From The Shelf- WWF Smackdown! 1-20-2000

WWF Smackdown!
1-20-00
Providence, RI

Triple H tells the New Age Outlaws they get the night off but X-Pac has to wrestle Test, with the winner of the match getting the #30 spot in the Royal Rumble. Stephanie declares this will be a night to remember.

The Big Show comes out and clams people are jealous because they can’t be as big as him. He says in order for Rock to win the Royal Rumble, he has to get past Big Show. He promises to get back his WWF Title at Wrestlemania and he promises to kick Rock’s ass. Rock comes out and mocks Big Show’s complaining. Rock starts making his way down to the ring but now Kane and Tori come out. Tori claims that Kane is going to win the Royal Rumble and now he heads to the ring. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley come out and HHH calls them ego-maniacs. He claims the winner of the Royal Rumble gets to face a night of disappointment as HHH will leave Wrestlemania with the WWF Championship. Stephanie whispers into HHH’s ear and he makes an over the top rope lumberjack match between the three of them tonight and the lumberjacks will be other participants in the Royal Rumble. Rock starts saying he’ll kick everyone’s ass but Show attacks him from behind. Kane attacks Show and Rock grabs a chair. He nails both Kane and Show with the chair and leave them lying.

X-Pac vs. Test
Winner gets #30 in the Royal Rumble. Forearms by X-Pac but Test comes back with a back elbow. He clotheslines X-Pac to the floor and X-Pac spits in his face, causing Test to give chase. X-Pac sends him into the steps and back in, X-Pac stomps away. Sidewalk slam by Test gets 2 and he charges in the corner but eats boot. Test comes back with a big boot and he hits a slam. Test goes up but the Outlaws come out. Billy Gunn crotches him as Road Dogg distracted the ref and X-Pac hits the X-Factor for 3.
Winner- X-Pac *1/2 ( Nice little sprint that set up X-Pac as a possible dark horse in the Rumble match. )

Steve Blackman warns Al Snow not to hit him with the head. Snow tells him he is his ideal partner.

Kurt Angle and British Bulldog vs. Steve Blackman and Al Snow
Kurt Angle says he has an unnamed opponent at the Royal Rumble but he faced unknown opponents in the Olympic Games and look how that turned out. Blackman stomps away on Angle to start but Angle comes back with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Tag to Bulldog and he hits a back elbow. Blackman charges in the corner but eats boot and Bulldog goes for the running powerslam but Blackman escapes. Bicycle kick by Blackman and he goes up. Flying superkick by Blackman gets 3.
Winners- Steve Blackman and Al Snow * ( This was awkward and clunky and never really worked. )

Matt Hardy w/Jeff Hardy and Terri vs. D-Von Dudley w/Bubba Ray Dudley
Matt hammers away on D-Von to start and he hits a swinging neckbreaker for 2. D-Von charges in the corner but eats elbow and Matt hits a slam. Second rope elbow drop by Matt gets 2. Matt charges again but misses and D-Von catches him with a neckbreaker. Matt takes D-Von down and he goes up. Split legged moonsault by Matt gets 2. Twist of Fate by Matt gets 2 as Bubba pulls him out of the ring. He sends Matt into the steps for the DQ.
Winner by DQ- Matt Hardy *1/2 ( Decent little match with a crappy finish, but the match wasn’t the important part of this. )

After the match, Bubba hot shots Jeff onto the barricade and he nails the Hardy Boyz with a chair. He nails the ref and he sets up some tables on the side of the entrance ramp. Bubba goes to powerbomb Matt off the stage but Jeff saves with a chair. He nails Bubba with a chair knocking him off the stage through the tables!!!! He puts D-Von onto another table and Matt hits the legdrop off the stage through the table!!!

The New Age Outlaws arrive at the Friendly Tap for their night off.

Hardcore Holly tells Crash Holly he needs to find his own competition since he has his own problems tonight. They argue and Hardcore kicks Crash out of the locker room. Crash then challenges Viscera who is right outside the locker room. Viscera accepts.

Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay) and Rikishi vs. Chyna, Hardcore Holly, and Chris Jericho w/The Kat
Sexay and Holly start. Dropkick by Holly but Sexay comes back with the Stroke. Jericho blind tags in and hits a clothesline. He charges in the corner but eats boot and Sexay hits a bulldog off the second rope. Tag to Scotty and he hits the Worm. Flying forearm by Jericho and he hits a double under hook backbreaker. Slam by Jericho and he goes for the Lionsault but eats knees. Tag to Rikishi and he hits a Samoan Drop. Samoan Drop to Holly and he goes for the Rikishi Driver on Chyna but Jericho breaks it up. Everyone comes in and brawls as Chyna goes low on Sexay. Jericho backdrops Scotty out of the ring and they triple team Rikishi in the corner. The ref calls for the bell??? I guess he counted till five. Rikishi cleans house on Jericho and Holly and he hits a belly to belly suplex on Chyna. Jericho nails Holly with a chair and Rikishi hits the Bonzai Drop to Chyna.
Winners by DQ- Too Cool and Rikishi * ( This was an overbooked mess. The whole Jericho/Chyna/Holly feud sucked and thank god it’s coming to an end soon. )

The guys at the Friendly Tap tells the Outlaws they’re going to beat the Acolytes but the bartender says it’s going to be tough. The Outlaws throw the bartender out of the bar and they continue their night off. The Acolytes see what’s going on the TV and they decide to go out for a drink.

Big Boss Man vs. Prince Albert
Boss Man hammers away on Albert to start but Albert comes back with a shoulderblock. He hammers away and Boss Man bails to the floor. Albert follows out and he rams Boss Man back first into the post. Back in, Albert covers for 2 as Boss Man gets his foot on the ropes. Boss Man pokes the eye of Albert and he hammers away. Clothesline by Boss Man but Albert comes back with an Avalanche. Albert slingshots Boss Man in the ropes and Boss Man bails again. Boss Man shoves the ref out of the way as Albert and Boss Man brawl on the floor. The ref calls for the bell as Boss Man and Albert continue to brawl. Several officials come out to separate them.
Match ends in a No-Contest * ( Boring brawl as no one could have cared less about these two splitting up. )

Rock throws more insults at Kane and Big Show.

Viscera vs. Crash Holly
The orange 13 appears on the screen before the match. Viscera dumps Crash to the floor to start but he rolls back in. Forearms by Crash but Viscera comes back with a spinning heel kick. Viscera goes for an Avalanche but misses and Crash hits a dropkick. Tornado DDT by Crash gets 2. Springboard dropkick by Crash and he hits a dropkick to the leg. Crash springboard again but Viscera catches him and hits the Samoan Drop. Big splash misses and Crash dropkicks the leg. He jumps on Viscera’s back but Viscera turns him into a sit-out powerbomb. Big Splash by Viscera gets 3.
Winner-Viscera *1/2 ( This told a decent underdog story with Crash almost overcoming the giant Viscera but what was the point? )

Edge vs. Gangrel w/Luna
Gangrel hammers away in the corner but Edge comes back with a backdrop. Leg lariat by Edge and they trade counters. Side Russian leg sweep by Edge gets 2. Gangrel bails to the floor so Edge catches him with a plancha to the floor!!! Luna confronts Edge but the ref of the Diva’s come out. They all swarm Edge and Mae Young prevents Edge from getting in the ring. She makes out with Edge as Edge is counted out. Edge finally escapes the wrath of the Diva’s.
Winner by Count-Out- Gangrel * ( Match was nothing and the Edge gimmick with the Diva’s is among the most random and confusing things I’ve think I’ve ever seen. )

The Acolytes arrive at the Friendly Tap and the bar quickly clears out. They spot the Outlaws playing pool and they brawl. The Acolytes beat the hell out of some locals as the Outlaws quickly escape.

Over the Top Rope Lumberjack Match- Kane w/Tori vs. Big Show vs. The Rock
Kane and Big Show attack Rock to start and then they turn their attention onto each other. DDT by Rock to Kane and he hammers away on Big Show. He goes to dump Big Show but Show fights him off. Double clothesline by Show but Kane comes back with an enzuigiri. Rock slams Show’s face off the mat but he eats a big boot from Kane. Kane goes to dump Rock but Rock blocks. Powerslam by Show to Kane and he goes to dump Rock but he holds on. Clotheslines by Rock to Show but he eats a flying clothesline off the top from Kane. Kane goes for the Tombstone but Rock escapes and hits the Side Russian Leg Sweep. Show blocks a Rock Bottom attempt and dumps Rock to the floor to eliminate him!!!
Chokeslam to Kane by Show and Rock re-enters the ring. Rock Bottom by Rock and Kane clotheslines him to the floor. Show charges but Kane backdrops him to the floor!!!
Winner- Kane ** ( Decent main event with the three favorites in the Rumble Match all getting a chance to shine. )

After the match, Boss Man attacks Kane leading to the lumberjacks filling the ring and brawling.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley come out. HHH reminds everyone of the beating Mankind took from Rock last year. He mentions Mankind’s family watching that match and he tells Mick Foley not to let his family watch as what Triple H will do to him will not compare to what Rock did last year. He will love every second of what he is going to do to Cactus Jack and Cactus comes out. Cactus says his kids will not be in MSG or watching on TV. He’s worried about what Cactus will do to Triple H and he doesn’t want them to see the joy in Cactus’ face. Cactus says that they are watching Smackdown right now and he wants to give them some action. He wants to give them a taste and they brawl. HHH nails Cactus in the back with a chair a few times and they fight onto the announce table. HHH goes for the Pedigree but Cactus goes low and piledrivers HHH onto the announce table!!!! Cactus nails HHH with a chair and he celebrates with the WWF Championship to end the show.

The 411: The HHH/Cactus and Hardy Boyz/Dudley Boyz segments were great but my god did the rest of this show suck. Boring matches combined with dumb storylines (Edge) and feuds (Bossman/Albert) that serve no purpose makes this the worst show, Raw or Smackdown!, from 2000 to date. Avoid this show and skip right to the Royal Rumble.
Final Score:  3.0   [ Bad ]