The 30-man Royal Rumble Match was the main event. ECW ring announcer Tony Chimel announced the rules of the match. Before he started, Chimel let the WWE Universe know that Superstars will now enter every 90 seconds instead of every 2 minutes, making the match more exciting and quickening the pace. Here we go. Two Superstars start off the match, drawing entries #1 and #2. These two fight for 90 seconds, then another Superstar enters the fray at #3. And then another at #4 after 90 seconds. This pattern will continue until all 30 Superstars have entered the match. If you enter out of turn, you are disqualified. Other than that one boundary, this is really an anything-goes match. You are eliminated when you are thrown over the top rope with both feet touching the floor. The last man standing will win the Rumble, and earn a WWE, World Heavyweight, or ECW Championship match at WrestleMania XIV in two months in Boston. The winner also gets to choose which championship they will challenge for. Sabu entered at #1 from ECW, while Edge entered at #2 from RAW. The three brands have split the Rumble entries evenly this year with 10 Superstars each. At one point, Edge countered a crossbody by Sabu into an inverted Spear in mid-air off the top rope. Flash Funk entered at #3 from SmackDown!, but only lasted about four minutes before Mark Jindrak, the #4 entrant from ECW, eliminated him after a hip toss over the top. Several Superstars had filled the ring in about 15 minutes, and just when a favorite couldn't be determined, Shawn Michaels, from SmackDown!, erased that question at #20. The Showstopper, obviously furious at Randy Orton for sending him off RAW, eliminated four Superstars after only 25 seconds in the ring, taking out Mr. Kennedy, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Rob Conway, and Big Show. But the one man who fought his way past several men who tried to eliminate him was Jindrak. He sent Edge, Tommy Dreamer, Rikishi, General Mayhem, and Chris Jericho packing along with Funk. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper entered at #29 and also made an immediate impact. Chris Benoit, Kane, Rob Van Dam, and Tajiri were all unsafe from the "Hot Rod". When the smoke cleared, the final four was comprised of Piper, Michaels, Jindrak, and the Cinderella story known as Kurt Angle, the #15 entrant from SmackDown! who only eliminated Rhyno, the #10 entrant from ECW. Piper warred with Michaels in one corner, while Jindrak met his match with Angle on the other. Jindrak reversed an Angle Slam into a fallaway slam. He climbed to the top, but Angle caught his Extreme foe and leveled him with a powerbomb. Angle, who won a gold medal for amateur wrestling in the 1996 Summer Olympics, then threw Jindrak over the top with one hand as the San Jose crowd chanted "Angle rules!" so loud that the next town could hear it. Meanwhile, HBK and the Hot Rod were also having a war. Michaels delivered a moonsault, but Piper telegraphed it and countered it into a spinning powerslam. The Showstopper then rallied back and nailed Piper with Sweet Chin Music. The Hot Rod was then thrown over the ropes. Angle and Michaels took turns testing each other, telegraphing every move the other did. The Wrestling Machine, as Michael Cole called him, was about to hit a moonsault, but Michaels moved out of the way and tried for his own moonsault, but Angle ducked and HBK crash-landed on his ribs. The Olympic gold medalist then knew that The Showstopper was ripe for the picking and cinched in the Ankle Lock, which Michaels desperately tried to escape. It was close to being fully strapped on, where Angle would go down on the canvas and cross both his legs together on the knee while still having the ankle trapped in his arms. Michaels knew that he'd have no chance with that. Then, The Showstopper gazed at the WrestleMania sign near the luxury boxes, which was always placed there beginning at the Rumble and ending at the Hall of Fame ceremony the night before 'Mania. Suddenly, HBK remembered who he was. He was Mr. WrestleMania. The Headliner. The Icon. The Main Event. Receiving a second wind and feeding off the WWE Universe, Michaels thrust his leg out of the Ankle Lock, which sent Angle flying toward the ropes. The Heartbreak Kid then whacked the 22-year old SmackDown! rookie with Sweet Chin Music, forcibly being backflipped over the top rope. It was over! Shawn Michaels had won the 1998 Royal Rumble! HBK is going to WrestleMania! But wait. Piper came back, and no one even knew that he was still legal. Think again. The Hot Rod clotheslined Michaels over the top for the elimination, and now it was over. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper had won the 1998 Royal Rumble! The Scottish sensation outlasted and outsmarted 29 other competitors and is now going to WrestleMania! "My god! Piper has shocked the world!," said a surprised Jim Ross as Piper celebrated in the ring. The Hot Rod then did the annual Rumble winner's salute, where he pointed to the WrestleMania sign as pyro exploded on the stage and the lighting area right on top of the arena. The WWE Champion Randy Orton then came out and hugged his protege as the fans booed every second of it. The show was off the air at this point. To see who Piper chooses for his WrestleMania opponent, as well as the continuation of the storyline between Orton, John Cena, and The Undertaker, read my next story, No Way Out 1998. I guarantee you will not be disappointed!