10 Fascinating WWE Survivor Series 1998 Facts
The People's Champion becomes The Corporate Champion.
Sure, WWE rehashed the ending of Montreal, but there's a reason why nobody ever refers to Survivor Series 1998 as "St. Louis". That's because something more important happened than that appropriation of very-real controversy: The Rock had become WWE Champion for the first time.
At the mere age of 26, Dwayne Johnson had reached the top of the wrestling world. Yes, his first reign began with he and Mick Foley swapping alignments in a double-turn to close out Survivor Series, and we were supposed to hate "The Great One" for his dishonesty and underhandedness, but how could we? In less than one year, The Rock had transformed himself into a compelling force on the level of Stone Cold Steve Austin. As it turned out, his stardom would have lasting strength.
On the whole, the 1998 Survivor Series was loaded heavy on story, with enough Vince Russo twists and turns to make for an intriguing broadcast. The Shane McMahon swerve against Steve Austin was so brilliantly done, and every fan inside St. Louis' Kiel Center wanted to hang, draw and quarter Vince's kid on the spot.
Survivor Series 1998 was Attitude Era overbooking back when it was still novel, and arguably when it was done best.
Here are ten facts about the 1998 Survivor Series you may not have known.
10. It's The Only Survivor Series With No Team Elimination Matches
But it had an elimination tournament, so surely that counts for something? The 2002 Survivor Series may not have had any traditional Survivor Series matches, but it did have a three-on-three table elimination bout, so that leaves 1998 as the only Series without any battles of team attrition.
By this time, WWE was anything but compelled to follow old traditions, so excising the four-on-four and five-on-five fights for survival wasn't wholly unexpected. Besides, the drama of a one-night tournament to crown a new WWE Champion blew away the concept of midcarders being shoehorned together into one-shot quartets.
Elimination matches would return the following year, and have been a part of every Survivor Series since. At least 1998's show has a flavor all of its own, owed to a very different type of intrigue.