We started “Into the Vault” with WCW and WWE pay-per-views from the 90s before focusing on the New Generation and Monday Night Wars era of both companies. Now for the first time, we’re looking at the Best of the Year with 1998 as the focus.
Weakest WCW PPV of 1998: Fall Brawl ‘98 (2.09/5)
Oof…the cruiserweight, Raven’s Rules, and DDP being over couldn’t save Fall Brawl ‘98 from too many mediocre and bad bouts. WCW even put DDP in the thick of one of the biggest offenders on the card: the main event War Games match. It doesn’t help that this would be the last War Games—in this form—in WCW.
Strongest WCW PPV of 1998: SuperBrawl VIII (2.76/5)
This was such a good, chill WCW pay-per-view. There was very little on it that was just flat-out awful or horrible. Sure, there might have been some stuff that should’ve just been put on Saturday Night but nothing that would drag down the show horribly…well, Mongo vs. Davey Boy was unnecessary but beyond that, this was WCW’s best show of 1998.
They should’ve done more of this and Spring Stampede, honestly.
Weakest WWE PPV of 1998: Survivor Series 1998 (2.18/5)
The only reason this show was so weak was because of the damn “Deadly Game” tournament which WWE could’ve easily done on television. Not only could the company have done the bulk of it on television but the weaker matches would’ve been appreciated more since so many of them were TV matches.
With that said, there was a really good story told throughout the night. It’s just unfortunate that you had to sit through some truly mid matches and throwaways to pick up on the little things in the story.
Strongest WWE PPV of 1998: WrestleMania XIV (2.9/5)
This show kicked off a year of WWE putting on fairly strong events and dropping a couple of silver medal show in the mix. WrestleMania XIV featured one of the most important main events of the Attitude Era—a torch-passing of sorts—as Austin defeated HBK for the WWE Championship. We also finally got Taker vs. Kane which was decent as a match but great as a spectacle bout.
Also, we can’t forget the Tag Team title match between The New Age Outlaws and the team of Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie.
WCW Workhorse of 1998: Diamond Dallas Page
The workhorse is someone who consistently delivers near the top of the card in this case. Normally, you’d find the workhorse in the midcard but with WWE and WCW pay-per-views being as they were in the late 90s, we need the guys who make the main event and semi-main pop. Diamond Dallas Page did that for WCW in 1998. He came to work regardless of the card position or skill level of his opponent.
Will he keep it up in 1999?
WWE Workhorse of 1998: Mankind
When you look at the first half of 1998, you could see Mankind doing his thing with different opponents. He had attempts at the WWE Championship and was eventually situation in the main event by the end of 1998. However, he was at the seat closest to the exit back into the midcard. His 1999 year will be important in solidifying him as a major player.
WCW Superstar of 1998: Goldberg
What an explosive year Goldberg had! The streak continued, he picked up the World title and lost both it and his streak. Still, he was firmly in the mix of things at a high level throughout the year despite not being the most versatile as a wrestler or talker. Watching Goldberg explode up the roster on pay-per-view in the second half of 1998 was interesting to see.
WWE Superstar of 1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin
It’s a no-brainer that Austin continued to run WWE in 1998. His feud with Vince McMahon was an anchor for the company and allowed several Attitude Era superstars to get the rub by association. Except for Triple H and D-Generation X, if you name an Attitude Era main events or upper midcarder, they were involved with Austin or McMahon to some degree as allies, foes, or henchmen.
Mind you, Austin wasn’t dropping banger after banger on PPV like Mankind but most of his matches did deliver or at least advance a major story.
Best Overall PPV Performance: WWE – 0 Gold Medals, 4 Silver Medals, 8 Bronze Medals
WWE picked up a bronze medal average of 2.53 out of 5 thanks to four better-than-usual events. This is slightly better than WCW’s bronze medal average of 2.40. I mean, it’s closer to that 2.7 silver medal, anyway. WCW managed to squeeze out two silver medal shows in 1998 after putting on better quality PPVs in 1996 and 1997.
WCW’s celebrity gambit paid off as far as buy rates go but the shows don’t hold up as well as they should in part because of those celeb matches. On WWE’s end, it was steady plugging away at creating new stars for that generation crowning two of the company’s biggest stars of the era at the beginning and end of the year.
Can WWE keep the train rolling or will WCW bounce back? We kick off “Into the Vault” 1999 next week with a return to the out-of-ten format. Also, let us know if we should include ECW in the 1999 round. ECW was only done up until a certain point in 1998 but we’re up turning this into a triple threat!
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