Vince McMahon winning the Rumble

[TGM]

was this a good idea? I imagine Raw viewership might have been higher than ever before. It's a nice twist I think.

[CeilingFan]

no

[rrg251]

Honestly, I kind of liked that Vince's eccentricity paid off, but it did turn the Rumble and the roster into a joke, so here's what I'd do to have someone other than Vince win while still protecting the storyline going into WrestleMania:

Austin still comes out at #1. Instead of Vince at #2, we get Big Bossman. Don't worry, he doesn't last the length of the match like Vince did, Austin eliminates him quickly. At this point, Austin can either stay in the match eliminating jobbers or he can attack Vince on commentary and we can do the whole chase/ambush/ambulance/return bit. Anyway, everyone from #23 to #29 moves up a spot to compensate for Bossman, who was #22 in the actual match (Chyna can remain #30). Out at #29 is The Rock, there to represent The Corporation even though winning the Rumble is pointless since he's the champion. It comes down to Austin and Rock. Vince provides a distraction to allow The Rock to win both the Rumble and the bounty. The next night, Mankind gives away the bounty and Commissioner Michaels announces that The Rock cannot be the #1 Contender for his own title, setting up Austin vs. Vince at St. Valentine's Day Massacre. But The Rock does go down in history as the 1999 Royal Rumble winner.

[Unocal 76]

It was interesting, because if Austin had won 3 straight Rumbles, what exactly do they do at Valentine's Day Massacre? Would he still have put up the title shot in the cage match?

[Deleted]

Yes. Remember the old saying "Anything can happen in the WWF?". And you had to have Vince win something to intensify the feud between him and Austin.

[Super Duper Dragunov]

I didn't like it, but I understood what they were trying to accomplish.

[Fade]

I was so pissed off as a kid when this happened,
Lol..I legit went to sleep sad that Austin didn't win. It did lead to their entertaining St. Valentines Day Massacre match.

[Legion]

At the time it was perfect; it was an amazing twist that no one really expected and while that Rumble itself wasnt great, it really helped that Vince/Austin feud keep rolling on

[chronocross]

I liked it, it would have been too predictable if Austin just bowled over McMahon and won the Rumble just like that, they needed some twists and turns in the road to WM.

[thecrusherwi]

I'm not sure what other choice they had. It was clear Austin was going to challenge The Rock at Wrestlemania for the title the moment Rock turned heel at Survivor Series, but they had to find an interesting way to get there. Austin winning again would've been way too obvious. Plus, I think it worked for the sake of their rivalry and the Mr. McMahon character that his evil plans worked occasionally.

[mcstoklasa]

An entertaining bump in the road to Mania