Views from the Hawke’s Nest: WWF Fully Loaded 2000

 

July 23, 2000
Dallas, Texas

 

Lita & The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy) vs. T&A (Albert & Test) & Trish Stratus

The Hardys had a lot of success early on. Jeff *finally* got cut off after Albert just gorilla pressed him to the floor. Jeff eventually tagged out to Matt. That was a red herring though, and Lita later tagged in to hit some big highspots. Test and Albert had to doubleteam her to cut her off. Lita and Trish went at it. Lita hit a superplex and later finished her with the moonsault.

T&A attacked the faces after the match. Trish ended up whipping Lita with a belt.

This was a very nice opener. There was some clunkiness in the transition from Jeff being worked over to Lita doing the comeback, but that is a minor issue in the grand scheme of the match.

Match Rating: ***1/4

 

We saw The Undertaker chasing Kurt Angle around backstage on his motorcycle.

 

Al Snow vs. Tazz

They were working hard but no one cared. Tazz kicked out of a moonsault, and Snow then went to Head. Tazz cut him down and worked him over some more. Snow avoided the Tazzmission once, but he couldn’t avoid it the second time. Snow had to tap out.

This was short and inoffensive. Neither man came off as important or special in any way though.

Match Rating: **

 

We saw Triple H and Stephanie McMahon backstage. Steph was getting lots of flowers from a mystery suitor. It turned out to be from Kurt Angle. HHH was less than pleased.

 

Eddie Guerrero (w/Chyna) (c) vs. Perry Saturn (w/Terri) [WWF European Championship]

Chyna attacked Perry on the floor, and Eddie then worked him over as soon as the match started. Saturn hit a powerbomb, but Eddie maintained control. Saturn was keeping it competitive though. In a convoluted sequence, Saturn attacked Chyna, and Terri then kicked Eddie in the balls. Saturn followed it up with a diving elbow drop: 1…2…3

This was a very awkward match with bizarre dynamic (who was I supposed to be pulling for?) and a lukewarm crowd reaction. It was not terrible.

Match Rating: **1/4

 

Christian & Edge (c) vs. The Acolytes (Bradshaw & Faarooq) [WWF World Tag Team Championship]

Throughout the first 45 minutes of the show, we were “treated” to some vignettes where the champs tried to get out of the match by faking food poisoning. Commissioner Mick Foley caught them faking it though.

Edge and Christian made fun of Texas. Bradshaw then cut a blistering promo about how amazing Texas was. He also put over Dick Murdoch, Bruiser Brody, The Von Erichs, and The Freebirds.

The Acolytes ran through them for a bit. Bradshaw got cut off and then worked over. Faarooq made a hot tag and had the match won. Edge hit him with a belt to get DQed and save the titles.

Edge and Christian scampered away. The challengers chased them to the back.

They worked the formula well, and it would have been quite good with a finish. While the pre-match promos were nauseating, a title change would have gotten over huge.

Match Rating: **1/2

 

We saw updates on the HHH/Steph and Angle/Taker stories. HHH went to go ask Kurt about the flowers, as Steph pointed out his name was not actually on the card. Taker hobbled around, and Kurt attacked him with a large wrench.

 

Val Venis (w/Trish Stratus) (c) vs. Rikishi [WWF Intercontinental Title Steel Cage]

WHY!?!?!?!?!?

It is hard to articulate how boring this match was to experience. Rikishi dominated for a bit. Val eventually got control. None of the escape teases got over. Val Venis’ charisma was apparently all stored in his hair, because this new short hair look made his incredibly vanilla. Val got busted open. Rikishi had Val pinned, but Val got his foot in the ropes. Apparently, that prevents a pinfall in a cage match? Rikishi kicked out of the Money Shot. Lita ran down to whip Trish after Trish prevented Rikishi from escaping. Back in the ring, Rikishi climbed to the top of the cage. Looking nervous as hell, he hit a splash off the top of the cage. There was a ref bump though, so there was no one to count the fall. As Rikishi was crawling out, Tazz hit him with a video camera. Val put a hand on Rikishi: 1…2…3

The Rikishi splash nearly saved the match (or at least redeemed it slightly), but that finish was absolutely terrible. The match was very boring until the final few minutes. Hard to believe this was a thing that actually happened.

Match Rating: *3/4

 

Shane McMahon came out and challenged The Rock to a match. This was just a trick to allow Benoit to destroy The Rock’s wardrobe backstage. What an angle.

 

Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker

Taker beat up Angle before the match started. The match then started, and Taker continued to beat him up. Angle needed a wrench to cut off Taker, and he then went after Taker’s left knee. Taker made a comeback without selling the leg work at all. The commentary then perfectly explained why The Undertaker sucked so much of his career:

Lawler: I don’t even understand how The Undertaker is standing right now.
Ross: Because he’s The Undertaker!

Taker hit a chokeslam and then The Last Ride to finish Angle.

I understand the desire to make The Undertaker look strong as he was in the early stages of his new character, but it is criminal that it came at the expense of Kurt Angle in the manner that it did.

Match Rating: *1/2

 

Chris Jericho vs. Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) [Last Man Standing]

The hype video for this match featured Triple H shouting, “I want Chris Jericho’s ass!” no fewer than three times. I love how homoerotic professional wrestling is. It’s a shame it’s a business that reinforces heteronormativity in every situation possible.

They were brawling from the start, which I appreciated given the stipulation and the grudge-nature of the feud. HHH got control after a few minutes and targeted Jericho’s injured ribs. HHH undid Jericho’s bandages as he continued to target the midsection. HHH blocked an attempted Lionsault from Jericho which re-injured the ribs. Jericho managed to survive a sleeper. HHH then gave him a pedigree. Jericho got to his feet at 9. HHH used a chair to attack the ribs, but Jericho hit a desperation low blow. Jericho gave him a chairshot to the face, which busted HHH open. Jericho made a comeback. HHH went for the pedigree on steel steps, but Jericho avoided it. They then hit each other with the monitors at the same time. They barely got to their feet, and Jericho then applied the Liontamer. He transitioned to the Walls. Stephanie eventually broke it up, and Jericho then decided to apply the Walls on her. HHH made the save. Jericho hit HHH with the sledgehammer but then got back suplexed through a table. HHH got to his feet at 9, but Jericho failed to do so. HHH won and then immediately collapsed.

One of the best matches from either man’s career. This match managed to be worked and finished in a way that was both satisfying in the moment but also made clear that the result easily could have gone the other way.

HHH was probably at his career peak at this point, as he was still capable working at a great pace and was better at making his opponent look strong. Jericho absolutely came out of this match seeming like a main-eventer even in defeat. While Jericho’s peak would come years and years later as a sniveling, thesaurus-using heel, there was a period in 2000-2001 where he was an excellent, fiery babyface. I loved this one.

Match Rating: ****1/4

 

The Rock (c) vs. Chris Benoit (w/Shane McMahon) [WWF World Heavyweight Championship/DQ Leads To Title Change]

Rock started the match by kicking Benoit’s ass AND chasing Shane around the ring. He was very over for doing so. Benoit finally managed to cut Rock off and then worked him over. Benoit hit Rock with the belt for a nearfall. It looked like Rock was coming back a few times, but Benoit just kept cutting him right off. Rock finally fought back long enough to hit the spinebuster. People’s Elbow. Shane jumped up on the apron. That gave Benoit a chance to recover, and he hit a superplex. Benoit just could not put Rock away though and eventually brought out a chair. Shane hit the ref with the chair. Rock cleared out Shane and applied the crossface on Benoit. Benoit tapped out.

Wait, a second…the referee said that Benoit won by disqualification and was the new WWF Champ! Mick Foley came out and reversed the decision. He ordered that the match be restarted. Rock and Benoit went at it. Benoit actually got control and applied the crossface. Rock survived and hit a Rock Bottom: 1…2…3

This was a very odd match. I’m not sure if I’m a fan of Benoit working as a traditional heel. He can be ruthless, unforgiving heel. A viscous heel.  This was more him trying to be a WWF main event heel though, and I wasn’t really digging it. Unfortunately, that was the majority of the match.  If Benoit was going to be moved up to the main, he should have been doing “what brought him to the dance” so to speak. There were some hot moments down the stretch at least, and the Foley stuff towards the end definitely worked for the crowd. It was a fine main event overall, but nowhere near as good as I remembered.

Match Rating: ***1/4

 

Watch some WWE matches for free!

CM Punk vs. John Cena

The Rock vs. Eddie Guerrero

Bruno Sammartino vs. Ernie Ladd

Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart

Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart

Shawn Michaels vs. Shelton Benjamin

Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler

 

Watch some NJPW for free!
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jun Akiyama (G1 Climax)
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata (G1 Climax)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Prince Devitt (G1 Climax)
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Togi Makabe (Chain Match)
Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson
Kota Ibushi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi [Fantastic Match]
Prince Devitt vs. Kenny Omega
Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi (With thoughts from Prince Devitt)
Katsuyori Shibata &Wataru Inoue vs. Eddy Guerrero & Black Tiger

 

If you want to watch some ROH matches for free, check out:
CM Punk vs. AJ Styles
Eddie Guerrero vs. Super Crazy
Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan vs. Nigel McGuinness [Great match]
The Young Bucks vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico
El Generico vs. Chris Hero
The Young Bucks vs. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli
AJ Styles & Matt Sydal vs. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong
CM Punk vs. Brian Kendrick

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was a good show overall with the final two matches really carrying it. The Last Man Standing match was really impressive, and it made it even more mystifying that they would switch face/heel roles when they went on to main event a Wrestlemania.