|
|
Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jan 1, 2022 21:05:54 GMT 1
Part XXI: WWF Backlash 1999
WWF Backlash 1999
April 25th, 1999 - Providence Civil Center - Providence, Rhode Island
Sunday Night Heat
1.) The Corporation (Chris Candido with Sunny & Shane Douglas with Francine) def. Johnny Ace & Johnny Smith
2.) Val Venis def. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
3.) Too Much (Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor) def. Los Boricuas (Jesus Castillo & Jose Estrada with Miguel Perez Jr.)
PPV
1.) WWF Hardcore Title - Terry Funk def. Hardcore Holly (c)
2.) Ten-Man Tag - The Ministry Of Darkness (The Acolytes, Gangrel, Mideon, & Viscera) def. Ken Shamrock, The Legion Of Doom, Vader, & Too Cold Scorpio
3.) WWF Intercontinental Title - The Godfather (c) def. Bluedust
4.) WWF Light Heavyweight Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - Christopher Daniels (c) def. Justin Credible (with Jason, Nicole Bass, & Chastity), Super Loco, & Yoshihiro Tajiri
5.) Knockouts Only - Kane def. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams
6.) WWF World Tag Team Titles - Four-Way Ladder Match - Al Snow & Mankind def. Jeff Jarrett (with Debra) & Owen Hart, Taz & The Sandman (c), and The New Aged Outlaws
7.) Triple H (with Chyna) def. X-Pac
8.) Casket Match - The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) def. Psycho Sid
9.) WWF Title - No Holds Barred Match - Special Guest Referee: Shane McMahon - Steve Austin (c) def. The Rock
After an eventful WrestleMania card in Philadelphia, the WWF is back on PPV with Backlash 1999 (the first non-In Your House PPV) in Providence, Rhode Island. While my version of the card features a few similarities to the same PPV in OTL, there are far more differences. The main event stayed intact, with Steve Austin facing The Rock in a rematch, with Shane McMahon from The Corporation as the Special Guest Referee. The match plays out just like it does in real life. The same can be said for Triple H vs. X-Pac as well as The Godfather vs. Goldust for the WWF Intercontinental Title (thought the latter does have a slight difference with Goldust being bWo member Bluedust in my version of events). The rest of the card is vastly different.
On Sunday Night Heat, we've got a more interesting lineup, primarily highlighted by some All Japan Pro Wrestling representation, as we get appearances from Johnny Ace, Johnny Smith, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. That show is headlined by Too Much picking up a win over Los Boricuas.
Going into the main card, the opener sees Terry Funk winning the WWF Hardcore Title from Hardcore Holly, which does match what happened on the same PPV in OTL, though with Holly losing the WWF Hardcore Title to a different person. That was followed up by a massive Ten-Man Tag (and by that, I mean the sheer mass of humanity that's involved), as The Ministry Of Darkness picked up a win over a team of babyfaces led by Ken Shamrock. A lot of ass-kickers on Shamrock's side, but it wasn't enough to overcome the forces of darkness.
I would say the middle portion of this PPV card features probably the most interesting changes. Ministry Of Darkness member and current WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Christopher Daniels managed to successfully defend his title against Justin Credible, Super Loco, and Yoshihiro Tajiri in a Fatal Four-Way Match. If this happened in real life, I'm sure it'd be a pretty exciting matchup. That was followed by Kane defeating "Dr. Death" Steve Williams in a bout where you could only win by knocking out your opponent. This would be a big win for Kane against a member of The Corporation, but it would also be the final WWF match for Dr. Death, as he would leave the company and jump to WCW at the start of May. Finally, in the biggest change on the card, there would be a Four-Way Ladder Match for the WWF World Tag Team Titles, with the unorthodox team of Al Snow and Mankind coming away with the titles. Aside from Taz and The Sandman (who were the champions coming in), the teams of Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart and The New Aged Outlaws were also involved. I'd actually be really curious to see how this bout would've played out if it actually happened. Of course, Al Snow and Mankind did win the WWF World Tag Team Titles in OTL, but it happened much later in 1999 than it did in this alternate timeline.
The only other change of note in the top matches on this card is that The Undertaker wrestles Psycho Sid from The Corporation in a Casket Match, which sort of serves as a continuation of what happened back at WrestleMania. A big night for The Ministry Of Darkness, and a night to forget for The Corporation. However, there will soon be a shift in allegiances, as the formation of The Corporate Ministry is only a short time away.
In terms of notable title changes since WrestleMania, The Legion Of Doom and Power Warrior finally lost the WWF Six-Man Tag Team Titles, as they dropped them to the Ministry Of Darkness team of Gangrel, Mideon, & Viscera (though they use The Freebird Rule later on when the situation called for it). That happened on the April 7th edition of SmackDown. Of course, you saw above that The Godfather is the WWF Intercontinental Champion, and he won that from Road Dogg on the April 12th, 1999 RAW is War, which is the exact same thing that happened in OTL.
That's all for Backlash 1999! Tune in next time, as the WWF travels to the UK for No Mercy 1999 (the first one of the year, anyway) in Manchester, England! |
|
|
|
Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jan 11, 2022 5:29:22 GMT 1
Part XXII: WWF No Mercy 1999 (UK)
WWF No Mercy 1999 (UK)
May 16th, 1999 - Manchester Evening News Arena - Manchester, England
1.) Tiger Ali Singh def. Gillberg
2.) Ten-Man Tag - The Ministry Of Darkness (The Acolytes, WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Christopher Daniels, Gangrel, & Viscera) def. WWF World Tag Team Champion Al Snow & The bWo (Big Stevie Cool, Bluedust, Hollywood Nova, & The Blue Meanie)
3.) FTW Title - Taz (c) def. Justin Credible (with Jason)
4.) Kane def. Pyscho Sid via DQ
5.) Nicole Bass (with Chastity) def. Tori
6.) WWF European Title - Falls Count Anywhere - Shane McMahon (c) def. X-Pac
7.) Billy Gunn def. WWF World Tag Team Champion Mankind
8.) WWF Title - Anything Goes Triple Threat Match - Steve Austin (c) def. Triple H (with Chyna) & The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer)
This will probably be a shorter post than usual, but there really isn't much to talk about when it comes to this first UK PPV of 1999. The majority of this card is the exact same as it was in OTL, with only a few minor changes, which are mainly contained to the undercard. Instead of The Ministry Of Darkness vs. The Brood, we've got The Ministry Of Darkness vs. a team consisting of Al Snow and the bWo. Also, the Droz vs. Steve Blackman match is scrapped in favor of Taz defending the FTW Title vs. Justin Credible. The only other notable change is that Kane wrestles Psycho Sid instead of Mideon, but with the same DQ finish. Shane McMahon vs. X-Pac still takes place, with the addition of a Falls Count Anywhere stipulation. I was originally going to go with a Manchester Street Fight, but I wanted to differentiate it a bit from the main event stipulation.
Of course, it should be noted that this PPV takes place after the formation of The Corporate Ministry, so that faction is now in play.
In terms of title changes, there are two to discuss. First, Owen Hart captured the WWF Intercontinental Title from The Godfather on the May 5th, 1999 edition of SmackDown. Meanwhile, Debra still wins the WWF Women's Title from Sable in an Evening Gown Match on the May 10th, 1999 RAW Is War. The only difference here is that Shane McMahon is in the Shawn Michaels role here, as he awards the title to Debra instead of Michaels.
That's all for the UK version of No Mercy! Tune in next time for a much different, non-tragic version of Over The Edge 1999. |
|
|
|
Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jan 18, 2022 4:05:56 GMT 1
Part XXIII: WWF Over The Edge 1999
WWF Over The Edge 1999
May 23rd, 1999 - Kemper Arena - Kansas City, Missouri
Sunday Night Heat
1.) The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks (Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney) def. Kai En Tai (Taka Michinoku & Sho Funaki)
2.) WWF Hardcore Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - Chris Candido (with Sunny) (c) def. Big Stevie Cool (with The bWo), Scott Taylor (with Brian Christopher), & Too Cold Scorpio
3.) Val Venis def. Shane Douglas (with Francine)
PPV
1.) WWF World Tag Team Titles - Three-Way Tag Team Match - Kane & X-Pac def. Al Snow & Mankind (c) and D-Lo Brown & Mark Henry
2.) FTW Title - Taz (c) def. Yoshihiro Tajiri
3.) The Legion Of Doom def. The Acolytes
4.) Billy Gunn def. Road Dogg
5.) WWF Six-Man Tag Team Titles - Cactus Jack, Mikey Whipwreck, & Terry Funk def. The Ministry Of Darkness (WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Christopher Daniels, Gangrel, & Viscera) (c)
6.) The Rock def. Jeff Jarrett (with WWF Women's Champion Debra)
7.) WWF Intercontinental Title - Six-Pack Challenge - Owen Hart (c) def. Barry Windham (with Tully Blanchard), Justin Credible (with Chastity, Jason, & Nicole Bass), Psycho Sid, The Sandman, & Super Loco
8.) Shawn Michaels def. Triple H (with Chyna) via DQ
9.) WWF Title - Special Guest Referee: Shane McMahon - The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) def. Steve Austin (c)
As you all know, Over The Edge 1999 is one of the most infamous PPV events in wrestling history, and we all know the reason why. In this alternate history, the tragic events of that night never occur, as Owen Hart never goes back to The Blue Blazer.
On a brighter note, I actually really like how this PPV card turned out. Of course, a few of the matches from the same PPV in OTL remained the same. The main event (and the way it unfolded) remains unchanged, as The Undertaker wins the WWF Title from Steve Austin with Shane McMahon serving as the Special Guest Referee. With this being May of 1999, the era of The Corporate Ministry is in full swing. The group, at this point, is led by Shane McMahon and The Undertaker. As for the full membership of the group, you have the pre-existing members of The Ministry Of Darkness, which include Paul Bearer, The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq), Christopher Daniels, Gangrel, Mideon, and Viscera. Then, you had the members of The Corporation, which include Triple H, Chyna, Psycho Sid, Shane Douglas (with Francine), Chris Candido (with Sunny), and Harris Brothers Security (who are more associates than full-fledged members of the group). So that's where things stand with The Corporate Ministry, which is really a supergroup with the sheer amount of members it has. As I already mentioned, the way the main event plays out here is the exact same way it plays out in OTL, with all of the shenanigans and whatnot.
Aside from Billy Gunn beating Road Dogg in a singles match, the rest of the card looks entirely different from it's real life counterpart. Sunday Night Heat has a fun three match lineup with a Fatal Four-Way for the WWF Hardcore Title (which Chris Candido won from Terry Funk on the May 19th SmackDown, thanks to some involvement from The Corporate Ministry), a tag team match, and a singles bout between Shane Douglas and Val Venis. The actual opener on the PPV card does resemble the actual PPV from OTL, but with a slight twist, as the actual WWF World Tag Team Champions in this alternate timeline, Al Snow and Mankind, are added in there to make it a Three-Way Tag Team Match.
Kane and X-Pac do get the win, though they capture the titles here instead of retaining them. That's followed up by a FTW Title bout with Taz facing Yoshihiro Tajiri (which I'm sure would've been a really strong undercard bout) and a hard-hitting tag team affair between The Acolytes and The Legion Of Doom. That bout is actually part of a feud between the teams that started in the weeks prior.
After the aforementioned Billy Gunn/Road Dogg match, we've got a defense of the WWF Six-Man Tag Team Titles. In this case, thanks to The Freebird Rule, Ministry Of Darkness member and WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Christopher Daniels is stepping in to defend the titles with Gangrel and Viscera. Now coming into the PPV, the challenging team was just made up of Mikey Whipwreck and Terry Funk, with the third partner being labeled as a mystery. Now Funk and Whipwreck were definitely underdogs going into the match (the basic story here is that Whipwreck has been beaten and bullied by Daniels and some of the other Ministry Of Darkness members, with Funk coming to Whipwreck's defense), but that changed a little bit as their mystery partner was revealed to be Cactus Jack! When the dust settled, the babyface trio would dethrone The Ministry Of Darkness trio to win the titles. So Mick Foley loses a title earlier in the night, and wins a different title later in the night.
The rest of the card features a shakeup of some of the upper card singles feuds. The Rock goes up against Jeff Jarrett in this case, while Triple H (who actually faced The Rock on the real-life version of this PPV) takes on the returning Shawn Michaels. This is the first match for Michaels since being kicked out of The Corporation right after WrestleMania XV.
Sandwiched between those two matches is a Six-Pack Challenge for the WWF Intercontinental Title, with Owen Hart successfully defending the title. I really wanted to book a match with a unique lineup of guys, and I like how it turned out, as the challengers in this match were Barry Windham, Justin Credible, Psycho Sid, The Sandman, and Super Loco. I have no idea how that Six-Pack Challenge would look if it actually happened, but it sure would be something to see.
That's all I've got for Over The Edge 1999! Tune in next time, as I go over the events of King Of The Ring 1999, including the reveal of The Higher Power! |
|
|
|
Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jan 31, 2022 0:08:26 GMT 1
Part XXIV: WWF King Of The Ring 1999
WWF King Of The Ring 1999
June 27th, 1999 - Greensboro Coliseum - Greensboro, North Carolina
Sunday Night Heat
1.) Prince Albert (with Droz) def. Val Venis
2.) Tag Team Tables Match - Chris Candido (with Sunny) & Shane Douglas (with Francine) def. WWF Hardcore Champion Al Snow & Terry Funk
3.) Jeff Jarrett (with Debra) def. Ken Shamrock
PPV
1.) WWF World Tag Team Titles - Street Fight - The Acolytes (c) def. The Legion Of Doom
2.) WWF Light Heavyweight Title - Christopher Daniels (c) def. Mikey Whipwreck
3.) WWF Intercontinental Title & FTW Title - Owen Hart [Intercontinental] def. Taz [FTW]
4.) Triple Threat Falls Count Anywhere Match - Psycho Sid def. Justin Credible & The Sandman
5.) King Of The Ring - Semi-Finals - Billy Gunn def. Kane
6.) King Of The Ring - Semi-Finals - X-Pac def. Road Dogg
7.) No DQ Match - Vince McMahon def. Jake "The Snake" Roberts
8.) WWF Title - The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) (c) def. The Rock
9.) King Of The Ring - Semi-Finals - Billy Gunn def. X-Pac
10.) Ladder Match For Control Of The WWF - The Corporate Ministry (Shane McMahon & Triple H) def. Shawn Michaels & Steve Austin
Well, we're officially into the Summer of 1999, and the Corporate Ministry storyline is in full swing. Of course, the biggest change with the Corporate Ministry in this alternate timeline is the reveal of the very infamous "Higher Power". On the June 7th edition of RAW is WAR, the Higher Power was revealed to be none other than Jake "The Snake" Roberts who (for many years) was rumored to be this Higher Power. So while we never get the famous meme of Vince McMahon revealing himself as the Higher Power, this does change a lot of things.
With the Roberts reveal, Vince McMahon remains on the babyface side of things, as he....along with Linda McMahon and Stephanie McMahon....try to prevent Shane McMahon and The Undertaker from taking over the company. In an effort to keep his wife and his daughter safe from The Corporate Ministry's harassment, Vince convinces them to make what he called "a deal with the devil" (his words, which is obviously ironic) by convincing Linda to step down as CEO in favor of.....Steve Austin. So we still get Steve Austin playing WWF CEO for a few weeks, but it's more of....I guess a buddy comedy with vignettes of Vince McMahon in Titan Towers trying to get along with Steve Austin and his antics. Eventually, this leads to a pair of matches getting set up for the King Of The Ring PPV. Vince McMahon would face Jake "The Snake" Roberts in a No DQ Match, with Vince's role as Chairman on the line, while Austin would put his role as CEO on the line against Shane McMahon in a Tag Team Ladder Match, with both guys getting the chance to pick partners. Shane would pick fellow Corporate Ministry member Triple H, while Austin would end up picking a man who he's both feuded with and team with in the recent past....Shawn Michaels. Obviously, Michaels still has issues with Triple H, so these pairings do make sense.
Much like previous WWF PPVs in this series, there are plenty of matches that are similar (mainly in the top half of the card), while the other parts of the card (mainly the first part of the show) are totally different. The Undertaker still defends the WWF Title against The Rock, while the Semi-Finals and Finals of the King Of The Ring Tournament remain the same, with Billy Gunn ultimate winning the tourney by beating X-Pac in the Finals. Now obviously some participants in the tournament had to be changed, as some of them (like Big Show) are still in WCW. I was only able to find a graphic of the final eight, so what I'll do here is post the first round, and then I'll post the graphic with a minor edit.
The first round of the 1999 King Of The Ring Tournament was as follows:
Billy Gunn def. Viscera / Ken Shamrock def. Jeff Jarrett / Psycho Sid def. The Sandman / Kane def. Justin Credible Road Dogg def. The Godfather / Chyna def. Val Venis / Hardcore Holly def. Al Snow / X-Pac def. Owen Hart The rest of the tournament played out as follows:  As for the rest of the PPV card, we've got a variety of interesting matchups. The show opens up with a Street Fight for the WWF World Tag Team Titles, with The Acolytes defending against The Legion Of Doom. Now these two teams were already feuding, but the titles were thrown into the mix when The Acolytes won them on the June 2nd edition of SmackDown in a Three-Way Tag Team Match that involved both Kane and X-Pac (the defending champions) as well as The Legion Of Doom. This would set up the aforementioned Street Fight on the PPV, with two teams who would be more than willing to beat the crap out of each other, especially with no rules. From there, we have another Corporate Ministry member in action, as Christopher Daniels would defend the WWF Light Heavyweight Title against Mikey Whipwreck. This was more of a continuation of what was going on at the previous PPV, when Whipwreck (along with Cactus Jack and Terry Funk) won the WWF Six-Man Tag Team Titles from The Ministry Of Darkness. Setting up Whipwreck as a challenger for Daniels seems like a good followup. In both of these cases, the champions would retain their titles. After that is a double title bout, as Owen Hart puts up his WWF Intercontinental Title against Taz's FTW Title. Now the story here is Taz was complaining about how he wasn't included in the King Of The Ring Tournament, while Hart (an official title holder, unlike Taz with the FTW Title) lost in the first round. I imagine this would be a super fun back-and-forth wrestling match, but in the end, Hart would emerge with both titles. Finally, we have another match that was also set up via the King Of The Ring Tournament. In the first round, Pyscho Sid beat The Sandman (partly due to interference from the Corporate Ministry), but in return, The Sandman would cost Sid his second round match against Kane. Justin Credible would get in the mix as well (his attempt to cost Kane in the second round wound up backfiring), and that would lead to a Triple Threat Falls Count Anywhere Match, which I'm sure would go all over the building. Sunday Night Heat featured one match that was similar to OTL, as Prince Albert would defeat Val Venis. Changes to the Sunday Night Heat card include Corporate Ministry members Chris Candido and Shane Douglas defeating Al Snow and Terry Funk in a Tables Match, while Jeff Jarrett managed to get a win over Ken Shamrock in a rematch from the first round of the King Of The Ring. I do have some title histories to give an update on, but I don't have the proper information in front of me as I type this, so I'll make another post in this thread later tonight giving that update. Finally, I'll just do a quick recap of the main events, as I failed to talk about how those played out. Vince McMahon vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts ends up being a relatively short match (which makes sense given the condition of Roberts at this point). Most of The Corporate Ministry (sans The Undertaker and Paul Bearer) come out and try to get involved, but they're quickly run off by a contingent of babyfaces that included Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Kane, Mick Foley, and a few others (sans The Rock). In that kerfuffle, Vince manages to get the win over Jake. The Undertaker vs. The Rock plays out similarly to OTL, with The Undertaker retaining. Lastly, the main event actually ends in a very similar fashion to the main event in OTL, with a mysterious person raising the briefcase to prevent Austin and Michaels from winning. That would allow for the heel side to win, which means that Shane McMahon takes over as the CEO of the WWF. Who raised the briefcase? Well, tune in next PPV post....which will be Fully Loaded 1999....to find out. |
|
|
|
Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jan 31, 2022 5:54:11 GMT 1
Ok, so here are the title change updates that I forgot to mention earlier.
So there was no change with the WWF Title or the WWF Intercontinental Title between Over The Edge and King Of The Ring. There was a change with the WWF World Tag Team Titles, but already touched on that in the last post.
The first change to make note of is the WWF European Title. Shane McMahon won this title all the way back in February and, unlike in real like, he never retires the title. He still carries it around as a trophy of sorts, but he rarely defends it. Well, in the build up to the King Of The Ring PPV, new WWF CEO Steve Austin forced Shane McMahon to defend his title in a Six-Pack Challenge on the June 9th edition of SmackDown against D-Lo Brown, Mark Henry, Super Loco, Val Venis, and Yoshihiro Tajiri. In the end, Val Venis would emerge victorious to become the new WWF European Champion. However, his reign wouldn't last very long, however, as he would lose it on the June 21st RAW is WAR to D-Lo Brown in a Fatal Four-Way Match that also involved Mideon and Prince Albert.
For the WWF Hardcore Title, as you'll recall, Chris Candido won the title from Terry Funk on the May 19th SmackDown. Well, he would lose the title to Al Snow on the June 16th edition of SmackDown, which would (in part) lead to the Tag Team Tables Match that I mentioned earlier.
As for the WWF Women's Title, this won is a little bit tricky to rework given that certain women aren't there compared to OTL. Sable lost the title to Debra back in May, and Sable would leave the WWF during the month of June (oddly, my EWR game had WWF release Sable right around the same time that Sable quit and sued the WWF in OTL, so wild how the timing of that all worked out) before jumping to WCW a few months later. Obviously, the person who actually beat Debra for the title.....Ivory.....is signed to WCW in this alternate timeline, so I had to plug someone else in there, and I decided to go with Nicole Bass (who's still aligned with Justin Credible at this stage). So she has a match with Debra on the June 14th edition of RAW is WAR, and beats her fairly easily to win the title.
To close out, the WWF Light Heavyweight Title and the WWF Six-Man Tag Team Titles didn't change hands between PPVs.
|
|
|
|
Post by marc91 on Feb 2, 2022 19:15:55 GMT 1
I have read all the 1998 posts so far and I'm digging it!
The fact that you haven't changed much from the actual reality says a lot about WWF's booking for that year. I do like the use of the ECW talents as well. Not sure I would have been a fan of the Light Heavyweight division with Gillberg and Credible on top of it though.
|
|
|
|
Post by dhk1989 on Feb 3, 2022 3:48:52 GMT 1
I do like that the Light Heavyweight Title is being treated with more respect in this alternate reality.
|
|
|
|
Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Feb 7, 2022 21:49:17 GMT 1
Part XXV: WWF Fully Loaded 1999
WWF Fully Loaded 1999
July 25th, 1999 - Marine Midland Arena - Buffalo, New York
Sunday Night Heat
1.) The British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart def. The Mean Street Posse (Joey Abs & Pete Gas with Rodney)
2.) WWF Light Heavyweight Title - Christopher Daniels (c) def. Magnum TOKYO
PPV
1.) Fourteen-Man Tag - The Corporate Ministry (The Acolytes, Chris Candido with Sunny, Gangrel, Mideon, Shane Douglas with Francine, & Viscera) def. Al Snow, Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney, Big Stevie Cool, Mikey Whipwreck, Terry Funk, & The Blue Meanie (with Bluedust & Hollywood Nova)
2.) WWF Hardcore Title - Kane def. Hardcore Holly (c)
3.) WWF Intercontinental Title & FTW Title - Submission Match - Taz def. Owen Hart (c)
4.) WWF European Title - Jeff Jarrett (with Debra) def. D-Lo Brown (c)
5.) Iron Circle Match - Ken Shamrock def. Steve Blackman
6.) Rights To DX - Road Dogg & X-Pac def. Billy Gunn & Chyna
7.) Singapore Cane Match - Justin Credible def. The Sandman
8.) WWF World Tag Team Titles - Fully Loaded Strap Match - The Corporate Ministry (Shane McMahon & Triple H) def. The Rock 'n' Sock Connection (The Rock & Mankind) (c)
9.) Steel Cage Match - Shawn Michaels def. Psycho Sid
10.) WWF Title - First Blood Match - Steve Austin (with Vince McMahon) (c) def. The Undertaker (with Jake "The Snake" Roberts & Paul Bearer)
So we're well into 1999, and now we've reached a WWF PPV that I'm actually a fan of (I'm more so talking about the branding because.....come on.....steam locomotives are cool). As always, we've got a lineup that shares some similarities to OTL, but there are A LOT of changes on this particular card. In terms of what is similar, those bouts are mainly focused at the top of the card. The main events still sees Steve Austin successfully defend his WWF Title against The Undertaker in a First Blood Match. The setup is slightly different with this one, as Austin won the WWF Title from The Undertaker on the June 30th edition of SmackDown instead of the June 28th RAW is WAR. There's also a slightly different situation in terms of who's in the corners and the stipulations (or lack thereof). Vince McMahon is in the corner of Steve Austin, opposite of Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Paul Bearer. With McMahon on Austin's side, there's no stipulation that would force McMahon off TV for a period of time.
Other bouts on this card that remain unchanged from the same version in OTL are the Rights To DX tag team bout, as well as the Iron Circle Match.
From there, we've got a very different looking PPV. The semi-main event slot sees Shawn Michaels going up against Corporate Ministry member Psycho Sid in a Steel Cage Match. Meanwhile, right below that, is the Fully Loaded Strap Match. This time, however, it's a tag team strap match for the WWF World Tag Team Titles, with The Rock 'n' Sock Connection defending the WWF World Tag Team Titles against Shane McMahon and Triple H. The Rock and Mankind won the titles from The Acolytes on the July 5th edition of RAW Is WAR. Basically the way I envision this match working is that Shane McMahon would be strapped to Mankind, while Triple H would be strapped to The Rock. With Mick Foley jumping to my version of WCW in my Extreme Warfare Revenge game (which occurs in September of 1999), I had to push forward all of the Rock 'n' Sock stuff to fit it in before Foley's departure. This includes stuff like the infamous "This Is Your Life" segment which, in this version of events occurs a little earlier than it did in OTL (might be right after this PPV since I think the idea was Mankind trying to cheer up The Rock after a loss). Just below that is a Singapore Cane Match between Justin Credible and The Sandman, who are two men who are well known for using Singapore Canes. As you can tell, this PPV feels a lot more like Extreme Rules than Fully Loaded with all of the stipulations.
Coming before the Right To DX tag team bout are three straight title matches which, funny enough, all saw title changes. The first of those saw Kane win the WWF Hardcore Title from Hardcore Holly, who is still doing his "Big Shot" gimmick at this point. That was followed by a Submission Match that saw Taz win both the WWF Intercontinental Title and the FTW Title from Owen Hart. Of course, these two met at King Of The Ring, and this was meant to be a big win for Taz.....though he wouldn't be long for the WWF (if you've followed my main EWR diary on WCW). After that would be Jeff Jarrett vs. D-Lo Brown for the WWF European Title, and Jarrett would capture the title for the first time.
Speaking of Jeff Jarrett.....do you remember the unknown accomplice that helped Shane McMahon and Triple H win the Ladder Match at King Of The Ring? Well, that was none other than Double J, and with that reveal following the PPV, he and Debra officially became members of The Corporate Ministry.
The PPV proper kicks off with an absolutely monstrous seven-on-seven tag, where members of The Corporate Ministry defeated a team that was a collection of former ECW wrestlers led by Al Snow and Terry Funk.
As for Sunday Night Heat, we've got two very interesting matches, just in terms of who's involved. The show was headlined by Corporate Ministry member Christopher Daniels successfully retaining his WWF Light Heavyweight Title against Magnum TOKYO (yes, that Magnum TOKYO), so a real treat for the star from the (at this point, very young) Toryumon Japan promotion to pop up in the WWF. The opening match for Sunday Night Heat sees a set of talents who are appearing on this diary for the first time. On one side, you have The Mean Street Posse, who made their debut a few months back (as friends of Shane McMahon of course), and on the June 28th RAW Is WAR, they captured the WWF Six-Man Tag Team Titles from the Cactus Jack/Mikey Whipwreck/Terry Funk trio. They're represented in this bout by Joey Abs and Pete Gas, as they take on a team who just made the jump from WCW back to the WWF. That's right....The British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart are back, despite the Montreal Screwjob. After their first few months in WCW, they slowly got frustrated with their spots, and eventually got out of their contracts by June of 1999. There were still issues in The Hart Family behind the scenes due to all of this, but with Owen Hart still alive in this version of events, the rift in the family isn't as....severe, I guess you can say. Also, since I never used Ultimate Warrior in WCW during my EWR campaign, there was never a trap door in the ring, so British Bulldog never suffers the injury that caused so many issues for him immediately afterwards.
In terms of title changes, Hardcore Holly won the WWF Hardcore Title from Al Snow on the July 7th SmackDown, in a Fatal Four-Way Hardcore Match that also included The Godfather and Viscera. I already covered the rest of the title changes, and Nicole Bass is still the WWF Women's Champion, so nothing else to discuss in that regard.
That's all for Fully Loaded 1999! Be sure to check in next time, when we go to Minneapolis for the 1999 edition of SummerSlam! |
|
|
|
Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Feb 18, 2022 23:01:00 GMT 1
Part XXVI: WWF SummerSlam 1999
WWF SummerSlam 1999
August 22nd, 1999 - Target Center - Minneapolis, Minnesota
1.) #1 Contender's Four-Way Tag Team Match - The Acolytes def. bWo (Big Stevie Cool & Bluedust), The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks (Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney), & The Holly Cousins
2.) Best-Of-Five Series - Match #5 - Super Loco def. Yoshihiro Tajiri
3.) WWF Intercontinental Title / WWF European Title / FTW Title - Jeff Jarrett (with Debra) [European] def. Taz [Intercontinental and FTW]
4.) WWF Hardcore Title - Elimination Tables Match - Al Snow def. Justin Credible, Shane Douglas (c), Terry Funk, & The Sandman
5.) Lion's Den Weapons Match - Ken Shamrock def. Steve Blackman
6.) Kiss My Ass Match - The Rock def. Billy Gunn
7.) No Holds Barred - Owen Hart def. Vince McMahon
8.) Shawn Michaels def. Shane McMahon
9.) WWF World Tag Team Titles - The Unholy Alliance (Psycho Sid & The Undertaker with Paul Bearer) def. Kane & X-Pac (c)
10.) WWF Title - Triple Threat Match - Special Guest Referee: Jesse "The Body" Ventura - Mankind def. Steve Austin (c) & Triple H (with Chyna)
So we've officially reached the....Out Of Body Experience....known as SummerSlam 1999 and, as always, there are a lot of similarities and differences with my card vs. the one from OTL. In this version of events, the big similarity is with the main event, as it remains totally unchanged. I believe this was a time period during the Attitude Era where Vince Russo's booking style was really in full swing, especially when it came to this particular WWF Title program. All of the wacky changes that occurred in the buildup with the actual title bout on the PPV constantly changing week after week (Chyna was even the title challenger at one point) remain in place here. Of course, with this being in Minnesota, Jesse "The Body" Ventura....the Governor of Minnesota at the time....remains in his spot as the Special Guest Referee.
In the end, Mankind would still emerge with the WWF Title at the PPV itself, though if you've been following my EWR WCW Diary, you'll know that Mick Foley won't be in the WWF for much longer, as he's about to go back to WCW. Essentially, this WWF Title change holds a bit more significance, as it's done partially as an effort to keep Mick Foley in the fold, with his WWF Contract set to expire. I see this as being a similar situation to what we're seeing right now with Cody Rhodes and his AEW departure. Nobody expected Foley to leave the WWF, and Foley would've preferred to say in the WWF, but the two sides just couldn't come to terms on a new deal. So again, part of the reason why they put the title on Foley was a last-ditch effort to keep him. After the two sides failed to come to a new agreement in meetings that took place before RAW Is War the night after the PPV, it was decided that Foley would drop the WWF Title to Triple H on the August 25th edition of SmackDown. Mankind would actually have one more match on the August 30th edition of RAW Is War, as he would team with The Rock one more time in a losing effort against Psycho Sid and The Undertaker for the WWF World Tag Team Titles in a Boston Street Fight (since they were in Boston for that particular episode). Foley would take the pin, and after the show off the air, he would share his goodbye's with The Rock and the rest of the crowd.
Speaking of Mankind and The Rock, the infamous "This Is Your Life" segment would take place on the August 16th edition of RAW Is War, with the stuff involving Chyna, Mankind, Triple H, and the WWF Title picture from that particular episode in OTL would be pushed to the SmackDown on August 18th.
In terms of other similarities, we've still got The Rock vs. Billy Gunn in the infamous Kiss My Ass Match, along with Ken Shamrock vs. Steve Blackman in the Lion's Den Weapons Match. Another similar match that has a slight twist compared to it's real-life counterpart is the semi-main event. With Paul Wight not in the WWF at this point (he's still in WCW during this stage of my EWR game), I decided to slide Psycho Sid into The Big Show's role, meaning that The Unholy Alliance is now Psycho Sid and The Undertaker (both still part of The Corporate Ministry of course). Just like in OTL, they would defeat Kane and X-Pac to win the WWF World Tag Team Titles. There was A LOT of movement with these titles since the last PPV, but I'll go over those later.
As always, the undercards on these PPVs is where we typically see the most changes, and my version of SummerSlam 1999 is no exception. Instead of a Tag Team Turmoil kicking things off, we've got a Four-Way Tag Team Match (mainly done to do a slightly shorter match to make more room on the card for an extra match), which The Acolytes still win, though it features some different teams. Following that is a Light Heavyweight showcase with Super Loco and Yoshihiro Tajiri. This actually serves as the conclusion of a Best-Of-Five Series that had been taking place since early July. Obviously, with this being the fifth match, they're tied at two of piece, and with Tajiri being another guy who would....in only a short amount of time....make his way to WCW, Super Loco would get the victory to win the series.
Then, we've got two different title bouts. In a singles match with three titles on the line, Jeff Jarrett defeated Taz to not only retain his WWF European Title, but to win the WWF Intercontinental Title as well as the FTW Title. So Jarrett would come out of the PPV with three singles titles, though on the SmackDown after SummerSlam on August 25th, Jarrett would throw the FTW Title in a trash can which would also coincide with Taz departing the WWF for WCW a few weeks after SummerSlam (might dive more into some of these departures in a future post, we'll see). That would be followed by a Five-Way Elimination Tables Match for the WWF Hardcore Title, which would see Al Snow eliminate the incoming champion Shane Douglas to win the title.
The last two matches to discuss are singles bouts involving the McMahon Family. With Andrew Martin aka Test not in the picture (he's also in WCW), there's no storyline involving Shane McMahon trying to stop someone from dating his sister, Stephane McMahon. Instead, it's just a simple continuation of the WWF vs. Corporate Ministry feud, with Shawn Michaels representing the WWF in this bout against Shane-O-Mac. As for the final match on the card left to discuss, it's a clash that is nearly two years in the making. Following Fully Loaded, Owen Hart would begin to express his frustrations with his current situation in the WWF, similar to how his brother Bret Hart was expressing frustrations on TV in the buildup to his heel turn. However, while this was going on, Hart was racking up wins against various members of The Corporate Ministry. This would catch the attention of Vince McMahon, who was looking for more soldiers in his fight against his son as the rest of The Corporate Ministry (as he was desperate for wrestlers who could effectively take the fight to them). This would lead to a big promo segment on the August 11th, 1999 edition of SmackDown, where the two would have a back and forth that eventually led to Owen Hart challenge Vince to a match at SummerSlam, saying that before he could even think about teaming with Vince, this is something he needed....something to finally close a tumultuous chapter in the history of The Hart Family. Vince agreed, and the match was set. Owen was looking to prove a point, while Vince will be fighting Owen to see if he's truly tough enough to add to his side against The Corporate Ministry.
Whew....that's all for the backstory and results of SummerSlam 1999. Now for the notable title changes!
So obviously the WWF Title didn't change hands since Fully Loaded. Steve Austin was still the champion going into SummerSlam. In fact, the same could be said for (and this is going into SummerSlam) most of the other titles, including the WWF Intercontinental Title (held by Taz), the WWF European Title (held by Jeff Jarrett), the WWF Light Heavyweight Title (Christopher Daniels), and the WWF Women's Title (Nicole Bass). The WWF Six-Man Tag Team Titles did see one title switch, as Owen Hart, alongside his former Hart Foundation teammates The British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart, won the titles from The Mean Street Posse on the July 28th edition of SmackDown. Meanwhile, Shane Douglas won the WWF Hardcore Title from Al Snow on the August 2nd edition RAW Is WAR. The big changes, however, involve the WWF World Tag Team Titles, and boy oh boy, were these titles a hot potato during the month of August. So Shane McMahon and Triple H won the WWF World Tag Team Titles from The Rock 'n' Sock Connection in the Fully Loaded Strap Match at the Fully Loaded PPV. Their title reign would only last one day, as The Rock 'n' Sock Connection would win them right back the next night on the July 26th RAW Is War in a Tag Team Ambulance Match. That reign would only last sixteen days, as on the August 11th edition of SmackDown, The Unholy Alliance of Psycho Sid and The Undertaker would win the titles in a Tag Team Buried Alive Match (which mirrors the Tag Team Buried Alive Match on SmackDown from OTL, which took place in September instead of August). That title reign would only five days, as Kane and X-Pac would win the titles on the August 16th RAW Is War, setting up a rematch for the PPV.
After a VERY lengthy post, that's all I've got on SummerSlam 1999! Tune in next time for Unforgiven 1999, where Steve Austin calls on a name from the past as the WWF fights to vanquish The Corporate Ministry once and for all. |
|
|
|
Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Mar 8, 2022 5:33:53 GMT 1
Part XXVII: WWF Unforgiven 1999
WWF Unforgiven 1999
September 26th, 1999 - Charlotte Coliseum - Charlotte, North Carolina
1.) Special Guest Referee: Steve Lombardi - Val Venis def. Steve Blackman
2.) WWF Light Heavyweight Title - Fallen Angel Invitational - Christopher Daniels (c) def. Aguila, Chris Candido, CIMA, Hollywood Nova, Justin Credible, Super Loco, The Great Sasuke, & Tiger Mask
3.) WWF European Title - D-Lo Brown def. Mark Henry (c)
4.) Six-Man Tag - The Forgotten (Ron Reese, Scott Vick, & Van Hammer) def. bWo (Big Stevie Cool, Bluedust, & The Blue Meanie)
5.) WWF Hardcore Title - Falls Count Anywhere Match - Al Snow def. Shane Douglas (c)
6.) WWF World Tag Team Titles - The Acolytes def. Kane & X-Pac (c)
7.) Billy Gunn def. The Sandman
8.) The Rock def. The British Bulldog
9.) Battle For Control - Anything Goes - Team WWF (Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Terry Funk, & Mike Tyson) def. The Corporate Ministry (The Undertaker, Shane McMahon, Triple H, Psycho Sid, WWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett, & Chyna)
In this alternate history of the WWF, Unforgiven 1999 would be a very pivotal PPV from a storyline standpoint. The main event would serve as the climactic finale in the battle between The Corporate Ministry and the WWF. Going into the month of September, Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon had agreed that there would be a Winner Takes All match at Unforgiven. If The Corporate Ministry won, they would gain full and permanent control of the WWF (with Shane taking Vince's spot as the head of the company). If Team WWF won, then The Corporate Ministry would be forced to disband. Now part of the build to this match would be the (mostly) united front of The Corporate Ministry side. Their team would consist of Chyna, Jeff Jarrett, Psycho Sid, Shane McMahon, The Undertaker, and Triple H. A very strong team, and aside from slight teases of dissension involving Chyna (building up to her eventual face turn), the heel side is pretty much a powerful and united front. On the other side, however, it's a totally different story. Steve Austin and Vince McMahon are working together, but are still very much at odds. Shawn Michaels still has issues with both of them. Then there's Owen Hart, who himself still has trust issues with all three of those men. For the fifth member of their team, Austin convinces Vince to bring aboard the "middle aged and crazy" one himself, Terry Funk (as someone with a ton of experience who Austin trusted as a guy to be in the trenches with). As for the sixth member of the team, obviously you see who I have down, but I'll get to that in a second.
Triple H went into the month of September in the early days of his first reign as WWF Champion. However, just like in OTL, he would lose the WWF Title to none other than Vince McMahon. The title change took place on the September 15th, 1999 SmackDown. Shane McMahon and Shawn Michaels were serving as dueling Guest Enforcers in that one, and when things broke down, Michaels proved his loyalty to the WWF by helping Vince win the title. On the following episode of RAW Is War, Vince McMahon would declare the title vacant, noting that it's fate would be decided by the winning team at the PPV. On that very same episode of RAW Is War, the closing angle would see the two teams square off in a big brawl, and part of the buildup for the previous week had been Austin's promise to the rest of his team regarding the need for a sixth man to even the odds. With The Rock preoccupied with a feud involving The British Bulldog, Austin revealed the ultimate surprise as the sixth member of Team WWF. A man who had a history with Austin, Michaels, and McMahon from WrestleMania XIV the year prior......The Baddest Man On The Planet himself.....Mike Tyson!!
Now if my timing is correct on this, I believe Tyson had (in real life) gotten out of prison right before this PPV, so....again....I think the timing works out. As for the match itself, I essentially envision this as being very similar to the Inaugural Brawl from the Invasion PPV in OTL. A big multi-person tag that eventually breaks down into an all out brawl. As you can see in the result above, Team WWF does get the win to permanently put an end to The Corporate Ministry. Shawn Michaels would end up scoring the winning fall on Shane McMahon to win the match for his team. Not only did The Corporate Ministry disband for good after this loss, but it would also signal the end of The Undertaker for awhile. This basically mirrors his actual disappearance from TV in OTL, as he was out of action for a number of months dealing with (as I recall) a groin injury.
As for the rest of the show, the remainder of the card is pretty different to OTL. There is the aforementioned match between The British Bulldog and The Rock, which is the same feud from the fall of that year in OTL, just moved up a month. This feud stemmed from a massive Four-Way Trios Match for the WWF Six-Man Tag Team Titles on the September 1st, 1999 SmackDown, where The Hart Foundation lost those very titles to Justin Credible and The New Aged Outlaws in a match that also involved The Corporate Ministry team of The Acolytes and Jeff Jarrett, as well as the trio of The Rock, Kane, and X-Pac. A few bouts on my card do remain similar to the same card in OTL (such as the opener and Mark Henry vs. D-Lo Brown for the WWF European Title), but they're the only ones.
In terms of title matches, the card sees The Acolytes win the WWF World Tag Team Title from Kane and X-Pac, who themselves won the titles back from Psycho Sid and The Undertaker in a televised Hell In A Cell Match on the September 15th SmackDown. The storyline with D-Lo Brown and Mark Henry is very similar to the same story in OTL. The only different being that Henry wins the title from Jeff Jarrett on the August 30th RAW Is War instead of August 23rd. Another title match would see Al Snow regain the WWF Hardcore Title from Shane Douglas in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Snow won the title at SummerSlam, but Douglas won the title back on the September 1st SmackDown in a Keys On A Pole Match. Essentially this is a Vince Russo style stipulation, where there would be a set of keys on two poles, and the key in question unlocked a box that contained an item. The key that Snow retrieved opened the box to.....Snow's dog Pepper, who had been kidnapped previously by Douglas. The second box contained the WWF Hardcore Title, and that's how Douglas won it (very similar to a stipulation that TNA did with the Knockouts Title many years ago).
The final title match on the card would see Christopher Daniels defend his WWF Light Heavyweight Title in what he dubbed The Fallen Angel Invitational. Basically a one-fall-to-a-finish match involving several different wrestlers from within WWF and from around the world. Daniels would retain, but he wouldn't be holding onto the title for much longer (more on that in a later post).
Lastly, the bWo were involved in a Six-Man Tag that featured WWF's newest stable.....The Forgotten. Debuting a few weeks before the PPV, The Forgotten is essentially a collection of former members of The Flock from WCW. In this case, the membership initially consists of Ron Reese, Scott Vick (the former Sick Boy), and Van Hammer. They had been getting into with the bWo upon their debut, hence this six-man tag.
With regards to the departure of Taz was just a part of the ongoing friction backstage involving Paul Heyman and Vince Russo. Both of those wrestlers that I mentioned were firmly Paul Heyman guys, whereas someone like Jeff Jarrett (who beat Taz for multiple titles at SummerSlam) is a Vince Russo guy. Taz's frustrations with how things were handled during the summer (a promised larger push that was cut off at the knees) would lead to his departure. As for Tajiri, his departure was partly due to some of the disorganization that was going on in the WWF at the time, as the ongoing struggle continued between the likes of Heyman and Russo. His contract came up without many in power really knowing about it, and he would take the opportunity to jump to WCW.
That's all for Unforgiven 1999! Tune in next time, as the WWF goes back over to the UK for Rebellion 1999! |
|
