10 Best Ever Wrestling Tournaments
7. WWE Deadly Game Tournament (1998)
It’s incredibly rare for WWE to try to pull off an entire 16-man tournament over one night, but that’s exactly what they did at Survivor Series 1998. The goal here was to crown a new WWE Champion after Mr. McMahon had forced Steve Austin to vacate after being pinned by Kane and The Undertaker simultaneously at Breakdown: In Your House, and the line-up was crammed with the Attitude Era’s biggest stars.
From era-defining legends like Austin, The Undertaker, and The Rock to popular midcarders in Goldust and Ken Shamrock, the tournament was a “who’s who” of the time period’s biggest names. Most of the early matches were kept short to avoid fatigue in the later rounds, and it paid off. Business really started to pick-up from the semi-finals onwards, and when Mankind defeated Austin and The Rock overcame Taker, the finals were set.
The main event saw The Rock overcome Mankind for his first ever WWE Championship reign, and thus began one of the most successful main event runs in WWE history. The win didn’t come without shenanigans, as Mr. McMahon couldn’t resist screwing Mankind and Austin over along the way, but this was the debut of “Corporate Rock,” and the heel run that propelled Rocky to greatness.