10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 1998
1998 was the wildest year in WWE history. Nothing more, nothing less.
1998 was one of the most unforgettable years in WWE history.
It was the year in which the promotion realised that the young kids who had moved away from wrestling - you'd dare not admit to enjoying the work of Tekno Team 2000 in the playground - and retooled itself as a haven for the 14-year-old who once believed.
That 14-year-old was glued to the set. They watched in giddy awe as Stone Cold Steve Austin, who could get away with stomping a mudhole in his boss, became their outlet. They watched and laughed as D-Generation X crotch-chopped their way into the zeitgeist and indeed copied their "Suck it!" catchphrase in their classroom and, without quite thinking how dark it was, their own living rooms when their parents attempted to discipline them.
They were positively baffled at the reboot of something called "the NWA" and weren't exactly into something called "the wrestling" on virtually every pay-per-view undercard, but did you see that Hell In A Cell match, bro? Mankind almost died!
Snoochie boochies!
It was the year that was wonderful.
Only for 14-year-old boys, in retrospect...
10. Austin Vs. McMahon Was Different To How You Remember It
Eventually, the legendary Austin Vs. McMahon feud descended into preposterous - albeit highly entertaining - broad theatre. If you're of a certain age, you can't not remember it. It was incredible - a twisting unpredictable dark soap opera masterpiece pitting the funniest and hardest man against the evil corporate overlord who was simply the best at being foiled and pitching a fit.
What you may not remember is that, for a while, it was actually quite subtle.
Where deeper in the year, Vince played an outwardly evil man - he was very much typecast in the role - early in the conflict, when it was better, he did not. He played it as the heel pretending to be the babyface. He in May embarked on an absolutely hilarious propaganda campaign in which he attempted to frame the WWF as a wholesome mom-and-pop operation, the little engine that took over the world. As part of this, he cast the men who'd become the daft, slapstick Stooges - Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson - as well-intentioned legends of a business that Steve Austin had brought into disrepute.
Brisco wasn't an obsequious corporate toad - why, he was a small business owner. He wasn't intent on destroying your hero. He only wanted, at a fair price, to fix your car. Patterson wasn't out to get Austin. He was loyal. He had been with the WWF for years in some capacity. He wouldn't let you down.
The saccharine music, the sappy facial expressions, the bare-faced cheek of it all: the "we're the good guys, honest" propaganda exercise ahead of Over The Edge was sensational pro wrestling comedy.