[1999-08-22-WWF-Summerslam] Steve Austin vs HHH vs Mankind

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. So I guess they couldn't do Austin vs HHH because Austin was banged up and couldn't do the type of match needed to put HHH over. And/or he refused to put HHH over. And/or Jesse Ventura couldn't raise a heel's hand at the end of the show. I've heard all three versions at some point. Either way, this was a flat main event. Mankind wins the WWF title. I hate to give sympathy to HHH over his push, but getting the win here right out of the gate of his main event push may have meant a lot more. He takes his frustrations out on Austin in the post-match over not winning the title.

[tim]

Crowd response was interesting at the end where the pin fall didn't get a big initial pop but the crowd started to get lounder as the seconds past. Was this a very unexpected result at the time among smart fans or was the decision not to put Triple H over here already known/suspected?

[Tim Evans]

This was weird. Foley's title wins seems like a afterthought compared to HHH destroying Austin with the chair. HHH should have won here.

[Dooley]

The most memorable part of this match was Ventura tossing Shane and saying "that was for your old man, you little bastard!" Very gubernatorial.

[Zenjo]

I'd completely forgotten that Foley had a 3rd title reign. It felt weird and anti-climactic him getting the win here. Being tagged on to the main event at the last minute after the buildup was all Austin vs HHH. That meant the fans didn't think he had any shot at winning, so were unprepared for the result. They should've had HHH win as well as destroy Austin afterwards.

[Jingus]

Was this a very unexpected result at the time among smart fans or was the decision not to put Triple H over here already known/suspected?

At that time, they had SO MANY title changes that nobody ever really knew what to expect. They were addicted to constantly doing big swerves, most of which were pretty carefully kept quiet; you didn't get all the spoilers you do nowadays. Also, this was the seventh time that year that the belt had changed hands. And with Russo booking, the results of every show often looked like he'd flipped a coin to decide each finish.

 

I'd completely forgotten that Foley had a 3rd title reign.

Considering that he lost the title the next night on Raw, there wasn't much to remember.

[soup23]

You can tell the crowd is shocked at the finish as it came off really anti-climatic. Foley pinning Austin is really perplexing. This whole thing is a giant mess and it seems they were booked into a corner at every turn. I almost think they should have just forgot about the Billy Gunn push and had Rock in the role of Foley here as at least Rock pinning Austin felt more genuine and we could have had the same storyline going forward.

[PeteF3]

No, no, Rock needed to give Mr. Ass THE RUB. But yeah, the match itself and the ridiculous number of hoops needed jumping through on the last two Raws to get to this spot reeked of a guy--Russo--who didn't know how to get out of a booking corner. Austin was banged-up and not working house shows and they felt that HHH needed to be put over in a great match, which Austin couldn't provide in his state, so we get Mankind and bells and whistles instead. But Jesse is also there, so you need a babyface to win--whether Jesse insisted on it or not, with him as guest ref it's just Promoting 101. Weak finish with Triple H being taken out by one shot to the head, allowing Mankind to steal a pin on Austin--Austin's first clean defeat since, what, Mania 13?

[War is Raw]

The Ventura stuff felt dated after I watched this for the first time in 20 years. I really loved him but it just does not hold up. I could only imagine a kid watching this and not even knowing who he was or why he was so important.

The finish? OMG...so flat anti-climatic, and even felt like it was a miscount.

The match itself at least did not have slow points as they scrambled for pins. But...it's a generic AE brawl outside of the ring and with chairs. Seriously- how many matches were just like this?

Foley's third (?!?!?) title reign which lasted a day anyway? Austin pinned? This is the stuff people have fond memories of and high ratings? WWF won the war with this crap?

Anyway, the video package angle summary leading up to this had Chyna beating HHH but Foley beating her to get this match. Looking back, Chyna ought to have been in this match and if they were going to take the title off Austin for some reason, Chyna should have done it. Would have been very controversial to have her win the World's Championship as a woman, and Ventura would have held her hand up.

 

[DMJ]

Just watched this and had a few thoughts to add...

* In response to what was known/unknown at the time. I was 15 and very much frequented LordsofPain and RSPW at the time and can attest to the fact that it was well known, among those that followed rumor sites in 1999, that Austin was taking time off after this show or soon after. There were also rumors that Austin didn't want to drop the title - which, in a weird way, makes sense because he never really dropped his IC Title when he was out in 97'. I think it'd be interesting to ask Austin now what was going on in his mind, but I suspect he thought he'd be back sooner than later and was in full worker mode and didn't want to lose his spot (which is ridiculous to think from the outside, but top guys do tend to get super suspicious and nervous even when its laughable to think Stone Cold Steve Austin feared losing his spot to someone like Triple H, like Hogan fearing a Paul Orndorff). Whether Austin didn't want to do the job to Triple H because he thought he "wasn't there yet" or because he thought it'd hurt his own credibility or because he felt like he could remain champion without having to actually work a match for 6 weeks, according to Bruce Prichard, it was ultimately Vince's call to not have Austin put Triple H over. 

* But enough about Austin...let's talk Triple H and Foley teaming up momentarily in the match for a moment. I know I'm nitpicking here because we see this spot in pretty much every triple threat, but it does strike me as another example of just how clusterfucky and kitchen-sinky this match is, the competitors themselves opting to just throw in every idea they might have instead of actually laying out a match with some semblance of internal logic. My gripe is that Austin is the Rattlesnake and Foley, at this point, was the purest white meat babyface in the company, a fan surrogate almost, a guy who was often fighting for acceptance more than championships (this dates back even to his heel days, when Mankind was presented as damaged, not necessarily evil). So, Mankind and Triple H, even briefly working together to beat down on Austin, gets a negative reaction but also maybe is partially why Mankind's victory doesn't feel like a victory. He's wrestling as a guy driven to win the World Championship, which is just inconsistent with his character's motivations (even in the feud with The Rock, which was more about Mankind trying to get revenge for being back-stabbed by Vince, who had become a bizarre father figure). And this bothers me partially because the solution is right there: have Triple H and Austin team up and beat up Foley and then have Austin do his usual double-bird when Triple H goes for a high-five! Its consistent with Austin's character, it makes Triple H look foolish, and it helps push the idea of Foley being the underdog. 

* What also doesn't help is that moment when Triple H clearly wins the match (via chairshots) and Ventura doesn't make the count or disqualify him. That sequence bothered me on rewatch. Triple Threat Title Matches can be no DQ or they can be fought under normal rules - but it has to be consistent for me. This was inconsistent because, near the start of the match, Chyna is banned from ringside for interfering (which would usually be a DQ). So, interference is illegal but chairs are legal but pinfalls after chairshots are not counted? In the words of Marge Simpson, "Whatever!"

* Rewatching this whole show for my blog, its kinda funny to think about how, despite The Undertaker, Foley, Triple H, Austin, The Rock, Kane, and Big Show all being featured in the top 3 matches of the card, SummerSlam 99' is shockingly alarming as a signpost of the WWE's impending decline, and that, even at age 15, watching in real time, I felt it. The arrival of Angle, the Radicalz, and Jericho (along with Edge & Christian, The Hardyz, and The Dudleys making the tag scene great fun to watch) definitely made 2000 an improvement on 1999, but this show still reveals just how thin the top of the card was. I mean, at this time, the company was hoping Billy Gunn could be a top guy if that tells you anything. It also helps explain why 97' and 98' are remembered so much more fondly as even though the top of the roster was even thinner, Austin had viable opponents in Kane, Foley, Taker, The Rock, and McMahon himself. In 1999, having exhausted those feuds (and having buried Big Show on his first real night in the company), the WWE was basically left with only Triple H as a fresh feud for Austin and those two just never had the chemistry needed to carry a lengthy rivalry.