Burning Hammer Tape Review #5
CellJr300 On
WWF: Breakdown 1998
September 27, 1998
--Taped from Hamilton, Ontario, CA
--Your hosts are King & JR
--Edge V. Owen Hart. Owen with some SWEET~ mat wrestling to start. Edge with a Hurracanrana. Edge tries a Plancha off the apron, but Owen catches him and turns it into a Powerslam on the floor. Weird Canadian crowd tonight, as they're actually booing Owen, a fellow member of Canadia and a Hart brother, which is something they don't usually do. Owen with his SWANK~ Belly-To-Belly Suplex. Owen hits a wicked Leg Lariat for 2. Owen gets an Enzuguri. Edge hits a nice looking Faceplant. Edge with a Northern Lights Suplex for 2. Owen with a nice German Suplex for 2. Edge gets distracted by the yet to be named Christian, which allows Owen to get a Victory Roll for the pin at 9:18. **** This was some primo wrestling from Owen, with Edge managing to not only keep up, but he was also able to add his own little touches to the match.
--Too Much V. Al Snow, Scorpio. Too Much is the future Too Cool, consisting of Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor. Scorpio & Taylor with some mondo keen mat wrestling to start things off. Snow uses a chair to catapult himself into the corner with a Leg Lariat on Taylor in a cool looking spot. Scorpio tries the same thing with a Dropkick, but he slips off the chair and just manages to save face by making some contact with Christopher on the way down. Snow gets the pin at 8:06 with a Northern Lights Bomb on Taylor. ** This started off real good, but it went south real fast near the end, as everyone seemed to be missing their marks left and right, making for some very ill-timed saves.
--Marc Mero (W/Jacqueline) V. Darren Drozdov. Mero has his working boots on tonight, as he's bumping like mad for Drozdov. Mero pulls out a Somersault Senton over the top-rope & almost knocks out Drozdov in the process. Mero gets the pin at 5:12 with a Shooting Star Press. * Not good or anything, but Mero worked his ass off trying to get a decent match out of a very green Drozdov, and he almost succeeded.
--Falls Count Anywhere Match: Vader V. Bradshaw. This would be failed push #192B for Mr. Bradshaw. This would also be during the period when Vince McMahon was punishing Vader by having him job to every no-talent hack that the WWF had employed at the time, and putting Vader in the terrible ÒI'm FatÓ storyline. Presumably Vader was being punished because he was over & he could wrestle, and we all know how bad of a combination that can be. Bradshaw uses the Lariat over & over in this match, topping off somewhere around at least 7 times. Bradshaw gets the pin at 7:56 with a Neckbreaker. 1/4* This was not good, and it was very sad to see Vader getting pretty much squashed by guys like Bradshaw who he could outwrestle in his sleep.
--D-Lo Brown V. Gangrel. Gangrel hits his awesome Inverted Tiger Suplex right off the bat. D-Lo hits a nice Running Powerbomb. They manage to mess up a Hotshot, as D-Lo totally misses the ropes. Mark Henry waddles down to ringside and posts Gangrel. D-Lo gets the pin at 7:51 with a Rydien Bomb. * Neither guy was into the match, as both guys just seemed like they were going through the motions.
--Cage, Triple Threat Match: Ken Shamrock V. Mankind V. Rock. This is both escape & pinfall/submission to win rules. They do a triple Abdominal Stretch spot, which is interesting to see. Shamrock goes for the Anklelock on Mankind, but Rock breaks it up. Rock hits a nice Floatover DDT on Shamrock. Rock Bottom by Rock on Mankind only gets 2 when Shamrock breaks it up. Rock & Mankind fight on top of the cage, and Mankind shoves Rock off the top, but he misses an Elblowdrop off the top of the cage. Shamrock manages to bring a chair into the cage, but Mankind takes it away and nails Shamrock in the head with it. Mankind not being too bright decides to climb out of the cage, so Rock rolls over on top of Shamrock at 18:48 for the pin. ***1/2 Started off slow, but picked up once they realized how to work the 3-man dynamic into the match without it seeming forced.
--Dustin Runnels V. Val Venis (W/Terri). This was during Dustin's very bad preacher gimmick. This match was brought about by Venis sleeping with Dustin's then wife Terri and making various movies about it. Pretty cool move, as Venis goes up for a Superplex, but instead he drops Dustin to the outside face first on the apron. Venis gets the pin at 9:09 with a top-rope Splash. 3/4* Nothing match.
--Jeff Jarrett, Southern Justice V. X-Pac, New Age Outlaws. Southern Justice is the former Godwinns wrestling under their real names of Mark Canterbury & Dennis Knight. The New Age outlaws consist of Billy Gunn & Road Dogg for those who don't already know. Gunn gets the pin at 11:15 with a Rocker Dropper. 1/2* Another nothing match.
--WWF Heavyweight Championship, Triple Threat Match: Kane V. Undertaker V. Steve Austin. This was essentially a handicap match, as Vince McMahon had prohibited Kane & Taker from pinning each other, making sure that they would both gang up on Austin and pin him to win the match. Austin gets an Ace Crusher on Kane, but Taker breaks up the count. Taker goes for the pin after a chairshot, but Kane breaks it up. Kane goes for a pin, but Taker breaks that one up. This finally causes Taker & Kane to go at it so that there's somewhat of a break from the monotonous flow of this match. Match is ruled a No-Contest at 22:05 when Taker & Kane both pin Austin following a Double Chokeslam. * Post-match Mr. McMahon comes down and takes the belt, declaring the belt vacant in the process, and there wouldn't be a new champion until the one night tournament at Survivor Series. This was such a boring match, with about 20 exciting minutes of Taker & Kane double teaming Austin with nothing but Punching & kicking, and choking, you can't forget all that thrilling choking.
--Final Flash: Edge/Owen is well worth your time, but other than that match this was a very bad show. The Rock/Mankind/Shamrock match was good, but I could see why other people wouldn't like it, and no other match broke the ** mark.
Not Recommended.
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