It’s WrestleMania season and as we prepare for WrestleMania 38, once again happening over two days, I decided to watch a WrestleMania from years past, WrestleMania 2000. Which is infamous for the “McMahon in every corner” main event match for the WWF Championship.
The opening contest was a tag team match, pitting The Godfather and D’Lo Brown against Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan.
Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan defeated The Godfather & D’Lo Brown
Both teams proved that they worked well together but Buchanan and Boss Man, evidently, were the better team on the night. They picked up the win after a Boss Man Slam, followed up by a huge leg drop from the top rope from Buchanan onto D’Lo. A nine-minute match that wasn’t too bad and was a great way to open the show.
Hardcore Holly won the Hardcore Battle Royal to win the WWF Hardcore Championship, pinning Crash Holly to do so
The next match was a huge Hardcore Battle Royal for the Hardcore Championship. The match had a fifteen-minute time limit, with the title being able to change hands however many times as is possible during that time limit. Whoever is the champion at the end of the fifteen minutes would officially win the title.
The participants in the match were the reigning champion Crash Holly, Tazz, Viscera, Rodney, Pete Gas, Joey Abs, Hardcore Holly, TAKA Michinoku, Funaki, Mosh, Thrasher, Bradshaw, and Faarooq. The first title change happened twenty-six seconds in as Tazz pinned Crash following a Capture Suplex. It only took another forty-five seconds for the next one as Viscera pinned Tazz following a Powerslam on the outside.
The match had weapons galore with cookie sheets, flags and even a telephone being introduced. Crash got busted open early by his own cousin, Hardcore. Viscera tried everything he could to keep the title, only to get pinned by Funaki after Bradshaw took him out with a huge diving shoulderblock. Following Funaki winning the title, every single participant chased him to the backstage area, including Funaki’s Kai En Tai tag partner, TAKA Michinoku.
After catching up with Funaki, Rodney threw him into a metal barricade, scoring the pinfall soon after to win the title. He didn’t hold the title for very long as Joey Abs took him out with a Gutwrench Suplex to win the title. Thrasher then took the title after throwing Abs into a shutter, quickly following it up with a Lariat.
After making their way back into the arena, Pete Gas won the title after hitting Thrasher with a fire extinguisher. Tazz won the title for the second time after dropping Gas with a T-Bone Suplex at ringside. As the clock struck thirty-six seconds left, Crash pinned Tazz following a shot with a cookie sheet to become the Hardcore Champion.
As Tazz had Crash locked in the Tazzmission, Hardcore Holly smacked Crash over the head with a candy jar, smashing into pieces, with Hardcore getting the three-count even though Crash DID kick out. However, Hardcore Holly was announced as the winner and the new Hardcore Champion. Aside from the conclusion of the match, it was pretty good. It was a bit chaotic with the pinfalls and the weapons but it was a really good watch.
Another tag match took place next as the team of Al Snow and Steve Blackman took on Test and Albert. Snow and Blackman were accompanied to the ring by a guy in a cheese costume named Chester McCheeserton, with Test and Albert accompanied by Trish Stratus.
T&A (Test and Albert) (with Trish Stratus) defeat Head Cheese (Al Snow and Steve Blackman) (with Chester McCheeserton)
Although Blackman and Snow did work quite well together, T&A walked away from the victors after a diving elbow drop from Test onto Blackman. After the match, Snow brought Chester into the ring and admitted that bringing him out was a bad idea. Snow and Blackman then attacked Chester, with Snow saying that it was “Time to cut the cheese”. The match was decent enough but it wasn’t great.
The first-ever Triangle Ladder match took place next as The Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz, and Edge and Christian, battled it out for the WWF Tag Team Championships.
Edge and Christian defeat The Dudley Boyz (c) and The Hardy Boyz in a Triangle Ladder match to win the WWF Tag Team Championships
This was arguably one of the best matches of the night. So many incredible spots, with Edge spearing Hardy off the turnbuckle while Matt was on a ladder. Bubba Ray Dudley took himself and Christian out for a moment with a huge Bubba Cutter from the top of a ladder. Edge and Christian took out D-Von with a huge double superplex from the top of a ladder.
The Dudley Boyz even introduced tables into the match, with Jeff soon taking Bubba Ray out with a Swanton Bomb through a table. After sending Matt crashing through a table from the top of a ladder, Edge and Christian retrieved the titles, becoming the new Tag Team Champions.
Following the ladder match, The Kat and Terri battled in a Catfight, with Terri winning under controversial circumstances. I made the decision to not review this entirely as it wasn’t an actual match. The next match was a six-person tag team match pitting Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero of The Radicalz against Chyna and Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty and Grand Master Sexay).
Chyna and Too Cool defeat The Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn)
The story of this match was based around Eddie Guerrero trying to win the affection of Chyna. The irony of that was Chyna pinning Eddie following a neckbreaker variation to win the match for her and Too Cool. A really good match, proving just how dominating Chyna can be.
Chris Benoit defeats Kurt Angle (c) and Chris Jericho to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship in the Two-Fall Triple Threat match Chris Jericho defeats Kurt Angle (c) and Chris Benoit to win the WWF European Championship in the Two-Fall Triple Threat match
In a WrestleMania first, Kurt Angle defended both the Intercontinental and European Championships in a two-fall triple threat match against Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. The first fall, and the Intercontinental Title, went to Benoit, who pinned Jericho following a Diving Headbutt.
The second fall, and the European Title, went to Jericho, who pinned Benoit following the Lionsault. This match was great and had a really good booking with Angle losing both titles without even being pinned, keeping him a little bit stronger than he would have been had he been pinned.
Kane and Rikishi defeat D-Generation X (Road Dogg and X-Pac)
Dogg and Pac had control of the match until Kane was tagged in. After Rikishi stinkfaced Tori, Kane dropped X-Pac with the Tombstone Piledriver to pick up the victory for his team. A good match that did what it needed to, with Kane getting revenge on X-Pac for stealing his girlfriend.
Following the match, Scotty 2 Hotty and Grand Master Sexay made their way down to the ring to try and get a dance out of Rikishi and Kane. Rikishi danced but Kane looked apprehensive in the corner with Paul Bearer. Someone dressed in a chicken costume then jumped into the ring and danced with Too Cool.
Kane went to attack the chicken but, while he was distracted, Pete Rose came into the ring with a bat, only for Rikishi to take the bat off Rose. For the third year in a row, Kane chokeslammed Pete Rose, with Rikishi then stinkfacing Pete.
Triple H (c) defeats The Rock, Mick Foley and The Big Show in a Fatal Four Way Elimination match to retain the WWF Championship
This match was billed as a ‘McMahon In Every Corner’ with Linda accompanying Foley, Shane managing Show, Vince accompanying The Rock and Stephanie managing Triple H. The Big Show barely lasted five minutes before The Rock eliminated him, following a Rock Bottom after a chair shot from Foley to the back of Show.
Foley attempted a diving elbow drop to Rock, only for him to underestimate how far away he was from the table, taking himself out of the match for the time being. Later in the match, Vince McMahon slid a steel chair into the ring, which would soon come into play as Triple H Pedigree’d Foley onto the chair to eliminate him from the match, leaving Rock and Triple H as the final two superstars in the match.
After being eliminated, Foley came back into the ring and took Triple H out with a shot with the barbed wire bat. After taking out Shane, Vince turned against The Rock and dropped him with a steel chair. Somehow, Rock still kicked out at two. Vince hit Rock again with the chair, with Triple H getting the pinfall and the victory to win the match and keep hold of the WWF Championship.
In Conclusion, how was WrestleMania 2000?
A great WrestleMania event, with my top three matches being the two-fall triple threat match, the Triangle Ladder match, and the main event four-way elimination match. With only a few memorable matches, it probably won’t be on anyone’s top ten Mania’s list but it was a decent Mania all the same.
