WWF Survivor Series 1999

Survivor Series 1999 came during an interesting period for the WWF, as head writer Vince Russo (one of the people most credited for helping the WWF create the Attitude Era, and in turn, become the number one wrestling promotion in North America again) had left for rival WCW the month before, and with top drawing star Steve Austin on the shelf with a severe neck injury, many of us around the lunch room table (and many professional sources) saw it as the death knell for the WWF – with predictions flying that their days were numbered.

From Detroit, Michigan; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.


Opening Survivor Series Elimination Match: The Dudley Boyz and The Acolytes v The Godfather, D-lo Brown, and The Headbangers: Bubba Dudley and Mosh start off, and trade hammerlocks, of all things. Mosh controls by whipping him into the buckles, but gets leveled with a lariat, and Bubba passes to D-Von Dudley. Mosh catches him in a quick armdrag before tagging Thrasher for a 2^nd rope clothesline. Chincrusher, so Dudley bails to Bradshaw to take him to the showers. And he does, as the Clothesline from Hell sends Thrasher to the back at 3:11. Mosh tries a sneak attack at the pin, but Faarooq tags himself in to stop the effort, and passes it back to the Dudley’s to send him home with the Death Drop at 4:58. D-lo Brown in next with a legdrop for two on Bubba, he makes the mistake of pissing Bradshaw off, and blasted with a chair to get Bradshaw disqualified at 5:50. Guess he wanted to make sure the Headbangers don't get started in the showers without him. He decides to give one to Bubba for good measure, and that leaves Faarooq and D-Von slugging it out in defense of their respective partners. They end up spilling to the floor, and both get counted out at 6:48. Now suddenly alone, Bubba tries a side suplex on D-lo for two, but walks into a sitout powerbomb. Brown tries a rana off of the top rope, but Bubba counters into a powerbomb of his own for two. Double knockout spot allows D-lo to tag Godfather, as Bubba crawls to his corner with no one home. The still completely fresh Godfather has no trouble hitting the Ho Train from there, and D-lo gives him a Frogsplash for the pin at 9:36.
Survivors: The Godfather and D-lo Brown
The booking made sense (The Headbangers go first to establish the heels' dominance, the heels get eliminated without looking weak), but it didn't make for much of a match - just a bunch of spots and quickie eliminations. *

Shawn Stasiak v Kurt Angle: This is Angle's WWF debut (outside of house shows), after weeks of promos that would have made him the biggest babyface in the promotion fifteen years earlier, but had Attitude Era fans booing the Olympic Gold medalist out of the arena - which was exactly what they wanted. Kurt with a quick fireman's carry takedown at the bell, and a swift waistlock takedown seamlessly into a front-facelock. Stasiak 'counters' into an armbar, but Kurt 'manages' to escape, and hits a belly-to-belly suplex. Stasiak returns fire with a suplex of his own, and a diving backelbow gets two. Chinlock, but Angle shrugs it off, and goes to the floor to grab a microphone - brilliantly annoying the crowd by telling them they should be grateful be bothered to come for them to have the pleasure of watching. Back inside, Stasiak tries another chinlock, but Angle dodges a flying bodypress, and hits the Angle-Slam to finish at 5:56. I remember discussing this with my friends at school the next day, and us all agreeing that Angle could be great, but that they have to repackage him quickly, because he's dead in the water with that act. To put that in perspective, we also agreed that WCW would soon destroy the WWF with Vince Russo leading the charge. The match was terrible, rookie-level stuff - but Angle would get really, good really fast. DUD

Survivor Series Elimination Match: Val Venis, Mark Henry, Gangrel, and Steve Blackman v Davey Boy Smith, and The Mean Street Posse: Venis starts with Davey Boy (in his weird, blue jeans phase), and Davey's so out of it by this point he tries to tag in the wrong corner. Or maybe he just realized his crew of jobbers wasn't even worth tagging. In fact, Davey opts not to pass before hitting Venis with a hanging vertical suplex first, and only then tagging Pete Gas. Pete tries to keep it going with a slingshot and a side suplex, but Val quickly bulldogs him, and tags Blackman in to hit a bicycle kick at 2:58. In comes Rodney, but he can't even get some token offense in before Blackman blasts him with a clothesline. Tag to Gangrel (a guy doing a vampire gimmick about ten years too early), and a DDT puts Rodney back on the mean streets of Greenwich at 4:26. Joey Abs tries his luck with a suplex, so Gangrel passes to Mark Henry to splash him at 6:03. Davey comes in hot, but gets quickly press slammed, and Gangrel tags for a flying bodypress - only to get caught on the top rope, and superplexed at 6:47. Blackman goes after him with a backbreaker, and a snap suplex - but a 2^nd rope falling headbutt misses, and Davey hooks him in a fisherman's suplex at 7:32. Both Henry and Venis go after Davey two-on-one, and while he manages to get a few shots off, it's not long before he gets overwhelmed, and splashed by both men for the pin at 9:10.
Survivors: Val Venis and Mark Henry
Another quickie (if you add both of the Elimination matches we've seen together, it still isn't as long as anything from the first few Survivor Series'), but well booked. Watching a broken down Davey Boy Smith was depressing during this period, especially knowing the pain he was in from a back injury suffered in WCW. He would retire a few months later, before sadly passing away in 2002. *

Eight-Woman Tag Team Match: Ivory, Luna, Jacqueline, and Terri Runnels v Mae Young, Fabulous Moolah, Tori, and Debra: Mae and Moolah jump Women's Champion Ivory on the floor during the entrances, but Young pays for it when Luna dumps her for it. She and Jacqueline double-team Tori with a suplex, but make the mistake of tagging the weakened Ivory back in for Mae and Moolah to finish at a brisk 1:52. Afterwards, everyone catfights. Just a little T&A. Involving old ladies. DUD

Kane v X-Pac: X-Pac turned on tag partner Kane to set this up, and he goes right at the big man with right hands at the bell, but Kane shrugs him off. He tries lightning kicks, but that doesn't go any better, and Kane throws him across the ring. To the top rope, but X-Pac dropkicks him to the floor, and manages to post his arm out there. Back inside, X-Pac with more lightning kicks, but an attempt at his ridiculous Bronco Buster gets him caught in a choke. Kane with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and a flying clothesline to set up the chokeslam for two - when Jesse James pulls Kane out to break up the pin. That distraction allows X-Pac the X-Factor for two, but a flying bodypress gets him caught in the Tombstone, so Triple H runs in, and that's enough for a disqualification at 4:15. This would have been disappointing for TV, let alone on a major pay per view. ½*

Handicap Elimination Match: Big Bossman, Prince Albert, Viscera, and Mideon v The Big Show: Show beat up his tag partners during the Sunday Night Heat pre-game show, leaving him to go it alone. And that he does, as Show charges right into the fray, and chokeslams Mideon at 0:19. One for Albert at 0:30. Bodyslam and a chokeslam finish Viscera at 0:55, and that just leaves Bossman (they guy Show really wants). After seeing that, Bossman's not too keen to step through the ropes, and gets a'running to give Show the countout victory at 1:24.
Survivor: The Big Show
Squash, but the crowd loved it, and it kept Show fresh for his surprise appearance later. DUD

And speaking of that, it's time for a bait-and-switch, as Steve Austin is ready to give an interview backstage, but gets attacked by Triple H, and a chase leads them to the garage - where Austin gets run down by a car to write him out of the main event. Austin’s injury was the worst kept secret in wrestling at that point, but the WWF still advertised him as a participant in the main event, likely hedging their bets, and certainly screwing any fans who weren't in the know. 

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Chyna v Chris Jericho: Slugfest goes Jericho's way, and it spills to the floor for Jericho to stomp her, and choke her with electrical cable. Inside, Chris keeps unloading closed fists, and the crowd is starting to get uncomfortable. Chyna responds by hanging Jericho in a tree of woe for a nut shot, and a rana when Chris stupidly tries to return the favor (right in the baby maker!). Back to the outside, Jericho with a springboard bodypress, and he hits Chyna with an empty plastic water bottle. Just vicious! Whip into the rail does a bit more damage (a bit), and a missile dropkick on the way back in gets two. Jericho starts toying with her by shoving her around the ring, and he hits a hanging vertical suplex for two. Bulldog sets up a slingshot splash for two, and a spinheel kick allows him to dump the champion. Chris puts the boots to her out there, but Chyna fires back with a spear, and whips him into the ringpost. Inside, Jericho counters her into a powerbomb for two, but misses the Lionsault, and Chyna hits her handspring elbow into a DDT for two. Jericho whacks her with the title belt in frustration, but even that only gets two, and Chris is lost. Chyna leads him into a Pedigree for two, but a rana attempt is countered into the Walls of Jericho. The crowd gives him a big pop for that, but Chyna makes the ropes, so he tries a superplex - only to get countered into a sorta-Pedigree off the top for the pin at 13:45. I tolerate intergender matches when they stick to wrestling, but watching a guy have a slugfest with a woman (even Chyna) isn't what I want to see. Plus, this goofiness eventually led to Jericho and Chyna as 'co-champions,' something so ridiculous even the WWE has chosen to pretend it never happened. If you imagine Chyna is a man (and really, most people probably do), this was actually a well worked back-and-forth match. But it still makes me uncomfortable. **

Survivor Series Elimination Match: The Hardy Boyz and Edge and Christian v Too Cool and The Holly’s: Edge starts with Scotty 2 Hotty, and a slugfest turns into a chopfest in the corner - won by Edge. Spinheel kick sends Scotty scurrying to Crash Holly, but he walks into a droptoe-hold, and Edge passes to Matt Hardy. He gives Crash a side suplex for two, and dumps him to the floor for a plancha. That triggers the rest of both teams to dog pile on with dives of their own, and Edge starts spearing everything that moves - accidentally colliding with the Hardy's in the chaos, and getting rolled up by Hardcore Holly at 6:07. With Matt Hardy still dazed, Scotty takes quick advantage with a flying DDT to send him packing at 6:22. Jeff Hardy comes in for revenge, but gets caught with the Worm, and a powerbomb gets two. Too Cool double-team draws Christian in for a brawl, but he's badly outnumbered, and ends up slumped in the corner. The diversion is enough for Jeff to knock Scotty off of the top rope, however, and a 450 splash finishes him at 10:13. Crash Holly goes for the kill, but Jeff quickly passes to Christian for a double-team hiptoss. They keep doubling up on Crash, but cousin Hardcore make the save with a missile dropkick, and Grandmaster Sexay pins Jeff with a flying legdrop at 11:34 - only to get caught in an inverted DDT from Christian while showboating at 11:45. That leaves Christian with the Holly's, and the Holly's use their numbers advantage to their... advantage. They can't quite put Christian away, however, and Crash gets an impaler at 13:58. Now good and pissed, Hardcore shrugs off Christian's attempts at a comeback, and cradles him for the win at 14:27.
Survivor: Hardcore Holly
Some nice spots, but really disjointed overall. * ½

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The New Age Outlaws v Mankind and Al Snow: Billy Gunn and Mankind start - Billy catching him in a neckbreaker, and going for a sleeper way too early. Mankind dives into the ropes to send them tumbling to the outside, and the dust settles on Jesse James and Al Snow. Snow with a suplex for two, and it ends up on the floor again for the challengers to double-team Jesse with a chair. Inside, Mankind hooks a reverse chinlock, as he and Snow work to cut the ring in half. It doesn't take long for a four-way brawl to break out, and the Outlaws use a well timed double-team to takeover on Snow. Double knockout spot allows the tag back to Mankind, but he gets caught with a Fameasser from Gunn to give James a two count. Jesse tries a pump-handle slam, but Mankind mule kicks him, and reaches for the sock in his pants. Mandible Claw on Billy triggers another four-way, and the champs spike piledrive Mankind to finish at 13:59. Really dull, heatless match - far too long for what they were going for. ¼*

Main Event: WWF Title Triple Threat Match: Triple H v The Rock v The Big Show: Since Austin can't compete, Big Show acts as his surprise replacement. Rock and HHH try to put their differences aside to take care of Show, but Show manages to take them both out with forearms. The double-teaming eventually overwhelms him, however, and the other two turn their attention to each other. Show keeps coming, though, and it wouldn't be an Attitude Era main event without a brawl over to the entrance area. Everyone bumps into various things over there (Table! Rail! Entrance Set!) before brawling back to ringside, where HHH tries to suplex Show through the Spanish announce table. He can't quite get the giant up, however, so Rock runs over with an assist, and together they manage to put him through it. Into the crowd for a slugfest, and finally back to the ring (one of the most difficult things about re-watching Attitude Era stuff is the brawl around the arena spots that show up in almost every main event have just completely lost the appeal they had on initial viewing) where Rock counters a Pedigree with the Rock Bottom. The referee's been bumped, however, so Shane McMahon runs in to count two. Another Rock Bottom, but Show breaks up the count, and throws Rock into the rubble of the broken announce table as Shane gets knocked out by Triple H. Cue Vince McMahon, and he wallops Hunter with the title belt, and Show chokeslams him - McMahon counting the fall himself at 16:15 - giving Show his first WWF Title in the same building he won his first WCW Title four years prior. That was quite the shocker at the time, as even when Show came out as Austin's replacement, no one actually thought he'd WIN it. Attitude Era conventions were firing on all cylinders here (Brawl in the Crowd! Brawl to the Entrance! Though the Spanish Announce Table! Overbooking Involving the McMahons!), and that was fine live, but just doesn't hold up so many years later. ½*

BUExperience: Like most Attitude Era shows, it was a fuckton of fun live, but just doesn’t hold up these days. I remember having a ball with this one in 1999 (and at a Smackdown taping a couple of weeks later), but it’s a chore to sit through today, and the bits of historical value like Kurt Angle’s debut, or Big Shows first WWF Title win are not near enough to save it. DUD