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

6. The Honky Tonk Man

Molly Holly
WWE.com

1998 was only a decade removed from Honky Tonk Man's legendary defeat at the hands of the Ultimate Warrior at the inaugural SummerSlam, but WWE as a company was virtually unrecognisable from the bombastic '80s heyday.

Philosophically and aesthetically, the company had undergone a seismic transformation over the ten year spell, and the its marketable version of counter-culture was rooted to the policy of powering forward rather than ever looking back.

When performers from bygone days did appear, they were usually castrated or castigated at the expense of the raft of new stars the organisation was trying to position as pop culture icons, which made it all the more surprising when Honky Tonk earned a lengthy stint in the 1998 Royal Rumble match centred mostly around Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock.

Lasting longer than 'The Rattlesnake' himself, Honky was eventually eliminated by Vader after making up the numbers in the match for just under 20 minutes. It would be another three years before he'd wrestle again for the company, showing up in 2001's 30-man war to take a shot to the head with his own guitar by a record-setting Kane.

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