Sept 14, 1999, Las Vegas, SmackDown!.
HHH goaded Vince into a title match so he could beat him down (which he did, for several minutes). Then, HHH bumps the ref, Austin runs in (he and HHH were feuding), Stone Cold Stunner on HHH, Austin puts Vince on top of HHH and revives the ref, 1-2-3, Vince McMahon is the WWE Champion.
That Monday (9/20/99), Vince vacated the title so the winner of the '6-Pack Challenge' scheduled for that Sunday's Unforgiven PPV would be the new WWE Champion.
At Unforgiven, guest referee Steve Austin was forced to count HHH's winning pinfall on The Big Show, but attacked The Game as he celebrated after the match. This set up Austin-HHH for the title at No Mercy the next month.
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It was The Rock actually. Bulldog hits Rock with a chair as he was about to finish HHH off. Austi ncame in and cracked Bulldog as HHH hit the pedigree on The Rock.