Royal Rumble 1998 was a pretty strong show for WWE to kick off the year. Now we head into February with No Way Out of Texas. This show marks the twentieth In Your House event and is main evented by an unsanctioned eight-man tag team match.
Best of the Show
Taka Michinoku and Pantera really showed out in ten minutes they were given as Taka defended the gorgeous red-strapped Light Heavyweight title. My only complaint about this match is that it should’ve been given the remainder of the opener’s time—we’ll discuss it in “The Rest” portion but it should’ve been shorter—and moved back as the opener. This was an exciting match that would’ve kicked things off on a high note.
Into the Vault: WWE No Way Out of Texas
The main of the show was something of a random match. There was definitely a story here and the right names were here but there were odd team additions. First, Stone Cold was teaming up Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie who were feuding with the New Age Outlaws. Owen Hart was here as well. On the other side was Degeneration X minus HBK with random ass Savio Vega filling in.
It just makes things weird when you look at the match listing. As for the match itself, it was fun and damn good. Most of WWE’s early Attitude Era hard workers were involved in this bout and that made for an enjoyable match that I wouldn’t skip and that warranted its time limit.
The Rest of the Show
In the opening match of No Way Out of Texas, we have some tag team action as The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust teamed up with Marc Mero to take on The Headbangers. I loved the pairing of Goldust and Luna Vachon, Marc Mero was being upstaged by Sable by now, and The Headbangers were alright.
I’d say the only thing wrong with this match was the length. This was basically a television bout that was given too much time for no reason. As a result, it started to drag in the second half. It wasn’t to the point of saying “Alright, that’s enough. Wrap this sh** up” but my interest in it peaked after six minutes.
While the crowd at least responded to the opener, the Godwinns vs. Quebecers match was an 11-minute opportunity to go hit up the fridge, check messages, use the bathroom, and check the mail. This was definitely an In Your House undercard affair.
In a match that should’ve been a low-key satisfying match, Jeff Jarrett defended his NWA North American title against Justin Bradshaw. I was really digging the bout as Jarrett was his usual above-solid self and Bradshaw was actually wrestling a decent match.
However, I couldn’t put it anywhere above middle-of-the-road. Also, the crowd did not care about this match at all. The NWA Invasion wasn’t doing it for anyone and what we got here was just another defense with a DQ finish. One plus for Jarrett vs. Bradshaw is that it was kept on the short side of things.
Ahmed Johnson and Ken Shamrock teamed up with DOA to take on The Nation of Domination in a ten-man “War of Attrition” match…which was just a ten-man tag team match. There was nothing extra like a cage or elimination rules here and it ran the expected length for a match with this many guys involved.
It was a pretty meh match, nothing particularly interesting or exciting. It’s part of an ongoing storyline, continues the Rock-Shamrock rivalry, and also featured dissent in the ranks of the Nation of Domination. Those are the only things worth mentioning about the match and it all has nothing to do with the actual action in the match. If anything, this could’ve been on RAW and you wouldn’t have missed much.
The Kane vs. Vader match was more of a big man pacing match for the Big Red Machine. Vader was not at his best in WWE—especially in 1998. This match didn’t suck and it had its moments but this wasn’t anything to write home about.
Kane did work well with what he had and admittedly this is a monster battle. The important thing to know about monster battles is that you shouldn’t really go in with the highest of expectations of great ring work and it should be at least wow-worthy.
This match actually hit both of the marks as seeing these two destructive forces squared off. On that note, while there is nothing there with Kane and Vader, I can see them being a team to be reckoned with in the Attitude Era’s tag ranks.
WWE No Way Out of Texas Verdict: Bronze Medal (2.35/5)
No Way Out of Texas was a dip from Royal Rumble 1998 but it featured two banger matches. Of the two, I’d give the Light Heavyweight title bout the match of the show honors. While the main event had more going for it with some feuds being featured, the Taka Michinoku vs. El Pantera match truly made the most of the little time given and it was an exciting ten minutes.
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