Royal Rumble (1998)

Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble
	Promotional poster featuring the back ofStone Cold Steve Austin's head
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	January 18, 1998
City	San Jose, California
Venue	San Jose Arena
Attendance	18,542
Buy rate	300,000
Tagline(s)	Pain! Just A 4 Letter Word.
Pay-per-view chronology
←Previous; D-Generation X: In Your House	Next→; No Way Out of Texas: In Your House
Royal Rumblechronology
←Previous; 1997	Next→; 1999

The 1998Royal Rumblewas the 11th annualRoyal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view(PPV)eventproduced by theWorld Wrestling Federation(WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 18, 1998, at theSan Jose ArenainSan Jose, California.Six matches were contested on the event's card. As has been customary since 1993, theRoyal Rumble matchwinner received a world championship match at that year'sWrestleMania.For the 1998 event, the winner received a match for theWWF ChampionshipatWrestleMania XIV.

Themain eventwas acasket matchbetweenShawn MichaelsandThe Undertakerfor the WWF Championship, which Michaels won to retain the title. The main match on theundercardwas the 1998 Royal Rumble match, whichStone Cold Steve Austinwon by lastly eliminatingRocky Maivia,thus becoming the third person to win two Royal Rumble matches, and back-to-back, afterHulk Hoganin 1990-91 and Shawn Michaels in 1995-96. Additionally,The Legion Of Doom(HawkandAnimal) defeated TheNew Age Outlaws("Road Dogg" Jesse Jamesand"Badd Ass" Billy Gunn) by disqualification therefore, not winning theWWF Tag Team Championship,and "The Rock" Rocky Maivia defeatedKen Shamrockto retain theWWF Intercontinental Championship.

Production[edit]

Background[edit]

TheRoyal Rumbleis an annualprofessional wrestling pay-per-view(PPV) produced every January by theWorld Wrestling Federation(WWF, now WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along withWrestleMania,SummerSlam,andSurvivor Series,which were dubbed the "Big Four",^[3]and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along withKing of the Ring.^[4]It isnamedafter theRoyal Rumble match,a modifiedbattle royalin which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns aworld championshipmatch at that year's WrestleMania. For 1998, the winner earned a match for theWWF ChampionshipatWrestleMania XIV.The 1998 event was the 11th event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 18, 1998, at theSan Jose ArenainSan Jose, California.^[5]^[6]

Storylines[edit]

The event comprised six matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayedheroes,villains,orless distinguishable charactersin scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWF's writers, while storylines were produced on WWF's weekly television show,Raw is War.^[7]^[8]

In the weeks leading up to the pay-per-view,Ken Shamrockhad been facing various members of theNation of Dominationahead of his booked match against Intercontinental ChampionRocky Maivia (The Rock),defeatingKama MustafaandFaarooq^[9]with his ankle lock submission despite interference from other Nation members. The finalRaw is Warbefore the Rumble saw Shamrock team up withMark Henryagainst Maivia andD'Lo Brown,but just as Shamrock looked set to lock his ankle lock submission on The Rock, Henry turned on him, joining the Nation in giving him a post-match beat down.

After winning theirfirst tag team title,the New Age Outlaws further humiliated the former champions, the Legion of Doom, by shaving one of Hawk'smohawksand, with the help ofD-Generation X,powerbombing Animal through the announcer's table, damaging his back. Although he was advised not to compete by doctors, Animal rested through the first few weeks of the year while the Outlaws ran roughshod through the tag division before this pay-per-view.^[9]

The buildup to theRoyal Rumble matchitself focused almost entirely on Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin declared that going into the Rumble, he would live by the motto "Do unto others, before they do unto me". This led to Austin interfering in matches regularly onRaw is War,or appearing just as matches finished, delivering theStone Cold Stunnerto anyone in sight, as well leaving other wrestlers backstage buried under tables and chairs. In the final segment of theRaw is Warpreceding the event, all competitors of the Royal Rumble were in the ring, waiting to draw their number of entry, when Austin ran in through the crowd and began to throw punches all over the ring, sparking a brawl between the various wrestlers feuding in the ring, and kicking the number generator out of the ring.

The main event for theWWF Championshipwas a rematch between championShawn Michaelsand challengerThe Undertaker.Their feud had begun afterSummerSlamthe previous August after Michaels, who was the special referee in the match between then-champion Undertaker andBret Hart,hit Undertaker with a chair meant for Hart and counted the pin to cost Undertaker the championship. The first match between the two came atGround Zero: In Your Housethe following month, a match that ended in a no contest due to outside interference from Michaels'D-Generation Xcohorts,Triple HandChyna.Michaels and Undertaker resumed the feud atBadd Bloodin October 1997 in the first-everHell in a Cellmatch, which ended with the debut of Undertaker's (kayfabe) brother,Kane,giving Michaels the unfair win by delivering atombstone piledriveron Undertaker, allowing the battered and bloody Michaels to steal the win.^[10]In an effort to mock Undertaker, Triple H and Chyna brought a casket to the ring only for Michaels to appear from inside and spray paint it inD-Generation X slogans.The following week, while Michaels was delivering apromo,the same casket appeared again, to which Michaels believed it was just Triple H and Chyna playing a prank on him. However, this time, Undertaker appeared from inside, grabbing Michaels by the throat and dragging him into the coffin. Undertaker made his full presence known the following week, interrupting an interview in which Michaels was claiming to introduce the newest DX member: Kane. Undertaker warned Michaels and DX to leave his family out of the feud, before attacking the stable and being outnumbered. Kane made a surprise appearance and helped Undertaker, fighting DX up to the ramp before turning and reaching his hand out in an Undertaker-like salute which his brother returned.

Event[edit]

Other on-screen personnel
Role:	Name:
Englishcommentators	Jim Ross
Englishcommentators	Jerry Lawler
Spanish commentators	Carlos Cabrera
Spanish commentators	Tito Santana
French commentators	Jean Brassard
French commentators	Raymond Rougeau
Interviewer	Michael Cole
Ring announcer	Howard Finkel
Referees	Mike Chioda
	Jack Doan
	Jim Korderas
	Earl Hebner
	Tim White

The opening match began withGoldustattackingVaderas he entered the ring. Vader soon recovered and threw Goldust into the turnbuckle, before eventually falling out of the ring where he also shovedLuna Vachonto the ground. After asuplexand abig splash,Goldust was dragged to the corner so Vader could attempt hisVader Bomb,but a low blow stopped him. Vader then attempted the move for the second time, only to have Luna jump on his back. Vader hit the move anyway, and scored the pin.^[11]

WithSunnyas thespecial guest referee,a six-man tag match oflucha libre midget wrestlingtook place. Thefaceteam took most of the early advantage, tagging frequently while theheelteam were regularly thrown under the bottom rope and replaced with a fresh member.Max Miniused Sunny to help himdropkickBattalion,Tarantulaand thenEl Toritoin order, before delivering a top ropehurricaranato Torito, and winning the match with a backslide pin.^[11]

Next up, theIntercontinental Championshipbout began with an exchange of punches and a few kicks untilKen Shamrockmistimed a hurricanrana, allowingRocky Maiviato slam him down. After being kicked to the corner, Shamrock replied with a crossbody that only gained him a two-count, as did afisherman suplex pin.Maivia then took control by reversing an Irish whip into aDDT,before putting the challenger in a headlock. Rocky's next attempt at a DDT was reversed, however, into a powerslam prompting the Nation members to storm the ring. With the referee distracted after Maivia'sNation of DominationteammateD'Lo Brownbecame entangled in the ropes, The Rock usedbrass knucklesto nail Shamrock and hid the knuckles inside of Shamrock's trunks. By the time the referee looked back to the ring, he could only make a two count. Shamrock then recovered and pulled off abelly to belly suplex slam,winning the match and the title. However, as Shamrock celebrated, Maivia appealed toMike Chiodawho, upon discovering the foreign object in Shamrock's trunks, reversed the decision and took the belt from a bemused Shamrock. Chioda gave the title back to Maivia, making him the winner via disqualification. A furious Shamrock then attacked the referee for stripping him of the title.^[11]

In the tag team match,New Age Outlawsprematurely began by attackingLegion of Doombefore the bell rang. The LOD then quickly turned the match in their favor, chasing the Outlaws up the ramp as the champions tried to lose by count out. Still holding control, the LOD took turns on Road Dogg who eventuallyhandcuffed Hawkto the corner outside the ring. Regardless,Animalsuccessfully dominated bothRoad DoggandBilly Gunn,powerslamming Gunn into a pin that was broken up by a chair shot, causing the match to end via disqualification. The disqualification gave the victory to LOD while the New Age Outlaws retained the belts. After the match, the Outlaws double teamed Animal until Hawk broke free from the cuffs to save his partner.^[11]

The Royal Rumble match then began withMick Foley's persona Cactus Jack as entrant #1, bringing trash cans to the ring. The second entrant wasTerry Funk's alter-ego and Cactus Jack's partner, Chainsaw Charlie, who came to the ring wielding his chainsaw before Cactus hit him with a chair and the two engaged in a hardcore battle briefly interrupted by the third entrant,Tom Brandi,who they both eliminated over the top rope. AsRocky Maiviaentered at #4, he was met with a trash can over the head, being bundled out of the ring under the bottom rope briefly. As the ring began to fill up, Cactus Jack went to clothesline Charlie over the top rope, but inadvertently threw himself over and was eliminated.Owen Hartcame out at #9, but before he was able to enter the ring,NWA North American Champion Jeff Jarrettand his managerJim Cornetteattacked him. Soon after, at #16, Mick Foley returned to the ring in his Mankind gimmick, returning the favor by eliminating Chainsaw Charlie, whileKen Shamrockand Maivia resumed their feud from earlier. Jarrett officially came out at #18 and was soon joined in the ring by Owen Hart, who ran out from the back and eliminated Jarrett. Hart himself was soon distracted by the non-competingTriple H,who hit Owen with a crutch asChynayanked him out. When the clock counted down to #22, no contestant appeared withJerry Lawleron commentary claiming that the number was given toStone Cold Steve Austin,who had reportedly been taken out backstage. By #23, the Nation of Domination had four members (Maivia,D'Lo Brown,Mark HenryandKama Mustafa) in the ring, although they seldom worked together. All fighting in the ring ceased when Austin's music played for #24 but, after a lengthy wait, Stone Cold appeared from the crowd, coming into the ring before tossing outMarc Meroand8-Ball.Savio Vega,who entered #26, was accompanied by the rest ofLos Boricuaswho went straight after Austin.Faarooqcompleted the Nation stable in the ring, but went straight after teammate Maivia before Foley's third appearance as Dude Love.^[12]Soon, only four men remained (Maivia, Austin, Dude Love and Faarooq). Austin and Dude Love, former tag team partners, teamed up against the two Nation members, until Austin turned on Dude, allowing Faarooq to clothesline him out of the match. When Faarooq then turned to Austin, Maivia tossed his teammate out of the ring, leaving the former Intercontinental Champion against the current champion. Maivia survived almost being thrown out, only for Austin to nail him with a Stunner before he was finally eliminated, giving Stone Cold the win.^[11]

The main event then began withThe Undertakermostly dominatingShawn Michaels.After walking on the top rope, Undertaker rolled Michaels into thecasket,but Michaels' hand grabbing the ring apron stopped it from being shut. As Undertaker went to shut the casket, Michaels threw it open and dazed Undertaker by throwingpowderinto his eyes, leaving him stunned. Despite a throat shot, Undertaker began to lose his dominance of the match as things moved outside of the ring, with Michaels delivering a viciouspiledriveron top of the steel steps, before fellowdegenerate,Triple H,hit Undertaker with a crutch. Michaels, too, failed to close the coffin's lid on Undertaker, forcing the fight back into the ring where Shawn tried to weaken Undertaker for good, executing ahigh-flying elbow dropand hitting Undertaker withSweet Chin Music.So sure of the win, and with Undertaker lying in the casket, Michaels chose instead to taunt Undertaker, giving a crotch-chop which Undertaker seized on, leading to a brief fight in the ring but going back into the casket when Undertaker missed a flying clothesline and his momentum caused him to tumble inside. Michaels climbed to the top rope and delivered an elbow drop into the casket and the two briefly fought inside the closed coffin. After eventually climbing out, both men made it back to the ring where Undertaker gave Shawn achokeslam.Undertaker then dragged the champion to the ring apron and hit a jumpingtombstone piledriver,depositing Michaels into the casket and seemingly securing the victory. Before Undertaker could close it, however, theNew Age OutlawsandLos Boricuasran in and collectively pummeled Undertaker until the lights went out in the arena.Kane'smusic played, and the Big Red Monster single-handedly took out everyone in the ring, coming to his brother's aid. In the meantime,ChynaandTriple Hhelped a visibly hurt Shawn Michaels out of the casket. Just then, Kane suddenly turned on Undertaker, punching him and chokeslamming him into the casket. DX quickly capitalized on the opportunity and shut the lid, thus ending the match and allowing Michaels to retain his title.^[11]

Kane was not done, however, asPaul Bearercame to ringside and the twopadlockedUndertaker inside the casket before rolling it to the top of the entrance ramp where Kane chopped holes in the casket with an axe. Kane then doused the casket withgasolineand set it on fire.^[11]After the show went off the air, with the casket still burning, Kane and Bearer left the arena, while various emergency officials extinguished the fire.WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughterand others tried to break open the casket to free the Undertaker. However, when the casket was opened, no one was inside. Undertaker's voice then was heard throughout the arena to say "Kane, until our paths cross again, I shall never rest in peace!"^[13]

Reception[edit]

In 2010, Jack Bramma of411Maniagave the event a rating of 7.0 [Good], stating, "Worth a look for historical purposes if nothing else. Rocky was clearly on his way to being a star, Austin wasn't quite yet the biggest name in the industry but was close, and Michaels' (sort of) career-ending injury. And oh yeah four quality matches".^[14]

In 2019, Thomas Hall ofWrestling Rumorsgave the event a rating of D, stating, "Good main event aside, this was a REALLY dull show overall. 1998 would wind up being an awesome year, but this wasn't the best start to it in the world. We saw a lot of the relics of the bad times here, but Austin was coming and there was absolutely nothing WCW could do to stop him. This wasn't a good show at all, but it was a necessary evil to get us to the glory days".^[15]

In 2022, John Canton ofTJR Wrestlinggave the event a rating of 6/10, stating, "It was another average Royal Rumble event that was lacking in terms of great matches aside from the main event. When it comes to that Undertaker/Shawn match, while it was very good, it's not their most famous match or their best match. The other undercard matches were poor, so that hurt the card quite a bit. In addition to that, the Royal Rumble match was probably the most predictable Rumble ever with Steve Austin winning. Aside from a few fun moments, it wasn’t very interesting at all. The crowd was engaged most of the night, so that's a positive and I also felt like they built up the top WrestleMania matches pretty well. At least Mike Tyson botching his interview and saying" Cold Stone "made me laugh".^[11]

Aftermath[edit]

By winning the Royal Rumble match, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin won the right to face Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XIV. Mike Tyson's presence in the director's box was revealed the following night to be because he was taking the role of special guest referee for the event. Following an altercation with Austin, however, Tyson's role was changed to special enforcer and he soon allied with D-Generation X.^[16]At WrestleMania, however, Tyson showed his true colors and stepped in when the referee was knocked down, making the three-count for Austin.^[17]To this day, many see this moment as the official genesis for the "Attitude Era"and WWF's resurging dominance over chief rivalsWorld Championship Wrestling(WCW).

During his match with The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels suffered a severe back injury when he took a back body drop on top of the casket, landing on his tailbone on the casket's outer mid-section. Michaels herniated two discs in his back and crushed a third, and the injury forced him to retire from wrestling immediately following WrestleMania. As it transpired, during a one-off match with Triple H at the2002 SummerSlam,^[18]Michaels realized his back no longer hampered him and he made a full-time return to wrestling. Michaels' back injury kept him out of all wrestling until the main event at WrestleMania, despite being billed on the card for the next PPV,No Way Out of Texas.His last-minute replacement was Savio Vega, who appeared in the main event eight-man tag team match, which saw a number of high-profile feuds converge on the road to WrestleMania.^[19]

The New Age Outlaws would go on to take part in the eight-man main event at No Way Out of Texas, sparring opposite Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie ahead of their WrestleMania title match. Their alliance with Triple H in this match saw them eventually join the newly-formed "DX Army" the day after WrestleMania. The Legion of Doom went on to suffer a series of losses, ending in another loss against the Outlaws on the February 23 episode ofRaw is War,after which the two had an in-ring brawl and announced the dissolution of their team. They would then reappeared in a modified form as "LOD 2000" in the opening WrestleMania match, with Sunny as their valet.^[17]

Rocky Maivia's feud with Ken Shamrock spilled out into a ten-man tag match between the Nation of Domination and Shamrock's team, consisting of Ahmed Johnson and the Disciples of Apocalypse. Shamrock won the match by pinning The Rock^[19]and, as a result, faced him at WrestleMania once again for the Intercontinental title. At WrestleMania, Shamrock originally won the match, but would not release his ankle lock; thus, Shamrock was disqualified and The Rock retained the championship.

The Undertaker would not return to action until WrestleMania, where he defeated Kane in a singles match.^[17]Their feud continued with aninferno matchatUnforgiven: In Your Housein April. Two months later, the two entered a storyline where Undertaker was eventually revealed to be in cahoots with his brother, which concluded with Paul Bearer reuniting with Undertaker and turning on Kane which eventually led to the formation of theMinistry of Darknessat the beginning of 1999. This also marked the last time Undertaker would face Shawn Michaels in a singles match until the two met atWrestleMania 25;^[20]Undertaker would wrestle Michaels once more atWrestleMania XXVI,where he won a "streak vs. career" match, forcing Michaels to retire from wrestling for good.^[21]

Results[edit]

No.

Results^[22]^[14]

Stipulations

Times^[11]

1

VaderdefeatedThe Artist Formerly Known as Goldust(withLuna) bypinfall

Singles match