WWF In Your House: Breakdown ‘98

1. Owen Hart vs. Edge – 5
2. Too Much vs. Al Snow and Scorpio – 5
3. Marc Mero vs. Droz – 3
4. Vader vs. Bradshaw – Anything Goes Match – 4
5. D’Lo Brown vs. Gangrel – 4
6. Ken Shamrock vs. Mankind vs. The Rock – Steel Cage Match – 4
7. Val Venis vs. Dustin Runnels – 4
8. New Age Outlaws and X-Pac vs. Southern Justice and Jeff Jarrett – 3
9. Undertaker vs. Kane vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin – 3

Owen and Edge had a really fun match; although some things didn’t go off as smoothly as hoped, it still had a good energy and flow to it. I’d forgotten how beautiful Owen’s missile dropkick truly was. Too Much are too horrible for me to usually stand, but here, they held their own in a good, albeit flawed tag match. It got really sloppy in parts, but they gave it more time than I’d expected, and kept it moving along nicely. Mero and Droz was a nothing match, and only memorable in that Mero’s shooting star press was utterly breathtaking.

I was hoping Vader and Bradshaw would beat the holy hell out of each other – and while it is stiff, it wasn’t the war I’d anticipated it being. D’Lo and Gangrel was surprisingly better than I’d assumed. I didn’t remember Gangrel ever being as quick and fluid as he was here, especially in the beginning stages of this match. Thus far, the show was quite enjoyable but then we come across the cage match, which ended up being a major disappointment. The guys involved had no chemistry together; take for example, Shamrock making Mankind’s hiptoss look like Foley was trying to toss a refrigerator over his shoulder, as Shamrock sluggishly flopped over like he was wearing concrete boots. The finish didn’t come off well, either – some convoluted mess that probably seemed ingenious at the time, came off looking as unbelievable as Paris Hilton’s supposed singing career.

Val and Dustin was perfectly fine wrestling, although the storyline was absolute garbage. Dustin was working the preacher gimmick, and wearing some idiotic sleeveless white top with all kinds of random text on the front that looked more akin to Kerry Von Eric’s suicide note than a coherent statement. You have to see Dustin’s sell of a clothesline in the entrance aisle on the floor – it’s priceless. The six-man tag just didn’t do it for me, I dislike most of the guys involved, and had a hard time being unbiased while viewing it. I wager you’ll likely think its sub par at best, too. The main event was absolutely awful, and a reason why I sometimes harbor a hatred for WWF during this era. It was a too long, poorly executed, meandering brawl that was the epitome of shitty and lazy wrestling. They unconvincingly punched, punched, and punched some more – repeat ad nausea, etc. I’d rather watch hidden camera footage of Austin hitting ex-wife Debra in the stomach, than throwing sloppy haymakers at Kane’s eyesore head.