Summer Slam 1999

XV is here.

Summer Slam 1999 Minneapolis
(Dark: Morley d. Aguila)

JR. Jesse for the 50th WWF PPV.

10 bell salute. All the wrestlers wear the black OH armband.

The clock, recall, has continued to run, counting down the time until the end of tomorrow night's RAW (you know who's coming) and even during Summer Slam, it continues.

1. The Fightin’ Hollys d. Test/Albert
Crash takes the mic before the match, “You two are a couple of good looking kids, you remind me a little bit of Dick the Bruiser and the Destroyer, back when they were running St. Louis with Sam Muschnick. Those were good times; I remember once, me and Mr. Wrestling II were doing a double shot in Albequerque…”

That kinda thing.

Hollys go over.

2. Billy Gunn (w/Dogg) d. Big Stevie Cool (w/Meanie)
I'm a Stevie Richards mark. Just sayin'.

The BWO makes their only appearance on WWF PPV, Billy goes over with the rocker dropper, after the double team, Stevie takes off his gear after the match, yelling that it's time for a change - Meanie seems confused - starts to take off his fear too - prompting screams of concern from the fans. StevieKick to Meanie (and that's gonna end Meanie's run) as he's getting undressed, "These people don't want to see that, Meanie - and they'll never see the Blue World Order...again."

3. PAUL the GIANT~ (w/Skip) d. Undertaker.
It’s only a couple minutes longer than the other Giant stuff – the staredown – PAUL sells the Undertaker’s early volley of offense – maybe the Undertaker even knocks him out of the ring for the big pop – but when PAUL takes control – that’s the game.

Chokeslam. Chokeslam. Table. Chokeslam. PAUL has chokeslammed the Undertaker through a table. Good God! Good God! Kane and Markie and Vince....and the Undertaker!

PAUL~

With Skip McMahon’s money and the monstrous PAUL~, who could possibly stop them? Who? Who? Who?

Sellin’ tickets, baby.

4. HHH (w/Trish) d. Ken Shamrock
Hunter wins clean in what, I guess, is an upset over the former IC champ – a couple of pedigrees finishes Shamrock off – ends Shamrock’s run – and places Hunter in position to get a world title shot. Hunter beats his chest, makes the sign for the belt, and raises the Clique hand signal high above his head. The Clique is rolling again! With Waltman and E and C still to come – will Summer Slam be all about the Clique??

HHH goes to the announce to help call the Rock/Jarrett match. He'll face the winner on RAW to see who will go to Survivor Series to wrestle for the WWF Title.

5. Rock d. Jarrett
Jarrett brings his Confederate Flag, allowing the Rock to cut a promo that uses the word cracker. “What makes you think you are a better man than a fine, chocolate, brother like the People’s Champion…” “I am the….” “It doesn’t matter what you think!”

That kinda thing.

Rock breaks the figure four, the first person to do that to Jarrett in this run, Rock goes over clean with the Rock Bottom – breaks the flag in two – throws it into the crowd – and that will end Jarrett’s run. Southern Men – gone. They were like an angel on my shoulder.

Rock stands on the buckle, makes the sign for the belt – HHH gets in the ring – HHH and Rock do the nose to nose – Rock and Hunter, Hunter and Rock, who will go to Survivor Series to meet the WWF Champion? Who? Who? Who?

6. Tags: Hardys d. E and C (w/Trish) (DQ)
Hardys are just able to hang on to their belts, getting a DQ win. Interference by Trish and then Hunter threaten to get the fall for E and C – but Matt and Jeff, we love those boys!, they just keep kicking out. Finally, after Matt and Jeff get a couple of nearfalls of their own, only failing to win due to Trish/HHH saves – and with it seeming as if the Hardys will keep – Trish calls an audible, pulling the plug and has everyone going for the chairs. Trish and HHH attack the Hardys – E and C join in – and it’s another vicious beatdown. Non-finish, which the crowd dislikes (but all anyone’s waiting for is Foley/Austin anyway) and the Clique beats the Hardys down once again. Pose. Pose. Pose. Pose. Boo. Boo. Boo. Boo.

And now it’s Angle time. Kurt hits the ring with JR, who says it’s the moment of truth, you will make your PPV debut at Survivor Series – who will you face?

Recall, part of Angle's unprecedented contract is that he gets to pick his opponents for a year, except for title shots.

Angle says what he’d really like to do is wrestle for one of the titles – but as he can’t do that – he remembers a lesson he learned back when he first started amateurs back in 6 th grade. They didn’t have enough guys for weight classes, so on Angle’s first day he didn’t know much about wrestling – but there was this voice inside him that told him he had to prove himself. And so he picked the biggest, fattest, nastiest kid there – and he called him out – and he put that kid flat on his back in less than five minutes.

Because he wanted all those kids – all those coaches – he wanted to make sure they knew one thing --- I’m Kurt Angle.

So, it’s obvious to me that at Survivor Series, Kurt Angle is going to make his PPV debut –

JR: Against whom? Who? Who?

....against PAUL the GIANT~

And not only will I beat PAUL the Giant – but I’ll beat him in 5 minutes.

Big pop, that’s the craziest thing JR ever heard – hasn’t he been paying attention? Didn’t he see PAUL destroy Mark Henry? Kane? The Legendary Undertaker? Who in the world does he think he is?

"JR, I’m Kurt Angle." Buy the shirt.

7. IC: Sean Waltman (w/Clique) d. Al Snow d. DLo Brown (w/Rock)
Waltman goes home, gets his IC win. This is Waltman's big moment, he's not turning, but there are enough Waltman/Minneapolis/ packages as we go to the PPV that the fans are popping for him. So, they're gonna turn DLo heel in this program – his cocky promos will cut against Al as much as Waltman – and since Al will get cheered – and being in Minnesota, the crowd will have some the Waltman sentiment – someone’s gotta get booed. So, we go full heel on DLo, although he and the Rock haven’t broken up yet.

Lots of outside stuff – Rock questions DLo’s cheating – but still looks to aid him on the outside – that allows us to get Rock/HHH stuff on the outside – and since E and C are there too, Rock has to battle lots of folks – eventually, they all get barred from the ring. We get some Rock/Al stuff too, as that helps for the next show.

DLo costs Al a pin over Waltman – and then after Waltman pins Al to get the win, DLo, upset with Al, attacks – and they fight to the back. HHH, E, C, and Trish return to celebrate with Waltman, a big night for the Clique with Hunter winning and E and C beating down the Hardys, the announce credits Trish for putting it all together (and she's so hot, people, she's worked hard to be a good wrestler and she's so hot, she seems pretty bright too - am I making that up? She gives me the feelings, I'm just saying) – and then Waltman cuts a promo on Minnesota, just to stop the cheers. “Best thing about this town was getting the hell out of it” that kinda thing. Big Clique celebration in mid-ring. HHH has a match tomorrow with Rock, winner gets a shot, Waltman’s got gold, and E and C beat the hell out of the Hardys – Trish has a big…well, Trish is just big in many, many valuable places

8. WWF Title – Career v. Career: Cactus Jack d. Steve Austin (HBK, referee)
Austin gets shut down with his neck surgery after this, so that’s the reason for the stip. And the next big storyline works better with him not in the mix, so that’s fine too.

They play up the enormity of it all, my thought is that, since we’ve been building to the match for a year, really, since these are the two biggest stars in the company, since they haven’t wrestled a singles match yet, since the stips are what they are – and throwing Shawn (gone for a year) in the mix – you’re looking at one of the biggest matches of all time.

Austin’s not 100%, but these guys can brawl it up enough, and sell the drama enough, to make this a pretty terrific match.

Again, understand the stips - this means Cactus gets physical possession of the Triple Crown and that he is now in control of Austin's career - if he ever wants to wrestle again anywhere in the world, he needs Cactus's approval - and given their years of enmity, something pretty cataclysmic would have to occur for that to happen...

Cactus goes over clean – HBK tries to give him the Triple Crown – Austin snatches it away – then gives it to Cactus himself.

Cactus raises the belt and the trophy high – then points Austin toward the video wall which plays the goodbye highlight package of Austin’s career.

After it ends, with the Austin chants in the arena, Austin exits the ring – but remains at ringside – the locker room empties to surround the ring as Cactus takes the mic.

Cactus says the Triple Crown is the most prestigious honor in all of wrestling – and he may never have a bigger night in his life than right now – and as the WWF Champion – and as the holder of the Triple Crown – Cactus announces that he wants to say something, not as Cactus Jack, but as Mick Foley, he wants to say that Owen Hart was one of the finest men he ever met – that Owen Hart was not only a member of the Hart Family, which has been the backbone of the WWF for the last 15 years – but a member of the WWF Family. And the WWF Family will never forget him.

In Owen Hart’s honor, the Triple Crown, recognized as the crowning achievement for anyone in this business, an honor held by Owen Hart, will be renamed the Hart Memorial Triple Crown. Foley says he’ll carry it with pride until it is won by the next man, whomever it may be, and that man will carry it with pride, and the next, and the next after that – and if there would ever be anyone who wouldn’t carry that trophy with the pride that it deserves – that person would have to answer to Cactus Jack, and Steve Austin, and Triple H, and the Rock, and PAUL, and the Undertaker, and Ken Shamrock, and every man in that locker room – and all of you fans of the WWF. Each wrestler comes to the ring to touch the trophy.

The show ends on the Owen tribute video, a five minute package which ends with the shot at the end of X, Owen being lifted high by the locker room after beating Bret to win win his first WWF Championship. The Owen chants fill the building as the show ends.

I really liked Owen is all.

In the NWA, Rick Steiner and Barry Windham team up. Hogan wins a singles over Hacksaw…

Yeah, I know I’m doing Hogan/Hacksaw on PPV in 1999 – WCW didn’t give me much to work with at the end.

Sting beats Goldberg, Kaz Hayashi goes over Eddy, Perry and Page keep the tags over Harlem Heat, Dean takes the US over Rey, and Benoit drops the NWA Title to The Franchise Shane Douglas. Seriously? Yup.


Fall Brawl – 1999 Winston Salem
NWA Title: Shane Douglas d. Chris Benoit
US Title: Dean Malenko d. Rey Mysterio
Tags: Perry/Page d. Harlem Heat
Kaz d. Eddy

Sting d. Goldberg
Vampyro d. Alex Wright
Hulk Hogan d. Jim Duggan
Rick Steiner/Barry Windham d. Brian Knobbs/Hugh Morrus


In ECW…Mike Awesome goes over Rhyno, Super Crazy beats Justin, Jerry Lynn beats Sabu, Raven returns to go over Dreamer, Nova and Guido keep the tags, Lance Storm ends RVDs monster TV title reign, and Masato Tanaka takes the ECW Title from Tajiri.

November to Remember – 1999 Buffalo
ECW Title: Masato Tanaka d. Tajiri
TV Title: Lance Storm d. RVD
Tags: Nova/Guido d. New Jack/Sandman
Raven d. Dreamer

Jerry Lynn d. Sabu
Super Crazy d. Justin
Mike Awesome d. Rhyno
Simon/Spike d. Balls/Axl


The Survivor Series is coming from Detroit. The last PPV of the 20th century (I know when the 20th century ended, I'm not stupid, get over it.)

Smackdown begins, I’m not gonna refer to it, at least until 2001. Largely, it's gonna be the dumping ground. Whenever you find yourself wondering "where the hell is the APA?" They're on Smackdown. There's only so much universe I can handle.

Gorilla dies in October. 10 bell salute on RAW.

Foley’s book comes out in October. Foley's even more popular in this universe than in the real one, so the impact is the same. Foley begins to transcend Cactus Jack - and begins to think about shutting it down.

Okay, JR and Jerry are your tv announce team - I don't hate Lawler, I think serious Jerry, away from the Burger King, "PUPPIES" crap is pretty interesting. But I just can't take that stuff, so he's never going to settle in. But at PPV, there will be a series of guests as the 3rd man on the announce until I can get something more permanent.

One RAW, we meet the new Stevie Richards, shed of the Big Stevie Cool gimmick. He enters wearing a suit with a camouflage tie, calling himself Stevie Richards, Esquire – the Esquire said with a lilt as if he just thought of the word. Stevie’s the new Heenan, he’s gonna play the chickenshit heel manager, says he is in the WWF to start the Hardcore Family, says he doesn’t have a family of his own – "well, except for mom and dad and my sister – but except for them, NO ONE"– and beause of that – he deserves to start the Hardcore Family right here in the WWF. He hopes that one day, one day, all of the WWF fans will be worthy of joining his Family, but for right now – he’s got two men – two brothers.

Stevie’s good on the mic, and increasingly good in the ring – by 2003, let’s say, he’s better, really, than any of the guys – save Matt, maybe – that are in the tag program. ‘Cause that’s the program he’s gonna be in – Stevie introduces the first two members of the Hardcore Family – the Dudley Boys.

Bubba Ray and DVon enter – they insult the crowd as much as they can. They’re the Dudleys, they like to beat people up, send them through tables. They brawl and bleed and hate the fans and the fans hate them and that’s the gig. Ideally, they'd just be heels, 'cause the best version of the Dudleys was the one when they'd challenge anyone in the crowd to come fight them. I've been at ECW shows with the heel Dudleys when I thought I'd wind up planted in the guard rail.

So, that's how they're gonna come in now - a full on "Shut up or D-Von's gonna follow you home and fuck your mother" kinda thing. But sooner than later, when it becomes a 3 way thing, the Hardys will be the faces, and E and C the heels - and that will make the Dudleys badass, brawling tweeners - they'll still insult the crowds, but if the ECW fans want to cheer them, go ahead.

No Wazzup, though. Ever. It's the 21st century version of Butch and Luke licking each other.

Okay, anyway, the Duds spend the fall destroying all the tags in the company, save the obvious top two - with Stevie at their side doing his Heenan schtick. There will be a RAW title rematch with the Hardys and E/C that will include some spot where the Hardys are able to overcome the Clique interference and get a pinfall on – only to have the Dudleys run in and put them through tables.

We’ll do Survivor Series as a Tables Match – first team to put the other team through tables wins.

The Clique stomps somebody out – say Taka, Funaki, and the Mexicans. That’s enough to draw out…Ulysses Morley. Morley with the face save – drawing face heat as he cleans house. Morley grabbing the stick and saying that it wasn’t just the Southern Men who bullied people around here – the biggest bullies in the history of wrestling are easy to see – they’re always making that stupid ass hand sign. And Morley doesn’t know if anyone will stand with him – but he’s not gonna take it anymore.

We’ll do Morley and Edge at Survivor Series. At the time, Morley and Edge (both from Toronto, like Trish) were boys, and this is when Edge started dating Morley’s sister. So this matchup works, and Edge can play obnoxious Cliquester to Morley’s avenging babyface. The Clique does their jackass schtick - and without a Hart Foundation to counterbalance them, they couldn't be more obnoxious - which allows Morley to fill in the babyface spot.

Coming off the IC, we’ll get Al and DLo. DLo’s an increasingly cocky heel, Al’s the crazy man who lost his IC belt. A little more on that later.

As has been set up, Angle makes his debut against PAUL~ They sell this is hard as any match on the show, even though it won’t be much of a match. Angle doesn’t wrestle on TV, continuing to work dark and work house shows to get ready. Giant can’t wrestle, so short’s better – and Angle is just getting started, so it’s okay if we keep him short. That's why this is a good idea - Angle's not the kind of worker in 1999 to challenge, but I want to protect him, so, ta-da, Paul.

We keep selling PAUL as a monster, an absolute beast, Skip carries this program on the mic., he’s smugly certain PAUL will destroy the gold medal winner. Maybe Skip brings a half dozen gold medals that he bought – they could easily bring in some gold medal winners and do an angle where Skip buys their medals from them, track stars, figure skaters - how about Mary Lou Retton? “See, Angle, you had to break your neck to win a gold medal – all I had to do was take out my wallet.”

And they play up the size disparity – we sell PAUL as a monster, monster favorite to win this match.

How will Angle survive – much less, beat PAUL, much less, beat PAUL in five minutes???

3 more.

On the end of the first RAW after SSlam (with the clock ticking down) Waltman cuts a promo with his boys backing him up, saying looky here – at the end of the century, the end of the freaking millennium (last ppv of the 90s – no need to argue that it’s not really the end of the millennium, it’s wrestling) here is the Clique – Waltman holding the IC – E and C kicking the Hardys ass – their manager Trish, the hottest thing walking – and Hunter wrestling for the WWF Title (more on that later) and as he looks around….there isn’t a single Hart around at all. Imagine that. The Clique at the top of the World – and not even one Hart to piss on.

He’s not cutting an Owen promo, no, I don’t need that kinda heat, I just want the Hart/Clique thing to never end – I figure if Owen doesn’t die in the ring, than doing this isn’t horribly inappropriate. I need that Hart/Clique thing – it’s like Lakers/Celtics, in the 50s, it was Wilt and Russell, and 25 years later, it was Magic and Larry. It’s a throughline, it’s Red Sox/Yankees (insert your rivalry here) – it allows for the kind of historical continuity that drives actual sports and that the WWF generally discards. Assuming Owen died at home, I think this is okay – it’s been 4-5 months now, I think I can dive back into this feud. In fact, it might be better to push back this beyond the night after Summer Slam - I can wait another month, do it top of October, that's fine. Maybe first week November for sweeps.

Nah, I'm wrong. Even then, he can't specifically refer to the Harts. It's too close to using Owen's death in the angle - when I conceived of this I wasn't as sensitive that as am I since the godawful exploitation of Eddy.

So, while, I'm absolutely married to Harts/Clique, and am going forward, Waltman really can't talk about the Harts not being around. There's probably some artful way to do it, but I don't know what it is.

Anyway, that clock that has been running constantly for months (‘member, the clock?) – expires right now.

3-2-1….Break the Walls down….It’s Chris Jericho, of course.

And he’s arriving as a former NWA Champ who got pushed forever in the Counterfactual– so he’s a bigger deal.

Jericho’s largely Jericho – he’s the Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah, he’s a bad mamma jamma – he’s Y2J. He comes in as a face. The only difference is – he comes in as a Hart. A Hart for a new millennium – Y2J for an H2K. And he talks about being part of the last ever training class at Stampede – talks about Stu and Stampede and the Dungeon and a 15 year WWF tradition – says if Sean Waltman thinks the Clique has won the war against the Harts – he’s dumber than he is ugly – and he is plenty ugly. And at Survivor Series – Y2J is gonna carry the Hart Legacy on into the new millennium. So, we’ll get Waltman/Jericho at Survivor Series. Jericho and Angle both debuting, there’s definitely another page turning as the 90s end.

There’s another undercard match – during another Waltman/Jericho in ring promo in a later RAW, Christian will enter – and he and Waltman will beat Jericho down.

So, Christian and Waltman beat Jericho down – leave him laying – tell him that next week – they’ll take him on in a tag match – that is – if he can find someone who will tag with him.

So, next week – Christian and Waltman and Trish enter – then Jericho, and he doesn’t have a partner – but then he says, you know, I figured if I was going to take the Hart legacy into a new millennium, I may as well get some help from someone who started it all –

--and then the Bulldog comes down the aisle.

It’s Davey Boy’s last run, he can’t do anything at all – but they'll squeeze some juice out of him to give legitimacy to Jericho’s character. If you're unfamiliar - in this world, it was Davey and Bret who were the original Hart Foundation - and later, Davey and Owen had a run as the Hart Foundation. They do the tag – Jericho pins Christian – and that allows us to get a Davey Boy/Christian singles match at Survivor Series. Every time they get the chance, Davey Boy puts Jericho over – says he remembers hearing about Jericho coming up through the ranks – says he is proud to pass the Hart legacy to him – says Dynamite, Bret, Owen, and the Bulldog were the cornerstone of the WWF for 15 years – and now it’s time to pass the torch. Davey Boy’s a bigger deal in this world, having won the big strap, and with no other Harts available, having him back to pass the torch is a real help. He’s a mess, of course, and completely shot, so he can’t help at all in the ring, but any time I can have the symbolism of Davey Boy and Jericho, that works to the good; Davey isn't surrogate for Owen, he doesn't need to cut a single "do it for Owen" promo, he's a WWF Champ and that makes him strong enough to speak for himself.

Finally…the title match.

Rock and HHH, recall, earned the right to meet for the number one contender spot – and they wrestle 3 times – each without a winner. We’ll get a time limit draw, a double pin, a double countout – whatever we have to do – we’ll just get it three times – and then Foley says, screw it – I can’t watch you guys wrestle another time – you both want the title shot so badly….you got it. I’ll wrestle both of you at Survivor Series in a three way dance for the WWF Title.

Cactus shows some vulnerability now, ‘cause he’s aging a little bit – and this is when the first book comes out and just blows up. So, he’s got interviews to do, he starts thinking about retirement – and they need to elevate HHH and Rock a bit for this program. It’s a pendulum thing – he beat Owen, he beat Austin – there’s nowhere to go but down.

They have him pinned by each guy in tags. HHH/Waltman v. Jack and, say, Al, as they start to play off their real life friendship (‘cause Al’s all over the book – so, time to do that) HHH pins Foley. Then we do a Rock/DLo (with tension between the two, ‘cause DLo is a full heel now – all the Rock/DLo interaction is DLo’s cockiness being too much for the Rock – but they stay boys – in fact, when Foley talks to the Rock about DLo, Rock defends him – and that works too) v. Al/Cactus, and Rock pins Cactus in that. So, Cactus gets pinned by each guy.

So – Rock – HHH --- Cactus – one fall to the finish – Cactus doesn’t even need to be pinned to lose the title. Rock’s all babyface, doing his Rock schtick, saying it’s the 3 year anniversary of his debut – he’s held the tag title twice – and he is ready to take that next step – take that next step – and become the WWF Champion. HHH says he’s been here 4 1/2 years – he is the leader of the Clique, the most dominant force in WWF history – and he has never gotten a singles title shot. Ever. He says it’s his time – time for Triple H to become WWF Champion. They've been on a collision course for over a year - and now they're wrestling for the WWF Championship.

Foley says, you know, he’s Cactus Jack. Author. Champion. Legend. Bang, Bang.

It’s Survivor Series ’99 – the last show of the Millennium. A three way for the World TitleL Jack, Rock, HHH; the PPV debut for Jericho, wrestling Waltman for the IC as we hop back in the Harts/Clique business, the ECW tag kings - the Dudleys wrestle in the Tables match for the tag titles against Matt and Jeff – Angle’s TV debut against the monster PAUL~, can Angle survive? Can he beat PAUL~ in five minutes? – good strong feuds and matches: DLo v Al, Morley v. Edge, the return of the Bulldog, a former WWF Champ meets Christian of the Clique -- top to bottom, bottom to top – how can you not call your local thing for Survivor Series '99!!!

Wrestlemania XV 1999

The Rumble is here.

Wrestlemania XV – 1999 Philadelphia
(Dark – Edge/Christian d. 2 Cold/Taka)
(Public Enemy d. Road Warriors)

Cole. Lawler. Hayes.

Some vaguely Indian music plays - and who emerges to introduce Wrestlemania XV...

Vince McMahon.

Vince, back from Nepal, dressed in robes, a dot on his forehead, he's completely bald and weighs maybe 140 pounds, steps into the ring.

Vince says thanks for coming to the Hardcore Wrestlemania!!

Says he flew halfway around the world for two reasons; first because he wants to introduce a very special guest – a real American hero is in attendance – 1996 Olympic wrestling gold Medal Winner, and a native son of Pennsylvania, Kurt Angle!

On the video screen, we learn about Kurt Angle. You know, broke his neck in the trials, doctors told him he could be paralyzed – went ahead and wrestled anyway, won the gold medal.

It’s a simple story, but true, and everyone interviewed will sell the absolute balls out, “who the hell is this guy” nature of it.

Angle finishes the piece, says people ask him all the time what he was thinking, there was no money in it, people really don’t care about amateur wrestling anymore so he didn’t really get famous, and it wasn’t even that he did it for his country, don’t get him wrong, he’s proud when people call him an American hero – but to be honest, that’s not why he did it either – the truth is he did it (here’s your catchphrase, kids) because “I’m Kurt Angle.”

Angle is then shown in the front row – he waves, people clap. He’s just there to watch the show, after all. He signs a couple of autographs. That kinda thing.

Then Vince says, the other reason I came back is because my son, Skip McMahon, well, let's just bring him out here.

Skip enters, gives Vince a hug.

Vince is concerned, disappointed, he didn't raise Skip like this, etc...

Skip punks out, "yes, daddy, no daddy, please don't take away my toy daddy"

Vince says there's no other way.

Skip smiles. "There's one other way."

And then the lights go out.

And when the lights go on - Vince McMahon is lying in a heap in a broken table at ringside.

Skip laughs - tells daddy that he's in charge now - and tonight, Skip's toy, the man who destroyed Kane, Markie, and now the great Vincent K. McMahon - will take over Hardcore Wrestlemania!

1. Cage: HHH/Waltman d. Road Dogg/Gunn (special guest referee - Pete Rose)
This is the blow off to the feud, we get a highlight package as this version of the Clique has been around a long time, HHH joined Waltman in ’95 – and then Waltman and HHH added the Dogg and Billy in ’96. They took out Razor and Diesel, they took out Michaels, they battled the Nation on and off, the Dogg and Billy took the tag straps – and that divided the group irreparably.

So, they play it up big – it’s the better workers who go over – HHH getting the fall on the Dogg – and they sell this as the end of the feud. Crotch chops over the fallen Outlaws – HHH says “Hey JV – the Clique’s got 2 words for you…”

2. Legend’s Match: Octagon: Ken Shamrock no contest Undertaker
Dead Man fails in his attempt to pass Andre and Hogan - match is probably pretty good as Undertaker can bust out all his submission stuff. It's a 50/50 match the whole way, maybe with the Taker starting to use his size to wear down Shamrock - then the lights go out.

This is it! Cole yells! This is it!

Lights on.

In the ring....Paul Wight.

Good God. Good God - from the NWA - it's the Giant - from the NWA - it's the Giant! That's who Skip McMahon has! Paul Wight!

Shamrock attacks with kicks - no sell - chokeslam.

Undertaker and Wight go nose to nose. Undertaker fires right hands, backing Wight up - but, say, he's been selling a leg the whole match, and Paul (who they're gonna call Paul the Giant..actually, PAUL THE GIANT~) dives for it, clipping the leg, and then driving a knee into the Dead Man.

PAUL~ yells for Skip, who is now at rignside, to get a table - Skip brings a table into the ring - PAUL's gonna chokeslam the Dead Man through a table.

Here comes Kane.

Kane turns, running to the ring, grabbing his brother from the table, standing in between the Undertaker and PAUL~

Skip takes the mic...

“Very nice, very, very nice. Bravo. Bravo, Dead Man. Bravo, Shamrock. Bravo, Big Red Person. Not quite like seeing Placido Domingo at the Met or watching Dame Judi Dench tred the boards in London – but Bravo, nonetheless.

The problem is that none of you matter. The WWF is just my little plaything, nothing more than my yacht or my my Testerosa. I do - what I want - when I want. And what I want now is for My Giant -- PAUL~ to win his first match in the WWF...against Kane! Ring the bell!

3. PAUL THE GIANT~ (w/Skip) d. Kane
Unannounced match, a series of officials help Shamrock and Undertaker from the ring. Kane attacks – Paul no sells everything – then the chokeslam. Chokeslam. Chokeslam. The table is set up --- Chokeslam.

The Undertaker…down. Shamrock...down. Vince...Kane…down. THE GIANT PAUL! HAS EXPLODED ALL OVER WRESTLEMANIA.

Thank you Michael.

PAUL~ has destroyed Kane. He’s a monster! He’s a monster! Who could possibly stop the Giant Paul? Who? Who? Who?

4. Southern Man Dustin Rhodes (w/Jarrett) d. Alabama Bob
Dustin and Jarrett double team at the appropriate times and Dustin gets the win. Jarrett – again, with the figure four postmatch – and Bob has to be helped from the ring. Jarrett gets on the mic., says that Philadelphia is about to see Ulysess S. Morley, "the Abolitionist" lose his first singles match – and they will then see the American flag burned – right here at Wrestlemania!

5. Southern Man Jeff Jarrett (w/Dustin) d. Ulysess S. Morley
Hot match, Jarrett wins with Dustin’s aid, shocking the crowd, as that means Jarrett gets to burn the flag. Morley submits to the figure four – Jarrett won’t release – and when he does, Morley is incapacitated so he can’t get up to try to stop Jarrett as he takes the American flag – and takes the acetalyne torch – yells out “Sic simper tyrannis y’all” and takes the torch to the flag…

…when he is stopped by....

….duh….Kurt Angle.

Long way to go to set this one up.

Angle Slam on Dustin. Angle Slam on Jarrett. Angle gets the ankle lock on Dustin, who feverishly taps out – Angle releases the hold and the Southern Men scamper – Angle waves the American flag as the crowd chants his name. And that’s how they're debuting Kurt Angle in the WWF. He's an American hero, after all, and this is Wrestlemania.

6. Tags: Ladder Match: Hardys (w/Trish) d. Nation
And then after that – we have this. The longtime WWF fan favorites, we saw them grow up! Matt and Jeff win the tag belts at Wrestlemania. They make sure they bump big early in case some of the hardcores want to boo them for their clean cut image. All the ladder bumps all four guys can do. 4 way color. It's Matt who grabs the belts to get the win and the titles.

The Nation is shocked – Dlo is hot and looks like he’s going to go after the Hardys – E and C enter with chairs postmatch – backing DLo down.

Crowd’s happy, E and C lead the "let them play" chants - Trish kisses Jeff, all is well at Hardcore Wrestlemania! All the members of the Young Boys, clearly Young Boys no more, in the ring celebrating. The Hardy Boys, after all these years, have gone to Wrestlemania and won the tag team championships from Rock and DLo!!

It's a great story.

But it's not over yet.

Dlo and Rock have words as they walk back up the aisle – where they are met by a smirking Waltman and HHH --- there’s a nose to nose – but Rock pulls DLo away and they exit as the Clique enters.

What do they want? Are they going to challenge the Hardys? Or - are they here to congratulate their Young Boys? The Hardys have been seconding the Clique for years, since it was Michaels and Razor and Diesel. They wiped their sweat, carried the bags, and spent hours in the gym learning from the Clique - and now here come HHH and Waltman - and you can see the tears in the eyes of the young men, of Matt and Jeff, as HHH and Waltman approach.

HHH gets in the ring with that HHH sense of entitlement that he’s displayed in recent appearances – he tells the Hardys that they used to ask the Clique for autographs – they used to detail his car, get his lunch – HHH addresses Trish – says her boyfriend Jeff used to beg him for some of the Clique leftovers. And he ain’t talking about food. Me and HBK and the Kid would tear up a couple of the rats – and then there would be your boyfriend, always there with his handout for sloppy seconds. You know what, honey, how about you come on over to the room tonight, and me and the Kid will break you in just like your boyfriend likes.

Matt and Jeff are going to charge – but they are stopped by E and C – E and C – still holding the chairs – hold the Hardys back while E takes the mic…

“You’re a real class act, Hunter – you know that – a real class act – this is the best night in Matt and Jeff’s life – they won the WWF tag titles at Wrestlemania! What kind of guy are you, Hunter– what kind of guy would try to ruin the best night in someone’s life?

“Oh….wait….we would…”

And Edge and Christian lay the Hardys out. Just lay them out. Splatter them with the chairs. Full on Con-Chair-To shots. – Waltman keeps Trish from interfering while HHH directs traffic.

HHH takes the mic – “That’s right, that’s right – you people boo – you people boo – but when you’re booing I want you to know what you are seeing – you aren’t just seeing some random asskicking – you are seeing the rebirth of the finest organization in the history of this business --- you are seeing the rebirth – of the Clique!”

What?

HHH and Waltman make the Clique handsign....

...and then so do Edge and Christian...

all four men posing over the fallen bodies of the Hardys, the two Canadians, the Young Boys of the Hart Foundation - they've joined the Clique! Shocking! Shocking! Shocking!

As they are about to exit – HHH again takes the mic…

“I almost forgot – as much as I’d like to take credit for masterminding this – it wasn’t me who put this together (the other 3 guys shake their heads as if they didn’t do it either) this was a plan executed by the 5 th member of the Clique...

…..Trish Stratus!”

Trish takes off the glasses, lets down the hair – gives a couple of kicks to the boys, gets on the mic and tells Jeff that now she's with men who actually like girls, makes the Clique handsign and the five of them exit.

It’s a callback to Sunny, obviously, ‘cept as opposed to having them pass her around – they're gonna put her in charge.

Trish is crazyhot, can talk – and will become an awfully good worker. And since she's around for years (and have most of these guys around for years) I’m making her the boss. A new day dawning for the Clique.

Admit it - you're liking this. The Giant, Angle, the E and C turn - are you feeling some hardcore Wrestlemania?

7. IC: Falls Count Anywhere: Al Snow (w/Head) d. Steve Austin
Yup. Kinda an emotional night here at the old ballyard. Undertaker. Angle. Hardys. And now – Al Snow comes back to Philadelphia and wins the Intercontinental Title.

Heavy garbage here too, all you could ask for. Austin’s advantage over Snow is blunted by Al’s willingness to hurt himself beyond reason. ‘Cause he’s crazy Al. And he wants to be IC champ. And he’s back in barbed wire city.

Fans will be split – Austin’s Austin, but they play up the Al-ECW connection – and given the kind of night it is, we’ll be loaded with ECW chants. So, that’s cool with me – particularly as your finish comes when Foley runs in to lay Austin out. When you see one, you see the other.

And Al covers him – and gets the 3 count.

Al Snow wins the IC over Steve Austin at Wrestlemania in Philly.

No, seriously, that’s how it happens.

Al weeps, clutches the belt to his chest – goes to all four buckles in an emotional moment with the Philly fans – who are filling the building with the ECW chants – and when Al gets to the final buckle – he, obviously – moonsaults to the canvas. Heads were given out before the show - and if they want to fill the ring with styroafoam heads - thousands of heads flying into the ring until it becomes a security risk - that's cool with me too.

Austin, by the way, left the ring vowing to kill Cactus Jack.

We cut to the back – and Austin explodes into the locker room as Foley’s getting ready for the title match – Austin’s all over him, threatening the title match, obviously, so Austin is dragged out of the building by security – Austin screaming, “I’m gonna kill you Cactus! Your yellow ass belongs to Stone Cold…”

8. WWF Title: Pure Wrestling Match: Cactus Jack d. Owen Hart

And that’s Owen’s last match.

Owen dies two months later, before we get to Summer Slam in August. I still don’t know what to do with that, my secret impetus for the whole project, utilizing the Quantum Leap metaphor, was that I was looking for a way to save Owen Hart.

(I wrote that sentence in early 2005, and now Eddy's dead too. It makes me sad.)
(And now it's fall of 2009, and Benoit's been dead two years.  Hell, Misawa's dead too.)

I can’t, of course, but he sure doesn’t get in that Blue Blazer costume and fall to the mat in Kansas City. What I’m gonna go with this is that this is Owen’s last match, he makes a surprise retirement announcement at the top of RAW tomorrow night – surprising everyone in the company – so there’s no special tribute show – and then he just walks out of the building. We’ll go with the “his number was up” notion, which I don’t remotely believe on any level, and he dies at home. The tribute RAW will be a clip show of his greatest matches.

Rick Rude, incidentally, also dies before we get to Summer Slam. Tough summer.

This match is totally clean, as promised. It might be better on paper than on its feet, I don't know if Foley can carry this off. But he'll give it all he has, and I'm willing to take the shot. It's the antithesis of the rest of the night, which will serve to make it stand out.

Owen gets to go out with a clean loss to a guy he liked, ending a terrific feud and a good story – and Foley elevates, at this point, probably even beyond Austin – as he wins his second WWF title in a technical wrestling match against Owen Hart.

Crowd’s split – but probably in Foley’s favor, given we’re in Philly – and they liked his aid of Al – even though Austin is a megaface.

After the match – Owen offers his hand and Foley shakes it – which might be the full pendulum swing. Owen leaves and Foley celebrates – until he is attacked by Austin – it’s Cactus and Austin in an all out, full scale brawl as the show ends.

In the NWA…Harlem Heat gets a win, Flair beats Piper – and man, they be old. Bigelow wins, Goldberg beats Nash. Sting beats Raven. Perry and Page go over the Steiners. Rey keeps, beating Kidman – and Benoit keeps, beating Dean.

Slamboree – 1999 StLouis
NWA Title: Chris Benoit d. Dean Malenko
US: Rey Mysterio d. Billy Kidman
Tags: Perry/DDP d. Steiners
Sting d. Raven

Bill Goldberg d. Kevin Nash
Bam Bam Bigelow d. Konnan
Ric Flair d. Roddy Piper
Harlem Heat d. Knobbs/Bagwell


In ECW…the Dudleys drop the tags to Nova and Guido (who will eventually become a longrunning WWF tag that you'll never see) Jerry Lynn beats Spike, Tommy beats Sid, Justin beats Lance, RVD keeps the US over Taka – and your new ECW World Champ is Tajiri, who ends Taz’s long run.

Hardcore Heaven – 1999 Poughkeepsie
ECW Title: Tajiri d. Taz
TV Title: RVD d. Taka Michinoku
Tags: Dudleys d. Justin/Lance
Super Crazy d. Jerry Lynn

Tommy Dreamer d. Sid
Guido d. Spike
Doring d. Balls
Dudleys d. Doring/Balls

Heatwave – 1999 Dayton
ECW Title: Tajiri d. Super Crazy
TV Title: RVD d. Taz
Tags: Nova/Guido d. Dudleys
Justin d. Lance

Jerry Lynn d. Spike
Chetti d. Doring
Balls d. Roadkill
Nova/Guido d. Balls/Roadkill


As we begin the march to Summer Slam, we have some additions.

There’s a clock on the bottom right corner of the screen, counting down the days, hours, minutes, seconds until the day_ after_ Summer Slam.

We give Alabama Bob, grumpy face, a little brother, Crash, an even grumpier face. I like the idea of tiny, baby face Crash doing a world weary gimmick, pissing and moaning in the back like he’s been with the company 15 years. Bob will be in the back with the boys, whomever the boys are at the time, bitching about the rental cars or the hotels – you know, locker room stuff, life on the road – when Crash will chime in with a story about the old days and Buddy Rogers’s heart attack and Andre drinking 47 beers on a car ride to St. Louis. That kinda thing. Everyone will look at Crash like he’s, you know, a 12 year old who just started with his big brother’s company today – which is what he is – although he acts like he’s, you know, Freddie Blassie. Fun!

And they're gonna sign Angle to a WWF contract. We’ll have another video wall package, the punch line of which is to get Angle to say that the truth is he never wanted to be a professional wrestler (true) that, the WWF came to him after he won the gold in ’96 with a huge offer that he turned down (true) and that now that he’s joining his plan is very simple –

--to win every single match he’s in—

JR, making his return to TV (but not to claling live action until Summer Slam) is interviewing him on the taped piece – and is puzzled – well, that’s not really how it works – even champions, even the greatest wrestlers who ever lived, a Bret Hart, a Shawn Michaels, an Owen Hart, they lost hundreds of times –

Angle says, I’m not those guys…

"I’m Kurt Angle."

Feel the catchphrase. Buy the shirt.

JR will announce that Angle has overseas commitments that will prevent him from making his debut until Survivor Series – but as part of the contract he’s about to sign, Kurt Angle will be able to name his first opponent, any opponent he wants other than one of the champions, and he will announce his opponent at Summer Slam!

It’s a little convoluted, sure. They'll sell it. The idea is that Angle is a huge free agent signing, and has the ability to dictate terms - and the main term he's dictated is, that other than title matches - Kurt Angle gets to pick his opponents for a full year.

The Undertaker cuts a promo on PAUL~ (the caps lock was actually inadvertent the first time I did it, but it’s a good idea), saying that a couple of chokeslams doesn’t impress the Dead Man. He’s seen a lot of big guys come into the WWF, Sid, Yoko, Adam Bomb – they rack up a win or two – and then, they have to go to a PPV and face the Legend.

You don’t get to be the 4 time WWF Legend by backing down when a new gun comes to town. You meet him head on.

So the Undertaker’s calling PAUL’S ass out for Summer Slam. Skip accepts - says he's gonna go to Minnesota and party like it's 1999.

The Fightin' Hollys will also get a match, against the team of Test and Albert, about whom we really don’t need to say much. Billy Gunn’s gonna get a singles match, working against...well, the angle is that whenever we see Billy and the Dogg, clips from Clique past come up on the Titan Tron. It's as if someone is taunting the New Age Outlaws with the legacy that they've left behind.

They're challenged to a tag match on RAW against mystery opponents who promise to take them to school - Clique style.

On that RAW, who appears?

Stevie Richards and the Blue Meanie - doing the BWO gimmick.

Stevie gets the superkick pinfall on the Dogg - and Stevie will meet Billy at Summer Slam.

We’ve got the tags – which of course will be the Ring Crew Explosion – Hardys defend their new belts against E and C. Hardys are pure babyface, they talk about working their butts off for years – for years to get their chance – and then, a couple of showboats, a couple of hot dogs – heck, a couple of jackasses (hardys swear! Woo-hoo) want to steal their spotlight! And E and C do the E and C thing – the crazy clothes and the 5 second poses for the benefit of those with flash photography (I’m jumping that idea a little bit, which is against the rules, but it’s the most interesting E and C version, so I’ll fudge a year here) they call the Hardys squares, mommas boys, not eclectic, enigmatic, mysteriosos drizzled in awesomeness like E and C. They’ll have Trish with them, she’ll cut withering promos on the Hardys, who have the belts – but obviously, E and C have the heat.

The singles mix….

DLo/Rock and Waltman/HHH keep feuding, maybe having two matches that go non-finish when everyone gets DQ’d or counted out because there’s just too much brawl!

So, when they come out for a third match in their third straight week – they are made to switch partners.

Rock and HHH v. Waltman and Dlo.

Huh.

So – they’re unhappy about this, obviously – and maybe they won’t go through with it – but they have incentive…

Winning team will go to Summer Slam to wrestle Al Snow in a 3 way for the IC. That's right, both members of the winning team get the IC shot.

IC is good, of course, none of these 4 guys have held singles gold, and Al’s perceived as a weak champion, relatively speaking.

Waltman and Dlo go over – Dlo pinning the Rock (Rock and HHH, try as they might, wind up not getting along) Dlo and Waltman even celebrate for a moment – before everyone in the ring turns on each other in the way you’d expect.

A particularly big match for Waltman, as Summer Slam’s in his hometown of Minneapolis.

So, that’s the IC – we still have the 2 singles midcard matches. Rock and HHH are pissed, and we see, say, a HHH promo where he does the “how long do I have to put up with this crap – I ended Razor, I ended Diesel, I ended Michaels -- where’s my shot?” stuff --- and that leads Rock to join him in the ring, “Where’s your shot, jabroni? I am a 2 time tag champ and the most electrifying man in sports entertainment – if anyone deserves to be WWF Champion – it’s the Rock.” – and that brings out Jarrett – Jarrett says he’s the Southern Man – unbeaten in his return and with a body count higher than Stonewall Jackson’s. Savio – gone. Mero – gone. Bart – gone – And he won the right to burn the American flag when he beat Morley at XV – and that was stolen from him – rasslin’ is a southern sport and if anyone should be WWF Champion – it’s the Southern Man!” And that brings out Shamrock who suplexes all three guys – lets out a scream and makes the motion for the belt.

So, at Summer Slam – a 4 man thing – Rock v. Jarrett; HHH v. Shamrock – winners will meet in the RAW main the following night – and the winner of that – goes on to Survivor Series to meet the WWF Champion. They do Rock against the Southern Men racial stuff all summer long, which ends with Rock really hurting Dustin in some type of signficant way - and that ends Dustin's run.

Which, one assumes, would be the winner of the title match at Summer Slam.

Cactus v. Austin.

Their first ever singles in WWF, they've been building to it forever. And we’re gonna have stakes – say, there’s a RAW that the two of them just burn down – Cactus opens with a promo that Austin interrupts – they brawl through the commercial and into the next segment – wiping out whomever is supposed to be in the next match – they brawl in the back and in the stands and in the parking lot – returning to the ring to wipe out another match.

They each have singles matches scheduled for the last hour of the show – and they’re told they absolutely can’t interfere in each other’s matches – if they do – they’ll be suspended for next week.

Of course, they both interfere – and they get suspended – and then they wind up showing up anyway to brawl anyway and ruin someone’s match…

This town, clearly not big enough for both of them. What are we gonna do.

With both Austin and Foley in the ring – their brawl is stopped by…

Shawn Michaels.

Michaels, gone for a year since doing color at Summer Slam '98, says that he has a lot of respect for both Cactus and Stone Cold – they are two of the greatest wrestlers in WWF history – but they’re right, the WWF just isn’t big enough for both of them – in fact – the wrestling business isn’t big enough for both of them.

So, when Cactus and Austin meet for the WWF Title at Summer Slam – it will be Career v. Career. Specifically, as they go to explain later, the winner will take possession of the loser's career - if he wants to wrestle, not just in the WWF, but anywhere in the world, the rest of his life, he needs permission from the winner.

Got it?

And why would they do that? Why would they risk their careers over one match?

Shawn makes a motion up the aisle, and WWF officials enter with – the Triple Crown – held in possession by the WWF since both Cactus and Austin won it on the same night –

Because the winner of this match, Shawn says, is not only WWF Champion – but will receive his rightful possession of the most prized honor on all of sport – the Triple Crown!

And since no one else in this company can control these two - Michaels himself will be serving as the special guest referee.

Also at Summer Slam - the return of JR to play by play - and his color commentator for one very special night only...

...a clip of Wrestlemania plays and we seen Gorilla and Jesse...

...the Governor of the State of Minnesota. Jesse the Body Ventura.

Yeah, daddy, yeah. Summer Slam '99. Cactus and Austin, for all the marbles. Winner gets the Triple Crown, Loser Leaves Town, HBK as the referee. The 3 way for the IC: Al v. Waltman v. DLo. The Ring Boys explode! The number one contenders tournament: Hunter meeting Shamrock and Rock meeting Jarrett. PAUL meets the Dead Man!! Big Stevie Cool comes to WWF PPV and the Fightin' Hollys in the opening tag. JR returns to the announce - and with him - Jesse the Body Ventura!

Summer Slam '99! Call your cable thing!