Raw is War - Feb 28th, 2000

The Rock vs. The Wrestlemania Main Event

The show opens with the WWF Champion Triple H who ended Mick Foley’s career last night at No Way Out. King and JR question why he looks so serious - he doesn’t look pleased to have retained the title or have ended Foley’s career. They’re in Madison Square Garden where they had their amazing street fight too so he should be very happy. The fans chant “Rocky” which JR says is a “Foley” chant but it does thankfully turn to a “Foley” chant when Triple H starts talking about him. He says he’s not happy and that he wants to pay respect to Mick Foley. He does respect him and he’s not happy to have ended his career. Triple H’s right arm is heavily bandaged and as he talks, Stephanie keeps interrupting him and seems angry and disappointed with her husband being nice to Foley. He says that he had production put together a video package tribute to Mick Foley and asks for it to be played. It starts as a genuinely touching tribute with sad music and the fans in the arena chanting “we want Foley” but predictably it is cut off by the D-Generation X music and features clips of Triple H violently beating him over the past two months and some of Mick’s more humiliating moments. Triple H laughs and Stephanie gloats and as they two seem very pleased, No Chance In Hell plays and it’s the returning Shane McMahon along with The Big Show. Shane cost The Rock his match with Show last night and as of now, the main event of Wrestlemania 2000 is The Big Show challenging Triple H for the title.

Shane says that just because Steph shattered their dad’s heart and drove him out of the business, he’s not going to let her run the show. He’s been waiting for his spot and has returned to align himself with a champion - the next WWF Champion The Big Show! He does make sure to denote himself as a heel by running down The Rock verbally too. It’s not a great promo by Shane as he seems to lose track of what he’s saying and there's a long awkward pause until finally The Rock comes out to rescue him. The Rock is funny, making fun of all four of them and calling them assholes. Triple H says The Rock is a loser and that he’s now back at the bottom of the ladder for a title shot. Tonight he will face The Brooklyn Brawler in a one on one match. Things are tense between the two McMahon siblings but they are at least united in their hatred of The Rock.

They did thankfully air a real tribute for Mick Foley which I loved. It actually got me to well up a little. I talked about it at No Way Out but watching him has been one of my favourite things about this journey and writing these articles. I love Mick Foley. 

The Rock takes on The Brooklyn Brawler, one of wrestling's most prolific jobbers. He is very much a joke opponent and Triple H meant what he said - he’s starting back at the very bottom of the ladder. The Brawler even gets to enter second. The Rock jumps Brawler on the ramp and beats him down. It’s quickly shut down and Rock plants him with a Rock Bottom in the ring and beats him in about 20 seconds.

The Rock says he’s not done yet tonight and he wants Triple H tonight - it doesn’t have to be for the title, or even for the number one contendership. He just wants to kick Triple H’s ass. Triple H does come out and seems keen to fight but Stephanie holds him back and Shane and The Big Show come out too. Shane says that they need to stay cool and calm and focus on Wrestlemania. The Rock says that if Wrestlemania is Triple H vs. The Big Show then Wrestlemania is going to absolutely suck. He is right about that. The McMahon-Helmsley team have a huddle and Stephanie says that if The Rock can pin either Triple H or The Big Show tonight in a handicap match then he can once again be the number one contender for the WWF Championship. Shane doesn’t look happy but Triple H and Big Show are over confident. Triple H says tonight is The Rock’s last chance. The Rock promises to do what he needs to do and go to Wrestlemania no matter what. 

In the main event, The Big Show (with Shane McMahon) enters first followed by WWF Champion Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley). The Rock must win, and they have specified that he must win by pinfall, or he won’t get another shot at the title. The Rock holds his own and has the match won! He sends Big Show to the outside and delivers a People’s Elbow to Triple H but Shane McMahon breaks up the cover and The Rock wins…by disqualification. Triple H beats down The Rock and The Big Show ends Raw with a massive chokeslam. The Rock is not going to Wrestlemania…yet. 

The Radicals mix things up

Backstage Kurt Angle explains to a bored looking security guard which of his two title belts are heaviest, and then heads out to the ring to offer an open challenge for his European title. He won the Intercontinental title from Chris Jericho last night and everyone, including Kurt, assumes that Y2J will accept tonight but instead its Rikishi!

The big 400lb samoan dominates Kurt and throws him around before giving him a Stink Face in the corner. The move doesn’t have its name yet but everyone sells it huge - he only debuted it last week. Kurt bails out of the ring and gets counted out. He takes both titles and leaves, outraged at his treatment but before he gets out of the arena he’s stopped by Jericho and Chyna. He says Rikishi might have a giant ass but Kurt is a giant ass and he actually gives the move its name, sending him back to the ring for another “stink face”. Rikishi drops the double champion with a Rikishi-driver and drags him to the corner to give him a Banzai drop! Jericho, Chyna and Rikishi are then jumped by The Radicals. Benoit, Guerrero, Saturn and Maklenko beat down the three babyfaces until Too Cool ran down and made the save. While they all brawl, Kurt grabs both his title belts and makes an escape. With a little encouragement from Too Cool and a LOT of encouragement from the crowd, Jericho and Chyna join in with Too Cool and Rikishi’s dancing and the five of them shake, shimmy and jive while the fans go nuts. There was a lot going on in this segment and it was a lot of fun.

Backstage as Michael Cole tries to interview Jericho and Chyna, they’re interrupted by The Radicals. Perry Saturn issues a challenge and it’s accepted by Chyna for later tonight. 

Chyna enters first with her pyro gun, and then Chris Jericho. It was Chyna who accepted Saturn’s challenge earlier but it seems that it is Y2J that will face him in the ring. Saturn has Dean Malenko with him. The Radicals theme song is pretty awesome. These two work well together because they have history from ECW and WCW (which isn’t mentioned). Malenko tries to help Saturn and even knocks down Chyna who is suplexed by Saturn but when it all breaks down, a low blow and DDT from Chyna sets Saturn up for the Lionsault and Y2J wins the match.

Mae Young gives birth (kinda)

Mark Henry (with his pregnant 80 year old girlfriend Mae Young) challenges Crash Holly for the Hardcore Championship. Crash won the title in an upset from Test last week with a little help from his cousin Hardcore. They’ve really leaned into calling Crash “Elroy” because he does, to be fair, look quite a bit like Elroy Jetson. The match goes to the outside and the little Crash uses weapons to get control of the match. That’s what he’ll need to do - Mark is massive and very strong. Henry takes control and Mae gets over excited and tries to help her man. She does a splash but then immediately curls up and sells her abdomen. A panicked Mark Henry calls for help as medical staff and referees rush the ring. JR and King speak softly as if we are witnessing a real life tragedy which is pretty gross. Mae screams and cries “my baby” and returning from the commercial break, JR says that Mae is “in labour”. Oh no. It’s THIS segment. 

Backstage as the medical staff props up Mae’s legs with trash cans, and Patterson, Brisco, Moolah and Mark Henry look on, Mae refuses to give birth until she has a cigar to calm her nerves. The doctor asks Mae when she last had her period (1957) and then asks Mark if he’s sure she’s really pregnant. In between comedy fart sound effects and a lot of screaming by Mae she finally “gives birth”...to a rubber hand covered in jelly. Everyone vomits and thankfully, this is finally over. This is one of the most famously awful moments in wrestling history and actually watching it play out (complete with Patterson saying “a hand?!” over and over) it went on for way too long. JR and King talk about it for the remainder of the show and discuss the fact that Mae was clearly never pregnant. I’m not really sure what they were going for with the hand being pulled out. 

Other Happenings

• Backstage, Matt and Jeff Hardy go to confront the APA about their actions last night at No Way Out. Terri Runnels paid them for protection, seemingly from The Dudleyz, but then after she turned on Matt and Jeff the APA beat them up. They don’t want a fight backstage, they want a match in the ring and its accepted. The match is next and The Hardyz look all business. Terri ditched them and seemingly wanted to get with Edge and Christian but they didn’t look too interested either. The APA bully and dominate The Hardyz but with a Twist of Fate out of nowhere, Matt Hardy pins Bradshaw and The Hardyz win! It’s sold as a big upset.

• Edge and Christian - the official number one contenders for the tag team titles - take on Al Snow and Steve Blackman. Snow debuts a new theme song for them (it sounds a bit like an old sitcom theme song) and the fans actually cheer and chant for “head cheese”. During the match, Terri Runnels comes to ringside and explains turning on The Hardyz (they only visited her in the hospital twice a week, which wasn’t enough) and she wants to manage Edge and Christian now. Jerry Lawler is utterly disgusting in the constant, non-stop sexual comments with Terri. It’s gross. Terri puts on Al Snow’s foam cheese hat which distracts Blackman and allows Edge and Christian to win. She dances off, proud of herself as Edge and Christian again look like they want nothing to do with her. She has helped them win two matches in a row now though.
• Backstage, Roaddogg and X-Pac explain to Mr. Ass that it’ll be them who challenge Bubba Ray and D-Von for the tag team titles. Mr. Ass has his arm in a sling and has an injured shoulder. Billy Gunn fires up and says that even with one arm he’s better than all of them. Triple H punches Billy and DX beat down Mr. Ass, seemingly kicking him out of the group. This is the last time we’ll see Mr. Ass for a long time as sadly he has to take time off for shoulder surgery. But the big news is that Roaddogg gets his rematch for the tag team titles with a new partner tonight. 
• Back in the arena, the new WWF Tag Team Champions defend against the D-Generation X team of Roaddogg and X-Pac (with Tori). The Dudleyz set up a couple of tables at ringside during their entrance and proudly celebrated with their tag title belts. The fans are ALL over X-Pac, chanting “X-Pac sucks” and “123 Kid” (his old gimmick) and as DX looks like they’re in control, Kane comes to the ring with pyro and all. He turns the table over as he walks into th ring and as X-Pac runs for the hills, Kane spikes Roaddogg, D-Von and Bubba with three awesome looking, violent chokeslams. He stares at X-Pac as he runs and cues his corner pyro. Kane isn’t done with X-Pac or Tori.

• Tazz takes on Chris Benoit, who is accompanied by fellow Radical Eddie Guerrero (who still has his arm in a sling). Eddie is ejected from ringside for trying to get involved and as Tazz reverses a string of German suplexes into a Tazzmission, The Big Bossman and Prince Albert come down and once again attack Tazz. The three men beat him up over and over but the story is that he refuses to go down. He does continue to counter into takedowns and Tazzmissions but the numbers are too much. Albert hits a spinning neckbreaker onto a chair and Bossman taunts the crowd about their “hometown boy” Tazz still won’t stay down and continues to try and get to his feet. 

Smackdown! - March 2nd, 2000

Main event tag match

Backstage, The Rock arrives at the arena and is stopped by Mideon of all people for some small talk so The Rock lays him out with a punch. Elsewhere backstage, Shane McMahon and The Big Show arrive together in a long black limo.

Shane McMahon leads The Big Show to the ring. It makes Show look pretty insignificant that they come out to Shane’s music and not his. Shane proudly shows off the footage where he cost The Rock a WWF title match at Wrestlemania twice in 24 hours. Shane says that he did what he did because he can’t allow The Rock to get out of control like Stone Cold Steve Austin did. He puts The Rock in his place and then finally sings the praises of The Big Show. This was starting to feel like it was more about Shane as a manager than Show as a wrestler. That does bring The Rock out onto the stage. He is unimpressed and wastes no time in challenging Shane and Show to a match tonight. Shane says they’d love to beat up The Rock two against one, but that brings out Rikishi. He says that he knows The Rock doesn’t need his help but the people tonight want to see The Big Show take a Rock Bottom, and Shane McMahon’s face taking a stink face. I can’t imagine Shane is keen but it seems to be set for a tag team match tonight.

Later in the show, Shane and Big Show would be seen going into the D-Generation X locker room. 

The Big Show and Shane McMahon enter first for the main event tag team match. Shane, who is dressed to wrestle, says that he was feeling sorry for The Rock as he’ll never get near the WWF Championship again so he has arranged for WWF Champion Triple H to take his place. So it's now Triple H and Big Show against The Rock and Rikishi. Michael Cole has talked all night about which McMahon is really running the show now, and seems shocked that Stephanie and Shane are going to be at ringside watching this match together. There’s an uneasy truce between these four. This match is physical and Rikishi looks like a star, giving a stink face to Big Show! It breaks down when the McMahon kids distract the referee and Show hits Rikishi in the ankle with a steel chair but when he swings for The Rock he knocks out Triple H instead! The Rock sends Show to the outside and with a People’s Elbow The Rock pins the WWF Champion to win this tag team match. Afterwards as Shane and Stephanie argue, Triple H and The Big Show come to blows.

The birth of 24/7

Tazz challenges Crash Holly for the Hardcore Championship. Tazz is brutal and the match goes immediately though the crowd and backstage As Tazz dominates Crash, Albert tries to jump him again but it's no use and Tazz uses a metal wrench to knock him down and then lock him inside a walk-in freezer. Bossman tries to jump Tazz too and he’s also fought off but the distraction does allow Tazz to crack a 2x4 over Tazz’s head to retain the Hardcore title. Crash just keeps escaping with the title. At least Tazz got some revenge on Bossman and Albert this week. Backstage, Lillian Garcia interviews Crash Holly who makes WWF history by being so confident in his Hardcore title reign, he offers to put the title on the line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Anyone can challenge him anywhere at any time as long as they have a referee with them.

Later in the show as he leaves the arena, the three Mean Street Posse members, each with a referee in tow, jump Crash in the parking lot and try to capture the Hardcore title! They fight amongst themselves and Crash is able to hop in his car and escape! 

Kane on the Warpath

Kane takes on the WWF Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz in a handicap match. He chokeslammed them both on Raw but I'd imagine this was setup by Triple H to punish Kane for his buddy X-Pac. Paul Bearer hasn’t cut a single promo or said a single word since returning with Kane. It’s a shame because I think he’s awesome and him hamming it up with some over emotional promos about how X-Pac and Tori broke his little boy’s heart would be really good for that storyline. Kane puts up a good fight but the two on one odds seem to be too much. Bubba sets up a table on the outside but Kane chokeslams D-Von off the apron through the table to get himself disqualified. The Dudleyz technically win the match but don’t look like winners.

Other Happenings

• The show opens with in-ring action. Chris Jericho (with Chyna who made her entrance first) teams with Too Cool against The Radical team of Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn (with the one armed Eddie Guerrero). The fans are loud and chant “Y2J” at a crazy volume. This match is good and breaks down with lots of interference by Malenko and Chyna. In the end, Grandmaster Sexay hits a top rope leg drop on Saturn and has the three count but a diving headbutt from Chris Benoit allows him to reverse the cover and The Radicals win.

• Kurt Angle, the Euro-Continental Champion, tries to talk to D’Lo Brown who is distracted playing WWF Smackdown! For the Playstation. Sgt Slaughter comes in and tells D’Lo that The Godfather is looking for him and Kurt takes great offence at being interrupted and gets in Slaughters face, who says he still carries his gear and he wants to accept Kurt’s open challenge tonight.
• Kurt Angle defends the Intercontinental Championship against WWF Official Sgt. Slaughter. He cuts a funny promo on the way to the ring about how while he has the three Is, Slaughter has the three Bs - bald, bloated and bonehead. Kurt retains - obviously - in a short match with the Olympic slam.
• Jeff Hardy (with his brother Matt) challenges Esse Rios for the Light Heavyweight Championship. This is a short but very high flying match and, with a little help from Matt, Jeff might have the Light Heavyweight title in the bag but Lita dives off the top rope and causes the disqualification! After the match, Esse Rios berates Lita in Spanish for seemingly costing him the match so she slaps him. They still leave together, arguing all the while.

• The first of several skits where Al Snow takes Steve Blackman on a blind date with a girl he met in therapy. She is very over excited and chants “head cheese” She is relentlessly chatty. We popped back to check in on how the date was going a few times and the girl was very chatty and Blackman wasn’t into her. The payoff is that Blackman runs out of the date and Al Snow takes over for him.
• Roaddogg along with X-Pac and a neck-brace wearing Tori (who’s taken a couple of tombstones lately) take on Edge and Christian. Before the match, Roaddogg confirms that Billy Gunn has been kicked out of DX and Michael Cole confirms what I’ve already said - Mr. Ass will be gone for a while with a shoulder injury. Terri Runnels once again comes down to be at ringside and play Edge and Christian’s manager against their will. This is a decent match (with loud “DX sucks” and “X-Pac sucks'' chants) but Jerry Lawler is especially gross about Terri during this - it's exhausting to listen to. Michael Cole spends a lot of the match talking about how we don’t know if Billy is in or out of DX. I thought that Roaddogg’s pre-match promo was pretty clear to be honest. They beat him down on Raw. He’s out. Terri gets sick of Edge not warming to her advances and so she slaps him. The distraction allows DX to beat Christian and then after the match, Edge and Christian argue and shove each other. They’ve weirdly teased a break up between Edge and Christian a few times.
• There’s a commercial for the APA - The Acolytes Protection Agency. This is a great gimmick. “We need beer money”
• Test takes on Viscera. Test tries to lift the 500lber which doesn’t work and allows Big Vis to beat down Test. This is a surprisingly long match but Test counters Viscera into an exposed turnbuckle and then amazingly bodyslams him! That deserved a way bigger reaction than it got. A top rope elbow drop later and Test wins. That was really impressive honestly. 

Raw is War - March 6th, 2000

McMahon Civil War

Shane McMahon and The Big Show open up the show (once again coming out to No Chance in Hell, feel like I haven’t heard Show’s music in ages) and the commentators talk up the McMahon civil war that is starting to rage as Shane and Steph fight over who should be running the show. Shane and Show defend their actions on Smackdown - he obviously didn’t mean to hit Triple H with a steel chair, he was aiming for The Rock. Shane mentions Stone Cold again, saying that with The Rock it’s just business and he needs to stop The Rock from getting too big to control like Austin did. But with Triple H its personal - he brainwashed his sister, forced his father out and manipulated his way into the family. He says that Triple H turned his sister into a “cheap slut” (which gets a big reaction) and promises that The Big Show will plant Triple H with a chokeslam and win the WWF title at Wrestlemania. He then books Triple H in a “non-title, soften you up” match against Rikishi. That brings Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley down to the ring, both wearing smug smirks. JR gets pretty nasty about Stephanie’s appearance and basically agrees with Shane that she’s “a slut” which feels bang out of order, as much as everyone hates her. Triple H says he’s pained to hear how Shane feels about him but he’s cut off by “slut” chants aimed at Stephanie. Steph returns the favour from Shane’s match matching and books The Big Show against Kane tonight. Stephanie ends by slapping her brother for calling her a slut.

Kane takes on The Big Show in the first match on Raw. The match doesn’t go long and with a little help from Shane, Big Show readies Kane for a chokeslam. The Rock runs down and drops him with a Rock Bottom! He then watches on as Big Show gets up and staggers into a massive chokeslam from Kane. The Rock has nothing to lose and seems hell bent on getting some payback on Big Show, Shane, Triple H and Stephanie tonight.

WWF Champion Triple H faces Rikishi in a non-title match. It seems like both Shane and Stephanie McMahon do have the power to book matches. Triple H takes a stink face, which is already as over the with the crowd as anything else which seems juvenile but it was the year 2000 so that type of comedy was very current.

He makes Rikishi pay for it with a low blow behind the referee’s back. Stephanie distracts the referee and slides a chair to her husband but it doesn’t matter and he hits Rikishi in front of the referee and gets disqualified anyway. The Rock runs down and drops The Game with a Rock Bottom and then drags him into position for Rikishi to flatten him with a Banzai drop. The Rock is 2 - 0 on the current Wrestlemania main eventers. As Triple H struggles to the back with his wife, Rikishi is joined by Too Cool and the three of them dance in victory.

Shane McMahon goes to see Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and suggests that they book The Rock against Chris Benoit in a steel cage match. Triple H agrees - he doesn’t want The Rock to lose, he wants him crippled.

In the main event, Chris Benoit faces The Rock in a steel cage which Lillian Garcia announced as only being able to be won by escaping over the top of the cage. As the two get physical, The Big Show and Shane McMahon head down to watch at ringside (and are greeted by “asshole” chants) and then shortly after Triple H and Stephanie head down too. The Rock is distracted enough for Benoit to get control of the match and use the cage as a weapon. Everytime Benoit tries to climb out, Triple H or Shane McMahon are there to tell him to stay in the match and keep hurting The Rock. This is a good match and as The Rock tries to climb out of the cage, Triple H goes to stop him. He’s knocked off the cage and lands right on The Big Show which allows him to climb down and win the match. He’s quickly swarmed by Shane McMahon and Triple H and along with The Big Show, they beat up The Rock three on one in the ring. The Rock ducks a chair shot and Triple H knocks out The Big Show and The Rock is able to leave. The Rock comes out on top tonight and Triple H and The Big Show’s uneasy McMahon-led truce is in serious danger. 

Kurt Angle gains a mentor

Chris Jericho gets his rematch for the Intercontinental Championship against Kurt Angle. No Chyna tonight, she’s off filming another episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun. Angle looks so good with both the European and Intercontinental title belts and all his medals.

He calls Y2J a has-been. Jericho says that Kurt Angle looks like a 30 year old geek who’s never kissed a woman and still lives with his mother. A short match but these two are both great and work smoothly together. Jericho had the match won with a Lionsault but the referee had been knocked down previously and wasn’t able to count. Angle tries to use a title belt as a weapon but gets hooked in the Walls of Jericho. Kurt seems like he’s about to submit but then to everyone’s shock a suspenders and bow-tie wearing Bob Backlund - former WWF Champion - slides into the ring and puts his crossface chickenwing submission hold on Y2J, wrenching at his shoulder. Once he’s finally pulled off, Kurt raises his arm and the pair seem to be on the same page! 

Crash Holly - defending 24/7

We are now in the Crash Holly 24/7 era of the Hardcore title and earlier today, Rodney, Pet Gas and Joey Abs attacked Crash in his hotel room with a referee in tow, smashing lamps and using items as weapons to try and capture the Hardcore title. The three of them get in each other's way and none of them can get a three count and that allows Crash to escape in his pyjamas with the title belt. 

Crash Holly defends his Hardcore title against the 500lbs Viscera. He uses a chair but Viscera no-sells it and the two fight through the crowd, mostly with Crash running away. They fight to the back and end up at the APA office. Crash uses a chair shot to send Viscera crashing into their poker game so Faarooq smashes a piece of wood over Vis’s head. Crash takes advantage to retain the Hardcore championship.

Other Happenings

• The Raw intro has finally been updated to include Kurt Angle, Rikishi, Chris Jericho and Big Show and some snippets of The Radicals.Thank God. Ken Shamrock is still in it too though.
• Backstage Mae Young, who seems to be totally over her giving birth to a hand incident last week, insists on coming to the ring with Mark Henry for his match with D-Von Dudley. Bubba tries to get involved and is knocked down in the corner. Mae gives him a Bronco Buster and Mark pins D-Von with a bodyslam. Bubba knocks Mae down and the tag team champions give Mark Henry a 3D before setting up a table. It's clear they want to put Mae Young through a table! And they do - Bubba spikes Mae through the table with a powerbomb off the top rope and it looks brutal! Bless her, Mae can take a BUMP!

• Roaddogg and X-Pac (with Tori) enter and Roaddogg is still doing the full New Age Outlaws entrance and it seems like they want to just slot X-Pac into Mr. Ass’ old role as Roaddogg’s tag team partner. Their opponents are Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty, Too Cool. This match is good and X-Pac is already a better tag team partner than Mr. Ass was. Scotty gives Roaddogg the Worm and that move is so popular with the crowds! Tori trips Grandmaster Sexay off the top but as X-Pac sets up a Bronco Buster, Kane’s music hits and the big red demon heads down to the ring. X-Pac and Roaddogg rush him but are shut down and Roaddogg takes a violent chokeslam as once again, X-Pac and Tori run away. Kane pursues.

• Steve Blackman faces Matt Hardy one on one, with both their tag team partners watching on from ringside. Snow tried to set up another elaborate cheese-based entrance for Blackman who shut it down. In somewhat of an upset, Blackman wins the match with a martial arts kick from the top rope to the chest. 
• Edge and Christian face Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko of The Radicals. Terri Runnels, despite slapping Edge on Smackdown, once again comes down and joins commentary. These matches with her on commentary with Jerry Lawler are unbearable to listen to. Eddie Guerrero is with Saturn and Malenko. Terri is absolutely dreadful on commentary and never seems to pick up on what JR and King are getting at - it's clear she isn’t watching the show and doesn’t even fully understand her own storyline. Terri once again costs Edge and Christian the match by distracting Edge and allowing Christian to get beat. They’ve lost more matches since becoming number one contenders than they ever did before. Edge and Christian argue after the match again. 
• Mark Henry returns from the hospital, after having been there all night with Mae Young and he goes right to The Dudleyz locker room to attack both tag team champions single handedly. He doesn’t fare too well and they escape pretty much unscathed.

Smackdown! - March 9th, 2000

Handicap-Mania

Smackdown opens with a recap of the main event happenings over the past week or so. The focus of the Wrestlemania main event isn’t on the WWF Championship, Triple H, The Big Show or even The Rock - it’s on the McMahon siblings and their “civil war”. The Big Show vs. Triple H would be an awful Wrestlemania main event but thankfully The Rock is remaining as involved as possible and it feels like a triple threat is very much on the cards. Triple H and The Big Show’s uneasy truce against The Rock has been in place since after the Royal Rumble but tension is starting to build. But again, that’s more about the McMahon’s in their corners. 

The show opens properly with the WWF Champion Triple H and his wife Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. Before she can even speak, Shane and the Big Show come out too. Shane says he knows the people want to see him slap his sister but he’s not going to do that. Triple H takes the mic and tries to put the focus on himself and Big Show. No one wants to see this match. The fans keep chanting “slut” at Steph. That’s getting over. The Big Show tries to speak (for the first time since No Way Out) and is drowned out by “Rocky” chants. Show says that Kane is going to be in a handicap match against X-Pac and Roaddogg. Shane makes a second handicap match for Rikishi against Big Show and Triple H. Triple H finishes with ANOTHER handicap match with Perry Saturn and Chris Benoit facing The Rock. Stephanie ends by promising The Rock a special surprise tonight. The McMahon’s and their wrestlers are all smiles and handshakes again.

The Rock enters first for his handicap match. He promises the McMahon’s that he will go through any roadblock they throw at him and keep coming back. He also makes fun of Perry Saturn’s cross eyes which is mean but funny. Honestly, the only thing I noticed about this promo was that there’s a couple of women in the front row who won’t stop screaming. Over and over. The entire time The Rock is out. It sliced through my brain. I’m glad they’re having fun but also shut UP! Jesus. The Rock actually wins pretty quickly and with ease with a Rock Bottom on Perry Saturn but he’s immediately jumped by Malenko and Guerrero and the four Radicals beat the People’s Champion down until referees separate them. 

After a commercial break, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley comes out onto the stage and says we’ll see The Rock again tonight. He’s going to face WWF Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz in a handicap tables match. The Rock has to put both Dudleyz through tables to win the match but they only have to put him through one. Yeah we get it Steph.

Backstage, X-Pac explains to Roaddogg that he wants nothing to do with Kane, while Roaddogg tries to reassure his buddy that it’s two on one. Out in the ring, X-Pac does look scared of Kane. I think he finally realises how lucky he got at No Way Out, and that he has definitely gone too far with Kane. He won’t leave him alone! The DX mates work well as a team and hammer Kane down but Kane continues to no-sell and doesn’t even leave his feet. X-Pac does hit the X-Factor but Kane sits up and continues to no-sell all of Pac’s offence. Kane gets distracted wanting to give Tori a third tombstone and that allows X-Pac to use a chair and an X-Factor onto the chair to win the match. DX takes off in a hurry before Kane can recover.

The Rock faces The Dudleyz in a handicap table match. The Rock wastes no time and uses a ring bell and a steel chair to blast both tag team champions and looks like the best wrestler in the world as he dominates them! A double clothesline and a pair of suplexes on the entrance ramp follows and then back to the ring where finally, Bubba and D-Von take control with some double team moves. The Rock counters a 3D attempt and drives Bubba Dudley through a table with a Rock Bottom!

The Rock just needs one more to win the match. It’s too much and a steel chair to the back and a 3D later, The Rock is driven through a table and The Dudley Boyz win the match. The Rock was selling his ribs after the Radicals assault early and even more so now after going through the table. They’d show him being tended to by medical personnel a couple of times through the rest of the show. 

Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty give Rikishi a pep talk ahead of his handicap match main event. He says the only people that need to worry are Triple H and The Big Show. Before the match, Triple H promises Rikishi a worse beating than the one The Rock got earlier. They rock-paper-scissors for who should start the match but it doesn’t matter as they easily dominate. Too Cool try to run down and help their buddy but X-Pac and Roaddogg jump them backstage and put a stop to that. Thankfully for Rikishi, Show and Triple H start arguing again and he takes advantage with a pair of superkicks and a stink face to Triple H. Shane McMahon cracks Rikishi in the back with a steel chair which he no-sells, but the distraction gets Big Show and Triple H back into the match and a Pedigree later, Rikishi is beat. They continue the assault with a steel chair which brings The Rock limping down, ribs heavily taped. He uses a lead pipe to fight them both off but with Shane McMahon helping too, Triple H gets the pipe and hammers The Rock in the ribs - it actually gets kind of silly as he hits him so hard, over and over with what is supposed to be a very heavy pipe that in reality he’d have shattered every bone in his torso and probably killed him. Its especially silly as The Rock shows absolutely no signs of being hurt three days later on Raw. They use the pipe on Rikishi too, and flatten The Rock with a Pedigree to end it. Triple H and The Big Show, along with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and Shane McMahon do all seem to be on the same page this week.

Euro-Continental Angle

Kurt Angle continues to explain the meaning of the Intercontinental and European Championships to anyone who’ll listen. The Euro-Continental Champion is in action next and cuts a “the local sports teams suck” promo on the way to the ring. He’s defending the Intercontinental Championship against Tazz. Tazz talks before the match and promises to shot Kurt some “heavy metal” and I don’t know what he means. It’s a short match and Tazz locks the Tazzmission on Angle but he’s rescued, just like on Raw, by Bob Backlund. That brings Chris Jericho running to the ring and as Y2J locks Backlund in the Walls of Jericho, Tazz flattens Kurt with a big suplex off the top rope. What is the relationship with Kurt Angle and Bob Backlund?

Hardcore 24/7

This week’s Hardcore title 24/7 antics has the Mean Street Posse trying again, finding Crash Holly at a laundromat. Rodney tries to take charge this time but Joey Abs and Pete Gas want the title too and Crash once again escapes (with the title belt and his laundry) when the Posse fights amongst themselves over who gets to win the title. 

Crash Holly defends the Hardcore Championship against Prince Albert. Crash leaves the title belt out as bait and then hides behind the entrance stage so he can jump Albert. It doesn’t help and the big man takes control and they fight backstage. This is fun but short and The Mean Street Posse once again try to win the title. Rodney chases after Crash into the parking lot as Prince Albert brawls back to the ring with Pete Gas and Joey Abs. Albert easily destroys them both. 

Other Happenings

• In a rare occurrence we get to hear Christian’s solo theme song. He does have Edge with him as he challenges Esse Rios for the Light Heavyweight Championship. I’ll talk more about it in the coming articles but it’s so nice to see the light heavyweight division back on TV. Lita looks amazing at ringside with Rios, and Terri Runnels has come down to the ring just as she has for all of Edge and Christian’s matches lately. I hate this storyline but I am at least glad they dropped the whole “Edge is engaged to Val Venis’ sister” thing which went nowhere last month. In a weird finish, Terri distracts the referee, Lita gives a moonsault to Christian and then Edge - a babyface - spears her! (There’s a joke there but I won’t make it). Christian is angry at Edge for costing him the match by disqualification and they continue to tease a break up between the number one contenders for the tag team titles. 

• There’s an advert for a special Wrestlemania magazine, which I absolutely had when I was a kid. It was awesome.
• Kevin Kelly interviews Mark Henry and Mae Young to check on her after The Dudleyz put her through a table on Raw. Mark cries while talking about how Mae is too delicate to be around here. Elsewhere backstage, D-Von and Bubba Ray don’t talk about Mae Young - they’re excited to put The Rock through a table tonight (which they did!)
• Jeff Hardy (with Matt) takes on Steve Blackman (with Al Snow) Blackman beat Matt Hardy on Raw. This week, Snow introduces Steve to his biggest fan - a skinny geek in a big foam cheese hat - and Blackman poses for a picture and then punches the fan in the gut. This match is short but kind of awesome, with Jeff doing some impressive high flying and a great spot with a running backdrop off the security wall to the floor? It’s hard to describe but it was cool as hell. With a little help from Snow, Blackman wins with the same top rope martial arts kick to the chest he used on Raw. 
• Ivory challenges Jacqueline for the WWF Women’s Championship. Jackie wins a short, sloppy match with a DDT. It’s nice to see them on the show at least.

Raw is War - March 13th, 2000

The Rock punches his ticket

The recap of Smackdown centres on The Rock and the various beatings he took all night. “Desperate men do desperate things”. That’ll be important later.

The show opens with the WWF Champion Triple H and his wife Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. By this point they were dating in real life, but I’ll talk about that at Wrestlemania. Just like on Smackdown, Stephanie doesn’t get a chance to speak before she’s interrupted by No Chance in Hell, and her brother Shane with The Big Show. Shane recaps all the same stuff that happened on Smackdown that we just saw at the start of Raw. Shane has been talking a LOT since his return at No Way Out. He’s spoken more than Stephanie, Triple H and Big Show put together. Triple H buries the European and Light Heavyweight titles and suggests The Rock could have gone after those. He promises that they will continue to beat down and humiliate The Rock until he learns his lesson. Stephanie says that The Rock can have a match at Wrestlemania. It’ll be in a handicap match against “the twin towers” and then a pair of midgets in suits come out to comedy theme music. They debate which comedy stipulation the match should have including tuxedo, 2 out of 3 falls and Triple H takes a little veiled shot at WCW by saying “a pole match is always good”. This finally brings out The Rock. “A desperate man” says JR and King. They’re really hammering that home. They seem to have settled on the name “The coalition” for this McMahon’s, Triple H and Big Show group. The Rock says he’s had enough and he’s going to give them a chance to drive him out of the WWF. He offers them a deal - a one on one match for him against The Big Show tonight. If he wins, then he’s going to Wrestlemania and if he loses then they’ll never see The Rock again. Shane says that The Rock has to win via submission or pin fall. The Rock wants a guarantee of no interference or else he wins the match via forfeit. Triple H accepts and the main event is locked in.

In the main event, The Rock faces The Big Show. If The Rock loses, he is gone forever. They’ve talked all night about how young The Rock is, how it would be a shame for his career to end at 27 years old and interviewed a whole bunch of superstars backstage for their thoughts on The Rock potentially retiring including Ivory, Godfather and The Headbangers. Shane McMahon heads down to the ring first and after chasing off Earl Hebner, removes his jacket to show a referee shirt. Shane O’Mac will be refeering this career threatening match. If The Rock wins this match then he is going to Wrestlemania to challenge for the WWF title. They haven’t specified whether he’d replace Big Show, or be added to make it a triple threat match. This match is physical and full of The Rock’s main event energy as they brawl up and down the ramp and into the crowd, across the announce desk and back into the ring. Shane predictably refuses to count when The Rock has a cover, and counts fast when Show does. Shane goes down and when replacement referee Earl Hebner tries to count after a Rock Bottom he’s pulled out of the ring. Shane knocks out The Rock with a steel chair and at that moment, on the titan tron, Vince McMahon arrives. Vince is back at the arena and heads on out as Shane looks on, shocked. Triple H and Stephanie jump up and go to confront Vince who knocks down Triple H with a big right hand and just keeps on walking! Vince heads on down to the ring to a massive reaction from the crowd. JR screams himself hoarse with excitement! He punches Shane out and then blasts him right in the head with the steel chair! He pulls off Shane’s referee shirt and takes it for himself and happily counts the three count for The Rock after a Rock Bottom! The Rock is going to Wrestlemania and Vince McMahon is back! 

Radical Victories

Esse Rios (with the stunning Lita) defends his Light Heavyweight Championship against The Radicals’ Dean Malenko (with Eddie Guerrero) Esse has racked up a couple of retentions lately over Jeff Hardy and Christian and the Light Heavyweight title is the most “a thing” it has been since Taka Michinoku held it in the first half of 1998! Malenko is one of the most skilled in ring performers in history, and is best known for his stellar run as Cruiserweight champion in WCW. This is a good match and at the finish as Lita tries a hurricanrana on Eddie Guerrero on the floor, he catches her and drills her with an incredibly stiff, brutal looking powerbomb on the outside of the ring. That was sick. In the ring, Dean countries Esse into a roll up and wins the match and the title. Dean Malenko is the first Radical to win championship gold in the WWF.

Val Venis - returning from a sprained neck injury - teams with Test to take on Chris Benoit and Perry Saturn of The Radicals. This is an odd match as it very much feels like the first phase of the attitude era taking on the second phase. The move from highly gimmicked, so-so wrestlers to less gimmicked, world class wrestlers began a few months ago but it's the ones who have both qualities in spades - Jericho and Angle - who’ll set themselves apart. Speaking of which, as the match goes on, Eddie Guerrero slowly makes his way down to the ring. JR and King speculate on how seriously hurt his arm still is and whether he still needs the sling he’s wearing. To their credit, Val and Test step their game up to match the Radicals in the ring but it's a cheap shot from Eddie that makes the difference as Benoit pins Test with a bridging German suplex to win the match for his team.

The Damn Dudleyz

Mark Henry - seeking revenge for his girlfriend Mae Young being put through a table last week - takes on both Bubba and D-Von Dudley in a handicap match. As D-Von and Mark wrestle in the ring, Bubba leaves and goes backstage to get Mae Young in her wheelchair, promising her that this is the last ride she’ll ever take. The tag team champions lay out Mark with a 3D in the ring but don’t even bother covering and instead wheel Mae back up the ramp. They even make her carry their tag team title belts. D-Von teases running Mae in her wheelchair off the ramp but Bubba stops her, and instead scoops her up into a power bomb and, in an iconic moment, jumps off the entrance stage with Mae Young, driving her through a table! It looked brutal but also perfectly safe at the same time.

As Mae Young is loaded into an ambulance with a distraught Mark Henry, her best friend Moolah refuses to get in with her. They make a bit of a fuss about the fact that Moolah wasn’t with Mae to try and stop The Dudleyz in the first place. Later, Michael Cole interviewed Moolah who said that she doesn’t care and that Mae got what she deserved - she’s the one who brought Mae to the WWF and all she’s done is steal her spotlight and embarrass her. A strong heel turn from a genuinely terrible person. 

Other Happenings

• Steve Blackman and Al Snow - Head Cheese - take on The Hardy Boyz. Blackman beat both Matt and Jeff in singles matches last week. The Hardyz win a short spirited match with an inside cradle on Blackman. The finish was pretty hilariously botched as Matt Hardy was clearly meant to hit a standing Blackman with a moonsault off the top rope into the roll up finish but he missed entirely. Blackman pulled Matt to his feet, very visibly said something to him and then Hardy pulled him into a small package to win.
• Euro-Continental Champion Kurt Angle comes out and sings the praises of a true American hero, Bob Backlund who has helped him out twice now. Kurt is defending his European Championship against Tazz and Chris Jericho in a triple threat match tonight. Jericho implies that Angle and Backlund are gay on the way to the ring. So? Tazz and Jericho both have moments where the match might be won but Backlund is there to save the day. Chyna makes her return to run down and low blow Bob, but all the distraction is enough for Angle to knock out Y2J with the European title belt and retain his gold. Short but chaotic.

• D-Generation X - Roaddogg, X-Pac and WWF Champion Triple H (along with Stephanie and a very scandily clad Tori) in six man tag team action against Rikishi and Too Cool . DX are using their weird, new theme song. It’s basically the Run DMC music from the Aggression CD with the Run DMC parts removed. That CD hasn’t come out yet but it won’t be long until they have that much better version. DX win this match in short order when as Rikishi sets up a Banzai drop, X-Pac hits him in the head with the ring bell and Triple H picks up the win.
• Kane takes on The Big Bossman. As Kane walked to the ring, he stopped by The Rock backstage to wish him luck tonight. Kane doesn’t have Paul Bearer with him tonight - I like Paul but he’s done nothing for Kane since returning during this run. Kane wins with a chokeslam.
• Backstage, Terri Runnels pays the APA for their services. They seem surprised she wants whatever she’s paid for but they don’t ask questions of their clients. She then once again follows Edge and Christian down to the ring for their match. Their opponents are the APA, and they’re accompanied by Mideon. He seems to owe them money and is working it off. Must be a Sunday Night Heat storyline. Terri distracts Christian and Bradshaw pins Edge with the clothesline from hell. After the match, Edge and Christian beat up Mideon and clear him out of the ring. Terri continues to cost Edge and Christian all their matches.
• Another Hardcore title 24/7 segment as once again the Mean Street Posse jumped Crash Holly three on one, this time at the baggage claim of an airport. Prince Albert is there too to join in. Pete Gas actually manages to get a pin and wins the Hardcore title but the reign lasts only seconds as Crash knocks him out with his scales and regains the Hardcore title before escaping by sliding down the baggage carousel! 

Smackdown! - March 16th, 2000

Main Eventers at War

Recap of the incredibly exciting closing moments of Raw with the return of Vince McMahon and his role in making sure that The Rock goes to Wrestlemania.

In the arena, leather pants wearing Big Show heads down to the ring with Shane McMahon. They do at least come out to Big Show’s theme song this time rather than Shane’s. Shane reminds us of what Vince did to him on Raw all the while calling it “unacceptable”. Paternal abuse is against the law, he screams. Shane points out that The Rock’s stipulation was that if he won, he would go to Wrestlemania. There was nothing about taking Big Show’s place, or about Big Show losing his spot at Wrestlemania. He says that The Rock is going to Wrestlemania, but so is The Big Show. It’ll be a triple threat match. The Big Show promises to win the WWF title at Wrestlemania and that brings the current champion Triple H and his wife Stephanie out. They both look furious. Triple H fires up and agrees to the triple threat, but promises that HE will win and still be WWF Champion. He hammers home his new “I am that damn good” catch phrase. Stephanie says that Shane can be in Show’s corner because she’ll be in her husband's corner. Shane calls her a “cheap slut” again, but blocks her attempt to slap him this time. As the four bicker, No Chance plays and Vince McMahon saunters out onto the stage. Stephanie and Shane both look at each other like naughty children caught out by daddy, which is exactly what they are. He sarcastically says he’s so proud of them. He says that they have driven one one of the greatest stars in WWF history out of the company, “long island’s own” Mick Foley (that's where they are and it gets a big pop). They almost drove The Rock out of the business too. He calls them a bad soap opera and says they should go on the Jerry Springer show. He says their actions are bad for business so he’s back to take control of the WWF before they screw it up for good. He says that he’ll be in The Rock’s corner at Wrestlemania. Shane retaliates by booking The Rock in a match against Kane. Stephanie then books The Big Show against Rikishi! It’s Vince’s turn, so he books Triple H in a non-title match against “someone Stephanie McMahon has something in common with” The Godfather. I think he’s calling his own daughter a hoe. The fans chant “slut” as Vince says that she might get to join the hoe train. 

The Godfather and four hoes enter first for his non-title match with WWF Champion Triple H. Godfather offers Stephanie a place in the hoe train and so Triple H attacks furiously. With Triple H firmly in control, Shane and The Big Show head down to the ring. While the McMahon kids argue at ringside, Big Show beats up Triple H on the outside and runs him violently into the ring post before throwing him inside. The Godfather covers…and wins! The Godfather beats the WWF Champion. 

The Big Show (with Shane McMahon) faces Rikishi. These two are evenly matched and Rikishi kicks Show down into the corner and gives him a stink face early. Show has control and Triple H runs down and punches out Shane. Stephanie distracts the referee and he drops Big Show with a Pedigree which leaves him easy pickings for a Banzai drop and Rikishi wins, thanks to Triple H. Too Cool runs down to the ring and victory dances with Rikishi.

Kane rampages around backstage looking for X-Pac and happens across him standing talking to Triple H. Kane attacks them both but using a big metal pipe they manage to knock Kane down and lock him in the back of a truck in the parking lot, all while Tori screams and X-Pac bellows at Kane to “leave him alone”. Afterwards, Lillian Garcia interviews Vince McMahon who says that since DX have locked up Kane, X-Pac can take his place and fight The Rock tonight instead.

In the main event, X-Pac along with Tori in her tiny little black shorts (sorry) faces The Rock. The match is wild and the two fight into the crowd and all around ringside but as it settles in the ring, Shane McMahon and The Big Show head down to ringside to watch on. Not long after, Triple H and Stephanie head down too and as The Rock intercepts a Bronco Buster with a Rock Bottom, Big Show pulls the referee out of the cover. Triple H hits The Rock with the title belt but before X-Pac can win the match, Kane’s pyro blows up and he marches to the ring and goes right after X-Pac, throwing him over the top rope and pursuing him through the crowd. After the match has ended with an X-Pac disqualification victory, The Rock slips out of harm's way and leaves Triple H and The Big Show to fight each other in the ring while Vince McMahon watches on with a smile backstage. 

Tag Team Turmoil

Edge and Christian get the tag team title match they earned at No Way Out and challenge The Dudley Boyz. The referee is knocked down just as Christian has the match won on Bubba. With no referee to count, Terri Runnels runs down to the ring and slides a steel chair into the ring. D-Von uses it, and The Dudleyz finish Christian off with a 3D to retain their tag team titles. As Terri celebrates, The Hardy Boyz run down and grab her by the hair and throw her into the ring. She’s caused both these teams hell lately. Edge drops Terri with a spear! It’s what she deserves. I really hope this is the end of this storyline. I don’t know what's worse - the constant losing, or Jerry Lawler’s insufferable commentary every time she comes to the ring. 

The Hardy Boyz take on Chris Benoit and Perry Saturn with the winners being the number one contenders for the Tag Team Championships. Saturn and Benoit use a variety of really nice looking suplexes but Matt and/or Jeff are always there to break up the covers. The match sadly ends in a double count out, or a double disqualification as both teams fight on the outside. Many referees rush to ringside to try and break them up.

Euro-Continental

Euro-Continental Champion Kurt Angle teams with his new mentor and hero, Bob Backlund. They’re facing Chris Jericho and Tazz, who have both had Angle beat for his various titles in the past two weeks. Chris Jericho has Chyna with him and I keep mentioning it but I’ll mention it again - she looks amazing. Her abs are the best defined in the company right now. He calls Backlund and Angle a pair of nerds. He’s funny. Tazz cuts a little pre-match promo too, as was the style at the time. He promises to choke someone out tonight. This one is short and chaotic as Tazz and Backlund fight up the ramp leaving Jericho and Angle one on one. Y2J locks in the Walls of Jericho until Chris Benoit attacks him from behind. Chyna tries to help her buddy but that brings Eddie Guerrero out to fight with her. Eddie beats up Chyna and Benoit leaves both Jericho and Angle laying. What were their motivations?

Other Happenings

• Grandmaster Sexay, along with Scotty 2 Hotty challenges Dean Malenko for his newly won Light Heavyweight Championship. Eddie Guerrero pantomime puts his sling back on his arm - his arm is obviously fine, he didn’t have the sling when he beat up Chyna earlier. With a little help from Eddie, Dean retains the title but their attempts to beat up Too Cool after the match are foiled by Chyna who runs down looking for payback on Eddie for earlier and chasing them off.

• Crash Holly’s 24/7 Hardcore title antics lead him to funtime USA, which is like a big indoor soft play. The Headbangers, Mosh and Thrasher, with a referee in tow, attack Crash Holly while he’s playing lazer tag. Crash fights them off and escapes down a slide but runs into a trash can shot from Thrasher. He and Mosh fight over who’s going to get the three count and double team the champion. They fight into a ball pit and Crash uses a zipline into a hurricanrana and manages to escape, once again, with the Hardcore title belt. 

• The APA - along with their in-debt lackey Mideon in his homemade APA t-shirt - take on Head Cheese. The name has stuck even if it's not official. Al Snow shows Steve Blackman a midget in an alien costume to be their mascot. He isn’t keen. The Acolytes pick up the win with a stiff clothesline from hell to Al Snow after a distraction by Mideon.

Raw is War - March 20th, 2000

Wrestlemania Comes Early

Michael Cole opens the show by asking Vince McMahon about his major announcement tonight. It’s nice to see Vince with the stooges again. Brisco excitedly talks about the tag team tournament - multiple teams in matches where the winners will be entered into a battle royal, all for a shot at the Tag Team Championships at Wrestlemania. He says he’s going to save the BIG announcement for later.

WWF Champion Triple H and Stephanie McMahon Helmsley head down to the ring. After he promises to win amidst loud “asshole” chants, he calls Vince McMahon out demanding to know what this big announcement is. It’s not Vince who comes out, it’s The Big Show and Shane McMahon. Shane says Triple H should defend the WWF title against Show here tonight. He refuses of course, and just as things about to get physical, Vince McMahon comes out onto the stage. He says that Triple H will defend the WWF title tonight against The Big Show and The Rock! The Wrestlemania main event two weeks early, tonight on Raw. Triple H agrees but says that if this match happens tonight, it doesn’t happen at Wrestlemania. This match is a one time only match. It is set and official.

Michael Cole interviews The Rock and asks for his thoughts on tonight's main event. The Rock is going to win the WWF Championship tonight. He also debuted his “Just Bring it” catchphrase during this. He’s waited a year for this shot. It is amazing, given how red hot he’s been all year, that he hasn’t been WWF Champion since Wrestlemania 15. 

The Wrestlemania Main Event comes early. Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) defends his WWF Championship against The Big Show (with Shane McMahon) and The Rock (with Vince McMahon) There’s actually about 20 minutes left of Raw so this looks set to be a real match too. Triple H has promised that after this, this particular triple threat will never, ever happen again so as of right now, Wrestlemania has no main event only 13 days away from the show.

This match is a wild and chaotic affair with all three men having their moments to hit a finisher and have victory in hand, all the while the three McMahon’s distract and interfere for their men. The Rock has the match won, but Shane McMahon pulls him out of the ring. In the end, as Shane and Vince fight over a steel chair, Triple H gets his hands on it and knocks out The Big Show, followed by a Pedigree to retain the WWF Championship. Triple H wins this faux Wrestlemania main event. The Rock chases after Shane McMahon and as Triple H celebrates, Linda McMahon heads out onto the stage. It’s a wild scene as a fan jumps the barrier and rushes someone but is thankfully taken down by Triple H and security very quickly. Linda congratulations Triple H on his victory, but says that since there won’t b a return triple threat match at Wrestlemania. It has to involve those three men, but a special ingredient is needed. A deserving individual whose dream should come true - she adds Mick Foley, to make the Wrestlemania 2000 a Fatal Four Way Elimination match! The fans explode for Mick Foley, who comes out to Mankind’s theme song and the two fight down to the ring! Foley knocks out The Big Show and Triple H with a pair of title belt shots and celebrates with the WWF title belt to close the show, all the while the fans go ballistic for him. Foley’s retirement lasted all of three weeks, but I’m happy to see him!

Tag Team-Mania

D-Generation X’s Roaddogg and X-Pac (with Tori) who finally have their cool Run DMC theme take on Matt and Jeff Hardy in the first of the tag team eliminator matches. Just as DX look in charge, Kane comes to the ring and chases X-Pac around the ring. The Hardys capitalise and finish Roaddogg with a Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb to win the match and advance to the battle royal.

The second tag team elimination match is Too Cool - Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty - against Perry Saturn and the Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko. Eddie Guerrero is finally out of his sling, but still wearing an arm protector. Eddie tries to help his buddies but gets caught by the referee and during the ruckus, a double team on Malenko and a roll up gives Too Cool the victory! They advance to the tag team battle royal later tonight.

In the next tag team elimination match for a shot in the battle royal the Hardcore Champion Crash Holly teams with his returning cousin Hardcore against Al Snow and Steve Blackman. The match progresses and is fine but a few minutes in, Tazz with a referee following comes to the ring to cash in on the 24/7 rule, suplexing Crash out of the ring and brawling with him through the crowd. That leaves Hardcore Holly solo in the ring against Snow and Blackman. He’s quickly defeated and Head Cheese advances to the battle royal. Crash Holly, we’re told, managed to escape from Tazz and run out of the arena. 

In the final Tag Team elimination match for a shot in the battle royal, Edge and Christian face Bradshaw and Faarooq. Who are still The Acolytes but typing APA is easier. They have got a new titantron video with lots of Acolyte Protection Agency stuff so I think APA is fine. Mideon tries to help the APA, still working off his gambling debts but it backfires and he hits Bradshaw with a kendo stick by mistake leading to a Downward Spiral on Edge and a victory. Edge and Christian are in the battle royal. The APA laid out Mideon with a sloppy Dominator afterwards. He was too big and Faarooq fell over.

Edge and Christian, The Hardyz, Too Cool and Al Snow and Steve Blackman take part in a four team battle royal after their wins earlier, and the WWF Tag Team Champions The Dudleyz join commentary as the winners of this will face them at Wrestlemania 2000. Too Cool, and Head Cheese are both dumped out pretty quickly and it comes down to Edge and Christian and The Hardyz. The fans are really into it as both these teams' popularity has skyrocketed lately. The Dudleyz had had major issues with both teams going all the way back to before the Royal Rumble. As both teams trade finishers, Bubba and D-Von get into the ring and lay out Edge and then Matt Hardy with 3Ds before retrieving a table. They lay Christian across it and then powerbomb Jeff Hardy through him, and the table. The fans go ballistic for what was a very cool looking table spot. So after all that, we still don’t have a number one contender team for the tag titles at Wrestlemania.

Kane Chases D-Generation X

After costing X-Pac and Roaddogg the match, Kane catches up to Tori and with the encouragement of Paul Bearer drills her with a brutal looking chokeslam! 

Backstage, X-Pac and Roaddogg beg Triple H to do something about Kane so he books him in a match against Rikishi tonight.

Rikishi faces Kane in a match to soften up Kane for X-Pac but as Rikishi walks to the ring, JR informs us that these two will team up at Wrestlemania against X-Pac and Kane. Doesn’t make a ton of sense but I guess both men have had big issues with DX lately. Kane quickly chokeslams Rikishi but DX arrives with low blows and an X-Factor on both men. They don’t appear to have done any actual damage as both men shrug it off - they’ve just made Kane and Rikishi angry.

Other Happenings

• The Godfather (with four hoes) heads to the ring for a match with The Big Bossman, who is accompanied by the debuting, massive Bull Buchanan. He’s dressed just like Bossman but in much better shape. The match doesn’t start and the two just beat Godfather up and lay him out with a big scissors kick from Bull. 
• Kevin Kelly interviews Chris Benoit and asks why he attacked Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle on Smackdown. Benoit says that Kurt embarrasses WWF gold and he’s going to embarrass Chris Jericho tonight. 
• Kurt Angle, the Euro-Continental Champion, heads to the ring but before he can speak he's interrupted by Chris Jericho who makes fun of Chris Benoit. Benoit retaliates by jumping Y2J from behind and Kurt Angle joins commentary to watch this match. Kurt will defend both his titles at Wrestlemania against both these men in a triple threat match. There’s more rules to be added to that. These two work well together and Benoit is very physical in how he chops and slams Jericho around the ring. Benoit is kicked to the outside and as he pulls himself up on the announce desk, Kurt takes issue with him touching his title belts so he punches Angle down. Kurt hits Benoit with one of his title belts which leaves him easy pickings for a Lionsault and Y2J picks up the victory.

Bob Backlund comes down to the ring which distracts Jericho enough for Angle to lay him out with a title belt shot too, and Kurt then lays into both of them with punches and leaves both his challengers laid out. When we get backstage, there's an all time famous blooper as Kurt high fives a random bystander and encourages Bob to do the same. Bob is confused and doesn’t know what to do and after a long, awkward pause, Kurt looks off camera, exasperated. 

• Val Venis takes on his tag team partner from Smackdown, Test. Test has the debuting Trish Stratus with him. She actually debuted on Sunday Night Heat and is a manager who was seen staking out various superstars before picking Test as one of her “clients”. She is one of the most attractive women in wrestling history and became known as one of the best in-ring performers and promos to boot, but at this point she's inexperienced and King spends the entire match talking about her cleavage. With a little distraction from Trish, Test wins with a roll up and a hook of the tights. An angry Val attacks Test after the match but he’s saved by Prince Albert. The two lay out Test and after the match, Trish gives this new team their name, which everyone wants to see. “T and A”. Test and Albert.

• They showed the full music video for the Run DMC D-Generation X theme song. It has a lot more Stephanie McMahon than you’d expect.
• For the first time in months, there’s a GTV segment! Black and white hidden camera footage has The Kat (who we also haven’t seen in weeks and weeks) checking on Terri Runnels and how her ribs are doing after Edge speared her on Smackdown. Terri says that it probably hurts Kat more not being on TV. Ouch.

Smackdown! - March 23rd, 2000

The Wrestlemania Main Event is finally (?) set

A great dramatic video package recapping the events of Raw, and the main event of Wrestlemania is finally, thankfully locked in. Triple H defends in a fatal four way against The Rock, The Big Show and the returning Mick Foley. They have been very clear that Foley’s return is “one night only” and that he is not coming out of retirement. 

In the arena, WWF Champion Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley head down to the ring looking furious. Triple H recaps the events of Raw and Vince and Linda’s big announcements. He says his wife has an even bigger announcement to make tonight. He continues to promise and guarantee that he will retain the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania no matter what, and no matter who his opponents are. Linda comes out onto the stage and explains Foley’s participation being one night only and says that if he does win the title, the title will be vacated the next night on Raw and a tournament will take place to crown a new champion at Backlash. She provided so much detail that it seems like Foley winning was the plan! Triple H says he’ll eliminate Rock first because he hates him the most, then “that big goof” The Big Show, and then finally he’ll beat Mick Foley so bad that he’ll forget his own name and it’ll be all Linda’s fault. That’s so dark. Linda says that she will be in Mick Foley’s corner at Wrestlemania, so that's a McMahon in every corner 

Backstage, Shane McMahon goes to see his old buddies The Mean Street Posse. He says they need to let bygones be bygones and make up. He asks Pete Gas if he wants to be Triple H, Joey Abs if he wants to be Mick Foley, and if Rodney wants to be The Rock. They are all obviously interested and follow him. 

The Rock faces Bubba Ray Dudley. The Rock comes out to the special song for him that Method Man did on the Aggression CD. It’s not my favourite, and thankfully it doesn’t stick. A few other talents will adopt their hip hop songs from the Aggression album as their new themes. D-Generation X already has. D-Von is at ringside with Bubba. Bubba does taunt The Rock on the outside and puts the commentator’s headset on but The Rock hits him with the ring bell and turns the tables. He hits D-Von with it too for good measure. D-Von helps Bubba as much as he can and sets up a table on the outside but it backfires and The Rock knocks D-Von off the apron and through the table, and then finishes off Bubba with a spinebuster and People’s Elbow to win the match. 

Jim Ross brings Mick Foley out to the ring to talk about his return and Wrestlemania main event. Mick addresses the fact that he’s back already, but does promise to never wrestle again after Wrestlemania. That also isn’t true. He mentions his haircut (he’s had it cut into a little curly bob which suits him) and says that Linda McMahon called him out of the blue and offered him this spot because he deserves it, and because it’s the right thing to do. Which I do agree with. Mick talks about the opponents and after putting over The Big Show and talking about his friendship with The Rock, promises that the match will come down to him and Triple H where he promises to bloody and beat him and take his WWF title. A great Foley promo.

Shane McMahon leads The Mean Street Posse to the ring, all dressed as Triple H, The Rock and Mick Foley respectively. He introduces them each as such, and then brings out their Wrestlemania opponent The Big Show. This is a preview of Wrestlemania and The Big Show demolishes The Posse, in a twist which they really should have seen coming. He lays down and encourages Rodney/The Rock to give him the People’s Elbow, but stops him and plants him with a chokeslam instead. Finally, all having been chokeslammed, he drags them and pins all three of them.

Stephanie McMahon Helmsley heads down to the ring to make her “huge, Earth shattering” announcement, which King and Cole have been talking about and hyping all night long. She calls her mother Linda out to the ring and gets really personal and after multiple long stories about having taken all her dad’s affection away from Linda, and having to basically sleep with WWF officials as a teenager to get more money, she slaps Linda in the face which Linda sells like a gunshot and drops to the mat. It’s sold as this huge shockingly moment but hilariously, this moment would end up costing Linda McMahon all her political dreams as she ran for congress twice and her opponents would show this clip of her being slapped on TV to show how low brow she and her family were, all while Linda and the McMahon machine had to try and convince them that wrestling isn’t real. Kind of hilarious. Anyway, I’ve no idea what the announcement was. I guess it was that Stephanie hates her mum? A weird way to end Smackdown, and the focus of the main event remains firmly on the feuding McMahon’s more than the four Superstars in the match, or even the WWF title itself.

The Wrestlemania card fills out

The Euro-continental Champion Kurt Angle heads down to the ring and explains his title defence at Wrestlemania. It’ll be a 2-fall triple threat match where the first fall is for the IC title and the second is for the European title. Or at least that’s what it ends up being on the night - Kurt and Michael Cole on commentary get it back and forth a couple of times. He’s facing Chris Benoit, and before the match begins Chris Jericho comes out and joins commentary to talk about both his Wrestlemania opponents. Y2J watches the whole wrestle for a bit while trash talking, but eventually has had enough and knocks them both out with the Intercontinental title belt before locking the Olympic Hero in the Walls of Jericho until he’s dragged out of the ring by a team of referees. He does release, but only so he can put the Walls of Jericho on Benoit for a bit too! 

Kevin Kelly asks Vince McMahon if he knows what his daughter’s announcement will be. He says that she’ll announce she’s pregnant, and then 9 months later give birth to a baby anteater (that's a joke about Triple H’s nose). He then asks Vince what the status is of the tag team titles and Vince says that since there’s no clear number one contender, The Dudleyz will defend the titles against Edge and Christian and The Hardyz in a “triangle ladder match” which gets a huge cheer from the crowds.

Rikishi teams with Too Cool for a six man tag team match with The Radicals. At Wrestlemania, Too Cool and Chyna will face The Radicals in a six man tag, and Rikishi teams with Kane to face X-Pac and Roaddogg. This marks Eddie Guerrro’s first match since injuring his elbow during his WWF debut. He does still have a brace on his elbow. His partners are Perry Saturn and Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko. This week its poor Eddie that gets a stink face from Rikishi, followed by a Worm from Scotty 2 Hotty (complete with loud, crowd interaction) and Rikishi pins Saturn with the Rikishi-driver to win this match. This trio is insanely popular, and dances in victory afterwards. X-Pac and Roaddogg runs down and attack Rikishi and help The Radicals beat up Too Cool too but Kane to the rescue and after a chokeslam to Saturn and Malenko, X-Pac hits him with a chair. With the help of a steel chair, and still having the numbers advantage, DX and The Radicals leave Too Cool, Rikishi and Kane laid out. 

24/7! 

Backstage, Ivory gives a massage to Hardcore Champion Crash Holly who is very stressed out by his 24/7 Hardcore title defences. She relaxes him…and then smashes a glass container over his head and tries to win the Hardcore title herself! Crash kicks out and, wearing only a towel, escapes with the Hardcore title belt again!

Backstage, Crash Holly complains to his cousin Hardcore that with the 24/7 rule, he can’t trust anyone! Hardcore tells him that if he can’t trust him, he can’t trust anyone. They then go out to the ring for a tag team match with Al Snow and Steve Blackman. Snow tries to put a big foam cheese hat on Steve as he walks to the ring. The fans do keep chanting “head cheese” so it is working to be fair to Al. This match doesn’t last long before Hardcore turns on his own partner and boots Crash in the face, turning this into a Hardcore championship match. They fight off through the crowd, and Crash does once again escape. While Head Cheese celebrate a count-out victory in the ring, they’re attacked by the newly formed T+A, Test and Albert. They lay both men out with kicks and slams, and then Trish Stratus cuts a promo on the stage and says that T+A is what the people want to see while trying to dance seductively. 

Other Happenings

• Jacqueline defends the WWF Women’s Championship against Lita! This is her in ring debut, and gets a very quiet reaction from the crowd which is funny given how insanely popular she’d be a couple of months later. She isn’t great in the ring but the girls work hard and deserve more love from the crowd than they’re getting considering how few actual women’s wrestling matches we saw on TV in this era. It devolves into a cat fight which the referee gets caught up in which gets the only cheer of the match. Jackie wins with a reversal into a roll up and remains the Women’s champion, but then sore loser Lita attacks her after the match with a suplex and then a moonsault which does get a decent reaction. 

• Another GTV segment! It also centres on The Kat and Terri like the one on Raw, and Kat gives Terri back her top that she borrowed with big holes cut out of it. Terri calls her a bitch.

• The Big Bossman’s new tag team partner/protegee/friend Bull Buchanan faces The Godfather (with four hoes). Bossman isn’t at ringside tonight. Godfather has the match in hand, but he’s attacked by The Big Bossman and the men in black again beat down Godfather.

• Al Snow takes Steve Blackman to learn how to milk a cow. Head Cheese has been all over these shows, way more than I remember them being. The cow sprays milk in Blackman’s face, so it's implied off camera that he uses his nunchucks to beat the poor cow senseless, which screams. That is horrific.

Raw is War - March 27th, 2000

A McMahon in Every Corner

Raw opens with a recap of Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley’s “massive announcement” on Smackdown which makes even less sense on revisiting. Triple H said it was something that will rock the WWF and shake it to its core, but then she called out her mother in the main event, said that the McMahon family could only have one dominant female, called Linda a bitch and slapped her (which she sold like a gunshot, funny if nothing else) Not strictly speaking an announcement and not convinced it was worth hyping up for the entire length of an episode of Smackdown but sure. They are working overtime to get Stephanie up to the same level of hate as her brother, and her dad was at his peak. 

In the arena, Linda McMahon enters first (she’s using the classic 80s/early 90s Wrestlemania theme song as her entrance music) and gets a bit of a cheer. She apologises to everyone for the spectacle the family has created, and says she watched on TV and couldn’t stand letting her family run amuck any further. She again restates that letting Mick Foley live his dream is the right thing to do (which gets a huge cheer and “Foley” chant. You love to see it.) She talks about the pain both emotionally and mentally of her own daughter slapping her but Linda is…not a great promo. It’s all a bit emotionless. She calls her daughter out for an apology. That brings out her husband Vince instead. He says he’s on Linda’s side and will stand by her waiting for the apology too. He says he’s concerned for Linda, leaving the boardroom and coming into the WWF and putting herself in danger, and then says that it’ll be The Rock who wins at Wrestlemania. He then demands Stephanie come out now without her “degenerate husband”. Stephanie does come out (to a “slut” chant) with a big smirk and sarcastically apologises to her mother before saying she wishes she’d slapped her dad instead. Vince fires up and says he’s going to “spank her fanny until it blisters and turns blue” and that brings out Triple H who calls the McMahon’s “the most dysfunctional family in the world” and gets an “asshole” chant so Vince quotes Stone Cold and says “i dunno if you can hear me but you’ve got twenty thousand people calling you an asshole!” which gets a huge pop. Mentioning Austin always does. Triple H calls them both a pair of dinosaurs. Out with the old and in with the new. That brings out Shane McMahon who goes down to the ring and seemingly takes his parent’s side and says Triple H makes him sick, but does agree we need a new era and then attacks Vince! Triple H rushes the ring and the two of them double team Vince! Linda grabs Shane’s hair, and then Linda grabs her mother. Shane teases hitting his own mother and then Mick Foley runs in and makes the save, hammering down Triple H and turning his attention to Shane! The Big Show comes down and now it’s two on one again with Show and The Game sending Mick Foley packing out of the ring. Linda watches on helplessly as Triple H prepares to Pedigree Vince but The Rock finally arrives to save the day! The number’s game is too much for him too though and Show flattens The Rock with a massive chokeslam, and then Triple H drops Foley with a Pedigree before blasting Vince in the face with the WWF title belt to end a wild, chaotic brawl. 

Michael Cole interviews Vince McMahon who calls Shane out tonight. Later, he catches up with Shane who says he’d love to fight his dad but as for tonight, the answer is no. No match between the McMahon’s tonight.

Michael Cole interviews The Rock and asks for his reaction to Vince challenging Shane to a match tonight. He does not care about the McMahon family saga. He wipes a monkey’s ass with the McMahon family saga. He cares only about Wrestlemania and becoming the WWF Champion. Thank God for The Rock. He says that since he’s the People’s Champion The Rock is not done tonight. He doesn’t care if it’s Show, Triple H, Shane or even Stephanie - one of them is going to Smell what The Rock is cooking tonight. 

Kevin Kelly speaks to Shane McMahon and The Big Show about The Rock’s challenge. They both accept and it’ll be a handicap match tonight. 

Michael Cole speaks to Vince and asks his reaction to Shane and Big Show vs. The Rock tonight. He says it won’t be a handicap match - he’ll be The Rock’s partner and make it a tag team match.

Backstage, Stephanie tells her husband to not take The Rock’s challenge seriously and not to put himself at risk before Wrestlemania. She hands him a referee's shirt instead and he’ll referee the main event. Later, Linda McMahon added Mick Foley as the second referee to keep things even.

WWF Champion Triple H (with Stephanie) and Mick Foley enter first as the two referees for the main event. Vince comes out first for his team and is jumped by Shane and Big Show until The Rock arrives to even the odds and the match begins properly. The bad guys isolate The Rock and wear him down while the two referees argue intermittently. There’s not a huge amount of action to recap but the fans are absolutely electric for everything and everyone. It’s insane. They’re screaming the building down for rest holds and sleepers. The match goes to the outside and with a little help from referee Triple H, Shane dominates his dad on the announce table and throws him back inside. Vince hits a sloppy spear on Shane but is rocked with a headbutt from Big Show and the two crawl to their partners. Rock gets the tag but Big Show doesn’t and Shane gets a spinebuster and People’s Elbow but as Mick tries to make the count, Triple H drops an elbow on him and Pedigree’s The Rock, dragging Shane into a cover but then Vince attacks Triple H! Vince gets the upper hand but walks right into a Mandible Claw. The Rock drills Shane with a Rock Bottom and Foley counts! The Rock and Vince McMahon officially win and stand tall with referee Mick Foley. 

DX have a couple of big problems

Roaddogg faces Rikishi in a singles match ahead of their tag team match with X-Pac and Kane respectively as their partners at Wrestlemania. Rikishi quickly gives Roaddogg a Stink Face which sends him running off up the ramp in disgust and a count out victory for Rikishi. Too Cool came out for the second time tonight (see Other Happenings) and the three of them performed their victory dance to an absolutely massive cheer from the crowd. This act is so over!

Euro-Continental Champion Kurt Angle faces Kane in a non-title match. Kurt cuts a promo on the walk to the ring making fun of the local sports teams as usual. It’s funny when he does it. He reminds us all of the rules of his two-fall-triple-threat match at Wrestlemania against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. Kane does have Paul Bearer with him this week. Kane dominates and Kurt gets frustrated and gets disqualified for a low blow and a title belt shot to the head. Kane sits right back up and spikes Kurt with an awesome looking chokeslam and then a tombstone piledriver. He is lazer focused on X-Pac.

X-Pac faces D-Von Dudley, with their tag team partners at ringside. Bubba sets up a table at ringside and as he fights with Roaddogg, X-Pac X-Factors a distracted D-Von to win the match. DX and The Dudleyz fight as Kane makes his way to the ring to get X-Pac. The tag team champions 3D Kane and leaves but he sits up and tries to chokeslam Tori again! X-Pac and Roaddogg are there to save the day and throw Kane up and over the top rope, crashing through the table at ringside! 

Triangle Ladder match

The build for the Triangle Ladder match for the tag team titles at Wrestlemania kicked into high gear last night on Sunday Night Heat. Edge and Christian and The Hardyz had a falling out about ego during a sit down interview, and then later in the show E+C cost Matt and Jeff a match against Kaientai, and then The Hardyz returned the favor costing Edge and Christian a match with Chris Jericho and Tazz. Edge and Christian join commentary to watch Matt and Jeff face Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn. Edge and Christian spend the whole match talking about how self centred and egotistical Matt and Jeff Hardy are. Edge shows a lot of personality and is fired up. Christian is quieter and doesn’t have much to say which is funny as he became one of the all time great promos. This is a good match and The Hardyz have it won until Edge slips into the ring and Spears Jeff Hardy, which Saturn capitalises on with a suplex to win the match. The Radicals win again. 

Other Happenings

• Chyna teams up with Chris Jericho to face the team of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. They come out to Benoit’s new solo-theme music which he’d use for a couple of years. Eddie and Chyna are on opposite sides of a six person tag at Wrestlemania, and Jericho and Benoit are the two challengers for Kurt Angle’s pair of title belts. The Radicals win a short match when Benoit pins Jericho, and then Jericho and Benoit fight off through the crowd. Chyna fights Eddie one on one in the ring until Malenko and Saturn join him and the three of them beat down Chyna until Too Cool, her partners at Wrestlemania against these three men, rescue her. The damage is done and Chyna looks hurt.

• Hardcore Holly challenges his cousin Crash for the Hardcore title, but before the match even gets going Tazz, The Headbangers and Viscera all rush the ring, each bringing their own referees with them all trying to cash in on the 24/7 stipulation. Crash escapes through the crowd but runs into the waiting Mean Street Posse as Crash continues to escape the building. He runs into Kaientai and asks for directions to the exit but he’s then jumped by Taka Michinoku and Funaki too! Crash makes it outside and hides behind a trash can as the entire group of men rampage around looking for the champion! He escapes back inside and locks the door behind him! Jim Ross gives him the Houdini of Hardcore nickname. 
• Al Snow faces Test in singles action after the newly formed T+A beat down Head Cheese on Smackdown. Which is a very odd sentence. Trish Stratus and Albert are at ringside for Test, and Blackman is at ringside for Snow. Before the match, Blackman mentions a pygmy mascot who plays “lets go Head Cheese on his ass cheeks. That’ll be important later. These two teams will be at Wrestlemania for some reason. The card is loaded. A distraction from Trish lets Test pick up the victory.

• The Big Bossman and Bull Bucanan face Bradshaw and Faarooq, The Acolytes. The APA stuff has gotten them really popular. The Godfather and D’Lo Brown come out during the match and pay off the APA with some hoes so that they can take their place but that’s not an official match and the referee disqualifies the APA. 
• A third GTV segment in as many weeks once again shows the backstage bickering and pettiness of The Kat and Terri Runnels. Terri has buddied up to the now heel Fabulous Moolah. Kat gives Terri a bill for the shirt she ruined so Terri tears it up. They try to fight, but Moolah is the one who attacks Kat and strips her to her underwear. That brings in Mae Young and she attacks Moolah.

I don’t often mention it but on the WWE Network, the extra attitude segment, after the show stopped going out live, was alot of fun with Rocky encouraging both Vince and Foley to give their own People Elbows to Shane. The Rock even laughed and smiled along during it which you never see him do on TV.

Smackdown! - March 30th, 2000

Final shots before Wrestlemania

D-Generation X all arrive together on the DX Express, and then Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley head down to the ring together. Triple H talks about the electricity in the air as we are only three days away from Wrestlemania.

He talks long about his dominance and hammers home that he is The Game, he is the best, he is “that damn good”, that he will keep the title forever and eventually he’s interrupted by Vince McMahon. He says that Triple H seems unusually confident, which is odd since he’s such a coward. Vince says that maybe Triple H thinks he can weasel out of the match and keep the title and so he makes the Fatal Four Way Elimination match no disqualification, and no count outs. Pin fall and submission is the only way to eliminate each person. Vince actually misspeaks and says it can only end by a pin. I guess none of the four of them are submission experts so that’s fair. Vince leaves, and Triple H calls it unfair and ridiculous. He refuses to be rattled and remains just as confident as he was. He then keeps bragging about having retired Mick Foley and again goes on a bit until eventually Mick Foley comes out to interrupt. He says that he’s back for one night only, and he plans on retiring again as the WWF Champion before showing off his barbed wire 2x4. Credit to Stephanie and Triple H for both selling the reveal with real fear. They do make Mick feel like a threat. He says that since Wrestlemania is his last match either way, he’s going to go to extreme lengths. It doesn’t matter if he spends all day the next day in bed, or in the hospital as long as he has Triple H’s WWF title belt and ends by giving a heartfelt goodbye to the fans. 

Backstage as Kurt Angle talks to a security guard about how unfair his situation at Wrestlemania is, The Big Show approaches him and asks for a word.

The Rock faces Kurt Angle in a non-title match. Mick Foley offered to be in The Rock’s corner, anticipating that something wild is due to happen this close to Wrestlemania but The Rock doesn’t want or need anyone’s help. The Euro-Continental Champion gives us another classic “the local sports teams suck” promo on the walk to the ring. He gives his young fans permission to stay up late on a school night and see him retain both his titles at Wrestlemania. As the two wrestle, Triple H with Stephanie and The Big Show with Shane head down to the ring and circle like sharks, watching on. As The Rock sets up for the People’s Elbow, Triple H distracts the referee and The Big Show plants him with a chokeslam, but The Rock kicks out of Kurt’s cover! He recovers quickly and with a beautiful Rock Bottom, The Rock wins! He’s swarmed immediately by Triple H, Big Show and Shane and the three beat him down until Vince McMahon, armed with a steel chair, makes the save! He knocks down Triple H and then Big Show but then walks into a title belt shot to the head from Shane! Shane blasts The Rock with the title belt too, and the segment ends with Shane and The Big Show celebrating with the WWF title belt. Shane hits Triple H with the belt for good measure while Stephanie screams at him from ringside. I’m going to end this segment by saying that my hatred and personal feud with referee Earl Hebner continues as not once but twice during this post-match melee, he was standing right in front of the camera and we didn’t actually see Vince’s first shot, or Shane’s first title belt shot, because of him. He’s terrible. 

Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley comes out to the ring and reads a fan letter she received. Stephanie is an inspiration to this girl and her girlfriends. It’s a list of glowing compliments for her plus reminding us all of the horrible things Vince and Shane did to her in the spring of 1999, which is actually fair. Vince comes out and starts to fight back but Linda then comes out and says that her husband started all of this and he now has to fix it. Linda wants the family back together and it’s up to him to fix it. When Linda leaves, Vince promises everyone that at Wrestlemania he’s going to fix everything. He also says he’s going to fix something tonight. He says we’ll see Stephanie McMahon Helmsley in her first ever wrestling match. She’ll face Jacqueline for the WWF Women’s Championship tonight! Stephanie looks shaken, and terrified.

In the main event, the highest profile WWF Women’s Championship match ever at this point. Jacqueline defends against Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, with her husband and WWF Champion Triple H at ringside. As Jackie reaches the ring, Stephanie gets outside and the rest of D-Generation X head down to the ring. With everyone distracted and Stephanie on the outside, her DX buddy X-Pac trips Jackie, and Tori spikes her with a DDT in the ring. Stephanie covers and just like that, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley is the new WWF Women’s Champion!

DX hoist her up in the air to celebrate with the belt and as they do, Kane’s pyro blows and he marches to the ring, still obsessed with getting X-Pac. Rikishi backs him up and fights Roaddogg as Kane fights X-Pac. The Dudleyz run down to try and help, and that brings The Hardyz out followed by Edge and Christian. Then The Radicals are next, and Chris Jericho and Chyna, then the participants in the Hardcore battle royal, and then Kurt Angle. Smackdown ends in chaos as the entire Wrestlemania undercard fills the ring and brawls. This is something that would become overdone in later years but was fresh and wild to see at the time. The chaos starts to disperse as the main eventers show up - The Big Show partially clears the ring, and The Rock finishes the job and Mick Foley’s appearance with the barbed wire 2x4 signals the end. Triple H and Stephanie - a pair of world champions - pose at the top of the ramp with Shane and Big Show talking strategy at ringside and The Rock and Foley in the ring.

Tag Team War

Matt and Jeff Hardy head down to ringside and join commentary to watch Edge and Christian face X-Pac and Roaddogg. Matt and Jeff are awkward on the mic and do their best to slag off Edge and Christian but don’t do a good job. The Hardyz return the favour from Raw and while the referee is down, lay out Edge with a Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb combo letting Roaddogg pick up the win for his team.

Trish Stratus accompanies T+A to the ring for their match with The Hardy Boyz. Trish is already pretty popular because…well, you know. A short match which is actually pretty good, and Matt wins quickly with a Twist of Fate on Test. T+A lay the Hardyz out after the match with Test hitting Matt Hardy with a big elbow drop off of Albert’s shoulders…kinda. He slipped and undershot it and mostly missed. T+A leave and Edge and Christian come down and attack Matt and Jeff as payback for earlier. They set up a ladder in the ring and symbolically climb it and pose. Bubba and D-Von run down and Bubba shoves the ladder over, but instead of guiding it to the mat like most people do he just shoves it, which in a legit botch brings Edge and Christian down and landing awkwardly on the ladder which Edge would describe in this book as basically getting a ladder up the ass. The Tag Team Champions post atop the ladder ahead of the triangle ladder match at Wrestlemania.

Backstage, Steve Blackman and Al Snow attack T+A with kendo sticks ahead of their match at Wrestlemania.

Other Happenings

• Rikishi and Kane tag on the WWF Tag Team Champions Bubba Ray and D-Von in a non-title match. Rikishi and Kane face X-Pac and Roaddogg at Wrestlemania so this is a warm up for both teams. This is a good match with the big story being that Kane and Rikishi work really well together as a team despite their inexperience. Kane plants both champions with an impressive double chokeslam and tags in Rikishi who finishes D-Von with a Banzai drop to win the match. 

• Tazz challenges Crash Holly for the Hardcore title. Tazz dominates and suplexes Crash out of the ring and then into the announce desk. Crash tries to run and scampers into the crowd and through the people to the backstage area where Viscera is waiting. Crash escapes as Vis and Tazz fight but The Headbangers are waiting with another referee. Once again, the group of goofs all fight between themselves and no one can get a pin. Just like on Raw, Crash Holly manages to escape while everyone fights to catch him with multiple referees never getting past a two count. The coverage of this would continue throughout the show with Crash escaping and hiding and being found with more and more men becoming involved in chasing the Houdini of Hardcore. Towards the end of the show, they chase Crash out to the ring and he grabs a mic and stops them all. He says that things have gotten out of control and he offers a Hardcore battle royal at Wrestlemania for all these men. He’s vague about the rules, but they’re explained at Wrestlemania. Hardcore accepts on everyone else’s behalf, but says his issues with his cousin are personal and punches him in the mouth! And they brawl off through the crowd again. 

• GTV has The Kat going to meet Val Venis in his hotel room. He is the referee for her match with Terri Runnels at Wrestlemania (that’s news to me) and the implication is that she had sex with Val in exchange for preferential treatment. Gross. Later in the show, a second GTV segment revealed that Terri Runnels did the exact same thing. A third and final GTV has Mae Young trying to do the same and Val being really nasty to her about it. 
• Chyna accompanies Chris Jericho to the ring for his match with Eddie Guerrero. Eddie is one of Chyna’s opponents at Wrestlemania and he has fellow Radical Chris Benoit with him, who is one of Y2J’s Wrestlemania opponents. Before the match, Eddie speaks and accuses Chyna of having a crush on him. She just cannot resist his Latino Heat! A catchphrase is born - I have a Latino Heat t-shirt now. Chyna looks disgusted. In the ring, this is a dream match between two super talented wrestlers in their prime in Jericho and Guerrero. Jericho plants Eddie with a double powerbomb but Benoit distracts him from going for a Lionsault and Eddie gets back into the match. Y2J locks in the Walls of Jericho, but Benoit attacks him to cause the disqualification. Chyna gives chase to Eddie and he runs backstage as in the ring, Chris Benoit drills Jericho with a pair of stiff suplexes. That brings Kurt Angle running to the ring and attacking from behind, lays out both men with a pair of Olympic Slams. 
• Dean Malenko defends the Light Heavyweight Championship against Scotty 2 Hotty, with Perry Saturn and Grandmaster Sexay at ringside watching their partner’s backs. This is a good little match and Scotty might have it won with the Worm, but Saturn pulls him out of the ring. Then he has the match won a second time with a small package but as the referee is distracted Eddie Guerrero runs down and reverses the roll up and Malenko retains the title.