The Complete History of the WWE Championship - Part 7

Stone Cold Steve Austin (June 29, 1998 - September 27, 1998)

Stone Cold: Held the WWE Championship throughout the summer of 1998

Stone Cold was the champion again.

His second title reign was highlighted by his feud with The Undertaker.

WWE made the curious decision to initially make Austin and The Undertaker reluctant tag team partners, which saw them team up to win the Tag Team Championships from Kane and Mankind at Fully Loaded on July 1998.

The truce between the pair was only temporary however and momentum for their title clash peaked at SummerSlam 1998 when Austin put the belt on the line versus the Deadman,

Undertaker had lost the belt to Bret Hart at the previous year's SummerSlam and was looking to regain the strap.

In truth, the bout was disappointing, due in part to a concussion that Stone Cold suffered early in the match. However, no one in WWE was complaining about the standard of the contest when the numbers rolled in.

SummerSlam pulled an enormous 700,000 buys; still a SummerSlam record and in the WWE Network era, a number that will never, ever be surpassed. They also sold out Madison Square Garden on the night.

Stone Cold's reign would only last a further month, however when Undertaker teamed up with his brother, Kane to challenge Austin for the belt at BreakDown.

Against the Brothers of Destruction, Austin would ultimately fall to defeat.