Chris

In their place were a new crop of younger, talented wrestlers, who drank, swore, and brawled like they were in a bar fight rather than a pro wrestling ring.

These rude and crude wrestlers brought with them edgier stories that pushed the boundaries. They brought with them violence and mayhem.

And yes, they brought with them plenty of attitude

Here's what happened when Madison Square Garden played host to the first Summerslam of the Attitude Era.

A Hot Summer's Night in New York

World Wrestling Federation European Championship

WWF European Champion D'Lo Brown vs. Val Venis

Mankind is Upset

Four-Versus-Three Handicap Match

The Oddities (Golga, Giant Silva and Kurgan w/ Luna Vachon and The Insane Clown Posse) vs. Kai En Tai (Taka Michinoku, Mens Teoh, Dick Togo and Sho Funaki w/ Yamaguchi-San)

Hair vs. Hair Match

Jeff Jarrett (w/ Southern Justice) vs. X-Pac (w/ Howard Finkle)

The Rock Lays the Smack Down

Marc Mero & Jacqueline vs. Sable & Edge

Lion's Den Match

Ken Shamrock vs. Owen Hart (w/ Dan Severn)

World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship Falls Count Anywhere Match

WWF Tag Team Champion Mankind vs. The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg Jesse James & Bad Ass Billy Gunn)

The Rock and Triple H: Ready for War

World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match

WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock (w/ Mark Henry) vs. Triple H (w/ Chyna)

World Wrestling Federation Championship

WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker

Other WWF Summerslam Reviews





Back then, valiant heroes The Mega Powers had joined forces to wage war with the dastardly M ega Bucks and larger-than-life superstarhad run roughshod over the cowardlyen route to his first Intercontinental championship.In the decade that passed a lot -nay, everything- had changed about the World Wrestling Federation.Gone were the cartoon-like superheroes and family-friendly storylines. Gone were the familiar voices of the likes ofandas they guided us through the stories.Gone too was the entire roster, with not one man who performed on the 1988 show competing in 1998. Our show tonight began with an opening video package recounting the recent drama between WWF Championand his number one contender,It had become apparent that after months of feuding, including two memorable matches at Wrestlemania 14 and Unforgiven: In Your House , The Undertaker andwere now on the same page.How would this deadly alliance affect tonight's main event?How would Stone Cold Steve Austin survive a two-on-one attack by the Brothers of Destruction?What other obstacles could Evil Overlordthrow in arch-nemesis Austin's path?All these questions, and more, would hopefully be answered tonight.The video over,told us it was a hot, sweaty summer's night before welcoming us to Madison Square Garden and introducing his broadcast colleague,With that, it was on to our opening contest.With the better part of twenty minutes to play with, reigning championand challengerput on as solid an opening match as you could expect from the two at this stage of their careers.Whilst I won't lie to you and tell you it was a five-star classic, it was hugely enjoyable and very compelling from start to finish.Speaking of the finish, that saw Val steal D'Lo's chest protector and attempt to leap off the top rope with it. Instead, refereetried to stop Val and accidentally ended up pushing him so that Val crotched the ropes.Seeking revenge, Val recovered and shoved the referee, causing the DQ.Compensating for the disappointing result, Val made the MSG crowd happy by bodyslamming Korderas and hitting him with The Money Shot.Out in the back,tried to get a word with, who was inspecting a battered hearse which had been destroyed by Stone Cold on the episode of Sunday Night Heat which took place just before the show.Mankind was upset because that was apparently his ride home, but he still held onto hope that he could shove Kane in the back of it as revenge for Kane abandoning him.It was at that point that Foley produced a sledgehammer, announcing that he hoped to use it later. Somewhere in the locker room,suddenly had an idea...said Jr halfway through this one.It's just as well, because a classic it certainly wasn't.That's not to say it was total garbage.Right from the outset, it became obvious that this was intended to be a comedy match; the diminutivetrying to outsmart and outwrestle the gargantuanOn that level (and that level alone) it worked. This was dumb fun from bell to bell and this writer for one found it very amusing.After several stupid but funny spots,anddelivered double chokeslams to all four Kai En Tai members, then Golga splashed them all and pinned all four simultaneously.Seguing into the next segment, Ross showed us some WWF busses parked outside the arena.Admittedly, they did look pretty cool.Earlier, on Heat,had beaten upand shaved his head, so Fink came out with, did three very clumsy crotch-chops, and told Jeff to suck it before serving as 'Pac's second for the match.Poor Howard, bless him. He really did give his new role as X-Pac's temporary manager all he had, but he looked so awkward and uncomfortable the whole time that you couldn't help but feel for him.That aside, this was a terrific match, and up there among 'Pac's biggest moments in his WWF/E career.Both he and Jeff Jarrett brought their A-Game and it paid off, resulting in a super hot finish from start to end.The end came whenran in with Jeff's guitar.took a swing at X-Pac, who ducked, grabbed the guitar and waylaid Jarrett with it. A three count later, and we'd soon be saying goodbye to Jarrett's famous long, blonde hair for the rest of his career.Afterwards, theran in to see offwhilstandcame to hold Jarrett down.Whilst Double J quite loudly called everybody a '' Pac tried to shave Jarrett's head and failed due to some faulty clippers.Not to be denied, he procured some scissors from somewhere and he and Fink took turns cutting shaving Jarrett's heair, all whilst Jarrett himself protested toabout getting hit over the head with a guitar.Afterbriefly revealed the Octagon-like cage structure for tonight's Lion's Den match betweenand, Michael Cole reminded us, and The Rock, about The Great One laying the smack down to Triple H's famously dodgy leg earlier on Heat.As entertaining as ever, Rock threatened "slap the yellow off [Cole's] teeth" before promising to destroy the DX leader in their upcoming ladder match. I can't even tell you how excited I am to get to that match, but first, this:Making his PPV debut,was revealed as's mystery partner for this mixed tag team match against her estranged husbandand his new lady,The result was a fun contest that delivered more entertainment than you might expect.No, it wasn't a classic, but few matches are and that's why the ones that are a classic actually stand out.Instead, this was a very enjoyable match that served its purpose well, and ended when Edge hit the Downward Spiral on Mero before helping Sable to splash the Marvelous one for the win.Out in the back, Michael Cole once again spent time with Mankind, informing him that his tag team partner Kane, with whom he held the tag team titles, was definitely a no-show.A panic-stricken Foley was convinced that there was no way he could defend the titles on his own and would have to call off the match."But Mankind, the people expect to get their money's worth," said Cole, prompting Mick, getting more and more agitated by the second, to suggest Cole should be his partner.It's a shame Nicholas hadn't even been born yet.As Foley bolted,turned up to give him a fatherly pep talk, even promising that he'd somehow get Mick into the Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame if he went out into the ring.protested the petrified wrestler,Always one to focus on solutions rather than problems, Vince walked off and returned brandishing a random candle holder and a silver tray, joking about handing Mankind history on a silver platter.he yelled a second time, as if we didn't get the joke.Strangely enough, that seemed to light a fire in Mankind, who insisted that he would go out there, and if his opponents The New Age Outlaws didn't like it, he had 13 -yes, 13- words for them:Admit it, you just counted if that was 13 words didn't you? Don't worry, so did I.As silly as this might have sounded, it was a very entertaining segment that really helped move the story along.Last month, at Fully Loaded: In Your House , Ken Shamrock stepped into Owen Hart's world by facing him in a Dungeon Match, a unique, enjoyable outing in which the two faced off in the famous Dungeon at the Hart house in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.This month, it was Owen's turn to step into unfamiliar territory by facing Shamrock in a Lion's Den match - basically a worked version of an MMA fight held in a round cage that looked like a scaled-down prototype model of the UFC's Octagon Whilst the Fully Loaded Dungeon match was good, this was even better.Completely unique -at least for the time- Shamrock and Owen went at it in a no-holds-barred, no-nonsense scrap that combined the best bits of MMA with the kind of exciting spots that made pro wrestling entertaining.The whole thing was held in the theatre adjacent to Madison Square Garden, with its own crowd and set-up, making for a different kind of atmosphere that really worked.In the end, Shamrock slapped on the ankle lock and Owen's second,merely walked off in disgust, leaving the two-time Slammy Award-winner with no choice but to tap out.Out in the back, Michael Cole stood by for an interview with WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin.With the Smoking Skull belt draped over his shoulder, The Rattle Snake was his typically abrasive self, warning The Undertaker that even though he respected him more than anyone else in the company, he wasn't above taking a cheap shot to hang on to his title.This was, as you'd expect, good stuff from Austin.As far as I can tell, tonight marked the first PPV appearance of ring announcer, who told us that this was aHonestly.Anyway, as we all know by now, Kane had (in kayfabe) no-showed, making this a handicap match. I'd question the logic in making two of your most popular babyfaces (The New Age Outlaws) the team that had the advantage here, but instead, I'd prefer to just sit back and enjoy the match.In a throwback to their Wrestlemania 14 match againstandandbrought out a dumpster loaded full of weapons.Billy Gunn and Foley started things off, jousting with chairs, and from there, we got another fun match in which Foley, as resilient as ever, put up a good fight but was outnumbered at every turn.The match was kept quite short, which worked in its favour, and ended with a spike piledriver to Mankind onto the tag titles.Afterwards, babyfaces Road Dogg and Bad Ass picked up Mankind -who by this point had the full sympathy of the audience- and dropped him in the dumpster "."Kane then emerged from the dumpster and rammed Mick's sledgehammer downwards, presumedly into Foley himself, though, from the way the angle was shot, it was obvious that no contact was actually made.Prior to our upcoming ladder match, we were shown a compelling video package recounting the heated rivalry between The Rock and Triple H, complete with their dramatic two-out-of-three-falls match at Fully Loaded 1998.From there, Chris Warren casually walked out to sing the DX theme with his band. I like to believe that it's just the audio mix that's bad - there's no way one band could sound so terrible.Still, watching Triple H headbang along with Warren and get right into the spirit of things was pretty awesome.Thankfully, the match itself would be much better.Remember how I said I was looking forward to this one? Growing up, this was one of my all-time favourite matches.In fact, I'd even go to say that, during the 90s, I ranked this above the classic Michaels/Razor match from Wrestlemania 10 Whilst that might have been because I was too young to appreciate good wrestling in 1994, I still consider Triple H/Rock for the Intercontinental Championship at Summerslam 1998 to be one of the best matches I ever watched in my original run as a fan.You know what though?I haven't seen it in 20 years, so I'm more than looking forward to this one.The match began with The Rock quite visibly saying "" before laying the smack down on Triple H.From there, both men put on a career-defining performance that saw them transition, via a violent and dramatic contest, from solid upper-midcard acts into bona fide main eventers.This match was every bit as good as I remember it, if not better, and I'm still willing to go on record as saying it was even better than Michaels/Razor at Wrestlemania 10.After an outstanding effort, Triple H retrieved the belt to win his second Intercontinental Championship.If you watch the WWE Network version of this event, you'll get the EXCLUSIVE HOME VIDEO footage, which shows The Rock making his way to the back into his dressing room whilst Vince McMahon and a bunch of officials don't realise their on camera and begin calling out for The Undertaker ready for his main event match with Austin.Rock then heads into his dressing room and cuts an intense promo, promising revenge on Triple H.Finally, it came down to this: A solid match for the World Wrestling Federation Championship which saw reigning champion Austin mixing his usual brawling with shades of the technical brilliance that was the hallmark of his earlier career.Whilst the previous ladder match may have been more entertaining, that's not to take anything away from what was a terrific main event in its own right.After a lengthy see-saw battle, Austin hit the stunner to retain the gold.Afterwards, 'Taker handed Austin the title belt as a mark of respect, then stood in the aisle way with brother Kane, watching on as the leader of the Attitude Era celebrated in the WWF's spiritual home, Madison Square Garden.