Post by Chicago on Jan 22, 2009 17:27:07 GMT -5
In the spirit of the Royal Rumble season, I thought I would start up a discussion on a ppv that I recently watched again for the first time in years, that being Royal Rumble 1999.
For those not in the know, here is what all happened prior to, at, and after the Royal Rumble 1999 event.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Rumble_(1999)
What are your opinions of the show? Also, if you can remember, state where you were when this event happened.
Did the primary storyline of Mr. McMahon attempting to prevent Stone Cold Steve Austin from winning the Royal Rumble and main eventing WrestleMania interest you at the time? Looking back now, would you have made any changes to the build-up or aftermath of the storyline prior to WrestleMania XV?
What are your thoughts on Mr. McMahon winning the Royal Rumble match? Do you think it fit in the context of the storyline, or are/were you opposed to the concept given the importance of the moment for a rising star or established main eventer? If you didn't agree with McMahon as the winner, how would you book the outcome of the Royal Rumble match from the year 1999? Any spots in the match that you would have orchestrated differently?
Regarding the WWF Championship "I Quit" match between Mankind and The Rock, what are your thoughts on this match overall? Did you like the overwhelming brawling style expressed throughout? In your opinion, did The Rock go too far with the number of chairshots he delivered to Mankind? Do you think violence such as this is necessary or appropriate for a match/storyline of such a high caliber (also, see: WrestleMania X-Seven The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, where I guess you could say The Rock had his coming for over two years)?
I'll start with my thoughts, and I was surprised to find that I was actually entertained by the event as a whole, although it was far from a perfect, or even excellent, show. For some reason, I like the use of the phrase "double duty" (I know, great thought to start off with...).
Bossman and Road Dogg opened the show in a surprisingly good 10+ minute match and, for once, the Hardcore title wasn't prominently featured where it easily could have been. Billy Gunn and Ken Shamrock attempted to keep the crowd's interest for nearly 15 minutes, and I laughed a little at a very noticeable sign near the ringsteps that simply stated "Billy Gunn Sucks."
Gunn and the D-O-Double-G found themselves on the losing end of the spectrum, which I found appropriate considering The Corporation needed to look strong heading into the Rumble match itself.
What the hell was up with Teddy Long and the botched pin fall during the European title match with X-Pac and Gangrel (solid 5-minute match, by the way)? That was a very awkward moment, and I'm almost convinced that the commentators and production crew wanted people to believe that it wasn't a mistake by actually replaying the footage. Lawler's excuse almost would have made sense if X-Pac's shoulders had been down on the mat for the count of 1, but it was clear that Long had made a mistake by counting too early.
Luna looked almost as jacked as Vince McMahon in her mediocre strap match with Sable for the Women's Championship. Also, it's very strange watching stalker Tori now that it is 10 years later and WWE has improved so much since then that the current storyline involving the Women's champion is...well, almost the exact same thing. I guess you can't have too many female stalkers in professional wrestling, and it's nice to know that security is always on the top of its game!
Now, the WWF Championship "I Quit" match is one that will forever be remembered by me as an iconic moment of the Attitude era. I would go as far to say that the beating Mankind took at Royal Rumble 1999 was more intense and heat-drawing than either of Foley's famous Hell In A Cell matches with 'Taker and Triple H. I legitimately cared for Mankind/Foley towards the end of the match, and The Rock was the personification of a villain when his only concern was for winning the match and becoming WWF Champion once again. He was willing to do whatever it took to destroy Mankind once and for all, and it is easily one of the best "I Quit" matches the WWF has ever held.
In my opinion, The Rock could have eased up on the number of chairshots, but it was almost for the better that he didn't. Foley is the only person I know who could take that many shots to the head and still be able to walk out after the match, and he contributed more to the success of the WWF during the Attitude era than anyone not named Steve Austin, The Rock, or Mr. McMahon. The match told a hell of a story but, yet, it was not a technical masterpiece and relied almost entirely on brawling and working what was essentially a hardcore match. Great stuff from the both of them, but I would hope that no other wrestler would have to endure what Foley did on that night (for a better perspective, view the film "Beyond The Mat", which I plan to watch again soon).
The Royal Rumble match itself was not one of the better Rumble matches in history, but it had some very good build-up in the weeks/months prior to its arrival. It was fairly obvious that Austin would be the winner or at least close to being the winner as the only other legit competition, in my opinion, was Kane, Triple H, or one of the other members of The Corporation. The contestants were mostly underwhelming, and I thought there was a lot of dead time in between entrances. Vince McMahon on commentary was entertaining, as there were instances where you could hear pre-Survivor Series 1997 Vince calling bits of the action in the ring. I love how his support would jump from one wrestler to the next (once Austin returned to the ring), in the hopes that even D'Lo Brown would eliminate Austin and collect the $100,000 bounty.
The Rock's interference leading to Mr. McMahon eliminating Steve Austin was a solid finish, in my opinion, to an otherwise below-average Rumble match. The aftermath of the match would eventually lead to The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin's first (and least remembered) of three WrestleMania matches together at WrestleMania XV.
Overall, I would say I enjoyed the ppv after having not seen it (probably) since it first aired. Vince Russo's influence was evident throughout the show, but it wasn't to the point where I felt it was too distracting to enjoy the matches. The show won't be remembered for its high level of workrate, but the "I Quit" match is definitely worth checking out. Some might not be willing to sit through the show again since the Rumble match, in particular, wasn't all that good, but for nostalgia purposes I chose to watch it from my Royal Rumble Anthology DVD set yesterday.
Here's to hoping this Sunday's Royal Rumble, ten years later, will be even better and worth looking back on in the year 2019.
For those not in the know, here is what all happened prior to, at, and after the Royal Rumble 1999 event.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Rumble_(1999)
What are your opinions of the show? Also, if you can remember, state where you were when this event happened.
Did the primary storyline of Mr. McMahon attempting to prevent Stone Cold Steve Austin from winning the Royal Rumble and main eventing WrestleMania interest you at the time? Looking back now, would you have made any changes to the build-up or aftermath of the storyline prior to WrestleMania XV?
What are your thoughts on Mr. McMahon winning the Royal Rumble match? Do you think it fit in the context of the storyline, or are/were you opposed to the concept given the importance of the moment for a rising star or established main eventer? If you didn't agree with McMahon as the winner, how would you book the outcome of the Royal Rumble match from the year 1999? Any spots in the match that you would have orchestrated differently?
Regarding the WWF Championship "I Quit" match between Mankind and The Rock, what are your thoughts on this match overall? Did you like the overwhelming brawling style expressed throughout? In your opinion, did The Rock go too far with the number of chairshots he delivered to Mankind? Do you think violence such as this is necessary or appropriate for a match/storyline of such a high caliber (also, see: WrestleMania X-Seven The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, where I guess you could say The Rock had his coming for over two years)?
I'll start with my thoughts, and I was surprised to find that I was actually entertained by the event as a whole, although it was far from a perfect, or even excellent, show. For some reason, I like the use of the phrase "double duty" (I know, great thought to start off with...).
Bossman and Road Dogg opened the show in a surprisingly good 10+ minute match and, for once, the Hardcore title wasn't prominently featured where it easily could have been. Billy Gunn and Ken Shamrock attempted to keep the crowd's interest for nearly 15 minutes, and I laughed a little at a very noticeable sign near the ringsteps that simply stated "Billy Gunn Sucks."
Gunn and the D-O-Double-G found themselves on the losing end of the spectrum, which I found appropriate considering The Corporation needed to look strong heading into the Rumble match itself.What the hell was up with Teddy Long and the botched pin fall during the European title match with X-Pac and Gangrel (solid 5-minute match, by the way)? That was a very awkward moment, and I'm almost convinced that the commentators and production crew wanted people to believe that it wasn't a mistake by actually replaying the footage. Lawler's excuse almost would have made sense if X-Pac's shoulders had been down on the mat for the count of 1, but it was clear that Long had made a mistake by counting too early.
Luna looked almost as jacked as Vince McMahon in her mediocre strap match with Sable for the Women's Championship. Also, it's very strange watching stalker Tori now that it is 10 years later and WWE has improved so much since then that the current storyline involving the Women's champion is...well, almost the exact same thing. I guess you can't have too many female stalkers in professional wrestling, and it's nice to know that security is always on the top of its game!
Now, the WWF Championship "I Quit" match is one that will forever be remembered by me as an iconic moment of the Attitude era. I would go as far to say that the beating Mankind took at Royal Rumble 1999 was more intense and heat-drawing than either of Foley's famous Hell In A Cell matches with 'Taker and Triple H. I legitimately cared for Mankind/Foley towards the end of the match, and The Rock was the personification of a villain when his only concern was for winning the match and becoming WWF Champion once again. He was willing to do whatever it took to destroy Mankind once and for all, and it is easily one of the best "I Quit" matches the WWF has ever held.
In my opinion, The Rock could have eased up on the number of chairshots, but it was almost for the better that he didn't. Foley is the only person I know who could take that many shots to the head and still be able to walk out after the match, and he contributed more to the success of the WWF during the Attitude era than anyone not named Steve Austin, The Rock, or Mr. McMahon. The match told a hell of a story but, yet, it was not a technical masterpiece and relied almost entirely on brawling and working what was essentially a hardcore match. Great stuff from the both of them, but I would hope that no other wrestler would have to endure what Foley did on that night (for a better perspective, view the film "Beyond The Mat", which I plan to watch again soon).
The Royal Rumble match itself was not one of the better Rumble matches in history, but it had some very good build-up in the weeks/months prior to its arrival. It was fairly obvious that Austin would be the winner or at least close to being the winner as the only other legit competition, in my opinion, was Kane, Triple H, or one of the other members of The Corporation. The contestants were mostly underwhelming, and I thought there was a lot of dead time in between entrances. Vince McMahon on commentary was entertaining, as there were instances where you could hear pre-Survivor Series 1997 Vince calling bits of the action in the ring. I love how his support would jump from one wrestler to the next (once Austin returned to the ring), in the hopes that even D'Lo Brown would eliminate Austin and collect the $100,000 bounty.
The Rock's interference leading to Mr. McMahon eliminating Steve Austin was a solid finish, in my opinion, to an otherwise below-average Rumble match. The aftermath of the match would eventually lead to The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin's first (and least remembered) of three WrestleMania matches together at WrestleMania XV.
Overall, I would say I enjoyed the ppv after having not seen it (probably) since it first aired. Vince Russo's influence was evident throughout the show, but it wasn't to the point where I felt it was too distracting to enjoy the matches. The show won't be remembered for its high level of workrate, but the "I Quit" match is definitely worth checking out. Some might not be willing to sit through the show again since the Rumble match, in particular, wasn't all that good, but for nostalgia purposes I chose to watch it from my Royal Rumble Anthology DVD set yesterday.
Here's to hoping this Sunday's Royal Rumble, ten years later, will be even better and worth looking back on in the year 2019.
