WWE Survivor Series 1998: 5 Awesome Things And 5 That Sucked

2. Mankind Went From Corporate Stooge To A Babyface

Mankind was being groomed to be the next WWE Champion. At least that's what it looked like. He turned himself into a corporate stooge that wore a suit and was obviously well liked by Vince McMahon. It sure looked like his change was going to lead to him becoming the WWE Champion. His opening match was an easy win over Duane Gill (later known as Gillberg) with the idea that McMahon was going to make the road easy for him. His second match was an easy win over Al Snow, which was expected. Mankind faced Austin in the semifinals and it looked like Austin had the win after a Stunner, but McMahon pulled the referee out and punched him to prevent that. Austin hit another Stunner. That's when Shane McMahon did the heel turn. Gerald Brisco, a stooge of McMahon, hit Austin in the head with a chair and Shane counted the pinfall win for Mankind, which meant Austin was out of the tournament. In the finals, Mankind thought he was still the choice of The McMahon Family. Instead, he got screwed after The Rock turned heel, which will be covered in the next point. By the end of the night, Mankind went from being one of the biggest heels on the show to a sympathetic babyface. Part of the reason this face turn worked for Mankind is that he did such a great job of being portrayed like a lovable loser. He thought the McMahons were going to pick him. Instead, they laughed at him, called him a loser and picked The Rock instead. That's why it was such a big deal two months later when Mankind won his first WWE World Title on Raw and people still talk about that as a huge moment to this day.