10 shocking moments from WWF (WWE) 1999

#5 Vince McMahon becomes WWF Champion

Is controversy always a good thing in wrestling?

Following the conclusion of Austin's rivalry with McMahon, the owner of the company turned face for a brief while towards the end of 1999, feuding with the now villainous Triple H. While not holding the same level of importance as Austin-McMahon, this feud did do a lot for the company going forward and brought some new faces to the main event scene.

One of the most shocking moments of this feud -- and there were plenty -- was the sight of Vince McMahon, the guy who had brought professional wrestling to the apex of popular culture, holding the WWF Championship above his head. If winning the Royal Rumble wasn't enough, the evil Mr McMahon was now the company's champion.

The midst of the Attitude Era, the WWF worked out that shocking moments translated into reactions, which in turn meant an increase in ratings. This is why the period from 98-02 was filled with so many moments of controversy.

Some look back on Vince's victory as a black mark against the prestige of the championship, while others see it as the perfect embodiment of WWF's car crash television that they used to do so well.

Unfortunately, this booking would eventually merge into more of a McMahon family feud, culminating in one of the weakest and most unnecessary main events in Wrestlemania history at Wrestlemania 2000, but at the time, this was enough to get the fickle wrestling fan base talking about the WWF, which at the time, could only be a good thing.