The WWF was red hot in 1999, and most fans from the era look back on that time fondly. They remember nights like the Apr. 26 edition of Raw for its bizarrely compelling storyline, while tending to forget awful moments like Beaver Cleavage, who had a vignette that night. That's probably for the best, as that episode was all about the Stephanie McMahon kidnapping angle. The night before at Backlash, the ending of the show had quite the cliffhanger, with Stephanie McMahon sitting alone in a limo waiting for her father to join her. As she sat alone, the limo driver's window opened and The Undertaker was revealed to be in the driver's seat. He then said the famous line of "where to Stephanie?" right before the show ended. As far as wrestling pay-per-views go, it was a brilliant way to end the show. It didn't deter from the main event, and gave fans a hook to turn into Raw the next night. That show kicked off with her father Vince upset over her kidnapping, and for his Corporate Champion, The Rock, losing to Steve Austin the previous night. Things became worse for Vince when Undertaker agreed to give back Stephanie in exchange for control of the company. To top it off, Austin had to be one the one to deliver the paperwork to him. This left the boss in a horrible situation. He had to beg his arch-nemesis to help him out, and Austin flat-out refused. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-c6wDFjQ8I Later in the night, Austin came to his senses and had a showdown with The Undertaker in the ring. As Stephanie was dressed up in a black gown and helplessly tied to The Undertaker's symbol (which looked too much like a cross for many viewer's taste), Paul Bearer served as the minister for this impromptu wedding. Ken Shamrock and The Big Show tried to stop The Ministry, but failed. It was Austin who saved Stephanie from the wedding from hell. He helped reunite her with her worried father. As silly as it all was, it made for great TV. It also further fueled months of storylines, when it was later revealed that Vince was behind the kidnapping all along.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
