The Year in PPV- 2000, Part III

As the year 2000 closes, it was finally revealed who ran over Stone Cold Steve Austin...


11. No Mercy

It was RIKISHI!?!?!? WHAT!?!?!? In all seriousness, I know he "did it for The Rock," but this is one of the weakest reveals EVER. What didn't help Rikishi in getting over as a heel was that they still made him wrestle in a THONG. He wore leather pants as his street attire, so why couldn't he wear those as a heel? I know it sounds strange to say the key to success is pants (especially in wrestling), but we should at least be able to take a bad guy seriously, and we can't do that if he's wrestling in a thong (that's why we never saw a World title run for Naked Mideon). I can barely call his No Holds Barred match with Stone Cold Steve Austin an actual match. It's more of a brawl but is serviceable in Austin getting his revenge.

Sorry, went on a rant there. Anyways, the other main events involve top tier talent delivering solid wrestling matches. The first was Chris Benoit's match with Triple H, which did a lot of what the match at Fully Loaded did for Chris Jericho in allowing Benoit to be seen as a legitimate threat in the main event picture, or at the least could cut it with the main event talent like Triple H. The main event saw Kurt Angle challenge The Rock for the WWF Championship. Based on their personalities, a classic match is guaranteed, until the ending (SERIOUSLY, RIKISHI!?!?!). There's also a lot of entertainment in the midcard, including a Steel Cage match between X-Pac and Chris Jericho, a Dudley Boyz Invitational Tables match, and The Hardy Boyz putting their WWF Tag Team Championships on the line against the mysterious duo of Los Conquistadores (I freaking love Edge and Christian).

Mild Recommendation


12. Survivor Series

You know it's pretty bad when majority of the midcard is higher quality than the THREE main events for the show. The Survivor Series elimination matches are quick, but also a lot of fun and showcase the WWF's overabundance in tag teams. The Radicalz (Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, and Dean Malenko) had an entertaining match against a revamped (and discount) D-Generation X (Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Chyna and K-Kwik). The Dudley Boyz teamed up with The Hardy Boyz (AWESOME) against Edge and Christian (who already REEK OF AWESOMENESS) and the Right to Censor (Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather). There's also a pretty good (I'd almost call underrated gem) match between Kane and Chris Jericho that all started over spilled coffee (I never said the story was good).

As I said earlier, three main events were advertised for this show (which would lead into a MASSIVE main event for Armageddon). The Rock squared off against Rikishi, which was pretty forgettable. Kurt Angle defended his WWF Championship against the Undertaker, which was also forgettable outside of the ending (but Angle did that better in his 2003 match with Brock Lesnar). Stone Cold Steve Austin sought to get revenge on Triple H for organizing the hit and run at the previous year's Survivor Series. Their No Disqualification match is known for its ending more than anything else, as the rest of the match is your standard brawl.

Skip It


13. Rebellion

I'm starting to think that the WWF should have just dropped the Insurrextion and Rebellion shows and made one of their annual shows emanate from the UK instead. How bad would it have been for for King of the Ring or Fully Loaded to be in the UK if it meant that we didn't get filler shows like Insurrextion? Seriously, British fans (and fans around the world for that matter) deserve shows where the matches and superstars involved are at top notch quality. Luckily, Rebellion is not a train wreck in comparison to other UK shows, but still lacks historical significance.

Between Survivor Series and Armageddon, Rebellion is actually a pretty satisfying filler show thanks to its entertaining roster. The personalities involved are all able to work off one another to do storytelling that is by the books, but still allows matches to flow naturally and feel satisfying for the most part. The main event between The Rock, Rikishi, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship was pretty fun thanks to the outside interference from Edge and Christian (friends with Angle) and the Radicalz (feuding with Austin).

Mild Recommendation


14. Armageddon

The year comes to a close with one of the biggest main events in wrestling history. After so many rivalries were interlocking in booking, Commissioner Mick Foley (once again, THANK YOU MICK!!!) decided to have Kurt Angle put the WWF Championship on the line in a 6-Man Hell in a Cell Match against The Rock, Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Undertaker, and Rikishi. Rikishi withstanding, this match features 5 of the greatest superstars in WWE history and that match itself is entertaining from beginning to end. It's bloody, there are great spots, and there's really a sense that anyone could walk away with the title and EVERYONE could leave the match with serious injuries. It's a match that lives up to the name of the show, as fans were in attendance for a match that felt like Armageddon was taking place before their eyes.

In history's eyes, this is a one-match show, but that doesn't mean there aren't some fun matches on the undercard. One of my personal favorites is the Last Man Standing match between Kane and Chris Jericho (one that many fans agree is the match where their feud finally clicked), but there is also a lot of fun in the six-person intergender match between Team Xtreme (The Hardy Boyz and Lita) and The Radicalz (Perry Saturn, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko), a Fatal 4-Way match for the WWF Tag Team Championships (Edge and Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Goodfather and Bull Buchanan vs. Road Dogg and K-Kwik) and a well wrestled match for the Intercontinental Championship between Billy Gunn and Chris Benoit. The undercard offers some variety, but there was only one match on the minds of every fan that night and that was the Hell in a Cell, and rightfully so.

Recommended


Final Thoughts: My final thoughts are going to be brief at the risk of sounding like a broken record. Yes, some booking decisions might seem out there nowadays (Rikishi in particular), but the year 2000 can boast to featuring one of the most stacked rosters of all-time, and offering a great amount of comedic and serious storytelling, some of the most hardcore moments in company history, and doing the number one thing any year in wrestling history should be striving towards: entertaining the fans consistently throughout the year. I strongly recommend checking out the year 2000 in its entirety on the WWE Network, you won't be disappointed.


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