WWE Survivor Series 1998
Going into the PPV: My thoughts
I'm going to be honest here. I knew little to nothing about the Attitude Era until I played WWE '13, which had its Attitude Era mode. One of the most interesting things on there that seemed to be glossed over was the Survivor Series 1998 tournament. "A tournament at Survivor Series?" I thought, "This is going to be great"
The PPV
Very cool opening video package. Has one of my favorite elements of combat sport that I wish were used more often, which is, "Guys working out, guys glaring into camera." They also give away tidbits of story like when the announcer says "sarcrifice your soul for the gold." they pan to Mankind, who was a corporate stooge in storyline at this point. Exposition is great.
Survivor Series 1998 has, officially, one of my favorite PPV themes of all time, "CAUSE IT'S A DEADLY GAME!"
Hey, it's even in my hometown! I'd forgotten about that.
We're told that there was a brawl on Heat related to the tournament, but not given a replay, I assume it was just all the tournament participants brawling.
We're also told that McMahon himself put together the tournament. Undertaker and Kane have byes to the second round where they'll face one another. Now, had I not done some reading before and realized that Taker and Kane, who had both tried to pin Steve Austin at the last PPV in a Triple Threat for the Championship, and injured McMahon when he vactated the title, I wouldn't have what was going on. If this was done in any place but late 90s WWF I would've hated it, but McMahon is kayfabe spiteful enough to build entire tournaments to screw people he doesn't like.
Vince McMahon promo: Great!
He is already at ringside with the belt, and, despite having a power wheelchair, hobbles to the ring. I don't know if "using adaptive equipment to sell an injury" is supposed to get heat, but frankly it pisses me off when people just don't use it, maybe because I use such equipment myself. Anyway, he tells the audience there will be a new WWF Champion (despite the fact that Steve Austin is in the tournament but let's ignore that) He introduces Mankind with the "Giant leap for Mankind pun. Mankind comes out with the Hardcore Belt in a suit. All of McMahon's corporate entourage shake Mankind's hand, except for Bossman. This is completely lost on Mankind, who just forces it. McMahon teases at a WWF legend who jumped ship to WCW, and came back from an injury. It's Duane Gill. Gill geeks out at his own titantron during his entrance
Duane Gill vs. Mankind
Flip into the ring, DDT, done.
No rating
We get a look back at Heat, where Jackie hit Sable from behind with the Women's belt
Sable promo: Meh. She's pissed that she hit her, and made her more determined than ever to win. I don't get what everyone hates Sable's promo.
Al Snow vs. Jeff Jarrett, tournament quarterfinal
Al does some cool stuff to start, like a springboard legdrop and a rope assisted neckbreaker
-There's a dumb spot where Snow does an atomic drop, Jarrett bounces off the ropes, and they bonk heads.
-Debra causes the distraction, which allows Al to hit Jarrett with the head
5.5/10
Steve Austin vs The Big Bossman
-Austin apparently has a five year contract because of Shane McMahon, who I'm assuming was babyface?
-We cut to McMahon and his chronies talking, missing the Lou Thez press spot
-Good match, ends in a DQ, as Bossman beats the crap out of Austin with the nightstick
4.5/10
X-Pac vs. "Real Man's Man" Stephen Regal
- I love the Man's Man gimmick, but it would've looked significantly less stupid if Regal wasn't wearing a construction hat and jeans instead of jorts
- Props to X-Pac for immediately doing crotch chops to get the crowd back into it.
-X-Pac in his prime should've gone much higher than European title.
-Regal does the best "avoiding a sunset flip spot, that I've ever seen, grabbing the ropes and, instead of flailing, let's goes and just screams
-YAY a not into the turnbuckle catapult
-WOW X-Pac does like a Hass of Pain cloverleaf.
-Brutal butterfly suplex off the top
-Lots of submissions
-Regal's apparently an idiot because he got out of the ring instead of just letting the countout happen. Vince demands overtime, Slaughter tells Finkel, and X-Pac just kinda walks to the back, and Regal gives chase. So that's two separate chances that Regal kayfabe had to win but he took neither.
6/10, would'vw been a 7 if not for the confusion at the end, I like the upward trend I'm seeing
Goldust vs Ken Shamrock
-Goldust is moving around geez
-Lots of submissions by Shamrock, people love Goldust
- Goldust goes for the Shattered Dreams, but the ref blocks it, Shamrock comes off the rope with a Hurricanran, hits the Belly to Belly and then the Ankle Lock. Another match won by one guy being an idiot
6.5/10
Micheal Cole says Austin refuses medical attention and says he'll find away to make it out
Triple H vs The Rock
-Props to the dude in the chef's outfit with the "We Smell what The Rock is cookin'" apron I love my town
- Triple H's music hits, but Patterson and Briscoe coming out, both hilariously doing crotch chops
-Gerald Brisco is such a doofus I love him
-The Big Bossman is Triple H's replacement, and gets rolled up in like 3 seconds
No Rating
Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer vs Kane
-They make this big point out of saying that Kane is bent on destruction, but yet the offense is super slow
- Again, they say Kane is on a rampage, but yet he gets dropped onto the guard rail
-Kane does look like a right bad ass when he can no sell
-The referee scurrying around like a coward makes McMahon look like a genius, like he knew no one would order these two around
-Undertaker pins Kane with a tombstone and the foot getting held. Kane blasts the referee and leaves
4.5/10
Mankind vs. Al Snow
-Immediately goes out the ring, Al Snow doesn't get disqualified despite chair usage
-Powerbomb facebuster on the chair
-Mankind and SOCKO reunite!
5/10
The Rock vs Ken Shamrock
Great match with a cool finish
7/10
Sable vs Jacqueline w/Marc Mero for the Women's Championship
-Sable is officially in "cannot run the ropes" territory.
-I would've been more OK if this match had just been that one spot then this continuing any further
-Poor Johnny B Bad
0.5/10
Mankind vs. Steve Austin
-Mankind sells the shit out of Austin's punches
-Hahaha Austin smacking Patterson and Brisco together, hilarious
-Austin does the best stair cell I've ever seen, bouncing off of them and not letting them fall over
-Lots of teases at disqualifyable offenses that lead to momentum shifts
-Austin kicks out of a Double Arm DDT onto a chair, and people say Cena kicks out at 2
-Shane McMahon not counting the 3 and then flipping off Austin is the best turn ever
-This also leads to one of my favorite calls of all time "Oh they're skipping gayly away the whole group of 'em." which is made infintely funnier by "Ode to Freud" playing in the background.
8/10
The Rock vs Undertaker
The Rock played a good underdog, making Taker look badass
-Kane chokeslamming The Rock instead of Taker made him seem smart, and the brothers fought it out, this is what I wanted out of the match they had.
6.5/10
Mankind promo: BEST
Micheal Cole asks Mankind about his match with The Rock. The camera pans up to Mankind who says he's just lucky, and ends it with, "If you smell what the sock is cooking." The camera pans out, and Micheal Cole has the absolute sassiest look on his face, absolute gold.
The New Age Outlaws vs The Headbangers vs D'Lo Brown and Mark Henry for the Tag Titles
-Whoever decided multiple team tag matches should only have two people in the ring legal is my savior, because this match, contested in actual Triple Threat rules, is a terribly hard match to keep track of.
-The build to Billy Gunn actually getting the tag was great, cause Billy was getting progressively more pissed
-Tim White did some really shitty officiating
3/10
The Rock vs Mankind for the WWF Championship
-Before I actually jump into this, I'd like to point out a bit of HILARIOUS back-and-forth by JR and the King
The King: (off-handedly) You're going to see all of this PPV.
JR: (somber) King that's not nice, making reference to those less fortunate (referring to Halloween Havoc 1998)
-Great match, lots of back and forth, lots of intrigue surrounding the McMahons
-YAY Cactus Elbow
-Oh wow, a screwjob that turned a loveable character that was heel into a babyface, and let Rock be a douche\bag
-Completely unnecessary post match stuff with Stone Cold.
7.5/10
Final thoughts
A lot of people say WWE is too "entertainment" based and not "wrestling" based. Well, I experienced a wrestling heavy show with this Pay Per View, and with 14 matches, it was grating to get through. And surprisingly, of those matches, only two recieved a failing grade. However, it was match after match after match, with no breaks, so it was hard to watch. That isn't to say however that you shouldn't watch it, because it's one of the most pivotal moments of the Attitude Era.
I'm going to be honest here. I knew little to nothing about the Attitude Era until I played WWE '13, which had its Attitude Era mode. One of the most interesting things on there that seemed to be glossed over was the Survivor Series 1998 tournament. "A tournament at Survivor Series?" I thought, "This is going to be great"
The PPV
Very cool opening video package. Has one of my favorite elements of combat sport that I wish were used more often, which is, "Guys working out, guys glaring into camera." They also give away tidbits of story like when the announcer says "sarcrifice your soul for the gold." they pan to Mankind, who was a corporate stooge in storyline at this point. Exposition is great.
Survivor Series 1998 has, officially, one of my favorite PPV themes of all time, "CAUSE IT'S A DEADLY GAME!"
Hey, it's even in my hometown! I'd forgotten about that.
We're told that there was a brawl on Heat related to the tournament, but not given a replay, I assume it was just all the tournament participants brawling.
We're also told that McMahon himself put together the tournament. Undertaker and Kane have byes to the second round where they'll face one another. Now, had I not done some reading before and realized that Taker and Kane, who had both tried to pin Steve Austin at the last PPV in a Triple Threat for the Championship, and injured McMahon when he vactated the title, I wouldn't have what was going on. If this was done in any place but late 90s WWF I would've hated it, but McMahon is kayfabe spiteful enough to build entire tournaments to screw people he doesn't like.
Vince McMahon promo: Great!
He is already at ringside with the belt, and, despite having a power wheelchair, hobbles to the ring. I don't know if "using adaptive equipment to sell an injury" is supposed to get heat, but frankly it pisses me off when people just don't use it, maybe because I use such equipment myself. Anyway, he tells the audience there will be a new WWF Champion (despite the fact that Steve Austin is in the tournament but let's ignore that) He introduces Mankind with the "Giant leap for Mankind pun. Mankind comes out with the Hardcore Belt in a suit. All of McMahon's corporate entourage shake Mankind's hand, except for Bossman. This is completely lost on Mankind, who just forces it. McMahon teases at a WWF legend who jumped ship to WCW, and came back from an injury. It's Duane Gill. Gill geeks out at his own titantron during his entrance
Duane Gill vs. Mankind
Flip into the ring, DDT, done.
No rating
We get a look back at Heat, where Jackie hit Sable from behind with the Women's belt
Sable promo: Meh. She's pissed that she hit her, and made her more determined than ever to win. I don't get what everyone hates Sable's promo.
Al Snow vs. Jeff Jarrett, tournament quarterfinal
Al does some cool stuff to start, like a springboard legdrop and a rope assisted neckbreaker
-There's a dumb spot where Snow does an atomic drop, Jarrett bounces off the ropes, and they bonk heads.
-Debra causes the distraction, which allows Al to hit Jarrett with the head
5.5/10
Steve Austin vs The Big Bossman
-Austin apparently has a five year contract because of Shane McMahon, who I'm assuming was babyface?
-We cut to McMahon and his chronies talking, missing the Lou Thez press spot
-Good match, ends in a DQ, as Bossman beats the crap out of Austin with the nightstick
4.5/10
X-Pac vs. "Real Man's Man" Stephen Regal
- I love the Man's Man gimmick, but it would've looked significantly less stupid if Regal wasn't wearing a construction hat and jeans instead of jorts
- Props to X-Pac for immediately doing crotch chops to get the crowd back into it.
-X-Pac in his prime should've gone much higher than European title.
-Regal does the best "avoiding a sunset flip spot, that I've ever seen, grabbing the ropes and, instead of flailing, let's goes and just screams
-YAY a not into the turnbuckle catapult
-WOW X-Pac does like a Hass of Pain cloverleaf.
-Brutal butterfly suplex off the top
-Lots of submissions
-Regal's apparently an idiot because he got out of the ring instead of just letting the countout happen. Vince demands overtime, Slaughter tells Finkel, and X-Pac just kinda walks to the back, and Regal gives chase. So that's two separate chances that Regal kayfabe had to win but he took neither.
6/10, would'vw been a 7 if not for the confusion at the end, I like the upward trend I'm seeing
Goldust vs Ken Shamrock
-Goldust is moving around geez
-Lots of submissions by Shamrock, people love Goldust
- Goldust goes for the Shattered Dreams, but the ref blocks it, Shamrock comes off the rope with a Hurricanran, hits the Belly to Belly and then the Ankle Lock. Another match won by one guy being an idiot
6.5/10
Micheal Cole says Austin refuses medical attention and says he'll find away to make it out
Triple H vs The Rock
-Props to the dude in the chef's outfit with the "We Smell what The Rock is cookin'" apron I love my town
- Triple H's music hits, but Patterson and Briscoe coming out, both hilariously doing crotch chops
-Gerald Brisco is such a doofus I love him
-The Big Bossman is Triple H's replacement, and gets rolled up in like 3 seconds
No Rating
Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer vs Kane
-They make this big point out of saying that Kane is bent on destruction, but yet the offense is super slow
- Again, they say Kane is on a rampage, but yet he gets dropped onto the guard rail
-Kane does look like a right bad ass when he can no sell
-The referee scurrying around like a coward makes McMahon look like a genius, like he knew no one would order these two around
-Undertaker pins Kane with a tombstone and the foot getting held. Kane blasts the referee and leaves
4.5/10
Mankind vs. Al Snow
-Immediately goes out the ring, Al Snow doesn't get disqualified despite chair usage
-Powerbomb facebuster on the chair
-Mankind and SOCKO reunite!
5/10
The Rock vs Ken Shamrock
Great match with a cool finish
7/10
Sable vs Jacqueline w/Marc Mero for the Women's Championship
-Sable is officially in "cannot run the ropes" territory.
-I would've been more OK if this match had just been that one spot then this continuing any further
-Poor Johnny B Bad
0.5/10
Mankind vs. Steve Austin
-Mankind sells the shit out of Austin's punches
-Hahaha Austin smacking Patterson and Brisco together, hilarious
-Austin does the best stair cell I've ever seen, bouncing off of them and not letting them fall over
-Lots of teases at disqualifyable offenses that lead to momentum shifts
-Austin kicks out of a Double Arm DDT onto a chair, and people say Cena kicks out at 2
-Shane McMahon not counting the 3 and then flipping off Austin is the best turn ever
-This also leads to one of my favorite calls of all time "Oh they're skipping gayly away the whole group of 'em." which is made infintely funnier by "Ode to Freud" playing in the background.
8/10
The Rock vs Undertaker
The Rock played a good underdog, making Taker look badass
-Kane chokeslamming The Rock instead of Taker made him seem smart, and the brothers fought it out, this is what I wanted out of the match they had.
6.5/10
Mankind promo: BEST
Micheal Cole asks Mankind about his match with The Rock. The camera pans up to Mankind who says he's just lucky, and ends it with, "If you smell what the sock is cooking." The camera pans out, and Micheal Cole has the absolute sassiest look on his face, absolute gold.
The New Age Outlaws vs The Headbangers vs D'Lo Brown and Mark Henry for the Tag Titles
-Whoever decided multiple team tag matches should only have two people in the ring legal is my savior, because this match, contested in actual Triple Threat rules, is a terribly hard match to keep track of.
-The build to Billy Gunn actually getting the tag was great, cause Billy was getting progressively more pissed
-Tim White did some really shitty officiating
3/10
The Rock vs Mankind for the WWF Championship
-Before I actually jump into this, I'd like to point out a bit of HILARIOUS back-and-forth by JR and the King
The King: (off-handedly) You're going to see all of this PPV.
JR: (somber) King that's not nice, making reference to those less fortunate (referring to Halloween Havoc 1998)
-Great match, lots of back and forth, lots of intrigue surrounding the McMahons
-YAY Cactus Elbow
-Oh wow, a screwjob that turned a loveable character that was heel into a babyface, and let Rock be a douche\bag
-Completely unnecessary post match stuff with Stone Cold.
7.5/10
Final thoughts
A lot of people say WWE is too "entertainment" based and not "wrestling" based. Well, I experienced a wrestling heavy show with this Pay Per View, and with 14 matches, it was grating to get through. And surprisingly, of those matches, only two recieved a failing grade. However, it was match after match after match, with no breaks, so it was hard to watch. That isn't to say however that you shouldn't watch it, because it's one of the most pivotal moments of the Attitude Era.