WWF SummerSlam

This is one of my very favorite shows WWF/E has put on. Forgive me, I haven't watched this in almost 2 years, so my memory may be a bit fuzzy.

European Championship - Probably my favorite opening match of all time, D-Lo Brown VS Val Venis was far better (and longer!) than I could have possibly hoped for. Two very capable (and horribly underutilized) guys getting 15 minutes (!!!!) to shine on a huge show...thumbs up! Great stuff! If you're ever wondering why they kept these 2 around for so long, check out this match.

Oddities VS Kaientai - Nothing too special here, basically a comedy match. In that sense, it was well done. A couple funny spots, and Kaientai is always money. But all in all, they're wasted here.

Hair VS Hair: Jeff Jarrett VS X-Pac - Nothing much to say. I forget the majority of this match, it was nothing spectacular. Then again, I actively dislike both of these guys, so this could have been pretty good and I just ignored it. Check for yourself.

Sable/Edge VS Marc Mero/Jackie - Edge fans, pick up this show for Edge's debut! Nothing spectacular, Edge and Mero looking OK, Sable trying her best not to maim anyone with botched moves. Fairly early in her wrestling career, so don't expect anything special.

Ken Shamrock VS Owen Hart: Lion's Den Match - Not a technical masterpiece, but very solid, given the environment. Limited space for movement inside the modified cage/lion's den seems to handcuff both guys, but they made it work. Worth watching, if only to see something you might not have see before (this type of match occurred only twice, I believe, and the other replaces Hart with Steve Blackman....who would YOU rather watch??)

Tag Team Championship: New Age Outlaws VS Mankind/Kane - Kane no shows, leaving Mankind to defend on his own. If you're a Foley fan, check this out. No one takes a stiff butt kickin like Foley, and there are few examples of that as good as this. Nothing close to the spectacle of some of his other matches, this one is brutally short, emphasis on the 'brutal'

Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match - What a great match. This stands out in my mind as the match that 'made' Rock and HHH. Up until this point, they were upper midcarders leading their respective factions. This match proved to me that they're both very capable of working a main-event caliber match and delivering HUGE. Not as much emphasis placed on high spots in this match, it seems to focus more on (again) brutality and storytelling. VERY well done, one of the forgotten great matches.

World Championship Steve Austin VS Undertaker - A very well done match, especially considering Austin was knocked silly when they knocked heads about 3 or 4 minutes in. Not the greatest match of all time, but an important match nonetheless. The second PPV title match for these two, the first with Austin defending. Great (and unexpected) high spot features Undertaker attempting a huge legdrop from the top turnbuckle onto the announce table. Impressive visual for a guy that size. Good match, great show, check it out!

For the third time in its history, SummerSlam returned to Madison Square Garden in 1998. 1998 actually marked the 10th anniversary of SummerSlam, so it was only fitting that the main event would be a battle of two WWE legends. Stone Cold Steve Austin defended his WWE Championship against the Undertaker in the main event in what was deemed the "Highway to Hell." Ultimately, Austin would pin the Undertaker to retain his title. Also at SummerSlam 1999, Triple H defeated The Rock in a brutal ladder match to net his second Intercontinental Championship, and the New Age Outlaws topped Mankind and Kane to nab their third Tag Team Championship.

European Champion D'Lo Brown defeated Val Venis by DQ The Oddities defeated Kaientai X-Pac pinned Jeff Jarrett in a Hair vs. Hair Match Edge & Sable defeated Marc Mero & Jacqueline Ken Shamrock defeated Owen Hart in a Lion's Den Match New Age Outlaws defeated Mankind & Kane to win the Tag Team Championship Triple H defeated The Rock in a Ladder Match to win the Intercontinental Title WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin pinned Undertaker

Overall Mark: B-

The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) returns to New York City in Madison Sqaure Garden in front of a crowd of nearly 22,000.

Match 1: D'Lo Brown (c) defeated Val Venis by disqualification - Singles match for the WWF European Championship (15:24) - Decent match both Brown and Venis at the time were showing how strong mid carders both where. The ending is kind of blah but doesn't make Venis look like crap in the process. 5/10

Match 2: The Oddities (Giant Silva, Golga and Kurrgan) (with Luna Vachon, Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J) defeated Kaientai (Dick Togo, Men's Teioh, Sho Funaki and Taka Michinoku) (with Yamaguchi-san) - Handicap match (10:10) - Stupid throwaway comedy match that has what feels like a million people at ringside. Only redeeming value is that the Insane Clown Posse is there during their stint with the company other than that its totally forgettable. 1/10

Match 3: X-Pac (with Howard Finkel) defeated Jeff Jarrett (with Dennis Knight and Mark Canterbury) - Hair vs. Hair match (11:11) - Pretty good match I always enjoyed watching X-Pac wrestle. For some reason they have the hardest time cutting Jeff Jarrett's hair following the match. 7/10

Match 4: Edge and Sable defeated Jacqueline and Marc Mero - Mixed tag team match (8:26) - Notable for being the first PPV for Edge who had been built up for weeks prior in several Sting style vignettes sitting in the rafters. The company's worship of Sable continues while the burying of her husband Mero sadly continues as well. 6/10

Match 5: Ken Shamrock defeated Owen Hart (with Dan Severn) by submission - Lion's Den match (9:15) - Interesting seeing the company try some MMA stuff here defiantly different, but nothing to memorable. 6/10

Match 6: The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) defeated Mankind (c) - Falls Count Anywhere Handicap match for the WWF Tag Team Championship (5:17) - About five minutes of Foley just getting the crap beat out of him, watching him take so many chair and pan shots to the head is rough, I'm shocked that man's still alive today. Kane was supposed to be his tag partner, but no showed only to appear after the match in the dumpster Foley is thrown in to beat him with a sledgehammer. 6/10

Match 7: Triple H (with Chyna) defeated The Rock (c) (with Mark Henry) - Ladder match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship (25:58) - A dang good ladder match defiantly among the companies best watching what would eventually be two main eventers go to war over a title that at one time held solid prestige is awesome. 10/10

Match 8: Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) defeated The Undertaker - No Disqualification match for the WWF Championship (20:52) - A heck of a battle between these too. It's matches like this that kept WWF firmly ahead of WCW and eventually helped them win the war. Austin and Undertaker would have plenty more battles over the years, but this one is usually the most remembered, even if the fact both are faces sort of hamper it down a bit. 9/10

Overall, a very good and memorable event saved by the strength of the final two matches. The rest of the card other than that terrible second match is good enough and it's shocking how much time they gave several of these lower card matches. 8/10.

By this point in WWE history, that had re-built from the disastrous mid-90s and put together a talented roster filled with innovative angles. As such, an event like SummerSlam 1998 isn't going to be horrible. For whatever reason, though, the event does seem to fall a bit flatter than those around it.

A few thoughts...

-A new character like Val Venis (basically riffing on a porn star trope) shows just how far into the "Attitude Era" the company really is at this point. -Shamrock vs Owen Hart in the Lion's Den is certainly innovative, but such a clear jab at UFC that was probably un-necessary. -Mankind vs. New Age Outlaws is fun to watch, especially with Foley taking that character to new levels seemingly with every PPV at this point. -The Ladder Match between Rock & Triple H doesn't have a ton of "pop" to it. I'm not sure if this because it is pretty straightforward or because the ladder concept was losing a little steam (I would guess the latter). Maybe it would take TLC matches to rev up that engine again. -Austin vs. Undertaker is a perfectly acceptable finale, but one featuring an angle that really has no "future" in it. This is one of those scenarios where the two "top dogs" are matched up against each other, put on a decent show, and then go their separate ways again.

So, while featuring a solid talent roster, SummerSlam '98 is a bit of a step backward in terms of overall entertainment factor.

That event had great matches especially Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker. I don't know if it's just me but the Crowd at Madison Square Garden that night didn't seem as active as most crowds instead of cheering for some of the moves they clapped very odd compared to the rest of the Crowds for wwf.