In terms of the money the company made, the roster who was working at the company, the quality matches were provided, the stories that got people engaged, and the customer satisfaction, this is without a doubt the greatest year in WWE history. This is without the doubt WWE’s most successful year considering that they were also kicking the ass of WCW and every other promotion in the world. Anyone who thinks otherwise is completely ignoring the ratings and the amount of audience interest gathered into one wrestling promotion. Even though this was Mick Foley’s last full-time run with the company (before he starts a series of returning form semi-retirements) and Stone Cold Steve Austin wasn’t wrestling full-time again until Fall that year, WWF was able to utilize their new stars that were all able to capture interest. From the romances going on (Steph & HHH/Angle, Eddie & Chyna, Lita & Matt), to the intense rivalries, to the quality matches, to even the new stars given great material to work with, WWE in 2000 was kicking ass. If you wanted good wrestling in the year 2000, WWF was the only one that was providing the goods. WCW was having the absolute worst year of all time because Vince Russo’s booking went completely bonkers to the point where fans’ intelligence were being insulted on a weekly basis. As the booker, Russo threw everything on the wall and nothing stuck. WCW had too many vaccant titles, World champions that didn’t serve it (Russo, Arquette, & Jarrett), horrible gimmick matches, and storylines that make no sense whatsoever. It got so bad that Hogan left the company and ratings plummeted. ECW struggled to keep themselves alive considering that they lost so many of their top stars and many bad injuries occurred. The new faces that Paul Heyman tried to push were pushed too soon, plus he’s cut pay on his employees. ECW wasn’t going to around much longer because their network TNN doesn’t promote their programs and pay-per-views and many of their midcards were never ready to enter the main event. All-Japan Pro Wrestling went to a dramatic downturn under Giant Baba’s widow’s leadership (after his passing) which got Mitsuharu Misawa to leave the company and start his own promotion, Pro Wrestling NOAH. New-Japan has entered the dark age as Antonio Inoki tried to mix pro wrestling and MMA into one and going back to NJPW from 2000 – 2006 absolutely sucked. Thankfully, WWF at the year 2000 was the best company to watch. It’s one of those years where I love to go back and watch the entire year of the WWE and just feel completely satisfied as I was when this stuff first-came out. I won’t lie that it’s absolutely nostalgic for me to watch WWF 2000, play my PS1, and listen to 2000 Nu Metal to feel like I’m back in these times. 2000 was certainly a great start of the new millenium, now let’s see what was the best night in wrestling in this year.
The Year 2000 Wrestling Rewards
- Wrestler of 2000: Kurt Angle
- Underrated Wrestler of 2000: Kid Kash
- Feud of 2000: Triple H vs The Rock
- Wrestling Match of 2000: Kurt Angle vs Rikishi vs Steve Austin vs The Rock vs The Undertaker vs Triple H – 6-Man Hell in a Cell – Armegeddon 2000
- Underrated Match of 2000: Steve Corino vs Tajiri – Hardcore Heaven 2000
- Wrestling Promotion of 2000: World Wrestling Federation
Number 10. – Anarchy Rulz
IT certainly felt weird that ECW booked themselves in St. Paul Minnesota; an AWA territory. This was a ECW that was anything but classical wrestling. However, there was a reason behind their excursion. Jerry Lynn was set to capture the company’s most prestigious belt in his native Twin Cities region. He and then-champion Justin Credible had some excellent bouts over the years, but Lynn’s victory on this night may have been the best of their lengthy series. The spot of the night may very well have been EZ Money attempting a top-rope powerbomb Kid Kash, only for the smaller man to reverse it into a midair hurricanranna. Elsewhere the match of the night had Rob Van Dam challenge Rhino for the TV title, a belt which he had held for 700 consecutive days. It was surprising to see Rhino pull out a victory and retain his TV belt. Let’s not forget that Steve Cornino also got his big break defeating C. W. Anderson for the #1 contender spot for the ECW belt at November to Remember. Despite having a hot crowd, something as a dud like Joel Gertner vs Cyrus (kayfabe network executive against ECW’s hardcore presentation) was firey hot. The rest of the show was a competent show, but the rest of the card felt uneventful and was just filler to keep the show to it’s 2 hours+ run time. But since this was the last time we were going to get RVD in the year 2000 and ECW was trying to set everything up to make the following show, November to Remember, at least a good one, you have to appreciate the effort made in Anarchy Rulz 2000.
Number 9. – Judgement Day
The follow up of Backlash was Judgement Day, a show that’s remembered for the second ever 60-minute iron man match between The Rock & Triple H. This feud was red hot at the time and they both had to conditioning and stamina to pull off an hour performance. Even though I hate watching an entire hour of an iron man match, I can certainly say that this was a whole lot better than Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart at Wrestlemania XII. Despite how screwy the finish was having Shawn Michaels as special guest referee disqualifying The Rock after Undertaker’s return with a new gimmick, it was a thunderous finale of a long-ass match. I’m still surprised that despite how terrible that DQ finish was, everyone got such an impression with Undertaker’s return and repackage as the American Bad-ass biker (which I’m not a fan of). Because an iron-man match was booked in this show, Judgement Day’s card suffered with a lot of short matches. Too Cool vs Team ECK (Edge, Christian, and Krt Angle) could have been better, Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko vs. Perry Saturn could have been the Radicalz explode but was a standard triple threat. Shane McMahon vs Big Show’s Falls Out Anywhere was just there. Chris Benoit Family Killer vs Chris Jericho had better matches before and after this night. And D-Generation-X vs. Dudley Boyz wasn’t good. I really wanted to like this show but the screwy finish, a card that had to be halfed for the Iron Man main event, and short but uneventful matches booked in were a lot to be desired. It’s nowhere as good as everyone claims it to be and there are better pay-per-views of the 2000s. However, you cannot ignore the amout of workrates and crowd reaction that happened throughout the night.
Number 8. – November To Remember
While WCW’s Starrcade 2000 and WWF’s Wrestlemania 2000 were two of the biggest shows that left a lot to be desired, thankfully ECW’s last ever biggest show of the year was able to make an impression. Please don’t come into November to Remember 2000 like this was going to be the best show of the year because it wasn’t. It’s all because of the lacking roster at the time and Paul Heyman did all he could at making a great of a show as he could. This show is proof that you don’t necessarily need your biggest stars to put on an enjoyable show. Tommy Dream and RVD were both inactive and what we had here was the midcard doing their absolute best to work like main eventers. What I enjoyed most about November to Remember 2000 is the number of gimmick matches that made this unlike your typical ECW show, especially to maskout the lack of star power. The best match of the night was Kid Kash vs. C.W. Anderson where the high flying style meets old-school brawling was well handled and is one of the best gems under ECW’s belt. One of the few matches that I like seeing Balls Mahoney, he had a firey match agaisnt Chilly Will (no that’s his actual name) in a Flaming tables match (I see what you did there, Heyman). BWO’s Nova had a big stipulation match with Chris Chetti in the Loser Leaves Town match. Rhino showed New Jack who was boss when defending his Televison Championship. Also this was the night that Steve Corino was chosen to be the ECW champion beating Justin Credible, The Sandman and Jerry Lynn in a Double Jeopardy match. Sure Corino’s victory for the ECW championship felt like a wimper and no where as memorable or eventful as Austin or Goldberg winning the World belt. In fairness this variety helped spice up a show which could have been one of the least remarkable in ECW history. The company was on their last legs by this stage but their commitment to making the best of a bad situation has to be commended.
Number 7. – Summerslam
This Summerslam is known as one of the most exciting and fun shows ever. This was a show you really needed to see and you were glad you did when it was over. The highlight of the night was Hardy’s vs Dudleys vs Edge & Christian in the Wrestlemania rematch for the WWF tag team belts. This tables, ladders, and chairs match surpassed the triangle ladder match of Wrestlemania 2000 and it’s remembered for being that great of a ladder match. Despite who won the match, all three teams came out as winners. The main event had Kurt Angle main eventing for the first time against Triple H and The Rock for the WWF championship. He had a nasty concussion from a botched announcer’s desk spot but managed to get back to the ring and finish the match. Though The Rock retained the WWF championship, Kurt retained Stephanie McMahon from Triple H (if only that happened in real life). Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit Family Killer in a 2-out-of-3 falls match which was a very good match. Eddie Guerrero & Chyna bs Trish Stratus & Val Venis was a very good intergender match. And Steve Blackman knocking Shane McMahon out of the 40-feet titan tron will always be the spot of the night. For the shows lows there were plenty of them. Matches like Kane vs Undertaker was so dreadful that it makes you appreciate their Wrestlemania XIV bout even more. Even if Taker did remove Kane’s mask it still wasn’t that memorable. Jerry Lawler defeating Taz ruined Taz’s credibility from ECW. The Kat vs Terri’s stinkface match was just jerk-off material. Despite all that, the positives of Summerslam 2000 outweighs the negatives and it still got a lot of people still talking about Summerslam 2000 to this very day.
Number 6. – Armegeddon
This show is known as the wildest one-match-show of all time. To this day this is the only televised 6-man Hell in a Cell match with 6 of WWF’s best wresterles in the company’s best year ever. Kurt Angle defends his WWF championship against The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, The Undertaker, and Rikishi. Everyone remembers Rikishi getting chokeslammed off the Cell into the truck that Vince McMahon brought in to tear down the Cell. This is one of my all time favorite Hell in a Cell matches as all 6 contenders had interconnected storylines, history, and great chemestry together. This was an insane match and as Attitude era as you can get. The fact that Kurt Angle won that match proved to me that he was the best wrestler of the year, not just the best rookie. The fact that he started as a love-to-hate goofy villian to WWF champion, and then defeating all 6 of the best wrestlers in the most dangerous stipulation showed me that Kurt Angle was the best wrestler who ever lived. He had all the numberes stacked against him and he prevaled. As for the rest of the show, it was a mix of good and bad matches but ultimately not memorable. Chris Jericho having a match with Kane that started with coffee spilled on the Big Red Machine, was okay but went longer than it should, despite Jericho’s second Last Man Standing match of the year. Edge/Christrian winning the WWF Tag titles from Rights to Censor in a 4-way tag match with Dudley Boyz, K-Kwik/Road Dogg was forgotten. Chris Benoit Family Killer vs Billy Gunn for the Intercontinental title was disinteresting as Mr. Ass had no business being in the semi-main event. Val Venis vs Chyna was a bit messy considering that this was Chyna without Eddie on her side. William Regal defending his European title against Hardcore Holly was just there. And The Radicalz vs Team Xtreme was an okay-ish opener. Now you see why Armegeddon 2000 was a one-match show? Despite being as such, this was the best way to finish the excellent calander year for the company.
Number 5. – ECW Heat Wave
The real life drama in Heat Wave 2000 was more facinating than any of the wrestling. It’s such ashame that the incident with XPW (a shitty version of ECW) invading the show overshadowed Heat Wave 2000’s card. Still can’t believe that almost spoiled the main event as the XPW stars tried to cause up a scene in the main event and started a reported fight outside of the building (despite no footage existing). This wouldn’t have happened if Heat Wave 2000 wasn’t booked to be in Los Angeles where XPW’s territory was held. With the elephant in the room out of the way, let’s talk about Heat Wave 2000. The four way match that included the return of Psicosis facing Yoshihiro Tajiri, Mikey Whipwreck, and Little Guido may have been match of the night, there were plenty of good stuff for the rest of the card. Steve Corino had a brutal match with Tajiri in Hardcore Heaven and his bout against Jerry Lynn was equally was brutal. This was to push Corino as this tough underdog as he was on his way to the main event spot. It was a twisted and unique visual to have Lynn use Corino’s blood as warpaint trying to create heat between the two and also build up Corino when ECW was losing stars. Rhino defeat The Sandman again for the ECW Television championship was just as good as expected. RVD burying Scotty Anton was decent but went close to 20 minutes, which was unnessesary considering Anton was midcarder at best. Justin Credible vs Tommy Dreamer in a Stairway to Hell match for the ECW World title was an extremely good match. If it weren’t for XPW spoiling the fun before the main event started, I can only asume that Dreamer vs Credible would have been a better match than what was offered.
Number 4. – Hardcore Heaven
You’ll never believe it but this was a show that over-delivered despite the organizational chaos. Disarray was becoming more apparent in ECW by this time as the ECW World title scene saw frequent changes due to Mike Awesome’s walk out the previous month. Justin Credible got the gold in round about fashion and ended up facing his former partner Lance Storm in the main event. Very much like Wrestlemania V’s main event was known as the Mega Powers Explodes, Hardcore Heaven 2000’s main event is where the Impact Players explode. This was Lance Storm’s last night in ECW because (just like Mike Awesome) he was too sick of being unpaid. Originally the main event was supposed to have Tommy Dreamer included in the main event, only to show up at the end of the match to attack Credible and his vallet Francine. RVD vs Jerry Lynn had another good high flying bout but not as good as their bout in last year’s Hardcore Heaven (because we’ve already seen it before). Rhino vs Sandman was an excellent TV title match where Rhino was getting pushed to be the company’s Goldberg. Other fun and exciting matches in the undercard had Balls Mahoney having a duel with chairs against Masato Tanaka, New Jack vs Angel in a trashy fight, and Kid Kash vs C.W. Anderson had a good mix of styles. The match of the night was Tajiri vs. Steve Corino. This was the time where Corino was the hateful heel that wrestled the old-school way but had a very brutal match agaisnt Tajiri that got the fan’s respect. This was the night that made Corino’s push started as he not only went through the table but had the same table kick to his face that was a nasty spot indeed. If you want the most effective ECW match of all time, go watch Tajiri vs Steve Corino now and see how surprising the match truly was. Despite the messy build of the show, Hardcore Heaven 2000 overachieved as the scheduled matches all delivered to varying degrees.
Number 3. – Backlash 2000
Wrestlemania 16 was a terrible show and it was definitely going to be hard to have a good show that will follow up the grandest stage of them all. This card certainly outdid Wrestlemania 16 by delivering results that the fans can all agree was necessary! Edge and Christian defeated DX members X-Pac and Road Dogg was a good opener, the 6-Man hardcore match for the hardcore championship was wild, Big Show-Kurt Angle was a great squash match, and th Benoit-Jericho match was one of the best technical wrestling that the attitude era had in store for us fans. And if you love the attitude era because of the level of sexiness involve, this pay per view is in stored for you when Trish Stratus was powerbombed through the table by the Dudley Boys and Chyna getting stripped by Lita was incredibly hot! And of course the main event between Triple H and The Rock was something that should have been in Wrestlemania 16. A lot of people bought this pay per view just to see The Rock win the WWF Championship and have the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Rock had all the odds against him with McMahon’s minions saving Triple H from loosing the title. It’s up to The Rock’s old rival to save him and as soon as the audio clip of the glass shattered, the whole arena roared when Austin finally made his return hitting everyone with a chair. Having the Rock win the WWF championship from Triple H at Backlash was one of the most satisfying moments of the Attitude Era, leaving The Rock and Austin drink beer together to close the show.
Number 2. – Royal Rumble 2000
If you don’t know what attitude is all about, it’s about great variation of matches, entertaining in-ring & backstage segments, everlasting moments. This show captures all of it! This show show was quality, quality, quality! Right when this Royal Rumble began, Kurt Angle had his undefeated streak come to an end when Tazz made his WWF debut from ECW and make him tap out. Follow that up with The Hardy Boys beating The Dudlies in a Elimination Tables match, Chris Jericho-Chyna-Hardcore Holly triple threat to finally establish the real Intercontinental Championship, and the legendary Bikini Contest that surprised all of us to see May Young win it. I love going back to this show and see every aspect of the show to be 100% entertaining! But there are two thing that will always be the best part of the show, the best Royal Rumble match and the match of the decade. I will always say that Triple H vs. Cactus Jack to be one of the greatest hardcore match of all time! It was a rematch of their 1997 Raw episode but was 10 times the more brutal and more awesome. And seeing Cactus back dropped & Pedigree to the pile of thumbtacks still give me an impression to this very day! Even though as a child I was so pissed at Triple H winning, it still left me in complete amazement. And of course the Royal Rumble match! All of my favorite wrestlers in the 2000 Royal Rumble made it into the show, but it was freaking awesome to finally have the Rock win the Rumble! It was the happiest night of my life as a child seeing the Rock eliminate the unstoppable Big Show and have his victory! We haven’t had a Royal Rumble event this good since 1992 and 2000 simply dominated all the Royal Rumbles before and after it! This match captures the essence of Attitude and never let us go from the presenting what this era was all about!
Number 1. – Fully Loaded 2000
The only flaw this PPV has is that it doesn’t feature Stone Cold Steve Austin who’s the face of the PPV. Other than that elephant in the room, this is without a doubt the most fun I’ve ever had that wrestling has ever provided, let alone the Top 3 Wrestling PPVs. It’s the most forgotten event in wrestling because the main even features… who later became a Wife Killer. But as much as WWE wants us to forget that this night has ever happened, I’m never forgetting what I witnessed here. Every match, promo, backstage segments, and highlights here is the tipping point of the WWE’s peak in the quality of the Attitude Era. Who can ever forget the opener with the Lita vs. Trish rivalry booming with the opener with Team Xtreme vs T&N (with Trish), Val Venis taking the squash from Rikishi jumping off from the cage, Kurt Angle at his out-most hilarious with Undertaker, and even the incredible Triple H vs. Chris Jericho last-standing match. And don’t get me started with a one-shot Championship Match with Chris Benoit Family Killer taking on The WWF Champion, The Rock that felt like something from a Rocky movie. Nothing was more satisfying than to see The Rock beating Chris Benoit Family Killer for the Main Event. That was one of the most exciting main event of all time and my personal favorites of them all as well. While you have access to the WWE Network, go ahead and watch the Fully Loaded 2000 show and see exactly why The Attitude Era was the best eras in all of professional wrestling.
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