Canvas Critiques #7 – WWF Wrestlemania 2000 (16)

Canvas Critiques #7 – WWF Wrestlemania 2000 (16)

Quick Results

The Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan defeated D’Lo Brown & The Godfather in the opener.

Hardcore Holly won a Hardcore title battle royal, last pinning Crash. Other participants: Both Acolytes, all 3 members of the Mean Street Posse, Tazz, Viscera, both Headbangers and Kai En Tai.

T&A beat Head Cheese (Steve Blackman & Al Snow).

Edge & Christian defeated The Dudleyz and The Hardyz in a 3-team Ladder match to become Tag Team Champions.

Terri Runnels beat The Kat.

Too Cool & Chyna defeated The Radicalz (Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn & Eddie Guerrero).

1st Fall: Chris Benoit defeated Kurt Angle & Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental title.
2nd Fall: Chris Jericho defeated Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit for the European title.

Rikishi & Kane beat DX (X-Pac & Road Dogg)

Triple H (w/Stephanie) successfully retained the WWF title against Big Show (w/Shane), Mick Foley (w/Linda) and The Rock (w/Vince) after Vince turned on Rock.

A McMahon in every corner- Thoughts on HHH’s title retention

The result came as a big surprise to many. After all, a heel rarely closes out Wrestlemania as the victor. On what is supposed to be the promotion’s biggest show of each year -effectively the close of a WWE “season” if you will- you wouldn’t have blamed them for finishing it with a feel good moment with so many eyes on their product.

I’m slightly torn on the issue. On the one hand, a heel winning was quite a change from what was the perceived norm (more on this later) and it certainly got the audience’s blood boiling. And let’s be perfectly clear; this wasn’t just any heel winning the Wrestlemania main event. It was Triple H, who at that point was arguably the absolute best in the profession regardless of his face/heel alignment. It further added to his character, and while the sudden alliance with Vince -A man he fought on PPV just four months prior- was head scratching to some, to many others it just made him, Stephanie and those around them into even more of a dislikable, powerful force which you couldn’t wait for the likes of The Rock to take down and bring to justice. Indeed, The Rock’s title winning moment at Backlash a month later is one fondly remembered.

But is it something that would’ve been more fondly remembered here instead? In spite of a babyface triumphing at Wrestlemania yet again, The Rock was such a hot property even at this point, and a title win at Wrestlemania would’ve given us a moment that would’ve been replayed each and every year in highlight reels, hype videos, etc for future Wrestlemanias and generations to come. As brilliant as the Backlash moment was, I dare say it would’ve meant even more on a stage like Wrestlemania.

To be truthful, by this point Wrestlemania’s star power had diminished slightly. It wasn’t quite on the same scale as the initial shows, nor had it quite reached the level we see today where it becomes something of a weekly festival which draws some astronomical business. My guess is they were already looking ahead to Backlash and building up the programme more between Rock & HHH, whilst still wanting to give Mick Foley a last hurrah and also wanting to find a role for Big Show, who just a few months ago was WWF Champion himself.

As for the match itself, it seems to have gone largely forgotten amongst every other Wrestlemania main event of the decade, regardless of the result. Maybe a Rock victory would’ve changed this outlook, but when comparing it to other ‘Mania main events I don’t think I’d rank it anywhere near the top 10. Still, because this was 2000 WWF and we were, for all intents and purposes, still in the attitude era, it was still really entertaining looking back.

As for the McMahon in every corner stip, I didn’t see a lot wrong with it. They were intentionally trying to hype themselves up as one of the most dysfunctional families on television and looking back over the years, I think they went some way to achieving this. Vince will always be remembered the most, but Stephanie was a great heel in her own right at this point. Linda was like a bastion of light, welcoming Mick Foley back with open arms and generally acting as the sanest of the bunch. As a young’un I always enjoyed watching Shane bounce around the ring and get his comeuppance, so no problems there either.

Did they overshadow the wrestlers themselves? Tough to say. On the one hand I think that type of soap opera aspect was a big reason that the product was so popular. But on the other, performers of the calibre of The Rock don’t exactly need help in putting over or trying to sell a product.

You’ll never walk alone – Notes on lack of singles matches.

This Wrestlemania was also unusual in that there weren’t any singles matches on the card (save for a divas bout, which is probably best forgotten altogether). In another change from the norm, each match featured multiple participants. From a multi-man Hardcore title battle royal to triple threats and fatal fourways, the show squeezed in as many performers as it possibly could. This also meant a string of tag matches.

Each match varies in terms of degrees of success. But by far and away the best and most entertaining was the triangle ladder match. In the past couple of months, teams like the New Age Outlaws had made way for a new, exciting trio who has completely taken the division by storm, and most of their matches revolved around turning the ring into something of a barbaric playground. And boy, was this something else. A magnificent effort by all six men. Wrestlemania 2000 isn’t remembered for much, but if there’s one thing it is remembered for it was that! It totally paved the way for all six men in their careers, and it also completely stole the show. I dread to think what it must’ve done to their bodies in the long-term, but they deserve all the praise in the world for that effort.

The Angle/Benoit/Jericho 3-way was good, but I’d have liked to have seen this match again sometime later in all three mens’ careers once they were more at home in the WWF, for all three of them became even better workers than they were here. The two falls for the European and Intercontinental titles was a nice touch and it did something for all 3 men: It gave Benoit the secondary title and further cemented his position as someone with big promise after he’d been jerked around in WCW. For Jericho, it kept him relatively hot despite losing his IC title a few months back in addition to getting revenge on Angle. Speaking of Angle, it gave him more ammunition on the microphone to cry about his losses and draw even more heat, in addition to him being able to move onto new things to keep progressing his character.

Happy Hardcore- A barmy battle royal.

With the recent hijinxs of the 24/7 rule breathing new life into the Hardcore title, more shenanigans at ‘Mania were surely round the corner. I’m 99% sure this match features the most title changes ever in a single bout and/or segment, such was the fun and games of the division.

It would make the purists squirm and roll their eyes, but to impressionable youths like myself, this was insanely fun. I’m not sure what I’d make of it now had it taken place today, but I remember this fondly. Perhaps even more fondly remembered is Hardcore Holly’s post-game show interview with Michael Cole. Have a dig around on YouTube and it won’t be hard to find.

It does suffer in some instances. Because it wasn’t your traditional over the top rope affair, all of the workers were at it all over the arena, which made it a little hard to keep track of, both for the live audience and the director who struggled to organise the cuts between shots depending on what was happening. Also, the screwed up finish is one that just seemed to befuddle everyone completely. But it just made it all the more fun to watch Crash chasing the title again in the long run. And as for the hard-to-follow brawling, that kind of craziness was the very essence o what the Hardcore title was really about.

One great function with the title was that it gave even the lowliest of lower card wrestlers something to aim for. That’s something I miss about pro-wrestling today; People can knock the WWE all they want for demeaning titles and such, but the whole wrestling culture in general has shifted in terms of what is perceived to be the most important commodities. Back then, the WWF had 7 or so titles yet each one conveyed some kind of importance, or in the case of the Hardcore belt, it’s own distinct identity. I’m not saying they should bring it back, and I think doing so wouldn’t be the wisest move, but hopefully one day they can draw some of that kind of inspiration and individuality and apply it to their current titles.

Any other business- The rest of the show.

I think it’s great they had so many spots open for people to get on the show and strut their stuff. These days it’s a lot harder to get onto the card for the show and sometimes even the most hard working individuals don’t get a slice of the action.

The only downside to the above is that you do get some filler.

Take these bouts for example: I like the Godfather & D’Lo as much as anyone, but I’m not sure that a tag bout against the Bossman and Bull Buchanan was Wrestlemania or even PPV worthy. Head Cheese were great, but Test & Albert were basically just a vehicle for Trish Stratus and little else. The match itself was awful. And don’t even get me started on Terri Runnels vs The Kat.

The 6-man tag between the Radicalz and Too Cool/Chyna would’ve been a good way to kick things off in my opinion, as a good little rivalry had been developing and they complimented each other nicely from a wrestling and character standpoint. I’m not sure what I’d have done with the other performers, and I know you need some filler before the main advertised matches, but they just seemed a bit thrown together without much thought put into them, which is a shame.

Last but not least, we have Kane & Rikishi against DX, which will only ever get brought up thanks to another appearance from Pete Rose. It was too short to comment on in any great detail, but at least the faces were being kept strong from a booking perspective. Both of them were really hot in early 2000 and had it not been around Wrestlemania season they might have been in line for a decent push.

The 411: That's the WWF at 3 for 3 so far in one of their best-ever calender years. As good as the show is though, there's only one match that still gets talked about to this day because of the impression it made, and it isn't the main event. That said, the main event is actually still very good, as was the IC/Euro title triple threat, and the Hardcore title stuff was pure mayhem. Not their best overall show of the year, but it boasts a definite match of the year contender and -like always from this period- an excellent collection of characters and workhorses.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]