The year was 1999. Bill Clinton was in the White House. The Slim Shady LP dropped. The Spurs won the NBA Championship. Jesse Ventura was sworn in as the Governor of Minnesota. The world feared the Y2K problem.
More important than all that bulls***, the Monday Night Wars were raging on as WCW and WWF were locked in a fight to the death. Stars were stolen, titles were hot-shotted, and you bet your ass that metaphorical throats were cut. It was a rather eventful time for the wrestling business. Sadly, I never saw much of it. You see, I didn’t start watching wrestling until 2002 meaning that I completely missed the Attitude Era. While I’ve gone back and watched bits and pieces of the era on Youtube, there is still so much that I’ve never actually sat down and watched. Hell, there is a ton of good wrestling that I missed out on. Now, thanks to the WWE Network, I can go back and watch much of what I missed. After deciding to start with WWF PPV’s in 1999, I figured, “hey, why not take FAN on the ride with me?” I’m sure a good chunk of the board was watching in 99’ while four year old me was doing non-wrestling related things. Relive the past as I go over these shows with fresh eyes! Chime in with your personal memories of shows that get reviewed and things that were happening in the WWF during this time period. First review up will be of The Royal Rumble which featured the Rumble match (duh) and The Rock challenging Mick Foley for the WWF Championship in a brutal I-Quit match.
Royal Rumble (Part 1)
January 24th, 1999
Live from the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California
Attendance: 14,816
Ah, the Royal Rumble. One of the WWF’s big 4 PPVs of the year. The big storyline heading into the actual Rumble match was that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Vince McMahon were set to start out the match as entrants #1 & #2 respectively. Also, Chyna was supposed to be #30. This show also featured the infamous I-Quit match between The Rock and Mick “Mankind” Foley which I’ve never actually seen in it’s entirety so that should be interesting.
Keep in mind that I have not even glanced at the full card for this show yet so I have no idea what the undercard looks like. That will be the standard for these reviews. I’m hyped! Let’s see if I can stay hyped while watching this show.
– Show starts out with a video hyping up the Rumble match, particularly the feud between Austin and Vince. In the build to the show, Vince had placed a $100,000 bounty on Austin’s head meaning that whoever eliminated the Rattlesnake in the Rumble was heading to the pay windah, daddy.
– Baby Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler are our announcers for the night. Lawler, of course, is keeping it classy with the suit jacket and no dress shirt (or any kind of undershirt for that matter) look. Not sure where JR is so maybe somebody can fill in that blank.
-Oh, you didn’t know!? Your ass better call somebody because Road Dogg, who was the Hardcore Champion at the time, is in the night’s opening match. He’s over like rover and does his usual shtick. For some odd reason, he name-drops Billy Gunn even though he isn’t out there with him. Also, lol at Road Dogg’s white boy dreads.
– His opponent is the Big Boss Man who was tag champions with Ken Shamrock at the time and, according to the announcers, was set to defend his titles the next night against Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart (no idea what’s up with that team but hey.).
Match #1
Non-Title
Road Dogg (w/ white boy dreads) vs. The Big Bossman (w/ nightstick)
– Based on what the announcers are saying, I believe this is a continuation of the DX/Corporation feud.
– Both guys are also supposed to be in the Rumble so they are pulling double duty tonight.
– Road Dogg does a pretty heelish thing by smashing Bossman’s balls against the ring post while the ref wasn’t looking. He then proceeds to straight up choke Bossman despite being the clear cut face. Gotta love the Attitude Era.
– After overcoming the pain of his throbbing sack, Bossman beats on Road Dogg for a while for the heat.
– Cole keeps bringing up how it’s bullshit that this isn’t a hardcore match since Road Dogg had “found his niche in the match.” I’m guessing that ties into the finish of the match since he keeps hounding on it.
– I must say, Road Dogg plays a damn good fiery babyface. He’s sympathetic while selling the beating he’s taking from a much larger man and even mounts a few small comebacks before being cut-off.
– LMAO. I was about to type out that Road Dogg was making his legit comeback after getting beat down for like 80% of the match but then, not even a minute into the comeback, Bossman just hits his finisher and wins. Sucks to be the Dogg. Match wasn’t bad but man, that finish just came out of nowhere and felt really flat.
– Cole says that if this was a hardcore match, it probably would have went a lot differently so I guess that’s supposed to be the explanation as to why James got beat so abruptly.
Match #2
Intercontinental Championship
Billy Gunn vs. Ken Shamrock ©
– The story behind this match is that Gunn mooned Shamrock’s sister on RAW and this made the champ so damn mad that he was willing put his title on the line to get his hands on Mr. Ass. Dead serious. Oh and also, there’s the whole DX/Corporation feud.
– One thing I want to note is that Billy Gunn’s theme doesn’t have RD’s signature “Oh, you didn’t know!?” line but the crowd just went ahead and said it anyway. That’s what you call being over.
– Another thing I want to note, it’s amazing how much better Lawler was in 1999 than he is now. Like night and day. He’s funny, he actually puts over feuds, he’s just great.
– I haven’t seen nearly enough of Shamrock. He carries himself really well in the ring and is a very believable bad-ass.
“Look, those kids Shamrock is #1”- Jerry Lawler
– Match itself is fine so far. Nothing special but not bad by any stretch.
– Great little spot where Gunn hits Shamrock with a Bulldog off the apron onto the announce table.
– After the ref got knocked out, Val Venis (???) ran-in and nailed Shamrock with a DDT. Gunn tried to cover but Shamrock kicked out before three. Apparently, Venis tried to bang Shamrock’s sister a couple of weeks ago or something. That whole sequence felt really pointless. They were having a run-in just for the sake of having a run-in.
– After that s***, Gunn tweaked his ankle while trying to do an axe-handle off the top rope. Shamrock, being the goon that he is, immediately slapped on the ankle lock for the win. No seriously, what was the point of Venis running in? Made Gunn look like a complete goof. Match was fine other than the Venis weirdness.
– Fun little backstage video where Shane, Patterson, and Brisco are hyping Vince up.
Match #3
European Championship
Gangrel vs. X-Pac
– …The fuck is this?
– Ok, the announcers aren’t saying anything about the background of this match so I don’t know if this was a random bonus match or if Gangrel somehow earned a shot or what in the hell led to this match.
-X-Pac was pretty fun to watch. He’s got a fast-paced style that makes him stand out on this show.
– Just realized Teddy Long is the ref.
– Pac wins with the X-Factor. Fun little match but nothing you should go out of your way to see.
– Backstage, D-X (minus Billy Gunn who is presumably still getting his ankle treated) cut a promo saying that it is every man (“and woman”, Chyna helpfully adds) for himself in the Rumble.
– Shane O’ Mac is coming out to the ring next and introduces Luna as the next Women’s champion.
“Luna is looking HOT tonight!”-Jerry Lawler
– “Luna is looking HOT tonight!”- Jerry Lawler
– Apparently, Luna messed up Sable’s back on Sunday Night Heat so Shane wants Sable to give up the title.
– Sable, being the valiant babyface, goes “eff that” and the match is underway.
Match #4
Strap Match
Women’s Championship
Sable(c) vs. Luna
– Winner has to touch all four corners in succession.
– This is trashy as hell. Two half-naked women slapping each other with a belt.
“Tig Ol’ Bitties 36:DD
– Shane is on commentary rooting against Sable for…some reason. Something happened between Sable and Vince I guess. They weren’t clear at all and no video recap was shown so I have no idea.
– Ok. Sable was about to win the match but Shane hopped up on the apron to distract the ref. Luna then was about to win but was attacked by a woman that ran into the ring. I have no freaking idea who that woman was, how did she get into the ring, or why she attacked Luna. I didn’t even see what she looked like! Cole and Lawler called her “that stalker fan.” …Yeah, no idea what’s going on here.
– Anyway, Sable won but I’m sure you don’t care. Match was ass-cheeks but I was expecting that.
– Video plays hyping up the world title match.
– The Rock cuts a great promo where he says he’s gonna whoop Mankind’s ass and take his title back.
Match #5
I-Quit Match
WWF Championship
Mankind © vs. The Rock
– Mankind got jumped by Rock and Mabel earlier in the night on Sunday Night Heat.
– After a couple minutes of brawling in the ring, a Cactus Clothesline sends both guys to the outside.
– Awesome moment where Rock throws on an announcer’s headset and says he’s gonna beat that “piece of trash” Mankind. Lawler tries to dick-ride but Rock tells him to shut his mouth.
-Every time Mankind tries to get Rock to quit, Rock tells him to kiss his ass.
– Mankind knocks Rock out with the Mandible Claw but doesn’t win because, of course, Rock can’t talk in his sleep. I don’t think you thought that one through, Mick..
– LOL, the Spanish announce table broke before Rock could hit the Rock Bottom.
– They brawl up the ramp and end up on the soundstage. Rock tries to hit Mick with a ladder that he dug out but ends up getting hit with the ladder. Mick then tried to hit an elbow on the ladder but missed.
– For no reason other than “here comes the next spot”, Rock wanders over to where the crowd is and uses the ladder to climb on the small platform. Mankind follows him and they brawl for a bit before Foley gets knocked off the platform onto a bunch of amps and electrical wires! Jeez, that looked rough.
– Mankind is hurt so bad, Shane actually comes out and begs Rock to just end the damn match. Foley refuses to say it no matter what Rock does.
– Desperate, Rock handcuffs Foley in the ring. Foley makes a comeback using just his legs and stomps on Rock’s balls. The Rock cares more about the title than his balls though and refuses to quit.
– Rock soons brings a chair into the ring and places it on Foley’s face before hitting the People’s Elbow. Mankind still refuses to quit and…well, most of you know what happens next.
– Jesus, these chairshots are hard to watch. Rock is smashing Foley in the head as hard as he possibly can. The one he hits to the back of the head as they are walking up the ramp is just disgusting. Pretty much everyone is begging Foley to quit at this point but he still refuses.
– We all know the finish. Foley gets knocked out and the baddies play a clip of him saying I-Quit over the speakers so the ref ends the match.
– Hell of a match. After this, The Rock comes off as a massive scumbag and it gets even more sympathy for Mankind.
