No Way Out 2000 - Hartford Civic Centre, Hartford Connecticut, February 27th, 2000

A powerful and emotional Cactus Jack-focused video package welcomes us to No Way Out 2000! Live in Hartford which is the same city as WWF’s Headquarters. That’s not relevant but it's interesting? Maybe? 

Jim Ross promises us that this will be the most emotionally charged PPV of all time. He might be right. Three titles on the line plus the right to challenge for the WWF title at Wrestlemania but most importantly of all, Mick Foley’s career.

WWF Intercontinental Championship

Chris Jericho © (w/Chyna) vs. WWF European Champion Kurt Angle

On a night where Mick Foley’s career might end, these are two men whose careers are just getting started! Before the match, Kurt Angle cuts a promo on his walk to the ring promising to become the Euro-Continental Champion tonight. I wonder why Kurt’s title wasn’t also on the line in this match? I think it makes it seem like Chris Jericho was destined to retain…

Chyna enters first (with her silver pyrotechnic bazooka which fires sparks into the crowd) to be at ringside.

I’ve mentioned it a bunch during the previews but Jerry Lawler continues to go on about how Jericho and Chyna’s friendship must be romantic or sexual. Literally no one else is hinting at that. This is a positive friendship between two former rivals gaining respect for each other. Which is nice isn’t it? Especially since they did not care for one another in real life. Jericho also cuts a pre-match promo on his walk to the ring and calls his opponent Kirk Angel which is funny. He calls Kurt a jackass and says the three Is stand for Idiot, Imbecile and Ignoramus. JR says these two are the future of the WWF and he is absolutely correct about that.

They move so quickly early on and the fans are very excited, loudly cheering Y2J’s hip lock takeover and booing Angle’s slap to the face in retaliation. 

Jericho uses some of his trademark offence to control the match including the double arm suplex into a backbreaker but Angle retaliates with a German suplex but taunts before covering so Jericho kicks out.

Angle works a strong ground game, wearing down Y2J with a chinlock while JR talks about how Angle is obnoxious and conceited and thats why the fans don’t like him. King strongly disagrees.

Kurt shows a bit more of a mean streak and uses a variety of submissions but has the match in the bag when he hits his Olympic slam but amazingly Y2J kicks out which JR sells huge. Angle goes and gets the IC title belt to use as a weapon in frustration but Jericho locks in the Walls of Jericho!

Angle gets to the ropes and they fight to the outside. Angle tries to use his European title as a weapon but Chyna stops it and is run into the ring steps. 

Back in the ring, while the referee tends to Chyna, Angle counters the Lionsault by hitting Jericho with the IC title belt and pins him to become the new Intercontinental Champion! Kurt Angle is the Euro-Continental Champion just like he promised.

After the match, Earl Hebner comes out to talk to the other referee and explain what happened but it's too late and doesn’t matter - the referee’s decision is final and Angle’s title win stands. 

Michael Cole interviews the number one contenders for the tag team championships, Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley. He shows the amazing Fameasser through a table which Mr. Ass did on Smackdown. D-Von takes issue with him saying they were “given” a title match. They definitely earned it. Bubba promises victory.

WWF Tag Team Championships

The New Age Outlaws © (Roaddogg and Mr. Ass) vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)

This is a little bit spoiler territory but Mr. Ass has a torn rotator cuff. I did my best to find out where exactly it happened and the internet says during this match but I am convinced it was on the Smackdown previous when he landed after the Fameasser through the table. He noticeably doesn’t lift his left arm during his entrance at all, which is the one he kind of flinched after landing on Smackdown. 

Bubba Ray and D-Von have done their best to make as many enemies as possible and are feuding with both Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boyz too, but they earned this title shot. Bubba is deep into his “loving to put women through tables” phase and has already done so to Terri Runnels and BB (who we’ll never see again)

Billy Gunn stands on the apron and leaves Roaddogg to get worked over and in the very early going Billy goes from not moving his left arm very much to keeping it tightly against his torso. It’s really clear he’s injured once you’re looking for it.

The Dudleyz isolate and beat down Roaddogg until he’s finally able to tag in Mr. Ass. He runs wild with one armed offence and hits a Fameasser on Bubba which looked like hard work with one arm too. Bubba pulls him out of the ring before he can cover and he hits Billy Gunn right in the shoulder with a metal pipe!

In the ring they give Roaddogg a 3D and just like that, The New Age Outlaw’s longest reign is over. Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley are the new tag team champions. 

The metal pipe shot to the shoulder provides Mr. Ass with an excuse for his real life shoulder injury, and after the match Roaddogg is furious with Billy Gunn for not being there. Hardly his fault given the shot with a metal pipe! This is pretty historic as this is the last time these two men would team up in the WWE as The New Age Outlaws until 2014!

Backstage, Kurt Angle celebrates his Intercontinental title win with the fans! We’ll catch up with him periodically throughout the night. 

Viscera vs. Mark Henry (w/Mae Young)

This match only has six days build. After a six man tag team match, Viscera gave Mae Young a big splash! Mark has already attacked Viscera tonight, earlier on Sunday Night Heat. The WWF in 2000 LOVES man on women violence. 

This is a big hoss match and they trade clotheslines and run into each other.

On the outside, Viscera whips Mark into the ring steps and then sets them up and does it again.

The fans chant “boring” and Mae Young runs down to try and help her man. Viscera shoves her down and wants to splash her again but Mark saves her with a shoulder tackle and a very impressive bodyslam on the 500lbs Viscera to win this match. 

Mark and Mae leave arm in arm and there's a long silent pause on the WWE Network which makes me think they’ve edited out some super offensive jokes by Jerry Lawler. This match was not PPV worthy. 

In a pair of backstage segments, Chris Jericho speaks to Lillian Garcia and promises Kurt Angle that if he keeps celebrating and rubbing his cheap victory in his face then he’ll get him. Billy Gunn also speaks to the medical staff and it seems that his shoulder is badly injured. 

Number One Contendership for the WWF Tag Team Championships

Edge and Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy, w/Terri Runnels)

This is Terri’s first appearance since being put through a table by Bubba Ray Dudley a few weeks ago. She returned earlier tonight on Heat and has paid the APA for their protection tonight. The APA is the Acolyte Protection Agency which formed a few weeks ago too and Bradshaw and Faarooq will do…pretty much whatever for money.

These two teams had a friendship based on respect but it's broken down this past week as their desperation to become tag team champions spills over.

Before the bell rings, the APA comes down to ringside and stands guard over Terri. She is seemingly terrified of The Dudley Boyz. 

Honestly the action here is too quick for me to properly describe. These two teams have worked together so many times in the past six months and its impressive they continue to find new things to do with each other. The Hardyz kind of default to heels in this match as they isolate Christian and even talk trash to him as they work him over. King makes a joke about how their high risk styles means they “won’t last long” but incredibly all four of them are still wrestling in AEW, twenty three years later. 

Christian does an amazing dive to the outside and even lands on his feet. I’ll always hype his parts up the most because he’s my favourite. 

My write up feels very short but in truth this is a long match with both teams taking turns on offence and isolating a member of the other. Edge and Christian pick apart Jeff Hardy but a nice top rope elbow drop from Matt Hardy helps Jeff get back in the fight. Jeff then counters a jump off the top rope with a dropkick and is finally able to make a hot tag to Matt. This match gets so many double feature replays of big moves and it deserves it. 

Matt gets a nice run of big moves and after a cool double pin spot, Matt and Jeff use some nice double teams and have the match well in hand. 

Jeff goes to the top rope for a Swanton Bomb but Terri jumps up and shoves her own man off the top rope. She follows up with a slap to a confused Matt Hardy and Christian capitalises with the Unprettier to win a good match with a confusing finish.

Afterwards, Terri tries to celebrate with Edge and Christian but they seem just as confused as everyone else and leave without Terri. They’re the number one contenders. The APA prepare to leave as The Dudleyz didn’t show up but when Matt Hardy grabs Terri by the hair wanting to get answers, Bradshaw and Faarooq spring into action and absolutely demolish Matt and Jeff and almost kill Jeff Hardy in particular with a sloppy dangerous looking Dominator where he lands right on his head and shoulder.

Michael Cole interviews the new number one contenders for the tag team titles, Edge and Christian. Christian seems remorseful for how they won the match but Edge is more pragmatic - they take the win however they can and now they’re going to Wrestlemania! 

Lillian Garcia interviews The Big Show who once again expresses his confusion that the fans boo him despite the fact that he is technically in the right. He shows the footage of The Rock’s feet touching first at the Royal Rumble again and expresses that yes, he is the rightful winner. 

The Big Bossman (w/Prince Albert) vs. Tazz

Tazz was jumped and beaten down by Bossman and Albert on Raw last week and that's all the build this one had too. I like that they want to give Tazz another singles PPV match to show off but this one is a mistake - no one cares.

Bossman jumps him before the match but Tazz very quickly locks in the Tazzmission. Albert attacks him to break the hold and that ends it via disqualification. 

This is more of an angle than a match as the two huge men continue to pummel and hammer on Tazz with the nightstick but he refuses to stay down and keeps lashing out and taking them down. 

Bossman and Albert keep leaving but then coming back to the ring when they see that Tazz has gotten back up. The point is to show how tough Tazz is but the fans are unmoved as they chant “boring” and “bullshit” at seeing a disqualification finish in a two minute match on a PPV.

Meanwhile backstage, Kurt Angle continues to celebrate with the fans up at the back of the arena. He even has a bullhorn now!

No Holds Barred match

Kane (w/Paul Bearer) vs. X-Pac (w/Tori)

There is an awesome, emotional video package for this one. I actually welled up a little. Poor Kane. This is one of those great storylines that make you forget wrestling isn’t real and hope Kane breaks X-Pac and Tori. 

Tori is much hotter in DX green with her sinister smirk and bad girl swagger though. I can’t argue with that. 

It’s satisfying watching X-Pac and Tori flinch in terror at Kane’s pyro and the big man rushes the ring and wastes no time throwing X-Pac around. This is where we need evil demonic 1998 Kane who used to pour gasoline on people and chase them with a blowtorch. X-Pac tries to leave but Kane follows and they fight at the top of the stage. X-Pac tries to fight back but Kane no-sells his punches and continues the assault but Pac does manage to counter Kane into the steel fence. He no-sells a trash can shot and again floors Pac with a single punch. 

The fight back to the ring and Kane tries to crush Pac with the ring steps but he avoids it and uses the ring bell as a weapon. He gets ready with a steel chair but Paul Bearer stops that! Tori slaps Bearer so he chases her around the ring to a massive pop. 

Kane is back up already and dominates X-Pac again into the ring steps and then into the ring but Pac counters a flying clothesline attempt with a dropkick and finally gets some offence with - you guessed it - spinning heel kicks. He starts working on Kane’s leg as “X-Pac sucks” chants rain down but Kane kicks him out of the ring. None of Pac’s offence lasts longer than a minute before Kane is back on the attack like nothing happened.

He uses uses a low blow and an X-Factor and Kane again sits up and goes back on the attack. Kane cannot be stopped. He hits a flying clothesline and a big chokeslam but Tori gets in the ring and jumps on his back before he can follow up with a Tombstone. Kane muscles Tori over his shoulder and for the second time - spikes Tori with a Tombstone to a huge cheer! It was pretty clear that with all the effort it took to get her in position, her top was pulled off and her breasts exposed. No one saw anything though - Kane was a gentleman. 

He grabs the ringsteps and prepares to take X-Pac’s head off with them but Pac dropkicks them back into Kane’s face and stacks him up with the weight of the stairs to win the match! Kane is immediately back up and while X-Pac might have technically won, he doesn’t look like it. Neither does Tori. This was a great dramatic story driven match. And Tori got Tombstoned again!

Michael Cole interviews The Radicals ahead of their PPV debut and asks if they’re nervous. They all take turns to say that they are not, in fact, nervous. Eddie does say he’ll be there to lend moral support while showing off the thick steel pipe he keeps hidden in his sling. His arm is still injured from the dislocated elbow he suffered in his first match in the WWF. It won’t be long until he’s all healed up. 

The Radicals (Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko, w/Eddie Guerrero) vs. Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) and Rikishi

Rikishi has a heavily taped ankle thanks to multiple attacks by The Radicals and a steel pipe. The match starts with an immediate brawl and Eddie Guerrero tries to use the pipe right away but Rikishi stops him and hits him in his injured arm! That will even up the odds and the bell rings to officially start it. 

The Radicals made their debut on the January 31st episode of Raw and have been very heavily featured in the Preview article for this show. Four very gifted in ring workers who add a lot to the WWF’s midcard. The roster was already stacked with gimmicks and super popular characters but with these four, Angle and Jericho plus the tag teams we saw earlier the roster is now equally stacked with super workers. 

There’s no clear format in the early going but Too Cool and Rikishi are so popular the fans are into everything they do. Scotty sets up for The Worm on Saturn which the fans explode for but Malenko shuts him down with a stiff clothesline and The Radicals isolate him and start working him over in the corner. King seems to be a big fan of Dean in particular. Like all Grandmaster Sexay matches, a lot of my amusement comes from Lawler quietly being his bigger fan because he is his real life son. Something they finally acknowledged on TV in 2012. 

This is Benoit, Saturn and Malenko’s first chance to really shine on TV after several short matches on Raw and Smackdown previously and take turns working over Scotty and showing off their skills until finally Rikishi gets the hot tag!

Even on one leg, Rikishi dominates the three men with charges in the corner and spikes Saturn with the Rikishi-driver. He goes to set up the Banzai drop but Grandmaster stops him and says he should let Scotty do the worm and it gets a massive cheer! Scotty is finally as popular as Rikishi and the fans explode for it. Rikishi then goes back to setting up for the banzai but Benoit and Malenko are there to save the day.

The six man trade finishes including a Hip Hop Drop leg drop from the top and a Benoit diving headbutt but Rikishi weathers the storm and finishes off Malenko with a Banzai drop to win the match for Rikishi and Too Cool! That is a shock.

The three victors lead the crowd in a dance after the match and they love it.

Kurt Angle continues to celebrate out in the concourse with both title belts around his waist and his Gold medals around his neck. 

Number One Contendership for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania 2000

The Rock vs. The Big Show

This one unsurprisingly gets a big video package too. The highlight being a brief look at the week right after his haircut when Big Show looked quite a lot like Gomez Addams. 

This one feels heated as they get right in each other's faces and The Rock opens up with a slap and then a float over DDT but Big Show easily kicks out. 

They fight to the outside and considering the size difference, The Rock dominates Show and throws him into the announce desk and the ring post and they fight out into the crowd where finally, Big Show gets some offence in. 

The Rock counters with a back drop over the security rail on a 500lbs man which deserved a way bigger reaction than it got. 

Back in the ring, Big Show slows the match down and finally looks like a giant as he shuts down The Rock’s flurries of punches with a bodyslam and then just stepping on him.

The Big Show gets frustrated and gets a steel chair and as the two men tussle, the referee goes down! Big Show uses the chair and then a chokeslam and has the match won. A second referee runs down but before he can count the three, the original referee Earl Hebner (who sucks) pulls rf number two out of the ring! These are the same two referees who had words at the end of the Intercontinental title match earlier. As they argue, Shane McMahon returns and heads down to the ring to everyone’s shock! What is Shane O’Mac doing here? 

The Rock hits Show with a chair and attempts the People’s Elbow but Shane cuts him off with a jumping steep chair shot to the head!

He gets one of the referees and makes him count and in a massive upset, The Big Show wins and is going to Wrestlemania 2000 to face the WWF Champion thanks to Shane McMahon!

The big shock here is that despite the matches on this very PPV, the build to Triple H vs. The Rock at Wrestlemania seemed to be very obvious and blatant. Big Show winning here makes the outcome of the next match all the more uncertain. No one wants to see Mick Foley retire, and everyone hates Triple H. 

Before the main event, the final Kurt Angle celebrating segment as he walks to his car singing “I am the champion” and Chris Jericho has finally had enough and he and Chyna jump the Olympic Euro-Continental Champion and stuff him in the trunk of his own car! 

Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship

Triple H © (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) vs. Cactus Jack

If Triple H wins, Mick Foley must retire.

If Cactus Jack wins, he is guaranteed to enter Wrestlemania 2000 as WWF Champion with no further defences between now and then

The video package for this one starts by focusing very heavily on the Hell in a Cell match itself, specifically The Undertaker’s battle with Shawn Michaels and Mankind which were both brilliant in very different ways. 

In a cool visual, both men get into the ring first and then the cage lowers around them, symbolically trapping them inside. Triple H does a good job of looking concerned. Cactus Jack is a maniac. Once the cage is lowered, Cactus goes to check the door which is, to his disappointment, heavily padlocked shut! Cactus Jack’s big promise going into this match is that he’s going to climb the cell and dive off onto Triple H so you’d have to assume Triple H is the one who chained it shut. 

The fight is mostly around the ring, running each other into the cage and the first weapon to appear is a steel chair which backfires on Jack and Triple H kicks it back into his face and then whips him into the ring steps. In a cool spot, Triple H picks up the ringsteps and throws them at Cactus which bounce violently off the challenger and then he hammers the steps with a steel chair! Stephanie cheers her husband on and her appearance on the big screens draws a “slut” chant from the fans. 

In the ring, Triple H hammers Foley across the back and then in the face with a steel chair but Cactus kicks out. Triple H gets frustrated and that allows a come back where Jack uses the chair for a low blow and then a double arm DDT onto it for a near fall.

In his second book, Foley talked about how during this match he was saddened and frustrated by the fans' quiet reaction to the match and near falls but realised as it went on that no one in attendance believed the match would end until they went outside the Cell and up onto the roof like he promised. He was right and that's when the fans really started to cheer. But he has to find a way out of the locked door first. 

Back on the outside, Triple H continues to run Cactus’ head into the cage walls and gets ready to use the ring steps again. He wants to Pedigree Foley right on top of them but he counters with a backdrop! Triple H then goes into the mesh cell wall again and comes up bleeding.

Cactus throws the ring steps at The Game who ducks but they bust the wall of the cell open and give them an impromptu door to the outside. The fans cheer really loudly once they realise and Foley throws Triple H through the gap and the fight up onto the announce desk. Cactus Jack piledrives Triple H right on top of the announce desk which doesn’t break and the two bounce. The fans start to chant “Foley” as Mick looks skyward and they explode when he starts to climb but Stephanie grabs him by the leg. The distraction helps Triple H recover but he runs into more punches and gets run into the cell again. Cactus goes rummaging under the time keeper table and finds his 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire and in a panic, Triple H tries to escape through the crowd and then actually climbs the cell himself to get away! The 2x4 has a convenience handle on the bottom so that Jack can take it with him when he climbs the cell to follow The Game but throws the 2x4 up first and Triple H uses it to saw at Cactus’ head until he falls from the roof of the cell backwards through the announce table which looked brutal! 

The fans loudly chant “asshole” as Triple H celebrates on the roof of the cage but amazingly, Cactus gets back to his feet before Triple H even gets down! 

Mick tries to throw a steel chair up onto the roof but he doesn’t have the strength and the chairs crash down and even hit the commentators. Thankfully no one is hurt so Jack just climbs up. This time Triple H lets him get up and starts hitting him with the 2x4 on the roof of the cell. It’s high drama as they fight 25 feet in the air. 

Cactus uses a low blow to get revenge and after some fighting back and forth, and with amazing timing just as Jerry Lawler asks “what could be worse than a 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire?” he lights it on fire!

He hits Triple H with the flaming 2x4 and slays it on the cage and prepares to piledrive The Game right into the fire but Triple H counters with a backdrop that sends Mick Foley crashing through the cage roof, down to the mat and then breaks the ring floor leaving a man-sized crater in the ring itself!

Triple H clambers down from the roof of the cage and into the ring and kicks weakly at Cactus’ limp arms, checking if he’s even still alive but Mick Foley lives and starts to get back up which gets a huge crowd reaction! Mick Foley really is indestructible! Triple H hits Cactus with brutal punches but he just keeps getting back up! Triple H spikes him with a Pedigree and just like that, sadly, Mick Foley’s career is over. Triple H looks exhausted and struggles out of the ring, hobbling up the ramp with his delighted looking wife. 

It is crazy that at 34 years old, Foley’s full time career is over. Now the reality is that this doesn’t last, and he’d live to regret his “prostitute” comments on the prior Smackdown but the fact is that this IS the end of Mick Foley’s career as a full time in ring performer. The odd comeback match doesn’t change that. He gave so much and did so many crazy things over his 15 year career that at the age of only 34, he was physically and mentally done. Mick Foley has always been one of my favourite performers both in the ring and out and this was a fitting end to an amazing career. Foley is God.