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Top Ten (or so) Best WWE PPV Matches of the 2000’s
The last list I did was as Undertaker would say, “famous.” It broke records big-time (salute to Peter Gabriel), and sparked a lot of debate about what was “right” and what was “wrong”. No matter the perceived result, I thought it was a helluva lot of fun.
So my feet’s in the acid again!
This time I skewing through the last decade, looking for the best of the best. Like the last countdown, it will be one match (or so if there is a common thread) per one year.
2000-2004 will be covered in part one, then 2005-2009 will be covered in part two!
Another thing to notice is that the matches featured here have been released on DVD one way or another, so all releases are listed after their write-ups.
With that in mind, let’s waste no time in counting down the great bouts of the new millennium!
2000: Cactus Jack vs. Triple H, Street Fight, WWE Championship, Royal Rumble
Kind of like the Shawn Michaels and Undertaker Hell in the Cell, and the Submission match from Wrestlemania 13, this match helped me get my start into the crazy/wacky world of the WWE.
The last match of the first edition of Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses, I was not aware at the time how brutal this match was going to be. Keep in mind I was 14 at the time, and this DVD was the very first one I ever pre-ordered for myself.
Enough about personal backstory, to the match we go!
This match was set-up after Triple H beat the living shit out of Mankind on RAW. During the beat-down however, something “weird” transformed. Bloody and mangled, Mankind fought back against “The Game”, doing the signature pistol right-hands and the knee against the ropes.
On the preceding Smackdown, Mankind came out and said that Mankind wasn’t in good shape to compete at the Rumble in the a Street Fight, but he named a substitute. The long-sleeves and tie were taken off to reveal a figure as ironic as Clark Kent revealing Superman: CACTUS JACK!
Triple H acted as if he saw a ghost, and the war was only just beginning.
After weeks of jaw-jacking and long-winded promos from both men, they were ready to settle the score. Held at Madison Square Garden, it was all too iconic a place for this brawl. Foley, as a younger man, hitchhiked his way to the Garden to see Jimmy Snuka fly off the steel cage onto Don Muraco.
At the beginning of the match, it appeared as if Stephanie McMahon was going to accompany her “husband” (they weren’t legit married until 2003), but instead gave him a kiss and went away. That should let you know this wouldn’t be for the weak of heart.
That it would not be.
After a wild and wholly start, the match really started to pick up after Cactus brought a barbed-wire block of wood into the ring! Although it’s been seen on WWE TV before, it never had the significance like it did right then and there. The expression on Jack’s eyes tell the story.
Jack attempted a swing, but struck out with a low-blow by Triple H. Trips had a couple of good shots with the bat before Cactus did the double-armed DDT. During the sequence, Earl Hebner was able to procure the bat next to Hugo Savinovich. To a chorus of boos, Cactus wonders where the bat went. He goes over to Hugo, knocks him the hell out, and retrieves the bat.
Earl is trying to hold Cactus back, but instead gets himself in harm’s way. As Triple H clotheslines the ref in the corner, he rebounds into a shot from Cactus with the damn barbed wire wood! Jim Ross is in absolute rage on commentary, and Triple H’s face is what Gordon Solie would say, “the proverbial crimson mask.” In addition to the suplex on the wood pallets earlier in the contest, H’s blood loss is at a premium now. A gash in both the calf and forehead!
It seemed as if Triple H was able to stop the rush of Cactus as he reversed a piledriver on the announce table. Back in the ring, Trips tried a Pedigree, but got catapulted into the ring post, then bulldogged into the barbed wire wood!
Certainly out, but not down for long, Triple H would use the bat again, but this time on the leg of Cactus! In a homage to the year before, Trips puts Cactus in handcuffs! After some stiff shots and a toe-hold on steel steps, Cactus leads Triple H up the graffiti-decorated aisle way. Who’s waiting for “The Game”?
THE ROCK! Rock got a sweet chairshot in on H, and that allows the NYPD representative to free Cactus from the cuffs.
Cactus punches Triple H back to the Spanish announcer table. Unlike the prior time on the WWE table, Cactus successfully executes the piledriver! Unlike the prior time as the table gave under the reversal, the desk DIDN’T GIVE! And you guys think that table no-sold for RKO’s!
Back in and out of the ring, Cactus gets a bag. A bag full of tricks! Spiny, pointy, and shiny ones. THUMBTACKS! The crowd pops once again, and Jim Ross does his neckfattingly best to cover the magnitude of this action. After a distraction from newly-arrived Stephers, Triple H comes to and nails a Pedigree. This only gets a 1-2, and the shockwave of disbelief ebbs through the arena. A second Pedigree, this time on THUMBTACKS, gets the full 1-2-3 as Triple H retains the title.
That was freaking brutal to watch, and to think, Cactus isn’t done yet. After Triple H is put on a stretcher, Cactus yanks it right back to crash it into the ring apron. After ANOTHER shot with the barbed wire wood, Cactus holds his head up high, winning a battle but losing the war.
There would be an epic rematch the month later at No Way Out, this time inside Hell in the Cell. After going through the top of the HIAC like a champ, Cactus is retired with another Pedigree. Or so we think...
Just to clear up anything about 2004, the match with Randy Orton WILL NOT make this list. The outlines are similar, but 2004 has some stiff competition that in my mind 2000 does not.
DVD’s: Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses, Triple H - The Game, Triple H - That Damn Good, Royal Rumble 2000, Royal Rumble, The Complete Anthology
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H, Three Stages of Hell, No Way Out
The backstory of the match is simple: these two men HATE each other.
It’s not “passionate dislike” or “mutually strong disagreement”.
It’s fricken HATE.
It all started at Survivor Series 1999. Triple H paid off Rikishi to run over the Texas Rattlesnake. In storyline, it took Austin out of the WWE Championship match. In real life, it took Austin of the WWE for a while as he would take time off for some much-needed spinal fusion, a direct result of damage sustained in a botched piledriver from Summerslam 1997.
Fast forward to 2000 at THAT Survivor Series. Austin and Triple H had a match go to a no contest after Austin, driving a forklift, hoisted “The Game” (in an automobile) high up in the air and crashed him back down.
Fast forward once again to after Armageddon and that Hell in the Cell match. Austin took on Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship. Austin had the match in hand, until Triple H yanked the referee out and caused the DQ. A bloody beatdown of Austin ensued.
At the Royal Rumble, Triple H pursued Angle for the same piece of real estate. It seemed as if Triple H had the match taken care of, until Austin came in and gave Helmsley a good ol’ belt whackin’ upside the head. Stunned from the loss, Helmsley would later take his rage out on the Rattlesnake some more as Austin entered the Rumble. Bloody, beaten, shaken, and stirred, Austin came back into the Rumble to win it, therefore earning the Wrestlemania title shot.
This left Hunter in a lurch for ‘Mania, but no big deal. No Way Out was around the corner, and the two signed for a match. The big stipulation in the contract leading up was that if Austin touched Triple H, Austin was out of a title shot. If Triple H touched Austin, Hunter would be out for six months. In one of the more cunning displays of treachery, Hunter faked the signing and attacked Austin after the contract was declared “official”. No retaliation for you Mr. Austin!
So after Helmsley Pedigree’d Jim Ross and Austin Stunner’d Stephanie, it’s all purgatory from here. THREE STAGES OF HELL for two men needing one goal: to be the better man.
Triple H is Motorhead and Austin was definitely Disturbed as both men didn’t waste time with those right hands. The first fall, a wrestling match, felt more of a regulated street fight. After some seventeen-odd minutes, Austin got the Stunner and the pinfall as now the Bionic Redneck (hated that name but it fits in this time era) has that fall advantage.
Starting the second fall, which is indeed a “REAL” street fight, the two brawled onto the floor. After intercepting Helmsley on the stairway, Austin gave Triple H some chair tattoos all over the body.
After some more brawling, a barbed wire bat makes its way into the fray. As Foghorn Leghorn would never say, “Let’s bury the hatchet boy, right in your head!” Austin is (Jack Tunney spirit) THEREFORE busted open by the wood. For the first time all match, Triple H is single-handedly in control.
That is, until he tries a Pedigree and Austin back bodydrops him through El Amigo table. Some pretty elevation there for ze Game! Austin struggles for balance, but when he does, he bashes Dos Eqis over Helmsley’s head. Stay thirsty my friends!
Back in the ring, Austin walks right into a bell shot from The Game! Swinging neckbreaker on the chair follows for a few faux falls. Austin attempted a Million Dollar Dream, but Hunter got a suplex reversal, and that landed on the chair! Hunter fails at the Pedigree again and for the second time goes flying over the top! For his troubles, Hunter gets a chair shot right between the eyes for the renewal of a red badge of courage! To drive it home more, Trips gets the RING STEPS to the face!
Both men trade some bitch shots before Trips unleashes SLEDGIE! With some trouble, Trips gets that shot in before the Pedigree and the fall is DONE! Tied up 1-1 all, CAGE TIME! The music for the cage is freaking awesome, and I mark out every time I hear it!
Now unlike the last fall where a lot of stuff happens, the third fall was more of “survival”. For example, Austin punches back from trouble to start it off. Most of it is just slow moving punches, cage throws, and weapon shots. The final bump saw Triple H and Austin, with sledgie and 2x4 respectively, hit each other simultaneously. Both men get KTFO, but Triple H landed on top of Austin for the 1-2-3 for the end! It was 40 FREAKING MINUTES, and enjoyable for all of them! Austin left Triple H with a parting gift, a black-hearted Stunner!
Two quick notes about the match. First, Austin was cussin’ up a storm against EVERYONE he saw. And second, if you’re able to see it, Triple H blades himself...AFTER THE BELL! That’s one for Botchamania!
After Wrestlemania and Austin’s heel turn, these two would form the Two Man Power Trip. At one point, the two men had almost every belt the company had at the time. It abruptly ended when Triple H went down with a torn quad during a tag team title match, and thus Austin was left to do his own dirty laundry for the next while. Although Triple H would return as a face in early 2002, it wouldn’t be long before he was a heel again, and a great match would soon follow.
DVDs: Stone Cold Steve Austin - What?, The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H - That Damn Good (The original pay per view sadly is only available on VHS in the United States. Europeans are lucky enough to have it in their Tagged Classics series.)
2002: Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H, Unsanctioned, Summerslam
As alluded to in the prior year, Triple H went down with a quad injury that led to a tear-jerking return at MSG in January of 2002.
For the next six months, Triple H would take on the world as a all-encompassing good guy. He even won the Undisputed WWE Championship from Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania X-8 in Toronto.
In late July however, the mood on The Game soured. His dear friend Shawn Michaels returned from four years of being away. Although on the surface he looked elated, inside Helmsley was steaming.
With the Pedigree heard around the world, a heel turn was in order. It also took Michaels getting his head mashed into a car window to solidify it. After a classic “Whodunnit”, Triple H admitted he did the deed, and Michaels proclaimed to be back in time for Summerslam.
After some harsh words and exchanges, the fight of unknowns was about to begin in Long Island.
Shawn had a pyro-filled entrance while Triple H just looked that damn despicable. Or at least that’s what Daffy Duck would say about the man.
In any respect, the first few minutes felt like a greatest hits package of HBK. A few punches, skinned the cat, and even rolled on outside to surprise his “buddy” with a clothesline. The gander seemed good for the goose eh?
Not until Triple H had the pendulum swing big time with a vicious backbreaker. Shawn had a metal plate down there with a surgery from 1999. That would be H’s modus operandi for the next couple of sequences as chair shots and abdominal stretches would be a call card. To add insult to injury, HBK was busted open with a DDT on the chair!
Slowly but surely, it seemed as if the bigger, stronger, and more “in shape” Game was able to be the victor. That was until Shawn was able to superkick a steel chair right into Triple H’s face! Immediately, Hunter bleeds like a hog while Shawn’s cut looks to be completely gone!
Now the ball is completely in Michaels’ court.
While giving Hunter a heel for a heel (aka Hugo’s boot, the same one Hunter used on Shawn previously), Shawn gave Hunter some worldly experiences of steel step eating and ladder abuse! All this while Triple H looks like he should have been a stunt double in “Carrie”! While Triple H would get momentary momentum surges, they’d always be “showstopped”.
After an outrageous splash through the table bump, Shawn goes to the top of the previously used ladder to give Hunter his patented elbow. Lawler is amazed when HBK gets up! Michaels goes to the corner with a toothy grit on his face, and tunes up the band! Triple H gets up, reverses the kick into a Pedigree attempt, but gets rolled up for a 1-2-3! HOLY SHIT! The crowd goes banana (channeling Pat Patterson from the first Mick Foley book), and Lawler’s like the little girl he assumedly touched.
For Michaels however, his celebration is short-lived as Hunter gets the sledgie, and whacks his former buddy twice in the damn spine. HBK does the stretcher job, while Hunter laughs his bloody face off up the ramp to a chorus of boos. Fantastic stuff.
DVDs: SummerSlam 2002, From the Vault - Shawn Michaels, Summerslam: The Complete Anthology
2003: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho, Wrestlemania XIX
For the first time since 1996 on the last list, this upcoming match is not a bloodbath. As a matter of fact, the only blood in this match is a little crimson from the upper lip of Shawn near the end.
As a little side-note, Wrestlemania XIX was the first PPV event I saw as it happened. This match in particular was quite memorable, and watching it again after several years, holds up like a charm!
As we all know, Shawn Michaels is indeed “Mr. Wrestlemania”. Although he doesn’t have a win/loss record like Hulk Hogan or John Cena (it’s in reality closer to Tito Santana, his opponent from VIII), it always seems that the guy from San Antonio always steps up to the plate when the stage is set and the lights are on BRIGHT.
At Safeco Field in Seattle on this March night, at least the fans had one thing to cheer about rather than a sucky baseball team.
In the build-up, one thing was more pronounced more than anything else: respect. Respect that Chris Jericho had/lost for Shawn. They had a few run-ins, so the two men (notably Jericho) talked to Shawn face-to-face. It seems that in summary, Chris didn’t want to be the next Heartbreak Kid, but he wanted to be the first Chris Jericho. Round it out with a bloody beatdown and a sweet superkick on the ramp, both men look even heading into the dance.
The one thing IMMEDIATELY clear about Shawn coming to the ring his usual spectacular entrance is that HBK looks so joyous to be there. While I’m not the greatest at reading eyes, it is so wonderful to see a man beat his demons and come back with a gleaming glow of light. It complimented the scowl on Jericho’s face, who looked like he was going to HURL.
After that, the match begins. A collar-and-elbow tie-up followed by several holds/counter-holds are the name of the game. Jerry Lawler on commentary notes this is refreshing to watch actual wrestling.
It seemed as if it was anyone’s ball game for a while. Shawn had put Chris into a figure-four, and then Jericho used his power to throw Michaels into the ring post shoulder first. To add insult to quasi-injury, Y2J reversed a dropkick into the Walls. Although Shawn beats back the count, he can’t stop the run of Jericho.
After what seemed to be a while, Michaels was able to counter-act with a DDT in the center of the ring. Chris Jericho imitates Shawn with the kip-up, and then the original does it! A sequence of roll-ups occur interjected with a Walls of Jericho attempt a bridge-pin that led to a test of strength for HBK.
Jericho got the pendulum swinging back as a Lionsault connects for a 2. Shawn tried to do a hurricurana, but instead is slapped SUCCESSFULLY into them Walls.
Getting to the ropes, this would only begin the punishment for Shawn. Enduring a back-breaker, then the reverse elbow off the top, Jericho sets HIS band up. I’m gonna give this one the name of Sweet Chin Fozzy because IT CONNECTED NASTY!
Despite the replica, the count draws two yet again as Shawn would then try a replica of his own: THE WALLS! Or is it? Turned out to be the catapult into the post, and a near-fall!
Shawn then turned what should have been a superplex into a crossbody in mid-air! Michaels got the momentum back after HIS elbow, and then set-up the band. Like a bad joke, HBK got reversed right into the Walls, this time with more urgency from Jericho to make Shawn tap!
Michaels gets out of it once again, and Jericho bitches to the ref about it. Wasting time, Jericho gets a message. YOU GOT SUPERKICKED, BITCH! This only gets a two because of the slow crawl of Michaels.
Jericho gets up, only to be rolled up by complete surprise from Michaels, and gets his ass beat! Seattle pops for something other than rain, and Shawn comes out on top! Although Jericho puts his hand out, it was all a ruse as Michaels got some Sweet Nut Music from Jericho. For some foreshadowing, this will not be the last time these two show up on the list!
DVDs: Wrestlemania XIX, WrestleMania - The Complete Anthology 1985-2005, Breaking the Code: Behind the Walls of Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels - My Journey
2004: Royal Rumble Match, Royal Rumble
On a cold and potentially snowy night in the Northeast, I sat down with some iced tea and Fig Newtons ready to watch one of the most epic battlefields of wrestling ever.
Although the majority of the event was somewhat mediocre leading up to this point in time, the major payoff would be the Rumble event. 30 men, either 90 seconds or 2 whole minutes in between each wrestler to come on down, and all for a shot at a world title!
Leading up to the match, all eyes were on Hardcore Holly Chris Benoit. He’d be the thorn of Paul Heyman’s side on Smackdown, and always defying motion. So much so that Heyman, after getting his own finger pulled by Benoit, put the Rabid Wolverine #1 in the match. Seems to be logical thinking by the evil Heyman, put him first so he CAN’T win.
An interview before the Rumble shows Goldberg ready to mash some heads, until Brock Lesnar comes in and disses Goldberg’s ambitions. After saying, “Hey Hardcore” (in reference to the fact Brock beat Holly earlier in a title defense), Lesnar became spooked than annoyed. You’ll see how this turns out later.
Most matches of this magnitude aren’t decided right off the bat. As the case here, it takes a while for the action to get going. Benoit and Randy Orton, number’s 1 and 2 respectively, are the figurative glue holding it together.
Kane enters at #12 and quickly takes over as the man to beat. In 2001, he eliminated 11 men by himself! This seems to be almost elementary until...
...GONG! #13 pops up as well as the crowd. The man behind the music is nowhere to be found, and as Kane is looking befuddled, Booker T eliminates the man. Pissed off, Kane finds Spike Dudley walking down the ramp. The Big Red Machine has that, “Are you kidding me,” look on his face. So Spike, meet steel. Massive chokeslam and Spike never enters the match.
By the time #18 enters, only Benoit and Orton are in the ring. So, who’s #18 you ask? Well, in one of the more entertaining Rumble segue-ways, Ernest “the Cat” Miller and Lamont come on down to dance. Wanting no part of it, the first two men to enter eliminate the duo hastily.
#21 should have been Test coming down. Instead, camera in the back shows him laid out. Sherriff Steve Austin, “concerned”, yells at a mysterious figure to come on down! That “figure” turns out to be MICK FOLEY.
Two trains of thought going on with him. First, Eric Bischoff made JR say if Foley didn’t come, Mick’s a coward. Well, JR said it way too soon. Second, Mick’s been the punching bag for Orton, ranging from June the prior year at MSG to the time he was “fired” as co-GM for losing the IC title match against the member of Evolution. And yes, loogies are illustrated!
Mick finds Orton, and both men are done immediately as Foley does his signature Cactus Clothesline. Foley looked to have had the upper hand until Orton got the steel steps, and Foley met them quite painfully. Trust me, this isn’t over by a far shot, as matches at Wrestlemania and Backlash were to come.
The beginning of the end features Goldberg entering at #30 (earned in a Battle Royal), and cleaning house. Multiple men eliminated, including Nunzio who was press-chucked over the top like a little bag of garbage. Looking impervious, Goldberg seemed to be on the fast track. That was until Brock Lesnar hit the F-5, which led to the elimination of the bald one by another baldie, Kurt Angle!
So Big Show, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, John Cena, and Rob Van Dam are amongst the last of the fray. Big Show, after fending off several multiple-men eradication attempts, eliminates everyone but Benoit with ease. Cena’s elimination looked quite bad, as he landed on his left leg and looked to have tweaked it. Funnily enough, that’s how Cena looks landing on his ass for the rest of his career!
Show and Wolverine are the final two. Benoit struggles to get the big red wood over the top. However, Benoit used the leverage game and Big Show goes over the stunning win from #1!
The fallout from this match was unbelievable. Triple H and Shawn Michaels fought in a Last Man Standing match on the PPV, and were ragged-looking to prove it. Austin, who was in the ring with both of them at the beginning of this particular RAW, introduced Benoit as the man who was next in line for the World title shot. That’s right, Benoit jumped ship!
Through March, Benoit had to go through obstacle after obstacle. At the end of Wrestlemania, Benoit defeated both Michaels and H to become World Champion.
The Rumble is one of those matches where it’s not a technical/brawling classic, but the story was so well done and the emotion was about spot-on. The little things, like Undertaker’s teased entrance and a “Testy” entrance for Foley were enough to make this match stand-out against all others for this year. One of those Rumble I could watch all day and never tire of, just like the 2005 one. Unfortunately for the 2005 edition, there were two men in that match who went on to do much better work.
DVD’s: Royal Rumble 2004, Royal Rumble, The Complete Anthology
Don’t forget this is just the beginning. Part 2 is on it’s way!
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