TJR Retro: WWF Smackdown 02/10/00 Review
The road to No Way Out 2000 continued with Smackdown. Check out our WWF in 2000 archives for my reviews all of the other shows from earlier in the year. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport if you’re not doing so already and let’s get started.
WWF Smackdown #25
February 10, 2000 (Taped February 8)
From Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas
This show earned a TV-PG and “V” for Violence. Smackdown rarely gets the dreaded “S” for Sexual Content.
A replay aired from the big angle on Monday’s Raw when the Radicalz group turned heel by siding with Triple H against Cactus Jack since Triple H gave them their WWF contracts. The ten-man tag team match saw the heel side get the win with Chris Benoit getting the pin for the team. After the match, Kane returned with his “dad” Paul Bearer with Kane cleaning house.
The Smackdown intro video aired. The pyro went off, the crowd was loud as usual and there were a lot of signs in the building. The announce team is Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.
Kurt Angle made his entrance first. A clip aired from Raw when Angle was in a match with Mark Henry and Angle hit the Olympic Slam on the elderly Mae Young. Angle did a promo: “Even though I suplexed an 82-year-old pregnant woman, I am still a role model for children, not to mention elderly people as well…I am. I am!” Angle said that tonight he’s going to treat all of us by becoming the next European Champion. Angle said that not a lot of people in Texas know where Europe is and he said it’s the fault of their educational system in Austin, Texas. Angle said he’ll entertain and educate us when he wins the title.
Analysis: That promo was awesome. Angle was getting better every week.
Val Venis was the European Champion and he made his entrance. The title was far down the totem people at this point. It wasn’t defended that often.
European Championship: Val Venis vs. Kurt Angle
Pre-match notes: Venis was the face European Champion and Angle was the heel.
Angle attacked Venis from behind with a forearm to the back. Cole noted that Mae Young was fine, which we saw on Raw. Venis with an arm drag, Venis misses a clothesline and Angle hit a clothesline that sent Venis over the top to the floor. Venis sent Angle chest first into the top of the barricade followed by a hard chop. Angle with a neckbreaker into the top rope. Angle slammed Venis’ throat into the top rope. Angle with a neckbreaker for two as the fans chanted “Angle sucks” at Angle. Venis took control with a running shoulder tackle against the turnbuckle followed by a Fisherman’s Suplex for a two count. Venis slammed Angle. Venis went up top, but Angle hit the ropes to trip him up and crotch Venis on the top. Angle hit the Olympic Slam (they still didn’t have a name for it) for the pinfall win at 3:14.
Winner by pinfall: Kurt Angle
Analysis: ** It was a simple match with Angle getting the clean win after knocking Venis down off the top rope. Venis wasn’t doing much with the champion anyway, so it was smart to take the title off him and get in on a more important star like Angle.
Angle celebrated with the title with Lawler claiming that this reminded Angle of winning the Olympic Gold Medal in the 1996 Olympics.
Analysis: It was the first of many titles that Angle would win in his Hall of Fame career. I looked it up and it was 11 titles in WWE and eight different titles counting the WCW titles he won.
There were a lot of people in the office with Triple H, Stephanie, DX and the Radicalz. They announced matches with Saturn facing Grandmaster Sexay, Malenko would face Scotty 2 Hotty, Benoit gets to fake Rikishi and the New Age Outlaws will face The Rock and Cactus Jack. Road Dogg said it’s not for the titles, which Triple H said of course it’s not for the titles. Hunter told X-Pac he gets Kane, but X-Pac didn’t like it and Hunter told him it would be a handicap match with him on X-Pac’s team.
Analysis: That was a quick way to set up five matches in a one minute segment instead of doing the usual opening promo that takes 15 minutes.
(Commercial)
Grandmaster Sexay entered solo for his match against Perry Saturn, who had the standard Radicalz song by this point. Lawler called Saturn psychotic based on how he looked.
Perry Saturn vs. Grandmaster Sexay
Pre-match notes: Saturn was the heel while Sexay was the face.
Saturn with a clothesline on Sexay early on. Sexay came back with a dropkick to the back of the head. Sexay with an enziguri kick to the back of the head. Saturn to the apron, so Sexay jumped over the top with a sunset flip into a Powerbomb on the floor. That was a big move executed perfectly. Back in the ring, Saturn with a drop toe hold and Saturn hit an overhead suplex that sent Sexay across the ring. Saturn worked over the left arm of Sexay by wrenching on the arm followed by an armbar leading to Sexay getting to the ropes. Saturn with a Northern Lights suplex for a two count. Another armbar applied by Saturn. They ran the ropes leading to Saturn slapping on another armbar. Sexay got back to his feet leading to Saturn hitting a forearm to the face. Saturn with a body slam followed by a climb to the top rope. Saturn jumped off with an elbow drop that connected for a two count. Sexay got back into it with a suplex that sent Saturn groin first into the top rope. Sexay whipped Saturn across the ring, he did a little dance and Sexay hit a powerslam for a two count. Sexay hit a cross body block, Saturn moved and the ref Tim White took the cross body. Sexay with a neckbreaker. Sexay put the goggles on, climbed the top rope and hit a leg drop for a two count as White did a slow count since he was knocked down earlier. Saturn took down Sexay and slapped on the Rings of Saturn submission. Sexay’s foot was on the bottom rope, but the ref never saw it and Sexay quit to give Saturn the win at 7:14.
Winner by submission: Perry Saturn
Analysis: **1/4 Good match to put over Saturn for his first singles win in the WWF. The ref bump felt unnecessary in a match like that. Saturn should have won clean. I was a bit surprised that they had the longest match of the night on the show. Neither guy is a big name, so getting seven minutes was a lot of time in this era.
Saturn left as the winner with Benoit, Guerrero and Malenko looking on from the locker room.
(Commercial)
There was a clip from the XFL introductory press conference from one week earlier. The kickoff was a year away. It was a huge money loser for WWE and NBC.
Edge and Christian entered as a clip aired from Raw with the Dudleys costing them the Tag Team Titles. The Dudleys made their entrance with a clip of their win over The Godfather and D-Lo Brown on Raw. They tried to put the EMT known as BB through the table, but Edge and Christian made the save along with the Hardys.
Edge and Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
Pre-match notes: Edge and Christian were the faces while the Dudleys were the heels.
Edge and Christian hit double dropkicks on both Dudleys to start the match followed by a double team shoulder tackle. Double team flapjack by E&C on D-Von followed by Christian hitting a Russian legsweep for two. After a Bubba distraction, D-Von hit a neckbreaker off the middle ropes. Bubba worked over Christian with punches plus a back body drop and a punch to Edge. D-Von hit the headbutt off the top to the groin of Christian, which the referee never saw. D-Von hit a flying elbow on Christian, but Christian countered into a sunset flip. Bubba grabbed a steel chair, but the referee made him put it down. Bubba with a slam followed by two elbows to the chest of Christian for two. Christian with two boots to the face and a Tornado DDT off the turnbuckle. Edge got the hot tag with a back body drop on D-Von and when Bubba went for a Samoan Drop, he grabbed at his left leg. Christian went for a sunset flip on D-Von, Edge up top and he hit a missile drop on D-Von into a pin for Christian at 5:11.
Winners by pinfall: Edge and Christian
Analysis: **3/4 A fun tag team match between two of the best teams in WWE history. They know what they are doing out there in a match like that even though it wasn’t a long match at all. There was an issue because Christian was not the legal man and never tagged in. I watched it again and there was clearly no tag, but the result counted.
Post match, Bubba was grabbing his knee at ringside while Edge and Christian left through the crowd. The EMTs walked out with a stretcher along with Barbara Bush the EMT. When Bubba was put on the stretcher, he told them to roll him out and Bubba grabbed BB by the head.
Bubba had a hold of BB’s head. He was faking the whole thing. D-Von went to grab a table, which set up in the ring. Bubba was on the middle rope, D-Von lifted BB up and Bubba gave BB the Powerbomb off the ropes and through the table just like he did to Terri a few weeks earlier. This drew a big reaction because it was quite a sight to see a man do that to a woman. Bubba did the move really well because he protected her and he took most of the bump. Bubba made a face wit the crazy eyes.
Analysis: It was a crazy move at the time and even crazier today when you don’t see man on woman violence in the WWF. The spot really got the Dudleys over in terms of being heels that would attack anybody at any time. It also showed that Bubba was crafty because he faked an injury leading to this attack on BB.
Edge and Christian returned, they threw D-Von out of the ring and D-Von decked both of them with chair shots including a nasty chair shot to the head of Christian. D-Von pulled Bubba away while BB was out in the ring. The Dudleys caused a lot of carnage once again leading to more crazy faces and a twisted smile from Bubba. Replays aired of what happened to BB.
Analysis: That was the end of BB in WWE. Her run in the company only lasted a few months with reports noting that she was fired because she was dating Bob Holly, who was married at the time and the company found out about it. I know Bruce Prichard talked about her on his podcast and said that she was only there for a short-term time because she wasn’t that good. I would agree with that because even though she is a pretty woman, she didn’t have an over the top personality needed for wrestling. She appeared on two WCW shows later that year, but boyfriend at the time Bob Holly told her to quit. She resurfaced briefly in TNA two years later as Taylor Vaughn and that was pretty much it for her in terms of major wrestling companies. She probably worked the indies at times too.
(Commercial)
A replay was shown the Dudleys attack on poor BB and she was taken away on a stretcher.
Scotty 2 Hotty made his entrance alone and so did his opponent, Dean Malenko.
Dean Malenko vs. Scotty 2 Hotty
Scotty was in control early with a dropkick that sent Malenko to the apron followed by a whip into the steps at ringside. Eddie Guerrero walked down to ringside with his left arm in a sling. Malenko took control with a suplex. Scotty came back with punches to counter a sunset flip attempt by Malenko. Eye poke by Malenko gave him control again as he drove his knee into Scotty’s knee against the ropes. The fans chanted “Eddie sucks” as Malenko hit a kneebreaker followed by a knee wrench. Malenko with a belly to back suplex, but Scotty punched him on the way down. Scotty with a back body drop. Malenko with another eye poke. Scotty got back into it with a bulldog, then the crowd went wild as Scotty did the W-O-R-M into a chop to the head. Scotty went up top, Malenko held the ref’s shirt and Eddie predictably shoved Scotty off the top rope. Malenko slapped on the Texas Cloverleaf submission leading to Scotty tapping out at 4:42.
Winner by submission: Dean Malenko
Analysis: ** It was a solid match to give Malenko a win. The cheap finish with Eddie getting involved was predictable as soon as he walked out there. These two had an incredible, four star level match at Backlash 2000, which you can read here because I reviewed it a few years ago. The finish to that match was incredible with a DDT off the top rope.
Post match, Dean and Eddie stomped away on Scotty, so Sexay made the save and kicked Malenko out of the ring.
The next week’s Raw had a 11pmET start time.
Cactus Jack was shown walking to the ring with The Rock walking behind him.
(Commercial)
A video package aired about Tazz with his “The Mood About to Change” catchphrase featured in it. It’s the same thing that they aired on Raw.
The New Age Outlaws duo of Road Dogg and Billy Gunn made their entrance for this non-title tag team match. Dogg did the usual pre-match promo entrance with Gunn leading the “suck it” chant to end it. Yes, they are heels, but they still did the crowd participation entrance.
Cactus Jack made his entrance. Jack did a promo about how his career wasn’t going to end at No Way Out in the Hell in a Cell match. Jack said that Triple H will go down and Jack will go on to WrestleMania. Jack said there will be hell to pay tonight in Austin, Texas.
The Rock entered to a huge pop. The weekly reactions for this guy are ridiculously loud. It’s incredible.
The Rock and Cactus Jack vs. New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn)
Pre-match notes: Rock and Jack were the faces of course while the Outlaws were the heels that were the Tag Team Champions.
(Some fans wanted a Tugboat return, clearly.)
Jack worked over Dogg to start the match. The Rock got his turn as he punched Gunn repeatedly followed by a back elbow. Gunn came back with a running bulldog on Rock. Dogg back in and he was met with a Samoan Drop from Rock. The crowd was going crazy chanting for Rock as Gunn hit a knee to the back of Rock leading to Dogg hitting a kick to the head of Rock. Dogg went for his punch combo, but Rock fired back with punches and Rock hit a quick DDT for two. Gunn tried to break up the pin, Rock moved and Gunn elbow dropped Dogg by accident. Rock hit a Rock Bottom on Dogg and Gunn pulled referee Earl Hebner out of the ring. That could have been a DQ, but it’s not. Jack went over to Gunn and punched him. Gunn grabbed one of the Tag Team Titles and he hit Rock in the head with it while the referee was dealing with Jack on the floor. Back in, Hebner countered and Rock got his left shoulder up at two. As the heels made quick tags to work over Rock, the fans chanted “Cactus Jack” leading to Rock and Gunn doing a double clothesline spot in the middle of the ring. Jack got the hot tag on Dogg and cleaned house with punches and clotheslines while also biting Dogg. That was a unique hot tag. All four guys started battling on the floor with Rock sending Gunn into the barricade. Jack sent Dogg face first into the steel steps. Jack brought in a lead pipe into the ring, the ref was dealing with Rock and Gunn on the floor, so Jack hit Dogg in the head with the pipe. Jack covered, he pulled Dogg up at two and Jack hit a piledriver for the pinfall win at 6:56.
Winners by pinfall: The Rock and Cactus Jack
Analysis: *** That was a lot of fun as you would expect from two of the better teams from this era. It always helps when the crowd is really into a match the way they were here. They went crazy for everything The Rock did, which was pretty much the norm in this era. I expected Rock and Jack to win since it was a non-title match. Champs losing non-title is the most common booking occurrence in a match like that. The cheap ending was a bit of a surprise, but the crowd liked it, so that’s what mattered.
(Commercial)
Gangrel entered with his wife Luna. They faced off with Women’s Champion Jacqueline and Albert, which is a pretty random team.
Gangrel and Luna vs. Prince Albert and Jacqueline
Pre-match notes: Gangrel and Luna were heels. Jacqueline was the face Women’s Champion and I guess Albert would count as a face in this match. Gangrel gave Jackie a DDT on Raw after Jackie beat Luna.
Gangrel attacked Albert to start, Jackie tagged in and jumped on Gangrel’s back. Luna went into the ring for a slam, but Jackie countered into a pin attempt. Luna hit a DDT on Jackie for the pinfall win at 0:54. Yes, it was over that fast.
Winners by pinfall: Gangrel and Luna
Analysis: * That was a quickie. There wasn’t much to the match. It was very forgettable.
Post match, Albert gave Gangrel a two handed sitout Chokeslam like move that would later be called a Baldo Bomb. Jacqueline took down Luna with a hair whip, so Albert and Jackie stood tall in the ring.
Rikishi was shown walking backstage for his match and sadly we get a closeup of his giant ass. Chris Benoit was also shown walking backstage for the match up next.
(Commercial)
Rikishi made his entrance to a big pop. Chris Benoit entered to the same Radicalz song as his buddies earlier in the night.
Rikishi vs. Chris Benoit
Pre-match notes: Rikishi was the face and Benoit was the heel.
Rikishi hit a Samoan Drop early in the match. Rikishi with a hard whip that sent Benoit into the steel steps. Back in the ring, Benoit with a drop toe hold, low drop kick and a running elbow splash for two. Rikishi lifted Benoit leading to a cutter. Running back splash by Rikishi connected on Benoit against the turnbuckle. Rikishi went for his finish, Benoit avoided it and went to the back going for a suplex, Rikishi blocked that and Benoit slapped on the Crippler Crossface on Rikishi as the fans chanted for Rikishi, who got his hand on the ropes to break. Benoit whipped Rikishi into the turnbuckle leading to a Northern Lights Suplex on Rikishi for two. That was impressive. Benoit slapped on a sleeper, Rikishi shoved Benoit into the ropes for his own sleeper and Benoit hit a belly to back suplex. Benoit went up top, he jumped off and Rikishi moved out of the way, so Benoit hit the mat hard. Rikishi with a superkick followed by a belly to belly suplex. Rikishi wanted the Banzai Drop, but Saturn and Malenko showed up to attack Rikishi from behind leading to the DQ finish at 4:07.
Winner by disqualification: Rikishi
Analysis: **1/2 There was good action in the match until the obvious run-in that put an end to things. I think this was a case of WWF’s creative team not wanting to have either man lose the match
The heels stomped away on Rikishi against the turnbuckle. Eddie helped Benoit out of the ring. Too Cool ran out to make the save. Scotty knocked Malenko out of the ring with a dropkick. Rikishi hit a belly to belly suplex on Saturn and Saturn left the ring, so the Too Cool music played. Rikishi danced with Too Cool to celebrate standing tall.
Analysis: It was a good way to continue the rivalry between the two sides, which led to a tag team match at No Way Out later that month.
(Commercial)
A graphic let us know that WrestleMania 2000 (16) is eight weeks away.
The Hardy Boyz made their entrance to a good pop since they were one of the most popular acts in the company. Al Snow and Steve Blackman didn’t much of a reaction. You could tell the WWF piped in the fake crowd response.
The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) vs. Al Snow and Steve Blackman
Pre-match notes: The Hardys were the faces while Snow and Blackman were heels, but they would become faces soon. The story was that Snow and Blackman were undefeated.
Snow whipped Jeff into the turnbuckle leading to a clothesline while Hardy hit a corkscrew attack off the top to take out Snow. Matt tagged in with the announcers talking about Terri’s psychological trauma and how she was the Hardys manager that may never come back…she did. Jeff tagged back in with a running kick against the turnbuckle and Jeff hit a double leg drop to Blackman’s midsection. Snow and Blackman hit a double team knee to gut move while Blackman hit a running clothesline on Matt while Snow held him, which was like the Hart Foundation’s finisher. Snow dumped Matt to the floor, so Blackman slammed Matt face first into the steel steps, which led to a two count for Snow on Matt. Blackman with a shoulderblock on Matt followed by a body slam and Matt moved out of the way of a headbutt. The fans were chanting “Headcheese” at Blackman, who hates that team name. Matt with a Russian legsweep and Jeff tagged in with a dropkick on Blackman. Jeff was on fire with kicks for both guys, Jeff with a clothesline that sent Snow to the floor and Jeff hit a somersault dive onto Snow on the floor. That was impressive. Matt hit a Twist of Fate on Blackman. The Dudleys ran to the ring, D-Von distracted the ref and Bubba hit Jeff in the back with the chair. Apparently the ref is also deaf. Blackman held Jeff while Snow went up top and hit an impressive leg drop leading to Blackman covering Jeff for the win at 5:04.
Winners by pinfall: Al Snow and Steve Blackman
Analysis: **3/4 Good stuff with a cheap finish caused by the Dudleys. The team of Snow and Blackman continued their winning streak although in this case it was only because the Dudleys. The Hardys were impressive with their moves and got robbed of the win. I liked the fast pace of the match. It’s shorter than a current WWE match for sure, but you also don’t have to sit through a two minute chinlock either, so that’s a good thing.
(Commercial)
The Holly Cousins were shown backstage talking about their match against Chris Jericho with Jericho having a hand tied behind his back.
Jericho made his entrance to a big ovation. Jericho had his left hand tied behind his back. Jericho did ap room saying that it makes no difference if he has a hand tied behind his back because he can beat Bob Holly and “Elroy” Crash Holly because the end result will be the same since it will be a Y2J beating that they will never, ever (hold the r) forget again.
The Holly cousins Hardcore and Crash Holly made their entrance.
No Disqualification: Chris Jericho vs. Hardcore and Crash Holly
Pre-match notes: Jericho was the face Intercontinental Champion and Hardcore/Crash were the heels.
Jericho worked over Hardcore with chops. The Acolytes ran down to the ring and Faarooq hit a massive spinebuster on Crash. Double team Spinebuster by the APA on Hardcore. Bradshaw went for a Powerbomb on Crash, who slipped out and Jericho hit a clothesline on Crash. Faarooq hit a Dominator on Crash. Jericho covered Crash for the pinfall win at 1:10.
Winner by pinfall: Chris Jericho
The story was that Jericho paid the APA for protection, so they helped him get the win.
Analysis: 1/2* It was an angle more than a match to put over the APA gimmick where wrestlers hired them for protection.
Triple H and X-Pac were backstage with Stephanie and Tori. Triple H told X-Pac not to worry because Kane can’t beat either of them in a singles match, so Kane has no chance against both of them.
(Commercial)
Triple H, the WWF Champion, and X-Pac entered to the DX theme song. They were joined by Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and Tori. It was weird not seeing a long winded Triple H and Stephanie promo during the show.
Kane made his entrance with his father Paul Bearer by his side with Bearer wearing a red jacket. Big ovation for Kane as his pyro went off. The story is that Kane was his girlfriend that turned on him to join up with X-Pac.
Triple H and X-Pac (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and Tori) vs. Kane (w/Paul Bearer)
Pre-match notes: Triple H and X-Pac were heels while X-Pac was a face.
X-Pac tried to run away before the match even began, he went into the crowd and Kane went after him. Kane brought X-Pac back to ringside, so Hunter hit a clothesline on Kane outside the ring. Hunter and X-Pac worked over Kane with punches while they were on the floor because the referee had no interest in counting them on the floor. Back in the ring, X-Pac with a facebuster knee to face and X-Pac with a spin kick. Kane whipped X-Pac into the ring, the girls distracted referee Earl Hebner and Hunter hit a low blow kick leading to “Asshole” chants. X-Pac with a running leg drop leading to a power kickout by Kane. Hunter back in the ring, Kane with punches and Hunter hit a DDT for two. X-Pac back in with a spin kick against the turnbuckle. Kane blocked a Bronco Buster attempt with one hand, so Hunter went back in leading to a double team suplex on Kane and another power kickout. Hunter tried to work over Kane with punches, but Kane powered out and hit an uppercut punch. X-Pac back in, so Kane hit him with a clothesline and Kane hit a boot to the face of both heels. Kane up top leading to a clothesline off the top on Hunter. Kane hit a Chokeslam on X-Pac. Kane with a Chokeslam on Hunter as well. Stephanie gave Hunter a chair, Hunter hit Kane in the back with it and the ref saw it, so there’s the DQ finish at 5:27.
Winner by disqualification: Kane
Analysis: **1/2 The match was going fine when they opted for the DQ finish. I assume that was done because they didn’t want Kane or Triple H taking the pin. Kane could have beaten X-Pac I guess, but that’s something they were building to. This was more about trying to show that Kane was back to being a motivated monster that would be tough to beat.
After the match, Kane got the chair from Hunter and crushed him with a stiff chair shot to the head. That looked rough. Stephanie checked on Hunter in the ring. Tori went into the ring, she grabbed the chair from Kane and Kane grabbed her around the throat. Referees went into the ring, so Kane punched all the referees. Bearer went into the ring and shoved Tori towards Kane. The crowd was screaming as Kane held Tori by one hand. Kane looked in her eyes and let her go. The fans booed that because they wanted Kane to get his revenge. Kane picked up Tori, the fans screamed and Kane dropped Tori with a Tombstone in the center of the ring. The crowd popped big for that. Meanwhile, Hunter, X-Pac and Stephanie were at ringside freaking out about what happened. The show ended shortly after that with Kane standing tall in the ring.
Analysis: It was all about Kane getting the revenge on Tori. A big moment that the fans loved because, at least based on the storyline, she deserved it for breaking his heart.
This episode had a run time of 1:31:14 on WWE Network.
Three Stars of the Show
- Cactus Jack/The Rock
- New Age Outlaws
- The Dudley Boyz
All tag team teams this week.
The Scoreboard
This episode gets a 7 out of 10.
I liked this show. There was a different feel to this broadcast. It was about the in-ring action a lot, there wasn’t much in terms of backstage segments and there were barely any promos. Most of the matches were good too, at least the ones that got five minutes or more.
The man on woman violence stuff is tough to watch today, but back then they did it once in a while. Bubba put BB through the table and Kane hit Tori with a Tombstone on the same show. It just shows how different wrestling was back then.
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That’s all for now. The next WWF 2000 review will be Raw from February 14, 2000.
Please let me know what you think of these reviews and feel free to offer any suggestions too. Thanks for reading.
John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport