1999 Royal Rumble Thoughts

   The 1999 edition of the Royal Rumble was one of the better ones in Rumble history.  Not only was the Royal Rumble match itself entertaining, it was historic for the epic and brutal encounter between The Rock and Mankind.  There were a few pre-show matches as well.  During the pre-show fans witnessed a match between Jeff Hardy and Christian.  The J.O.B. Squad's Bob Holly and 2 Cold Scorpio took on the team of Too Much.  In an effort to punish Mankind, the Corporation decided to stack the odds by having him wrestle the returning Mabel before his Title defense later in the night.  

Big Bossman vs. Road Dogg

   Vince McMahon's Corporation stable had many enemies but besides Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mankind, they had a big feud with Degeneration X.  This match contained members of each stable pitted against one another.  At the time, the Corporation's Big Bossman and Ken Shamrock were the WWF Tag Team Champions, having taken the Titles off the New Age Outlaws.  The former corrections officer from Cobb County, GA took this match with a Bossman Slam.

Intercontinental Title - Ken Shamrock vs. Billy Gunn

   The Outlaws had their chance to get back some gold, in the form of Shamrock's Intercontinental Championship.  While it was a fairly even match, Shamrock was a former MMA fighter and at times was too much for Mr. Ass.  Despite interference by Val Venis, who was feuding with both men and delivered a DDT to Shamrock, "The World's Most Dangerous Man" was able to bring the match to his favor and finish Gunn with an Ankle Lock submission.

European Title - X-Pac vs. Gangrel

   There wasn't much of a feud here so I don't really remember it. Plus, I'm not doing play by plays here, just my thoughts.  At this point in time, I was 19 years old and thought everything was awesome.  I still think the Brood was awesome and I still love DX.  In the end, X-Pac took the win.

Women's Championship Strap Match - Sable vs. Luna Vachon

   The WWF Women's Title was brought back after a three year hiatus in 1998 and Sable was the new Champion.  Sable was feuding with the McMahons at the time so Shane McMahon sided with Luna in this contest.  Luna was a vicious competitor and other than Jacqueline, she was the only viable threat at the time.  The Women's Title would become more prestigious over the years when better in-ring competitors came in.  After numerous interference attempts by Shane, Tori entered the ring, attacked Luna, and left. The result was Sable winning and retaining the Title.  Tori was Sable's stalker and she wanted to help her idol win.  In an ironic twist to the story, Sable became a heel who was extremely full of herself, and Tori's idiosyncrasies were suddenly cheered.   

WWF Championship I Quit Match - Mankind vs. The Rock

   Late in 1998, Mankind did the unthinkable when he won the WWF Championship.  The Rock was furious and wanted a rematch.  In order for a winner to be declared in this match, the opponent would be forced to say the words: "I quit!"  This is one of the most memorable matches in wrestling history, mostly for its brutality.  This match in particular was included in the wrestling documentary "Beyond the Mat," where Mick Foley's children were visibly shaken at the sight of their bloodied father, specifically Noelle.  In fact, most say The Rock took some liberties with the amount of unprotected chair shots he administered.  At this point in time, The Rock was also fairly humorous and during the match, he rang the ring bell in Mankind's ear and sang: "bells will be ringing" into the microphone.

   Despite the beating Mankind took, he refused to utter the words "I quit!"  Mankind was low blowed, handcuffed, and beaten by everything but the kitchen sink.  When The Rock asked him if he would quit, Mankind responded with a firm "go to hell!"  After several more chair shots, The Rock once again put a microphone to an unconscious Mankind's mouth and the crowd heard an audible "I quit" three times.  The Rock was declared the winner and new Champion. However, as it turned out, Rock and the Corporation played a prior Mankind promo over the loudspeaker where Mankind had uttered those words, obviously in a different contest. Despite this coming to pass, the decision was final.  The two men would continue to wage war in brutal battles.  In fact, before the month was out, Mankind regained the Title in an "Empty Arena Match" during the Super Bowl.

Royal Rumble Match
   Ever since Stone Cold Steve Austin won the WWF Title at WrestleMania XIV, Vince McMahon had vowed to make his life a living Hell.  To stack the odds, McMahon made sure that in order to win the Royal Rumble, he'd start it at number one.  However, Austin had an ace in the WWF Commissioner at the time, Shawn Michaels, who was recently estranged from the Corporation.  While Michaels reiterated that Austin was in fact the number one entrant, he announced that the number two entrant starting with Austin would be Mr. McMahon himself.  When the Rumble began, the bitter rivals went at it. McMahon went under the ropes to to leave the ring and Austin soon followed.  They brawled all over the arena and were seen only sporadically for the remainder of the match.  Mind you, neither had been eliminated.

   McMahon led Austin into a trap laid by the Corporation, who beat him mercilessly.  Austin was then taken to the hospital.  Mabel entered at number 12 and dominated until everyone else was gone.  Suddenly, the lights went out and when they came back on, the Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness members Midean and the Acolytes appeared and abducted Mabel.  They brought him to the ramp where the Undertaker himself awaited.  Mabel was then put in a trance.  Days later, he resurfaced as a member of the Ministry named Viscera.  After the ring filled up with more participants, Kane entered and destroyed everyone until no one was left but him.  However, he eliminated himself upon seeing asylum workers came for him.  The story there was that Vince McMahon and his Corporation were trying to control Kane by putting him in a mental facility.

   Mr. MacMahon then reappeared but instead of joining the match once again, he chose to do commentary at ringside, while Corporation member Ken Shamrock worked over the other participants.  After members of the Corporation and Degeneration X alike entered, an ambulance pulled up out back and out stepped Stone Cold Steve Austin.  He sprinted towards the ring to chase McMahon.  Meanwhile, Chyna became the first woman to enter the Royal Rumble.  She went toe to toe with the 400 lb Mark Henry and eliminated him.  Her celebration for such a feat was short lived, as she was then eliminated by Austin.  Austin eliminated everyone else until it was just him and McMahon, the very two men that started the match.  With Austin clearly in control and about to win his third Rumble, The Rock came out to distract Austin.  McMahon then came from behind and eliminated Austin to win the Royal Rumble.  Being that McMahon owned the WWF, he opted to give up his WrestleMania main event Championship opportunity.

   For me, I really enjoyed this Royal Rumble, mostly for the brutal Rock/Mankind match and the Rumble match itself.  I might not have enjoyed the winner ultimately being Vince McMahon himself because it somewhat ruined the integrity of what winning the Rumble meant, but it furthered the story between himself and Stone Cold Steve Austin.  This led to the first one on one encounter between the two inside a Steel Cage.  This Rumble, like several before it, set up several WrestleMania matches.  This Rumble contained the first female participant in Chyna, battles between warring factions, and progressing story arcs.  

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