Almost every WrestleMania is iconic, but you could make the argument WrestleMania 14 is the biggest of all from a pure star power and Hall-of-Fame presence standpoint. Let’s take a deep look at WWE’s megashow from 1998. Let’s talk wrestling.
WrestleMania 14 Key Facts
Detail |
Info |
|---|---|
Date |
March 29, 1998 |
Venue |
FleetCenter, Boston, now TD Garden |
Attendance |
19,028, widely reported |
PPV buys |
An estimated 730,000 |
Matches |
8 |
In-ring competitors |
48 |
Championship matches |
5 |
Title changes |
2 |
Main event |
Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin, WWF Championship |
Special enforcer |
Mike Tyson, who counted the winning pin |
Commentary |
Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler |
Future Hall of Famers on the card |
18 of the 48 |
How Many WrestleMania 14 Wrestlers Made the WWE Hall of Fame?
There were so many future Hall-of-Famers on this card, you could have booked a Legends-only event. The weakest inclusion is The Godfather, but he did re-invent himself at least three times during his career.
The count uses WWE’s inductions as they stand. It includes group inductions like the Road Warriors, DX, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express and The Funks, plus Luna Vachon in the Legacy wing. Counting individual inductions only, it is 12.
When Did The Rock First Say “If You Smell What The Rock Is Cooking”?
The Rock dropped his iconic “If you smell what The Rock is cooking” phrase here for the first time.
WWE’s own event page states it, in an interview with Gennifer Flowers. Rock was still Intercontinental Champion that night and eight months from his first WWF Title.
How Many People Bought WrestleMania 14?
How big was WM14? It more than tripled the amount of PPV buys WM13 generated.
Both figures are estimates. WWE was privately held until its 1999 IPO, so no audited number exists for either show.
More Wrestling History Coverage
- 25 Years Ago, Booker T’s Historic Title Win Built The Foundation For His Biggest Catchphrase
- 41 Years Ago, The ‘First Lady Of Wrestling’ Debuted and Dazzled, But Fans Had To Wait A Month To See Her
- 49 Years Ago, Ric Flair Won His First Major Singles Title from The ‘Jackie Robinson’ Of Pro Wrestling
Who Won at WrestleMania 14?
There were 8 matches in all and five of them were for championships. The Legion of Doom, Triple H, The Undertaker and Steve Austin were the biggest winners.
The Rock is the asterisk. Ken Shamrock made him submit to the ankle lock, then would not release it, and the decision was reversed to a disqualification.
What Happened to Shawn Michaels After WrestleMania 14?
HBK was out for almost 4.5 years after this match.
The exact gap was four years, four months and 27 days. He returned against Triple H at SummerSlam in August 2002 and worked eight more years full time.
Why Was WrestleMania 14 the End of an Era?
The Winged Eagle made its last WrestleMania appearance at this event. The title Hulk Hogan made iconic would be jettisoned for an upgraded model.
DX changed hands inside 24 hours too. Triple H took over the next night, X-Pac returned and the Outlaws joined, and that lineup invaded Nitro a month later.
Which WrestleMania 14 Wrestlers Have Died?
Sadly, six of the 48 wrestlers in WrestleMania 14 have passed away. Owen Hart, who tragically died in 1999 at the age of 34, is one of them. While they didn’t wrestle, Chyna, Paul Bearer and Pete Rose have all since passed.
Sunny is the one nobody asks about. Tammy Sytch managed LOD 2000 that night and is serving 17 years in Florida for DUI manslaughter, with release projected for 2039.
Why Does WrestleMania 14 Still Matter?
The event kicked off the Austin era and just over two weeks later, Raw ended WCW Nitro’s 83-week streak leading in ratings.
What Happened to Everyone From WrestleMania 14?
The main card
Wrestler |
What Happened Next |
|---|---|
Steve Austin |
Won his first WWF Championship here and became a six-time champion and three-time Royal Rumble winner. Hall of Fame, 2009. |
Shawn Michaels |
Did not wrestle again for more than four years, then built the Mr. WrestleMania run. Now WWE’s Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative and head of NXT. |
Triple H |
Went from European Champion to 14-time world champion to running the company. Signed a new deal as Chief Content Officer in April 2026. |
Owen Hart |
Revived the Blue Blazer character and died after the Over the Edge accident on May 23, 1999, at 34. His family still blocks a Hall of Fame induction. |
The Rock |
Won the WWF Championship eight months later at Survivor Series, then became the biggest movie star wrestling has produced. Still not in the Hall of Fame. |
Ken Shamrock |
Won the 1998 King of the Ring and the Intercontinental Championship, then returned to MMA in 1999. Openly discusses being a Hall of Fame snub. |
Undertaker |
Beat Kane with three Tombstones to go 7-0, retired 25-2 at WrestleMania and entered the Hall of Fame in 2022. |
Kane |
Multiple-time world champion, Hall of Fame 2021, then mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. Term-limited, he leaves office September 1, 2026. |
Mick Foley |
Held the Tag Titles less than 24 hours, then won the WWF Championship three times. Hall of Fame 2013. Booked solid through 2026 with AEW dates and spoken-word shows. |
Terry Funk |
Dropped the Chainsaw Charlie gimmick and kept unretiring. Hall of Fame as The Funks. Died August 23, 2023, at 79. |
Road Dogg |
Joined DX the next night, entered the Hall of Fame with them in 2019, then wrote for WWE. Left the creative job in March 2026, still under a Legends deal. |
Billy Gunn |
Joined DX the next night and went in with them in 2019. Still contracted to AEW as wrestler and coach at 62; his last AEW match was January 2026. |
Goldust |
Wrestled across WWE, WCW, TNA and AEW for another 27 years. Recovering from double knee replacement and working toward a retirement match. Not in the Hall of Fame. |
Luna Vachon |
Kept wrestling after leaving WWF and died in 2010 at 48. Inducted into the Hall of Fame’s Legacy wing in 2019. |
Sable |
Became WWF Women’s Champion, left in 1999, returned 2003-04, then left the business. Married to Brock Lesnar and rarely seen; a 2026 sighting at WrestleMania 42 weekend made news. |
Marc Mero |
WWF career ended later in 1998. Now a full-time speaker on bullying, addiction and loss, booked as a 2026 school-safety keynote. |
Taka Michinoku |
Joined Kaientai the next night, then built a long career in Japan. Founded Just Tap Out and wrestled his first U.S. match since 2019 in March 2026. |
Aguila |
Repackaged as Essa Rios, whose WWF run introduced Lita to television. Still wrestling in Mexico as Mr. Aguila. |
The 15-team battle royal
Team |
What Happened Next |
|---|---|
LOD 2000 — Hawk & Animal |
Won the match and a title shot at Unforgiven, which they lost. Hall of Fame 2011. Hawk died in 2003 at 46; Animal won another tag title in 2005 and died in 2020 at 60. |
Faarooq & Kama Mustafa |
Both went in individually. Ron Simmons formed the APA with Bradshaw and entered in 2012. Kama became The Godfather, one of the era’s most recognizable acts, and entered in 2016. |
Bradshaw & Chainz |
Bradshaw became JBL, WWE Champion and a 2020 Hall of Famer. Chainz, Brian Lee, worked elsewhere and retired; he is alive at 59. |
Mark Henry & D’Lo Brown |
Henry became World Heavyweight Champion and a 2018 Hall of Famer. Brown became a four-time Intercontinental Champion and worked as an Impact producer until leaving in 2022. |
Rock ‘n’ Roll Express — Morton & Gibson |
Hall of Fame 2017, and still going. Ricky Morton main-evented a card in February 2026, 28 years after this battle royal. |
The Quebecers — Jacques & Pierre |
Jacques Rougeau retired into training and promoting in Quebec. Pierre reinvented himself as PCO, won the ROH World Championship in 2019 and, at 58, was still wrestling in August 2026. |
New Midnight Express — Bob Holly & Bart Gunn |
Eliminated last. Holly became Hardcore Holly and lasted another decade in WWE. Gunn won the Brawl for All later that year, was knocked out by Butterbean at WrestleMania XV and found success in Japan. |
Too Much — Scott Taylor & Brian Christopher |
Became Too Cool. Taylor became Scotty 2 Hotty and is now a coach and producer for AEW. Christopher became Grandmaster Sexay and died in 2018 at 46. |
The Headbangers — Mosh & Thrasher |
Former Tag Team Champions who kept working together for decades. Mosh has guest-coached at the WWE Performance Center, and the pair set a retirement match for 2026. |
Truth Commission — Recon & Sniper |
Recon became Bull Buchanan, joined Right to Censor, later launched Bullpen Professional Wrestling, and his son wrestles as Brooks Jensen. Sniper, Luc Poirier, was a three-time CWA World Champion in Europe before WWF and has kept a low profile since. |
Savio Vega & Miguel Perez Jr. |
Los Boricuas dissolved. Vega is still in wrestling in 2026, producing and calling AAA broadcasts under the WWE umbrella. Perez, 60, returned to the Puerto Rican scene. |
Jose Estrada Jr. & Jesus Castillo |
Both stayed tied to Puerto Rican wrestling. Estrada was still competing as recently as 2024; Castillo works as Huracan Castillo Jr. Neither has had a public national profile since. |
D.O.A. — 8-Ball & Skull |
Ron and Don Harris became WCW’s Creative Control, later worked in TNA management, and both are alive at 65. |
Flash Funk & Steve Blackman |
Funk reverted to 2 Cold Scorpio and kept an unusually long international career going. Blackman became the Lethal Weapon and WWF Hardcore Champion before leaving full-time wrestling. |
The Godwinns — Henry O. & Phineas |
Former Tag Team Champions who left WWE and largely exited national wrestling. Mark Canterbury and Dennis Knight are both alive; reliable current information on either is thin. |
WrestleMania 14 In Hindsight, By The Numbers
Figures from WWE’s own event results and Hall of Fame records.
Category |
Number |
|---|---|
Matches |
8 |
In-ring wrestlers |
48 |
Battle royal teams |
15 |
Championship matches |
5 |
Title changes |
2 |
Future WWE Hall of Famers |
18 |
Hall of Famers by individual induction only |
12 |
Under-24-hour title reigns created |
1 |
Undertaker’s WrestleMania record afterward |
7-0 |
Michaels’ absence afterward |
4 years, 4 months |
Attendance |
19,028 |
Estimated PPV buys |
730,000 |
Estimated WrestleMania 13 buys |
237,000 |
Days until Raw ended Nitro’s streak |
15 |
Wrestlers from the card who have died |
6 |
The Full WrestleMania 14 Card
Results as listed by WWE.
Match |
Result |
|---|---|
15-Team Battle Royal |
LOD 2000 won |
Taka Michinoku vs. Aguila |
Taka retained the Light Heavyweight Title |
Triple H vs. Owen Hart |
Triple H retained the European Title |
Marc Mero & Sable vs. Goldust & Luna |
Mero and Sable won |
The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock |
Rock retained the IC Title on a reversed decision |
Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie vs. New Age Outlaws |
Foley and Funk won the Tag Titles |
Undertaker vs. Kane |
Undertaker won |
Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin |
Austin won the WWF Title |
