When I set up my notepad for “Into the Vault” and saw that WWE King of the Ring 1999 was next, I had flashbacks to the Deadly Game tournament from Survivor Series 1998. While that tournament just…meandered in some matches, there was a running story throughout.
KOTR ‘99 didn’t have a story worth caring about and it also suffered from one important player being injured but still going out and doing his best. That threw off the whole thing. Let’s get into King of the Ring 1999 which drew over 20,100 to the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina.
The Best
To be honest, the tag team showdown between the Hardy Boyz and the Brood was the only truly good match on the card from start to finish. It wasn’t even five minutes but they got a lot done to entertain the crowd with the little they had. It was entertaining, exciting, and if you watched the PPV for the first time, you’d think that this match was a sign that the rest of the show is about to really kick it into high gear.
The Undertaker taking on The Rock for the WWE Championship was an enjoyable brawl, but nothing special. As you know by now, brawls are right up alley. The main reason this match is in “The Best” is because the vast majority of the show was…we’ll get into it.
This is also the reason the main event between Stone Cold Steve Austin and the McMahons made into this pile. While we’ve seen Austin spank the McMahons constantly and either stand triumphant or get got by their endless wave of goon, it’s fun to see them bump around like billiard balls when Austin puts the boots to them.
More importantly, the match—while more of the same in this feud—was a good palette cleanser to end the show on.
The Rest
Honestly, the tournament part of this show is a f**king mess, folks. X-Pac was working a with a hurt neck the whole night. Just a heads up because the X-Pac matches on this show against what should’ve been solid-to-good opponents were all HeAT-length bouts. His opener against Hardcore Holly was something that probably would’ve been enjoyable-to-good with more than six and no more than ten minutes.
On that note, Kane vs. Big Show was short but slow and boring and Billy Gunn managed to beat Ken Shamrock in an even shorter that match that probably could’ve been decent.
The lengthiest match of the quarter-finals saw Road Dogg defeat Chyna in a little over 13 minutes. Both had some fan appeal going into this but Chyna hadn’t been tested enough in-ring at this stage for a PPV match of this length.
That isn’t questioning her stamina it’s about how interesting she can remain on her end for 13 minutes. Road Dogg was fine on his end and did what he could to get the match from start to finish and the extra shenanigans actually added to the match.
In more tournament action residing in this pile, Gunn spanks Kane in another boring tournament match in over five minutes, X-Pac squeaks a win in a little over three minutes, and finally Gunn defeats X-Pac to take the King of the Ring honors. Given how lackluster the field was and then the blah matches on top of that, it makes sense that Edge speared Gunn’s career so easily after he won the 2000 KOTR.
WWE King of the Ring 1999 Verdict: Bronze Medal (4.25/10)
Shout out to X-Pac for being a trooper and continuing his matches but the wiser decision would’ve been to give the dude some rest and slot another capable superstar in. Just hold a qualifier or hand out some byes but X-Pac being hurt really established the blah pace for the tournament. I’m giving match of the event to the number one contenders match for the WWE Tag Team titles between the Hardy Boyz and the Brood—which should’ve gotten at least ten minutes.
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