Colling It In The Ring Reviews: WWF Capital Carnage 12/6/1998

World Wrestling Federation presents Capital Carnage
Date: 12/6/1998
From: London, England

Opening Contest: Gangrel vs Al Snow: Snow traps Gangel’s arms to deliver a few head butts early on. Snow follows up with a wheelbarrow suplex. Snow heads to the top and hits a cross body for a near fall. Gangrel plants Snow with a DDT to get the advantage in his favor. Gangrel drops Al with a series of clotheslines for a near fall. Gangrel continues to work over Snow with a side Russian leg sweep. Al delivers a clothesline and a northern lights suplex for a two count. The Brood have come down to ringside. Snow misses a middle rope moonsault. Gangrel connects with a double arm overhead suplex. Snow hits a sloppy tornado DDT as Christian gets on the apron to distract the referee. Snow grabs Head and nails Gangrel with it! Edge hits a missile dropkick and Gangrel gets the win. (**. Not too bad of a contest, but nothing special at all.)

Backstage, Mankind is hanging out in the boiler room. Mankind says it’s the coldest boiler room he has ever been in. He tells us to not expect disqualifications, count outs and friendships don’t exist. Mankind notes that he doesn’t get along with any of his opponents tonight. He is going to conquer all tonight.

Second Contest: Legion of Doom vs the Headbangers: Droz is Animal’s partner, not Hawk. Mosh and Droz kick off the contest with Droz getting the advantage with a hip toss, arm drag and dropkick. Droz takes care of both Mosh and Thrasher early on. Thrasher tags in and soon met with a power slam. The fans don’t like Droz since three weeks ago he nearly “killed” Hawk on RAW. Mosh and Thrasher work over Droz as Thrasher jumps over Mosh’s back to splash Droz. Droz comes off the ropes to deliver a clothesline. Animal gets the hot tag and drops Mosh with a leaping shoulder block. Animal drops both men with a clothesline and a snap power slam on Mosh for a two count. Droz pushes Animal out of the ring and is rolled up by Mosh who gets the win! After the match, Animal is not happy with Droz and they shove each other. Animal attacks Droz and they begin to brawl! (*. Well, Droz is just really green and doesn’t seem to know how to work well in the ring at this point. Not at all interesting for the most part.)

Backstage, Michael Cole is trying to talk to the Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Taker asks if Cole is a religious person. Taker suggests he pray for the soul of Steve Austin. Taker tells us that the ambulance will not be arriving to the insane asylum. Taker is going to embarrass Austin tonight.

Third Contest: Goldust vs Val Venis: Venis attacks Goldust before the bell and works over him in the corner but misses a splash in the corner. Goldust quickly clotheslines Venis to the floor and follows up but is sent into the ring steps. Goldust drops Venis face first into the ring steps. They are back in the ring where Goldust continues to get the better of Val. Goldust connects with a big clothesline as Val stumbled out of the corner. Goldust connects with a sling shot back suplex. Val shoves Goldust away in the corner to deliver a clothesline and gets the upper hand. Venis drives Goldust down to the canvas with a side Russian leg sweep. Goldust counters a back drop with a right hand and nearly won with a running bulldog. Venis puts a stop to the offense with a spine buster! Venis comes off the top with a cross body but Goldust rolls through for a near win. Venis nearly gets a three count with a fisherman suplex. Goldust staggers and drives his head into Val’s groin. Goldust signals for the Shattered Dreams but Venis puts the referee in the way. Venis rolls Goldust up and gets the victory! (**. A rather basic match that didn’t feature great action or anything.) After the match, Goldust drops Venis from behind and sets up for the Shattered Dreams, which he connects with!

Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, and Vince’s stooges come out to stand at the top of the entrance way. Pat Patterson announces the lineup has been changed tonight to please the fans. He announces that WWF World Champion The Rock will not wrestle Triple H anymore. Triple H will wrestle Jeff Jarrett in singles action. The Rock will wrestle X-Pac in singles action. Gerald Briscoe says Vince has loaded the show full of surprises for the fans and the people at home. Apparently Vinny Jones is in attendance. Vinny is a rule breaker in soccer. Shane McMahon grabs the microphone to cut a promo. Shane recalls being in a bar drinking and talks about an interview with George Michael. Shane suggests that Vinny Jones is the boyfriend of George Michael. Vince McMahon considers tea time to be nothing but crap and he tosses his tea cup away. Vince says that the English people have convinced themselves that their nation is the best. Vince runs down the country and gets plenty of heat for doing so. Vince says everyone in the arena wishes they were American. America will take what it wants and when it wants it from Great Britain.

Fourth Contest: Edge vs Tiger Ali Singh: Edge attacks Tiger before the bell. Tiger misses a splash in the corner and Edge kept advantage with a basic arm lock. Tiger bails to the floor but Edge follows him to keep delivering punishment. Edge rams Tiger groin first into the ring post. Edge drops Singh with a missile dropkick for a near fall. Tiger catches Edge in midair as he jumped off the top and slams Edge to win the match with his feet on the ropes. (1/2*. A complete shock to see Tiger actually win a match. Edge dominated 98% of this two minute match.) After the match, Tiger attacks Edge but is sent to the floor by Edge with a clothesline.

Michael Cole interviews Vinny Jones in the ring. Jones tells Cole that he is going to find Vince McMahon and knock him out. Jones is prepared to get involved with anyone that messes with him tonight. Jones is going to be at ringside for the main event and assures us he will be ready. Vinny says they are going to sling the American’s out of England. Cole has to whisper something in Vinny’s ear to end the segment. Jones says tonight is going to be emotional.

Fifth Contest: Sable & Christian vs Jacqueline & Marc Mero: Christian pulled Mero’s pants down after he hiked his pants up so Sable couldn’t kick him below the belt. Sable nails Mero with a superkick. Jacqueline isn’t really helping Mero out here. Christian nearly won with a top rope cross body. Sable chases Jacqueline around the ring. Mero drops Christian with a Samoan Drop and heads to the top rope. Mero is crotched on the top, though. Christian plants Marc with a reverse DDT. Sable low blows Mero and hits a powerbomb! Jacqueline tags in and is brought in with a sling shot. Mero decides to leave the ringside area but Christian brawls with him to the backstage area. Sable finishes Jacqueline off with the TKO. (*1/2. Not as bad as I was expecting.) After the match, Jacqueline gets on the referee’s shoulders and Sable rips her shirt off exposing her breasts! That was better than the actual match, folks.

Sixth Contest: WWF Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock vs Steve Blackman: They don’t waste any time as Shamrock pummels Blackman with a few strikes. Blackman drops Ken with a spinning heel kick for a two count. Big Bossman is at ringside for Shamrock. Steve works over the champ with a series of strikes in the corner. Shamrock catches Blackman with a snap powerslam. The fans don’t like Shamrock and make that apparent with their chants. Late in the match. Blackman has a brief brawl with Bossman on the floor. Bossman nails Steve with a batten shot and Shamrock gets the win with the ankle lock. (*. Yeah, that wasn’t good, either. These two just don’t work well together.) After the match, Bossman attacks Blackman because he can.

Backstage, WWF World Champion the Rock is interviewed by Michael Cole. Rock says he almost knocked X-Pac out with the People’s Elbow. He is going to lay the Smackdown on Pac tonight and the fans will chant his name. Rock goes through a few catchphrases that aren’t his until he delivers his own.

Seventh Contest: Triple H vs Jeff Jarrett: HHH drives Jarrett down with a spine buster but can’t keep Jeff down long enough. Jeff knocks HHH to the floor but can’t keep the advantage in his favor. HHH rolls through a top rope cross body for a near fall of his own. Jeff gets a near fall with a swinging neck breaker. Chyna goes after Debra for choking HHH over the middle rope. Jarrett puts a sleeper hold on HHH but that doesn’t last too long. HHH breaks the hold with a back suplex. HHH follows up with a high knee and an atomic drop. HHH goes for the pedigree but Jarrett gets out and tries a slow catapult but HHH blocks it. HHH clotheslines Jeff over the top to the floor and that brings Debra up to the apron where Chyna also goes to scare her into the ring. Debra is now flirting with HHH. She is going to show her breasts too but Jarrett has a chair no. Chyna yanks that away and HHH plants Jarrett with the pedigree to win the match. (*1/2. Another match that saw the wrestlers just not clicking well together. Just a basic match that didn’t do anything to keep me overly interested.)

Backstage, Michael Cole is talking to Steve Austin. Austin notes that everyone is out there for themselves. Austin isn’t worried about the Undertaker or Paul Bearer getting revenge on him for what he did on RAW.

Earlier in the day, D’Lo Brown was on the streets and was trying to be funny during the video, but it’s not funny at all.

Eighth Contest: WWF World Tag Team Champions New Age Outlaws vs Mark Henry & D’Lo Brown: D’Lo and Dogg kick off the title match with D’Lo working over Dogg with a few blows. Dogg drops Brown with a right hand and delivered a knee drop causing Brown to bail to the floor. Gunn tags into the bout but Brown drops him with a spinning heel kick. Gunn lifts D’Lo up and hit a gorilla press slam. Henry is tagged in to give the challengers a better chance at getting the advantage. Henry puts a bear hug on Gunn to weaken the champ. Gunn breaks free and along with Dogg hit a double dropkick and hip toss on Brown! Henry stops Dogg with a scoop slam and tags in Brown. Brown is annoyed by the fans as he dropped a leg across Dogg’s chest. D’Lo plants Dogg with a sit out powerbomb and Henry tags in to deliver a leg drop of his own. Henry hits a big splash but Gunn broke up the cover. Gunn tags himself in and hammers away on the challengers. Henry catches Gunn and slams him down. Gunn hits the Fame-Asser! Gunn spikes Brown with a piledriver and that’s good enough for the win. (**1/2. Well, the finish was really out of nowhere and surprised the fans. A decent title match and the best match thus far.) After the match, Brown quickly leaves the ring and pretty much no sold the piledriver afterward.

Ninth Contest: WWF World Champion The Rock vs X-Pac: Pac opens the match with a series of arm drags to get the early control on the champ. Pac follows up with a clothesline as well to continue to get the better of Rock. Pac drops the champ with a series of roundhouse kicks and Rock bails to the floor quickly. Rock grabs his championship on the floor and says that he is out of here. Here comes HHH and Chyna to cut Rock off from leaving. Pac misses the bronco buster in the corner and Rock begins to stomp away on Pac. Rock begins to get control of the bout with a clothesline. Rock drops Pac with a swinging neckbreaker for a near fall. Pac fights back on the floor with a few chops but that didn’t last long. Rock punches Pac in the groin as the referee was distracted. Rock gets a near fall following a side Russian leg sweep. Rock signals for the People’s Elbow and hits it! Rock covers but Pac pops his shoulder up at two! Rock countered the X-Factor and Chyna enters to low blow Rock while the referee was distracted. Pac nearly wins but hits Rock with a spinning heel kick! Rock rolls through a top rope cross body but Pac kicks out just in time. Pac kicks Rock a few times in the corner. Pac is sent into the referee in the corner. Rock power slams Pac as the referee is out cold. Rock nails HHH with a right hand on the floor and grabs the championship. HHH whacks Rock with the WWF European Championship! Pac covers Rock as the referee is back but Rock kicks out at two! Pac hits the bronco buster in the corner. HHH attacks Rock on the floor for shoving Chyna. That causes the referee to call for the bell. (**1/2. A decent match that got the crowd to really get into it and believe that Pac was on the cusp of winning the championship. A crappy finish though hurt the overall match.) After the match, Pac and HHH attack Rock. Ken Shamrock runs out but is sent to the floor as well.

Main Event: The Undertaker vs Mankind vs Kane vs Steve Austin: There are no rules for the main event. Vinny Jones got involved prior to the match was sent to the back. Austin and Taker brawl on the aisle way prior to the bell. Kane hit a top rope clothesline on Mankind back in the ring. Austin drives Taker face first into the ring steps. All four men are brawling on the floor. Austin sends Mankind into the announce table. Austin chokes Taker with his ring jacket in the ring. Taker drops Austin with a leaping clothesline and a leg drop. By the way, Gerald Briscoe is the special referee. Paul Bearer just hit Austin over the head with his shoe. Austin mounts Taker with a series of right hands. Austin comes out of the corner to clothesline Kane. Mankind and Taker are brawling on the floor with Taker choking Mankind with a cord. Kane is choking Taker with a cord now but Austin is choking Kane with the cord! Mankind nails Taker with a microphone a few times. All four men are brawling in the ring. Taker looks to leap off the top to come across Austin but Kane crotches Taker on the top rope. Kane is being double teamed by Austin and Mankind in the ring. Mankind avoids the Stunner and locks in the Claw on Austin! Taker trips Mankind and rams him groin first into the ring post. Austin is worked over by Taker and Kane. Mankind has gotten Mr. Socko and he just attacks Austin along with Taker and Kane. However, they just clothesline Mankind. Kane tried to hit a tombstone on Austin onto a steel chair but Mankind saved Austin. Mankind nails Kane with a chair but Taker whacks Mankind over the head with the chair. Austin hits Taker with the chair but Gerald is screwing Austin over. Kane goes for the choke slam but Austin hits the Stunner! Gerald is checking the time to screw Austin. Austin knocks him to the floor and Taker drives Austin down with a choke slam. The same happens to Kane! Earl Hebner runs down but can’t count a three. Austin hits the Stunner on Kane and wins the match. (***. A good brawl to close the show. Lack of object violence considering it was a no rules match, but they did a good job all things considered.) After the match, Big Bossman gets in the ring and helps Gerald. Vinny Jones comes back out and kicks Bossman to allow Austin to hit the Stunner. Hebner kicks Bossman to the floor!

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The 411: There just isn't enough good to overcome the bad on this show. The crowd was pumped up for everything the show had to offer. However, it didn't hold up to today. A thumbs down for WWF Capital Carnage 1998.
Final Score:  5.0   [ Not So Good ]