So you’ve all seen the title, and yes this is indeed the one where MR MCMAHON won the Royal Rumble match, and the same one where Mankind took all the chair shots from The Rock in that nights title match… but for more than that I think this is a show that is one that defines everything that made the Attitude Era what it was; and the best way to summarise that is… complete and utter CHAOS! The undercard features names that most wrestling fans would know, but it’s the two aforementioned matches that make this show memorable. For the WWF title we have champion Mankind, having won the title on a Monday Night Raw episode that changed the course of not just the Monday Night War, but wrestling forever (yes it was the one where Stone Cold comes down and helps Mankind win and everyone goes nuts). The Rock at this time was the Corporate golden boy, with his maiden WWF title run having begun with the great tournament swerve at the previous November’s Survivor Series. Two of the biggest names of this time, but this one would be an I QUIT MATCH… Which… well we will get to… And of course the Rumble match itself, which was pretty much entirely built around the fact that number one would be Stone Cold Steve Austin, and number 2 would be… in his first ever match… Austin’s sworn enemy… MR MCMAHON himself! So, without further or due, here is my review of the 1999 Royal Rumble PPV!
The show itself begins with a video package centred around the McMahon-Austin rivalry, the all-time great feud that was a staple of this or any era. What’s funny is both the tagline and theme song of this PPV was the ‘No Chance In Hell’ that would later become Vince’s entrance music. Vince is adamant in the video that Austin will never again be WWF Champion, and so makes sure that Stone Cold enters at number 1 in the Royal Rumble match. Commissioner Shawn Michaels follows this by naming the number 2 entrant, as Vince McMahon himself! Vince also adds a $100,000 bounty on the head of Austin, to go to anyone who can eliminate him from the match.
The show would come to us from Anaheim, California. And a rarity in this era as we have Michael Cole joining Jerry Lawler on commentary (I believe Jim Ross was out at this time due to health reasons).
Our opening match of the show sees the Hardcore Champion in action, but without the title on the line. It was explained that The Corporation (Vince’s heel faction of the time) had ensured the no Hardcore rules, and this was to be a special challenge match. Road Dogg came out first and did his usual speel on the mic, Boss Man got booed as he came out… Boss Man is one half of the tag champions with Ken Shamrock at this time (what an oddball team that is by the way, such was the ever-changing title scene in this time, if you asked me to pick 30 combinations I can’t say I’d of put those two down as having had a tag title reign together).
Big Boss Man defeated Road Dogg
The crowd really liked Road Dogg, and they really disliked Boss Man. Boss Man showed his power early on, as this was a match less about holds and move moves and sequences to get the crowd into it. But it was a fun enough opener to get the crowd into the action on the PPV (having had to sit through Sunday Night Heat before the PPV started). Big Boss Man hit a series of strikes that put him in charge, and Road Dogg had the crowd going whenever he got on a comeback. Big Boss Man got the first nearfall of the match after launching Road Dogg into the corner ring turnbuckles. Boss Man got a bearhug, which Road Dogg got out of via biting… Boss Man hit a knee and then he was back in control. He then removed the top turnbuckle pad (which actually had no influence and wasn’t used up to in the match I think, but oh well). Boss Man hit a slam for a 2 count, and then got the heat on Road Dogg, eventually Road Dogg got a sleeper hold in, which Boss Man got out of by raking the eyes and then hit a backbreaker. Boss Man then went up top, but Road Dogg threw him down. They exchanged strikes which ended with Road Dogg getting a 2 count after a knee drop. Then almost immediately after Big Boss Man hit a Sidewalk Slam and got the 1,2,3 for the win. The finish seemed to come out of nowhere really, which may of been the plan but looked to me like they got told to take it home maybe? Anyway, Boss Man wins in a solid match, but really felt to me like Road Dogg should’ve got the win here (crowd and momentum-wise), but I guess it did give a heel a win on PPV against a babyface title holder…
**1/2
We were shown a video before our next match… In it we see MR ASS (Billy Gunn) showing his… ass… to the “sister” of his upcoming opponent Ken Shamrock on a previous edition of Raw. Shamrock was then shown beating down Gunn in consecutive weeks, and having agreed to a match for the Intercontinental title on this show here…
Ken Shamrock (C) defeated Billy Gunn to retain the Intercontinental Championship
Gunn cut a short promo before the match telling Shamrock to come down and get his… ass… kicked, and he had two words for him… you know the drill… It was quite the visual to see Shamrock with his tag team title belt, and of course the gold at stake in this match too… Always looked like more could’ve been done with the former UFC star in WWF… Gunn started as the aggressor, as the match was more of a fight that a wrestling match to begin with, it went fairly event until a big clothesline and the first nearfall of the match for Gunn. Mr Ass got another nearfall after a delayed vertical suplex, Billy then went into the ring post and Shamrock followed up with kicks to the… ass… Shamrock then slowed the pace of the match down with his kicks, with Gunn now down and on the backfoot. It was noted on commentary that Shamrock won the King Of The Ring the previous year, and was into month 3 as IC Champion. It really was a shame Shamrock never got to that next level in WWF, but with Rock, Austin, Mankind, Undertaker among those at the time battling for the top spots, you can understand why… Shamrock did get a nearfall after a spinning kick, and later Gunn slammed Shamrock and stood on the second rope before hitting him with 10 strikes to the face. Gunn then went over the top ropes to the outside after Shamrock moved and lowered the top rope. He followed up with knees to Gunn before launching him all over the place on the outside area. Eventually Shamrock really began to target the left leg of Gunn that he himself had injured on a previous Raw episode, and after a couple of tries at a front facelock, the two exchanged quick nearfalls before Shamrock invertedly hit the ref and caused him to go down. After this, with both Shamrock and Gunn down also, Val Venus (who too had been involved in ass-related beef with Shamrock’s sister) came down and hit Shamrock with a DDT, but as the ref was slow to recover himself, Billy Gunn could only get a 2 count off the resulting pin. Gunn then went up to the top, but came down having missed the axe handle and landed on his injured leg, Shamrock smelt blood and quickly applied the Ankle Lock submission and got the win with Gunn forced to tap. Shamrock retains in a solid match between two solid in-ring workers.
***1/4
Backstage we would see Shane McMahon and Gerald Brisco hyping up Mr McMahon before he faces off with Stone Cold Steve Austin in the Royal Rumble match later in the show.
X-Pac (C) defeated Gangrel to retain the European Championship
I feel like I don’t need to tell you how awesome Gangrel’s theme music is, if you a real one you already know. His opponent here was rather over with this crowd… The ref for this one was a certain Teddy Long, which was funny. This went just under 6 minutes and was fine whilst it lasted to be fair. Gangrel was the bigger and more powerful of the two and sued this to his advantage, but he could move too. X-Pac was his typical self with plenty of fast paced moves and kicks, on at least 3 occasions he hit great-looking spinning heel kicks.
Towards the end of the match X-Pac hit a Bronco Buster which the crowd popped for, and eventually he went up top and hit a crossbody, which resulted in a pin attempt, which (and they even showed a replay of this after the match to make it worse) the ref counted the 3, but then after signalled a 2… Naturally, the crowd made it clear that they “fucked up”… Gangrel hit a slam for a nearfall, and then not long after that X-Pac got the X-Factor for the 1, 2, 3. A fun match (I noted that there were no ring intros but Finkel did announce X-Pac as the winner at the end of the match… weird.
**3/4
Kevin Kelly interviewed DX (Road Dogg, Triple H, Chyna and X-Pac) backstage. Each of them spoke about wanting to win the Royal Rumble match and collect the $100,000 bounty from Mr McMahon for eliminating Steve Austin.
Shane McMahon came out to the ring. He introduced “the next WWF Women’s Champion”, Luna Vachon… or “the lovely Luna” according to Shane. Shane said that Sable had suffered a chronic back injury, as they showed footage from Sunday Night Heat of Luna attacking Sable. Shane wanted Sable to come out to forfeit her title. Sable did indeed come out, holding her injured back, and got into the ring and “ring the bell”, and so the match was indeed on!
Sable (C) defeated Luna Vachon in a Strap Match to retain the WWF Women’s Championship
Shane joined commentary as the ref attached the strap to both women. This was an old school strap match, in that the winner was the one to touch all four corner turnbuckles first. They exchanged slaps with the strap, Luna sold her ass off to make Sable to look good, Sable touched two corners before Luna got a shot in. Vachon choked Sable with the strap, (and I could definitely see Vachon check on Sable by tapping her back)… Luna hit two turnbuckles, before Sable swung her round via the strap.
Sable got a few shots in with the strap, then some kicks in the corner, Luna took charge and hit a backbreaker, Luna dragged Sable and touched 1 corner (but so did Sable), then the second it was the same, then the third they did it again (Luna touched it, then Sable did as Luna was dragging her away and as she was dragging her behind her back Luna wasn’t aware Sable was touching the corners as well. Finally Sable countered before Luna got her on the floor, and Shane then got onto the turnbuckle which diverted the ref’s attention (pretty dumb of Shane kayfabe wise given Luna was about to win, and surely they could of thought of a better way to create a distraction that actually made sense??? But whatever…)… Anyway, with the ref dealing with Shane that was when Nicole Bass (or at this point she was still referred to as being just a fan) clocked Luna from the apron before escaping through the crowd. That allowed Sable to touch the final corner turnbuckle for the win. Sable retains. This was so so dumb but a sign of the times, thankfully women’s WRESTLING is on another planet to this in 2023.
DUD
Big Boss Man was speaking with Test and Ken Shamrock backstage. Boss Man spoke to them about the Royal Rumble talking about the 100,000 and the title shot at stake… Remember those 3 individuals as this show goes on…
I’ve not watched this next match for a long, long time. For good reason, and nothing to do with who is in it, given they’re two of my all-time favourites… but… we will just get into it…
They showed a video before the match where Rock wanted a rematch for the title and Mankind kept saying no. So every time The Rock would try and sweeten the deal… No countouts, No DQs, No corporation interference, etc. Until finally it was agreed as an I Quit match. The idea was that Mankind has been through so much in his career, and he has never quit… And The Rock, as “great” as he is, simply couldn’t make him do so… so you knew where this one was going…
The Rock was interviewed by Doc Hendrix backstage, with The Rock saying all his usual catchphrases etc.
Mankind had also taken part in a ‘warm up match’ on Heat before this show against Mabel, where The Rock came in to help with a beating.
The Rock defeated Mankind (C) in an I Quit Match to win the WWF Championship
Mankind beat on The Rock early on, and Foley tried to speak into the mic but it wouldn’t work, Rock then returned fire with a punch, but Mankind soon took back charge. Mankind spoke into the mic and asked The Rock if he had something to tell the people, to which The Rock said “The Rock says you can kiss his ass”… Mankind cracked Rock over and over with the mic, as Rock said he’d ‘kick his fat ass’ but Mankind kept up the assault. As they brawled, Rock launched Mankind into the steps to turn the tide, Rock then put on a headset from commentary, as Mankind continued to dominate the match. Mankind gauged at The Rock’s face, and smashed him again over the head with the mic (Rock still trash talking as he was getting his ass beat). Back in the ring Mankind hit a ddt, then got out Mr Socko and used him, Rock seemed to be fading, but said into the mic… well, nothing. Mankind said he’d ‘split open that ridiculous eyebrow’. Mankind threw Rock into the crowd over the barrier and the chase was on, the fans swarmed Mankind, but as he then ran at The Rock, he was countered as Rock threw him with a slam over the barricade. Rock then threw Mankind’s head into the steps, then hit the ring bell with the hammer over Mankind’s head as he sang into the mic something along the lines of ‘that old Foley ringing’ (?), whatever it was it got a laugh from me as he did so again with the bell. Rock was in control now as they were on the Spanish announce table setting up for a Rock Bottom, but the table itself gave way. Rock told Foley to quit and called him a piece of monkey crap, and Mankind… well, he declined… Foley ran after Rock up the entrance way and laid him out with a strike, he threw punches to The Rock, and then after a headbutt Rock and Mankind were into what Michael Cole on commentary called ‘the technical area’, Mankind and Rock exchanged strikes before Rock hit a ddt and he again asked Mankind to quit, to which Mankind declined. Rock took in the crowd reaction and then went somewhere and came back with a ladder, but Mankind countered and Rock went down, Foley trapped Rock on the floor with the ladder, and went for a running elbow drop… only for The Rock to move and Mankind to taker the full force into the ladder. Mankind again declined an offer to quit, Rock had the ladder as he took in the crowd chanting “ROCKY SUCKS”, he then leant the ladder against the stage area and he climbed the ladder towards the fans as Mankind went after him, with both men on a ledge, Rock hit a few punches before Mankind responded with some of his own, and eventually Rock hit a low blow going over the barrier and hitting a big right hand, which sent Mankind falling off the ledge into a load of electrical equipment, and we got some pretty big sparks as a result. The lights in the arena went out to sell the fall, before a spotlight was shone on the action, as The Rock looked down at Mankind still wrapped in electrical wires, Shane McMahon came out as a few crew workers and officials tried to tidy up the mess and chaos caused, Shane wanted to end the match, but Rock slammed that idea saying “that son of a bitch will say I quit…”… As Mankind crawled, Rock grabbed him by the hair and talked some trash, he launched Mick Foley into the crowd barrier, and then into the barrier on the other side, Rock hit some strikes and then rolled Foley into the ring… The Rock then went and got some handcuffs and he put Foley in them, telling the ref Earl Hebner to shut up after he told him to ‘come on’. Rock treated Mankind like punching bag, with kicks and punches and then ramming his head into the turnbuckle a few times, before a low blow by Foley and some kicks, and then he bit The Rock (all with his hands in handcuffs by the way), and Foley followed all that with a knee drop low blow! Foley then wanted Rock to quit (Foley was busted open and you could see it coming through his Mankind mask), Rock hit a clothesline and then took control…
This is the part of the match where… well… look away now kids…
The Rock went outside the ring and got a steel chair… he placed it on Foley’s head and prepared for a ‘Corporate’ Elbow, which he hit. Mankind still didn’t Quit, and he told The Rock to go to hell. Rock said he may but his ‘candy ass’ would go first… and then he hit a horrendous chair shot to the head, then another immediately after, Foley wouldn’t quit, 3rd chair shot, 4th, 5th…
Foley went outside, then number 6, he again wouldn’t quit, 7,8, he didn’t quit, number 9, 10, Rock asked again, saying he guaran-damn-teed he was gonna make Mankind say I Quit, and with blood pouring from his head and him lying on the floor…
We did indeed hear Mankind’s voice say ‘I Quit’, but even if you didn’t know the story, it was very clear that wasn’t Mick Foley saying that live… Michael Cole on commentary sold it saying The Rock made him sick. The Rock wins the WWF Championship for the second time. Officials quickly tended to Mick Foley as Rock posed in the ring with the belt. The crowd was flat as a pancake after what they had just seen, which is amazing to say after THE ROCK had just won the title, but this… yeah this was not fun to watch at all. I’m sure it wasn’t for people in 1999, and it definitely isn’t all these years later. The Hell In A Cell with Mankind and Undertaker is maybe my favourite ever match, mainly because of what Mick Foley was willing to do to create moments to entertain and wow his audience. After the match then, Foley has told the story how Vince McMahon backstage told him after that Cell match ‘You have no idea how much it means to me what you did for this company tonight’, but Vince also told him ‘I never want to see you do something like that ever again’. My god I hope he had a good talk with both Foley and Rock after this match… Foley has also told the story of how for some time there was heat between he and The Rock after this match, with it felt liberties were taken with all those chair shots and the velocity… it’s also worth noting that Mick’s wife and kids were in the crowd for this show. Knowing what we know now in 2023 about things like CTE, there’s a lot of very good reasons we wont ever see anything like the end of this match ever ever again in WWE. Or so I hope. Rock posed with the belt over a fallen Foley, but really event to someone like me who is a HUGE fan of The Rock, it really wasn’t relevant at this point. Foley refused being put on the stretcher, he wanted to walk out on his own just like after that Undertaker Cell match.
My god I love Mick Foley. The fact he is able to go about life as he does still now is some blessing.
N/A (I just can’t give this one a star rating, I’m sorry)
The commentators and then a cool video package told us the story going into the Royal Rumble match, which of course was basically a different way to do Vince vs Austin. We then saw how on Heat before the ppv, Austin was denied entry via the VIP entrance, and so then went and got what was a monster truck and drove that through and then over the barrier and some cars. Once in the ring with Vince and the two stooges (Patterson and Briscoe), Vince gave Austin a slap before he escaped and Austin beat up poor Pat and Gerald.
Howard Finkel told us the rules for the upcoming rumble, not going to lie I love when the ring announcers do this. Proper cool tradition, but nobody did it like The Fink.
MR MCMAHON won the Royal Rumble Match
Austin entered number 1 to a typically huge pop. Vince was number 2, and he looked… typically (possibly not-naturally) jacked.
Austin quickly opens up that can of ‘whoop-ass’ on Vince, and the crowd lose their mind for all of it. He goes to eliminate McMahon, but decides against it and hits a clothesline. Number 3 enters and it’s Golga (?), Austin hits a Thezs Press to Vince, Golga comes in and hammers at Austin before he’s quickly eliminated. In this time McMahon goes under the bottom rope and escapes, Austin gives chase into the crowd, they go all the way up the stands and into the concourse area. All that happens as number 4 Droz enters, we see footage of Austin beating McMahon and that leads them into the women’s rest room, but it turns out it was all a trap. Austin is met in their by the likes of Test, Shamrock, Boss Man who all ambush Stone Cold. Meanwhile an LOD painted Droz is just stood waiting in the ring… Finally number 5 enters and it’s a young Edge, they have a fun exchange of offence until number 6 is… THE MAN CALLED… GILLBERG!!!
He lasts a total of six seconds (thanks to Edge) once he’s done with his… entrance… We see footage of Austin on the floor having been laid out by members of The Corporation. Number 7 is Steve Blackman, and he goes after Droz as we see Austin being tended to and put on a stretcher, Number 8 is Dan Severn (Austin is seen being carried through the concourse, outside past the fans and placed into an ambulance), 9 is Tiger Ali Singh (Austin’s ambulance drives away soon after this entrant comes out), and Number 10 is Blue Meanie. Number 11 is when the whole match takes a turn, as out comes… nobody… when we cut to Mosh being jumped backstage by Mabel, who then enters the Rumble in his place…
Mabel wastes little time and eliminates Severn, Blackman and Singh. Number 12 is Road Dogg as Mabel eliminates Droz and the Blue Meanie. Edge low blows Mabel before going at Road Dogg, but eventually Road Dogg eliminates Edge. Road Dogg and Mabel are then going at it before the lights all go out, when they come back on we see Bradshaw, Faarooq and Mideon have eliminated Mabel and are beating him up the entrance ramp. At the top of the ramp as his music is playing stands The Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Eventually Taker says some… stuff… to Mabel before his Ministry minions throw strikes at Mabel some more and they go to the back… Michael Cole alerts us all on commentary that there was talk of a ‘sacrifice’ being made at the Royal Rumble, and it appears The Ministry of Darkness have set their sights on Mabel (this is how he would transition into being called Viscera)… After all that… stuff… Road Dogg is still just chilling in the ring, until number 13 finally comes out after what felt like an age of waiting, and it’s Gangrel… and then after that wait he’s gone after 26 seconds… Number 14 is Kurrgan (?) and 15 was Al Snow…
47 seconds later, a “Head-less” Al Snow was eliminated by Road Dogg as the two tried to eliminate Kurrgan. 16 was Goldust, not much memorable happened and then out came number 17 The Godfather… with a couple of his… hoes… All 4 men in ring brawled some, before the lights went ahead of the arrival of number 18… KANE! He got a big reaction and came off as a huge star. Very quickly he got rid of everyone (Road Dogg, Kurrgan, Godfather and Goldust).
And that was when the ‘white coats’ all came out to try and take him ‘back to the insane asylum’… and as Kane was beating them all up chasing them off, he decided to ELIMINATE HIMSELF from the rumble by climbing over the top ropes and through the crowd (Yeah… this rumble was… erm… different…)… As the music for number 19 Ken Shamrock played “Hey look who’s here” and as Jerry Lawler cackled with delight, out to eventually join commentary was Mr McMahon… McMahon on commentary said that he had accomplished everything he wanted to, and that Stone Cold was taken away in an ambulance… and “he’s not, coming, back”… Next was number 20 Billy Gunn, and after the match earlier in the show with Shamrock he was limping down to the ring with one shoe on, Shamrock went at the ankle right away, but Gunn somehow managed to hit a slam. Gunn failed to eliminate Shamrock, and then again the ankle was targeted at.
Number 21 was Test, after he entered we saw Mabel getting beaten and loaded into a Hurst by The Acolytes and Mideon, and as this was happening… we heard a siren… and then we saw an ambulance… and you know where this is going… Naturally the crowd absolutely erupts as Austin drives the ambulance right into the arena before making a beeline for the action! McMahon sold it so well on commentary too as did Michael Cole and Lawler. Number 22 was Boss Man, as Austin made his way towards Vince, the chase was on, and Vince escaped as Austin ran into Shamrock, who was quickly despatched… Big Boss Man beat on Austin, trying to choke him out with some form of rope, Austin soon turned the tables… Number 23 was Triple H who got a big pop to the DX music (he was still a few months shy of superstardom really), Vince on commentary sounded increasingly desperate for Austin to be eliminated and happy to pay the $100,000 bounty to someone. Number 24 was Val Venus… Billy Gunn was thrown out by Austin, Number 25 came out as X-Pac, Val Venus came off the top with an axe handle to Austin, and then tried to choke him with his foot, as X-Pac and Test and HHH and Boss Man each battled, Val did force Austin out via underneath the bottom rope (which commentary stressed meant he was NOT eliminated, as did Vince even in kayfabe which was funny to me…). Being on the outside did though give Austin a chance to come off the top himself to down Venus, X-Pac soon after got a spinning heel kick in to down Austin as Mark Henry entered number 26. Number 27 was Jeff Jarrett, he got a big pop which I’m going to presume was as much for Debra who came out with him… well the crowd booed a little when she walked back through the entrance way and to the back… The match was kind of just going along at this point with no eliminations for a little while, Number 28 was D-Lo Brown, Austin threw out Test and soon after Boss Man threw out X-Pac. McMahon was now even more desperate-sounding on commentary, and soon after Jarrett and Boss Man combined to beat up Austin, Number 29 was Owen Hart and he came out just after his tag partner Jarrett was eliminated by Triple H. Soon after Stone Cold made his way out of the ring under the bottom ropes again, he went over to commentary and took a sip from a water jug (I think) and then proceeded to throw the jug and the rest of the water AT VINCE! Which, well was silly given he could’ve just beat him up surely? Ah well… wrestling should be fun I guess… Vince looked livid after so he sold it well.
Anyway… Number 30 was of course the winner of the Corporate Battle Royal to earn the spot of last to enter… CHYNA! She got a massive pop, maybe only Austin got a bigger one I think? She blasted at Mark Henry a few times in the corner, and soon after she threw him out… but just as quickly Stone Cold eliminated Chyna! Triple H naturally went mad at Austin after this, and after an exchange between those two it was Vel Venus who went at Triple H, which eventually led to HHH throwing him out. A stunner was soon followed by Austin eliminating Triple H, and we were left with Owen Hart, Boss Man, D-Lo and Austin… and… Vince… It felt as if the match was kind of plodding along a little here, as it was blatantly obvious it was ALL about Austin given who else was left… and soon enough Austin eliminated Owen Hart from the match. Boss Man beat up Austin, and then D-Lo hit his big splash, but Boss Man then threw D-Lo out. Austin came back up to hit a stunner to Boss Man and then eliminated him from the match. With the crowd in an absolute frenzy, Austin set his sights on Vince, who could run no more. The Rumble would finish as it began, with McMahon and Stone Cold. Austin laid the beating on a helpless Vince (I didn’t need to see ANOTHER chair shot by the way on this show), eventually dragging him into the ring. Austin looked down upon his prey, but Vince hit a big low blow… it didn’t help for too long though, only delaying the inevitable and soon Mr McMahon was on the receiving end of a Stunner… and with it all set up for the biggest of crowd pleasing moments, that was when the newly crowned champion of the World Wrestling Federation made his way out…
As you all reading this know by now, as Austin and The Rock went at it verbally, it was enough of a distraction for Vince to do his thing and ‘eliminate’ his sworn enemy… and yes indeed… the winner of the 1999 Royal Rumble match was MR MCMAHON himself!
Shane and the stooges came out to celebrate after as Rock and Austin brawled to the back, with Shane proudly proclaiming that his father was “GOING TO WRESTLEMANIA!”… As Rumble matches go this has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, watching it back now and going through it as I have done it doesn’t really measure as a wrestling match, more a collection of short stories with the one underlining story threading the whole match together throughout. But naturally this kind of summed up this time period quite well in that everything, and rightfully so but EVERYTHING, was secondary to Austin vs Vince. If you like fun and silly, this was the Rumble match for you.
***
I think this show was a pretty decent summary of this whole time period in WWF; not all that much wrestling, but lots of angles and… stuff… happening. The crowd seemed to be quite into most of it mind, they popped for the big moments anyway, although I don’t know how I feel about the 1A and 1B heels in the company winning the semi and main event, with the top two babyfaces on the receiving end, but nonetheless the ends (basically the WrestleMania main event of ’99) justified the means in this show. And sure the chair shots to Mankind and MC MCMAHON having a rumble win on his CV, when the likes of Jericho, Punk and Daniel Bryan haven’t is beyond a travesty. It was beyond a joke how much of a MEGAstar Austin was in this time, and he had the absolute perfect foils to help give him that spotlight. I can’t say I fully enjoyed the entirety of this whole show, but if you need an nostalgia fix from the attitude era, you can’t get a better summary of that era that the 1999 Royal Rumble PPV.
Josh.