Unforgiven 1999 - Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte North Carolina, September 26th, 1999
Unforgiven! The main event has, including the referee, seven main eventers (well, six and The British Bulldog) involved in a single match, plus The Undertaker has walked out and Ken Shamrock has left the company. So what on Earth is filling up the rest of the card? Surprisingly, a lot. Six titles on the line tonight.
The opening for this PPV has two of my all time favourite production tracks - the one used for the actual video package and then the one they’re using as the PPV theme song. Jim Johnson man, well done. A pair of bangers.
Right at the start of the show, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler remind us of the ongoing storyline where the referees are on strike. Tonight’s show is staffed by “scab referees” who crossed the picket line. This actually does end up mattering too and they’d talk about the perceived tension between the regular referees and the scabs throughout the night.
Val Venis vs. Steve Blackman
Honestly I forget how this feud started but Val Venis stole Steve Blackman’s bag of weapons and has been implying that he’s using them as sex toys, and when Blackman got the bag back on Raw he found a vibrating doo-dad inside to his disgust. Not the most sophisticated of storylines. It’s been a while since Val Venis got to do one of his pre-match promos on a PPV. This is actually his first PPV appearance as a singles wrestler since Wrestlemania! (He was in a mixed tag at Over the Edge but that is best forgotten for a few reasons).
The scab referee for this match is Steve Lombardi aka The Brooklyn Brawler.
This is a spirited match between two guys who’ve done nothing for a couple of months and clearly see this as their chance to prove their worth and get back in the storyline mix. They fight in and out of the ring and Val takes a rough tumble into the ring steps and is then driven spine first into the post.
The match is technically fine but not very interesting and after trading near falls for about seven minutes, Val wins remarkably cleanly with a DDT and then Money Shot splash.
Post match, Blackman regains his bag of weapons and knocks out Val with a kendo stick! He stays in the ring when the medical professionals come out to check on Val, including a blonde with absolutely enormous breasts who gets a big cheer from the live crowd because it’s 1999. Blackman gets in the officials faces and the head of WWF security - Jim Dodson - tackles Blackman and sends him out of the ring. So the afters were certainly more interesting than the match itself but I’ve no idea where any of it is going.
WWF European Championship
Mark Henry © vs. D’Lo Brown
There’s a full video package for this month as it technically had a couple of months worth of build.
Mark Henry is interviewed before the match by Lillian Garcia (who debuted the night after Summerslam and is the worst ring announcer I’ve ever heard) and he makes a pass at her and gets slapped for it.
Out in the ring, Mark has a pre-match promo who he claims that Lillian’s slap may have caused a “brainueurism” (a joke that King would repeat no less than 800 times during the match) and that he can no longer compete tonight.
It ends up not mattering as D’Lo Brown comes out and the match just starts with a brawl on the ramp leading to the ring and the bell ringing. D’Lo has updated his theme music slightly to the much more awesome “You’re looking at the real deal now” version.
The scab referee for this match is WWF official Tom Pritchard (a former tag team champion, who is wearing bright blue trousers which is a little distracting). He is apparently the “head of the scab referees”.
Mark takes control early by sending Brown into the ringpost and tries to take a count out victory but D’Lo gets into the ring.
There’s some good offence as D’Lo uses the Sky High sit down slam and a great looking dive over the top rope to the floor, and then a crossbody in the ring all for near falls but Mark is very strong and uses a gorilla press to get control again.
Mark actually does look in much better shape than he did in the summer and to my surprise even JR compliments him on it. He’s been very mean about Mark’s weight gain in the past.
Mark dominates with power moves but with a hurricanrana and leg drop D’Lo gets back in it and the crowd comes alive for him. I’ve mentioned it lots of times but D’Lo has gotten so much better in the past 18 months, almost month to month and looks like he’s in amazing shape here.
D’Lo counters a mounted punch in the corner spot into a powerbomb and then follows up with the Low Down top rope splash to regain the European title. D’Lo is now a four time European champion. Really I bring up how much D’Lo has improved and what a big fan of his I’ve become because this, sadly, is his last “big” moment, winning this title on PPV.
Backstage while Michael Cole interviews The Acolytes ahead of their match with The Dudley Boyz (I’ll get to it), Chaz arrives and is attacked and beaten out of the locker room by various jobbers and midcarders. There are allegations that he's been beating his girlfriend Mariyana and it's made him very unpopular. I honestly have no idea how they thought this storyline would do anything for anyone involved.
Jeff Jarrett has been on a crusade to prove men’s superiority to women for the past month. He’s like a man possessed as he’s attacked non-wrestlers, smashed guitars over women’s heads and aimed his focus at Chyna. He seems offended that Chyna has earned a shot at his title. His on screen relationship with Debra ended a couple of weeks ago when he turned on her and put her in the figure four. Before the match, she says that she’s done with him but Jeff still has Miss Kitty, who he introduced as Debra’s assistant the night after Summerslam.
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Jeff Jarrett © w/Miss Kitty vs. Chyna
Chyna is still using “My Time” and doesn’t have her own music yet. She gets a big pop from the crowd and has gotten over as a babyface especially with the female fans during her feud with Jeff but they still have her doing horrifically evil things with Triple H so it’s a bit of a mess. The scab referee in this match is Harvey Whippleman.
Jerry Lawler has apparently done a full 180 in the past month as he now seems to think it's fine for a man to wrestle a woman and that it would be absolutely fine for Chyna to win this. JR meanwhile still seems pretty sexist as the idea of a woman beating a man seems to be implausible to him.
Jeff shows no mercy and works really aggressively with Chyna, sending her into the ring post and the announce table beating her from pillar to post.
Jarrett spikes Chyna with a superplex which would seem to be enough but Chyna kicks out.
Jerry Lawler is even more gross about Miss Kitty than he was about Debra, but Kitty is at least his real life girlfriend.
Mae Young and the Fabulous Moolah are in the front row during this match too, and Jeff beat the pair of them up on Smackdown a few weeks ago too.
Chyna still isn’t a great wrestler but Jeff does a good job of leading her through it, as Chyna hits the occasional big move to stay in the match. Chyna gets a nearfall from a big powerslam and then another when she counters a dropkick into a powerbomb.
She goes for a hurricanrana but is powerbombed for her trouble but then counters a figure four attempt into a kick out of the ring.
Chyna goes down and the referee gets knocked down so Jeff grabs his guitar and takes aim at Chyna but Moolah and Mae Young are there to stop him and give him a double suplex!
It doesn’t do much as Jeff lays them out with a double clothesline and a couple of punts to the ribs, which has Jerry Lawler laughing hysterically. Me too, to be honest. It’s so hilariously over the top as heel antics go.
Jeff sets up Chyna for the figure four as Debra walks to the ring. She shoves Miss Kitty down, and then smashes Jarrett’s own guitar over his head! The crowd goes wild!
Chyna covers Jeff just as the referee recovers and Chyna wins the Intercontinental Championship! The outcome got a huge pop and I couldn’t help but watch the fans in the front row - women cheering, and men sulking with their arms folded.
As Chyna celebrates with the title belt, the head scab referee Tom Pritchard runs down and stops it! He reverses the decision because of the guitar shot and awards the match, via disqualification, to Jeff Jarrett. A furious Chyna gives Tom a low blow and a Pedigree! Chyna leaves all the men laying, but without the Intercontinental title. It’s funny though because you know Chyna must be a good guy now as JR sings her praises despite her helping Triple H break his arm four weeks ago.
The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) vs. The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq)
The tye-dye wearing Dudley Boyz debuted on Smackdown a couple of weeks ago by attacking Bradshaw and Faarooq. The history here is a little muddled as The Acolytes would make multiple references to having “run another two guys back to ECW”. They mean Public Enemy, who were famously unpopular backstage and were beaten senseless in a shoot fight by Bradshaw and Faarooq. Bradshaw is famous for, among other things, being a massive locker room bully so that's hardly a shock. I believe Bubba Ray (they seem to have settled on that spelling) and D-Von earned The Acolytes respect by giving as good as they got in these teams' altercations and so they survived the hazing and will stick around for the long haul.
The referee for this one is Jimmy Kordaris, who is one of the regular referees who has seemingly crossed the picket line to become a scab himself.
Pre-match, The Dudleys give us a promo where Bubba Ray stutters, and D-Von rattles off the Dudley commandments;
- Thou shalt not steal
- Thou shalt not kill
- Thou shalt not mess with The Dudleys
The match is stiff but the fans are quiet for it, partly because Bubba and D-Von are so new and partly because I think all the heavy handed booking in the previous match used up a lot of the crowd's energy.
The action here is decent and The Dudley’s get a couple of near falls off some impressive double teams including a powerbomb on Bradshaw and a top rope headbutt. It is physical!
The Dudleys hit the 3D on Faarooq but Stevie Richards dressed up as an Acolyte (a gimmick he’s been doing for a while, he’s also been dressed as Gangrel, Christian and a Dudley Boy lately) slips into the ring and blasts D-Von with a superkick allowing Faarooq to cover him and win the match.
Afterwards as Stevie tries to celebrate with The Acolytes, he gets beaten up and hammered with a double powerbomb. Faarooq does at least give him a limp handshake as he lays on the mat unconscious.
Hardcore match for the WWF Women’s Championship
Ivory © vs. Luna Vachon
They waste no time getting into this match as Ivory jumps Luna backstage with a trash can! They fight and brawl through the back, slamming each other into offices and doors and Luna uses a rotary phone as a weapon. (remember those kids?). Harvel Whippleman is the scab referee for this match too.
Luna gets a near fall when she splashes Ivory off the roof of a forklift which I was sure would be the finish.
They fight around until they happen upon Tori, who is the one who’s really been feuding with Ivory lately who tries to get involved but the women’s champion fights them both off and snaps a wooden rod across Luna’s back to subdue her and win a short but wild hardcore match and retain her women’s championship.
Moments later, as Moolah and Mae Young are asked about their well being after the Jeff Jarrett match, Ivory busts into the screen to demand respect and brag about her victory. She’s attacked by the two elderly women.
WWF Tag Team Championships
The New Age Outlaws (Roaddogg and Bad Ass Billy Gunn) © vs. Edge and Christian
There’s a bit of a story here! The tag team titles bounced around between main eventers The Undertaker and Big Show, and The Rock and Mankind. Roaddogg was injured by Chris Jericho on the first episode of Smackdown and took five weeks off to heal his back and in the meantime, Mr. Ass seemingly turned face during his interactions with Jeff Jarrett and Chyna. Out of the blue, on the last Smackdown before this PPV the Roaddogg returned and brought out Billy Gunn as his tag team partner once again. They then won the tag titles in an impromptu match from The Rock and Mankind. Clean as a whistle too! Michael Cole did the same thing on Smackdown and JR brings it up here too - there must be more to the story of this Outlaws reunion. Who instigated it? Will that plot point go anywhere? We shall see.
Edge and Christian became the official number one contenders by beating The Acolytes a couple of weeks ago and so their challenge to The Outlaws earlier tonight on Heat makes perfect sense.
Jimmy Korderis is the referee here - the one true scab.
Some nice psychology by JR as he points out that Edge and Christian have been regular partners for the past year but The Outlaws have only been back together for about four days so the two blonde Canadians seem to have the advantage.
Edge and Christian isolate Roaddogg (standard) as he works for the hot tag. They focus their offence on his back which is what Chris Jericho injured.
After a long bout of selling and JR and King trying to make each other laugh with jokes about “doggy style” and a genuinely funny exchange where King sarcastically asks JR where these guys all played college football “oh come on you didn’t think of that yourself! Who backstage is feeding you lines?”.Roaddoog counters a double suplex attempt into a double DDT of his own and tags Billy.
The two teams trade advantage and it looks like Edge and Christian might win the tag team titles with a reverse DDT on Mr. Ass but Gangrel and Matt Hardy pull Christian out of the ring and Jeff Hardy hits a missile dropkick on Edge which leaves him easy pickings for a Fameasser and The New Age Outlaws retain their newly won titles.
Backstage, Lilian Garcia interviews The British Bulldog and Triple H. Bulldog was added to the six pack challenge as a replacement for The Undertaker (more on that later) on Smackdown and immediately turned heel, attacking The Rock and costing him his Brahma Bullrope match with Triple. He says that he attacked The Rock because he’s “gotten too big for his boots”. Triple H refuses to specify what he and Bulldog’s relationship is about.
Al Snow © vs. The Big Bossman
This match came to Al Snow in a dream. Bossman has been trying to stake his claim as the most evil man who ever lived, kidnapping, killing, skinning and cooking Al Snow’s pet chihuahua Pepper all because he wanted the Hardcore title back. This match has a steel cage around the ring, and the Hell in a Cell cage over the top of that. The gap between the two cages will be patrolled by rottweilers (with handlers) and to win you must simply escape both cages.
This sounds fine in theory, but this match is famous for all the wrong reasons. The dogs were a mix of perfectly docile and distracted by the large crowd and spent the majority of the match peeing and pooping around the ring. They pose no threat to either man. The seriousness of this match and feud is also killed stone dead by JR and King laughing and talking about the dogs bad behaviour. Mick Foley would make jokes about this match for years including in his multiple autobiographies and by including the match on his career retrospective DVD boxset.
As someone who has a cute little pet dog, if the Bossman did to me what he did to Snow in real life I’d go to jail for murder. It would be some Stone Cold-esque vehicular mayhem. But alas Bossman and Al are good buddies in real life and probably had a good laugh cooking up (pun intended) this utterly ridiculous storyline. And it’s not even the most silly evil thing Bossman does this calendar year. There’s no referee in the ring for this. Or outside of the ring.
Snow jumps Bossman and uses his own nightstick against him and locks him out of the first cage as the dogs arrive. The tension builds as Bossman will apparently be attacked but it never comes. He manages to climb the cage and get into the ring to properly start the match.
The actual action is fine as Bossman suplexes Snow off the cage into the ring but no one can pay attention as the dogs bark relentlessly at each other. They’re far more interested in each other than either human being.
Both men bleed as they trade shots with the head of a shovel (which looked really painful) and a pair of pliers (which Bossman uses to cut open the roof of the Cell.
Bossman handcuffs Snow to the top turnbuckle and climbs the cage, cutting open the roof and trying to escape that way and avoiding the dogs. Snow stops him and shakes the cage, bringing him back into the ring on the top rope.
This match does see the return of Head (which gets a pop) and he knocks out Bossman and climbs the cage and escapes the second by swinging across the gap and out the door.
Al Snow wins this “match” and retains his Hardcore title.
Afterwards Bossman climbs down off the roof and the dogs (the handlers really) “chase” him up the ramp and backstage. One of the handlers actually slips on a puddle of dog pee during the chase which was the highlight of the whole match.
MIchael Cole interviews Mankind ahead of tonight’s main event. This promo is important as it is the birth of the “Rock n’ Sock Connection” name for he and The Rock’s tag team. Mankind considers The Rock “his best friend” and has developed a bit of hero worship for his formal bitter rival. They are now two time tag team champions together!
Chris Jericho (w/Curtis Hughes) vs. X-Pac
This match was added on Heat earlier tonight. It was supposed to be Chris Jericho vs. Ken Shamrock and that's a match that's had a month of very enjoyable build, but Ken Shamrock has left the company. He asked for his release to return to MMA and has made his last WWF appearance ever (as of 2023). Ken was written off TV with a rib injury on Smackdown thanks to Y2J and his new bodyguard Curtis Hughes.
X-Pac’s story since Summerslam has been one of isolation. He wasn’t booked for this show but has been on TV. He ended his tag team with Kane as he felt that he was holding Kane back and was sick of all the “Kane’s little buddy” talk. X-Pac is trying to go it alone in “the land of the giants”.
Before the match Jericho talks about saving the WWF and saving this “boring PPV” and brags about ending Ken Shamrock’s career. Which it would turn out to be technically true, though I don’t think they mention Shamrock ever again. He’s a big loss as he’s been on all of these shows since the beginning and was always featured prominently. Fare thee well, Kenny.
This is as good a spot as any to talk about Y2J’s early WWF career. He talked about this period a lot in his book and shared that he was not popular backstage. He had a lot of “back in WCW we used to do this..” kind of chat which rubbed everyone the wrong way. Vince McMahon wasn’t happy with him playing his heel persona as a coward and wanted him to be a bit of a badass instead. X-Pac was very much the measuring stick in the WWF. He’s a great wrestler and can have a good match with literally anyone so he’d be put out there with new guys to check that they’re any good. Jericho won’t even be on the next PPV and in the weeks after he’d be fighting for his life trying to resist being buried. But I’ll get to that in due course.
This match should be an absolute belter as these two former WCW cruiserweight champions have worked together many times.
Tom Prichard is referee here and is pretty useless as Jericho and Hughes openly cheat on the outside. X-Pac hits an impressive springboard dive to the floor and Jericho does a poor job of catching him in a scary spot.
Jericho hits a nice missile dropkick in the ring and the fans boo loudly - there’s an altercation or something happening in the crowd which has stolen everyone’s attention.
Honestly it was hard to pay any attention to this match as the fans boo and cheer seemingly at random and chant multiple things I can’t really make out.
The action is slow as the two men try to just wait out the rowdy fans and use restholds.
X-Pac lights up Jericho with a pair of spinning heel kicks and then takes a moment to dive out onto Curtis Hughes who has tried to cheat multiple times.
He gets a near fall off a crossbody but has his Bronco Buster countered with a low blow and then a senton off the middle rope for a close nearfall.
X-Pac comes back with the Bronco Buster and Curtis Hughes gets in the ring and punches out the referee.
Jericho and Hughes beat down X-Pac two on one as the bell rings and this match ends via disqualification.
Roaddogg (in a Mr. Ass t-shirt) runs in and makes the save when it is announced that X-Pac is the official winner. There’s actually been no mention of D-Generation X lately, and whether Roaddogg and X-Pac are still together and whether Mr. Ass has mended fences there too. I guess we’ll find out!
Six Pack Challenge for the Vacant WWF Championship
The Rock vs. Mankind vs. Triple H vs. The Big Show vs. The British Bulldog vs. Kane
Special guest referee: Stone Cold Steve Austin
The video package for this one is pretty lame as it’s a mostly text retelling of what has been an awesome and eventful five weeks.
Back in the arena, King and JR talk about how Fear Factory and System of a Down did the music for the package which makes me think that it was probably a much more awesome music video before the WWE Network version stripped it out for generic non-licensed music.
How did we get here? Well, Triple H won the title from Mankind the night after Summerslam and in the process blasted The Rock with a chair. As he feuded with The Rock and Mankind, he also crossed paths with Kane. The Undertaker and The Big Show - who had a very teacher and mentor relationship - tried to recruit Kane and so Triple H bludgeoned The Big Show with a sledgehammer too. With all these enemies, the six pack challenge was set. Triple H also pissed off the McMahons which led to the return of Vince which is why the title is vacant in this match (see the video package for more on that). On the final Smackdown, Vince made Triple H face all five men ahead of the PPV but The Undertaker refused to do as he was told and just walked out instead. He won’t be back until May and so The British Bulldog who only just returned asked to take his place and was granted it. He instantly turned heel and attacked The Rock and here we are.
The Undertaker had been noticeably avoiding wrestling for weeks now and the real reason he “walked out” is because he needs major surgery. He’s a big loss to the roster but some time off and a refresh of the main event scene isn’t a bad idea.
Where did The British Bulldog come from? He returned from WCW and was initially a good guy but turned heel on The Rock on Smackdown, right after being announced as The Undertaker’s replacement. His singular focus is to win the only title he’s never held - the WWF Championship. That’s fine, but he looks terrible. Davey was sadly at the tail end of not just his career but his life and years of injuries to his back, and a decades long addition to pills and other less legal drugs meant that he looked terrible. He was in his late-30s but looked like he was in his 50s, and his brain was pickled, meaning none of his promos were very good either. He just sadly didn’t have a lot to offer in 1999 and needed rehab and looking after, not a position wrestling on TV.
The Big Show enters first, followed by the British Bulldog and then Mankind. Kane is fourth in his awesome new gear with the black and red pallet swapped. Triple H is fifth (he’s announced as being accompanied by Chyna but she isn’t with him) and finally The People’s Champion The Rock. The fans actually started loudly chanting “Rocky” during Triple H’s entrance too. Stone Cold comes out last as the special enforcer and joins the commentary desk instead. It is him that rings the bell to start the match of course and Jimmy Korderis is the real referee in the ring.
The Rock and The British Bulldog start the match. Bulldog’s ring gear is pretty hideous. He quickly tags out to Triple H. Austin is a great commentator as he speaks with passion and puts over all six men. The Rock gets the first near fall with a hot shot across the top rope and then Kane tags himself in. Triple H is taking his lumps from everyone.
Each man tags in and out and takes turns having control - Kane in particular is very impressive, moving like a light heavyweight. Its hard to keep track of who the legal man is but when Mankind ends up in the ring with The Rock he tags back out. Mankind and The Rock do work together (reluctantly on the part of The Rock) and the fans are into it.
As the match progresses a little army of referees - the ones on strike - come down to the ring. They seem to have only just realised that Jimmy Korderis broke the strike and is in here refereeing the main event.
The Rock gets another near fall as after he breaks up Big Show’s pin and being tagged in, hits a huge clothesline on the Big Show. Triple H breaks that up and the two fight to the outside and brawl all over the announce table - The Rock uses Austin’s beer as a weapon.
Mankind has a DDT on Kane but can’t cover in time. He goes for the Mandible Claw but Kane gets him up on his back and turns it into a tombstone! The Big Show is there to stop the pin and the throws Kane to the outside and sets up a chokeslam on Mick. That’s interrupted by a flying clothesline from Kane. Bulldog hits him with the running powerslam but turns into a Pedigree from his apparent friend Triple H.
Mankind hits a double arm DDT on The Rock! He does want to win it after all! He puts the Mandible Claw on The Rock which gets boos but Stone Cold loves it. Mankind gets dropped by a Rock Bottom but Triple H breaks up that pin.
The Big Show clears the ring and flattens Mankind with the chokeslam but as Jimmy Korderis counts, the striking referees pull the scab out of the ring! They put the boots to him so Stone Cold runs around the ring and beats up the entire crowd. He guaranteed us there would be a winner tonight and they just cost The Big Show the title.
Back in the ring, The Rock drops Triple H with a DDT and Stone Cold runs back to the ring to count for a very close two count.
The Rock hits a Rock Bottom and a People’s Elbow but as Stone Cold counts, The Big Show pulls him out of the ring. Bulldog gets in the ring and hits The Rock with a chair which sends him into a Pedigree. Austin gets back in and smashes Bulldog with his own chair and has no choice but to reluctantly count the three and award the WWF title back to Triple H.
Afterwards as Triple H celebrates in Stone Cold’s face with the title, he gets a Stone Cold Stunner. The PPV closes with Austin celebrating with beers but it’s Triple H who is now a two time WWF Champion.
This was a quick PPV but I can’t say it was a particularly worthwhile one. I’d struggle to say which matches I enjoyed and nothing really happened - D’Lo Brown won the European title again, and Triple H regained a title he lost about 10 days previous and probably shouldn’t have ever lost to begin with. It was like an episode of Raw but with less storyline development. Not a BAD show, but definitely not a good one either. The Chyna/Jeff Jarrett stuff was definitely the highlight of the show.
