Sunday Night Heat Review - January 31, 1999

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

D-Generation X Interrupted The Corporation

Days earlier on Raw, Chyna betrayed DX and joined The Corporation. She explained her actions here, only for DX to interrupt her and throw insults her way. It was an entertaining verbal exchange (by Attitude Era standards) on the whole that also successfully furthered two other feuds: Shane McMahon vs. X-Pac and Triple H vs. Kane. It was a solid segment, even if it wasn't my cup of tea.

Big Boss Man def. World Tag Team Champion Jeff Jarrett

Jarrett and Hart beat Boss Man and Shamrock for the tag team titles around this time, so this was Boss Man and Shamrock's chance to bounce back with wins in singles competition against the champs. It made sense from a storyline standpoint, but unfortunately, neither match was worth writing home about. This bout in particular died a death and the crowd couldn't have cared less. If nothing else, it was over relatively quickly.

Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock def. World Tag Team Champion Owen Hart

Similar to Boss Man vs. Jarrett, this was designed to give Shamrock a momentum boost over one-half of the tag champs. It was just as pointless, however, and didn't offer much of substance. It was slightly better, but that's about it. The "Blue Blazer" interfered at one point and I was completely confused because I have no idea what Owen's old persona had anything to do with this. To make matters worse, Shane McMahon was incredibly annoying on commentary and distracted from the match at end.

Mankind def. The Rock in an Empty Arena Match to Win the WWE Championship

To my knowledge, this was the first Empty Arena match in WWE history, and I'm not sure if there has been one since. It's a unique concept and I'm surprised the company has yet to go back to it. Of course, this was far from a technical masterpiece, but their wild brawl that took them all around the arena was what made it memorable and extremely entertaining. The Rock was an absolute riot throughout and dominated a majority of the matchup, so with Foley being the ultimate underdog that he was, his title win was a cool moment (and the fashion in which he won it was clever). Not everyone will love this, but you have to appreciate the effort they put into making it so different than anything else ever done before. It was so ridiculous that I thoroughly enjoyed every second.

Overall Show

I was willing to check out everything on this episode in addition to the Empty Arena main event for historical purposes, but I eventually realized it was a waste of time. The opening segment was decent, but the two matches that followed were fairly forgettable. Only go out of your way to watch Rock vs. Mankind and see for yourself why it's still a spectacle even two decades later. Here's hoping this return of Halftime Heat this coming Sunday will just as exciting.