King of the Ring (1999)

The 1999 King of the Ring was the seventh annual King of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on June 27, 1999, at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina.

King of the Ring
Promotional poster featuring The Big Show
PromotionWorld Wrestling Federation
DateJune 27, 1999
CityGreensboro, North Carolina[1]
VenueGreensboro Coliseum Complex[1]
Attendance20,108[1][2]
Pay-per-view chronology
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Over the Edge
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Fully Loaded
King of the Ring chronology
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1998
Next 
2000

The main show included ten matches in total with several matches preceding the pay-per-view portion of the show, broadcast on live television as part of the WWF's Sunday Night Heat show. The main event was a Ladder match featuring Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin for control of the WWF. The other main match was a WWF Championship match where The Undertaker defeated The Rock to retain the title. Additional featured matches on the undercard included the King of the Ring tournament final between Billy Gunn and X-Pac, which Billy Gunn won to win the overall tournament and a Tag team match between The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) defeating The Brood (Edge and Christian).

Production

Background

The 1999 event was the thirteenth time the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) held a King of the Ring tournament and the seventh time they held the tournament on a PPV. Triple H was originally supposed to compete in the King of the Ring tournament, but he wanted to compete for the WWF title instead, so he gave his spot to Chyna.[3]

Storylines

The event featured a total of 15 professional wrestling matches, one untelevised match, four shown during Sunday Night Heat and the remaining 10 matches broadcast live on Pay-Per-View (PPV). Some of the matches featured wrestlers who were involved in pre-existing scripted feuds or storylines and others are teamed up with no backstory. Wrestlers themselves portrayed either heels (wrestling term for those who portray the "bad guys") or faces (those who portray the "good guys") as they competed in matches with pre-determined outcomes.

The main feud heading into King of the Ring was between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The McMahons (Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon) in a handicap ladder match. The storyline began at WrestleMania XV, when Austin won the WWF Championship from The Rock. The following months, Vince and Shane had been feuding with each other when Shane took control of The Corporation and later revealed that he was the mastermind behind his sister Stephanie McMahon's abduction at the hands of The Undertaker and his Ministry of Darkness. At the time, Shane and Undertaker joined forces to form the Corporate Ministry. The previous month at Over The Edge, Austin lost the WWF Championship to Undertaker after Shane who served as special referee made a quick three count to ensure Undertaker the victory.

Three weeks later, it was revealed that the Corporate Ministry served a "greater power" whom they were taking orders from behind the scenes. After Undertaker and Austin's title match ended in a no contest, the Ministry dropped to their knees in the ring and the greater power emerged from the back and revealed himself to Austin who was tied up in the ring ropes. The following week, the greater power was revealed as Vince McMahon who explained that his face turn was a plot to screw Austin out of the WWF Championship. Linda and Stephanie appeared on the stage and Stephanie berated Vince and Shane for using her to get to Austin. Linda then announced that she had step down as the CEO of the WWF and has hand-picked her successor which was revealed to be Stone Cold. Austin announced as CEO that he would be facing the McMahons in a handicap match at King of the Ring. A week later, after Austin dumped cow manure into Vince's office at the WWF headquarters, Vince announced the match would be a ladder match with 100% ownership in a briefcase hanging high above the ring. The following week, Austin defeated Big Bossman in singles match to ensure there would be no interference from the Corporate Ministry.

The secondary feud heading into King of the Ring was between The Undertaker and The Rock over the WWF Championship. The feud started on the June 7th episode of Raw is War, when Rock faced Triple H in a cast match. As Rock was preparing to drop the People's Elbow on Triple H, Undertaker interfered and dropped Rock with a Tombstone Piledriver on a steel chair. The Big Show made the save chasing away Undertaker. The following week, Rock came out and challenged Undertaker to a title match at King of the Ring. Undertaker accepted the challenge but the McMahons came out and told Rock that he must defeat Undertaker in a non-title match to earn his title shot. Later that night, Shane was about to announce the stipulation for the Rock/Undertaker match but was attacked by Ken Shamrock. When the match got underway though, Triple H came out and announced that the stipulation was that Rock would have to take on both him and Undertaker in a handicap match which Rock won after Chyna accidentally tripped Undertaker during the match. The following week, Rock defeated Edge in singles action. After the match, Undertaker came out and once again dropped Rock with a Tombstone Piledriver. Later that night, Undertaker defended his WWF Championship against Triple H. The match ended in a disqualification when Rock interfered and dropped Undertaker with a Rock Bottom. When a large Brahma Bull symbol (similar to the Undertaker symbol) descended from the rafters, Rock attempted to tie Undertaker to the symbol but Undertaker was saved by his allies in the Corporate Ministry. Paul Bearer was tied to the symbol instead.

King of the Ring tournament bracket

The tournament took place between May 30 and June 27, 1999. The tournament brackets were:

First round (TV) Quarterfinals (PPV) Semifinals (PPV) Final (PPV)
        
Billy Gunn Pin
Viscera 2:05
Billy Gunn Ref Stop
Ken Shamrock 3:37
Ken Shamrock Sub
Jeff Jarrett 2:55
Billy Gunn Pin
Kane 5:25
Droz Pin
Big Show 0:59
Big Show Pin
Kane 6:36
Test Pin
Kane 3:05
Billy Gunn Pin
X-Pac 5:33
Road Dogg Pin
The Godfather 1:02
Road Dogg Pin
Chyna 13:19
Chyna Pin
Val Venis 2:14
Road Dogg Pin
X-Pac 3:08
Al Snow Pin
Hardcore Holly 1:24
Hardcore Holly DQ
X-Pac 3:02
Big Boss Man Pin
X-Pac 2:37

Results

No. Results Stipulations Times[1][4][5]
1D Meat (with Jacqueline and Terri Runnels) defeated Kurt Angle Singles match -
2H The Brood (Christian and Edge) (with Gangrel) vs. The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) (with Michael Hayes) ended in a no contest Tag team match to determine #1 contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship 1:28
3H The Corporate Ministry (Mideon and Viscera) defeated Big Boss Man Handicap match 1:47
4H Prince Albert (with Droz) defeated Val Venis Singles match 1:57
5H Ken Shamrock defeated Shane McMahon by disqualification Singles match 0:47
6 X-Pac defeated Hardcore Holly by disqualification King of the Ring quarter-final match 2:58
7 Kane defeated Big Show King of the Ring quarter-final match 6:29
8 Billy Gunn defeated Ken Shamrock by referee stoppage King of the Ring quarter-final match 3:53
9 Road Dogg defeated Chyna (with Triple H) King of the Ring quarter-final match 13:14
10 The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) (with Michael Hayes) defeated The Brood (Christian and Edge) (with Gangrel) Tag team match to determine #1 contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship 4:54
11 Billy Gunn defeated Kane King of the Ring semi-final match 5:16
12 X-Pac defeated Road Dogg King of the Ring semi-final match 3:07
13 The Undertaker (c) (with Paul Bearer) defeated The Rock Singles match for the WWF Championship 19:14
14 Billy Gunn defeated X-Pac King of the Ring final match 5:35
15 Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin Ladder match for control of the World Wrestling Federation 17:09
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • D – indicates the match was a dark match
  • H – indicates the match was broadcast prior to the pay-per-view on Sunday Night Heat

References

  1. "Historical Cards: King of the Ring (June 27, 1999. Greensboro, North Carolina)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 151. 2007 Edition.
  2. "King of the Ring 1999". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  3. "WWE Sunday Night Heat 1999". the History of WWE. June 20, 1999. Retrieved March 25, 2015. featured Jim Ross conducting an in-ring interview with Triple H & Chyna in which Chyna spoke about her participation in the King of the Ring tournament and Triple H explained why he gave Chyna his spot in the KOTR by explaining he wanted the WWF Championship instead
  4. Powell, John (June 28, 1999). "Gunn crowned KOTR". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  5. "King of the Ring 1999". Pro Wrestling History. June 27, 1999. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
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