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Why didn't The Rock win the KOTR in 1998?

3K views 18 replies 16 participants last post by  yeahbaby! 
#1 ·
That's something that I always wondered. Shamrock was given a slight push with the IC title at the Tag Team titles with the Bossman, but The Rock was pushed right to the moon after the Summer of 1998. Were they planning on having Shamrock win the title or something?
 
#3 ·
Did it have to do with Austin? It seems to me like The Rock was being groomed even by June 1998 to be the next WWF Champion and face Austin at Wrestlemania 15.

The storyline was a no brainer at that point with Vince screwing Austin out of the title and him winning it back at WM 15 that year (for money purposes) Taker and Austin was already the Summerslam main event (obviously set into place that night) and the Taker Austin rematch would have been stale by WM 15. There really was no other option other than The Rock.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Had nothing to do with Austin.

Rock didn't need to win the King Of The Ring, he was IC Champion and went on to be a mega star anyway. It's easy to say in hindsight that Rock should've won the 1998 KOTR but at the time they wanted to push Ken Shamrock as the next main eventer. Rock already had the IC Title, Shamrock winning the KOTR and beating Rock in the Finals made the two look even.
 
#7 ·
Rock had the IC belt and didn't need another prop. If he dropped the IC belt to Shamrock at WM 14 then that's a prop Rock needs but being IC champ and KITR winner at the same time isn't using your resources correctly. They were still pushing Shamrock as a top contender so he really made the most sense there.

To blame it on Austin is laughable. At this point in time if Austin wanted to reject Rock's push he could of and even Rock has acknowledged that. Rock isn't corporate champ and Austin's primary rival if Austin had a beef with him. There was no backstage rivalry between them though. Austin thought very highly of Rock and vice versa it's just at some point in time 2 lions are going to fight over meals.
 
#8 ·
Shamrock needed it. Rock had the IC title. It was the right decision.

Rock wasn't destined for main event by KOTR. He was still hated by the fans, and Shamrock was still super popular. Rock was also kayfabe weaker than Shamrock. Rock's big run and popularity didn't start until the Summerslam match with HHH, Shamrock didn't do shit after KOTR and faltered. And so the rest is history.

Never heard of Austin having to do with him losing.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I disagree with this. It was really around KOTR 98 when the fans started turning for the rock little by little. It just got MAJORLY intensified surprisingly over 1 week between September 14th and 21st 98.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5jn8z_the-rock-vs-dan-severn-king-of-the_sport
This is from June of 98, DAT POP FOR rocky.
I think the rock should have won KOTR, he deserved it this point considering shamrock was 2 dimensional AF, and like you said didn't do jack fucking shit.
Yeh austin had nothing to do with rock losing here, it wasn't until it became evident that a face rock would surpass Austin really soon in late 98 that it started bothering Austin.
It's cool though corporate rock was GOD level.
 
#11 ·
Rock would be WWF Champion in 5 months and even in June people knew he was on his way to main event glory. He clearly was above the KOTR at that point. It finally gave Shamrock a decisive win over Rock because he wasn't going to get any higher on the card. Rock on the other hand would do much bigger things.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Because they had plans for Austin Vs. Shamrock, but for whatever reason, they got dropped. I'm assuming because The Rock got over after dropping the Intercontinental Championship.

It was also the right decision since they kept fucking Shamrock over on beating Rock on PPV earlier in the year.

- Vic
 
#16 ·
People often overestimate the value of the KOTR tournament, the truth is that the outcome of the tournanment is not really that important.

e.g. Stone Cold victory, nobody remembers the matches or how Stone Cold got to the final, what everybody remember (and cares) is the Austin 3:16 promo.

Just look at some winners from 1995-99:

* 95: Mabel, nobody expected him to become a main event atraction.
* 96: Stone Cold, his rise to superstardom has nothing to do with his KOTR victory.
* 97: Hunter Hearts Hemsley, after his victory he remained a midcarder, it wasn't until his Triple H persona arised (2 years later) that he became a main eventer.
* 98: Ken Shamrock, already explained by other posters.
* 99: Billy Gunn, as with Mabel there was no real intentions of elevating him by winning this, he defeated X-Pac in a 5 minutes match in the final, that says it all.

It wasn't until 2000 when Kurt Angle won it that the real purpose of the tournament was place the winner as a INSTANT main eventer.
 
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