WWE King of the Ring
June 25, 2000
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- Originally broadcasted live, on Pay-Per-View, on June 25th, 2000, from the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The most noteworthy thing about the build up to the PPV was that the tournament actually consisted of FIVE ROUNDS instead of the typical Four. Yes, the WWF roster was so bloated, that they had to narrow it down from a Field of 32. Sure, a lot of them were filler, like each Dudley, Hardy Boy, and Shane McMahon being in Qualifying matches, but it actually gave the Tournament an important feel, and matches were broadcasted on Raw, Smackdown, and Sunday Nigh Heat, so every show seemed important for at least a few weeks. We're down to an elite Eight for the PPV, with a field consisting of Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho. How do you fuck this one up?
Rikishi vs. Chris Benoit:
Rikishi is the reigning Intercontinental Champion, having won it from Chris Benoit not too long before this PPV (the previous episode of Smackdown, to be exact). Rikishi had defeated Shane McMahon and Scotty 2 Hotty (in one of the few face vs. face matches) to Qualify, while Benoit go past stale acts Road Dogg and X-Pac, and for a few weeks, was my personal hero. Well, actually for more than that, but we won't get into that right now. Slugfest to start, with Benoit gaining the upper hand. Rikishi takes over with a Samoan Drop, sending Benoit to the floor. Back inside, Benoit actually takes Rikishi down with a release German suplex. Benoit stomps away at the arm and grabs a modified standing crossface. Whip to the corner is reversed, but Rikishi misses a charge, allowing Benoit to slap on the Crossface, proper. Rikishi makes it to the ropes, so Benoit grabs a chair and bashes Rikishi to draw a lame Disqualification at 3:26. Really? Opening match, and already a crap finish? I know Benoit might need protection from losing to Rikishi twice in "three" days, but come on, he should've advanced at least to the Semi's. Match was going OK by TV standards, but a poor excuse at a PPV opener. Benoit adds a swan-dive headbutt and slaps on the Crossface again, just for the hell of it.Eddie Guerrero (w/ Chyna) vs. Val Venis (w/ Trish Stratus):
Guerrero is the reigning European Champion, and had to defeat Matt Hardy and his own "manager" Chyna, while Val Venis went through Al Snow and Jeff Hardy. I can't recall how Venis turned heel, but I'm assuming it was by randomly attacking a babyface. Trish is still pretty new to the WWF, and was still looking to find her personality. Lockup and Venis shoves Eddie across the ring. Venis stomps away in the corner and chokes. Whip reversed and Eddie connects with a basement dropkick to the face. Venis comes back with rights until a monkey flip takes both men to the floor. Eddie with rights until he's introduced to the security rail. Eddie cuts Val off on the top rope and brings him down with a Super-Plex. Eddie with a drop toe hold and a surfboard. Eddie turns it into a Dragon sleeper, but Venis rakes the eyes to escape. Eddie takes him to the corner, connects with a dropkick, and back-slides him for two. Whip, and Venis counters with a body press. Whip and a pair of elbows gets two. Whip, and Eddie comes back with a hurricanrana. He heads to the top, but he misses a senton. Venis plants him with a Spinebuster, climbs to the top, and meets knees going for the Money Shot. Eddie with an Oklahoma Roll for two. they fight over a back-slide until Venis takes him down with a Russian leg sweep. Venis greets him with an elbow and rolls him up near the ropes for two. Eddie counters a suplex with a flurry of headbutt's. He sets him up across the top turnbuckle, and connects with another hurricanrana. Trish and Chyna create a distraction, allowing Eddie to roll Venis up for two. Venis with a Fisherman Suplex, and surprisingly gets three at 8:08. Started a bit clunky, but developed into a solid match.Crash Holly vs. Bull Buchanon:
I guess the WWF was going for the Underdog option with Crash Holly, having gotten past Albert and his own cousin Hardcore Holly to get here, while Bull Buchanon had to get through Steve Blackman and Perry Saturn. It seemed like the WWF had minor plans for Bull before suddenly repackaging him with RTC, before letting him rot for the remainder of his time with the company. Bull quickly establishes a lack of selling for Crash and casually throws him to the floor. Repeat formula. Bull with a press slam and clothesline, followed by a pair of back breakers. Whip to the corner, followed by choking. Bull with a delayed vertical suplex for two. This match is dragging too much for something barely three-minutes in. Whip and Bull connects with a big boot. Is he gonna' drop the leg? No. Bull with a slam, but Crash counters with a cradle for two. Whip, and Bull with a one-man flapjack. Scissors Kick misses, and Crash with a half-nelson cradle for three at 3:55... well, that seemed like the obvious result, but Crash could've done for more offense.Chris Jericho vs. Kurt Angle:
Final match of the Quarter-Finals, and it has the most potential to deliver the goods. Chris Jericho's first two opponents were Test and Edge, while Kurt Angle's opponents were Bradshaw and Buh-Buh Ray Dudley. Angle's promo bashing the lack of Championships in Boston seems quite dated with Boston, and Massachusetts in general, winning all the major Championships since (Red Sox twice, Patriots thrice, Celtics and Bruins at least one apiece). Slugfest, won by Angle. He meets boot on a charge, but still takes Jericho over with a belly-to-belly suplex. Jericho comes off the ropes with a diving forearm, followed by chops. Jericho with a missile dropkick for two. Angle misses a charge and kinda' botches the bulldog spot. Jericho with a pretty blah Lionsault, but it only gets two. Jericho with a springboard dropkick, knocking Angle to the floor. Jericho follows and gets hip tossed over the rail. Back in the ring, Angle with a suplex into a cover for two. Jericho with a double under-hook back breaker for two. Angle avoids a dropkick and sends Jericho to the corner. Back suplex gets two. Angle with a hard clothesline for two. German suplex gets two. Jericho with another failed comeback. Angle to the second turnbuckle, Jericho greets him with a dropkick and takes him down with a hurricanrana. Whip and Jericho with an elbow. Spinning heel kick gets two. Angle counters a bulldog with a clothesline and covers for two. Jericho counters the Olympic Slam with the Walls of Jericho, and suddenly Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley makes her way to ringside to create a distraction. We get a ref bump and heel miscommunication, but Jericho's lip-lock on Stephanie was more important than winning, and the Olympic Slam finishes at 9:56. Best match of the Quarter-Finals, although in all fairness, only one match would be considered reasonable competition. The Jericho/HHH saga must continue!WWF Tag Team Championship Match:
Too Cool © vs. Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz (w/ Lita) vs. T & A (w/ Trish Stratus):
Edge and Christian's 5-second pose of the night: Re-creating Bill Buckner's goof to close out Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. That's ALMOST as good as the Moonshine Jug-Band pose from Judgment Day the month prior. Still pretty fucking awesome, though. It's Elimination rules, by the way. The Hardys and T & A (Test and Albert, not the other T & A) had an issue, so they won't factor into the finish. It's amazing how over a tag team designed to mock Public Enemy and a dancing Samoan in a thong got, even if for a brief time. Albert dominates Jeff to start. Decent spot has Jeff flip and land on his feet to counter a sit-out powerslam, and connects with a basement dropkick. Trish trips up Matt, allowing Albert to land a clothesline to the back of the head. Test with a running big boot. Trish and Lita get physical at ringside. Test with a Pump-Handle Slam, Jeff hits the Senton Bomb on him while making the cover, and Matt rolls on top for three at 3:46 to eliminate T & A.
Scotty pounds away on Jeff. Charge to the corner meets boot, but he manages to recover and take Jeff down with a one-man flapjack. Scotty showsoff his dancing moves and gets tagged out by Christian. Matt Hardy tags back in and connects with a second rope leg drop for two. Poetry in Motion connects, and Edge comes in to take a double-team suplex. The Hardys pop the shirts to pop the 12-year old girls, and Jeff gets laid out on the floor for it. Jeff and Edge with a double clothesline. Lita interferes AGAIN and takes Edge down with a hurricanrana (behind the referee's back, of course). Matt with a sleeper-drop on Christian for two. Matt counters the Unprettier and connects with a Twist of Fate. Jeff to the top, and Edge hangs him up on the top rope. Christian with the Unprettier on Matt to eliminate the Hardys at 7:57.
GMS and Edge criss-cross until taking Edge down with a neck breaker. GMS to the second turnbuckle, connecting with a missile dropkick. J.R. with a "GMS's daddy" reference, because it's contractually obligated. Too Cool with a double team dance routine and clothesline on Christian. Edge puts Scotty down with a spinning heel kick, and Christian pounds away. Christian's TERRIBLE dancing mocking Too Cool is too awesome. Christian with a Canadian leg sweep on Scotty for two. E&C with a double headbutt for two. Christian meets boot and elbow in the corner, and Scotty puts him down with a clothesline. GMS comes in and plants both Canadians with slams. GMS slingshots Edge into Christian and rolls him up for two. GMS with the Liger-Bomb, but Christian breaks the cover. The odds finally catch up, with E & C planting him with a flapjack. They go for a double Worm, but Scotty brings both down with bulldogs, and the crowd goes CRAZY for the REAL Worm. Seriously, the move was that over. GMS with the Hip Hop Drop, but Christian brings one of the title belts in the ring and KO's him with it. Edge covers, and we have New Champions at 14:13. That seemed like the obvious result, even watching the show live. Very "by the numbers", meaning it wasn't a bad match, it just wasn't particularly very good, either.
Rikishi vs. Val Venis (w/ Trish Stratus):
Does Trish get paid triple for making so many appearances at ringside? First match of the KOTR Semi-Finals, and yeah, Kurt Angle is the only possible choice to win this thing, unless they go 1995 on us and go with the WORST choice, just for the hell of it. Rikishi and Val have had issues of late, with blade jobs. ON SMACKDOWN! Lawler notes they both were LITERALLY trying to destroy each other. Really, literally? It doesn't take long for the action to spill to the floor. Rikishi practically throws himself into the wall on a weak kick off from Venis. Back in the ring, Rikishi casually drops a leg and hits an avalanche. Venis practically no-sells it and brings Rikishi down with a single-arm DDT. This match has so little heat, you would think they're in the middle of nowhere around Christmas time in Alaska. They slug it out, but the crowd doesn't care. Venis with another DDT. He heads to the top for the Money Shot, but Rikishi pops up and plants him with a belly-to-belly suplex for the three count at 3:21. So Rikishi makes it to the finals after working less than 7-minutes between two matches? Trish with a post-match attack, for whatever reason, but Rikishi fights her off and actually goes for a Banzai Drop. Venis makes the save and Rikishi takes a second post-match beating. Match was "meh."Crash Holly vs. Kurt Angle:
The Cinderella Story for Crash Holly might be coming to an end here. Honestly, imagine a Rikishi vs. Crash Finals. How fucking sad would that one be? I admit I was a Crash mark, but that would be one of the worst options possible. Lockup, Crash with a headlock takeover. Crash comes off the ropes with a shoulder tackle and barely gets a one count. Angle with a headlock and a cradle for two. Crash catches him off the ropes with a powerslam for two. Whip, Angle blocks a hip toss and takes Crash over with a double Fisherman suplex (pretty sure that was a move Gangrel had been doing before being taken off T.V). Angle with a suplex for two. Crash fights out of a headlock, but quickly goes down to a knee lift. Crash connects with a clothesline to the back of the head and comes off the top with a missile dropkick for two. Angle stun guns Crash on a charge attempt, and the Olympic Slam finishes for three at 3:58. Crash worked the plucky underdog well, but Kurt Angle was WAY too established and likely to win to convince me he could possibly win this match.WWF Hardcore Championship Match:
Pat Patterson © vs. Gerald Brisco:
No, that's not a joke, this was actually put on a $30 PPV (yeah, remember when PPV's were ONLY $30?). The WWF took their "joke" title, got it over with the 24/7 gimmick, and promptly bury it with a match like this: two men pushing 60-years old, IN DRAG, yes, it's a Hardcore Evening Gown Match, fighting over a Jobber Title. Can't blame Russo, he was in WCW ruining that company with World Champion David Arquette around this time. I hate to be a jerk, but I'm not going to dignify this "match" with actual PBP: It's basically a cheap comedy match with questionable humor, until Crash Holly runs in and KO's everyone to regain the Hardcore Championship at who the fuck cares what the time was. We get it, Pat Patterson is very open about his sexuality, doesn't mean we have to pay good money to see him act like a buffoon.
Dumpsters vs. Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz vs. Road Dogg, X-Pac, and Tori:
Here's the formula for Dudley Boy matches in the Spring of 2000: Feud with a team that has a female "manager", fail at putting her through a table, and job. If a woman wasn't available, then Steven Richards is a fair substitute. X-Pac and Road Dogg were such an unlikeable team (as in, why are they on my T.V.?) that by the time they broke up for SummerSlam, I was glad D-X was finally dead (or until they had HHH and HBK act like 20-something 40 year olds). "DX" even comes out to the suckiest of their themes possible, that piece of shit from the Aggression rap CD. Did ANYONE buy that garbage? Match starts with "standard" rules, which makes so little sense, I can't bother arguing in detail why... seriously, WHY ARE THEY TAGGING IN AND OUT?! That's almost as bad as the stupid LOD/Nasty Boys match at SummerSlam '91, where, despite it being No DQ, they followed standard tag rules. I don't get this... why is Tori tagging in, getting shots in on D'Von, and tagging out? At least when Bobby Heenan did tag matches, he would give the face SOMETHING so he would chicken back out. Here, it's just standard formula. I feel like I'm saying that a lot. The match just plods along. The Dudleys manage to put Road Dogg and X-Pac through Tables, but Tori hides in the Dumpster to avoid them. They BOTH follow her, like idiots, get chair shots for their troubles, and the lid slammed on them to give Road Dogg and X-Pac a worthless victory at 9:40. Post-match, Tori goes through a table anyway, because... I don't know. I think "Pointless" was the word of the match.King of the Ring Finals: Rikishi vs. Kurt Angle:
In the previous two matches of the tournament, Rikishi has had his arm brutalized by Chris Benoit and Val Venis... do you think this will factor into the finish of the match? Angle tries to attack in the aisle, but Rikishi fights him off. Into the ring, Rikishi shoots Angle to the corner and follows in with clotheslines. With the injured arm. Angle conveniently falls in the corner, giving Rikishi a chance to give a Stinkface, but Angle counters with a low blow, in clear view of the referee. Angle stomps away as J.R. and Lawler spout off all the previous King of the Ring Winners, except for Mabel and Ken Shamrock. I guess they were bored. Rikishi decides to sell the right arm, but odds are he'll forget about it soon. Rikishi with a clothesline and Samoan Drop (with the injured arm). Running Diamond Cutter (with the injured arm) gets two. Avalanche to the corner, and this time the Stinkface is successful. That just pisses Angle off, as he casually takes Rikishi down with the Olympic Slam... for TWO!?! Rikishi counters a sunset flip with a butt drop for two. Rikishi goes to the top rope (why?!), gets crotched along the turnbuckle, and Angle takes him down with a super-sized belly-to-belly suplex. That gets three at 5:58. To answer the question at the top of the match, Nope. Decent, but wow, what an underwhelming Tournament this ended up being, with so much promise (on paper).WWF Championship; 6-Man Tag Team Match:
Triple H ©, Vince & Shane McMahon (w/ Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) vs. The Rock, The Undertaker, Kane:
Who in their right fucking mind would book a Championship Match like this? Was this the WWF's way of making fun of the whole Arquette fiasco, having tag team matches to determine the WWF Champion? Why couldn't have the Rock just kept the title after winning it at Backlash? Too many pointless title changes. I forget the reasoning behind this (probably something to do with Linda McMahon challenging her husband's gonads), but it looks senseless in retrospect. The story trying to be told: Triple H has to work the majority of the match, because his title is on the line whether or not he is pinned, while all the babyfaces have to work together, until ultimately someone wants to go for a pin, then it's down the toilet with teamwork. Match starts almost like a comedy, with Kane and Shane giving a sample of the chemistry the two would share in their 2003 program. Standard formula action, with the McMahon's (mostly Shane) taking a beating for most of the time. Highspot of the match: The Undertaker chokeslamming Shane McMahon from the top turnbuckle, through one of the announcers tables. I made reference in a Vintage Collection review that the editing team of today cut out the impact to try and be more PG friendly. More chaos erupts, Vince McMahon tries to finish off the Rock with the Corporate Elbow, Rock counters with the Rock Bottom, and Rock has his Fifth WWF Championship at 17:54. I can understand doing this title change, honestly I could, if it went somewhere, but it didn't. Triple H immediately resumed a program with Chris Jericho, and The Rock was suddenly thrust into a two-week program with Chris Benoit. With very few examples, the WWF kept away from doing bullshit like this. That was definitely a WCW thing, but never, ever, EVER, is it a good idea to have a title change where a 50-something non-wrestler is taking the fall to decide the fate of the belt.
Final Thoughts: The WWF was on a hot streak with their PPV's in 2000, delivering hit after hit, but wow, this PPV was just a mess, creatively and performance wise. The tournament had a strong field and yielded the weakest, lamest results possible. The Main Event had to be a joke knocking WCW, otherwise I can't imagine how it was seriously considered a good idea. The undercard was filled with a lethargic Tag Team Title Match, Men on Women violence, and a disgrace to wrestling in the form of the Hardcore Title. Honestly, I didn't remember this PPV being this bad. It's very easy for me to recommend taking a pass on this PPV, unless you like cheap booking decisions and under-performances from practically everyone involved.
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