Summerslam Count-Up – 1998 (2018 Redo): Bigger Than Wrestlemania
Summerslam 1998
Date: August 30, 1998
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 21,588
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
Venis beats up the referee and gives him the Money Shot post match.
Mankind laments the destruction of the hearse and plugs the Brisco Brothers Body Shop. Maybe he can use his sledgehammer after all.
Kai En Tai vs. Oddities
Four straight top rope splashes keep Golga in trouble and four straight legdrops get no cover. The referee is fine with letting all four of them in there but can you blame him at this point? Golga clotheslines all four of them at once (that looked cool) and all three Oddities come in, leaving Yamaguchi-San to get beaten up by Luna Vachon. A triple quadruple chokeslam lets Golga pin all four men at once for the win.
Jeff Jarrett vs. X-Pac
Sable/??? vs. Jacqueline/Marc Mero
More heel miscommunication puts Jacqueline on the floor and Mero gets crotched on top. Sable busts out a top rope hurricanrana for two, followed by the worst “accidental falling headbutt into a low blow” from Jacqueline to Mero. Edge plants Mero with the Downward Spiral (actually called that) and picks Sable up for a splash to give her the pin.
Owen Hart vs. Ken Shamrock
This is in a small theater adjacent to MSG. The match is held in a small, circular cage which is about as blatant of a ripoff of a UFC cage as you can get. You win by submission or knockout. Hart is a member of the Nation but Severn is the only person here with him. Shamrock easily takes him down to start until Owen counters into a leglock. Ken gets dropped with a spinebuster but floats over and unloads with right hands.
Both guys are bleeding from the face and Owen scores with a powerslam and a nice belly to belly. The Sharpshooter is on but Ken crawls over and climbs the cage to escape in a nice counter. Something like a tornado DDT out of the corner drops Owen but he grabs the dragon sleeper, only to have Shamrock climb the cage and roll over into the ankle lock for the submission.
Austin will do whatever it takes to retain the title tonight.
Tag Team Titles: New Age Outlaws vs. Mankind
Mankind is defending on his own and comes out with a big metal dumpster because this is a hardcore match. The Outlaws are in South Park shirts, which still look weird at this point. Mankind and Billy duel with chairs until Road Dogg sneaks in from behind to take over. They start cracking Mankind in the head with whatever metal objects they can find but a swinging neckbreaker on the floor gets two on Gunn.
The Outlaws put Mankind in the dumpster but Kane is inside, sledgehammer in hand. With Mankind out of camera range, Kane slams the hammer down into the dumpster and everyone goes silent.
Intercontinental Title: The Rock vs. HHH
HHH is smart enough to break up whatever Rock had in mind though and plants him with a DDT. They climb the ladder again and Rock shoves him down and into the ladder in the corner, only to have HHH bounce into the standing ladder to knock Rock throat first into the top rope. Rock is up first and grabs a ladder, only to have HHH blast it with a chair over and over to get a breather.
WWF World Title: Steve Austin vs. Undertaker
Ratings Comparison
Original: B
Redo: C+
2015 Redo: B
Oddities vs. Kai En Tai
Original: C-
Redo: C-
2015 Redo: C+
Jeff Jarrett vs. X-Pac
Original: B
Redo: C
2015 Redo: C+
Marc Mero/Jacqueline vs. Sable/Edge
Original: F
Redo: C-
2015 Redo: D
Ken Shamrock vs. Owen Hart
Original: B-
Redo: B
2015 Redo: C+
Mankind vs. New Age Outlaws
Original: D+
Redo: D+
2015 Redo: D+
HHH vs. The Rock
Original: A+
Redo: A+
2015 Redo: A
Steve Austin vs. Undertaker
Original: B-
Redo: B-
2015 Redo: B-
Overall Rating
Original: B
Redo: A-
2015 Redo: B
And the original redo:
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/08/03/summerslam-count-up-1998-rock-and-hhh-ascend/
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