___________________ [ WWF Thunder ] [ June 4th 1998 ] [___________________] The show opens with fireworks here in Peoria, Illinois as thousands upon thousands of screaming fans kick things off. Live here tonight, the 1998 King Of The Ring tournament is going to continue, as the undefeated Yuji Nagata takes on Booker T, and the Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia meets Owen Hart. Booker's got to be wondering when *he* is gonna get into the ring with the Rock, after his title shot was aborted last week thanks to Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Triple-H will be here as well, along with Sycho Sid and many others, including the world heavyweight champion Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett retained his title by the skin of his teeth on Monday night, what will his views be three days later? One man who isn't here is the number one contender to Jarrett's title, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and Jarrett can be a little over eager in his comments when he knows his opponent ain't around. In only seventeen days though, Jarrett and Austin will collide at the 1998 King Of The Ring, and it's time to go to our next KOTR qualifying match! Yuji Nagata vs Booker T - Booker makes his entrance first, but for the second time this week, his opponent doesn't make it all the way out. As Nagata starts to walk down the aisle, he gets jumped by the European champion Adam Bomb! Bomb and Nagata have been going at it on and off for two months now, and Bomb drags Yuji back through the curtains. Booker surveys the scene looking disgusted as he sees his opponent disappear, then takes the microphone. "Hey, what is going on here? Are we gonna.. Get him back out here now." Booker leaves the ring and asks the time keeper to ring the bell. To Booker's annoyance though he refuses, and promptly eats a right-hand. Booker looks set to go nuts but he is soon restrained by swarming officials. The camera cuts backstage where Bomb and Nagata are going at it, then back to the ring area, where Booker is now being escorted out. There will apparently be a ruling on this match later. With things seemingly at a standstill at this time, what with the scheduled match abandoned, we go to footage from last Monday night's Jeff Jarrett/Shawn Michaels world title match. Coming back to live events, we have Jeff Jarrett backstage with Michael Cole. Cole : "I'm standing here alongside the World Wrestling Federation champion, and Jeff, I gotta ask, you must feel lucky to be still wearing that title belt? Jarrett : "Do I feel lucky? Listen Michael Cole, luck has nothing to do with it. I had Michaels beat, for the *fourth* time I might add, and that's all there is to it. Lady Luck may be on my shoulder, but she was sleeping easy on Monday night. Monday night was all about *me*. Cole : "Jeff, we just saw the footage. Shawn Michaels was beating the hell out of you, and you had no reply! In my opinion, if it wasn't for the intervention of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, then that belt would belong to Shawn Michaels. Surely even you can see that? Jarrett : "In answer to your question Michael, yes, I *will* beat the living hell out of Steve Austin at King Of The Ring, and yes, I *will* retain my title. You know, it seems to me that you got a little attitude problem here, how much are they paying you? Cole : "I don't see what- Jarrett : "I said, how much are they paying your ass Michael?" Cole : "100k a year." Jarrett : "100k a year? 100k a year. Get the hell outta my spotlight Michael, right now. Get the hell outta here. Go on." Jarrett shoves Michael out of the camera shot, then turns back to it. Jarrett : "Now, the World Wrestling Federation champion has some things he'd like to say, and he doesn't need no ragass college reporter intruding on his light. Shawn Michaels? No.. We don't even need to *talk* about Shawn Michaels anymore. Steve Austin? I don't care whether you come out to the ring, nail me with the stunner like last week, whatever the hell you wanna do, just remember this, and get this straight. On June twenty-first, at the WWF King Of The Ring 1998... hey, I remember Wrestlemania pal, I remember that real clearly Austin. On June 21st, you're gonna pay for Wrestlemania. On June 21st, you're gonna pay for costing me the match on Monday night. And on June 21st, you're gonna feel the figure four around your legs, you'll scream with pain, you'll scream out loud "Yes Jeff, You got me, I give", and then you're gonna realise why messing with Jeff Jarrett is something you never, *ever* do. And my friends out east Steve, they ain't forgotten you either. Remember that Austin, remember it. Okay, that's it." All the action of the WWF King Of The Ring 1998 can be seen live on pay per view, along with a live eight man tournament and much much more! Still to come tonight, Owen Hart will face off against Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia for the right to participate. But first a commercial break, and when we come back, tag team action! [commercials] The Hardy Boyz vs The Headbangers - The Headbangers start off slow in their first match since being hammered by Sycho Sid and Vader, and they are quickly on the recieving end. Matt hits a flying dropkick then gets a two count with a German suplex, but after about one minute into the match, Mosh gets the Headbangers first offence, hitting a DDT out of nowhere. Mosh pulls Matt over to his corner, and he and Thrasher double team the youngster until the referee puts a stop to it. The Headbangers keep control though until Matt executes a jaw breaker on Mosh, and makes a hot tag to his brother. Jeff springboards into the ring and starts to dominate his opponent. He gets two close pinfalls within seconds of each other, first with a victory roll, then after executing a rana. - Both teams then switch players, but the Hardy's keep control of the match, as Matt goes against Thrasher. Matt staggers Thrasher with a dropkick, before putting him on the canvas with a swinging neckbreaker. He then executes the springboard moonsault "MegaHurtz", but Mosh breaks the count. Jeff then enters the ring and goes after Mosh, and for the rest of this match, those two men are going at it on the floor. Inside the ring, Thrasher and Matt Hardy continue to go at each other. Both men trade the advantage several times, and Thrasher looks to have ended the match when he nails Hardy precisely with a flying headbutt. A foot on the ropes keeps Matt in the match though, and soon after he nails the Headbanger with a springboard dropkick for a two count of his own. Thrasher was able to kick out that time, but as soon as he gets to his feet, Matt executes the MegaHurtz to end the match for good. The Hardy Boyz defeated The Headbangers when M. Hardy pinned Thrasher with the Megahurtz in 0:05:09. Rating: * 1/2 Celebration? There's no celebration for the Hardy's here, as Sycho Sid and Vader make their way down the aisle. A double dropkick on Sid is completely no-sold, and soon both Hardy Boyz are on the mat. A pair of powerbombs later, and the referee from the previous match is then called over to count another three count. Matt and Jeff are then tossed to the outside, and soon follow the Headbangers back to the dressing rooms. Apparently that's all Sid and Vader wanted, as they shove the Fink down when he offers them the microphone, and they then storm off to the back. Sid will be back out for singles action later, but now, a look back to the 25th of May, as Owen Hart and The British Bulldog took on Marc Mero and Fit Finlay. Highlight's of the match are shown, a match which incidentally, ended in a double countout. Up next, the Bulldog goes one on one with 'Marvelous' Marc Mero. But first, footage is shown of Adam Bomb fighting Yuji Nagata at In Your House, with Bomb winning by countout, and again a few weeks ago on tv, with Nagata getting the non-title victory. It is noted that Marc Mero has two victories over Adam Bomb, the second coming at Wrestlemania I. Marc Mero vs The British Bulldog - In a scene Mero would have liked to have been reminiscent of his boxing career, he floors Bulldog with a right hand right after the bell. After wasting a huge amount of time showboating, he follows it up by suplexing Davey Boy, but that does little damage, as soon it's Mero on the mat, as the Bulldog takes over with a dropkick. Mero jumps right back up to his feet, but soon finds he'd be better off just lying there as Smith scoops him up and gorilla presses him back down to the canvas. Sleeper hold! The Marvelous One sinks down to one knee, and is soon sitting mid-ring on his ass as Bulldog keeps the hold on. Eventually Mero gets that third arm [third arm?] up at the last second, and the match continues. Bulldog, thinking that he can't get Mero to sleep, maybe he can get him to submit, locks on a Boston Crab. It takes Mero close to thirty seconds to prove this tactic unsuccessful, as he finally manages to grab that enticing bottom rope. - Mero may have escaped that hold, but he's soon down on the mat at the Bulldog's will again, as Smith executes a headlock takedown on the GoldenGloves champion. Davey Boy is able to keep him down for a short while, but really this is just killing some time. Good job this show isn't two hours anymore, we'd be here all night. Scared at that prospect, Mero starts to show some life. After pulling himself up to his feet and breaking the hold, Mero runs right into a clothesline. Sensing he's onto something, Mero runs right into another one, before retreating to the outside to rethink. It's all square when Mero returns, and he finally gets the advantage by winning the lock-up, eye rake style. Next offence from Mero : Armdrag takedown, bodyslam, cover. In what is just the first pinfall attempt of the match, Davey Boy gets his right shoulder up at one. - Mero's really in the swing of things now though, and he catches Smith with a slingshot somersault plancha for another two count. What a showman! The 'mutants' in the crowd start paying a little attention when Mero throws the Bulldog through the ropes to the floor, and it's there where Mero starts to do some real damage. After coming off the top buckle with a flying dropkick, Mero pretty much knocks Smith right out cold with a TKO on the concrete. He ain't fully out though, as is evident by the shoulder movement shown in the resulting pin attempt. Looking a slight bit annoyed, Mero places Smith against the ropes. Moments later, Mero is on the floor, victim of a backdrop, and Smith is looking fine. What a crazy world. - After some brief shennanigins on the outside, the action is soon back in the squared circle, with no real damage done to either man. Smith takes Mero's head and slams it into the turnbuckle, with NO REMORSE! No effect either as it would seem, so Davey Boy does it nine more times, and sure enough, Mero is hurting now. Dazed as well, and he ain't blocking the punches from the Bulldog no sir. Whip into the ropes by Smith, but he then makes the error of sticking his head down. Mero hits a forearm to the back, grabs the tights, rolls Davey up, and gets the three count! Wow, that was an out of the blue finish. Marc Mero pinned Davey Boy Smith with a rollup in 0:05:08. Rating: * 3/4 Bulldog springs up to his feet and clocks the victorious Mero with a lariat! If Smith was set to do anything else to Mero, we'll never know, as the WWF Tag Team Champions attack him from behind! Mero rolls out of the ring and gets out of the way as Gunn and Holly stomp away on Davey Boy. The fans chant for Owen, and the WWF always give the fans what they want, so here comes Owen! [Disclaimer - The WWF gives the fans what Lee Kelsall wants to give them. Any mention of such fan friendly tactics like above are false propaganda and are hereby identified as such. This invalidates any legal action taken against the World Wrestling Federation or Lee Kelsall in a court of law. Have a nice day.] Aaaaaaaanyway, Owen runs down the aisle and nails both Express members with a clothesline. Bob Holly is then tossed out of the ring to the floor, whilst Gunn enjoys a fate worse than... that, as he gets a load of the Sharpshooter. Bart is eventually let go, and he, after seeing that his partner has looooooong since departed, runs off back to the dressing rooms. Owen and Bulldog hug in the centre of the ring as we go to a break. [commercials] We return to hear confirmed word of this Monday night's feature match : Owen Hart and The British Bulldog versus Bart Gunn and Bob Holly! Quite a coincidence that those four men were involved in a brawl just moments ago. Or not. It's non-title of course. There's two men who feel *they* deserve a shot at the tag team champs, and one of them is in action right now. Sid vs Alan Stone - A lot of people say that technical mat wrestling is the key to success. Jyushn Liger is one of the top wrestlers in the world, one of the most successful, and gee, look at *him* go. Then there's a guy like Sid. Liger may know a thousand different ways to fly off the top rope, but Sid knows a thousand different ways to choke your opponent on it. And there's a whole lot of chokin' going on in this match. Whole lot of boots and fists as well. That's not to say there's a lot of action in this match. Hell, if there was, I'd be talking about that, not whatever I'm talking about. Sid punches Stone, knocking him to the mat. Stone is then pulled up to his feet, where he is then kicked by Sid. Sid then.... [Promo : 1998 King Of The Ring - June 21st 98] [Only on Pay-Per-View] - Chokeslam! Powerbomb! Three count! Sid pinned Alan Stone with the Power Bomb in 0:02:12. Rating: -* Sid strolls over to ringside, obviously exhausted, and grabs a microphone. Sid : "Now I just heard that Owen Hart and The British Bulldog are facing the Express on Thursday night. I don't have anything to say about that. I'll let my actions on Monday Night Raw, speak louder than words." Hmmm. Also announced for this Monday on Raw, Adam Bomb will face Bob Holly in a King Of The Ring qualifier. I guess Bob Holly will be doing double duty on Monday night. Plus, Brian Adams and Savio Vega will face The Hardy Boyz, and loads more. Right now, we go to footage from earlier tonight, as Adam Bomb and Nagata went at it, putting a halt to Nagata's KOTR match against Booker T. A ruling has apparently been made, and Booker T is in the ring when we return to live action. Then, making his way out of the curtains and to the ring, is... Pierre Oulette? [King Of The Ring Qualifying Match] [Winner faces Hunter Hearst Helmsley] Booker T vs Pierre Oulette [Subbing for Yuji Nagata] - By way of an explanation for Oulette's presence, the camera cuts backstage to see Nagata being loaded onto an ambulance, surrounded by paramedics. Back to the ring, and the undefeated Pierre has already attacked Booker, and is laying in those fists with Booker back in the corner of the ring. Into mid-ring, Booker is taken down with a kneelift, then caught in a front facelock, a hold which is soon broken. Whip into the buckle by Oulette, it's followed up by an elbow to the face. Another whip in, then a rake to Booker's eyes. A swinging neckbreaker really cements Pierre's advantage in this match, and he has his way with Booker for a long period of time. - Booker seems to be on the verge of submitting on two occasions, with a front facelock and a reverse chinlock, but both times he's able to grab on to the ropes before the pain becomes too much. Moments after Booker breaks the chinlock, the tide of the match turns. As Oulette goes for a snap mare, Booker is able to block, and he then sends Pierre crashing to the canvas with a swinging neckbreaker of his own. Booker keeps the momentum going by nailing his opponent with a scissor kick, and despite having no time to prepare for this opponent, he's in control. He gets a two count via a powerslam shortly after, then sends Oulette to the floor. - As Booker follows him out, he's met with the sight of Hunter Hearst Helmsley walking down the aisle. The two get into a heated debate, apparently somebody trashed Hunter's dressing room. Booker denies involvement, causing Helmsley to laugh and ask who else would trash his room and write 'Harlem Heat' across the wall? Before Booker can reply, Pierre nails him from behind with a forearm. DDT on the concrete! Helmsley walks away as Oulette pulls the unconscious Booker T to his feet then puts him back in the ring. Booker is laid out, Pierre goes to the top, CANNONBALL!, pinfall. Pierre advances. Pierre Oulette pinned Booker T with the Cannonball in 0:04:49. Rating: ** 1/4 (Yuji Nagata no-showed.) Oulette will now face Triple-H at the King Of The Ring pay-per-view, whilst both Booker T and Yuji Nagata will be sitting at home. As will Shawn Michaels apparently, and we see more clips of Monday night's match as we go to another break. [Commercials] [WWF Flashback - Sponsored by Artline] Clips : Sycho Sid/Shawn Michaels vs Chris Candido/Bam Bam Bigelow February 23rd 1998 ........ The referee leaves the action to try and herd Austin away, and with the referees attention elsewhere a four man brawl breaks out. Austin decides the best course of action would be to Stunner the referee, and then he enters the ring. Austin stunners Michaels, knocking him out. For the hell of it, Austin then stunners Bam Bam Bigelow and throws him over Michaels. Sid and Candido are tangled up on the outside, oblivious to the actions in the ring. Before Austin can leave though, he is met by a chair to the face by Jeff Jarrett. Austin falls out of the ring. An awoken Bam Bam Bigelow tries to work out what the hell is going on, but before he can, Sycho Sid enters the ring and powerbombs his fat ass. The referee crawls across to make the three count and makes it, Candido arriving back into the ring a moment too late to stop the count. Sid and Michaels celebrate in the ring as Jeff Jarrett steps through the ropes. Dustin Runnels is in the ring as we return to Peoria, he looks a trifle annoyed. Runnels : "Here we are in Illinois. You know, I've had a lotta great matches here, Chicago area, but hell, I've had great matches ] all over the world. Ricky Steamboat, Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, I've faced them all, and I've beaten them all. And it's the name of Steve Austin that got me thinking. On June 21st, he's gonna face Jeff Jarrett for the World Heavyweight title. That's fine, I got no grudge against Steve Austin, I ain't got no grudge against Jeff Jarrett to be perfectly frank either, but when I looked at that match, it got me thinking about *myself*. Now I'm as good a wrestler as Steve Austin, hell, the won-loss record between ourselves says that I'm better! But, as we stand, he's gonna be in the main event on June 21st, and where am I gonna be? You know, some people want to talk about Wrestlemania lately, the Austin/Jarrett picture. Well I want to talk about Wrestlemania too. The grandaddy of them all. You see, on March 29th, I made my return to the WWF. I believe there's a clip. Indeed there is. All eyes turn to the Titantron. [From Wrestlemania I - Available on Coliseum Video] Runnels - Rock, I told you I would get back at you, when you least expect it. Over the last two months, I realised what I had to do to get ahead in this industry. First, I had to get even with you. Second, I needed to step out of my fathers shadow, step out of his legacy, and start my own legacy! The legacy, the legend of Dustin Runnels is gonna start tommorow night. And it won't stop until I'm the undisputed world champion. Nothing personal Rock, just something I had to do. [Available on Coliseum Video] Back live. Runnels : "There it is. On March 29th, I talked about a revolution. I talked about starting my own legacy. The *legend* of Dustin Runnels, whatever the crap that's supposed to mean. I know what it *didn't* mean though, and that's what took place. Nothing. It's two and a half months later, and nothing. I talked about how I'd got even with the Rock, and I did. So you can imagine my frustrations when we're in fucking June and the shit is still going on. Rocky? I don't want your Intercontinental Title, let Booker T and Triple-H fight over it. You don't have to worry about me anymore. I also spent a good part of the last two months worrying about one of the guys I just mentioned. Booker T. Why? Why did I waste my time on someone who doesn't appreciate or respect anything that I do anymore? Why should I care if he hangs out with the Nation, if he doesn't hang out with the Nation, whatever he does. Why should I care? Well I know now. I know that I *don't* care. I know that from here on, and I swear by God, it's all about me. On Monday Night Raw, and good lord believe me when I say this, there *will* be the start of something new. There's gonna be no pussyfooting around from here on in. What should have started at Wrestlemania, it's gonna start on Monday Night Raw. Believe me, things are gonna change. Runnels drops the microphone, then calmly walks out. Well, that interview was kind of unscheduled, so the Hack Myers vs Jim Powers match has had to be dropped. Shame, but things are Intense enough tonight, especially with the Rock against Owen Hart just moments away. [Continuity Error : Though the above interview was unscheduled, there was a clip from Wrestlemania all cued up. We'll put it down as an aborted version of [WWF Flashback - Sponsored by Artline] and say that it was just a coincidence that Dustin walked out here. That'll fool the smarts.] Earlier in the day, our cameras caught up with the Intercontinental Champ, and here's what he had to say. Rock : "Hey, get your damn hands off the Rock, he ain't gonna do no damn interview. No, shut your damn mouth, and get the hell out of the Rock's face, ya goddamn piece of monkey crap." The Rock seems confident about his KOTR match tonight, and well he might. He's OWENed Hart in their matches previous, though Hart got a countout win back at Wrestlemania. [Wrestlemania Encore : June 6th only on Pay-Per-View!] [What, you thought it was a coincidence that the show has been mentioned about half a dozen times tonight?] Onto the match. [King Of The Ring Qualifier] [Winner faces either Adam Bomb or Bob Holly] Owen Hart vs [IC Champion] The Rock [Non-title match] - And to the outside! Owen finds himself on the floor within seconds of the opening bell. A backdrop sends Owen out, but Rocky takes a more scenic route in following Hart out, taking the ring steps. He does actually take the steps, raises them above his head and then bashes them into Owen. Hart stays down, holding his back in pain, and soon eats another shot with the stairs. Eventually the referee pulls them off of the Rock, and gets met with the RAISED EYEBROW OF DOOM! After hitting a snap suplex onto the concrete, Rocky tosses Hart back inside. Owen likes to get off to a fast start, and well, this ain't a good fast start. He gets his first offence of the match just moments later though, as he catches Maivia with a boot to the chest on an Irish whip. - Hart then springs up to the top rope, and then knocks Rocky to the mat with a flying dropkick. Hart goes on to hit three more flying dropkicks in quick succession, one from each buckle, and The Rock is dazed. A piledriver puts Maivia flat on his back, and Owen signals for the Sharpshooter just two minutes into the match. He puts one leg in place, but then the Rock comes to life, and kicks Hart away with his free leg. He then nails Owen with a clothesline after getting to his feet, and then quickly locks a Sharpshooter on Owen! Owen is spared the indignity of losing to his own hold by grabbing on to the bottom rope, but not after a lot of damage was done. Rock now has control, and he moves Owen into the corner, and starts chopping away at Maivia. Hart holds his chest in pain, but his chest is soon comforted by the canvas as Rocky nails him with a DDT. - Maivia then covers for a two count, then, after verbally berating the apparently slow-counting referee, puts Hart in a sleeper hold. Hart is caught up in the hold for aaaaaaaaaaages, before he inches his way to the ropes. All that time with the sleeper, and we aren't even rewarded with one of those exciting "Will the arm stay up the third time?" bits. Hart then gets back into the match by hitting a spinning leg lariat, then an enzirguiri, and then a brutal piledriver that sees Rocky bounce about four feet in the air after contact with the mat. Maivia's able to kick out of Owen's cover though, but when he tries to get to his feet he's met with a low blow. The Rock sure looks in a lot of pain right there, but is given a little time to recover when Owen clotheslines him out of the ring. He lays low until an eight count, when he finally resumes the match. - And resumes getting his butt kicked. Owen executes a Gutwrench Suplex, then follows it up with a flying elbowdrop. He then keeps Rocky occupied with a front facelock for a while, and this is really turning into a dull match. After Maivia comes out of the facelock, the contest degenerates into a punch and kick fest for a while, before Owen jumps up and gets a two count with a crucifix. Both men then trade pinfall attempts back and forth, Owen and Rock both coming agonisingly close to winning. It's been a close match though, we may need some outside intervention to get a winner here. Oh wait, here he comes now. It's Marc Mero. - Rocky whips Hart into the ropes, and it's there where Mero jumps and nails Owen with a right hand! Hart falls forward, but luckily he's caught by Maivia. Unluckily, Rocky then exceutes the Rock Bottom! 1-2-3, Owen's out, Rocky's in. [King Of The Ring Qualifier]: Non-Title-Match: Rocky Maivia pinned Owen Hart with the Rock Bottom in 0:08:24. Rating: *** 1/4 So the Rock's gonna advance, and he'll face the winner of Monday's match, between Bob Holly and the European Champion Adam Bomb. Bob Holly wrestling twice on one night? What a guy. The show fades out with the Rock posing with his Intercontinental Title belt.