[1999-02-14-WWF-St. Valentine's Day Massacre] The Rock vs Mankind (Last Man Standing)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Video package summarizing their feud up until this point. Last few minutes of what was a disappointing match live with a fourth screwy finish in a row between these two guys. I wish they would have just gone the obvious route and let Rock regain the title here, no strings attached.

[Tim Evans]

What a shitty finish. It's a Russo specialty though. I liked how mankind was more concerned for Socko than himself. Noticeable "bullshit" chants.

[Dooley]

The idea behind doing the double KO finish was to set up a 3 way with Austin at Mania. But Shawn Michaels for whatever reason decided to pitch a fit about it backstage and they decided to go with the 1-on-1 Rock-Austin Mania main event that we got.

[soup23]

Why did Shawn have that much clout at this point in time.

Anyway, seeing the clips here I am more determined that these two don't really click for me even with the lengthy matches they have had. Only the Rumble match would be put in the upper echelon. The action here particularly looked mundane and the finish was really shitty overall. Rock going over clean would have made him look strong going into Mania.

[Dooley]

Why did Shawn have that much clout at this point in time.

 

Vince heart Shawn.

 

I actually like the two's chemistry. Rock playing cocky prick as Mankind gets knocked around works for me. And I like the Rocky 2 finish.

[(BP)]

Shawn was insisting that the main event title match of Mania should always be a singles; although, he was actually pushing for Austin-Mankind, so he didn't exactly get his way. I'm sure the Rock loved that.

[PeteF3]

Gee, I wonder why Rock isn't a big Shawn fan.

 

Disappointing finish, especially assuming that a bunch of brilliant work wasn't edited out. I didn't watch this PPV live but I did rent the tape and I certainly don't remember much about it.

[G. Badger]

I disagree. This was completely brutal and fantastic. Seriously, this was a classic hardcore style bout without any of the ECW trappings... And I say that as an ECW fan. Both guys really put their bodies on the line and this was a true war. I'm not sure what everyone else watched but this was a slow burning battle. The selling bordered on legit as both guys took a lot of punishment.

 

Plus, I'm a sucker for a heel getting on the mic mid match! Corporate Rock was so awesome at being a cocky yet likable heel. The fact that he took his shots despite being the fresh young hope of the company is a testament to him. He really could have messed his body up in this match.

 

I haven't seen this match in 15 years so, I figured in retrospect it would be a 3.5 star type match - recommended for a story or a few sequences. It was a classic even with the finish. A draw isn't always a bummer. The dueling chairs to double KO was strong as hell, looked good, and kept the door open for the future.

 

Addendum: there was a segment from HEAT where Rocky ambushed Mankind and hurt the knee and this is essential to this match. It seemed like it was going to be a ppv screw job to the fans but Foley was spectacular in not only staying in there with the Rock early on but, bringing the violence to him as well.

[DMJ]

- I don't buy that story about Shawn Michaels interfering in the booking of WrestleMania XV.  Occam's razor doesn't always apply to pro-wrestling, but it seems to me now (and it seemed to me back then too) that the WWE was riding high on the "crash TV" style and unpredictability was paramount. Unfortunately, any wrestling fan with a pulse knew that we were heading to The Rock vs. Austin at WrestleMania once Rock joined the Corporation, which meant that from late November 98' to March 99', they had over a dozen weeks of TV to fill, plus PPVs, plus the Halftime Heat show and they needed as many twists and turns as they could get. And so that's how we get Vince McMahon winning the Rumble instead of Austin and the "hot potato" title changes between The Rock and Mankind.

Coming into this match, everyone believed The Rock would leave with the title and Austin would win his match later in the night to cement their clash at Mania. Only one of those things came true, though, with the Vinces (McMahon and Russo) attempting to throw one last swerve in the mix. Was it one too many? Was it anti-climactic? Yeah, maybe. But it didn't not work. 

I find it hard to believe that a doped-up Shawn Michaels' got much traction arguing that WrestleMania should be headlined by the number one babyface (Austin) facing the number two babyface (Mankind) while your hot, mega-despised heel (The Rock) sits on the sidelines with his thumb in his ass. I doubt McMahon, Russo, Pat Patterson, or any other top advisor that was there at the time (JR? Cornette?) would even consider it. Hell, I doubt even Austin would've let that fly and he certainly had more power than Shawn in 99'. 

- As for this match, its not a bad match because, well, The Rock was super over and Foley was still willing to take some ridiculous bumps to ensure that this match was at least good. There are two spots in particular that are excellent - Foley tacking a back suplex on the floor in the crowd and Foley taking a back body drop off of a table at ringside. But there's really nothing else that stands out as "great." In their defense, though, they were stuck in a bad position having had maybe the most brutal, sickening match in company history at the Rumble in January and then a widely-seen, more "fun," cinematic match at Halftime Heat (which I believe was fought under Falls Count Anywhere rules, but I could be wrong). To make things even harder, Al Snow and Hardcore Holly had had a weapons-filled match that ended up all the way in the river outside the arena earlier on the show. Basically, just in case there was any hardcore territory left on the map that Foley and The Rock hadn't already traversed, in someone's infinite wisdom, they'd let Snow and Holly get there first on the same show. By this point, they were working a style of match that they'd already worked in two different ways and there are just only so many ways to skin a cat. Still, just because of the heat of the match, Foley's efforts, The Rock's crowd-pleasing shtick, and a finish that, at the time, really was unpredictable and a surprise twist, I'd say this is an above-average match, but nothing I'd necessarily go out of my way to see.