World Wrestling Federation – Fully Loaded 2000 – 23rd July 2000
The first six months of the new millennium were impossibly hot for the WWF. The Rock and Triple H were at the top of their respective games, and their feud did incredible numbers for the company. Mick Foley (sort of) went out in a blaze of glory, and the undercard swelled with great up and coming talent like Angle, Jericho, Benoit, Guerrero and more (which in turn helped flush out some of the much less talented guys who’d clogged up WWF’s undercards in the late 90’s). But with Foley gone and Rock vs HHH done to death for the time being they faced the conundrum of what to do for the next six months. Surprisingly, on this ppv we’ll see them take the noble step of actually trying to promote some fresh talent (sadly this wasn’t a theme or movement which lasted much beyond this show). The triple main event gives three up and coming players the chance to test their skills against an established main event talent; 2000 King Of The Ring Kurt Angle squaring off with the Undertaker, The Rock defending the WWF Championship against Chris Benoit and HHH clashing with Chris Jericho in their much-heralded Last Man Standing Match. The rest of the show looks like a mixed bag, although the Rikishi/Venis Cage Match and Guerrero/Saturn for the European Title could be interesting. Jim Ross and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler are in Dallax, TX.
SIDENOTE – My DVD of this one skips a fair amount, so some of my match timings may not be entirely accurate.
T&A/Trish Stratus vs Hardy Boyz/Lita
This was right around the time these two major players of WWF women’s wrestling started to rise to prominence. Lita had ditched Essa Rios so she could join forces and botch spots with the Hardyz instead (which actually skyrocketed her popularity without denting Matt & Jeff’s), whilst Trish started to assume the throne of leading heel diva (if you take Stephanie McMahon out of the equation). She was all over the KOTR ppv, she was involved in a 'business relationship' with Val Venis, was still managing T&A and now started to get more involved physically with the other women in the promotion too (although this was well before she’d really started seriously training as a wrestler). Lita comes into this selling injuries after Stratus threw her off a ladder and through a table on Raw.
Lita goes straight after Trish and is nearly ambushed on the outside by Test (with the crowd roaring her on). In the ring Albert uses his power to dominate Matt, albeit with Hardy going botch crazy and nearly falling off the ropes a couple of times…before he eventually does slip and takes an unplanned tumble off the apron. He recovers with a second rope leg drop across Test’s throat. Jeff keeps it aerial as he lays Test out again with a pescado. Lita is seriously over here, with the crowd chanting her name even over Jeff’s time in the ring. Trish accidentally slaps Test in the face, and can’t get out of the ring fast enough to escape Lita. Prince Albert nearly gets to maul Lita until the Hardyz save with the Poetry In Motion. TRIPLE SUPLEX from Team Xtreme! Their success is short lived though, with Albert PRESS SLAMMING JEFF TO THE FLOOR! Horrific landing for the younger Hardy brother on that. Not content with that, T&A then nearly drop poor Jeff on his neck again with an ugly double back body drop spot. Test drills him with a full nelson slam and at last makes a move to actually slow the pace to something more suited to a team of T&A’s size. He goes upstairs but MISSES the top rope elbow drop, allowing Jeff to get the tag. Pumphandle Slam from Test to Matt, with Jeff using the SWANTON to break the save! TORNADO DDT from Lita to Test! TOP ROPE SUICIDE DIVE TO THE FLOOR ON ALBERT! Back to the top…FLYING HEADSCISSORS ON TEST! Lita is tearing it up! Albert ends her streak by elbowing her in her injured back, and she stumbles into a massive gutwrench powerbomb from Test. Stratus tries to steal the win, planting her with a bulldog (early version of the Stratus-faction?) for 2. SUPERPLEX ON TRISH! Lita is within a second of victory before Albert drags her up by the hair! The Hardyz brawl with T&A on the floor as Lita makes one last climb to the top. MOONSAULT! Lita pins Trish at 13:12
Rating - *** - What a wild spotfest to get the show going. Like I said, this show is all about giving opportunities to let the WWF’s up and coming talent show what they’ve got. This match shows that wasn’t just limited to the men’s division. Lita and Trish are the next generation of WWF diva, taking us away from the likes of The Kat, Terri, Luna Vachon and Jacqueline. They were the stars of this match. Of course the Hardyz are over, and T&A were great sports in selling Lita’s wild, often uncoordinated high spots…but it was the women who took centre stage. Trish carried the heel work for her team. She stole pins, she took cheap shots, she avoided Lita at all costs. And on the other side, Lita was the one getting all the chants, and man alive did she ever deliver some crazy high spots. She doesn’t always hit her spots too cleanly (her moonsault is terrible) but she is courageous enough to try it – and tonight she got mad respect from the crowd for doing so. Terrific opener.
Unhappy with their defeat, T&A and Trish assault their opponents after the bell. Trish flogs Lita with Albert’s belt…
Edge is backstage, and finds Commissioner Mick Foley to tell him that Christian has food poisoning and won’t be able to compete in their match. Mick is sceptical, but agrees to send a doctor…
In the parking lot Undertaker arrives on his motorcycle, then drives it through the building trying to run Kurt Angle over.
Tazz vs Al Snow
As we know, after his hot debut at the Royal Rumble Tazz’s momentum quickly stalled. He was taken off television for a while as he healed from some injuries, and upon his return set about making an impact by randomly attacking WWF superstars. Wrestlers ranging from Scotty 2 Hotty to Kane has been assaulted by the Human Suplex Machine…and now he has a fellow former-ECW alum in his sights. He’d previously choked him out on television, leading to this one.
I like how Al stomps to the ring trying to act all serious, but of course still carries Head with him. He actually enjoys more than his fair share of offence and scores a serious nearfall from a superkick to sit-out powerbomb combo. He hits a top rope leg drop, and goes straight back to the top rope for a moonsault. Because (unlike the last match) he’s just tossing high spots out to try and get a reaction, the fans just don’t care about them. They even start chanting ‘boring’…so Al gets even more desperate and pulls out the Head for a cheap pop. Tazz hits a few forearms, before again we go back to Snow beating him up. Capture suplex from Tazz...into the Tazmission. Snow counters once, but Tazz holds on and finally forces Al to tap out at a loooooooong 05:20
Rating - DUD - I like Tazz but, like much of his WWF run, this sucked. Why the hell was Snow booked to get so much offence in? If they are pushing Tazz as this violent, unpredictable force why is one of your biggest jobbers beating him up for nearly five minutes? Snow was dreadful in this match too. Literally nobody wanted to see him, and his desperate ‘please like me’ act was rightly crapped on by the crowd.
We go to the arena bathrooms, where Christian is in a cubicle seemingly puking his guts up. Foley brings a doctor to check on him…and he concurs with Edge that Christian can’t go tonight.
Triple H relaxes in his locker room, but is furious as flowers from Kurt Angle are delivered for his wife
Eddie Guerrero vs Perry Saturn – WWF European Title Match
These guys came in together on the same side, but The Radicalz are now a distant memory with Benoit rubbing shoulders with main eventers, Guerrero and Malenko holding championships, and Saturn seemingly boxed out as the underachiever of the crew. He’ll want to beat his former friend, take his title and propel himself back up the WWF ranks on ppv tonight. Saturn has Terri in his corner. I have absolutely no recollection of why those two joined forces…
Chyna wants a piece of Terri and actually punches Saturn out in order to get to her. The challenger struggles to recover and Guerrero is dominant in the opening minute – although admittedly Chyna lends a hand with a clubbing lariat to Perry on the outside. Eddie keeps feeding Saturn to the floor where Chyna waits to dish out a beating. SPRINGBOARD SUICIDE DIVE from Eddie! Flying headscissors scores as he returns to the ring and Saturn can’t get going here. At last he manages to spin Guerrero into a powerbomb but is so worn down he can’t capitalise. They trundle through a back and forth that doesn’t really go anywhere…until Saturn misses a moonsault. Eddie pops to his feet to hit the brainbuster, but then in turn he misses a frog splash. Springboard dropkick knocks Saturn outside…where he gets into another brawl with Chyna and this time puts her through one of the announce tables! Terri is back out here and she kicks Guerrero in the balls! Perry nails the diving elbow from the top and wins the European Title at 08:09
Rating - * - This was extremely dull, with poor pacing and seemingly very little forethought into what they were actually going to do out there (besides kill time before the finish). It felt like they were sleepwalking through the most basic match they could get away with. Nobody wanted to see a Saturn victory either, and his win got zero response.
Edge & Christian are now backstage packing their bags, grinning and high fiving their successful plot to avoid facing the APA tonight. Sadly for them Foley catches them in the act, and assures them that their title defence is very much still on.
Kurt Angle tries to steal Undertaker’s ride…and much like his buddies Edge & Christian he very nearly gets caught in the act as the Phenom chases him away
Edge & Christian vs Acolytes – WWF Tag Title Match
Faarooq and Bradshaw won their #1 contendership some weeks before this show, only for the champions to spend weeks trying to get out of the match. Unfortunately for them, even their last minute food-poisoning scam wasn’t enough to get them out of their meeting with the APA.
Bradshaw doesn’t take kindly to E&C making fun of Dallas since he’s from Texas, and he seems particularly fired up. Not that Faarooq is far behind him as he sends Edge spinning through the air with steps. AVALANCHE fallaway slam from Bradshaw to Christian! He then tries to break the canvas by powerbombing Edge through it. Edge retaliates with a swinging neckbreaker, then drags Bradshaw into their corner where they can use frequent double teams to isolate the big Texan. Eventually he mows down both of them with a second rope tackle but at least the champions have done enough damage to significantly wear him down. Faarooq spinebusters Edge as Bradshaw sprints past him for the Clothesline From Hell on Christian. Dominator nailed…but just as the Acolytes have it won Edge nails Faarooq with one of the title belts. APA win by DQ, but it’s Edge & Christian who retain at 05:27
Rating - * - Surprisingly lively, but the cheap finish slightly took the gloss off it for me. I’d rather have seen the champions win (even by nefarious tactics) than willingly take a defeat in such a manner. The APA, whilst admittedly popular, already looked a tired and stale act by this point. If you’d have told me then that Bradshaw would reinvent himself to become a credible WWE Champion I’d never have believed you in a million years.
HHH is still pissed at Angle sending his wife flowers, eventually storming out of his locker room to find Kurt. The Olympic Hero, meanwhile, has more pressing problems as he is still being chased through the building by Undertaker. He manages to bash him in the leg with a monkey wrench before fleeing the scene.
Val Venis vs Rikishi – WWF Intercontinental Title Steel Cage Match
These guys had been feuding for some time even going into last months ppv – King Of The Ring. On that night we saw Rikishi (then IC Champion), defeat Venis in the semi-finals…only for an upset Val to assault his already-injured shoulder still further. That would lead to Rikishi becoming easy pickings for Kurt Angle in the finals, and worse was to follow as Venis would pounce soon afterwards to take his Intercontinental Championship as well. They look to settle their differences in the cage tonight.
Venis has shorter hair now, and has his god-awful rave remix music. Rikishi makes an early attempt to climb the cage for the win…but takes so long getting up the cage that Val nearly beats him by crawling out of the door. The champ chops Rikishi’s leg from under him, causing him to hobble and opening up the opportunity to start bashing his head against the cage. The Samoan tries a Stinkface, but in this environment there are no rules and Venis escapes with a low blow. They climb up the ropes together, with Rikishi taking a tumble after more face-first smashes into the cage…and Val is soon landing on top of him with a springboard elbow drop. He tries to escape the cage but is dragged back to the top rope, where BOTH men are crotched and rapidly brought back to the canvas. One of Val’s eyebrows looks to have been split open when they were up there – presenting an obvious window of opportunity for Rikishi who plants him with a Samoan drop. BANZAI DROP gets 2! He looks to leave through the door, but Val’s business partner Trish Stratus is on hand to slam the door on his face! The challenger is out of it, lying in the middle of the ring in prime position for the Money Shot! Somehow Rikishi gets a shoulder up…and here comes Lita with a belt! She tears Trish’s shirt off and starts flogging her with a belt just like Stratus did earlier! In the ring the two competitors are back on the top rope with Venis eventually falling backwards and wiping out the referee in the process. Rikishi continues to climb and stands literally on top of the cage. He has it won…but turns around to face his motionless opponent. You know what’s coming…MONEY SHOT FROM THE TOP OF THE CAGE! I’d never noticed before that he was actually emulating Val’s own move with that spot. Tazz is out now and he scrambles Rikishi’s brains with a camera as he tries to get out of the door. Val crawls over the unconscious Rikishi and retains his title at 13:03
Rating - *** - This certainly wasn’t the greatest cage match of all time, and it followed a pretty repetitive formula of climbing the cage, one guy hitting a spot, both guys crawling up then climbing the cage again to repeat the cycle. BUT, they had enough ‘magic’ moments in the match to make this one memorable. To this day people still talk about Rikishi’s splash off the cage. It is absolutely wild and, even thirteen years later when we’ve all become much more desensitised to such things it still looks quite incredible. Lita (who has been the most over worker on the show so far) coming for revenge on Trish really pleased the crowd too. Can’t say I cared much for the finish, but since Vince has clearly decided he wants to get Val over again, you need to give Rikishi (who has broken out significantly through 2000 so far) an ‘out’.
In the back Kurt Angle’s woes continue. Undertaker is limping around looking for him, and the camera cuts to an irate HHH who is coming for him too. Hunter intercepts another flower delivery for Stephanie…but it turns out it was all a set up as Chris Jericho ambushes him!
Shane McMahon comes out a couple of matches too early for the main event (I think he is in Benoit’s corner). He is feeling frisky it seems and challenges The Rock to a bonus match tonight. Rocky comes to the ring even though he thinks it’s a set up and demands Benoit come out from where he is hiding to sneak attack him. It was a set up…but it turns out the Wolverine is in Rock’s locker room. He trashes his belongings and rips up his clothes. You b*tch...
Kurt Angle vs Undertaker
This feud was actually lot of fun, although probably not what Taker had in mind when he made his big comeback in May. Moments like Angle accidentally covering Undertaker’s motorbike in milk during an overly boisterous celebration backstage, or inadvertently belting him in the head with a sledgehammer whilst aiming for HHH – then having to deal with the consequences of those accidents were really funny. I remember the segment where he tried to give Taker a moped as a peace offering had me in stitches too. But things got real when Kurt assaulted Undertaker with a wrench and doused one of his motorcycles in battery acid. Tonight he has to face the American Badass in an actual wrestling match and, even though he’s injured one of Taker’s legs, you’d have to say the chances of the King Of The Ring advancing his career further with a huge win here don’t look good.
Undertaker doesn’t wait for his music, and rides down to the ring during Kurt’s entrance to get the jump on him. Angle is taken around ringside and given an ass whipping before the match even starts. Even when they get into the ring and the actual wrestling commences it’s the Phenom who is in complete control. Kurt desperately clings to a sleeper hold but it has little impact and Taker soon escapes to get a nearfall with a side slam. Angle resorts to a cheap shot with the monkey wrench again, clubbing Undertaker in the knee as he chases him up the aisle. A chop block to the leg follows, then a knee bar as the Olympic hero finally grounds Taker. Such is the damage now inflicted that he is able to easily escape the Deadman’s attempt at a chokeslam by kicking at his leg. Standing toehold locked in now as Undertaker briefly looks in genuine danger. He finally flips Angle over, then hoists him up for the LAST RIDE! Undertaker wins at 06:53
Rating - ** - At the time this seemed like a complete burial of Kurt. Whilst I’ll admit it was a resounding victory that did very little to actively elevate Angle, I really don’t believe it did as much damage as it appeared at the time. He wasn’t completely squashed (although Taker had zero interest in selling his offence…or even bumping), but this whole feud showed he could be an incredibly entertaining act and, if nothing else, he did enough good things in this brief match to prove he wasn’t completely out of place with a main event guy like Undertaker. Did Taker smack Angle temporarily back down to the midcard here? Yes, he absolutely did. But on it’s own merits this was a fun little match, and, as I said, I think the lasting damage to Kurt was minimal. Taker made a big return in May, and has mostly played second fiddle to The Rock since then. Some would argue he actually needed the big win significantly more than Angle here.
Triple H vs Chris Jericho – Last Man Standing Match
These two hadn’t liked each other for some time (remember that episode of Raw when Y2J won the WWF Title from HHH only to be stripped of it after the commercial break?), but it was Jericho deciding to kiss Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley at King Of The Ring that caused HHH to snap and demand a showdown on ppv with the man who has been a perennial thorn in his side. The feud between these two since then has been surprisingly lively. Jericho cost HHH a shot at The Rock and the title, and also caused him to lose to the Brooklyn Brawler…but in return Helmsley orchestrated a D-X gang assault with a sledgehammer which left Jericho bloodied and unconscious. Will HHH put Y2J in his place, or will Jericho continue his rise to stardom at the expense of the former champion.
Jericho comes in with bandaged ribs as a result of that sledgehammer attack. He starts hot though, driving Triple H out of the ring with dropkicks then continuing his early attack on the floor. Hunter is on the back foot for a couple of minutes but turns the tide with by modifying his knee-first facebuster into a standing gutbuster. He hot shots him sternum-first into the guardrails and the steps in the ensuing moments which leaves Y2J in serious bother. The assault on Jericho’s ribs is relentless and at five minutes it’s already hard to see a way back into the match for him. Helmsley is extremely confident now, and leads Chris outside, allowing Stephanie to take a few slaps at him before hoisting him up for a vertical suplex on the concrete floor in the aisle. Abdominal stretch applied which is awesome as there is no escape for Jericho (even if he taps out) under Last Man Standing rules. For some reason the referee objects to Hunter using the ropes for additional leverage (surely it’s legal in this environment?), and the distraction allows Chris to hit a desperate spinning heel kick. Lionsault attempt…HHH KNEES THE RIBS! And although Jericho doesn’t stay down for 10 there, HHH pounces on him as soon as he gets back up for a sleeper – with additional bodyscissors. He can’t get a full breath anyway, and even if he could the legs around his chest prevent him. Still Jericho crawls back up and wants to fight the Game. PEDIGREE NAILED! JERICHO GETS UP AGAIN! CHAIR TO THE RIBS! HHH wants to Pedigree him on a chair…only for a desperate Y2J to nut shot him! He cracks Helmsley in the head with the chair for his first serious offensive strike in over ten minutes! HHH is bleeding everywhere!
Immediately the playing field is somewhat levelled and, even when HHH staggers Jericho with a kick to the ribs, this time Chris is able to knock him right back with a punch to the face. Missile dropkick to the bloody head – with plenty of rib selling! BULLDOG ON A CHAIR! Hunter flops out of the ring in a disorientated heap but recovers to whip Jericho chest-first into the steps! Triple H wants another Pedigree there only for Jericho to counter with a back drop off the steps to the floor. Simultaneously they arm each other with monitors from JR & King’s announce table. STEREO HEAD SHOTS WITH THE TV MONITORS! And both are so injured we barely avoid a double KO right there. Back in the ring – Pedigree COUNTERED WITH THE WALLS OF JERICHO! HHH taps to no avail, and Y2J has to adjust his grip because his ribs are killing him! The Game is in the ropes but Jericho won’t let go! Stephanie gets into the ring to help her husband. WALLS OF JERICHO ON STEPHANIE! Hunter is furious – breaking the hold then going under the ring for his sledgehammer. Jericho ducks the hammer and catapults HHH face-first into the ringpost! SLEDGEHAMMER TO HUNTER’S RIBS! That’s poetic justice there, and as he collapses onto the remaining announce table Jericho tries to set up an ill-advised Lionsault through it! TRIPLE H GRABS HIM FOR A BACK DROP DRIVER THROUGH THE TABLE! BOTH MEN DOWN! HHH starts to stir at 8…and gets to his feet right before 10! He collapses again, but did beat the 10-count. He doesn’t look like a winner, but he is victorious at 23:02
Rating - ****1/2 - After HHH/Foley at the Royal Rumble this is possibly my second favourite match from my trawl through WWF’s 2000 ppvs so far. An all out war featuring intelligent story-telling, fantastic selling from Jericho all building to a truly gripping conclusion that you honestly felt could have gone either way. You could be cynical and say that Jericho should have gone over here. Sure the victory would have been great for him – but his performance alone absolutely gave him the rub too. He has always been cool, always been entertaining. But putting in this kind of courageous and thrilling performance with HHH gives him instant credibility when it comes to working main event stars in future. Unlike Kurt/Undertaker, he was presented as absolutely on HHH’s level. Since it wasn’t for the title and wasn’t on one of the bigger ppvs of the year, people sometimes overlook this one as part of Triple H’s phenomenal run from late ’99 to the quad injury in the spring of 2001. Check it out if you can – it must be on one of WWE’s multiple compilation sets for both these guys.
The Rock vs Chris Benoit – WWF Title Match
As we saw at King Of The Ring, Benoit is through with playing nice on the undercards of WWF shows. He didn’t even seem to care if he won or lost matches, and went out only to viciously beat up whomever was put in front of him. It attracted the attention of Shane McMahon, who has now handpicked the Crippler to move to the front of the line in the McMahon family’s continuing efforts to get the top prize in their company away from The Rock. Benoit’s attacks became so persistent that Rocky seemed more obsessed with getting revenge on him than on his championship – even admitting in a promo that it had become personal. Commissioner Foley has added a stipulation meaning the belt can change hands on a DQ as a result of that.
Benoit further irritates The Rock by wearing one of his ripped up shirts to the ring. He soon has to flee the ring after his attempts to sneak attack the champion before the bell prove unsuccessful. Even Shane McMahon’s attempts to help his charge don’t work and wind up with Shane left laying on the floor. Crippler Crossface attempted by Rock, forcing Benoit to dive out of the ring again! Perhaps sensibly, Benoit tries to make it a wrestling match – re-entering the ring and targeting Rocky’s midsection with a gutbuster. He stays on offence as JR and The King laughably ramble on about the XFL (isn’t hindsight fun?)…until Rock shuts him down with a back superplex. Shane slides the championship belt into the ring and distracts referee Earl Hebner as the Crippler levels his opponent with it. With his size advantage, Rock keeps going for power moves to get the edge on his challenger only to be continually stumped by Benoit’s technical skill. He ducks under something to dump Rocky with a back suplex before slapping him into a Sharpshooter – putting more pressure on that back. He starts picking apart the legs too, before Shane gets involved again to trip The Rock to the floor. Taking the match outside doesn’t favour Chris though, as Rock is a competent brawler and uses the additional aid of elements such as the steps and ringpost to beat him up. Figure 4 Leglock applied, but as Shane distracts the ref again Benoit is able to escape and clothesline Rocky to the outside. More interference from McMahon who starts clattering into Rock with such forceful clotheslines that the champion ends up in the crowd. And as he tries to come back Benoit is on hand for a SNAP SUPLEX OVER THE RAILS! Rocky’s back is becoming increasingly damaged it seems. He absorbs real punishment before getting to his feet and exerting his power once more with an ALLEY-OOP INTO THE ROPES! Benoit retaliates with a body slam and hits the FLYING WOLVERINE for 2! SUPERPLEX NAILED! Both men are down after that! Benoit is up first to pepper his opponent with a vicious volley of strikes. He goes to use a chair…and as the ref confiscates that chair McMahon slides in and NAILS Hebner with another one! CRIPPLER CROSSFACE ON BENOIT! Hebner calls for the bell at 16:22 (somehow I’ve lost nearly three minutes in DVD skipping on this one?), but not for a Rock submission victory. He thinks Rock hit him with a chair…and awards Benoit the title as a result of Foley’s DQ title change rule! McMahon adds injury to insult as he lays Rock out with a steel chair! Commissioner Mick Foley storms out and angrily over-rules the decision and orders the referee to restart the match. The Rock, bleeding after that chair shot from Shane, tells Benoit to bring it…and the fight is on again! ROLLING GERMANS FROM BENOIT! CRIPPLER CROSSFACE! Somehow Rock makes the ropes, to a thunderous ovation from the live crowd. Benoit goes for the Crossface again – COUNTERED TO THE ROCK BOTTOM! Rock retains his championship at 19:05
Rating - **** - Despite this being overbooked to hell, and despite my copy of the DVD skipping so much portions of the match (most notably the original finish) were barely watchable, I really enjoyed this. Amongst multiple Shane-O-Mac run ins Benoit put on a technical masterclass that demonstrated exactly why he was able to be as successful as he became under the WWE umbrella. He didn't just work 'his' style with other strong wrestlers like Guerrero or Jericho. Here he adapted his approach and produced something entirely different from the usual ‘The Rock match’. He attacked the back, but not an overt assault (as with HHH/Jericho on the ribs in the last match) – just a subtle, continual theme to his offence. He used wrestling holds (multiple suplexes, strikes and stretches) to his advantage. In turn, The Rock didn’t rely on lots of punches and People’s Elbows. Rocky used power moves, or brawling on the outside to keep his challenger at bay. I’m guessing the creative team had concerns about how much of a legitimate threat people would consider Benoit to be without Shane and without that false finish, but when you strip all the shenanigans back, at it’s heart this was still a terrific match.
Tape Rating - *** - This one is an overlooked gem in a great year for the WWF. Cynics will write this off as a night all the main event talent beat down the up and comers to put them in their place – but it was so much more than that. Lita and Trish gave us a preview of the women’s division of their future with their antics. Rikishi continued to evolve from Too Cool’s Samoan heavy into an established player thanks to his infamous cage dive. And even in defeat, Jericho and Benoit looked like a million dollars in their matches with HHH and The Rock respectively. Admittedly Undertaker somewhat squashed Kurt Angle, but even that match wasn’t without its merits and certainly didn’t halt Kurt’s rise up the card. Sure a lot of the undercard was pretty poor. And surely ONE of Jericho, Angle or Benoit should have gone over. But with one of the best matches all year, a gripping main event, one of the most notorious high spots of the decade and much more, this one is a recommended show from me.
Top 3 Matches
3) Hardy Boyz/Lita vs T&A/Trish Stratus (***)
2) The Rock vs Chris Benoit (****)
1) Triple H vs Chris Jericho (****1/2)