Post by hbkjason on Apr 23, 2020 6:33:22 GMT -5
Wrestling Memories: Capital Carnage
Taking place in December of 1998, Capital Carnage was a show that I was very excited about. During the Attitude Era, this was the third big show that we got here in the UK. We had One Night Only which I attended. Mayhem In Manchester which I did not and then this one, three big shows all in the space of one year! What made Capital Carnage so exciting for me was this would be the first time I got to see Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock live! This show stands out for me as it features one of my all time favorite matches that I have seen live.
This show took place in London. While I lived in Scotland going to a show in London was always easier for me than Birmingham or Manchester. I had family who lived in Cambridge so I would always go and stay with them. The promotion of this event was not as huge as it was for One Night Only. It was still advertised regularly, but not as intense as it was for One Night Only. A huge deal for this show was the inclusion of Vinnie Jones. He was a football player, turned actor who you probably know best as Juggernaut from X-Men 3.
I was not sure I would even be going to this show! When the tickets went on sale I had an assessment that I had to do. So, this meant, my buddy was in charge of securing tickets which was usually my job. I do not know if you have ever had to rely on someone to get you tickets for a show, but it is a pretty nervous experience. Thankfully he scored some good seats. We were seated in the tier near the entranceway. The London arena is not exactly huge so we had a great view of the action and the entrances.
As far as the show goes Capital Carnage is kind of weird. Rather than getting say, 7 or 8 matches. We got a ton of much smaller and shorter matches. It was kind of like the way they used to do WrestleMania 3 to 7 where they would just have as many people on the card as possible, even if the matches only lasted a few minutes. None of the undercard really blew me away and I was really disappointed that the LOD only got about five minutes in their match which they lost to The Headbangers. Even in 1998, I loved the LOD and was blind to how bad things were getting.
Probably the biggest thing that happened in the undercard was the match between Christian and Sable taking on Marc Mero and Jacqueline. Both ladies looked fantastic, but this was when the WWF Attitude Era was in full swing, and being that they were in the UK the WWF thought they would just go for it. This match is famous for Jacqueline going fully topless and let me tell you it got one hell of a stunned silence and also a pop. I bet most people could not tell you one other spot from this match or who even one, but they sure as hell remember Jacqueline getting her top pulled off.
This show is about two matches really. The first one is one of my favorite live matches of all time and I could not actually give you a reason why this is the case. I have watched this match on VHS, DVD and the Network many times and I like it, but it does not have that magic it had when I saw it live. Live, I could not have been any more into this match. The match I am talking about is The Rock vs X-Pac for the WWF Championship. I really liked both guys and I thought they had a hell of a match, and X-Pac actually looked like a legit threat to The Rock. The match had a lot of interference which was fun too! I have read other people's reviews of PPVs where they were super into a particular match and I just never got it. So I can see why people are confused when I tell them I love this match as much as I do.
The main event of capital Carnage was a fatal four-way match. This was it, I was finally going to get to see Stone Cold live! Before we get to the match, let's talk about Vinnie Jones. He was the special enforcer for the match and I remember Shane Mcmahon joking that he was known as a “hardman” so he could be George Michael's boyfriend or something like that. It was something that they never in a million years would try and do now. In all honesty, Vinnie Jones I felt was a bit of a dud and never really added anything to the event or match.
The match had Stone Cold Steve Austin going up against Kane, Mankind, and The Undertaker. A fun part of this match was the Stooge era, Gerald Briscoe being the special referee he was awesome in this role. This is a match that was just a lot of fun to see live, Austin was so over at this time it was unreal. As you would expect the match was full of hijinks and it had the crowd going nuts for most of it. It was a fun match and a pretty awesome way to see Austin live for the first time.
What are your memories of this show? It is not the best of the UK PPVs, probably due to all the short filler matches. Even the main two matches do not last all that long. I would love to know other people’s opinions on The Rock vs X-Pac I have gotten many people to watch it over the years and they never know why I like it so much. Before the event, I was all about seeing Austin live for the first time, but it was Rock and X-Pac who stole the show for me
Also, did this show come out on VHS in the USA and was it as butchered as One Night Only was?
He'd faked it to make me happy which is kind of nice I suppose but ... 