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In the lead up to this year's Royal Rumble, we'll be counting down the 20 greatest moments in the history of WWE's most famous match. This list was determined by a panel that included myself, Geno Mrosko and Sean Rueter. We tried to keep it diverse, with a mix of comedy, emotion, story, and wrestling.
Mrs. Foley's baby boy finds a spectacular loophole
By January of 1998, every WWF fan had fallen hopelessly in love with Mick Foley. The groundbreaking multi-part sit-down interview between Mankind and Jim Ross in May of 1997 allowed every wrestling fan to get to know Foley and his ascent was a runaway train from there. Those interviews introduced his teenage wrestling persona, Dude Love, and also let even the most diehard wrestling fan know that Cactus Jack existed and was important.
The 1998 Royal Rumble more or less epitomized all of the best aspects of the Attitude Era, including coming down to Steve Austin vs. The Rock as the final two competitors in the match. But it all started with No. 1, Cactus Jack. He ended up facing his tag team partner, Chainsaw Charlie (also known as Terry Funk). The two hardcore icons used plunder to beat up each other, the Rock and pretty much everyone else before Charlie dumped Cactus Jack.
Halfway through the match, fans got a delightful surprise as Mankind entered at No. 16. The second face of Foley went right for Chainsaw Charlie and dumped him and his sagging pants. Mankind was eliminated by The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust after being in the match less than three minutes, but he only hit the locker room long enough to change gear.
Dude Love entered at No. 28 and ended up being one of the final four in the match, along with Faarooq, Austin and the Rock. All in all, not a bad evening for Mick Foley. Kudos to him for thoroughly fooling the athletic commissioner ... three times.
Check out some of the highlights from the 1998 Royal Rumble match in the below video: