10 Things You Learn From Rewatching LAST Time WWE Raw Lost In Ratings War

5. So Many Stars In The Wings

Steve Austin Ken Shamrock Raw 1998.jpg
WWE

In hindsight its easy to pinpoint which wrestlers of 1998 were always destined to become the next major stars to lead the then-WWF forward, but even at that time in '98 we could all see certain stars were being groomed for superstardom.

With Austin in the midst of his legendary rivalry with Vince McMahon, and the Undertaker paired off with Kane, the Rock and the absent Triple H were two names at the time who so many had high hopes for. Obviously those hopes would come true, and both stars went on to have Hall of Fame careers.

Away from that, though, and there were numerous other talents who were positioned in a way that had you thinking that they, too, could be the next big thing. Ultimately, they might not have gone onto achieve that anticipated success, but WWE made sure to deliver these names on TV in a fashion that led you to buy them as potential main event acts, even if they never truly went onto become main event acts.

A prime example of this is Ken Shamrock, who found himself in the main event against Steve Austin on this episode of Raw. It wasn't just being in the main event with Austin that made Shamrock feel special, for the overall presentation of Kenny throughout this Raw offering meant you would every bit buy Shamrock as a bona fide main event player in WWE opted to pull that trigger on him down the line.

Compare that to WWE programming today, and it's embarassing how few current wrestlers are served up to audiences in a way that makes them believable if and when a main event spotlight comes knocking.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.