Royal Rumble (2000)

Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble
	Promotional poster featuring various WWF wrestlers
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	January 23, 2000
City	New York City,New York
Venue	Madison Square Garden
Attendance	19,231
Buy rate	590,000
Tagline(s)	The Road to WrestleMania Begins
Pay-per-view chronology
←Previous; Armageddon	Next→; No Way Out
Royal Rumblechronology
←Previous; 1999	Next→; 2001

The 2000Royal Rumblewas the 13th annualRoyal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view(PPV)eventand 100th PPV overall produced by theWorld Wrestling Federation(WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 23, 2000, atMadison Square GardeninNew York City,New York.Six matches were contested on the event's card.

As has been customary since 1993, theRoyal Rumble matchwinner received a world championship match at that year'sWrestleMania.For the 2000 event, the winner received a match for theWWF ChampionshipatWrestleMania 2000.Themain eventwas the 2000 Royal Rumble match, whichThe Rockwon by last eliminatingBig Show.Theundercardincluded astreet fight matchbetweenTriple HandCactus Jackfor the WWF Championship which Triple H won to retain the title.

This Royal Rumble was the first WWF pay-per-view event to air onterrestrial televisionin theUnited Kingdom,asChannel 4had acquired the rights to broadcast World Wrestling Federation programming that year. The Royal Rumble aired live, with commercial breaks—a format that was changed for later PPVs on Channel 4. The event has been named as one of "the 15 best pay-per-views ever" by WWE,^[4]with the Street Fight match being critically acclaimed among various reviewers.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Production

Background

The event was held atMadison Square GardeninNew York City,New York.

TheRoyal Rumbleis an annualgimmick pay-per-view(PPV) produced every January by theWorld Wrestling Federation(WWF, now WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along withWrestleMania,SummerSlam,andSurvivor Series,which were dubbed the "Big Four",^[8]and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along withKing of the Ring.^[9]It is named after theRoyal Rumble match,a modifiedbattle royalin which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns aworld championshipmatch at that year's WrestleMania. For 2000, the winner earned a match for theWWF ChampionshipatWrestleMania 2000.The 2000 event was the 13th event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 23, 2000, atMadison Square GardeninNew York City,New York.^[10]^[11]

Storylines

The event comprised six matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayedheroes,villains,orless distinguishable charactersin scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWF's writers, while storylines were produced on WWF's weekly television shows,RawandSmackDown!.^[12]^[13]

WWF Championship

The main feud going into the event was betweenTriple HandMick Foley.AtArmageddonthe previous month,Stephanie McMahonturned on her fatherVinceduring his match with Triple H, with whom he had been feuding and who (in storyline) had married Stephanie against her will in a drive-through wedding. Vince and his son,Shane McMahon,left the company the next night out of anger. This left Stephanie, who began referring to herself as Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, in control and she and her husband formed the McMahon-Helmsley Era withRoad Dogg,Billy Gunn,andX-Pac,where they set out to make life miserable for all of their enemies in the WWF.

Two of the biggest targets of the group were TheRock 'N' Sock Connection,the team of Mankind (Foley) andThe Rock.Mankind was one of the most vocal of the objectors to what Triple H and Stephanie were doing, and in the December 27, 1999, episode ofRaw is War,Triple H decided that the company was “not big enough” for the three of them and forced Mankind and Rock to face each other in a Pink Slip on a Pole match later that evening. Rock won the match, which meant that Mankind was fired from the company. Triple H then began featuring a Mankind impersonator (Dennis Knight) in an attempt to mock him; Foley would eventually confront and beat up the impostor onSmackDown!on January 6, 2000.

On the January 10 episode ofRaw is War,The Rockbrought every superstar to the ring, demanding that Foley be reinstated or the entire roster would walk out. Triple H, who had defeatedThe Big Showto regain theWWF Championshipthe week before, acquiesced and reinstated Foley, who promptly requested aStreet Fightfor the WWF Championship at Royal Rumble. Foley and Triple H fought in a four-on-four tag team match later that night. Triple H pinned Foley after using the ring bell, and delivering twoPedigrees.After the match, Foley took off his mask and attacked Triple H.

On the January 13 episode ofSmackDown!,Triple H called out Foley again only to have the Mankind impersonator come out instead. When Foley did come out moments later, he revealed to Triple H that he had been thinking about what Mankind was and declared that “Mankind” was not ready to face him for the title at the Royal Rumble. Instead, he said the fans deserved a substitute; he then took off his mask and shirt and tie to reveal a black “Wanted Dead” shirt underneath and revealed to Triple H that, instead of taking on Mankind, he would be facing instead the much more brutal and violent Cactus Jack.

Royal Rumble Match/Rock vs. Big Show

Buildup towards the Royal Rumble match began on January 10, when The Rock announced his participation in the match and a week later guaranteed victory.The Big Show,who had lost the WWF Championship the week before, also declared his intention to win the match.

Bad blood had begun to spread between the two several days earlier onSmackDown!when the two were involved in a tag team match where Big Show abandoned The Rock after claiming he did not think much of him. Later that night, Rock and Big Show faced theNew Age Outlaws.At the end, Big Show attacked The Rock, who then hit Big Show with asteel chair,and aPeople's Elbow.On the January 20 episode ofSmackDown!,a confrontation between The Big Show and The Rock was interrupted byTori,who declaredKanethe favorite, leading to aTriple Threat Over-the-Top-Rope Lumberjack match.In the match, the Big Show eliminated The Rock with achokeslam,and Kane eliminated The Big Show with aback body dropto win, sparking a fight involving all the competitors and lumberjacks.

Intercontinental Championship

Another feud going into the event was betweenChris Jericho,ChynaandHardcore Hollyover theWWF Intercontinental Championship.Chyna and Jericho had been feuding over the Intercontinental Championship for some time. After Chyna defeatedJeff Jarrettto win the title at No Mercy in October 1999, Jericho began challenging her for it. After coming up short atSurvivor Series,Jericho dethroned Chyna at Armageddon. Chyna then began randomly assisting Jericho in his title defenses, claiming that she wanted to ensure he remained champion so she could take the title back from him.

On the December 30 episode ofSmackDown!Chyna and Jericho wrestled a match that ended in a double pin. Instead of declaring the match a draw and keeping the belt with Jericho, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley declared Jericho and Chyna to be co-Intercontinental Champions. This meant that both Chyna and Jericho would defend the belt, albeit separately, and if one of them lost a title defense both of them lost the title.

Since neither Chyna nor Jericho wanted to be the one to lose the title, both wrestlers began interfering in each other's matches to make sure they held onto the Intercontinental Championship until a match to settle the dispute could be signed. This ended up drawing Hardcore Holly into the mix, as he challenged both wrestlers for the title only to come up short each time. Holly eventually challenged the co-champions to a match at the Royal Rumble, and a triple threat title match was signed.

Event

**Other on-screen personnel**^[14]
Role:	Name:
Englishcommentators	Jim Ross
Englishcommentators	Jerry Lawler
Spanish commentatorsist	Carlos Cabrera
Spanish commentatorsist	Hugo Savinovich
Interviewers	Jonathan Coachman
Interviewers	Michael Cole
Ring announcer	Howard Finkel
WWF New York	Linda McMahon
Referees	Jack Doan
	Earl Hebner
	Jim Korderas
	Theodore Long
	Chad Patton
	Mike Sparks
	Tim White

Sunday Night Heat

Thepay-per-viewwas preceded by an episode ofSunday Night Heat,which aired live onUSA Networkand included backstage interviews from Madison Square Garden as well as several participants drawing their entry numbers for the Royal Rumble match. An upsetKaientaiandThe Mean Street Possewere shown backstage not being able to draw numbers because they were denied entry into the Rumble match.The Big Showalso did a live in-ring promo talking about his entry in the Rumble match.^[15]

Preliminary matches

The first match of the event was betweenKurt Angleand an unannounced opponent. Before the match, Angle spoke to the audience, putting down theNew York Knicks,and his opponent.Tazzthen made his WWF debut as Angle's opponent. Tazz gained the early advantage, performing aback body drop,sending Angle outside the ring. Angle gained the advantage after performing avertical suplexoutside the ring. After performing abelly to belly suplex,Angle climbed the turnbuckles, but Tazz hit the ropes. Angle fell onto the top turnbuckle, and Tazz performed a belly to belly suplex off the turnbuckles. Angle regained the advantage after asmall package,and abridging German suplex.Tazz then countered anOlympic slaminto a German suplex. After aT-Bone suplexand aHead and arm suplex,Tazz applied theTazzmission.Angle passed out and Tazz won the match, ending Angle's undefeated streak.^[16]

The second match was WWF's first-everTag Team Tables match,between theHardy Boyz(Matt HardyandJeff Hardy) and theDudley Boyz(Bubba Ray DudleyandD-Von Dudley). Before the match, the Dudley Boyz set up their heel status and insulted the fans (which ironically, the Dudley Boyz are both from New York City), expressing their dislike for the booing ofJohn Rocker,theAtlanta Braves closer,which had defeated the hometownNew York Mets4–2 inthe National League Championship Seriestwo months earlier and trashed New York City and its people in what was a heated second-round playoff series. This Tables match was different in that instead of one person having to go through a table to win the match, both members from the same team had to go through a table. The Hardy Boyz gained the advantage with adouble superplexto Bubba Ray, and the use of a ladder. After using the chair, Matt placed Bubba Ray on a table outside the ring. Matt then performed adiving leg dropas Jeff performed adiving splash(known as the Event Omega) on Bubba Ray through the table. The Hardy Boyz then placed D-Von on a table outside the ring. Matt attempted a diving leg drop through the table, but D-Von avoided it. Jeff then attempted asuicide senton,but missed, sending himself into a table. Bubba Ray performed asuperbombthrough a table on Matt. The Dudley Boyz then beat down the Hardy Boyz, and stacked tables in the entrance way under a balcony in the seating area. Bubba Ray dragged Jeff to the balcony, but Jeff performed alow blow,and used a chair on Bubba Ray. Matt moved as Bubba Ray fell through the tables. Matt then placed D-Von onto a table, and Jeff sent him through it with aSwanton Bombfrom the balcony for the Hardy Boyz to win the match, which ultimately turned out to be a violent and brutal affair- it featured no less than twelve total steel chair shots to the head, including four to Bubba Ray Dudley.^[16]

Next was the Miss Rumble 2000swimsuit contest.The contestants wereIvory,Terri,Jacqueline,Barbara Bush,Luna Vachon,andThe Kat,while the judges consisted of comedianAndy RichterandWWF alumni Sgt. Slaughter,Tony Garea,Johnny Valiant,Freddie Blassie,andThe Fabulous Moolah.The contestants showed their swimsuits, though Luna refused to take off her coat. As the judges were deciding,Mae Youngappeared, and announced her participation in the contest. After showing her swimsuit, sheflashedher breasts. The video wascensoredbeforeMark Henrycovered her up. The judges then unanimously decided Young as the winner, unfortunately Young's actions would end up costing the WWF their deal withChannel 4in the UK.

The third match was aTriple Threat matchfor theWWF Intercontinental ChampionshipbetweenHardcore Holly,and co-championsChris JerichoandChyna.Before the match, Jericho declared his plans for a celebration after winning the match. The match went back and forth before Holly sent Chyna outside the ring. Jericho then fought with Holly, applying theWalls of Jericho.Chyna returned to the ring, and attacked Jericho. Jericho performed a springboard splash to Holly outside the ring. Back in the ring, Chyna performed ahandspring back elbow,and aDDTto Jericho. Chyna attempted a pin, but Holly returned and threw her out of the ring. All three were outside the ring, and Holly attempted to use a chair, but Chyna performed adropkickto the chair into Holly's face. In the ring, Chyna performed a diving splash onto Holly, and Jericho performed adiving splashonto both of them. Chyna countered abelly to back suplex,and performed a low blow to Jericho. Chyna then performed aPedigreeto Holly. Jericho performed adiving crossbodyto Chyna, who was on Holly's shoulders. Chyna performed asuperplexto Holly, hit him with a chair, and applied the Walls of Jericho. Jericho then performed aone-handed bulldog,and aLionsaultto Chyna, to pin her for the victory. Jericho gained sole possession of the title as a result.^[16]

The fourth match was between theNew Age Outlaws(Road DoggandBilly Gunn) andThe Acolytes(FaarooqandBradshaw) for theWWF Tag Team Championship.Before the match, the New Age Outlaws delivered their signaturespeechto the audience. The Acolytes gained the early advantage after afallaway slamfrom Bradshaw to Gunn. After avoiding an attack in the corner, Bradshaw performed theClothesline from Hellon Gunn. Faarooq then executed aspinebusteron Dogg. As Faarooq attempted a pin, Gunn pulled the referee outside the ring, and Bradshaw knocked down both Gunn and the referee. After The Acolytes performed anaided powerbombon Dogg,X-Paccame down to interfere, and performed aspinning heel kickon Bradshaw. Gunn then pinned Bradshaw after aFameasserto retain the title.^[16]

The fifth match was betweenTriple HandCactus Jackin a violent and brutalStreet Fightfor theWWF Championship.Jack gained the early advantage after repeated punches, and they fought outside the ring, where Triple H hit Jack with the ring bell. Triple H then hit Jack with a chair, but Jack got up, and performed aleg dropwith the chair. The fight continued into the audience, with Jack performing a suplex ontopallets(which The Game would sustain a horrific wound to the back of his left leg), and using a trash can. Triple H performed a belly to back suplex, but Jack came back with arunning knee liftinto the steel steps. Jack attempted to use abarbed wire two-by-four,but Triple H performed a low blow, and used the weapon on Jack. Jack came back, hit Triple H's groin with the weapon, and performed adouble arm DDT.Jack attacked Triple H's head repeatedly with the weapon. Jack attempted aback to belly piledriverthrough the announce table, but Triple H countered with a back body drop. Jack countered a Pedigree attempt and performed abulldogonto the two-by-four. Triple H performed ahip tossinto the steps, and targeted Jack's knees, using the two-by-four. Triple H thenhandcuffedJack but as he tried to use the steel steps, Jack performed a drop toe hold, sending Triple H's head into the steps. Triple H came back by using the chair.The Rockcame out, and struck Triple H with a chair, as apolice officerremoved Jack's handcuffs. Jack performed apulling Texas piledriveron the announce table, and spilled a bag ofthumbtacksin the ring. Triple H came back with a back body drop onto the thumbtacks, and a Pedigree for a near-fall. Frustrated, Triple H finally hit Jack with a second Pedigree onto the thumbtacks to win, and retain his title. Mick Foley has claimed that this final pedigree was not agreed with Vince McMahon prior to the event and was decided upon during the match itself.^[17]After the match, Triple H was lifted onto a stretcher but Jack caught up to the emergency staff as they left the ringside area, pushed Triple H on the stretcher back to the ring, and hit Triple H with the two-by-four again.^[16]

Main event

The Rockwon the 2000 Royal Rumble match.

Themain eventwas the Royal Rumble match. During the match, non-participantsKaientai(FunakiandTaka Michinoku) repeatedly and randomly entered the ring, and attacked the participants. They were thrown out soon after each time.Rikishi,the fifth entrant, dominated upon entering, and eliminated all exceptGrand Master Sexay.Scotty 2 Hottyentered next, and the threeToo Coolmembers danced in the ring until Rikishi eliminated the other two, and continued to dance. Rikishi eliminated the first to eighth entrants.The Big Boss Man,the ninth entrant, refused to enter the ring untilTest,the following entrant, threw him in. During Kaientai's second interference, Taka was injured when he was thrown out of the ring, and sent to the hospital. Funaki continued to interfere by himself.Bob Backlundmade a surprise return at number 14. It took six men to eliminate Rikishi.Chris Jerichoentered at number 15 and eliminated Backlund before leaving through the crowd.Chynaentered at number 17 and eliminated Jericho before being eliminated by Boss Man not long after. After Faarooq, the eighteenth entrant, entered, non-participantsMean Street Possecame out, and attacked Faarooq, helping The Big Boss Man eliminate him. Bradshaw, entering twenty-seventh, was attacked by the Mean Street Posse, and eliminated soon after. Faarooq came out and, with Bradshaw, fought with the Mean Street Posse backstage.^[16]

The final four participants in the Royal Rumble match were The Rock,The Big Show,Kane,and X-Pac. The New Age Outlaws pulled Kane out of the ring, and attacked him. The Rock eliminated X-Pac, but the referees were preoccupied with Kane and did not witness this. X-Pac re-entered the match. Kane hit anenzuigiri,and ascoop slamon The Big Show, but X-Pac then eliminated Kane with a spinning heel kick. X-Pac hit The Big Show with aBronco buster,but The Big Show eliminated him with agorilla press drop,leaving The Rock and The Big Show. The Rock performed a spinebuster and aPeople's Elbow,but The Big show came back with achokeslam.The Big Show had The Rock on his shoulder, and attempted to throw him over the top rope, but The Rock hung onto the rope, and pulled The Big Show over. The Rock won the match.

Reception

In 2011, Jack Bramma of 411Mania gave the event a rating of 8.0 [Very Good], writing, "Easy, easy thumbs up. Triple H-Cactus Jack is a hardcore match with some psychology and tells an awesome story. One of the best brawls you'll ever see. The tables match is a frenzied melee and one of my favorite 10 minute matches ever. Taz's debut and the raucous ovation from the crowd and the rest is good enough to keep up. But please for the love of God, don't watch the Miss Rumble pageant".^[18]

Aftermath

Triple HandCactus Jack's feud continued intoNo Way Out,the following pay-per-view. On the January 31 episode ofRaw is War,Jack fought Triple H in a match where Mick Foley beat Triple H down. The following week, Triple H, in an attempt to end their feud, made a match between the two for theWWF Championshipat No Way Out, but Foley would have to retire if he lost. Jack then decided that the match would be aHell in a Cellmatch.

Eight days after the Royal Rumble, the "Radicalz" (Chris Benoit,Eddie Guerrero,Perry Saturn,andDean Malenko) arrived in the WWF from WCW, supposedly brought in byCactus Jack,then the following week onRaw Is War,they all turned on Jack when it was revealed that Triple H was the one that signed them to WWF contracts. They would make their PPV debut atNo Way Outwrestling as a three-man team (Eddie Guerrero was injured and unable to wrestle).

The feud betweenBig ShowandThe Rock,which was in its infancy at the time, kicked into high gear after the finish to the Royal Rumble match. While the television cameras never actually showed this to the viewing audience, the sequence where Rock used Big Show's momentum to eliminate the big man and pull himself back into the ring ended with Rock accidentally touching the floor with both feet before Big Show's feet hit. The unintentionalbotchedmove was worked into the feud, where Big Show began claiming Rock had touched first and that he had indisputable video evidence of his victory (which consisted of a shot from a different camera filming the side of the ring where the elimination took place, and which clearly proved Big Show's statement). Once the evidence was shown to Triple H, Big Show received a match with Rock at No Way Out for the WrestleMania championship shot. Sixteen years later, the Rock made a special return toMonday Night Rawand ran into the Big Show backstage; after bringing up the 2000 Royal Rumble match, the Rock admitted that the Big Show legitimately should have been declared the winner.

The feud betweenChris Jericho,ChynaandHardcore Hollyended when Holly failed to win theWWF Intercontinental Championshipfrom Jericho, and Chyna aligned herself with Jericho, who moved on to feud withKurt Angle.Angle won theWWF European Championshipon the February 10 episode ofSmackDown!,and on the February 14 episode ofRaw is War,Angle challenged Jericho to a match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at No Way Out.

The feud between theHardy Boyzand theDudley Boyzcontinued, withEdge and Christianjoining the feud. While initially showing respect, the Dudley Boyz attacked the Hardy Boyz during their match on the January 24 episode ofRaw is War.On the January 27 episode ofSmackDown!,Edge and Christian supported the Hardy Boyz and fought the Dudley Boyz, who put Edge and Christian through a table. On the January 31 episode ofRaw is War,the Hardy Boyz put the Dudley Boyz through tables, and, later, the Dudley Boyz put the Hardy Boyz through three stacked tables. On the February 14 episode ofRaw is War,D-Von Dudley defeated Edge and Jeff Hardy to earn a shot at theWWF Tag Team Championshipat No Way Out, starting their feud with the champions theNew Age Outlaws.Also during the match, the Hardy Boyz had a confrontation with Edge and Christian, starting their feud. They would also have a match at No Way Out.

Results

No.

Results^[16]^[19]

Stipulations

Times^[16]

1

TazzdefeatedKurt Anglebytechnical submission

Singles match