The Attitude Era was in full swing by the year 1998 and overall it was a great year financially for the WWF. We saw a lot of new stars being formed and many potential future stars debuting as well in the year. Among everyone, these 5 wrestlers managed to leave the most impact:
5. Kane
Kane arguably had the best wrestling debut ever at In Your House: Badd Blood in 1997 where he destroyed the Hell in a Cell door and hit the Tombstone Piledriver on The Undertaker. Kane quickly established himself as a very terrorizing character and people were legitimately scared of him. Kane continued his terror in 1998 and had a solid year despite having many ups and downs. His biggest feud in the year was against his brother The Undertaker and even though they failed to deliver a lot of great matches, the feud did give us some cool moments. Kane also managed to win the WWF Championship but well…. we shouldn’t talk about that.
4. The Rock
After a rough start in the WWF, The Rock turned heel and joined the Nation of Domination and revived his career. He was the Intercontinental Champion heading into 1998 and held the belt for the majority of the year. 1998 was the breakout year for The Rock as he rose from the midcard position to the main event scene. He had some great matches in the year, such as his ladder match with HHH at SummerSlam and also the triple threat match against Ken Shamrock and Mankind at Breakdown: In Your House. Those two matches helped him to become a big star and he finally won the WWF Championship at Survivor Series.
3. The Undertaker
After doing great in 1996 and 1997, The Undertaker continued his dominance in 1998. He was frequently featured in the main event scene and had notable feuds against Kane, Steve Austin and Mankind. He also had the famous Hell in a Cell match against Mankind at King of the Ring, which is one of the most talked about wrestling matches ever and set the stage for future Hell in a Cell matches. The Undertaker didn’t have a lot of memorable matches from the year, but he had a lot of memorable moments. He was often one of the most important parts of the show.
2. Mick Foley
Mick Foley used every persona of his in 1998 and did great work as each. He is most famously known for appearing thrice in the Royal Rumble match, each time with a different character. In the year, Foley had many memorable classics against the likes of Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Terry Funk, Ken Shamrock, The Rock, etc. Foley literally did everything the company wanted him to do. He was Austin’s first rival over the WWF title and helped put him over. He also contributed in the midcard and the tag team divisions, winning the tag team titles on three different occasions, with Kane twice and Terry Funk once.
1. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
Steve Austin was undoubtedly the best wrestler of 1998. After being massively popular among the fans, the WWF finally decided to put the belt on Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV. Steve Austin repaid the company’s faith and went on to have one of the best World Title Reigns ever. Not only did Steve Austin have many classic matches and feuds in the year, he also drew a lot of money as the top guy. We all know Steve Austin as one of the biggest wrestling stars ever, and 1998 was when he cemented that position.
And that’s all for today’s post, thank you all for reading. Stay tuned for further updates. Have a nice day!
Rishabh Singh