[1998-03-02-WWF-Raw] Steve Austin vs Kane

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[soup23]

Pretty big time main event for this edition of Raw. DX is out on the ramp at Austin's entrance and Michaels hits the SCM that looks deadly. We come back from break and the match looks to be off. Bearer tells Kane to get the bell. Kane berates the time keeper and he is in the ring. Bearer wants the bell rung ten times in memory of The Undertaker. After the 10 bell, Kane chokeslams and Tombstones the poor guy. JR pleads that he has a family at home. Paul says he has 1 tombstone left. GONG. Paul tries to reassure Kane but their is an aura around teh arena and the purple light shone on the ring. The music starts in earnest and lightning strikes revealing a coffee. Taker sits up on top of the coffin with smoke pouring out. WELCOME TO HELL AND THE DEMON THAT WILL LEAD YOU TO ETERNAL DAMNATION. Taker talks about the promise he had to make to his parents to do the one thing he promised not to do. Kane sends fire down on Taker but he states he will walk through the gates of hell to face Kane. This was a great promo even with the superficial stuff even bait and switching the big main event.

[Zenjo]

You forgot to mention Kane beating up the Plant outside the ring. I hope that he picked the right guy from the crowd anyway. The Undertaker returns, and I love when he starts to talk about reaping souls and suchlike.

[Loss]

This was hyped for weeks and was all a big bait and switch. It doesn't make for the most romantic story, but baiting and switching repeatedly was one of the key parts of how the WWF turned ratings around. DX attack Austin at the entrance as soon as he shows his face. Ross's outrage is great! Austin gets up after a couple of minutes and takes off, presumably to find DX. Meanwhile, Kane and Paul Bearer are still in the ring and Uncle Paul asks Kane to get the ring bell from ringside. Kane ends up beating up a fan in a weird moment and then they bully the timekeeper into tolling the bell ten times in memory of the Undertaker. It's obvious where this is going, but it's still good. Mark Yeaton then eats a chokeslam and a tombstone. Paul says Kane has one tombstone left and they challenge someone to step up and this is going way too long until the Undertaker's music finally starts and the arena goes dark. After bongs that seem to go forever, a lightning bolt hits the coffin as the Undertaker comes back to life. I like this as a moment, but Undertaker does too much talking and rambles on like he's the Ultimate Warrior. Seriously, those lines sound like something Warrior would cough up in a promo, not Undertaker. The Undertaker being mic'd for this makes it even more artificial-seeming than it already was.

[Strummer]

according to Shawn he was so out of it during this time that he has no recollection of this angle or any of the angles in the buildup to WM 14. He remembers getting hurt at the Rumble and then the match with Austin at Mania. Nothing in between

[PeteF3]

Gennifer Flowers is coming to WrestleMania! Her promo is better than Pete Rose's.

 

Cheap bait and switch as Austin is jumped on the ramp and eats a Superkick, right before a pretty huge TV main event. After the break, we have our Main Event Interview. Kane retrieves the bell and destroys a fan in the process--he takes a wicked bump from a chokeslam on the floor. Marc Yeaton is forced into the ring and is ordered by Paul Bearer to perform a ten-bell salute for the Undertaker. Of course the whole gimmick is all about death but this feels just a little skeevy coming about 2 weeks after Louie Spicoli's death and Pillman's death four months ago. He's thanked with a chokeslam and tombstone. Bearer cuts a scorched-earth promo on everyone who didn't believe him and this crowd is getting HOT. Finally the lights go out and the *bongs* start, almost to the point of annoyance--but that's actually played up well, as Bearer screams for the music to stop and it just keeps going. Finally we get to brass tacks, as the Undertaker returns--he was absent not because of Kane and Bearer, but because he was explaining to his parents why he'd have to fight Kane. And then closes with a warning that unlike as children, there'll be no parents to save Kane at WrestleMania. Fuck...yeah, it's comic book wrestling at its comic bookiest, but I liked this more than any Warrior promo because everything Undertaker said served a purpose and got the angle and match over, and they never lost the crowd. Lord knows this angle will get worse but this was a well-done and effective segment. The WWF is just leaving WCW in the dust creatively and it's going to be pretty glorious to see it pay off financially.

[TravJ1979]

A prime reason why WWF took over from WCW around this time. They both bait and switch, but WWF has something, in this case two somethings, come out of it. WCW would have just had a nWo beatdown and signed off. The kick to Austin was great, the Kane/Taker stuff was what it was. I still maintain that before the 10th bell that Taker's gong should have went off.