WWE Over The Edge 98'

WWE Over The Edge 98'

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - May 1998

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, the WWE World Champion was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock was the Intercontinental Champion, the European Champion was Triple H, Taka Michinoku was the Light Heavyweight Champion, and the New Age Outlaws were the WWE Tag Team Champions. There was actually no Women's Champion at the time as the WWE had not yet revived the championship after Alundra Blayze tossed it in a trash can on Nitro in December 95'. The Women's Championship would be revived later in 98', though. 


The show begins with a surprisingly lengthy Legion of Doom vs. Disciples of Apocalypse match. The Road Warriors were in their LOD 2000 era, managed by Sunny and backed up by Darren "Puke" Drozdov. I would've guessed that DOA were out of the WWE at this point, but here they are (with Brian "Chainz" Lee in tow). Considering what these teams strengths are, this match goes way too long. Hawk is in poor shape and neither Harris Twin is particularly fun to watch. Animal shows off some athleticism after the hot tag and Sunny looks pretty hot, but there's very little to enjoy otherwise from this match. (1/5)

The Intercontinental Champion, The Rock comes down the aisle and cuts a promo about growing up in Milwaukee. Its not the best 3 minutes of his career, but he gets good heat. Farooq attacks him and piledrives him on a chair before getting chased out of the ring by Owen Hart, Mark Henry, D'Lo Brown, and The Godfather (who was still going by Kama Mustafa at this point, I think). EMTs come out and The Rock is put in a neck brace, essentially canceling tonight's Intercontinental Championship match.

Backstage, Steve Austin gets interviewed by Michael Cole.

Tennessee Lee - aka Col. Rob Parker/Fuller - welcomes out Jeff Jarrett, Double J still in his country music star gimmick. His opponent is "The Lethal Weapon" Steve Blackman. My memory of Blackman was that he wasn't too good in the ring, but he's actually not too bad. His offense is much better than his selling and bumping and his timing is certainly off at various points in the match, but Jarrett was always a solid worker with a knack for getting the basics right. At the Spanish Announce Table, Al Snow sits in a poncho with Head. Snow eventually gets ejected, which takes the attention off the match in the ring. Jarrett applies a headlock and brings Blackman to the mat, but he escapes and eventually applies one of his own. Like the opener, this one goes too long but there are brief moments when Blackman looks like a badass and the match grabs your attention. (2/5)

A clip from RAW is shown before the next match. Marc Mero gives Sable an ultimatum, giving Sable the chance to pick any wrestler to challenge him, but if he wins, Sable has to leave the WWE for good. On the other hand, if Sable's representative wins, she gets "freed" from being Mero's manager.

Mero comes out first, contract in hand. He's followed by Sable, who is dressed in her wrestling gear. Mero asks where Sable's pick is but Sable tells him that she's going to get herself out of this mess and that if anyone is going to win her freedom, it is going to be her. Mero's response is great, though, as he cuts a sympathetic promo and tells the timekeeper to ring the bell so that she can pin him. Of course, when she goes to pin, he rolls her up and Sable is gone from the WWE! Mero's trickery actually gets a pop initially, but when Mero follows it up by singing "Hey Hey Hey Goodbye," the crowd boos him. That wasn't much of a match, but it was a better-than-average segment. (3/5)

Backstage, Sable says goodbye to her fans and then we cut to the Nation of Domination lockerroom, where Dok Hendrix tries to get a word from The Rock.

Back to the ring we go for a special "bonus" match - a 3-on-2 handicap bout pitting Kaientai vs. Taka Michinoku and Bradshaw. Kaientai consisted of Men's Teioh, Sho Funaki, and Dick Togo. Bradshaw is in his Blackjack gear, but I think Barry Windham was gone by now. The match starts out pretty fun with Kaientai basically refusing to wrestle Bradshaw, running in fear any time Michinoku tags him in. The crowd isn't super into this match at first, barely popping for Michinoku's awesome Asai Moonsault, but by the end, thanks to the swift action and some impressive high-flying out of Togo (as well as Bradshaw eventually coming in and hitting some of his trademark super-stiff clotheslines and a crowd-pleasing powerbomb), they seem to come around and appreciate it. Easily the best match of the night so far. (3/5)

Farooq comes down the aisle for the next match, but his opponent, Intercontinental Champion, The Rock (still announced by Howard Finkel as Rocky Miavia, by the way), doesn't come out. Instead, then-Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter comes out and announces that if The Rock doesn't come out in 10 seconds, his championship will be stripped and Farooq will be given the title. The Rock comes out with 3 seconds left, a neckbrace wrapped around The People's collar. Farooq attacks him before the bell and the crowd seems a bit unsure how to react. In the build-up to this match, Farooq never really turned face as much as he got "dropped" by his own crew. The Rock was unpopular and great at jawing with the fans, but he's still in a sympathetic position here after getting attacked earlier and then forced to defend his title. The Rock hits a People's Elbow for 2 and it gets a big reaction, not as big as it would get a year later. (The Rock also gets a bit of a pop for his tornado DDT, another signature move of his.) There's an awkward moment after Farooq hits a spinebuster as there is a clear miscommunication and the false finish that follows gets zero reaction from the crowd. The Rock eventually gets a cheap win with help from the ring ropes but the crowd pops for it. Farooq then piledrives him two more times before getting jumped by the Nation of Domination. DegenerationX runs out and saves Farooq, but as JR notes, this has more to do with their hatred for the Nation than any goodwill they feel towards Farooq. I'm not sure what they were going for exactly with the Farooq/Rock dynamic. Why have Farooq target Rock's neck so much - a very heelish tactic - when The Rock was supposed to be the villain? Was it a strategy to keep Farooq from being too likeable? Its kind of a shame that these two didn't get more opportunities to work together as they actually have decent chemistry and Farooq could still go. (2.5/5)

Kane takes on Vader in a rematch from February's No Way Out PPV but this time it as a Mask vs. Mask match. This match was really all about re-building Kane after his loss to the Undertaker at WrestleMania, but Vader does get to deliver a little bit of offense here and there. Still, even when he does get the opportunity to shine, Vader looks noticeably gassed and lethargic, his offense uncharacteristically weak. Kane, meanwhile, is just uninteresting, his offense unremarkable. Kane hits Vader with a chokeslam and Vader goes to the outside. He grabs a wrench, but his use of it and Kane's selling make it obvious that it is a phony prop. Vader sets Kane up for a Vadersault, but Kane sits up and Kane gets the W via tombstone. Kane unmasks Vader and Paul Bearer puts it on and mocks the former Baby Bull. I am a huge fan of Vader's work in WCW in the early 90s, but by this point, he was just a shell of his former self. After the match, Michael Cole approaches Vader and he cuts his infamous "I'm a fat piece of shit" promo that never really led to anything. (1.5/5)

Speaking of WCW in the early 90s, the next segment is something straight out of a Slamboree PPV as Michael Cole welcomes Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon and The Crusher to the ring. Vachon gives a brief speech to thank his fans and family, but Jerry Lawler drowns him out on commentary. Lawler, sick of seeing the legends, steps into the ring and calls them old farts. Lawler mocks Vachon for having only one leg and gets punched out of the ring by The Crusher. The crowd erupts in a "Crusher" chant and the segment should end there - but, instead, Lawler goes back into the ring and tries pulls Vachon's leg off. Again, The Crusher basically sends him out of the ring only for Lawler to return and get clubbed by The Crusher. Not a great segment and another example of how the WWE was throwing any shit they could think of against the wall and seeing what would get a reaction or, really, just to fill the time between appearances by the few hot acts they had.

DegenerationX's Triple H, Road Dogg, and "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn take on the Nation of Domination's Owen Hart, Kama Mustafa, and D'Lo Brown next. I could be wrong, but I believe Syxx was still recovering from injury at this point. Before the match begins, DX gives their classic pre-match intro and its fun to see Triple H actually share the spotlight and not try to hog it. Owen Hart being a part of NOD didn't make much sense aside from the fact that they clearly needed someone to make their matches decent. A loud "Owen Sucks" chant breaks out before the match gets underway as D'Lo starts things off against Road Dogg. Gunn comes in and is followed by Hart, Gunn getting to show off his power by delivering a military press and then his underrated bumping after he eats a vicious heel kick from the King of Harts. Triple H comes in and takes control, eventually hitting Owen with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for 2. JR refers to him as "Helmsley" a couple times which makes me wonder when he officially became known as just Triple H. When Mustafa comes in, JR notes that the boys in the back call him "The Godfather," which leads me to believe that Vince was already working on his impending gimmick change. What's somewhat interesting (and I emphasize "somewhat") is how long it takes for the match to find its way into a traditional face-in-peril-build-to-a-hot-tag structure. It may be for this reason that the match drags considerably and the audience goes ice cold around the 7-8 minute mark. By the time the Nation finally cut the ring in half and start dishing out some punishment to Road Dogg, you can practically hear a pin drop (aside from the odd "Boring!" heckle) and even the commentators are left to turn their attention mostly to Chyna's stoic presence on the outside. At one point JR references Road Dogg's dreadlocks as being "Bob Marley-like," which leads me to believe he has actually never seen a picture of Bob Marley. Mustafa applies a headlock and the crowd goes audibly restless. James escapes, but gets taken down by Mustafa before getting hit by a D'Lo moonsault that draws crickets. Brown attempts a senton, but Road Dogg rolls away from it and we then get a sloppy, uncreative and ineffective "hot tag" to Gunn leading to a six-man brawl all over the place. The cameraman completely misses the biggest moment of the match - when Chyna decks Mark Henry - but I did dig the unexpected finish, which saw Owen Hart steal a dirty pinfall victory over Triple H. (2.5/5)

Main event time - After a lengthy video promo and a calm-and-cool promo from tonight's guest referee, Vince McMahon, its time for tonight's Fall Counts Anywhere WWE Championship match pitting "Stone Cold" Steve Austin against the "Corporate" Dude Love. Before the match begins, Pat Patterson gets a lengthy introduction, then proceeds to give an even longer one for Gerald Brisco (our guest timekeeper), before welcoming Vince and then Dude Love to the ring. Austin eventually comes out, but then we get the surprise arrival of the Undertaker too - the Deadman serving as an extra enforcer to make sure Vince doesn't try to pull any more bullshit. When the bell finally sounds, Austin and Foley get to work and the crowd goes wild for every minute of it - loudly chanting "Vince Is Gay" and "Let's Go, Stone Cold, Let's Go" with incredible enthusiasm. I've written about it elsewhere but Austin and Foley have great timing and while neither could be considered the other man's best opponent, their matches have always come across as fun - or about as fun as a wild brawl can get. When the fight goes to the outside, Patterson announces that the match is now No DQ, but instead of giving Foley the advantage, it seems to inspire Austin to become completely unhinged, clotheslining Foley from the guardrail onto the floor in a ridiculous spot. Back in the ring, Austin tries to guillotine Dude Love across the middle rope, but Foley dodges and takes back control, eventually hitting Austin with a swinging neckbreaker on the floor. Patterson then makes the announcement that falls count anywhere, Foley getting 2 on the outside as the crowd boos. Foley celebrates a bit early, though, and gets nailed with another nasty clothesline. Austin tries to hit Foley again, but Dude Love back body drops onto one of the cars near the entrance. Foley tries to drive Austin into another one, but this time Austin hot shots him onto the car hood. Surprisingly, Vince actually makes the count for two Austin covers. They climb to the top of the car and Austin attempts a Stunner, but Foley shoves him off. Foley then delivers a sunset flip off a car onto the floor for 2. Dude Love continues his attack, grabbing a large metal pole and slamming it across Austin's back. Austin fights back, though, his face now a crimson mask. Again, though, Austin gets cut off by a Foley back body drop for another 2 count. Foley then hits him with a suplex on the floor. Foley climbs atop a car and attempts an elbow drop on the floor, but Austin rolls away. Austin makes the cover and Vince counts - but Foley manages to kick out. Back in the ring they go with Austin in control, but Patterson trips up the Rattlesnake and allows Foley to recover and deliver a clothesline of his own. Foley takes off the top turnbuckle and sends Austin right into it. Foley continues to beat on Austin, eventually even bashing him with a chair. I love Austin's brief moments of offense during this stretch - they are just expertly timed and the crowd goes insane for them. Austin destroys Foley with a chairshot to the head, but Vince refuses to make the count. Foley gets up and attempts to hit Austin with a chair but nails Vince instead! Austin hits him with a Stunner, but Chioda gets dragged out of the ring by Patterson at 2! The fight continues but the attention goes to the Undertaker on the outside, the Deadman taking out Patterson and Brisco with chokeslams through the announce table! Austin hits Foley with another Stunner and, this time, grabs Vince's arm and makes the count himself! Undertaker calls for the bell and this one is over. Austin and Taker have a staredown - a subtle but important ending note, a nod to their future program and a sign of mutual respect without either guy "endorsing" the other (which would've been out of character for both). This match is often cited as the blueprint for nearly every WWE main event that Austin would wrestle for the next 2 years and it makes sense that Vince would try to emulate it - its a violent-but-fun, story-driven roller coaster of a match that the crowd went absolutely bonkers for. Even if the rest of the card was only mildly entertaining, the main event delivered and the audience was still hooked and excited about what would happen next. A great, great match. (4/5)


With a Kwang Score of 2.44-out-of-5, Over The Edge 98' is a decent snapshot of what the WWE looked like in the thick of the Attitude Era and a good reminder that it took some time for the midcard to catch up with the awesomeness of the main event scene. Everything Austin had done in 97' up to this point was so spectacular and riveting that he could anchor any show he was on just with the notion that he might show up at any minute. In May 98', though, The Rock was still just becoming The Rock, Triple H was not yet an established main event singles star (and wouldn't be for another year), and two of the company's biggest stars a year earlier - Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart - were gone and (at the time) believed to be never coming back. The Undertaker and Kane's storyline had been a strong B-storyline since the previous year, but had reached a logical pseudo-conclusion at WrestleMania XIV. With WCW or ECW also boasting pretty much every top-tier in-ring worker in the country at this time - save for maybe X-Pac and Owen Hart, who'd still probably not even rank in the top 10 by 98' - the WWE rounded out their cards with absolute garbage like the opener and were forced to try to make stars out of lifetime midcarders (like the New Age Outlaws, Kama "The Godfather" Mustafa, and Bradshaw). To the WWE's credit, some of these experiments absolutely worked in terms of getting crowd reactions and making their shows "predictably outrageous." You knew you were going to get catchphrases, you knew you were going to get scantily clad women, you knew you were going to get heel turns and face turns and larger-than-life characters - the only question was how they'd be jam-packed together and what crazy mess these characters would get into each week. Again, though, it took time to get there and, in May 98', they weren't quite there yet. With only one match worth seeing and only sprinkles of quality spread over the other 2+ hours, this show couldn't be recommended as a whole.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver