WWF Over the Edge - May 1999

WWF Over the Edge - May 23rd 1999 - Kansas City, Missouri

Matches
Kane and X-pac defeated D-lo Brown and Mark Henry {WWF Tag Team Titles} (6/10)
Al Snow defeated Hardcore Holly {WWF Hardcore Title} (7/10)
Val Venis & Nicole Bass defeated Jeff Jarrett & Debra (6/10)
Mr Ass defeated Road Dogg (6/10)
The Union defeated Corporate Ministry (7/10)
The Rock defeated Triple H (8/10)
The Undertaker defeated Steve Austin {WWF World Heavyweight Title - Special Ref: Shane McMahon} (8/10)

Moments - Positives
The show was obviously overshadowed by the tragic death of Owen Hart and I will try to review this as best I can ignoring this fact. However, watching the matches after the accident, none of the wrestlers are really into the show and you can really sense that they just want the show over and done with. The feud between Austin and Corporate Ministry continues here with Austin and Vince on the same side against Shane and his Ministry. A great main event with Undertaker winning the WWF World title. Also The Rock was now a fully fledged face and it was clear he was nearing Austin in popularity. HHH's transformation shone through and he looked like a main event player in a classic match.

Moments - Negatives
The faction known as the Union. Whilst the match against the Corporate Ministry was solid, this faction truly had no character or spark. Even the entrance music was poor. Its no wonder that the faction lasted three weeks. Mr Ass/Road Dogg match was also dissapointing. The two have been one of the most successful tag teams of all time, the build up was fantastic but the match just did not deliver.

Overall
The whole show is difficult to review however in some ways I truly see it as a turning point in WWF history. After the tragic death of Owen Hart I felt like the WWF went into a more realisitc direction, eliminating silly gimmicks for more realism and more personality. Its funny how a death was needed for the WWF to realise that they were truly getting carried away with their own success. Should they have carried on the show? I think so, it was the right thing to do but its clear why this show was never released on DVD, even with editing, because every match you watch after the accident feels forced, sad and ridden with guilt. Its a PPV that I probably never want to watch again. The score below reflect the quality of the event with me trying to ignore Owen's death as much as possible. RIP Owen.

SCORE = 7.0