king of the ring

Wrestling Recap: Kane vs. Austin (King of the Ring ’98)

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The Date: 28 June 1998
The Venue:  Civic Arena; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Commentary: Jim “J.R.” Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The Referee: Earl Hebner
The Stakes: First blood match for the WWF Championship and Kane’s life!

The Build-Up:
The day after my twelfth birthday (and clashing with Global James Bond Day), on October 5th 1997, Glenn Jacobs made a dramatic debut as Kane, the scarred, monstrous younger half-brother of the Undertaker. Following this, Kane ran wild throughout the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF), attacking everyone in a bid to force his reluctant brother to face him in the ring. Eventually, the Undertaker acquiesced, leading to two defeats for the Big Red Machine. However, on 1 June 1998, Kane defeated the Undertaker on Raw is War to become the number one contender to the WWF Championship, the company’s top prize, which was held by the phenomenonal “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. At the time, Austin was embroiled with an industry-defining feud with WWF Chairman Vince McMahon, refusing to confirm to Vince’s demands and openly defying the chairman’s authority with a brazen attitude. After repeatedly fending off Vince’s misguided stooge, Dude Love, Austin faced a physical threat like no other when Kane challenged him to this “First Blood” match. Speaking for the first time via a voice modulator, Kane drenched Austin with a blood bath and raised the stakes of the match by promising to immolate himself if he didn’t win the title!

The Match:
I think Kane said it best when he once stated that few people remember him winning the WWF Championship on this night thanks to the absolute war the Undertaker and Mankind enacted in the previous match! They didn’t even put a match between the Hell in a Cell and the main event to cool the audience down! I always remember it, though, since I was such a huge Kane fan back in the day and it saw him capture the WWF’s biggest prize from their most successful superstar, and all so soon after his initial debut. Proving that he isn’t some muscle-bound meathead, Kane sported a new attire for this match that completely covered every part of his body, making it seem all-but impossible that any trace of blood could be detected by the referee. Austin fearlessly stormed to the ring, his right arm heavily bandaged following a staph infection, and immediately hit his signature Lou Thesz Press and running elbow drop. Austin then clobbered Kane with the championship belt and removed a turnbuckle pad, though neither man could take advantage of the exposed bolt. Kane quickly ended Austin’s onslaught with some powerful strikes and chokes, shrugging off Austin’s blows but failing to hit the Tombstone Piledriver and being pushed outside. As they brawled around the ring, Austin bounced Kane’s face off the ring steps and the Hell in a Cell started to lower, much to J.R.’s anger. After whipping Austin into the steel steps, Kane ran him into the lowering cage and tried to crush Austin under the cell as it locked into position. Austin’s face bounced off the cage once more and J.R. quickly explained that the minor scratch on the Rattlesnake’s back wouldn’t count towards the match stipulation, allowing Kane’s decimation of the champion to continue. Austin began a comeback by ramming Kane’s head into the cell door, leading to Kane being lifted off the ground when the cage inexplicably rose! After a nasty tumble, Kane was repeatedly rammed into the security guardrail and walked up the entrance ramp, only for Austin to take an ugly back body drop to the concrete and a suplex on the rampway.

Despite a dominating performance, Kane didn’t look like a winner by the end of this mediocre match.

Kane smashed Austin’s head off a light and tossed a security railing at his head as McMahon watched anxiously from his luxury skybox. Austin brought the action back to the ring and finally bashed Kane’s head off that exposed ring bolt, choking him on the ropes and then taking him back outside to smash him over the head with an electrical fan. A touch more brawling led to Earl Hebner being taken out when Kane choke-tossed Austin at the railing. Kane then nailed his Diving Clothesline, though Austin countered a second attempt and stomped on Kane in the corner. This led to Mankind (somehow still not dead) inexplicably running in with a steel chair, though he never got a chance to use it as Austin quickly fought him off and planted him with a Stone Cold Stunner. This distraction allowed Kane to recover, though Austin booted Kane in the balls when he went for a Chokeslam and blasted him with a Stone Cold Stunner as well. J.R. just about had a coronary when the Undertaker came limping out to swing a steel chair at Mankind, but blasted Austin when Foley dodged the shot. The Undertaker clobbered Kane and Mankind and manhandled the referee back into the ring, reviving him with one of the gasoline cans, only to be smacked from behind by Kane. Austin frantically fought Kane off and damn near took his head off with a chair shot, but it was ultimately academic as Austin was bleeding profusely from the Undertaker’s chair shot! Thus, the unconscious Kane was declared the winner and a stunned, bloody Austin was left arguing with the referee. It would’ve been tough for any match to top the Hell in a Cell that preceded this one, but this match lacked a lot of energy. It told a good story of Austin being physically dominated by Kane, who clearly had the upper hand and allowed Austin to be a scrappy underdog, but there wasn’t much to this one. The ending has always irked me as it seemed like the Undertaker didn’t mean to hit Austin, yet he revived the referee to help Kane win, despite the two still attacking each other. Kane also looked pretty weak in the end as he was flat on his back when he was announced as the winner.

The Aftermath:
While many people might remember King of the Ring 1998 more for the brutal Hell in a Cell match, a greater and far less impressive footnote came out of the match as Austin confronted Kane over his tainted victory the very next night on Raw is War, challenging him to be a man and grant him a rematch. Austin won the match, regaining the championship and ending Kane’s title reign at around twenty-four hours, and all because the WWF had booked themselves into a corner with the ludicrous immolation stipulation! Still, Kane and Austin continued to feud into July, where the Undertaker and Austin defeated Kane and Mankind to become WWF Tag Team Champions. After defeating the Undertaker at SummerSlam, Austin was pinned by both Brothers of Destruction at Breakdown: In Your House, leading to the title being vacated and Austin being fired at Judgment Day: In Your House when he referred a match between the two and it ended in a no contest. This led to the infamous “Deadly Game” tournament at Survivor Series, where the Rock captured his first WWF Championship and the escalation of Austin’s war with the McMahons. As for Kane, it would take ten years for him to win another World Championship when he captured the revived Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) title at WrestleMania XXIV, and twelve years before he became a WWE Champion again, with him finally besting his brother in a heated rivalry over the World Heavyweight Championship at the 2010 Bragging Rights event.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

What did you think to Kane’s anti-climactic title win at King of the Ring 1998? Were you surprised when Kane won or did you really think he was going to set himself on fire? Do you think it was a mistake to air this match after the Hell in the Cell match? What did you think to Kane dropping the title the very next night? How are you celebrating Kane’s debut this year? What are some of your favourite matches and moments from Kane’s long and complex career? Whatever your thoughts, drop a comment below to let me know what you think about Kane, and go support me on Ko-Fi.

Wrestling Recap: Undertaker vs. Mankind (King of the Ring ’98)

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The Date: 28 June 1998
The Venue: Civic Arena; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Commentary: Jim “J.R.” Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The Referee: Tim White
The Stakes: Hell in a Cell match between heated rivals

The Build-Up:
The Undertaker had been a force of nature within the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) ever since debuting as part of the “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Team on this day at the 1990 Survivor Series. Over the years, the Deadman built up an impressive list of rivalries with some of wrestling’s most talented, and notorious, names, and one of his strangest and most bloodthirsty foes was Mick Foley. Foley, who had made a name for himself as the “King of the Deathmatch” and putting his body on the line in hardcore matches in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Cactus Jack, debuted as Mankind on 1 April 1996 and one of his first feuds was against the Undertaker. The two battled in the first-ever Boiler Room Brawl and the Undertaker’s long-time manager, Paul Bearer, even allied with Mankind back in the day, a partnership which was reignited after Kane made his dramatic debut and began targeting his older brother. Mankind became embroiled in the ongoing feud between the Undertaker and Kane, which included an on-again/off-again partnership between the Brothers of Destruction but, with Kane booked to challenge for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s WWF Championship at this same event, the Undertaker looked to end to his rivalry with Mankind in the second-ever Hell in a Cell match. The Undertaker had, of course, been involved in the first Hell in a Cell match the previous year; the structure, a wire-mesh cage with a roof and a locked door, was, at the time, regarded as the WWF’s most dangerous match ever and this match went a long way to not only cementing Foley as an absolute madman (whose career was noticeably shortened by this match) but evoking an unrivalled sense of danger surrounding the Hell in a Cell thanks to both men, but particularly Foley, putting their bodies on the line for the sake of our entertainment.

The Match:
It has to be said that there wasn’t a massive amount of build-up towards this match; instead, it was more like the WWF had pressed “Play” after pausing the Undertaker/Mankind rivalry for a while, and the main reasoning behind Foley wanting to put the Undertaker through hell was because the Deadman had attacked Paul Bearer, who was managing Kane at the time, who Mankind referred to as “Uncle Paul”. Indeed, even Foley later admitted that a big part of the reason for his ridiculous stunts in this match came because the feud didn’t have much momentum behind it and the Undertaker was currently dealing with a broken foot, so Foley was worried that the match would suffer as a result. This (and the anticipation for the main event) may explain why Mankind entered to next to no reaction from the crowd, but they soon perked up when Foley tossed a steel chair up to the roof and then clambered up the chain link wall to await the arrival of the Undertaker, which perfectly played into the mental instability of the Mankind persona as hyped up by J.R. and The King on commentary. The Undertaker received a far more rapturous response from the crowd upon the sound of his gong alone and, despite his broken foot, followed his rival up to the cell roof.

While the match started on top of the cell, it wasn’t long before Foley was crashing off (and through) the structure!

With the chain link roof buckling under their combined weight, the two exchanged blows and Mankind immediately landed chair shots to the Undertaker’s back. Looking to end his undead opponent early, Mankind prepared to deliver a suplex to the Deadman but the Undertaker fought back with his patented strikes, which knocked Foley loopy, then sent Mankind right off the roof and crashing through the announce table below! J.R.’s response summed up this heinous, absolutely insane spot perfectly: “Good God almighty! Good God almighty! They’ve killed him!” and one look at Foley’s prone body amidst the table debris makes it hard to argue with this statement! The crowd went absolutely bonkers, electrified by the unforeseen moment, and even the Undertaker later admitted that he was certain Foley was dead. If this were to happen in today’s climate, J.R. and The King’s declaration that the match was over would probably be true and this basically stopped the proceedings for about ten minutes as referees, doctors, Vince McMahon, and even hardcore legend (and Foley’s friend and mentor) Terry Funk rushed out to tend to Foley. No matter how many times you watch the replay (and it’s shown again and again to buy the guys time), it never fails to make an impact (literally and figuratively) as Foley’s body plummets right off the top and absolutely decimates the announce table. However, halfway up the entrance ramp, Mankind clambered to his feet, shoved aside the WWF personnel, and scrambled back up to the top of the cell for more! The Undertaker obliged by Chokeslamming Foley through the cell roof! Mankind landed with an almighty thud and had his face smashed by the errant steel chair, which caused a tooth to come out of his nose! This second fall was completely unexpected for everyone involved and, for the second time in the match, Foley was legitimately believed to be dead by everyone present. Terry Funk, Sergeant Slaughter, and WWF referees desperately tried to revive Foley and buy the two time to recuperate; Funk even took a Chokeslam from the Deadman that literally slammed him right out of his shoes(!) to give Foley a couple more seconds to get back in the game and, beyond all expectations, the match continued for about another ten minutes despite Mankind continually crumbling like a sack of potatoes from the Undertaker’s lightest touch. Again, this would never happen today; the match basically gets back on track, with the cage door being locked and the two continuing to fight, despite the fact that Foley is severely concussed and probably has some internal injuries.

The brutality of the match was unlike anything anyone had seen in the WWF before and cemented Foley’s legacy.

J.R. and The King continued to express shock and awe at just how physically tough and reliant Mankind was, and Foley proved to have a little fight left in him as he interrupted the Undertaker’s signature rope walk to send the Deadman crashing crotch-first to the ring ropes and then made himself a meme with his bloodied smile. Staggered, limping, and favouring his ribs, Mankind knocked the Undertaker to the outside but was in too much pain to lift the steel steps. The Undertaker, however, had no such qualms and repeatedly rammed the steel steps into Foley’s arms and head at ringside! Somehow, Mankind dodged the Undertaker’s torpedo dive through the ropes, causing the Deadman to crash head-first into the cell, and then grated the Undertaker’s already lacerated forehead against the chain link wall to really get the crimson flowing. Mankind then hit the Undertaker with a Pulling Piledriver onto the steel chair, but ‘Taker kicked out at two so Mankind delivered a leg drop onto the steel chair after laying it across the Undertaker’s bloodied face, but was again frustrated by a two count. The Undertaker then got dropped by Mankind’s signature Double-Arm DDT and Foley pulled out a bag of thumb tacks(!) and sprinkled them everywhere, much to the commentators’ shock and the crowd’s delight! Mankind delivered shots to the Undertaker’s head, sending the Deadman teetering, only to be shut down by the last reserves of the Undertaker’s strength. Mankind resorted to applying the Mandible Claw to try and cause the Undertaker to black out, which resulted in Foley clambering behind the Deadman and ultimately sealing his fate as the Undertaker staggered to his feet and dropped Mankind, back-first, right onto the thumb tacks! With dozens of the sharp pins sticking into this flesh and tattered clothes, Mankind walked right into a Chokeslam onto the tacks and, finally, mercifully, was put down with a Tombstone Piledriver. For their efforts, the crowd gave both men (but particularly Mick Foley) a standing ovation and filled the area with applause as doctors and WWF officials were finally able to attend to Foley’s battered, bloody body but, in a final show of guts and perseverance, Foley refused to be stretchered out and was instead assisted to the back by Funk and Slaughter to a standing ovation.

The Aftermath:
As impossible as it may be to believe considering the horrific abuse they suffered in this match, neither Mankind nor the Undertaker were done on this night; both men ended up interfering in the main event, which saw Kane emerge as the WWF Champion after Steve Austin got busted open, and two months later Mankind was back in a Hell in a Cell match as he faced his former partner one-on-one on an episode of Raw is War. Foley’s injuries in this match were substantial and greatly contributed to the softening of his Mankind character, who eventually became a loveable goofball and enjoyed a successful tag team run alongside The Rock before Foley was given the company’s biggest prize and, eventually, made plans for his in-ring retirement. As for the Undertaker, he shifted into the main event picture soon after, forming an alliance with Kane and targeting Steve Austin and the WWF Championship before eventually getting back into it with his brother. This wouldn’t be the last time the Undertaker and Mankind met in the ring, either; they fought on Raw is War two nights later, battled over the WWF Tag Team Championships, and were included in multi-man championship (or contender) matches throughout 1998 and 1999. While Foley would later end his lengthy and storied career in another Hell in a Cell match, this particular contest would be one of the defining moments of his career; while the actual in-ring work was somewhat pedestrian, the match impressed on sheer spectacle alone and has been evoked (for better or worse) in video packages, hype for the brutality of the match concept, and in subsequent Hell in a Cell matches.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

What did you think to the battle between Mankind and the Undertaker in Hell in a Cell? How would you rate it against their other matches and against Hell in a Cell contests? What was your reaction when Mankind went sailing off the top of the cage? Do you think the match should have ended right there, or after Foley’s second fall? How are you celebrating the Undertaker’s debut this year, what are some of your favourite matches and moments from his long and distinguished career, and what dream match would you have liked to see him involved in? Whatever your thoughts, drop a comment below and or let me know what you think about the Undertaker on my social media.