Summerslam rewind: Stone Cold vs Mankind vs Triple H (SummerSlam 1999)

A still from the matchThe Attitude Era was essentially built up by a small group of men. All of these men were megastars, and they took professional wrestling to a whole new level.When you put three of these men in one match, and make it for the most prestigious honour there is, the WWE Championship, you can immediately expect a classic. This article looks at this classic, in a split way: The build-up, the match, and the aftermath.So in the midst of SummerSlam season, reflect on a classic SummerSlam match.

#1 The build-up

Austin’s showdown at WrestleMani

At WrestleMania XV, Stone Cold Steve Austin won the WWE Championship from The Rock and would continue to retain for a while. That is, until The Undertaker won it from him at Over The Edge, in all his Ministry Of Darkness glory. In events that could only be praised during The Attitude Era, Stone Cold was made Chief Executive Officer of WWE, and granted himself a rematch the next night on Raw, where he would win it back, and retain at Fully Loaded. 

Around this time, Triple H and Mankind were eying the top prize, and the former was unsuccessful a few times. Both men were granted a match at SummerSlam, in a high-stakes match, considering Mankind to be the underdog, and Triple H still to win the WWE Championship until that point. Jesse Ventura, the ever-popular commentator, would serve as special guest referee.