10 Best Tournament Finals In WWE History

9. The Rock Vs. Mankind, WWE Championship Tournament

TJ Perkins Gran Metalik Knee Bar Cruiserweight Classic WWE
WWE.com

The WWE Championship was vacant following a title match between The Undertaker, Kane, and Steve Austin, and all of the company's top stars were put in a huge one-show tournament at Survivor Series 1998 to crown a new titleholder.

With some very notable exceptions, one-show tournaments don't usually work - there are too many matches to do them justice. This show fell into that camp, though the booking - which saw Austin eliminated by a Shane McMahon heel turn - was strong enough to make up for it. The finals came down to Mankind - who, despite being Vince McMahon's chosen champion, was still a popular face - and The Rock, who was rivaling Austin for popularity.

The match was a great brawl between two men who were each vying to win their first world championship, and that hunger was palpable. It was the ending that fans really remember, though - The Rock put Mankind in the Sharpshooter, and Vince McMahon called for the bell. The WWE chairman had screwed his most loyal ally, and The People's Champion had betrayed the fans.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013