1998 Royal Rumble Thoughts

   1998 was an exciting year for the WWF.  We were stuck in the middle of the Attitude Era and the Monday Night Wars.  The rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin was quickly approaching.  Things were about to change in the landscape of the company.  The Royal Rumble this year steered the company into the most profitable direction yet.  There were some big matches on the card and the Rumble match this year was very entertaining.  Unfortunately, for the third year in a row, the Rumble match was not the main event.


Vader vs. Goldust

   This was a weird set of circumstances.  Vader was now a full blown babyface and it just wasn't working.  It didn't seem right.  Goldust was even more bizarre at this point.  He was dressing in different outfits and started going by the name of The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust.  For the sake of simplicity, I'm just going to say Goldust.  He had Luna Vachon now as his valet.  Vader just wasn't the same anymore and you could tell his passion was diminishing.  Luna tried to interfere several times and prevented a Vader Bomb.  Vader persisted, though, and hit Goldust with a Vader Bomb with Luna on his back to get the win.  This was proof that not everything was great in the Attitude Era!

Max Mini, Mosaic, & Nova vs. Battalion, El Torito, & Tarantula

   The WWF decided to feature more Lucha Libre action with a match between Mexican mini Lunchadores.  In an effort to keep the crowd invested, they brought in Sunny as the special guest referee.  Ultimately, the crowd didn't care and this was not the fault of any of these Luchadores, as the WWF didn't know how to properly promote Luchadores, at least not until Rey Misterio showed up.




Intercontinental Title - The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock

   When the vomit-inducing babyface Rocky Maivia joined the Nation of Domination, he grew cocky and arrogant, and now he was known as The Rock.  While in the Nation, The Rock really solidified his character and was outshining the Nation's leader, Faarooq, much to his chagrin.  The Rock got into a heated rivalry with Ken Shamrock, one of UFC's most feared competitors.  Ultimately, this feud was designed to make The Rock look good as looked at as a strong Champion.  The Rock used brass knuckles in this match and disposed of them in Shamrock's tights.  Shamrock made a comeback with a huge belly to belly Suplex and for a moment, was declared the new Champion.  However, The Rock pointed out to the referee the location of the brass knuckles.  The match was then declared a disqualification and awarded to The Rock.

Tag Team Titles - New Age Outlaws vs. Legion of Doom

   The New Age Outlaws formed in mid-1997 when Billy Gunn and Jesse James, formerly the Roadie, were in gimmicks going nowhere.  They joined forces by attacking the Honky Tonk Man with his own guitar and started reeking havoc on the WWF.  Their first mission was to take the WWF Tag Team Championships, which they procured from legendary Legion of Doom.  The feud continued into 1998, which lead to this match.  The Outlaws attacked their opponents before the bell rang to gain an advantage but Hawk and Animal turned the tides and chased the Outlaws up the ramp.  The Outlaws regained control when the Road Dogg handcuffed Hawk.  However, Animal overcame the two-on-one advantage.  Unfortunately, the pin was broken up with a chair shot performed by Gunn, leading to a disqualification.  The Outlaws retained their Titles, however.

Royal Rumble Match 

   The Rumble match began with Mick Foley's alter ego Cactus Jack and the legendary Terry Funk, portraying Chainsaw Charlie.  The two Hardcore Legends and friends had no problem beating the crap out of each other.  A match like the Royal  Rumble was right up their alley.  However, they both worked together when another man entered the ring, similar to the way Demolition functioned nine years earlier.  That poor unfortunate soul was Tom Brandi.  The Rock entered at number four, only to be met with a trash can over the head.  The ring started to fill up at this point.  Cactus Jack came running at Funk with his patented clothesline, which Funk avoided, and eliminated himself from the Rumble.  Little did we know, this was not the last we would see of Mrs. Foley's baby boy.

   Soon, wrestlers like Owen Hart, D-Lo Brown, Marc Mero, and Ken Shamrock made their way to the ring.  The buzzer then rang for #30 and out walked Foley again, this time as the deranged Mankind.  This time around, Foley's measurement was precise, as he was finally able to eliminate Terry Funk.  Meanwhile, The Rock and Ken Shamrock went at it, resuming their feud after the way the earlier match went down.  Owen Hart was eliminated, thanks to Degeneration X members Triple H and Chyna, who weren't even in the match.  At one point, the ring was taken control by four members of the Nation of Domination.  Stone Cold Steve Austin's music started playing after the buzzer rang for #24 but he was nowhere to be found.  The crowed erupted when Austin appeared from behind the other superstars and started kicking ass like only Stone Cold could.

   The ring soon filled up with other superstars, such as Jeff Jarrett, the Honky Tonk Man, and Ahmed Johnson.  The Nation soon had all five members in when leader Faarooq entered the match. However, knowing the rules were every man for himself, Faarooq started attacking stablemate The Rock, to the joy of the crowd.  The buzzer rang for #28 and Mick Foley appeared once again, this time as the lovable and fan favorite Dude Love.  History was made when one man appeared in the match three times with three completely different personas, those being the Three Faces of Foley.

   The final four in this Royal Rumble match were Austin, The Rock, Faarooq, & Dude Love.  Since Austin and Dude Love were former Tag Team Champions together, they briefly teamed again to take on the two Nation members, until Austin double-crossed his partner, leading to an elimination at the hands of Faarooq.  With Austin on the loose, The Rock tossed out Faarooq and went toe to toe with the Rattlesnake.  Austin tried to eliminate The Rock but was unsuccessful.  This was a red hot feud when The Rock was awarded Austin's Intercontinental Title just a month earlier.  The two would engage in epic wars on and off for the next five years.  The match ended when The Rock was met with a Stone Cold Stunner and tossed out of the ring by Austin, who won his second Royal Rumble. This time, nothing was going to stop him from taking his rightful place in the main event of WrestleMania.  

WWF Title Casket Match - Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker

   This was the match that changed everything for Shawn Michaels.  The series between these two men was intense and it would get even better ten years later.  The Undertaker controlled most of the match.  The ever wily Michaels was able to take back control of the match several times as well.  Michaels' DX cohort Triple H interfered, as did the New Age Outalws the group Los Boricuas, just to make sure he would keep the Championship.  Michaels took a nasty spill outside of the ring onto the casket right on his back.  Months later, after dropping the Title to Stone Cold at WrestleMania, the injury would cause Michaels to step away from the ring over for over four years, not sure if he would ever return to the ring.

   The Undertaker's brother Kane, who recently came to an understanding with him, appeared and took everyone out.  As Triple H and Chyna tended to a hurt Michaels, Kane turned on his brother and attacked him.  Kane chokeslammed Taker into the casket as the others closed the lid.  Kane and Paul Bearer were not done yet, as they padlocked the casket, doused it with gasoline, and set it ablaze.  It took several WWF personnel to stop the fire and try to get the Undertaker out.  When the casket was finally, opened, there was no sign of the Undertaker.  The whole arena soon heard the Dead Man say to Kane that their paths would cross again and he would never rest in peace.

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