WWF SummerSlam 1999

By the summer of 1999, with WCW becoming less relevant with each passing week, the WWF’s ‘Attitude’ was starting to become unfocused and nonsensical. With head writer Vince Russo becoming progressively overwhelmed with his workload, the direction of the product – while still wildly successful – started becoming almost impossible to follow, and increasingly clichéd. Much like most relationships, all the things we loved about Attitude to begin with were starting to grow repetitive, frustrating, and tiresome.

From Minneapolis, Minnesota; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.  


WWF Intercontinental & WWF European Title Match: D-lo Brown v Jeff Jarrett: The titles weren't officially unified, Brown just happened to hold both of them at this point. Jarrett tries to control with closed fists in the early going, but Brown catches him with a pair of powerslams for two. Sitout powerbomb gets two, but he walks into a sleeper, but quickly counters with a vertical suplex. Flying bulldog, but Jarrett counters into a sidewalk slam on the way down, and baseball slides Brown as he slips to the outside to regroup. Whip into the steps out there, but an axehandle off of the apron gets Jeff shoved into the guardrail. The champ tries a suplex on the floor, but Jarrett counters with a whip into the ringpost, and rolls him in for a spinning single-arm DDT. He keeps after the shoulder, and shoves D-lo into the corner for a ten-punch count, but gets countered with a stungun. Brown with a running sitout powerbomb and a tilt-a-whirl slams sets up one of Brown's always well executed legdrops for two. Side suplex, and the champ heads to the top rope, but misses a somersault senton, and Jarrett grabs his guitar. That draws Brown pal Mark Henry in, but he ends up breaking the guitar over D-lo's head to turn on him, and Jarrett covers for the easy pinfall at 7:30. It fell apart a bit towards the end, but generally well worked, and well paced. * ¼

Tag Team Turmoil: Edge and Christian v The Hardy Boyz: This is a gauntlet match, the last team standing earning a shot at the tag titles the next night on RAW. The Hardy's charge right in for a brawl, and the dust settles on Edge starting with Matt Hardy - and planting him with a Russian legsweep. Tag to Christian for a double-team hiptoss for two, and a spinheel kick hits, so Hardy manager/cult leader Gangrel fires off a cheap shot. That allows the tag to Jeff Hardy with a slingshot moonsault for two, and springboard leg lariat leads to him tagging Matt back in. The Hardy's cut the ring in half, but Christian counters a double-team with an inverted DDT on both men, and Edge is a house of arson, triggering a four-way brawl. That leads to a cool sequence of spots where Edge and Jeff both run the guardrail into a collision, and then Christian and Matt dive out after them. E&C manage to take control between the ropes, and Christian finishes Matt with a flying elbowdrop at 5:03. Just a bunch of spots, but these four had excellent chemistry - leading to a memorable series of matches that made stars out of both teams. *

Tag Team Turmoil: Edge and Christian v Viscera and Mideon: The celebration doesn't last long, because here come Viscera and Mideon, and Viscera destroys Christian with a Samoan drop. Tag to Mideon with a backelbow, and a kneedrop gets two. They briefly cut the ring in half on Christian, but Mideon misses a 2^nd rope elbowdrop, and Edge starts another house of arson - finishing Mideon with a spear at 2:30. This didn't have a chance to go anywhere, but it also didn't have a chance to suck, so everybody wins, really. DUD

Tag Team Turmoil: Edge and Christian v Droz and Prince Albert: E&C stomp their next victims on the way in, but Droz takes Edge to the mat as things get officially underway. Jumping backelbow, and he passes to Albert, but he misses a blind charge, and gets caught in a Downward Spiral at 2:00. Aaaaannnndd DUD

Tag Team Turmoil: Edge and Christian v The Acolytes: The Acolytes attack as soon as the fall is counted, and Bradshaw blasts Edge for a two count. Side suplex gets two, and Faarooq hits a backbreaker for two before hooking a chinlock - only a minute into the match, most of which he's spent resting on the apron. He tries a Dominator, but Edge counters into a DDT, and tags Christian. He passes out dropkicks, and a four-way brawl breaks out, but this time Christian gets caught with the Clothesline from Hell and pinned by Bradshaw at 4:05. This was a drastic slow down of pace, as the Acolytes led the dance. DUD

#1 Contender's Tag Team Turmoil Match: The Acolytes v The Hollys: Big slugfest ends in Faarooq destroying Crash Holly with a Dominator, but Hardcore Holly saves, and takes a stereo diving shoulderblock as things settle into he and Faarooq. Holly manages a suplex, but passing back to Crash proves to be a poor idea, and he gets slaughtered by Faarooq again. The Acolytes double-team, so Hardcore tags himself back in - leading to a slugfest with a miffed Crash. That allows Faarooq to sneak up on Hardcore, and a spinebuster slam ends things at 3:00. Another quickie punch-kick match. DUD

WWF Hardcore Title Match: Big Bossman v Al Snow: Snow enters first, and wisely hides behind a piece of the entrance set, allowing him to jump Bossman as he comes through the curtain. He blasts him with a chair in the aisle, and they go right back through the curtain, where Bossman rams him into a wall. He unloads a series of stiff punches, but Snow retaliates by bashing him with a random chalkboard. Bossman fires back with an equally random crutch, and then rams him into a less random Pepsi machine. It is curiously empty, however, and Bossman tips it over on Al - shattering the glass. They fight out through the arena's garage door onto the streets (I wish cell phone cameras existed in 1999, because you know there would be at least ten Facebook photo posts from passerby wondering why a cop is beating a mental patient in the streets), and they fight across the street (without even looking both ways!) and Snow with a savate kick for two on the sidewalk. They spill into the patio of a restaurant for Bossman to slam him into some plastic furniture for two, and then into a bar - with the patrons curiously staring at them. They brawl into the bathroom for Snow to use a urinal cake as a weapon, and Al grabs a chain from a patron to choke the champ with. He actually busts out a moonsault off of the bar, and pins Bossman on a Billiards table at 7:27. Obviously the brawl across the street was planned (you can see WWF security at the bar before they even get there), but it certainly was fun and different - though it looked horribly unrealistic. It's easy to suspend disbelief when they're hitting moonsaults in the ring, less so when someone does one off of a bar, while people shoot them bemused looks with a mouthful of pretzels. ½*

WWF Women's Title Match: Ivory v Tori: Tori - still pissed at Ivory for spray painting 'slut' onto her body during the buildup - charges in with a powerslam for two. It quickly spills to the outside for Ivory to takeover with a necksnap across the top rope, and she rolls Tori in for a backelbow. Tori with a pair of suplexes and a dropkick for two, but Ivory takes her down with hairpull snapmares and chokes her on the ropes. Ivory with the big swing for two, but she gets speared coming out of the ropes, and Tori hits a 2^nd rope bodypress for two. Sunset flip gets one, but another try gets her buttsplashed for the pin at 4:11. Embarrassingly bad stuff here - looking like two rookies who just got out of training camp. DUD

Lion's Den Match: Ken Shamrock v Steve Blackman: Like the year before, this is an octagon style match, though this time it's set up near the entrance area as opposed to in an adjacent theater. Blackman pulls out a nunchaku right at the bell for some shots, but misses a kick into the cage, and Ken sweeps him into a grapevine. He gets hold of the nunchaku, but Blackman sweeps him to block, and chokes him with them. Shamrock counters into an armbreaker, but quickly shifts into mounted punches when Blackman tries to counter. He throws Steve into the steel and hits a roundhouse kick as he bounces off, then pulls a kendo stick in. He manages to get a shot off before Blackman kicks him in the ribs, and hits an inverted atomic drop. He beats and chokes Shamrock with sticks, but Ken counters a whip into the cage by springboarding off of it with an elbow. Blackman retains control with a DDT and an enzuigiri, and takes a few more swings at him with the kendo stick. Bicycle kick misses, however, and Shamrock hits a belly-to-belly suplex before getting some kendo stick revenge until the referee stops it at 8:56. The theater setting was a big part of what made the '98 version so memorable, this one falling really flat, and completely lacking intensity or focus. *

Greenwich Street Fight: Shane McMahon v Test: The angle here is that Test had started dating Stephanie McMahon (in one of her early on-screen roles), drawing the ire of brother Shane. If Shane wins, Test gets a restraining order; if Test wins, he gets some pussy. Big staredown, but Shane's not ready to go yet - not until his Mean Street Posse gets a front row seat (on a couch that looks like it just came out of your parents' basement, no less) to watch him kick Test's ass. Big slugfest ends in Test throwing him into the corner, and following with a backdrop. To the floor, Test throws him into the steps, and over the rail into the crowd. He throws a soda at Shane out there, but that's one line you don't cross, and McMahon beats him back to ringside. He tries a bodypress off of the rail, but Test powerslams him, and press slams him into the Posse - knocking over their couch. Asshole! He unloads with a cookie sheet, but their mothers were gonna use those to make them cookies, and they're none too pleased. A four-on-one beat down follows, with Shane unloading with Greenwich themed plunder (a mailbox, a street sign, a framed portrait) for two, and taking him back into the ring, but missing a flying corkscrew legdrop. Test powerbombs him, but the Posse distract the referee to delay the count, and Shane kicks out at two. Big boot, but Shane hits the deck, and Test plows into the referee. McMahon can't capitalize on the error, however, and Test clotheslines him to the floor for some abuse with a street sign. The Posse break it up with a triple-team, and lay Test out on the Spanish announce table for a dazed McMahon. He limps up to the top rope, and leaps with a gorgeous flying elbowdrop - decimating the table. Both guys are staring up at the lights after that, giving the production team a chance to replay the spot about a dozen times. The Posse eventually make themselves useful by rolling both guys in for Shane to cover, and he gets a dramatic two count. The Posse fire off a series of weapon-assisted cheap shots to give the limp McMahon another two count, but that draws out Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco to even the odds. The Posse down, Test hits a pumphandle-powerslam, and a flying elbowdrop finishes things at 12:13 - drawing a huge pop. Stephanie joyfully bounces down to celebrate with Test afterwards, the crowd loving every second. Fun match here, bolstered by a great angle - one of the last of Russo's tenure. Well booked - both in pacing, and in keeping it under fifteen minutes to maximize the intensity. This probably should have turned Test into a big star, but he fell back into the midcard not long after. ** ¼   

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Kane and X-Pac v The Unholy Alliance: Big slugfest goes the challengers way, but Kane manages to clothesline the Big Show over the top, and X-Pac dives in with a flying bodypress on the Undertaker. X-Pac and Undertaker start all official-like, with the Undertaker holding him in a wristlock. X-Pac passes to Kane to deal with his brother, and the champs double-team 'Taker in the corner. Hilarious bit, as Pac starts crotch-chopping at 'Taker (as he always did to taunt opponents), but since the Undertaker is no average midcarder, he cracks his jaw with an elbow. Inside, 'Taker DDTs Kane before tagging Big Show to blast him with a big boot. Elbowdrop sets up some choking, and a powerslam gets two. The challengers cut the ring in half, but Kane and the Undertaker collide for a double knockout, and that allows the tag to X-Pac. He's a crackhouse of fire, but Show casually whips him to the mat from the apron, and 'Taker tosses him to the floor for Show to press slam onto the guardrail. Another press slam puts him back inside, and Show tags in to beat him properly. Bearhug looks hilarious because of the size difference, so Show goes for the Chokeslam, only for Kane to break it up and take a tag. A four-way brawl doesn't take long to break out from there, but X-Pac makes the mistake of thinking the Bronco Buster might actually have an effect on Show (drugs...), and gets Chokeslammed then Tombstoned by 'Taker at 12:03. Make good use of tags, and energetic for the most part, but this was all punch-kick stuff. ½*

Kiss My Ass Match: The Rock v Billy Gunn: The loser has to kiss the winners ass, so Gunn brings a fat woman in case he wins - though you'd think kissing a sweaty mans ass would be significantly worse than a woman’s, no matter how many donuts she eats. Gunn jumps him while he poses in the corner, and unloads a barrage of right hands in the corner, but the Rock returns fire when coming off the ropes. To the floor, Rock uses the rail, and they brawl up the aisle to the entrance set for Rock to whip him into various pieces of steel. Back to ringside, Rock gets goofy with some offense involving Jerry Lawler's crown and a bottle of water, so Gunn decks him. Back inside, Billy chokes away, and hits a neckbreaker for two. Bulldog gets two, and a Stinger Splash hits - but only serves to piss Rock off, and he charges out of the corner with a lariat. DDT gets two, and a neckbreaker gets another two count, so Rocky drops him like a Samoan. Gunn keeps coming, so Rock goes for the Rock Bottom - only to get countered into a Fameasser, and Billy calls his lady friend into the ring to shove the Rock's face into. Of course, he gets reversed, and Rock Bottom's him, and then hits the People's Elbow for the pin at 10:12. Billy was completely overmatched in this feud, and no one gave him a hope in hell to win this thing - which he didn't. DUD

Main Event: WWF Title Triple Threat Match: Steve Austin v Mankind v Triple H: Headline making Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura acts as the guest referee - his first WWF pay per view appearance since 1990. Triple H jumps Austin as he comes through the ropes, but Mankind pulls his challenger to the floor to break it up. He and Austin pound him out there, and then inside to turn him into a pinball game between fists. Since this isn't elimination style, the alliance doesn't last, however, and all three end up brawling on the floor. Mankind manages to get the Mandible Claw on Hunter, but Chyna breaks it up by blowing him low, so Ventura sends her back to the locker room. The distraction allows Austin to blast Hinter with a clothesline from behind, and they brawl up the aisle to the entrance set to whip each other around. HHH takes control by attacking Austin's knee, but Mankind wants to play too, and they take turns stomping the champ in the corner. HHH tries a figure four, but Mankind legdrops Austin while he's applying it, and covers for two. Back to the outside, Mankind misses a somersault bodyblock off of the apron at HHH, and Austin takes Hunter into the crowd for a slugfest. Inside, Austin holds them both off with closed fists, and hits the Stunner on Mankind, but HHH breaks up the fall with a chair. Another one for Mankind, and Hunter covers, but Jesse refuses to count because he used the chair. HHH tries to get in his face about it, but Ventura won't have it, so Shane McMahon runs in before things escalate, and Hunter gets himself thrown out. Ventura responds by pitching McMahon out of the ring, so HHH goes back to pounding Austin, ending in a double knockout. Mankind takes advantage of the situation by pulling a sock out of his pants, and uses Socko to slap the Mandible Claw on Austin - with another for HHH with his free hand. A mule kick breaks the hold, and Austin Stuns HHH for two - broken up by Mankind. Pedigree for Austin, but Mankind breaks it up before he can cover, and hits a double-arm DDT on the fallen Austin to win the title at 16:25. The usual Attitude Era main event brawl, spending minimal time in the ring, and the rest at ringside, in the crowd, or near the entrances. The ending was quite anticlimactic, the crowd not even realizing the match was over until Ventura passed Mankind the title belt. This was originally booked as Triple H winning the title for the for the first time, but with intense media scrutiny on Jesse Ventura's involvement in a WWF event (especially the sleaze filled product in 1999) they changed it to Mankind getting the win so at least he doesn't award the title to a heel to close the show. They still wanted Triple H as champion, however, so Mankind dropped the title to him the next night on RAW. Politics. ½*

BUExperience: Nothing particularly memorable or historically significant outside of the Greenwich Street Fight, and overloaded with backstage skits, and tired booking clichés, this is easily one of the least memorable SummerSlams. DUD