Date Posted: 12/27/99
Time Posted: 16:37
Posted By:
Adrian

Year In Review (PART 1)

The year started off festively as Mrs. Foley's little boy captured the WWF title from the Corporate Champ, the Rock. Of course, it took a little help from Steve Austin and a steel chair, but the title was now in face hands again. That is, until Royal Rumble. In one of the great matches of the year, the Rock beat Foley with a dozen chair shots, through him off of a balcony into an electrical rig, handcuffed him and elbowed him with the timekeeper bell. A recording was played to make it sound like Mankind quit, and the Rock won back the belt.
However, the big story of the Royal Rumble was Vince McMahon's promise that Steve Austin had No Chance in Hell of winning the Rumble and going on to Wrestlemania. McMahon even entered himself in the Rumble to ensure Austin's demise. Both Austin and McMahon took the confrontation to the backstage area, where Austin was ambushed by the Corporation. However, Austin recovered, and it was he and Vince left at the end of the Rumble. With the Rock distracting Austin, Vince was able to push the Rattlesnake over and become the oldest and most unlikely winner ever of the Rumble.
Commisioner Michaels ordered a match for the #1 contender spot at Royal Rumble, set in a steel cage at St. Valentine's Day Massacre. That match was one of several great moments on the card, however. Rock and Mankind squared off in another lively affair, as both were knocked unconscious, ending the Last Man Standing match between the two. Val Venis, with ref Billy Gunn, finally snatched away the IC title that Ken Shamrock had held for 5 months. An unfortunate injury knocked out the tag division for months, when Mark Henry hurt his knee while challenging Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart for the tag titles. Onto the cage match, Austin wiped the floor with McMahon in a four star match, knocking him off the top of the cage into the announcers' table, beating him bllody, and throwing him off of a stretcher. When the match got into the ring, Austin was near victory when Paul Wight burst from under the ring! The giant picked up Austin like a baby and threw him through the cage so hard that it broke, and Austin was outside! Austin was going to Wrestlemania.
In another measure to make sure Austin wouldn't win the belt, McMahon assigned Paul Wight as the special ref. This would never happen, though, because Wight would have to beat Mick Foley at Wrestlemania to become the ref.
On the road to Wrestlemania, the other divisions were not in good shape, which would badly hurt the Wrestlemania card. The IC belt was won by the Road Dogg two weeks before WM, the Hardcore belt was won by Billy Gunn, a man with no hardcore experience, and there was no team to challenge Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett.
At Wrestlemania, Bob Holly regained the Hardcore title, but RD and Owen and Jarrett retained theirs. A Hell in a Cell match took place between the Undertaker and Bossman at Wrestlemania, which Undertaker won easily. The buildup to this match involved the Undertaker's new group, the Ministry of Darkness that aimed to take over the Corporation as the power of the WWF. The Undertaker's group included the Brood, the Acolytes, Viscera and Mideon. The Hellina Cell victory was a major step for the Undertaker to move forward with his plan.
A regular ref was used in the main event, since neither Wight or Foley were eligible due to their match earlier. This also triggered Wight's face turn, when Vince slapped him. Anyhow, Austin beat the Rock in a long, no-holds-barred battle, and finnaly regained the WWF gold. A rematch would be held at the next PPV, Backlash.
The biggest news, perhaps, to come out of Wrestlemania, was the biggest heel turn of the year. During XPac's match with Sahne, HHH helped Shane win and joined the Corporation. This was a major step for Helmsley, because he had been floudering as a man with no role as DX began to decline. Now, he was ready to become a main eventer as the second biggest star in the Corporation next to the Rock.
Focus during April and May was slightly taken off of the title picture, and more on the Ministry vs. The Corporation. The Undertaker's group made several sacrifices on his symbol, and Shane even turned on Vince and joined the Ministry. They even managed to kidnap Stephanie McMahon and break into her bedroom on several occasions. It seemed that Vince was done. Most of the Corporation, except for Shamrock, followed Shane to the Ministry. They even kicked out The Rock when he was unable to win back the title. Now, the Rock, Austin, Mankind, and the Big Show were all united against The Ministry. Soon, the Ministry and Corporation joined under the Undertaker and Shane. The Undertaker would get a shot at Austin at the May 23 PPV, Over the Edge.
The Undertaker would win the title with the help of Shane at Over The Edge. However, Over The Edge will forever be remembered for something else......
In the third match of the card, the Blue Blazer, played by Owen Hart, was set to challenge the Godfather for the Intercontinental Championship. Hart was suspended 80 feet above the ring and lowered on a cable. Details are still sketchy, but somehow, Hart's cable gave way, and Owen fell over 65 feet to his death in the ring. The event was stopped for 15 minutes, while Owen was attended to and taken from the arena to a hospital. The crowd was not told that Owen had died. After Owen was taken out, the event went on. It wasn't until before the last match that the PPV audience worldwide was notified that Owen Hart had died.
Up until this very day, the debate roars on as to who was responsible for the death of Owen. The entire Hart family, (except for Bret it should be noted) have filed suit against the WWF for wrongful death. The next night on Raw, all angles were put aside to pay tribute to Owen with a ten bell salute and ten matches with ten clean finishes. Many WWF stars paid recorded tributes to Owen and his memory, including partner Jeff Jarrett, Mankind, Shane McMahon, and Pat Patterson. For the next few weeks, the memory of that fateful night hung over wrestling, and the legacy of Owen still lives and will continue to flourish with each person who knew him.
When WWF TV resumed a week later, the Ministry angle resumed. The Undertaker sacrificed Austin to the Higher Power in the closing minutes of Raw is War. The identity of the Higher Power was known now only to the Ministry and to Austin. The next week, the Higher Power was revealed to be Vince McMahon. He had planned out the entire Ministry idea in a strategy to defeat Steve Austin. However, Austin was one step ahead. He got Linda and Steph McMahon to make him the CEO. Austin's first action was to sign a ladder match between himself and the McMahon men at King of the Ring.
In the meantime, the other divisions continued to suffer in favor of the emphasis of the Higher Power angle. The IC belt shifted repeatedly, from Road Dogg to Goldust, to the Godfather, to Jeff Jarrett. The tag division consisted simply of the Acolytse and Kane and XPac, who both had been scorned by HHH and Chyna. And the Hardcore divison was left top Hardcore Holly and Al Snow. The only viable team left, the New Age Outlaws, split up, as Billy Gunn went on to try for singles glory.
June 27 came around, and Billy Gunn was the favorite to win the KOR tournament. Gun didn't dissappoint, as he beat XPac in the finals of a very lackluster tournament. Noteworthy in the tourney was the presence of Chyna, the first woman to compete in the tournament. She lost in the first round to the Road Dogg.
In the ladder match, Steve Austin beat the crap out of Shane and Vince for a good 15 minutes, and went for the suitcase. However, the suitcase mysteriously was lifted beyond his reach by an unknown person. To this day, nobody knows who lifted the suitcase, as the angle was dropped. Finally, Shane grabbed the suitcase, and he and his dad got 100% control of the company.
Next week, we'll cover July through the end of 1999. Don't miss it, as I'll speak about the wedding angle, HHH's rise to the top, the Bossman-Big Shwo cancer angle, Russo's jump to WCW, the Helmsley-McMahon Era, and the reunion of DX! Plus, much more, so don't miss it!

Always Credit Adrian When Using This News.