10 Fascinating WWE King Of The Ring 1999 Facts

Not the greatest representation of the beloved Attitude Era.

Billy Gunn King Of The Ring 1999 Win
WWE.com

Let's be frank here: as much fun as there was to mine within WWE's Attitude Era, much of it has aged as well as a block of mozzarella that fell behind the fridge seven years ago. This author was a junior high school student at the time that Austin was terrorizing Vince and DX was gesturing at their genitals. Fifteen-year-old me loved that time. Thirty-three-year-old me? Well, your tastes mature as you get older, and perspectives change. Mine have.

It's the biggest reason why much of the Attitude Era (particularly the embrace of heaping excess that was most of 1999) is more a product of its time than it is truly hollowed content. Between Mark Henry's wacky rendezvous with a transvestite, Terri Runnels faking a miscarriage, and the Satanic rituals of Undertaker's Ministry, it's a little harder to sit through that sort of stuff with a more seasoned eye today. And that's not even factoring in the sheer number of distraction finishes that would make today's episodes of Raw jealous.

The 1999 King of the Ring was truly a victim of its era, a mostly-hideous show that exposed just how bad the super-popular WWE could actually be. If WWE put on this show today, it'd make Fast Lane 2017 look like WrestleMania X-Seven.

In 1999, however, WWE could simply do no wrong.

Here are ten facts about the 1999 King of the Ring you may not have known.

10. Only One Qualifier Lasted Longer Than Three Minutes

King Of The Ring 1999 Finish Ladder
WWE.com

The Attitude Era could have really given life to the concept of five-minute iron man matches if it really wanted to. Catching Raw is War back in those decadent times was treating oneself to a parade of two or three-minute matches complete with ref bumps, outside interference, and possibly even blood. Really brings a wistful tear to your eye, does it not?

The 1999 King of the Ring tournament featured eight qualifying matches, seven of which failed to last 180 seconds. Three of them actually timed in at less than 90 seconds: Hardcore Holly over Al Snow (1:24), Road Dogg over The Godfather (1:02), and Big Show over Droz (59 seconds).

The only one that broke the three-minute barrier was Kane's win over Test, which went a whopping 3:05. Let's hope there were oxygen tanks made available to both men after that marathon.

Contributor
Contributor

Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.