The 2000 Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 13th annual Royal Rumble event and the WWF's 100th PPV event overall. It took place on January 23, 2000, from Madison Square Garden in the New York City borough of Manhattan, New York. Six matches were contested on the event's card.
The event was based around the men's Royal Rumble match, a modified 30-man battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time and the winner received a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania 2000. The main event was the 2000 Royal Rumble match, which The Rock won by last eliminating Big Show. The undercard included a Street Fight between Triple H and Cactus Jack for the WWF Championship which Triple H won to retain the title.
This Royal Rumble was the first WWF pay-per-view event to air on terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, as Channel 4 had acquired the rights to broadcast the WWF's 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, with the Street Fight being critically acclaimed among various reviewers.
Production Background
The Royal Rumble is an annual professional wrestling event, produced every January by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988; that first event was a television special before it became an annual pay-per-view (PPV) beginning in 1989. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four", and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs with the addition of King of the Ring in 1993. It is named after and centered on the men's Royal Rumble match. The 13th Royal Rumble event was scheduled to be held on January 23, 2000, from Madison Square Garden in the New York City borough of Manhattan, New York.
The Royal Rumble match is a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time, and the match generally features 30 wrestlers. Since 1993, the winner earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2000, the winner earned a match for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 2000.
Storylines The event comprised six matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWF's writers, while storylines were produced on WWF's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown!.
WWF Championship The main feud going into the event was between Triple H and Mick Foley. At Armageddon the previous month, Stephanie McMahon turned on her father Vince during 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 with Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, and X-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 The Rock 'N' Sock Connection, the team of Mankind (Foley) and The 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 of Raw is War, Triple H decided that the company was “not big enough” for the three of them and forced Mankind and The Rock to face each other in a Pink Slip on a Pole match later that evening. The 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 on SmackDown! on January 6, 2000.
On the January 10 episode of Raw is War, The Rock brought every superstar to the ring, demanding that Foley be reinstated or the entire roster would walk out. Triple H, who had defeated The Big Show to regain the WWF Championship the week before, acquiesced and reinstated Foley, who promptly requested a Street Fight for 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 two Pedigrees. After the match, Foley took off his mask and attacked Triple H.
On the January 13 episode of SmackDown!, 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. 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 on SmackDown! 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, The Rock and Big Show faced the New Age Outlaws. At the end, Big Show attacked The Rock, who then hit Big Show with a steel chair, and a People's Elbow. On the January 20 episode of SmackDown!, a confrontation between Big Show and The Rock was interrupted by Tori, who declared Kane the favorite, leading to a Triple Threat Over-the-Top-Rope Lumberjack match. In the match, Big Show eliminated The Rock with a chokeslam, and Kane eliminated Big Show with a back body drop to win, sparking a fight involving all the competitors and lumberjacks.
Intercontinental Championship Another feud going into the event was between Chris Jericho, Chyna and Hardcore Holly over the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Chyna and Jericho had been feuding over the Intercontinental Championship for some time. After Chyna defeated Jeff Jarrett to win the title at No Mercy in October 1999, Jericho began challenging her for it. After coming up short at Survivor 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 of SmackDown! 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 personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsJim RossJerry LawlerSpanish commentatorsistCarlos CabreraHugo SavinovichInterviewersJonathan CoachmanMichael ColeRing announcerHoward FinkelWWF New YorkLinda McMahonRefereesJack DoanEarl HebnerJim KorderasTheodore LongChad PattonMike SparksTim White
Sunday Night Heat The pay-per-view was preceded by an episode of Sunday Night Heat, which aired live on USA Network and included backstage interviews from Madison Square Garden as well as several participants drawing their entry numbers for the Royal Rumble match. An upset Kaientai and The Mean Street Posse were shown backstage not being able to draw numbers because they were denied entry into the Rumble match. The Big Show also did a live in-ring promo talking about his entry in the Rumble match.
Preliminary matches The first match of the event was between Kurt Angle and an unannounced opponent. Before the match, Angle spoke to the audience, putting down the New York Knicks, and his opponent. Tazz then made his WWF debut as Angle's opponent. Tazz gained the early advantage, performing a back body drop, sending Angle outside the ring. Angle gained the advantage after performing a vertical suplex outside the ring. After performing a belly 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 a small package, and a bridging German suplex. Tazz then countered an Olympic slam into a German suplex. After a T-Bone suplex and a Head and arm suplex, Tazz applied the Tazzmission. Angle passed out and Tazz won the match, ending Angle's undefeated streak.
The second match was WWF's first-ever Tag Team Tables match, between the Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) and the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-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 of John Rocker, the Atlanta Braves closer, which had defeated the hometown New York Mets 4–2 in the National League Championship Series two 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 a double superplex to 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 a diving leg drop as Jeff performed a diving 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 a suicide senton, but missed, sending himself into a table. Bubba Ray performed a superbomb through 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 a low 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 a Swanton Bomb from 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.