Remember When?: 1998 Royal Rumble

Yesterday's post about the Chris Jericho arrest reminded me about this weekend's Royal Rumble. So on this Friday, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look back at when the WWE was actually fun to watch and remember one of the best era's of professional wrestling. And the 1998 Royal Rumble would kick off one of the greatest era's in professional wrestling.

The 1998 Royal Rumble is historic for many reason's besides the start of the attitude era. In the main event of the evening, the Undertaker faced Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship in a Casket Mask. During the match Michaels was flipped outside of the ring and landed awkwardly on the casket. At the time this looked like nothing, but the next day would change Michaels life and career. Michaels injured his back and his time in the WWE would be running out for the considerable future.

The buildup to the actual Royal Rumble match, saw Stone Cold Steve Austin destroy everyone in his sight. Austin would interfer in matches on Raw or appeared after matches giving his patented Stunner to his opponents. Stone Cold would have a huge target in the Rumble match.

The Royal Rumble match began with Cactus Jack(Mick Foley) as the first entrant bringing a trash can to the ring. Chainsaw Charlie(Terry Funk) was the second entrant bringing a chainsaw with him to the ring. Before Charlie could use the chainsaw, Cactus Jack hit him with the trash can and they both started a "Hardcore Fight" outside of the ring until the third entrant Tom Brandi came to the ring. This of course was the Royal Rumble that Mick Foley would appear in as all three of his alter ego's Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love.



Austin entered the Rumble as the 24th entrant. His music played and everyone in the ring quit fighting in anticipation for Austin. After a lengthy wait it appeared that Austin wasn't coming to the ring, that was until he appeared from behind and tossed Marc Mero and 8-Ball out of the ring.

The last four men remaining in the ring was Austin, Dude Love, The Rock, and Faarooq(Ron Simmons, Damn!). Dude Love and Austin teamed up against Rock and Faarooq, until Austin turned on Dude Love and allowed Faarooq to toss him out of the ring. When Faarooq turned around to face Austin, he was tossed out of the ring only leaving The Rock and Austin to be determined the Royal Rumble winner. The future of the WWE would be contending for a tittle shot in Wrestlemania XIV.

The two brawled and Austin threw The Rock out of the ring. The only thing was, that The Rock's feet never touched the ground and he reentered the ring. Austin promptly gave The Rock a stunner and threw him out of the ring to win the 1998 Royal Rumble and a title shot at Wrestlemania XIV against Shawn Michaels.



Aftermath of the 1998 Royal Rumble

You can debate what event started the "Attitude Era" began. You can say it was after Wrestlemania XIV when Austin was the Champion and he began a fued with Mr. McMahon. You may be right, but the seeds were planted during the 1998 Royal Rumble and the buildup to Wrestlemania XIV.

Mike Tyson was brought in to be the "special enforcer" for the match between Austin and Michaels. It was revealed on Raw that Tyson was actually allies with DX and Shawn Michaels adding up the odds against Austin.

Also in the buildup in the match was the future of Shawn Michaels. Michaels had injured his back in the Casket match against the Undertaker at the Royal Rumble and all signs pointed to Michaels retiring after his Wrestlemania match.

Wrestlemania XIV took place in Boston. At the end of the Austin-Michaels match, the referee was knocked out. After Austin delivered his Stunner to Michaels, Mike Tyson jumped into the ring and delivered the three count officially turning his back on DX and Shawn Michaels. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the new WWE Champion and the "Attitude Era" officially began in wrestling.

Poor Michaels. Not only did he lose the belt and had a bad back, but after the match Tyson cold cocked him and helped Austin celebrate the match. Michaels would not be in another match until 2002.