Judgment Day 2000 - Freedom Hall, Louisville Kentucky, May 21st, 2000

What does the end of the world bring? Gimmicks apparently. Only six matches on this show (because the main event is a 60 minute Iron Man match) and four of them are gimmicks with the other two being a triple threat and a six man tag. That seems a bit “Russo” but given that the last third of this show is going to be one big, long, singles match it makes sense to fill the undercard with novelty stuff. The attitude era fans were many things but patient and respectful were not it. 

Kane is on the poster for this PPV. In truth, there was a perfect spot for him to return ON the show but alas, he didn’t. He’s only appeared twice since Wrestlemania and one of those was on the UK exclusive Insurrextion. 

I absolutely love the opening video package for this show, which walks the line beautifully between putting over “the hour” in the Iron Man match, and Triple H and The Rock’s rivalry. Great stuff. 

We go STRAIGHT into the backstage segments with Vince McMahon addressing the entire McMahon-Helmsley faction. He sends the NEW Hardcore champion Gerry Brisco off to get coffee for the entire group (Patterson isn’t here tonight - he missed his flight it seems) before running through the groups various matches tonight. DX will put The Dudleyz through tables, Shane McMahon will beat The Big Show and finally The Game will go One Hour and become the new WWF Champion.

His fun is cut short by the sounds of a commotion outside - The Headbangers have attacked Gerry Brisco to try and cash in on the 24/7 Rule! 

Kurt Angle and WWF Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian vs. Rikishi and Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty)

Kurt Angle talks about how his friendship with Edge and Christian is getting him a lot of attention from teenage girls, which he then turns into a preaching rhyme about abstinence. Funny stuff.

Edge and Christian enter (to a very loud, female squeal because they do legit get a lot of attention from girls) and are carrying a pair of burlap sacks containing props for their five second pose. They have almost reached their final form as a team and since Wrestlemania have shown tons of personality as cocky, conceited heels. The five second pose is “Kentucky’s greatest cultural achievement” and both they and Kurt Angle put on straw hats and big fake bucked teeth before playing a washboard, jug and banjo. It’s supposed to offend the natives but they all seem to have got a pretty good laugh out of it. Great stuff. 

Rikishi and Too Cool get a huge reaction from the fans and unlike Edge and Christian I don’t think it’s due to lust - the fans LOVE these guys and their dancing. 

The match starts hot and Edge and Christian have to step in right away to save Kurt from being crushed by Rikishi’s ample posterior. 

There’s a fun tag team spot as Grandmaster throws himself in harm's way to protect Scotty and it works, but when Edge tries the same trick he pays for it with a series of kicks to the gut and a drop toe-hold sending his head into Christian’s groin. The spot doesn’t even get a cheer as the fans are too busy chanting “Rikishi” and in what seems to be a botch, Grandmaster Sexay dances until his pants fall down! Rikishi laughs it up while Scotty mocks his partner’s “worm”. 

Rikishi gets the hot tag and throws right hands and kicks but Angle manages to avoid being sat on and the villains are able to finally mount som offence beating Rikishi up in the corner three on one. That doesn’t last either, and after a hot tag, Scotty sets up the Worm on Christian and there’s loud boos when Kurt stops it with a stiff clothesline. JR once again comments on Edge’s big, white smile by saying he must have “30 - 35 teeth” which is funny because adult humans have 32 (assuming they’ve not had any removed).

Scotty gets worked over and Angle, Edge and Christian tag in and out fast but again, that doesn’t last long. The match feels like it's on fast forward. 

Scotty counters a maybe-piledriver attempt by Christian and does a powerbomb into a hangman on the top rope before making the tag to Rikishi.

He stacks all three opponents up in the corner and after crushing them, there’s a huge pop for Angle dropping into position for the Stink Face. He gets it to wild applause but the delay let's Edge and Christian get back into it. Edge tries a Worm of his own on Rikishi but he’s stopped by Scotty with a bulldog and the originator of the move does it instead. 

Rikishi sets up a Rikishi-driver on Edge and Christian hits him in the head win the ring bell which has Edge landing on top for the cover and seemingly a victory but Grandmaster Sexay clips Edge with a top rope leg drop and reverses the pin to give Too Cool and Rikishi the victory!

This match was great fun with six super over stars and no fat or wasted energy. Too Cool and Rikishi of course do their victory dance after the match and with this victory you would have to assume that Too Cool are the number one contenders for the tag team titles. They even get ring post pyro while they dance.

Michael Cole interviews the referee for tonight’s main event, Shawn Michaels. He was spotted meeting with The Rock and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley in separate meetings. He promises to call the match down the middle, and mocks the internet rumours that he is “jealous of The Rock”. 

Also earlier tonight on Sunday Night Heat (it was all kicking off on Heat - been a while since I said that) Eddie Guerrero and Chyna arrived in a nice lowrider and after Malenko confronted them and told Chyna to stay out of the match to which her and Eddie exchanged big comical winks. 

WWF European Championship

Eddie Guerrero © (w/Chyna) vs. WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. Perry Saturn

Latino Heat and Chyna enter first. She looks gorgeous and has a bouquet of roses with her - much like a couple of weeks ago on Raw, it looks pretty obvious that there’s a big metal pipe hidden inside. JR also mentions that same thing which kind of gives away the finish right?

It’s pretty unclear if The Radicals have officially split up but it seems like for all intents in purposes they have. Saturn is the only member of the team who’s never been a champion (which isn’t true, he’s had a couple of “less-than-a-minute” reigns with the Hardcore title.

Malenko is the only Radical who doesn’t have his own theme song yet which is funny because he was the first one to win a title. The Radicals theme is pretty awesome though. The European title has changed hands on five of the last six PPV defences and the only successful champion? Eddie, at Backlash. I think that technically makes him one of the most dominant European champions of all time already. 

The action is really crisp here as all three of these men have had matches for years in WCW and ECW. There’s lots of counters and slams and tilt-a-whirls and headscissors but sadly the fans don’t get super into it.

Malenko counters a powerbomb attempt with a roll through and tries a Texas Cloverleaf on Eddie, but sees Saturn coming and releases his own hold and clotheslines him. 

In a nice spot, Saturn gets Eddie on his shoulders and throws him into the top rope which causes Malenko to fall. He then spikes Eddie with a German suplex but Dean counters his superplex attempt. Eddie follows and tries one himself but Malenko counters that into an awesome looking Gorilla press all the way down into a gut buster, hopping off the top rope!

Saturn follows with a frog splash but Dean breaks that up. He then tries a Texas Cloverleaf but Eddie stops that and gives him a brainbuster. They’re all using each other's finishers but the finishers aren’t established enough to get much of a reaction from the crowd when it happens.

There’s a really nice triple German suplex with Eddie getting the worst of it and landing high. Saturn rolls to the outside and Chyna hits him with the roses, seemingly knocking him out! 

Eddie has a roll up and Chyna tries to hit Dean with the roses too. He blocks it, but Eddie uses a drop toe-hold bringing Dean down face first onto the roses and follows with a roll up to retain the European title. After the match, he drops all the roses and yes, shows us the pipe they had hidden in there.

This was a good match but the fans just weren’t that into it sadly. I guess the WWF fans weren’t used to this fast-paced in ring style yet.

There’s a recap of Gerry Brisco winning the Hardcore title on Smackdown while Crash was taking a nap backstage before back in the arena, Gerry Brisco tiptoes around the backstage area, being scared of his own reflection and punching the mirror in anger, which hurts his own hand. Maybe he wouldn’t be such an obvious target if he wasn’t wearing the title belt! 

No Holds Barred, Falls Count Anywhere

The Big Show vs. Shane McMahon

A video package recapping The Big Show’s journey from stoic main event heel to fun loving babyface after Wrestlemania and the subsequent fall out with Shane McMahon. 

Shane McMahon has one of his opponents t-shirts on as is his trademark, but with his mocking “which way did he go?” on the back. 

Not to get too spoilery, but this is sadly the last time Big Show would use the version of his theme music from the Aggression CD which I always liked.

Shane dives over the top rope and Show easily catches him and then runs him spine-first into the ring post twice before throwing him into the ring steps.

Show splits the ring steps and powerslams Shane onto the heavy metal base and then stands on his hand and makes him beg for mercy, followed by throwing him into the front row, and then Gorilla pressing McMahon over the top rope from the floor, into the ring. Show gives Shane zero change to recover, kicking him around the ring and flattening him with a headbutt. 

Show seems to be done already, and readies for a chokeslam until The Big Bossman arrives with his nightstick, hammering Show in the knee. He has none of it and fights back before giving Bossman a powerbomb. He gets no time to pursue Shane as Test and Albert rush the ring with chairs which are prompt punched back in their faces. Trish Stratus gives Show a low blow but it doesn’t seem to affect him so he grabs her and launches her over the top rope to the floor and right into T&A which was an awesome looking spot. Show follows Shane up the ramp and repeats his awesome spot from Raw, launching Shane so that the back of his head bounces off the base of the titantron.

Show grabs part of the Judgment Day signage scaffolding and pulls it apart, approaching with the metal but Shane kicks it back in his face and then Test TOTALLY ruins the spot, easily picking up the scaffold and using it as a weapon with ease - something Show struggled with and sold to make it look really heavy. 

With Test and Albert helping, Shane gets a near fall on the concrete but Show easily kicks out and comes back again. Shane starts to climb the scaffolding with Show swatting at him but Bull Buchanan arrives to save the day, using a nightstick and grounding Show. Shane capitalises and turns a huge heavy speaker/amp onto Show which “crushes” his leg, pinning him in spot in a shower of sparks. Shane crumbles a stone cinder block over Show’s head which knocks him out cold and with the help of four people, Shane McMahon beats The Big Show.

Kane to return that I mentioned - Bull Buchanan is the one who injured him and he was the difference maker for Shane so he could have helped out Show.

This was a fun anything goes brawl, but I have a couple of things to talk about here.

The Big Show is gone for a while. He ostensibly needed knee surgery but in truth, the powers that be were also unhappy with his weight gain and so wanted him to take the time getting in shape, so he could come back better than ever. It’ll be a while before we find out if he managed it. It’s a pity really as I really enjoyed this babyface version of the Big Show and he was finally starting to get a solid and consistent crowd reaction. 

Secondly, is Test’s relationship with the McMahon-Helmsley regime. You can kayfabe that his friendship with Shane endured through all of Stephanie and Triple H’s betrayal and beating down of Test at the end of 1999 but the fact is they haven’t acknowledged that on TV and as this year continues, Test continued to do the dirty work of DX and the McMahon’s as part of T&A. It’s silly and makes Test look, pardon the term, like a massive cuck. He deserved better, and we’ll see if they do draw any attention to that history later on.

After a groggy Big Show is loaded into an ambulance, the misadventures of Gerry Brisco continue with him going to the referee’s locker room and asking if he can hide out there. The two referee’s look like they might jump him and so he lashes out at them. The 24/7 Rule has made Brisco jittery.

In the third backstage segment in a row, Shawn Michaels and Triple H are all friendly as they discuss their families and HBK’s kids. Triple H does poke some fun at Michaels’ very tight shorts too. As JR points out, they seem very relaxed considering the stakes of tonight’s main event. 

Submission match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship

Chris Benoit © vs. Chris Jericho

After a video package (which leaves out that odd week in the middle where Jericho won and then lost the title back to Benoit) we get arguably the highest profile Intercontinental title match since Jarrett and Chyna’s feud at the end of 1999. Jericho has been strongly positioned as second only to The Rock in the babyface pecking order so this is as main event as a match can feel without BEING the main event. 

Is it weird that the final build into this match so strongly centred on Hardcore Holly? Yes, yes it is. (It’s in the video package). 

Benoit’s knee has a black metal brace on it after Holly’s attack on Smackdown, and the two go at it with intense lock ups and chops to the chest. 

Something that I will rarely praise in this era is the commentary as both King and JR discuss the nuances of the duelling submission finishers and which one is stronger. 

The pair look like they are attempting a tombstone piledriver, countering back and forth. Benoit used that move in WCW. But he turns it into a shoulder breaker instead and follows up with a diving headbutt also to the shoulder before locking in a submission hold on it. Benoit’s focus is obvious as he softens up the neck and shoulder for his Crippler Crossface. Jericho rallies with a back breaker and a Walls of Jericho attempt before sending Benoit to the outside with a springboard dropkick.

Val Venis is shown watching backstage - he has challenged the winner of this match tomorrow night on Raw. 

On the outside, Benoit sets up the ring steps but Jericho makes him pay by lifting him in a suplex and then dropping his knees first across them. 

Jericho uses a double underhook backbreaker and instinctively goes for a pin but there are obviously no covers in this submission match so he looks like a goof. 

Benoit counters and sends Jericho shoulder-first into the ring post and resumes his attack. He dominates for a bit and uses submissions on the arm and shoulder, coupled with strikes to focus his attack. Very strong psychology. 

Y2J does fight back and uses a leg-lace take down and then fights to remove Benoit’s knee brace which he does manage to do, and then whips Benoit in his injured knee with it. 

After an intense, physical exchange Benoit manages to take Jericho down into the Crossface out of nowhere and wrenches back. He does break the hold to pull Y2J back from the ropes and again when Jericho gets his fingers into Benoit’s grip to break the hold but Benoit refuses to release the hold and after a few moments - and Jericho’s face turning bright purple - he passes out and the referee stops the match and declares Benoit the winner. Jericho refused to tap out and instead just passed out. Was he choked out, or did he pass out from the pain? We’ll never know, but the Crossface seems to be the superior submission hold. 

This was a good match, but these two men did better. A strong story to the match and Jericho is helped to his feet by referees and gets a respectful cheer from the fans for his effort. 

Michael Cole interviews Gerry Brisco who talks about the stress of being Hardcore champion. He spots a popcorn vendor talking to a referee behind him and so he goes nuts, attacking both of them.

There’s an advert here for the King of the Ring 2000 PPV next month which features Triple H working out in an empty ring and monologuing about how he’s the King of the WWF Jungle. He looks incredible - like he's chiselled out of granite.

Between that and all the talk about endurance and physical conditioning ahead of the 60 minute Iron Man main event on this show, that gives me a chance to bring up something I’ve wanted to bring up for a couple of shows now; steroids. It’s a pretty open secret that many of the stars of this era were using steroids heavily to perfect their physiques. Triple H went from being “big but soft” to “huge and shredded” in less than 18 months (and for the purposes of WWE’s lawyers, I’m not accusing Triple H specifically of anything) but he was far from the only one to undergo huge physical changes.

The WWF had a massive steroid scandal in the mid-90s which culminated in Vince McMahon going on trial and almost going to actual prison for the distribution of steroids. He beat those charges but that stain took a long time to wash off wrestling in general.

In the attitude era, steroids weren’t just a WWF problem. WCW wrestlers were doing it just as much if not more, and frankly steroids were the least of ECW’s issues when it came to substance abuse.

Proper anti-steroid measures and bans were put in place in 2005 with regular testing taking place after Eddie Guerrero’s tragic death due to heart failure caused by years of his own steroid abuse. It wasn’t until 2007’s Signature Pharmacy scandal (when a huge chunk of the roster were found to be buying steroids from a dodgy online pharmacy) that a second Federal investigation took place and the WWE got serious. That scandal led to multiple suspensions and firings.

There has been the odd suspension since but in general, steroid abuse in wrestling is a thing of the past. Or they’re much better at hiding it, at least. It is hard to deny that part of the draw in the 1980s and again during the attitude era was the superhuman, herculean physiques of the men involved. Much like banning chair shots to the head and intentional bleeding during matches, the ban of steroids was for the performers health and well being. The fact that it was also good PR is a pure coincidence, obviously. 

In his locker room, The Rock threatens Shawn Michaels and makes it clear he better call the main event down the middle. HBK looks bored and doesn’t put The Rock over at all. They had an (alleged) personal beef for years which I believe I mentioned back when HBK was the Corporate Commissioner at the end of 1998. 

Tag Team Tables match

The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) vs. D-Generation X (Roaddogg and X-Pac, w/Tori)

This match is a culmination of The Dudleyz being on the wrong side of the McMahon-Helmsley regime, but also their love of putting women through tables. In the build up, Tori put Bubba through a table with a splash from the top rope. Bubba didn’t take it well.

The Dudleyz bring a table to ringside with them but it wasn’t needed as there’s literally dozens of them laying all around the ring.

Weirdly this starts as a normal tag team match with Roaddogg and D-Von in the ring. The fans LOUDLY chant “X-Pac sucks”. The Dudleyz do come back and fight off DX who thinks better of the match and tries to leave. Bubba gives chase and beats up X-Pac but gets distracted by Tori allowing DX to take back over with a double team on D-Von.

The fans get pretty restless as Roaddogg and X-Pac seemingly forget this is a tables match and work over D-Von in the manner of a traditional tag team match. They even do the “the referee didn’t see the tag” spot with Bubba being tagged in but spotted by the oblivious referee who didn’t see it. 

D-Von does finally get the tag and the fans aren’t very into it but when Bubba loudly shouts “suck it” as he works over Roaddogg and X-Pac, the fans do get loud and explode for Bubba’s scream of “tables!”. He and D-Von put three tables in the ring and set two up in opposite corners. This is a “classic” tables match where both members of a team need to be put through tables to win rather than just one and done. Roaddogg pulls D-Von out of the ring and sets a table up at ringside and in a really nice looking spot, gives him a pumphandle slam from the ring steps through the table! The fans don’t really react to that either and honestly I think it’s because everyone is tired of DX. 

After a nice back and forth, X-Pac goes for a jumping hurricanrana but Bubba blocks it and drives him through a table with a powerbomb. 

Roaddogg and Bubba exchange punches and the referee tries to stop them so they both throw him into a table! The ref went through a table. As Hardcore Champion Gerry Brisco heads down to the ring, The Dudleyz give Roaddogg a 3D through a table to win, but there’s no referee to call it. 

Tori gets in the ring and Bubba grabs her. They want to put Tori through the table and D-Von sets it up!  With Bubba ready to powerbomb her from the top through a table, Brisco arrives with a low blow punch to Bubba Ray to save her.

X-Pac drives Bubba through the table with an X-Factor off the top which the referee DOES see and so D-Generation X are declared the winners. This match was ok - it started slow but the flurry of table spots at the end saved it.

DX and Tori leave and as Brisco taunts The Dudleyz, D-Von revives and grabs him! The Dudleyz pound him and set up ANOTHER table and drive the Hardcore Champion through it with a 3D! Despite the show's long storyline with people trying to steal Brisco’s Hardcore title, no one comes out here. I think that this spot was originally for Pat Patterson who isn’t here tonight. 

Before the main event, the same creepy “little girls from a horror movie” singing in a warehouse video that's been playing on Raw and Smackdown in the build up to this event plays. I think pretty much everyone knew who this was for at the time.

Iron Man match for the WWF Championship

The Rock © vs. Triple H (w/WWF Women’s Champion Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and Vince McMahon)

Special Guest referee: Shawn Michaels

There’s a real “big fight feel” ahead of the main event, and considering how many times these two men have already clashed in 1998, 1999 and now 2000 adding Shawn Michaels and this “special referee” distraction was a good idea.

HBK enters first to a great reaction and yes, he still has his little budgie smuggler shorts on that Triple H mentioned earlier. Real talk - is The Heartbreak Kid the coolest nickname for a wrestler?

When Triple H enters, there’s a famous botch where Howard Finkle introduces him as the WWF Champion rather than the challenger. It hasn’t been edited off the WWE Network version of the event and while Triple H has all three McMahon’s with him, he sends them to the back before the match begins. He wants to do this “fair and square” and prove he’s better than The Rock. Will he stick to that? Some cool trivia from JR as at this point, both of these men’s longest ever match was 30 minutes and that was against each other at Fully Loaded 1998. 

The loudest cheer of the show so far is, of course, for the People’s Champion and WWF Champion, The Rock. 

The bell rings and both men circle and talk trash and run down the clock a little before locking up. They push and pull and lock up with intensity and for the second time tonight, King’s analysis is on point as he discusses the danger of them both using up so much energy in the opening exchange. They trade intense lock ups and Triple H goes to the outside to catch a breather which works to his advantage as he takes advantage in the ring and works over The Rock with arm wringers and sleepers. Out of the blue, The Rock counters a clothesline into a Rock Bottom to win the first fall via pinfall at 10:42. King smartly points out that this is really like being up by two as if the match ends in a draw, The Rock retains the title. The match spills to the outside and HBK doesn’t bother with a double count out as that wouldn’t affect the score in a meaningful way. 

Triple H counters The Rock into the ring steps and tries a running knee strike but The Rock avoids it and The Game slams his knee into the security wall. 

The Rock suplexes Triple H into the ring for a near fall, and then focuses his attack on Triple H’s knee slamming it into the ring post and using a knee breaker. He just keeps kicking and stomping and hammering on Triple H’s leg as he bumps and begs for mercy. The Rock locks in a figure four on the bad leg and Triple H screams in pain and after a long period in the hold, manages to roll over and reverse the pressure. The Rock gets to the ropes quickly and Triple H definitely got the worse of the exchange. The fight goes back to the outside and Triple H reverses an irish whip to the security barrier. In a short brawl into the crowd and then back to the ring, Triple H finally has the advantage and pummels The Rock in the ring and even sends him flying to the outside. He could take a count out victory but follows The Rock out which he pays for when he’s reversed into the ring steps, flying over them. The Rock then returns to working on Triple H’s leg in the ring which The Game counters with a rake to the eyes. The Rock goes for the figure four again but he’s kicked off into the corner and stumbles back into a Pedigree out of nowhere. Triple H ties up the score at 1-1 with a pinfall at 25:26. 

Triple H goes right at The Rock wanting to take advantage and counters a whip off the ropes into a small package to get the score up to 2-1 for Triple H at 26:26. The commentators speculate that The Rock hasn’t recovered from the Pedigree yet which is probably true. The two then fight up the entrance ramp, and Shawn Michaels follows because again, a double count out doesn’t change the score in any meaningful way. The Rock finally gets back in the fight, reversing a whip into the steel and a clothesline on the concrete and following up with a suplex on the entrance ramp.

The fans have been mostly quiet for this match, only picking up for the big spots and the falls but they start to chant “Rocky” during this fight on the outside. They fight back to the ring and Triple H takes a backdrop on the concrete before they re-enter, but Triple H gives The Rock a piledriver out of nowhere to pick up another pinfall and make the score 3 - 1 at 32:22. The Rock tries to rally and gets a near fall with a roll up but Triple H smartly moves towards playing defence and locks in a deep sleeper hold and wears The Rock down. The Rock fights out of that too and gets another near fall with a belly to belly suplex and then tries a float over DDT which he slips out of, but recovers and with a DDT, The Rock brings the score back a little to 3 - 2 at 40:33. The Rock grabs Triple H by the hair and pulls Triple H to the outside, driving him into the ring steps where JR and King debate which of the two men is the most tired. They’re both moving pretty slowly but neither are sweating anymore which I suspect is due to dehydration by this point. Triple H tries to use a steel chair but Shawn Michaels stops him and puts the chair down on the apron. That’s the first time Shawn has gotten “involved” and the two continue to fight around and run each other into the ring steps and the security wall. The Rock gives Triple H a neckbreaker out on the floor and drags Triple H back inside. The Game grabs the chair and blasts The Rock right in the head, getting disqualified which makes the score 3 - 3 at 43:30. He immediately pins The Rock and gets the three count, making the score 4 - 3 in Triple H’s favour at 44:06. A very smart gamble as the score hasn’t changed in any hurtful way, but Triple H got to do a lot of damage with that chair shot and The Rock is now bleeding. Triple H returns to the sleeper he’s been using through this match and grinds The Rock down who passes out and as Shawn checks his limp arm, it falls three times with Triple H making the score 5 - 3 with a sleeper via technical knockout at 47:25.

Triple H refuses to break the hold and so HBK has to grab his buddy by the hair and make him break it. Triple H starts to shove and that argument with the referee allows The Rock to struggle back to his feet and start to lay the smack down with punches, throwing Triple H to the outside where he lands on a cameraman. Triple H fights back into the ring and climbs to the top rope which seems like a crazy risk to take over 50 minutes into this match but it seems that his ego has gotten the best of him. The Rock stops his progress and brings him back into the ring with a superplex. Shawn gives both men a standing 10 count but stops because again, that wouldn’t change the score in any meaningful way. The Rock crawls to a cover but Triple H kicks out. Fighting back on the outside, The Rock slingshots Triple H into the ring post but he's then whipped into the ring steps. JR and King start getting panicky about the clock as Triple H still leads with only six minutes left. Triple H clears off one of the announce desks and tries to give The Rock a Rock Bottom through it, but The Rock fights back and uses a Pedigree! The table doesn’t break and they bounce off it, sliding uncomfortably down onto the side where the announcers sit. The Rock quickly gets back to the ring and after the Pedigree on the announce desk, a badly bleeding Triple H is counted out. The Rock brings the score back to 5 - 4 in Triple H’s favour at 56:05. Triple H is almost counted out a second time but gets back to the ring at a 9 count.

The Rock finds a rush of energy to hammer The Game with right hands and as he hits a DDT, the McMahon’s have returned to ringside. He punches Shane and Vince off of the apron and catches a charging Triple H with a spinebuster! One People’s Elbow later, The Rock makes the score 5 - 5 at 57:59. There’s chaos in the closing moves as Shane pulls HBK out of the ring and knocks him out. DX rushed the ring and with no referee, Shane, X-Pac, Roaddogg and Vince used a steel chair to beat up The Rock four on one! 

Triple H flattens The Rock with a Pedigree just as The Undertaker returns! The culmination of those spooky little girl video packages. It’s the American Badass! The Kid Rock song of the same name he used as his theme song has been edited out of the WWE Network sadly. Here it is so you can put it on while you read the next section for atmosphere and vibes.

He rides to the ring on a motorbike and clears out the McMahon-Helmsley faction, hammering Shane, Roaddogg and X-Pac with enormous chokeslams! Full credit to Shane and X-Pac particularly for jumping as high as they did - incredible.

He punches out Vince and grabs Stephanie by the throat. Triple H saves his wife but gets a chokeslam and a tombstone for his troubles! Shawn Michaels wakes up just as The Undertaker drops The Game with a tombstone and awards a disqualification to Triple H at the 59:59 mark. The match ends and The Game is up 6 - 5 which means that Triple H is once again the WWF Champion! A fair bit of a fuss was made the next night on Raw about whether Shawn actually saw the tombstone before the one hour time limit expired and if this counts as him "screwing over" The Rock. He didn't see the tombstone piledriver before the hour BUT he did see the massive chokeslam moments before and that definitely was before the one hour time limit expired. I'll probably end up repeating myself during the next Preview.

The Undertaker intimidates Shawn Michaels and chases him up the entrance ramp as Vince and DX carry an exhausted and bloody Triple H to the back! Vince has the WWF title belt and a manic smile as he shouts “Yes! Yes!” over and over as the PPV goes off the air.