We now move fully into the Attitude Era, and by the start of 1998, it was finally "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's time. The WWF roster was thinner than ever following the Montreal Screwjob, with anyone that could find a way out of their contract jumping ship to WCW, but McMahon still had his prospective megastar and pushed forward. Austin was quickly established as the biggest threat heading into the Royal Rumble, with every member of the roster gunning for him, and Austin gave it right back. This storyline made him one of the more obvious winners in history, but did also add a ton of interest to the match, which combined to headline this event alongside a rematch between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. This time, they would meet for the world title and in a casket match, and the build featured a terrific angle where Kane helped his brother fight off D-X, ending with the two men posing to each other as the crowd exploded. After almost 2 years spent in the shadow of WCW, the WWF was finally building the star power to fight back, and Royal Rumble 1998 would establish the future of the company.
- This show comes to you from the cleverly named San Jose Arena(now the SAP Center) in San Jose, California, with Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler on the call. This is a venue I've been to quite a few times for Sharks games and I've always had a great time, though this wasn't the greatest live crowd, unfortunately.
- We open the show by dropping straight to the bottom of the barrel, as Vader takes on the Artist Formerly Known as Goldust. Dustin Rhodes is in a pretty bad place at this time, mentally and physically, and it's safe to say that the TAFKA Goldust run isn't especially well remembered. It's impossible to take this match or feud seriously thanks to Goldust's insane antics, which is very unfortunate for Vader, as this is all supposed to be building him as a monster. At least "The Mastodon" gets the win in impressive fashion, as Luna Vachon, Goldust's manager, tries to stop a Vader Bomb by jumping on the big man's back, only for Vader to deliver the move anyway to a big pop. The match was pretty bad though, as Vader is well past his physical peak and Dustin has been absolutely ruined by drugs.
- Sunny is the special guest referee for our next bout, a little person six man tag team match pitting heels Battalion, Tarantula and El Torito(not the one in modern WWE) against Max Mini, Mosaic and Nova. Lots of quick lucha action to be found here, including an absolute sh** ton of arm drags. The crowd does pop for the first two or three slick arm drags, but once the move has been delivered at least 30 or 40 times, they've completely lost interest, and I can't blame them. Max Mini got the win, as nearly 8 minutes of pay-per-view time were successfully filled.
- The Intercontinental Championship is on the line in the first of three title matches, as "The Rock" Rocky Maivia defends against Ken Shamrock. You see that Rock is starting to come into his own here, delivering more of his signature offense, trash talking the crowd and giving an entertaining pre-match promo. Shamrock gets a chance to hit a couple impressive power moves, including countering Rock's signature DDT with a very nice Northern Lights suplex. The Nation distracts the referee long enough for Rock to pull out a set of brass knuckles, but his knucks assisted right hand isn't enough to score the three. Shamrock hits a belly to belly and gets the win, which is definitely a pretty weak finisher and not really suiting of "The World's Most Dangerous Man". But no title switch is taking place here, as in a very intelligent move, Rock actually hid the brass knuckles in Shamrock's tights, and tells the official that the challenger used the foreign object. Mike Chioda then reverses his decision and disqualifies Shamrock, who loses it, hitting a belly to belly on Chioda and then locking the official in the ankle lock. A solid enough match for two up and coming stars, with a very clever finish that really puts Rock over as a dastardly but extremely capable heel.
- Another heel act really rising up the ranks at this time are the New Age Outlaws, who defend their tag team titles here against former champions, the Legion of Doom. Billy Gunn and Road Dogg have been terrorizing Hawk and Animal, shaving off part of the former's mohawk and powerbombing the latter through a table with help from Shawn Michaels and Triple H, giving Animal a kayfabe back injury. This match is completely in favor of the faces, and though the LOD might have lost a bit of a step more recently, they still look good delivering moves. The champions manage to handcuff Hawk outside the ring, but even then, Animal dominates on his own, hitting a double clothesline and catching Gunn, I think it was him, in the air with a big powerslam. Eventually, the heels just get themselves disqualified, wailing on Animal with a chair, including multiple shots to that injured back. Hawk manages to rip himself free and sending Gunn and Dogg running for cover, another great spot that put him over. This was another solid match between two teams that were great in their roles and told an entertaining story.
- Time for the Royal Rumble match, as for the first time in one of my reviews, it isn't going on last. I can definitely see why, as this really isn't a star studded affair by any means, and as I mentioned at the top of the review, the winner is very obvious. Austin's path to victory is simple enough, entering at #24, sliding into the ring behind everyone currently in it, who all stopped to watch the entranceway. Austin toss out 6 men, none of them too important, before facing off with The Rock as the final 2. Rock has had a great Rumble, surviving over 50 minutes in the ring and continuing his feud with Ken Shamrock by taking him out. He also eliminates fellow Nation of Domination member Faarooq in a move that once again continues to establish Rock as a heel to watch. As he almost always did, Rock comes up short to Austin, though he looks good during this short confrontation, skinning the cat to avoid elimination before taking a Stunner and out he goes. Thus ends a fairly average Rumble match, one that did have it's moments to be fair, like Mick Foley entering as all three of his personas, each time going after the person who eliminated the last alter ego, or Owen Hart getting a big pop during his mini-feud with Jeff Jarrett before starting a new one with Triple H. I could probably recommend watching this one, as there is enough entertainment to make it interesting, but it didn't feel that necessary, just a means to get "Stone Cold" into the WrestleMania main event.
- Speaking of Austin, his opponent would be determined in the main event, as Shawn Michaels defends the WWF Championship against The Undertaker in a casket match. Obviously, these two have boatloads of chemistry together and are always great in the ring, and this was another quality match between the two. They were certainly limited by the stipulation, which has never produced a true classic, and the pace isn't helped by Shawn effing up his back taking a bump on the edge of the casket. You can tell immediately that Shawn is in a lot of pain, and even though he may have been an absolute nightmare behind the scenes during this time, you have to give him a lot of credit for finishing this match. We get a lot of drama surrounding the casket, as both men attempt to shut it on the other. Shawn hits an absolutely insane elbow drop onto 'Taker in the casket, which is somehow topped by Undertaker then driving Michaels into the casket with a jumping Tombstone Piledriver off the apron. Holy damn, these two men have put together some spots over the years but this was absolutely wild. Undertaker has the match and the title won, but before he can close the casket, the New Age Outlaws and Los Boricuas interfere. I do really question this, as Billy and Road Dogg do have a budding alliance with D-X but Los Boricuas seem to be a completely random choice for an interference. Kane emerges from the back to a massive pop, before clearing the ring as the crowd goes absolutely wild, over the moon to see these two destructive brothers lay waste to all the heels. But it's all a swerve, bro, as Kane turns back heel again, chokeslamming Undertaker into the casket, as Hunter and Chyna, who helped Shawn escape, slam it shut to kept the title around HBK's waist. Kane, with Paul Bearer's help, locks the casket lid, wheeling it to the top of the ramp, before chopping at it with an axe, for some reason. Kane then pours gasoline over everything, JR is absolutely losing his mind by this point, and sets it all on fire, seemingly getting his revenge, for Undertaker nearly burning him to death all those years ago. That's where the pay-per-view broadcast ends, but the angle concludes for the live crowd when Commissioner Slaughter and emergency officials get the casket open. It's completely empty, as Undertaker, via the loudspeaker, promises that he will not Rest in Peace. I thought the main event and post-match angle were both great, setting the stage for a much anticipated showdown between Undertaker and Kane at 'Mania, while also subtly testing the waters for how Kane would be received as a face, which was a roaring success.
6/10
There's nothing that really needs to be seen from Royal Rumble 1998, but there's not much that'll ruin your day if you choose to watch it. The tag and IC title matches were both solid and told good stories, the Rumble had entertaining moments and the main event was dangerous in every sense of the word, a very fun watch that likely would've been much better had HBK not been injured. This show was a great look into the future of the company, featuring some of the biggest stars and moneymakers of the Attitude Era, which gives it the feel of the beginning of a grand tale.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: WrestleMania 14, as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin takes his place as the undisputed figurehead of the WWF. See you soon.
- Henry
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