Dark Pegasus Video Review: Over the Edge 1999

Over the Edge 1999 by J.D. Dunn Here it is. Thanks to the man, the myth, the mensch – Josh McKibben – who provided me with an exceedingly rare copy of the show. I believe the kids say “big ups.” As I said, I had intended to skip it, but with demand pretty high, I let the market decide. So, here it is. May 23, 1999 Live from Kansas City, Mo. Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. We open with news that Vince McMahon was injured in a match with Mideon (really?) and won’t be able to referee the main event tonight. Opening Match, WWF Tag Team Titles: X-Pac & Kane vs. D-Lo Brown & Mark Henry (w/Ivory). Ivory was D-Lo’s gift to Mark Henry. Well, she’s better than Sammie the Pre-Op Transsexual. D-Lo was getting hugely over as a loveable heel. Thankfully, they start out with D-Lo versus X-Pac because that was one of the best rivalries of 1998. X-Pac flips out of an armbar, but D-Lo bails on the Broncobuster attempt. Kane and Henry tag in for the requisite power battle. JR tries to put over Henry’s athleticism by saying he once dunked a basketball. What he doesn’t add is “in his coffee and then ate the whole thing in one bite.” Kane’s the one who show’s athleticism, though, no-selling a press slam and hitting a dropkick. Henry bails and tags D-Lo back in. D-Lo freaks out and gets his ass kicked. X-Pac tags in and tattoos D-Lo with kicks before Henry interferes and crotches Pac on the post. X-Pac plays face-in-peril and takes a running powerbomb for two. A springboard corkscrew cannonball from D-Lo misses. HOT TAG TO KANE! He slams Mark Henry, who rolls out. X-Pac tries to add a pescado but gets squashed against the post. Kane hits a reverse suplex (!) on D-Lo and then jumps on all three guys from the top rope. Back in, the flying clothesline gets two, but D-Lo saves. X-Pac jumps D-Lo and finally hits the Broncobuster he was looking for earlier. Kane adds a chokeslam to Henry, and the champs retain at 14:44. This seems like a long match for the time, but then these were four of Russo’s faves. X-Pac and D-Lo carried the action and never let Kane and Henry drag things down with too much power shtick. **3/4 Hardcore Title: Al Snow vs. Hardcore Holly. I had a few people question me about calling Holly an “internet darling” in the No Way Out review. I should clear that up. It wasn’t on the level of Benoit or Eddy or anything like that, but he did have a big cult following thanks to his Big Shot gimmick. Think Santino Marella. Holly destroyed Al’s moose Pierre, but Snow still has Head. Holly jumps Snow, but he can’t get the fire extinguisher spot to work, so Al hits him over the head with a chair. I was hoping Holly would try to spray Al with it and then look into hose like Wile E. Coyote only to get sprayed himself. They brawl through the crowd to the concessions stand. DEADLY FUNNEL CAKE! They brawl back down to the ring (despite having powdered sugar in their eyes!), and Al sets up a table in the corner. Holly nails Snow with a dropkick, though, and hits the Hollycaust (Falcon Arrow). Gee, that’s not offensive at all. Why not the Ow-schwitz? The Goebbels Jammer? The Blitzkrieg… oh wait. Snow comes back with the Snow Plow and goes for Head, but Holly DDTs him on the chair. JR questions the ref’s count as Lawler implies that the Head set Al up. Holly sets up the table, but Snow surprises him with a powerbomb through the table at 12:52. This was every Holly/Snow match rolled up into one. Lots of violence but based on the goofiest of premises. **1/4 We go to a pre-taped interview with The Blue Blazer as Jim Ross says “we got big problems out here.” When we come back, Ross tells us that Owen fell and it is not a part of the show. Recap of the Val Venis-Nicole Bass-Debra-Jeff Jarrett love rectangle. Nicole’s “I want your slide trombone in my brass section” still makes me shudder. When we come back, they’re still tending to Owen. Ross reiterates that it is not an angle. Lawler rejoins the announce table and says solemnly “it does not look good.” Owen gets a standing ovation as they take him from the ring (not shown). And then, in a harsh bit of coincidence, Owen’s partner Jeff Jarrett has to deliver a promo setting up the mixed-tag match, and he doesn’t seem too happy about it. Both Jarrett and Debra send out their prayers to Owen. Mixed-Tag: Jeff Jarrett & Debra vs. Val Venis & Nicole Bass. Val screws up his opening promo, mistaking Missouri for Kansas. This was all part of a screwy Russo angle where Howard Stern freakshow reject Bass started hitting on Val, Val started hitting on Debra, and Jeff Jarrett got pissed at both of them. The match actually isn’t so bad when Val and Jarrett are in there. Debra shows she came ready for action… with her high heels. She makes up for it by being “feisty.” Jarrett threatens to slap Nicole, but Teddy Long prevents it. Debra nails “her” with a guitar shot, but it’s no-sold. Jarrett grabs the guitar for a try, but Val backdrop suplexes him and finishes with the Moneyshot at 6:06. Val seemed game, but Jarrett and Debra looked like they just wanted to get it over with and get to the back. *1/2 After the match, Nicole plants one on Val who seems to love the taste of Bass. Shane McMahon arrives on the scene as they load Vince into the ambulance to tend to his broken ankle. Shane feigns ignorance of what happened but promises to call it down the middle. Sure. Billy Gunn vs. Road Dogg. This is the blowoff for the New Age Outlaws breakup, and it’s unfortunately forgotten due to the surrounding circumstances. It’s not that it’s such a great match – in fact, it’s pretty bland – but the Outlaws were so over in 1998 that they deserved a bigger blowoff. They brawl to the floor where Roadie whips Gunn to the steps. Back in, Gunn takes over, and it’s all downhill from there. Chinlock. Yawn. Camel Clutch. Yawn. Arguing with the crowd. Yawn. Sleeper. Was Billy *trying* to kill his own push? Road Dogg comes back with the Shake, Rattle & Roll for two. Billy bails and hits Roadie in the face with the timekeeper’s hammer. That gets two. Billy goes for the Stinger Splash, but Roadie punches him right in the face. BWAAHAHAHAHHA! That’s such an obvious counter that it’s hilarious. Road Dogg gets two, despite Billy’s feet being under the ropes. Billy hits him with a shot to the throat and finishes with the Fameasser at 11:14. This match just reinforced that they were pushing the wrong Outlaw after the breakup. Sure, Billy had the look, but Roadie had the better catchphrase and was a far better worker. Way too many restholds for this to be any good. * 8-Man Elimination: The Big Bossman, Viscera & The Acolytes vs. The Union. Oh crap. The Union. I didn’t even think they made it to PPV. The Union is composed of former Corporation members Mankind, Ken Shamrock, Test and the Big Show. Sure, it sounds like a good stable based on the talent involved, but it was one of those cases where everyone was so disparate and already over that they didn’t need to form a stable. Plus… a babyface stable? Come on. Who are you talkin’ to here? Test immediately plays face-in-peril. He tries to do it all himself, hitting his flying elbowdrop on Bradshaw, but Faarooq makes the save. Bradshaw recovers and sends Test packing with the Clothesline from Hell at 3:44. Shamrock jumps Bradshaw and applies the cross armlock. Faarooq makes the save again. Shamrock switches up to the Anklelock, and Bradshaw taps at 4:44. Faarooq powerslams Shammy. Viscera tags in, and Shamrock tries a crucifix. That goes comically bad. Viscera just kind of sheds him like an old skin. Faarooq tags back in but winds up in the Anklelock. Bossman helps Faarooq to the ropes, but Shamrock refuses to break the hold and gets disqualified at 7:10. Faarooq is still groggy, so Show gives him the Showstopper (the short-lived name of his chokeslam) at 7:35. Bossman climbs in and calls out Show. Well, that was a mistake. Show clotheslines him to the floor, and Bossman tries to run. Show tracks him down and tosses him back in. Viscera adds some weight, and they finally get Big Show off his feet. Show goes for the Showstopper, but Viscera breaks it up. The match breaks down as Mankind comes in and brawls with the Bossman. Show and Vis fight to the back, presumable getting counted out at around 13:00. Mankind and Bossman go back and forth for a bit and do as much as Mick could do at that point (he was coming off an injury). Mankind eventually finishes with the Socko-assisted Mandible Claw at 14:57. This was like the lower mid-card match at Survivor Series where everyone is just out there to collect some PPV money. **1/4 And now, Jim Ross announces that Owen Hart has been pronounced dead. Okay, so now what? There were only two matches left at this point. Vince was, understandably, excoriated by the mainstream media (and many in the wrestling media) for continuing the show. In defense of Vince, though, this really was an unprecedented situation. I believe Mike Dibiase was the last major wrestling death in an American ring prior to this. There have been others who later died from injuries suffered during matches, but actual in-ring deaths are few and far between. In sports overall, major deaths are a little more common. Dale Earnhardt springs immediately to mind, but NASCAR actually had three other drivers die in the year before his death. Arena Football League player Al Lucas died during a game (which continued). But there is a perception there that “real” sports are more important, so it’s okay to go on with them. I’m not excusing it, but that’s the perception. Also, just from a financial standpoint, cancelling a PPV leaves the WWF open to a lot of legal issues with the PPV, cable and satellite companies. It’s callous, sure, but that’s business. All that being said, I personally would have stopped the show, gave everyone a refund, and dealt with any consequences later on. Most of the wrestlers clearly didn’t have their minds on the PPV, and it made not only for a series of bad matches but ones that would be forgotten in the long run. Wrestling being what it is, you can always put on the same show later, as we saw with Beware of Dog. So, while I don’t buy the “Vince is an inhuman monster” point-of-view, I don’t buy the “It’s what Owen would have wanted” idea either. Honestly, while I have my own ideas of what I would do, I can’t really judge someone for what they do in a panic. They just did what they did, and either way there would have been consequences. I should point out, though, that Jim Ross did a fantastic job under duress, making clear that Owen’s fall was not part of the show while not overdoing the drama over the situation to the point where you think it *is* part of the show. In the back, The Rock tries to cut a promo, but HHH attacks him. Mankind tries to make the save but gets laid out too. The Rock vs. Triple H (w/Chyna). HHH is ready to take a forfeit because there’s no way the Rock will wrestle with a broken arm. Rocky storms the ring and tosses Hunter. Rock stops to do some Spanish commentary, but Hunter slams his broken arm into the table. Back in, Hunter punches away but gets Samoan Dropped. Hunter tosses him, and Chyna goes after Rock’s arm. Hunter starts working over the arm and dismantling the Rock. Ross starts pondering if the ref should stop the match. Rock comes back with a DDT, but Hunter grabs a chair. Referee Earl Hebner tries to put a stop to it, so Hunter clocks him for the lame DQ at 11:40. This was highly disappointing. All of the psychology was rendered moot by the DQ anyway, and that’s all there was to the match. They’d have a much better match at Fully Loaded. ** Rock & HHH continue brawling after the match, and Helmsley winds up taking the Rock Bottom. Chyna breaks up the Pedigree, but Mankind makes the save. Recap of Shane admitting that he was behind the kidnapping of his own sister. He combines the Corporation and the Ministry into the Corporate Ministry. WWF Heavyweight Title: Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer). Pat Patterson tries to replace Vince to make things fair, but the Undertaker chokeslams him to take him out of the match. That leaves Shane McMahon as the special referee, and if Austin touches him, Austin is automatically stripped of the title. Big brawl to start. Taker works over Austin’s leg and chokes him out (with slow count by Shane). Austin gives him a taste of his own medicine by going after Taker’s leg. They brawl to the floor and into the audience as the match starts to meander aimlessly. The crowd is out of it. Taker chokes Austin with a camera cord and kicks the stairs into his leg. Austin fights back, but Taker counters the Thesz Press to a spinebuster. They brawl to the entrance where Taker misses a punch and shatters the stained-glass set. Austin tosses him through another of the faux windows. More brawling, and they work their way back to the ring. Austin hits the FU elbow, but Shane has shoulder problems. Why would that get the pin anyway? Austin whips Taker into Shane and NAILS him with a chairshot. Gerald Briscoe runs down to replace Patterson and counts two. Taker knocks Briscoe out with a clothesline. The crowd chants for Shawn Michaels (the commissioner at the time). Instead, Vince McMahon hobbles down. Taker blocks the Stunner, and they knock each other out with clotheslines. Both guys do the zombie situp, though. STUNNER! ONE, TWO, THRE-Shane breaks it up. Austin wants to know what’s what, so Shane shoves Vince into Austin, knocking the Rattlesnake into a schoolboy from the Undertaker. Shane adds a quick count, and the Undertaker is the new champ at 22:58. This was typical Russovision — overbooked main event plus brawling all over the arena in lieu of wrestling. Of course, it would turn out that Vince was in on the whole thing anyway, so all of this was just a ruse. **1/2 Austin fends off the entire Corporate Ministry as we go off the air.

The 411: Since it was never released, my recommendation or lack there of doesn't amount to much. Outside of Owen's death, this is about as forgettable as you can get, though, and it's typical of mid-1999 shows. Taker's screwjob win was reversed when Austin won the title back (although, I should point out that Taker holds the distinction of having the highest-rated title reign in WWF history). Regardless, this will always be remembered as "The Owen Show," and the only reason to track it down is to watch the wrestling equivalent of Faces of Death. Easy thumbs down.

Final Score:  4.0   [ Poor ]