[1998-08-10-WWF-Raw] Steve Austin & The Undertaker vs Kane & Mankind vs New Age Outlaws vs The Rock & Owen Hart

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Undertaker says before the match that he'll explain his actions in the ring. Before the match starts, Shamrock runs in and puts the anklelock on Owen and refuses to release it. DX also run in to brawl with The Nation. D-Lo ends up subbing for Owen, which makes me wonder if that was a last-minute booking change because Austin didn't want to share a ring with the guy. Once the match gets started, this match drags for me and seems like it goes on way too long. It has a hot crowd though. This is the first time I've seen Rock start getting a babyface reaction. Kane chokeslams and pins Undertaker to give Kane and Mankind the tag titles. Austin looks surprised by this and they are selling that he didn't take nearly enough punishment to be pinned. This whole segment is a very good encapsulation of what the WWF was like in the summer of 1998. While everyone involved is over, there's such an amazing difference between Austin and everyone else.

[soup23]

I liked this more than Charles and thought it provided a neat snapshot of the attitude era as a whole. I do agree that the build to the highway to hell has not been as focused and well done as I remembered. I prefer the build to Michaels vs. Austin at WM. This got a good bit of time to develop and featured most of the top talent even though I think it was a shame Owen was taken out of the match as he has some fun history with a ton of the people involved. Kane pins Taker clean and regains the tag titles for him and Mankind. (**1/2)

[PeteF3]

Why would anyone ever tag out to another team in this match?

 

Okay, that aside, this starts off pretty good because with 8 guys in there it pretty much precludes any chance of the match dragging, but I'll be damned if that isn't exactly what happens the longer this goes. This has some long awkward stretches that I have no real explanation for--whether the match just wasn't thought out that well or if guys were zoning out on what the plan was. Undertaker gets a hot tag and he and Austin clean house, but Kane hits him with one chokeslam and pins him. Undertaker sits up immediately afterward. Ross isn't convinced, but Austin and Lawler both smell a rat.