WWF Championship Tournament – 1998

All matches took place at the 1998 Survivor Series in St. Louis, MO, held November 15, 1998.

– Opening Round

– The Undertaker and Kane received a bye into the Quarter-Finals WWF Hardcore Champion Mankind pinned Duane Gill (mystery opponent) with a half nelson after a double arm DDT at the 31-second mark; prior to the bout, Vince McMahon, accompanied by the Big Bossman, Gerald Brisco, Pat Patterson, and Sgt. Slaughter, came ringside and introduced Mankind’s opponent as a former cornerstone of the WWF who had jumped to WCW and was returning from injury; during the segment, many fans chanted “HBK” in hopes it would be Shawn Michaels; Gill received pyro during his entrance, which scared him; after introducing Gill, McMahon and his officials went backstage Al Snow pinned Jeff Jarrett (w/ Debra) at 3:32 after stealing Head away from Jarrett, who attempted to use it as a weapon, and hit Jarrett in the face with it Steve Austin defeated the Big Bossman via disqualification at 3:19 when Bossman began assaulting Austin on the floor with his nightstick; after the bout, Bossman continued to attack Austin for several minutes with the weapon, both hitting him with it and choking; immediately following the match, Michael Cole interviewed Vince McMahon backstage, who had been watching the contest, with McMahon making it clear that Bossman’s actions were calculated and that Austin would have more of the same in store later in the tournament WWF European Champion X-Pac fought Stephen Regal to a double count-out at 8:10 when the two began brawling on the floor; moments later, Vince McMahon ordered Sgt. Slaughter to ringside to announce that the two would continue in a 5-minute sudden death period but X-Pac continued to walk backstage, appearing to be legitimately hurt WWF IC Champion Ken Shamrock defeated Goldust via submission with the ankle lock at 5:57 after hitting a belly to belly suplex The Rock pinned the Big Bossman (sub. for Triple H) at the 4 second mark with an inside cradle immediately after Bossman ran into the ring; prior to the bout, Triple H’s entrance video and music played but Gerald Brisco & Pat Patterson came out instead, with Brisco stating that Triple H was not here and thus would not compete and Patterson introducing Rock’s opponent as the Bossman

– Quarter-Finals

The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) pinned Kane at 7:15 with the tombstone and Bearer holding down Kane’s foot for leverage moments after Kane was distracted by Bearer on the ring apron WWF Hardcore Champion Mankind defeated Al Snow via submission with the Mandible Claw at 3:56; earlier in the match, Mankind regained possession of Mr. Socko from around Head’s forehead and briefly attacked Head The Rock pinned WWF IC Champion Ken Shamrock at 8:20 after intercepting the Big Bossman’s nightstick and hitting Shamrock with it as Bossman distracted the referee; mid-way through the bout, the Bossman came ringside in hopes of costing Rock the match

– Semi-Finals

WWF Hardcore Champion Mankind pinned Steve Austin at 10:27 after Sgt. Slaughter and Gerald Brisco interfered, with Brisco hitting Austin in the head with a steel chair as Slaughter held him; during the opening moments of the contest, Vince McMahon was wheeled out to ringside accompanied by Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, and Sgt. Slaughter; late in the bout, Austin hit the Stunner on Mankind but referee Mike Chioda was pulled to the floor, with Vince McMahon getting out of his wheelchair and knocking Chioda out cold; moments later, after hitting a second Stunner, Shane McMahon came out to take over the officiating but instead of giving Austin a 3-count, he gave him the finger; immediately after the bout, the McMahons and their cohorts ran backstage and drove out of the arena; moments later, Austin took off after them in a stolen vehicle The Rock defeated the Undertaker via disqualification at 8:23 after Kane came out and hit a chokeslam on the Rock to cost Taker the match; earlier in the contest, the Big Bossman came out to distract Rock from ringside; after the contest, Taker and Kane battled their way into the crowd

– Finals

The Rock defeated WWF Hardcore Champion Mankind at 17:15 when Vince McMahon called for the bell as Mankind was caught in Rock’s Sharpshooter, even though Mankind did not submit, moments after Rock hit the Rock Bottom and then gave the People’s Eyebrow to McMahon; prior to the bout, the McMahons and their officials were shown backstage, making it clear they had returned to the arena; early in the contest, Vince & Shane McMahon came to ringside; immediately after the bout, the McMahons presented Rock with the world title belt and all three hugged in the ring; Vince then grabbed the microphone, saying “the people screwed the people”, and said he would elaborate further the following night on Raw; moments later, a confused Mankind confronted Vince, with Rock assaulting Mankind from behind and eventually hitting the Rock Bottom; Steve Austin then appeared in the aisle before running into the ring, fighting off Rock as the McMahons ran backstage, hitting the Stunner, and tossing Rock to the floor; moments later, Austin hit the Stunner on Mankind as well; before going backstage, Austin briefly kicked and pounded on Rock on the floor