1998 Royal Rumble
San Jose Arena, San Jose, California
Men’s Royal Rumble 1998
Winner
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin
entered at number 24
- Match time
- 55:24
- Entrants
- 30
- Most eliminations
- 7 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
- Longest time in match
- 51:32 The Rock
- 1 Cactus Jack
- 2 Chainsaw Charlie
- 3 Tom Brandi
- 4 The Rock
- 5 Mosh
- 6 Phineas I. Godwinn
- 7 8-Ball
- 8 Blackjack Bradshaw
- 9 Owen Hart
- 10 Steve Blackman
- 11 D'Lo Brown
- 12 Kurrgan
- 13 Marc Mero
- 14 Ken Shamrock
- 15 Thrasher
- 16 Mankind
- 17 The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust
- 18 Jeff Jarrett
- 19 The Honky Tonk Man
- 20 Ahmed Johnson
- 21 Mark Henry
- 22 Skull
- 23 Kama Mustafa
- 24 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
- 25 Henry O. Godwinn
- 26 Savio Vega
- 27 Faarooq
- 28 Dude Love
- 29 Chainz
- 30 Vader
The last five draws are 26 to 30 in this match, and are marked in the chart above. They enter against a field that is already thinning, which is the long-standing argument that a late number is an advantage.
Bar positions are derived, not recorded. No source publishes entry and elimination timestamps; they are solved from entry order, the published times in match and the recorded elimination order. The ring-population curve below reads the same solved times. The times in the table below are as published.
What it led to
Threads that start in this match and pay off later. Editorial rather than computed — each one cites where it comes from.
Austin wins the shot that starts the Attitude Era
Winning the Rumble earned Austin the WWF Championship match against Shawn Michaels. Mike Tyson, in the director's box that night, was announced as special guest referee and later reassigned to special enforcer after an altercation with Austin; at WrestleMania he counted the fall for him.
WrestleMania XIV 70 days later
Steve Austin beat Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels
Source: Wikipedia, retrieved 7 August 2026
Entry and elimination times are derived, not recorded: no source publishes them. They are solved from entry order, published times in match and the recorded elimination order, around a nominal 108-second interval. Times in match are as published.
Sources: wikipedia (primary), darrenswinloss