Rock Bottom: In Your House (1998): Mankind Saves a Show That Hits Bottom

Rock Bottom opens with four wrestlers attached to some of the most aggressively 1998 character material on the roster. The Godfather and Val Venis receive the louder entrance reaction, while D-Lo Brown and Mark Henry provide the heavier offense. The match never escapes the feeling of a television opener transferred to pay-per-view.

D-Lo supplies most of the movement and lands the Sky High before missing the Lo Down. That creates the hot-tag reset, but the finishing stretch quickly shifts attention from the wrestlers to Jacqueline, Terri Runnels and the women at ringside. The distraction allows Henry to catch Venis with the splash.

Current Cagematch voting places the match at 3.51 from 50 votes, and the reported Observer rating was three-quarters of a star. The execution is mostly functional, but nothing develops long enough to feel important. WrestleFile lands at D / 4.6.

The Headbangers against The Oddities is six minutes of the audience waiting for the card to move on. Kurrgan's size creates the only obvious structure, with Mosh and Thrasher trying to survive long enough to isolate Golga. The comedy never turns into useful momentum.

A blind tag finally gives Mosh the opening for a missile dropkick while Thrasher keeps Kurrgan from breaking the pin. The finish is competent enough, but the match has spent most of its runtime proving that size alone is not a substitute for chemistry. The crowd response falls well below the surrounding Attitude Era noise.

Cagematch currently rates the match 1.47 from 52 votes, and the reported Observer rating was minus one star. That is among the harshest consensus reactions on any 1998 WWF pay-per-view card. WrestleFile lands at F / 2.4.

Steve Blackman and Owen Hart finally give Rock Bottom a match with enough time to develop. Owen's sharper wrestling and Blackman's kicks create a natural contrast, and the ten-minute runtime lets both men establish control stretches instead of sprinting toward interference. It is modest, but it feels like an actual pay-per-view match.

Owen teases the Sharpshooter while Blackman keeps answering with throws, backbreakers and increasingly aggressive counters. The best stretch comes when Blackman survives the Dragon Sleeper and eventually traps Owen in his own Sharpshooter. That reversal gives the feud a satisfying competitive beat.

The count-out finish keeps Owen protected but lowers the ceiling. He reaches the ropes, retreats to the floor and elects not to return before ten, leaving Blackman with a victory that feels more procedural than triumphant. Still, the match has enough clean wrestling to stand above most of the card.

Cagematch currently rates it 5.62 from 52 votes, and the reported Observer rating was 2.5 stars. J.D. Dunn later called it the best match on the show, an exaggeration that nevertheless reflects how low the surrounding standard is. WrestleFile lands at C / 6.3.

The Brood and The J.O.B. Squad bring six capable workers to the ring and still struggle to produce more than a competent television six-man. Christian becomes the early target before Gangrel and Edge regain control by isolating Al Snow. The match is energetic enough to avoid becoming dead space.

The final minute is the strongest portion. All six men enter, Snow uses Head during the confusion, Scorpio nearly wins and Edge launches himself outside before Christian catches Scorpio with the Impaler. The sequence gives The Brood a clean enough victory without asking the audience to remember much of the previous eight minutes.

Cagematch currently rates the match 4.64 from 49 votes, while the reported Observer rating was 1.25 stars. The talent level is higher than the result, but the match never acquires stakes beyond stable pride. WrestleFile lands at D+ / 5.3.

Goldust and Jeff Jarrett have an ordinary wrestling match wrapped inside one of the most Attitude Era stipulations imaginable. Jarrett controls with basic heel offense while Goldust keeps returning to the Shattered Dreams setup. The actual wrestling is more coherent than the promotional hook deserves.

Debra's involvement becomes the entire finish. Her attempted guitar shot misses Jarrett, she later strikes Goldust, and the original result briefly appears to favor Jarrett before Shawn Michaels overturns it because of the interference. The crowd is then asked to treat Debra stripping as the real payoff.

The reversal is convoluted but does preserve the feud's basic logic. Goldust technically wins, Jarrett avoids being pinned, and the commissioner gets another opportunity to insert himself into a match. The wrestling underneath all of that is perfectly serviceable.

Cagematch currently rates the match 5.42 from 51 votes, and the reported Observer rating was 2.5 stars. The score would be higher if the match were remembered for the work rather than the stipulation. WrestleFile lands at C- / 5.5.

The New Age Outlaws against Ken Shamrock and Big Boss Man receives sixteen minutes, the longest conventional match on the card. That sounds promising until most of the middle becomes Road Dogg being isolated while Shawn Michaels searches for ways to interfere. The length magnifies the formula rather than deepening it.

Shamrock remains the best wrestler in the match and repeatedly gives the champions something credible to fight against. Boss Man adds size and blunt offense, while Billy Gunn's eventual tag provides the burst of pace the crowd has been waiting for. The pieces are familiar but functional.

Michaels then pulls the referee from a three-count and Boss Man uses the nightstick, creating another Corporation-heavy finish on a card already full of outside involvement. Gunn survives long enough to reverse Shamrock into the winning pin. The champions escape rather than decisively outperform the challengers.

Cagematch currently rates the match 4.04 from 49 votes, while the reported Observer rating was three-quarters of a star. The live crowd helps, but sixteen minutes is far too long for the amount of fresh material available. WrestleFile lands at D+ / 5.2.

The Rock and Mankind are the one pairing on Rock Bottom that feels as though it belongs to the next chapter of WWF rather than the fading end of 1998. Mankind attacks before the formal start and immediately turns the match into a revenge fight for Survivor Series. Rock's damaged ribs give Foley a clear target and make the champion vulnerable without softening his arrogance.

Vince McMahon spends much of the match trying to weaponize the rules against Mankind. Rock is allowed liberties that would supposedly disqualify the challenger, while Shane McMahon interferes from ringside and the champion repeatedly uses the environment. The hypocrisy gives the crowd a simple reason to invest in every Mankind comeback.

The middle becomes a strong Attitude Era brawl. Rock joins commentary while Mankind recovers, Mankind launches himself over the desk, and both men use chairs and ringside objects without losing the central story. The Corporate Elbow near fall also gives Rock a clean wrestling peak before the chaos returns.

Mankind eventually locks in the Mandible Claw and renders Rock unable to continue. The apparent title victory is immediately reversed by Vince, who argues that Rock never submitted and therefore keeps the championship. It is another screwjob, but here the injustice directly fuels the rivalry that leads to Mankind's first title win on January 4.

Cagematch currently rates the match 6.73 from 96 votes, and the reported Observer rating was 3.25 stars. Retro Pro Wrestling and Kevin Pantoja both identify it as the clear reason to watch the card. WrestleFile lands at B / 7.6.

Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker enter Rock Bottom with enormous stakes and weeks of grotesque television behind them. Austin needs the victory to enter the 1999 Royal Rumble, while Undertaker has kidnapped, threatened and symbolically sacrificed him during the buildup. The match should feel like a violent conclusion to that escalation.

Instead, the Buried Alive stipulation turns the fight into a long commute between the ring and the gravesite. Austin and Undertaker brawl with chairs, railings and dirt, repeatedly dragging one another across a distance that drains urgency from each exchange. The spectacle is physically large and dramatically slow.

Austin hits a Stunner that sends Undertaker into the grave, but the match still refuses to end. He disappears, Undertaker climbs out, an explosion introduces Kane and the brothers fight until Kane finally Tombstones Undertaker back into the pit. The interference is necessary for the booking and disastrous for the pacing.

Austin then returns with a backhoe and spends an awkward amount of time arranging enough dirt to satisfy the stipulation. The visual is memorable in the abstract and clumsy in execution. By the time Austin celebrates with beer, the crowd has watched machinery do the finishing move.

Cagematch currently rates the match 4.28 from 73 votes, while the reported Observer rating was three-quarters of a star and Scott Keith went even lower. WWE's later Buried Alive history confirms the match's storyline importance, but historical importance cannot rescue twenty-one sluggish minutes. WrestleFile lands at D- / 4.2.