10 Things You Learn From Rewatching LAST Time WWE Raw Lost In Ratings War

8. Awful, Awful Finishes

Steve Austin Ken Shamrock Raw 1998.jpg
WWE.com

The WWE is a promotion that's still riddled by horrendous match finishes to this day. Having a three-hour Raw and a two-hour SmackDown to fill, in addition to PPVs and other C-shows, WWE has to come up with creative ways to not burn through rivalries or definitive finishes. And thus, the "creative ways" usually end up circling back to the tried and trusted DQ finish or a distraction roll-up.

Stepping back in time 22 years, you're immediately slapped around the face with this continuous problem for WWE programming.

On a card consisting of eight matches, half of the bouts on this classic Raw end in a DQ. Even in the matches that don't have a disqualification finish, there's plenty of shenanigans going on.

There's dissention amongst the Legion of Doom following Droz's loss to the Rock. There's a 3-on-1 assault on Kane following his victory over Gangrel. The infamous distraction roll-up comes out to play in getting the New Age Outlaws a victory, which itself was followed by a post-match beatdown from Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown. Not to forget the main event, of course, for Steve Austin's win over Ken Shamrock saw interference from Mankind.

It's also notable how only two matches on the card last for more than five minutes, that being the Outlaws vs. Snow and Foley clocking in at 5:28, and then Austin vs. Shamrock running at 6:16.

As alluded to elsewhere, that was commonplace for the Attitude Era, with more focus being on colourful angles and character development rather than lengthy, high quality in-ring action. But still, awful finishes or outright no-finishes are as bad then as they are now.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.