Welcome to the latest edition of our WrestleMania Rewind series, written by yours truly, exclusively for everyone here at SLTD Wrestling. The aim of WrestleMania Rewind is to review every WrestleMania in roughly 2,000 words. Click here to read the series so far.
Today, WrestleMania Rewind stops at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California for WrestleMania 2000! It took place in front of just over 18,000 fans on April 2nd, 2000. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were on commentary. There were 9 matches on the card for paying fans, and those watching at home to “enjoy”. Did I enjoy them? Read on to find out!
Match 1: Godfather & D’Lo Brown vs Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan
D’Lo and Bull start out. The babyfaces are on top early. Godfather gets a 2-count off a superkick to Boss Man. Boss Man replies with a 2 of his own from a right hand on D’Lo. The heels isolate D’Lo. Bull gets a 2-count off an ax-kick. Boss Man gets a 2-count from a backbreaker. D’Lo lands a top rope hurricanrana and makes the hot tag to Godfather, who hits the Ho Train on Boss Man. He tags D’Lo. There’s a melee, Boss Man hits the Boss Man Slam and Bull follows up with a top rope legdrop for the win.
Opinion: A good way to kick off the show. It’s easy to forget how over the Godfather was. Of course, the hoes helped! I’d also forgotten how athletic big Bull was too. His legdrop for the finish was very impressive.
Match 2: Hardcore Battle Royal for the WWF Hardcore Championship
***Whoever holds the championship after the 15-minute time-limit is the champion***
It’d be literally impossible for me to detail everything that went on, so I’ll just go through some highlights. I counted something like 10 different title changes.
In the last 5 minutes, Tazz pins Pete Gas (for his second pin of the night) and starts fighting Crash. Eventually, Crash pins him and it looks like he’ll end the match as champ. Hardcore Holly comes in and blasts him with a jar full of candies. The ref fudges (see what I did there!) the count, and declares Hardcore Holly the winner, despite the fact Crash’s shoulders weren’t down for three.
Opinion: All kinds of weapons were used and a lot of people were left sporting colour. We were a bloodthirsty bunch back in the day. As for the finish, perhaps Hardcore was supposed to cover Crash with 3 seconds remaining or something? I dunno, but there was no way to polish that turd. In the words of Randy Orton – STUPID!
Match 3: Al Snow & Steve Blackman vs T’n’A (Test & Albert) (w/Trish Stratus)
The babyfaces isolate Albert (our very own Greg!). Snow gets a 2-count off a double-team clothesline, then Blackman gets a 2-count from a top rope headbutt. Test comes in and cleans house, getting a 2 of his own from a sidewalk slam. The heels dominate and get another couple of 2-counts from some double-team moves, before picking up a win with a top rope elbow.
Opinion: The match itself was OK, but damn…2000 Trish was hot as fuck! Wow… Just…WOW!
Match 4: Triangle Ladder Match for the WWF Tag-Team Championships – Edge & Christian vs The Hardy Boyz vs The Dudley Boyz (c)
E&C are on the attack early, but quickly get wiped out by the other 2 teams. Jeff hits Whisper in the Wind on Bubba. Bubba replies with a Bubba Bomb. All 6 men are in now and the Hardys are on top, using the ladder as a weapon. Jeff misses a 450 splash on Bubba and crashes into the ladder, but Bubba goes (relatively) high-risk, and it pays off.
The Dudleys have the best of it now, until E&C flapjack D-Von into the ladder. All 6 of them then crash and burn off the ladders. The Dudleys make a bridge with two ladders and a table. D-Von goes for a splash, but crashes through the table. Bubba powerbombs Matt through a table from the Spanish Announce Table, then blasts Jeff in the face with a ladder!
Christian wipes Bubba out with the ringbell. Jeff climbs a giant ladder in the aisle, and lands a Swanton Bomb on Bubba, through a table. Matt takes out D-Von with a Twist of Fate. Edge pushes Matt off the bridge the Dudleys built, and he crashes through a table, leaving E&C to pick up the belts.
Opinion: I loved this match. After I’d sat down and taken notes on it the first time, I went back and watched it again. Fair enough, it’s high spot after high spot, but it’s tremendously entertaining. Awesome stuff from these 3 teams. We’d expect nothing else though, would we?
Match 5: Terri Runnels (w/Moolah) vs The Kat (w/Mae Young) in a Catfight
Val Venis was the special guest referee. Damn you Venis, you jammy swine. I’d have loved to have been the meat in a Terri/The Kat sandwich! Right, the rules here are whoever throws their opponent out of the ring first wins. Simple.
Kat throws Terri out of the ring twice, but Venis is distracted by Mae Young. Moolah pulls Kat out of the ring, puts Terri back in and Terri wins. Post-match, The Kat pulls Terri’s trousers off.
Opinion: Any match where we get to see Terri Runnels’ bare arse is fine with me. She was SMOKING hot back in the day!
Match 6: Too Cool & Chyna vs The Radicalz
Scotty gets the best of Eddie early. Stephanie…whoops…Chyna and Dean Malenko get the tags. Malenko gets double-suplexed by Chyna and GMS. There’s a ref distraction. Saturn and Malenko double-team Scotty. Too Cool get back into it and Scotty hits a Double Worm! Scotty gets double-teamed behind the ref’s back again.
Scotty crotches Eddie and lands a top rope superplex. He gets the hot tag to Stephanie…dammit…Chyna, who cleans house. Eddie lands a cheap shot. Chyna reverses a powerbomb into one of her own, and gets the win with a modified reverse DDT.
Opinion: A great wee match that was really well put together. I dunno what’s with my Steph/Chyna Freudian slips. Seriously, look at Chyna back then, and Steph now. They’re the same person!
Match 7: 2-Fall Triple-Threat Match for the WWF Intercontinental & European Championships – Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle (c)
1st Fall – Jericho hits a springboard dropkick that knocks Angle and Benoit off the apron. Angle gets a 2-count on Benoit from a back suplex and a 2-count on Jericho from an overhead belly-to-belly. Angle puts Jericho in the CrossFace Chickenwing. Benoit breaks it up and lands a top rope headbutt on Jericho to win the Intercontinental Championship.
2nd Fall – Angle misses a moonsault, and Jericho gets a 2-count. Jericho double-powerbombs Angle. Benoit lands 3 German suplexes for a 2-count. There’s a ref bump. Jericho taps to the CrossFace, but there’s no ref. Angle nails Jericho with the belt for 2. Benoit misses a top rope headbutt and Jericho hits the Lionsault on him to win the European Championship.
Opinion: You can’t ever question the quality of any matches involving these three, but to be honest, I felt uncomfortable watching it, knowing what happened with the other Canadian guy.
Match 8: DX (Road Dogg & X-Pac) (w/Tori) vs Rikishi & Kane (w/Paul Bearer)
Rikishi lands the Stinkface on Road Dogg early on. DX try walking away, but Kane & Rikishi bring them back. X-Pac lands the Bronco Buster on Rikishi. Road Dogg hits the Shake, Rattle & Roll and gets a 2-count off a kneedrop. Hot tag to Kane, who picks up the win with a Tombstone on X-Pac.
Opinion: Filler, nothing more. It was harmless, but didn’t mean anything.
Match 9: 4-Way Elimination Match for the WWF Championship – HHH (c) vs Big Show vs Mick Foley vs The Rock
Show’s dominant early. The other 3 team up on him. Foley clotheslines HHH outside. Shane tries to get involved and takes a right hand from Rock. With the ref’s back turned, Foley blasts Show in the back with a chair, and Rock Rock Bottoms him to eliminate Show.
Rock and Foley double-team HHH in and out of the ring. HHH ducks a shot with the ringbell, and Foley takes it instead. HHH launches Rock over the top rope. Foley hits a double-arm DDT and gets the Mandible Claw in on HHH. Rock hits HHH with the belt. Foley then puts the Mandible Claw on Rock! HHH hits a double low-blow. Foley gets a 2-count from a short-arm clothesline, and lands a double-arm DDT on Rock for another 2.
Rock gets a 2-count from a DDT of his own. Foley and HHH then double-team Rock. Rock sends Foley crashing over the steel steps knees first. Foley comes back and nails Rock with said steps. Rock goes through the Spanish Announce Table after THREE elbow drops. HHH Pedigrees Foley for a 2-count, then blasts Foley with a chair and hits a second Pedigree – on the chair – to eliminate him.
We’re down to HHH and Rock, who fight up the entrance way, through the crowd and back to ringside, where HHH blasts the steps into Rock with a steel chair, then piledrives Rock on the steps! Rock lands a spinebuster on the outside, before suplexing HHH through the announce table! HHH drop toe-holds Rock into the steps.
There’s some shenanigans involving Vince, Shane and HHH. Rock gets a 2-count off a DDT and a tilt-a-whirl slam. HHH blasts Rock with the barbed-wire bat. Rock slingshots HHH into Shane, then Rock Bottoms HHH. Vince is back with a steel chair. He turns around and blasts Rock with the steel chair! Rock kicks out at 2! Vince hits him a second time, and HHH covers him to retain the title.
Opinion: This match was WAYYYY too long. It lasted for FORTY minutes! In fact, they could’ve accomplished the same thing in half the time. Too many shenanigans on the outside, just to tell the story of Vince screwing Rock. If it was gonna come down to Rock/HHH, then they could’ve just had a singles match and gone with the same finish. The worst main-event I’ve seen so far in this series.
Summary: The triangle ladder match aside, this Mania was a whole lot of nothing. It’s got a bad reputation, but for good reason. Nothing on the show meant anything, aside from the ladder match, which is one of the best ever. Great work by all teams in that one. I could describe this Mania in one word – clusterfuck.
Hopefully, you enjoyed that quick look back at WrestleMania 2000. Leave your comments/feedback via the usual channels, and join me again tomorrow to revisit WrestleMania X-Seven!
SLTD Wrestling's resident Scottish Nightmare. Some of my content may not be suitable for younger readers or those who are easily offended!
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