The 1999 Royal Rumble, promoted as Royal Rumble: No Chance in Hell, was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 12th annual Royal Rumble event and took place on January 24, 1999, at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California. The event was based around the men's Royal Rumble match, a modified 30-man battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time and the winner received a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania XV.
The tagline and subtitle of the event was taken from a promise by WWF Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mr. McMahon that the first entrant in the Royal Rumble match, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, had "no chance in hell" of winning the match. The theme song for the event, based on the phrase, would go on to become the entrance music for McMahon's stable The Corporation and later, just McMahon himself, which he used until his resignation in January 2024.
The main event of the card was the 1999 Royal Rumble match. The event centered on the continuing heated rivalry between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Mr. McMahon, with both men entering the Royal Rumble match at #1 and #2, respectively. Mr. McMahon won the match by last eliminating Austin. The penultimate match was for the WWF Championship and was an "I Quit" match between Mankind and The Rock, which is remembered both for its brutality and its place in the documentary film Beyond the Mat; The Rock defeated Mankind to win the title. Lower down on the card, the WWF Intercontinental Championship and WWF Women's Championship were both defended.
Production Background
The Royal Rumble is an annual professional wrestling event, produced every January by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988; that first event was a television special before it became an annual pay-per-view (PPV) beginning in 1989. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four", and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs with the addition of King of the Ring in 1993. It is named after and centered on the men's Royal Rumble match. The 12th Royal Rumble event was scheduled to be held on January 24, 1999, at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California.
The Royal Rumble match is a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time, and the match generally features 30 wrestlers. Since 1993, the winner earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 1999, the winner earned a match for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XV.
Storylines The event comprised six matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by the WWF's writers, while storylines were produced on WWF's weekly television show, Raw.
The overriding theme of the pay-per-view was centered on The Corporation and Mr. McMahon's attempts to enforce his notions of how a company should be run on the promotion. Since its inception the night after Survivor Series, the group had mainly come to blows with D-Generation X, the Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness and McMahon's nemesis "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
When Commissioner Shawn Michaels allied himself with The Corporation, one of the first things he did was to book the WWF Tag Team Champions, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn, in a title defense against Corporate members Ken Shamrock and The Big Boss Man. Despite his interference at Rock Bottom: In Your House they managed to retain their titles but they were not so lucky on Raw is War on December 14. As the feud between DX and The Corporation intensified, the New Age Outlaws turned to singles wrestling as Road Dogg found himself caught up in the hardcore division and became Hardcore Champion on December 21. Meanwhile, as well as tensions from the tag team feuding, Billy Gunn gained the ire of Ken Shamrock when his sister Ryan appeared at ringside, only to have her sibling affection distracted when Gunn lived up to his nickname by flirtatiously mooning Ryan after Val Venis had already danced for her. Filled with his typical rage Shamrock put his Intercontinental Championship on the line for a chance to honor his notions of sibling protection.
After a minor absence, Women's Champion Sable returned to Raw with an open invitation on December 28, but before the match a fan came into the ring, later identified as Tori to give her a rose. A masked wrestler identified as "Spider Lady" came to the ring for the match (a nod to The Fabulous Moolah's screwjob over Wendi Richter in the mid '80s) but it ended in a no-contest when she started whipping Sable with her belt. The masked woman was revealed to be Luna Vachon, who would go on to face Sable in a "Strap Match" at the Rumble.
The Rock and Mankind had been feuding ever since Survivor Series in November 1998, when the two met in the finals of the "Deadly Game" tournament for the vacant WWF Championship. The Rock won the title that night with the help of the McMahons, who had previously been assisting Mankind, and became the chosen Corporate Champion while Mankind began a feud with the Corporation. Mankind faced The Rock again at Rock Bottom: IYH and won the match, but Mr. McMahon stepped in and announced that while Rock lost the match by falling unconscious to the mandible claw with Mankind’s smelly sock in his mouth, he did not technically submit and thus the WWF Championship would not change hands. Angered at being screwed out of the championship twice, Mankind attacked Shane McMahon on Raw is War and demanded a match. On the first Raw is War of 1999, January 4, after interference from The Corporation, D-Generation X and Steve Austin, Mankind won his first WWF Championship. Initially he refused The Rock's demands for a rematch, despite Rock offering stipulation after stipulation to appease Mankind until eventually he quit begging, at which point Mankind revealed that he would face The Rock at the Rumble as long as it was an "I Quit" match.
The Royal Rumble match featured a number of notable build ups. On Raw is War on January 11, a Corporation vs. DX mini-Rumble was set up with the winner taking the coveted number 30 spot; after all the apparent competitors had entered it seemed as if Triple H had won until Mr. McMahon made his way to the ring, entering himself on behalf of the Corporation and throwing a distracted Triple H out of the ring. Again it seemed as if the winner was established until DX's Chyna made her way to the ring and won the match. The event would mark the first time a female wrestler took part in the match. Chyna also appeared at the Royal Rumble the following year as well. Chyna became the only woman to enter the match until Beth Phoenix entered the Royal Rumble in 2010, Kharma in 2012, and Nia Jax in 2019.
The most notable aspect of the Royal Rumble, though, was the feud between Mr. McMahon and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Austin had won the Royal Rumble the previous two years and McMahon attempted to prevent him from repeating by putting him in a "Buried Alive" match at Rock Bottom: IYH against The Undertaker with one Royal Rumble place on the line. Austin won, with a little help from Kane and was guaranteed a place in the match, but McMahon continued in his attempts to prevent Austin from winning the match by "randomly" drawing Austin's spot at #1 and entering himself in the match at #30. Commissioner Michaels over-rode his decision and put McMahon at #2, and set up the aforementioned Corporate/DX mini-Rumble for the now vacant #30 position. With Austin and McMahon being the first two to enter, McMahon wanted to guarantee there would be "no chance in hell" that Austin would win by not only training as a competitor, but also offering a $100,000 bounty for the man who eliminated him.
Qualifying matches "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match at Rock Bottom: In Your House Chyna won a Corporation vs. DX "Corporate Rumble" for the #30 spot on the January 11, 1999, episode of Raw Is War
DrawEntrantFactionOrderEliminated byTimeEliminationsKen ShamrockThe CorporationHimself00:050Billy GunnD-Generation XTest02:580Big Boss ManThe CorporationMcMahon08:081TestThe CorporationKane05:12 1X-PacD-Generation XBoss Man04:10 0Road DoggD-Generation XKane01:510KaneThe CorporationTriple H01:292Triple HD-Generation XMcMahon02:581Mr. McMahonThe CorporationChyna01:422ChynaD-Generation XWinner00:041 Shamrock jumped the top rope to attack Billy Gunn as he made his entrance.
Event Other on-screen personnelEnglish commentatorsMichael ColeJerry LawlerShane McMahon Spanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraHugo SavinovichInterviewersDok HendrixKevin Kelly Ring announcerHoward FinkelRefereeMike ChiodaEarl HebnerJim KorderasTheodore LongTim White
Preliminary matches The opening match began slowly, with Boss Man taunting Road Dogg and being met with a crotch chop. The two circled each other, occasionally going in for a grapple but without achieving a move. Eventually Road Dogg became trapped in the corner and Boss Man punched him. Road Dogg found some short success when Boss Man tried to run and jump onto him, but was left with his crotch caught on the ropes. Boss Man tried to reply with his night stick but referee Mike Chioda stopped him and while he was being reprimanded, Road Dogg dragged him to his feet and pulled him into the ring post, legs open. After recovering, Boss Man threw Road Dogg outside of the ring. Inside the ring Boss Man took to hurling his opponent into the turnbuckles and then crushing him with a bear hug. Despite some punching back from Road Dogg, Boss Man dominated most of the match from this point and despite a Shake, Rattle & Roll from Road Dogg, Boss Man used his opponent's momentum to catch him in the Boss Man Slam, pinning him afterwards.
With Billy Gunn in the ring, Ken Shamrock ran into a series of kicks but managed to get to his feet and punch Gunn into the corner. He quickly worked on slowing down Gunn's style, keeping him mostly grounded with a series of kicks and elbow drops, only picking Gunn up to kick him back down. Both men went down after Shamrock Irish-whipped him and tried to flapjack Gunn, only to have his face driven into the mat with a FameAsser. Although Gunn put Shamrock in the corner for a ten punch, he then went to run into him and was thrown over the top rope out of the ring. Shamrock took advantage of the time outside of the ring to drag Gunn around, throwing him face first into the ring post, steel steps and the unpadded floor before putting him back in the ring. When the two were on the apron, Gunn managed to stun Shamrock by elbowing him and jumping into a bulldog onto the Spanish announce table. Taking some time to recuperate, Shamrock was undeterred, fighting as soon as he returned to the ring as he began to work on Gunn's ankle. Gunn fought back but accidentally clotheslined referee Tim White and while he was down, Val Venis ran in and delivered a DDT on Shamrock. By the time White was conscious to make a pin count, Shamrock kicked out. Gunn gained momentum and eventually went for a move from the turnbuckle. When he came down, Shamrock caught his ankle and took him to the ground, using his ankle lock to make Gunn submit.