The 1999 Fully Loaded was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the second annual Fully Loaded and took place on July 25, 1999, at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. The first Fully Loaded event was held under the In Your House series in July 1998, but following the discontinuation of the In Your House shows after February 1999, a second Fully Loaded event was scheduled as its own PPV, thus being the second former In Your House event to do so, after Over the Edge.
Matches at the event were fought in a number of venues, including a parking garage. The main event was a First Blood match for the WWF Championship. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker to retain the title by hitting him with a television camera and causing him to bleed after interference by X-Pac. The match stipulated that if The Undertaker won, Austin would never wrestle for the WWF Championship ever again, but if Austin won, WWF Chairman Vince McMahon could never appear on WWF television.
The undercard featured Triple H versus The Rock in a strap match, Road Dogg and X-Pac versus Billy Gunn and Chyna in a tag team match for the rights to win the D-Generation X name, Ken Shamrock versus Steve Blackman in an Iron Circle match, Big Show versus Kane, Al Snow versus Big Boss Man for the WWF Hardcore Championship, Mideon versus D'Lo Brown for the WWF European Championship, The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) and Michael Hayes versus The Acolytes (Faarooq and Bradshaw) in a Handicap match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, and Edge versus Jeff Jarrett for the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
Production Background From May 1995 to February 1999, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) ran a series of professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) events titled In Your House. They aired when the promotion was not holding one of its then-five major PPVs (WrestleMania, King of the Ring, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Royal Rumble) and were sold at a lower cost. Following the St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House event in February 1999, the WWF retired the In Your House branding and transitioned to giving each monthly PPV a permanent identity. Prior to the discontinuation, the WWF held Fully Loaded: In Your House in July 1998, which was the 23rd In Your House event. The following year, the WWF scheduled a second Fully Loaded for July 25, 1999, promoting it as a standalone event held at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York, establishing Fully Loaded as an annual event. It was the second former In Your House event to continue as its own distinct PPV series, after Over the Edge.
Storylines Fully Loaded featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots and storylines that were played out on Raw Is War—World Wrestling Federation's flagship television program. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
Main feud The main rivalry heading into the event was over the WWF Championship and involved reigning champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, former champion The Undertaker, and WWF owner Vince McMahon. Austin and The Undertaker first crossed paths at Over the Edge, where Vince’s son Shane McMahon (with whom Vince had been feuding) executed a fast count on Austin to give the victory to The Undertaker. Shortly after Over the Edge, it was revealed that The Undertaker had been taking orders from a “higher power”, and it was later revealed that the “higher power” had been Vince McMahon all along. This backfired on McMahon, however, as his wife Linda and his daughter Stephanie confronted him; Linda announced that she would be resigning as on-screen WWF CEO and that Austin would be appointed in her place. This would lead to a handicap ladder match at King of the Ring where Austin took on Vince and Shane for full control of the WWF; thanks again to shenanigans orchestrated by the McMahons, Austin lost the match.
On the June 28 episode of Raw is War, a gloating McMahon named Triple H the number one contender to The Undertaker’s championship and announced that Austin would be fired as CEO and that he was going down to "the bottom of the ladder". However, Austin once again ruined McMahon’s plan and dropped a bombshell of his own. First, he said he signed himself to a new contract which gave him the ability to assault McMahon whenever he wanted. Second, knowing that it was likely that the McMahons would try to screw Austin over, before their match, Austin booked a title defense for The Undertaker against him in the main event and if The Undertaker got disqualified or anyone interfered in the match, he would lose the title. Austin defeated The Undertaker to win the title, but was attacked by The Undertaker after the match and busted open. On the July 4 episode of Sunday Night Heat, The Undertaker challenged Austin to a First Blood match for the title at Fully Loaded. On the July 5 episode of Raw Is War, Vince added a further stipulation. He said that the WWF was not big enough for both him and Austin and decided to make a deal with Austin. If The Undertaker won the match, Austin would never receive another WWF Championship match ever again. If Austin were to win, then McMahon was willing to step away from the company he owned for good. Austin accepted.
Other feuds Another predominant rivalry heading into the event was between Triple H and The Rock. At King of the Ring, Triple H interfered in The Undertaker's WWF Championship defense against The Rock and attacked The Rock, costing him the championship. On the June 28 episode of Raw Is War, The Rock attacked Triple H after Triple H offered Billy Gunn and Chyna to challenge Road Dogg and X-Pac to a match. On the July 5 episode of Raw Is War, The Rock defeated Triple H in a steel cage match. The Rock and Triple H developed a rivalry, leading to a strap match between the two at Fully Loaded.
On the July 19 episode of Raw Is War, Jeff Jarrett defeated Christian to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship. After the match, Christian's The Brood partner Edge appeared and a brawl occurred between Jarrett and Edge. As a result, Jarrett challenged Edge to a match for the Intercontinental Championship at Fully Loaded. On July 24, Edge defeated Jarrett at a live event to win the title.
On the July 4 episode of Sunday Night Heat, D'Lo Brown attacked Mideon during a WWF European Championship defense against Al Snow, causing Snow to be disqualified. On the July 5 episode of Raw Is War, Mideon attacked Brown during a WWF Hardcore Championship match against Snow, costing Brown the match. On the July 18 episode of Sunday Night Heat, Mideon distracted Brown and spitted in his face during Brown's match against Gangrel. This allowed Gangrel to defeat Brown for the victory. This led to a European Championship match between Brown and Mideon at Fully Loaded.
At King of the Ring, Ken Shamrock lost his King of the Ring quarter-final match to Billy Gunn, when the referee stopped the match, due to Shamrock sustaining an injury at the hands of Steve Blackman in a match against Shane McMahon on the June 27 episode of Sunday Night Heat. On the June 28 episode of Raw Is War, Shamrock and Blackman wrestled in a No Holds Barred match, which ended when Blackman attacked him with a kendo stick. On the July 18 episode of Sunday Night Heat, Shamrock challenged Blackman to an Iron Circle match.
At King of the Ring, The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) defeated Edge and Christian to become the number one contenders for the WWF Tag Team Championship. On the July 5 episode of Raw Is War, Hardy Boyz defeated The Acolytes (Faarooq and Bradshaw) to win the Tag Team Championship. On the July 12 episode of Raw Is War, it was announced that Hardy Boyz would defend the titles against Acolytes in a rematch at Fully Loaded.
Billy Gunn won the 1999 King of the Ring tournament and issued an open challenge to all the wrestlers of WWF on the June 28 episode of Raw Is War. Triple H then urged Billy Gunn and Chyna to challenge D-Generation X's remaining members Road Dogg and X-Pac to a match. On the July 5 episode of Raw Is War, Road Dogg was arrested by the police as he was blamed by Billy Gunn and Chyna for vandalizing Chyna's car, but Chyna informed the police that it was not her car. On the July 12 episode of Raw Is War, Road Dogg and X-Pac challenged Billy Gunn and Chyna to a match with the winning team earning the rights to DX name at Fully Loaded.
At King of the Ring, Kane defeated Big Show in the quarter-final round of the King of the Ring tournament. Later that night, Big Show cost Kane, his semi-final round match against Billy Gunn. On the June 28 episode of Raw is War, Big Show cost Kane, a match against Hardcore Holly. On the July 5 episode of Raw Is War, Kane defeated Big Show and Holly in a Handicap match after help from The Undertaker. Big Show and Kane continued to interfere in each other's matches and attack each other, leading to a match between the two at Fully Loaded.
On the July 19 episode of Raw Is War, Big Boss Man attacked Al Snow with his nightstick when Snow requested him to hit him after Snow had gone mad after his Head was pierced by Prince Albert on the July 12 episode of Raw Is War. However, Boss Man continued to attack Snow with the nightstick, leading to a match between the two for Snow's WWF Hardcore Championship at Fully Loaded.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsJim RossJerry LawlerSpanish commentatorsHugo SavinovichSavio VegaInterviewersMichael ColeKevin KellyTerry TaylorRing announcerHoward Finkel RefereesMike ChiodaEarl Hebner Jim Korderas Tim White
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, the pre-show Sunday Night Heat aired live featuring three matches. In the first match, Val Venis defeated Joey Abs by pinning him after a powerbomb. In the second match, The Godfather defeated Meat by pinning him after performing a Death Valley Driver, which he called the Pimp Drop. In the final match, Christian defeated Viscera by pinning Viscera with a roll-up after Christian's Brood teammate Gangrel attacked Viscera. At the end of the Sunday Night Heat broadcast, WWE Champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was set to do an interview regarding his match later in the evening. As he was making comments, he was attacked from behind by his opponent, The Undertaker. Austin was lacerated, giving him a disadvantage in the First Blood match.
Preliminary matches The first match that aired live on pay-per-view was a standard wrestling match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Edge defended the title against Jeff Jarrett. After a back and forth action, Jarrett targeted Edge's legs and shoulder, injuring it and continued to dominate Jarrett, until Edge performed an Impaler on Jarrett and attempted to perform a spear, but Jarrett threw him outside the ring, where Gangrel attacked Edge as the lights went off. When the lights came back, Gangrel was shown laying down on the floor. Edge returned to the ring and performed a spear on Jarrett while Jarrett's valet Debra distracted both Edge and the referee. Debra was eventually thrown off the ring apron as Edge and Jarrett attacked each other. Gangrel interfered in the match and attacked Edge, allowing Jarrett to perform a Stroke to win the Intercontinental Championship.