WWF Wrestlers Who Had a Good/Great 1998

WWF Wrestlers Who Had a Good/Great 1998
October 8, 2023
By Ryan Porzl

Back in July, I wrote an article of WWF wrestlers who had a bad 1998. However, 1998 wasn't a bad year for everyone in the Federation. Not only was 1998 a great year for the WWF, but many of their superstars had a great 1998 with some having memorable moments, others had big returns, and other rose to the next level. In this article, we'll look at ten WWF wrestlers who had a good or great 1998.

Note: I don't own any pictures, I found them on Google.

10. Bart Gunn- We'll start with an interesting one. Gunn originally enjoyed success with his three year run as part of the Smokin Gunns where he won three WWF World Tag Team Championships but after the team broke up in late 1996, Gunn would have a dry spell as he did nothing in 1997 outside of preliminary work or one of Steve Austin's many victims in the 1997 Royal Rumble. 1998 would see his fortunes begin to change. Things would pick up for Gunn when he was paired with Bob Holly as part of The New Midnight Express with Jim Cornette managing them. While the team has long been considered vastly inferior to the first three incarnations, Gunn would get success as he returned to Wrestlemania after three years where he and Holly were runners up in the Fifteen Team Battle Royal while Legion of Doom 2000 ended up winning. After that, Gunn would capture gold as he and Holly beat The Headbangers for the NWA World Tag Team Championships thus making Gunn a champion again. He did a few more PPVs including defeating The Rock n' Roll Express at In Your House: Unforgiven and then challenged The New Age Outlaws for the WWF World Tag Team Championship at King of the Ring 1998. However, it all paled compared to his summer when Gunn entered the infamous Brawl For All toughman competition and while not considered by anyone to go far, would shockingly go on to win the competition and a $75,000 prize. However, the big moment of the tournament wasn't Gunn's victory but his path to victory when he knocked out tournament favorite and WWF newcomer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams in the quarterfinals. While the BFA didn't enhance Gunn's WWF career outside of a Wrestlemania paycheck where he was knocked out by boxer Butterbean at Wrestlemania XV the following year, he did gain the attention of All Japan boss Giant Baba who brought him in due to his win over Williams given his career a new lease on life. Overall, Gunn had a more busy 1998 than 1997, won some gold, returned to Wrestlemania, won a toughman contest still talked about to this day, got a $75,000 prize, and opened the door for other opportunities in Japan. Not too shabby.

9. Big Boss Man- Boss Man is an interesting one on this list as he actually wasn't even employed by the Federation for the first nine months of the year and wouldn't return until October 1998. However, what little time he had in 1998, he made count. Boss Man entered 1998 as part of WCW where he'd had a rather lackluster four year run going through various gimmicks and not gaining much traction. By the spring of 1998, his contract would expire and the WWF expressed interest in bringing him back. Boss Man returned in October and was immediately thrusted to the upper midcard/main event where he became one of Vince McMahon's enforcers for his Corporation stable. This immediately saw him enter the Deadly Games tournament for the vacant WWF Championship at Survivor Series 1998 and while he lost to Steve Austin by DQ and then The Rock (subbing for an injured Triple H), it was still a big moment for him to interact with arguably the top two guys in the promotion. After Survivor Series, Boss Man's success would continue to grow as he reached championship status, which eluded him during his first WWF tenure. On the November 30, 1998 edition of RAW Is WAR, Boss Man would go on to defeat Mankind in a ladder match to win the WWF Hardcore Championship. Two weeks later on December 14th, Boss Man formed a team with fellow Corporation enforcer Ken Shamrock and the two would defeat The New Age Outlaws for the WWF World Tag Team Championships, thus making Boss Man a double champion. While his Hardcore Championship reign ended shortly before the year was up, Boss Man made a big splash during the end of 1998 interacting with top stars and winning gold giving him an argument for Comeback of the Year.

8. X-Pac- X-Pac's story is largely similar to Boss Man in that he entered 1998 a member of the WCW roster but eventually returned to WWF and went on to be a contender for Comeback of the Year. X-Pac began 1998 on a low note as he was recovering from a neck injury before being fired by WCW in March reportedly due to backstage issues. He returned to the WWF on the March 30, 1998 RAW Is WAR as one of the newest members of D-Generation X alongside The New Age Outlaws. While it wouldn't be until June for X-Pac to recover and return to the ring, he had some big moments during the second half of the year in solid feuds with Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett while getting wins over them at King of the Ring 1998 and Summerslam 1998, respectively. By the end of the year, he would be on fire, having a series of matches with D-Lo Brown over the European Championship which he won twice and ended the year as champion. Then he even got into the WWF Championship picture, taking part in the Deadly Games Tournament for the vacant WWF Championship at Survivor Series 1998 where he and William Regal (then Steven Regal) went to a double count out. He eventually ended his year challenging The Rock for the WWF Championship at WWF's UK Only Pay-Per-View Capital Carnage. Like Boss Man, it took X-Pac some time to get going, which is why he's low on this list, but when he got going, it was off to the races as he was another strong candidate for Comeback of the Year.

7. The New Age Outlaws- Anybody that knows 1998 knows there wasn't a hotter tag team in the WWF than The New Age Outlaws and few acts were hotter than them, period. Consisting of "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn, the team formed at the end of 1997 after a largely failing with singles runs and were largely rudderless almost the entire year. 1998 would be night and day as they showed promise at the end of 97 by winning their first tag title as a team but they went on to bigger things in 1998. The team would enter 1998 as the WWF Tag Team Champions and would go on to capture the gold two more times that year. They had memorable matches and rivalries with Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) and The Legion of Doom while joining D-Generation X which was WWF's hottest stable that year. As a testament for how important they were to the tag division in 1998, look no further than the fact they competed for the Tag Team Championships either as champions or challengers in all "Big 5" PPVs (Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, King of the Ring, Summerslam, and Survivor Series). Along with their tag team success, the team had other big moments as Billy Gunn became a record six time World Tag Team Champion and both experimented with singles competition as Road Dogg won the Hardcore Championship from Boss Man while Gunn got to team with Steve Austin in a tag team match in on an episode of RAW Is WAR. All in all, The Outlaws ruled the tag division with an iron fist in 1998 and ended the year like they were being set up for singles success in 99.

6. D-Lo Brown- Brown was someone who would take a big step in his career in 1998. A long time Nation of Domination member, Brown was someone the WWF clearly thought had potential by the end of 1997 and he would be given opportunities to take that next step in 1998. Obviously, Brown's biggest moment's in 1998 were his memorable runs as European Champion, holding the belt on two occasions that year. As if that wasn't enough, many thought Brown made the belt the most prestigious it had been up to that point despite previous champions being The British Bulldog, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Owen Hart with his gimmick being he was obsessed with the belt and acted like it was the WWF Championship, itself. As another sign the promotion saw something was the fact he won his first title from Triple H, who had just become the leader of DX and was one of WWF's projects. Outside of his big European Championship runs, Brown had a good 1998 as he competed in four of the "Big 5" PPVs with King of the Ring being the exception. He lasted over 30 minutes in the Royal Rumble, made his Wrestlemania in-ring debut at Wrestlemania XIV, and was in title matches at Summerslam 1998 and Survivor Series 1998. Brown made the most of his 1998 and his stock made huge gains compared to being another member of The Nation of Domination like he was in 1997. By the end of 1998, Brown was clearly a talent to look out for in 1999 which saw him enjoy further success.

5. Ken Shamrock- The World's Most Dangerous Man had arguably the best 1998 of any WWF wrestler who didn't win the WWF Championship. Shamrock would have a busy and successful 1998 as he competed on the "Big 5" PPVs and had some big feuds with The Rock, Owen Hart, and Mankind during the year. 1998 also saw Shamrock become a champion in the promotion. At King of the Ring 1998, Shamrock won his first honor when he defeated Jeff Jarrett in the semifinals and The Rock in the finals to win that year's King of the Ring tournament. By the fall, Shamrock then captured the Intercontinental Championship in a tournament final on the October 12th RAW after Triple H was forced to vacate due to injury. Then at the end of the year, Shamrock's stock continued to soar when he competed in the Deadly Games Tournament for the vacant WWF Championship at Survivor Series 1998 then joined Vince McMahon's Corporation stable as one of their enforcers alongside Big Boss Man, and then went on to team with Boss Man to defeat The New Age Outlaws on the December 14th RAW to win the WWF World Tag Team Championships thus ending the year as a double champion. As mentioned, Shamrock had perhaps the most successful year of any WWF Superstar who didn't win the WWF Championship as his stock grew tremendously enjoying big rivalries, title reigns, being aligned with Vince McMahon, and leaving the year with two championships. While Shamrock wasn't able to replicate the success in 1999, the sky looked to be limit at the end of 1998.

4. Kane- To say Glen Jacobs had a tough and long road to the top would be an understatement. Jacobs would begin his WWF run back in 1995 but struggled for two years largely due to lackluster gimmicks in evil dentist Issac Yankem DDS and replacing Kevin Nash as Diesel. It wouldn't be until the fall of 1997 when Jacobs would get his winning gimmick as "The Big Red Machine" Kane, the burnt half brother of The Undertaker. 1998 marked Kane's first full year and he made the most of it. He only competed in three of the "Big 5" in Wrestlemania XIV, King of the Ring 1998, and Survivor Series 1998 while making his mark at Royal Rumble 1998 and Summerslam 1998. He would interact with stars like The Undertaker, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and Vader during the year and he would taste gold for the first time as he captured the WWF World Tag Team Championship twice with Mankind in the summer and he would also win his one and only WWF Championship at King of the Ring 1998 and while the reign would last one day, it was still a big accomplishment. All in all, for a guy who struggled for years to find the winning gimmick, 1998 was the year where Glen Jacobs was off to the races.

3. Mick Foley- Now, we move on to the extremely obvious picks. With the exception of the top two on this list, Mick Foley had easily one of the most memorable years of anyone and possibly of his whole career. It seemed like all year Foley was doing something memorable or winning gold. He portrayed all three of his famous personas in Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack throughout the year as well portraying all three in the 1998 Royal Rumble match. He participated in the first ever Dumpster match at Wrestlemania XIV, defended the tag team championship in a handicap match at Summerslam 1998, made it to the final of the Deadly Games Tournament for the vacant WWF Championship at Survivor Series 1998, and of course, who could forget his legendary Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker at King of the Ring 1998? Foley would go on to main event many of the B PPVs in 1998 and interacted with top acts like Austin, Taker, Shamrock, Rock, and Vince. Foley would also capture his share of titles as well as he won the WWF World Tag Team Championships three times including once as Cactus Jack with Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) and twice as Mankind with Kane. However, the biggest moment was saved for last when Foley defeated The Rock in December 1998 to achieve a boyhood dream of becoming WWF Champion (though the title change didn't air until January 4, 1999). Foley achieved so much in 1998 that it was not only a great year but perhaps the best in his career.

2. The Rock- Since his arrival in November 1996, many pegged The Rock for superstardom. After a rocky (no pun intended) late 1996 to early 1997 and then making necessary adjustments in late 1997, Rock shot to the top and exceeded expectations in 1998. The Rock enjoyed a huge 1998 as he overthrew Faarooq as the leader (or ruler as Rock would put) of The Nation of Domination and took control of the stable himself. He entered the year as Intercontinental Champion and held the belt for the first eight months until losing it at Summerslam 1998. He was a runner up in the 1998 Royal Rumble battle royal and 1998 King of the Ring tournament. He had big rivalries with Ken Shamrock, Mankind, and Triple H. Then at the end of the year, he won the Deadly Games Tournament at Survivor Series 1998 to win the vacant WWF Championship and if that wasn't enough, he aligned with Vince McMahon, became the crown jewel of Vince's Corporation stable, and the top heel of the WWF. While he would lose the championship at the end of the year, The Rock's place was solidified and was on track for not only a big 1999 but his first Wrestlemania main event. As mentioned, many knew big things were coming for The People's Champion, but many probably didn't expect him to accomplish so much, so quickly.  

1. Steve Austin- I think we all saw this one coming. Not only did The Texas Rattlesnake have the best 1998 in the WWF, he easily had the best 1998 in all of American wrestling. 1998 saw Austin become the face of the WWF and would mostly remain that way throughout the lucrative Attitude Era. His rising popularity and feud with Vince McMahon saw the WWF rise from the ashes and end WCW's dominance over them which had been in place since June 1996. Along with the behind the scenes success, Austin would have so many achievements including winning his first two WWF Championships, a World Tag Team Championship (his third overall) with The Undertaker, his second straight Royal Rumble, and main evented his first Wrestlemania. Austin would also main event almost every PPV of 1998 including three of the "big 5" and engaged in big rivalries and matches against D-Generation X, Mick Foley, The Undertaker, Kane, and The Rock. All in all, Stone Cold's 1998 was the biggest that any wrestler had in any year in wrestling history.