PPV REVIEW: King of the Ring 2000

June 25, 2000
Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts

The World Wrestling Federation as a habit of promoting the King of the Ring tournament as one that could make a man's career.

Win the annual knock-out competition and, if the advertising hyperbole was anything to go by, you were essentially guaranteed an instantaneous main event career, world titles, and ever-lasting superstardom.

But let's be honest:

That simply wasn't true, was it?

Yes, previous King of the Ring winners Bret 'The Hitman' Hart, Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin had all been WWF Champion, but The Hitman had already main evented Wrestlemania and was essentially the company's top, full-time babyface when he won the competition.

Years later, Stone Cold had followed his iconic 'Austin 3:16' victory speech by wrestling mid-card bouts against Marc Mero and waiting for The Hitman to return to the company and give him a leg-up into the main event. It wasn't until two years later, at Wrestlemania 14, that Austin finally cemented his mega-star status.

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Likewise, Hunter Hearst Helmsley would win the 1997 version of the competition and take almost two years before he was a fully certified main eventer.

That's to say nothing of former winners Billy Gunn, Ken Shamrock, who never moved past their current station, nor of Owen Hart and King Mabel, both of whom did challenge for the title at Summerslam the year they won the competition but then swiftly moved back down the pecking order.

So, no, the King of the Ring was not the one-way-ticket to superstardom that the WWF wanted us to believe it was, but may be for tonight's winner, it would give him a welcome boost on his already inevitable rise to the top of the card.

Here's what went down when King of the Ring 2000 came live from Boston, Massachusetts.

A Royal Occasion

As with every WWF PPV, this one started with a compelling and well-produced video package. Tonight's into began by reminding us about the prestige of the King of the Ring tournament but quickly segued to putting all the focus on tonight's main event:

A six-man tag pitting The Rock, The Undertaker, and Kane against WWF Champion Triple H, Vince McMahon, and Shane McMahon. If either of the babyfaces could pin either of the heels, they would become our new WWF Champion.

Out in the arena, pyro exploded, cameras panned across the enthusiastic, sold-out crowd, and Jim Ross and Jerry 'The King' Lawler welcomed us to the proceedings.

As Ross was giving us the usual intro, Too Cool's music hit, and this one was officially on.

King of the Ring Quarter Final: Match 1
WWF Intercontinental Champion Rikishi vs. Chris Benoit

Last Thursday, on Smackdown, Rikishi Banzai Dropped his way to an Intercontinental Championship victory over Chris Benoit. Afterwards, The Crippler had proved himself to be a sore loser by whacking Big Kish over the head with a chair a couple of times.

Tonight, the two looked to take their rivalry to the next level in a short, explosive contest.

This was an enjoyable match while it lasted, especially when Benoit lifted Rikishi over his head for an awesome belly-to-belly suplex.

It's just a shame it didn't last long.

Unable to control his temper, Benoit got a chair from the outside and destroyed his opponent with it.

Mike Chioda called for the bell, and that was that.
Your Winner by Disqualification: Rikishi

Post-match, Benoit kept up his attack, even going so far as to lock Rikishi in the Crippler Crossface and blast him with a top rope headbutt while Sgt. Slaughter, Tony Garea and a gaggle of officials tried to stop him.

Vince McMahon is Joe Cool

Earlier, on Heat, the ever-stoic Linda McMahon told Michael Cole that she had come to the show tonight in order to confront her husband.

Back live in the dressing room, HHH, Shane, and Stephanie McMahon all expressed their concerns, knowing how much Vince ‘lost his cool’ whenever he was confronted by the McMahon matriarch.

Laughing it off, Vince boasted that he was always able to put Linda back in her place and that tonight, he was so cool he might as well be Joe Cool.

Vince swaggered off, leaving Hunter and Shane to look at each other and, in a somewhat funny moment, agree that Vince was not going to keep his cool before chasing after him.

The Crippler Does What He Wants

After a brief flashback to the finish of our opening contest, we went backstage to Michael Cole, who was standing by with Chris Benoit.

In an effort to explain his actions, The Crippler explained that he was already the greatest technical wrestler in the world and thus didn’t need to win King of the Ring.

What’s more, said Benoit in his usual menacing fashion, he did what he wanted, when he wanted, and now Rikishi and all of us knew it.

King of the Ring Quarter Final: Match 2
WWF European Champion Eddie Guerrero (w/ Chyna) vs. Val Venis (w/ Trish Stratus)

This was Val Venis’ first involvement in any kind of PPV match since he took part in the 30-man battle royal at Royal Rumble 2000.

In the time since we’d last seen him, Val had seemingly adopted a more serious approach, taken on Trish Stratus as his manager, and dumped his memorable theme in favour of a generic dance music number.

The only way Eddie Guerrero has changed since we saw him at last month’s Judgement Day 2000 was that he’d cut off his signature mullet.

That aside, this was a great effort from both men, and probably one of the best matches Venis would have on a major stage.

Though it may not have stolen the show, it was still a compelling watch that came to an end courtesy of a Val Venis fisherman suplex.

Having never seen this event before, I’m surprised by the outcomes here.

Let’s not give people a Benoit/Guerrero stormer in the semi-finals but a Rikishi/Venis match instead.

Still, I’m not complaining. Two matches in and this has been a good show despite the questionable booking decisions.
Your Winner: Val Venis

Out in the back, a flustered Pat Patterson was seen going through the potential outfits WWF’s wardrobe department had picked out for his regrettable Evening Gown match with Gerald Briscoe.

Dismissing all of the available options, Patterson demanded something that made him look slim and sexy.

‘Pat, I’m good,’ said the wardrobe department lady stood with him. ‘But I’m no miracle worker.’

How’s that for a burn?

Rikishi is Ready for Val

Across the arena, Michael Cole interviewed Rikishi.

No-selling the effects of Chris Benoit’s attack, the Intercontinental Champion said that what The Crippler did to him was nothing compared to what he was going to do to Val Venis in the semi-final.

After a brief shot of the outside of the arena and a word from our sponsors, it was back to the action.

King of the Ring Quarter Final: Match 3
Crash Holly vs. Bull Buchanan

This wasn’t the best match we’d seen so far, but it was still kinda fun for what it was.

As Crash Holly made his way to the ring, the announcers showed us how the WWF’s answer to Elroy Jetson has fluked his way into the quarter-finals, first by surprising Albert with a roll-up, then by beating cousin Hardcore Holly by DQ after Gerald Briscoe whacked him with a 2x4.

This was pretty much the same thing.

Crash got his backside handed to him by Bull Buchanan, only to steal victory from the jaws of defeat courtesy of a roll-up.

A shame, really, because I always enjoy a bit of Bull Buchanan.
Your Winner: Crash Holly

Backstage, Vince McMahon finally came face-to-face with his wife, Linda.

Vince wanted to know whether she’d come to undermine his authority again such as she’d done by putting Mick Foley in the main event of Wrestlemania 2000, reinstating Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dave Hebner (I think he meant Earl), and making Shawn Michaels the spokesperson of the WWF.

Ever the bundle of charisma and effervescence, Linda replied that she wasn’t here to do any of that. No, she’d flown all the way from Connecticut to Boston just to question her husband’s manhood and ask whether he, Shane, and Hunter were capable of getting the job done in tonight’s main event, or whether they needed a host of outside interference.

Naturally, Vince was unhappy at having his intestinal fortitude questioned and insisted that yes, he and his men would get the job done tonight.

This was great stuff from Vince. Linda, not so much.

King of the Ring Quarter Final: Match 4
Kurt Angle vs. Chris Jericho

And now, the match you’ve all been waiting for...

Yep, this was about as good as you probably thought it would be.

Things started with Kurt Angle getting the cheap heel heat by insulting the local sports teams. Eventually, Chris Jericho arrived on the scene with a few insults of his own for ‘Kirk Angel.’

Y2J told the Olympic Gold Medalist not to worry about tonight as he was already a king:

A king of goofy-looking ring attire, a king of nerds, and a king of 30-year-old virgins.

With all the trash-talking aside, the two locked up and gave us the best match of the night so far, a solid effort in which both men were given ample opportunity to shine.

The finish saw WWF Women’s Champion Stephanie McMahon get involved in a continuation of her recent storyline with the two men.

Referee Teddy Long got in the way of an Irish whip, was tapped lightly on the nose and collapsed to the mat like he’d just been shot.

Steph ran in to hit Jericho with her women’s title, but Y2J moved. Instead, she waved the title about 30ft away from Angle’s head, and he too went down hard.

Seizing the opportunity, Jericho grabbed Steph and gave her a good snog without once bothering to ask her for consent.

That gave Angle the chance to get up, hit the Angle Slam, and win the contest.
Your Winner: Kurt Angle

Out in the back, Shane McMahon scolded his dad for losing his cool earlier with Linda.

Vince brushed it off and told Shane to remember his confidence.

‘It’s not my confidence I’m worried about,’ replied Shane. ‘It’s Triple H’s.’

‘Good point,’ confirmed Vince, ending the segment on an ominous note.

Live From WWF New York

At the WWF’s Times Square entertainment complex, Mick Foley and his new short hair cut were hosting a viewing party.

Ivory was working the bar and kept trying to get his attention, even going so far as to pour him a beer, but mean old Mick completely ignored her the whole time.

I can only assume poor Ivory was talking to the side of Foley’s head that only had half an ear. Either way, I felt pretty bad for her.

All of this was more interesting than anything Mick himself had to say, which was basically ‘tonight is a good show and yes, I got thrown off the cell at King of the Ring 1998.’

World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship Four-Way Elimination Match
WWF Tag Team Champions Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay & Scotty 2 Hotty) vs. Edge & Christian vs. T&A (Test & Albert w/ Trish Stratus) vs. The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy w/ Lita)

Though it may have its detractors, I say this four-team elimination match was a lot of fun.

The Hardy Boyz worked their butts off in the first half of the match, having a decent exchange with Test and Albert, eliminating them, then having an even better one with Edge and Christian.

The latter duo, who had started the match with a Five-Second Pose which ripped off the local sports team, got rid of the Hardyz to finish things up with a terrific second half against Too Cool.

The reigning and defending tag team champions were super over as they duked it out with E&C with a red hot crowd cheering on their every move.

Alas, it wasn’t to be Grandmaster Sexay or Scotty 2 Hotty’s day. After the duo hit Edge with their finisher, we got one of the screwiest finishes we’d seen in a long time.

Sexay made the cover, but numbnuts Mike Chioda was more concerned with getting Scotty out of the ring than counting the fall.

That allowed Christian to waffle Brian Christopher with the title belt, a finish which was frustrating but also increasingly common in the year 2000.
Your Winners and NEW WWF Tag Team Champions: Edge & Christian

I should also point out that the previous match saw Lita’s first PPV interactions with BFF Trish Stratus and future boyfriend Edge, the latter of whom she gave a top rope hurricanrana too.

Kurt Angle is in Big Trouble, Mister

A commercial followed for the following month’s Fully Loaded PPV, subtitled ‘The Crap Shoot.’

I’m almost hoping that show is no good so that I can make a couple of very obvious jokes.

This led us to a backstage interview with Crash Holly.

Holly was infuriated that Michael Cole found it so surprising that he should have made it this far in the completion, and promised that when he met Kurt Angle in the semi-final, the Olympic Hero was in big, big trouble, mister.

King of the Ring Semi-Final: Match 1
WWF Intercontinental Champion Rikishi vs. Val Venis (w/ Trish Stratus)

One of the few matches I remember from this time period was a cage match between Rikishi and Val Venis that I think was for the IC belt.

This match wasn’t as good as I remember that cage match being, but it was still fairly decent for a five-or-so minute outing.

Venis and Kishi had already had a couple of violent battles on Smackdown and this was the continuation of that; a short but hard-hitting contest that came to an end when the champion caught his opponent coming off the top rope and advanced to the finals courtesy of a big ass belly-to-belly.
Your Winner: Rikishi

Post-match, Trish Stratus jumped on the Intercontinental Champion’s back, prompting JR to tell ‘Trish Stratus has mounted Rikishi!’

Ahem.

The big man threw Stratus off him and was going to Banzai Drop her until Val Venis attacked, destroying his rival with ring steps and a steel chair.

You Think That’s Funny, Coach?

Backstage, Jonathan Coachman found it hilarious that Gerald Briscoe had to face Pat Patterson in a hardcore evening gown match, but Briscoe was in no laughing mood.

‘You think that’s funny, Coach? The only emotion I have right now is revenge.’ snapped Briscoe with all the seriousness of a main event world title contender.

‘Well, technically revenge isn’t an emotion,’ replied Coachman, ever the pedant.

Undeterred, Briscoe cut a convincing promo in which he promised to win back his title tonight. Eventually, he was interrupted by a stagehand who had his evening gown ready and asked, rather sheepishly, whether Gerry wanted ‘regular panties or the crotchless kind.’

The line itself wasn’t so funny, but the way Briscoe remained super serious trough the whole thing made it hysterical.

Briscoe’s skit was followed by a commercial in which a guy was fired out of a cannon, crashed through a window and landed face-first in a fat woman’s lap as she watched TV.

Somehow, this was a relevant way of telling us that WWF.com would be relaunched the following day.

King of the Ring Semi-Final: Match 2
Crash Holly vs. Kurt Angle

Looking to keep his lucky winning streak alive, Crash wasted no time going after Kurt in what turned out to be a short, sweet, no-frills kinda contest.

The action was good but not great, and came to ahead with a predictable win for the man whose entrance graphic wonderfully described him as ‘Kurt Angle, American Hero.’
Your Winner: Kurt Angle

The previous evening, the superstars of the World Wrestling Federation had performed at Madison Square Garden with future United States President Donald Trump in attendance.

The highlight video from this event showed us one shot of Too Cool dancing, one shot of The Rock making his entrance, and about twenty shots of Trump gurning in the front row.

Jerry Lawler interviewed Donald, who said that he was there mostly because he was good friends with Vince McMahon and that The Rock was his favourite wrestler.

I’m actually surprised Trump wasn’t attending WCW shows at this time. After all, we all know how much he loved The Wall.

Back in the arena, Lawler told King:

‘Donald Trump shouldn’t run for President, he should run for King of New York.’

Who Wants it More

Out in the back, Kane spoke to Michael Cole and The Undertaker, both of whom promised to be our next champion.

This led us to a recap of the Patterson/Briscoe feud. That atrocity was next.

World Wrestling Federation Hardcore Championship Evening Gown Match
WWF Hardcore Champion Pat Patterson vs. Gerald Briscoe

Briscoe came down to Real American because of course he did.

Patterson came down pushing a shopping cart full of plunder and wresting a dress that I’m fairly sure he pulled from the ‘Sensational Sherri’ box at the WWF Warehouse.

Patterson was in his element here, even offering to lay down and let Briscoe pin him.

The two hugged but it was all a rouse. Briscoe hit his former friend, then attacked him with a banana and a dirty maxi-pad.

Yep. I just had to write that.

This was WCW-levels of garbage, but at least it was fairly short.

Crash Holly ran in, destroyed the two old men and pinned Patterson to win the Hardcore belt.
Your Winner and NEW WWF Hardcore Champion: Crash Holly

Afterwards, Briscoe chased Patterson up the aisle and continued to attack him.

Meanwhile, backstage, The Dudleyz revealed that they had a table with Tori’s name on it ready for their upcoming match with DX.

Handicap Tables/Dumpster Match
DX (X-Pac, Road Dogg, and Tori) vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley)

For DX to win, they had to put Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley in a dumpster in the same fashion as  New Age Outlaws vs. Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie at Wrestlemania 14.

For The Dudleyz to win, they had to put all three members of DX through a table.

The company had apparently learned nothing from the last Dudleyz/DX encounter at Judgement Day and once again started things off with traditional tag team rules when a Tornado-style match would have made much more sense.

As a result, while the action itself wasn't actually bad, nobody cared about it because the crowd were all just waiting for the inevitable moment when The Dudleyz got the wood out.

Things picked up when DX put their opponents into the dumpster, only for referee Jimmy Korderas to be distracted by checking on a fallen Tori. The Dudleyz snuck out, crawled under the ring and snuck up behind X-Pac and Road Dogg, smashing both men with chairs and eventually putting them through tables.

When they went to do the same with Tori, however, she dove into the dumpster. Pac and Dogg pushed Bubba and D-Von in after her and won the match, but not necessarily the war.
Your Winners: DX

Afterward, X-Pac was confused about where his girlfriend had actually gone, not realising she was still in the dumpster. When he realised, he stood around doing nothing for six years before finally running to her aid, only to eat a 3D. Road Dogg suffered the same fate and Tori finally went through the wood after weeks, if not months, of build-up.

That was pretty much that for Tori's WWF career. Having suffered a shoulder injury the previous evening, she would take time off to have surgery and reemerge only once to give X-Pac a slapping later on that year.

A final, brief run with Raven in 2001 would follow, but all of that was mostly an after-thought to her main run.

It was a shame, really. Sure, she often looked awkward during DX's pre-match routines, but I always enjoyed seeing her around all the same.

A Word With The Finalists

Out in the back, Angle and Rikishi gave us their thoughts ahead of tonight's King of the Ring final.

Angle called this the most important tournament in the world and promised to win it. Rikishi insisted that despite the attacks by Benoit and Val Venis, he would win it too.

King of the Ring Final
Kurt Angle vs. Rikishi

As this one got underway, King and Lawler mentioned Bret Hart's 1993 King of the Ring win for about the tenth time on this show, an interesting move considering their history with the Hitman and especially considering Bret was technically still a WCW star at this stage.

The actual action here was about as good as you were going to get from Angle and Rikishi if you only gave them six minutes to play with, but that short window of opportunity meant that the two were unable to produce anything special.

Despite a couple of dramatic near falls, this came off as underwhelming and anti-climatic, ending with a predictable win for our Olympic Hero.
Your Winner and 2000 King of the Ring: Kurt Angle

Backstage, the McMahon-Helmsley Faction appeared not to be quite on the same page ahead of our main event.

World Wrestling Federation Championship Six-Man Tag Team Match
WWF Champion Triple H, Shane McMahon, and Vince McMahon (w/ WWF Women's Champion Stephanie McMahon) vs. The Rock, The Undertaker, and Kane

Whoever gets the fall becomes the champion

If you want a good example of a quality WWF main event, go back and watch the excellent Rock/HHH match from Judgement Day the month prior. If you want an example of a fairly lacklustre main event that still had a few redeeming qualities to it, this is the one to watch.

The stipulation that if any of the babyfaces pinned any of the heels, the man making the cover would get the title meant that we had an inevitable point in which Rock, Taker and Kane all fell apart, with Kane and Taker, in particular, going at it hard.

Still, there were some good moments, such as Undertaker chokeslamming Shane off the top rope through the announce table on the outside. Yet even that couldn't make up for what was otherwise a disappointing end to one of the World Wrestling Federation's most disappointing shows of the year.

The end came when Rock hit Vince with a Rock Bottom to recapture the title.
Your Winner and NEW WWF Champion: The Rock

Post-match, the new champion stood over a fallen McMahon, holding his title aloft.

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I've seen people on the Internet referring to King of the Ring 2000 as 'a steaming pile of crap' and a show that was so bad that it might as well have been a WCW PPV. 

It really wasn't that bad.

The early part of the show, in particular, had some good wrestling on it and, from an in-ring standpoint at least, there was nothing that was necessarily terrible. However, dumb booking decisions certainly meant that King of the Ring 2000 failed to live up to the high standards set by some of the company's far superior shows from that year.

Not great then, but certainly not the worst thing you'll ever see.

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For other year 2000 pro wrestling reviews see:

• WWF Royal Rumble 2000
• WCW Souled Out 2000
• WCW Superbrawl 2000
• WWF No Way Out 2000
• WCW Uncensored 2000
• WWF Wrestlemania 2000
• WCW Spring Stampede 2000
• WWF Backlash 2000
• WWF Insurrexion 2000
• WCW Slamboree 2000
• WWF Judgement Day 2000
• WCW The Great American Bash 2000

Other WWF King of the Ring reviews:

• King of the Ring 1993
• King of the Ring 1994
• King of the Ring 1995
• King of the Ring 1996
• King of the Ring 1997
• King of the Ring 1998
• King of the Ring 1999

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