Mick Foley became a legend, Ken Shamrock became a King, and Kane became WWE Champion at what proved to be the best PPV event of 1998, finally ending the show's losing streak after 4 lackluster King of the Ring events in a row, it was also a return to form after two mediocre In Your House PPVs following Wrestlemania.
The big story going in was centered around Kane and the Undertaker. They were taking a break from hurting each other but now found themselves caught up in the Austin vs McMahon rivalry. The Undertaker had refused to allow Vince McMahon to screw Austin out of the title at the previous PPV. Underaker's presence at ringside had cost Mick Foley the title, and he would have to answer for his actions in a Hell in a Cell match with Mankind. Foley's two failures meant that McMahon needed to find someone else to get Austin's title off him, so he turned to Kane and again stacked the deck against Austin by making it a first blood match. With Kane's entire body covered in a suit it would be almost impossible to tell if he is bleeding anyway! But the night started off with one of those junk matches that this era is famous for as the Headbangers defeated Kaientai in a nothing match. Headbangers would not have an overly long or memorable run in the WWE. Never really explained what wearing a dress has to do with heavy metal music.
The next match was the King of the Ring semi final between Ken Shamrock and Jeff Jarrett. Shamrock picking up the submission victory with his ankle lock.
The next match saw the Rock defeat Dan Severn in the other semi final. Severn, like Shamrock was an MMA fighter trying his hand at wrestling. Neither was a long term success, though Shamrock did have his moments. And so Shamrock and the Rock, who had a long bitter rivalry over the Intercontinental Championship earlier in the year, would meet in the final.
Next up comes the comedy match with Jerry Lawler acting as guest referee while his nephew (actually his son later better known as Grandmaster Sexay) Brian Christopher and his tag team partner Scott Taylor (later better knows as Scotty 2 Hotty) took on Al Snow and Head. THis was a comedy match and Lawler is actually pretty funny when he stalls on three counts for Snow. The bad guys end up winning, but this is one of the better done comedy matches. Lawler and Snow are both pros and just know how to go about it and keep things entertaining.
Next up saw Owen Hart, now a bad guy continue his feud with DX in a match with X-Pac which he lost. The addition of the New Age Oitlaws had really seen DX start to gain popularity from the fans.
This popularity became more evident in the next match as the Outlaws defeated Jim Cornette's New Midnight Express tag team. THis was Cornette's final stint in the WWE and the Midnight Express were a short lived part of it.
Next up saw Ken Shamrock finally avenge all of those screwy losses to the Rock by winning the King of the Ring Final in probably the best of their trilogy of PPV matches. While none were classics, the characters of both men just seemed to work together. This was Shamrock's brightest moment in the WWE, but in a little over a year he was out of the WWE and back in MMA.
Next came one of the best known matches ever as the Undertaker defeated Mankind in a Hell in a Cell match. Mankind was thrown off the top of the cell, through the top of the cell and slammed multiple times onto thumbtacks in the match that made his career.
The Undertaker was then heavily involved in a sweet main event match. Kane had promised to set himself on fire if he lost to Stone Cold. With Kane bleeding and the ref unconscious Undertaker came into the ring, busted Stone Cold open with a chair shot and then tipped gasoline all over the ref to revive him. The ref, seeing Stone Cold bleeding stopped the match and awarded Kane the title. McMahon was jubilant at finally taking the title off Austin, but his joy was short lived: Austin defeated Kane to win back the title in an excellent match the following night on RAW.
The big story going in was centered around Kane and the Undertaker. They were taking a break from hurting each other but now found themselves caught up in the Austin vs McMahon rivalry. The Undertaker had refused to allow Vince McMahon to screw Austin out of the title at the previous PPV. Underaker's presence at ringside had cost Mick Foley the title, and he would have to answer for his actions in a Hell in a Cell match with Mankind. Foley's two failures meant that McMahon needed to find someone else to get Austin's title off him, so he turned to Kane and again stacked the deck against Austin by making it a first blood match. With Kane's entire body covered in a suit it would be almost impossible to tell if he is bleeding anyway! But the night started off with one of those junk matches that this era is famous for as the Headbangers defeated Kaientai in a nothing match. Headbangers would not have an overly long or memorable run in the WWE. Never really explained what wearing a dress has to do with heavy metal music.
The next match was the King of the Ring semi final between Ken Shamrock and Jeff Jarrett. Shamrock picking up the submission victory with his ankle lock.
The next match saw the Rock defeat Dan Severn in the other semi final. Severn, like Shamrock was an MMA fighter trying his hand at wrestling. Neither was a long term success, though Shamrock did have his moments. And so Shamrock and the Rock, who had a long bitter rivalry over the Intercontinental Championship earlier in the year, would meet in the final.
Next up comes the comedy match with Jerry Lawler acting as guest referee while his nephew (actually his son later better known as Grandmaster Sexay) Brian Christopher and his tag team partner Scott Taylor (later better knows as Scotty 2 Hotty) took on Al Snow and Head. THis was a comedy match and Lawler is actually pretty funny when he stalls on three counts for Snow. The bad guys end up winning, but this is one of the better done comedy matches. Lawler and Snow are both pros and just know how to go about it and keep things entertaining.
Next up saw Owen Hart, now a bad guy continue his feud with DX in a match with X-Pac which he lost. The addition of the New Age Oitlaws had really seen DX start to gain popularity from the fans.
This popularity became more evident in the next match as the Outlaws defeated Jim Cornette's New Midnight Express tag team. THis was Cornette's final stint in the WWE and the Midnight Express were a short lived part of it.
Next up saw Ken Shamrock finally avenge all of those screwy losses to the Rock by winning the King of the Ring Final in probably the best of their trilogy of PPV matches. While none were classics, the characters of both men just seemed to work together. This was Shamrock's brightest moment in the WWE, but in a little over a year he was out of the WWE and back in MMA.
Next came one of the best known matches ever as the Undertaker defeated Mankind in a Hell in a Cell match. Mankind was thrown off the top of the cell, through the top of the cell and slammed multiple times onto thumbtacks in the match that made his career.
The Undertaker was then heavily involved in a sweet main event match. Kane had promised to set himself on fire if he lost to Stone Cold. With Kane bleeding and the ref unconscious Undertaker came into the ring, busted Stone Cold open with a chair shot and then tipped gasoline all over the ref to revive him. The ref, seeing Stone Cold bleeding stopped the match and awarded Kane the title. McMahon was jubilant at finally taking the title off Austin, but his joy was short lived: Austin defeated Kane to win back the title in an excellent match the following night on RAW.