On our tour of Wrestlemania on the 4s we stop at Wrestlemania XIV from Boston, MA on March 29th, 1998. With Monday Night Wars in full swing the WWF needed to have a big push. They were in the midst of a weekly losing streak in the ratings. Wrestlemania needed some star power and it go it with Iron Mike Tyson. He was brought on a special guest enforcer for the World Title match between Shawn Michaels (Champ) and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
After the 1996 everybody knew Steve Austin would be world champ one day. After winning the 1998 Royal Rumble, Austin had his shot on the biggest stage. Shawn Michaels and DX were on fire and the addition of Mike Tyson was box office magic. Tyson was the baddest man on the planet and appeared to be aligned with DX, while Austin was seen as the tough man that wrestling has seen in a long time.
The show had a decent undercard to build off of. The event opens up with a tag team battle royal that will determine a new #1 contender for the WWF Tag Titles. The Nation of Domination had 2 teams representing them in the battle royal. The surprise team that entered the battle royal was LOD managed by Sunny. They ended up winning the match by eliminating The New Midnight Express.
Other highlights from the show included Triple H defending the European Championship against Owen Hart. At this time, he was rolling with Chyna who had to be handcuffed to then Commissioner Sgt Slaughter. Despite their brass’s best efforts Chyna still got involved and the belt stayed with Triple H.
The most bizarre match of the night featured Marc Mero and Sable taking on Luna Vachon and Goldust. On initial revisiting of this match I thought it was a bad idea but after watching the fans response to Sable let me know this was a money idea at the time.
Ken Shamrock defeated The Rock for the Intercontinental Championship until he didn’t. After snapping at the end of the match the referee reversed his original decision. The show also features a Dumpster Match for the Tag Team titles between the New Aged Outlaws who faced Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk). The last 4 matches of this show help change the WWF and set them up going forward.
The most theatric moment of the night had to come from Kane vs The Undertaker. Kane recently debuted in the WWF as the Undertaker’s little brother whom he thought had perished in a fire that killed his parents. The company was daring with their stories at the time and took well beyond wrestling to Hollywood movie level. The lightning bolts and pyro showed that there was no expense to big on the special effects. What made it all work was two performers who could make you believe in a little supernatural.
The show ends with the match we talked about in the beginning. This was Shawn Michaels last match for over 4 years as we thought his in-ring career was done after this match. The star power of Mike Tyson being added didn’t disappoint with 2 great in ring performers. This show was definitely worth the trip to the vault.
Written By
Keith B. Holt
Follow on Twitter @Kholtjr
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