10 Worst WWE Pay-Per-Views Ever

8. King Of The Ring 1999

Worst WWE Pay-Per-Views
WWE.com

Vince Russo's television-centric booking didn't lend itself all that well to major pay-per-views, with the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series (more on that later, if not on Russo himself - the New Yorker was long gone by then even if the pieces from his chess board still remained in place) that year all grossly under-delivered on expectations. King Of The Ring wasn't ordinarily on equal footing with the 'Big Four' but it at least met their low standards in 1999.

Billy Gunn's victory came at the expense of entertaining output - not least because it resulted in having to watch three Billy Gunn matches. Never before nor again was 'Mr Ass' considered a topliner, and his performances here offered no argument that he was remotely deserving of the spot.

The main event also gave fans one of the most infamous unclaimed conclusions in company history. Stone Cold Steve Austin lost a ladder match to Shane and Vince McMahon with 'company control' hanging in a briefcase atop the ring. 'The Rattlesnake' was thwarted when the case was mysteriously elevated away from his grasp. Despite allusions to the culprit being brief Corporate exile Big Boss Man, the truth was never explicitly revealed.

Diamond In The Rough: Road Dogg vs. Chyna is the match of the night by some margin thanks mostly to the enjoyable psychology around the DX face not wanting (at first) to respond with violence towards Chyna, and the involvement of both Shawn Michaels and Triple H late in the clash.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett