Every WWE PPV From 1999, Ranked Worst To Best
In 1999, WWE was fully immersed in the Attitude Era. The company overcame the threat that WCW presented with the arrival of the nWo, and WWE never looked back. By this time, the Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Mr. McMahon feud was going strong, and names like The Rock and Triple H had joined Undertaker to create one of the best main event scenes in wrestling history.
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While it was the hottest thing going and was breaking ratings' records along the way, the wrestling action itself was hit and miss. The stars were as hot as they could be, but the matches were often underwhelming outside of the main events, and the PPVs were often just used as stepping stones in the ongoing storylines.
12 Armageddon
Armageddon was the last PPV of 1999 and featured only one decent match, a steel cage match between X-Pac and Kane. The main event was Triple H vs. Mr. McMahon, where Hunter became the number one contender if he won, and his marriage to Stephanie was annulled if he lost. The women fought in an evening gown match, Chris Jericho wrestled Chyna, the WWE Championship was Big Show vs. Big Boss Man.
11 Unforgiven
Unforgiven's storyline was that the WWE Championship was vacant, so six men fought for the title in one match. For some reason, a past his prime British Bulldog was in the match, and Stone Cold Steve Austin was the guest ring enforcer outside the ring.
The first half of the card was terrible, and the second half had the Kennel From Hell match between Al Snow and Big Boss Man that remains one of WWE's worst ideas. Chris Jericho vs. X-Pac was the best match on the card.
10 King of the Ring
King of the Ring undid everything set up a month before when Mr. McMahon revealed himself as the Higher Power. Linda McMahon and Stephanie McMahon gave their controlling shares to Stone Cold Steve Austin to even the playing field with Mr. McMahon and Shane.
On this show, Vince & Shane beat Austin to get control back. This was also the King of the Ring where Billy Gunn won, only to have The Rock emasculate him and destroy his push after that. The Undertaker also wrestled The Rock on this card in a rare encounter between the two.
9 WrestleMania XV
WWE held its Brawl for All in 1999, and WrestleMania XV was where Butterbean knocked out the winner, Bart Gunn, in 35 seconds. This was also the notorious Undertaker vs. Big Boss Man Hell in a Cell match, one of the worst in that match's history.
Shane McMahon vs. X-Pac was good, and The Rock vs. Stone Cold was great, but for a WrestleMania, this show was a huge letdown.
8 Survivor Series
Survivor Series in 1999 marked the debut of Kurt Angle, and while he was wrestling Shawn Stasiak, it was still a big-time debut for the Olympic Gold Medal winner. This card also featured a match where Chyna pinned Chris Jericho in one of their better matches.
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The show was headlined by a great match, though, with Big Show winning the WWE Championship in a three-way over Triple H and The Rock.
7 St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The first five matches on the St. Valentine's Day Massacre PPV were below average to poor, at best. However, things picked up after that, and the PPV finished strong. The Chyna & Kane vs. Triple H & X-Pac match was entertaining, and the last two matches were just fantastic.
In a Last Man Standing Match, Mankind and The Rock went to a draw when neither man could reach the 10-count. The main event was the iconic steel cage match with Stone Cold Steve Austin beating Mr. McMahon despite Big Show making his WWE debut to try to interfere, but accidentally throwing Austin through the cage wall.
6 Rebellion
WWE Rebellion 1999 was one of the WWE PPV events originating from the U.K. The PPV was different because it had a storyline running through the show with British Bulldog and resulted in the Stephanie McMahon amnesia angle.
As for the matches, the main event steel cage match between Triple H and The Rock was really good with a ton of run-ins, including by the Bulldog. There was also one other good matched with Chris Jericho beating The Road Dogg.
5 Fully Loaded
This was a weird show because the first two matches and last two matches were good, but everything in between was skippable and not worth revisiting. The first two matches saw Jeff Jarrett beat Edge and The Hardy Boyz, losing their tag titles to The Acolytes.
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The last two matches had a bunch of major players during the Attitude Era. Triple H beat The Rock in a Strap Match, and Stone Cold beat The Undertaker in a First Blood Match to retain his WWE Championship.
4 Royal Rumble
The Royal Rumble matches in the Attitude Era were never that great. The 1999 version had a terrible ending, with Mr. McMahon and Stone Cold battling through the arena while the match went on in the ring, and after all the real wrestlers sold that match to the fans, McMahon returned and won it all. Despite the end, the match itself was great. There was also one other great match on the card in the infamous Rock vs. Mankind I Quit Match where a recording of Foley screaming "I Quit" in a previous promo played over the speakers.
3 SummerSlam
SummerSlam is the WWE's number two PPV every year after WrestleMania, and in 1999, it was better than the Granddaddy of them All. Almost every match on the show was good. Test vs. Shane McMahon was fantastic and might be one of the best matches of either men's career. The triple-threat for the WWE Championship where Mankind won the world title over Stone Cold and Triple H was also great. The only bad matches were the women's match and the underwhelming Rock vs. Billy Gunn match.
2 No Mercy
No Mercy 1999 included the best WWE match of the entire year, with the Hardy Boyz fighting The Brood (Edge & Christian) in a Ladder Match that equals if not surpasses, their later matches.
However, this wasn't a one-match PPV. There was also the WWE Championship between Triple H and Stone Cold, although it wasn't as good as their later matches. Mankind vs. Val Venis was good and the Good Housekeeping match between Chyna and Jeff Jarrett was a very Attitude Era-esque brawl.
1 Backlash
Backlash 1999 was another PPV that only had one bad match in The Godfather vs. Goldust. However, the Stone Cold vs. The Rock No Holds Barred Match for the WWE Championship was great, as was the Ken Shamrock vs. Undertaker match.
Triple H vs. X-Pac was really good, and the Boiler Room Brawl between Mankind and Big Show was great for what it was. There was even a great tag team match between the New Age Outlaws and Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart.
