WWF Vancouver Report: July 4, 1998
Editor's note: Here are two reports from the Vancouver show sent in from our SLAM! Wrestling readers. Compare and enjoy!
* Ring Announcer Howard Finkle opens the show plugging Nintendo Sports' Ken
Griffey Jr. Baseball videogame and mentions a raffle for free Nintendo
64's. Fink then relays the rules that throwing objects into the ring is
prohibited as so are video recording equipment and laser pointer pens.
Finkle then announces that Due to injuries sustained at The King of The
Ring and Raw Is War respectively, Mankind and Steve Austin were in the
hospital recovering and will not be on the card. As expected the crowd boos
heavily at the news. Finkle then gave a run down of the revised card.
* Some notes before the show: G.M. Place and the WWF were determined that
there was not going to be a repeat of the last WWF event with a rowdy
crowd. An outside security agency was brought in to maintain order -
doubling the security force. Plus - no signs of alcohol sold at this show.
There were hardly any signs made by the fans. There were only a dozen signs
throughout the crowd and were not all too original, "'Vince Failed 3:16
SCU,'' "'Oh Hell Yeah,'' etc...
FIRST MATCH: "'ROAD DOG'' JESSE JAMMES & X-PAC defeated D-LO BROWN & THE
GODFATHER (KAMA) (Time: 7:44 Rating: **)
Referee: Tim White
*The ring was lit up in green and New Age Outlaws Music opening notes
blasted through the arena followed by Road Dog's famous, "'Oh You Didn't
Know?'' catchphrase. The crowed pop. Then Rod Dog, X-Pac and Chyna entered
the arena as Road Dog continued his "'Yo' ass better call somebooooody''
entrance. Chyna wore a D-X shirt and black shorts... very casual. Road Dog
introduced the stonefaced Chyna to a surprisingly huge pop. "'Mr. Ass is
not present but I'll be damned if I didn't find a partner... X-Pac,'' Road
Dog continued. "'Let me introduce myself... I am one half of the World
Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions of the Woooooooooooorld! Road Dog
Jesse Jammes, X-Pac... we are Degeneration X! Now bring out the Nation of
Masturbation...'' Crowd popped.
* Nation of Domination's new Hip-Hop music played and D-Lo Brown and
Godfather entered the arena and entered the ring only to be addressed by
Road Dog, "'Oh yeah... two words... SUCK IT!''
* X-Pac threw a crotch-chop at D-Low to open the match. Several slams
executed by both men... X-Pac fell victim to a spine buster. X-Pac managed
to tag in Road Dog and Dog drops the elbow to D-Lo. D-Lo punched Dog to tag
in Godfather. Road Dog then falls to his knees and begs Godfather not to
hit him. As Godfather was distracted, Roadie whipped Godfather into the
corner and throws in a little breakdancing only to be clotheslined by
Godfather. Godfather managed to tag in D-Lo. Do-Lo had the advantage with a
series of clotheslines mocked the Crotch Chop of Roadie as he lay on the
canvas. Outside the ring Chyna and D-Lo starting jawing (no pun intended)
at each other. The Nation team double teamed Roadie and D-Lo slammed Roadie
for the near pin. Several Nation tags back and forth continue to workover
Roadie. Roadie finally manages to tag in X-Pac who threw kicks and punches
at D-Lo and even got in a Bronco Buster on D-Lo in the corner. All four
wrestlers in the ring. D-X managed a double DDT on D-Lo and X-Pac scored
the pin.
SECOND MATCH: BRADSHAW defeated SAVIO VEGA (2:55 - * 1/2)
* Savio entered the arena with NO heat at all. No one seemed to care.
Bradshaw, however, got a better pop then I expected. Savio failed to gain
any heat by saying something in Spanish on the mic.
* Savio attacked Bradshaw before the bell even rang. After Bradshaw fought
back, Savio walked out of the ring threatening to walk out of the match.
Bradshaw followed and the two brawled in the entrance aisle. Bradshaw at
ringside threw Savio into the steps. Back in the ring the two brawled some
more. Savio got a loud knife-edge chop across Bradshaw's chest. Some more
brawling. Savio grabbed Bradshaw's bullrope which was left in the corner draped over the
turnbuckle. Referee grabbed the rope just as Savio was about to nail
Bradshaw with the cowbell. As Savio argued with the referee, Bradshaw got a
roll up from behind and got the pin. Typical match for these two.
THIRD MATCH: SCORPIO defeated "'Marvelous'' MARC MERO (7:33 - **)
* Mero enters the arena with Jaquilne as the crowd chanted "'SABLE! SABLE!
SABLE!'' Jackie wore a red leather crop top and red leather pants. As
Scorpio's music played, Jackie removed Mero's robe in the ring. The crowd
had absolutely no response to Scorpio. Worse than Savio's lack of heat.
Howard Finkle was pointing out to security a fan who was beaming a laser
into his face during the introduction. Mero was busy arguing with a kid fan
at ringside completely distracted away from Scorpio. Scorpio took
advantage and knocked Mero off the ring apron into the ring barricades
outside.
As Mero was recovering, Scorpio went to the kid fan and raised the kid's
arm in the air to a pop. Match in ring started with an exchange of flips
and slams. Scorpio got an armbar on Mero and Mero elbowed Scorpio in the
face. Crowd started to chant "'SAAAAAAABLEEEE SAAAAAABLEEEE'' much like the
prerecorded crowd chant for Goldberg that WCW plays every 5 minutes on
Nitro. Mero continued to be distracted by the fan and argues outside the
ring. Scorpio followed and threw Mero into the ring barricades after
executing a knife edge chop. Back in the ring, Mero struggled but got in a
low blow in Scorpio. Mero attempted a TKO but Scorpio managed to break out
to execute a DDT. Both were out. Match continues as Mero executed a TKO on
Scorpio and went to the top rope for a MeroSault but Scorpio on rubber legs
flung into the ropes causing Mero to lose his balance and crotch himself on
the top turnbuckle. Mero on the canvas, Scorpio climbed to the top rope and
tried a weak moonsault missing Mero who rolled out of the way. Mero tries
for a pin to get a 2 count. Sable then appears in the aisle and of course
distracts Mero. Scorpio taking advantage of Mero who is AGAIN distracted
throws a series of punches.Scorpio swingkicked Mero in the face and scooped
slammed Mero. Scorpio got in much better moonsault for the pin. As Scorpio
leaves the ring, Sable raises Scorpio's arm in victory to a huge pop. Mero
& Jackie then dare Sable to get into the ring. Sable just yells back at
them.Sable's theme music plays as it's her cue to leave. Mero and Jackie
played to the crowd to be answered with boos and they leave.
JACKYL INTERVIEW (Very well done!)
Once Finkle was finished plugging the next WWF PPV "'Fully Loaded'' he then
asked the fans to welcome to Vancouver - The Jackyl.
Jackyl came out to Marilyn Manson's "'Beautiful People'' to a booing crowd.
Jackyl opened that the fans should "'prepare to Jackyl off.'' He mentioned
that this was his first time in Vancouver (which was funny considering he's
wrestled as "'The Natural'' in ICW's building in Cloverdale a few years ago
- plus the WWF had him on radio shows earlier this month to promote the
show) and claimed that Vancouver is the best city in Canada which wasn't
much. He then went on to say that no wonder Vancouver Canuck superstar
Pavel Bure "'wanted to get the hell outta here and that Mark Messier
regrets ever moving to this hell hole. ''Major heat from the fans. He then
noticed The Edge sitting in the crowd... so, too, did the spotlight guy.
After a series of insults at The Edge, Jackyl challenged Edge to come down
to the ring... which Edge did. Edge went nose-to-nose with Jackyl in the
ring and Jackyl told Edge to "'go Jackyl off... I'm going downtown.'' Edge
then clothesline Jackyl and DDT'd him leaving Jackyl laying in the ring.
Edge then left the ring and left through the crowd. What? Didn't Edge want
to see any more of the show?!?
FOURTH MATCH - D.O.A. (with Paul Ellering) defeated L.O.D. 2000: (1:45 -
DUD!)
* Finkle introduced Paul Ellering who walked to the ring with briefcase and
Wall Street Journal in hand. Ellering starting insulting the same fan that
Mero argued with earlier in the show. Ellering ran down Vancouver claiming
it smelled like fish. He then mentioned that it's not easy being him but it
was harder "'for you to be you.'' Ellering introduced D.O.A. as being "'The
Greatest Tag Team of All Time!''
Music played and Skull & 8-Ball walked down the aisle (no bikes) to limited
heat. Howard Finkle then introduced the match as being a Street Fight Match
and then introduced L.O.D. 2000. L.O.D. walked to the ring in full costume
(without Sunny, of course). All 4 men started the match and it was a
typical D.O.A. versus L.O.D. match that saw Animal getting pinned in the
ring. The crowd booed how poor and short the match was. Remember the joke
punchline... "'Food's lousy and they serve such small portions!''
FIFTH MATCH: TITLE vs. TITLE: HHH (EuroChamp)(w/ Chyna) defeated by DQ THE
ROCK (IC Champ) (11:04 ***)
Referee: Earl Hebner
* As soon as D-X's opening "'Are You Ready?'' echoes through the arena, the
crowd pops as the ring was lit in green. HHH and Chyna (holding the Euro
belt) walked down the aisle. HHH played to the crowd climbing in each
corner spitting water as he raised his arms crossing them to make an X each
time. HHH armed with a microphone began his Michael Buffer impression,
"'Vancouver, are you ready?'' He prompted the fans to yell, "'Let's get
ready to suck iiiiit!'' Rocky's N.O.A. music began to play and before Rocky
entered the arena... Earl Hebner was chugging from a water bottle... I mean
REALLY chuggin' that water! Rocky enters the arena with the IC belt over
his shoulder. Good pop. It was The Rock's turn on the mic, "'The People's
Champion has come back to Vancouver to lay the smack down on this jerbroni.
Vancouver, you set an indoor record here tonight. Give yourselves a round
of applause. Applaud yourselves that this is the largest group of trailer
park trash gathered in one place! Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?''
HHH then grabbed the mic and started to talk to a bleach blonde girl in the
crowd, "'Sister, since you paid so MUCH for THEM... you might as well SHOW
THEM!'' The woman was reluctant and didn't. HHH changed the subject,
"'Rocky what?'' Crowd replies sucks a few times. "'He doesn't suck... he
SWALLOWS!'' An angered Rocky then attacked HHH and the match was outside
and inside the ring.Outside the ring, Rocky dropped HHH onto the barricade.
A number of kicks and punches were exchanged between the two as Rocky
argued with ref Hebner several times. Rock managed a sleeper on HHH that
went on way too long. HHH punched his way out of the hold but was DDT'd by
Rocky. More punches and kicks exchanged when Chyna interfered by tripping
Rocky by grabbing his boot. D-Low rushed to ring striking HHH with the IC
belt. Chyna rushed into the ring and DDT'd Rocky! HUGE POP! Drowsy, HHH
draped his arm over Rocky for a 2 count. Later, HHH tried to Pedigree
Rocky, D-Lo struck HHH with a chair. Enter Mark Henry where D-Lo and Henry
double teamed HHH. Bell rang. X-Pac and Road Dog rushed into the ring from
the dressing room to fight off the attack on HHH. Chyna got a low blow in
from behind on Mark Henry and Chyna then clothesline Henry over the top
rope and onto the floor. Bigger pop! Nation members leave and D-X
celebrated by all hugging in the ring. Before leaving, HHH once again tried
to convince the blonde woman to show her breasts. "'All right, one last
chance,'' HHH encouraged. "Drop "em... 1-2-3...'' The woman finally showed
her breasts and D-X left the ring.
HOWARD FINKLE: Setting up for intermission and said as he was trying to
plug the 1998 WWF Calendars, "'I've just been informed that there's not
much time left in 1998.'' ?!? he announced that the calendars were on at
half price. Howard then announced that the December In Your House PPV would
be in Vancouver and tickets were on sale now.
INTERMISSION
SIXTH MATCH "'BATTLE OF THE BULLS'' VADER defeated (by DQ ) MARK HENRY
(6:38 *)
* Mark Henry entered with no heat from the fans at all. He did a little
posing in the ring but went with no heat. Vader entered the ring to a good
pop. Vader tried to raise heat on the mich but the mic kept cutting out.
Slow match that went in and out of the ring. Each man slammed the other
one, threw each other into the ring steps and barricades. Punches and
kicks. Henry hit Vader with a chair and got disqualified for the effort.
EIGHTH MATCH: JEFF JARRETT defeated STEVE BLACKMAN ( 3:59 **)
A pause in between matches had the crowd chanting "'Austin Austin Austin''
Howard Finkle then introduced "'for the first time in Vancouver'' Tennessee
Lee. Lee entered with fans booing. Lee ran down Canada to create heat and
then insisted the fans give a "'big U.S. welcome to Double J...'' Jarrett
entered with limited head and he did his strut in the strobe lights.
Jarrett then proclaimed he had 3 words... "'Ain't I great?'' Steve Blackman
entered the arena to Carl Douglas' 1970's hit song, "'Everybody Was Kung Fu
Fighting'' (no joke!). Match began with Blackman chasing Jarrett around the
ring. In the ring, Blackman got a flying heel kick on Jarrett. Blackman
dropped Jarrett across his knee in a backbreaker. Blackman missed twice on
dropkicks. Jarret went for a flying body press but missed. Lee kept
interfering by hitting Blackman with his hat throughout the match. Lee
tripped Blackman by grabbing his ankle outside the ring as Jarrett landed
on top. Lee held onto Blackman's foot as the ref counted to 3 giving
Jarrett the win.
EIGHTH MATCH - SUBMISSION RULES MATCH - KEN SHAMROCK defeated OWEN HART
(7:43 *** 1/2)
Referee: Tim White
* Owen enters arena wearing his black tights with the pink heart. He
grabbed a Canadian flag from a fan and waved it on his way into the ring.
Shamrock entered the ring to a mixed crowed reaction and Finkle introduced
him as the 1998 King of The Ring to a chorus of boos. Owen attacked
Shamrock before the bell taking the early advantage in the match. Shamrock
goes for a figure four leg lock but Owen reaches the ropes to break the
hold. A series of wrist locks, arm bars precede the wrestlers leaving the
ring to the outside where barricades are used as weapons. In the ring, Owen
executed a flying heel kick on Shamrock and goes for the Sharpshooter.
Shamrock tries to reach the ropes but Owen drags him to center ring.
Shamrock tries again successfully to reach the ropes to break the hold.
Shamrock got Owen into a powerslam and tried for a hurricanrana but Owen
countered with a sharpshooter. Shamrock reversed it for the ankle lock and
Owen tapped out. Crowd booed Shamrock as he limped down the aisle.
NINTH MATCH: THERE MUST BE A WINNER - UNDERTAKER defeated KANE (w/ Paul
Bearer) (7:54 **)
*Finkle thanked the crowed for being at the show and mentioned that the WWF
was in Winnipeg and Edmonton and said that they feel that the BEST fan
support for the WWF was in Vancouver! (Crowd bought it - they popped). The
arena went dark and Kane's music began. Kane and Paul Bearer made their way
to ring. The fans were really booing the lack of pyros for Kane's entrance
only to see the ring lit from red lighting to white lighting. Kane was
wearing his two-long-sleeved outfit he wore at King of The Ring. Then the
arena went dark again for Undertaker's entrance and music. It felt like
they turned the air conditioning on. As Undertaker climbed through the
ropes, Kane attacked Undertaker but "taker fought back. "Taker intimidated
referee Earl Hebner and chased Paul Bearer around a bit. Undertaker walked
across the top rope only to lose his balance when Bearer shook the ropes.
Undertaker fell into Kane who caught and slammed The Undertaker.
Eventually, the Undertaker managed to chokeslam Kane but Bearer interfered
barring a pin by pulling Undertaker by the hit. Bearer hit Undertaker with
his shoe through the match. Kane chokeslammed Undertaker but Undertaker
managed to tombstone Kane for the pin.
OVERALL - A typical WWF houseshow - not as inspired as the last one here in
town... but way better than the one's Vancouver had in the 80's. A nice
night out. Fans for the most part were behaved and there was only one large
fight and that was after the show. There was an autograph signing session
earlier in the day at a videostore in Langley.
Results by Neil O'Brien (comments@icw-wrestling.com)
Report #2
I ( Jeff Jacobson) attended a house show tonight at General Motors Place in
Vancouver, BC. Here Are The Results::
*** Before Card Gets Started, Fink tells crowd that Austin and Mankind are
in hospital, and can't be there. (to a loud chorus of boos) He then goes
over basic rules no video cameras, etc. He then goes over the card, tells
people about the sponsors, and we're ready to rock.
*** First Match: D-Lo Brown and The Godfather vs. Jesse Jammes and X-Pac:
dX came out first and grabbed the mike introducing eveyone, in Road Dogg
fashion. Chyna was in there corner. Next came out the Nation. This match
started off slow, but started to pick up when D-Lo Brown executed an
excellent back body drop into a spine buster. Road Dogg eventually made the
tag to X-Pac and he came in with fury, kicks, puches, trips, he even gave
him the bronco buster. The end of the match came when Kama was distracted
with the ref, and dX double ddtd D-Lo to get the win. A solid opener, which
got the crowd going. D-Lo got the best heel heat in the match while Road
Dogg got the best face heat.
*** Second Match: Bradshaw vs. Savio Vega:
Crowd is absolutely dead during this match, Savio grabs the mike and says
something in spanish. This match was about 4 minutes long. The ending came
when Savio went for Bradshaw's bull rope, Bradshaw cradled him and got the
2 count. Bradshaw then yanked Savio up and gave him the Lariat for the win.
This match was bad.
*** Third Match: Scorpio vs. Marc Mero:
Great heel heat for Mero as he was arguing with fans, Scorpio was getting
booed as well. A very technically sound match, with some solid wrestling
moves, very see saw, until Sable came out, distracted Marc, which gave
Scorpio the chance to scoop slam him, and give him a moonsault for the win.
Sable got one of the biggest corwd responses of the night. Solid Match, but
not as exciting as the opening bout.
*** Fourth Match: DOA vs. LOD 2000 Pinfalls Count Anywhere
This match was the worst match I have ever seen live. Paul Ellering came
out at first, and gave this boring speech about DOA. LOD came out Sunnyless
to a great crowd response. Hawk and Skull were fighting on the inside,
while Animal and 8-Ball were punching on the outside. Animal hit 8-Ball
with a chair, while Hawk did a sloppy neck braker on Skull. After the neck
braker, Paul Ellering hit Hawk with his brief case to get the win for DOA.
This match was very very bad, and only 3 minutes long. LOD left to a
standing course of boos.
*** The Jackyl Interview
During the previous match, Edge came to the crowd just standing there.
During this interview, Jackyl was trashing Vancouver, saying No Wonder Bure
wants to Leave The Canucks, etc. Eventually he called The Edge a woosy, and
Challenged him to come down to the ring area and face him. He did, and got
closelined, then ddtd by the hair. The crowd then started chanting Edge.
Good Segment, great work by both men.
*** HHH vs. The Rock: Title for Title:
Before the match started, HHH asked a hot girl in the front row to take her
shirt off and reveal her breasts, but she refused. He then did his suck it
slogan, and asked what is that phrase you say about Rocky, he said no Rocky
doesn't suck, he swallows! LOL! The Rock then came out and called everyone
trailer trash. On to the match:
This was a fantastic match, similar to there one on Raw, but a lot longer,
both men used there usual moves, the elbow, the knee drop, the dddt, etc.
The match ended when D-Lo hit HHH with a chair, HHH kicked out, then Chyna
DDTD The Rock, and The Rock kicked out. Then The Rock went for Rock Bottom,
but HHH elbowed him and went for the pedigree. Before he coudl hit it, The
Nation came in, and dX came in and cleaned house. HHH asked the girl if she
would show her breasts, and finally she did to a great crowd reception.
*** Intermission: Tickets Went on Sale for WWF In Your House in December. I
did not get a ticket, because the line ups were around the block.
*** Sixth Match: Vader vs. Mark Henry:
This was an OK match. It was title Battle of the Bulls. This was very slow,
with a lot of body slams, punches, and elbows. This was your usual big man
match. The match ended at the 7 minute mark when Mark Henry hit Vader with
a chair. Vader then hit Henry back.
Seventh Match: JJ vs. Steve Blackman:
Great Match. About 10 minutes long. Blackman was on his game, great running
elbows, tree of woes, top rope mauvers. Blackman really worked his ass off.
JJ was just showing off, kissing his muscles, etc. JJ won the match when
Tennessee Lee held Blackmans leg, allowing JJ to get the pin.
Eighth Match: Owen vs. Shamrock: Submission Match
Shamrock got heavily booed. Owen got cheered big time, great match with
closelines, etc. Very fast when they weren't using submissions. Some
submissions used were boston crab, sleeper. Shamrock hit his powerslam and
was going for his hurricanrana, when Owen countered it into a power bomb,
then a sharshooter, but Shamrock reversed it to an ankle lock for the win,
to a loud course of boos. Best match on card.
Ninth Match: Kane vs. Undertaker: Must Be a Winner
Good match, but very similar to there televised ones, Kane didn't get the
pyro. When he came out, and did the thing with his hands, the lights just
came on. There were tons of liters for both Taker and Kane. Undertaker got
Kane way up high for a chokeslam, but Paul Bearer got up on the apron,
which allowed Kane to hit his own choke slam, and go for his own tombstone,
but Undertaker reversed it, and drilled him for the 1, 2, 3.
Overall, A Great Show. I can't Wait till December IYH if I get tickets!
Jeff Jacobson
