1998 King Of The Ring Review
This is one of the most memorable and one of the most important wrestling ppvs in history. Course it's all for one specific match. This is the ppv that MADE Mick Foley. Your commentators are JR and the Kang.
Match #1
6 Man Tag Team Match
Light Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku and The Headbangers Vs Kaientai w Yamaguchi-san
This is billed as a bonus match. Interesting fact, JR mentions that the Headbangers held the UWA titles which I bet 7 people in the audience knew about. Pretty good match. Taka gets the first highspot of the night, then misses another one and gets beat up by Kaientai for a few moments. He makes the hottag and piersix opens for business. In the shmozz Taka gets the Michinoku driver on Funaki his future running buddy at 6:32. Okay opener. 2 1/2 stars.
Sable wanders out to talk followed by McMahon and the stooges. She introduces them and as she is leaving Patterson pretends he has a beard and grabs her ass and she belts him one. Vince insults the crowd and tells them to get ready for Austin losing.
Match #2
King Of The Ring Semifinal Match
Jeff Jarrett w Tennesse Lee Vs Ken Shamrock
Jarrett's dropped the NWA leader gimmick just before Mania 14 I guess, and now he's back to ol Double J acting like he can sing. Didn't the WWF just **** on the guy a year ago by having Jesse James come out and blow the lid on his lipsync routine??? So much for continuity. Jarrett gets the opening offense and Lee interferes when he can. They work on Shamrocks ankle who mounts the comeback and gets a nice huricinrana on JJ then goes into the anklelock and Jarrett is tapping out before the ref can ask him at 5:28. Not bad for a tournament match. 2 stars.
Match #3
King Of The Ring Semifinal Match
Intercontinental Champion The Rock Vs Dan The Beast Sevren
Sevren advanced by ripping D-Lo's pectoral muscles to **** and Rock has Henry and Godfather escort him out. Ref sends them away and they got no problem with that. Okay that's a tell. Sevren gets a decent pop and that's probably the last time people cared about him. He controls most of the match with mat wrestling and it's pretty boring. Worst match of the night so far. Nation runs out to distract the ref, D-Lo runs in from the crowd wearing a nerf padded umpires chest protector of doom and lowdowns Sevren so Rock can pin him at 4:23. 1 star.
Match #4
Handicap Match
Al Snow Vs Too Much
Lawler arranged this match for Snow so if he wins he gets a contract. Lawler is made the suprise special ref. Total joke. It was interesting the first time I watched it but it is so Russo. Snow does well against Too Much despite the biast refereeing. Lawler tosses Christopher a bottle of Head And Shoulders and he attaches it to head and pins it at 8:11. 1/2 star, and I think im being nice with that one Snow gets a contract anyway of course. JR totally smashes this match to hell saying Lawler set wrestling back by 20 years. Would like to have read or heard any stuff he would of done for WCW in 2000.
Match #5
Singles Match
Owen Hart Vs X-Pac w Chyna
Owen's last ppv with DX. X-Pac is finally cleared of that neck injury enough that he got back in the ring recently. This time period and his WWF debute in 1993 were Waltmans best runs in wrestling. Owen and X-Pac start to have a good match but it gets dragged down when Mark Henry runs interference for Owen then he fights on the floor with Vader, WHO IS NOW FEUDING WITH MARK HENRY and Chyna sneaks in to ddt Owen so her recent fkbuddy can pin him at 8:33. Ill go 2 stars.
Match #6
Tag Team Championship Match
The New Age Outlaws Vs The New Midnight Express w Jim Cornette
This is the only time in history that the WWF tag team champions wrestled the NWA tag champs on WWF ppv. Cornettes still being dragged through the mud with the NMNE even though the NWA angle is long gone. Crowd doesn't seem into it but it's a pretty good tag match. JR and Lawler note Cornette not acting like Cornette for some reason. Stupid gimmick but Holly and Bart worked well together. Kaitie bar the door and Cornette gets into the ring with a title belt and ends up getting ball shotted by Chyna. Outlaws stun gun Bob and Billy pins him at 9:28. Ill go 2 1/2 stars.
Match #7
King Of The Ring Match
Intercontinental Champion The Rock Vs Ken Shamrock
HHH doing commentary with JR and Lawler while Chyna covers the Spanish table. HHH still kinda heelish here. Shamrock kicks Rock hard enough that he goes outside to think about it. On his way to the announcing table, HHH draws the attention of The Rock and they push and shove. Shamrock interrupts and they brawl outside. Back inside Rock gets a neckbreaker and ddt for 2. Crowd starts up the Rocky sucks chant. Rock hits the nations elbow for 2. Shamrock snaps and hits a dropick,powerslam and not a very good perfect plex for 2. Rock catches him with a powerslam for 2. Rock tries another ddt but Shamrock does the northern lights suplex for 2. Rock answers back with a shortclothesline for 2. Shamrock tries a rana but Rock hotshots him then does himself in by arguing with the ref. Rock stands over Shamrock to talk trash and Shamrock takes him down right into the anklelock and gets the submission at 14:06 to become the 1998 King Of The Ring. This might be the longest tournament final match in WWF history, im not sure. 3 stars. Shamrock was another King that has been pretty much forgotten. I mean, the only one's that had any lasting impact were Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Stone Cold and possibly Booker T. Everyone else is lost to history.
Match #8
Hell In A Cell Match
The Undertaker Vs Mankind
Mankind has started wearing the corporate dresshirts at this time. Right off the bat he climbs the cage and waits for Taker. Taker goes up top and they brawl on the roof. They fight towards the edge and Taker's foot breaks through a portion of the roof fencing. Taker wins a punchout on the edge of the cell then the moment that made Foley happens. Undertaker tosses Foley off the top of the cage right through the Spanish announcers table!!! Crowd is going bananas. Terry Funk and the trainers come out and it takes about 5 or 7 minutes to roll the carcass out of ringside. McMahon is at ringside and looks a little upset by the bump. Almost through the entranceway Foley gets off the stretcher and is smiling:) He runs back to the cage, climbs it and continues to battle. Foley whacks Taker with a chair who shrugs it off then does a weak chokeslam with an execution that wasn't scheduled. Foley goes through the loose fencing and plummits 10 feet to the canvas below and gets partially ko'd in the process. Funk gets back in the ring with the officials trying to drag Mankind out but Taker chases them off and chokeslams Funk out of his shoes. Taker does the ropewalk but Mankind shoves him off and gives that classic smile with his tooth sticking out of his nose which was always a bizarre accident. They fight to the floor where Taker rams the steps in Mankind. Taker tries a suicide dive but Mankind dodges and he spears the cage, uh oh, blading on camera. Mankind gives Taker a nasty piledriver on the chair for 2. Mankind with a double arm ddt then goes outside for a little canvas bag. It's full of thumbtacks. Mandible claw but Taker fights it off and drops Foley on the tacks who rolls around in agony. Taker chokeslams him on the tacks, then gives him a tombestone at 17:39 to win it. I won't give this 5 stars because it is the definition of a spot fest. Also I consider this one of the culprits for the inevitable jadedness of wrestling fans. The wwf raised the bar so high with this that while it helped sustain the second wrestling boom period it would leave the fans wanting more and more over the top stuff that really had nothing to do with wrestling. I give it fulls mark for historic purposes and innovation but I knock off points for dipping into the garbage wrestling category and a little bit for the results it played in the future. For these types of matches, the highest I ever go is 4 stars. That is what this gets.
Match #9
First Blood Match
Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs Kane w Paul Bearer
Kane has a full body suit on tonight, which pretty much throws out any chance of Austin winning. Kane beats Austin all over the place and then the cage starts lowering, at one point Kane tries putting Austins head under the cage as it lowers. The cage starts raising again as Kane is caught hanging accross the door jam then they fight up the entranceway where Austin tries his patend piledriver where he always gets backdropped. Into the entrancedoor where Austin tries a vertical suplex but Kane reverses that too. Hebner gets wiped out on a collision then Kane hits a flying clothesline. Foley makes a run in with a chair and gets stunned by Austin. Kane gets a stunner and Undertaker makes a run in and takes a chairshot at Mankind who ducks and Austin eats it, he too blades on camera. Austin starts whooping Kane until the ref wakes up to see the crimson mask on Austin and call the match at 14:52 and awards Kane the WWF title. McMahon in the owners box gives his smug prick smile and were outta here. Then Kane would lose the belt back to Austin the following night on raw defeating this matches purpose. I kinda liked it. 2 stars.
Overall Opinion: It was a fun ppv. Looking back it is a one match show. It had it's token stinkers here and there. What was with people blading on camera tonight anyway??
Final Score: This might be a little low but this ppv feels to me like a 6.2 out of 10 stars. It's a good ppv.