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WrestleMania 2000: Keller's match-by-match report - 3 Yrs Ago Mar 28, 2003 - 5:24:00 PM
(1) Big Bossman & Bull Buchanan beat Godfather & D-Lo Brown when Buchanan pinned D-Lo at 9:08. Not a bad effort, but certainly a flat match. Ice T’s monotonous introduction droned on much too long. Godfather showed more energy than usual, but it wasn't enough to bring this to an even average match.
(2) Hardcore Holly won a Hardcore Battle royal by being the last champion at the 15:00 mark. Participants were Tazz, Pete Gas, Rodney, Joey Abs, Crash Holly, Taka Michinoku, Funaki, Bradshaw, Faarooq, and Hardcore Holly. There were several official title changes within the match. Tazz pinned Crash at 0:30 after a Tazzplex to win the title. Viscera pinned Tazz at 1:00 to win the title. Funaki pinned Viscera after help from the APA at 7:15. Rodney pinned Funaki at 8:10. Joey Abbs pinned Rodney at 8:34. Thrasher pinned Joey Abbs at 8:55. Pete Gass pinned Thrasher at 9:30. Tazz pinned Gass at 11:15. Crash pinned Tazz at 14:26. Hardcore pinned Crash seconds later, just as the 15 minute time limit expired.
(3) Test & Prince Albert (w/Trish Stratus) beat Al Snow & Steve Blackman when Albert pinned Blackman at 7:04. Snow brought a small person dressed up as a block of cheese to ringside. The crowd was dead for the mascot and for the match. Test, Albert, and Stratus have no chemistry together.
(4) Edge & Christian beat The Dudleys and The Hardys to capture the WWF Tag Team Titles at 23:30. Very good highspot ladder match. In the end, a table had been set on top of two ladders in the ring. Matt Hardy was about to grab the tag belts hanging from the ceiling when Edge and Christian knocked him off the platform. Matt crashed through a table on the mat below as Christian and Edge grabbed the tag belts. This was a better than usual stunt match because there weren't as many convoluted pauses to set up moves and the long, slow climbs of the ladder were absent. A thoroughly enjoyable athletic showcase.
(5) Terri (w/Fabulous Moolah) pinned Kat (w/Mae Young) at 2:24. Terri wore a skin tight black outfit. After Moolah interfered and cost Kat the match, Kat ripped off Terri's tights revealing a skin colored, barely existent thong.
(6) Chyna & Too Cool beat The Radicals when Chyna pinned Eddie Guerrero at 9:38. Eddie pretended Chyna had a crush on him, yet frantically avoided locking up with her early in the match. Some missed moves marred an otherwise fun match.
(7) Kurt Angle lost both of title belts in a three-way match with Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho: Chris Benoit pinned Chris Jericho at 8:13 to capture the IC Title; Chris Jericho beat Chris Benoit with the Walls of Jericho at 13:52 to capture the European Title. The match slowed to a crawl early with low crowd heat. Benoit is a world class worker with few faults in the ring, but Angle and Jericho are stronger personalties than workers. Jericho had two or three clearly botched spots and once failed to lift his shoulder at the three count during a near fall. Angle executed a surprisingly graceful (and uncharacteristic) moonsault off the top rope; it missed, but it looked good. Angle can now complain about losing both belts even though he didn't get pinned or submit.
(8) Kane & Rikishi beat X-Pac & Road Dogg in 4:00. This was the match that was sandwiched between the two top matches that could be cut down if time constraints dictated. The show was running long, so this was all about ring intros and the post-match fun. Rikishi rubbed his butt in Tori's face in the corner of the ring for a big pop. After the match, the Famous (San Diego) Chicken came to the ring to dance with Too Cool and Rikishi. Pete Rose interrupted. Kane chokeslammed Rose again.
(9) Triple H retained the WWF Title against Big Show, Rock, and Mick Foley. Big Show was eliminated first at 4:50 after a Rock Bottom. Mick Foley was eliminated second at 19:43 after a Triple H Pedigree onto a chair. Triple H finally pinned Rock after Vince McMahon turned heel by hitting Rock with a chair. Triple H hit a Pedigree and scored the win. Big Show got in early offense which indicated he was doing an early job—and he did, to a Triple H Pedigree. Rock was going to hit Triple H with a People's Elbow, but Foley intervened and gave Rock the Mandible Claw. It was an interesting experiment to see whether the crowd would cheer or boo. They booed. Rock was more popular than Foley, or at least The People's Elbow is more popular than the Mandible Claw. Foley injured his ribs early in the match which hampered his performance. When he dove off the ring apron, he came up short and failed to drive Rock through the Spanish announcing table. Triple H hit two elbowdrops before the table would collapse. Foley went down for the pin after a sloppy Pedigree on a chair by triple H. Foley saluted the crowd, but the focus seemed to largely be on the Rock and Triple H, not Foley's departure. Foley did return to the ring to get in one last shot on Triple H. The Triple H vs. Rock battle spilled into the crowd and toward the entryway, resembling last year's Rock vs. Austin WM main event. The McMahon family got involved including a Vince vs. Shane brawl that saw Vince gig his forehead after a chairshot. In the end, Vince hit Rock with a chair instead of Triple H. Rock kicked out, but Vince followed up with another chairshot and Triple H hit a Pedigree and Rock stayed down for three.
Strong thumbs up show.
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