Repost - WWF Royal Rumble 98

The Furious Flashbacks – Royal Rumble 1998

The WWF is on the verge of it’s greatest run of storyline and entertainment in it’s entire history. This was the most obvious Royal Rumble of all time with everyone and his goat predicting a win for the heavily favoured Stonecold Steve Austin. Meanwhile Shawn Michaels was defending his WWF title against challenger The Undertaker. This match would be the last of Michaels career where he’d be at 100%. Stay tuned to see what happens as we rumble into 1998.

This PPV will be graded on the Furious Grading Scale. FGS grades are as follows –

A One of the greatest matches anywhere, ever.
A- Damn near perfect
B+ Excellent
B Very Good
B- Good
C+ Average
C Mediocre
C- Bad
D Terrible
F Hulk Hogan
U or Ungraded = Hacksaw Jim Duggan v Ultimate Warrior v Goldberg in a submissions only Ironman match. My worst nightmare.

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler welcome us to San Jose and the 11th annual royal rumble. 3 titles are on the line tonight. Mike Tyson is in the house tonight. Cool. Tyson gets heat that some heels wish they could get.

Vader v Goldust w/Luna

Goldust has become “Forever Unchained” and looks like a damn freak. His outfit seems a homage to the days of Doink. Vader starts out hard and levels Goldust with an avalanche so Goldy bails. Vader comes after him and shoulder blocks him into Luna to a good pop. Back inside Goldust runs through his vast array of clotheslines and elbow drops. Vader gets sent into the steps on the outside and Luna jumps him with a choke. Goldust goes for scoop slam but can’t get the big man up. Vader pummels Goldust and hits a suplex and a big splash for a two count. Vader sets up Goldust in the corner for the Vaderbomb but Goldust hits a low blow. Goldust goes for a sunset flip and Vader sits on his chest. Vader tees up another Vaderbomb and Luna jumps on Vader’s back. Vader ignores her and still does the Vaderbomb with Luna on his back. Cool. Match time – 7.52. Match rating – C. Nothing special and pretty plodding throughout but the ending rocked.

Backstage Michael Cole tries to interview Steve Austin but Austin tells him to park his truck and not leave a mark on it. Hehe.

Batallion/Tarantula/El Torito v Max Mini/Nova/Mosaic

The Nova isn’t ECW’s Nova because this is a midget match and the special referee is Sunny before she smoked crack, got fat and ruined Chris Candido’s career (it’s not my line but it’s too funny not to use). Nova starts out with an armdrag and a headscissors takeover on Tarantula. Max with an armdrag on Battallion and he follows it with an armdrag and then an armdrag. Max Mini – the master of the armdrag. El Torito then roughs up Mosaic with a couple of press slams. Mosaic reverses the last one with an armdrag and follows it up with an armdrag. Nova dropkicks Batallion out and no one is making tags in this lucha match. Nova with an armdrag on Torito and follows it up with an armdrag. Mosaic in with a hurracurana and an armdrag and headscissors him out of the ring. Max Mini comes off the top with a hurracurana on Tarantula. El Torito belts Max in the back of the head with a stiff kick. Sunny helps Max with a few kicks and the heel team get on Sunny’s case. Mosaic comes in with an armdrag. Mosaic dives through the ropes to the floor and it’s high flying time. Pescado from El Torito. Max Mini with a corkscrew plancha. Another midget with a tope and Nova hits an Asai moonsault. That was fun. Max Mini armdrags Tarantula into a cradle and pins him at 7.48. Match rating – D. 10 seconds of action and 7.30 of armdrags.

Backstage the Nation go after Stonecold but he’s nowhere to be found. Up in the skybox Mike Tyson is talking to Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon. Backstage the Rock calls Michael Cole “an idiot” and tells President Clinton that if he lies down with dogs like Paula Jones he’ll get fleas.

WWF IC title – The Rock (c) v Ken Shamrock

Rock tries to cheat and never gives a clean break while Shamrock comes out fast and dodges everything the Rock throws at him. Shamrock goes for a hurracurana and Rock hotshots him onto the ropes for a two count. Rock beats Shamrock into the corner and chokes him with his boot. Shamrock hits a crossbody for a two count and then a fisherman suplex for another two count. After a little time on the floor Rock does a floatover into a DDT which gets him a two count. Rock goes to a reverse chinlock to wear Shamrock down. Rock goes for the floatover into a DDT again but Shamrock just suplexes him out of it (not as polished as RVD-Lynn but who is). Rock starts begging off because Shamrock is beating him to everything and Shamrock gets a two from a powerslam. Shamrock hits a hurracurana and down come the Nation. Shamrock sees off the Nation and Rock blindsides him with some brass knucks. Then he puts the knucks into Shamrock’s tights. Sneaky. Shamrock kicks out at two and scores the belly to belly suplex of doom to claim the win at 10.55. But of course Rock protests claiming he got hit with brass knucks and the referee reverses the decision. Shamrock snaps etc. Match rating – B-

Los Boricuas attack “Stonecold” backstage but it’s only 8 Ball from the DOA and a gang fight breaks out backstage.

WWF tag team titles – New Age Outlaws (c) v Legion of Doom

The Outlaws come out in Green Bay Packers shirts (this was right after the Pack stopped the 49ers from making the superbowl). Road Dogg gets caught on a leapfrog and Animal powerbombs him for a real early 2 count. NAO walk out on the match and LOD get them back. Animal is nursing a sore back. Road Dogg gets isolated inside a minute. Hawk hits a neckbreaker but RD gets out and that brings in Billy who gets hit with a Lou Thesz press from Hawk. Animal with a side suplex on Billy. Animal hits a big powerslam on Billy and then another on RD as he comes in. Hawk comes in and puts an STF on Billy. Animal gets whipped into the ring steps by RD. RD lays the boots in and it looks like Animal is done. Hawk is stuck in a handicap match now and RD slams his face into the steps. RD handcuffs Hawk to the ringpost. Animal is now left 2 on 1. Animal with a double clothesline on the Outlaws. Billy comes off the top ropes and Animal powerslams him on his head (ouch). RD takes exception and nails Animal with a chair for the DQ at 8 minutes even. Match rating – C-

We get a video package of Austin systematically stunning the entire WWF roster. He’s a marked man in the 1998 Royal Rumble.

1998 Rumble match

No 1 is Cactus Jack and no 2 is Terry Funk. Hardcore. Funk has a chainsaw and Cactus belts in with a chair. Cactus takes a few shots with a chair and Cactus gets the chair. Terry Funk pulls up his mask to let Cactus know it’s him so Cactus belts him in the face with the chair. Cactus hands the chair to Funk and Funk waffles him with it. Brutal stuff. No 3 is Tom Brandi (who was Sal Sincere). Funk and Cactus team up and dump Brandi. Cactus starts setting up chairs and suplexes Funk on the chairs. No 4 is The Rock. Cactus puts a trashcan to the skull of the Rock and knocks him cold. Funk and Cactus put the trashcan over the Rock’s head and use him as a punching bag and then waffle him with chairs. Sweet. No 5 is Mosh. Mosh always gets an early draw.

Funk throws a chair at Mosh before he’s even in the ring. Funk misses a moonsault on Mosh but follows up with JYD style headbutts. No 6 is Phinneas Godwinn. “5 WWF superstars in the ring and only one brain between them and that’s in the Rock” – Jerry Lawler. No 7 is 8 Ball from the DOA. Cactus Jack gets dumped by Terry Funk much to everyones surprise. No 8 is Bradshaw. Bradshaw goes right after Mosh but gets double teamed by Mosh and 8 Ball. No 9 is Owen Hart who gets a massive pop but Jeff Jarrett jumps Owen in the aisleway and Owen never makes the ring. Damn it. No 10 is Steve Blackman.

No 11 is D’Lo Brown and the ring is starting to fill up. There are 8 guys in there. No 12 is Kurrgan who is much bigger than anyone. Funk offers a handshake Kurrgan dumps Mosh with ease. No 13 is Marvellous Marc Mero with the lovely Sable. Bradshaw is going toe to toe with Kurrgan. Kurrgan dumps Blackman. The Rock starts beating D’Lo, his own team mate. No 14 is Ken Shamrock. Shamrock takes Kurrgan down with some kicks and everyone gangs up to dump Kurrgan. Bradshaw is a big horse according to JR. No 15 is Thrasher.

There are now 9 men in the ring. D’Lo is busy choking the Rock. Mero is dancing around and avoiding contact with everyone. No 16 is Mankind. Yes, Mick Foley has just come out in his second persona of the rumble and he goes straight for Funk and he dumps him. Mankind and the Rock fight it out. Shamrock has found his way to the Rock. No 17 is Goldust. Goldust manages to dump Mankind. Foley is out again. No 18 is Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett was more over than I remember as he gets jeered soundly. Owen Hart does a run in and goes after Jarrett. Owen wails on Jarrett. Owen manages a spinning heel kick despite the crowded nature of the ring. Jarrett gets caught strutting and Owen dumps him to a massive pop. No 19 is the worst intercontinental champion of all time Honky Tonk Man. Triple H comes down for some reason and Rock dumps Shamrock. Hahaha. That’s twice tonight you’ve been outsmarted dumbass. Triple H nails Owen Hart with a crutch and Owen has been eliminated. Damn it again. I can’t help think that Owen was so over at this point in time that he should have wrestled for the title at the next PPV. No 20 is Ahmed Johnson (he isn’t injured?)

There are now 10 men in the ring and it looks really crowded. There are so many jobbers out there too. No 21 is Nation member Mark Henry. The Nation now has 3 representatives in there. Henry goes right after Ahmed Johnson. “Henry is handling the big Johnson” – JR. Does he realise what he just said? No 22 is absolutely no one. The King claims number 22 was Austin and he’s been knocked out backstage. Hmm. The Nation teams up and dumps Ahmed Johnson. Good. Mark Henry dumps Phinneas Godwinn who nearly kills the referee on the floor. No 23 is Kama Mustafa. The Nation now has 4 members in there. No 24 is Stonecold Steve Austin. Everyone in the ring stops fighting and they all await Austin but he comes through the crowd and dumps Mero. They back Austin into a corner but he fights out and dumps 8 Ball. Austin uses his vest to choke D’Lo. No 25 is Henry O Godwinn.

No 26 is Savio Vega but he’s joined by all of the Boricuas. Austin fights off the Boricuas. Austin takes Goldust’s head clean off with a clothesline.

(Let me allow you this little aside. Back in January of 1998 I was engaged to be married. One Sunday morning it all went wrong. On the same night was this PPV. After being consoled by my friends and my family nothing could make matters seem any better. Even my football team won on the afternoon and I just didn’t care. When Austin clotheslined Goldust I laughed. That’s what wrestling means to me and I’m sure to a lot of people. Just thought I’d share that.)

There are now 11 men in the ring. No 27 is Faarooq and now the Nation has 5 members in there. Austin gets thrown through the ropes and Rock follows him out. Austin and Rock brawl on the floor and Austin is left lying on the floor. No 28 is Dude Love. Yes, Foley is back for a third and final time. The Dude dumps Bradshaw right away. Austin pulls Goldust out under the ropes and a brawl insues on the floor. People’s elbow on D’Lo and Austin with a Lou Thesz press on Rock. No 29 is Chainz (Brian Lee) of the DOA. Chainz goes after Mark Henry. There are now 12 men out there. No 30 is called and it’s Vader time.

Honky Tonk gets dumped by the newcomer Vader. Austin dumps Kama Mustafa and the nation is down to 4. Austin dumps Savio Vega. Vader is put out by Goldust. Dude low bridges Henry Godwinn and he’s gone too. Chainz dumps Goldust. D’Lo Brown appears to have gone I missed his exit. Faarooq puts Mark Henry out and we’re down to the final four because Austin had dumped Chainz. The final four are – Austin, Rock, Faarooq and Dude Love. Dude and Austin team up and a double arm DDT puts Rock down. Dude gets the mandible claw on Austin and Faarooq dumps Dude. Faarooq tries to put Austin out but Rock dumps Faarooq and we’re down to two. Austin hits the stunner and Austin dumps him at 55.29 to win the rumble. Match rating – C+. Not the best rumble. The ring was always full of people so there wasn’t room for a lot of action. It was nice to see the hardcore brawl at the start though.

WWF title – Shawn Michaels (c) v The Undertaker (casket match)

Shawn is accompanied by Triple H and Chyna. Michaels uses his speed while Taker hits power offence. Taker goes for an early chokeslam but Michaels counters with a kick to the knee. Taker gives Michaels a choke lift but Michaels fights out. Michaels gets back dropped over the ropes and clips his back on the casket. It looked innocent enough but that would end Shawn’s career. Taker press slams Shawn on the floor and dumps him into the casket but the lid isn’t shut. Taker goes for a tombstone and Shawn wriggles free only to get punked out. Taker does the top rope walk of doom. Michaels is selling like crazy for Taker’s offence. Michaels gets dumped over the ropes and takes out a cameraman (ala Hell in a cell). Shawn goes up top and Taker powerslams him to the canvass but can’t get a pin because it’s a casket match. Michaels is dumped into the casket but he fights his way out. Michaels throws some powder into Taker’s eyes. Taker goes for a chokeslam but Michaels quirms out onto the ropes and hits a moonsault press. Sweet. Michaels whips Taker into the steel steps and he takes it knees first. Ouch. Michaels drills Taker with the ring steps twice into the back. Michaels spikes Taker with a perfect piledriver on the steel steps and you could hear the crack of skull on metal. Triple H attacks Taker on the floor with his crutch that eliminated Owen Hart. Shawn waffles Taker in the back with a steel chair. Back inside and Michaels hits a back elbow and asks for the casket to be opened. Taker nails Shawn in the face on the way in though. Michaels comes back with a great neckbreaker. Michaels goes to the sleeper hold and takes Taker down. Taker side suplexes him out of it. Michaels comes off the ropes with a flying forearm and he springs to his feet and heads to the ropes. Michaels hits a perfect elbow from the top rope. The band is warming up and Michaels hits the Sweet Chin Music. Michaels rolls Taker into the casket and poses above the casket with the DX crotch chop so obviously Taker grabs him by the groin and throws him back into the ring. Taker with a big back drop and Michaels takes a Flair bump in the corner. Taker with a big boot. Taker misses a flying clothesline and he lands in the casket. Michaels heads up top and drops an elbow into the casket. Michaels gets out but Taker drags him back in. Taker punches Michaels clean out of the casket. Michaels ducks another big boot but walks straight into a chokeslam. Taker calls for the end and tombstones Michaels off the apron into the casket. It would have been over but DX and the Boricuas do a run in and pound on Taker. Kane comes out to a huge pop and clears the ring. DX pull Michaels out of the casket in the meantime. Kane decks the Undertaker. My God another heel turn. Kane chokeslams Taker into the casket and closes the lid at 20.38. Shawn Michaels retains the WWF title. Match rating – B+. Michaels is just awesome.

After the match is over Kane and Paul Bearer lock the casket and drag it up to the stage where Kane attacks it with an axe and promptly pours gasoline all over it. What does he do next? Well he torches it. It was dramatic at the time and I thought it was pretty cool.

Best matches –
3. Royal Rumble match. Although it was a little clogged for most of the match at least it had a little Cactus-Funk hardcore action at the start.
2. Ken Shamrock v The Rock. Nice twists and well worked by two up and comers.
1. Shawn Michaels v Undertaker. If it had gone down clean it may have been regarded as a classic like their Hell in a Cell match from late 1997.

Overall PPV rating –
C. Although the main event was excellent the undercard was very weak. The tag matches were both filler and Vader-Goldust was only good for it’s cool ending. Still Michaels-Taker was excellent and Rock-Shamrock was one of their better matches.