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UnWrest Focus REWIND- Rock vs. Mankind: Empty Arena Match (1/31/1999)


The Attitude Era was one of the craziest time periods on wrestling history, both in terms of its in-ring popularity and its enormous expansion into pop culture consciousness. On January 31, 1999, this expansion would take one of its biggest steps. First, a WWF Commercial aired during The Super Bowl. Here it is if you want to walk down memory lane. 2 Versions of the 1999 WWF Super Bowl Commercial

Secondly, the WWF scheduled an episode of Sunday Night Heat to coincide with the last moments of the first half of the Super Bowl. As soon as the game went into Halftime, USA and WWF aired a big time match for fans who wanted more than lip-syncing and overproduced choreography. Instead, you could watch Mankind and The Rock go at it for the WWF Championship... in an EMPTY ARENA MATCH. That's right: No fans in the arena. Instead, these two would be allowed to wrestle throughout an emptied arena until one emerged victorious. For Mankind, it was a need for revenge after The Rock and The Corporation screwed him out of his WWF Championship at the Royal Rumble in the infamously violent I Quit Match.

Without further ado, let's get to it.

Halftime Heat
January 31, 1999
Empty Arena Match
WWF Championship
The Rock (c) vs. Mankind
Special Guest Commentator: Mr. McMahon



Mankind awaits in the ring as we go to the empty arena. Mr. McMahon walks out with The Rock and gets on commentary. Vince goes on about how The Rock should not be put in this situation.

The bell rings. Mankind takes the early advantage. Double Arm DDT early on only gets a 2. Mr. Socko is out already. MANDIBLE CLAW! Rock escapes through the ropes. Mankind and Rock are on the floor. Neckbreaker on the floor at ringside gets 2 for Mankind. Mankind rings The Rock's bell at the timekeeper's table. And now both men are fighting near the announce table and ring steps with Mankind having the advantage. And The Rock whips Mankind through the barricade into the front rows of chairs! Mankind again gets whipped and thrown into a ton of chairs. The Rock throws chairs on Mankind just for the hell of it. The Rock is still mouthing off towards Mankind as he smacks Mankind (under a pile of chairs) with a steel chair. The Rock gets on the headset and starts mouthing off. Mankind rises like a zombie out of the rubble and goes after The Rock.

Both men are climbing up the steps at the arena and fighting up the artificial mountain of steps. Vince McMahon goes into heavy sell mode here while Rock and Mankind climbs the steps, describing his product with a bunch of comparisons for the new viewers who may be checking out the product for the first time. Give Vince McMahon this: he is a promoter. Whether you agree with him using "One Life to Live" as a comparison to professional wrestling or not, the man definitely knew that he had an audience checking this out for the first time and wanted to go into sell mode. (Personally, I would have kept such comparisons out of my own product and let the fans themselves make them. But I'm not a billionaire. So, take that for what it's worth. Lol.)  Mankind reaches the top of the arena, and The Rock attacks him violently with a steel trash can. Mankind takes some SICK stumbles down a flight of steps in the arena. The Rock walks down and unloads the trash on Mankind. Both men go into the backstage area.

Now, we are in the kitchen area of the arena. And Mankind takes out the cotton candy, which The Rock uses to continually harass Mankind. The Rock throws Mr. Socko and Mankind into the oven. Sound effects guys add in sizzling noises to make it seem like Foley was burning. They basically destroy the kitchen area of this arena. The Rock covers for a 2 count, in case anyone gives a damn. The Rock drinks from Jack Daniels, but Mankind makes The Rock Straight Edge with a fist. And now... and I can't believe I'm writing this, Mankind beats up The Rock with a trash bag full of popcorn. And The Rock, bless his soul, sells it like it was a cookie sheet. Wow.

We're now in catering with the production crew eating. The Rock eats popcorn from the floor. "Too much salt!" And now it's a food fight with both men throwing things at each other. Foley gets something thrown in his face and yells "My eye!" (Was that a Terry Funk reference? I guess it was either that or calling The Rock an Egg-Sucking Dog.) Mankind gets rolled over the table of food. The Rock doesn't even know what the food is that he's hitting Mankind with. Low Blow by Mankind almost gets a 3 for Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy. Mankind gets a bath thanks to The Rock throwing liquids on him.

We are now following The Rock and Mankind who are fighting in an office. The Rock answers a call. "SmackDown Hotel. Mankind is too busy with The Rock's foot in his mouth."  Lol. More phone hijinks follow. The Rock calls a woman a piece of trash (Wow. That doesn't age well regardless of whatever time period you put that in. This may explain why The Rock may never run for president.)  Mankind goes on the attack and chases Rock to the loading dock. Both men knock the other down with a fist. Mankind has another Socko out. Mandible Claw!!!! He gets The Rock down on the floor, but he doesn't go for the pin. Instead, Mankind gets into a forklift and LOWERS the cargo on The Rock. Rock can't move, but he's cussing like a sailor. 1-2-3! New Champion!

Winner: Mankind (NEW WWF Champion)
Match Grade: B+. As much as I want to hate the overproduction of this match from McMahon comparing WWF to One Life to Live, the popcorn bags of doom, the Socko in the Oven, and the verbal attacks on women, I have to admit that this match was damn entertaining. And that really is the heart of what really matters. This was a success as WWF put two of its hottest stars at a prime time in TV and just had them put on a hardcore match that anyone can watch and enjoy (wrestling fan or not). They weren't aiming for who they already had: the die-hards (like me). They were aiming for more of the mainstream audience, and I think this was mostly successful.

As far as using the forklift to win a World Championship, it's either the stupidest thing you've ever seen or the most brilliant thing you've ever seen. Mankind had the legal right to use the forklift as a finish for the match, and it protects The Rock from taking a clean pinfall loss in the process. If you are an old school "You win them and lose them in the ring" type of person, you have every right to hate this finish. (In my head, I can imagine a Tennis-Racket-wielding person saying some expletives about this match while driving through a Wendy's for Double Cheese, Double Mayo...) It's not the type of finish I would book more than once, but in the situation, I can see how it could be used to get out of jobbing your top heel.

Overall, I'm giving this a thumbs up and a recommendation.

Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.

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