User Reviews

Earlier in 1998, the WWE cemented its Attitude Era at WrestleMania 14. In King of the Ring 1998, that bar gets pushed even higher, what with a match that will go down in history as one of the most iconic (and industry-changing) of all-time.

I won't beat around the bush: that match is a Hell in A Cell between Undertaker & Mankind. Foley puts on a show like no other, allowing Taker to thrown him off the enormous structure (onto a table), choke-slam him right through the top of it (I don't believe this was planned), and then piledrive him onto a mat full of thumbtacks. Not only is it entertaining/shocking for Foley's utter fearlessness (perhaps a bit of stupidity mix in as well), but it shows that the WWE was only going to double-down on the edgier content strategy. No longer was the WWE going to be able to call itself "wholesome family entertainment". This match marks the final turning point in that process, with the danger, blood, and general feel of the whole show.

Some other highlights of this really solid card:

-Another Shamrock/Rock match, which were always surprisingly entertaining. -The major debut of X-Pac, a spunky little guy who flies around with reckless abandon. -Kane vs. Stone Cold being a solid finale (if not quite a bit overshadowed by the carnage that had come before).

Overall, KOTR '98 was a great overall event filled with talent, solid matches, and an edge the WWE hadn't had in a long, long time. Some may see this as where professional wrestling became too profane or beyond the realm of family entertainment. Others will see it as where the company really started beating back WCW again and re-asserting its dominance on top of the pro wrestling food chain. Either way, it was iconic to say the least.

1. Head Bangers/Taka Michinoku Vs. Kaientai Quick good tag team action with clean Head Bangers victory 8/10

2. KoR Semi-Final: Double J Vs. Ken Shamrock - Shamrock advances. 7.5/10

3. KoR Semi-Final: Dan "The Beast" Severn Vs. The Rock - Cheap victory. 8/10

4. Too Much Vs. Al Snow/Head - Too much pinned Head, God that as awful booking. 6/10

5. X-Pac Vs. Owen Hart - Average match by these two good workers. 7/10

6. WWF Tag Team Title Match: New Age Outlaws Vs. Champs-Midnight Express - Ordinary tag match. 6.5/10

7. KoR Finals: Shamrock Vs. Champ-The Rock - I give credit to Rock, that he jobbed there. ShamRock is King of The Ring 1998 7.5/10

8. Hell in a Cell Match: Undertaker Vs. Mankind - You know - Suicider "Give him finally that fuc*ing belt" Mankind. He is truly the greatest legend of WWF from 1990 to 2000 For Mick Foley in that match i give 11/10

9. WWF World Heavyweight Title First Blood Match: Kane Vs. Champ-Stone Cold - We have new champ, the match wasn't something special. 7/10

Hell in a cell mankind & undertaker starting on the top of the cell. I don't think I need to worry too much with spoilers on this one. This is one of those matches that shown to new fans to introduce them to wrestling. From the top of the cage, through the cage teeth coming out of your nose fighting with damaged ankle. These two legends leave it all in the ring, fighting as if it was going to be the last match career. When people say it overshadowed the night. The main event of a kane and stone cold for the title good match but it went to a level that can barely been matched as stone cold said how do you follow that. Leading up to the match was an average enough card with the night being called king of the ring . It feels like the king of the ring event is almost to warm up event.

There's really only 2 matches from this PPV that people remember. the hell in the cell match and the first blood match. out of all the Pay-per-views, this one makes the biggest milestone. for one, it marks the third hell in the cell match (it wasn't the second, i did some research and found out the second one took place during an episode of RAW) and it's undertaker's first victory in one. it also marks the only time Kane has ever won the WWE Title belt, despite cheating.

Firsthand, the Hell in the cell match. This was a very hyped match, and it was to end a less than big rivalry. it ended with a huge explosion. firsthand, before the match began, Mankind/Mick Foley climbed to the top of the cell and waited for the undertaker to come out. then undertaker came out and climbed to the top of the cell. they fought up there for about a minute, then taker threw mankind off the top of the cell. this fall was planned. if you watch Mick Foley land, he landed on his buttocks and side, not his head or upper body.

the second fall came after Foley walked off from the stretcher to go back to the cell. then taker was supposed to chokeslam Foley onto a chair on top of the cell. unfortunately, the cell structure was not meant to stop a falling 287 pound man, and Foley fell through the cell and landed on his upper back, near his neck. this fall was not supposed to happen.

In a later interview, Undertaker said when he chokeslammed mick foley through the cell, he thought mick was dead.

in the first blood match, "stone cold" Steve Austin was defending the WWF/WWE title from Kane. now everyone knows the rules of a first blood match. the first person to draw blood loses the battle. however, Kane was supposedly bleeding, but he was wearing a mask, which meant the ref never saw his blood. stone cold eventually was cut open, leading to Kane's first WWF title.

What this Pay-per-view marked was Kanes First and Only WWF/WWE title, which he only held for 24 hours (stone cold Steve Austin won it back from Kane the next night on WWF Raw is War.)

it's a sweet pay-per-view, and it's well worth seeing.

The Undertaker Mankind Hell In A Cell match is one of the craziest and most brutal moments in WWE (then WWF) history. And somehow Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kane successfully followed it up with another insane match.

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.

i have seen this match more times then i think is healthy and still find something new in it each time.

if you look closely at the shamrock vs rock final match for the KOR you can see when Shamrock gets his hand caught in the ropes you see the Rock get him out lol. its so strange to see the rock being someones lackey.

the worst match on there i think is the al snow vs too much. when i first saw it i knew that there was going to be a screw job but that was the dumbest one i have seen and i have been watching pro wrestling for most of my life and that begins in the early days of hulkamania. but this was the time the Vince was trying to compete against wcw and turners billions.