IWF Over the Edge (1999)
From Iwe
| Over the Edge (1999) | ||
| Promotional poster featuring The Undertaker | ||
| Information | ||
| Promotion | International Wrestling Federation | |
| Sponsor | MCI | |
| Date | May 23, 1999 | |
| Attendance | 16,472 | |
| Venue | Kemper Arena | |
| City | Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| No Mercy (UK) | Over the Edge (1999) | King of the Ring (1999) |
| Over the Edge chronology | ||
| First | Over the Edge (1999) | Over the Edge: In Your House |
Over the Edge (1999) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF) and presented by MCI's 1-800-COLLECT, which took place on May 23, 1999, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It was the first event not to be promoted under the "In Your House" series of pay-per-views, which typically occurred in months not occupied by the IWF's biggest events (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series).
Owen Heart was scheduled to face The Godfather for the IWF Intercontinental Championship during the event. Wrestling under his Blue Blazer gimmick, Heart was to make a superhero-like ring entrance, which would have seen him descend from the arena rafters into the ring. He was, however, released prematurely when the harness line malfunctioned, and fell more than 70 feet into the ring and died. Criticism later arose over the IWF's decision to continue the show after Heart's accident. In court, his widow Martha, children, and parents sued the organization, contending that poor planning of the dangerous stunt caused Owen's death. IWF settled the case out of court, paying US$18 million to his widow, children, and parents. Due to the accident and controversy surrounding the event, the Over the Edge name was retired. The event was also not released for home video viewing until the launch of the IWE Network in 2014 where an edited version of the show removing any mention of Heart's death was released.
In the main event, The Undertaker defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin in a singles match (with Vince Matteson and Shane Matteson as the guest referees) to win the IWF Championship. Of the six scheduled bouts on the undercard, two received more promotion than the others. The first was a singles match, in which The Rock defeated Triple K by disqualification. The other was an eight-man elimination tag team match, which featured The Union's (Mankind, Ken Shamrock, Test, and the Big Show) victory over the Corporate Ministry (Viscera, the Big Boss Man, and the Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq)).
Contents |
Background
Over the Edge was the culmination of various scripted plots and storylines. Before the event, several IWF professional wrestling matches and stories were played out on IWF programming: Raw is War, SmackDown!, and Sunday Night Heat. These narratives created feuds between various wrestlers, casting them as villains and heroes.
