WWF Montreal report, Aug. 2, 1998
The show started with the announcer who was not the regular guy but the
replacement who's a former stripper and works local RWR and also sucks as
Road Dog told him later in the show.
He presented Jason Sensation who did a bunch of imitation while presenting
the line-up. It was fun and very entertaining some fans said he stayed too
long, I say he was better than the ring announcer doing the same bit and
that's a good thing. He was very over, more than some of the talent.
In the first match, Taka Michinoku beat Scott Taylor with his Michinoku
Driver. Taka wrestled in the face role as he is only going to turn heel on
the tape show tonight. The Montreal crowd is hot and was always into Taka.
Referee Earl Hebner gets heel reaction just showing up as people in Montreal
will always remembered, that he screwed Bret in this building. Hebner even
give the fans the bird !
In the second match Scorpio beat Tiger Ali Singh with a moonsault. Good
match but Ali's gimmick has not been on Raw yet and it showed. At least
Scorpio won and Ali will learn that there was no shame in losing. Edge
showed up and gave Ali his finisher to a great pop.
Pat Patterson did an interview announcing his role as a special guest
referee for the main event between Austin, Kane and Undertaker. He blasted
Montreal refusing to speak French even in his hometown. Good use from the
TV show to pop the house show crowd. He promised a title change tonight.
Good use of an old tease as this time fans don't want a title change.
In the third match X-Pac with Chyna beat Jeff Jarret after a power bomb.
Tennessee Lee distracted the referee at the wrong moment as he will be out
of the JJ storyline soon. Good match and X-Pac is really over big time in
his new DX role.
They plugged the WWF magazine with Sable on the cover and she gets a pop and a
Sable chant starts. She is over not even being on the show.
In the fourth match New Age Outlaws beat Kama and Mark Henry & The Quebecers
in a triple threat match when Billy beat Kama with a small package.
Outlaws made their trademark speech to the crowd's delight. Jacques was
wearing the costume he beat Hulk Hogan with and Pierre his pirate outfit.
Originally the Quebecers were supposed to get a title shot on this show but with
Undertaker and Austin champions, it was cancelled. They got a mixed reaction
but got more than their fair share of pops.
Pierre did a suicide dive onto Mark Henry on the outside and was given the
big comeback after the hot tag as he nailed all four of the other guys. If
not for the Outlaws, they would have been the clear faces in the match.
In the fifth match, Mankind beat Terry Funk with the mandible claw in a
pinfalls count anywhere match. They first worked over the house mike and
then went on to have a mild weapon's match where their goal was more to
have fun more than getting reaction for Funk who was treated poorly recently
on TV.
After the match asked the crowd for an ovation because there won't ever be
another Terry Funk and Cactus Jack. The way they wrestled and with the
speech, looked a lot like it could be Terry Funk last house show run with
the WWF.
Then it was the intermission for 15 minutes. Then they accidentally turned off
the lights in the Center, and that took 15 minutes to bring them back on.
A presentation was made to the contest winner of a day on the road with the Quebecers.
The Quebecers were in the ring and to kill time, Jacques took the mike and said
that he knows that right now they are not the hottest team in the WWF, but
that before it's over, they are going back on top one last time. He also
said that Montreal was the best. Then most of the Montreal Expos
line-up (American players) like Chris Widger and Brad Fullmer gave both Quebecers an Expos
jersey. The ceremony got a great reaction out of the crowd and might just
make them full faces for the next show in Montreal.
In the sixth match, Val Venis beat Kurrgan with the money shot. A good match
Venis had no heat after his intro. Not bad. Classic line from Venis again:
"You are looking at the only man in who has score more in Montreal than the
legendary Maurice Richard."
In the seventh match, Hunter Hearst Hemsley beat Rocky Maivia by DQ when Kama
interfered. Chyna is now real over as character and people love for her to
nail the bad guys. Both Hunter and Rocky are now major league main event
players. Even if Rocky was the heel, he got a tremendous pop for the
people's elbow.
After the bell the Outlaws made the save and gave Henry a double suplex.
DX then did their bit where they asked for women in the audience to show
them their breasts. The one they picked to came in the ring, refused to disrobe, and was
booed. Three women did it in the crowd for humongous pop. Now that's adult
entertainment. There was almost no kids under ten at the show for the
first time. It was still a good crowd with a lot of teenagers and adults.
In match number eight, Ken Shamrock beat Owen Hart with the ankle lock submission.
Jason Sensation made the intro of the match and that got the crowd going on
the nugget chant they are giving Owen right now. Good match but nowhere
near the heat the previous match had.
In the main event, Steve Austin beat Kane and Undertaker in a three way match
after pinning Kane. Austin was again so over that I could not hear the
announcer say the word Austin. Usual WWF triple threat match with most of
the match being one vs one while the other is knocked out. The heat was so
good that it made up for match quality. Still a very entertaining match on
it's own. Patterson refused to count Kane on the first stunner. Taker then
chokeslam Austin and tombstone Kane. Except Mankind pull him out of the ring
before he could pinned his brother. Austin nailed Patterson and gave Kane
another stunner for the pinfall by a regular referee. Patterson complaint
to the new referee and punch him. Austin take revenge by stunning Patterson
for a big pop. Austin has heat up until he leave the ring. After the
show (Austin had left a minute before) a drunk idiot went into the ring and
was escorted out by security.
Good matches, nothing bad in probably the best house show by the WWF in
Montreal I have ever seen.
Bertrand Hebert
