Chairshot Classics: WWF SummerSlam 1999

All the Titles are on the line and we get a Main Event that features Mankind, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H. Plus one of the most controversial finishes of The Attitude Era. All this and more as www.thechairshot.com brings you another edition of Chairshot Classics!

We hop into the WWE Network’s DeLorean for a Trip to August 22, 1999 and we will spend the next few hours in The Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There is 17,750 people in the building and another 600,000 tuning in on PPV. The price at the time to rent on PPV was still around 30 bucks. The WWF is on a ratings tear and is destroying the competition. The Monday Night War rating at this time are as follows; 8/02-RAW-5.9, NITRO-3.1, 8/09-RAW-6.4, NITRO-3.1, 8/16-RAW-6.6, NITRO-6.6, NITRO-3.3. These numbers are absolutely crazy and its even crazier to think what the WWE would do to have these kind of rating again. Anything can happen in the WWF so lets get this show underway for “An Out of Body Experience”!

The show opens with a vignette showing all the special guest referee matches in the career of Stone Cold thus far and tonight is no different. It leads with the WrestleMania 14 where “Iron” Mike Tyson was the ref and betrayed the trust of Shawn Michaels by counting Austin’s pin and thus giving him the strap. Next is the night of May 31, 1998 where Vince is the special ref at In Your House: Over The Edge for a match between Austin and Dude Love. Austin would use Vince’s hand to make the three count after Dude Love misses with a Chairshot and knocks McMahon out. Finally we see how Shane ‘O’ Mac fast-counted on Steve to cost him the Strap to The Undertaker on May 23, 1999 edition of RAW. This all of course builds to showing Jesse “The Body” Ventura being declared the special guest referee for tonight’s Main Event. Ventura was the newly appointed Governor of Minnesota and this is his first appearance in the WWF since 1990. He had a falling out after he filed, and won, a lawsuit against Vince McMahon in 1994 over royalty money for Coliseum Home Video’s VHS releases of previous PPVs.

We enter the pyro filed Target Center and Jim Ross introduces us to his partner-in-crime for the night, Jerry “The King” Lawler. JR then ask us if we are ready for “An Out Of Body Experience”, as this is the tag-line for the event. The signs are in full force in the audience as Jim Ross is explaining how there are six Titles on the line tonight and that Ventura plans on providing “Law and Order” in the Main Event. Some of the signs read some funny stuff like “De-Bra Debra” and “I’m as hard as a ROCK”. I don’t imagine you could get away with signs like this on todays PG product. Ross tells us that the show sold out in less than hour as the broadcast cuts to the back and Ventura, in Zebra stripes, is standing by with Triple H and Chyna. He is telling them this is his state and he is the “Law and Order” around here and that if they break any of the rules out there they will have to deal with him. Triple H tells him “I’ll break whatever rules I want” and storms out. Such a rebel that Helmsley is.

It shows us a clip of from earlier in the day and it is of Chris Jericho arriving in the arena as Howard Finkel is carrying all his bags. Jericho goes on to ask him “Do you think Jericho is here to save the WWF Herald?” and “Don’t you believe in Y2J?”. He continues to call him Harold as Howard agrees with him. Jericho is awesome hear on the mic per usual and he has said he thinks this is his first good promo leading to his debut.

Back in the arena now and the place is on their feet as Jeff Jarrett’s theme begins to play. He makes his way to the ring and is joined by Debra, and her “Puppies”. Finkel then tells us that both the European and Intercontinental Championships are on the line. When they enter the ring Jeff is yelling at Debra for posing for the camera, and we can already hear Lawler starting with the “Puppy” talk. For those that may not know this is a reference to Debra’s large breasts. Jarrett then forces Debra to go to the back and this enrages The King and the fans. The fans begin to chant “Asshole” at Double J.

When she returns through the curtain we see her talking to D-Lo Brown, Jeff’s opponent and the IC and European Champion. Debra is asking D-Lo if she can join him instead at ringside and he obliges her. When the pair enter the arena the Target Center is absolutely shaking and Jarrett is as equally pissed as the fans are excited. But no one is more excited to see the puppies return that Jerry Lawler. The crowd is continuing to go nut as D-Lo hits the corners and Debra teases the removal of her jacket, even though it couldn’t possibly show off anymore. This leads to an ambush by Jarrett before the bell sounds and the lights are fully lit again. Jarrett delivers a series of punches until Brown hits a flying forearm coming off a reversed Irish whip. Jeff jumps over D-Lo on an Irish whip attempt but Brown rewards him with a scoopslam for his efforts. Another scoopslam leads to a pop from the crowd as Jarrett rolls from the ring to recover. The ref stops Brown from going after him and Jarrett tries to use this to his advantage. This backfires though and he is soon Irish whipped into a sit-down powerslam from Brown. There’s more pop from the crowd for this but it only gets the two count. Jeff would apply a rest-hold sleeper but D-Lo counters out of it and hits a powerplex. After the maneuver he goes to the ropes to amp the crowd up with his arms out and neck bobbing like crazy. This sends the crowd into an absolute frenzy, but King would attribute this pop to the puppies.

D-Lo attempts a lariat from the second rope but Jarrett manages to reverse it into a sidewalk slam. He follows it up by dropkicking Brown and sending him between the rope to the outside. Debra helps him to his feet but Jeff Jarrett is in waiting and comes through the ropes, hitting him with a baseball slide. He then goes straight for Debra and yelling at her to remain in the corner. Jeff then uses the ring steps to his advantage before returning to the ring. Jarrett attempts to jump from the apron on Brown but he manages to move and Jarret hits the apron. D-Lo follows the reversal up by clotheslining him over the rail and into the crowd. After a few punches from Brown, Jarrett reverses a suplex attempt over the railing with a backslide. He the throws Brown into the apron. After a whip to the ring post, Debra is again attempting to help D-Lo up. This of course pisses Jeff off again, who returns Brown to the ring after yelling at her. After some back and forth, Jarrett hits a cool armbar tornado DDT off the second rope. He doesn’t go for the pin, though, and instead goes over to berate Debra. He continues to work the arm of Brown as the crowd chants “We Want Puppies”. D-Lo regains some momentum after he reverses the ten count punches in the corner by flap-jacking the face of Jarrett into the turnbuckle. D-Lo follows this up by going “DownTown” and hitting his signature sit-down powerbomb that leaves both men on the mat. Both men return to their feet and after Jarrett ducks under a clothesline he catches a tilt-a-whirl slam and the crowd is popping when D-Lo follows it up with a jumping kick to the chest of Double J. He hits the “You betta recognize” leg drop but Jarrett manages to kick out.

After a suplex, D-Lo Brown is pointing at the corner and calling for a LowDown which is his version of a frogsplash. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, D-Lo has one of my top five frogsplashes of all-time. Jarrett rolls out of harms way making Brown miss and this is when we see Debra get on the apron. Jarrett is attempting to hit Debra with a guitar, but the ref is dividing the two. This is when we see Mark Henry slide into the ring and take said guitar. The twist comes next when Henry, who is allied with D-Lo, turns on his friend and blasts him with the guitar. This really gets the heat turned up with the fans. Jarrett makes the cover and gets the three count and the fans are pissed. Debra then joins Jarrett in the ring and is celebrating with him as if it was all a work. Henry joins in the celebration after slapping the face of Brown. This would lead to Mark Henry’s first title when on the following night’s RAW Jarrett awards him with the European Championship for his efforts. This was a good opening match, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it as well. The swerve ending was even well enough done. It’s worth a watch in my opinion and Jarrett did a good job keeping the heat up with the crowd. Match Time: 7:28

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