Posted in: The Classic Paper Review The Classic Paper Review - Vol XIV – King of the Ring 1999
By Mazza
Apr 20, 2009 - 5:34:02 PM
Vol XIV – King of the Ring 1999
Welcome ladies and gentleman, my name is Mazza and this is the 14th edition of The Classic Paper Review. It has been almost three weeks since my main page debut and Wrestlemania has come and gone with the Money in the Bank match leaving me with a little egg on my face. I really did not see CM Punk winning this year but I think the match was as expected and my boy Shelton certainly did not disappoint as once again he almost killed himself falling head first into a sea of competitors. My delayed return has been due to the final of the CSI tournament in the columns forum where I had to write an X-Pac appreciation column (don’t ask!). We are still awaiting the final results but it looks like it will be a pretty close run thing between myself and Sean Taylor.
It is now time to get on with the show. As the weeks go by, hopefully you will start to learn a few things about me. One thing I can tell you straight off the bat is that I have some strange tastes occasionally when it comes to wrestling talent. I have also been a wrestling fan for many years which leads to my columns looking at PPVs from any point over the last 20-odd years. With this being my first “typical” CPR as a main page columnist, I was tempted to look at once of the great WWF/E “big four” PPVs, but decided that wouldn’t be much of a challenge. I eventually decided that it would be fun to review a King of the Ring. The King of the Ring tournament has been somewhat of a star maker over the years so which of these classic events will I be looking at? 1996 where Austin 3:16 was born? What about a year later when Triple H set out on the road to greatness? How about one of the Hart brothers’ victories? No, no and no and for the record, I will not be looking at Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle or Edge’s victories either. Today, The Classic Paper Review will take you back to the 1999 edition, which would be won by one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
THE FACTS
As usual, all facts and figures are from Wikipedia.
The Event: King of the Ring 1999
The Date: 27 June 1999
The Place: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
The Attendance: 19,761
The 1999 version of the King of the Ring tournament came at a very tough time for wrestling. It was the first WWF PPV following Over the Edge which saw the tragic death of Owen Hart so it would be important to get back to business here.
This was the Attitude Era so it was no surprise that the continuing Austin-McMahon saga was at the top of the agenda for the event. Steve Austin beat McMahon’s chosen one, The Rock at Wrestlemania 15 but afterwards Vince’s Corporation entered into a feud with Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness. The feud seemed to have ended when Austin saved Stephanie from being forced into a marriage with the Undertaker but it was soon revealed that Taker was acting on instructions from Vince himself. Stephanie and Linda took great exception to this and gave Austin a 50% stake in the WWF. Vince was disgusted at seeing Austin owning half of his company so the challenge was made for him and his son, Shane to battle Stone Cold in a ladder match with the winner taking full charge of the company.
Following his defeat against Austin at Wrestlemania 15, The Corporate Champion soon transitioned into becoming The People’s Champion once more. After being double crossed by Shane McMahon, The Rock turned face and feuded with the Corporate Ministry, most notably Triple H and WWF Champion, The Undertaker. The Rock earned his title shot for King of the Ring by pinning The Game in a triple threat also involving the champion. As for the King of the Ring tournament, this was centred around the break up of the D-Generation X stable. Chyna had turned on DX to join the Corporation while Billy Gunn also turned heel and left saying the other members were holding him back. When leader Triple H also joined the corporation, it left The Road Dogg and X-Pac (who had started a tag team with Kane) as the last remaining members.
Writers Note: Before I get to the review, I would just like to clear up any confusion any of you might have regarding my coefficients. Most of my regular readers will understand these but my newer readers may not. Each match of the PPV will have a coefficient of 1, 2 or 3. This is basically to weight the overall PPV rating to be based on the higher profile matches. The main events and world title matches will all have a coefficient of 3, mid card title matches and high profile feuds 2 with the divas and thrown together matches being given 1. So the long and short of it is that the rating for Bret Hart versus Kurt Angle in an ironman match for the world title will count 3 times more than the dildo-on-a-pole match between Michelle McCool and Kelly Kelly.
GOD SAVE THE KING
X-Pac defeated Hardcore Holly by disqualification in 3:02 in the KOTR quarter-finals
These two men had certainly changed a lot since their time as tag team champions four years earlier. Holly dominates the early going with his power but X-Pac soon takes control with his speed. After being hit with a Bronco Buster, a frustrated Holly gets a chair and nails X-Pac with it square on the noggin resulting in a DQ. He beats down on X-Pac some more until the Road Dogg makes the save. A lot can happen in three minutes but it did not here. Disappointing but considering the participants, it was to be expected. CPR Rating: 3 (Coefficient 1)
Kane defeated The Big Show in 6:36 in the KOTR quarter-finals
The KotR quarter final would see two of the best big men ever to grace a WWF/E ring go one-on-one. There is not much difference between now and then when it comes to these men except they both had long hair at the end of the 90s (oh, and Kane had a mask). Straight away the Big Red Machine tries to use his speed and agility advantage as Big Show tries to utilise his size and power. We see Kane pull off a surprising good looking enziguri before a big boot attempt from Show sees Kane move and a ref bump. We are then treated to Bob Holly’s second appearance of the night as he comes to the ring with a chair to take out TBS, who he was feuding with at the time. Kane stops him in his tracks before he can hit Show and poor old Hardcore gets a chokeslam for his troubles. Kane soon takes control by trying to choke Show out in a hold that seems to last forever before Show eventually breaks the hold. Kane is unfazed however and nails Show with a sick chairshot just before the ref comes around to count the three. This was a strange match which certainly did not show how good each man was but did give a little taster. CPR Rating: 5.5 (Coefficient 1)
Mr. Ass defeated Ken Shamrock in 3:37 in the KOTR quarter-finals
Earlier in the night, Shamrock had defeated Shane McMahon and as a result, Shane’s participation for the main event was in doubt. Shamrock had been beaten down by Steve Blackman following the match but refused medical attention. Before the match, Mr. Ass sent some trash talk Shamrock’s way and “The Worlds Most Dangerous Man” came to the ring despite not being in any shape to compete. Billy jumps Shamrock before the bell and takes control. He works over the injured ribs but despite a couple of ankle lock attempts, Shamrock cannot mount any sustained offence. A Shamrock hurricanrana attempt is reversed into a powerbomb and with Shamrock seemingly suffering internal bleeding, the ref call for the bell. After the match, Shamrock freaks out over the call and throws referee Teddy Long out of the ring. This match did what it needed to do in terms of the tournament but was not very interesting. CPR Rating: 4.5 (Coefficient 1)
Road Dogg defeated Chyna (With Triple H) in 13:19 in the KOTR quarter-finals
Chyna embarks on her mission to become the first Queen of the Ring as we have the first match between members of the dying D-Generation X stable. She is accompanied to the ring by Triple H who had earlier challenged the winner of the WWF Championship match that would take place later in the night. The pace starts off slow with Chyna coming out on top of most of the exchanges. Once she is on top, she uses her strength to stay there until The Road Dogg reverses an Irish whip to send her to the outside. Hunter then gets involved and Chyna takes control once more. The pace remains slow as Chyna gets a host of two counts. The Road Dogg eventually gets in some offence by locking in a sleeper but Hunter intervenes once more to place Chyna’s foot on the rope. Dogg confronts Hunter which allows Chyna to attempt a roll-up but whilst kicking out, the referee gets knocked out. Triple H takes Road Dogg out with a chain and puts Chyna on top of him but this can only get a two count. Commissioner Shawn Michaels then makes his way to ringside as the Road Dogg takes control in the ring. Hunter tries to interfere once more but is ejected by his former running buddy HBK. As the Road Dogg waves goodbye to Hunter, Chyna is recovering and she delivers a low blow. Dogg is not hurt by the move and reveals that he was wearing a cup before nailing a pumphandle slam for the victory. This match was quiet tedious at the beginning but it was saved by a nice finishing sequence. CPR Rating: 6 (Coefficient 1)
The Hardy Boyz (With Michael Hayes) defeated The Brood (Edge and Christian) (With Gangrel) in 4:49
The next match on the card was between two young teams who would surely not be around the industry for long. I mean come on, a set of skinny brothers desperately trying to be moulded into Freebirds going up against a set of fake brothers desperately trying to be moulded into vampires. The chances of success do not look promising. This match was originally on Heat before the event but it ended with tag team champions, The Acolytes taking out both teams. Commissioner Michaels called for the match to take place again with the winners being named number one contenders to Faarooq and Bradshaw’s titles. Both teams come out with blazing pace as the fatter Freebird goes against the shorter gothic guy. The match is exactly what you would expect if you watched The Rockers taking on The Rockers as the tag team action is fast paced and innovative. About half way through the match, the Hardy Boyz perform a striptease which generates zero crowd response before both mangers get involved. All four men are in the ring and the Hardys go for Poetry in Motion on Edge who counters with a spear from the second rope (it really was beautiful). Christian takes out Matt with a dive from the top rope to the floor as Jeff and Edge go at it in the ring. Gangrel then inadvertently sits blood into Edge’s eyes resulting in a Twist of Fate for the victory. I was pleasantly surprised here as I was expecting both teams to be very green. They both impressed and in less than five minutes, gave us a pretty good taster of their battles to come. CPR Rating: 8 (Coefficient 1)
Before the KotR semi finals, Mr McMahon comes to the ring and announces that Shane will not be able to compete and the ladder match was off. He is interrupted by Michaels who overrules him. McMahon then says that he is not calling the match off and he would find a suitable replacement.
Mr. Ass defeated Kane in 5:25 in the KOTR semi-finals
The roles have changed here for the Big Red Machine as his second appearance of the evening sees him go back to his power game against the “Ass Man”. Kane is dominant in the early stage as the action spills to the outside. Kane lifts the ring steps but gets caught with a picture perfect dropkick from Billy. Mr. Ass gets aggressive in taking the fight to the Big Red Machine as he wears the big man down. As Billy tries to finish it off with a Fameasser, Kane counters with a powerslam and then hits a nice dropkick of his own. Billy goes for a chair but seemingly to return the favour of being saved earlier, The Big Show makes an appearance to take the chair from Mr Ass. As Show goes to nail Billy though, he moves and it is Kane who gets payback for the earlier chairshot and Mr. Ass makes the final. After the match, an angry looking Kane picks up the chair and walks to the back. This was an interesting match from start to finish with something always going on and both men playing their characters well. CPR Rating: 7.5 (Coefficient 2)
X-Pac defeated Road Dogg in 3:08 in the KOTR semi-finals
The second semi-final sees two good friends and the last remaining members of DX facing off. The match starts off at a nice pace before X-Pac takes control by locking in a headlock. The Road Dogg fights out but the pace remains slow until he goes for a pumphandle slam which is countered into an X-Factor for the victory. The men hug after the match as X-Pac favours his neck. This match could have been a lot better but Dogg looked tired after his encounter with Chyna and X-Pac was probably saving himself for the final which is understandable. It had its moments but should have been a little more exciting considering how short it was. CPR Rating: 5 (Coefficient 2)
The Undertaker (With Paul Bearer) defeated The Rock in 19:10 to retain the WWF Championship
Both men play the crowd well with the face-heel line being drawn, which was not always the case in the Attitude era. Before the ref can ring the bell, he is knocked down by Taker but The Rock hits a Rock Bottom. A second referee comes down but Paul Bearer drags him out of the ring before he can count to three. The Deadman is soon back on his game and hits a chokeslam and the original referee comes round to call a two count. The exciting start is followed by back and forth action at a frantic pace as they fight into the crowd. There is a slight lull in the action as they get back to the ring and Undertaker controls proceedings but business picks up again when Rocky counters an Old School attempt. All hell breaks loose once again as both men get hardcore on the outside and we see Taker’s bell-shot overpower Rocky’s chairshot. The men finally take a well earned breather as The Deadman locks in some rest holds as he once again dominates the encounter. The action goes back and forth once again and after inadvertently clotheslining the ref, The People’s Champ lands The People’s Elbow which causes JR to use the phrase “who’s your daddy, Undertaker”. Unfortunately for Rocky, for the second time, he has the match won with no ref. Taker then hits a low blow and is given a cloth soaked in chloroform by Bearer but the Rock manages to take the cloth and put the Deadman out. Triple H then makes an appearance and hits Rocky with a Pedigree. A groggy Undertaker is the first to move and makes a cover which gets a two count. The Rock gets to his feet but walks into a Tombstone and the Undertaker retains his title. This was a match that really captured the spirit of the “anything goes” Attitude era and although the finish could have been a little better, both men put on a great show. CPR Rating: 8.5 (Coefficient 3)
Backstage we see Triple H being escorted from the building thanks to Commissioner Michaels. Vince is bent out of shape as Hunter was going to be Shane’s replacement.
Mr. Ass defeated X-Pac in 5:33 to become King of the Ring
Before the match, Billy says he will go after the neck and he does just that as the action gets underway. X-Pac tries to fight through the injury using his aerial offence and pace but Billy is soon back in control and he nails his military press slam which is one of the best in the business. Mr. Ass continues to work on the neck but X-Pac hits an X-Factor out of nowhere but is slow to cover and he can only get a two count. X-Pac then hits some kicks and a Bronco Buster and goes for a superplex but gets pushed off the turnbuckle by Billy who nails a Fameasser from the top rope to become the final King of the Ring of the millennium. Both men did a good job of telling the story in the time allocated and the match was well executed without ever getting too exciting.
CPR Rating: 7 (Coefficient 2)
Vince and Shane McMahon defeated Steve Austin in 17:11 in a Ladder Match
With Shane’s “injury” and Hunter’s removal from the building, Vince comes out and announces that Steve Blackman will be his partner. Suddenly GTV (a sneaky camera that picks up backstage action, originally used by Goldust) plays on the screen showing a happy Shane watching the match with the Mean Street Posse. HBK makes another appearance to stop Shane and the Posse leaving the arena and he sends Shane to the ring. Blackman goes to the back as Stone Cold comes out to the massive pop he would generate whenever he came out during the period. The match starts out as a brawl with Austin taking on both McMahons easily. Shane and Vince briefly get the upper hand and eventually we see Vince go for the first ladder but he is cut off by Austin. The brawl goes all over the ringside area and Shane tries to escape by climbing the decorative ladders in the entrance way. Austin climbs to join him and an uncomfortable looking fist fight ensues with Shane falling to the floor very unconvincingly (he will learn). The decorations get really messed up as Stone Cold continuously throws the McMahons into them before knocking the remaining ladders down onto father and son.
The battle then heads back to ringside as Austin hurts himself whilst putting Shane through the Spanish announce table with an elbow from the ladder. He then climbs the same ladder to fight Vince but after he pushes McMahon off, Vince pushes the ladder, sending Austin into what I guess should be called the English announce table. Vince then makes the first attempt at the briefcase but Stone Cold is up in time to deliver a low blow and slam from the ladder. The McMahons finally manage a breather from the Austin dominance and try and retrieve the case by Shane sitting on his daddy’s shoulders but they are once again thwarted by Stone Cold as he lays father and son out with Stunners. Austin climbs the ladder but the briefcase mysteriously rises each time he reaches for it. As he tries to find out who is responsible, Vince climbs the ladder but Austin joins him in the nick of time. He battles both men once more but as he touches the case, it rises once again. Shane pushes over the ladder, sacrificing his own father as well as Stone Cold and climbs to keep the family company in the family.
This was a real trainwreck of a match and despite the storyline, psychology, crowd participation and idea all being top notch, the action almost negated that all. Vince and Austin have no business whatsoever being in a ladder match and Shane was still a bit green to try any of his trademark daredevil spots. Although the match has not aged well, it was still a nice reminder of the epic McMahon-Austin feud. CPR Rating: 6 (Coefficient 3)
THE VERDICT
Overall I have given King of the Ring 1999 a CPR Rating of 64%. This was not a very good PPV at all with the only saving graces being a pretty good world title match and a very early version of the Hardy Boyz versus Edge and Christian. The KotR tournament was lacking in quality matches, particularly considering the gems that the competition had previously given us. In case you were wondering, it was revealed that the Big Bossman was responsible for raising the briefcase. Austin also went on to announce that before he lost the match, he granted himself a world title shot and he beat The Undertaker for the title the next night on Raw. Overall I would say that the PPV was a nice reminder for those who went through the Attitude era in person but it would not be the event I would recommend to showcase how great that period was in wrestling history.
KING ASS
If you have been paying attention and managed to put 2 and 2 together, there is a big chance that you are planning on sending me some absolutely horrible feedback. So let me clarify this point a little. Yes, I did refer to Billy Gunn as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and no, I did not do that in jest. Having said that though, please don’t get this twisted, although I do mark for Mr. Ass, I am not delusional enough to believe the guy should have had multiple world title reigns. Oh no, my belief is simply that Billy is one of the greatest tag team wrestlers of all times. I bet if I made that clear earlier a lot of you would be a lot less angry right now.
Aside from his King of the Ring victory, Billy (real name Monty Sopp) would only have 1 Intercontinental Title reign and 2 runs with the Hardcore title to his name in a pretty boring single’s career but his tag team record may well make him the greatest ever in this area of sports entertainment which is now barely given the light of day. This was not always the case however and during the “New Generation”, “Attitude” and “Post-Invasion” eras of the WWE/F, tag team wrestling was of the utmost importance and Billy Gunn was part of one of the top tag teams in each of these eras resulting in an incredible 10 (TEN!!!) reigns as champion.
The New Generation era of wrestling for me was quite boring. The gimmicks were quite lame and the top men did not quite have the same superstar appeal as their predecessors or successors. Billy would not escape gimmick hell as he was made a cowboy with a kafaybe brother, Bart in the tag team The Smoking Gunns. They would become a highly popular face team and after a couple of years cutting their teeth with legendary teams like Money Inc (Ted DiBiase and IRS), they would beat The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly for their first taste of the gold in January 1995. Despite losing to the titles at Wrestlemania 11 to Owen Hart and his surprise partner Yokozuna, they would eventually win the titles back from the same team. The Gunns would then have to forfeit the titles due to Billy requiring neck surgery.
Upon his return from injury, The Gunns would have another championship run when they beat the Godwinns at In You House: Beware of the Dog in May 1996. The Gunns would also win the managerial services of Sunny, who would go on to have an on screen relationship with Billy. However, Owen Hart would once again mastermind the Gunns losing the titles, this time with his brother-in-law, the British Bulldog. As a result, Sunny left the team and the “brothers” split up, leading to Billy’s first singles run. Following a brief feud with his brother, Billy would find himself in gimmick hell once more under the tutelage of The Honky Tonk Man as Rockabilly. Rockabilly feuded at the bottom of the WWF card against a man known as “The Real Double J”, Jesse James. With both men’s careers seemingly on the way to a future endeavours announcement, they decided to become a team. A guitar shot to the head of the Honky Tonk Man would signal the birth of “The Road Dogg” Jesse James, “The Bad Ass” Billy Gunn, The New Age Outlaws.
Stone Cold Steve Austin is often credited for the birth of the Attitude Era but the Outlaws were the epitome of this exciting period for wrestling. They were cocky and crude in a way that was very similar to the shenanigans that Shawn Michaels and Triple H were pulling as DX. Ironically, the Outlaws would start their first reign as tag team champs by defeating the legendary Legion of Doom at In Your House: D-Generation X in November 1997. They would hold the titles until a highly entertaining and underrated dumpster match against Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie at Wrestlemania 14. With controversy surrounding the Outlaws’ defeat, the titles were vacated and the teams went against each other again the following night on Raw. Not only would the Outlaws win the titles, they would also fulfil their destiny by becoming part of DX.
The Outlaws would set the standard for tag teams of the era and would hold the titles for most of 1998. They would lose and win back the titles from the team of Mankind and Kane before eventually losing the straps to the Corporation team of the Big Bossman and Ken Shamrock in December. DX and the Outlaws would split up and Billy would pursue his singles career that would see him become King of the Ring before seeing his push come to abrupt halt after losing a Kiss My Ass match to The Rock at SummerSlam 1999. The Outlaws would reform shortly after this and they would get back their titles by beating The Rock and Sock Connection. They drop the titles back to Rocky and Foley shortly afterwards but a full DX reunion would follow and they would beat Mankind and Al Snow to embark on their final reign as champions as the millennium turned.
The Outlaws dropped the titles to the Dudleys following Billy sustaining a shoulder injury. On his return, Billy would struggle to find his place on the card despite runs with the IC and Hardcore titles. Eventually, he convinced Chuck Palumbo to team up with him as the gayest tag team of all times, “Billy and Chuck” was born. The gimmick seemed really bad but it in a strange way, Billy’s tag team experience made them a force to be reckoned with. They won the tag titles from Spike Dudley and Tazz in January 2002 before losing and regaining the straps from Rico and Rikishi. They would eventually lose the titles to the team of Edge and Hulk Hogan. Following an outrageous “gay marriage” storyline, Billy and Chuck’s gimmick was revealed to be just that, a gimmick and the team soon disbanded thereafter.
Billy would never hit the heights again with the WWE and soon found himself in TNA, bringing to the end the WWF/E career of the greatest tag team wrestler of all times. The facts above speak for themselves and despite the singles pushes never quite working, Billy has proved time and time again that he can get the job done at the highest level with a partner by his side, even if it is a gay partner. Monty Sopp has been far from complementary to his former employers since leaving the WWE but there is still a pretty high chance that he will eventually take his rightful place in the Hall of Fame, more than likely as part of the New Age Outlaws.
That brings me the end of my column but I’ll be back soon with another instalment of the The Classic Paper Review. As always, feedback good or bad is always very much appreciated so feel free to email me some here or leave me some in my feedback thread in the forums. I am still taking Rumble requests for my next column so feel free to nominate your favourite. I will leave you with a “thanks for reading” and plug a few of the better columns doing the rounds in the CF:
