Royal Rumble 1999 - The Worst Ever?

[ASR (therockisback)]

Continuing on with Rumble stuff during Rumble season...

Would you guys say that this is the worst Rumble match in history? I ain't rewatched it in years, but man, this stuff was bad. Just lame & a huge letdown. I highly doubt that there will ever be a Rumble that will eventually overtake 99 as the worst ever lol.

Austin should have won or at least have him & Vince win together like Bret/Luger. I'd say then it would be much better lol.

Kane,HHH,Owen,Goldust,Shamrock,Chyna,X Pac, Road Dogg,Edge,Bossman, Jarrett etc... some great talent in here but it just sucked man.

[JokerFC]

Not even close. RR 1995 is degrees worse by leaps and bounds. A short RR full of nobodies. zero personality and a total f*cking snore the entire way through. bam Bam, IRS, Undertaker, JJ, Razor etc should have been amde do double duty to liven this turd up.

Royal Rumble 99 was servicing many masters but its main goal was to further the Austin vs McMahon feud. It did an excellent job of that and not ONE PERSON seen the Vince win coming. Vince on commentary was also gold slowly watching the crowd thinning and his time with Austin creeping up....also the crowd was crazy into it from Austin's return in the Ambulance until the finish.

[AndrewR85]

I consider it the worst RR I have ever seen, in part due to the obvious 'winner'.

If Vince and Austin had actually been in the ring the entire time, and Vince had managed to eliminate Austin by himself without help from The Rock, who distracted Austin, I might view it differently.

[CM Tusk]

Nah, it was all about the Austin/McMahon story which was the hottest thing in wrestling at the time and led to one of my all time favorite matches, the cage match at St Valentines Day Massacre.

As mentioned, 95 was pretty sh**. Then you have 2015, which didn’t suck because Roman won regardless of what anyone tries to tell you, but sucked because it was booked so badly throughout. Honestly every Rumble from 2011- 2015 was pretty bad.

So I wouldn’t put the 1999 on in even the top 10 worst.

[TKO Propagandist]

Nope it was a storyline. It felt like an Attitude Era episode of RAW the way it was booked.

[MKSavage]

I put this in another thread:

Just watched this one the other night. I don't get all the hate for this one; it's not the best, but I don't think it's the worst. There were parts that were bad, but overall, it wasn't the worst that I've seen. The Austin/McMahon storyline was done really well. They maybe could have let Austin/McMahon stay in the match a little longer [at the beginning], maybe till #8 or #10 entered the ring (they left the ring after #3 entered). Austin could have eliminated a lot of the jobbers that never had a chance (Golga, Gilberg, Viscera, Blue Meanie, etc.) then leave the ring to chase after Vince. They did a good job with the $100,000 dollar bounty on Austin. No one would let someone else eliminate Austin [because they wanted the bounty for themselves], so that made sense for him still being there at the end. And like you said, I bet no one thought that Vince was going to win it, so it was definitely more unpredictable than other rumbles like 1995, 1996, and 1998. The Rock vs. Mankind match was really good, felt like a real street fight, though the chair shots at the end are hard to watch. None of the other matches were anything great, they weren't bad, but nothing great. Other than Michael Cole being on the commentary team, I don't see a reason for it being the worst of the 90s.

Overall, a decent PPV.

I still say 1995 was the worst Rumble PPV and Match of the out of all Royal Rumble's in the 90s. I would probably put the 1998 and 1997 Rumble's behind this one as well. I've been binge-watching Royal Rumble PPVs (in order), I started with the 1990 PPV; I just finished the 2000 Rumble. So far, I would say the 1995 was the worst, followed by 2000.  

[The Brain]

My top 5 worst  Rumbles from the 90s in order..

99
95
97
96
93

I can see why a lot of ppl think 95 is the worst as it is sh** no doubt but to me 99 edges it out just barely.

[ClassicFan2]

its at the top, but 95 takes the cake

my top 5 worst:

95
99
97
96
00

[ClassicFan2]

Jan 19, 2024 9:57:09 GMT -5 The Brain said:

My top 5 worst  Rumbles from the 90s in order..

99
95
97
96
93

I can see why a lot of ppl think 95 is the worst as it is sh** no doubt but to me 99 edges it out just barely.

93 was actually decent. still had old school stars we like & some fun moments

man, if only warrior, bulldog, kamala, crush, nailz, etc were in it. bam bam and bossman coulda pulled double duty as well.

still, it had undertaker, flair, perfect, savage, yoko, & tatanka in it, plus giant gonzales comin in was very excitin to me (i LOVES the giants)

[nibs92]

I didn’t mind it. It was in keeping with the WWF at the time and formed part of one of the greatest storylines in WWF history (imo) - Austin v McMahon.

[ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕋𝕠 𝕂𝕚𝕝𝕝]

Its bad but I'd say 2015 and even 2022 are worse.

I think history will prove more and more that the 2022 Rumble was just atrocious.

[LA Times]

In a shoot interview, Dan Severn said he had an offer from Eric Bischoff to start shooting on guys in the Royal Rumble match and refuse to be thrown out. He must have forgotten Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman were also in the match and he wouldve also found himself surrounded by 6-7 guys who wouldve stomped him down, especially if he was doing the Lay n Pray wrestling that he specializes in.

[TheEvilDoink1987]

As someone who grew up as a wrestling fan in that glorious era and has a ton of nostalgia for that general timeframe, 1999 WWF doesn't hold up too well for me the same way that 1997/1998/2000 still do.

The actual in-ring work wasn't necessarily good and a lot of the PPVs haven't aged well. WrestleMania XV is one of my least favorite shows in the forty year history of that event. The storylines were getting away from the grips of "reality-based" TV and becoming almost silly. A lot of sex and non-stop chaos although that was more of a reflection on what was "cool" at the time in pop culture. Like listening to a Limp Bizkit song in 2024, it was one of those things where you needed to be there back in the day to really understand how significant something was in order to give it so much nostalgia decades later in a much different world.

I didn't think the 1999 Rumble was too bad though. However, things just kind of went off the rails of the proverbial crazy train soon enough and didn't get back on track until the end of the year. 2000, in my opinion, is one of those years where they got the recipe just right with all the ingredients of match quality/adult content/comedy/intriguing storylines blended together perfectly where 1999 felt unbalanced and out of sorts.

On that note, I was 12 in 1999 and soaked up every bit of WWF goodness that I could get my hands on like an addicted junkie. This is just my reflection looking back 25 years later.

[TheEvilDoink1987]

Jan 19, 2024 15:35:19 GMT -5 LA Times said:

In a shoot interview, Dan Severn said he had an offer from Eric Bischoff to start shooting on guys in the Royal Rumble match and refuse to be thrown out. He must have forgotten Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman were also in the match and he wouldve also found himself surrounded by 6-7 guys who wouldve stomped him down, especially if he was doing the Lay n Pray wrestling that he specializes in.

I don't care how legitimately tough you are, he wouldn't have been able to fend off a ring full of other wrestlers. That's a poor match type to consider that kind of stunt.

[JokerFC]

I heard Severn say that & I don't believe that at all 🤣🤣🤣

It's right up there with Nash saying he didn't really want to leave wwf in 96 & Bulldog telling younger folks the screwjob was a work

[hbkbigdaddycool]

Jan 19, 2024 17:04:15 GMT -5 JokerFC said:

I heard Severn say that & I don't believe that at all 🤣🤣🤣

It's right up there with Nash saying he didn't really want to leave wwf in 96 & Bulldog telling younger folks the screwjob was a work

That part I know is true in that Bulldog did say that.

It was in Cambridge, Ontario when he was training in spring of 1999 for his WWF return.  His son Harry and buddy TJ (Tyson Kidd) were all there at the time.  I know this cause Eric Young was training there at the time and Bulldog told him and others there that Montreal was a work and that he (Davey) got a lot of money from the WWF to fake a bum knee from Shawn and leave the company to go to WCW.

Now Davey is also pretty high on percs and other drugs too during this time, so who knows if he was telling the truth.  But he did in fact say all that to EY cause EY told me about it not too long after when he came home to visit his mom, me and others who were close to him.

[theoutlaw1999]

Jan 19, 2024 16:46:37 GMT -5 TheEvilDoink1987 said:

As someone who grew up as a wrestling fan in that glorious era and has a ton of nostalgia for that general timeframe, 1999 WWF doesn't hold up too well for me the same way that 1997/1998/2000 still do.

The actual in-ring work wasn't necessarily good and a lot of the PPVs haven't aged well. WrestleMania XV is one of my least favorite shows in the forty year history of that event. The storylines were getting away from the grips of "reality-based" TV and becoming almost silly. A lot of sex and non-stop chaos although that was more of a reflection on what was "cool" at the time in pop culture. Like listening to a Limp Bizkit song in 2024, it was one of those things where you needed to be there back in the day to really understand how significant something was in order to give it so much nostalgia decades later in a much different world.

I didn't think the 1999 Rumble was too bad though. However, things just kind of went off the rails of the proverbial crazy train soon enough and didn't get back on track until the end of the year. 2000, in my opinion, is one of those years where they got the recipe just right with all the ingredients of match quality/adult content/comedy/intriguing storylines blended together perfectly where 1999 felt unbalanced and out of sorts.

On that note, I was 12 in 1999 and soaked up every bit of WWF goodness that I could get my hands on like an addicted junkie. This is just my reflection looking back 25 years later.

As a kid I hate the sex, especially when your watching with your parents in the room, but apart from that 1999 was nail biting and full of awesomeness.

Unlike 97&98 1999 planted the seeds for the long term future. You had the debut of Smackdown along with the rise of The Rock & HHH & so many new talents joined.

[theoutlaw1999]

1999 Rumble had a story and delivered it perfectly.

The match was fun and Vince winning was so unexpected. 

[TheEvilDoink1987]

Jan 19, 2024 18:25:32 GMT -5 theoutlaw1999 said:

Jan 19, 2024 16:46:37 GMT -5 TheEvilDoink1987 said:

As someone who grew up as a wrestling fan in that glorious era and has a ton of nostalgia for that general timeframe, 1999 WWF doesn't hold up too well for me the same way that 1997/1998/2000 still do.

The actual in-ring work wasn't necessarily good and a lot of the PPVs haven't aged well. WrestleMania XV is one of my least favorite shows in the forty year history of that event. The storylines were getting away from the grips of "reality-based" TV and becoming almost silly. A lot of sex and non-stop chaos although that was more of a reflection on what was "cool" at the time in pop culture. Like listening to a Limp Bizkit song in 2024, it was one of those things where you needed to be there back in the day to really understand how significant something was in order to give it so much nostalgia decades later in a much different world.

I didn't think the 1999 Rumble was too bad though. However, things just kind of went off the rails of the proverbial crazy train soon enough and didn't get back on track until the end of the year. 2000, in my opinion, is one of those years where they got the recipe just right with all the ingredients of match quality/adult content/comedy/intriguing storylines blended together perfectly where 1999 felt unbalanced and out of sorts.

On that note, I was 12 in 1999 and soaked up every bit of WWF goodness that I could get my hands on like an addicted junkie. This is just my reflection looking back 25 years later.

As a kid I hate the sex, especially when your watching with your parents in the room, but apart from that 1999 was nail biting and full of awesomeness.

Unlike 97&98 1999 planted the seeds for the long term future. You had the debut of Smackdown along with the rise of The Rock & HHH & so many new talents joined.

Again, I absolutely loved it back then, but don't think the in-ring action was on the level it was overall in 97/98 as well as 2000.

Of course, there are always exceptions, but the overall ridiculous popularity of wrestling at the time I think masks some of the flaws of that era. We ate everything up.

[JokerFC]

Jan 19, 2024 17:41:44 GMT -5 hbkbigdaddycool said:

Jan 19, 2024 17:04:15 GMT -5 JokerFC said:

I heard Severn say that & I don't believe that at all 🤣🤣🤣

It's right up there with Nash saying he didn't really want to leave wwf in 96 & Bulldog telling younger folks the screwjob was a work

That part I know is true in that Bulldog did say that.

It was in Cambridge, Ontario when he was training in spring of 1999 for his WWF return.  His son Harry and buddy TJ (Tyson Kidd) were all there at the time.  I know this cause Eric Young was training there at the time and Bulldog told him and others there that Montreal was a work and that he (Davey) got a lot of money from the WWF to fake a bum knee from Shawn and leave the company to go to WCW.

Now Davey is also pretty high on percs and other drugs too during this time, so who knows if he was telling the truth.  But he did in fact say all that to EY cause EY told me about it not too long after when he came home to visit his mom, me and others who were close to him.

Oh I know he said it. I was saying it's as ludicrous as Bischoff paying Severn to shoot when Turner was in genuine legal trouble with Titan & Nash saying he didn't want to leave.

All 3 are complete nonsense.