Austin/Taker Summerslam 98 Build: Best Ever?

[MGH]

Recently I was able to get my hands on the Raws from the Summer of 98 (god bless the internet), and it's made for some great trips down memory lane. The biggest thing that has stuck out though was just how amazing the build to Summerslam 1998 was with the Austin/Taker feud.

First thing that made it stand out as something huge was that WWE announced it 7 weeks in advance. That included another PPV being stuck in the middle. To my knowledge you never ever see that done today.

The second thing that made it so great was that looking back on it, Undertaker and Austin feuded for 7 weeks and yet never laid a finger on each other before Summerslam. It was teased quite a few times, but didn't happen. The last times they got at each other before Summerslam were at King of the Ring where Taker hit Austin with a chair, and the next night where Austin regained the title and paid Undertaker back with a Stunner.

This feud seemed to be the focal point of every major storyline on Raw, because there were any number of people at a given time being woven in and out. You had Vince McMahon who was trying to stir the pot every week asking if Taker and Kane were actually secretly working together to get the title from Austin. By the time Summerslam rolled around you had Vince continuing his conflict with Austin, having a renewed conflict with the Undertaker, and still dragging along a confused Mankind who would listen to anything Vince told him.

Not only that, but once Austin and Undertaker were forced to team up at Fully Loaded and won the tag titles from Kane and Mankind, that opened up a totally different door. For a few weeks you had the DX/Nation feud make their way in to the mix as they both got multiple shots at Austin/Taker. You even had this great main event on Raw following Kane/Mankind regaining the belts where it was the New Age Outlaws challenging and Austin/Taker were both forced to be at ringside as guest enforcers. This played right in to the Kane and Taker side of things again. Was he going to help Kane? Attack Mankind? Be totally focused on Austin? Or actually do the job he was sent to the ring to do.

For a good six weeks they played the Kane/Undertaker connection to perfection. You had the original #1 contenders match between Undertaker/Kane/Mankind to see who would go to Summerslam. Taker never showed up, and Kane beat Mankind ... only to unmask after the match to reveal himself as Undertaker. Then almost similarly to McMahon at Mania XIX, you get this great visual of Austin on commentary from just over the ring apron and when Taker unmasks Austin gets this shocked look on his face and mouths "What the hell is this?".

There was also the Raw where Undertaker came out to end the show, and he just stood in the middle of the ring with his hood up and his head down. Austin comes out to confront him and it turns out to be Kane with fake tattoos dressed as Undertaker. Austin beats Kane down and throws him in the back of a hearse that Austin had promised to send Undertaker out of the arena in. Austin goes to get in the driver's side door and it's locked. Undertaker appears in the front seat, and drives the hearse away to end the show leaving Austin stunned again.

The best have been the week prior to Summerslam though. Mankind comes out to the ring to confront Kane and Undertaker, who have finally been revealed to be on the same page. Kane and Mankind, who are still tag champions at this point, fight and Mankind ends up taking a spike Tombstone from Kane and Taker. Mankind comes back out and challenges Kane to a Hell in the Cell later on Raw. Meanwhile, Austin who is enraged to finally find Kane and Taker on the same page promises that he's going to take one of them out before the night is over.

Mankind and Kane have what was actually a very good Cell match given how short it was, and as Kane has Mankind pinned Austin shoots out from under the ring and totally annihilates Kane with a steel chair. Undertaker is outside of the Cell and can't get in so he has to watch Austin beat the the hell out of Kane. Undertaker climbs up on top and breaks through, but before he can get in to get to Kane the Cell is raised. The camera cuts to the back at the stage and McMahon is there with the controls. He's not going to let his huge draw of a Summerslam main event blow up before they get there.

Finally at the end of the night Undertaker returns to the ring with a casket to confront Austin. Before Austin can be called out, McMahon enters and demands to know whether The Undertaker is with McMahon or against him. Taker chokeslams McMahon, and it's Austin who comes out of the casket just to get in McMahon's unconscious face. Things get even more bizarre, as Kane somehow appears out of the same casket and he and Austin brawl. Austin gets out of the ring before Taker and him can fight, and as he walks up the ramp and trail of fire flares up the middle of it, signaling the end of the Highway To Hell.

The match at Summerslam is one of the show's best main events ever IMO, and totally capped off a great build with a satisfactory ending. Of course the Kane/Taker/Austin feud didn't end there, but I really think this was the peak of it all.

Plus who can forget that bitchin' hype vid?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMhZyvqzc3c&feature=related



So where do you rank this with the all time great build ups? I don't know that I'd call it the best ever, but I think it's up there with the Hogan/Andre, Rock/Austin, Macho/Hogan, and Taker/Kanes of the world as one of the all time best.

....Or do you think it totally sucked?

[britishbulldog]

I loved the angle and feel that MVP and Hardy has been built using this fued as the script. They have been going at eachother for ever and never really get at each other.

[krazysane]

I loved it. From Kane dressing up like the undertaker and with the music video for the song Highway To Hell. It was awesome. The match was alright. Even though Austin got knocked out early in the match. It screwed the match up a bit. I liked it.

[mo]

It was great, the Higway To Hell video was a classic, and the win did a lot for Austin.

And apparently it got the 11th biggest buyrate in wrestling PPV so the build up did it's job.

[BxB]

It was a great feud. I marked hard for Taker-Stone Cold as the tag champs and it's one of the things that I still remember, today. The way Kane, Vince and Mankind were involved in the storyline made it that much better.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Here's part 1 of 7 for the build of this fued.....for anyone who cares


Oh, use the links on the side for the rest.

[Cheeba]

It is definitely one of the best build-ups ever. I would say that the 16 month build up to Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan in 1996-7 was the best ever. Of course the match itself was a different story.

[MGH]

cheeba said:

It is definitely one of the best build-ups ever. I would say that the 16 month build up to Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan in 1996-7 was the best ever. Of course the match itself was a different story.

I don't know how in the world I forgot Sting/Hogan. I def. put that over this one, good as it was.

[phenomphan]

I loved this fued. Two of my favorite wrestlers ever. I remember during that summer, I was 12, and my family took a vacation to the beach. When Monday night rolled around my sister and I stayed in the hotel just to watch what was going to happen next, while everyone else was out to dinner, playing mini golf, and at the carnival. Nothing was going to stop me from seeing it. I also loved AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" being the Summerslam theme and the promo video that Austin and Taker did for it. Everytime I hear that song now I think of this fued. That's how great I thought it was.

[rubber johnny]

the sting/hogan build-up was better

but they didn't f*** up beyond belief with austin/undertaker thankfully

[imisswwf]

Best WWF ppv I ever went to.

[Deleted]

Even though I think the build-up to Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting was the best I've ever seen, I hold this in very high regard. It's simply the perfect way to build to a match.

This is something that, unfortunately, we just don't see anymore. Hype for matches like this goes all the way back to encounters like Hogan vs. Andre, where that match was teased for a long time before being booked at WrestleMania III.

These days, feuds are created and they're fighting on pay-per-view within weeks, sometimes even days. A prime example of this is the current Jericho vs. Orton feud, in which the two men are already going for the title on PPV. Why? This match could've easily been saved until the Royal Rumble ... hell, even 'Mania. It's possible, as long as the feud is kept interesting to the audience. Even though this is a time where bigger matches occur every other week, it can be done.

Building towards matches like this would require actual long-term thought and planning from the writers, though. With the current two-dimensional storylines, I don't see that happening any time soon.

[mainsupreme]

yeah they should have coach or regal or even mcmahon denying y2j of his title match.
If he lays a finger on Orton he'll get fired. y2j wins rumble, faces orton. et voila... there's a better storyline......

[Deleted]

mainsupreme said:

yeah they should have coach or regal or even mcmahon denying y2j of his title match.
If he lays a finger on Orton he'll get fired. y2j wins rumble, faces orton. et voila... there's a better storyline......

They wouldn't have even had to do that.

A storyline could've been created where Jericho wasn't a contracted employee when he returned to Raw, so he would continually interfere in Orton's matches until they had to hire him. It would be the same storyline, "saving us" from Orton and such. This would not only reintroduce him to the audience, but it gives people a reason to cheer for him, in hopes that he would get his job back so they could finally get the Orton/Jericho match.

However, once rehired, Vince tells Jericho that he would have to start from the bottom and work his way up to the top. In order to make sure Jericho doesn't succeed, an alliance would be formed with Vince, Orton and their enforcer, Umaga. Vince would use Umaga at Armageddon, where Jericho would barely come out on top.

Eventually, this would lead to Y2J securing a spot in the Royal Rumble. Obviously, Jericho would win the match - but not without interference from the already-eliminated Umaga, who bloodies Jericho as he makes his way to the ring (similar to what Triple H did to Austin at the '01 Rumble). Of course, it would all go down to WrestleMania, with the Orton vs. Jericho match for the title would finally happen and Jericho wins the belt.

[Feargus McReddit]

I have to throw in the build for Rock/Austin from Wrestlemania 17 as my personal favourite.

I know what you're thinking 'What build? There was no build!'

And that's the point.

Right before 17, Rock and Austin were the two biggest stars in the Company. This wasn't about scoring a personal grudge or dealing with any weird situations, this was a pure unadulterated dream match build for the time. At this point in time, their stars could not be bigger. Austin won the Rumble, Rock won the title and both were just on major highs.

That's why I loved it. Because when I saw the match, there was no big grudge or vendetta and noone was getting revenge over something that happened months in advance. This was the two biggest stars in probably Pro Wrestling at the time duking it out in front of almost 70,000 people.

It's what got me here and kept me here. That electricty and intensity.

[Big Daddy Bad Booking]

I pine for days like those again...

[Papa shango]

sometimes I wish they used more popular culture songs for the ppv theme songs.

[Hensley]

Hogan/Sting at Starcade

Austin/Rock at WM-17

then this one...

[SAJ Forth]

This Feud Sealed the deal for me getting Summerslam.

[somedensefish]

am90 said:

Even though I think the build-up to Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting was the best I've ever seen, I hold this in very high regard. It's simply the perfect way to build to a match.

This is something that, unfortunately, we just don't see anymore. Hype for matches like this goes all the way back to encounters like Hogan vs. Andre, where that match was teased for a long time before being booked at WrestleMania III.

These days, feuds are created and they're fighting on pay-per-view within weeks, sometimes even days. A prime example of this is the current Jericho vs. Orton feud, in which the two men are already going for the title on PPV. Why? This match could've easily been saved until the Royal Rumble ... hell, even 'Mania. It's possible, as long as the feud is kept interesting to the audience. Even though this is a time where bigger matches occur every other week, it can be done.

Building towards matches like this would require actual long-term thought and planning from the writers, though. With the current two-dimensional storylines, I don't see that happening any time soon.

I wholeheartedly agree with you, but I think you're going a little easy on today's Writer Monkeys.

I might be missing your point (pot+booze+pills) but when you say that bigger matches occur more frequently nowadays, is this in relation to the Hogan/Andre Era or the Attitude Era?

Because if you mean it as now in relation to the Attitude Era, then I think they had HUGE matches almost every week, I clearly recall 2 HIAC matches, and half-a-dozen World title changes that happened for free on RAW. I mean, great, GREAT moments in wrestling history used to happen nearly every week on free TV, and yet they were still able to craft elaborate, artful storylines like these.

So I don't think the reason for today's WWE being unable to create compelling storylines can be blamed on the business or the fans being more fast-paced. If anthing, the business, and the fan's expectations have DEcreased. Think about it, during the Attitude Era, even Stone Cold couldn't have held the title for as long as Cena did. And today, Jeff Hardy is one of the most over guys on RAW, despite not having jumped off a ladder through a table in quite some time. I remember a time where the only way Jeff could even out-pop Lita was by nearly killing himself with a ladder-table spot. I believe the real reason for WWE's current lack of compelling, long-term storylines and feuds lies squarely with the idiotic, sycophantic, failed Sitcom writers that the WWE currently employs.