[1999-07-12-WWF-Raw] Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, Kane and The Undertaker

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

It's official - Austin vs Undertaker at Fully Loaded in a First Blood match, and if Austin wins, Vince is off TV forever. Vince comes out in a wheelchair as the result of a recent motorcycle accident. Austin has fun with that. He wants Vince to sign. Vince stalls like crazy and gets awesome heat in the process. Vince wants Austin to sign first because he doesn't trust him. Austin is happy to do that, but Vince has a piece of property that Austin wants back - the smoking skull belt. Back to that? The lights go out and Kane's music starts. Austin is about to push Vince up the ramp in his wheelchair when Undertaker attacks him from behind with the smoking skull belt. No Kane. Austin bleeds under Vince's orders to put the hype in motion. Undertaker fills the pin with Austin's blood, which Vince uses to sign the contract. They copied that a few years later in the Vince-Hogan build.

[Tim Evans]

Austin gets insane heat even before he talks. Austin vs Taker again which has been done to death. Seems weird for Kane's music to play. Also they are in Louisville and I can't believe OVW ran this building for years.

[soup23]

Have to say even though this stuff could feel played out, they still have great heat as an off PPV before SummerSlam, an end of an era type match between Austin and Taker isn't a bad idea. This was a fun set up with Vince having a wheelchair again and signing the contract with Austin's blood.

[PeteF3]

Yeah, this was a fun angle, and low-key emasculated Vince was terrific. Even his celebration after signing the contract isn't over-the-top like you'd might expect. Even though nobody buys that either of these stipulations will last, the idea of taking Vince off TV was a bold move and a good way for the company to keep moving forward. Or so it seems at this time.