Summerslam (1998 TV Special) User Reviews

Pretty good PPV!

[diminutiverob · 8/10 · 9 November 2004]

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!

Summer slam gets lukewarm

[paudieconnolly · 6/10 · 3 January 2023]

A strong looking card . Better on paper good match ups and strong storylines. Have to say it lacked something. I don't know was it crowd was low energy, for me something didn't work. All night long failed to capture my attention like I felt these matches would. Was like drinking coke tastes like coke looks like coke just a little flat. Mankind defending the tag team titles alone Double JJ & Xpac have there hair on the line. Sable new partner being Edge was a highlight facing Mero & Jacqueline. Triple H v The Rock Intercontinental title . Stone cold Steve Austin and the undertaker for the title.

Not Bad, But Falls A Little Flat

[zkonedog · 6/10 · 18 March 2019]

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.

Recap

[Spawn Devil · 1 July 2002]

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-

Solid Show With 2 Excellent Closers

[morantjavonte · 8/10 · 18 August 2021]

SummerSlam 1998 Thoughts

SummerSlam 1998 was the 11th annual SummerSlam PPV event that took place August 30, 1998 at Madison Square Garden. It was the first SummerSlam event under the Attitude Era and was near the beginning of the WWF's dominance of the Monday Night Wars as wrestling. 1998 was the most competitive year of the War as both WCW & WWF traded ratings lead for majority of the year. Stone Cold being the biggest draw got money and viewers on Vince's tail. This event would also have the highest buyrate of all SummerSlams for 15 years.

The Good - The main event was awesome. Undertaker & Austin both agreed they don't have chemistry due to various reasons but honestly, I think they do have it more than they think. I've seen other duos who's chemistry don't connect even worse compared to them. Props to Undertaker helping Austin who got a concussion during a big boot. Triple H and The Rock had the best match of the night. The ladder match was amazing and it was partially the beginning of Vince seeing The Rock as a future bright star. Triple H vs. The Rock is no doubt one of the greatest rivalries of all time. The Lions Den match was also really good and I really enjoyed the Mix-tag team match. Edge was really over in his rookie year.

The Meh - Opening was okay could have been better. I think it could have been a little shorter and ending in a DQ was kinda disappointing. Also felt like Kane could have been booked into something who for majority of the show was just questioned where he was and later appeared during the Main Event.

The Bad - The Oddities vs. Kaientai was okay...just a little funny but it was still Terrible with sloppy moments. Mankind vs. The New Age Outlaws was also sadly lackluster. Nothing else really negative of the show.

Overall - A solid PPV. By far the best SummerSlam by that time period and it was only a matter of time before WWE would eventually annihilate WCW with quality on TV Shows and PPVs every week. Double Thumbs Up.

Score - 8 out of 10: Really Really Good

0 = Terrible: 1 = Bad/Lackluster: 2 = Decent: 3 = Good: 4 = Awesome: 5 = One of the Best of All Time:

1. Val Venis vs. D-Lo Brown: WWE European Championship - 2/5

2. The Oddities vs. Kaientai - 0.5/5

3. X-Pac vs. Double J - 3/5

4. Marc Mero & Jacqueline vs. Sable & Edge - 3/5

5. Ken Shamrock vs. Owen Hart (Lions Den Match) - 3.5/5

6. Mankind vs. New Age Outlaws: World Tag Team Championship (No Holds Barred Falls Count Anywhere) - 1.5/5

7. The Rock vs. Triple H: WWE Intercontinental Championship (Ladder Match) - 4/5

8. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker: WWE Championship - 4/5

Best Match - Triple H vs. The Rock

Worst Match The Oddities vs. Kaientai

Most Memorable Moment - Austin's Victory

Top 5 Performers

1. Triple H - Great Performance

2. The Rock - Great Performance

3. Undertaker - Carrying Austin through injury

4. Stone Cold - Great Performance despite concussion

5. Ken Shamrock - Great Performance.

Good PPV

[bh_tafe3 · 7/10 · 22 October 2012]

Undertaker and Austin went to war, Triple H and the Rock announced their credentials and Mankind defended the tag belts on his own against the New Age Outlaws on an entertaining Summerslam show, which rode a great main event angle down the Highway to Hell to become the most successful Summerslam PPV ever.

The big story going into the night was the revelation on RAW six days earlier that the Undertaker, who was challenging Austin for the WWE Title, had formed an alliance with his brother Kane. Kane had been in a bitter feud with the Undertaker for much of the first half of the year, but this began to change when Undertaker screwed Austin out of the title at King of the Ring to prevent Kane setting himself on fire. Taker made up for this by helping Austin win the title back a night later, but the relationship between the two brothers improved from there. Before the event started, Kane announced that he would be turning his back on tag team partner Mankind and not helping him defend their title, preferring instead to concentrate on his alliance with Undertaker. Surely this spelt doom for Austin in the main event?

The night began with a surprisingly competently worked European Title Match in which D Lo Brown successfully defended his championship against Val Venis, making his PPV Debut. They actually tell a decent story and drag the crowd into the match, before a screwjob finish which saw Venis disqualified. This was the period of time where D Lo was wrestling with a metal chest plate supposedly for medical reasons.

The next match saw the Insane Clown Posse rock MSG as the Oddities downed Kaientai in a short comedy match. This was reasonably harmless fun, but the crowd didn't seem into it. I didn't mind it, but must admit it was an ineffective waste of time.

Our next match was another decent one between two good workers as X-Pac, flanked by DX and "The Fink" defeated Jeff Jarrett in a hair vs hair match. The story here was that Jarrett had humiliated Finkle by shaving him bald and so "the fink" took great pleasure in assisting X-Pac in cutting Jarrett's hair after the match. THis was a pretty entertaining 20 minutes or so. Jarrett was always a good worker, even if the WWE tends to not give him credit for it.

Next up Michael Cole was given the first (I can remember) of many tongue lashings by the Rock, who was being interviewed about his upcoming defence of the Intercontinental Championship against Triple H in a ladder match.

Next we saw the latest in the public humiliation of Marc Mero as he was put in a mixed tag team match with his on screen girlfriend Jacqueline against his then real life wife Sable (now Mrs Brock Lesnar) and Edge ( who like Val Venis earlier was making his PPV debut). Longer than a lot of mixed tag matches but nit particularly memorable. By this stage Mero's ring work was so bad and his apathy with the crowds so obvious, it must have only been his marriage to Sable (who was one of the biggest merchandise sellers in the company) keeping him employed (or independently contracted as the case may be).

Next up we saw Mankind get talked into defending the tag belts on his own by Vince McMahon.

This was followed by an early attempt at a worked MMA match between Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock. The story here was that Hart had enlisted the services of Dan "The Beast" Severn to prepare for his Lion's Den match. Check it out for morbid curiosity, but this isn't good. Itl;s basically a worked pro wrestling match in an MMA cage. Be lying if I said it wasn't memorable, as I've never forgotten it, but it isn't good either.

Next up was the tag match in which Mankind made a reasonable effort of defending the tag belts, but was eventually over powered and then destroyed by the New Age Outlaws in a decent match.

THis was followed by the fondly remembered and extremely entertaining ladder match for the world championship between the Rock and Triple H. The Rock had retained his title in a best two of three falls match with Triple H at the previous PPV after a time limit draw that the challenger was about to win after hitting a pedigree. Here trips beats the odds, triumphs over outside interference, with some interference of his own, and wins is second Intercontinental championship. THis feud, which featured Rock's Nation of Domination cronies taking on Triple H's DX buddies would propel both to stardom and begin a long and lucrative rivalry between the two that would sustain the WWE through Stone Cold's injury in 2000.

This brings us to the well built and highly anticipated main event, in which Steve Austin defeated the Undertaker in a very good match to retain the WWE Championship. It took three stunners to keep Taker down in an entertaining back and forth match, pleasingly clean of a screwy finish.

So what would McMahon do now after even the mighty Undertaker had failed to beat his nemesis Stone Cold? Mankind, Kane and Undertaker had all failed to wrest the title from Austin. Who was next?

A very good WWF PPV made memorable by the final two matches.

[b_kite · 8/10 · 17 April 2022]

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.

Clean victory in main event and Ladder match that wasn't from the best. The rest was plain.

[amanwhorocks · 6/10 · 29 June 2014]

1. WWF European Title Match: Val Venis Vs. Champ-D Lo Brown - Weirdy thing, a lot of miscommunication, odd ending and so. 6.5/10

2. Kaientai Vs. Bunch of bad clowns - This is exactly example of match that I don't like. Comedy, Big versus small and lot of "for people" stuff 3/10

3. Hair Vs. Hair Match: Double J Vs. X-pac - Jarrett got new haircut. 7/10

4. Sable/Edge Vs. Marc Mero/Jacqueline - Edge acted like total rookie and something between Metalhead and Thorr. His PPV debut. Sable of course won over Mero. 7/10

5. Ken Shamrock Vs. Owen Hart - Ken's victory was sooo predictable. 6.5/10

6. Handicap WWF tag Team Title Match: Champ-Mankind Vs. New Age Outlaws - Awful thing, FOley took a punishment, lost Belts and then even Kane turned on him . Thanks, no. 5/10

7. Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: HHH Vs. Champ-The Rock - Pardon, but that was quite sloppy ladder match. They headed up the ladder far way too long. 8/10

8. WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: The Undertaker VS. Champ-Stone Cold Steve Austin - Clean victory fort champ over Undertaker. That means something. 8.5/10

Great Show

[MotorheadOnly12 · 14 July 2002]

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.