After my reviews on WWE Fatal 4 Way 2010 and WWE Capitol Punishment, I bet you guys were probably saying that I'm only going to be reviewing WWE's god-awful PPV events. Well, you've guessed wrong. While WWF Summerslam 1999 will be the last WWE-related DVD I'm going to do for a while before I go focus a few non-WWE DVDs, I wanted to end on a positive note with an Attitude Era
DVD Overview:
SummerSlam took place on the 22nd of August at the Target Centre in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it was the twelfth annual Summerslam event and the event was headlined by the presense of then Governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura, who would be the special guest referee for the main event, a triple threat match for the WWF Championship.Note: Match Ratings are on a 5 star rating system.
Two Titles On The Line - Intercontinental & European Championship Match - Jeff Jarrett (w/ Debra) def. D'Lo Brown (c) to become NEW double champ
Jeff Jarrett sends Debra backstage at the dismay of this live crowd for her rather revealing attire, but D'Lo Brown brings her back out, much to both the live crowd and especially Jerry "The King" Lawler's delight. The best parts of this match is hearing King swooning and moaning about Debra on commentary. This was back when King was at his best in terms of perverted and hilarious remarks on commentary.
The finish came after the referee was distracted by both Debra and Jarrett, only for Mark Henry to storm the ring and take out D'Lo Brown himself. The heel turn by Henry shocked the masses as it showed that Double J was maniacal genius, using both Debra and Henry to turn this match into his favor from the start to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. I applaud WWE for great writing like this as you definitely don't see stuff like this in mid-card feuds anymore.
Random Thought: @WWEDivaDebra was looking SMOKIN' hot during WWF #Summerslam 1999 that I was watching yesterday. pic.twitter.com/1lNFiZXJO4
— Let's Talk Wrestling (@LetsTalkWrestle) August 5, 2014
I tweeted this remark yesterday after I watched this event on DVD and I was more than flattered to have Debra herself favorite and retweet me. All Hail the Puppy Queen!Match Rating: ★★½ stars
The Acolytes (Farooq and Bradshaw) def. The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy w/ Gangrel), Edge & Christian, Mideon & Viscera, Droz & Prince Albert, and Hardcore Holly & Crash Holly in the Tag Team Turmoil Match for #1 Contender Spot for WWF Tag Team Championship for the following night on Monday Night RAW
This was one of my favorite matches on the entire card, along with the WWF Tag Team title match and the main event. I would love to see WWE's current product give the entire Tag Team division this much time on PPV to go nuts with everyone in the division throwing their biggest guns at each other.
For those who want to know the order of elimination it's as follows:
- Edge & Christian def. The Hardy Boyz (sporting the New Brood gimmick as they were still affiliated with Gangrel at this point), Mideon and Viscera, Droz and Prince Albert (the man who would become A-Train and Lord Tensai).
- Sick barricade run to Spear spot on Jeff Hardy out of the air by Edge
- Acolytes def. Edge & Christian and Hardcore Holly & Crash Holly
- Holly cousins lost the match due their own constant arguing, allowing The Acolytes to get an easy, cheap victory
If DailyMotion hasn't taken the video down, the entire match can be seen above for your viewing pleasure.
Match Rating: ★★★½ stars
Verbal Confrontation between Chris Jericho and Road Dogg
This was one of Chris Jericho's first WWF PPV appearances, so don't expect too much from this verbal exchange between him and Road Dogg. At this stage of his WWF career, he hasn't found his "it factor" so Road Dogg ends up winning over this crowd instead.Hardcore Championship Match - Al Snow def. Big Bossman (c) to become NEW champ
You don't get old fashioned hardcore brawls like this anymore. This was a definitely a classic in the high point of the popularized Hardcore Championship at the time. This match started in the ring then moved throughout the arena and moved over to two additional locations across the street from the arena before reaching its conclusion.
For an additional treat, look for Teddy Long as a referee at this point of his WWE career.
Match Rating: ★★★ stars
Women's Championship Match - Ivory (c) def. Tori to retain
I found myself laughing at two things in this match. First, there was a fan holding up a sign in clear view that said, "I Poop Too Much" and the fact that Ivory's top was looking like a potential wardrobe malfunction.
I felt that even though this match was short and sweet, it was straight to the point with no bullshit. Tori got her chance for revenge against Ivory, but came up short from dethroning the champion. I wish current Diva fans could turn back the clock and relive some of these bouts as every heel Divas champion doesn't have to be a cowardly heel. And every "aggressive" Diva doesn't have to a powerhouse either. Ivory was one of the shortest or rather most petite Divas of this era and brought that vicious mean streak with her to the ring. If I were perfectly honest, I would love to see either AJ Lee or Paige adopt this type of aggression into their repertoire.
To be fair, I'm sure ANY woman would be flaming mad if another woman wrote "SLUT" and "SKANK" all over her body.
This match had a sloppy finish at the end, but I loved the aggression from Ivory from start to finish and the Big Swing (or rather, Cesaro Swing) spot about halfway in. Luna Vachon (R.I.P.) attacks post-match and sets up the feud for Ivory's next potential challenger for her precious title. Other than that, there's not much action here and the crowd weren't really into this match at all.
Match Rating: ★★ stars
Kevin Kelly interviews The Rock
Poor Kevin Kelly. This was at the prime of Rock's belittling of the poor guy in interviews. Fortunately, The Rock goes easy on him tonight and is more focused on his match later.
Lion's Den Match - Ken Shamrock def. Steve Blackman
The amount of foreshadowing here in this match is downright scary as this match could be considered an early UFC-style match underneath WWE's umbrella. I bet Vince McMahon wished he caught this lightning in a bottle back then instead of allowing UFC to grow into it's own entity that is arguably becoming a pending threat to his own empire.
As for the match itself, I have to admit this was a dream match of sorts for me growing up. I marked for Ken Shamrock in the WWF years without a Kurt Angle and I loved how Steve Blackman brought his raw martial arts background to the WWE ring and stood out even more in Hardcore Matches. The combination that results after tossing Shamrock's MMA background and technical prowess into a blender with Blackman's martial arts expertise is simply magical.
I have to be surprised this specialty match hasn't popped up in TNA/Impact Wrestling with all of those MMA guys that the company were struggling to push throughout the years. This match marks the second time that WWE has held this match, with the difference with this version hosting a series of weapons within the structure.
Match Rating: ★★★ stars
"Love Her or Leave Her" Match - Test def. Shane McMahon for Stephanie McMahon's honor
Mere minutes into this match, the members of the Mean Street Posse who were allegedly injured by Test (R.I.P. Andrew Martin) race out to Shane McMahon's aid. The bulk of this contest involves the Mean Street Posse helping Shane beat the holy hell out of Test to make this feasible that Shane has a legitimate chance. Shane hits one of his trademark Diving Elbow Drop spots through the announcers' table at one point, but the ending doesn't come until Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson finally decide aid Test against the Mean Street Posse in the match's final moments.
After Test picks up the win over Shane, a VERY young and innocent Stephanie McMahon comes out to celebrate with Test. This was LONG before her transformation into the Billionaire Princess and current "Bow to the Queendom" heel antics.
There was one thing I kept laughing at as I was watching this DVD - ever notice how almost EVERY WWF Superstar at this time with long hair looked surprisingly like Kevin Nash? That DEFINITELY wasn't a coincidence, chico.
Match Rating: ★★½ stars
WWF Tag Team Championship - The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) & The Big Show def. Kane & X-Pac (c) to become the NEW Tag Team Champs
I fell out laughing at The Undertaker's promo in this video package before the match started:
The Undertaker: "...Summerslam will be forever known as ARMAGEDDON!"
Sadly that didn't happen until 5 months later when WWF held their first Armageddon PPV.
Despite the impressive offense from the combined might of The Big Show and The Undertaker, this match was entirely about X-Pac defying the odds against these monsters and keeping up with Kane. That being said, X-Pac puts up a great fight, especially when Taker and Show cut him off from the other side of the ring and prevent him from tagging out to Kane.
Match Rating: ★★★½ stars
Kiss My Ass Match - The Rock def. "Mr. Ass" Billy Gunn
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| Time for The People's Elbow... |
The match starts with Billy Gunn bringing out some woman who looks like she could pass as one of Honey Boo Boo's relatives, claiming that The Rock will be kissing her ass by the end of the night. Instead, Billy Gunn gets the just desserts as The Rock forces him to inadvertently kiss her ass instead. This is a pretty average match and nothing to write home about as if you've seen one Rock match from this time period, you've seen them all.
Match Rating: ★★½ stars
Triple Threat Match for WWF Championship - Special Referee: Jesse "The Body" Ventura Mankind def. Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) and Triple H (w/ Chyna) to become the NEW WWF Champ
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| On the original WWF DVD release, the WWF logo is NOT censored as pictured here. |
Jesse Venture is the judge and jury in this match, managing to eject Chyna from ringside after her repeated attempts to assist Triple H. After Triple H's repeated offenses - namely bashing both Mankind and Steve Austin with chair shots, Ventura refused to make the count to the crowd's delight.
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| Mankind: "Look ma, I did it!" |
Mrs. Foley's baby boy does it again, becoming a 2-time WWF Champion. It was well-deserved as Foley takes the most abuse in this match from start to finish.
This match continues the trend of the bad night for Shane McMahon as Austin gives him a Stone Cold Stunner when he came to the aid of Triple H.
As for this match itself, this match at a bit of everything - the brawling throughout the opening moments from Stone Cold Steve Austin, the devious tactics of both Triple H and Chyna of using any means in order to win, and the perseverance of Mankind.
Match Rating: ★★★½
Closing Words:
WWF Summerslam 1999 was one WWE's better events back during 1999, but acquiring a copy on DVD is going to be a little tricky. If you have a subscription to the WWE Network, you can find this readily accessible at your own leisure, but acquiring a copy on DVD is going to be difficult. I have seen factory sealed copies go as high as $60 on Amazon and ebay, but used copies ranging from $5 (what I paid for it) to $20. When it comes to collecting these types of DVDs, you have to ask yourself how much does a hard copy mean to you as fan or as a collector of wrestling multimedia on DVD. You can take my word for it and say that if you have to own a WWF PPV from 1999, you definitely can't go wrong here.
From top to bottom, WWF Summerslam 1999 is an enjoyable PPV experience and marks one of the "good" times of WWE programming. Lots of good laughs and great wrestling can be found here. I'm giving WWF Summerslam 1999 an 8 out of 10.
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