9. w/Vince McMahon Vs. Steve Austin - Ladder Match, King Of The Ring 1999
The 1999 edition of King of the Ring is remembered (barely) for being the year Billy Gunn took home the crown, beginning the process of nailing that particular coffin shut. The rest of the event was a shambles, with a slew of poor matches full of Vince Russo booking not coming close to standing up to the test of time. The main event of the show saw the McMahons take on Steve Austin in a Ladder Match with the control of the company on the line. The Ministry of Darkness and Corporation had joined forces to form the Corporate Ministry not long before this, but interference was prohibited. The McMahons tried to bring in Steve Blackman to replace Shane, but it was quickly proved that Shane was fit enough to compete. What followed was the typical McMahon Attitude Era overbooked spotfest, with Shane showing hints of the madness that would fill his future matches. The finish of the match might be horrible (the infamous mysterious briefcase-lifting) but the match before it is a lot of fun in an Attitude Era kind of way. The chemistry between Austin and the McMahons was incredible, and the crowd were very into it, making this one an easy watch.
Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.
