10 Fascinating WWE King Of The Ring 1998 Facts
Far from a one-match show, but historically, it pretty much is.
Did you know that the 1998 King of the Ring pay-per-view had nine matches on it? Hard to reconcile that fact, given that all anybody ever seems to bring up is just one out of those nine matches. Granted, it's on the Mount Rushmore of most famous matches in WWE history, but it still overshadows everything else that took place in Pittsburgh the night of June 28, 1998.
The Undertaker/Mankind Hell in a Cell match will be covered ad nauseum in this list, but it must be said that overall, the 1998 version of the show is possibly the best King of the Ring ever (depending on how you feel about 1993), with more than just the brutal Cell match standing out.
Other good matches from the show include WWE Champion Steve Austin's first-blood match with Kane, Ken Shamrock's tournament final against The Rock, and X-Pac's tussle with rival Nation member Owen Hart. The show had its share of rough moments (A mannequin head being pinned; Triple H's self-indulgent and mostly unfunny commentary), but what was good was strong enough to drown out the inanity.
And that Cell match? The images from that melee endure to this day, an astute series of portraits of that famed Attitude Era.
Here are ten facts about the 1998 King of the Ring you may not have known.
10. It Marked The Only PPV Match Where The Smoking Gunns Faced Each Other
For three years, Billy and Bart Gunn were figures of consistency in WWE's rather lacking tag team division. When the two split in 1996, a feud was imminent. Strangely enough, there was no pay-per-view blowoff. They each captained teams on the Survivor Series 1996 pre-show (with Bart pinning Billy), but the angle was abandoned after Billy was written out with a neck injury the following month.
In 1997, the rechristened "Rockabilly" defeated Bart in a nothing match on Raw; the feud was deader than disco. By the same time a year later, Billy was one-half of the transcendent New Age Outlaws, while Bart joined Bob Holly as the needless New Midnight Express.
The two teams faced off for the Outlaws' Tag Team titles at the 1998 King of the Ring, marking the only official pay-per-view match where the Gunns faced off (excluding their brief skirmish in the 1995 Royal Rumble match).