. So I’m just confused.

First round: Mankind v. The Mystery Opponent

So the idea is that poor stupidly naive Mick thinks he’s the chosen champion for surrogate father Vince, and in return Vince will give him an easy path through the tournament. The hints were strongly towards Shawn Michaels, but of course that was still four years away. And instead Vince reads an overblown introduction and history lesson about the man, the myth, the legend: DUANE GILL. Gill even gets pyro (which scares him on the way to the ring), a gag that became part of the Gillberg joke. Mankind wrestles in a tux and quickly puts him away at 0:25 with the DDT and a rolling cradle. DUD

Meanwhile, Jackie attacks Sable on Sunday Night Heat.

First round: Jeff Jarrett v. Al Snow

Amazingly, cutting all his hair off and adding Debra to the act actually started to make Jarrett look like something of a star by this point. Jarrett attacks and slugs away in the corner, but Snow bails to the apron and then misses a flying legdrop. They start doing near-falls 2:00 into the match and Snow turns a spinebuster into a sloppy DDT for two. Debra gets involved and tries to give Tim White Head (har har) but Snow ducks a guitar shot and nails Jarrett with the head for the pin at 3:39. Total RAW match. *1/2

First round: Steve Austin v. Big Bossman

Vince’s only real stated goal for the tournament was “Don’t let Austin win”, which is actually a great simple storyline leading up to Wrestlemania. Austin attacks in the corner, but Bossman goes low and gets the sliding punch for two. Austin comes back and stomps the mudhole, but Bossman uses the nightstick and draws the DQ at 3:18. Again, nothing to this one. ½*

First round: X-Pac v. THE REAL MAN’S MAN Stephen Regal

How can you not love such an absurd premise for a character for Regal? Regal puts him down with a forearm while Lawler questions X-Pac’s disrespect: “Would you tell a real man’s man to suck it?” Well, uh, maybe, Jerry. X-Pac gets a sunset flip out of the corner for two, but Regal goes to a surfboard and a gutwrench suplex for two. Regal with a headscissors as you might as well broadcast the finish of this match on the Titantron because it’s ridiculously obvious what’s happening when guys are grabbing holds in a first round full of 2:00 matches. They fight to the top and Regal brings him down with a butterfly superplex, but X-Pac comes back with a broncobuster before Regal crotches him on the top rope and they fight on the floor for the double countout at 8:10. So they were 2:00 away from doing the draw and they still decided to go with a stupid screwjob finish? Ah, but the Russo madness strikes again, with Vince demanding a 5:00 overtime to make sure Austin gets screwed over, but X-Pac is unable to continue due to injury and thus Austin gets the bye. If you’re going to do that stupid finish why not do a quickie TV match like the rest in the first round? **

First round: Ken Shamrock v. Goldust

This was during the RoboShamrock phase of Ken’s career, which was arguably his peak as a character. The unstoppable ankle-locking machine was where he should have been from the very start. Shamrock attacks and slugs away, but Goldust quickly comes back with a kneedrop as they jettison any build and just go for the heat and comeback. Shamrock puts him down with a knee and goes to the chinlock, and a legsweep gets two. What’s the origins of the Russian modifier for that move, anyway? Did a famous Russian wrestler supposedly invent it or was it a territorial thing? They continue having a boring match and Shamrock counters a powerbomb into a rana, but Goldust comes back with an attempt at Shattered Dreams, which the ref prevents. Shamrock puts him down with a sloppy rana and finishes with the anklelock at 5:55. It’s really not the place of the referee to stop a guy from doing something illegal, his only power is to either count to five or DQ him. *1/2

First round: The Rock v. HHH

Given that it was well known that HHH had a serious knee injury and was nowhere near ready to return, it was pretty scummy to advertise him here. Funny bit, however, as Patterson and Brisco hijack the D-X entrance and announce a suitable replacement.

First round: The Rock v. Big Bossman

Bossman charges in, so Rock cradles him for the pin at 0:03. Very clever way to put Rock through to the next round given where it was going.

Quarterfinals: Undertaker v. Kane

Both guys got the bye to the second round on the Hogan-Andre precedent. At this point it was already becoming increasingly difficult to figure out exactly what the relationship situation with the brothers actually was. After months of being “in cahoots” and failing to win the title from Austin, Undertaker turned heel and Kane turned babyface and it’s yet another match between them. And just think about how long ago this show was and how completely different the roster is in every way, and yet these two are STILL IN THE MAIN EVENT! Kane lays out Taker with a big boot and clothesline to the floor, but Taker slugs away and goes to the knee to take over. Taker pounds away in the corner while JR unleashes his list of metaphors for a shitty match. Kane comes back with a flying clothesline for two and chokeslam, but he stops to take a swing a Paul Bearer and the tombstone finishes at 7:20. Ugh. ½*

Quarterfinals: Mankind v. Al Snow

Snow’s presence in this round seems really out of place. Snow attacks and dropkicks Mankind to the floor, then grabs a chair and pounds him with that outside. Uh, why no DQ, ref? And then Mankind DDTs him on the chair, and no DQ for THAT either. This is some really low-rent refereeing tonight. Back in, Snow takes a swing with Head and misses, at which point Mick realizes that Socko has been wrapped around the mannequin the whole time. He makes the comeback but walks into a spinebuster that gets two, and then recovers with the DDT and finishes with the Mandible Sock at 4:00. Basically a comedy match that could have been a great crazy Hardcore brawl. *1/2

Quarterfinals: The Rock v. Ken Shamrock

They quickly brawl to the floor and Shamrock runs Rock into the stairs, and back in with the Russian legsweep for two. We hit the chinlock and Rock escapes as Big Bossman joins us, somehow drawing mad heel heat by scowling at ringside two months after being the lowliest of jobbers in WCW. Shamrock gets Rock in the anklelock as the crowd FREAKS OUT, but he quickly makes the ropes. They clothesline each other and Rock comes back with the Hurricane DDT and People’s Elbow for two. He was pretty much the last guy to ever kick out of that one for a LONG time. Rock Bottom is reversed into a belly to belly, but Bossman tosses in the nightstick and Rock grabs it and knocks Shamrock out like Ronda Rousey at 8:20 to finish. Apparently mentioning her guarantees an extra $5 in ad revenue this week, so I was gonna work her in there somewhere. This was OK, and again the clever booking sees Rock getting a deceptively difficult path that was actually much less so. **1/4

WWF Women’s title: Jacqueline v. Sable

Poor Shane McMahon, busted down from play by play guy to mere referee, makes his official PPV debut here. This match was pretty much as inevitable as a Big Dog title victory this Sunday, with Sable the hottest ticket to the gravy train in forever. Sable quickly destroys her with the TKO, but Marc Mero pulls Sable out to break up the pin. Sable powerbombs him on the floor as poor Marc just kills himself to put his wife over, but Jackie attacks to take over. She chokes away as Sable does the world’s most unconvincing sell of someone being choked, barely even making contact with the ropes while grimacing in overblown pain. Jacqueline tries the tornado DDT, but Sable counters and finishes with the SableBomb at 3:10 to win the Women’s title for the first time of many. Given that it was literally resurrected from the dead specifically for her, this should have been zero surprise to anyone. ½*

Semifinals: Mankind v. Steve Austin

Austin attacks poor Mankind and rips his tuxedo to pieces, which Vince and his entourage head down to ringside to watch. Mick uses his discarded shoe to take over, but Austin comes back with the Thesz Press and Mankind tries to run away, which Vince doesn’t appreciate. Austin continues the beating on the floor anyway and they brawl into the crowd while Mankind’s tux comes unraveled before our eyes and he morphs back into the uncultured brawler again. Back in, Mick goes to the chinlock, but they slug it out and clothesline each other. Mick goes to retrieve a chair and Austin accidentally knocks himself out on a blind charge, but a DDT on the chair only gets two for Mankind. Austin reverses out of a piledriver and it’s KICK WHAM STUNNER, but Vince himself miraculously pops out of the wheelchair and lays out the referee. Meanwhile, it’s another stunner as lowly ref Shane joins the match, but now HE turns on Austin and flips him off (in digitized form), allowing the Stooges to run in and put Austin down with a chairshot to finish at 10:31 and send Mankind to the finals. Felt like they WANTED to just cut loose with the same crazy brawls they had earlier in the year, but they just didn’t have the time for it and had to work around the silly storyline. ***

Semifinals: The Rock v. Undertaker

Taker is in a really bad mood and attacks Rock on the floor, flipping his hair dramatically with every move. Back in, Rock’s comeback is cut off and Taker methodically goes to work and ties up Rock in the ropes, but they head back to the floor again and Rock takes over. Back in, Taker cuts him off again, but they slug it out and Rock gets the samoan drop. And, surprise surprise, it’s another run-in, as Big Bossman joins us, but Rock goes low on Taker and goes for the People’s Elbow. Bossman stops that, but now Kane runs in and chokeslams the Rock to send him to the finals on a DQ at 8:25. So Kane screwed his brother over, see. Talk about overthinking a match finish. These two just never had any chemistry for whatever reason. Did they ever have a really good PPV match together? Because I can only recall really shitty ones like that King of the Ring borefest that one year. *1/4

WWF tag team titles: The New Age Outlaws v. D-Lo Brown & Mark Henry v. The Headbangers

One stealth edit as they cut to the crowd during the Outlaws’ intro spiel, allowing them to edit out the “WWF” from “WWF tag team champions of the world…” Also, the copy on the Network is now edited to change Billy Gunn’s two words to “drug test”. Well that’s just weird. The two challengers double-team Billy for a bit, and the Headbangers put Road Dogg down with a flapjack for two. I should note that it’s really dumb that a team called “The Headbangers” would supposedly be Marilyn Manson fans. Shouldn’t they be worshipping Opeth or something? The weakness for the Outlaws was quickly revealed again here, as fans pop for their entrance and finish but sit on their hands for the heat segment. So Road Dogg gets beat on for a while and no one cares, while Jim Ross tries to find more and more diplomatic ways to tell us that he’s aware of how badly this match blows. It’s those unorthodox match structures throwing off their rhythm, King! So they keep trading near-falls and it’s impossible to care or even follow what the storyline of the match is supposed to be, and then they go to the finish and the ref has to wait for people to get into position to stop counts on more than one occasion. Finally Gunn puts Thrasher away with a piledriver at 10:03 to end the boredom. DUD

WWF World title tournament finals: The Rock v. Mankind

Another beginning of a long and successful feud. They fight for the lockup to start and Rock slugs him out of that and chokes away in the corner. Rock with a clothesline out of the corner for two and Mankind bails, as they brawl up the aisle and back in for a chinlock from Mankind. Vince and Shane join us at ringside as Rock fights out of the chinlock with a backdrop suplex and they hit the floor again. Mick goes for a suplex out there, but Rock reverses and goes after Vince, which allows Mankind to attack. Rock fights him off and gets a weak suplex onto the floor, and they brawl into the crowd and back again. Back in, Rock hits the chinlock as they’re having a rough time working out the match, according to Foley’s book, but Mankind fights up and puts Rock down with a knee to the gut. Cactus clothesline sends them back to the floor again and Mankind adds a chairshot. He picks up the stairs to follow, but Rock hammers it with the chair and then hits Mick in the face with it. Back in, that gets two. Rock slugs away in the corner, but Mick goes low and chokes him out on the ropes. Back to the floor, and Mick drops the elbow off the apron and then puts Rock on the table for a legdrop. Back in, that gets two. And Mick goes back to the chinlock again, but Rock fights up and slugs away until a blind charge puts him on the floor. Back in, Rock comes back with the DDT and slugs away, but charges again and gets dumped. Mick dives at him with another elbow, but Rock moves and Mick goes through the poor, defenseless Spanish announce table. Back in, it’s the People’s Elbow, which gets two. Ok, so THIS was the last time someone kicked out for a while, I guess. Mankind gets the DDT and it’s Mandible Sock time, but Rock reverses to Rock Bottom. Double KO, but Rock rolls over for two. Rock debuts his crappy version of the Sharpshooter, and Vince rings the bell, rings the fucking bell at 17:14 to make Rock the Corporate champion. This one never really got going, but they’d have far better ones just a couple of months later. ***

Afterwards, a confused Mankind wonders how Rock could have won if he didn’t ever submit, but the Corporation answers his musing with a beatdown to end his dream of being champion. For a while. One nice thing is that the McMahons and Rock do the explanation of the turn right after the match, basically laying it on the line right away: Rock has hated the people for booing him all along, and this is his revenge. Well, we know he’s a great actor. This was at the very least a FANTASTIC payoff for the whole slow build of the Rock turn that suddenly freshened up the main event scene again and created one of the biggest stars ever in one night.

The Pulse

This one was of course the pinnacle that Vince Russo has spent the rest of his booking “career” trying to duplicate, including WCW’s version in 1999, but really it was a unique set of circumstances with the exact kind of “organic” turn that made Rock into a superstar, even though Vince was manipulating the fanbase all along, which makes it all the more brilliant that it happened exactly the way everyone wanted it. Anyway, this show is very Russo-riffic, to say the least, with lots of short worthless matches, but at least everything had a storyline behind it. I still call it a thumbs down, although it falls into the “entertaining crap” category for me because it’s not really a boring show but also isn’t quite a full-on car wreck like Souled Out. There was, and still is, a certain segment that loved the soap opera aspect enough to vehemently white knight for this show, but I really found all the run-ins and multiple Bossman appearances to be too repetitive after three hours of it, and the finishes were really bad all night. Take what you want out of this one, I guess.