Hall’s King Of The Ring 1999 Review

King of the Ring 1999
Date: June 27, 1999
Location: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Attendance: 19,761
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross

Let’s go with one of the out there years, as we’re in the full heart of the Attitude Era. As you can guess, it’s a tournament show, but the main event is a handicap ladder match for control of the company. You know, because if you hang it above the ring, anything can be up for grabs. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at how much Vince McMahon hates Steve Austin running the company (because we’re in a time where Austin is the CEO, as 1999 was weird) so it’s time for a ladder match, winner take all.

Here are the tournament brackets coming in:

Billy Gunn
Ken Shamrock

Big Show
Kane

Road Dogg
Chyna

Hardcore Holly
X-Pac

We look at Steve Blackman attacking Ken Shamrock with a kendo stick on Heat, leaving Shamrock bleeding from the mouth (a rather common occurrence for him). Shane McMahon, who was facing Shamrock, might be out of action as well.

King Of The Ring Quarterfinals: Hardcore Holly vs. X-Pac

Holly grabs a headlock to start and sends him hard into the corner. A clothesline drops X-Pac again and a jackknife (not a bad one either) plants him hard. X-Pac is back with a belly to back suplex and a hard spinning kick to the face. More kicks in the corner set up the Bronco Buster…and Holly grabs a chair to knock him cold for the DQ at 3:01. Well that was dumb.

Rating: D+. Yeah we’re not looking at a great technical show here, as this would have been nothing on Raw, let alone as a pay per view opener. Holly felt like he was trying to unlock another stage in the championship mode of No Mercy rather than win the tournament. That’s not the best way to get a show going and it’s not giving me a good feeling for the rest of this.

Post match Holly gives X-Pac a neckbreaker so Road Dogg runs in for the save.

Terry Taylor asks Hardcore Holly what that was about. Holly: “Who the h*** are you?” Taylor: “I’m Terry Taylor.” Holly: “Who cares?” Holly says that’s how the Big Shot plays, and he hasn’t forgotten about the Big Show.

King Of The Ring Quarterfinals: Big Show vs. Kane

Kane slugs away to start but gets tossed out of the corner without much trouble. Show’s big splash in the corner misses so Kane gives him an enziguri. They both try big boots and…well they both go down despite neither of them looking to connect. A Stunner over the top gives Kane a breather and the top rope clotheslines connects for two, with Show LAUNCHING him on the kickout. Back up and Show kicks the referee by mistake so Kane gets in a low blow.

Cue Hardcore Holly with a chair (they’ve been having issues) but Kane takes it away and gives him a chokeslam. Show fights back up so Kane grabs him by the throat, holding him there until Show starts to fade. The fans boo (apparently not a fan of attempted murder on live television) and Show gets up, only for a big chair shot to the head to knock Show out for the pin at 6:35.

Rating: F. People, we’re two matches in and we’ve had two Hardcore Holly appearances (three if you count the promo), a pair of chair shots to the head, Kane possibly facing strangulation charges, and nothing resembling a good match. This is going to be a long night and I’m worried about where it’s going. Holly has to be done right? I rarely go this low with matches, but that choke was so ridiculous. Apparently there was supposed to be a comeback cue that never happened and Undertaker was supposed to interfere, but this is what we got instead. Yeah somehow, this was their best other idea.

Vince McMahon says someone (he never says Shane McMahon) needs to go to the hospital and can’t wrestle tonight. He’ll never forgive Ken Shamrock for this.

King Of The Ring Quarterfinals: Billy Gunn vs. Ken Shamrock

We’re firmly in the Mr. A** period here and yeah it’s still really goofy. Gunn (wearing a stolen Tag Team Title from one of the Acolytes) says Shamrock is too hurt to wrestle so either forfeit or get out here and take a beating. In the back, Shamrock beats up some medics and comes to the ring, still with the blood on his chin. Gunn gets smart with a running dropkick to the stomach before the bell and chokes in the corner. Shamrock kicks him in the head but charges into a backbreaker, meaning it’s time to writhe on the mat.

Shamrock’s quick leglock is broken up with a shot to the ribs and Shamrock falls out to the floor. Gunn drops him ribs first onto the barricade but has to fight out of an ankle lock attempt. Back in and Gunn misses a top rope splash, allowing Shamrock to hit a running kick to the face but a hurricanrana is countered into a sitout powerbomb. With Shamrock bleeding even more from the mouth, the referee (Teddy Long) stops it at 3:36.

Rating: C-. Well I guess that’s the best match of the night thus far, even as it was little more than Gunn beating Shamrock up until the referee called it. I’m guessing they didn’t want Shamrock taking a fall here so this was the best idea they had, but that doesn’t make it a great match. Gunn advancing is fine, but would a match without some kind of screwiness be too much to ask?

Post match annoyed Shamrock takes out the referee.

Chyna thinks Road Dogg has some big brass balls to face him. HHH is going to be there with her.

We see a clip of Dogg trying to punch Chyna earlier tonight, earning him a beating from both Chyna and HHH.

King Of The Ring Quarterfinals: Road Dogg vs. Chyna

HHH is here with Chyna, who backs Dogg into the corner to start. A battle over a hammerlock lets Chyna elbow him in the face, which leaves Dogg thinking twice about this. Dogg goes to a headlock but gets knocked down again as it’s mostly Chyna to start. Chyna’s headlock doesn’t work so she goes with hitting Dogg in the face instead. The forearms to the chest eventually do some damage to Dogg and some whips into the corner put him down again.

Back up and a hard chip over the corner sends Chyna crashing outside, with HHH cutting Dogg off from going after her. That’s enough for Chyna to post him and HHH beats Dogg like a….uh, like an opponent. Dogg is dropped onto the steps and Chyna gets to hammer away back inside, with an elbow getting two. A DDT gets two on Dogg and Chyna does her own shaky knee. The sleeper goes on for a bit but Dogg fights up to grab a sleeper of his own.

With Chyna in trouble, HHH puts the foot on the ropes and Chyna gets a rollup for two, with the kickout hitting the referee (oh come on). HHH hits Dogg in the head with a chain for a delayed two and here is Commissioner Shawn Michaels to glare at the back of HHH’s head. Dogg fights up and hits the shaky jabs and the running hip attack to the back. The shaky knee connects and Michaels pulls HHH off the apron. Chyna uses the distraction to hit Dogg low but Dogg reveals a cup. The pumphandle slam gives Dogg the pin at 13:20.

Rating: D+. Well, it did get some more time, but that doesn’t mean it was worth seeing. We’re now at our second ref bump in four matches, plus another match with interference. I’m not sure why this is supposed to be interesting, but I’m sure they’re saving the better matches for later. Right?

Here are the updated brackets:

Billy Gunn
Kane

Road Dogg
X-Pac

The Rock mocks Undertaker speaking in tongues and promises to win the WWF Title.

We look at the Acolytes beating up Edge and Christian and the Hardys on Heat.

Edge And Christian vs. Hardy Boyz

For a future Tag Team Title shot and the Hardys (with Michael Hayes, as opposed to Gangrel with Edge and Christian) run in to start the fight fast. That’s broken up and a double hiptoss takes Jeff down. A headscissors out of the corner puts Edge down but he snaps off an Alabama slam out of another corner. Edge dives into raised boots though and it’s off to Matt for a change.

Christian comes in and charges into a raised boot, only to get suplexed down. The Hardys take their shirts off and the lack of wooing females is odd. Christian grabs his reverse layout DDT and Edge comes back in to clean house. Hayes comes in for a cheap shot to give Matt two and then comes in AGAIN, earning a spear from Edge. The Hardys try Poetry In Motion but Jeff gets speared out of the air (that looked good) for two, with Matt making the save. Christian dives onto Matt on the floor but Gangrel sprays the red liquid at Edge by mistake. The Twist Of Fate gives Jeff the pin at 4:48.

Rating: B-. The short run time is annoying here as it’s the first good match of the night. They were all getting in as much as they could (as they always did) but they somehow managed to get in two people interfering, including something like a foreign object. At least they had some energy to their match and that spear out of the corner was awesome.

The Undertaker asks what happens when you rip the balls off a bull. Uh…the bull probably kills you?

Here is Vince McMahon for a chat but the fans aren’t interested in seeing him. He blames Shawn Michaels for Shane McMahon’s injuries. Therefore, the handicap ladder match is off for tonight. Cue Michaels to say the match is happening but Vince says he’ll have a suitable replacement for Shane. After tonight, Vince will be the showstopper, the main event and the 100% owner of the company. There was pretty much no reason for this to be taking place in the ring.

King Of The Ring Semifinals: Billy Gunn vs. Kane

Kane throws him around to start, which isn’t something you often see with Gunn. The beating continues and they head outside, with Kane grabbing the steps. Gunn is able to dropkick said steps and they fall…well in the general vicinity of Kane’s head. Kane gets knocked up the aisle a bit and it’s a reverse front facelock (Back facelock?) inside. Kane gets up and hits a heck of a dropkick so Gunn grabs a chair. Cue Big Show so Kane glares at the referee, who falls down. Show chairs Kane in the head and Gunn gets the pin at 5:25.

Rating: D+. We’re about halfway through this show and half of the matches have had a ref bump of some kind. The idea of less being more is a foreign concept around here, as f nothing else it’s just lazy, repetitive booking. You really can’t have someone do a clean finish here? The closest we’ve had is someone being so beaten up from his first match in the night that his previous injury flares up. Come up with something better.

X-Pac is banged up but has to face a good friend. May the best man win.

Road Dogg says this is going to be a hard win but he wants to be the King. Then he takes the mic to do his entrance.

King Of The Ring Semifinals: Road Dogg vs. X-Pac

X-Pac’s neck is damaged coming in and Dogg cuts his own entrance short out of respect. Feeling out process to start and X-Pac grabs a belly to back suplex, followed by the legdrop. The chinlock is on early but Dogg fights back, only for the running hip attack to be kicked down. The Bronco Buster misses for X-Pac but he counters the pumphandle slam into the X-Factor for the pin at 3:08.

Rating: C. It was clean! See? It can be done! It makes sense as these two don’t have any issues between each other so there was no need for it to get screwy. That being said, how in the world do you have the chance to have the New Age Outlaws face off in a tournament final and then go with the less interesting option instead? I guess that might have been too interesting for this tournament so we’ll go with this, as X-Pac is in the finals after two matches totaling less than six and a half minutes.

We recap the Rock vs. Undertaker for the WWF Title. The Rock issued the challenge and the Corporate Ministry (in this case Undertaker and HHH) are fighting among themselves, making Rock look like a bigger favorite.

WWF Title: The Rock vs. Undertaker

Undertaker is defending and has Paul Bearer with him. The referee takes the belt…and undertaker decks him from behind, giving us a PRE-MATCH REF BUMP because we need something fresh. The Rock Bottom gets two from another referee but Bearer breaks it up and takes the second referee out.

Rock slugs away at Undertaker but gets chokeslammed for two from the original referee. Back up and Rock fires off the right hands with Undertaker bailing out to the floor. The fight goes up towards the tech area with Undertaker getting the better of things. Rock fights back and gets sent hard into the barricade for his efforts. A suplex in the aisle has Rock in more trouble and some slow stomps get two back inside.

Undertaker starts working on the arm but Old School is broken up, allowing Rock to get some water. Said water is spat into Undertaker’s face and they go into the crowd again. Undertaker gets the better of things as they get back to ringside, where Rock sends him into the steps. Rock grabs a chair but Undertaker uses the ring bell to knock it back into his face for a clever counter.

Even Bearer gets in a cheap shot with his shoe (nice touch in Horsemen country) and Undertaker hits a big running DDT for two. The chinlock doesn’t last long so Undertaker boots him in the face for two. Another chinlock is broken up and we get a LET’S GO ROCKY chant. Lawler: “Where do they want him to go?” We’re in North Carolina so I’m guessing to the pay windah? Rock’s neckbreaker gets two but a double clothesline puts both of them down.

Back up and Rock hits a DDT of his own for two of his own but the referee gets bumped again. The People’s Elbow connects for no count so Undertaker goes low. Bearer whips out a bottle of liquid and puts it over a cloth but Rock takes it away and smothers Undertaker (JR has decided it’s ether) but cue HHH with a Pedigree. Undertaker gets a hand on him for the cover and two, followed by the Tombstone to retain at around 19:00.

Rating: D+. It was slow, it was plodding, there was pretty much no flow to it, and the whole thing was WAY too long. They also managed to have more interference, more ref bumps (because there were multiple ones in a single match) and more insanity with the ether. Having that kind of stuff in one or two big matches is fine, but doing it in almost every match on the show takes away its impact. That was the case here, as I wasn’t excited by what happened, but rather rolling my eyes and saying “Again?”.

Shawn Michaels has HHH arrested, ignoring Vince McMahon’s protests of HHH being his partner. Vince gets on the phone and calls someone, saying to turn around and come back. Rock is just strolling around in the background, seemingly not supposed to be in the shot.

Billy Gunn says he’s going after X-Pac’s bad neck and doesn’t care about anything but winning.

King Of The Ring: Billy Gunn vs. X-Pac

X-Pac’s neck is still banged up. Gunn goes right after him to start but X-Pac hits a crossbody for a needed breather. The running bulldog gets two on X-Pac and a gorilla press leads into a front facelock. Back up and a powerslam drops X-Pac again, followed by the Fameasser for two. Gunn yells at the referee and walks into the X-Factor for two, allowing X-Pac to kick away. They go up top but Gunn shoves him down and hits a middle rope Fameasser for the crown at 5:32.

Rating: C-. So the point here was X-Pac trying to fight through an injury, which works well enough in theory, but when you consider that his three matches tonight went about twelve minutes total, with breaks in between, it’s a bit hard to buy into the story. Gunn didn’t even do anything nefarious to win, but I’m sure this was somehow better than Gunn vs. Road Dogg.

We recap Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon/??? for control of the company. Let’s go with the quick version: Austin wins the title at Wrestlemania, Stephanie McMahon debuts, kidnapping, burning teddy bear, something like a Satanic wedding, Higher Power, Vince is the big villain again, Austin gets power, ladder match is set. Did I mention 1999 was REALLY FREAKING WEIRD?

Vince McMahon/??? vs. Steve Austin

Ladder match for control of the company. Vince tries to bring out Steve Blackman as his partner but GTV reveals Shane McMahon in the back with the Mean Street Posse and completely fine. Shawn Michaels brings Shane out (Lawler is mad and JR asks if he’s losing his smile again) and makes him wrestle, rendering this entire show long storyline COMPLETELY POINTLESS.

Austin jumps them in the aisle to start fast and stomps on Vince in the corner. Shane’s shot from behind is cut off and the Thesz press is on early. Vince gets knocked to the floor and Austin crotches Vince against the post. Shane is able to get up and clothesline Austin on the floor so the numbers game can take over. Vince goes to get the ladder but Austin knocks him down.

They fight underneath the entrance (which is a canopy of ladders, held up by ladders, which is just begging for a huge crash) and Shane climbs on top of said entrance to run away. Austin goes after him and knocks Shane down (it’s not a massive drop) before sending Shane into part of the set. Vince gets sent through some ladders and Shane goes through one as well as they’re teasing the heck out of that canopy coming down.

Shane going through one more ladder doesn’t do it so Austin grabs a chain to pull the whole thing down, on the McMahons of course. They actually go back to the ring, with Austin hitting both of them with a ladder and putting Shane on the announcers’ table for an elbow from the ladder. Austin goes up again and gets dropped onto the other table, only to bounce off the thing. Vince gets the ladder in the ring and goes up but Austin hits him low.

A suplex brings Vince off the ladder and Shane gets dropped with a clothesline. Austin sends them into a ladder in the corner and catapults Shane into the ladder against the ropes. With nothing else working, Austin just drops the ladder onto Shane. Austin goes up, only for Vince to turn the ladder over. Vince tries to lift Shane up (Lawler: “That ain’t gonna work.”) and then puts him on his shoulders, which leaves Shane about three feet from the briefcase.

That doesn’t work (Lawler was right) so it’s a Stunner each and Austin goes up…but the briefcase goes up a few feet. JR wants to know who is controlling the briefcase (it was hinted at being the Big Boss Man) as Austin has to cut Vince off. Shane shoves the ladder over to send them both down and pulls the briefcase down to win at 17:13.

Rating: B-. It’s not a great ladder match as it’s just not Austin’s style, but the screwiness was just lame. I’ll take it over someone running in to cost Austin the title, but dang it felt like a cheap way out. That being said, this was a match that had stakes and got time, with the fans into it. That’s a heck of a lot better than the majority of the card and that canopy crash was cool. Call it the match of the night, which isn’t saying much.

 

Results
X-Pac b. Hardcore Holly via DQ when Holly used a chair
Kane b. Big Show – Chair to the head
Billy Gunn b. Ken Shamrock via referee stoppage
Road Dogg b. Chyna – Pumphandle slam
Hardy Boyz b. Edge And Christian – Twist Of Fate to Edge
Billy Gunn b. Kane – Chair shot from Big Show
X-Pac b. Road Dogg – X-Factor
Undertaker b. The Rock – Tombstone
Billy Gunn b. X-Pac – Middle rope Fameasser
Vince McMahon/Shane McMahon b. Steve Austin – Shane pulled down the briefcase

 

Head over to my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com with thousands of reviews from around the world and throughout wrestling history.

2.0

The final score: review Very Bad

The 411

There’s no way around it: this show is horrible. The two good matches are a tag match which lasts less than five minutes and a ladder match which wound up meaning pretty much nothing. How nothing you ask? The big reveal the following night was that Austin had booked himself a title match and would go on to beat the Undertaker. Vince and Shane have their power back but Austin is the champion again, making the whole thing pretty much a big waste of time. That could apply to the rest of the show as well, as the tournament felt like a total afterthought. There are seven tournament matches during the show and ONE of them breaks seven minutes. Between all the ref bumps, interference, foreign objects and everything else (oh yeah and Kane CHOKING BIG SHOW FOR THREE MINUTES STRAIGHT), what was supposed to be good on here? The ladder match is just another mess and was basically rendered meaningless the next night, making this whole show a useless disaster. At some point, it’s ok to just let the wrestlers wrestle, but that was pretty much just not the case here. Instead, the whole thing was built around however much screwiness could be thrown into every match. That’s something that works in small doses, but here we had almost nothing without something wacky happening. Just tone it way, way, way down and let the talented people do their thing. That shouldn’t be asking too much, but it clearly was here with an all time awful show.