10 Wrestlers You Didn’t Realise Wrestled For WWE In 1998

8. The Sultan

Molly Holly
WWE.com

As a final holdover from the New Generation era during a tumultuous and transitional 1997, The Sultan was a character out of time amongst emerging talents such as Steve Austin and The Rock, as well as the edgier re-imaginings of company stalwarts Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker.

It was rough luck for the man behind the mask, as Solofa Fatu Jr had worked gamely as a Headshrinker and singles star during some lean years for the organisation. Remarkably, his sizeable weight gain would contribute to his reinvention as unlikely Attitude Era success story Rikishi following a 1999 repackaging, but the failed The Sultan persona only had a minor job to do in 1998.

Or more specifically, three.

Seeing out the remainder of his dates for the company, Fatu would stare at the lights through his mask in matches against Flash Funk and Ken Shamrock in January. Cut loose before he could even make it into the Royal Rumble match later that month, he worked constantly on the independent scene in all his various guises before WWE came calling again in October 1999.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett