Royal Rumble 1998 was the 11th annual Royal Rumble event produced by the WWF. It took place on January 18, 1998 at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California. Attendence was at 18,542 with a great buyrate of 300,000. This was the first ever Royal Rumble of the Attitude Era and the beginning of the path of Stone Cold's rise to the top. The WWF was on a huge change of style which eventually put them back around the corner in ratings against competitor WCW.
6 matches were on the card with the two most advertised and build up matches being the Royal Rumble and WWF Championship match between Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker. Rock also battled Ken Shamrock for the IC belt and we got a WWF tag team title match between the LOD and New Age Outlaws.
The Good - Main event between HBK and Undertaker was pretty good. It's obviously not the best the 2 performers have ever put up (*wink*wink*) but it was a good closure to the show. The ending of Kane interfering could be questioned but it didn't ruined anything and it protected both stars of needing to head to WrestleMania sharpe. The Royal Rumble was also good. The WWF were rising up the talent and it was clearly seen here. Stone Cold was getting hot in the storyline of everyone trying to take him out. The Rock and Mick Foley also were incredible stars of the Rumble.
The Meh - The midget tag team match was fun for a filler but it was pretty obvious of it being a filler for thin roster. After all 30 stars were needed for the Rumble. I kind of question the ending of the IC title match. However, okay way to continue the rivalry between the stars.
The Bad - The tag team championship match was boring with a complete idiotic finish. It's unfortunate that the Legion of Doom were just about to run their course and the New Age Outlaws carried them. Goldust vs. Vader was also snoozed fest. Vader didn't deserve to be booked like how he was in the WWF at this time.
Overall - 1998 was no doubt an awesome year. However this wasn't quite the good start but show had its moments like Mike Tyson botch Austin's name, Foley's different characters, and Austin himself winning. Rumble winner also being too predictable was also a big negative. Not a great PPV like WrestleMania 14 and SummerSlam would be but not bad.
Score - 6 out of 10: Decent
0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :
1. Goldust vs. Vader - 1.5/5
2. Max Mini, Mosaic & Nova vs. Battlalion, El Torito & Tarantula - 2/5
3. The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock: WWF Intercontinental Championship - 3/5
4. The New Age Outlaws vs. Legion of Doom: WWF Tag Team Championship - 1.5/5
5. 30-Man Royal Rumble Match - 3/5
6. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels: WWF Championship (Casket Match) - 3.5/5
Best Match - Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker
Worst Match - New Age Outlaws vs. Legion of Doom
Most Memorable Moment - Austin's Elimination of the Rock. Rock tremendous seller.
Top 5 Performers
1. Stone Cold Steve Austin - Great Performance
2. Cactus Jack/Dude Love/Mankind - Guy had to be 3 different characters in one match Good Performance too.
3. Shawn Michaels - Good Performance. Also working with back injury
4. Undertaker - Good Performance
5. The Rock - Improving and Improving at the time.
6 matches were on the card with the two most advertised and build up matches being the Royal Rumble and WWF Championship match between Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker. Rock also battled Ken Shamrock for the IC belt and we got a WWF tag team title match between the LOD and New Age Outlaws.
The Good - Main event between HBK and Undertaker was pretty good. It's obviously not the best the 2 performers have ever put up (*wink*wink*) but it was a good closure to the show. The ending of Kane interfering could be questioned but it didn't ruined anything and it protected both stars of needing to head to WrestleMania sharpe. The Royal Rumble was also good. The WWF were rising up the talent and it was clearly seen here. Stone Cold was getting hot in the storyline of everyone trying to take him out. The Rock and Mick Foley also were incredible stars of the Rumble.
The Meh - The midget tag team match was fun for a filler but it was pretty obvious of it being a filler for thin roster. After all 30 stars were needed for the Rumble. I kind of question the ending of the IC title match. However, okay way to continue the rivalry between the stars.
The Bad - The tag team championship match was boring with a complete idiotic finish. It's unfortunate that the Legion of Doom were just about to run their course and the New Age Outlaws carried them. Goldust vs. Vader was also snoozed fest. Vader didn't deserve to be booked like how he was in the WWF at this time.
Overall - 1998 was no doubt an awesome year. However this wasn't quite the good start but show had its moments like Mike Tyson botch Austin's name, Foley's different characters, and Austin himself winning. Rumble winner also being too predictable was also a big negative. Not a great PPV like WrestleMania 14 and SummerSlam would be but not bad.
Score - 6 out of 10: Decent
0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :
1. Goldust vs. Vader - 1.5/5
2. Max Mini, Mosaic & Nova vs. Battlalion, El Torito & Tarantula - 2/5
3. The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock: WWF Intercontinental Championship - 3/5
4. The New Age Outlaws vs. Legion of Doom: WWF Tag Team Championship - 1.5/5
5. 30-Man Royal Rumble Match - 3/5
6. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels: WWF Championship (Casket Match) - 3.5/5
Best Match - Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker
Worst Match - New Age Outlaws vs. Legion of Doom
Most Memorable Moment - Austin's Elimination of the Rock. Rock tremendous seller.
Top 5 Performers
1. Stone Cold Steve Austin - Great Performance
2. Cactus Jack/Dude Love/Mankind - Guy had to be 3 different characters in one match Good Performance too.
3. Shawn Michaels - Good Performance. Also working with back injury
4. Undertaker - Good Performance
5. The Rock - Improving and Improving at the time.