This week marks the 20th Anniversary of the King of the Ring 1998 PPV. Everybody remembers it for the Hell in a Cell match, but it also has a First Blood match between Stone Cold and Kane for the WWF Championship. We also get the King of the Ring tournament featuring a current movie icon, the guy who created TNA, and two UFC legends. Plus we get a match in which Al Snow teams up with a mannequin head in a tag team match. It's the Attitude Era folks. And I'm watching this full show for the first time in maybe about a decade. With that in mind, let's get to it.
- I've forgotten how much I missed the old Attitude Era opening for WWF. A real dramatic opening with Classy Freddie Blassie reading off big phrases like "Revelation" and "Book of 3:16" hyping up the First Blood match and "The Sins of Mankind" and "Hell on Earth" for the Hell in a Cell match. "Dear God, have mercy on their souls." Yeah, especially Mick Foley's tonight. Lol. (WHERE WAS MY "PENCIL NECKED GEEK" IN THIS?) A guillotine with King of the Ring swings down as we go to the live crowd and.... OH THE FIREWORKS! That's something today's WWE doesn't have! And the arena is covered with signs from the audience! J.R. and King are on commentary. Yep, it's the Attitude Era!!!!
1) 6 Man Tag
Headbangers and Taka Michinoku vs. Kaientai
- Funny Note: Funaki and Yamaguchi are the current Japanese announce team for the WWE.
- Funny Note #2: Taka Michinoku currently wrestles for New Japan and is the hypeman for Zack Sabre Jr. "JUST TAP OUT!"
- Funny Note #3: One of Kaientai's members has a funny name if your mind is in the gutter.
- Seeing Taka and Funaki go at it is weird given they'd be a tag team just a couple months later through 2001.
- Good back and forth action so far. The Japanese wrestlers are clearly working at a faster pace than The Headbangers, which is to be expected given that all 4 are smaller and in the light heavyweight category for the most part.
- One thing I've noticed is that Kaientai has had some issues pacing themselves getting to the ropes. The WWE ring tends to be 20x20 while other promotions have smaller 18x18 or 16x16 rings. That seems to be playing an issue with the spots in terms of getting enough momentum and turning to the ropes to get the right bounce.
- Decent opening match to just get the crowd hot. Completely throw away though. J.R. just mentioned that this was one of two bonus matches. This was at a good place on the card.
SABLE/Vince McMahon segment
- Everyone seems to forget how OVER Sable was at this time. She should be in the Hall of Fame, regardless of whatever you think of her attitude. She was, again, OVER and a face of the Attitude Era.
- Sable is at this time still working directly for Vince McMahon to thank him for helping her keep her job after losing to her husband Marc Mero in a Loser Leaves WWF match at Over the Edge the month before. Again, Attitude Era folks.
- Sable is asked to leave. Pat Patterson pats her on the... well, where you shouldn't pat a woman... and gets SLAPPED for his misdeed. (Considering that was Pat Patterson patting her on the you know what, you can make your own jokes at home.) Patterson and Brisco go off on the situation and on Pittsburgh for booing Vince.
- I miss the Mr. McMahon character. He often said great heel promos, like this one. The theme being "disappointment" for this promo. He calls the audience disappointments, their parents disappointments, blaming others for their disappointments, and tells them to be prepared to be disappointed when Kane beats Stone Cold tonight. Another great classic McMahon promo.
2) King of the Ring Semifinal
Double J Jeff Jarrett (with Tennessee Lee) vs. Ken Shamrock
- I'm not going to comment on Lawler's reading of a fan sign, but... wow. This is the Attitude Era in all its strengths and weaknesses.
- Shamrock could have been a bigger deal in WWF had he stayed with the company in my opinion. Had he held on for another year plus, he would have been HUGE in WWF even more than he was here.
- Basic match. Jarrett playing the chicken heel while Shamrock is playing the ultra-tough guy. Lee is doing all he can from the outside to help Jarrett. The sort of match you would expect from these two at this point in their career. Ending came out of nowhere. Shamrock lands a weird looking hurricanrana, locks in the Ankle lock, and makes Jarrett tap out. Back to Col. Robert Parker for Tennessee Lee.
Side Note: How's this for irony? In 1998, when I ordered the PPV, I had to deal with several interruptions due to power outage. Tonight, again, I had to deal with power outages. God is funny sometimes.
3) King of the Ring Semifinal
The Rock (with Mark Henry and The Godfather) vs. Dan Severn
- This is a complete mix of styles looking back: The Prodigy versus The Beast.
- If you've ever seen an old UFC fight, you know how tough Shamrock and Savern were in those early UFC fights. So, these guys definitely came in with appropriate tough guy credibility.
- Severn's music is so generic but awesome at the same time. Perfect for his character. No frills. Just foreboding of pain to come. BTW, they show a replay of Severn stretching D-Lo to submission and supposedly tearing his pecs. This led to the one year run that D-Lo had with the chest protector on. Cowboy Bob Orton would be proud.
- Mark Henry and The Godfather have been sent back to the locker room. You know this isn't going to last.
- Severn is a grappler's grappler. The Rock is a showman's showman. This is going to be interesting as I remember very little about this.
- Henry and Godfather distract the referee. D-Lo hits the Frog Splash on Severn. Rock picks up the win.
- Again, a very forgettable match here and not exactly great while it lasted.
The Rock cuts a promo with Michael Cole. God, this guy is proof of when a switch goes off, greatness can happen. A year before this, he was languishing as Rocky Maivia, being hated by the fans (see: Roman Reigns today). But Vince put him with The Nation of Domination, gave him an open mic when The Rock asked for it, and the rest is history. A year later, he was WWF Champion.
4) Tag Team Match
Al Snow and The Head vs. Too Much
Special Guest Referee: Jerry "The King" Lawler
**Al must win the match to get a contract with WWF.
- Story: King had tried to get Al into the company. One thing led to another, and after Snow kept failing to get a meeting with Vince McMahon, he stole Lawler's crown to get the match with the contract on the line.
- Snow had just came from ECW where he and his mannequin head "Head" were an extremely hot property for the company.
- Lawler's appointment was made only after the wrestlers were in the ring. Given that Brian Christopher was Lawler's biological son, I think you can get where this is going if you haven't seen this. (By the way, if you haven't, save yourself and don't.)
- Lawler is actually wearing his crown while he is refereeing this match. Yeah.
- The finish comes when Brian Chrstopher puts a bottle of Head and Shoulders on the Head and pins it for the win. Garbage. This is something that should be on Raw (and not even on a good Raw). I will say this: it's not the worst Al Snow match I ever watched. That's the Kennel from Hell if you must know. (That match would have to suck to be an improvement.)
5) Owen Hart vs. X-Pac (w/Chyna)
- This should be awesome! Again, I forget everything about this particular match. If I remember correctly, Owen's nose was broken.
- This match involves 3 people who should be in the Hall of Fame by now: Owen Hart, X-Pac, and Chyna.
- I heard someone say this on a podcast last week, and I agree with it: Chyna was the backbone, the enforcer, and in many ways the central figure of D-Generation X during this time. Everyone remembers Chyna's actions during this time as a member of DX, and her role in the group cannot be overstated.
- Owen Hart joining The Nation was great storytelling. Owen was the last of The Hart Foundation after the Montreal Screwjob. He tries to get revenge on DX and fails miserably. In his zest for revenge, he turns heel and joins D-Generation X's most hated rival group: The Nation.
- Great match between two great talents. X-Pac/Syxx/Sean Waltman gets completely overlooked as far as his talents are concerned. The guy could go. I'll never forget the night he and Bret Hart tore up Monday Night Raw back in 1994. Such a legendary match. And what can be said about Owen Hart that hasn't been said? He was probably the most athletically and verbally gifted Hart brother. Bret would probably say the same if you asked him.
- Owen and X-Pac crash on the top turnbuckle. X-Pac falls to the outside. Mark Henry runs over and splashes X-Pac. Chyna and Mark Henry go face to face. VADER comes in to fight off Mark Henry. Chyna DDTs Owen while he has X-Pac in the Sharpshooter. X-Pac gets the win!!! RIP Chyna, Owen, and Vader.
- I was wrong by the way. It wasn't Owen's nose. It was Owen's eye. Ouch.
Paul Bearer Segment
- Paul Bearer cursed The Undertaker to hell for every stitch the doctors took out of him after The Undertaker beat him up at Unforgiven and again last week on Raw.
- The fat man will laugh all the way to the bank when his son Kane beats Stone Cold and becomes
WWF Champion. RIP Paul Bearer.
6) WWF Tag Team Championship
New Age Outlaws (w/Chyna) (c) vs. The NEW Midnight Express (w/James E. Cornette)
- Hard to believe when you look at Road Dogg that this is the guy that runs SmackDown. And might I say Road Dogg, this year has been much better than last. So, if you are still running things, job well done.
- NO reaction whatsoever for the NEW Midnight Express. (Insert Bruce Prichard as Jim Cornette impersonation about how over the Midnight Express used to be ten years before this.)
- Poor Bart Gunn. Bart would end up winning Brawl for All and get KOed into obscurity by Butterbean at WrestleMania XV. Bob Holly would become HARDCORE by February 1999 and have the best run of his career for a couple years as a Hardcore Championship staple.
- Smoking Gunns reunion here as Bart and Billy Gunn are on opposite sides of this match.
- Complete throwaway match. Again, it really has no place on PPV and should be a TV match only.
- Chyna pulls her best Shinsuke Nakamura and gives Cornette the uppercut to the Nether-regions. Outlaws win. Thank God. This is over.
(Side Note: When it comes to teams and factions, has anything with the word "NEW" ever been good in wrestling?)
7) King of the Ring Finals
The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock
- Triple H is on commentary with Chyna sitting by Triple H. God, so hard to believe where everyone is today: Chyna has passed on, as written earlier. Triple H is now one of the three biggest people in WWE's corporate structure. Ken Shamrock is a retired ultimate fighter. The Rock is the biggest movie star in the world. Folks, this is amazing.
- Chyna joins the Spanish Commentary team in an awesome moment. Triple H says some insensitive things. Then he makes a mistake by "outing" himself as not being bilingual. I'll let you listen back to get what I mean.
- The Rock comes to the announce desk. Triple H tells Rock that he wants none and then spits water in The Rock's face. The Rock piefaces Triple H. This basically is continuing the beef between DX and The Nation that would only heat up over the remainder of the Summer of 1998.
- This match is better for a lot of reasons than The Rock and Severn match was earlier. Both had worked together multiple times before this. In addition, Shamrock is a lot more mobile and fast on his feet than Severn at this time. And this is also being given a lot of time to breathe and tell a story.
- Finish comes when Rock goes to pick up Shamrock only to get grapevined at the leg for the Ankle Lock for the submission. "SHAMROCK! SHAMROCK! SHAMROCK! KING OF THE RING!"- Jim Ross Good solid match overall. Not a classic, but it's just a good match.
- Referees interrupt Shamrock's celebration (Tim White, in particular) to tell him "Hey, we're dropping the Cell. It's done."
8) Hell in a Cell
Mankind vs. The Undertaker
- Oh God. I still get goosebumps thinking about what I'm about to watch again. I actually have a lot of this commentary memorized by having watched it so much over the years.
- Mankind throws the chair on the cage and starts climbing. I still love the sight of Mankind looking down at Undertaker from the top of the Cell. I'd love to have a painting of that moment since we all know what happens next.
- This is only the second Hell in a Cell match on PPV. There was a Hell in a Cell match in between the two featuring Austin and Undertaker vs. Kane and Mankind that ended after Raw went off the air. So, a lot of people forget that.
- Undertaker is working this match with a broken bone in his foot.
- One thing that gets forgotten in all this: The cage almost buckles with the weight of both these men on one of the individual squares of the roof. They almost fell through there.
- HERE IT IS! BOOM! "GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY! GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY! THEY KILLED HIM! AS GOD AS MY WITNESS, HE IS BROKEN IN HALF!"- Jim Ross. Crowd going nuts. Undertaker looking at the back like "Um, someone better get over here." Foley is kissing concrete after falling 20 feet through the Spanish Announce Table. The Spanish Announce Team saying "O DIOS MIO!" Actually, they were taken out by all this. So, they're not saying anything.
- At my house during all this back in 1998, I'm yelling to my Dad: "Dad, Mankind's dead. He just fell off the cage! Get in here!" My dad, being a moderate wrestling fan himself, was skepical in the "Yeah. Right. Whatever. Sure son" way. He walks in, sees the fall on my Magnavox cabinet TV. And I swear: his jaw drops faster than that dude at WrestleMania when Undertaker lost The Streak. Lol.
- Mankind is on the stretcher and is getting off it to climb BACK UP THE CELL! Undertaker is climbing down, looking through the cage, and climbing himself. "Well, I'm going back up..." Undertaker is thinking probably. "Back to work!"
- Crack! Boom! Undertaker chokeslams Mankind THROUGH the Hell in a Cell to the floor! Foley legitimately was knocked out as a chair came down with him when he fell and hit him square in the head and broke several teeth. One of those teeth would end up going up through his nasal cavity and protrude out one of his nostrils.
- Terry Funk thankfully takes a bump for The Undertaker (a chokeslam) to buy Mick a minute to regain consciousness.
- This is so hard to watch, but at the same time, you can't help but love it for the work both these guys are doing.
- Foley looking into the camera while sitting in the corner: blood out his mouth, tooth out his nose, and a look like "And the lights went out, all over the world."
- Foley tries to pick up the steel steps and can't due to the fact he probably dislocated his shoulder.
- And here's the crazy thing: They Work a 12 minute match after all these falls!!!!!
- "They're ruining the cage, man!" Someone yells at ringside. No friggin duh. Lol.
- Piledriver on a steel chair gets Mankind a 2. They're continuing to wrestle this match while the square that Foley fell through is still hanging from the roof of the cage.
- And here it comes: THUMBTACKS! Hundreds of thumbtacks cover a section of the ring now. For the first time in WWF history, thumbtacks are involved in a match.
- Mandible Claw on Undertaker. Taker powers out, has Foley on his back, walks over to the thumbtacks, and drops back on the tacks with Foley smacking right into them! And the sick thing is Foley ROLLS in the tacks trying to get away from Taker.
- Taker chokeslams Foley into the tacks. And then the tombstone mercifully puts this match to bed.
This match holds up every bit as much as it did 20 years ago. It is still the most extreme, the most emotional, and the most impactful wrestling match in wrestling history. It wasn't even so much a match as it was a spectacle of one man's willingness to put on a show at any cost to his personal well-being and another man working with him to create this presentation. Hats off to Mick Foley and to The Undertaker. Forever grateful for what you guys gave us as wrestling fans.
One thing I'm glad to hear that I didn't hear 20 years ago: applause for Foley from the audience. That had always irked me that I didn't hear much applause for Foley after that fall. Turns out, I needed better speakers. The applause was there. It wasn't deafening. But there were audible claps and Foley chants from the audience.
And now, the poor guys who had to follow that!
9) WWF Championship/ First Blood Match
Kane (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (c)
** If Kane loses, he promises to set himself on fire.
- Old School Kane with Old School Kane music with Old School pyro with Paul Bearer= Awesome.
- As for where all these guys are, Paul Bearer, as I said earlier, passed away (in 2013). Stone Cold Steve Austin went on to become arguably the biggest name in wrestling history getting to Hulk Hogan levels of popularity. Today, he's a reality show host, action movie star, and podcast host. Kane is still a part-time wrestler and is running for mayor!!!! Imagine that city council meeting!
- One negative I will say for Austin: You always knew when he was going to lose the title. He'd always have that "boo-hoo" face on him whenever he was coming out to do the job and lose the title. He had it here.
- Here's another negative for Steve Austin and this is said with all respect: He supposedly had some bad feelings towards Owen Hart for the accident that almost paralyzed him at SummerSlam 1997. It was a botched sit-down Tombstone that left Austin unable to feel his extremities for a minute. After reading Lion's Pride, I found out that years prior, Austin himself caused Masahiro Chono to have neck issues throughout his career after a match in Japan. How? A sit-down piledriver. So, I get why Austin would be angry. But he can't pretend he didn't injure people by accident either. Otherwise, he's a hypocrite.
- Match is going on and The Hell in a Cell is almost lowered on top of Stone Cold. Kane and Stone Cold are going at it. Kane ends up getting thrown into the door and is hanging by the bar under the door entrance as the cage is being lifted. Crazy visual.
- Austin is technically bleeding, but the announcers make it clear that the wrestler must be gushing blood in order for the referee to render the decision.
- A typical Attitude Era trope happens here when it comes to an Austin match: The action goes to the outside and a lot of shenanigans happen with concrete and the entrance ramp.
- Vince McMahon and Sable are watching in a skybox overlooking the arena. That's a lawsuit in the making.
- Austin and Kane are back in the ring and the Cell is still halfway down.
- They're back outside. Lol. Yep. Austin match. I'm not complaining. It's really entertaining actually.
- Poor Earl Hebner takes a bump.
- Kane was so agile during this time. His top-rope clothesline was awesome to see in these big matches.
- Poor Mick Foley is running... hobbling to the ring with a chair to do his run-in (likely what was planned before he decided to martyr himself in the Hell in a Cell match). The Cell has been lowered again at this point. Austin stuns both Kane and Mick Foley. Undertaker runs in and NAILS Stone Cold with a chair into the steel chair Austin was holding... into Austin's face, busting him open. Undertaker clears the ring, takes the gas, and POURS it on Earl Hebner to wake him up.
- Austin gets up, fights off Kane, takes the steel chair, absolutely SMACKS Kane with the chair, and looks at Earl Hebner. Hebner sees the blood and calls for the bell. Austin loses the title and KANE is the NEW WWF Champion. McMahon smiles approvingly from the skybox, his prophecy from earlier tonight fulfilled.
Wow. Another great Attitude Era match that gets completely overshadowed by the match before it. If you haven't seen this match yet, you should definitely do so along with the Hell in a Cell match to get a complete picture of what happened.
Bottom Line: King of the Ring 1998 is a *** PPV for me (*** out of *****). There was a lot of filler in this show with two interviews taking up PPV time, two "bonus matches," a mannequin head getting pinned by Head and Shoulders, and two underwhelming semi-final matches in the tournament. BUT the two main events alone make this worth the price of admission. Add to that a really good Owen Hart vs. X-Pac match and a solid Shamrock vs. Rock match in the King of the Ring finals, and you have a show worthy of watching.
I hope you all have enjoyed this trip down memory lane. I'll be doing these off and on as time moves on. If you have any comments or suggestions for events you want me to watch and review, leave them here. Until next time, you know the drill....
Take care of yourselves and spread some awesomeness.
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