On this day in Pro Wrestling history in 1998, WWF King of the Ring PPV took place. Ken Shamrock defeated The Rock to win the King of the Ring tournament.
This PPV is best known for The Undertaker & Mankind facing off in the most brutal Hell in a Cell match of all time. Undertaker threw Mankind off the top of the cell through the announce table. Mankind climbed to the top of the cell again and was chokeslammed through the cell into the ring.
Kane won his first WWF Championship at the event when he defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin in a First Blood match. Below are the results from the PPV:
– The Headbangers & Taka Michinoku def. Kaientai
– Ken Shamrock def. Jeff Jarrett (King of the Ring Semi-Final)
– The Rock def. Dan Severn (King of the Ring Semi-Final)
– Too Much def. Al Snow & Head (Special Guest Referee: Jerry Lawler)
– X-Pac def. Owen Hart
– The New Age Outlaws def. The New Midnight Express to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– Ken Shamrock def. The Rock to win the King of the Ring tournament
– The Undertaker def. Mankind in a Hell in a Cell match
– Kane def. Stone Cold Steve Austin in a First Blood match to win the WWF World Title (Had Kane lost, he would have set himself on fire)
Below are the highlights from the Undertaker – Mankind ‘Hell in a Cell’ match:
You can watch the Kane – Stone Cold ‘First Blood Match’ below:
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley recently spoke with ‘Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling’ and talked about the 20th anniversary of his Hell In A Cell match with The Undertaker. Below are the highlights:
Looking back at the Hell in a Cell match 20 years later:
“It is definitely cathartic to talk about it. I’m kind of finding out new elements about the match as we go. Especially since it was a match that I kind of ran from for so many years and did not want to talk about it but after a while and I guess in the same way that Adam West came to terms that he was Batman and I know there are some other actors that have kind of felt pigeonholed, I didn’t want to be known for just that one thing. But after it awhile it was like maybe this isn’t the worst thing to be known for but it has been really cathartic to discuss it and I can honestly say that these have been the most fun shows and the best shows that I have done.”
What was going through his head while he was descending from the Cell:
“It’s funny because in the show I only curse once. It is like a two-hour show with a Q and A and I curse one time. But it turns out that I think in curses and that all I was doing was dropping f-bombs to myself before and after. It was what the BLANK was I thinking? And you’ve got to be BLANKING kidding me? It is why I was so glad when (Chris) Jericho’s Book “A Lion’s Tale” came out he talked about wanting to do something from the top (of the Cell) but when he went up there earlier in the afternoon {which I didn’t do or otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now} and he said the people down below looked like ants and I’m not exaggerating, they looked like ants and I thought to myself that is exactly what they looked like. If I could have thought of a graceful way to climb down the cell structure without ruining my career, I believe I would have done it.”
Watching the Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker cell match prior to his battle with Undertaker:
“The match that Shawn had with Undertaker is still to me the best Cell match we’ve ever seen and that there has ever been and I wasn’t so worried about overshadowing it, I was just trying to not embarrass myself.”
The Jim Ross commentary track being used all throughout pop culture:
“We are kind of tied at the hip because of that night and it has gone on to become a part of pop culture. I don’t know if there hasn’t been a route at some sporting event where someone hasn’t thrown up the meme of “someone stop the damn match” and it has really added so much to that match. I think it is one of the most powerful ways to experience the Cell match without watching it at all and to just listen to JR’s commentary because it is really extraordinary.
JR didn’t know what was going to unfold that night and he said that he undoubtedly would have come up with something great but that spur of the moment call, I’ll put it up there with anything I have ever heard in sports history. I said that in my book in 1999 and you can have “Do you believe in miracles”, “The Giants win the pennant” and in my mind “With God as my witness he’s been broken in half” is as good as anything that I have ever heard anywhere.”
