10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 1998 Facts
It's Austin vs. The World, and The World didn't stand a chance.
The idea that anyone but Stone Cold Steve Austin was going to win the 1998 Royal Rumble match was a laughable one. With Shawn Michaels physically deteriorating (a state that this show would only exacerbate) and Bret Hart forced out of the company, the gridlock cleared up, and money-making Austin had nothing but space in front of him. The path to the apex of WWE was only for his boots to walk.
WWE was coming out the other side of a major overhaul period, and the changes were everywhere you turned. "Attitude" was in full swing, as Austin wasn't the only one using coarse language and brawling lawlessly. WWE had combined ECW's degenerative anarchy with their own world-class production to put together a product that would redefine professional wrestling as we knew it.
The 1998 Royal Rumble was not only a decent show that did what it was supposed to do (position Austin toward the throne), but it was a breath of fresh air in a post-Montreal WWE. The focus was more on Austin than ever before, the anti-hero becoming the hero that the audience (and company) needed more than ever. His future exploits, especially with Rumble guest "Iron" Mike Tyson, would be what steered WWE back into first place, at long last.
Here are ten facts about the 1998 Royal Rumble you may not have known.
10. It Brought In The Largest Wrestling Crowd To Northern California In More Than 35 Years
The 1998 Royal Rumble may not have taken place inside a venue the size of San Antonio's Alamodome, but they still managed to do impressive business at the San Jose Arena, known to local NHL fans as "The Shark Tank".
In total, 18,542 fans packed the building. According to Dave Meltzer, that topped the largest northern California wrestling crowd of 17,000, for a Ray Stevens/Pepper Gomez match in 1962 at San Francisco's Cow Palace. Of course, even that Rumble would be subsequently shattered by later events in the region (most notably dwarfed by WrestleMania 31).
The event also did $414,000 at the gate, which toppled the previous area record of $192,000 for WCW SuperBrawl the previous year. Factor in almost $160,000 in sold merchandise, and it's clear that WWE was reclaiming its status as a hot ticket.