WWF Survivor Series 1998: Deadly Game Review By Simon Mulvahney
Well, here's the third in my series of four Survivor Series reviews. This time it's the 1998 edition which featured a single elimination tournament to crown a new WWF Champion. You see the championship had been vacant since September 1998 when Mr. McMahon screwed Stone Cold Steve Austin out of it a Breakdown. So after they failed to crown a new champion the next month at Judgment Day a tournament was set up and here it is...
A good video package opens the show. "Whatever it takes."
Live from St. Louis.
Your hosts are Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler.
Deadly Game-The WWF Championship Tournament: Opening Round Matches
Mankind vs. Dwayne Gill
Before the match Mr. McMahon promises the crowd a Survivor Series that they will never forget and then introduces Mankind. Now, in the weeks leading up to the event Mankind was made out to be McMahon's "chosen one" in this tournament. So he gave Mankind jobber to the starts Dwayne Gill as a mystery opponent. McMahon gives Gill a big introduction calling him "The Man, The Myth, The Legend". Mankind flips him into the ring to start the match. Mankind 
stomps Gill down, hits a double-arm ddt to get the win at 0:31. Winner: Mankind. Well it served it's purpose. 1/4*
Backstage Kevin Kelly interviews Sable who says she will win the WWF Women's Championship.
Jeff Jarrett vs. Al Snow
This is Debra's first WWF PPV appearance. They brawl on the outside to start. Back inside Al Snow hits a slingshot legdrop from the apron. Jeff Jarrett comes back with a hotshot (Stun Gun) and then knocks him down with an elbow. Jarrett hammers away in the corner but Snow turns it around and hammers on Jarrett. Snow hits a clothesline from the apron and follows it up with a neckbreaker. Snow goes up top but misses a legdrop and Jarrett gets a dropkick for two. Snow comes off the ropes with a crucifix for two. They then exchange two counts and Snow gains control. Jarrett goes for a spinebuster but Snow turns it into a ddt and gets a two. Snow hits an atomic drop but they clash heads and both men go down. Debra gets on the apron and distracts the referee. Snow grabs Jarrett's guitar and Jarrett grabs Head. Jarrett hits Snow with and goes for another shot but Snow stops him, grabs Head and whack Jarrett with it for the win 
at 3:33. Winner: Al Snow. Short, but not bad. *1/2
Dok Hendrix interviews Ken Shamrock in the WWF Superstar Line room.
Big Bossman vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
They brawl on the outside to start with Austin 
throwing Bossman into the steps. Back in Austin hammers away on Bossman and hits a Thesz press and a an elbow for two. Bossman gains control with a lowblow in the corner and then knocks Austin down. Bossman chokes Austin in the corner for a bit and knocks Austin down again with a right hand for a two count. Bossman grabs a chinlock but Austin powers out and hit the Bossman with a clothesline. Bossman regains control and gets a two. Bossman hits the chinlock, again! Austin powers out again and stomps Bossman in the corner. Bossman goes to the outside, with Austin following, and pummels him with the nightstick getting himself DQ'd at 3:20.
Winner: Stone Cold Steve Austin. Bleh. 1/4*
Backstage Michael Cole interviews Mr. McMahon. He claims "Austin's in for it" later on.
WWF European Champion X-Pac vs. Stephen Regal
I have to say that Regal's music rules. It's just so damn cool. Jerry Lawler sings along with it. Lockup to start and X-Pac hits a spinkick and a back suplex for two. X-Pac gets a couple of legdrops which get two. X-Pac goes for the broncobuster but misses and Regal knocks him down with a European uppercut for two. Regal stretches X-Pac for a bit and then knocks 
him down with another European uppercut. Regal hits a kneelift, snapmare and kneedrop. Regal throws him to the corner and charges but X-Pac reverses it into a sunset flip which Regal blocks and send X-Pac flying. Regal goes back to the stretching. X-Pac tries to power out but Regal puts a stop to that and hits a gutwrench suplex for two. Regal slaps on a headscissors for a bit. X-Pac reverses it and hammers on Regal. X-Pac sends Regal to the corner and misses another broncobuster. Didn't we see that spot earlier? Regal hits a double-arm superplex for two. X-Pac seems hurt. Regal gets another two and goes back to the stretching. X-Pac
powers out and X-Pac send Regal to the corner again. Regal regains control but gets spinkicked for two. X-Pac hits a dropkick and he finally hits a broncobuster on Regal. X-Pac hits a suplex and goes up top. Regal crotches him and he falls to the outside. Regal follows him out, X-Pac gets a suplex and they brawl on the outside until both men are counted out at 8:10. X-Pac has to be carried out after the match. Match was OK but the ending sucked. *1/2 'Cause of this Austin advances to the semi-finals.
WWF Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock vs. Goldust
Shamrock hammers Goldust to start and hits a dropkick, a scoopslam and a kneedrop. Goldust comes back but Shamrock regains control with some kicks. Goldust manages to knock Shamrock down with a clothesline and a scoopslam. Goldust hits a kneedrop and rams Shamrock into the corner. Shamrock comes back with a clothesline with knocks down Goldust and gets a two count. Shamrock lays in with the kicks and slaps on a camel clutch. Shamrock continues to kick away. 
This is pretty boring. Shamrock gets a Russian leg sweep for two and then slaps on a chinlock. Goldust fights back but misses a splash in the corner and Shamrock hammers away again. Shamrock goes for a suplex but Goldust reverses it and hit's his own suplex. Shamrock is up first though but Shamrock gets a droptoe hold. Goldust goes for a powerbomb but Shamrock punches his way out of it and gets a two. Goldust gets a bulldog and sets Shamrock up for Shattered Dreams (Golden Globes) but the referee blocks it. This allows Shamrock to get out of the corner and hit a hurricarana. Shamrock hits a belly to belly suplex and follows it with the Anklelock and Goldust taps at 5:59. Winner: Ken Shamrock. Dull Match. 1/4*
The Rock vs. Big Bossman
The Rock is supposed to face Triple H but he is still injured and The stooges (Pat Patterson & Gerald Brisco) come out, doing crotch chops all the way, when Triple H's music hits. Patterson tells 
The Rock that he will face Big Bossman instead. Bossman comes running down and The Rock catches him with a cradle as soon as he gets in the ring for the pin at 0:04. Winner: The Rock. DUD.
Deadly Game-The WWF Championship Tournament: Quarter Final Matches:
Undertaker vs. Kane
Boy this is going to be exciting. Kane is the face in this match and Undertaker the heel by the way. Anyway, Undertaker hammers on Kane in the corner to start. Jim Ross says that "this is going to be a nasty match". He's probably right you know. Kane reverses it and hits Undertaker with an ugly looking big boot. Kane clotheslines Undertaker out of the ring and he follows him out. Kane beats on Undertaker on the outside. Undertaker gains control with a hotshot on to the railing. Kane gets thrown into the steps and hammered on by Undertaker. Back in Taker knocks down Kane with a boot. Taker hammers Kane some more. Kane 
hits a powerslam but misses an elbow. Taker regain control and takes Kane down with a chopblock. Undertaker works over Kane's leg for a bit. Taker continues to work over the leg of Kane. This is so boring. I mean, could this match be any duller. Taker continues to hammer away. Kane regains control with a corner clothesline and a flying one as well. That gets a two. Kane misses a clothesline and they both go for chokeslams with Kane getting it on Undertaker. Paul Bearer distracts Kane which allows Undertaker to get the Tomestone on Kane for the pin with Bearer holding Kane's foot from outside at 7:16.
Winner: Undertaker. Deeply dull. DUD.
A promo for the The Rock's "Layin' The Smack Down!" t-shirt is shown.
Mankind vs. Al Snow
Quick note, Al Snow has his hair in bunches. Just thought I mention it. Anyway, Snow hammers away on Mankind in the corner to start. Snow chokes Mankind on the ropes and beats on him for a bit longer. Snow dropkicks Mankind to the outside. Mankind picks up a chair but Snow belts him and takes the chair for himself. Snow swings at Mankind with the chair but hits the ringpost instead. Snow continues to dominate on the outside. Mankind comes back and drops Snow on to the chair. Back in Mankind stomps on Snow and beats on him in the corner. It should also be noted that Mr. Socko is wrapped around Head. You see Mr. McMahon had stolen Socko and put it around Head in order to enrage Mankind. Mankind misses a clothesline and Snow hits an enzuigiri. Snow goes for Head but Mankind grabs it and gives Snow a suplex. Mankind notices Socko wrapped around Head and takes it off and starts to beat on Head. Yes, really! Snow regains control but Mankind manages to hit a clothesline. Snow comes back with a powerbomb for two. Mankind comes back with a double-arm ddt and Mr. Socko (Mandible Claw) finishes at 3:58. Winner: Mankind. Another short, but good, match. *1/2 
Ken Shamrock vs. The Rock
They slug it out to start. The Rock chokes Shamrock 
on the ropes. Shamrock regains control and beats on The Rock on the corner and gets a suplex for two. Shamrock continues to hammer away but Rock comes back with a clothesline and they go to the outside. Rock rams Shamrock into the announces table and spits water in his face. Rock goes to throw Shamrock in the steps but it gets reversed. Shamrock batters Rock on the outside. Back in Shamrock continues to dominate. Shamrock hits a Russian legsweep for two. Shamrock with some kneelifts manages to take down The Rock and then slaps on a chinlock. Rock battles out of it while Big Bossman comes down to ringside. Shamrock hits the chinlock again. The crowd chants "Bossman Sucks!". How right they are. Rock battles back again but Shamrock hits a hurricarana followed by a armbar into the Anklelock. Rock makes the ropes and Shamrock begins to kick the leg. They do the double K.O. spot. Rock manages to make a cover and hits a ddt. Bossman climbs on the apron, distracting the referee and Rock hits a lowblow. Rock hit a scoopslam and hits The People's Elbow for two. Rock goes for a Rock Bottom but Shamrock escapes and hits a belly-to-belly suplex.
Bossman gets on the apron and throws the nightstick into the ring. The Rock grabs it in mid-air and whacks Shamrock with it to get the pin at 8:21. Winner: The Rock. Good Match. **1/2
Backstage Michael Cole interviews Paul Bearer. He says the Undertaker will become WWF Champion.
WWF Women's Championship Match: WWF Women's Champion Jacqueline vs. Sable
Shane McMahon is the referee for this match. You see in the story line Shane had re-hired Stone Cold Steve Austin after his dad had fired Austin at Judgment Day:In Your House. For that Vince busted Shane down to the position of "lowly" referee. Anyway, Jackie jumps Sable to start the bout and then taunts her. Sable misses a clothesline but hits a kick. Sable hits the TKO but Marc Mero pulls her out of the ring. Sable kicks him in the nuts and gives him a Sablebomb (Powerbomb) on the outside. Jackie comes out after her and then throws her back into the ring. Jackie taunts Sable a bit more and chokes her on the ropes. Jackie beats on Sable in the corner with some kicks and sets her up for gets own powerbomb but Sable manages to back bodydrop Jackie instead. Jackie regains control and goes for a tornado ddt but Sable throws her off and it the Sablebomb for the pin at 3:15. Winner and NEW WWF Women's Champion: Sable. Not too bad. *
They shill the Capital Carnage, the next UK pay-per-view, and Rock Bottom: In Your House.
Deadly Game-The WWF Championship Tournament: Semi-Final Matches:
Mankind vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin hammers on Mankind in the corner to start. Austin rips at the tuxedo that Mankind is wrestling in and hits him with his own shoe. Mr. McMahon and his stooges come down to ringside. Mankind hammers on Austin on the mat for a bit. Mankind chokes Austin in the corner and gives him a running knee as well. Mankind throws Austin into the ropes but gets hit with a Thesz press, an elbow and goes for the Stone Cold Stunner but Mankind gets out the ring. The stooges try to convince Mankind to go back to ring. Austin jumps out of the ring and beats up the stooges. He goes for a piledriver on Mankind but gets back bodydropped instead. Mankind hurls Austin into the steps and then gets back into the ring. Mankind goes back to the outside and hammers on Austin some more. Austin battles back but gets rammed into the steps again. Back in Mankind gets a two. Austin comes back with right hand and then both men go down on the double clothesline. Austin hits a clothesline and then stomps on Mankind in the corner. Austin goes outside and tries to post Mankind but gets rammed into it instead. Mankind grabs a chair from outside but Austin kicks it in his face. Austin tries to jump on Mick in the ropes but misses and gets sent backwards into the chair. Mankind goes for a piledriver on the chair but gets back bodydropped onto it instead. Austin hits the Stunner
again but it only gets two as Mr. McMahon manages to get out of his wheelchair, pull the referee out of the ring and deck him with a punch. It's a miracle! Austin hits another Stunner and Shane McMahon hits the ring to make the count instead but stops at two and then flips Austin 
off with the double-bird. Austin is pissed and goes after Shane but he gets out of the ring. Mankind hits a clothesline and then Gerald Brisco nails Austin with an extremely weak looking chairshot which allows Mankind to get the pin, counted by Shane of course, at 10:29. Winner: Mankind. Now that's quality sports entertainment. ***1/4. After the match Vince, Shane and the stooges run off into car and get out of arena. However, they are quickly followed by Austin who steals a car to follow them.
Undertaker vs. The Rock
They hammer on each other to start. Rock gains control in the corner but misses a charge and Taker gains control. Taker beats on Rock on the outside for a bit. Rock battle back and throws Taker in to the rail but he comes back with a clothesline which decks The Rock. Back in Taker knocks down Rock and get a two count. Taker hammers on Rock in the corner but Rock comes back with a clothesline. Taker manage to knock Rock down with a shoulderblock and then chokes him for a bit. This is pretty dull so far. More beats ensues. Boring. Rock manages to backdrop Taker out of the ring and then slams him off the announce table. They brawl on the outside for a bit until Taker throws Rock back in the ring. Taker goes back to his punches and bores me senseless. Paul Bearer whacks Rock with his shoe from the outside. Rock makes a comeback with a Samoan drop. Big Bossman makes his way down to the ring 
proving he didn't leave with the McMahon's. Rock hits a ddt and a lowblow. Rock gets a scoopslam and then goes for the People's Elbow but it's blocked by Bossman. Taker clothesline Rock and takes a swing at the Bossman. Rock hits a clothesline and knocks him down. Rock picks him up but Taker goes for a chokeslam. Kane pops out of nowhere and hits Rock with a chokeslam of his own and the 
Undertaker is disqualified at 8:26. Winner: The Rock. Boring match with a lame finish. 1/4* After the match Taker decks the referee and then brawls into the crowd with Kane. Good riddance to the pair of them.
Backstage Michael Cole interviews Mankind. He says that he has just one more rock to climb "if you smell what the sock is cooking". After which Michael Cole pulls the most retarded looking expression ever. How can people like that guy?
WWF Tag Team Championship Match: WWF Tag Team Champions New Age Outlaws vs. Head Bangers vs. Mark Henry & D-Lo Brown
Road Dogg goes through his lame into and then Billy Gunn graces us with the only two words he knows. If you don't know them, then guess. Billy Gunn, Mosh and D-Lo Brown start things off. D-Lo hammers Billy and hits a sidekick and Mosh gets a cover for two. D-Lo and Mosh go at it and the crowd chant "D-Lo Sucks!". Mosh covers D-Lo but Billy tags in Road Dogg and he breaks the count at two. D-Lo hits a running powerbomb on Road Dogg. The Headbangers come in and nail him with a double flapjack for two. Mosh and D-Lo fight over covers on Road Dogg but they decide to double-team him instead. D-Lo tags in Mark Henry and Mosh goes to work on Henry. Mosh tags in Thrasher and he and Henry double-team Road Dogg. I sense a pattern emerging. This is kind of difficult to review. Mosh is in for the Headbangers now and D-Lo hits a top rope hurricarana on him. Mosh hits a Russian legsweep for two on D-Lo. Mosh goes to work on Road Dogg in the corner. Road Dogg manages to fight back against both guys but Henry nails him with a clothesline. D-Lo goes for a running powerbomb on Mosh but he turns it into a pinning reversal for a two count. D-Lo tags in Henry and he goes to work on Mosh. Henry hits a legdrop on Road Dogg for two. D-Lo and Mosh try for the double-team but Mosh double-crosses him for a two. Mosh tags in Thrasher who gets two on Road Dogg. Mosh tags back in. D-Lo hits a bodyslam on Mosh. Road Dogg manages to make the tag to Billy and he cleans house. We get a series of very crappy near falls until Billy Gunn nails Mosh with a piledriver for the pin at 10:12. Winners: New Age Outlaws. That was crap. 1/4*
Deadly Game-The WWF Championship Tournament: Final Match:
Mankind vs. The Rock
It should be noted the Vince and Shane McMahon haven't actually left the building. This will come into play later. They lockup to start and that goes nowhere. They lockup again but Rock manage to gain control with a right hand. Jerry Lawler pokes fun at WCW by saying that you'll see all this pay-per-view. You see WCW Halloween Havoc the month before over-ran and some distributes cut the signal early causing people to miss the main-event between Goldberg and DDP. They ending up showing the match in full the next night on Nitro. Anyway, Rock hammers Mankind into the corner and then chokes him for a bit. Mankind whips Rock to the corner but Rock some back with a clothesline which gets a two count. Rock goes back to beating Mankind in the corner again and then they head to the outside. They brawl on the outside for a bit with Mankind throwing Rock into the steps. Back in Mankind slaps on a chinlock. During this the Vince and Shane comes down to ringside. Lawler makes a reference from "Wayne's World" showing that he was dated even then. Rock manage to breakout of the chinlock with a suplex. Rock throws Mankind out of the ring and Rock gets a suplex on the outside. Rock suplex Mankind again, this time over the barrier. They brawl into the crowd for a bit before coming to ringside. Back in Rock hits a chinlock of his own. Mankind battles out of it and takes down Rock. Mankind clotheslines Rock, and himself, out of the ring and then nails him with a chairshot. Mankind picks up the steps but Rock whacks them with the chair and the fall on Mankind. He pounds the steps on top of Mankind and then, when he gets up, knocks him down with a chairshot to the head. Back in Rock gets a two. Mankind hits a lowblow to regain control and then chokes Rock on the apron. Mankind hits an elbow from the apron to the floor on The Rock. Mankind rams Rock into the announce table. They brawl on the announce table and then Mankind hits a legdrop on Rock on the table. Both men are down. Mankind gets up first and throws Rock back in the ring for a two count. Mankind hits the chinlock again. Rock fights out of it but Mankind manages to dump Rock out of the ring. Mankind brings Rock back into the ring. Mankind throws Rock into the ropes but Rock comes back with a ddt and both men go down. Back up and Rock gets tossed over the top rope to the outside. Rock props himself up against the Spanish announce table and Mankind goes for an elbow for the top to the outside. Rock moves and Mankind goes flying through the table. Rock beats on Mankind with a piece of the table. Back in Rock hits the 
People's Elbow for two. Mankind comes back with a double-arm ddt and then slaps on Socko.
The Rock manages to counter with a Rock Bottom for a two count. Then the strangest thing happens. Rock gives Vince McMahon the People's Eyebrow and then slaps a Sharpshooter on Mankind.
Vince tells the timekeeper to ring the bell and The Rock gets the victory at 17:18. Winner and NEW WWF Champion: The Rock. More quality sport entertainment there. ***1/2 
After the match Vince grabs a microphone and says that the people screwed the people and that they are all as stupid as Mankind. Vince promises to tell us more tomorrow night on Raw. Vince says that The Rock hates everyone of the people.
Poor Mankind asks Vince why he lost the match when he didn't submit and Rock nails Mankind with the WWF Championship. The heels celebrate until Stone Cold Steve Austin comes out and nail Rock and Mankind with Stone Cold Stunners.
Overall: There are two ways to look at this show. The first is that if you like wrestling then you shouldn't bother with it as most of the matches are crap. However, if storylines and general sport entertainment are more your thing then give it a look 'cause it has a strong storyline, with a satisfying payoff, throughout. My personal opinion is that although most of the wrestling suck the storyline is still great and manage to keep the card rolling along nicely. Therefore, I'll go for a mild recommendation on the basis of storylines over wrestling.
Check Out The Other Survivor Series Retro Reviews
WWF Survivor Series 1988 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1989 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1990 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1991 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1992 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1993 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1994 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1995 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1996 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1997 Review