SummerSlam '98!

It marks 20 years since SummerSlam '98 took place at Madison Square Garden.  I remember that this was the firs time Sunday Night Heat aired live, and it was pretty exciting.  It almost felt like we were getting an extra hour of the PPV for free!  (Of course, years later - like in 2018 - we will groan, bitch and complain how the PPV was over 4 hours tomorrow night, and how the pre show was 2 hours).

I remember being excited for the event.  I felt a lot of great matches were taking place, and honestly I felt that the card looked better than Wrestlemania 14 did that year.  But then the matches started to take place...

Venis vs. Brown to open up the show was a dud.  The DQ finish killed the show right off the bat. 

The 8 man tag was horrendous, Jarrett vs. X-Pac in the hair vs. hair match was just a sad attempt to give Jeff Jarrett a new look. 

Mero/Jacqueline vs. Sable/Edge was neat though, I don't think anyone thought Edge would be the surprise partner since he just debuted weeks prior. 

Shamrock vs. Owen was meh, since it was done UFC style, or at least attempted to be. 

NAO vs. Mankind for the Tag Titles was confusing.  Were we supposed to feel sympathy for Mick??  But the Outlaws are awesome and I want them to win the Tag Titles back!!  Oh, Kane is here, he cost himself and Foley the Tag Titles... so is Foley a good guy??  Just seemed weird booking there. 

Triple H vs. Rock in the ladder match was a complete snore fest to me.  Funny thing is, they work an angle of hurting Triple H's knee, and then like two days later on a Sunday Night Heat taping, the actually wrenches his knee and needs surgery. 

Austin vs. Undertaker should have been awesome, but it really wasn't.  The build up for this match was months in the making, and it did not deliver at all.  Both men just seemed off with each other that night.  Austin retained, which I figured he would.

Looking back this PPV does not hold up well.  I would go far to say that SummerSlam '97 and SummerSlam '99 were better events than the 1998 one, but everything was there for that 1998 event to make it spectacular, it just never seemed to gel properly though.

What is everyone's opinion on this SummerSlam??  Liked it??  Hated it??  Do tell!