WWF Summerslam was a 1998 professional wrestling event put on by the World Wrestling Federation. It was the 13th annual Summerslam event, the 8th event of 1998, and the 104th event overall in the alternate WWF timeline. Emanating from Madison Square Garden in New York City, the main event was a WWF title match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker. Other matches on the card included a Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Title between The Rock and Triple H, a New York Street Fight for the Tag Titles between the New Age Outlaws and the team of Jeff Jarrett & Dustin Rhodes, and a Mask vs. Title match for the Light Heavyweight Title between Chris Jericho and Juventud Guerrera.
Prelude[]
The main storyline heading into Summerslam was for the WWF title between Steve Austin and The Undertaker. They had first crossed paths at No Chance in Hell, when The Undertaker volunteered to be a Special Guest Enforcer for Austin's title match with Jeff Jarrett, in order to ensure Vince McMahon as special guest referee called the match down the middle. His presence helped keep the title on Austin. At King of the Ring, against The Undertaker's brother Kane, Austin was again in peril. This time however, Undertaker's interference inadvertantly nearly cost Austin the title. After being named #1 contender, Undertaker was ordered by Mr. McMahon to team with Austin at In Your House: Breakdown against Kane and Mankind. After the duo had won the match though, Undertaker chokeslammed Austin and signaled his intention for the title. The two then engaged in brawls in the leadup to Summerslam, with the Undertaker slowly turning heel by aligning himself with Kane (who got rid of Paul Bearer as his manager, at least temporarily), as the two brothers appeared to be united against the Rattlesnake. In addition, McMahon was eager to see the title removed from Austin, by any means necessary.
The feud between D-Generation X and The Nation of Domination reached a boiling point in the leadup to Summerslam, particularly between its respective leaders Triple H and The Rock. The D-X leader had defeated the Intercontinental Champion at King of the Ring to win the coveted tournament, however The Rock had returned the favor by defeating Triple H (in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match) the following month at Breakdown. Making things more personal was The Rock using Mark Henry to attack Triple H's valet, Chyna, sidelining her for the duration of the feud. Triple H challenged The Rock to a final encounter, this time in a Ladder Match, where hopefully their rivalry could be resolved once and for all.
The previous month had seen Jeff Jarrett's crusade against immorality in the WWF find a new ally in Dustin Rhodes, the former Goldust, who had adopted the gimmick of an evangelical preacher. Calling himself "Preacher Rhodes", Dustin and Jarrett formed a tag team that targeted some of the "purveyors of degeneracy" in the New Age Outlaws. After teaming with Dr. Death the previous month to defeat them in a 6 Man Tag (which also led to a Lion's Den match between Williams and the Outlaws partner Ken Shamrock), Jarrett and Rhodes followed that up by winning the WWF Tag Team Titles from them. An attack on the Outlaws the following week led to a rematch being made, this time as a New York City Street Fight, where there would be No Holds Barred.
Chris Jericho had regained the WWF Light Heavyweight Title from Juventud Guerrera the night following Breakdown, utilizing cheating tactics to end the luchadores title reign prematurely. Jericho then swore that he would not grant Guerrera a rematch for the title, unless he would put his mask on the line as well. With the importance of masks to the cultural heritage of Lucha Libre, the stakes of the match had thus gone beyond just the Light Heavyweight Championship.
Since departing from Sable, Marvelous Marc Mero had found a new valet in the form of Jacqueline (who had competed years earlier in the WWF as Jackie Moore). Jacqueline had immediately targeted Women's Champion Sable for the title, defeating her at In Your House Breakdown with help from Mero. This would lead to a continuation of the feud at Summerslam, as Mero teamed with Jacqueline to face Sable and a partner of her choosing in a Mixed Tag Team match.
Event[]
Coming Soon...
Results[]
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| F | "The Godfather" Kama d. Stevie Richards by Pinfall | Singles Match | 7:18 |
| 1 | The JOB Squad [Al Snow, Scorpio & Bob Holly] w/The Blue Meanie d. Jerry "The King" Lawler & Too Much [Brian Christopher & Scott "Too Hot" Taylor] by Pinfall | Six Man Tag Match | 9:08 |
| 2 | X-Pac (c) & D'Lo Brown w/Mark Henry Wrestled to a Time Limit Draw | Singles Match for the WWF Television Title | 15:00 |
| 3 | Sable & Val Venis d. Jacqueline & "Marvelous" Marc Mero by Pinfall | Mixed Tag Team Match | 8:55 |
| 4 | Chris Jericho (c) d. Juventud Guerrera by Submission | Title vs. Mask Match for the WWF Light Heavyweight Title | 12:44 |
| 5 | Ken Shamrock d. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams by Submission | Lion's Den Match | 10:33 |
| 6 | Dustin Rhodes & Jeff Jarrett (c) d. The New Age Outlaws [Road Dogg & Badd Ass Billy Gunn] by Pinfall | New York Street Fight for the WWF Tag Team Titles | 12:49 |
| 7 | Kane d. Mankind by Pinfall | Singles Match | 5:10 |
| 8 | Triple H w/Chyna d. The Rock w/Mark Henry (c) | Ladder Match for the WWF Intercontinental Title | 20:00 |
| 9 | Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) d. The Undertaker by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWF Championship | 15:01 |
Aftermath[]
With Kane & The Undertaker united, the two would continue their pursuit of Steve Austin's WWF Title, with Vince McMahon booking a Handicap Title Match the following month at In Your House End of the Line. Triple H would enter a feud with Mark Henry briefly, but the greater feud with the Nation of Domination would end, as the Nation splintered (The Rock would turn face and begin a feud with D'Lo Brown, Mark Henry would team with Brown off and on, while Kama became The Godfather and started a gimmick as a wrestling pimp.) Mankind continued to try and be associated with Vince McMahon, attempting to ingratiate himself with Vince's son Shane, leading to a brief feud between the two and Shane McMahon's first match in the WWF, as Vince "took pity" on Foley's efforts.