Raw Deal - Raw recap for June 15, 1998

RAW

Despite being forced out of the WWF at Over The Edge, Sable returns to start the show. She says it feels good to be back, and introduces the person responsible for her return to the World Wrestling Federation: WWF owner Vince McMahon, who comes to the ring, still inundated by boos and chants for "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Vince says that in an effort to clear everything up, Vince gives Sable a written statement for her to read to the crowd. It reads, "I, Vince McMahon, the humanitarian of the year, resent any and all accusations that I, last week, in my finest hour, would stoop so low as to use legitimate charitable organization to further my personal agenda against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. I hereby publicly disavow any reference or knowledge of the willful and heinous attack perpetrated on the WWF Champion one week ago. I remain steadfast in my resolve to be a caring, generous and even jovial WWF owner and to furthermore bring the parties responsible for last week's attack on "Stone Cold" to justice. Thank you for your kindness and understanding, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the show." Vince kisses Sable on the cheek, then takes the written statement back and says he hopes that clears everything up before trying to place it back in his pocket. After Vince tries to leave without any explanation of how or why he brought Sable back, Austin shows up, helps Sable to the back, takes the microphone and flips Vince off. Austin says that while he threw up about six times backstage while Sable read his statement, and since Austin is tried of "all [his] chickenshit things that [he's] been doing to [him]," he's putting his foot in Vince's ass and there's nothing he can do about it. Vince runs away as Austin tears up the statement, and Vince asks Austin to listen to reason and not react in a physical, violent way, but Austin asks the crowd to give him a "hell yeah" if they want him to do it anyway. Austin chases Vince around the ring as Vince continuously asks Austin to listen to reason for once, and says it was The Undertaker who planned the attack on him last week, not him. He says this sounds preposterous, but asks Austin to hear him out, as it was The Undertaker who challenged Austin for the WWF Championship two weeks ago, and that last week, The Undertaker knew what he was doing and knew Vince was going to call the cops on him as he wreaked havoc throughout the show. Vince says he, Austin and the fans all fell for it and that The Undertaker surrounded himself with police so that he couldn't make the save. He then tells Austin that The Undertaker is from the dark side, and that he might as well be the Devil himself. The Undertaker heads down to the ring and stares down with Austin, then takes a microphone and tells him he came out here and challenged him for the WWF Championship, but he did it like a man and did it in front of the whole world with respect for Austin and where he has brought himself. He still respects what the WWF Championship stands for, and now matter how entertaining or plausible Vince's conspiracy theory is, it is "a damn lie." The Undertaker tells Vince he makes a living out of manipulating the minds of those weaker than him, and lets him know one thing before he removes his head from the rest of his body: he will never, ever be able to manipulate the mind of The Undertaker. Suddenly, the arena goes dark, and Kane, Mankind (now in a torn white dress shirt and tie) and Paul Bearer appear. Bearer congratulates The Undertaker for "the Academy Award performance [he] put on last Monday night." For a few minutes, he believed Austin believed The Undertaker when he pointed his finger at Vince, but Paul tells The Undertaker they both know that Vince had nothing to do with the plan last week, and that as far-fetched as it may sound, he and The Undertaker had set the whole thing up and it worked well. Bearer says The Undertaker wants more than the gold on Austin's waist, and wants to take Austin's very soul by entrapping him in the cell above the ring. Bearer then says he has gone as far as he can go with The Undertaker, and says there will be entrapment tonight. However, it will be the both of them, as Bearer challenges Austin and The Undertaker to a tag team Hell in a Cell match against Kane and Mankind tonight. He then Austin and The Undertaker that they are standing ont he entrance ramp to the highway to Hell.

Before the next match, WWF Commissione Sgt. Slaughter and a few referees eject Owen Hart, D'Lo Brown, "The Godfather" Kama Mustafa and "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry before they can walk down the ramp with "The Rock" Rocky Maivia.

"The Rock" Rocky Maivia beats Vader to qualify for the King of the Ring tournament after "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry attacks Vader outside of the ring while the referee keeps The Rock in the ring.

We see a segment called "DX Droppin' Knowledge" where D-Generation X ("Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna, X-Pac, "Road Dog" Jesse James, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn) go over Triple H and X-Pac's match to qualify for the King of the Ring tournament and make fun of the size of Triple H's nose.

We see another vignette for Edge.

Darren "Puke" Drozdov beats "Double J" Jeff Jarrett. During the match, "Marvelous" Marc Mero and Jacqueline show up during the match and guest on commentary, and Mero wants to know why Sable is back in the WWF. Tennessee Lee tries to get in Jacqueline's face, but Jacqueline slaps him in the face. "Double J" Jeff Jarrett gets involved, but Mero hits Jarrett with a low blow before Droz sends Jarrett back into the ring.

D-Generation X ("Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna, X-Pac, "Road Dog" Jesse James, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn) talk about why Triple H vs. X-Pac will be match of the year, and Billy Gunn asks where Chyna will be in all of this.

Before the next match, Val Venis says everything is bigger in Texas, but that statement was never entirely true until Val Venis came.

Val Venis beats Chainz.

Kevin Kelly interviews The Undertaker, who says he can't trust anybody who lives by the theory that you can't trust anybody, even though "Stone Cold" Steve Austin can trust him as he called him out for the WWF Championship like a man.

D-Generation X ("Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna, X-Pac, "Road Dog" Jesse James, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn) witness Triple H and X-Pac trash-talk each other in front of the rest of the group. Triple H says this match is for the King of the Ring tournament and that he can't lay down for him this time. X-Pac says it's been nine months since his injury, and that he's all healed up and ready to knock Triple H down.

Dustin Runnels beats "Marvelous" Marc Mero. "Double J" Jeff Jarrett, Tennessee Lee and Southern Justice (Henry O. and Phineas I. Godwinn) show up at the beginning of the match. Jarrett guests on commentary to guarantee against Mero in the King of the Ring tournament next week after what happened earlier tonight. Later on in the match, Jarrett confronts Mero from the apron, and as the ref is preoccupied with telling Jarrett to get down, Sable walks down the ramp, Sable shows up, distracting Mero and allowing Runnels the win.

D-Generation X ("Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna, X-Pac, "Road Dog" Jesse James, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn) continue to trash-talk each other, then Chyna tells both of them to get in the ring and wrestle like men.

Kevin Kelly interviews Dustin Runnels, who says tonight's win is a long time coming. He thanks his Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

WAR ZONE

"Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley beats X-Pac by count-out to qualify for the King of the Ring Tournament. During the match, "The Rock" Rocky Maivia shows up in the stands and tells Triple H that he laid down for him when he beat him two weeks as Owen Hart crotches X-Pac on the guardrail, and tells Triple H it was all part of a master plan to lay the smackdown on Triple H. He then alerts Triple H to X-Pac, who has been attacked. Triple H tries to help X-Pac back into the ring, but X-Pac tells him to get back in the ring and get the win. After the match, The New Age Outlaws ("Road Dog" Jesse James and "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn) show up, and all of D-Generation X (Triple H, Chyna, X-Pac, Road Dog, Billy Gunn) check on X-Pac.

Al Snow and Head show up as his previous WWF gimmick Avatar. Head is also wearing an Avatar Match. After the commercial break, Jerry "The King "Lawler tells Snow that he's not fooling anyone. Snow takes off his mask and tells Lawler that he's beginning to realize what kind of marketing genius he is working for under WWF owner Vince McMahon, and that people were supposed to figure out it was him behind the mask when he was Avatar. Lawler tells Snow that he will not get any meeting with Vince with the stunts he's pulling, but Snow says he's not getting anything with Lawler and is about to make two citizen's arrests tonight - one for attempted murder for Vince McMahon after he tried to kill his career during his earlier stint in WWF, and the other for lewd public conduct for "slipping [him] the sausage" for not scoring him a meeting with Vince. Lawler tells Snow his problem is with Head, and the only way to get a meeting is to get rid of Head. Lawler tries to do it for him, but Snow hammers Lawler before hitting the ref with the Snow Plow. Lawler tries to fight back, but Snow hits Lawler in the crotch with Head before fighting off two security guards and leaving through the crowd.

X-Pac, "Road Dog" Jesse James and "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn spray Michael Cole and a production worker with the Super Soaker CPS 2500.

Michael Cole interviews "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, who says he doesn't trust anybody and that The Undertaker can't trust him as he wants the WWF Championship.

Before the next match, WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter ejects "The Rock" Rocky Maivia and "The Godfather" Kama Mustafa to the back.

The Nation of Domination (Owen Hart and "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry) vs. Ken Shamrock and Dan "The Beast" Severn ends after D-Generation X ("Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna, X-Pac, "Road Dog" Jesse James, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn) attacks Owen Hart and Mark Henry. Vader shows up and attacks Mark Henry, and "The Rock" Rocky Maivia and "The Godfather" Kama Mustafa. DX then starts fighting The Nation (The Rock, Owen Hart, Kama Mustafa, Mark Henry) as referees and officials try to restore order.

Kane and Mankind win a tag team Royal Rumble match to become the #1 contenders for the WWF Tag Team Championships.

After the break, Paul Bearer asks if "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Undertaker accept his challenge. Mankind says in poem that at King of the Ring, it will not be a nice day for The Undertaker, then Bearer says his plan will unfold to the world before implying that Austin and The Undertaker are cowards. Suddenly, Austin shows up, but The Undertaker does not, and the Hell in a Cell match ends up turning into a 2-on-1 handicap Hell in a Cell match. As Kane and Mankind attack Austin, Paul Bearer locks himself in the cell. As Bearer watches what is happening, The Undertaker comes out from the underside of the behind Bearer and attacks him. Kane climbs to the top and tries to find a way into the cell, but to no avail. The Undertaker strikes Paul Bearer with steel steps, then Austin goes after Kane at the top of the cell after beating up Making with a steel chair.

After the show went off the air, Kane and Mankind fight inside the cell, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin counters Mankind's Mandible Claw with a Stone Cold Stunner. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Undertaker beat Kane and Mankind in a tag team Hell in a Cell match.