On September 16, 1999, you’d have had a better chance of witnessing frogs falling from the sky or pigs flying than WWE.com’s No. 5 Most Memorable Moment in SmackDown History. As if Mr. McMahon defeating Triple H for the WWE Championship wasn’t unlikely enough, consider how it was accomplished: with some Stunning assistance from a Rattlesnake-skinned arch-rival…and with WWE fans in Las Vegas’ sold-out Thomas Mack Center cheering for the WWE Chairman.

Even long-lived TV classics like Happy Days or N.Y.P.D. Blue waited a season or two before making substantial alterations to their characters or storylines. Yet in just its fourth installment, SmackDown was already drastically changing everything you might have known about sports-entertainment. At a time broadcast television was deemed stale and predictable, SmackDown was delivering the unexpected. And fans around the world loved it.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s recap: WWE officials, believing the company’s Superstars had made WWE “an unsafe work environment,” were officially on strike and picketing the Mack Center. Among the “offending parties” was “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who was hunting down Triple H less than 72 hours after a disqualification (for assaulting a referee) cost him an opportunity to reclaim the WWE Championship. As for The Game, he was less than a month into his first World Championship reign, yet already a veteran pain in the you-know-where. Ignoring threats that he grant Austin a No Holds Barred rematch or “get carted out of this building in a body bag,” the WWE Champion insisted he would defend his title that evening against “a main-event competitor of my choice.”

Amid a wild night of action, adventure and offbeat match officiating (by the likes of Gerald Brisco, Tony Garea and a masked Howard Finkel), SmackDown fans speculated that Triple H’s choice competition would include the likes of Big Show, Undertaker, Mankind, Kane or The Rock. Instead, The Game—flanked by Chyna and a sea of security—unleashed a verbal rant against Mr. McMahon, then designated the Chairman as his opponent for the WWE Championship. Shock and awe instantly swept the sold-out arena, not to mention Mr. McMahon, wife Linda and son Shane, whom Triple H also named to guest referee the match.

Heading to the ring, Mr. McMahon was emphatic about declining the challenge; unfortunately, The Game relentlessly pushed the WWE boss’ buttons, suggesting that he was hiding behind his wife’s skirt, and that perhaps she needed a real man. Unable to contain himself any longer, Mr. McMahon unloaded a barrage of fists to Triple H’s head, though his lack of ring experience—coupled by the fact that he was still recovering from a bad motorcycle accident earlier that summer—would quickly work against him. Even with Shane officiating, the Cerebral Assassin physically dissected the Chairman, choking him with a camera cable, slamming his head against the steel ringside steps, and nearly breaking him in half with an elbow that destroyed the SmackDown announce table.

Beyond the point of remaining an impartial referee, Shane tried to save his near-lifeless father from a vicious chair to the skull, only to eat some unforgiving steel himself. Chyna, meanwhile, thwarted rescue attempts from Linda McMahon, Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson, then held WWE’s CEO captive while Triple H busted her husband wide open. Yet as The Game prepared to finish Mr. McMahon with a Pedigree, the sound of shattering glass filled the arena. Distracted by Stone Cold’s entrance music, Triple H looked toward the SmackDown stage, never noticing the Rattlesnake as he slithered out of the crowd. Austin delivered fierce Stunners to both Chyna and the Cerebral Assassin, then pulled Mr. McMahon’s limp body over Triple H, allowing Shane to count the 1-2-3.

An electrified Mack Center crowd became ecstatic as Mr. McMahon, aided to his feet by his wife and son, was publicly declared the new WWE Champion. McMahon would voluntarily vacate the title four nights later on Raw, while The Game would earn his second WWE Championship in a Six-Pack Challenge at Unforgiven the following week. Nevertheless, on that night SmackDown had successfully established that terms like “status quo” or “business as usual” had no place in the sports-entertainment lexicon.