10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 1998

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.