callanvass Live from San Jose, CAAttendance 18,542Your commentators are Jim Ross & Jerry LawlerVader Vs The Artist formerly Known as Goldust (W/Luna Vachon)Vader wins with a Vader bomb. The match was mediocre, but the crowd was red hot for Vader and it showed that he was ready to be pushed as a top face. The finish was sick as well, with Vader splashing Goldust with Luna on his back.*1/2 out of 5Steve Austin arrives in his truck. He tells Michael Cole to park it, but if he scratches it, he's gonna get his ass whipped. Sunny referees a midget match. I fast forwarded.The Rock says Michael Cole is a complete idiot. Can't deny that. He comments on Bill Clinton and Paula Jones. He says when go to bed with a dog, you're gonna wake up with fleas. "Hey, don't be silly! You gotta cover it, willy" Haha! He says he wants Shamrock one on one and he'll defeat Shamrock tonight.Intercontinental TitleThe Rock (C) Vs Ken ShamrockShamrock wins the title with a belly to belly suplex, but The Rock plants brass knucks in Shamrock's tights. The Rock motions for the ref to check Shamrock. The ref sees the brass knucks and reverses the decision. Shamrock snaps on the referee. This was a fun little match. These two have always had good chemistry with each other and this match was no different. The finish protects Shamrock and keeps the feud going. Win-win.*** out of 5Tag Team TitlesThe New Age Outlaws (C) Vs The Legion of DoomLOD wins by DQ after they handcuff Hawk to the ring and do a number on Animal with a chair. This was a pretty average match. These two never had great chemistry but their feud is very important historically because it represents the downfall of LOD and the rise of The New Age Outlaws.** out of 5Steve Austin wins the rumble. This was a very good rumble. There were no huge surprises, but there was a lot of fun stuff that happened. Mick Foley and Terry Funk beating each other senseless at the start was fun, as well as putting a garbage can on The Rock and beating him up. Foley coming out as all three characters is legendary and something you'll never forget. Owen Hart got a monstrous pop coming out and the crowd loved him. The Rock looked like a star, staying in there for almost 60 minutes. And last but certainly not least, The ol' Rattlesnake was epic as well. They strapped the rocket to his back and he took WWE to new heights. They did a great job of giving you doubts as to whether Austin was attacked backstage by not having somebody come out to their number. The crowd sensed it too. When Austin's music hit, the crowd erupted. Austin and The Rock being the final two at the end was only fitting. I can't forget the added tension between Rock and Farooq either. Overall, just a really fun rumble.Mike Tyson is elated that Austin won the rumble. He calls him "Cold stone" See, Santino Marella wasn't the first to do it.WWF Championship (Casket Match)Shawn Michaels (C) Vs The UndertakerHBK wins after Kane turns on The Undertaker. Kane lights the casket on fire while The Undertaker is in it.This is a fantastic match between these two, what else is new? It's exciting with many big spots and brilliant storytelling through Shawn's resiliency and Taker's relentless strikes. The ending is a classic, setting up Kane vs Undertaker at Wrestlemania. This is a very underrated match that doesn't get enough love.This PPV is a MUST see. It fires on all cylinders. The WWF was in excellent shape going forward and WCW was slowly starting to fade. The tide was turning and this PPV is a big reason why.9/10

bh_tafe3 1998 was a new year in the WWE and they wasted no time setting their agenda for th next twelve months with Vince McMahon announcing that Stone Cold Steve Austin, ruffian that he was, would not make a responsible champion for the WWE and that he would be a marked man in the Royal Rumble match.In other matters Ken Shamrock, after getting screwed out of the WWE Championship at In Your House: D-Generation X was now setting his sights on The Rock's Intercontinental belt, while the WWE Champion Shawn Michaels was going to have his own problems taking on the Undertaker in a casket match.The night started off though with a throwaway opener which saw Vader defeat Goldust despite the interference of Luna Vachon. Vader delivered the Vader bomb on Goldust, prompting Luna to jump on his back. Vader simply threw her off and pinned Goldust.Next match saw much hollering at the start as Sunny came to the ring in a referee's shirt to officiate the six man midget tag match won by the team of Max Mini, Nova and Mosaic over Battalion, Tarantula and El Torito. Like most midget matches this one was quick and repetitive, so it loses more appeal as it goes along. Average overall.The next match saw Ken Shamrock defeat the Rock after the Rock had knocked him out with some brass knucks. Unfortunately for Shamrock the Rock had hidden the knucks in his trunks. The referee found the knucks and disqualified Shamrock meaning the Rock got the win and kept the intercontinental Championship. This was a fun little match. Shamrock was not a terrible wrestler, but never quite seemed to fully adjust from MMA.Next up came a pretty bad tag match with WWE Tag team CHampions The New Age Outlaws (The bad Ass Billy Gunn and the Road Dogg Jesse James) putting their belts on the line against the Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) Hawk was handcuffed to the outside of the ring by the Outlaws., but the Animal was able to powerbomb Gunn and looked likely to get the win before his pin attempt was broken up by a chair shot from Road Dogg. The Outlaws retained their titles but didn't have much to be proud of. Even though this was bad match, it did a nice job of telling a story and got you to actually want to see someone beat the Outlaws for those damned belts.Next came the Royal Rumble match. The Rock came in at 4 and lasted the longest. Along with his faction the Nation of Domination led by Farooq, Rock dominated the Rumble until Steve Austin came to the ring as entrant 24. Still though the final four saw Nation team mates Farooq and the Rock remaining with Steve Austin and Dude Love. Dude Love was actually the third character Foley had appeared as in this Rumble match. He had started the rumble against Chainsaw Charlie as Cactus Jack before being eliminated and returning as Mankind, which again saw him eliminated. Dude Love quickly made his exit then it was Farooq and the Rock pounding on Austin, until that is The Rock turned on Farooq and eliminated his leader. Austin then took control, hitting the stone cold stunner and throwing the Rock over the top rope to win the match and a title shot at Wrestlemania. His final tally was 7 eliminations. His victory sparked the first of many occasions that JR screamed out "Stone Cold!!! Stone Cold!!!" on commentary. Watching on approvingly from a corporate box was former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, apparently a Stone Cold fan.This brings us to the main event, a casket match for the WWE Championship with Shawn Michaels defeating the Undertaker following interference first from hi D-Geberation X cronies and then from his brother Kane. Kane was not stopping there though. He locked Undertaker into the casket and then wheeled it up the ramp, poured some gasoline on top and set it on fire. The Tomb was then opened revealing only ashes on the bottom. Undertaker's voice came over the titantron and said he would never "rest in peace." This had been a good match, but had lasting repercussions. In what looked like an innocuous incident, Michaels had hit the middle of his back on top of the coffin after being thrown over the top rope. The blow actually was a serious one and just months later forced his retirement from professional wrestling.So there you go. 1998 Royal Rumble, like many PPvs of the next two years did nothing special in the ring, but the show told a story, the two big matches were good enough and it is well worth a look more than a decade later.

MisterWhiplash Royal Rumble is a great event in the WWF, and in 1998 it was better than ever. This time, Stone Cold Steve Austin defied the odds and won the coveted Royal Rumble to face Shawn Michaels in his final match 2 months later. Mike Tyson also makes a funny cameo as himself (which leads up to him at Wrestlemania XIV). Entertaining and satisfying, with the Rock as Rocky Maivia. A+

Andrew Benjamin This is a great video. I mean you have many great matches including the royal rumble itself. There is also a midget match with the legendary Max Mini. This is a must see for any wrestling fan preferably WWF.