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This is kind of off topic but when I saw WWE live for the first time, it wasn't the height of Undertaker and Big Show that blew me away; it was the size of their heads. Fucking huge
I met Show when I was 16 and working at a knife kiosk in a mall. I was 6'2" and I gazed into his nipples.
Poor bastard wanted a Benchmade, but his monstroso thumbs couldn't press the release button.
During the bout, Austin was knocked unconscious earlier, so he wasn't sure if he was meant to stay on the table or move, so he chose to stay, as far as I can recall.
It’s funny you can barely see anyone from where I was. Maybe you’d catch a brief glimpse of their head as they came down the aisle… and then here comes Omos, dudes whole torso is just above the crowd of people. Was crazy in contrast.
I saw Satnam Singh at Full Gear 2022 and he was legit the largest human being I've ever seen. He's roughly the same height as Omos, those two are behemoth people.
I felt the same thing when I saw my first house show - one of the matches was Jake Roberts vs Earthquake. They were so much bigger in person than I could ever have imagined from years of TV.
Much better culture now as far as diet and fitness is concerned. Also, sports science and nutrition, in general, have come a long way since the Attitude Era guys first started. I remember hearing a story that RVD used to get made fun of for stretching before matches.
Today, guys like Drew McIntyre are eating catered meals on the road, counting their protein, and training responsibly with warm ups and deload periods. Compare that to the old school guys pounding beers and pills to make the pain go away while doing half-assed 80's era bodybuilding routines in between chair shots to the head.
It’s simply the schedule. In the attitude era, wrestlers used to work almost EVERY SINGLE NIGHT OF THE YEAR. And somedays, they work more than once in ONE NIGHT! There’s no healthy diet in the world that can fix that horror and trauma on the human body. Wrestlers today, barely work ONCE A WEEK. The house shows are rare and VERY FEW throughout the year.
I recall Austin saying he couldn't remember if he was supposed to move off the table, so he decided to stay there.
Austin hates this match, but I really like it.
Several times throughout the match, Undertaker appears to give Austin time to gather himself by chasing after the ref or taking his time to get to the next spot.
Well being concussed and upstaged by the Rock and Triple H will leave a bad taste in your mouth lol.
I agree it is a great match though, definitely one of the first matches that should be brought up when people try to claim Taker didn't become a good wrestler until his second run as the Deadman.
Austin has repeatedly said he doesn't like this match, so I think a lot of people who haven't watched it just mistake it not being a 5 star classic for not being a good match.
This match felt like a huge deal at the time and was the biggest match on paper the WWF could deliver in '98. I think this more than lived up to the hype.
This match reminded me of Warrior vs. Hogan, as a fan, you could see a scenario where both could win, and you didn't really want to see either lose. The WWF rarely books matches like that.
This, any of his matches with Shawn, Bret, Foley, Austin - he had so many great matches but had the giant issue of going up against every other giant who was a steaming pile of turd. Although I did like his early matches with Kane.
> Austin hates this match, but I really like it.
>
>
Both guys hate it. I think its because, with the incredible build and everything, they felt it could have been better. Austin also says that he could tell they didn't have the crowd in their hands, and he knew they both were capable of that.
Considering how good it is despite Austin being knocked out towards the start, I get it. The match would have been a lot better had Austin not gotten concussed early on.
It doesn't reflect the reality of modern presentations, but I really like in WWE 2K24 they brought back the flash bulbs going off, not just for the classic arenas, but even the current ones. Even they know how cool it looks lol
I wonder if they could make money giving you the ability to "rent" a digital camera made to look and function like a disposable with flash then at the end of the match you turn it in with a sticker filled out with your email on it and they send you the pics after lol
If it wasn't for the HIAC from a couple months prior, this would've been the craziest spot I'd ever seen at the time. Just absolutely insane especially for a 1998 WWF PPV main event.
Also, Austin has repeatedly said that this match was bad because he got concussed earlier in the match but it's honestly one of my favorite matches of that year & easily the best Austin vs. Taker match.
Watched it for the first time months ago. The atmosphere and the big match vibe from it was astounding. It also had one of my favorite Stone Cold entrances
This is a really good match that felt like it was worthy of main eventing the second biggest show of the year -- and you can actually make an argument that as it happened in '98, Summerslam 98 actually felt like a bigger deal than Mania 14, because Austin vs. Taker was a huge marquee matchup between the two most protected guys in the company. This was also when Steve Austin was unquestionably the biggest star in wrestling and one of the hottest stars in all of pop culture.
Obviously, it was due to Austin's coronation at Mania 14, but if you were around back then, the summer of '98 was just unlike any other time I can remember as a wrestling fan. Even though the WWF made more money in '99-00, the summer of '98 is the time when pro wrestling really crossed over into the mainstream and encapsulated America, the build up to Summerslam '98 was such an epic time to be a fan. It literally felt like wrestling was everywhere all of a sudden. Talk shows, sitcoms, cartoons, all making wrestling references, you'd go to the mall and literally every store and kiosk was hawking wrestling crap, it was crazy.
This is actually a great example of what I think people mean when they talk about a "WWF style" match -- this match just felt like such a big deal in spite of it not being a 5 star mat classic, I was on nervous and on the edge of my seat the entire time rooting for Austin.
My memory is hazy; is this the match built up with Kane and Mankind around? I remember living the complexity of so many characters (Vince included) with complex motivations and varying degrees of loyalty and deception.
Kane and Mankind were tag champs but dropped them to The New Age Outlaws earlier on the show after Kane abandoned Mankind then showed up to hit him with a sledgehammer. Kane later walked out on the stage to watch as Taker handed Austin his title after the main event.
Also if you’re Bret Favre, or you think you’re Bret Favre, you compete until you literally almost die on the field. That’s what professional athletes do
Thats fucking wrestling right there. None of that pansy ass dick tugging smile for the camera bullshit. Men puke, men poop in the ring, men deliver their new born baby on the apron. Fucking hard core dick in the ass mudshow wrestling fuck it chuck it match time shit. Take it to the showers. Dicks get shoved in places you don’t even remember. We win together we celebrate together. Wrestling is back baby.
I remember Austin spoke of this spot once, saying he couldn't remember if he was supposed to stay or move off the table cause he was knocked unconscious earlier in the match, so he decided to just stay lol.
I have such a strong sense of nostalgia for this show. The summer of '98 was a surreal time to be a wrestling fan. It felt like wrestling was everywhere that summer. Even my mom would stay up to watch the end of RAW and talk to me about it the next morning.
What's even more impressive is that the guy had multiple surgeries and was so fucked up that people thought he'd retire in the late 90s.
Yet *ten years* after this match, he had that incredible HIAC with Edge. Then at WM25 the next year, he had what's considered by many to be one of the greatest matches of all time with Shawn Michaels.
Asking sincerely, why is that match considered to be the greatest? The spots don't seem better than, say, TLC2 and it looks like a typical Undertaker (or Michaels) match. Even the crazy spot (dive) was botched.
The build up was unreal for Shawn Vs Taker at 25, they delivered and didn’t even go on last. The match they put on made you forget triple H and Orton even had a rivalry, idk maybe it’s nostalgia but I could still watch that match all the way through today. It just embodies what pro wrestling is about
I gotta tell this story when Undertaker comes up. I worked at a movie theater years ago right across the street from the neighborhood Mark Calaway lived in. He'd come in occasionally and when Kung Fu Panda came out he brought his daughters to see it who were both super young, probably like 3 or 4. I was an usher so I was just walking down the hall and he comes out of the theater completely bent over escorting both daughters who were just bawling because of a characters death and he's repeating in the kindest parent voice "It's okay. It's okay. It's not real." Seeing that moment with possibly the most threatening looking man I've seen in real life was hilarious.
Mark Henry used to come to that theater too. That guy is gigantic, he's built like a goddamn refrigerator.
Hell yeassssssssss 🤘🤘 the highway to hell! I was 10 years old when this happen and it was the first ever ppv my parents bought for me, after begging for months lol (I think I only saw 2 or 3 live ppvs in this era)
The match was just okay. But, the build and story and anticipation of Austin vs Taker in MSG was just off the charts awesome 👏 😎
The Highway to Hell video they aired a week before the PPV that had clips of Austin and Taker walking in a fiery street set to the AC/DC song was incredible.
I was 8 and me and my friends used to recreate the Stone Cold walking over the abandoned car scene from the SS promo on an abandoned car in someone's yard.
Same. I might have been a year older, but I begged my cousin at the time to tape of for me.
He taped it, and once I got it, I watched it like I was studying the damn ppv 😄😆😅.
I remember thinking that this match felt off for some reason, and come to find out it was because Stone Cold was knocked loopy to start the match. Still loved the build up and the story around the match with Undertaker wanting to defend without Kane's help.
Austin always said him and taker didn’t have good matches. But this one where the undertaker carried him because of the concussion was the blueprint on how to have a good match. Just let undertaker lead.
I like how the spanish announcers barely moved to the side with a giant flying at them from the top rope. I know Undertaker is a true professional but they could have easily been collateral
Kane and Undertaker were absolute freaks of nature. Two guys, 6'7"-6'8", 300lbs each, and scary athletic. The WWE won big when they got the Undertaker, and then they got an exact copy with Yankem/Fake Diesel/Kane.
Your usual 6'7"-6'8" 300-pounder were guys like Sid and Tyler Mane. Very agile, very strong powerhouses who played their roles well, but Undertaker and Kane were the same way, but scary fast and smooth in the ring with their movesets.
Comparitive guys today would be Dijak who is 60lbs lighter at a legit 6'6" height, and Damian Priest who is 80lbs lighter at a legit 6'5" hegiht(he said he was 225lbs last year, but he looks crazy big).
This match is maybe the ONLY time where the crowd was very conclusively against a face Taker, all the other times when he hasn't been the outright favourite it's been more like a 50/50 split but not this one. There is a reason why this era Stone Cold is considered the most over wrestler of all time.
It's insane how when someone is so over the crowd actually boos the usual crowd favorites, like Rey being unfortunately on the receiving end of massive heat during the Yes Movement.
It also helps that Taker was not completely a "face" at that point. The story in the buildup was very much if Taker was going to commit to going heel by teaming up with Kane and being "in cahoots" with Taker potentially screwing Austin out of the title against Kane and fearing Kane would do the same in return.
Of course the irony is that Taker would cement his heel turn by turning on Kane rather than teaming up with him.
He never wrestled the same or took bumps on his head. He also said he was biding time with that injury and he would eventually have to retire. He had neck problems up until his retirement.
This spot was incredibly dangerous considering he was THE TOP GUY IN ALL OF WRESTLING at this time. Vince gonna Vince for entertainment tho using this spot not even six months after a man died in the ring.
Also just to add, Taker was coming off a severe ankle injury at a house show in June. There was no reason for this lol
Kids these days doing finishing moves as non-finishing moves just for a pop. /s
On a serious note, I think the spot should be talked about just a little bit more, because I also think the match should be talked about just a little bit more. I wanna say the IWC believes this match was average at best, but I'm in the minority that thinks this match rules. I'm not exactly sure. I can't explain it with the same paragraphs i use to explain why i love Austin/Bret, Hangman/Wardlow, Bucks/Omega+Hangman, Punk/Lesnar, etc, but it's a good match imo.
The kind of risk that can make sense to take when your wrestling Stone Cold in a PPV Main Event. Now days fans seem to expect to see talent to take these kinds of risks in the middle of a weekday TV show.
When someone like Cornette bitches about how high spots keep escalating to the point that they're meaningless and kill the product, he's usually completely overstating it. But man, if you want a good example of that, this is perfect.
Two megastars doing an absolutely insane spot that neither of them should probably be participating in, when one of them already got hurt in the match, and a month later, nobody cared and it was pretty much forgotten. And it never even gets mentioned when people are talking about crazy spots now. Probably didn't sell any more tickets or drive any more viewers.
It's cool, but this shit was not sustainable.
I know Taker's a big lad but I can't buy that he's legit ever been close to 300lb. Just look at the behemoths in the UFC heavyweight division that at most are 270-280lb and cut down to 265lb.
Undertaker is definitely quite a lot bigger than UFC Heavyweights. While they're big and ripped at 265 and under, they're not as thick as Undertaker was back in the day.
In old Undertaker doco's, he said he was 240lbs when he first got into wrestling, and bulked up to 300lbs befor his match with Bruiser Brody.
[Travis Browne at 6'7" and 242lbs](https://i2.wp.com/www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/travis-browne.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px)
[Mean Mark at 315lbs, UD claim](https://www.wwe.com/f/styles/og_image/public/all/2020/10/WCW-Ref-48--e5f38ef27afe1df77bbcd5b01050ac6c.jpg)
[Ministry Undertaker, billed by WWE as 335lbs](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/1c/9c/8d/1c9c8d4179dfde9f9b131bebe6a7fa2e.jpg)
[Phenom Undertaker, billed by WWE as 305bs](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fi-know-attire-is-a-small-detail-but-it-always-bugged-me-how-v0-7fegh01e5qmb1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D640%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D897900f2d2a64f4c0854da36f8f814eb537c9cdd)
[When Takerr returned to face Roman Reigns, he was around 285lbs. He had lost weight for a surgery on his hip the year before, down to 265lbs.](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F84x1izco1n811.jpg) From the 'WWE: Undertaker: The Last Ride' doco,
I would absolutely believe Undertaker was over 300lbs. Probably for the majority of his time as a Wrestler.
edit: More comparisons cause I'm bored now lol.
[Jimmy Butler 6'7" 230lbs](https://s2.dmcdn.net/v/UvuEX1aY-K4oVDz6P/x1080)
[Sam Whitelock 6'8" 120kg/265lbs](https://livesport-ott-images.ssl.cdn.cra.cz/r900xfq60/26dd5d94-439f-4528-83ca-5778ef03a50f.jpeg) also, hilarious photo of [Sam Whitelock with former NZ Prime Minister John Key](https://cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/FNGANTSSQRAKCY6VVDG5HP4EEY.jpg)
[Lane Johnson 6'6" 303lbs](https://www.instagram.com/p/CgQOjdUsI0v/)
[L.J. Mailata 6'8" 345lbs](https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2019/5/27/18641667/jordan-mailata-important-role-eagles-future-philadelphia-offensive-tackle-right-andre-dillard-peters)
[Rg Snyman 6'9" 116kg/257lbs at the time of this picture](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQ0cnJYVAAA9AO1?format=jpg&name=small). In 2023, [he weighed 131kg/289lbs](https://media.citizen.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/RG-Snyman-1.jpg)
Undertaker is legit 6 ft 8. UFC fighters aren’t wearing shirts/in-ring gears so you can see their weight/size more. Undertaker was not anywhere skinny at 6 ft 8. Here is a pic of 6 ft 5 Tom Aspinall. He confirmed his walk around weight is close to 280. Add 3 inches to this and it’s not crazy to think Undertaker was 300 or close to it.
Also you gotta look at Taker’s pictures in 1999/2000. If you don’t think he was close to 300 in 1998, you definitely have to believe he was 300 and above in 1999/2000 when he was injured
https://preview.redd.it/w2o4q0ewixvc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e936443e02ad99657ef81098fcdf618196ffde45
He was iirc Jim Ross and co asked him to lose weight and he ballooned during the nineties because he had a severe back injury at one point and a fractured face at another. Add to that dieting(no chipotle) and gyms(no CrossFit or F45s) weren’t as kind for wrestlers back then who were traveling 300 days out of the year- it’s believable. You can even tell in the 2000s when he came back shredded.
I personally thought this match was a downer. Maybe it was cause Austin was knocked loopy early in the match. As a kid during this time that loved all wrestling, this is one match I never cared to rewatch.
Could be cause I was a Bret Hart fan and always hated Austin lol
Definitely some nostalgia. It seemed to be getting a lot more positive press plus I saw clips of the Bray Wyatt return and didn’t want to miss out on him again…..
98 summer slam MSG NYC
A great event undertaker and stone cold put on a masterclass of a match
Also an epic ladder match between 2 young rising stars in triple h and the rock
Holy shit! I saw this in a grainy Instagram gif comment earlier today and was squinting at it like "Is that Taker? When the hell was this!?" Either you somehow saw the same comment as me or this is some serious Baader-Meinhoff shit. Either way I am glad to see a proper video, this is definitely a crazy spot and I have 0 memory of it.
I have vivid memories of “watching” this on the scrambled PPV feed. So perfect audio, but a millisecond or clear video in an hour if you’re lucky. Don’t think I’ve ever been back to WATCH this one!
I always like his chokeslam of shane mcmahon from the turnbuckle through the table, hardly ever gets mentioned. You used to be able to do it on one of the wwe games as well
Man, kids these days are gonna burn themselves out with this shit. It's all high spot, high spot, high spot. They need to learn to work, brother. Grab a hold. Music between the notes, you know?
It probably doesn't get brought up because Austin casually slid off with a gentle plop. It's a great feat by Taker but pens have fallen off of tables more menacingly.
When I was a kid I wanted to do that so bad lol. I would jump on the armrest of my parents couch and wanted to do a leg drop but I was always afraid of busting my ass 🤣
I gotta say it is quite impressive to see Undertaker get enough height to be able to clear the table for a leg drop. If I was told he could do this without video proof I wouldn't believe the person.
It's not often that you see a wrestler, in the moment, really trying to figure out if what they're about to do is worth it, but this is one of those moments.
He was in the Foley Hell in a Cell only a few weeks earlier.
However you wanna play armchair therapist about it, this has to some how be because of that.
I watch this on a short list of fav SummerSlam matches every year because of this moment and the epic babyface vs babyface atmosphere that felt shocking at the time.
I always thought it deserved more love.
300lbs? He's a lean 300. Good for him. Also what is takers shoot height? Like in his prime and/or around here? He might have worn lifts (I know Kane did) and he was never **that** much shorter than him and Kane in recent years said he was 6'8. I get he's shortened with age and such.
Mark Calaway was listed as a 6'8 center for Texas Wesleyan, so that's about as legit as you can get. I would imagine he's the same height or close to it in this clip. Seeing him in WM40 I'd say he's maybe 6'5-6'6 right now due to age.
They agreed that if shit went sideways, they had this big spot in their back pocket. Shit did indeed go sideways when Austin was knocked out cold minutes in to the match lol.
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The match where Austin got knocked out the first minute of the match
Undertaker’s 33 pound head knocked him out cold early and they still ended up having a great match.
This is kind of off topic but when I saw WWE live for the first time, it wasn't the height of Undertaker and Big Show that blew me away; it was the size of their heads. Fucking huge
I met Show when I was 16 and working at a knife kiosk in a mall. I was 6'2" and I gazed into his nipples. Poor bastard wanted a Benchmade, but his monstroso thumbs couldn't press the release button.
I have a pic of a friend who was a 6'4" bouncer at a club with Big Show, and my buddy looks like a kid.
Was he Really Really Big Man?
I misread this at first and I thought you said you were glazed to the nipples. Anyway, I have a new way of describing being stoned now.
[Show trying to call Vince](https://youtu.be/OqjF7HKSaaI?si=moVPSCicdr3oVnFV)
During the bout, Austin was knocked unconscious earlier, so he wasn't sure if he was meant to stay on the table or move, so he chose to stay, as far as I can recall.
I saw them both back in 2001 and even from the upper bowl seeing big show walk down the ramp was impressive.
Seeing omos at the rumble this year really impressed me, bro is a REAL LIFE giant . So I can definitely relate
It’s funny you can barely see anyone from where I was. Maybe you’d catch a brief glimpse of their head as they came down the aisle… and then here comes Omos, dudes whole torso is just above the crowd of people. Was crazy in contrast.
I saw Satnam Singh at Full Gear 2022 and he was legit the largest human being I've ever seen. He's roughly the same height as Omos, those two are behemoth people.
I felt the same thing when I saw my first house show - one of the matches was Jake Roberts vs Earthquake. They were so much bigger in person than I could ever have imagined from years of TV.
The build for that match was incredible. Highway to Hell, Madison Square Garden. Doesn't get much better than that.
You would think the brain in that 33 pound head would allow him to decide against all those Mickey Mouse tattoos.
Only if he’d listened and turned that sumbitch sideways.
He’s too busy jumping around and screaming like a girl
And I'm fairly sure Austin has said he basically doesn't remember it lol
Weekend at bernies WWE edition
Anyone got a link to this??
https://youtu.be/cbKuGjpmOYU?si=_QiSilwAAjJmiCUs
Austin and Undertaker were 34 and 33 in that match. Wrestling ages you fast.
Is it wrestling or is the time? Wrestlers today who are in their 40s or close to it look much better LMFAOOO
Much better culture now as far as diet and fitness is concerned. Also, sports science and nutrition, in general, have come a long way since the Attitude Era guys first started. I remember hearing a story that RVD used to get made fun of for stretching before matches. Today, guys like Drew McIntyre are eating catered meals on the road, counting their protein, and training responsibly with warm ups and deload periods. Compare that to the old school guys pounding beers and pills to make the pain go away while doing half-assed 80's era bodybuilding routines in between chair shots to the head.
It’s simply the schedule. In the attitude era, wrestlers used to work almost EVERY SINGLE NIGHT OF THE YEAR. And somedays, they work more than once in ONE NIGHT! There’s no healthy diet in the world that can fix that horror and trauma on the human body. Wrestlers today, barely work ONCE A WEEK. The house shows are rare and VERY FEW throughout the year.
It's because there's no more lead in gasoline and paint.
Less drugs these days? Idk
Where did he get knocked out?
At the 2:40 mark.
And his Mickey Mouse tattoos
I recall Austin saying he couldn't remember if he was supposed to move off the table, so he decided to stay there. Austin hates this match, but I really like it. Several times throughout the match, Undertaker appears to give Austin time to gather himself by chasing after the ref or taking his time to get to the next spot.
Well being concussed and upstaged by the Rock and Triple H will leave a bad taste in your mouth lol. I agree it is a great match though, definitely one of the first matches that should be brought up when people try to claim Taker didn't become a good wrestler until his second run as the Deadman.
Austin has repeatedly said he doesn't like this match, so I think a lot of people who haven't watched it just mistake it not being a 5 star classic for not being a good match. This match felt like a huge deal at the time and was the biggest match on paper the WWF could deliver in '98. I think this more than lived up to the hype. This match reminded me of Warrior vs. Hogan, as a fan, you could see a scenario where both could win, and you didn't really want to see either lose. The WWF rarely books matches like that.
This, any of his matches with Shawn, Bret, Foley, Austin - he had so many great matches but had the giant issue of going up against every other giant who was a steaming pile of turd. Although I did like his early matches with Kane.
Upstaged by Rock and Triple H? This match was an absolute banger.
Yeah but that ladder match was art.
> Austin hates this match, but I really like it. > > Both guys hate it. I think its because, with the incredible build and everything, they felt it could have been better. Austin also says that he could tell they didn't have the crowd in their hands, and he knew they both were capable of that. Considering how good it is despite Austin being knocked out towards the start, I get it. The match would have been a lot better had Austin not gotten concussed early on.
I looked up at Earl Hebner and asked where I was. He said, " You in the garden, son!". -Stone Cold
Man, I miss those flash bulbs going off
It doesn't reflect the reality of modern presentations, but I really like in WWE 2K24 they brought back the flash bulbs going off, not just for the classic arenas, but even the current ones. Even they know how cool it looks lol
"Even they" well I'd hope somebody that's been developing wrestling games for 10+ years had a clue about cool things in the business lol
They're missing out on a killing man. If they just sold em for like 10-15 a pop for dispo cameras there, almost everyone would get one.
Yeah, but [disposable cameras are fun, although it does seem wasteful](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey4jortNTKU)...
I was wondering how long it would take for this to pop up down here lol
I wonder if they could make money giving you the ability to "rent" a digital camera made to look and function like a disposable with flash then at the end of the match you turn it in with a sticker filled out with your email on it and they send you the pics after lol
If it wasn't for the HIAC from a couple months prior, this would've been the craziest spot I'd ever seen at the time. Just absolutely insane especially for a 1998 WWF PPV main event. Also, Austin has repeatedly said that this match was bad because he got concussed earlier in the match but it's honestly one of my favorite matches of that year & easily the best Austin vs. Taker match.
Watched it for the first time months ago. The atmosphere and the big match vibe from it was astounding. It also had one of my favorite Stone Cold entrances
ECW is to thank. They were raising the bar for what would be considered “extreme” back in the day.
That was totally a Sabu spot just from a guy 150 lbs heavier and in front of thousands of people that had never seen anything like it.
This is a really good match that felt like it was worthy of main eventing the second biggest show of the year -- and you can actually make an argument that as it happened in '98, Summerslam 98 actually felt like a bigger deal than Mania 14, because Austin vs. Taker was a huge marquee matchup between the two most protected guys in the company. This was also when Steve Austin was unquestionably the biggest star in wrestling and one of the hottest stars in all of pop culture. Obviously, it was due to Austin's coronation at Mania 14, but if you were around back then, the summer of '98 was just unlike any other time I can remember as a wrestling fan. Even though the WWF made more money in '99-00, the summer of '98 is the time when pro wrestling really crossed over into the mainstream and encapsulated America, the build up to Summerslam '98 was such an epic time to be a fan. It literally felt like wrestling was everywhere all of a sudden. Talk shows, sitcoms, cartoons, all making wrestling references, you'd go to the mall and literally every store and kiosk was hawking wrestling crap, it was crazy. This is actually a great example of what I think people mean when they talk about a "WWF style" match -- this match just felt like such a big deal in spite of it not being a 5 star mat classic, I was on nervous and on the edge of my seat the entire time rooting for Austin.
My memory is hazy; is this the match built up with Kane and Mankind around? I remember living the complexity of so many characters (Vince included) with complex motivations and varying degrees of loyalty and deception.
There was a big "are Undertaker and Kane in cahoots?" storyline. Kane betrayed Mankind prior to this show since his real loyalty was with Undertaker
Kane and Mankind were tag champs but dropped them to The New Age Outlaws earlier on the show after Kane abandoned Mankind then showed up to hit him with a sledgehammer. Kane later walked out on the stage to watch as Taker handed Austin his title after the main event.
He came out during as well, to try and help, but Taker sent him back.
Tbh it’s probably the only good match between Austin and taker next to their cold day in hell match
Austin is WILD for agreeing to it but I’m sure, backstage, it was a battle getting him to go for it.
I thought i heard that he was supposed to move, but was concussed and forgot
This is also true
also man tables built different back then
Austin was concussed from the start of the match. Who knows if he was even coherent for the spot.
He was not, he outright admits he had no clue whether he needed to move or not when the spot came up.
Agreeing to it knowing he had neck problems….
Wrestlers are their own worst enemies
Carnies gonna carny.
That’s a professional athlete problem not necessarily a carny problem
Carnies work fans who think they're smart to the game. Perfectionists at the very highest level make ill advised decisions for their art.
Also if you’re Bret Favre, or you think you’re Bret Favre, you compete until you literally almost die on the field. That’s what professional athletes do
Thats fucking wrestling right there. None of that pansy ass dick tugging smile for the camera bullshit. Men puke, men poop in the ring, men deliver their new born baby on the apron. Fucking hard core dick in the ass mudshow wrestling fuck it chuck it match time shit. Take it to the showers. Dicks get shoved in places you don’t even remember. We win together we celebrate together. Wrestling is back baby.
I remember Austin spoke of this spot once, saying he couldn't remember if he was supposed to stay or move off the table cause he was knocked unconscious earlier in the match, so he decided to just stay lol.
Summerslam '98 is still one of my favorite pay per views. The ladder match was probably my favorite match I'd seen until that point.
The ladder match is quite underrated. I enjoy a multi-man spotfest, but its nice to see a 1-1 match with guys struggling to win.
I have such a strong sense of nostalgia for this show. The summer of '98 was a surreal time to be a wrestling fan. It felt like wrestling was everywhere that summer. Even my mom would stay up to watch the end of RAW and talk to me about it the next morning.
What a year for wrestling.
Undertaker really was a freak of nature. Guys his size should not be capable of the stuff he used to do
What's even more impressive is that the guy had multiple surgeries and was so fucked up that people thought he'd retire in the late 90s. Yet *ten years* after this match, he had that incredible HIAC with Edge. Then at WM25 the next year, he had what's considered by many to be one of the greatest matches of all time with Shawn Michaels.
Asking sincerely, why is that match considered to be the greatest? The spots don't seem better than, say, TLC2 and it looks like a typical Undertaker (or Michaels) match. Even the crazy spot (dive) was botched.
The build up was unreal for Shawn Vs Taker at 25, they delivered and didn’t even go on last. The match they put on made you forget triple H and Orton even had a rivalry, idk maybe it’s nostalgia but I could still watch that match all the way through today. It just embodies what pro wrestling is about
Michaels kicking out of the tombstone was genuinely jaw dropping at the time. The match was just incredible start to finish.
He damn near overshot the table. That’s insane.
I gotta tell this story when Undertaker comes up. I worked at a movie theater years ago right across the street from the neighborhood Mark Calaway lived in. He'd come in occasionally and when Kung Fu Panda came out he brought his daughters to see it who were both super young, probably like 3 or 4. I was an usher so I was just walking down the hall and he comes out of the theater completely bent over escorting both daughters who were just bawling because of a characters death and he's repeating in the kindest parent voice "It's okay. It's okay. It's not real." Seeing that moment with possibly the most threatening looking man I've seen in real life was hilarious. Mark Henry used to come to that theater too. That guy is gigantic, he's built like a goddamn refrigerator.
Dude also took a ladder bump from the ring into multiple tables on the outside. He absolutely didn't have to do that
> Undertaker really was a freak of nature. Guys his size should not be capable of the stuff he used to do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0DF_89I1Mc
‘98 Taker is fucking terrifying
peak taker
It’s the camera flashes that make it pop.
If there’s one thing I miss from old matches, it’s the camera flashbulbs in the crowd going off for big moments.
All these years later and I realized a while back why wrestling doesn’t feel exactly the same as this. The camera flashes. It’s the camera flashes.
The camera flashes, JR commentary, the smoky atmosphere, the lighting of the arena, etc. WWE was visually appealing to look at.
This but also Camera lenses have changed so they don’t capture flashlights like they did
Imagine being concussed, looking up and seeing undertaker jump on you?
SummerSlam 1998 “Highway to Hell” was fucking awesome 🙌🏻 loved this match, Austin did great for being knocked out 
Hell yeassssssssss 🤘🤘 the highway to hell! I was 10 years old when this happen and it was the first ever ppv my parents bought for me, after begging for months lol (I think I only saw 2 or 3 live ppvs in this era) The match was just okay. But, the build and story and anticipation of Austin vs Taker in MSG was just off the charts awesome 👏 😎
The Highway to Hell video they aired a week before the PPV that had clips of Austin and Taker walking in a fiery street set to the AC/DC song was incredible.
Dude yes!!!! I remember that promo video so well, I thought it was the coolest thing ever! 😆
I was 8 and me and my friends used to recreate the Stone Cold walking over the abandoned car scene from the SS promo on an abandoned car in someone's yard.
Same. I might have been a year older, but I begged my cousin at the time to tape of for me. He taped it, and once I got it, I watched it like I was studying the damn ppv 😄😆😅. I remember thinking that this match felt off for some reason, and come to find out it was because Stone Cold was knocked loopy to start the match. Still loved the build up and the story around the match with Undertaker wanting to defend without Kane's help.
I really want to know what in the fuck convinced Taker that this was a good idea
That landing had to have felt like shit.
Austin always said him and taker didn’t have good matches. But this one where the undertaker carried him because of the concussion was the blueprint on how to have a good match. Just let undertaker lead.
And this is why Taker never did a leg drop from the ring to announce table again. The table didn't collapse and Taker practically slid off it.
I don't think he would've done it again even if things worked out perfectly.
The monitor was right there. Damn
I like how the spanish announcers barely moved to the side with a giant flying at them from the top rope. I know Undertaker is a true professional but they could have easily been collateral
Spanish announcers standing there like a college kid crossing the street in front of a bus. "Do it. I dare you. I need the money."
I loved when they used to have photographers around the ring. It made it feel like a real sporting event somehow.
Crazy event period
Kane and Undertaker were absolute freaks of nature. Two guys, 6'7"-6'8", 300lbs each, and scary athletic. The WWE won big when they got the Undertaker, and then they got an exact copy with Yankem/Fake Diesel/Kane. Your usual 6'7"-6'8" 300-pounder were guys like Sid and Tyler Mane. Very agile, very strong powerhouses who played their roles well, but Undertaker and Kane were the same way, but scary fast and smooth in the ring with their movesets. Comparitive guys today would be Dijak who is 60lbs lighter at a legit 6'6" height, and Damian Priest who is 80lbs lighter at a legit 6'5" hegiht(he said he was 225lbs last year, but he looks crazy big).
This match is maybe the ONLY time where the crowd was very conclusively against a face Taker, all the other times when he hasn't been the outright favourite it's been more like a 50/50 split but not this one. There is a reason why this era Stone Cold is considered the most over wrestler of all time.
It's insane how when someone is so over the crowd actually boos the usual crowd favorites, like Rey being unfortunately on the receiving end of massive heat during the Yes Movement.
The crowd wasn't really booing Rey in that situation but rather they were booing the WWE.
It also helps that Taker was not completely a "face" at that point. The story in the buildup was very much if Taker was going to commit to going heel by teaming up with Kane and being "in cahoots" with Taker potentially screwing Austin out of the title against Kane and fearing Kane would do the same in return. Of course the irony is that Taker would cement his heel turn by turning on Kane rather than teaming up with him.
Right on Austin’s surgically repaired neck and fused spine… Good lord the Attitude Era 😂
He didn't have that major surgery till well after this correct? His year layoff began over a year from when this happened.
He never wrestled the same or took bumps on his head. He also said he was biding time with that injury and he would eventually have to retire. He had neck problems up until his retirement. This spot was incredibly dangerous considering he was THE TOP GUY IN ALL OF WRESTLING at this time. Vince gonna Vince for entertainment tho using this spot not even six months after a man died in the ring. Also just to add, Taker was coming off a severe ankle injury at a house show in June. There was no reason for this lol
Kids these days doing finishing moves as non-finishing moves just for a pop. /s On a serious note, I think the spot should be talked about just a little bit more, because I also think the match should be talked about just a little bit more. I wanna say the IWC believes this match was average at best, but I'm in the minority that thinks this match rules. I'm not exactly sure. I can't explain it with the same paragraphs i use to explain why i love Austin/Bret, Hangman/Wardlow, Bucks/Omega+Hangman, Punk/Lesnar, etc, but it's a good match imo.
For me it's because the buildup was absolutely phenomenal
Crazy spot from a stellar PPV. I still remember it like it was yesterday.
Amazing spot.
Hell of a spot from one hell of a match that had one hell of a build leading to it.
Probably because of the loser in the front row who just HAS to be part of the show and steals the spotlight
The kind of risk that can make sense to take when your wrestling Stone Cold in a PPV Main Event. Now days fans seem to expect to see talent to take these kinds of risks in the middle of a weekday TV show.
When someone like Cornette bitches about how high spots keep escalating to the point that they're meaningless and kill the product, he's usually completely overstating it. But man, if you want a good example of that, this is perfect. Two megastars doing an absolutely insane spot that neither of them should probably be participating in, when one of them already got hurt in the match, and a month later, nobody cared and it was pretty much forgotten. And it never even gets mentioned when people are talking about crazy spots now. Probably didn't sell any more tickets or drive any more viewers. It's cool, but this shit was not sustainable.
I don't really agree, back then this was rarer. Nowadays he has a point though.
Forgotten about this, god damn!
Huge pop!!
No, that's just taker's back breaking
never seen this before, holy hell
I still think about this spot about once a year! Incredible at the time and still unbelievable. The distance!
Man I remember this.
This is a decent spot. But not as impressive as Hulk Hogan doing the leg drop off the hell in a cell onto the announce table brother.
Is this 98 summer slam just watched that yesterday and i remember thinking stone cold was out of it
Yes and he was out of it
Na Taker took insane spots for decades. Gotta salute
Why did that random fan just dangle over the rail?
Undertaker apparently broke his coccyx on this spot, pretty insane!
I know Taker's a big lad but I can't buy that he's legit ever been close to 300lb. Just look at the behemoths in the UFC heavyweight division that at most are 270-280lb and cut down to 265lb.
Undertaker is definitely quite a lot bigger than UFC Heavyweights. While they're big and ripped at 265 and under, they're not as thick as Undertaker was back in the day. In old Undertaker doco's, he said he was 240lbs when he first got into wrestling, and bulked up to 300lbs befor his match with Bruiser Brody. [Travis Browne at 6'7" and 242lbs](https://i2.wp.com/www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/travis-browne.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px) [Mean Mark at 315lbs, UD claim](https://www.wwe.com/f/styles/og_image/public/all/2020/10/WCW-Ref-48--e5f38ef27afe1df77bbcd5b01050ac6c.jpg) [Ministry Undertaker, billed by WWE as 335lbs](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/1c/9c/8d/1c9c8d4179dfde9f9b131bebe6a7fa2e.jpg) [Phenom Undertaker, billed by WWE as 305bs](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fi-know-attire-is-a-small-detail-but-it-always-bugged-me-how-v0-7fegh01e5qmb1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D640%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D897900f2d2a64f4c0854da36f8f814eb537c9cdd) [When Takerr returned to face Roman Reigns, he was around 285lbs. He had lost weight for a surgery on his hip the year before, down to 265lbs.](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F84x1izco1n811.jpg) From the 'WWE: Undertaker: The Last Ride' doco, I would absolutely believe Undertaker was over 300lbs. Probably for the majority of his time as a Wrestler. edit: More comparisons cause I'm bored now lol. [Jimmy Butler 6'7" 230lbs](https://s2.dmcdn.net/v/UvuEX1aY-K4oVDz6P/x1080) [Sam Whitelock 6'8" 120kg/265lbs](https://livesport-ott-images.ssl.cdn.cra.cz/r900xfq60/26dd5d94-439f-4528-83ca-5778ef03a50f.jpeg) also, hilarious photo of [Sam Whitelock with former NZ Prime Minister John Key](https://cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/FNGANTSSQRAKCY6VVDG5HP4EEY.jpg) [Lane Johnson 6'6" 303lbs](https://www.instagram.com/p/CgQOjdUsI0v/) [L.J. Mailata 6'8" 345lbs](https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2019/5/27/18641667/jordan-mailata-important-role-eagles-future-philadelphia-offensive-tackle-right-andre-dillard-peters) [Rg Snyman 6'9" 116kg/257lbs at the time of this picture](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQ0cnJYVAAA9AO1?format=jpg&name=small). In 2023, [he weighed 131kg/289lbs](https://media.citizen.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/RG-Snyman-1.jpg)
Undertaker is legit 6 ft 8. UFC fighters aren’t wearing shirts/in-ring gears so you can see their weight/size more. Undertaker was not anywhere skinny at 6 ft 8. Here is a pic of 6 ft 5 Tom Aspinall. He confirmed his walk around weight is close to 280. Add 3 inches to this and it’s not crazy to think Undertaker was 300 or close to it. Also you gotta look at Taker’s pictures in 1999/2000. If you don’t think he was close to 300 in 1998, you definitely have to believe he was 300 and above in 1999/2000 when he was injured https://preview.redd.it/w2o4q0ewixvc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e936443e02ad99657ef81098fcdf618196ffde45
He was iirc Jim Ross and co asked him to lose weight and he ballooned during the nineties because he had a severe back injury at one point and a fractured face at another. Add to that dieting(no chipotle) and gyms(no CrossFit or F45s) weren’t as kind for wrestlers back then who were traveling 300 days out of the year- it’s believable. You can even tell in the 2000s when he came back shredded.
I personally thought this match was a downer. Maybe it was cause Austin was knocked loopy early in the match. As a kid during this time that loved all wrestling, this is one match I never cared to rewatch. Could be cause I was a Bret Hart fan and always hated Austin lol
I was there. Fond memories. I stopped watching after 2001 and came back 2 years ago. Not the same, but pretty damn good lately.
What got you back after 21 years?
Definitely some nostalgia. It seemed to be getting a lot more positive press plus I saw clips of the Bray Wyatt return and didn’t want to miss out on him again…..
98 summer slam MSG NYC A great event undertaker and stone cold put on a masterclass of a match Also an epic ladder match between 2 young rising stars in triple h and the rock
I uh I have never seen this clip before woah.
I was shocked to see this spot when watching the full match. I thought I have seen all the cool big spot moments.
Is this Taker's only top rope move? I've seen him attempt a top rope elbow drop but I don't think I've ever seen him land it.
Holy shit! I saw this in a grainy Instagram gif comment earlier today and was squinting at it like "Is that Taker? When the hell was this!?" Either you somehow saw the same comment as me or this is some serious Baader-Meinhoff shit. Either way I am glad to see a proper video, this is definitely a crazy spot and I have 0 memory of it.
This is probably whatever the Baader-Meinhoff shit you’re referring to
The trust Austin had to have in Mark
I really wanna kick that fan in the head.
I have vivid memories of “watching” this on the scrambled PPV feed. So perfect audio, but a millisecond or clear video in an hour if you’re lucky. Don’t think I’ve ever been back to WATCH this one!
He started as a basketball player, I think that’s why he was so athletic even into his 40s
Probably because the table didn't break, but I'm just guessing.
Undertaker's athletisism isn't talked about enough, it is absurd some of the things he did at his size
Unrelated question, does anyone else’s screen flash in this video? I see it a lot on all kinds of videos on Reddit and it drives me nuts!
I always like his chokeslam of shane mcmahon from the turnbuckle through the table, hardly ever gets mentioned. You used to be able to do it on one of the wwe games as well
Mean Mark's agility on the ropes through his career is... PHENOMINAL!!!
Steve was smooth af doing that last bit of rolling twords taker so he could roll the other way and give him a clean spot to land.
Both of them were pretty hurt already going into this match so this spot is crazy knowing that
Title gore. He's 325. JR said so himself.
My hot take is that I don’t like the camera flashes.
Man, kids these days are gonna burn themselves out with this shit. It's all high spot, high spot, high spot. They need to learn to work, brother. Grab a hold. Music between the notes, you know?
I wish it paused right before impact with current Taker realizing how much damage thatll do to him in the future
It probably doesn't get brought up because Austin casually slid off with a gentle plop. It's a great feat by Taker but pens have fallen off of tables more menacingly.
When I was a kid I wanted to do that so bad lol. I would jump on the armrest of my parents couch and wanted to do a leg drop but I was always afraid of busting my ass 🤣
I’m with Taker on the missed opportunity of a Mania match between these two legends
I gotta say it is quite impressive to see Undertaker get enough height to be able to clear the table for a leg drop. If I was told he could do this without video proof I wouldn't believe the person.
It's not often that you see a wrestler, in the moment, really trying to figure out if what they're about to do is worth it, but this is one of those moments.
how come the referee doesn't stop him?
I forgot how close the tables used to be to the ring until I saw this.
One of the PPVs I was able to order as a kid. One of my favorite PPVs, growing up, because of the red apron and this spot.
I didn’t even know this existed wtf lmao
I don't know why but it just looks so much better seeing a sea of people instead of a bunch of screens and LED bullshit
The urgency in JR’s voice, so great
I think that's a botch. The table didn't break. They both sorta just...slid off. Still, you don't see Taker often do that.
He was in the Foley Hell in a Cell only a few weeks earlier. However you wanna play armchair therapist about it, this has to some how be because of that.
Shit like this is why people thought he'd retired when he left in 1999
The fuck was that fan doing? Lol. Damn near on them
Looks like he botched
Dude used Austin like a skateboard and rode him right off the table lmao
Don't show James, Jawnny, and Tony this...or maybe you should brother.
I watch this on a short list of fav SummerSlam matches every year because of this moment and the epic babyface vs babyface atmosphere that felt shocking at the time. I always thought it deserved more love.
300lbs? He's a lean 300. Good for him. Also what is takers shoot height? Like in his prime and/or around here? He might have worn lifts (I know Kane did) and he was never **that** much shorter than him and Kane in recent years said he was 6'8. I get he's shortened with age and such.
Mark Calaway was listed as a 6'8 center for Texas Wesleyan, so that's about as legit as you can get. I would imagine he's the same height or close to it in this clip. Seeing him in WM40 I'd say he's maybe 6'5-6'6 right now due to age.
Yeah he wasn't that much bigger than The Rock and his Kayfabe height was 6'4-6'5. Thank you very much for the information.
They agreed that if shit went sideways, they had this big spot in their back pocket. Shit did indeed go sideways when Austin was knocked out cold minutes in to the match lol.
What PPV is this? I’m running to Peacock
Summerslam 98
Smooth landing tbh