10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 1999 Facts

8. The Heat Pre-Show Did A Monster Rating

Austin McMahon Royal Rumble 99
Wiki

Sunday Night Heat had proven invaluable in its first year, providing a full hour of pre-show hype for the monthly pay-per-views. WWE was apt to run angles and teasers during the broadcast, doing all they could to entice you to order the main broadcast at the end of the hour.

If you ever wonder just how popular WWE was in 1999, look no further than the fact that the pre-Royal Rumble episode of Heat did a whopping 4.77 TV rating. That was actually higher than the episode of Nitro that aired six nights earlier (4.4), and wasn't all that far behind the rating Raw did one night later (5.5).

Although the cable landscape has certainly warped and changed over the past generation, it should be noted that Raw hasn't seen a 3.0 rating in almost three years. That 4.77 for Sunday Night Heat is still out of this world, no matter what era.

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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.