10 Wrestlers You Didn’t Realise Wrestled For WWE In 1999

4. Paul Bearer

George The Animal Steele
WWE Network

Shawn Michaels was a man out of time in 1999, first turning babyface from an ill-suited run as a heel Commissioner in late-1998, before rabble rousing as an anti-McMahon authority figure for the rest of the year amongst the repeatedly-shifting alignments of Vince and Shane. He turned again that summer to aid Triple H in victory over The Rock, but then disappeared from television for nearly a full year to largely renege upon the switch.

A May 1999 sh*t-stirring session by 'HBK' came at a time when Shane McMahon had formed the Corporate Ministry heel group alongside The Undertaker, forcing Shawn to rebook an entire edition of Monday Night Raw around favouring the beleaguered babyfaces.

To that end, he booked Paul Bearer in a match against The Big Show, sarcastically referring to the rotund manager as the 'tenth, eleventh and twelfth Wonder of the World' as Bearer comically collapsed in fear on stage.

Frogmarched to the ring by Michaels himself, Bearer crawled around in fear from the giant, before taking a huge boot and an elbow drop. Typical of of the era, The Corporate Ministry and The Union ran in as the one-sided beating went to a non-finish.

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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