In this WWF King of the Ring 1999 review, Steve Austin squares off with Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon for control of the company, the 1999 King of the Ring is crowned, and much more.
Let’s jump in.
- Show:Â WWF King of the Ring 1999
- Date:Â June 27, 1999
- Location: Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC
VIDEO: Highlights of the events leading to Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon. These Attitude Era hype videos were on another level.
RINGSIDE: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler recap Steve Blackman beating down Ken Shamrock with a kendo stick on Sunday Night Heat after Shamrock went after Shane.
BACKSTAGE: Michael Cole is outside of Vince’s locker room and says Shane may not be able to compete. I love opening the pay-per-view with a nice storyline hook.
Hardcore Holly vs. X-Pac – King of the Ring Quarterfinal
X-Pac’s theme is the one that was on the WWF Aggression album, and I was a big fan of it. Holly is pushing his new unruly attitude, and it was certainly better than Sparky Plugg. I only mention this because I’m doing the full 1994 rewatch series at the moment. Holly snaps and grabs a chair, then hits X-Pac with a BRUTAL unprotected shot to the head for the DQ. Road Dogg comes out after to make the save. More about the angle than the match.
BACKSTAGE: Terry Taylor calls Holly out on his stupidity for getting disqualified. He calls himself “The Big Shot” and taunts Big Show.
Big Show vs. Kane – King of the Ring Quarterfinal
JR notes that Show weighs 172 more pounds than Kane, which is absolutely wild. However, this still classifies as a HOSS FIGHT given the size on display. JR also compares Show to Andre the Giant, and there was a memorable WWF Magazine in this era with both men on the cover.
Far from a technical masterpiece with these two as it’s all about power moves and two Attitude Era staples: Ref bump and outside interference. Holly comes down to interfere, but Kane chokeslams him. Things really slow down with Kane choking Show out, and this legitimately goes on for a few minutes, much to the displeasure of the crowd.
It’s deja vu as Kane hits Show in the head with a chair, and Kane pins him for the victory. Yeah, this wasn’t my favorite match.
BACKSTAGE: Cole with Vince, who won’t forgive Shamrock for injuring Shane. But Shane pleads that he can fight.
BACKSTAGE: Shamrock throws around the EMTs and heads to the ring for his match.
Mr. Ass vs. Ken Shamrock – King of the Ring Quarterfinal
I can appreciate the Shamrock injury storyline given the tournament stipulation. They play that up with Billy Gunn taking the fight to Shamrock, with Shamrock able to muster just enough to thwart Gunn at a few points in the match. The valiant effort for Shamrock comes up short as Gunn reverses a hurricanrana into a powerbomb, and Teddy Long decides to stop the match since Shamrock is spitting up blood again.
Shamrock gets pissed and throws Long out of the ring. Another short match with a lackluster finish.
BACKSTAGE: Kevin Kelly with Chyna and Triple H. She takes a shot at Road Dogg, while Triple H notes he does what he wants and takes orders from no one.
Road Dogg vs. Chyna (w/Triple H) – King of the Ring Quarterfinal
The “My Time” theme for Triple H is one of the most underrated in wrestling history. Loved that song. Obviously, Chyna makes history here as the first woman to enter the KOTR, and the story is Dogg underestimating her in the early going.
Chyna beats him down for a bit until Dogg regains the advantage. But a distraction from Triple H leads to him shoving Dogg into the steel steps. Chyna back on offense for a good stretch of the match, then it’s more involvement from Triple H via – you guessed it – a ref bump.
But the Triple H chain job to Dogg doesn’t work, and out comes Shawn Michaels to prevent more Triple H interference. Then it’s the memorable spot where Chyna low blows Dogg, but he’s wearing a cup. This was pretty clever and gets a huge pop from the crowd. Dogg hits the pump handle slam for the win.
This was easily the best quarterfinal match, but that’s not saying much. It was longer than it needed to be, though Chyna worked hard and played well off of Dogg. That’s the best thing I can say about it.
BACKSTAGE: Cole with The Rock. He mocks The Undertaker.
Edge and Christian (w/Gangrel) vs. The Hardy Boyz (w/Michael Hayes) – No. 1 Contender’s Match
These two actually had a match on Sunday Night Heat, but interference (shocker!) from The Acolytes led to Michaels deciding to run it back. There’s certainly a difference in this match than the previous four on this show, as it’s the high-octane tempo you’d come to expect from these four throughout their careers.
The chemistry was already incredible even this early in their WWF careers. Hayes gets involved because someone contractually has to interfere in every match, but he gets speared by Edge for his efforts. A terrific sequence late in the match with Edge coming off the top to spear Edge, though Gangrel accidentally sprays the blood into Edge’s face to allow Jeff to score the victory.
Short match, but it had plenty of action.
BACKSTAGE: Cole with Taker, who questions what happens when you rip the balls off of a bull. That’s one I’ve never thought about, to be honest.
IN THE RING: Vince reveals the handicap match with Shane will not take place due to Shane’s injury. Michaels puts a halt to that thinking he means the match off, but Vince clarifies he’ll have a suitable replacement for Shane.
Mr. Ass vs. Kane – King of the Ring Semifinal
An interesting semifinal and we get a trademark Attitude Era brawl around in the ring and in the aisle way. That transitions into another sequence where the ground game takes over, and the fans don’t have much to say about it. Gunn’s selling is always fun, so I’ll give him that.
Big Show comes down to interfere (remember, contractual obligation), and he takes the chair away from Gunn after….a ref bump. Then Show hits Kane with the chair, and Gunn scores the pin for the win. This did nothing for either man, which seems counterproductive given the push for Gunn.
BACKSTAGE: Kelly with X-Pac. He has mixed emotions about fighting his friend Road Dogg. And then Dogg says the same.
X-Pac vs. Road Dogg – King of the Ring Semifinal
This is the most appealing KOTR match thus far, but gotta be honest: This tournament has been less than thrilling. Well, while this looked great on paper, it’s a very short match with X-Pac hitting the X-Factor out of nowhere to earn the victory and advance to the final against Gunn.
VIDEO: Hype for Rock vs. Taker, which included Corporate Ministry dissension between Taker and Triple H to allow Rock to earn the title shot.
The Rock vs. (c) The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) – WWF Title
I’m curious how far the Gorilla position was from the actual entrance, as it takes both these guys nearly a minute to come out after their music hits. The fans are fully behind Rock by this point, and his star power is simply undeniable.
The match starts with a ref bump because of course it does. The reason for it is to allow Rock to hit a Rock Bottom, only for a second ref to get pummeled by Bearer before he can count the three. If the match starts with shenanigans, you can bet there are more to come.
Attitude Era brawl down the aisle and into the crowd – another popular trope during this period. Something I thought about watching this is despite the stardom of these two, I never really loved any of their feuds or singles matches.
This continued that theme, even if it wasn’t terrible. It had some solid back and forth and featured a few good near falls to pop the crowd. There’s a second ref bump late in the match, and Rock steals the cloth with ether away from Taker to use it on him. What do you know, Triple H interferes and hits the Pedigree on Rock, and Taker hits the Tombstone to retain the title.
I know the Attitude Era was unique in the moment, but some of these matches/shows do not hold up well a few decades later. This has been one of those shows, and I doubt the main event will change that.
BACKSTAGE: Triple H and Michaels are going at each other, and Vince is pissed because Michaels throws Triple H out of the building. The reason being that Vince had Triple H pegged at his partner. So Vince calls someone else. If you want a funny tidbit, the camera unintentionally catches Rock in the background after Vince gets off the phone.
X-Pac vs. Mr. Ass – King of the Ring Final
Before the match, Gunn cuts a promo explaining his strategy to go after X-Pac’s injured neck. Hey, I’ll take anything logical at this point in the tournament. Gunn does indeed go for X-Pac’s neck throughout the match, and while X-Pac gets a burst of momentum, it’s Gunn hitting the Fameasser off the second rope to win the tournament.
The WWF was clearly behind Gunn here, but this wasn’t exactly a star-making performance considering how all three of his matches played out. He won the first due to ref stoppage, the second due to interference, and the third due to a weakened opponent. I like the idea of pushing someone new. This just wasn’t the best formula for it.
VIDEO: Hype for the main event, including the abduction of Stephanie McMahon, Vince being revealed as the higher power, and Linda McMahon naming Austin the CEO of the company. What a convoluted storyline that lacked logic.
IN THE RING: Vince comes out and introduces Steve Blackman as his partner. And then the infamous GTV catches Shane hanging out in the locker room with the Mean Street Posse, and Shane is perfectly fine. Shane tries to leave the arena but Michaels forces him to the ring. This was creative and enjoyable.
Vince and Shane McMahon vs. Steve Austin – Handicap Ladder Match for 100 Percent Control of the WWF
That’s certainly a stipulation right there. Nonsensical storylines aside, there’s no doubting that the people wanted to see Austin beat the hell out of Vince and Shane. That’s really all you need to sell the match, and that gave the crowd a reason to be invested from start to finish.
I did appreciate the intricate ladder entrapment that they used as part of the set for this show. Apparently, Austin did not since he destroyed all the ladders by pulling them onto Vince and Shane. Speaking of Shane, he bumped like a madman, which would continue throughout his career.
Just when Vince thinks he has it won, Austin hits a low blow and takes control of the match. Then it’s Austin hitting a Stunner to both Vince and Shane, but when he goes for the briefcase, it moves. Then the briefcase lowers and that allows Shane to grab it for the win.
Another screwy finish to cap off a show filled with them, and the crowd was completely deflated at Austin losing to these two.
BLAKE’S TAKE ON WWF KING OF THE RING 1999
Recommended Matches: None
Overall Rating: 2.5/10
Thoughts: A show with zero recommended matches isn’t exactly a masterpiece. The only two matches that I found somewhat entertaining were Edge/Christian vs. The Hardyz, and the main event despite the finish. But even then, there’s really no reason to go back and watch either match. The King of the Ring tournament, one of the selling points of the show, was largely forgettable. Unfortunately for Gunn, so was his win.
This is one of those shows that meet the criteria of what people are talking about when they say some of the Attitude Era stuff doesn’t hold up well. It’s just one overbooked finish after another, and the matches are nothing special. There are way better WWF pay-per-views to spend your time on because this is one of the worst in the company’s history.
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