The Last Days Of The WWF
The last WWF Champion before the change, fittingly, was Hulk Hogan, enjoying what was effectively a run paying tribute to his original pomp. He was promoting a pay-per-view main event with The Undertaker, as he'd done some 11 years earlier not long before McMahon agreed not to be such a cheeky b*stard with the company initials.
By May 6th, he was WWE Champion, as if it were the most normal thing in the world thanks to the multiple mentions of it by the time he made it to the ring during the aforementioned Raw broadcast.
Steve Austin was on the show working a nothing storyline with Ric Flair and The New World Order, while The Rock (technically) resided over on SmackDown with the likes of Triple H, Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon himself. The Chairman was a Warrior, Shawn and Bret short of having almost every major star he'd promoted under the WWF initials, but none of them were present for the fabled final show.
Nobody on that card even knew the end was nigh.
CONT'D...