Brilliant and touching

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The Rock won his second WWE Championship, DX continued their war with Corporation and Vince McMahon won the Rumble from No.2 in this entertaining, but not for the wrestling, PPV.No review for the December PPV Rock Bottom as I've never seen it. But the big news coming into this was the ongoing war between Triple H's DX faction and Vince Mcmahon's Corporation. DX and Steve Austin had aided Mankind in winning the WWE Championship from the Corporate Champion The Rock. Mankind had agreed to a rematch, but only in an "I quit" match, an unloseable match for Mankind as he knew there was no way he would say those words. Several of the undercard matches would feature DX members against Corporation members for the minor championships. As for the rumble itself, Austin had won the right to contest in the rumble when he defeated the Undertaker in a buried alive match at the Rock Bottom PPV. But McMahon, promising there was "No Chance in Hell" of Austin winning the rumble, ensured that the man he thought was a Corporate Comissioner, Shawn Michaels, drew Austin as the No.1 entrant. Michaels did this, but then super kicked Mcmahon and announced that Vince himself would be the No.2 entrant. McMahon then put a $100,000 bounty on Austin's head. Following the Undertaker's loss to Austin, the Phenom started acting a little strangely, talking about Ministries and taking faarooq and Bradshaw as his Acolytes.The night started off with a bad match, Boss Man taking on Road Dogg. Boss Man, along with Ken Shamrock, had recently won the tag belts from Road Dogg and Billy Gunn. Boss Man wins a short match with the Boss Man Slam. The next match saw Shamrock defeat Billy Gunn to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Shamrock winning a decent match with the ankle lock, and making a good night so far for the corporation and a bad night for DX.Next up X-Pac gave DX some joy when he defeated Gangrel in a poor match to retain the European Championship. This was followed by a decent )for what it was) strap match between Sable and Luna Vachon, which Sable won to retain the Women's Championship. She had been aided a few times in recent months by a fan named Tori, in the beginnings of a "stalker" storyline that would later be used so memorably in a feud with Trish Stratus and Mickie James.This brings us to the brutal and excellent WWE title match between the Rock and Mankind. After some great moments, including the two of them walking along the bottom railing of the titan tron, some thumbtacks etc, the Rock handcuffs Mankind and hots him repeatedly in the head with a steel chair until Mankind, unexpectedly said "I Quit" three times. It was later revealed that Mankind had not said the words at all, and it was a sound bite from a poem he had read on RAW the week before. mankind was given a rematch as part of the pre show for the 1999 Atlanta Falcons vs Denver Broncos Superbowl, where Mankind regained the Championship.This left one match, the Royal Rumble. Austin and McMahon start off, but Austin is lured out of the ring by McMahon, both going through the ropes, and into the toilets, where he is ambushed by the Corporation, badly injured and taken to a local hospital. Mabel is later ambushed by Undertaker and Acolytes as he attempts to enter the match. He would soon become Viscera and join the Ministry. Kane came to the ring, but was soon running away from men looking to take him to the asylum (there were a lot of angles in this match which were much more interesting than the action). Later on in the match, Austin returns, driving an ambulance into the ring. He eventually eliminates everyone, but then calls McMahon, who is commentating, into the ring so he can humiliate him further and then win the match. However, Austin is distracted by the Rock, allowing McMahon to sneak up behind him, throw Austin out and win the Rumble. The Corporate plan was complete and Austin would not be wrestling for the championship at Wrestlemania. Surely this was not the end for Stone Cold?

(Some minor spoilers by no match results listed in this review) Tagged Classics: Royal Rumble 1999 and 2000 Double DVD Part 1: WWF Royal Rumble 1999 "I'm gonna make that son-of-a-b*tch scream 'I Quit' and I'll be damned if he doesn't!" - The Rock The words of the "Most Electrifying Man in Sports-Entertainment" are just one of the many highlights from the first "classic" to be tagged in this very special collection. Up until now the brilliant series has featured the original pay-per-views in all their untouched glory. History will remember the "WWF" logo now thanks to Silvervision. America: be jealous. The Attitude Era is upon us and this collection is a spectacular example of what wrestling used to be like."Ring the bell!" – Sable The first Royal Rumble from 1999 isn't a particularly special pay-per-view in terms of its undercard that mostly features "double-duty" performances (people who wrestle in the Rumble match as well) with forgettable, albeit very watchable matches."I will not, will not say 'I Quit'!" – Mankind Now we're getting to the main reason to own Rumble 1999! The infamous "I Quit" match between Mick "Mankind" Foley and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson for the WWF Title isn't a pretty affair. The match was featured on the brilliant documentary "Beyond The Mat" and is talked about in Foley's second book "Foley Is Good" as being a night where Mick got "carried away". The chemistry between the two is undeniable with both wrestlers using a combination of brutal stunts and brilliant mic-skills to get the audience right into the action. It's a shame that this match wasn't included on any of the Foley compilation DVDs (possibly at the request of Foley for how much this match upset his family) because it's an excellent match. The battle eventually builds to one of the most brutal scenes in wrestling history as Mankind is hand-cuffed and beaten senseless with a steel chair. If you've seen Beyond The Mat then you'll know how bad this assault really was and if you've read the book then you'll also know that Foley never quite forgave the Rock for not checking on him after the match. Wrestling historians will enjoy this one."Here are the rules..." – Howard "The Fink" Finkel Some people look at this Austin/McMahon saga as the greatest rivalry in wrestling history while others groan about the quality of the matches and stupid collection of swerves. This is one for the groaners, I'm afraid. Yes the Rumble has its moments but ultimately the ruined by an ending so "unexpected" that it borders on intelligence insulting. It short-changes everyone involved and makes you wonder why you bothered to care about the rest of the match. No, it's not my favourite Rumble then.(includes some bonus footage nonsense that isn't really important but fun regardless)

The 1999 Royal Rumble was billed as "No Chance in Hell," as Mr. McMahon claimed that Stone Cold Steve Austin had no chance in hell of winning the January spectacular and advancing to WrestleMania XV. Austin had won a spot in the Rumble by defeating Undertaker in a "Buried Alive" match at the "Rock Bottom" In Your House Pay-Per-View in December 1998. Knowing that the Rattlesnake was a definite threat to win the event, Mr. McMahon made him enter the bout at No. 1. The cocky owner then said that he himself would be entering the Rumble, and would do so at No. 30! Then, to turn the heat up even more, he placed a $100,000 bounty on Austin's head -- meaning that the superstar who eliminated the Rattlesnake would take home a cool hundred grand! But Commissioner Shawn Michaels had plans of his own. He forced Mr. McMahon to enter the Rumble at No. 2, meaning that Stone Cold could get his hands on WWE chairman! Austin dominated the bout in the early-going, until Mr. McMahon led him into an assault by the Corporate team! The Rattlesnake was taken away in an ambulance -- only to return about half an hour later! Stone Cold was a man on a mission, and the last two men in the Rumble match turned out to be Austin and Mr. McMahon! Stone Cold was in control, until The Rock made his way to ringside. The then-Corporate Champion distracted the Rattlesnake, allowing Mr. McMahon to dump Austin out of the ring! Mr. McMahon was the winner of the Royal Rumble! Also at the 1999 Royal Rumble, The Rock and Mankind brutalized each other in a brutal "I Quit" match for the WWE Championship. Rocky won the title from Mick after destroying his foe with 11 chair shots to the head! But Mick would regain the title just two days later, during "Halftime Heat!"Big Boss Man defeated Road Dogg via pinfall Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock defeated Mr. Ass via submission European Champion X-Pac defeated Gangrel via pinfall Women's Champion Sable defeated Luna in a Strap Match The Rock defeated Mankind in an "I Quit" Match to win WWE Championship Vince McMahon won the Royal RumbleOverall Mark: C+

The WWF was so into their storyline over actual action that they runied an event that could have been so much better. The only real highlight would have to be the Mankind vs. the Rock match for the world title. These guys give it all they got and give definately some of the best performance in their careers. The only flaw of this match is the ending which is the exact same as Survivor Series 98. The rest of the card is not very interesting: Bossman beats Road Dogg out of nowhere, X-Pac fighting Gangrel is pretty weak, Billy Gunn getting pounded by Ken Shamrock isn't too thrilling, and Sable vs. Luna has to be one of the worst matches in Rumble history. As for the actual Rumble, there is such an emphasis by the Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler regarding the whole Austin vs. McMahon issue that you know that one of them is going to win the match. Both Austin and McMahon spend more than half of the Rumble away from the ring and we are stuck with few potential winners(Triple-H, Owen Hart, Shamrock), some longshots(D-Lo Brown, Bossman, X-Pac), a few with even longer shots(Steve Blackman, Dan Severn, Jeff Jarrett), a large number of no-shots(Golga, Droz, Blue Meanie, Al Snow), and even a few that you know were just in it because they ran out of guys(Gillberg, Mabel, Chyna). Besides, how can enjoy a Royal rumble that doesn't have the Undetaker compete?