7 Things You Should Know About WWE Royal Rumble 1999

7. Jerry Lawler Was A Terrific Heel Announcer

Jerry "The King" Lawler was a tremendous heel announcer. For those fans that watched WWE from the mid 1990s through the Attitude Era they know how great he was. This show was one of the better performances of his career. The legendary Jim Ross wasn't at the show because he was out for about three months due to Bell's Pallsy, so a relatively new Michael Cole (he was only in WWE for less than two years at this point) called the action with Lawler. Cole did fine, but Lawler really stood out as a guy that sucked up to Vince McMahon all night long. During the Rumble, which was frustrating from a booking perspective, Lawler was hilarious just because of how excited he was any time McMahon did anything. When something happened to Steve Austin, he celebrated. He would yell at other wrestlers to attack Austin. It was blatant cheerleading from a heel announcer that knew how to mix in humor too. It might not be Heenan at the 1992 Rumble, but it's damn close to being that good. We've listened to Lawler become a boring babyface announcer for the last decade that we sometimes forget how awesome he was as a heel announcer. Watching this show is a good reminder of that greatness.