10 Fascinating WWE Survivor Series 1998 Facts
7. It Marked Duane Gill's First Pay-Per-View Match
Fans across the markier side of the interwebs of 1998 were certain that Mankind's round one mystery opponent was a returning Shawn Michaels. Gotta love fan naivete. Without that sort of unfettered optimism, professional wrestling is far less magical.
Anyway, Foley was given a gag opponent in Duane Gill, a jobbing fixture of the first half of the nineties. Between Vince McMahon's elaborately-deadpan introduction for Gill, and the Titan Tron video which showed Gill taking a bunch of other wrestlers' finishers, the entire spectacle was a fine bit of understated comedy.
The 30-second squash was Gill's first ever pay-per-view match, which leads to another interesting factoid: the future Gillberg got a pay-per-view match before Brooklyn Brawler ever did. The Brawler ultimately earned his at WrestleMania X-Seven, where Steve Lombardi took part in the gimmick battle royal as the masked Kim Chee.