Kevin’s Random Reviews: WWF Unforgiven 1999

WWF Unforgiven 1999
September 26th, 1999 | Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina | Attendance: 15,779

About a month prior, Steve Austin dropped the WWF Title to Mankind, who lost it 24 hours later to Triple H. Most felt this would be the start of a long reign for the new star. Instead, Triple H lost the title to Vince McMahon on Smackdown. Not set to defend it, Vince put it up in the first ever Six Pack Challenge, which would headline this show. There’s also an odd storyline where the referees are on strike. We’re nearing the end of the Vince Russo era. This was the second ever Unforgiven event.

Hype for the Six Pack Challenge took up the opening video package. As usual for this era, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were on commentary. The referees striking outside was shown.

Steve Blackman vs. Val Venis
Val came out with Blackman’s bag of weapons, which he stole on Raw. That’s all I remember of this feud. The Brooklyn Brawler was the replacement referee here. Lots of punching and kicking in the early goings. Val got crotched on the top tope (OH NOY THE VALBOWSKI), allowing Blackman to take over. Val took a surprisingly rough bump into the steel steps, which was the high point of the match. Val taunted over Blackman and ate a spinebuster, but got back on the offensive quickly. The Money Shot finished this (doesn’t it always) at 6:33. A nothing match that honestly belonged on Heat. Not what you would call a hot opener. [½*]

Post-match, Val pulled out a kendo stick, but Blackman kicked his ass with it. EMTs, including BB, came out to check on Val. Blackman got in BB’s face, causing head of security Jim Dotson to tackle him. Dotson was big enough to be a wrestler. Nothing ever came from this from what I recall.

Big Show was interviewed backstage about the Undertaker’s whereabouts. He didn’t care because tonight is about him. Show debuted back in February and was already on his third or fourth turn.

Mark Henry got interviewed backstage and whispered something dirty in Lillian Garcia’s ear, so he got slapped for his troubles.

WWF European Championship: Mark Henry (c) vs. D-Lo Brown
The former partners split because good guy D-Lo tried helping Henry lose weight so he wouldn’t have a heart attack. Henry was so pissed about it that he turned on D-Lo at SummerSlam. Jeff Jarrett, who Henry helped, gifted him the European Title. Henry tried weaseling out of the match by saying Lillian’s slap gave him a “braineruism.” Yup. D-Lo showed up anyway and they brawled in the aisle before things officially got going in the ring. D-Lo impressed with a Sky High on Henry, even if he couldn’t get him too high up. “A” for effort. He also busted out a goddamn tope. Someone was trying his ass off. Henry slowed things down because he was already winded. That section went on for too long before D-Lo rallied. He countered ten corner punches into a powerbomb before winning the title with the Lo Down at 9:11. With Russo on his way out, D-Lo’s push would disappear, despite him putting in quite the effort here. Shave a few minutes off Henry’s heat segment and this would be better. [*¾]

The Acolytes get interviewed about facing the Dudley Boyz. They weren’t happy with comparisions to the Dudleys but get cut off by a ruckus behind them. The locker room jumped Chaz because he allegedly beat his girlfriend. Oh, Attitude Era.

Elsewhere, Debra’s pissed at Jeff Jarrett and ran him down, so Jarrett showed up to scold her.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Jeff Jarrett (c) w/ Miss Kitty vs. Chyna
Chyna got a massive pop despite being aligned with top heel Triple H. 1999 was a weird time. Jarrett got the upper hand quickly and crotched Chyna on the ring post. Chyna took a PHONY looking steel step bump. She was always guilty of that. Her punches were particularly bad. Jarrett also whiffed on a standing dropkick that looked bad. Mae Young and the Fabulous Moolah watched from ringside. Jarrett hilariously attacked them on a recent Smackdown. Chyna survived a sleeper and caught Jarrett with a powerbomb. Jarrett seemed to be going for a rana on that spot, which made no sense since it’s not a move he typically does. They countered each other’s finishers before a ref bump. Jarrett got the guitar but the old bats got in the ring to stop him, even hitting a double suplex! Jarrett came back with a double clothesline that was one of the funniest spots you’ll ever see. Debra came out, knocked down Miss Kitty and broke the guitar over Jarrett’s head. Chyna covered for the three. BUT WAIT! Referee Tom Pritchard (head scab ref) arrived to tell Wippleman what happened. They ran the replay and reversed the decision at 12:42. Cheap finish but it was expected. Mildly entertaining, with just the right amount of overbooking. [**½]

Sore loser Chyna attacked Pritchard after the match. I mean, he made the right call.

Short words from Steve Austin backstage, who promised there would be a new WWF Champion tonight.

The Acolytes vs. The Dudley Boyz
It’s the PPV debut for the Dudleys. They were still rocking the tie-dye and playing the roles of stuttering Bubba and tough D-Von. A brawl started this, as you’d expect. Referee Jim Korderas crossed the picket line and officiated this one. The crowd didn’t give a damn about this. Lawler made me laugh with a few jokes about Moolah and Mae. The Dudleys hit a back suplex/neckbreaker combo that JR incorrectly called 3D. Faarooq ate 3D as Stevie Richards arrived dressed as an Acolyte. He superkicked D-Von and Faarooq covered to win at 7:14. This was kind of just there. Inoffensive until the cheap finish. If the Dudleys had to lose, why have it be to a superkick from one of the weakest guys on the roster? [*¾]

The Acolytes beat up Stevie after the match.

WWF Women’s Championship Hardcore Match: Ivory (c) vs. Luna Vachon
Ivory jumped Luna backstage, kicking this off. They fought into an office, complete with a copy machine spot. Luna hit a splash off a forklift for the best move of the match. The crowd was silent throughout this whole thing. Tori, who was feuding with Ivory, got involved but failed to save Luna. Ivory hit her with a pole and won in 3:37. This was what we’ve come to expect from Hardcore matches at the time. Lots of meaningless brawling to fill time. [½*]

Moolah and Mae were interviewed, when Ivory came up to them to brag about her win. Moolah decked her and the old bats jumped the camp.

WWF Tag Team Championship: The New Age Outlaws (c) vs. Edge and Christian
Billy Gunn’s singles pushed failed miserably (as expected), so he was put back together with Road Dogg for no real reason. It helped Billy since Dogg was charismatic and he was bland. This was that lull for the tag division where the popular Outlaws dominated for the better part of two years before E&C, the Dudleys and Hardys saved the division in 2000. Both teams are face, but the Outlaws are too over after their recent reunion, so E&C played the heels. Dogg took the heat, though E&C’s offense wasn’t quite heel enough to garner a great amount of sympathy. Still, Billy’s hot tag got quite the pop. Christian cut him off with a reverse DDT, but out came the Hardy Boyz. They got in cheap shots behind the referee’s back, allowing Billy to hit the Fameasser to retain at 11:07. Best match so far, though not anywhere near the levels the division would reach soon. One of the better Outlaw tags, though. Followed a smart formula, but the finish kind of hurt things. [***]

British Bulldog and Triple H were interviewed about their new alliance. HHH said the plan is for him to leave with the title. Why would Bulldog agree to that?

WWF Hardcore Championship Kennel From Hell Match: Big Bossman (c) vs. Al Snow
Ah, this catastrophe. It’s an old school blue bar steel cage, surrounded by the Hell in a Cell and in between those are a bunch of dogs. All because of a stupid angle where Bossman killed Snow’s Chihuahua and fed it to him. Yup. To win, you have to escape both cages. They did a big of fighting up top, but it went nowhere. See, the dogs had handlers keeping them away, so it defeated the purpose of them being there in the first place. Bossman cuffed Snow to the ropes and cut a hole in the top of the cage. Somehow, Snow broke through his cuffs like he’s John Cena or something. He got Head and used it on Bossman, before kicking through the door and escaping at 11:38. This was a wreck. Nonsense stipulation and two wrestlers that weren’t good enough to get past it. The saddest part? Bossman somehow had a much worse Cell match earlier in the year at WrestleMania. [DUD]

More backstage fluff, as Mankind was interviewed about being against his best friend the Rock tonight. He got a cheap pop for the Rock n’ Sock Connection before saying he’d beat the Rock if he had to.

Chris Jericho w/ Mr. Hughes vs. X-Pac
Who the hell thought Jericho needed Mr. Hughes? It literally added nothing. Jericho debuted in August to much fanfare, was a healthy scratch at SummerSlam and is now here. This was scheduled to be Ken Shamrock, but he left the WWF, so X-Pac filled in. They worked lots of quick paced stuff right from the start. Both guys avoided the signature move of the other, before Jericho took control. Hughes got in a cheap shot that referee Pritchard missed. The fans began paying attention to something in the crowd during a Jericho chinlock. I’m assuming a female flasher or something, since the male cheers turned to disappointed boos. X-Pac rallied as the fans returned their attention to the match with dueling “X-Pac sucks” and “Jericho sucks” chants. X-Pac stopped Hughes’ interference with a dive and got a near fall on a superplex. Jericho countered a rana with a double powerbomb that Pac survived. An innovative bronco buster came when Jericho was hung in the tree of woe. Hughes jumped in for the cheap DQ finish at 13:04. Good back and forth stuff until the lame finish. If they were so intent on protecting X-Pac, have Jericho win via cheating. It was nice to Jericho go deep into his moveset, using stuff he dropped over the following year. [***¼]

Road Dogg ran down to make the save.

WWF Championship Six Pack Challenge: Big Show vs. British Bulldog vs. Kane vs. Mankind vs. The Rock vs. Triple H
Steve Austin was the special enforcer. Unlike present day Six Pack Challenges, the original had four guys on the apron and two legal at a time. Rock started with Bulldog, pissed about what went down on Smackdown. From there, everyone got a turn, with Triple H being the favorite punching of everyone not named Bulldog. We got the obligatory Show/Kane battle. Crazy to think that was still being sold as a big deal 16 years later. Mankind did everything to avoid fighting the Rock, and they even busted out some tandem offense. All six men brawled in the aisle for a while, because it’s an Attitude Era main event. The striking referees came down for a closer look. HHH betrayed Bulldog, hitting him with a Pedigree, and Mankind finally slapped Mr. Socko on the Rock. Rock countered with a Rock Bottom to a big pop. Big Show chokeslammed Mankind and had it won, only for the striking refs to pull Korderas out and stomp him out. Austin got up from commentary and kicked their asses for it. It eventually came down to Hunter and Rock, which is what everyone wanted. People’s Elbow hit, but Show pulled the referee out. Bulldog whacked Rock with a chair and went to do the same to HHH, but Austin took the chair from him and hit him. HHH nailed the Pedigree on the Rock and won his second WWF Title at 20:28. In a year that didn’t have a lot of great matches, this one is mostly forgotten (probably because of the Ladder match the following month). It was a great AE main event style match, intertwining several storylines and bringing a high entertainment value. [****]

Triple H snatched the WWF Title from Steve Austin, so he got a Stunner for his troubles. Austin had a title shot guaranteed from Vince McMahon, so HHH/Austin was set for the next PPV.

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Some good, some bad. The show started off horribly rough. Venis/Blackman, the European and Women’s Titles, and Acolytes/Dudleys didn’t do anything for me. Jarrett/Chyna was about as good as they could’ve done and I enjoyed the Tag Team Title match more than I expected. The Kennel from Hell is the only stain on the second half and it’s historically bad. However, Jericho/X-Pac turned things around and the main event was good enough for me to give this show a score above the average mark. Slight thumbs up, which didn’t happen often in 1999.