The Shimmy 7.16.07: Making Up Lost Time (Part Two)- 2000

Posted by Andy Clark on 07.16.2007

The Shimmy continues it's look back at great WWE matches by looking at the year 2000. Feel free to sing.

Hey, everybody. Thanks for clicking the link. As you can tell this week I'll be taking a look at the ten best WWE matches of the year 2000. 2000 is probably the best year storyline and in ring wise for the Attitude Era so I had quite the selection to chose from. The hardest part was being able to rank them, and I have a feeling my rankings might differ from some other people's. On to the list!

Honorable Mentions: WWE Title Match (Title Change on DQ): The Rockİ vs. Chris Benoit (Fully Loaded); Intercontinental Title, Steel Cage Match: Val Venisİ vs. Rikishi (Fully Loaded); WWE Title, Fatal Four-Way Match: The Rockİ vs. Chris Benoit vs. Undertaker vs. Kane (Unforgiven)

10. Tables Match: Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardys (Royal Rumble)

The addition of the Dudleyz to the WWE brought with it the addition of the Tables Match. This was the first Tables Match and quite frankly it was the best one. Over the years the Tables Match has been kind of a throwaway gimmick, but here it was a really over, very fresh idea. This is probably the most famous non-Ladder match of the TLC era and in my opinion it was the WWE coming out party for the Dudley Boyz. Jeff Hardy continued to prove what a crazy bastard he is by delivering a Swanton Bomb off the balcony of Madison Square Garden (through a table no less!). This would help set the stage for the future Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Matches and would give the Dudley Boyz a gimmick that stays with them to this day.

9. WWE Title, Hell in a Cell, Title vs. Career Match (No Defense Until WrestleMania if Foley Wins): Triple Hİ vs. Mick Foley (No Way Out)

I'm actually not a big fan of this match. I really wanted to find it to rewatch it as maybe I'll have a better appreciation for it now, but overall I was rather disappointed with it. I think the main problem was that the bar was set too high. Foley had almost killed himself in his last (real) Hell in a Cell Match and the two men had torn the house down in a brutal Street Fight just one month earlier (see below). There were some big spots and good brawling, and the visual of the two men on top of the cell with the flaming barbed wire 2x4 is a cool one, but it's not the showstopping match I was anticipating. Still, even with its shortcomings its one of the better matches of the year which is a testament to the expectations Triple H and Mick Foley were able to create.

8. WWE Title, 60-Minute Iron Man Match: The Rockİ vs. Triple H; Guest Referee: Shawn Michaels (Judgment Day)

Wrestling for an hour and keeping the fans interested in a challenging task in today's wrestling world. It's especially hard when there are pretty lofty standards for this type of match. Heading in Judgment Day 2000 people wondered if The Rock and Triple H could do it. Their answer would turn out to be an emphatic "Yes they can." There was a mix of brawling, technical wrestling, and sports-entertainment as the two MVPs of 2000 battled for 60 minutes. There was even some added intrigue as the last time Shawn Michaels had appeared on WWE TV he was screwing The Rock out of the WWE Title and helping out his friend Triple H. HBK had apparently turned over a new leaf but would he manage to stay impartial for the entire match? The match culminated with the return of Undertaker who had been gone several months with an injury. Fresh with his new American Badass image, Taker sped to the ring on his motorcycle and dispatched DX. Unfortunately this interference would cost The Rock but it was still exciting. The frenetic pace of the final minute plus the hot crowd made that one of the best endings of a PPV that year.

7. WWE Title Match: Triple Hİ vs. The Rock; Guest Referee: Shane McMahon (Backlash)

This match had the added intrigue of having Mr. McMahon in Triple H's corner and the injured Stone Cold Steve Austin in The Rock's corner. The Iron Man Match was actually probably better, but this had a true big fight feel, almost like a WrestleMania main event. In fact, this should have been the WrestleMania main event. After getting screwed out of the title at WrestleMania this was The Rock's big rematch. Things would seem to be against him with the McMahon-Helmsley Fact-gime all out to stop him, but his old nemesis the Texas Rattlesnake would help even the odds and Linda McMahon and newly rehired referee Earl Hebner would make sure that the pinfall went down like it should. At the end of the night we had our WrestleMania moment even if it was at Backlash.

6. WWE Title, Armageddon Hell in a Cell Match: Kurt Angleİ vs. Undertaker vs. Rikishi vs. The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H (Armageddon)

This was from the mind of Commissioner Mick Foley. The idea was that they would lock six of the greatest WWE superstars of all time inside Hell in a Cell and let them destroy each other. Despite the fact that Rikishi is far from an all time great and that the match actually spilled outside the cell, this was still a damn good match. The big spot saw Undertaker chokeslam Rikishi off the cell into a truck filled with sawdust (conveniently left at ringside by a freaked out Mr. McMahon) and even though it didn't look quite as sick as previous cell bumps, considering it was taken by a near 300 lb. man is pretty impressive. These six men bloodied each other up some kind of fierce, and there were really three different feuds in there: Angle-Taker, Rock-Rikishi, and Austin-Triple H. The Austin-Triple H feud was the one that was pushed the most although they did tease a potential confrontation between Austin and The Rock. This match also was great for Kurt Angle's title reign because up until now he looked like a fluke champion, but at least he was able to survive something such as this.

5. WWE Title, Triple Threat Match: The Rockİ vs. Triple H vs. Kurt Angle (SummerSlam)

This wasn't the most technically sound match of the year, but damn was it fun. The Triple H-Stephanie McMahon-Kurt Angle love triangle was one of the best stories they ever did (until they screwed it up in the end and had it go out with a whimper), but at least it was showcased here. This is also probably the best improve job in all of wrestling since Angle got knocked loopy before the match even officially began. It's amazing he was able to go back out there for the end of the match. Seeing that table collapse right before Triple H goes for the Pedigree on Angle is both scary and kind of humorous at the same time. The Rock's position in all this was an interesting one as he really didn't have issues with either man (despite feuding for most of the first half of 2000 with Triple H) and was more or less just there to capitalize on the Triple H-Angle feud. WWE even showed this match love by putting it on the History of the WWE Championship DVD.

4. World Tag Team Title, Triangle Ladder Match: Dudley Boyzİ vs. Edge & Christian vs. The Hardys (WrestleMania 2000)

I actually wasn't a big fan of this match for the longest time. I'm not sure what it was; maybe I was in such a lousy mood while watching an underwhelming WrestleMania show (my favorite match on that show is still the Hardcore Battle Royal) but I just wasn't as awed with this match as the rest of the world. Then this match was blown out of the water by the subsequent TLC Matches so I didn't really think much of it. A few months ago I watched this match on WWE 24/7 and I finally got it. It really is a great match and all six men busted their asses to put out a MOTYC. Jeff Hardy again trumped everybody for crazy stuff done in a single match but that doesn't mean the other five men didn't destroy their bodies as well. At the time I was happy to see Edge& Christian win the belts because they were my favorite of the three teams and they were the only ones to have not won the titles already. Who knew that they'd go on to hold six more? This is still the weakest of all the TLC Matches (as D-Von calls this one TLC Zero) and I'd even put the Hardys-E&C Ladder Match at No Mercy 1999 above this one, but that speaks more to the quality of the other matches than the lack of quality in this one.

3. Last Man Standing Match: Triple H vs. Chris Jericho (Fully Loaded)

Triple H and Chris Jericho had one of the most intriguing matches of 2000 early in the year on Raw where Earl Hebner fast counted Triple H's shoulders down and declared Jericho the WWE Champion. That decision was reversed but it whet the appetites of everyone that wanted to see these two men hook up in a more substantial feud. As the year went on Jericho would continue to make an enemy out of Triple H's "nasty, disgusting, brutal, bottom-feeding trash bag ho" of a wife and Triple H by proxy. As this feud progressed over the weeks things became more and more violent. It all culminated in a bloody Last Man Standing Match. Fully Loaded was a night of pushing younger talent like Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and Kurt Angle and I think Jericho made the most of his opportunity. Jericho went in as an underdog but by the match's climax everyone was on the edge of their seats to see if Y2J could pull it out. This was a vicious, bloody battle and Triple H just barely beat the ten count to win the match. This match is what gave WWE the confidence to put Chris Jericho against Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania two years later.

2. WWE Title, Street Fight: Triple Hİ vs. Mick Foley (Royal Rumble)

In my opinion, this is the match that Mick Foley should have retired too. I suppose it's a moot point now that Mick comes back every few months, but still. There's been a lot said about this match over the years and in many people's minds I'm sure this is the rightful Match of the Year. Normally I don't care much about the Cactus Jack persona because nine times out of ten it's the same character as plain Mick Foley, but this time the Cactus Jack of Foley's glory days returned. He was a sick, twisted individual that just wanted to punish Triple H for all the pain that he had caused. Cactus Jack just would not die on this night and it took a Pedigree into a bed of thumbtacks to finally send the Hardcore Legend to the showers.

1. World Tag Team Title, TLC Match: Edge & Christianİ vs. The Hardys vs. Dudley Boyz (SummerSlam)

Yes, the actual gimmick of the TLC Match is just a glorified Ladder Match with a souped up name, but that doesn't stop it for being wicked awesome. There are really only so many things one can say about these types of matches before it starts to be repetitive. The spots were both innovative and dangerous and these six men, say it with me, busted their asses for our entertainment. I'm not sure how else to really describe this match other than that you have to see it for yourself. The funny thing is that TLC II is arguably better than this one (I think I prefer this one but it's a tough call) and it's not even the best match of 2001. Next week's column (if I manage to get all my research done by next week) should be an interesting look back.

Andy! Andy! At Last You Have Some Feedback!

Dominic Riggio comments on last week's list:

I enjoyed your 1999 list. The one thing I wanted to add was about the St. Valentine's Day massacre match with Vince vs. Austin. If my memory serves me right this was the first match where McMahon had to "wrestle" or at least try to. I am not counting the Monday Night RAW where AUstin's hand was tied behind his back.

I think this match is significant for many other reasons besides the ones you mentioned. I remember before this match my friends and I were saying how much the match was going to suck because Vince wasn't a wrestler and he was like 55 years old at the time. Boy were we pleasently suprised. The match speaks for itself and might be the match that delivered the most that everyone thought would be a complete disaster in history.

Also Vince took a huge bump. A bump that was considered 'crazy' and 'career ending' when Shawn Michaels took it a few years prior at the first hell in a cell with the Undertaker. Vince took this bump and instantly garnered respect from everyone in the industry, and the fans, instead of just fear and/or hatred. The match was supposed to be all about Steve Austin but for me and a lot of people it cemented Vince as the most dedicated and hardcore person to ever step into that (very) ring. Even Terry Funk said
"Vince is the most Hardcore guy ever, because he is hardcore and doesn't have to be."

That's a great assessment of the match. You're correct in saying this was the first time Vince really had to wrestle. That's a really good quote by Funk as it really describes how Vince goes about wrestling his matches. He may not be the best worker but he is one of the best entertainers they have.

The Shimmy Likes It Raw!

What's on tap for tonight's show?

Cena-Lashley: The Confrontation; One week away from their clash at the Great American Bash John Cena confronts the man that speared him two weeks ago.

Well that's it for this week. Depending on if I have time to watch the 2001 matches I have in my possession or not we may have the best of 2001 next week. If not I've got a TNA idea that's been floating around in my head that I may bust out. Check back next week and see what I end up with. Until then, don't die. Clark…out.