WWF Raw is War

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
March 8, 1999

As RAW from Pittsburgh kicked off, The Rock insisted that Paul Wight come down and face him, or the champion "would lay the smack down on his candy ass". But Mr. McMahon emerged from the back instead. He told The Rock that Wight was a "card-carrying member of the Corporation". Later, Wight came out and suggested that he should take the bull and the horns and shove them up The Rock's … but before he could finish his sentence, Mankind came out and said that if Wight and The Rock really wanted to fight, he would once again volunteer to be the referee. Instead, Mr. McMahon said that if Mankind wanted to be the second referee at WrestleMania, he would have to face Stone Cold Steve Austin later on RAW! The Rattlesnake came out and said he didn't care about anyone…just that he was going to WrestleMania and that he was going to be the next champion.

Backstage, the Undertaker was hunting for the Big Boss Man. He found a couple ham-and-eggers and told them that if they saw Boss Man they should give him a message--and then the members of the Ministry brutally attacked them!

In the first match of the night, D'Lo Brown took on Owen Hart, accompanied by Debra, in a Steel City Street Fight. In a match where anything goes, Owen and D'Lo used an assortment of weapons to bash one another, including a steel tray and a broom. In the end, Jeff Jarrett came out and tossed his guitar toward Owen, but D'Lo intercepted it, broke it over Hart's head, and got the pin. Owen was busted wide open!

To the delight of the crowd, the New Age Outlaws reunited as they took on Hardcore Holly and Al Snow. Holly and Snow had serious trouble working as a cohesive unit, and Snow eventually pummeled his own partner with Head! Gunn picked up Holly and Road Dogg came off the top rope for a spike piledriver for the victory. After the match, the lights went out and the Ministry of Darkness assaulted all four superstars. The Undertaker came to the ring and said to the Big Boss Man, "before this night is over you will come face to face with your maker and the Lord of Darkness".

After the break, Jim Ross came out to the ring and asked Michael Cole to join him. First JR mocked the "creative and marketing team" at the World Wrestling Federation for coming up with the "ridiculous" idea that "Dr. Death" Steve Williams dress in Japanese attire. Then he accused Michael Cole of going behind his back and telling Federation officials that JR would never be able to work again. JR told Cole that he wanted to give him something by which to remember JR forever, and he kicked him in the groin! JR then said he was going to resume his duties on play-by-play. Backstage, when Mr. McMahon realized what had just happened, he ordered Terry Taylor to go out and take over for Ross. Taylor tried to explain to JR that he was just doing what Mr. McMahon had told him to do, but Ross grew increasingly frustrated, saying he "just wanted to get back to work". Dr. Death came out and escorted JR back to the locker room area and Taylor took over play-by-play duties for the rest of the evening.

In the next match, Ken Shamrock took on Goldust, who was accompanied by the Blue Meanie and Ryan Shamrock! Goldust set up the World's Most Dangerous Man for the Shattered Dreams, but the Bizarre One was distracted when the Blue Meanie planted a kiss on Ryan! Ken Shamrock had time to recover, and he eventually finished off Goldust with a belly-to-belly suplex. After the match, Goldust and Ryan Shamrock ran off together, and Ken chased right after.

In an attempt to wear down X-Pac before WrestleMania, Shane McMahon sent Test to take on the degenerate one-on-one on RAW. But it ended up being more like three on two. Triple H did he best to fight off Chyna and Shane, but as HHH backed down the Ninth Wonder of the World, the European Champion went in the ring and bashed X-Pac over the head with the European Title, and Test covered him for the win! An irate Triple H said he had had enough and he was going to find Chyna, dragged her out to the ring, and beat her in front of everyone.

The Godfather and two fine Pittsburgh hos came out next in what was scheduled to be a match with Steve Blackman. But the "Lethal Weapon" opted to take the hos! As he was talking away, Droz attacked him from behind. Blackman, Droz and the Godfather went after each other, but the lights went out and the Ministry of Darkness attacked them all. The Undertaker once again walked to the ring, and promised that before the night was over, there would be a sacrifice.

Chyna came out to the ring and said if Triple H wanted her, he didn't have to look for her. Triple H hit the ring, but the lights went out and Kane emerged from the back. Chyna held Triple H and Kane shot a fireball at him, but HHH ducked and the flame hit Chyna instead! Kane threw Triple H and an ambulance crew out of the ring, and he carried her backstage himself.

Next up, Tori, accompanied by Sable, came out to take on Luna. Sable joined Jerry "The King" Lawler and Terry Taylor for commentary-but they paid little attention to the match. Sable brought a copy of the Playboy, featuring her on the cover, and the King could hardly contain himself. The referee called for the bell when Luna refused to stop choking Tori. Sable went into the ring to "help" Tori, but she ended up kicking her biggest fan!

The Boss Man arrived at the arena and was immediately beaten down by the Ministry. The dragged him out to the ring area and strapped him on an Undertaker symbol. But the powerful Boss Man was able to rip his way off the symbol, and the Corporation came out to even the odds. Apparently the stooges had called the police, as several of Pittsburgh's finest came after the Undertaker. The Lord of Darkness set his symbol on fire, and then allowed himself to be arrested! Meanwhile, Paul Bearer was seen making a call on his cellular phone!

As the police escorted the Undertaker away, Mr. McMahon got right in the Undertaker's face. The owner seemed angrier than ever-to the point where the cops almost had to arrest him too--and he told the Lord of Darkness that he would rot in jail!

The Rock came out to provide guest commentary for the final match of the evening, Stone Cold Steve Austin against Mankind, with special referee Paul Wight. Wight kept himself away from the action for most of the match-letting Stone Cold and Mankind battle. But at the end, Mankind slapped on the Mandible Claw with Austin standing just outside the ring. Wight administered a rather quick 10 count, and Mankind won the match by countout! Austin got in Wight's face to question the fast count, and Mr. McMahon separated the two superstars. Austin was attacked from behind by The Rock, but the Rattlesnake was able to battle him off as RAW came to an end!