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Survivor Series (1998)
Encyclopedia
Survivor Series was the twelfth annual Survivor Series
professional wrestling
pay-per-view
event produced by the World Wrestling Federation
(WWF), which took place on November 15, 1998 at the Kiel Center
in St. Louis, Missouri
.
Fourteen professional wrestling matches
were scheduled on the event's card
, a noticeably higher number than most pay-per-view events because the main focus of the card was a tournament for the vacant WWF Championship
titled Deadly Game. It was the first tournament held with the WWF Championship on the line in ten years, the last being at WrestleMania IV
. Both tournaments were 14-man tournaments instead of the regular 8 or 16-man tournaments. Aside from the tournament, two other championship matches occurred: the first defense of the WWF Women's Championship
since it had been reactivated and a triple threat tag team match
for the WWF Tag Team Championship.
This event was also the first Survivor Series not to feature the traditional Survivor Series elimination-style tag team match, although the notion of survival is apparent in the knockout tournament. The only other time a Survivor Series event has not featured the traditional match is in 2002
but did feature the inaugural Elimination Chamber
match, a match type also based on survival.
in March, where Steve Austin
won the WWF Championship
. Austin's working class, blue collar style and manner clashed with WWF Chairman Mr. McMahon and his corporate notions of who he wanted to represent his company. He then set about trying to mould a challenger in his own image to dethrone Austin. Firstly he brought back Dude Love
, though he soon abandoned his hippy style gimmick in favor of a suit - even wearing his false teeth (Foley was known for his scruffy look, including various missing teeth from a variety of hardcore matches). After two attempts, including one with McMahon as referee, Love still did not recover the gold and seemed to bring about more woe to McMahon. McMahon turned to Paul Bearer and sought about setting up his son Kane
in a match at June's King of the Ring which Austin lost but only thanks to interference from Kane's (fictional
) half-brother The Undertaker who, despite having animosity towards his brother, did not want to see him hurt - Austin won his title back the following evening. Having been thrown to the wayside by McMahon, Love returned to his psychologically fragile alter-ego Mankind, soon changing his dress from rags to an unintentionally scruffy parody of his father-figure McMahon. Both Mankind and Kane formed an ad-hoc tag team which McMahon sponsored in a bid to take on Undertaker, who had been defending Austin while similarly vying for a title shot. Shortly before August pay-per-view SummerSlam
, it was revealed that Undertaker and Kane had been in cahoots. Austin retained the title at SummerSlam, but McMahon was not done. At the next pay-per-view
, he forced Austin to face both Kane and Undertaker in a match that essentially became a handicap match after McMahon added the stipulation that the brothers could not pin each other. Austin lost the championship, but since he was simultaneously pinned by Kane and Undertaker the title was held up. To rectify the situation, McMahon booked a match between the two brothers at Judgment Day: In Your House
. To further mock Steve Austin, he was designated as referee and McMahon threatened to fire him if he didn't perform his duties. Austin defied the order and attacked Undertaker after he had turned on Kane, then counted both brothers out and declared himself the winner and champion. McMahon then made good on his threat to fire Austin, and the title was left vacant. To rectify this, Deadly Game was set up, a knock-out tournament contest between a wide array of wrestlers in the company.
Despite being fired, Austin was at Raw the night after Judgment Day and held McMahon hostage at gunpoint, though when Austin went to fire his gun it turned out to be a joke gun, with a sign saying BANG! 3:16 on it; Austin left the ring when McMahon soiled himself, having given him a piece of paper. Austin revealed the following week that the paper was a five year contract that guaranteed him a championship match and most shockingly of all, the contract had been signed by Mr McMahon's son Shane, who had his owner rights suspended by his father and was demoted to a referee.
As well as Austin, McMahon seemed to have a new target of hatred. On November 2 edition of Raw, McMahon declared to the self-styled People's Champion that because he had a problem with the people, he had a problem with The Rock. He then ordered Rock into an Intercontinental match with Ken Shamrock
, with Rock's tournament spot on the line. Shamrock hit him with a chair and thus he won, but only by disqualification and thus lost his tournament spot. Afterwards McMahon had The Rock arrested, much like he had done months before with Austin. The following week McMahon threatened him with expulsion from the company if he could not win a match against former Nation of Domination
stable mate Mark Henry
. Despite the odds being stacked in his favor with McMahon's entourage at ring side distracting the referee, Shane McMahon ran down after Rock had performed the Rock Bottom, a lifting side slam, on Henry and counted the pinfall to secure Rock's employment and, presumably, earning back his spot in the tournament although this was never specifically mentioned other than McMahon mentioning it on Heat.
While many wrestlers became the target of Vince McMahon's ire, one wrestler returned to being his favorite. With his son ostensibly turning on him, Mankind tried to cheer McMahon up and was treated as a surrogate child. McMahon awarded him a new belt, the WWF Hardcore Championship
, as well as giving him a makeover, including a pedicure, haircut and tailored suit, gearing him up to win the tournament. As well as being a Hardcore Champion, Mankind had formed an ad hoc tag team with Al Snow
, the humorous duo mocking each other's mascots who they talked to, Mr. Socko and Head. In a tag team match Mr. Socko went missing and it later transpired that Mr. McMahon had wrapped it round Al Snow's Head in order to provoke his wrath. Snow himself had also had several run-ins with Jeff Jarrett
, after Jarrett had opened his guitar case only to find Head inside, instead of his trademark weapon.
Family problems were abound elsewhere with the return of Paul Bearer at Judgment Day. Bearer had been at Kane's side ever since his debut the previous October, but when Kane and Undertaker created an allegiance to take down Austin, Kane turned his back on Bearer and allowed Undertaker to beat him. When Bearer returned he seemed to be on Kane's side, but in fact he gave a chair to Undertaker to strike his son with, revealing on Raw that he had returned to being Undertaker's mentor.
Steven Regal
had been having vignettes airing for his return for weeks under the gimmick of 'a man's man' but when he did make his appearance known, it was by attacking the European Champion X-Pac
from behind on October 26. Another wrestler would make his debut standing by Mr. McMahon's side as a masked man in a SWAT style uniform, defending him from Austin's attacks. The enforcer turned out to be the returning Big Boss Man
, after a stint in World Championship Wrestling
(WCW), who had taken on the role of personal bodyguard for McMahon.
The two other feuds going into the event were both championship feuds. Marc Mero
grew jealous of his valet Sable
and the attention she gained, eventually having her fired by defeating her in a match. When she returned as a wrestler in her own right, Mero employed a new valet Jacqueline
and the two naturally squared off. Firstly they had a bikini contest
, which Sable won by popularity, but was disqualified as her bikini consisted of handprints. The two then had an arm wrestling contest, which ended with Jacqueline cracking the bikini contest trophy over the head of Sable. When Sable revealed the Women's Championship had been reactivated, the two met for a match on Raw, in which Jacqueline won due to Mero holding Sable's legs down. Sable was further humiliated when Jacqueline cut a piece of her hair and wrapped it into her own hair, but appeared on Raw, October 26, to demand a championship match.
The Headbangers
had met the New Age Outlaws
the previous month and after dominating most of the match, won via disqualification when the Road Dogg
broke a boombox over Mosh's
head. Despite titles not changing hands by disqualification, the Headbangers began to declare themselves champions, coming to the ring with toy replica belts and parodying New Age Outlaws pre-match speeches. With the dissolution of The Nation, D'Lo Brown
and Mark Henry stayed together as a tag team and with Brown's feud with X-Pac over the European title, by messing with one D-Generate
, he picked an unwitting fight with the Outlaws too.
The opening match was part of the Deadly Game tournament and saw Mr. McMahon welcome Mankind to the ring, he then announced his mystery opponent as a WWF veteran who had a record setting win-loss record before jumping ship to WCW
. The grandiose introduction turned out to be ironic, though, as his opponent was the jobber Duane Gill
. Despite the ten minute time limit, designed to make sure matches began swiftly, the match barely lasted one minute as Mankind knocked Gill to the floor and rolled him up for a pin.
Al Snow's match against Jeff Jarrett began with Snow following Jarret's valet, Debra McMichael
but soon entered the ring. Snow took the first advantage, using the ropes to aid him with a neckbreaker
but mistiming a flying leg drop
. A succession of reversed pin counts from both parties ensued with neither wrestler winning, turning into a DDT
from Snow. With both men on the mat, Debra walked onto the apron with Snow's mannequin head to distract the referee and allow Jarrett to pick it up. Snow himself grabbed Jarrett's guitar and swung for Jarrett, but missed and received Head. Jarrett went to attack him again in the corner but a kick from Snow allowed him to grab the Head and smack into it Jarrett's face, allowing a victory via pinfall when the referee finally looked back. Snow would face Mankind in the quarter finals.
Big Boss Man met Steve Austin on the walkway for their fight, with Austin throwing Boss Man into the steel steps before the match was officially under way. Inside the ring Boss Man used his punches to subdue Austin before choking him in the middle of the ring. Crowd support inspired Austin to fight back with a clothesline, shoulder barging his opponent into the turnbuckle before stomping a mudhole. After being Irish whipped against the ropes, Boss Man escaped the ring and when Austin caught up with him, he was met with a night stick
from the Boss Man. The referee awarded the match via disqualification to Austin but that did not stop the onslaught from Boss Man's nightstick, much to the delight of Mr. McMahon.
The fourth Deadly Games match, between European Champion X-Pac and Stephen Regal, saw X-Pac's fast paced style take advantage over Regal until a mistimed bronco buster in the corner left X-Pac in pain, Regal pulling him out to fit a seated abdominal stretch on him. Regal's mat-based technical style kept X-Pac slowed down and without much of his arsenal. Having slowed X-Pac down, Regal ventured to the top rope with his opponent, utilizing a double-underhook suplex from the top turnbuckle to put pressure on X-Pac's fragile neck. Despite picking up some offense, X-Pac went for a top rope maneuver too quickly and Regal shook the ropes, causing him to fall off to the outside. Regal quickly followed with a double underhook suplex reversed into a suplex
from X-Pac. The bell was rung as both men were counted out but McMahon sent out Commissioner Slaughter to restart the match with a five minute time limit, however X-Pac was already half way up the ramp, nursing his neck injury and amidst confusion it appeared the match would not be restarted, giving Steve Austin a bye through to the semi-finals.
The next match, between Ken Shamrock and Goldust, began as a high-speed encounter with both wrestlers making many running attacks, until Shamrock had Goldust on the floor at which point he began to use a chin lock to slow him down. Goldust regained some momentum after standing up and, although Shamrock was able to reverse it initially Goldust soon had some advantage in the match. Things changed though when Goldust set his opponent up for the illegal move, Shattered Dreams. As Goldust made the run up, the referee jumped in the way to prevent the low blow which gave Shamrock the time to jump up to the top rope, jumping onto Goldust for a hurricarana, following it up immediately with an ankle lock that made Goldust tap out.
The last of the matches from the first round had The Rock booked against a returning Triple H. Despite Triple H's D-Generation X music playing, Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco came to the ring to make the announcement that despite a no-show from Triple H, presumably due to his knee injury, the match would not be forfeited. The last minute replacement was Big Boss Man who ran to the ring, only to be rolled into a pin for the shortest match in WWF history - four seconds.
Mankind met Al Snow next, with Snow throwing Mankind around the ring and barging him to the floor before dropkicking him to the outside. Mankind tried to balance things by grabbing a steel chair but Snow took it off him and hit him twice (without disqualification), before mistiming an attack to the ring post allowing for Mankind to take charge. Having been beaten in the ring, Snow crawled to Head to use as a weapon but swung and missed, allowing Mankind to deliver a back drop. As he did, Head came away in his hand and he realized Mr. Socko was tied round Head's head. The rage saw him beat the mannequin, stamping on it before turning his attention back to Al Snow to land a double-armed DDT and then the mandible claw to win the match and setting up a match for Steve Austin in the next round.
The final second round match was between the long-feuding Shamrock and The Rock. Rock began his attack instantly, punching and clotheslining Shamrock before the latter replied with a suplex. Rock was not down for long, coming out of a kneeling position with another clothesline before chasing Shamrock out of the ring and spitting water into his face but receiving steel steps in the shoulder for it. Big Boss Man came to the ring as Shamrock moved from a chin lock into his ankle lock. Rock held on and slowly crawled for the ring break. After breaking away both men collided with a double clothesline allowing both men to recover and, after a failed pin attempt, stand up and fight again. Rock dynamically swung around Shamrock's body to secure a DDT attempt and as Boss Man distracted the referee, punched Shamrock in the crotch. Despite this, and a People's Elbow, Shamrock still kicked out and managed to reverse a Rock Bottom attempt into a belly-to-belly suplex. Boss Man tried to interfere again, slyly throwing a night stick to Shamrock as the referee was distracted. Rock intercepted the night stick though, allowing him to strike down Shamrock and make a pinfall.
The Deadly Game had a hiatus, roughly half way through the evening, for the Women's Championship match between Jacqueline and the challenger Sable. The match seemed to be over almost instantly as, after a flurry of strikes Sable used the TKO on Jacqueline. Marc Mero, though, pulled Sable away from the pinfall for which he received a Sable Bomb on the outside of the ring allowing Jacqueline to recover and attack her from behind, rolling her back into the ring and taunting Sable with the hair Jacqueline had cut a few weeks before. Sable was then taken to the corner and kicked before being set up for a powerbomb. Sable tossed the champion over her back but Jacqueline crawled her over to the corner to set up a tornado DDT from the turnbuckle. Sable reversed again, throwing Jacqueline to the ground, picking her up to deliver a Sable Bomb and winning the Women's Championship.
The second semi-final between The Rock and The Undertaker was fought initially around ringside, mostly a series of punches and headbutts until Rock was thrown back into the ring. The Rock was pummeled by a series of strikes and throat punches from Undertaker that eventually left him tied up in the ropes. From this position he was able to toss Undertaker out of the ring and followed him, fighting in the crowd eventually. Back in the ring there was still no discernible advantage, both exchanging punches and The Rock delivering a Samoan Drop. As the two lay motionless on the mat, Big Boss Man came back to ringside, apparently having not left with the rest of McMahon's entourage. He stopped Rock from finishing the People's Elbow by grabbing at his foot, allowing Undertaker to take Rock down, though Undertaker struck Boss Man from the apron. As Undertaker set up The Rock for a chokeslam, Kane climbed in the ring and Undertaker threw The Rock into Kane's hands, with Kane delivering a chokeslam to The Rock. This gave The Rock a win via disqualification and he advanced onto the final as Undertaker and Kane fought through the crowd.
The tournament took a hiatus again for the WWF Tag Team Championship triple threat match which saw Bad Ass Billy Gunn and D'Lo Brown fight with Mosh trying to steal a pinfall. Billy Gunn let Brown and Mosh fight while he tagged in Road Dogg, although this amounted to little as the New Age Outlaws threw both Headbangers out the ring and took a ten-punch to Brown and Henry. Both Headbangers returned to double team Road Dogg and the match was resumed proper with Mosh and Brown both attempting pins on Road Dogg and then teaming up on him, changing partners to continue the onslaught until Brown threw out Road Dogg and turned on Mosh, managing a frankensteiner on him but soon falling fowl to a Russian leg sweep. When Road Dogg returned he took the brunt of assault again and as he was down Brown's running powerbomb on Mosh was reversed into a sunset flip like pin. Both changed partners again, with the Headbangers double teaming Road Dogg but not helping Brown to double team them and instead delivering a low blow but without securing a pinfall. As their alliance failed, Road Dogg crawled to tag in the yet unused Billy Gunn, whose hot tag saw him take down everybody until Brown caught him from a running momentum to land a Lo Down which strangely referee Tim White delayed his pin count. After Billy Gunn kicked out, he jumped on a running Mosh to land the Fameasser and then a piledriver to retain the championship with a pin victory.
, without tapping out, Mr McMahon ordered the referee to ring the bell and award the WWF Championship to The Rock: a reference to the Montreal Screwjob
After the match, Mr. McMahon and Shane entered the ring with Mr. McMahon telling the audience how he had successfully screwed Steve Austin, Mankind and the people. When Mankind asked for an explanation, Rock delivered another Rock Bottom but as the three of them celebrated, Austin ran into the ring and was met with a beating from The Rock that he eventually fought back from, tossing Rock out of the ring before grabbing the Championship belt and throwing it on Rock. He then gave a stunner to the just-recovered Mankind as the pay-per-view ended.
. The following evening on Raw, McMahon declared The Rock to be the Corporate Champion and set about persuading other wrestlers down the roster to join with the promise of money and power. The first to join was Ken Shamrock, who demanded a match with the Big Boss Man for interfering in his match, but towards the end of the match both McMahons came to the ring and convinced him to join. They also tried to convince the New Age Outlaws to join, but after feigning an allegiance they revealed to be true to D-Generation X and had to defend their Tag Team Titles at Rock Bottom: In Your House
and again the following night, which they lost after much interference. McMahon also introduced a new commissioner, Shawn Michaels
, who also showed Corporate bias before returning to his DX stable. In the following year The Corporation would become a large stable and would rival The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness
.
On a more individual basis, Mankind's outrage at being screwed by Mr. McMahon led him to a title match at the subsequent pay-per-view, Rock Bottom. Despite winning the match, McMahon managed to manipulate the rules to make sure The Rock retained his title again but another match on the first Raw of the new year saw Mankind win the title, leading to an "I Quit" match at the Royal Rumble
in the new year, a match that became both noted as an entertaining match and also as being focused on in the Beyond the Mat
documentary. This led to an empty arena match, a Last Man Standing match and finally a Ladder Match, with the title frequently changing hands until ultimately The Rock was champion and would go on to WrestleMania XV
, with Mankind finding his way into the main event as a special guest referee.
Austin and Mr. McMahon's feud continued to escalate after he was cheated in the semi-finals. The following night on Raw he reminded McMahon and The Rock that when he was rehired by Shane, he was guaranteed a title match. The match was marred with interference though both from Corporate members, Mankind trying to find revenge on The Rock and The Undertaker who took a shovel to Austin. McMahon tried to use Undertaker as another blockade for Austin, setting him in a Buried Alive Match to prevent him entering the Rumble. Austin won the Buried Alive Match and was placed in the Royal Rumble
entering first opposite McMahon at number two who went on to win the Rumble, Austin reclaimed his WrestleMania
place the following month, though and went on to win the title.
X-Pac's neck injury was not mentioned on screen and Steven Regal left the company soon after for WCW, without making another appearance. Marc Mero would also disappear from programming, firstly to support his wife, Sable, in her career before leaving the company altogether. Firstly he split with Jacqueline, blaming her for his losing streak and she went on to form Pretty Mean Sisters
; then in a moment of cockiness he announced that he was so insulted by being forced to face Duane Gill that he would quit if he lost. Thanks to interference from the debuting Blue Meanie, Duane Gill (who had become Light Heavyweight Champion
) won the match and Mero quit, making one last appearance at UK's Capital Carnage
. Sable would disappear until the new year, when she became an active defender of the Women's Championship; fighting the likes of Luna Vachon and newcomer Tori
and forming an alliance with Nicole Bass
.
Survivor Series
The Survivor Series is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event held in November by WWE. It is one of the "Big Four" events, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble and SummerSlam, as It is one of the original four pay-per-views produced by WWE....
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
event produced by the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWF), which took place on November 15, 1998 at the Kiel Center
Scottrade Center
Scottrade Center is a 19,150 seat arena located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, opened in 1994. It is the home of the St...
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
.
Fourteen professional wrestling matches
Mock combat
Mock combat involves the execution of combative actions without intent to harm. Participants can engage in such sparring for ritual, training, recreational or performance reasons...
were scheduled on the event's card
Card (sports)
In sports, a card comprises a listing of the matches taking place in a title-match combat-sport event. Organizers divide overall cards into a main-event match and the undercard, which encompasses the rest of the matches. One can also further subdivide the undercard into midcard and lower card,...
, a noticeably higher number than most pay-per-view events because the main focus of the card was a tournament for the vacant WWF Championship
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
titled Deadly Game. It was the first tournament held with the WWF Championship on the line in ten years, the last being at WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV was the fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on March 27, 1988 at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey....
. Both tournaments were 14-man tournaments instead of the regular 8 or 16-man tournaments. Aside from the tournament, two other championship matches occurred: the first defense of the WWF Women's Championship
WWE Women's Championship
The WWE Women's Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment promotion. Created in 1956, it was the oldest active professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history until its retirement in 2010 as a result from a unification...
since it had been reactivated and a triple threat tag team match
Professional wrestling tag team match types
Much like singles matches, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace...
for the WWF Tag Team Championship.
This event was also the first Survivor Series not to feature the traditional Survivor Series elimination-style tag team match, although the notion of survival is apparent in the knockout tournament. The only other time a Survivor Series event has not featured the traditional match is in 2002
Survivor Series (2002)
Survivor Series was the sixteenth annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on November 17, 2002 from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York and featured talent from both the Raw and SmackDown! brands...
but did feature the inaugural Elimination Chamber
Elimination Chamber
The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE promotion. It features a large chain-linked circular steel structure or "chamber" which encloses the ring. The chamber's floor is platformed over the ringside area which elevates it to ring level and within...
match, a match type also based on survival.
Background
As the central focus of Survivor Series was the Deadly Games tournament, the build up involved many interlinking feuds. Arguably the cause of the tournament goes back to WrestleMania XIVWrestleMania XIV
WrestleMania XIV was the fourteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , which took place on March 29, 1998 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts....
in March, where Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
won the WWF Championship
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
. Austin's working class, blue collar style and manner clashed with WWF Chairman Mr. McMahon and his corporate notions of who he wanted to represent his company. He then set about trying to mould a challenger in his own image to dethrone Austin. Firstly he brought back Dude Love
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
, though he soon abandoned his hippy style gimmick in favor of a suit - even wearing his false teeth (Foley was known for his scruffy look, including various missing teeth from a variety of hardcore matches). After two attempts, including one with McMahon as referee, Love still did not recover the gold and seemed to bring about more woe to McMahon. McMahon turned to Paul Bearer and sought about setting up his son Kane
Kane (wrestler)
Glenn Thomas Jacobs is a Spanish-born American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name, Kane. He is signed to WWE, appearing on its SmackDown brand, but is currently inactive due to injury....
in a match at June's King of the Ring which Austin lost but only thanks to interference from Kane's (fictional
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
) half-brother The Undertaker who, despite having animosity towards his brother, did not want to see him hurt - Austin won his title back the following evening. Having been thrown to the wayside by McMahon, Love returned to his psychologically fragile alter-ego Mankind, soon changing his dress from rags to an unintentionally scruffy parody of his father-figure McMahon. Both Mankind and Kane formed an ad-hoc tag team which McMahon sponsored in a bid to take on Undertaker, who had been defending Austin while similarly vying for a title shot. Shortly before August pay-per-view SummerSlam
SummerSlam (1998)
SummerSlam was the eleventh annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on August 30, 1998 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York....
, it was revealed that Undertaker and Kane had been in cahoots. Austin retained the title at SummerSlam, but McMahon was not done. At the next pay-per-view
Breakdown: In Your House
Breakdown: In Your House was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, under the In Your House name, produced by the World Wrestling Federation...
, he forced Austin to face both Kane and Undertaker in a match that essentially became a handicap match after McMahon added the stipulation that the brothers could not pin each other. Austin lost the championship, but since he was simultaneously pinned by Kane and Undertaker the title was held up. To rectify the situation, McMahon booked a match between the two brothers at Judgment Day: In Your House
Judgment Day: In Your House
Judgment Day: In Your House was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Federation , which took place on October 18, 1998 at the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois. It was the first pay-per-view titled Judgment Day as WWF were uniquely naming all pay-per-views...
. To further mock Steve Austin, he was designated as referee and McMahon threatened to fire him if he didn't perform his duties. Austin defied the order and attacked Undertaker after he had turned on Kane, then counted both brothers out and declared himself the winner and champion. McMahon then made good on his threat to fire Austin, and the title was left vacant. To rectify this, Deadly Game was set up, a knock-out tournament contest between a wide array of wrestlers in the company.
As well as Austin, McMahon seemed to have a new target of hatred. On November 2 edition of Raw, McMahon declared to the self-styled People's Champion that because he had a problem with the people, he had a problem with The Rock. He then ordered Rock into an Intercontinental match with Ken Shamrock
Ken Shamrock
Kenneth Wayne Shamrock is an American mixed martial arts fighter, UFC Hall of Famer and professional wrestler...
, with Rock's tournament spot on the line. Shamrock hit him with a chair and thus he won, but only by disqualification and thus lost his tournament spot. Afterwards McMahon had The Rock arrested, much like he had done months before with Austin. The following week McMahon threatened him with expulsion from the company if he could not win a match against former Nation of Domination
Nation of Domination
The Nation of Domination was a professional wrestling stable in World Wrestling Federation from November 18, 1996 to November 28, 1998. The Rock was a 1 time Intercontinental Champion and D'Lo Brown was a 2 time European Champion while in the group.-United States Wrestling Association :The...
stable mate Mark Henry
Mark Henry
Mark Jerrold Henry is an American professional wrestler signed with WWE, where he performs on its SmackDown brand as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. He is a 1992 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic...
. Despite the odds being stacked in his favor with McMahon's entourage at ring side distracting the referee, Shane McMahon ran down after Rock had performed the Rock Bottom, a lifting side slam, on Henry and counted the pinfall to secure Rock's employment and, presumably, earning back his spot in the tournament although this was never specifically mentioned other than McMahon mentioning it on Heat.
While many wrestlers became the target of Vince McMahon's ire, one wrestler returned to being his favorite. With his son ostensibly turning on him, Mankind tried to cheer McMahon up and was treated as a surrogate child. McMahon awarded him a new belt, the WWF Hardcore Championship
WWE Hardcore Championship
The World Wrestling Entertainment Hardcore Championship is a hardcore wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and is contested under "hardcore" rules, meaning there is no disqualifications, no countouts, and pin falls could be counted anywhere...
, as well as giving him a makeover, including a pedicure, haircut and tailored suit, gearing him up to win the tournament. As well as being a Hardcore Champion, Mankind had formed an ad hoc tag team with Al Snow
Al Snow
Allen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.-Early career:Sarven...
, the humorous duo mocking each other's mascots who they talked to, Mr. Socko and Head. In a tag team match Mr. Socko went missing and it later transpired that Mr. McMahon had wrapped it round Al Snow's Head in order to provoke his wrath. Snow himself had also had several run-ins with Jeff Jarrett
Jeff Jarrett
Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett is an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , an organization he co-founded along with his father and in which he holds some stock but not total control...
, after Jarrett had opened his guitar case only to find Head inside, instead of his trademark weapon.
Family problems were abound elsewhere with the return of Paul Bearer at Judgment Day. Bearer had been at Kane's side ever since his debut the previous October, but when Kane and Undertaker created an allegiance to take down Austin, Kane turned his back on Bearer and allowed Undertaker to beat him. When Bearer returned he seemed to be on Kane's side, but in fact he gave a chair to Undertaker to strike his son with, revealing on Raw that he had returned to being Undertaker's mentor.
Steven Regal
Darren Matthews
Darren Kenneth Matthews , is an English professional wrestler, author and color commentator currently signed to WWE and competing on the SmackDown brand under the ring name William Regal. He is also known for his time in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Steven Regal...
had been having vignettes airing for his return for weeks under the gimmick of 'a man's man' but when he did make his appearance known, it was by attacking the European Champion X-Pac
Sean Waltman
Sean Michael Waltman is an American professional wrestler currently signed with WWE in their developmental program. He wrestled there under the ring names 1–2–3 Kid and X-Pac off and on from 1993–2002, World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Syxx, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ...
from behind on October 26. Another wrestler would make his debut standing by Mr. McMahon's side as a masked man in a SWAT style uniform, defending him from Austin's attacks. The enforcer turned out to be the returning Big Boss Man
Ray Traylor
Ray Walter Traylor, Jr. was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Big Boss Man and World Championship Wrestling under various ring names, most notably Big Bubba Rogers.-Early years:Traylor, a prison guard in...
, after a stint in World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
(WCW), who had taken on the role of personal bodyguard for McMahon.
The two other feuds going into the event were both championship feuds. Marc Mero
Marc Mero
Marc Mero is an American retired amateur boxer and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as Marc Mero and with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Johnny B. Badd...
grew jealous of his valet Sable
Rena Mero
Rena Marlette Mero Lesnar , better known as Sable, is an American model, actress, and former professional wrestler. She is primarily known for her stints in World Wrestling Entertainment....
and the attention she gained, eventually having her fired by defeating her in a match. When she returned as a wrestler in her own right, Mero employed a new valet Jacqueline
Jacqueline Moore
Jacqueline DeLois Moore is an inactive American professional wrestler, who was most recently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
and the two naturally squared off. Firstly they had a bikini contest
Bikini contest
A bikini contest is a beauty contest where women compete against each other in bikinis.Bikini contests can take place in bars, nightclubs, at beaches, and beauty pageants. Related companies regularly sponsor such contests to discover and attract new talents to promote their products...
, which Sable won by popularity, but was disqualified as her bikini consisted of handprints. The two then had an arm wrestling contest, which ended with Jacqueline cracking the bikini contest trophy over the head of Sable. When Sable revealed the Women's Championship had been reactivated, the two met for a match on Raw, in which Jacqueline won due to Mero holding Sable's legs down. Sable was further humiliated when Jacqueline cut a piece of her hair and wrapped it into her own hair, but appeared on Raw, October 26, to demand a championship match.
The Headbangers
The Headbangers
The Headbangers is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Mosh and Thrasher, best known for their work in the World Wrestling Federation...
had met the New Age Outlaws
New Age Outlaws
The New Age Outlaws, later known as the James Gang and the Voodoo Kin Mafia, were a professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Federation, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , Jersey All Pro Wrestling, and Maryland Championship Wrestling consisting of B.G...
the previous month and after dominating most of the match, won via disqualification when the Road Dogg
Brian Gerard James
Brian Gerard James is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE as an agent and producer. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation as "The Road Dogg" Jesse James or simply Road Dogg...
broke a boombox over Mosh's
Charles Warrington
Charles Warrington is an American former professional wrestler, better known by his ring names, Chaz and Mosh.-Career:Warrington began training under Larry Sharpe and Glen Ruth during the early 1990s, debuting in 1993...
head. Despite titles not changing hands by disqualification, the Headbangers began to declare themselves champions, coming to the ring with toy replica belts and parodying New Age Outlaws pre-match speeches. With the dissolution of The Nation, D'Lo Brown
D'Lo Brown
Accie Julius Connor better known by his ring name D'Lo Brown , is an American professional wrestler. Well known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment, he is currently working as an agent for Impact Wrestling.Connor has held forty-eight championships in various promotions during...
and Mark Henry stayed together as a tag team and with Brown's feud with X-Pac over the European title, by messing with one D-Generate
D-Generation X
D-Generation X was a professional wrestling stable in WWE . The group originated in the midst of the WWF's "Attitude Era" from 1997 to 2000...
, he picked an unwitting fight with the Outlaws too.
Event
| Other on-screen talent | |
|---|---|
| Commentator | Jerry "The King" Lawler Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional... |
| Jim Ross Jim Ross James William "Jim" Ross is a professional wrestling commentator, former professional wrestling referee, restaurateur, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he currently works as a commentator on the WWE Raw brand... |
|
| Carlos Cabrera Carlos Cabrera Carlos Rodrigo Cabrera is a former newsman and currently employed with WWE, where he is one half of the company's Spanish announce team in which he is the play-by-play announcer. His longtime broadcast partner was the former Ecuadorian professional wrestler Hugo Savinovich, who was the color... |
|
| Hugo Savinovich Hugo Savinovich Hugo Savinovich is a former Ecuadorian professional wrestler, formerly employed with WWE, where he was one half of the Spanish announce team for the company's TV shows and pay-per-view events. He was a color commentator and partner of Carlos Cabrera and occasionally Marcelo Rodríguez. When he... |
|
| Interviewers | Michael Cole Michael Cole Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist.... |
| Dok Hendrix Michael Hayes (wrestler) Michael Seitz is a retired American professional wrestler and former musician. Seitz is best known for leading The Fabulous Freebirds under the ring name Michael "P.S." Hayes and for his role as the announcer Dok Hendrix in the World Wrestling Federation... |
|
| Kevin Kelly Kevin Kelly (announcer) Kevin Foote is an American professional wrestling manager, pundit, sportscaster and ring announcer, better known by his ring name, Kevin Kelly... |
|
| Ring announcer | Howard Finkel Howard Finkel Howard Finkel is a professional wrestling ring announcer currently working with WWE in a variety of roles. Hired in 1975 by Vincent J. McMahon's World Wide Wrestling Federation, "The Fink" was the first person brought in to Vincent K... |
| Referee | Shane McMahon Shane McMahon Shane Brandon McMahon is an American executive, currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of YOU On Demand. A former executive and professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment , he is the son of WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and former US Senate candidate Linda... |
| Mike Chioda Mike Chioda Michael Joseph "Mike" Chioda, is a senior referee who is currently signed to WWE. While not refereeing, Chioda, as well as the other referees in WWE, help set up the arena before shows, constructing the ring and stage areas.-WWF:... |
|
| Jack Doan Jack Doan John Michael "Jack" Doan is a veteran professional wrestling referee currently signed with WWE.-Career:Doan joined WWE in October 1991 as a truck driver. From there, he took robes from Superstars at ringside, played music at shows, worked as part of the ring crew, and continued to drive the... |
|
| Earl Hebner Earl Hebner Earl William Hebner is a professional wrestling referee currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and the twin brother of Dave Hebner... |
|
| Jim Korderas Jim Korderas __FORCETOC__Demetrius Korderas , better known by his referee name, Jim "Jimmy" Korderas is a Canadian professional wrestling referee who worked for World Wrestling Entertainment for over 22 years.-Early career:... |
|
| Tim White Tim White (wrestling) Timothy Rhys White is a former professional wrestling referee. He worked with World Wrestling Entertainment as a producer on the SmackDown! brand... |
First Round
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
. The grandiose introduction turned out to be ironic, though, as his opponent was the jobber Duane Gill
Duane Gill
Duane Gill is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation as Gillberg, a parody of then-rival promotion World Championship Wrestling's top star Goldberg. During his tenure in the WWF, Gill became a one time Light Heavyweight Champion...
. Despite the ten minute time limit, designed to make sure matches began swiftly, the match barely lasted one minute as Mankind knocked Gill to the floor and rolled him up for a pin.
Al Snow's match against Jeff Jarrett began with Snow following Jarret's valet, Debra McMichael
Debra Marshall
Debra Gale Marshall is an American actress and former professional wrestling manager and WWE Diva. Arguably best known by her ring name, Debra, she gained recognition for her appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1998 and 2002.She began her career in professional wrestling in...
but soon entered the ring. Snow took the first advantage, using the ropes to aid him with a neckbreaker
Neckbreaker
In professional wrestling a neckbreaker is any throw or slam that focuses its attack on the opponent’s neck. One type of neckbreaker involves the wrestler slamming an opponent's neck against a part of the wrestler's body, usually the knee, head or shoulder...
but mistiming a flying leg drop
Leg drop
A leg drop or legdrop refers to an attack used in professional wrestling in which an attacking wrestler will jump and land his leg across a fallen opponent's chest, throat, face or head or in some cases, the groin/lower-abdominal area...
. A succession of reversed pin counts from both parties ensued with neither wrestler winning, turning into a DDT
DDT (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling a DDT is any move in which the wrestler has the opponent in a front facelock, and falls down or backwards to drive the opponent's head into the mat...
from Snow. With both men on the mat, Debra walked onto the apron with Snow's mannequin head to distract the referee and allow Jarrett to pick it up. Snow himself grabbed Jarrett's guitar and swung for Jarrett, but missed and received Head. Jarrett went to attack him again in the corner but a kick from Snow allowed him to grab the Head and smack into it Jarrett's face, allowing a victory via pinfall when the referee finally looked back. Snow would face Mankind in the quarter finals.
Big Boss Man met Steve Austin on the walkway for their fight, with Austin throwing Boss Man into the steel steps before the match was officially under way. Inside the ring Boss Man used his punches to subdue Austin before choking him in the middle of the ring. Crowd support inspired Austin to fight back with a clothesline, shoulder barging his opponent into the turnbuckle before stomping a mudhole. After being Irish whipped against the ropes, Boss Man escaped the ring and when Austin caught up with him, he was met with a night stick
Club (weapon)
A club is among the simplest of all weapons. A club is essentially a short staff, or stick, usually made of wood, and wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times....
from the Boss Man. The referee awarded the match via disqualification to Austin but that did not stop the onslaught from Boss Man's nightstick, much to the delight of Mr. McMahon.
The fourth Deadly Games match, between European Champion X-Pac and Stephen Regal, saw X-Pac's fast paced style take advantage over Regal until a mistimed bronco buster in the corner left X-Pac in pain, Regal pulling him out to fit a seated abdominal stretch on him. Regal's mat-based technical style kept X-Pac slowed down and without much of his arsenal. Having slowed X-Pac down, Regal ventured to the top rope with his opponent, utilizing a double-underhook suplex from the top turnbuckle to put pressure on X-Pac's fragile neck. Despite picking up some offense, X-Pac went for a top rope maneuver too quickly and Regal shook the ropes, causing him to fall off to the outside. Regal quickly followed with a double underhook suplex reversed into a suplex
Suplex
A suplex is an offensive move used in professional sport wrestling . The move consists of one wrestler picking up his or her opponent off the ground and then using a large portion of his or her own body weight to drive the opponent down on the mat. Nearly all suplexes have the attacker going down...
from X-Pac. The bell was rung as both men were counted out but McMahon sent out Commissioner Slaughter to restart the match with a five minute time limit, however X-Pac was already half way up the ramp, nursing his neck injury and amidst confusion it appeared the match would not be restarted, giving Steve Austin a bye through to the semi-finals.
The next match, between Ken Shamrock and Goldust, began as a high-speed encounter with both wrestlers making many running attacks, until Shamrock had Goldust on the floor at which point he began to use a chin lock to slow him down. Goldust regained some momentum after standing up and, although Shamrock was able to reverse it initially Goldust soon had some advantage in the match. Things changed though when Goldust set his opponent up for the illegal move, Shattered Dreams. As Goldust made the run up, the referee jumped in the way to prevent the low blow which gave Shamrock the time to jump up to the top rope, jumping onto Goldust for a hurricarana, following it up immediately with an ankle lock that made Goldust tap out.
The last of the matches from the first round had The Rock booked against a returning Triple H. Despite Triple H's D-Generation X music playing, Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco came to the ring to make the announcement that despite a no-show from Triple H, presumably due to his knee injury, the match would not be forfeited. The last minute replacement was Big Boss Man who ran to the ring, only to be rolled into a pin for the shortest match in WWF history - four seconds.
Quarter Finals
The first of the quarter final matches, which saw the time limit increased to fifteen minutes, was between two wrestlers who received byes through the first round, the warring brothers Undertaker and Kane. Both threw each other around the ring before the match was taken briefly outside, Undertaker thrown into the crowd barrier and Kane stomped into the steel steps. Although Kane would retake the advantage in the ring, a jumping elbow drop met with the mat when Undertaker set up. Undertaker used the opportunity to take out Kane's knee, using a number of attacks and holds on it. Undertaker pushed the rules to the limit by choking Kane in the corner and as the referee reprimanded him, Kane was able to recuperate to fight back. After a series of punches and a flying lariat the two were even again, this was symbolised when Undertaker grabbed Kane's throat for a chokeslam from a running attack. Kane did the same and eventually was able to deliver the chokeslam. Before he could pin his brother though, Paul Bearer jumped on the apron to distract Kane and in the interim period Undertaker stood up to deliver a tombstone piledriver and pin his brother, with Bearer holding Kane's leg down.Mankind met Al Snow next, with Snow throwing Mankind around the ring and barging him to the floor before dropkicking him to the outside. Mankind tried to balance things by grabbing a steel chair but Snow took it off him and hit him twice (without disqualification), before mistiming an attack to the ring post allowing for Mankind to take charge. Having been beaten in the ring, Snow crawled to Head to use as a weapon but swung and missed, allowing Mankind to deliver a back drop. As he did, Head came away in his hand and he realized Mr. Socko was tied round Head's head. The rage saw him beat the mannequin, stamping on it before turning his attention back to Al Snow to land a double-armed DDT and then the mandible claw to win the match and setting up a match for Steve Austin in the next round.
The Deadly Game had a hiatus, roughly half way through the evening, for the Women's Championship match between Jacqueline and the challenger Sable. The match seemed to be over almost instantly as, after a flurry of strikes Sable used the TKO on Jacqueline. Marc Mero, though, pulled Sable away from the pinfall for which he received a Sable Bomb on the outside of the ring allowing Jacqueline to recover and attack her from behind, rolling her back into the ring and taunting Sable with the hair Jacqueline had cut a few weeks before. Sable was then taken to the corner and kicked before being set up for a powerbomb. Sable tossed the champion over her back but Jacqueline crawled her over to the corner to set up a tornado DDT from the turnbuckle. Sable reversed again, throwing Jacqueline to the ground, picking her up to deliver a Sable Bomb and winning the Women's Championship.
Semi Finals
The first semi-final between Corporate sponsored Mankind and fan-favorite Steve Austin started with a brawl more than wrestling; Mankind threw off his tuxedo jacket as the two exchanged rough punches until Austin landed in the corner at which point Mankind began to bite him before landing a knee drop into his face and using his shoe as a weapon. After receiving a Lou Thesz press and a stunner attempt, Mankind ran away but McMahon's cronies, who were at ringside caught up with him and stopped him. Austin caught him from behind with a clothesline and the two fought in and out of the ring with referee Mike Chioda reluctant to count out or disqualify either wrestler. As the two met back in the ring, they grappled so much that Mankind's shirt came out of his trousers, resembling more and more his old appearance by the time a double clothesline floored both wrestlers. Mankind was thrown a chair from the outside but as he ran it into Stone Cold, Austin put his foot up, kicking Mankind through the chair. Still, Mankind was unabated delivering a double-armed DDT onto the chair and when that would not keep Austin down, he tried a piledriver on the chair but Austin ran him forward then tossed him over his back so that he landed on the chair. He picked him up and executed a Stone Cold Stunner on the chair too and as he made what seemed to be the inevitable victory, McMahon jumped out of his wheelchair and pulled the referee out of the ring, punching him to the ground and kicking him. With Austin looking on in shock, Mankind applied the mandible claw but as his trousers fell down he had trouble maintaining balance. Austin threw him into the ropes and caught another stunner, covering him despite there being no referee; suddenly Shane McMahon ran down the ramp and slid into the ring counting, but then stopping suddenly at two and as Austin looked up, Shane sat up on his knees and gave Austin the finger. Gerald Brisco and Slaughter climbed in the ring and hit Austin with a chair, then Shane counted the pinfall advancing Mankind into the final. McMahon's entourage sped off quickly, jumping into a limousine and being followed by Austin.The second semi-final between The Rock and The Undertaker was fought initially around ringside, mostly a series of punches and headbutts until Rock was thrown back into the ring. The Rock was pummeled by a series of strikes and throat punches from Undertaker that eventually left him tied up in the ropes. From this position he was able to toss Undertaker out of the ring and followed him, fighting in the crowd eventually. Back in the ring there was still no discernible advantage, both exchanging punches and The Rock delivering a Samoan Drop. As the two lay motionless on the mat, Big Boss Man came back to ringside, apparently having not left with the rest of McMahon's entourage. He stopped Rock from finishing the People's Elbow by grabbing at his foot, allowing Undertaker to take Rock down, though Undertaker struck Boss Man from the apron. As Undertaker set up The Rock for a chokeslam, Kane climbed in the ring and Undertaker threw The Rock into Kane's hands, with Kane delivering a chokeslam to The Rock. This gave The Rock a win via disqualification and he advanced onto the final as Undertaker and Kane fought through the crowd.
The tournament took a hiatus again for the WWF Tag Team Championship triple threat match which saw Bad Ass Billy Gunn and D'Lo Brown fight with Mosh trying to steal a pinfall. Billy Gunn let Brown and Mosh fight while he tagged in Road Dogg, although this amounted to little as the New Age Outlaws threw both Headbangers out the ring and took a ten-punch to Brown and Henry. Both Headbangers returned to double team Road Dogg and the match was resumed proper with Mosh and Brown both attempting pins on Road Dogg and then teaming up on him, changing partners to continue the onslaught until Brown threw out Road Dogg and turned on Mosh, managing a frankensteiner on him but soon falling fowl to a Russian leg sweep. When Road Dogg returned he took the brunt of assault again and as he was down Brown's running powerbomb on Mosh was reversed into a sunset flip like pin. Both changed partners again, with the Headbangers double teaming Road Dogg but not helping Brown to double team them and instead delivering a low blow but without securing a pinfall. As their alliance failed, Road Dogg crawled to tag in the yet unused Billy Gunn, whose hot tag saw him take down everybody until Brown caught him from a running momentum to land a Lo Down which strangely referee Tim White delayed his pin count. After Billy Gunn kicked out, he jumped on a running Mosh to land the Fameasser and then a piledriver to retain the championship with a pin victory.
Final
The final round of the Deadly Game tournament for the vacant WWF Championship began slowly, with The Rock and Mankind trying to gauge each other. Both wrestlers secured takedowns or the other before Mankind slowed down the match with a sleeper hold on Rock. At this point Mr McMahon and Shane, who had faked their escape from the arena to rid themselves of Austin, walked down to ringside. Rock fought his way back to his feet in the sleeper hold and backdropped Mankind, before tossing him outside the ring. He then reversed a suplex with one of his own before dropping Mankind's crotch onto the crowd barrier. Both wrestlers returned to the ring briefly, only for Mankind to Cactus Clothesline them back out to the announce tables where Mankind grabbed a steel chair and floored The Rock, with referee Earl Hebner not disqualifying him. Mankind then picked up the steel steps and went to drop them on Rock but was met with a chair shot through the steps, causing them to drop the steps on himself and Rock unleashed a myriad of chair shots on the steps into Mankind. The match turned dirtier when it returned to the ring, with Mankind desperately low blowing The Rock and then following it up by biting Rock's face, again with the referee not ending it. As The Rock crawled outside of the ring to escape the biting, Mankind followed him and pushed him onto the announce table, continuing to bite him and landing a leg drop. He could not make Rock lay down for three in the ring though and after another sleeper hold, Rock began to fight back with a flurry of punches and reversing Mankind's back toss into a DDT. With Rock thrown out the ring, Mankind tried to elbow drop him from the second rope but ended up going through the Spanish announce table on his own. After using bits of the table to hit Mankind, he was thrown back into the ring and kicked out of the People's Elbow, managing to find his own finisher in a double-armed DDT from a running Rock, and then the mandible claw. Staying upright, Rock managed to jump into the Rock Bottom. Rock then, much to the vocal surprise of the crowd, grabbed Mankind's legs and fixed him in the sharpshooter, using the top rope for leverage. Just like at Survivor Series the year beforeSurvivor Series (1997)
Survivor Series was the eleventh annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on November 9, 1997 at the Molson Centre in Montreal, Quebec....
, without tapping out, Mr McMahon ordered the referee to ring the bell and award the WWF Championship to The Rock: a reference to the Montreal Screwjob
Montreal Screwjob
The Montreal Screwjob was a controversial, purportedly real life professional wrestling event in which the owner of the World Wrestling Federation, Vince McMahon, double-crossed the defending WWF Champion, Bret Hart, during the main event match of the professional wrestling pay-per-view event...
After the match, Mr. McMahon and Shane entered the ring with Mr. McMahon telling the audience how he had successfully screwed Steve Austin, Mankind and the people. When Mankind asked for an explanation, Rock delivered another Rock Bottom but as the three of them celebrated, Austin ran into the ring and was met with a beating from The Rock that he eventually fought back from, tossing Rock out of the ring before grabbing the Championship belt and throwing it on Rock. He then gave a stunner to the just-recovered Mankind as the pay-per-view ended.
Aftermath
The immediate effects of the event, alongside The Rock turning heel by aligning himself with McMahon, was the creation of The CorporationThe Corporation (professional wrestling)
The Corporation was a heel stable in the late 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation .-History:The group was put together and led by WWF Chairman Vince McMahon in an attempt to secure control of the WWF and "crush the rebels" that were popping up on the WWF landscape...
. The following evening on Raw, McMahon declared The Rock to be the Corporate Champion and set about persuading other wrestlers down the roster to join with the promise of money and power. The first to join was Ken Shamrock, who demanded a match with the Big Boss Man for interfering in his match, but towards the end of the match both McMahons came to the ring and convinced him to join. They also tried to convince the New Age Outlaws to join, but after feigning an allegiance they revealed to be true to D-Generation X and had to defend their Tag Team Titles at Rock Bottom: In Your House
Rock Bottom: In Your House
Rock Bottom: In Your House was the twenty-sixth pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation in the In Your House series...
and again the following night, which they lost after much interference. McMahon also introduced a new commissioner, Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December...
, who also showed Corporate bias before returning to his DX stable. In the following year The Corporation would become a large stable and would rival The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness
Ministry of Darkness
The Ministry of Darkness was a professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation during the WWF Attitude Era of the late 1990s...
.
On a more individual basis, Mankind's outrage at being screwed by Mr. McMahon led him to a title match at the subsequent pay-per-view, Rock Bottom. Despite winning the match, McMahon managed to manipulate the rules to make sure The Rock retained his title again but another match on the first Raw of the new year saw Mankind win the title, leading to an "I Quit" match at the Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (1999)
Royal Rumble was the twelfth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on January 24, 1999 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The title of the event was taken from a promise by Mr...
in the new year, a match that became both noted as an entertaining match and also as being focused on in the Beyond the Mat
Beyond the Mat
Beyond the Mat is a 1999 documentary directed by Barry W. Blaustein. The movie focuses on the lives of professional wrestlers outside of the ring, primarily Mick Foley, Terry Funk, and Jake Roberts, as well as some aspiring wrestlers...
documentary. This led to an empty arena match, a Last Man Standing match and finally a Ladder Match, with the title frequently changing hands until ultimately The Rock was champion and would go on to WrestleMania XV
WrestleMania XV
WrestleMania XV was the fifteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , which took place on March 28, 1999 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
, with Mankind finding his way into the main event as a special guest referee.
Austin and Mr. McMahon's feud continued to escalate after he was cheated in the semi-finals. The following night on Raw he reminded McMahon and The Rock that when he was rehired by Shane, he was guaranteed a title match. The match was marred with interference though both from Corporate members, Mankind trying to find revenge on The Rock and The Undertaker who took a shovel to Austin. McMahon tried to use Undertaker as another blockade for Austin, setting him in a Buried Alive Match to prevent him entering the Rumble. Austin won the Buried Alive Match and was placed in the Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (1999)
Royal Rumble was the twelfth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on January 24, 1999 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The title of the event was taken from a promise by Mr...
entering first opposite McMahon at number two who went on to win the Rumble, Austin reclaimed his WrestleMania
WrestleMania XV
WrestleMania XV was the fifteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , which took place on March 28, 1999 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
place the following month, though and went on to win the title.
X-Pac's neck injury was not mentioned on screen and Steven Regal left the company soon after for WCW, without making another appearance. Marc Mero would also disappear from programming, firstly to support his wife, Sable, in her career before leaving the company altogether. Firstly he split with Jacqueline, blaming her for his losing streak and she went on to form Pretty Mean Sisters
Pretty Mean Sisters
Pretty Mean Sisters was the female stable of Terri, Jacqueline, and Ryan Shamrock in the World Wrestling Federation in the late 1990s.-Formation:...
; then in a moment of cockiness he announced that he was so insulted by being forced to face Duane Gill that he would quit if he lost. Thanks to interference from the debuting Blue Meanie, Duane Gill (who had become Light Heavyweight Champion
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship
The World Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship. The title was challenged by light heavyweights at a maximum weight of 220 lbs.- History :...
) won the match and Mero quit, making one last appearance at UK's Capital Carnage
WWF Capital Carnage
WWF Capital Carnage was a UK-only professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation that took place on December 6, 1998 at the London Arena in London, England...
. Sable would disappear until the new year, when she became an active defender of the Women's Championship; fighting the likes of Luna Vachon and newcomer Tori
Terri Poch
Terri Poch is an American bodybuilder and former professional wrestler, best known for her appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as Tori...
and forming an alliance with Nicole Bass
Nicole Bass
Nicole Bass-Fuchs is an American bodybuilder, actress, pornographic dominatrix actress, professional wrestler and valet previously working for companies such as Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation, XPW, and the National Wrestling Alliance.-Bodybuilding career:Nicole Bass...
.
Results
| # | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| Too Much Too Cool Too Cool is a professional wrestling tag team and former faction most notably active in World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment between 1998 and 2001 and for a short time in 2004.-1998–1999:... (Brian Christopher Brian Lawler Brian Christopher Lawler is a professional wrestler. He is the son of color commentator and professional wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler and brother of wrestling referee Kevin Christian... and Scott Taylor) defeated The Hardy Boyz Hardy Boyz The Hardy Boyz are a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of real-life brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy... (Matt Matt Hardy Matthew Moore "Matt" Hardy is a semi-retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stints in World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling .... and Jeff Jeff Hardy Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he is a former two–time TNA World Heavyweight Champion... ) |
Tag team match Professional wrestling tag team match types Much like singles matches, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace... |
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| Bob Holly Bob Holly Robert "Bob" Howard better known by his ring name Bob "Hardcore" Holly, is a American professional wrestler. He is best known for his 15-year stint with World Wrestling Entertainment .... and Scorpio 2 Cold Scorpio Charles Scaggs is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name 2 Cold Scorpio . Scaggs has competed in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment and Pro Wrestling Noah... defeated The Legion of Doom Road Warriors The Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis. They performed under the name "Road Warriors" in the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling, and the name Legion... (Animal Road Warrior Animal Joseph Aaron "Joe" Laurinaitis is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names, Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior... and Droz Darren Drozdov Darren Drozdov, is an essayist, former NFL player and retired professional wrestler who competed in the World Wrestling Federation in 1998 and 1999 under the ring names Puke and Droz.... ) |
Tag team match | 02:17 | |
| Val Venis Sean Morley Sean Allen Morley is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name Val Venis, during his time with World Wrestling Federation, later known as World Wrestling Entertainment... defeated Tiger Ali Singh Gurjit Singh Gurjit Singh Hans is an Indo-Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Tiger Ali Singh. He is the son of legendary wrestler Tiger Jeet Singh.-Career:... |
Singles match | 02:36 | |
| Gangrel David Heath (wrestler) David William Heath is an American professional wrestler and pornographic film director. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Gangrel.-Beginning:... defeated Steve Blackman Steve Blackman Steve Blackman is a American professional wrestler who is best known for his career in the World Wrestling Federation under his own name.-Stampede Wrestling and South Africa :... |
Singles match | 03:21 | |
| 1 | Mankind Mick Foley Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he... defeated Duane Gill Duane Gill Duane Gill is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation as Gillberg, a parody of then-rival promotion World Championship Wrestling's top star Goldberg. During his tenure in the WWF, Gill became a one time Light Heavyweight Champion... |
Tournament First Round match | 00:30 |
| 2 | Al Snow Al Snow Allen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.-Early career:Sarven... (with Head Mannequin A mannequin is an often articulated doll used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, and others especially to display or fit clothing... ) defeated Jeff Jarrett Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett is an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , an organization he co-founded along with his father and in which he holds some stock but not total control... (with Debra Debra Marshall Debra Gale Marshall is an American actress and former professional wrestling manager and WWE Diva. Arguably best known by her ring name, Debra, she gained recognition for her appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1998 and 2002.She began her career in professional wrestling in... ) |
Tournament First Round match | 03:31 |
| 3 | Steve Austin Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler... defeated The Big Boss Man Ray Traylor Ray Walter Traylor, Jr. was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Big Boss Man and World Championship Wrestling under various ring names, most notably Big Bubba Rogers.-Early years:Traylor, a prison guard in... by disqualification |
Tournament First Round match | 03:20 |
| 4 | X-Pac Sean Waltman Sean Michael Waltman is an American professional wrestler currently signed with WWE in their developmental program. He wrestled there under the ring names 1–2–3 Kid and X-Pac off and on from 1993–2002, World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Syxx, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ... fought Steven Regal to a double countout |
Tournament First Round match | 08:10 |
| 5 | Ken Shamrock Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock is an American mixed martial arts fighter, UFC Hall of Famer and professional wrestler... defeated Goldust |
Tournament First Round match | 05:56 |
| 6 | The Rock defeated The Big Boss Man Ray Traylor Ray Walter Traylor, Jr. was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Big Boss Man and World Championship Wrestling under various ring names, most notably Big Bubba Rogers.-Early years:Traylor, a prison guard in... |
Tournament First Round match | 00:03 |
| 7 | The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Kane Kane (wrestler) Glenn Thomas Jacobs is a Spanish-born American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name, Kane. He is signed to WWE, appearing on its SmackDown brand, but is currently inactive due to injury.... |
Tournament quarter-final match | 07:16 |
| 8 | Mankind Mick Foley Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he... defeated Al Snow Al Snow Allen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.-Early career:Sarven... (with Head Mannequin A mannequin is an often articulated doll used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, and others especially to display or fit clothing... ) |
Tournament quarter-final match | 03:55 |
| 9 | The Rock defeated Ken Shamrock Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock is an American mixed martial arts fighter, UFC Hall of Famer and professional wrestler... |
Tournament quarter-final match | 08:20 |
| 10 | Sable Rena Mero Rena Marlette Mero Lesnar , better known as Sable, is an American model, actress, and former professional wrestler. She is primarily known for her stints in World Wrestling Entertainment.... defeated Jacqueline Jacqueline Moore Jacqueline DeLois Moore is an inactive American professional wrestler, who was most recently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling... (c) (with Marc Mero Marc Mero Marc Mero is an American retired amateur boxer and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as Marc Mero and with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Johnny B. Badd... ) |
Singles match for the WWF Women's Championship WWE Women's Championship The WWE Women's Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment promotion. Created in 1956, it was the oldest active professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history until its retirement in 2010 as a result from a unification... |
03:14 |
| 11 | Mankind Mick Foley Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he... defeated Steve Austin Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler... |
Tournament semi-final match | 10:27 |
| 12 | The Rock defeated The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) by disqualification | Tournament semi-final match | 08:23 |
| 13 | The New Age Outlaws New Age Outlaws The New Age Outlaws, later known as the James Gang and the Voodoo Kin Mafia, were a professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Federation, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , Jersey All Pro Wrestling, and Maryland Championship Wrestling consisting of B.G... (Billy Gunn Monty Sopp Monty Kip Sopp is an American professional wrestler, best known as Billy Gunn during his tenure for World Wrestling Entertainment. He is probably best known as one of the members of the New Age Outlaws. He also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Kip James... and Road Dogg Brian Gerard James Brian Gerard James is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE as an agent and producer. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation as "The Road Dogg" Jesse James or simply Road Dogg... ) (c) defeated D'Lo Brown D'Lo Brown Accie Julius Connor better known by his ring name D'Lo Brown , is an American professional wrestler. Well known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment, he is currently working as an agent for Impact Wrestling.Connor has held forty-eight championships in various promotions during... and Mark Henry Mark Henry Mark Jerrold Henry is an American professional wrestler signed with WWE, where he performs on its SmackDown brand as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. He is a 1992 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic... and The Headbangers The Headbangers The Headbangers is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Mosh and Thrasher, best known for their work in the World Wrestling Federation... (Mosh Charles Warrington Charles Warrington is an American former professional wrestler, better known by his ring names, Chaz and Mosh.-Career:Warrington began training under Larry Sharpe and Glen Ruth during the early 1990s, debuting in 1993... and Thrasher Glen Ruth Glen Ruth is a former American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Thrasher.-Career:Ruth trained under Larry Sharpe and debuted in 1990 as The Spider. He later became Sharpe's assistant and trained wrestlers such as the Big Show and others at Sharpe's "Monster Factory"... ) |
Triple Threat tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship | 10:10 |
| 14 | The Rock defeated Mankind Mick Foley Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he... |
Tournament final match for the vacant WWF Championship WWE Championship The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963... |
17:10 |