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WWE recaptured that World Cup feeling in the run-up to WrestleMania XIV.
It is staggering in hindsight how quickly WWE managed to turn things around post-Montreal.
At Survivor Series on November 9, 1997, WWE owner Vince McMahon, assisted by Shawn Michaels and referee, Earl Hebner successfully screwed Bret Hart out of the WWE Championship for real.
In the immediate aftermath, McMahon and WWE were pilloried from all sides. McMahon, despite his protestations, was under no pressure to dupe Hart.
The Hitman could not legally work for WCW until December 1, 1997. He neither had the will or law behind him, to humiliate McMahon and the WWE Championship. It was never going to happen.
However, McMahon's legitimate gripe was likely that he did not like being dictated to by one of his employees when it came to his title. He had to show The Hitman and the rest of his roster who was boss.
The double cross created negative headlines across the world for WWE and fans enmity for McMahon was so great that he was forced to relinquish his announcer duties.
In an attempt to quell the backlash McMahon conducted a sit-down interview with Jim Ross, screened on the November 17, 1997, Raw, in which he attempted to paint Hart as an ingrate and himself as the champion of tradition.
The ploy backfired. McMahon was well and truly a heel in the eyes of the people. However, in a stroke of genius, he used the crowd heat to his advantage. Reinventing himself as a pompous, villainous company owner character, McMahon actively encouraged boos.
He was to have the perfect foil in Intercontinental Champion, Stone Cold Steve Austin. Stone Cold had been an anti-establishment character for over a year and stood up to McMahon on television to the delight of crowds.
Austin got over with the WWE fanbase like no one before or since and the 1998 Royal Rumble event, built around his quest to win the 'Rumble match and challenge WWE Champion, Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV pulled a huge 351,000 buys; the event's highest number since 1991. That buy rate was higher than the previous year's WrestleMania.
WWE was on the rise with Austin as it's focal point. McMahon had finally found his replacement for Hulk Hogan.
Stone Cold would go on to take WWE to greater heights than even Hogan ever accomplished.
Part 7 in this long-running series will cover 1998 into early 1999, including the first reigns of Stone Cold, Kane, The Rock and Mankind.
All previous installments in this series can be found here;
part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and part 6 cover the reigns from 1963 through to 1997.
Stone Cold Steve Austin (March 29, 1998 - June 28, 1998)
Stone Cold Steve Austin finally achieved his destiny and became WWE Champion at WrestleMania XIV and ushered in a new era of critical acclaim and incredible box office success. WrestleMania pulled a magnificent 740,000 buys; it's second best buyrate ever.
Austin's anti-authoritarian character was the perfect foil for Vince McMahon's evil Mr McMahon character.
Their feud escalated after Stone Cold won the belt. McMahon initially tried to convince Austin to "go corporate" on the April 6, RAW. In an electrifying segment, Austin adorning a blue suit appeared to be playing ball with McMahon, but in a ruse ripped off his suit and stunnered the boss.
The following week teased the first ever in-ring bout between Austin and McMahon. That episode of RAW was the first time in 83 weeks that the Red Brand defeated Nitro in the Monday Night War. The company was on fire again.
Austin's first reign saw him wrestle Mick Foley's alter ego, Dude Love, in two excellent bouts in which McMahon and his cronies used ever trick in the book to try and wrest the title from the Rattlesnake.
They failed. Austin remained champion until King of the Ring, wherein his next feud was expertly set up.
Kane (June 28, 1998 - June 28, 1998)
Kane, fresh off his feud with The Undertaker, challenged Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWE Championship in a highly entertaining First Blood battle at King of the Ring 1998.
The finish was telegraphed by a pre-match stipulation in which Kane had declared if he lost the match he would set himself on fire.
A petrol canister stood at ringside to hammer the point home. If Kane lost, he would set himself alight!
Thankfully, that traumatic occurrence did not come to pass as Kane would be victorious in the title bout.
The Undertaker interfered, seemingly in favour of Austin, buy accidentally walloped the champion with a steel chair, causing him to bleed profusely.
As per the title match stipulations, Kane was declared the winner. However, the reign would be short lived as he would drop the title to Austin the next night on RAW in another stunning battle.
Stone Cold Steve Austin (June 29, 1998 - September 27, 1998)
Stone Cold was the champion again.
His second title reign was highlighted by his feud with The Undertaker.
WWE made the curious decision to initially make Austin and The Undertaker reluctant tag team partners, which saw them team up to win the Tag Team Championships from Kane and Mankind at Fully Loaded on July 1998.
The truce between the pair was only temporary however and momentum for their title clash peaked at SummerSlam 1998 when Austin put the belt on the line versus the Deadman,
Undertaker had lost the belt to Bret Hart at the previous year's SummerSlam and was looking to regain the strap.
In truth, the bout was disappointing, due in part to a concussion that Stone Cold suffered early in the match. However, no one in WWE was complaining about the standard of the contest when the numbers rolled in.
SummerSlam pulled an enormous 700,000 buys; still a SummerSlam record and in the WWE Network era, a number that will never, ever be surpassed. They also sold out Madison Square Garden on the night.
Stone Cold's reign would only last a further month, however when Undertaker teamed up with his brother, Kane to challenge Austin for the belt at BreakDown.
Against the Brothers of Destruction, Austin would ultimately fall to defeat.
The Rock (November 15, 1998 - January 4, 1999)
WWE had been without a champion for two months by the time the 1998 Survivor Series rolled around.
The title had been held up ever since BreakDown 1998, when Stone Cold Steve Austin had been pinned simultaneously by The Undertaker and Kane after a brutal two on one beat down.
Austin was no longer champion but who was?
To resolve the controversy, Vince McMahon booked The Undertaker and Kane against each other at Judgment Day 1998 with the vacant title at stake and installed Austin as referee. However, Stone Cold would not play ball and after 17 minutes of action, he stunnered both 'Taker and Kane and declared himself the champion.
Irate, McMahon fired Austin but the Rattlesnake was re-instated by his son Shane, who also furnished Austin with a five year deal that guaranteed him another title shot.
That came in the Deadly Game tournament at Survivor Series. Stone Cold battled past The Big Boss Man in the first round and after a second round bye met Vince McMahon's preferred winner, the corporate Mankind in the first Semi-Final.
On the opposite side of the draw, fellow babyface, The Rock also defeated The Big Boss Man, then Ken Shamrock and The Undertaker via DQ.
Rock had earned rave reviews for his bouts at SummerSlam and BreakDown and had convinced WWE that he was ready for main events.
He was over like gangbusters as a face and it was a shock then when the ultimate swerve was pulled.
In an obvious homage to the 1997 Survivor Series finish, Vince McMahon once more instructed the timekeeper to ring the bell as Rock held Mankind in the sharpshooter.
With that, it was revealed that Rock had been in cahoots with the McMahon's all along and Mankind who had appeared to be the corporation's choice was nothing more than a patsy.
He would turn face immediately afterwards and challenged The Rock for the belt at Rock Bottom the following month, before earning a second rematch on the January 4, 1999 Raw.
Mankind (January 4, 1999 - January 24, 1999)
As WWE entered 1999, the WWE Championship began to change hands far more frequently. In fact, the title changed hands more time in 1999 alone as it did in the first two decades of it's existence.
This was a new era. However, WWE was doing virtually everything right.
Their competitors, WCW however were faltering badly. In fact, on the night of January 4, 1999, WCW boss, Eric Bischoff misjudged the wrestling audience's landscape.
That night's episode of Raw saw Mankind defeat The Rock to win his first WWE Championship in a super heated battle with boatloads of outside interference.
It was the highlight of Mankind's 14-year career.
WCW's attempt to rain on his parade backfired. WCW lead announcer, Tony Schiavone, under orders from Bischoff, revealed the result of the bout before it had aired, as Raw had been taped on December 29, 1998, whilst WCW Nitro was live.
However, within moments of Schiavone's announcement, 375,000 homes switched the channel from Nitro to Raw to watch Mankind's big moment.
WCW had contributed to themselves losing that week's rating war to Raw, 5.76 to 4.96.
Mankind's reign would be short lived, as he lost the title at the 1999 Royal Rumble event, just three weeks later, but nobody will ever forget the spectacle of his night of glory.
The Rock (January 24, 1999 - January 26, 1999)
It is one of the most infamous matches in WWE history.
Mankind vs The Rock in a I Quit Match, with the WWE Championship at stake. Mankind's memorable title win on the January 4, 1999 Raw had led to this highly violent re-match.
Rock was sporting a tracksuit to mask the scars from his recent Gynecomastia (male breast reduction) surgery. The match started with both men kicking and punching and referee Earl Hebner asking if either wanted to quit. Rock commandeered a microphone and began singing as the crowd lapped up his antics.
Rock introduced a ladder that both men climbed to a balcony. Rock knocked Mankind off. Mankind landed on what commentator, Michael Cole, described as the electrical circuit board. A dramatic, sparks flying explosion highlighted the spot.
From there, The Brahma Bull handcuffed Mankind and smashed him full force in the face with a steel chair, a total of 10 times. Mankind traumatised his wife and children whom he had thoughtlessly given front row tickets to.
Knowing what we know now about concussions, it seems like total lunacy for Mankind to agree to take those unprotected chair shots to the head.
Unsurprisingly, that was enough to earn Rock the win as Mankind said: "I Quit." Rock was the new WWE Champion.
However, it was revealed On RAW the next night, that Rock had paid off somebody to play a recording of Mankind saying "I Quit" in a promo. That set up another re-match between the pair at Half-Time Heat, the day after that, during half time of the Superbowl.
Rock's second WWE Championship run lasted just two days, but due to the incredible violence on show in his title winning bout, it is a reign that will never, ever be forgotten.
