Over The Edge. That’s where a lot of the superstars will need to go if they want to succeed on the show tonight. Dude Love and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin will have to go Over The Edge. They meet in a rematch from the last PPV with the WWF title on the line. It’s very much like Unforgiven except this time Vince McMahon has announced that Pat Patterson will be the special guest ring announcer, Gerald Briscoe will be the special guest timekeeper and Vince McMahon himself will be the special guest referee. The deck is stacked against the champion as Vince McMahon continues to try to take the title of Austin because he doesn’t see him as the right man to represent the company.

There will be one other title match tonight and that’ll be The Rock defending his Intercontinental title against long time rival Faarooq. The Rock was the man to take Faarooq out of the Nation of Domination the night after Wrestlemania and now Faarooq finally get a title shot against his old stable buddy. Three of the other Nation of Domination members will also be in action as Owen Hart, who joined the Nation to find allies to fight DX, teams with D-lo Brown and Kama Mustafa to take on D-Generation X members Triple H and The New Age Outlaws. DX are now crowd favourites and this’ll be the first ever time we see DX and the Nation go up against each other. In the feud so far, Owen Hart has been the babyface and Triple H the heel, so this will be the first time they compete against each other the other way round.

The Undertaker isn’t scheduled for action tonight but his brother Kane will be. He takes on Vader in a mask vs mask match. Vader has been seeking revenge on Kane as of late after the big red machine put him out of action back in February. Kane attacked Vader with a wrench, putting him on the shelf for three months so tonight we get the rematch between the two. Steve Blackman will go one on one with the only man that has managed to defeat him so far in the WWF, Jeff Jarrett. The two got into a scuffle at the last PPV, Unforgiven so this one has been on the cards for a while. Also Skull and 8 Ball will take on The Legion Of Doom in tag team action. DOA were scheduled to have a tag team title match against DX but LOD intervened and made the match an 8 man tag team match and the DOA never forgave them for it. With Chainz getting involved, LOD evened the odds by introducing their friend Darren Drozdov. So these two teams go head to head tonight in a match that should be a brawl. Also tonight, Sable must find somebody to represent her against Marc Mero. If they win then she’ll be free of her contract with Mero but if they lose then Sable will be gone from the WWF. So let’s get to it.

Ironically Ken Shamrock is on the poster for this PPV and he’s not even wrestling tonight. We get the fast paced WWF signature at the top of the show and then we’re into a video package. Austin and McMahon are featured. It’s a very cool package actually with Nazi implications. Definitely worth a watch. Possibly the best one I’ve seen. Then we’re to ringside with Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. Lawler doesn’t think Austin has a chance tonight.

LOD 2000 (Hawk & Animal) vs. The Disciples Of Apocalypse (Skull & 8 Ball)

LOD are accompanied by Sunny and new associate Darren “Puke” Drozdov. The fans are definitely behind LOD 2000 in this one. Chainz comes out with Skull and 8 Ball and all 6 men get straight into it! 8 Ball and Animal start things off. Animal has been wearing shorts as of late but tonight he has tights on. Jim Ross suggests the winner of this match would be in line for a tag team title shot. Animal hits a headbutt to the crotch as the referee is distracted then both men tag out. Skull takes the advantage with an elbow to Hawk and follows it up with three elbow drops. Skull then hits a sidewalk slam for a two count. Then a big piledriver which Skull botches a little bit but Hawk gets right back up and nails a neckbreaker. Hawk tags Animal who locks on a sleeper. Animal tags Hawk who hits a big clothesline and powerslam then a legdrop for a two. Hawk goes to the top but Skull sidesteps the clothesline and Hawk rolls to the outside. Chainz then hits a clothesline on Hawk and Droz goes round to help his partner.

It’s the DOA with the advantage now. They hit Hawk with a double big boot and it’s 8 Ball the legal man now. Hawk takes him down with a clothesline and both men are down. 8 Ball tags Skull who chokes Hawk on the ropes. DOA are looking for their first PPV win since No Way Out in February when they won a ten man tag match against the Nation Of Domination. 8 Ball tags Skull won applies a reverse chinlock to Hawk. The crowd are definitely behind LOD. I’ve lost track who is who in DOA so let’s say it’s Skull in the ring now. He boots Hawk to the side of the face. If the winner of this one gets a tag team title shot then I’ve got to back DOA. I’ve seen enough of LOD against the Outlaws. Skull misses with an elbow off the ropes and Hawk tags Animal! Animal goes nuts on everyone, knocking Skull and 8 Ball down with clotheslines. All four men are in the ring but Hawk is ushered out and Chainz helps distract Animal. There’s a switch in the irng but Droz nails him from behind and Animal hits the powerslam for the win! LOD 2000 win the match! Nice ending to this match.

Rating: 5.5/10

The Rock comes out to the ring now with his Intercontinental title over his shoulder. He takes to the microphone and first insults the city of Old Milwaukee. Faarooqw then runs out and grabs a chair. Rock manages to get the chair off him and nearly clobbers himself with the chair after it bounces off the ropes. Faarooq then hits a piledriver on the chair. This match isn’t due until later though and The Nation run Faarooq off. Not sure the point in this segment, maybe The Rock will be too injured to compete later? The Rock stays down and the Nation look concerned anyway. The Rock leaves on a stretcher with a neck brace on.

Michael Cole is backstage with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Austin calls Michael Cole a silly bastard and says that he will be World Heavyweight champion and that’s the bottom line. Austin says nobody has stepped up to watch his back.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Steve Blackman

It feels like Jarrett has slipped down the card after returning to the WWF with a bit of fanfare. Tennessee Lee is his manager and ring announcer and he has some big pyro in the ring. It’s funny that he’s gone back to this gimmick after saying he hated it so much. Steve Blackman looks for his first singles win on PPV tonight. He trained in the Hart dungeon. Jarrett runs scared of Steve and Blackman chases him and throws him back into the ring. Blackman then hits a dropkick off the top and a single axe but Jeff gets back into the match when Blackman lowered his head. Jarrett has horrendous ring gear. This match has been fast paced to begin with . Blackman hits a German suplex for a two count. He then puts on a painful looking move in the corner, pulling Jarretts head back before nailing him with a karate kick. Tennessee Lee gets involved, grabbing Blackmans leg. But it’s the oldest trick in the book, allowing Jarrett to hit Steve with a clothesline as he chased Lee. Al Snow is with the Spanish announce table, dressed as a Mexican.

Apparently Gorilla Monsoon has said that The Rock has to defend his IC title tonight. Blackman misses with a headbutt off the middle rope. Jarrett hits a nice dropkick for a two count. You wonder if this match is on the card as a result of Ken Shamrock getting injured. I could definitely have seen Shamrock facing Owen Hart tonight. Security come over to kick Al Snow out. In the ring Jarrett applies a sleeper to Blackman. The Lethal Weapon gets out of it and applies a sleeper himself but Jarrett quickly gets out of it and hits a back body drop. Blackman is first up and hits a suplex but he takes a chance and Jarrett gets his knees up. Jarrett hits a clothesline and both men are down. Both men are up and Blackman hits a backbreaker and a roundhouse kick. It’s all Blackman now, he hits an elbow for a two. He then hits a big karate kick but Tennessee Lee is up on the apron. He distracts Blackman but Jarrett can’t take the advantage. He grabs a nunchuck but Blackman grabs it off him and nails Jeff with it! He pins him but Jarrett gets his foot on the rope.

Blackman goes to the top but Tennessee Lee nails with the nunchuck! He falls off the top and Jarrett covers him for the three! Jarrett wins the match! Not the best but above average.

Rating: 5.5/10

We see some footage from Raw now with Mero making the deal with Sable that if she can find someone to beat him then the contract is over. My bets are on her bringing out Dustin Runnells.

Marc Mero vs. Sable

Sable comes out dressed to wrestle. Jim Ross hints it could be The Undertaker. Don’t build it up too much Ross. Sable says that she got herself into this so she’ll be the one getting herself out of it. Mero tries to get sympathy and says this industry has ruined their relationship. Mero says that he’s going to give Sable his freedom. He then lays down on his back. Sable covers him but Mero reverses the pin and covers her for the three! Mero celebrates like he’s just won the World title! Sable now has to leave the WWF and Mero tells her to get the hell out of here. He then sings her out! Mero is hilarious. She did look really dumb for falling for it.

Rating: N/A

Michael Cole is backstage with Sable who didn’t think Marc would stoop this low. She thanks her fans for the support and says goodbye. Poor acting though.

Dok Hendrix is backstage with the Nation. They ignore Hendrix and he tries to get across the point that if Rock doesn’t defend the title tonight then he will be stripped of it.

Kaientai (Dick Togo, Sho Funaki & Mens Teioh) vs. Taka Michinoku & Bradshaw

This is a special bonus bout and it’s a handicap match. Kaientai have been attacking Taka and Bradshaw as of late and now the Light Heavyweight Champion and Bradshaw have chance for revenge. It’s a PPV debut for Kaientai and their manager Yamaguchi San. Kaientai are wrestling in jeans and t shirts and hoodies! The match takes a while to get started properly but it’s Dick Togo and Taka to start things off. Taka hits a tornado DDT for a two count and Bradshaw takes out the other two members of Kaientai.  Togo hits a facebuster on Taka then tags in Funaki. Funaki hits a suplex for a two count. Funaki tags Teioh who hits a big boot and a tiger suplex for a near fall. Togo is tagged back in and he hits a corkscrew off the top rope. He then hits a slam for a two before tagging Teioh back in. Double DDT by Kaientai before Bradshaw comes in and stomps on Funaki. Togo hits a senton splash off the top and tags in Funaki. Very fast paced match here.

Funaki locks on a sleeper and Taka goes down. Taka gets out of it but he can’t tag Bradshaw. Funaki locks on a Boston Crab, Teioh locks on a Camel Clutch and Togo hits a dropkick! Nice triple team. Taka avoid another triple team and hits some spinning heel kicks before tagging Bradshaw! Bradshaw just nails everybody. He hits a massive powerbomb on Funaki but Togo hits him with a low blow. Kaientai post on Bradshaw but he shrugs them all off! he hits a big suplex on Teioh but Togo is in and so is Taka. Taka hits the Michinoku Driver on Togo but the count is interrupted! All 5 men are in! Togo hits the Senton Bomb on Taka and that’s enough for the three! Kaientai win the match and they are out of there. That’s Taka second loss on PPV and the first since his debut in the WWF. Massive Senton Bomb from Togo. Big win for Kaientai on their debut. Decent, fast paced match here. Hard to keep up with at times.

Rating: 6.75/10

We see a shot of Sable leaving and then get a “don’t try this at home” promo.

The Rock (c) vs. Faarooq – Intercontinental Title Match

Faarooq has had a few title matches on PPV before but has never managed to win one. Will this match even go ahead though? Just a note but the Over The Edge entrance way is pretty cool. It has cars around the curtain. The Rocks music hits but the champion does not come out. We try for the entrance again but still he does not emerge. Commissioner Slaughter comes out and orders that The Rock come out or he will give Faarooq the Intercontinental title. Everyone count along but on the “1” The Rock comes out in a neck brace. He does not want to get into this match but Faarooq goes right for him! The Nation are nowhere to be seen. Faarooq takes off the brace and throws Rock into the ring. The Rock has spent the last 6 months feuding with Steve Austin and Ken Shamrock. Faarooq hits him with a big clothesline and The Rock tries to escape. This is The Rocks 9th consecutive PPV match, more than anyone else right now.

The Rock has had a long reign as champion now, dating back to December. He takes the advantage as the “Rocky sucks” chant breaks out. The Rock hits a powerslam then takes off his elbow pad before hitting the Peoples Elbow for a two count. Faarooq gets back into the match with a slam and a headbutt for a two count. The Rock hits a DDT for a two count of his own. Both men get up and Faarooq hits a spinebuster. He covers The Rock and the referee counts 3! But The Rocks foot was on the rope. The referee tells Faarooq to carry on but this match has slowed right down. Faarooq goes back to work on the Rock but The Rock takes Faarooq down and pins him with his feet on the ropes! The Rock is then announced the winner and his music hits! Faarooq isn’t happy and he hits two piledrivers on the champion! The rest of the Nation come out and take down Faarooq but here come DX! DX clear the ring and the crowd go wild! None the less it’s a win for The Rock and a fourth successful defence of his title on PPV.

Rating: 5/10

Kane vs. Vader – Mask vs. Mask match

This stipulation is ridiculous. Vader takers his mask off all the time. None the less, we get a rematch from No Way Out back in February when Kane not only beat Vader but he smashed him with a wrench, taking him out for three months. Kane has only ever lost to The Undertaker. Kanes last PPV win actually came over Vader. The two big men get right into it slugging it out. Both men in black and red. Kane hits a clothesline to take Vader down. Vader hits a boot then knocks down Kane. Vader goes for a suplex but Kane reverses it into a suplex of his own. I’m not expecting this one to go too long. Kane misses an elbow and Vader hits some right hands. Vader then hits a clothesline and knocks Kane down. Vader attempts an Irish whip but Kane blocks it and knocks Vader down with a clothesline. Kane powerslams Vader in the middle of the ring then goes to the top and hits a clothesline. Kane is looking for a win after losing his last three PPV matches to the Undertaker.

Kane hits a big boot and a clothesline then chokes the mastodon. The crowd chant for “Vader” but it’s all Kane right now. Both men slug it out in the ring then Kane chokes Vader in the corner before hitting a snapmare and applying some sort of neck vice. Kane then hits a chokeslam on Vader! Vader rolls to the outside and grabs a wrench! He hits Kane with it a few times then rolls Kane back into the ring and hits a big time clothesline. Vader sets Kane up for the Vader Bomb and he goes up to the middle rope then up to the top but Kane gets out of the way of a moonsault! Kane then hits the Tombstone on Vader and that is it! Kane wins the match and Vader must unmask. Fairly predictable win there. Kane takes the mask of Vader and puts the mask on Paul Bearer. Funny scenes. Kane has only ever fought men that Paul Bearer has previously managed.

Rating: 5.75/10

Michael Cole interviews Vader after the match. Vader says he hasn’t got any excuses and maybe Vader Time is over and he aint nothing but a fat piece of shit.

Michael Cole gets in the ring and says it’s now tie to honour two of the best wrestlers of all time. I’m guessing Patterson and Briscoe. Oh, it’s not. It’s Mad Dog Vachon, last seen getting his leg ripped off by Diesel. The second man is The Crusher who comes out with a huge cigar in his mouth. Cole gives both men a plaque. Vachon thanks his wife and his niece, Luna. He thanks Vince McMahon as Lawler chants “Boring”. The Crusher sings “Roll Out The Barrel.” Lawler gets into the ring and berates both men. Lawler then kicks Vachons leg and The Crusher nails The King sending him fleeing back to commentary. Lawler then gets back into the ring, steals Mad Dogs leg and throws it at The Crusher! Brilliant. Almost made this segment worthwhile. Crusher then nails Jerry with the leg.

D Generation X (Triple H & The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg & Billy Gunn)) vs. The Nation Of Domination (Owen Hart, D-lo Brown & Kama Mustafa)

Triple H has wet hair in this one for the first ever time. Another first is that this is Triple H’s first ever PPV match as a face. Owen Hart is a heel once again and the only white member of the Nation. DX have Chyna and X Pac and ringside whilst the Nation have Mark Henry in their corner. Road Dogg kicks things off against D-lo. These factions have been heels for the majority of their run so they haven’t crossed paths until this point. D-lo has been involved in quite a few Nation multiman matches. He takes Road Dogg down with a shoulder block. This time last year, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn were feuding with one another. Big “Owen Sucks” chants. Owen is the co-leader of the Nation along with The Rock. Road Dogg tags Billy Gunn but D-lo hits a thumb to the eye and tags Owen Hart. Owen and Billy have been on opposite teams many times before. Billy hits a gorilla press slam on Owen then tries another but Owen slips down and hits a spinning heel kick. Billy tags Triple H who lays into Owen Hart, the man he has been feuding with for nearly 6 months.

Owen and Triple H both have new ring gear tonight. Helmsley hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a two count then tags Road Dogg. Road Dogg is going through the peak of his career up to now. He hits a legdrop for a near fall on Owen. Road Dogg tags Triple H who receives a low blow. Owen tags Kama who looks like he’s growing his hair out. Apparently the boys in the back call Kama “The Godfather”. Triple H tags Billy Gunn but Kama hits a kick to the middle section. Kama tags D-lo who hits Gunn with a right hand. Billy Gunn takes the advantage with a clothesline and tags in Triple H. DX in control now. Triple H tags Road Dogg who hits a shaky leg knee drop for a two count on D-lo. Road Dogg hits some right hands in the corner on D-lo then tags Billy Gunn. All three members of team DX are champions. Tag team champion Billy Gunn hits a suplex on D-lo for a near fall. Billy Gunn tags European Champion Triple H who hits a backbreaker on D-lo then a knee drop for a two. Kama breaks up the count.

X Pac gets involved with a shot to D-lo when the referee is distracted. D-lo manages to tag Kama who chokes Road Dogg in the corner. Owen distracts Road Dogg allowing Kama to hit a clothesline and back heel kick. Kama tags Owen who hits a piledriver on Road Dogg. Owen goes up to the middle rope and hits an elbow on Road Dogg but Triple H breaks up the cover attempts. D-lo is in, not tagged, but he’s in. D-lo hits a legdrop on Road Dogg. D-lo is yet to have a singles match on PPV. He locks on a sleeper on Road Dogg now. D-lo is the only man wrestling in this match who represented the Nation at Unforgiven. He teamed with The Rock and Mark Henry that night. D-lo hits a big powerbomb then tags Owen Hart. Hart goes for the Sharpshooter but Triple H breaks it up. Owen then tags Kama who hits a powerslam on Road Dogg then misses with a splash from the second rope. Kama hits a clothesline for a two then goes to the chinlock.

Road Dogg gets out of the chinlock but can’t take the advantage. Kama tags D-lo who hits a backbreaker then goes to the top and hits a moonsault! Triple H breaks up the cover. D-lo then misses with a senton. Finally Road Dogg makes the tag to Bill Gunn who takes out everyone! All 6 men are in the ring! Triple H and Kama go to the outside. Billy hits a Rocker-dropper on D-lo. Chyna and Mark Henry go at it. X Pac throws Billy Gunn a belt and he and Triple H hit a spike piledriver on D-lo! Triple H pins D-lo but Owen breaks it up. Owen Hart then hits the Pedigree on Triple H on the belt! The referee slides in and counts the three! That’s a massive shocker! The Nation win the match. I didn’t expect that one. That keeps Owen Hart in the European title hunt. Really fun match here between 6 talented athletes.

Rating: 7.25/10

Video package now for Austin and Dude Love. Then Dok Hendrix is backstage with Vince McMahon and his cronies. McMahon says he will call the match down the middle but if Austin assault him at any point then he will stop the match and strip Austin of the title. By Vince McMahons hand only will this match end.

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin (c) vs. Dude Love – WWF Championship Match

This is the rematch from Unforgiven last month. Pat Patterson is the first man announced. Patterson then announces Briscoe who is the special guest time keeper for this one. Good line from Patterson “He is the only Native American destined for the WWF Hall Of Fame….there goes Strongbow”. McMahon is next out, he trips over the middle rope on the way into the ring. Dude Love is very much in camp McMahon. He comes out with a blazer over his wrestling gear. This time last year Austin was fighting The Undertaker for the WWF title whilst Mankind defeated Rocky Maivia. Austin gets a big ovation but just as McMahon is about to call for the bell the lights go out and The Undertakers music hits. The dead man makes his way to the ring, presumably to watch Austins back! The bell finally rings and Austin flips off McMahon. Dude takes Austin down early and covers him, McMahon quickly counts a two. The Undertaker is at ringside watching on.

Dude Love goes to the side headlock and Austin gets out of it and goes to the headlock himself. It’s nearly a year since these guys were tag team champions together. A “Vince is gay” chant breaks out. Austin is distracted by Dude Loves fake teeth which allows Dude to take the advantage. No man that has left Wrestlemania as WWF Champion has lost the belt before June. This could be a first. Austin sends Dude to the outside and smashes him into the barrier. Dude reverses an Irish whip, sending Austin into the ring steps. The Undertaker watches on, not getting involved. McMahon tells Austin there are no count outs. Dude hits a Russian leg sweep for a two count. At this point, only 8 men have won more PPV matches than Austin and only 6 have main evented more PPVs than him. He hits a neckbreaker on Dude and three clotheslines. Dude ducks a clothesline and locks on a Mandible Claw but Austin gets out of it, tying him up in the ropes.The two men then fight on the outside and Dude throws Austin across the Spanish announce table. Pat Patterson then announces a “reminder” that this match is no disqualification.

Dude Love chokes the WWF champion with a chord at ringside but Austin gets out of it by throwing Dude into Gerald Briscoe! Austin clotheslines Dude Love into the crowd then back over the railings. Back in the ring and Dude Love gets out of the way of a guillotine on the ropes. He then baseball slides Austin out of the ring and hits a neckbreaker on the entrance way. McMahon then runs over to Patterson and tells him to remind everyone that this match is Falls Count Anywhere! Patterson does so and Dude pins Austin on the outside for a two. Austin makes a comeback but Dude Love back body drops Austin on to the hood of a car in the aisle. Dude pins him on the hood for a two. It’s then Austins turn to drop Dude on a car. He gets a two count. Gerald Briscoe now has the bell up in the entrance way. Austin goes for a Stunner on a car but Dude Love pushes him off the car. Dude then hits a sunset flip off a car for a two!

Dude Love grabs a lead pipe and nails it into Austins back. Looked weak though. Austin fights back with some right hands, his head is bleeding though. He goes for a piledriver but Dude back body drops him on the concrete then gets a near fall. Dude Love hits a suplex on the concrete now. A lot of this match has taken part of the entrance way. Dude climbs on top of a car then leaps off but misses with an elbow drops. Austin pins Dude for a two. Austin takes Dude to back towards the ring and smashes him into the ring steps before throwing him back in the ring. Undertakers involvement certainly interests me. Patterson trips Austin from the outside allowing the challenger to take the advantage. You can’t help but like Dude Love. He takes the top turnbuckle off then slams Austins head into it. Dude locks on a chinlock. That gets broken and he asks for a steel chair. PAtterson hand him one and he nails Austin with it. Dude then hits the double armed DDT on the chair but Austin kicks out!

Dude Love grabs the chair again but Austin gets a boot up and hits a clothesline. Austin grabs the chair now and smashes it into Dude Loves face! Austin pins Dude but McMahon refuses to count! Austin gets up and kicks off at McMahon but Dude grabs the chair and aims to hit Austin but accidentally nails McMahon! Austin then hits the Stunner and another referee comes out! He counts two and Pat Patterson drags him out and nails him! Dude Love locks on the Mandible Claw on Austin! Patterson dives into the ring counts two but The Undertaker drags him out and chokeslams him through the announce table! Dude pins Austin again and this time Briscoe makes the count but Undertaker drags him out and chokeslams him through the Spanish announce table! Austin gets up and hits another Stunner on Dude Love! He drags McMahon over and covers Dude, slapping McMahons hand into the canvas three times! Austins music hits and The Fink makes the announcement that Austin wins the match! Stone Cold retains his title! Undertaker stares up at Austin, could those two men be on a collision course? Austin celebrates with the title and the crowd love it. Great match between these two men.

Rating: 8.25/10

 

And that was Over The Edge 1998. 8 matches, one of which was a bonus match and a decent one at that. Much better than the bonus match we had at Unforgiven. Of the 8 matches, 6 of those were won by heels, which is some statistic. The match kicked off as I thought it would, the tag team match between LOD and DOA. This match was a bit of a throwback for me to matches like Demolition vs. The Powers Of Pain. Two big teams slugging it out to be the better. LOD won the match which Jim Ross seems to think puts them back in the tag titles hunt. I’d rather not see them there being that we’ve had 4 big matches between LOD and the New Age Outlaws in the past 6 months. Plus DOA are the heels so I’d like to see them get a feud with the Outlaws. I really liked the ending to this match though with the twin swapping backfiring. Jeff Jarrett then defeated Steve Blackman with some help from his manager. Jarrett is definitely the more over guy so him winning is fine. Blackman will bounce back. I can see this being the end of this feud, Jarrett could move on to a feud over the European championship, that would be a good place for him.

I was expecting Sable to bring out Dustin Runnells to represent her against Marc Mero but instead she did it herself and it didn’t end well. I think this made her look stupid and Marc Mero very clever which I don’t think is the long term goal here. I’m not sure where this storyline will go but Sable will definitely be back. She’s on the King Of The Ring poster for a start. We then got the bonus match with Kaientai against Taka Michinoku and Bradshaw. This was a really good, fast paced match. These Kaientai guys can go, especially Dick Togo who is all over the ring. Bradshaw was the wildcard and he looks like doing some serious damage to the new guys. I liked this, it was a good showcase for Kaientai but it changes this whole feud. Before Kaientai were going after Taka and now because Kaientai won, you would think that maybe the roles are reversed? We’ll have to see but I definitely don’t think it’s over between Kaientai and Taka. Match 5 was The Rock against Faarooq. Decent enough between these two men. It was nice to see them settle their differences and I see a much bigger upside on The Rock so I’m glad he won. He cheated which is the way he does things but for me this ends this feud and both men can go their separate ways.

Kane beating Vader gets the predictable match award. There was no way Vader was winning this. It was a pointless stipulation really, nobody cares that Vader is unmasked. Half the time he unmasks himself. What’s more interesting is the aftermath with Vader calling himself a fat piece of shit. I think he’ll come back as a heel after a month off. Kane remains in the upper midcard, I’m not sure what his next feud is, hopefully he’ll have a bit of a break from The Undertaker. The Nation then defeated D-Generation X in a surprising result. DX have had a lot of momentum whereas the Nation have been in the background a little as of late. Owen Hart finally pins Triple H though after months of losing to him. This could put the other Nation members in line for a tag team title shot though. Then in the main event Austin defeated Dude Love in one hell of a match. It was an improvement on their previous match at Unforgiven and some of the hardcore stuff up the aisle was awesome. Austin keeps the title which makes you think this one with Dude Love is over. The only way I see it continuing is if Foley comes back as Cactus Jack. Really good match none the less.

This show was great. There was no bad match, a few average ones, but not bad ones. There were only 2 title matches and both The Rock and Austin retained their belts which sets up an interesting King Of The Ring.

Overall Rating: 62.86 out of 100 (Ranked 6th out of 82)

Match Of The Night: Steve Austin vs. Dude Love
Worst Match Of The Night: The Rock vs. Faarooq
Surprise Of The Night: The Nation beat DX
Worst Booking Of The Night: Kane/Vader being a mask v mask match
Superstar Of The Night: Vince McMahon
IYH: Over The Edge Will Be Remembered For: Vince McMahon failing to screw Steve Austin