Company | WWF/WWE |
Event | Judgment Day 2000 |
Series | Judgment Day |
Edition | 2 |
Format | Pay-Per-View |
Date | Sunday May 21 2000 |
Venue | Freedom Hall |
Location | Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
Attendance | 16,827 |
WWF Judgment Day 2000 gave us what ended up being the final singles bout on PPV between The Rock and Triple H. Here, they would collide under Iron Man rules as part of their legendary on-off rivalry, with the added bonus of Shawn Michaels as special guest referee. However, it ended up being someone else that would be the focal point of this match, and of the show as a whole.
WWF Judgment Day 2000
Before the first match, we heard from the McMahon-Helmsley Faction, who discussed their plans for the evening, and the reigning Hardcore Champion Gerald Brisco was attacked by Headbangers Mosh and Thrasher due to the 24/7 rule, though the Stooge managed to keep hold of his belt for the time being.
Six-Man Tag Team Match
Rikishi & Too Cool vs. Kurt Angle, Edge & Christian
Starting things off, we had a six-man tag bout, as Team ECK combined forces on PPV for the first and only time. They battled Rikishi, Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty Too Hotty, who had previously teamed up as a trio on a grand stage, and would do so again. Prior to the bell, the reigning World Tag Team Champions, who had recently completed their much-teased heel turn, hammed it up alongside Angle as they mocked the Louisville crowd by performing as the “Jug Band” during their five-second pose; Jerry Lawler’s comical shriek as the camera did a close-up of Edge (who was sporting false teeth) was hilarious.
The match itself was very good; the ideal kind of opener for a PPV during this period, as there was a good mix of action and character work, not to mention some of the more over moves of the time period (check out the huge reaction that Scotty received when signalling for and delivering The Worm). In the end, Grandmaster hit Edge with a Hip Hop Drop, and rolled Scotty (the legal man) for the victory. Too Cool would beat E&C for their titles eight nights later before losing them back at King Of The Ring, the same night that Angle exacted full revenge for this loss by beating Rikishi to win the KOTR tournament.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS TV SHOWS? READ OUR PRE-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & SMACKDOWN!
Officiating
Backstage, Shawn Michaels promised that he would referee the Judgment Day 2000 main event straight down the middle. I’ll come back to HBK later, because his role here was more interesting than it first appears.
WWF European Championship Match
Eddie Guerrero (C) vs. Dean Malenko vs. Perry Saturn
Next up, three of the four Radicalz would clash with Latino Heat’s European Title on the line. There were numerous attitude adjustments during the spring of 2000, and one of those saw Guerrero and Chyna, seemingly the new detestable heel couple, garner some unlikely support and become a minor hit with audiences (though not the smash hit that revisionist history would have you believe). At this point, there was still a chance that Dean (then the Light Heavyweight Champion) and Perry might make it to a meaningful degree in the WWF, making this a three-way that was not only well-executed, but one that held the audience’s attention throughout.
As it turned out, Eddie’s “Mamacita” Chyna helped him win by tripping up Malenko, who fell into a pile of roses (Guerrero’s calling card); this allowed Eddie to get the victory and hold onto the European prize. Though he was years away from being known for lying, cheating and stealing, that same philosophy was working for him already in 2000. Malenko and Saturn would begin to tumble down the card following this loss, and though there was a Radicalz reunion in late 2000, neither man would be able to reclaim the momentum they had during the first half of the year during the rest of their time in the WWF.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS EDITION? READ OUR WWF JUDGMENT DAY 1998 REVIEW!
Bathroom
Meanwhile, Gerald Brisco’s attempts to avoid being attacked by anyone wishing to become Hardcore Champion continued, with him running into the men’s bathroom. That Jerry Lawler whispered during Brisco’s attempts to keep quiet was amusing. Gerald ended up being threatened by his own reflection in the mirror, to the point where he slipped and then punched the glass, thinking it was someone else!
No Disqualification, Falls Count Anywhere Match
Big Show vs. Shane McMahon
Big Show had represented Shane O Mac back at WrestleMania, but his desire to clown around and be an impersonator rubbed up Shane the wrong way, not to mention Shane’s disappointment at Show letting him down at Mania, hence this match at Judgment Day 2000. On paper, it’s as one-sided as a match could be, but with Shane McMahon involved, you know things would never follow the normal logical pattern. Sure enough, Show (who was still using the unmemorable remix of his theme song that was featured on the WWF Aggression album) dominated the bout until he signalled to bring it to an early end, which is when the cavalry arrived.
Big Boss Man, Bull Buchanan and T&A all came down to help Shane even the odds, so to speak, even though Show was now clearly at a massive disadvantage. At the aisleway, Show’s leg was pounded with an anvil case, before Shane (who Jerry Lawler referred to here as “Simba”) levelled him in the head with a cinder block, scoring the pinfall win. This shock result would be the reason for Show to be written off TV due to an injury, and he would only return for a few weeks in late July (at which point he actually aligned himself with Shane) before he was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling, which almost saw Show’s entire WWF/WWE tenure come to an abrupt end.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS PPV? READ OUR WWF INSURREXTION 2000 REVIEW!
Referees
Backstage, Gerald Brisco was still on the run. He tried to sit down and chill with two of the WWF’s regular referees, essentially hiding out with those he could trust the most. But he almost dropped off, and the refs teased attempting to win the belt for themselves! A startled Brisco woke up and scolded the officials before walking away again. In another part of the arena, Triple H and Shawn Michaels had a catch-up ahead of the final match, where Shawn’s biker shorts were the subject matter. Of course, this was just the cover for HHH’s real intentions, that being him hoping to use his past friendship with Michaels to assist him in the Iron Man match.
WWF Intercontinental Championship Submission Match
Chris Benoit (C) vs. Chris Jericho
Benoit and Jericho had become fierce rivals by this stage, having already battled at WrestleMania 2000 and Backlash as well as trading the IC Title back and forth. It goes without saying that putting these two in a Submission match was guaranteeing a great battle, and that is exactly what we got, with Jericho being incredibly popular following his recent flirtation with the main event scene. Y2J trapping Benoit in the Walls Of Jericho within the ropes was the highlight of the contest, even if it prevented Jericho from winning since The Crippler was technically unable to submit in that predicament.
It did give Jericho enough of a boost to take real control of the bout, though; when all was said and done, though, Benoit managed to keep hold of his IC Title by trapping Jericho in the Crippler Crossface for the (duh) submission victory. It’s totally understandable if you would rather not watch a Benoit match, but if you are willing to do so, this is one of his more underrated WWF/WWE battles and well worth a viewing for anyone who still enjoys seeing him in action.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FIRST EDITION? READ OUR WWF JUDGMENT DAY 1998 REVIEW!
Michael Cole interviewed Gerald Brisco, who told Cole that becoming the Hardcore Champion had changed his life, as he even wondered if Cole was gonna try and take the belt from him. During his speech, Brisco even attacked two vendors who imitated that they might try to capture the strap from him. We also saw The Rock warn Shawn Michaels about what would await him if he dared to step out of line during the main event.
Tag Team Tables Elimination Match
The Dudley Boyz vs. Road Dogg & X-Pac
Because of the Iron Man match, we only had five bouts on the under-card here. The last of those contests saw The Dudley Boyz, who had recently completed a face turn, go up against DX members Road Dogg and X-Pac (who, in contrast to Show, had an awesome remixed theme tune courtesy of the Aggression CD here) based on their desire to put Tori through a table (this was when Buh Buh Ray and D-Von had a fascination with driving women through tables, and Tori was next on their hit list).
I enjoyed this brawl, though at the time I was disappointed that it was fought using traditional tag team rules in the manner of the original Tables bout between The Dudleyz and The Hardy Boyz at Royal Rumble, and it was also not quite as dramatic as that contest had been. It was still fun, though, even if it didn’t have a popular outcome. D-Von was the first to taste a table courtesy of Road Dogg’s Pump Handle Slam, before X-Pac’s attempted hurricanrana led to him going through a table courtesy of a powerbomb. Then, when Mike Chioda got too close to Buh Buh and Dogg, they joined forces to hip-toss the ref through a table!
3D
This meant he was down when Dogg himself took a 3D through the wood, thus denying The Dudleyz a rightful win, especially when Gerald Brisco (the low-key star of the show) dragged Dogg from the wreckage. This gave The Dudleyz a chance to put Tori through a table (Jim Ross said “Tori is about to get some serious wood!”), only for Brisco to come to the rescue. This then allowed X-Pac to drill Buh Buh with an X-Factor through said table as Brisco revived Chioda, thus deciding the match in DX’s favour. DX would beat The Dudleyz again in a Tables Dumpster match at King Of The Ring, though Buh Buh did finally drive Tori through the wood on that particular night.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LAST EDITION? READ OUR WWE JUDGMENT DAY 2009 REVIEW!
WWF Championship 60-Minute Iron Man Match
The Rock (C) vs. Triple H
It was now time for our main event. Rock and HHH had feuded and battled for a long time, with their latest saga being their biggest yet. HHH had defeated Rock to win the four-way headline bout at WrestleMania 2000 following a Vince McMahon heel turn, but Rock rebounded by pinning HHH for the WWF Title at Backlash thanks to some assistance from Stone Cold Steve Austin in an iconic clash. In response, HHH challenged Rock to this Iron Man match (H has noted that he was originally meant to face Austin in one of these bouts) as a way to truly prove who was the better man.
In the meantime, Shawn Michaels resurfaced to not only resign as WWF Commissioner (he would announce Mick Foley as his successor a month or so later), but that he would also officiate this contest, given his Iron Man history. He shoved over Vince as a way of proving he wasn’t linked with his new regime, or was he? The HHH connection was persuasive evidence to the contrary. Especially since Michaels had previously cost Rock a separate WWF Title match against The Game.
Main Event Of Judgment Day 2000
This was an incredible main event, and from a wrestling standpoint, it’s the best Rock-HHH showdown ever. The scoreboard in the arena handily displaying the number of successful decisions that had gone either way. This was a good thing because, unlike Shawn’s Iron Man scrap with Bret Hart, here we had lots of falls. That likely contributed to this one being far better than the WrestleMania 12 bout. Rock scored a fairly early pin with a Rock Bottom. HHH had to struggle on for some time before securing his first victory with a Pedigree. He then claimed a second pin via a cradle, at which point Rock’s title was in jeopardy.
Surprisingly, HHH claimed a third win with a piledriver, meaning that the odds really were now against The Great One to retain. But he had still time to fight back, and he did so by first pinning HHH with a DDT (which surely wouldn’t have kept The Game down for a three-count on any other night), and then by benefitting from HHH getting himself disqualified, as H3 used a steel chair. However, HHH used the (always strange to me) psychology of sacrificing a fall in order to get one of his own (shouldn’t he have tried to pin him twice?), thus going 4-3 ahead after he pinned a dazed Rock.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING PPV? READ OUR WWF KING OF THE RING 2000 REVIEW!
Control
HHH was now in total control. And he even managed to force Rock to pass out from a sleeper hold. This put HHH two falls ahead, and with the clock starting to run out of time. But Rock made another comeback. And he stunned HHH by Pedigreeing him on the announcer’s table to claim a victory by countout. Shortly thereafter, Rock pinned HHH after a People’s Elbow to tie the score at 5-5 with just minutes remaining. At this point, the McMahon-Helmsley Regime panicked. Vince and Shane came out to try and help, only to get decked by HBK. But he was soon taken out (marking a rare bump for Shawn during this time). At this point, the Regime really began to do a number on Rock. But then …
Ever since Backlash, a mysterious and creepy video had played. This included the words “Judgment Day Is Coming”. That of course referred to the PPV, but also likely referred to someone else. That someone else finally came out at this point, and it was … THE UNDERTAKER! He hadn’t been seen since September 1999. And not only was he back, but he had a brand new biker image, putting the Phenom character aside.
Climax Of Judgment Day 2000
Now nicknamed The American Bad Ass, Undertaker came down on his motorcycle. He entered the ring to an almighty crowd reaction. And the pop for his punches on the various Regime members was something to behold. Especially when he grabbed Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley by the throat. HHH tried to rescue her, but he took a Chokeslam for his troubles. Shawn tried to warn Taker not to proceed with a Tombstone Piledriver.
But Taker did. And so Shawn called for the bell. The time had actually expired by this point, though nobody in the arena noticed. HHH had technically won the match via this DQ decision. This meant that he had shockingly ended Rock’s long-awaited fourth WWF Title reign after just three weeks. The match was amazing, and the ending is iconic.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING EDITION? READ OUR WWF JUDGMENT DAY 2001 REVIEW!
American Bad Ass
Undertaker would remain as the American Bad Ass until Survivor Series 2003. That night, he wrestled as the biker for the final time before reverting to the Phenom at WrestleMania XX. Shawn would disappear again and, barring a handful of appearances, we wouldn’t see him again until 2002. At that point, he was finally ready to return to the ring proper. As for Rock and HHH, their rivalry would continue through to a six-man tag bout at King Of The Ring. That night, Rock became a five-time WWF Champion. But their legendary feud would never receive true finality.
To me, one final showdown (perhaps inside Hell In A Cell) would have been the best way to cap it all off, with Rock standing tall of course. As it didn’t happen, there is still some unfinished business, and who knows? Maybe, someday, we might actually see these two lock horns one final time. It almost happened in 2016 at WrestleMania 32, but Rock’s film commitments put paid to that.
Confusion After Judgment Day 2000
One final point: the WWF seemed to tease Rock vs. Shawn on more than one occasion during the Attitude Era, but it never materialised. This was due to Michaels being unable to wrestle. But if Shawn had been physically capable, it surely would have been a classic battle. It didn’t happen when Shawn returned in 2002, either. That’s because Rock allegedly didn’t want to face Shawn due to previous poor treatment of him and his family.
It’s all a shame because Rock fought virtually everyone that was a contemporary. But the one that got away when it came to The Great One was Shawn Michaels. It’s a dream match that we never got to see. So, segments like those featured on this card were the closest that we got to seeing those two clash.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING TV SHOWS? READ OUR POST-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & SMACKDOWN!
Judgment Day 2000 Summary
WWF Judgment Day 2000 was a terrific PPV event. The main event is fantastic. And, as it takes up more than an hour of air time, that helps to make this a must-see show. But the rest of the card is also more than up to scratch. There are several awesome bouts alongside a few acceptable contests. Add to that the comedy involving Gerald Brisco and the general energy of the Louisville crowd. Oh, and the unforgettable return of The Undertaker. So, you have a PPV that would blow away every supercard in any other year. As it was, Judgment Day 2000 was just one of several classic shows from the year 2000 in the WWF.