WWE Summerslam 2000 Review

WWE Summerslam 2000
August 27, 2000
Raleigh, North Carolina

A classic Summerslam event sees the first TLC Match ever with the WWE Tag Team Championship on the line. The main event features The Rock defending his WWE Championship against both Kurt Angle and Triple H in a wild, wild match.

Match 1: Right to Censor vs. Too Cool
Good choice to have this match kick off the night in what was a pretty stacked card. Right to Censor were actually great heels at this point and Too Cool was the perfect babyface time to take them on here at Summerslam. Good action between the two teams that saw Right to Censor try to prevent Rikishi from tagging in throughout the match. However, once he got in, he lit them up and the crowd was hot. I sometimes tend to forget how over Too Cool was around this time, they were a ton of fun to watch. The hot tag from Rikishi looked like he was gonna steam roll his way to a Too Cool victory until Steven Richards was able to interrupt a Worm attempt from Scotty 2 Hotty and pin him for the surprise win. Nice way to get a big W for the heels in a match that looked like it was going the other way. Good opener.
Winners: Right to Censor
Rating: **1/4

Match 2: Road Dogg vs. X-Pac
The former tag partners look to squash their beef after X-Pac inadvertently dropped Road Dogg through a table on an episode of Monday Night Raw. I mean, that happens all the time with my friends and I. Short match here with some decent action that saw X-Pac hit a low blow on Road Dogg while the referee had his back turned before hitting an X-Factor to score the win. After the match, X-Pac wanted to brush the beef aside but instead got met with a Pumphandle Slam from Road Dogg for his troubles. Fine for what the match needed to be, short and anything longer would have probably just made the crowd grow restless since they didn't seem to have much interest in this from the start.
Winner: X-Pac
Rating: *1/4

Match 3: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Val Venis & Trish Stratus (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero & Chyna
Loved the little story between Eddie Guerrero and Chyna going into this, both were so great around this time and it's sometimes still hard to believe they're both gone now. Regardless, odd rules here with the Intercontinental Championship on the line with the person scoring the pin becoming the champion. Essentially, this is just a four-way match. They storied the match around Val Venis carrying the bulk of the match and doing his best to prevent Trish Stratus from entering the match. Crazy to think that Trish Stratus has wrested against both Chyna and Charlotte Flair in a WWE ring. Anyway, Chyna is able to get her hands on Trish alone in the ring and military slam her to the ground to score the win and become the new Intercontinental Champion. Short and pretty decent for what it was, just fun to watch Eddie and Chyna together.
Winners: Eddie Guerrero & Chyna
Rating: *3/4

Match 4: Jerry Lawler vs. Tazz
I loved the little feud Tazz had with the commentators around this time and really came off as such an unlikable heel. This was more of an angle than an actual match and it was pretty enjoyable to watch Tazz trash talk Jim Ross at ringside for the entirety of the match. However, a referee bump allowed the opening for JR to finally take a stand and bash Tazz over the head with a glass candy jar. It was probably the biggest pop of the night and I loved watching this both as a kid in 2000 and here now in 2020. Lawler then pins Tazz to score the win. Give it a watch, it won't kill ya.
Winner: Jerry Lawler
Rating: *1/4

Match 5: WWE Hardcore Championship - Shane McMahon (c) vs. Steve Blackman
I have not seen this match in ages and certainly have fond memories from watching it as a child way back in the day. Shane McMahon was the scared heel who was doing his best to run away from an angry Steve Blackman as they fought in the stands before finally bringing back the fight in the ring where Test and Albert came to Shane's side. The shining spot of this match came when Blackman was dragged to the titantron where he was able to take out both Test and Albert before chasing Shane as he scaled up the stage. Well... you guys know the rest. Blackman stops Shane dead in his tracks and nails him in the back with some kendo stick shots before Shane drops onto some staging equipment. Blackman then dives off the stage onto Shane to pick up the win. Fun match that of course, shines for its awesome ending.
Winner: Steve Blackman
Rating: **1/4

Match 6: 2-Out-of-3 Falls Match - Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit
Definitely one of the more overlooked matches on this card since everyone always remembers the big TLC match along with the main event here. Two of Canada's best going at it in a straight up wrestling match with the winner having to score the first two falls. Chris Benoit was able to score the first fall fairly quickly by submitting Chris Jericho with the Crippler Crossface. However, Jericho was able to score back that fall by submitting Benoit with a Walls of Jericho to even up the score at 1-1. Solid wrestling between the two men to score the final pin as expected. Also kind of interesting to see Benoit work as a heel, he worked ten times better as a babyface. Benoit steals the win after holding on to the ropes for a pin. A few more minutes and this could have easily been a show stealer. Felt like the first two pins went by way too fast and they just wanted to rush to get the final score. That's one of my biggest gripes with these matches, very seldom do we see somebody win 2-0 so the 1-1 is already expected and kind of just feels pointless.
Winner: Chris Benoit
Rating: ***1/2

Match 7: WWE Tag Team Championship - TLC Match - Edge & Christian (c) vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz
This is the iconic TLC match between three of the company's top tag teams... do I really even need to go further for this one? Pretty interesting to watch this in 2020 to see how it holds up... and it more than holds up. Some of the spots throughout this match had me wondering how the damn hell they were even able to walk out of this in one piece. Jeff Hardy missing a Swanton Bomb through two tables off a ladder or Bubba Ray Dudley getting tossed off a ladder through four freaking tables are spots that I will just never forget and ones that will boggle my mind every single time I see it. Funny to see Lita come out and interfere to help out The Hardy Boyz and get Speared by Edge for her troubles. Nasty looking Spear that saw Lita hit her head on a ladder on the way down. Edge & Christian were able to will their way to victory and retain the gold in a classic match. I don't think it's even necessary to go any further for this match, we've all seen it and we all know the legacy it has left behind. Classic stuff. 
Winners: Edge & Christian
Rating: *****

Match 8: Stinkface Match - The Kat vs. Terri
This is where The Attitude Era shines... not. Yes, you read that right, this is a Stinkface match between The Kat and Terri with Al Snow in The Kat's corner and Perry Saturn in Terri's. This match was as bad as you would expect. I say this all the time but it is insane how far women's wrestling has come since The Attitude Era. This wasn't even wrestling, it was just these two parading around in barely any clothes before Kat was able to stinkface Terri in the corner for the win. By the way, is stinkface one word or two words? 
Winner: The Kat
Rating: 1/4*

Match 9: The Undertaker vs. Kane
Do we have a count on how many times these two have squared off against each other in a WWE ring? That would be super interesting, I'm pretty sure I've seen just about all of them. Anyway, the bell never rings for this match as the two just brawl both inside and out of the ring with The Undertaker doing his best to rip off the mask of Kane. He is also able to bloody Kane up with some shots with the steel steps along with a steel chair. Kane does his best to fight back but the onslaught of Undertaker is too much and once Kane's mask gets completely ripped off, he dashes to the back and leaves. The bell never rang so the match never officially began but this was more of an angle above anything and it was enjoyable to at least watch. Just doesn't make sense why all the rules get tossed out of the window here. Just take what The Attitude Era gives you. 
Winner: n/a
Rating: **3/4

Match 10: WWE Championship - The Rock (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Triple H
The feud going into this one was basically Triple H vs. Kurt Angle as they fight for the love of Stephanie McMahon with The Rock in the background. Loved it, thought it worked here and it certainly would make sense to give the spotlight to someone like Angle while The Rock continues rolling. Triple H doesn't wait for The Rock to enter the match and attacks Angle before it all and lands the infamous Pedigree through the announcers table until The Rock finally comes out as the crowd absolutely erupts for him. I certainly do miss the days when the crowds were always hot for these main event matches. Angle gets the stretcher treatment and gets rolled to the back until Triple H brings him back and refuses to let him leave. Action was fast and furious her and The Rock did a great job in making you feel bad for him as he fought as the underdog. Stephanie inserts herself back in the match and slides a sledgehammer in between Triple H and Angle but ends up getting inadvertently punched in the face by Triple H. The Rock later takes advantage of the mess and hits a People's Elbow on Triple H to pick up the win. Angle then escapes with Stephanie in his hands after the match. Fantastic main event and loved how they put the focus on Triple H and Angle which allowed them to underestimate The Rock who would then take advantage of it all. That is how you tell a story.
Winner: The Rock
Rating: ****1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
As with usual Attitude Era PPVs, there's a lot of good and a lot of bad here. However, the good was undeniable and especially the TLC Match that has gone down as one of the most influential and memorable matches in professional wrestling history. If you can see through the bad, definitely relive this event because you will definitely be pleased. 
Rating: 7.5/10