Unless you were strictly a WWF, being an ECW, FMW or WCW fan must have been frustrating to stay tuned and stay in one promotion. WCW have kept teasing about the “death of NWO” when they should have ended it at Starrcade 1997. At this point, we only got behind the Wolfpack in hopes that NWO was going to officially end (except that it’s the red version of NWO). WCW was lucky to still be consistantly victorious in the television ratings when they spewed out hot garbage like Ultimate Warrior “saving” WCW, not using Bret Hart properly after the Montreal Screwjob, and the Cruizerweights couldn’t get any higher in the hierarchy. ECW continue to lose more and more of their big stars and I don’t know why Paul Heyman couldn’t get figure out how to make a good show in this year (except for one really good show). FMW’s their joshi division was dead and could only survive with Hayabusa as the face of the company. All-Japan Pro Wrestling & New Japan Pro Wrestling was in a stand-still doing the same business as they always did. WWF in 1998, however, was perhaps is one of the best year in the company’s history. This was Stone Cold Steve Austin’s year and having the company push him further than any star they had made him an icon. Like wise, WWF was making new stars like The Rock getting pushed to the main event scene, Kane was more than just being Undertaker’s brother, Undertaker’s character have the most development in his career, Mick Foley’s Hell in a Cell King of the Ring match make him a new face of WWF, Triple H was able to proved himself to be more than a sidekick but a leading force, Ken Shamrock made wrestling dangerous, Sable’s sex appeal got fans tuning in, and so much more. What WWF started with the Attitude Era has kept a consistancy of quality storytelling and wrestling. Sure not everything in 1998 for WWF were perfect like Legion of Doom 2000 was the Road Warrior’s worst run together as a team, Big Van Vader was buried from his main event status, and Shawn Michael retired this year (and didn’t return until 2002). All things considered, I’d love to go back to 1998 WWF and revisit everything offered this year.
The Year 1998 Wrestling Rewards
- Wrestler of 1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin
- Underrated Wrestler of 1998: Raven
- Feud of 1998: Undertaker vs Kane
- Wrestling Match of 1998: Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa – October 31, 1998
- Wrestling Promotion of 1998: World Wrestling Federation
Number 10. – Fully Loaded:
In Your House
The one aspect of the show that everyone remember this night for is the bikini contest between Sable and Jacqueline but neglects the rest of the show. That’s only because 23rd In Your House event was very much a C-show but had really strong matches booked in. Before The Rock & Triple H had their legendary ladder match at Summerslam these two had a two-out-of-three falls that went to a draw during overtime, which foreshadowed a 1 hour Iron Man match in the later years. I will always remember that Owen Hart vs Ken Shamrock inside the Hart Dungeon was a surprise considering Stu Hart took great offense after what the WWF did to his son, Bret, in the Montreal Screwjob. Sure he did it for Own but I’m surprise WWF was able to do any business after that fiasco. The main event between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Undertaker vs Kane and Mankind for the Tag Team belts was like a highly worked episode of Raw meant to build up Austin and Taker’s feud than anything else. The only negative I can say about this simple show as the snorefest between Mark Henry and Vader and The Road Warriors (I’m not calling them LOD 2000) lost to The Disciples of Apocalypse. But if you balance it back up to Jeff Jarrett losing to Val Venis in the opener and 2 Cold Scorpio & Farooq beat JBL & Terry Funk (before Farooq & Bradshaw became APA) will always be a positive to me. You can’t always get what you want, I suppose.
Number 9. – Spring Stampede
I hate to say that WCW in 1998 wasn’t as good as 1996 or 1997. when it comes to delivering pay per views. Monday Night Nitro on a weekly basis is worth watching, it’s just whenever it’s that time of the month to release a pay per view, it wasn’t that special. However, Spring Stampede is always the shows that somehow gets it right whenever WCW was lacking shows. The second ever Spring Stampede last year was a very solid show, 1998 wasn’t as good but was the best show in WCW ’98’s catelog. Thankfully Hollywood Hogan didn’t close the show because he had another match with Roddy Piper in a tag match with Kevin Nash (Hogan’s partner) and The Giant (Piper’s) in a Baseball Bat on a Pole match. At this point the feud between Piper & Hogan has gotten really stale and this was the only bull of the show (despite advertising “no bull” for this show). For everyone that kept saying that WCW don’t make stars besides Goldberg & DDP because what on Earth is Raven doing in the semi-main event for the US title? Raven had a much better run in WCW than he ever did in all of his time in WWF. You need to see Raven vs. DDP for the US title because nobody ever talked about Raven’s push and one of the best decisions that WCW has ever made. Randy Savage vs. Sting for the WCW World title in a no-DQ stipulation was a hell of a great match. Having both participants at an old age still go and move faster than I’d ever expected, plus making it a great closure. Other good matches to check out are Goldberg vs Saturn in an explosive opener, Chavo Guerrero vs Ultimo Dragon is another aweseome cruiserweight match as expected, Booker T beating Chris Benoi Family Killer for the Television championship is always good in my book, Chris Jericho had another good bout with Prince Iaukea, and La Parka vs. Psychosis was a decent showing. Sure this show had plenty of weak aspects like Rick and Lex vs Scott and Buff as weak payback after the Steiner brothers disbanded and Curt hennig vs. Brittish Bulldog was so dissapointing. Other than that, this is another solid addition for Spring Stampede’s line up.
Number 8. – Breakdown:
In Your House
The funny thing about C-shows is that it’s only purpose was to make the monthly (barely) supercard scheduled, continue story lines with no conclusions, and the match quality is not as good as B or A shows but better than free weekly television matches. For a C-Show I was surprised that the 24th In Your House delivered so much. The rivalry between Kane & Undertaker got so fierce that it was worthy enough to be main evented with Stone Cold Steve Austin’s WWF title in a triple threat bout. This was the right time for Austin to WWF lose the title after having a very good reign with the belt. It was interesting to see that both Kane & Undertaker both pinned Austin at the same time only to make us tune in the next night of Raw to find out the official result. The best match of the night is one of the biggest surprise gems of the Attitude era with The Rock vs. Mankind vs. Ken Shamrock in a Cage match. That was one of the best cage matches of the 1990s and it was incredibly brutal to see all three participants trying to escape the cage or win by pinfall. It feels right off from a video game and to see it actually happening was a spectacle. Though I disagreed with the finish (mainly because I hate JBL) but Bradshaw and Vader had an awesome Falls Count Anywhere Match because it felt stiff as a Japanese inspired match that you can get. You don’t see that style in WWF and it was surprising that this got booked here. While Vader had last WWF singles match, Edge had his first singles match by grappling with Owen Hart in a match that I never thought ever happened. Edge’s later partner made his first on-screen debut in Edge vs. Owen, but not as Edge’s tag partner was we expected. Though Droz was green as hell, he did make a decent match with Marc Mero and don’t forget that scary shooting starpress that almost got him Mero hurt. As for the rest of the show Al Snow and 2 Cold Scorpio vs Too Much was filler, Gangrel vs. D’Lo Brown was just there, Val Venis vs. Dustin Runnels (not as Goldust or Formerly known as) was dull, and D-Generation-X vs Jeff Jarrett & Southern Justice was weak. This was a decent show yet surprising show despite being middle of the road.
Number 7. – Halloween Havoc
I emplore you to please check out Halloween Havoc. It’s such ashame that Ultimate Warrior vs Hulk Hogan’s godawful match completely overshadows all the good that was been released in this show. I wish that tragic Wrestlemania VI rematch wasn’t booked into this show because everything else booked in this show was awesome throughout. There were a lot of dream matches and must-see bouts that were all perfectly booked here. Bret Hart vs Sting was one of those dream matches where both men’s styles are so similar that it worked out as a terrific match. This was the last time we get to see Sting in black and red Wolfpac before he went hiatus (and the fingerpoke of doom). Another dream match that I’m so glad happened was the underrated Raven vs. Chris Jericho for the television championship. I knew both of these wrestlers had mad skills with every department but wow was I not expecting both of them to have so much chemestry that I’m ashamed that there weren’t more of them booked together. Disco Inferno vs. Kidman for the Cruiserweight title was honestly the biggest surprise of the night because I didn’t expect Disco to pull of a good match and it was surprisingly engaging and fast-paced. Sure Rick Steiner and Buff Bagwell vs. Scott Steiner and The Giant was an a bit overbooked mess but having finally a one-on-one bout between Rick and Scott right after it was better than the tag match before. Even though Scott Hall vs Kevin Nash wasn’t as good here as it was in thier previous bout in the WWF, but it was decent until the anti-climatic finish. And who can ever forget the main event between Diamond Dallas Page vs. Goldberg. Out of all of Goldberg’s title defenses for the WCW World championship, this was the shit! DDP came so close to winning the belt and he should have been the one to break Goldberg’s undefeated streak. It’s too bad that the pay per view broadcast blew up which forced WCW to show the recording of this match in Monday Night Nitro the night after. I love that WCW title match to death and it was the best main events WCW has ever produced. If it weren’t for the pay per view cutout and the Hogan-Warrior match, this would have been remembered as a better show.
Number 6. – Summerslam
I don’t think Summerslam ’98 is as good of a show as many Attitude Era fans claim it to be. The biggest misstep for me will always be the slow main event between Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Undertaker. That botch headbutt to Austin got him daze and confused that it certainlly affected the flow of the match. The two competitors meraculously beeing able to finish the match, but it was a dissapointment none the less. The rest of Summerslam 1998 turned out to be an incredibly very special show. WCW was still kicking WWF in the ass at the and WWF needed this Summerslam to be a good show to keep up with the competition. Another match that I wasn’t a fan of was of The Oddities vs Kaientai 6-man tag for being such a mess and Kane wasn’t booked to team with Mankind to face The New Age Outlaws. I mean it was fun seeing Mick Foley getting hammered after King of the Ring’s Hell in a Hell match but this was not a progression for Mankind. Plus Kane missing in action was a missed opportunity. The rest of the card carried this show to greatness. Everyone remembers the leaders of both D-Generation-X and Nation of Domination, Triple H & The Rock, had an epic ladder match in the semi-main event for the Intercontinental championship. Ladder matches weren’t as booked as often as it is now. This Ladder stipulation wasn’t filled with unnessesary high flying action but used creative spots and really had to beat so bad to see who takes the IC belt. There’s no argument that both The Rock & Triple H came a long way and after this match they became stars that the WWF can get behind. The rest of the card is filled with memorable moments like X-Pac beating Jeff Jarrett in a Hair vs Hair match (too bad X-Pac didn’t shave all of Jarrett’s hair off). The Lion’s Den match between Ken Shamrock and Owen Hart is one of the most unique match and a nicely worked MMA bout. It’s such a shame that we don’t have enough Lion’s Den matches because Owen vs Ken still remains the best of this gimmick. Edge makes an explosive character debut as Sable’s tag partner against Jaqueline and Marc Mero. Sable doens’t get the credit for being a big star that she is and damn her chemistry with Edge was proof of her capabilities. D’Lo Brown vs Val Venis was a decent opener until disqualification finish. This was were WWF was able to utilize thier midcard and gave opportunities to so many on board. I just don’t think Summerslam 1998 was as good as I remembered besides those highlights, unfortunately.
Number 5. – Royal Rumble
The only thing that everyone remembers most about this Royal Rumble is Stone Cold Steve Austin winning for the second time and was definetly going to main event Wrestlemania this time and Shawn Michaels hurting his back in the casket match with Undertaker. Re-watching this Royal Rumble was actually better than how I remembered. I realized that this was the best Royal Rumble since 1992 (Royal Rumble ’92 is still a better show) but damn was this card spectacular! Past Royal Rumbles had a lot of missed opportunities but this one here was smartly booked and any thing different would make the show worse and make Wrestlemania 14 different. I think what doesn’t get enough credit was The Rock for not only pulling double duty by beating Ken Shamrock for the IC title but entered the Royal Rumble at number 4 and was the last guy to be eliminated by Stone Cold before Austin became the Royal Rumble winner. This brings a whole lot of context to building up their impecable rivalry later down the line. Another highlight is Mick Foley pulled triple duty as Mankind, Cactus Jack, and Dude Love in three separate entries making this the only time where we get to see all three of Foley’s alteregoes in one show! We also had little wrestlers tag match with Max Mini, Mosaic and Nova vs Battalion, El Torito and Tarantula in a decent match. Vader squashing Gold… I mean “The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust” while Luna Vachon was on Vader’s bad was an awesome moment. The fact that Luna Vachon almost loses her teeth doing that spot shows how underrappreciated Luna was as an active participant in wrestling. THis was the last noteworthy thing Vader has done before the company buried him. And our main event between Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker in the Casket match for the WWF Championship was very good match. This was Shawn last good performance before he injured his back landing on the casket like that. Luckily the injury didn’t take effect throughout the match and he was able to make a hell of a performance. The finish of Kane interfering the match by putting Undertaker in the casket, then chopping the casket with an axe and set it on fire was another great cliffhanger in the show. This of course was all a build up to the best Wrestlemania of all time. Royal Rumble 1998 doesn’t get enough credit. If the only weak aspect of the show was The Road Warrior beating the New Age Outlaws by DQ and not win the Tag team championship should tell you that Royal Rumble ’98 is one of the best editions of Rumble history..
Number 4. – King of the Ring
I make no hyperbole when I say that, this is the show that truly defined the whole Era of Attitude! From the opening with The Headbangers/Taka Michinoku–Kaientai match, Sable returning, Ken Shemrock beating the Rock in the King in the Ring Final Round, Vince McMahon shoot interview on the main event, D-Generation X’s dominance over Owen & Midnight Express, the hilarious Al Snow & Head beaten by Too Much (now known as Too Cool), and the final two matches that went completely chaotic! Everyone around the world should remember the Hell in a Cell match with Undertaker & Mankind. It is the most brutal, fearsome, and unpredictable match of all time. If there’s a reason why Hell in a Cell is such a popular match type, it has to be because of the impact that this match given us. If the Golden Age’s defining moment was Hulk Hogan bodyslamming Andre The Giant in Wrestlemania III, Attitude Era’s defining moment was when Undertaker tossing Mankind off the Hell in the Cell, not once but twice. To me this was the most important match of all time because it exposed the violence and seriousness of professional to the mainstream. I seriously think that without this match the WWF would never get so much popularity and the sake that Mick Foley sacrificed his own life for the company because he is the most hardcore individual who ever lived. The sake that he was tossed off the cell, had a piece of his took coming out of his nose, and even landing on thumbtacks left us an impact and made Mick Foley a big name in the wrestling world. And yet that never stopped either Undertaker or Mankind because they came back to interfere in the main event with Kane vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin in a first blood match. This main event certainly became one of my all time favorite matches in the whole attitude era because for a First Blood match, the Hell in a Cell came down and the level of chaos never slowed down. That chair shot that hit Stone Cold’s head caused him to loose the match with blood pouring off of his skull. It was an anticlimactic ending for many who bought the pay-per-view, but I love that it was a follow up to my favorite episode of Raw is War when Austin had his rematch and beat Kane for the WWF Championship. Sure this Pay Per View was a build up to an episode of Raw, but the historical impact and significance that this show accomplished will forever appeal to wrestling fans and non wrestling fans alike!
Number 3. – Over The Edge
This In Your House show is one of those special wrestling shows that captures the the appeal of the Attitude Era. Not only was this card one of the best, but between match segments and brawls seen in this show was totally entertaining. All the feuds happening during May 31, 1998 were really pushing it forward into engaging storylines and fantastic match ups. Moments like Farooq attacking The Rock, (after an awesome opener with Road Warrior’s victory), or Marc Mero shoot matching Sable, D-X brawling with the Nation, and even Pat Peterson giving an intro to Vince McMahon as special guest referee and Dude Love was fantastic to build up for what’s later to be seen in the show. And the anticipation never disappointed which is what’s seriously lacking in many other wrestling shows. There were a lot of surprise in this show like Marc Mero beating Sable, Kaientai-Taka Michinoku/Justin Bradshaw match were high flying action that we tend to forget happened in Attitude, many more took me off guard. And there were headline matches that exceed our expectations. The Rock-Farooq match certainly delivered after a long storyline with former leader and then-current lead of Nation of Dominaiton while earlier the feud was so good that they brawled earlier in the show. Vader making his last appearance in the WWF after getting creamed by the awesome Kane was certainly emotional & memorable. But still remember the long awaited D-Generation X vs. Nation of Domination has been one of the best faction vs. faction match that doesn’t happen often in wrestling. Sure a lot of heels in this show won many of these matches, but I really enjoyed & fully appreciated that every aspect of the show felt different from the other. This isn’t a card with basic matches, Over The Edge ’98 was a professional wrestling experience that has was incredibly varied and creative all at once! And the match that certainly paid off is the main event with Dude Love vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin with Vince McMahon as special guest referee. It was a brawl of a life time, but the whole match was a fantastic shoot of McMahon and Austin. All the plans of trying to take the WWF Championship away from Austin was backfired when Austin knocked both Dude Love and McMahon having Austin to use McMahon’s only hand to make the three count to retain as Champ. This pay per view was completely wild and never stopped being entertaining from beginning to end. For me, this is WWE’s only Over The Edge show (let’s just not talk about the other one) and is the most out of the Attitude Era that you can get.
ECW’s pay per views in 1998 were from okay-ish to worst show of the year (just look at Wrestlepalooza 1998), that Heatwave ’98 is a huge exception. This is almost everything that you ever want from a hardcore wrestling promotion. It’s wierd that one of the best pay-per-views i the company’s history doesn’t have a ECW title defense on the card (thanks to Shane Douglas’s arm injury). Of course Heatwave ’98 is an unconventional one given the anarchic nature of the company itself. Every match in this is is absolutely well executed. Everyone keeps on saying that the tag title match between Rob Van Dam/Sabu vs. Hayabusa/Jinsei Shinzaki was dissapointing but I stongly beg to differ. This was an FMW style of match and this was Hayabusa‘s first debut in North American soil. I enjoyed the match for being more FMW than ECW and that double table landing will ways be in grained in my memory forever. Another bout that doesn’t get the credit that it deserves is Taz & Bam Bam Bigelow’s Falls Count Anywhere match for the unofficial FTW belt. That rematch turned out to be even better than their previous bout at Living Dangerously. Luckily this show offers well-done non-hardcore matches like Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible and Chris Candino vs Lance Storm. Of course everyone remembers how awesome Masato Tanaka took on Mike Awesome as the little guy took the nastliest bumps and chairshots of the night, but miraculously managed make the win by powerbombing the giant through the outside table. The Dudleyville street fight, with Sandman, Spike Dudley, Tommy Dreamer vs Buh Buh Ray, D-Von & Big Dick Dudley, was a nice combination of brutality and comedy. No doubt it was the best way to main event that match and close the show with New Jack interfering. Heatwave ’98 truly lives up to its name. Paul Heyman may not always be the genious that many proclaim him to be, but whenever the timing in right, he deliverse not only the goods but an enjoyment of a lifetime. 1998 for ECW had been a mediocre year for the company, but Heatwave ’98 was lightning in the bottle and since then it has been a crowning achievement and a booking masterpiece.
Number 1. – Wrestlemania XIV
This has to go down as some of the best Wrestlemania of all time. There was not a single bad match in this card. Rather than just calling all the matches on the card good matches, each of these matches represented aspects of the Attitude Era and what is to come for the WWF after this show. There are so many things that made the Attitude Era the most beloved time of Wrestling and it’s all thanks to this very Wrestling show. There was so much hype and build up leading to this show that blew everyone away, only to have the WWF to deliver even more stuff like this in their later years. New stars were being made, more memorable moments were created, and even more surprises that forever leaves us with an undying impression. Because of the main event, Stone Cold Steve Austin is some of the biggest names of the wrestling world and still to this day he continues make everyone excited which is what wrestling is seriously lacking today. There was not a single bad match on this show – it was really consistent throughout with starting out with the awesome victory of Legion on Doom dominating the 15-team battle royal, the surprising and forgotten match with Taka Michinoku vs. Aguila, Sable proved to be the dominate female in the company, Ken Shamrock snapping and going ape shit on The Rock, the Nation of Domination, and the referees, Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie trashing New Age Outlaws in a Dumpster, Pete Rose getting Tombstoned by Kane, and the best match of the night, Kane vs. Undertaker that came so damn close to ending the streak! I will always remember Stone Cold looking like he had no chance of winning because Vince McMahon, D-Generation-X and Mike Tyson were all against him. It was a true Wrestlemania moment where Tyson screwed Shawn Michaels, punched him square in the face, and raised Stone Cold’s hands in the air as the new WWF Champion. Shawn Michaels definitely got what he deserved for the Montreal Screwjob and this finish was a redemption from that tragedy! That should tell you why this show is a must see for everyone, not just wrestling fans! Nobody can ever take away the historical significance, the meaning of this show, and what it represents. The WWF was trying to find a direction and finally nailed it with Mike Tyson’s help and went full force for many years to come. Like Wrestlemania 3 that took wrestling to an entirely different stratosphere, Wrestlemania 14 was that moment in time that did it once again and helped the company to be later to be once again the king of professional wrestling again. I like to go back to this Wrestlemania and watch it in its entirety because it really is one of my favorite entities in professional wrestling!
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