Raw is War

Houston, Texas
January 11, 1999

The crowd at the sold-out Compaq Center in Houston was jacked as D-Generation X hit the ring and introduced the new World Wrestling Federation Champion: Mankind. Mankind went to the ring and thanked a few people that helped him get to where he is today-including DX for watching his back, and Steve Austin for knocking The Rock Stone Cold Unconscious with a chair last week! Mankind said that as long as he was champion the Rattlesnake would have "one chance in hell" at the title-and the Deranged One would like nothing more than to face Austin at WrestleMania!

The Rock, Shane and Mr. McMahon came out to the ringside area. The Rock wanted a chance to win back the title at Royal Rumble, but Mick Foley wouldn't give him one until he agreed to make it a No Disqualification, No Count Out "I Quit" match with the members of the Corporation banned from ringside!

But Mr. McMahon said that Mankind shouldn't assume he would still be champion at the Rumble-he forced him into a match later on RAW against Kane!

The first match of the night was for the title of number one contender for the Tag Team Championship! The New Age Outlaws, with Chyna, took on Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett, accompanied by Debra. When Chyna and Debra went face to face at ringside, the Outlaws were distracted. Owen Hart blind-sided Road Dogg, hitting him with a spinning heel kick to the back of the head, and got the pin!

The Man called Gillberg, accompanied by several police escorts, made his way to the ring next. The fans were chanting Gillberg, previously known as Duane Gill, although Michael Cole pointed out that "nobody's on their feet and nobody's moving their mouth"! Gillberg's entrance included an amazing pyro display that included the members of the J.O.B. Squad holding sparklers. But even that was too much smoke for Gillberg-as he tried to breathe in he choked! Gillberg, the Light Heavyweight Champion, displayed his amazing skills on the microphone by saying "Gillberg doesn't want to know who's next. Gillberg wants to know who's first"!

Luna was apparently "first" as she came out for a tune up to her Women's Title match at the Royal Rumble. Gillberg showed off his amazing arousal of moves as he immediately went for the spear, but Luna simply stepped out of the way, and Gillberg went flying into the steel ringpost. Later, Gillberg picked up Luna and held her in the air for a few seconds until Luna wiggled her way into a pinning position. She only got a two count, but she finished off the Man They Call Gillberg later with a big splash off the top rope. For the record, Gillberg's record now stands at 0-1.

Luna did not get much of an opportunity to celebrate as she was attacked after the match by a fan, apparently the same one that two weeks ago on RAW gave Sable a flower!

Back from the commercial, Dennis Knight was babbling complete gibberish at the commentator's table, saying something about how "He" is here tonight. The Acolytes came out and got him, telling him the "He is ready for you".

Val Venis came out and saw an attractive fan at ringside. He went over to her and began his gyrating routine. But Ken Shamrock sprinted from the backstage area and attacked the adult film star! He warned Val to stay away from his sister! When Billy Gunn realized that the woman was Shamrock's sister, he came out to the ring and showed her his "Badd Ass"! An irate Shamrock then attacked Billy Gunn! Shamrock said he would face Mr. Ass for the Intercontinental Championship at Royal Rumble, but he warned Gunn not to worry about winning championships because he would be lucky to make it out alive!

X-Pac put the European Championship on the line against Al Snow. Conspicuous by "their" absence was Head, who was stolen on HEAT by Goldust! The Bizarre One showed up again during the match-leveling Snow with Head, and setting up X-Pac for the X-Factor and the win! Immediately after being pinned, Snow chased after Goldust, who kept beating him down with Head.

Former Tag Team Champions collided as Kane, who apparently wanted to win the title with no help from the Corporation, took on Mankind! But this time the richest prize in sports-entertainment was on the line. Kane went for a chokeslam, but Mankind countered with a low blow followed by a double-arm DDT. The champion put on Socko and went for the Mandible Claw, but Kane's masked prevented him from applying much pressure. Still, Kane was dazed, and when he was able to plant Mankind with a Tombstone, he did not immediately make the cover. When he finally did, The Rock ran in and prevented him from winning! The Rock got a chair and pummeled both Kane and Mankind repeatedly until Stone Cold Steve Austin showed up! As Mankind and Austin were about to double team him, The Rock escaped. Austin hit both Mankind and Kane with stunners!

Backstage, The Rock explained to Mr. McMahon that he wasn't going to let the Big Red Machine take "The Rock's title". He wanted to win it back himself at the Royal Rumble!

Two young superstars collided as Edge of the Brood took on Triple H, who was accompanied by Chyna. Triple H caught Edge quickly and applied the Pedigree for the win. After the match, all three members of the Brood attacked Triple H. DX came out to even the odds and when the lights came back on it was Road Dogg who was the most recent victim of a blood bath.

What happened after the commercial break is difficult to describe. Dennis Knight lay on a table while the Acolytes stood nearby. The Undertaker came out with Paul Bearer and said that the Ministry of Darkness had arrived! Apparently the Undertaker is "He". According to the Undertaker, "Hell is no longer an option, it is a reality"!

Undertaker then performed a human sacrifice on Dennis Knight, and carved the Undertaker symbol into his chest. Unexplainable, Knight started floating in midair!

D'Lo Brown came out with Terri Runnels and Jacqueline. D'Lo said he would do anything to make amends for Terri's miscarriage-even fight his good friend "Sexual Chocolate" Mark Henry, which is exactly what Terri wanted him to do. As D'Lo and Mark Henry went face to face, Terri hit Henry from behind with a low blow. Chyna and her friend Sammy appeared and ran PMS off!

Shane announced that the members of DX and the Corporation would face off in a "Corporate Royal Rumble", and the winner would become the number 30 entrant in the Royal Rumble! The first two participants were Ken Shamrock and Billy Gunn. Shamrock showed he was not interested in winning the match as he eliminated himself by going after Badd Ass before he even entered the ring! But by the time the referees could get Shamrock to leave, it was time for the Big Boss Man to enter! Test entered next and began double teaming Gunn. Just after X-Pac entered, Test threw out Billy Gunn and again it was two on one against a member of DX. However, the numbers were evened when Road Dogg, still covered in blood from the blood bath, came out. Big Boss Man, Test, X-Pac and Road Dogg were still in the ring as Kane came out! But Kane quickly eliminated the Road Dogg. After Test inadvertently hit Kane, the Big Red Machine threw the Corporate Insurance Policy out!

After Kane and X-Pac were thrown out, it appeared that the last two competitors were Triple H and the Big Boss Man. However, Mr. McMahon came out and threw both competitors out! It seemed that the owner had fooled everyone and once again would enter the Rumble at number 30. However, after two minutes Chyna came out to take her turn! The stooges tried diligently to keep her out of the ring, and both Mr. Brisco and Mr. Patterson got forearm shots for their trouble. Suddenly Stone Cold Steve Austin appeared and distracted Mr. McMahon. From the other direction, Chyna grabbed the owner and threw him over the top rope and out! Chyna won the Corporate Royal Rumble and will enter the "real" Royal Rumble last! Meanwhile, outside the ring, Stone Cold Steve Austin laughed right in the owner's face again!