Canvas Critiques #9 – WWF Backlash 2000

Canvas Critiques #9 – WWF Backlash 2000

Quick Results

Edge & Christian def. DX (X-Pac & Road Dogg) to retain the Tag Team titles.

Dean Malenko retained his Light-heavyweight title against Scotty 2 Hotty.

Bull Buchanan & Big Bossman def. The APA.

Crash Holly escaped with the Hardcore title in a 6-man match also featuring Perry Saturn, Tazz, Hardcore Holly, Matt & Jeff Hardy.

The Big Show, in full Hulk Hogan garb, bested Kurt Angle.

T&A (Test & Albert) beat The Dudleyz. Bubba and D-Von put Trish Stratus through a table post-match.

Eddie Guerrero (w/Chyna) retained the European title, dispatching Essa Rios (w/Lita).

Chris Benoit kept his Intercontinental title via DQ, after Jericho brained him with the belt as Benoit was coming down from a flying headbutt. The ref didn’t see Benoit bringing it into play earlier.

The Rock finally recaptured the WWF title against Triple H. As Rock was being assaulted by the McMahons, Patterson, Briscoe, and HHH, Steve Austin came down to clobber everyone with chair shots. Linda McMahon then came down with Earl Hebner, who counted and administered Rock’s victory following a People’s Elbow.

Rocking on to greatness- Big Dwayne gets his belt back

If you’ve ever read my articles before, you’ll know that I’m an absolute sucker for the WWF’s product in the year 2000. You’ll also know by now that I continuously harp on about The Rock and how wonderful he is.

There’s a lot of you out there with some extremely fond memories of this blinding calender year for the company, and if you had to pick out just one show from that period that really showcased what the company was about in a nutshell, THIS is the show you should pick.

The undercard is fantastic, but the main event is just absolutely stupendous entertainment. After months of trying to reclaim the WWF title and getting screwed in the Wrestlemania main event to boot, Rock finally gained redemption. Already the People’s champion, this WWF title victory made him not just one of the most popular wrestling stars ever, but a huge celebrity in his own right. You could argue that this moment actually went some way into launching him into the public eye at such a rate that Hollywood really started paying serious attention to him.

The match itself is the ultimate modern day good vs evil. Triple H, a master of the craft in his own right, now had Vince and Shane McMahon is his corner as well as DX and his bride Stephanie. As Rock’s threat became ever greater, he kept surrounding himself with protection, and for a while it seemed to be working.

Then came the sound of shattered glass.

Stone Cold’s return had been teased with the DX express incident on an episode of Smackdown prior to the PPV, but the McMahons kept drawing heat during the night of the PPV with excuses saying he wouldn’t show up. There were some Austin chants during the match, especially as the numbers game caught up with The Rock, but he still didn’t show and the fans were likely giving up on seeing him at this point (or had at least suspended their disbelief that he would).

His arrival sparked what is considered to this day to be one of the biggest crowd reactions in company history, as he storms down the aisle nailing every heel in sight with a steel chair. It was a short but sweet, and from here HHH’s title reign had no chance of getting extended.

The in-ring action is great storytelling. Every time Rock gets an edge, another obstacle gets in his way. From HHH’s cheating to Shane McMahon’s refusal to be an unbiased special referee, he truly went through the ringer. That just made the show’s conclusion so much sweeter.

This was totally worthy of being a Wrestlemania main event, and many will argue that it probably should’ve been, especially as HHH’s victory on that show didn’t sit well with many. Still, it’s a testament to this match that a non “Big four” PPV like this is remembered in the manner that it is. Rock’s victory is one of the great moments of his career, and certainly one of his best matches.

Lightweight in stature, Heavyweight in quality- Malenko vs Scotty

It’s often argued that the term “Cruiserweight” (or in this case Light-Heavyweight) is something of a dirty word within the corridors of the WWE. Traditionally, the lesser weight class “divisions” have rarely been given much coverage on their shows. Much of the talent found within said divisions are often seen as nothing more than jobbers. They’re seen as a enhancement talent and unfortunately they’d usually find themselves getting squashed like a bug when paired up against some of the taller, wider opponents.

Of course there are exceptions, and Rey Mysterio is probably the best example. After putting on some brilliant matches upon his WWE arrival in 2002, winning the CW title in the process, Rey then went on to win 3 World titles. Others like Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, billed as Cruiserweights in WCW, also broke the mould. But in the WWE, they weren’t given the cruiserweight billing, which would’ve been seen as something of a hindrance to their chances of getting over.

Up until recent months, the WWF Light-Heavyweight belt was largely forgotten about until Dean Malenko acquired the strap. Immediately, you had someone who was being booked strongly (as part of the Radicals faction) and a charismatic, popular and slick performer in Scotty 2 Hotty to work with.

Their encounter here is unquestionably the high point in the existence of this particular belt. But with or without a title to whet the appetite, this is an absolute belter of a bout between two chaps who I’d argue were at the top of their game. Malenko, always a real workhorse, seemed incredibly fired up and motivated in what were still relatively new workplace surroundings for him, whilst Scotty seemed fired up to prove himself as someone who could still hang in the singles game.

The chemistry in this bout is crisp, fluid and seamless right from the get go. Some of the transitions look a little complex and would no doubt take years of practice for any budding grappler to pull off, but they just made everything seem so easy. Malenko’s work on Scotty’s left leg was sublime, while the latter made sure the crowd were into everything from the opening to the closing bell. And that finish, oh my goodness me that ,finish! A countered Superplex into a top-rope DDT. How is poor Scotty even still around to tell the tale? Unreal.

Check it out if you can find it, you won’t be disappointed even 13 years on. Su-bloody-perb.

Wolverines and Lionhearts- Jericho vs Benoit

From the Hart dungeon to Japan, from ECW to WCW, few stones were left unturned by these two before they were finally paired up in the WWF.

The upper-midcard was full of accomplished workers who had been honing their trade across the globe. The Radicals of Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko all fit that mould, and all four of them immediately strengthened the foundations of the roster as a whole, providing the catalyst for other talent to step up their game. There were solid matches aplenty, and this bout for the Intercontinental title was certainly one of them.

What I particularly like about this bout is just how much they actually managed to pack into it from a stylistic point of view. Of course you has some technical wizardry with the counters, but you also had some really stiff shots being thrown in throughout and even some brawling around ringside. When you combine the rest of Jericho and Benoit’s all-round attributes together, which include some excellent conditioning and agility, you really can’t go wrong.

There is one downside to this match however, and that’s the finish, which involved some shenanigans with the IC title belt. It’s a strange one, but I’d have ended it a few seconds earlier where Benoit clobbered Y2J while the ref’s back was turned. If there is a plus side though, it does leave fans wanting more from these two, and the good thing is that we sure did as the year and their careers in general progressed.

Any other business – The rest of Backlash 2000

Edge & Christian taking on X-Pac & Road Dogg was a fun opener which got the crowd going nicely. Right booking decision too. The E&C heel turn was a subject of debate from fans at the time; would they or wouldn’t they turn? But here they played the face roles well, and although DX still had their uses, the younger, hipper team going over was totally the right call.

The APA vs Bull Buchanan & Boss Man was kind of a dud, though if you’re a fan of a good old fashioned slugfest then I guess you wouldn’t have been too disappointed. I’d have given APA the duke seeing as the heel tandem didn’t have much going for them, whereas the Acolytes were really starting to make something of the protection agency gimmick.

The Hardcore title 6-man produced more of the same craziness we’d come to expect -and adore- from that division. This was also the perfect vehicle for Matt and Jeff Hardy to showcase more of the daredevil talents they’d been showing in recent months and keep themselves occupied before creative had something more for them. Great, chaotic ending too. I felt a little for Tazz though, becase he’d just been going to waste since his Rumble debut.

Big Show vs Kurt Angle was glorious fun. The “Showster” stuff is still talked about to this day. Incredibly short, but what it did do was provide another side to Show’s character; He can be fun and hilarious, but he can also be a destroyer too. As for Angle, the loss didn’t hurt him a jot as he still went on to have an unbelievable first year in the company.

The T&A vs Dudley Boyz match didn’t do much for me, but it did give the Dudleyz a pay-off to something of a face turn for them as they got some revenge on Trish Stratus, finally putting her through a table after weeks of build-up. The tables act was still red hot, and throughout the summer it only got hotter as they started facing off with E&C and The Hardyz again.

Finally we round off the article by talking about a sleek, sexy European title match between Eddie Guerrero and Essa Rios. Essa had some real talent in my opinion, but never really managed to get any further up the card than this in his WWF tenure. Lots of lucha elements on display here, bringing yet another dimension to a PPV which already had a seriously diverse range styles. This one just seemed to fly by, no pun intended. The Chyna/Lita stuff didn’t detract from it either. It’s always a bonus when the soap-opera elements don’t hamper the in-ring action.

The 411: What a show. It just had everything; Hardcore stuff, lucha stuff, technical stuff, comedy stuff, brawling stuff, a memorable main event, a hot crowd, just everything you could ever ask for in a show. Such a wonderful mix of characters, styles, stories, the full boat. Wonderful. Did I mention that this show has everything? One so-so slugfest and one questionable finish knock a measly o.5 off the scale, but really, does it matter?

Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]