Insurrextion 2000 - Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London England, May 6th, 2000
Back in the UK! The WWF in England at this point has a mixed history - 1997’s One Night Only was a good show. 1998’s Capital Carnage was not. I really enjoyed Rebellion at the end of 1999 - it didn’t change the game, but it was a good, fun, stand alone show. Where will Insurrextion land?
The show opens with a dedicated video package and actually includes a whole bunch of footage in empty rings and gyms that I’ve not seen before. The UK fans are getting a bit of effort! The commentary team is Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler - they’ve actually sent the “A Squad” this time too. King made a whole bunch of nasty comments about how much he doesn’t like the UK during Backlash and on Raw when this event was mentioned and they didn’t seem like jokes - I think he just legitimately didn’t like to travel.
Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay) vs. The Radicals (Perry Saturn and WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko)
Malenko and Saturn don’t seem too friendly as they walk to the ring. They came to blows on Smackdown as they fought over who gets to pin Crash Holly for the Hardcore title. The focus though is Dean retaining his Light Heavyweight title in a great match at Backlash with Scotty 2 Hotty.
Much like Rebellion, the UK fans LOVE their airhorns and I’m sure I’ll mention it a few times during this show but it is relentless. Every 10 seconds.
The Radicals isolate Scotty and work him over but they do reference the issues from Smackdown as Dean and Perry argue over who is the leader of this team. Perry does pull the referee out of the ring and stop a three count after a roll up on Dean.
Grandmaster gets the hot tag and looks great taking down both men with body slams and hip tosses and almost gets a victory with a double clothesline off the middle rope.
Scotty sets up the Worm on both men and just like Wrestlemania, he hits it!
Too Cool clear Dean out of the ring and with a top rope leg drop from Sexay onto Saturn, pick up the victory.
After Too Cool leave, Malenko shoves at his partner in disappointment at the loss and the crowd cheers as the two Radicals come to blows and have a fight on the mat as referees work to split them up.
Vince McMahon comes out onto the stage to address the fans. He says he’s disappointed that The Rock is the WWF Champion, and that if there was a fair one on one match then Triple H would have won. He repeats his promo from Raw blaming Linda McMahon, Earl Hebner and Stone Cold Steve Austin for Triple H’s loss. The crowd goes mental at the mention of Austin. But like all geniuses he has a back up plan and tonight is his backup plan. Tonight’s main event is The Rock defending against both Triple H and Shane McMahon in a triple threat match. Vince says that while no one normally cares about what things happen in London, the whole world will know that he lost the WWF Championship.
Kane (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Bull Buchanan
This match has a little story as JR reminds us about Bull breaking Kane’s hand on Raw last month. This is only the second time we’ve seen Kane since! It’s only the third time since Wrestlemania in fact.
Kane has a black cast on his hand, and gets a really positive reaction. It’s nice they paid the airfare for Paul Bearer to come over too.
Bull jumps Kane before he can do his entrance pyro which gets a boo from the crowd but it's not enough and Kane dominates and they brawl around the ring.
Bull gets a little bit of offence but when he jumps off the top rope he’s caught by Kane who plants him with a chokeslam for an easy victory.
Paul gets in the ring and is all smiles as Kane gets to cue his ringpost pyro afterall.
Easiest paycheque Kane or Bearer ever got.
Backstage, Triple H talks to his wife and they discuss how Vince didn’t actually say who he thought would win the title tonight. All Vince said is that the new WWF Champion would be a “McMahon family member”. Stephanie is rocking the soft curls and wet look in her hair because it’s the year 2000.
Bradshaw (w/Faarooq) vs. Roaddogg (w/Tori)
This was supposed to be a tag team match of the APA against DX but X-Pac couldn’t make the trip. They don’t say that on the show, I’m just telling you that.
Faarooq joins commentary for this match and Tori and her little green short-shorts distract Bradshaw so Roaddogg can jump him from behind but it ends up not helping.
Roaddogg and Bradshaw fight on the outside and Faarooq attacks Roaddogg too right in front of the referee. It weirdly doesn’t cause a disqualification and he’s just ejected from ringside instead.
Bradshaw is the bigger man so he dominates and controls the match, so the heel and face dynamic is totally off. Roaddogg is the plucky underdog coming back for near falls off a DDT and a neckbreaker.
With some distraction from Tori, after a final flurry of moves from Bradshaw, Roaddogg wins with the Pumphandle slam.
I was right about the face/heel dynamic being all mixed up too as the fans actually cheer for the heel Roaddogg’s victory thanks to cheating.
In a pair of backstage segments, Mae Young and Moolah speak on behalf of Terri and Kat ahead of their arm wrestling contest.
Back in the arena, Jerry Lawler is in the ring to MC this arm wrestling contest.
Arm Wrestling match
Terri Runnels (w/Fabulous Moolah) vs. The Kat (w/Mae Young)
Mae is actually dressed to wrestle. Kat is dressed like she’s going to a nightclub. Actually, Moolah and Terri are dressed the same - Moolah is in her ring gear but Terri just has lots of flesh on show. The fans cheer for the entrances. Well, the men do.
Terri initially refuses because Kat’s hands are oily. King checks and that's not the case. She then pauses to get a drink of water.
She pauses a third time to do some stretches, and then removes her shorts to reveal she’s wearing a swimsuit that goes into a thong! As she bends over and stretches this gets borderline pornographic.
Kat pauses this time and says she’s not ready and gets Mae to help her warm up her arm.
They finally arm wrestle and drag it out until finally The Kat has victory in hand (pun intended). Moolah throws water in Kat’s face which almost costs her but with some help from Mae she still wins. Terri pulls open Kat’s top and celebrates anyway but Kat shows she's not bothered and flashes her boobs anyway!
This whole segment was terrible and honestly way filthier than you’d expect.
Rikishi and Showkishi vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
This match is clearly a remnant of the show being booked weeks in advance as at the end of Smackdown all of these men were united against the McMahon-Helmsley faction. The Dudleyz are very much babyfaces these days (despite the awful things they do to women). Big Show has dusted off the Showkishi gear he wore on Raw and seems to be best friends with Rikishi these days.
The fans alternate between their endless, constant air horns and “we want tables” chants as Bubba and D-Von work as heels and isolate Rikishi in their corner.
Bubba gives Rikishi a DDT which he no-sells - Samoan’s having hard heads is a wrestling dynasty - and gets a near fall with a superkick but The Dudleyz continue to double team and work over Rikishi with a diving headbutt from D-Von into Rikishi’s groin.
Rikishi does get the hot tag to Big Show who comes in on fire and dominates. The Dudleyz set up a table but Edge and Christian come down to the ring and attack D-Von on the floor and Edge gives Bubba a Spear.
Showkishi finishes Bubba with a big chokeslam to win the match in a weird finish.
Too Cool run down to the ring and prepare to dance with Showkishi and Rikishi, and even ask The Dudleyz to stay! They resist at first but when they put on the magic sunglasses they’re overwhelmed with the urge to dance! Bubba puts his own glasses on Scotty too, and all six men dance to Too Cool’s music. The fans loved it, even if none of it makes much sense. D-Von is a pretty good dancer too! Bubba gets a huge pop for teasing a fight with Rikishi but then instead busting out a Texas two-step.
A fun video package of Kurt Angle touring London and finding out if the UK have any of his three Is. I actually remember this as he popped up on various TV shows at the time including meeting Kelly Brook and appearing on SMTV: Live. He has a hard time staying in heel character because the fans do actually just love him.
Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle
Benoit’s face is a mess here. I mentioned it during the Judgment Day Preview, but he got a broken nose at Backlash. It seems to have been made much worse since then because his left eye is bruised and swollen shut. No way he should be competing here.
On his walk to the ring, Kurt Angle says that the UK kids are pale and poorly educated. He was in London so he’s probably right. He says that the English kids need to learn the universal language - American.
After Benoit enters, before the match can begin, the Hardcore Champion Crash Holly runs down to the ring and joins the commentary team for this match! He says he wants to fight an Englishman. His commentary gets distracting as he has literally nothing to say and JR and King pretty openly make fun of him for it.
This is a decent match as Kurt works on Benoit’s ugly, injured eye and Benoit plays the babyface which is very odd to see.
He rallies with a barrage of German suplexes for a couple of near falls and locks in the Crippler Crossface but Angle grabs the referee’s hand and uses it to hit Benoit in the eye, breaking the hold.
Benoit lays out Angle and goes for his diving headcutt but Angle moves and he hits the mat instead.
Angle rakes the eyes again and then ducks Benoit’s wild swinging punches to deliver an Olympic slam and win the match! I’m surprised it was as straightforward as that.
Michael Cole interviews Shane McMahon and asks if he knows which McMahon family member Vince was talking about earlier. Shane assumes that his dad was talking about him and knows his dad wants to see him win the WWF title tonight.
During this show, the “Judgment Day is coming” video with the creepy girls singing and dancing is shown three times. That culminates at the next PPV. It’s a big return but no spoilers! (You know who it is)
Crash Holly spent the entire previous match on commentary talking about how no one from England wanted to fight him. He’s still ringside and so The British Bulldog jogs down to the ring followed by a referee and he’s going to cash in on the 24/7 rule to challenge for the title in his home country.
WWF Hardcore Championship
Crash Holly © vs. The British Bulldog
Bulldog does actually get a nice cheer from the English crowd and fights Crash up the ramp and suplexes him there before heading back to the ring.
Crash reverses a whip into the ring steps and uses a trash can followed by choking Bulldog with a leather strap.
Crash goes and gets a chair but it's not a nice WWF steel chair and is instead a plastic looking blue one that obviously belongs to the arena.
Bulldog drop toe holds Crash into it, and then uses it as a weapon followed by a broom handle to the ribs.
Bulldog scoops up Crash and plants him with his running powerslam finisher and in a short match, The British Bulldog wins the Hardcore title in England to a nice reaction from the fans.
This is nice as it would be Bulldog’s last appearance in the UK as a performer. I’ll talk about his leaving the WWF during the Judgment Day Preview article. Nice to see him end things on a high with a title belt as a babyface in England though.
Earlier today, Edge and Christian were outside with the fans and Michael Cole tried to catch them for an interview. Edge and Christian charge the fans cash for photos, but then when the photo is being taken make sure to stand in front of the fan so that only they can be seen. Pretty funny stuff. These guys have really found their niche as cocky, conceited heels.
WWF Tag Team Championships
Edge and Christian © vs. The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy)
During their entrance JR says that Edge must have “at least 30 teeth” which is hilarious because unless you’ve removed some at some point, an adult male is supposed to have 32. He also makes a joke about Edge and Christian doing shampoo commercials which is also funny because Edge would end up feuding with Booker T leading into Wrestlemania 18 over exactly that!
As King makes fun of Jeff and Matt’s hair, the two teams actually wrestle.
The Hardyz beat down Christian in their corner but he escapes and quickly tags in Edge who takes over on offence against Jeff.
As the two teams trade their offence back and forth, the fans continue to make me irrationally angry with their incessant air horns.
Finally it breaks down into familiar tag team territory with Edge and Christian tagging in and out quickly and working over Jeff Hardy in their corner.
Jeff fights to try and make a tag but with Edge on distraction duty, the referee doesn’t see it and Jeff continues to be worked over. Edge even gets in the ring and physically pulls Jeff back to their corner to stop him being able to tag.
When Jeff finally goes tag in Matt, the reaction isn’t great. I think they may be milked it for a bit too long.
His flurry of moves doesn’t last long and Edge and Christian hit him with their stacked up superplex which was their tag team finisher for a bit but Matt kicks out.
Jeff returns to the action and wipes out Edge with a huge dive to the outside.
Matt hits a Twist of Fate on Christian and Jeff lands a Swanton Bomb. The Hardyz have the match won but Edge grabs the ring bell and hits Jeff with it right in front of the referee.
The Hardyz win by disqualification but Edge and Christian keep their titles. They continue the beating on Matt and Jeff but The Dudleyz run down for the save.
A 3D takes out Christian and Bubba sets up a table in the ring. The table is a thick looking one and not the usual ones we see on WWF TV. Bubba drills Edge through the table with a top rope powerbomb and it snaps and splinters in a very unusual way. Cheap English table I guess. Bubba looks pleased though.
WWF European Championship
Eddie Guerrero © (w/Chyna) vs. WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho
There’s a little video package for this match. It's another remnant of previous booking as this feud hasn’t been followed up on since just after Wrestlemania, and Eddie is basically a babyface these days. The card will have been announced weeks previous and doesn’t include recent TV developments.
Much like at Rebellion when D’Lo Brown fought Jeff Jarrett while they held these same two titles, which belt is actually on the line was decided by a coin toss in the ring. I liked it then and I like it now.
Eddie cuts a promo before the match about how English people don’t like being a part of Europe. I’m not sure what was going on at the time but that feels oddly timely after Brexit. Chyna then speaks Spanish, which Eddie translates as the Brits not deserving a European champion like him.
Chris Jericho has a microphone too and welcomes us to London Is Jericho, before calling them a pair of jackasses.
Jericho quickly dominates and sends Eddie packing out of the ring, but Chyna insists that Latino Heat be a man and throws him back into the ring where Jericho gets a couple of near falls after a clothesline and a flying forearm before slowing things down with a chinlock.
Eddie gets out of the ring and runs around the ring, luring in Y2J for Chyna to surprise him with a stiff clothesline. The referee saw it but did nothing about it. It gives Eddie the advantage for a moment but Y2J brings them back into the ring with a superplex.
Another distraction from Chyna lets Eddie get back in the driver's seat and he works over Jericho with chinlocks and snap mares and works him over on the mat.
Jericho reverses a stretch hold into one of his own before dropping Guerrero on his face.
King’s faux Mexican accent is always annoying but he is, for some reason, absolutely insufferable during this match. I’d imagine because it's not a TV show he doesn’t have people feeding him lines in his headset and therefore he has absolutely nothing to contribute.
The two men take a rough tumble over the top rope to the floor and Eddie lays on the concrete complaining about his back to the referee. It’s all just a distraction for Chyna to drop Jericho with a DDT. Eddie then recovers and gets in the ring for a cover but it takes too long and Y2J kicks out.
Jericho rallies and has the match won with a Lionsault but Chyna distracts the referee so he can’t count. Jericho dropkicks her off the apron but walks right into a shot to the head from the European title belt and just like that, Eddie Guerrero retains his European title in a good match.
Stephanie tells Triple H and Shane that it doesn’t matter which one of them wins the title tonight but it matters to them! Their little sibling rivalry during this show has been a good show-long angle.
WWF Championship
The Rock © vs. Triple H (w/WWF Women’s Champion Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) vs. Shane McMahon (w/Vince McMahon)
This match has a great video package considering it's only been 6 days since Backlash! They do edit Stone Cold out of the Backlash finish entirely which is odd but I guess they don’t want people to think he might show up again here. I’ll leave in The Rock’s promo with Michael Cole too because he's always good and I want you all to hear the air horns. Every 5 seconds for the entirety of the show. I swear.
Shane enters first and given that he has Vince by his side, it seems obvious which of the men in his family he’s backing here. The fans are absolutely red hot for The Rock, who enters last of course.
Triple H and Shane are both so focused on being the one to win the title, they can’t even properly double team The Rock. He takes the fight to them both and that does get them working together for a bit.
Shane throws punches at The Rock and actually hurts his wrist. Triple H has great fun as he dances and throws punches and he and Shane get into a contest to seemingly see who does the best Muhammud Ali impression. This is actually the birth of Shane doing that all the time! He’s been throwing punches and floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee ever since.
The Rock fights back as they mess around too much and take him lightly but he’s shut down again and when Vince gets involved and chokes The Rock, the fans chant “asshole”.
By this point in the show, I literally could not wait for it to end. If I never hear an air horn again it will be too soon. I want to personally slap every single person in this crowd. It must drive the wrestlers insane too.
Triple H locks in a long sleeper on The Rock who almost goes out but he fights back and gets Shane in a sleeper! Shane drops and it turns into a jaw breaker on both the champion and his brother-in-law.
Triple H dominates with a high knee and a face buster but when he goes for a cover, Shane breaks up the pin. Triple H has words and he shoves Shane who jumps Triple H from behind. Shane goes for a moonsault but Triple H moves and he lands on his feet! Very impressive. The Rock drops Shane with a DDT but Stephanie distracts the referee so there's no count.
Triple H jumps on The Rock and with the odds being two on one again, Shane goes for a Pedigree but isn’t strong enough to give it to The Rock. He gets thrown into the referee who drops. Vince trips The Rock and Triple H uses the title belt as a weapon to knock him out.
Vince calls down Gerry Brisco in a referee shirt who counts but The Rock kicks out.
Shane brings a steel chair into the ring but The Rock ducks and he hits Triple H instead, so The Rock sends him packing.
Vince hits The Rock from behind and gets ready to use the chair but The Rock catches him. Its enough distraction for a low blow and a Pedigree and Triple H has the title won…but The Rock kicks out! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone kick out of a Pedigree. Triple H punches Brisco out of frustration and gives The Rock a second Pedigree but theres no referee to count. Vince pulls the shirt off Brisco and puts it on himself, but Earl Hebner runs to the ring and pulls McMahon out of the ring. Vince tries to punch Earl but he ducks and he punches the ring post instead and acts like he’s broken his hand.
Shane accidentally knocks Triple H off the ropes into a low blow as Vince chases Earl Hebner around the ring and into it. Vince runs right into a Rock Bottom, and then Shane into a spine buster. A People’s Elbow and a three count from Hebner later and The Rock retained the WWF Championship in a main event that was tons of fun.
This was a fun show! These UK exclusive PPVs are always just stand alone events - big house show energy. Everyone’s just having fun, JR and King are making stupid insider jokes they’d never get away with at home, nothing that happens will ever be referenced again. That makes them sound pointless but honestly they’re like fun little snapshots of what the company was like at its peak - all the stars are here and it’s nice to see them all. Thumbs up for Insurrextion 2000.
