Henry's World

 January 4th, 1999, was the day that the Monday Night War completely turned in the WWF's favor. Mankind, a beloved Attitude Era icon, finally got his hands on the WWF Championship with help from Steve Austin and D-X, a title change that was spoiled by WCW as that episode of Raw is War was pretaped. Tony Schiavone's "butts in seats" comment, plus the Fingerpoke of Doom later in the night, proved to be the beginning of the end for WCW, which would fold just over 2 years later. With momentum now entirely in his corner, Vince McMahon continued his feud with "Stone Cold", as the two men would begin the 1999 Royal Rumble. The build to this show was intense, but how well does it hold up decades later?      - Royal Rumble 1999 comes to you from the Arrowhead Pond(now Honda Center) in Anaheim, California, a venue that previously hosted WrestleMania 12 about 3 years prior. Jerry "The King" Lawler is joined by Michael Cole for this one, as Jim Ross had suffer...

 One of the main rivalries that got the WWF back to the top in 1998 was the blood feud between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Vince/Mr. McMahon. It had largely been simmering in the background for most of the pay-per-views I've covered from this year, as Vince was largely just an observer as Austin battled Kane, Mankind and The Undertaker throughout the summer. Vince did technically help get the title off Austin at King of the Ring, but struck a major blow at Breakdown, as Austin lost the belt in a triple threat match against Kane and The Undertaker when the two brothers pinned him simultaneously. At Judgment Day, Kane and Undertaker were pitted against each other, with Austin as referee in a role designed to humiliate him, but "Stone Cold" turned it around on the boss, attacking both brothers and declaring himself the champion. It's worth noting that the belt had been held vacant since the triple threat match and would remain so until this show, where a one ...

 In both my King of the Ring and Fully Loaded reviews, I've made mention to just how hot the mainstream wrestling industry was in the summer of 1998, but nothing proves that point more than SummerSlam, the peak of this massive boom. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the most bought SummerSlam ever, achieving almost 3 times more than the previous year's edition, an absolutely insane leap. It's the culmination of months of build between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Undertaker, as they finally collide in the main event, but that's not all SummerSlam 1998 has to offer. The undercard features the fourth televised ladder match in WWE history, as rising stars Triple H and The Rock face off in the peak of the war between the Nation of Domination and D-Generation X, the two biggest factions in the company. This is a classic show in every sense of the term, and one of the best in the history of the Attitude Era.  - SummerSlam 1998 doesn't just have a stacked card,...

Vince McMahon found success in the summer and fall of 1997 with a long form storyline focused around the heel turn of Bret Hart, and was intent on doing the same the following year. "The Highway to Hell" began at King of the Ring, when The Undertaker accidentally cost "Stone Cold" Steve Austin the WWF title, though he would regain it one night later from Kane. The tension between Undertaker and Austin would continue to build leading into the main event of Fully Loaded, which would see the two frenemies team up to face the new tag team champions of Kane and Mankind. Certainly, anticipation for both this match and the eventual title showdown between Undertaker and Austin at SummerSlam was extremely high, and the company absolutely needed it. Earlier in the month of July, WCW gave their fans one of the biggest title changes in history, with Goldberg taking down "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan in the Georgia Dome. Let's take a look at the final stop, at least on pa...

 My blog updates tend to be pretty long, but I can promise you up front that this one should be fairly short, just one or two quick things to mention. That's the status for the 2020 Season of the Dog League, which I now I said before was cancelled, but after some consideration, it will still be going ahead with a few caveats. First off, any outside influences, COVID-19 outbreaks or protests or anything this crazy year has to offer, any complete out of my control. Essentially, should the NFL season be unable to finish, the Dog League obviously couldn't continue and I would likely just wipe this year from the record books. Second, no expansion teams, I just don't want to deal with the extra workload. Just the same 6 teams as before, at least for now. I also planned on doing keepers, that's out, the league has been redrafted. Finally and most importantly, all Dog League content is moving to my second blog, Henry's Thoughts, which can be found here . That allows me to c...

 King of the Ring 1998 marks the beginning of the hottest summer in wrestling history, with the war between the WWF and WCW at it's absolute peak, creatively and commercially. This show also features perhaps the most famous Hell in a Cell match ever, as The Undertaker and Mankind did their damnedest to end Mick Foley's career, with several absolutely horrifying and legendary moments of absolute carnage. That's not to mention the crowning of a new King of the Ring, which was the peak of the Rock-Shamrock rivalry, and a historic Attitude Era moment in the main event, as Kane took on "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. It's sure to be one hell of a ride, so let's get into it.  - King of the Ring 1998 comes to you from Civic Arena, the former home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, with, as always, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler on the call. It's worth noting that, while she features prominently on that pay-per-view poster, Sable has very little screen tim...

There have been many celebrities who had major roles at a WrestleMania, but perhaps none was as important as "Iron" Mike Tyson. Tyson was still blanketed in controversy following the Evander Holyfield biting incident the year prior, and getting Mike so involved in the promotion for this event was a huge coup for Vince. Tyson debuted on screen earlier in the year at Royal Rumble, initially supporting "Stone Cold", before Austin would brawl with Tyson and his entourage. Tyson would thus switch his allegiances to D-X, and this saga was the undisputed headliner going into WrestleMania 14. It's probably no hyperbole to say that this storyline is what transformed the WWE into the absolute titan that is today. WrestleMania 13's buyrate was the lowest in history, indicative of a steady decline since the early 90s, and that number would be tripled this time around. Business was about to get hotter than ever, so let's look at the show that put the WWF back on the ...