professional wrestling matches with predetermined outcomes. The matches involved wrestlers portraying their characters (known as gimmicks) in planned storylines that took place before, during and after the event. The main feud going into the event involved the WWF Championship, which Stone Cold Steve Austin had won from The Rock at WrestleMania XV. The following night on Raw is War, however, Austin demanded the return of his Smoking Skull belt, a personalized championship belt that he had worn the previous year during his tenure as WWF Champion, which villainous WWF owner Mr. McMahon had stolen from him at Breakdown: In Your House, after causing Austin to lose. Rather than oppose him as he usually would, McMahon acquiesced to the request as The Undertaker had threatened his family. Mr. McMahon's son, Shane, disagreed and went against his father's wishes, stealing the Smoking Skull belt and giving it to The Rock, who was part of the villainous alliance The Corporation. Shane then unceremoniously ejected his father from The Corporation while Austin and Rock continued to feud over ownership of Austin's personalized belt. This culminated with a fight between the two which ended with Rock throwing Austin, and then the belt, into a river from a bridge in Detroit which alluded to the events of December 1997 when Austin threw Rock's Intercontinental Championship into the Oyster River. The Rock held a mock funeral the following week for Austin, revealing he still had possession of the Smoking Skull belt; Austin crashed the funeral with a monster truck and crushed Rock's limousine and hearse. During the Sunday Night Heat that aired before the event, Shane declared that the match was to have a no disqualification stipulation and announced himself as the special guest referee. The Undertaker, meanwhile, was involved in a storyline where he became the leader of a Satanic group of wrestlers called The Ministry of Darkness. During the beginning of the year he began to articulate a desire for Stephanie McMahon leading to a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania where Corporation member The Big Boss Man was hanged from the ceiling. Undertaker then became more aggressive in his actions, demanding Stephanie and offering 'sacrifices' when she was not given over to him. One woman he sacrificed, via crucifixion, was Ryan Shamrock who played the on-screen sister of Ken Shamrock. Fighting for family honor, Shamrock vowed to break Undertaker's leg. Undertaker's obsession with