WWF Royal Rumble 1999 Review feat. Mankind vs. The Rock

Logo for WWF Royal Rumble 1999
Image Source: WWE
CompanyWWF/WWE
EventRoyal Rumble 1999
SeriesRoyal Rumble
Edition12
FormatPay-Per-View
DateSunday January 24 1999
VenueArrowhead Pond
LocationAnaheim, California, USA
Attendance14,816

WWF Royal Rumble 1999

WWF Royal Rumble 1999 is an interesting show to look back upon. At the time, the WWF’s Attitude Era was at or near its commercial peak. And therefore the two top matches remain memorable to this very day. But to those who have only discovered wrestling in recent years, the double main event serves as the worst example of the Attitude Era’s excesses. I feel the quality level lies somewhere in the middle, as I shall now explain.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS TV SHOWS? READ OUR PRE-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & HEAT!

Road Dogg vs. Big Boss Man

Kicking us off, we had a battle of the current and former Hardcore Champions. One would think that this means a Hardcore Title match with, well, Hardcore rules, right? Wrong. For some reason, this was a straight-up non-title match with regular wrestling rules. Why? I have no idea. Even if you consider that the WWF didn’t want Dogg to lose the title here, it could have led to a 24-hour run for Boss Man. Hell, it’s not like the WWF had an aversion to brief championship reigns at that time.

Anyway, the opening clash is decent. It’s hardly worth going out of your way, but it serves a purpose. And since Dogg was super-over at this time, the bout is entertaining for his entrance alone. Seriously, that was the highlight of any Road Dogg match during this era. Or any era, now that I think about it. Regardless, Boss Man would earn the clean victory with a Boss Man Slam. One could argue this built up BBM for his eventual WrestleMania XV clash against The Undertaker, but I wouldn’t consider that to be the reason for the outcome here. I feel this was designed to be pure filler and nothing more.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
Ken Shamrock (C) vs. Billy Gunn

Hey, look: both New Age Outlaws were in singles action against the reigning WWF World Tag Team Champions. Again, why not just have a doubles bout here with the Tag Team gold on the line? And on the subject of short title reigns, Boss Man and Shamrock would lose their belts anyway to Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett the following night. At least this IC Title clash had a story, with Mr Ass trying to woo Ken’s sister Ryan (that sounds so wrong). It’s also strange to think that, despite the Outlaws being so over, the WWF were already trying to build up Gunn as a singles act less than ten months after the NAO joined DX. Especially when you consider that it would take six years for The New Day to lose one of its three members. A sign of the times back then, I guess.

As for the action itself, this is a superior contest to the opener. Shamrock was more than capable in the ring, and Billy is underrated when competing as a singles performer. Plus, due to the storyline and the belt being at stake, there was more crowd heat here than for match one. I should also note the interference by Val Venis: after a ref bump, Venis ran in and DDT’d Shamrock, though The World’s Most Dangerous Man kicked out of the subsequent cover by Billy. He soon locked in the Ankle Lock on Bad Ass, eventually forcing the challenger to submit. This saga would continue for the foreseeable future, with Venis beating Shamrock for the IC crown one month later at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre where Billy himself was the referee.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS EDITION? READ OUR WWF ROYAL RUMBLE 1998 REVIEW!

WWF European Championship Match
X-Pac (C) vs. Gangrel

To demonstrate how over D-Generation X were at this time, this was the third straight match with a DX rep. That doesn’t include their leader Triple H or their most unique member Chyna. And fans loved to see the renegades in green and black. Gangrel was also an interesting part of the roster during this era, primarily due to his fiery, (assumed) blood-drinking entrance. If I recall, there was no storyline to support this match. Instead, the WWF must have had 10-15 minutes to fill, and these two got the nod. Hey, it’s more cash for them.

Despite the lack of storyline support, this was an enjoyable mid-card match. That being said, it’s most notable for a botch. X-Pac dived at Gangrel, but the Brood leader reversed the momentum into a pinning predicament. Recent WWF arrival Teddy Long made the count, but Pac kicked out too late. However, Long waved it off and let the match continue, with fans in Anaheim, California clearly noticing. Boos rained down, not so heavily that it spoiled the match, but to let everyone know a mistake had happened. Shortly thereafter, Pac managed to secure the win proper by drilling a charging Gangrel with an X-Factor. A fun match, then, but with the highlight being unintentional.

WWF Women’s Championship Strap Match
Sable (C) vs. Luna Vachon

Who remembers the Sable-Shane McMahon rivalry? I certainly don’t. Nevertheless, Shane O Mac (clearly the junior authority of the Corporation at this time) had made this a Strap match and sat on commentary for its duration. As popular as Sable had been in 1998, this was around the time when the cracks were showing in her presentation. Namely, because even during this era, Sable’s wrestling skills weren’t exactly of a high standard. The upshot is that this match was pretty bad, and had Sable not been so over, I’d suggest that they might as well have not bothered.

It did serve a storyline purpose, though. As Luna was about to seal the win, a “mystery woman”, i.e. a planted fan, interfered and struck Luna. This allowed her hero Sable to claim the win, leaving Shane aghast. Shortly thereafter, Tori would join the roster proper, while Sable would turn heel amidst a Playboy pictorial. After a horrendous WrestleMania match between the two, Sable would leave the WWF altogether by May 1999. It’s astonishing in hindsight to see how fast Sable would fall. At Survivor Series 1998, she was one of the most popular WWF performers as she won the Women’s Title. Just six months later, she was gone and with her reputation having taken a real tumble. Madness.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS PPV? READ OUR WWF ROCK BOTTOM 1998 REVIEW!

WWF Championship I Quit Match
Mankind (C) vs. The Rock

Now, we come to the biggest non-Rumble match on the card, and one of the more controversial matches of the Attitude Era. Rock had won a WWF Title tournament at Survivor Series 1998 by beating Mankind and turned heel in the process. His Corporation affiliation allowed him to survive a title defence at Rock Bottom despite him visibly losing to Mankind. But Mick Foley’s masked alter ego would become champion on the January 4 1999 Raw in arguably the show’s greatest ever moment.

After a heated promo argument, it was agreed that Rock could get a rematch at Royal Rumble 1999 under I Quit rules. Mankind: “How does it feel to be in a match where you can’t win, and I can’t lose?” Though Rock was the villain, the ball was seemingly in Mankind’s court. This is a guy who had received scars from barbed wire, been badly burned and, of course, was thrown off and through the Hell In A Cell just seven months earlier at King Of The Ring 1998. What could Rock possibly do to make Mankind quit? What indeed.

Prior to this match, Rock would cut a signature heel promo towards Dok Hendrix (one of the final appearances for that character). (Oh, I should also note that Mankind had to survive a non-title “tune-up” match with Mabel on Heat earlier in the evening.) After the bell rang, the two men slowly built up momentum with a mixture of brawling and comedy. One couldn’t help but laugh at this exchange:

Mankind: “Say ‘I quit’, you son of a bitch!”

Rock: “The Rock is gonna kick your fat ass!”

It’s interesting that barely anyone remembers the first half of this match, because the action is of a high standard. It’s a perfect scrap for the time period. Not everything would go to plan, though. A Rock Bottom through the announcer’s table didn’t happen as the desk gave way, just as it would at the same PPV 14 years later. Mankind seemingly had Rock out cold with a Mandible Claw, but because he didn’t utter the necessary words, the match continued.

Eventually, they fought up the aisle and to a first-storey level of the crowd. Rock stood near the fans, while Mankind climbed a ladder. But after exchanging blows, Rock punched Mankind to send him falling a good 12 feet onto electrical equipment, causing a temporary power outage. On another night, this would be the most memorable spot of the match and an appropriate finish. But we were just getting started.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FIRST EDITION? READ OUR WWF ROYAL RUMBLE 1988 REVIEW!

Officials came to Mankind’s aid, and even Shane McMahon told Rock to call the match off. But the challenger was relentless, vowing that he would make Mankind quit no matter what. Back in the ring, things escalated when Rock produced a set of handcuffs and locked Mankind’s wrists behind him. He then signalled for a Corporate Elbow, but with a steel chair covering Mankind’s face. The Corporate/People’s Elbow was very rarely a dangerous move, but here it was devastating, with Mankind legitimately cut open. Again, on another night, this would be the finish. But Mankind’s renowned toughness meant that even this brutal blow wouldn’t be enough. And now we get to the most notorious aspect of the match.

With Mankind struggling to his feet while remaining handcuffed, Rock would pick up the steel chair. And Rock absolutely whacked Mankind’s head with the chair, with Mick Foley being unable to protect himself. Another chairshot came straight afterwards, with three more in quick succession shortly thereafter. Michael Cole screamed “What the hell is Mick Foley doing?”, in a moment that feels more real than storyline. Even Jerry Lawler was agreeing that things were getting out of hand. Mankind would take another three chairshots before they began to move their way up the aisle. Two more shots led to a final blow to the back of the head. All in all, Mankind took eleven unprotected chairshots to the cranium. At this point, Rock demanded that he surrender, and we then heard Mankind say “I Quit! I Quit! I Quit!” The match was over, and Rock was the new two-time WWF Champion.

I’ll come back to the main backstory shortly, but let’s tackle the on-screen aspect first. At the time, Mankind’s verbal waving of the white flag sounded odd, and we would soon learn why. On Raw, it came out that Mankind hadn’t really said those two words. Instead, it was pre-recorded footage from Heat which had been used to save face for the now-former champion. This revelation came out during a segment where Rock lost his voice, leading to the two hated rivals exchanging laughs. It’s funnier than it sounds. Anyway, their feud would continue through three more major matches and two further title changes.

Now onto the big story. Even by WWF standards, this was a violent match-ending. I must stress that, because WWF fans had become so desensitised to brutality during the previous 15 months, this felt like just another strong battering. But the notion of a man being whacked in the skull with a steel chair, unprotected, almost a dozen times was frightening to some. None more so than Mick’s own family, who were in attendance for the whole ordeal. The original plan was for Foley’s wife to beg for him to quit, with his kids also wanting to attend. But it was a disaster waiting to happen, with the movie Beyond The Mat capturing their reactions for authenticity.

However, the finish wasn’t meant to be as brutal as it was. According to Foley, there were meant to be no more than five chairshots. Yet somehow, in the heat of the moment, that figure more than doubled on the night. Those assuming that Mankind’s mask protected him from the impact were wrong. This led to some resentment from Foley towards Rock for a fair amount of time before they resolved any lingering animosity. But even with the agreed five chairshots, many fans might have felt uncomfortable watching this.

Either way, there is zero chance that we ever see a WWE match reach this level of brutality again. Hell, even seeing one unprotected chairshot would be out of the question, never mind eleven. To me, people should have used common sense to consider the potential brain damage from a battering like this rather than waiting for scientific evidence to prove it. Regardless, this remains a gripping brawl to watch, but the finish is very hard for a lot of people to watch. To them, this is an example of WWF Attitude Era violence going too far. The good news is that we won’t ever see a climax like this again. But if you can withstand the brutality, this is actually one hell of a main event match. In that respect, Mankind and Rock definitely succeeded.

Royal Rumble Match

Onto the Rumble now, which headlined its own PPV for the first time since 1995. This had one major storyline behind it, and it just happened to be the greatest feud of all-time. The rivalry between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon had already been legendary by this point. But here we got a significant chapter. In order to stop Austin regaining the WWF Title, Vince made him defeat The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match at Rock Bottom just to enter the Rumble. That he did, but then McMahon revealed that Austin would be #1. Furthermore, McMahon placed a $100,000 bounty on his head while announcing that he would enter the 30-man match himself, as the final participant. Vince procaimed that Austin had “no chance in hell” of winning, hence him using that theme after this PPV.

Somehow, babyface Commissioner Shawn Michaels pulled strings so that Vince would actually enter as #2. Oh, yes, Austin would get his hands on Vince during the Rumble, something he normally couldn’t do unless he was physically provoked. McMahon’s last-ditch attempt to earn the #30 spot via a Corporate Rumble saw him bested by Chyna with Austin’s help. All the while, Stone Cold talked up his desire to win his third straight Rumble and become WWF Champion once again at WrestleMania XV. Oh, and Vince trained for the Rumble with the assistance of Shane and … a chicken. “Catch that chicken! Catch that chicken!”

Say what you will about the Attitude Era, but fans couldn’t wait to see what would happen here. Could Austin defy the odds from the #1 position? Would anyone collect that $100,000 bounty by eliminating Stone Cold? And could Vince possibly survive an ass-whopping from The Texas Rattlesnake? McMahon didn’t help matters by creating further problems for Austin on Heat. He firstly denied entry to the building, which led to a monster truck arrival for Austin. Then, Vince slapped Stone Cold in the ring to poke the bear a little more.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LATEST EDITION? READ OUR WWE ROYAL RUMBLE 2020 REVIEW!

The two men came out as expected, with Vince showing off a not-artificially-enhanced-at-all physique. Austin quickly pounded the boss, stopping only to quickly eliminate Oddities member Golga (Earthquake in a forgotten run) as #3. Vince used this distraction to run through the audience, with Austin giving chase. As LOD member Droz arrived as #4, the camera remained on Austin chasing Vince in the auditorium, eventually reaching a women’s restroom. But wait! There would be a trap. The Corporation was hiding and they pummelled Stone Cold sufficiently to leave him unconscious.

Meanwhile, Droz was watching all this on the big screen, though Brood member Edge joined him as #5. While Austin left the Arrowhead Pond in an ambulance, we had our next participants. Gillberg, the obvious parody of WCW’s Goldberg (who was massively popular at this time) was eliminated by Edge within seconds. (Hey, maybe we get to see Goldberg vs. Edge for real at WrestleMania 37.) The next four entrants read like a who’s who of filler: Steve Blackman, Dan Severn, Tiger Ali Singh and The Blue Meanie. For an era boasting such strong characters, that’s a pretty poor run of combatants.

Mabel then attacked Headbanger Mosh backstage to take up his spot as #11. The big man came out and eliminated Severn, Blackman, Singh, Meanie AND Droz. Road Dogg arrived as the first of five DX members in the match as #12. But then the lights went out, and The Undertaker’s music hit! His Ministry members Faarooq, Bradshaw and Mideon then headed to the ring to forcibly eliminate Mabel. Taker, with Paul Bearer, then put Mabel in a trance, before they all headed backstage. Incidentally, Faarooq skidding over accidentally, with a fan laughing, remains amusing to this day.

Back in the ring, Dogg was the second man alone in the ring, since he threw out Edge before the darkness wackiness. But he was kept company by Gangrel (#13), Oddities member Kurrgan (#14), Al Snow (#15), Goldust (#16) and The Godfather (#17). A few fans were having a whale of a time dancing to various entrances, and the whole audience popped for Godfather and The Ho’s. Besides Gangrel, who Dogg eliminated (stemming from a recent Brood bloodbath with RD as the victim), and Snow, who Dogg eliminated due to their ongoing Hardcore Title feud, everybody would survive. But that would change.

Kane made his first of many official Rumble participations as #18, and he cleared house. Within moments, he had tossed out Dogg, Kurrgan, Godfather and Goldust. Fans were impressed, but Kane would soon be out himself. That’s because “the whitecoats”, a.k.a. staff from a mental institution, came out to capture Kane as per the McMahon’s orders. Kane battled them off but eliminated himself to beat them towards the entrance way. If there’s one scene that WWE could never repeat in 2021, it’s a group of men trying to force someone to enter a mental institution.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING PPV? READ OUR WWF ST. VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE 1999 REVIEW!

Ken Shamrock was #19, and for the third time, the ring was empty. But he soon had company, as Vince McMahon returned, sporting a jumper, to join the commentary team. McMahon calmly noted that Austin was gone and he wasn’t coming back, seemingly halting his own Rumble participation. Billy Gunn limped out as #20, with one boot missing to sell the ankle damage from Shamrock earlier on. Test as #21 stacked the odds in the Corporation’s favour. But then we would have our next twist. In the parking lot, we saw Mabel being battered into a hearse by the Ministry. The next time Mabel would appear, his new name would be Viscera. More significantly, though, as the hearse left, an ambulance arrived. And Stone Cold himself was driving the ambulance! Vince gulped and looked terrified; Austin was back!

Stone Cold marched to the ring as Big Boss Man became the 22nd entrant, with Austin chasing Vince only for Shamrock to halt his quest. But Stone Cold would quickly eliminate Shamrock, Billy and Test. Boss Man was too tough a nut to crack for the time being, though. As BBM pounded him and called him “a piece of shit” (no subtlety there), the ring began to finally fill up properly. Triple H as #23, Val Venis as #24 and X-Pac as #25 added some star power. Mark Henry got an unexpected pop as #26 (hey, Sexual Chocolate was over), while Jeff Jarrett as #27 got cheers primarily due to his manager Debra. WWF fans were horny in 1999, what can I say?

D’Lo Brown was #28, with Austin hurling water at Vince around this time just for fun. X-Pac was eliminated by Boss Man before Owen Hart entered his final Rumble match as #29. After HHH eliminated Jarrett, Chyna as #30 made history by being the first woman to enter a Rumble match. And she eliminated Henry, as a reference to their infamous storyline at the turn of the year. But Austin clotheslined her right out, with Chyna looking disgusted. (As an aside, Chyna would turn heel and join the Corporation 24 hours later, making this the final night for this era of DX, unless you count the 30-45 minutes at Mania XV.)

From there, it was time to streamline the field. HHH eliminated Venis, but he was then dumped out himself by Stone Cold. The bounty was still at stake, but the number of participants who could pull that feat off was dwindling. Austin eliminated Owen, before Boss Man sent out Brown. And then Austin clotheslined BBM to the floor, leaving Austin and Vince all alone.

Stone Cold would pound McMahon in and around the ring, which included a ringside chairshot, in case we hadn’t seen enough of those during the evening. Vince did hit a low blow in the ring, but Austin regained control and dropped him with a Stone Cold Stunner. Just as Austin was about to win, The Rock came out to distract Austin at ringside. This allowed Vince to sneak up and eliminate Stone Cold for the win! Against all expectations, Vince McMahon had won the 1999 Royal Rumble match!

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING EDITION? READ OUR WWF ROYAL RUMBLE 2000 REVIEW!

Austin chased Rock backstage while Vince, Shane, Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson celebrated in the ring. At one point, Vince drunk beers in the manner that Stone Cold would, while fans threw garbage at the ring. Now, Vince wasn’t silly enough to consider facing Rock at WrestleMania, so he would wave his privilege. But this allowed Commissioner Michaels to instead hand that over to Austin! Yet Stone Cold wasn’t satisfied, challenging Vince to a Cage match at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre to continue their feud. As for the $100,000 bounty? Vince awarded this to Rock, only for Mankind to intercept the cash. This led to him buying Max Mini, because why not?

This Rumble match is very divisive, though far more people dislike it than appreciate it. If you were expecting a traditional 30-man Rumble match, then this was awful. Austin and McMahon spent much of the match away from the ring, and on three occasions, the ring stood bare. Only in the final third did this resemble a real Rumble match. The bounty aspect only became a factor towards the end due to Austin’s absence. And Vince winning the whole thing felt like a booking swerve too far (thanks Vince Russo).

To me, though, the big issue was the lack of depth in the roster. From Droz at #3 to Mabel as #11, only Edge would go on to have a noteworthy career. And most of the other guys in that group were out of the door within a year (Droz admittedly and tragically suffered career-ending paralysis). Even as the more popular acts would enter the ring, how many of them could feasibly win? Kane perhaps, and HHH at a push. But otherwise, nobody had a chance besides Austin or Vince, with even the latter seeming like a stretch beforehand.

Now, if you instead view this as being akin to an episode of Raw, where you disregard the Rumble itself and instead focus on the entertainment aspect, then this was a lot of fun. Austin finally got his hands on Vince at the beginning, with the backstage beat-down creating doubt about his participation. Mabel was a surprise, as was The Undertaker and The Ministry Of Darkness arriving to lead him away. Kane’s segment was brief yet very well-received.

Also, Austin returning got a huge reaction, while Chyna’s contribution made history. Then, you have the final battle between Austin and Vince along with the shock ending. And though the roster was proven to be weak here, at least a fair few acts were legitimately over. So, purely as a spectacle, the 1999 Rumble match could be deemed as offering plenty of entertainment. But as a Rumble bout itself, it exposes Vince Russo’s writing for overshadowing the action itself via overbooking, resulting in one of the weakest Rumble contests ever from an in-ring standpoint.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING TV SHOWS? READ OUR POST-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & HEAT!

The best way that I can describe WWF Royal Rumble 1999 is memorable, but do we remember the I Quit match and the Rumble bout for good or bad reasons? Both, I would say. Those who lived and breathed the Attitude Era fondly remember both matches to this day. But newer fans, or even those who were more accustomed to traditional pre-Attitude action, would strongly disagree. The rest of the show isn’t really worth checking out. So, really, it all depends how you view the Attitude Era as a whole. If you love the 1997-2002 time period, you will really enjoy both top matches. But if you feel that the Attitude Era was overrated, then avoid this card at all costs.

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