Wonderful character development!

It is a performances centric movie

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

1. WWF European Title Match and Intercontitnental Championship: Jeff Jarrett Vs. Champ-D Lo Brown 8/10 2. Tag Team Gauntlet: Edge/Christian Vs. hardy Boyz/Viscera & Median/Albert & Drozd/Acolytes - Acolytes eliminated Edge & Christian, then approached Hardcore Holly/Crash - Best tag team Acolytes won in that amazing bout. 9/10 3. WCW Hardcore Title Match: Al Snow Vs. Champ-Big Boss Man - Match on Fully Loaded was better even Bossman won. 7/10 4. WWF Women Title Match: Champ-Ivory Vs. Tori - Champ retained. 6/10 5. Steve Blackman Vs. Ken Shamrock - Ordinary bout in round cage 7/10 6. Test Vs. Shane McMahon - I almost forgot that Test dated Goddess Stephi :) He won in an exciting match. 8/10 7. WWF Tag Team Title Championship: Champs-Kane/X-pac Vs. Big Show/Undertaker - After this we have new champs 7.5/10 8. Kiss my A€€ Match: Mr. Ass Vs. The Rock - Somebody thought that Billy Gunn get victory? 8/10 9. WWF Triple Threat Championship: Mankind Vs. Triple H Vs. Champ-Steve Austin - One of the best Title matches, great scenario and Foley won over Austin in clean way! Get it? It's 1999, Austin on top... Simply 10/10

So the Rock, nearing the height of is popularity, completely legitimately asks before defeating that great main eventer Billy Gunn in a Kiss my @ss match on yet another underwhelming (in retrospect, like most fans I loved these at the time) PPV offering from WWE.OK, there had been considerable shenanigans leading up to what was originally scheduled to be a one on one title match between Steve Austin and Triple H. To start with former wrestler and current Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura had been announced as the guest referee. To add to this Mankind had just returned from injury wanting a title shot and, on the very last RAW before Summerslam, had earned a spot in the match. So instead of being a straight one on one title match with a generic referee we had a triple threat match with Jesse Ventura refereeing.The night started off with Jeff Jarrett defeating D Lo Brown to end Brown's one and only moment in the sun in his WWE Career. Brown had been bragging about holding both the European and Intercontinental Championships simultaneously, but here he lost both. Average match.Next up comes the tag team turmoil match. Basically six teams are involved with two teams starting and a new one coming in every time a team loses a pinfall. Edge and Christian start the match and eliminate the Hardyz (in a rivalry that was rapidly building toward an epic ladder match at No Mercy), then Viscera and Mideon (the two useless members of the Undertaker's now defunct Ministry), and Droz and Prince Albert (Albert's PPV debut), before getting eliminated by the Acolytes. The Acolytes then defeated the Holly cousins to win the turmoil match and become No.1 contender's for the tag team titles.Next three matches were fairly dull with Al Snow defeating Big Boss Man to both retain the Hardcore Championship and set up the Dog Kennel from Hell match at Unforgiven. Ivory defeated Kane's girl Tory, who had been previously seen as a nutcase stalking Sable, to retain the Women's belt. This was followed by Ken Shamrock defeating Steve Blackman in what was an attempt to take the Lion's den concept and add some weapons. Not a great match.Next up was a match between Shane McMahon and the man hoping to be his future brother in law, Test. Test had been in a relationship with Stephanie following her kidnapping. Test wins the Greenwich street fight and can still hold hopes of becoming a McMahon, though having a good wrestling match remains elusive.Next up is the tag team championship match with The Undertaker and Big Show, calling themselves the Unholy Alliance, defeating defending champions X-Pac and Kane to win the tag team championships. X-Pac and Kane had only won the titles a few weeks earlier after defeating the Acolytes, who were now the No.1 contenders for the tag belts after winning the tag team turmoil. They would defeat Show and taker to win the belts, causing Taker to berate Show, who snapped and chokeslammed the Phenom through the ring. Taker would eventually take a walk the week before the Unforgiven PPV and not be seen again for 8 months. The idea of the tag team is that Undertaker is mentoring Wight and trying to help him reach his full potential. At the end of the match, Undertaker becomes upset at Show for not making a proper cover. He proceeds to hit the Tombstone on Kane and pin him. This was not a bad match, but was more of an angle.Next match, in a complete waste of time, saw the Rock beat and humiliate Billy Gunn in a Kiss my @ss match, prompting the Rock to comment "who books this crap." Fair to say, with all the tag team turmoils, psycho strippers, lion's den weapons and hardcore silliness, he could have been talking about this show.Brings us to the main event, and the only memorable match on the card, in which Mankind knocked Triple H out of the ring following a pedigree and pinned Steve Austin to win his third WWE Championship. Jesse Ventura is given a bit to do in this match, most notably refusing to make a three count after Triple H decks Mankind with a chair. Mankind appears to be out for a good 30 seconds before returning to the ring to stun Triple H and get the pin.WWE was very popular at this stage, but struggling to stay on any one direction. A re-focus was needed, as good will can only last for so long.

As I'm writing this review, 5 years have passed so it's more or less reviewing how the show holds up in this day and age. The event did seem to have that special ambiance that Pay-Per-Views are supposed to have, even though I don't think this was one of the WWF's better efforts over the years. It was mainly hyped around Jesse Ventura, which was smart and a great move, considering SummerSlam was taking place at the Target Center in Minnesota. I'm sure he drew quite a few fans to the event and most likely as well on PPV. The DVD also features some cool little features on Jesse from his days of wrestling and some current stuff as well. Jesse also does a little shoot on the media, saying he was taking a lot of flack from them and he was standing up and saying he was proud to be a wrestler and always will be.I think this show had way too many gimmick matches. Most of them turned into a hardcore match at some point. I thought it worked against the show as a whole.If you are watching the show after not seeing the show for years, there is a nice feature on the DVD called "What's The Story". It updates you on the previous happenings and how the matches came together. It was nice for me because I forgot most of why these things were happening and it brought some understanding to what was happening (such as why someone would ever decide to sign on for a "Kiss My Ass" Match, etc).Another special feature on the DVD which was cool was the alternate commentaries. You could watch the main event and listen to the commentary from either one of the three participants.Match Reviews.INTERCONTINENTAL AND European TITLE MATCH Jeff Jarrett with Debra vs D-Lo Brown (C) - D-Lo was a good worker, but looking back, I honestly don't see what the WWF saw in him to make him a double champion. Jarrett came to the ring with Debra, but ended up with D-Lo at the start of the match. I must say the she looked quite good, wearing only a bikini and some kind of ring jacket instead of her usual business suit and short skirt. The match revolved heavily around Debra and her "puppies".Both the crowd and the commentators (Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross) confirmed this. I can see why they resorted to using Debra, as I wasn't really interested in the match either. It was a good match, but D-Lo just lacks something. Mark Henry got involved at the finish. The highlight of the match was Mark Henry's guitar smash... and Debra's "puppies".TAG TEAM TURMOIL MATCH (winners become the #1 Contenders) The Acolytes (Pre-APA) vs Edge & Christian vs The Hardy Boyz vs Mideon & Viscera vs Droz & Prince Albert vs Hardcore Holly & Crash Holly - This was sort of a gauntlet match I guess, starting out with two teams and the winner of the first match continue on until all 6 teams have competed. This was obviously just an attempt to fit as many people on the PPV as possible. This would have been MUCH better if all the time was given to The Hardys and Edge & Christian (who started the match). That was much too short and neither team had the opportunity to build a great match under these circumstances. The Acolytes would have been used better against the Hollys as well instead of this gimmick match. The other two teams had no business being there. I was very disappointed with this one, as it had so much potential and the whole thing was wasted with very few highlights. HARDCORE TITLE MATCH Al Snow vs The Big Bossman (C) - This was a typical WWF style hardcore match. It seems like they just try to find the most outrageous things to hit each other with and that's "hardcore". Oh well, it was OK for what it was. The "Roving" Road Dogg did commentary with the wireless mic and followed the match around. As you can probably guess, he does get involved. The match eventually made it's way across the street and into a local bar across the street from the Target Center. Al Snow actually got a wrestling move in when he moonsaulted Bossman from the bar (Why didn't the bouncer get involved)? The match made it's way into the billiard room and Road Dogg could not resist commenting on Al Snow's handling of his balls? There were a few match highlights but how can you top Snow making Bossman eat a urinal cake?WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH Ivory (C) vs Tori - The crowd was dead for this one. Nothing to cheer about, really. Ivory was OK back in 1999, but it doesn't hold up here in 2004. I do have to admit that Ivory was hot though.I guess that was her real purpose for being there. Neither girl did anything decent or even believable. Another DUD for the women. Ivory tried to take off Tori's top and pants but was stopped by Luna Vachon. Why? That was the best part of this match.LION'S DEN WEAPONS MATCH Ken Shamrock vs Steve Blackman - This was WWF's attempt at exploiting Shamrock's UFC past success with their version of a caged octagon thing (it had around 10 or 12 sides I think, so technically wasn't an octagon). No pinfalls or submissions allowed here and weapons dangling from various parts of the cage. This is really a shame, considering Shamrock could have been a good worker. He's had a handful of good matches with Shawn Michaels and others, but he never really seemed to learn much from it, and we're subjected to stuff like this. Blackman surprised me with how long he stayed around the WWF. I can't remember one good match he's had or any point in time where he was over with the crowd. This may have been better had it been booked as a legitimate shoot, but who really knows. It would have definitely been shorter, and that would have been good. The rules were never explained as far as how to win the match, so eventually the bell just rang and the winner was announced. No real highlights here either, other than a few stiff weapon shots."LOVE HER OR LEAVE HER" GREENWICH STREET FIGHT Test vs Shane McMahon - Shane was accompanied by the Mean Street Posse, another gimmick that never should have been. This match revolved around Test's relationship with Shane's sister, Stephanie McMahon. If Test wins, Shane agrees to step aside. If Test loses, he must never see Stephanie again. The Greenwich Street Fight is basically another hardcore match. We're up to 3 of those already for tonight. This was when ECW was popular, so it's no wonder they were going in this direction. The storyline for this match was great, as it was one of the most over stories WWF has been able to pull off. The match itself wasn't very good, but the ending was cool. Highlights of this match include the dreaded cookie sheet (just kidding), Test accidentally kicked the ref with a pretty stiff shot and Shane delivered a nice elbow smash from the top rope through the Spanish announcing table.WWF TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH Undertaker & The Big Show vs X-Pac & Kane (C) - Up to this point, this was probably the best match on the show, which is surprising. Surprising because all 4 participants kept the match fast paced with no rest holds. This is where the show needed to pick up, and it did just that. They were given the time to build a good match, which is what the Tag Team Turmoil match and the opening match lacked."KISS MY ASS" MATCH The Rock vs "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn - Exactly as it sounds, the loser has to kiss the rear end of the winner. Gunn was billed as "Mr. Ass". Billy Gunn came out with a big surprise. He says that when he wins the match, The Rock won't be kissing his ass, but he will be kissing the ass of the woman under the blanket, which he unveils to be a very large woman. The match was OK, but the referee was lenient on the rules again so it may as well have been another hardcore match. This match featured many fat jokes and ass jokes by Lawler. Who could expect anything less from him? The Rock managed to keep his dignity despite everything going on in this match. Highlights include excessive use of the word "ass" and the fat lady baring her bum with the torn pantyhose and all.TRIPLE THREAT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH - JESSE VENTURA AS SPECIAL REFEREE Mankind vs Triple H vs "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (C) - It seems the only stipulation here is that the pinfall has to take place in the ring, so basically some more hardcore to semi-hardcore stuff. Triple H worked Austin's knee for the whole match, which meant Austin sold the knee for the whole match. Mostly just a lot of punches and kicks by Austin and Triple H. Mankind supplied most of the excitement in this match. Mankind missed a cannonball from the apron to the floor. He took other bumps on the floor as well. Jesse Ventura let Triple H use a chair without a disqualification but refused to make a pinfall count. Shane McMahon appeared from nowhere and ordered Ventura to make the count. Austin then gave him a Stone Cold Stunner and Jesse throws him from the ring. Some nice false finish spots but the finish, itself, was kind of anti-climatic. Mankind took a few rough bumps, but nothing super spectacular to which we've become accustomed to from him. After the match, Triple H beat Austin's knee down some more with the chair. Pretty good main event.Overall, not a bad show. I'd recommend giving it a look if you haven't seen it yet.

The one and only Jesse "The Body" Ventura returned to SummerSlam in 1999 to serve as the guest referee for the main event, a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship pitting the reigning champion, Stone Cold Steve Austin, against Triple H and Mankind. In the end, Mankind pinned Stone Cold to become WWE Champion for the third time. But the very next night on RAW, Triple H upended the Boiler Room Dweller to win his first WWE Championship. SummerSlam 1999 was truly a historic night in WWE history, as it is the only night in WWE history that the WWE Championship, Intercontinental Championship and Tag Team Championship all changed hands. Considering that those three titles have all been around for over 20 years, SummerSlam 1999 was truly historic. In all, five titles changed hands at SummerSlam 1999, including the Hardcore Championship and European Championship. Jeff Jarrett pinned D'Lo Brown to win the Intercontinental and European Titles The Acolytes defeated Edge & Christian, Hardy Boyz, Hollys, Droz & Prince Albert and Mideon & Viscera Al Snow pinned Big Boss Man to win the Hardcore Championship Women's Champion Ivory pinned Tori Ken Shamrock defeated Steve Blackman in a Lion's Den Match Test pinned Shane McMahon in a Greenwich Street Fight The Rock pinned Billy Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match Undertaker & Big Show won the Tag Team Championship from Kane & X-Pac Mankind pinned Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat Match also involving Triple H (Jesse "The Body" Ventura was guest referee)Overall Mark: B-