Over the Edge 1999 - Kemper Arena, Kansas City Missouri, May 23rd, 1999

I stared at the page for a while, trying to figure out how to approach this. I debated not covering this show at all but in the end, my goal here is to present the product as it was and to try to ignore the sad real life realities of this period in wrestling. 

For those unaware, this is the PPV during which Owen Hart died. He was scheduled to descend from the arena roof on a zipwire type harness (like The Brood used at Wrestlemania) and for the harness to get stuck and for him to drop the last five feet or so in a comedy “look how rubbish of a superhero he is” moment. He was then slated to defeat The Godfather for the Intercontinental title. What instead happened is that while a video package played for the match and Owen was hanging from the roof, waiting for the rig to lower him, the harness released early and he fell from the arena ceiling to the ring, landing on his head. This happened in front of roughly 16,000 fans in attendance. The PPV stopped as they provided medical attention and stretchered him to the back where Owen Hart died before he reached the hospital. He was only 34 years old and left behind his wife Martha and two young children. It shook the wrestling world and even as I write this 24 years later is upsetting to think about. As it happens, I’m writing this less than a week after the passing of Windham Rotunda/Bray Wyatt who was only 36 years old. Life is often not just unfair but incredibly cruel.

I’ll talk a little bit more about Owen Hart in the next preview article as that covers the next night’s Raw is War which was a two hour tribute show to Owen. I’m going to do my best to cover this show as it’s presented on the WWE Network from here, which has all mention of the accident and of Owen Hart removed. The decision by WWF to continue the event after the accident has been debated ever since and whatever side of that debate you fall on (personally I think they should have stopped the show) what isn’t up for debate was the wrong decision to have Jim Ross tell the audience at home that Owen Hart had died while the PPV was still on air. It breaks my heart to imagine how many friends or even family of Owen learned of his passing that way, either watching the show themselves or from getting a phone call from someone who was. It is hard to judge them too harshly for making the wrong moves and wrong calls during this show only minutes or hours from the accident and Owen’s death as I’m sure they were all in a deep state of shock and even denial. I’ve never been forced to make split second decisions in the minutes after a dear friend died in a horrific accident and I can’t imagine that it's an easy thing to do. 

Everyone loved Owen Hart, and he is still as missed today as he was then. 

To my surprise, the WWE Network version of this event has a tribute card to Owen Hart at the opening which, in curious wording, says that he accidentally passed away during this event. I’d have gone with “died in a tragic accident during the event” but maybe I’m splitting hairs. I suspect the sentence as it is was written by WWE’s legal team.

The opening video package is a spooky monologue from The Undertaker who aims to win his third WWF Championship tonight. It seems crazy that nine years into his career, he’s only had two short reigns.

Just like every month, it was ALL kicking off on Sunday Night Heat. Shane McMahon booked Stone Cold against Mideon with himself as the referee, but Vince McMahon bravely took Austin’s place. Mideon used a steel chair to injure Vince’s ankle and so he would appear to be out as the second referee for tonight’s main event.

WWF Tag Team Championships

Kane and X-Pac © vs. D’Lo Brown and Mark Henry

X-Pac and Kane have had a pretty long tag title reign (for the era) and have started to click. This is Mark’s first match back since his knee injury and surgery in February. Ivory looks pretty amazing here - such abs! 

D’Lo shows a lot more personality as a heel - as much as I want to see people cheer for him, he’s better staying a heel. 

X-Pac and D’Lo work really well together. D’Lo tags out to Mark and there’s a big pop for X-Pac tagging in Kane. 

Mark shows some impressive power by gorilla pressing the massive Kane and then Kane shows some impressive speed with a big dropkick! The heel and face dynamic is a bit switched as the babyfaces work over D’Lo in their corner and keep him from making the tag. 

Mark has totally dropped his Sexual Chocolate gimmick too and the commentators have made no mention of his former womanising ways. He’s come back as a big serious heel basically.

This match doesn’t follow the usual WWF tag match format where no one gets worked over - the two teams trade big spots and the advantage with Kane stealing the show with a massive dive to the outside, a flying clothesline and then a huge chokeslam on Mark Henry to win the match and retain the titles. 

This was a good match, and storyline wise X-Pac and Kane seem to have bonded.

Backstage update from Michael Cole who confirms that Vince’s ankle is hurt and he likely won’t be able to serve as the second referee in tonight's main event.

Kevin Kelly interviews Hardcore Holly. He shows a lot more personality talking about imaginary friends and how tough he is. His feud with Al Snow has mostly been on Sunday Night Heat this past month. There’s no video package for the next match but they recapped most of it on this past episode of Raw so here’s the video from there;

WWF Hardcore Championship

Al Snow © vs. Hardcore Holly

I like seeing these two wrestle - they had a great Hardcore title match at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and an even better one at Backlash. Snow has grown so well into his role and is popular - even JR likes him! - and Holly has tons more personality since becoming the vicious “Hardcore Holly”. 

They trade weapon shots but it falls apart as Holly struggles to get a fire extinguisher to work. Snow disarms him and uses it instead. 

They brawl up through the crowd and into the concourse area of the arena, taking the fighting into the bathrooms and back out. They fight through the crowd using a popcorn seller’s tray and a plastic moulded seat as a weapon, with Snow dropping a leg off the security wall onto the back of Hardcore’s head at ringside.

In the ring, Holly almost wins off his Falcon Arrow suplex which JR says is called “the Holly-caust” That name doesn’t catch on, thankfully.

Snow actually hits the Snow Plough but Holly kicks out! 

There’s a table set up in the corner so this match isn’t ending until that gets broken.

Holly ducks a shot from Head and counters into a DDT onto a steel chair which also only gets a two count! 

One of the legs of the table breaks while Hardcore moves it around which makes me very nervous as it sits at a funny angle - this feels like a botched spot in the making. Snow counters an attempted bodyslam through the table, floating over the back and then powerbombing Holly through the table and collapses into a pin for the three count and the victory.

Al Snow retains in a short but fun Hardcore title match which wasn’t quite as good as their efforts at Backlash.

Michael Cole interviews Pat Patterson and Gerry Brisco about Vince McMahon’s condition. Gerry confirms that Vince is going to the hospital, and Patterson thinks his ankle is fully broken.

There’s a big cut on the WWE Network, going right into the entrances for the Mixed Tag Team match. It’s here that the Owen Hart accident occurred during this break between the matches. JR is quiet and subdued and King doesn’t even react to seeing Debra. I’m going to try not to dwell on this but it's noticeable in the voices of the commentators and Howard Finkle’s ring announcing and in the efforts put out by the wrestlers - everyone’s energy is down. The fans are still into the show but significantly less than they would have been and full credit to the performers for sucking it up and getting on with the show. I'm sure none of them wanted to be there.

There was actually a video package for this next match too which is also missing from the WWE Network version of the event, I believe because it featured Owen Hart as The Blue Blazer. I wasn't able to find it online anywhere. 

Jeff Jarrett and WWF Women’s Champion Debra vs. Val Venis and Nicole Bass

Neither Debra nor Bass are trained wrestlers so this was never going to be “good”. This is amazingly Debra's first official match despite the fact that she's the WWF Women's Champion which must be some kind of record.

King struggles to get into this match and is very quiet but does manage to shake off the cobwebs and call it. 

The action is good while Val and Jeff are in the ring, but the crowd does pop for Bass being tagged in. Jeff tags out to Debra who slaps Nicole in the face and jumps on her back! 

Her offence is ultimately not very good and she tags out to Jeff.

In the end, Debra hits Nicole with the guitar in the back but not hard enough to break it. Bass no-sells it and as she and Debra argue and distract the referee, Val suplexes Jeff and pins him off the Money Shot splash. 

Val and Nicole win a pretty poor match.

Post-match, Nicole forces a big dip and kiss on Venis and…he likes it! 

Vince McMahon is loaded into an ambulance, taunted by Shane who promises that The Undertaker will be the new WWF Champion tonight. 

Roaddogg vs. Bad Ass Billy Gunn

There’s a video package for this one as “the greatest tag team of all time” has broken up. I think the package is pretty clever as it uses the lyrics of the DX theme song to explain Billy’s attitude change

He’s still officially Bad Ass Billy Gunn but the rebrand as Mr. Ass has been in full effect since the heel turn. Roaddogg has a lot of fire and energy and you can tell he’s trying his best to power through this performance and get the fans back into the show. 

Both men cut passionate pre-match promos - Billy is right though, he did carry The Outlaws. 

This actually does have a big fight feel too after them both getting a few months of singles glory at the start of the year. It's physical and personal and not the kind of match you’d normally see from Roaddogg - they fight around the ring and he throws his former partner into the ring steps.

This is a very slow match in the middle, with Billy grinding down Roaddogg with a sleeper. 

After Roaddogg gets a couple of near falls during his comeback with the Shake Rattle and Roll punch and knee drop combo, Mr. Ass takes to the outside and uses the time keeper’s bell hammer to clock his former partner in the head.

From there, it's academic as Billy wins shortly after with the Fameasser. 

This was heated and pretty good. This isn’t the end of Mr. Ass’s feud with DX.

Eight Man Elimination Tag Team Match

The Corporate Ministry (The Big Bossman, The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq) and Viscera) vs. The Union (Mankind, The Big Show, Test and Ken Shamrock)

Test starts and goes it alone - while The Ministry tags in and out, he refuses to and won’t give up. He almost pins Bradshaw after a nice elbow drop from the top rope but the pin is broken up by Faarooq. He walks right into a Clothesline from Hell to be quickly eliminated. 

Bradshaw doesn’t last much longer as Ken Shamrock takes him down and makes him tap out to the ankle lock. 

Kenny spends a bit longer in the ring taking a nice scoop powerslam from Faarooq and a big sidewalk slam from the 500lbs Viscera. 

After some back and forth Shamrock gets Faarooq in the ankle lock and after Bossman illegally helps him get to the ropes, Ken refuses to break the hold and gets disqualified for giving a belly-to-belly suplex to the referee. 

Faarooq is quickly planted by The Big Show with a massive chokeslam to eliminate him. He’s still doing the ShowStopper version where he drops to his knees and drives the opponent down which looks great. 

The last portion of the match with it being two on two lasts the longest, with Big Show doing an amazing bodyslam on Viscera. 

The two 500lbs men brawl on the outside and up the ramp, both getting counted out and in the end, Mankind wins it for The Union with a Mandible Claw on The Big Bossman.

This wasn’t great as it was very disjointed. It might been better without the elimination stipulation honestly. Let's liven things up a little bit here with an advert for WWF selling replica Mr. Sockos;

After a video package for the next match, The Rock is interviewed but before he can say more than a couple of words is distracted by Chyna and then jumped from behind by Triple H. Mankind arrives in time to save The Rock but Triple H turns the tables and bludgeons Mick Foley with a metal pipe before running off towards the ring. 

The Rock vs. Triple H (w/Chyna)

Out in the ring, Triple H says he knows The Rock is too injured and tells the referee to just count him out and award the match to Triple H. Obviously that isn’t what happens and The Rock’s music hits and The People’s Champion hobbles to the ring, holding the back of his head. 

King takes real issue with The Rock wearing a cast on his arm during this match and using it as a weapon. Triple H probably shouldn’t have broken his arm then! 

They fight outside and The Rock slams Triple H into the announce table and takes a moment to put on a Spanish announcer’s headset to talk some trash. Triple H comes back and slams The Rock’s arm on the desk and breaks the cast off of his arm. (It's not really broken, obviously.) 

Triple H shows a much more vile mean streak in the ring, choking The Rock in the corner. This is full main eventer Triple H before our very eyes.

After a brawl on the outside, back in the ring The Rock is able to come back with a nice DDT but Triple H goes right back to the arm with an armbreaker.

He very aggressively works on The Rock’s “broken” arm with knee drops and submission holds. The whole thing is silly because if The Rock’s arm was actually broken he’d have passed out in pain by now.

This is the second Triple H PPV match in a row where JR spends the bulk of it telling the referee to stop the match.

The Rock does mount a comeback but is sent back to the outside over the top rope and has his arm slammed into the ring steps.

In the ring, Chyna hands Triple H a steel chair. Referee Earl Hebner stops him from using it and after what would become a trademark between these two men - a shoving match - with Triple H punching out Earl (good) and getting himself disqualified.

The post match brawl is better than the match was, with The Rock using the chair to crack Triple H’s head open and more brawling around the outside. 

He hits the Rock Bottom and sets up a People’s Elbow with the steel chair on Triple H’s head but Chyna puts a stop to that. The Rock tries to hit Chyna with the chair but Triple H saves her and wears out The Rock with the chair until Mankind - armed with the same steel pipe Triple H used on him backstage earlier - hobbles to the ring and makes the save. We get a shot of The Rock and Mankind seemingly united in the ring which is crazy after what they put each other through at the start of the year. 

WWF Championship

Stone Cold Steve Austin © vs. The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) 

Special Guest Referees: Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon

There’s a pretty awesome video package for this one!

Shane enters first to the normal version of No Chance with the Corporation only titantron video which highlights that there’s now only three members of the group left - Triple H, Chyna and Bossman. Everyone else in the Corporate Ministry is from The Ministry side. 

With Vince McMahon’s ankle apparently broken on Sunday Night Heat, Pat Patterson comes out to take his place as the second referee. 

The Undertaker’s entrance gear looks incredible with the massive shoulder pads and long gothic cape. He looks awesome. Patterson’s reign as the second referee doesn’t last long as The Undertaker chokeslams him before Austin even enters. The Rattlesnake wastes no time throwing down the belt and his waistcoat during the entrance and going right at The Undertaker with punches back and forth until The Lord of Darkness gets control of that. I have to say, the look on the Undertaker's face during all of this is pretty upsetting as he looks very distracted and upset, borderline like he's about to burst into tears. Beside King and JR's sad, distracted low energy commentary its the first big noticeable sign that Owen's death was common knowledge by this point in the show.

With Austin stomping down his challenger in the corner, Shane accosts him and seems to try and provoke Stone Cold into hitting him. If Austin gets disqualified specifically for hitting Shane then The Undertaker wins the title. That’s a special rule for this match added by McMahon. 

Stone Cold works on The Undertaker’s leg (which is smart) and Shane keeps getting in his face trying to provoke Austin as best he can.

On the outside Austin tries to position The Undertaker’s leg on the ring steps but Shane drags him away. King is pretty funny here, saying that he likes it when referees let the wrestlers fight on the outside when The Undertaker is in control, and then moments later saying that they need to get back in the ring with Austin on offence. 

The two brawl into the crowd on the concrete and back. The Undertaker chokes Austin with some electrical cords at ringside while Shane just lets it happen. This is a very low energy brawl for a Stone Cold match, but it's impossible to judge any of these matches based on what has happened in real life earlier on this night. 

In the ring, in a spot I’ve never seen before or since when Stone Cold goes for the Thez Press, The Undertaker catches him and drives him with a spinebuster. That was quite cool.

Paul Bearer uses a shoe to get in a cheapshot on Austin on the apron. 

After a period of being slowly worked over on the outside, Austin fires up and mounts a comeback, maybe sensing that they’ve lost the crowd. 

The brawl takes them up the ramp and Austin actually drives The Undertaker’s head through a couple of hanging stained glass windows that are part of the set dressing. They fight around on the concrete and The Undertaker gets control with a backdrop.

In the ring, The Undertaker dominates and Austin uses a low blow and a big running elbow off the ropes. For the first time, Shane McMahon refuses to count Austin’s cover. 

Paul Bearer passes The Undertaker a chair and Austin sends him crashing into Shane McMahon and uses the chair himself, knocking out The Undertaker. He covers and Gerry Brisco runs to the ring in a referee shirt to count but it was too long and Undertaker kicks out. 

The Undertaker knocks out Brisco and recovers with a big boot as Vince McMahon returns from the hospital, limping heavily to the ring.

Stone Cold hits a Stunner but as Vince counts, Shane stops it. As Vince and Shane argue, Stone Cold approaches from behind and Shane tackles Vince sending him into Austin and with them all bowling over each other and tripping Shane is able to roll up Stone Cold and Shane uses a lightning fast three count to end the match. The Undertaker wins his third WWF title on a PPV where no one will remember it happened.

It’s Shane who celebrates with the title belt as Austin stomps away at the new champion until the Corporate Ministry runs in and takes a series of Stunners. It does let The Undertaker escape though and the PPV ends with The Undertaker holding up the Smoking Skull belt on the ramp, celebrating.