WWE's WrestleMania has been the cornerstone event of the company for three decades and has shaped careers, made history and changed the landscape of professional wrestling throughout the years.
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Over the next month, Sports World News will delve into each installment of the WWE's marquee event and look at the three greatest moments from each edition of the landmark show.
After going through a rough stretch in the mid-1990s, the WWE found some attitude in 1998 by the time WrestleMania XIV rolled around and the torch was about to be passed from one future Hall of Famer to another with the Attitude Era in full swing.
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WrestleMania XIV took place on March 29, 1998, live from the Boston Fleet Center in front of a capacity crowd of 19,028 rabid fans.
Here are our three best moments from WWE WrestleMania XIV:
Honorable Mention: Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie won the WWE Tag Team Championships from the New Age Outlaws in a highly entertaining Dumpster Match, but it was all undone the next night on RAW and didn't have too much historical significance.
3) L.O.D. Returns: After being publically embarrassed by the New Age Outlaws, the Legion of Doom made a surprising return in the opening match at WrestleMania XIV under the L.O.D. 2000 moniker with Sunny as their manager.
Hawk and Animal had a totally new look and a brand new attitude as they entered as the final entrants in the 15-team battle royal that opened up the show.
The match itself wasn't anything too spectacular, but in the end L.O.D. last eliminated the Midnight Express to win the battle royal and put themselves on the map in the tag team scene.
2) Brothers Destruct: The Undertaker and Kane have fought together and against each other many times throughout the years, but their first head-to-head bout took place at WrestleMania XIV.
While this match isn't noted for being a five-star classic or anything, it was the culmination of months-worth of storylines that led into the match.
Paul Bearer claimed for months that The Undertaker's storyline brother Kane was still alive, in a plot that was at times ridiculous and at others compelling.
Speculation of this demonic monster Kane's impending debut began to rise and he finally appeared at Badd Blood in October 1997, costing 'Taker his Hell in a Cell match against Shawn Michaels.
'Taker refused to fight Kane for months, until Kane turned on him after forging a fake alliance by aiding Michaels to victory at the 1998 Royal Rumble in a Casket Match and then subsequently setting the coffin on fire with The Undertaker inside.
After The Undertaker returned from that incident (like I said, at times this was ridiculous), he was hell bent on revenge and agreed to finally meet Kane at WrestleMania XIV.
The match itself was average, but had several great spots, including The Undertaker crashing through the announce table after missing his "brother" on a dive over the top rope.
The bout is mostly notable for what's missing in the WWE today as it was a five-month feud that finally had a blow off match at the biggest show of the year.
It also made Kane look strong as 'Taker delivered three Tombstones to finally defeat his younger brother and stand tall, improving to 8-0 at WrestleMania.
1) 'Stone Cold! Stone Cold! Stone Cold!': Steve Austin began to rise to prominence following the infamous double turn with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13, and his meteoric rise would eventually carry him into becoming the top face in the company as a badass anti-hero that Attitude Era fans could rally behind.
At the same time, Shawn Michaels was beginning to embrace his degenerate roots, joining up with Triple H and Chyna to form the original D-Generation X faction.
Michaels was by far the best star in the business as 1998 rolled around while Austin was the fastest rising Superstar on the entire roster. These two were set on an inevitable collision course at WrestleMania XIV.
Michaels had legitimately injured his back during his Casket Match with 'Taker at the Royal Rumble, and it was believed that this would mark the final match of his career.
"The Heartbreak Kid" was in incredible pain during the bout, but carried on like a true champion, putting on an epic contest with Austin that night in Boston.
Another wild-card was "Iron" Mike Tyson, who had turned heel leading up to this and served as an outside enforcer and honorary member of D-Generation X.
The back-and-forth match was great, often cringe-worthy when Michaels continued to take vicious bumps despite the state his back was in.
After an epic ending sequence, Austin hit Michaels with the Stone Cold Stunner and Tyson delivered the 3-count, turning face in the process and ushering in the Era of Austin as the "Texas Rattlesnake" won his first ever WWE Heavyweight Championship.
Jim Ross screaming Austin's name on commentary following his win added to the moment as did Tyson punching out Michaels to complete the face turn when the bout was over.
Michaels would hang up his boots for over four years while Austin went on to carry the company to victory over rival WCW as the face of the WWE for several more years.
Looking Ahead: The Attitude was in full swing in 1998, but when the calendar flipped to 1999 and Vince Russo's shock T.V. storylines were going strong, things were about to get hectic in and out of the squared circle. As WrestleMania XV came along, two of the biggest names in wrestling were set to clash as The Rock and Steve Austin were set for an epic battle, which we will explore on Friday.
Rank-O-Mania: As we go through each year, we will rank each WrestleMania as it comes along. WrestleMania XIV was a very important show for the WWE, as it launched Austin as its next top face and helped continue the positive momentum of the Attitude Era as Michaels passed the torch to the "Texas Rattlesnake." The card is a bit uneven, but it is still one of the best and most important WrestleMania events, finding itself in fourth place in between WrestleManias III and VIII.
1) WrestleMania X
2) WrestleMania VI
3) WrestleMania III
4) WrestleMania XIV
5) WrestleMania VIII
6) WrestleMania VII
7) WrestleMania V
8) WrestleMania XII
9) WrestleMania IV
10) WrestleMania 13
11) WrestleMania I
12) WrestleMania XI
13) WrestleMania IX
14) WrestleMania 2
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