The year in wrestling has come to a close. WCW started with Kevin Nash laying down for ‘Hollywood’ Hogan and the Wolfpac and Black & White combining forces for a brand new N.W.O. WCW ended ’99 with a new silver and black N.W.O. with new members Jeff Jarrett and Bret Hart. WWF kicked off 1999 with Mankind as champ and ended with The Big Show as champ. Vince McMahon eventually became good again and Stephanie turned bad. ECW kicked off ’99 with The Franchise as champ and ended with Mike Awesome reigning supreme. We saw Taz and The Dudley Boyz leave to go to Stamford, Connecticut.
It was a momentous year for wrestling, albeit a harrowful one with the deaths of Owen Hart, Brian Pillman, and Gorilla Monsoon. But there were triumphs. RAW set a ratings record with an 8.1 one night. Stone Cold regained the title in Philly at Wrestlemania. The WWF’s writers stormed away and hopped aboard the newly revamped WCW. Nitro is back to 2 hours this week and Thunder moves to Wednesdays shortly. Things are changing. ECW premiered nationally on TNN and New Jack was found not-guilty in a wrasslin’ related case against an overweight bleeder.
It was a great year for wrestling, and here are my picks for the best of the year. From hardcore king to best champ to best ppv to best federation. Enjoy:
Best Pay Per View: ECW’s HARDCORE HEAVEN (May)
ECW always puts out the best pay per vews, and arguably HH takes the cake as the best. The main event consisted of a two disgusting bloody heaps beating the shit out of eachother in a match that went in and out of the building. Taz and Buh Buh Ray Dudley didn’t pull out any spectacular moves, but the pouring blood made this one of the most memorable matches. Don’t expect Taz to bleed that much in the WWF. The other memorable matches include the pinnacle of the Jerry Lynn/ Rob Van Damme feud, which included the horrible bump Lynn took when his face hit the hard concrete after spiraling over the top rope. This pay per view also showcased a hardcore bout between Dreamer and Lance Storm, and don’t forget Sabu leg dropping Sid through a table after Sid powerbombed this shit out of the Impact Players. As a whole, this pay per view rocked.
Worst Pay Per View: WCW’s STARRCADE (December)
Talk about a disaster. This is supposed to be the biggest pay per view of the year for World Championship Wrestling. It’s WCW’s Wrestlemania. This year Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara booked the show and proved that they are idiots. Russo was quoted as saying that his booking style is showcased the best at Starrcade. The horrible matches included Evan Kourageous taking on Medusa, Sting boring us against Luger, Dustin Rhodes putting us to sleep against Jarrett in a ‘Bunkhouse Brawl’, Booker T and Midnight against Creative Control and Henig, David Flair verse DDP, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the Varsity Club verse the Revolution. The main event was Bret Hart pitted against Goldberg, which would have been awesome…but they cut the match off at around six minutes to screw Goldberg out of the title in an ode to the Surivor Series ’97 screwjob. The only thing WCW did was screw the fans out of their thirty bones.
Best Announcer: ECW’s JOEY STYLES
As Bill Alfonoso so dramatically displays when he enters the ring, Joey Styles calls it, “Right down the middle.” He’s unbiased, and he is just plain awesome. His catchphrase, “Oh my God!” defines ECW so damn well. He hosts the ECW Hardcore TV show himself, and proves that no announcer can outwit him or outsell a match more than he can. He puts excitement into matches that would be snoozers in WCW or WWF. He is the epitome of a great announcer.
Best Hardcore Wrestler: WWF’s MANKIND
This year Mankind didn’t fall off a cage twice or have his ear ripped off, but all in all he took the most chances and most bumps in his supposed last full wrestling year. While ECW’s Balls Mahoney did take numerous bumps through flaming thumbtack strewn tables, Mankind took hard hits in almost every match he was in this year, while Mahoney was known for that and that alone. Mankind was hit over the head with a steel chair fourteen times at January’s Royal Rumble I-Quit Match with The Rock. He fell roughly seven feet off a ladder onto a power supply box that sparked and shut the lights down. In February The Rock beat his candy ass all over the arena in the Last Man Standing Match. The roughest bump was when his head hit the side of the announce table and snapped back. In March he was chokeslammed from a ladder onto two tables and glass in a Boiler Room Brawl with Big Show. And in September he was thrown from the Smackdown set about twenty feet to the hard earth of the Buried Alive set. He held the WWF Championship three times this year, but it was soley through his hardcore addiction that he became the fan favorite. In his last full year of wrasslin’, he proved that Mick Foley is, and always will be…hardcore.
Best Champion: ECW’s ROB VAN DAM
He beat Bam Bam Bigelow for the ECW TV belt in the Spring of 1998. He has gone into 2000 with it still firmly around his waist. There is a problem though in the future. He faces Sabu at ECW’s Guilty as Charged on January 9th. He is the best champion of the year, and not because he hasn’t lost the belt. He is a great wrestler…period. The only reason he isn’t the wrestler of the year as a lot of internet fools believe is because his personality lacks. His storylines aren’t epic and he hasn’t gotten the mainstream push he deserves. His hi-light matches have been with Jerry ‘The New Fucking Show’ Lynn and this Fall he took on Sabu at the ECW arena which ended in a time limit draw. Forget Goldberg. Van Dam is da man.
Best Heel: ECW/WWF’s BUH BUH RAY DUDLEY
So far in the WWF, the white half of the Dudley Boyz has mostly floundered. Why? He hasn’t gotten enough interview time. Dudley’s cruelness reached it’s zenith in July at ECW’s Heatwave pay per view, where he cursed out the entire crowd, threw a beer at a fan, and taunted the fan to punch him. He then saw a mom and daughter ringside. He made a few lewd remarks about the daughter with her mom standing there helpless. In the match the two went on to put Spike Dudley through a flaming table and Balls Mahoney practically on his head. The Dudley Boyz are a great team, but this year Buh Buh proved without a shadow of a doubt he is the biggest asshole this sport has seen this year. Hopefully in the new millennium the WWF will let Buh Buh truly shine as a bad guy instead of as a backwoods joke like they did in December at the poker game between the Dudleys and The Acolytes. Buh Buh Ray was cheating. He put down his hand and said, “Six aces.”
Funniest Wrestler: WCW’s THE CAT
In the Fall of 1998 The Cat premiered and took the world by storm. Okay, he didn’t exactly make waves, but he took his act into 1999 full throttle and became the funniest wreslter of the year. Yes, Vince McMahon is hilarious, and Steve Corino and Chris Jericho are amusing, but no wrestler this year has consistently been as funny as The Cat. His dancing red shoes. His new James Brown music. His dancing. His cheating. Just the way he would come into the ring and make fun of the people at ringside. He would tell people, “I’m the greatest, nobody can whup me, call my momma!” He told fat women they couldn’t even get over the rail. Lately Russo and Ferrara haven’t been using The Cat, but hopefully in 2000 they’ll bring him and his antics back in style.
Best Group: WWF’s THE MEAN STREET POSSE
Pete Gas, Rodney, and Joey Abs make up the funniest and most entertaining group in wrestling these days. Think about it. DX and the N.W.O. are so old and lame. The Corporate Ministry and Corporation were pretty decent, but no other group lasted all year and still brings laughs and a smile to everyone watching. As soon as laid back entrance music hits I know I will be entertained. Their pinnacle hit in August at the WWF’s Summerslam during the Test/Shane O’Mac match. The posse brought a couch, light, and posse portrait to ringside to watch the match. Hilarious. Entertaining. The best group by far.
Best Storyline: WWF- STEPHANIE McMAHON’S WEDDING
Most wrestling fans agree that the best storyline this year was the epic one that led up to Stephanie marrying Triple H and then turning on her father. It was a simple storyline, but it lasted from the Summer until Decmeber, which is epic in scope. Usually wrestling is so fast these days the storylines fly by, but not this. Vince waited and it turned out to be awesome. We got the Test/Shane match at Summerslam, we got the England ppv where Stephanie was injured and had ‘head tramau’ (blunty put: amnesia), we got the Raw is War marriage which turned into a hilarious farce where Triple H had already married Steph the night before in Vegas, and finally we got the Vince/HHH match which ended with Stephanie turning on her father and turning heel. Wow.
Best Feud: WWF- ‘STONE COLD’ STEVE AUSTIN/ VINCE McMAHON
This feud will probably go down as the best feud in wrestling…period. A lot of entertainment came out of this feud in 1998, but we only saw them in a ring once in 1998 (it was in Philly and Austin had to tie one hand behind his back), but we saw them three times in a ring in 1999. The feud reached a boiling point when Vince McMahon was the first participant in the Royal Rumble. Eventually Austin became number two. After Vince won the Rumble, the two ended up fighting a memorable match in a steel cage on St. Valentine’s Day. Of course Austin won the belt at ‘Mania and Vince got Stone Cold-stunned. They had a ladder match in June at the King of the Ring when Austin was the WWF’s CEO. Things went back and forth, and eventually Vince left his heel persona after the first blood matchup in July. When it was full steam ahead, the feud put the WWF ahead in the ratings and kept them there. Their feud sold the Royal Rumble, King of the Ring, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, and Fully Loaded pay per views. To cap it all off…who can forget the beer truck fiasco?
Best Tag Team: WWF’s THE HARDY BOYZ
The Hardy Boyz were the best tag team this year. Why? Because this year to be a good ‘wrestler’ you had to have good storylines and have good mic skills. The Hardy Boyz proved that they don’t need shit. They are fantastic wrestlers, and that’s the bottom line. This year we saw them hold the tag titles on one occasion, and we saw a terrific tournament with Edge & Christian which ended in the best match of the year at No Mercy. The Hardy Boyz had lousy storylines and didn’t say a single word on TV yet they proved everything with their high flying maneuvers and pure entertainment style. I predict them to take this award next year also.
Best Rookie: WWF’s SHANE McMAHON
Realistically there were only two rookies, Shane O’Mac and ECW’s Rhino, but Shane takes the award with flying colors. He proved his entertainment worth with three pay per view matches that standout this year. He took on X-Pac at Wrestlemania in a brutal and highly entertaining bout. He faced Austin with his dad in a hilarious and truly great ladder match at the King of the Ring. He jumped off a cage and tackled members of the Mean Street Posse which he used to be friends with on Raw is War in the fall, but his shining moment was his match against Test at Summerslam. Not only were the Mean Street Posse’s antics in full force, but Shane proved that it was worth paying money for the ppv with one single move. He put Test on the Spanish announce table and climbed the top rope. With a high flying elbow off the top rope he crashed onto Test and through the table. It was the best moment of the pay per view, and it proved that Shane wanted to entertain, that he wanted to prove his worth. A great start for what surely will be a long haul.
Best TV Show: WWF’s RAW IS WAR
Nitro floundered at three hours, and Smackdown wore out it’s welcome and became stale since it’s never live. ECW is uneven because TNN censors a good majority of the bloodshed, and ECW’s Hardcore TV is now full of B-matches. But there was one show that was always consistent, especially this year when the WWF pulled out no stops and left the WCW in the dust. Raw is War is the WWF’s best program. The show is better than any pay per view they put on. All of the good stuff that happens in the WWF occurs on Raw. The infamous beer truck fiasco, the tribute to Owen Hart, the Rock/Mankind ladder match for the gold, the Greater Power mystery, Stephanie’s botched wedding, Mankind’s firing. All of the big stuff happened there, on Raw is War. It was the show to beat in ’99.
Best Announce Team: ECW’s JOEY STYLES & CYRUS THE VIRUS
The only team to even come close is Monday Nitro’s team consisting of Tony Schiavone, Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan, and Mike Tenay. The problem was they cut Tenay out of the picture for the majority of the year, so the team fell apart. ECW’s Joey Styles is the best announcer of the year, but the only thing to elevate his commentary is the sidekick antics of Cyrus the Virus. He commentates along Styles on the ECW pay per views, and only makes Styles sound better. Their banter and humorous stories and antecdotes are downright entertaining. Cyrus’ commentary on ‘The Office’ at ECW’s November to Remember elevated the average program to a good one. Announcing can’t get better.
Best Moment: WWF- ‘STONE COLD’ STEVE AUSTIN & THE BEER TRUCK
They seem to still talk about it. The Monday night before Wrestlemania, the Corporation (Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, the Stooges, and The Rock) assembled in the ring and began to mock Austin and hammer the point that he has no chance in hell of winning the title at the ppv. Austin answered this criticism by driving a Coors Light beer truck into the arena and up to the ring. He pulled out a hose and sprayed the Corporation with beer (and even attempted to drink from the hose full of beer himself) and they slipped and fell all over the ring. The crowd went crazy. Austin then stood on top of the truck and downed a few cold cans. It was the shining moment of Raw. No one saw it coming. It was funny, it was great, and it was the best moment of ’99.
Best Matches: #1 WWF- EDGE & CHRISTIAN VS. THE HARDY BOYZ
“LADDER MATCH” NO MERCY
There were a lot of good matches this year, but for my money, the ones that truly stood out where the ones full of hardcore shenanigans. Mankind getting hit over the head fourteen times with a chair is a lot more entertaining that Bret Hart putting Van Hammer in a sharpshooter. At least in my book. The standout matches were Bam Bam verse Hak at Spring Stampede, Mankind vs. The Rock at the Royal Rumble, Test vs. Shane at Summer Slam, and Tanka losing to Mike Awesome at November 2 Remember. But for my money, and most people’s, the best of the year took place at WWF’s October pay per view, No Mercy. It was a horribly boring pay per view, but this match was a true four star affair. Both teams are known for their high flying maneuvers, but the Hardy Boyz truly proved that they are the best talent working today. This was a Mexican Ladder match, meaning there were two ladders in the ring. These four combatants did so many crazy moves off the ladders and off the ropes onto the ladders it was nuts. There were at least fifteen instant replays, which is uncanny. Usually a basic wrestling match has two or three. It is impossible to even put into words how great this match was. It had to be seen to be believed. Epic and awesome.
#2 ECW- Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka November to Remember
#3 WCW- Hardcore Hak vs. Bam Bam Bigelow Spring Stampede
#4 WWF- Shane McMahon vs. Test Summer Slam
#5 WWF- Mankind vs. The Rock “I Quit” Royal Rumble
#6 ECW- Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn Hardcore Heaven
#7 ECW- Sabu vs. Tazz Living Dangerously
#8 ECW- Vince & Shane McMahon vs.
‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin “Ladder” King of the Ring
#9 ECW- Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu ECW Arena (Oct ’99)
#10 WWF- Shane McMahon vs. X-Pac Wrestlemania XV
Best Company: THE WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION
1998 and 1999 were the two best years ever for the WWF. They took over the ratings with their explicit but highly exciting Crash-TV programs. They infused hilarious backstage antics, massively hyped main events, and crowd loving interviews from the superstars to prove that the best in the business is under Vincent K. McMahon. The WWF got into the stock market, they brought out Smackdown which single handedly saved the UPN, and they received a record 8.1 rating for Raw is War. They beat WCW every single Monday Night this year, and the proved that losing two top writers DOES…NOT…MATTER. Even though Survivor Series blew and once the writers left the product grew stale for about a month, they regained their lead and capped off on a high note. Even with ‘Stone Cold’ hurt they beat the competition. This year the WWF reigned supreme. It was a momentous year. I truly doubt they will ever be this high again.
Best Wrestler: WCW/ECW’s HARDCORE HAK/ THE SANDMAN
When 1999 started out I didn’t even know who the fucking Sandman was. He showed up in WCW as Hardcore Hak and soon enough I thought he was awesome. He would come out draped in barb wire and call anyone out at any time. He made watching WCW interesting. From March to July he was the best wrestler and entertainer WCW had to offer. His matches at Spring Stampede and Uncensored were classics. He got hurt and was abruptly fired. He showed up one night at the ECW Arena with his classic Metallica tune ‘Enter Sandman’ blaring in the background. The crowd was estatic. It was one of the best moments of the year. As The Sandman, he showed up and took over. His entrance lasts around five minutes as his music blares and he chugs a few cold ones and smokes a cigarette. He became the one to watch in WCW to the one to watch in ECW. He was the most entertaining wrestler of the year. Any match he was in was entertaining and hugely watchable. Whenever you hear his music you smile and sit down and know you will have fun watching. He is by far the best wrestler of the year.
WWF- 11 awards
ECW- 6 awards
WCW- 1 award (take one away for winning worst ppv)
1999 FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP REIGNS:
ECW: The Franchise- Taz- Mike Awesome- Masato Tanaka- Mike Awesome
WWF: Mankind- The Rock- Mankind- The Rock- ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin- The Undertaker- ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin- Mankind- Triple H- Vince McMahon- Triple H- The Big Show
WCW: Kevin Nash- ‘Hollywood’ Hogan- Ric Flair- DDP- Sting- DDP- Kevin Nash- Macho Man- ‘Hollywood’ Hogan- Sting- Goldberg- Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart
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