Raw Deal - Raw recap for July 20, 1998

RAW

WWF owner Vince McMahon arrives to start the show. He announces that tonight is a night for reflection, showing proper respect for your fellow man, and retribution if you don't. He reflects on recent events involving The Undertaker and how he became #1 contender, and asks where Kane was last night, how The Undertaker disguised himself as Kane and whether or not The Undertaker and Kane are in cahoots. We then see Vince's failed attempt at getting answers from The Undertaker, then Vince talks about the tag team title rematch from the end of last week's show and what happened between The Undertaker and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin during that match. He then asks one last time if The Undertaker is in cahoots with Kane, and brings The Undertaker out. Vince tells The Undertaker that he is disappointed in him, and tells him that he hurt his feelings when he told him to go to Hell last week. Vince says that if The Undertaker wants to be the champion that he wants to be, he has to start showing respect for the proper people, and that he can't do it with the fans alone and that he needs Vince. Vince then tells The Undertaker his actions from last week were disrespectful, disparaging and insolent, and he will not take it anymore. He tells The Undertaker if he learns respect, he will not be a flash in the pan like Austin is destined to be, and asks him to listen to reason and asks him if he is cahoots with Kane. The Undertaker does not even respond. Vince then brings up retribution, saying it is revenge, and tells The Undertaker that if he ahs to be a champion for the ages, he has to learn the hard lessons and that it will hurt him as much as it will hurt The Undertaker. Vince then puts The Undertaker in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match against Kane and Mankind before allowing him to take his leave. Before he does, Vince tells The Undertaker he can go to Hell, and The Undertaker responds with a choke slam. Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco get in the ring, but they do not fare any better, as does WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter when he gets in the ring. Vince unintentionally lands on top of Pat Patterson as he is helped out of the ring.

D'Lo Brown beats "Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley to win the WWF European Championship. During the match, "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry shows up after Chyna sends "The Rock" Rocky Maivia into the guardrail in response for tripping Triple H in the corner. As referee Jimmy Korderas is busy with Henry and Chyna - who now has a steel chair in her hands - from the entrance ramp, The Rock hits Triple H with a Rock Bottom. D'Lo Brown celebrates with the rest of The Nation (The Rock, Owen Hart, "The Godfather" Kama Mustafa, Mark Henry) backstage.

Backstage, an irate "Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley tells "The Rock" Rocky Maivia he will not be leaving the arena with the WWF Intercontinental Championship. X-Pac tells The Rock that he won't like what he's cooking, and that he won't even see it coming.

"Dr. Death" Steve Williams - a 15-year veteran whose popularity emanates from Japan and from being one of the toughest men in the business - beats Quebecer Pierre by referee stoppage in the last seconds of the third round to continue to the next round of the Brawl For All Tournament. Before the match, we hear from former Dallas Cowboys coach Barry Switzer, who says that Williams is so tough that you would have to kill him to beat him.

An angry Yamaguchi-san chews out his wife in front of Kaientai (Dick Togo, Men's Teioh, Sho Funaki), and tells her that she will be punished for her adultery. Yamaguchi-san commands her to open the ring for them before commanding her to enter. He then commands her to get on her knees, then pulls out a black wooden paddle with the word "oshioki" (Japanese for "punishment") written on one side and the Japanese characters for "Yamaguchi-san" on the other. Before she can crawl between her husbands knees, Val Venis shows up, beats up Yamaguchi-san and Kaientai with the wooden paddle, then takes Yamaguchi-san's wife backstage.

Skull vs. Road Warrior Animal end before it can begin after Skull, 8-Ball and Paul Ellering beat up Animal. Road Warrior Hawk comes to the rescue before Ellering can run Animal over with a motorcyle, but he also gets laid out. WWF referees, officials and Commissioner Sht. Slaughter have to restore order.

Before the next match, "The Lethal Weapon" Steve Blackman comes out, then heads back to the back. "Double J" Jeff Jarrett says eh knew he was great, but not that great, and demands he be given the win by forfeit. Suddenly, Blackman comes back with Dan "The Beast" Severn and "The World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock.

"The Lethal Blackman" Steve Blackman beats "Double J" Jeff Jarrett, avenging his first loss from three months ago. After the match, Owen Hart attacks "The World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock and sends him into the steel stairs. Blackman checks on Shamrock while Dan "The Beast" Severn walks away.

Michael Cole tries to interview The Undertaker as he leaves the arena.

After the commercial break, Michael Cole states that The Undertaker has left the building and that all The Undertaker has told him is "See you Sunday at Fully Loaded."

WAR ZONE

Jim Ross interviews "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Austin tells JR he has some bad breath, and as far as The Undertaker goes, he would like to know if it will be a tag team match or a 3-on-1 handicap match this Sunday. Either way, he's going in Sunday to beat somebody's ass whether he has help or not. On the subject of The Undertaker leaving, he doesn't know if he left because he didn't want to fight Kane, or if he wanted to screw WWF owner Vince McMahon before Vince could screw him, and if anyone deserves to be screwed, it's Vince McMahon. Vince shows up with Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco and WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter, immediately questioning Austin's choice of words. Austin asks the crowd to give him a "hell yeah" if they believe Vince deserves to be screwed. Vince says if anybody is doing any screwing tonight, it will be him, and forces Austin to take The Undertaker's place in the 2-on-1 handicap match against Kane and Mankind. Austin says it's not that simple, as Vince won't simply tell him what to do as he won't do it due to having nothing to prove against Kane and Mankind, and says he can go down the same highway The Undertaker went down. Vince threatens to strip Austin of the WWF Championship and hand it to The Undertaker, as much as he hates him. Austin says he'll beat Kane and Mankind's asses, and when he's done, he will beat the living shit out of Vince when he gets backstage.

Owen Hart beats Faarooq with the Sharpshooter. During the match, Owen takes a microphone and tells the crowd to shut up after the crowd repeatedly calls him a nugget. After the match, "The World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock runs in and chases Owen through the crowd.

Paul Bearer says we would have found out whose side The Undertaker was on if he did not tuck tail and run. Mankind says he is glad that he and Kane are facing "Stone Cold" Steve Austin tonight, as kicking his teeth in gives hima sense of inner peace and he is sensing a very, very peaceful evening.

"Marvelous" Marc Mero and Jacqueline show up. Jacqueline calls out Sable again, saying she took a good look at her and says Sable doesn't any of her in a bikini contest. She asks Sable how many pounds she can lose in six days, then suggest liposuction before telling her not to take a chance and have air taken out in the wrong places. Jacqueline then offers to save Sable the embarassment if she shows up and raises her hand and allows her to accept the victory. Sable shows up in a plaid maternity dress, tells Jacqueline she's nothing but a tramp, and walks down the ramp and into the ring. Jacqueline calls her a big fat cow, and tells Mero that her dress could sleep a family of four. Sable says her body "keeps 'em up all night long." Jacqueline tells her "Then show me, ho!" and rips the dresss off only to reveal Sable's body underneath, much to the delight of the crowd and the horror of Jacqueline and Mero as not only do they realize she has an attractive body, but Sable pushes Jacqueline head-first into the mat. As Sable leaves, Edge comes out of the crowd and hits Mero with the Downward Spiral before leaving through the crowd.

"The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels shows up and guests on commentary for the rest of the show.

We see footage from earlier tonight of 2 Cold Scorpio vs. 8-Ball in the Brawl For All Tournament. 2 Cold Scorpio continues to the next round after edging out 8-Ball in points.

The Nation ("The Rock" Rocky Maivia, Owen Hart, D'Lo Brown, "The Godfather" Kama Mustafa, "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry) are backstage. He says the only difference between them and D-Generation X ("Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna, X-Pac, "Road Dog" Jesse James, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn) is that The Rock does not make empty promises or idle threats. He promises to walk in as Intercontinal champ and leave as Intercontinental champ, and there is nothing that DX can do about it.

The Nation ("The Rock" Rocky Maivia, Owen Hart, D'Lo Brown, "The Godfather" Kama Mustafa, "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry) and D-Generation X ("Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna, X-Pac, "Road Dog" Jesse James, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn) brawl in the ring before the next match as referees try to pull everyone apart.

"The Rock" Rocky Maivia retains the WWF Intercontinental Championship against X-Pac. Chyna shows up before the start of the match to stand in X-Pac's corner during the match (and at one point, hit The Rock with the Intercontinental title). During the match, The Rock accidentally knocks out referee Tim White. D"Lo Brown runs in through the crowd to interfere, but "Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley is close behind. He sends D'Lo Brown off the top rope and hits The Rock with the Pedigree before leaving. X-Referee Jimmy Korderas runs into the ring and stops Tim White from making the count, and tells him what happened. After the match, Chyna knocks Korderas out of the ring, and The Nation ("The Rock" Rocky Maivia, Owen Hart, D'Lo Brown, "The Godfather" Kama Mustafa, "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry) and D-Generation X ("Triple H" Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna, X-Pac, "Road Dog" Jesse James, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn) brawl in the ring again. Once again, referee, officials and WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter have to restore order. After the match, as D-Generation X celebrate in the ring, Triple H manages to convince a woman in the crowd to expose her breasts.

Kane and Mankind beat "Stone Cold" Steve Austin by disqualification. Before the match, viewers to asked to join and chat with WWF owner Vince McMahon and "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels on <"WWF Code Red" on WWF.com after the show. During the match, The Undertaker arrives with a steel chair and stands on the apron in Austin's corner. and nails Kane with a steel chair when Austin brings him into the corner. Austin takes the chair and smacks Mankind with it, then does the same to The Undertaker.