TJR Retro: WWF Smackdown 05/11/00 Review
The road to Judgment Day 2000 continued as the McMahon-Helmsley Regime did everything they could to make life miserable for the babyfaces. The Rock missed Raw due to filming a movie (The Mummy Returns) and he missed this episode of Smackdown too.
Here’s the synopsis from WWE Network: “Rikishi and Too Cool battle DX in a Six-Man Tag Team Elimination main event. Triple H issues a challenge to The Rock for the WWE Title.”
Check out our WWF in 2000 archives for my reviews of all 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 #38
May 11, 2000 (Taped May 9)
From the New Haven Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut
This show has a TV-14 rating and “S” for Sexual Content on WWE Network.
The Smackdown intro aired to start the show. Pyro went off in the arena and there were signs everywhere. Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler welcomed us to the show.
The Dudleys made their entrance to a good pop.
Gerald Brisco entered to “Real American” to boos from the crowd. Brisco cued up the replay of what happened on Raw when Brisco gave Bubba a splash through the table on Raw. Brisco said that he’s a great fighter for women’s rights and he will fight for the rights of the women in the WWF. Brisco introduced us to Trish Stratus, Test and Albert. Welcome back Trish after missing over a week after Bubba put her through a table at Backlash.
Shane McMahon made his entrance for a promo. Shane said he is overwhelmed with his colleague Gerald Brisco’s sentiments and he shares Gerald’s sensitivity for women’s rights. Shane said he stands by a staunch advocate of women’s rights Gerald Brisco, who he called his hero and friend. They hugged as the match began.
The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) vs. Test & Albert (w/Trish Stratus, Shane McMahon and Gerald Brisco)
Pre-match notes: The Dudleys were the faces while T&A were heels.
Test with a boot to the face of D-Von, neckbreaker by Test and the fans cheered for tables. D-Von with a kick to the ribs and a shoulder tackle to Test. Bubba with a boot to the face, a clothesline and Trish was shown looking concerned. Test came back with a clothesline to Bubba. Test hit a Full Nelson Slam on Bubba. The fans chanted “Tables” early on and then “Puppies” at Trish. Albert sent Bubba into the corner, but Bubba came back with a clothesline. Bubba punched Test to distract the referee leading to D-Von hitting the headbutt to the groin off the top. There was no tag, but the referee never saw it. Brisco grabbed D-Von’s leg, which the ref never saw, D-Von chased after Brisco and Albert hit a clothesline. The fans chanted “We Want Tables” again as D-Von hit a sunset flip on Test for a two count followed by Test coming back with a sidewalk slam. Test up top, he jumped off with an elbow, D-Von moved and Bubba got the tag against Albert. Bubba with clotheslines, a Samoan Drop and a Cutter on Test. Bubba punched Brisco off the apron. Stratus went to the apron, Bubba avoided an Albert attack, so Trish was bumped onto Brisco on the floor. That drew a huge pop. Dudleys hit a double team neckbreaker. Bubba covered, Shane pulled referee Jimmy Korderas out of the ring for what should be a DQ, but it was not. D-Von chased after Shane. Test hit a top rope elbow on Bubba, Albert covered and T&A got the win at 6:08.
Winners by pinfall: Test & Albert
Analysis: **1/2 It was a solid match from two teams that wrestled a few times leading up to this. The finish was great with a lot of stuff going on and the heels ended up finding a way to win. I don’t mind the hectic endings like that if everybody plays their part well.
Post match, Big Show ran down to ring and went after Shane. Test saved Shane, so Shane ran away. Show hit a Chokeslam on Test and Shane went to the back.
(Commercial)
A replay aired of Big Show hitting the Chokeslam on Test while Shane ran away.
Big Show was shown looking for Shane in the backstage area.
The “Smack of the Night” showed a replay of Triple H screwing Chris Jericho out of the Intercontinental Championship and Chris Benoit won the title back.
The Godfather did the start of his “Ho Train” promo, but he was interrupted by Chris Benoit’s theme music. Smackdown wasn’t as raunchy as Raw, so that’s why the promo was cut off.
Chris Benoit vs. The Godfather
Pre-match notes: Benoit was the heel Intercontinental Champion in this non-title match. The Godfather was the face.
Benoit was aggressive with punches. Benoit hit a Northern Lights Suplex for two. Godfather came back with a powerslam followed by a hiptoss across the ring and a boot to the face. Godfather with a body slam and then he dumped Benoit out of the ring. Godfather whipped Benoit back first into the steel steps. Back in the ring, Godfather hit a belly to back suplex. Godfather went to the middle ropes, tried hit a splash off the ropes, came nowhere close to hitting it and Benoit slapped on the Crippler Crossface for the submission win at 2:32.
Winner by submission: Chris Benoit
Analysis: *1/4 A quick match with a weak finish to give Benoit a clean win after his tainted victory on Raw.
Post match, Cole went into the ring to try to interview Benoit saying that Jericho didn’t really tap out on Raw. Benoit told him not to make a dumb statement like that or he’ll show him how and why he won the title. Benoit admitted that it didn’t look like Jericho gave up, but he will guarantee all the Jerichoholics that he had no choice. Benoit said that Jericho didn’t tap out or say “I Quit” because he couldn’t. Benoit said he’s there to offer Jericho an opportunity for an IC Title rematch. Benoit said it will be a Submission Match at Judgment Day. Benoit left.
Analysis: A Submission Match in the WWF was rare, but it was fitting for Benoit and Jericho since they had submission finishing moves.
(Commercial)
The parking lot was shown with Benoit having a brawl. The fight was broken up by referees.
Let’s Hear from the McMahon-Helmsley Regime
The McMahon-Helmsley Regime entered the ring for their usual promo, this time in segment three. The group consisted of Triple H, Stephanie McMahon-Hemsley, Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, X-Pac, Road Dogg, Tori and Pat Patterson.
Patterson started off the promo saying that tonight he’s a very proud man and he’ll show us why. A clip aired from Raw showing Pat’s Stinkface with the white undies that had a brown skid-mark as he gave Rikishi a Stinkface. Patterson said he got permission, so he booked a six-man tag team elimination match: X-Pac, Road Dogg and Triple H vs. Too Cool and Rikishi.
Shane said since we’re making matches, he did his “which way did he go?” routine since Big Show was looking for him. Shane said that Big Show had to face The Dudleys in a Handicap Tables Match later tonight.
Triple H said a lot of people were surprised that The Rock didn’t show up for Raw leading to “Asshole” chants at Hunter. Do you want to see a sign that says “This is Card-Board” on it? No? Too bad.
Cardboard is one word, but for size issues, what he did was okay.
Hunter claimed that Rock was scared to answer the challenge for and Iron Man Match at Judgment Day. Hunter claimed it’s better than the excuse about going to Morocco to film The Mummy 2 and Cole said that’s the truth. Hunter repeated that Rock was scared. He said that on Monday, he’ll go face to face with The Rock and Rock will have to answer his challenge. Hunter said that if Rock says yes, then in ten days it will be Rock’s judgment day. Hunter said that Rock will never be the condition of athlete that Hunter is and he’ll never be as good as Hunter. Hunter said he’ll show the world that he is “that damn good” and he will be the World Wrestling Federation Champion.
Analysis: These Triple H promos really were repetitive. This was still in the early stages of his main event run. These similar promos would continue for years later in the decade.
Vince took over the promo with fans chanting “Asshole” at him. He said since they made Jericho defend the IC Title on three occasions, some people think it wasn’t fair, but that’s too bad. Vince talked about how we are people that wait in line while somebody like him will cut in line and we will say “that’s not fair.” Vince mentioned that people will whine about their parking spot. Vince talked about the occasion where we look into the full-length mirror saying that what we see isn’t fair. Vince said that we can’t seem to see the potbelly in the mirror and the small genitalia. Vince claimed that we say things aren’t fair when compared to the beautiful people in the ring. Vince moved on to talking about the money saying we save, work ourselves half to death and it’s not fair that some people are rich while you are not. Vince said that some of us are just born with inferior DNA and we have to face the facts that life is not fair.
Vince ended with this: “Some of you, a select few, you might as well go ahead and admit it, you might as well own up to the philosophy that life sucks…and then you die.” Vince’s music hit to end it.
Analysis: The delivery of that last line was Vince at his evil best. Vince didn’t set up a match or anything for later in the night, so it was really all about how unfair life is.
Eddie Guerrero and Chyna were shown backstage trying to play rock, paper and scissors. They switched to a coin toss. She said she’ll take Dean and he takes Perry.
(Commercial)
There were clips shown of the issues between Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero and Chyna to set up this next match.
Light Heavyweight Championship: Dean Malenko vs. Chyna (w/Eddie Guerrero)
Pre-match notes: Malenko was the heel champion and Chyna was a face. This was a title match.
The bell rang and Eddie Guerrero walked down to the ring with the European Championship. Chyna with a clothesline, a back body drop and a neckbreaker for two. Chyna with a back elbow on Malenko against the turnbuckle, but Malenko came back with kicks and a backbreaker. Guerrero provided a distraction leading to a low blow from Chyna followed by a DDT. Chyna stomped away on Malenko against the turnbuckle, Malenko pulled the referee in front and Chyna hit an elbow on the referee by accident. Perry Saturn went down to the ring and sent Guerrero into the steel steps. Saturn picked up Chyna and dropped her with a brainbuster. Malenko covered Chyna for the pinfall win at 3:17.
Winner by pinfall: Dean Malenko
Analysis: *1/4 A cheap win for Malenko due to Saturn getting involved. The story was that Saturn wasn’t necessarily trying help Dean, he was trying to screw over Eddie. It was effective booking in terms of continuing the issues between the Radicals group.
There was a clip of a local tavern called Pauli G’s as Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan showed up. They had WWF shirts on. They beat up some random guys at the bar because they wanted their seats.
Edge and Christian were shown backstage earlier today. A young fan asked for their autograph and Edge wanted the kid to give them $5, so the kid did. Another kid wanted a photo, so E&C posed in front of the kid and it cost $10. They blocked the kid from being in the photo, which was funny. Kevin Kelly asked them what they were doing. Edge and Christian said this was the easiest money they ever made.
(Commercial)
Edge and Christian entered for a match as the WWF Tag Team Champions. They did a 5-second pose for the fans. Edge claimed that their fans really like them and also respect them. Edge said they can’t seem to garner that same respect from the guys in the back. Christian said that the guys look at them with such envy, anger and rage, but there is one man that shows them the respect they deserve…Kurt Angle. I love how the Angle graphic says “American Hero” on it. That’s great.
Angle said that he respects both of them. He said that he used to think that the only good things from Canada were maple syrup and Michael J. Fox, but he was wrong because they are role models for all of us. Angle said that they will avenge his loss to Y2J from Monday and they will make this world right and that is true.
Analysis: It was the start of an amazing team known as Team ECK that would also team together at Judgment Day later in May 2000.
The Hardys made their entrance to a big pop and Chris Jericho got an even louder ovation.
Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy vs. Kurt Angle, Edge and Christian
Pre-match notes: Jericho and the Hardys were faces while Angle, Edge and Christian were heels. These guys were all early in their WWE careers and have had Hall of Fame careers in the two decades that followed.
Matt with a belly to back suplex on Edge. Jeff hit the Poetry in Motion attack on Edge, Jericho with a running bulldog on Edge and Jeff hit a dropkick to knock Edge down. Edge hit a face first slam on Jeff. Christian tagged in with three suplexes on Jeff including a face first slam into the mat. Angle tagged in with a suplex of his own. Edge back in with a body slam, Edge to the middle rope and Jeff with a dropkick to the face to counter. Jericho got the hot tag against Christian with punches and the double Powerbomb by Jericho on Christian. Edge tossed Jericho out of the ring. Chris Benoit went down to ringside and knocked down Jericho with a clothesline. Edge hit a Spear on Jericho, Christian covered and Jericho kicked out at two. Matt tagged in, so Jericho went up the ramp to attack Benoit. That led to a Benoit/Jericho brawl on the stage until referees broke it up. Angle with Northern Lights Suplex on Matt into a pin, but Jeff broke it up with a Swanton Bomb to Angle. The referee was distracted by Edge and Jeff, so Christian hit Matt in the head with the ring bell, which the ref never saw. Angle covered Matt to get the win for his team at 3:43.
Winners by pinfall: Kurt Angle, Edge and Christian
Analysis: **3/4 Very good match for the time given, but I can’t really go higher than that for the rating because it was so short. That was the fourth straight heel win on the show and the second straight match where the finish happened without the referee seeing it. I know it’s part of wrestling to do finishes like that, but it gets repetitive when you do it in back to back matches.
Post match, Jericho and Benoit continued their brawling on the stage. Angle went up to hold Jericho, so Benoit chopped Jericho and hit him with a knee to the groin. The heels left while Jericho was down.
(Commercial)
Backstage, Edge, Christian and Angle celebrated the win by overacting and pouring water on each other’s heads with water bottles. Team ECK rules!
The British Bulldog made his entrance. He won the Hardcore Title from Crash Holly at Insurrextion the previous weekend in England.
Hardcore Championship: British Bulldog vs. Hardcore Holly
Pre-match notes: Bulldog was out for a long time before this, so this was his return. Bulldog was a heel and so was Holly.
Hardcore dumped Bulldog out of the ring and then he hit him with a tray of drinks. That was a bad idea because they slipped on the water on the floor. Bulldog whipped Hardcore into the steel ring post. Bulldog brought a broom into the ring. Hardcore hit him in the back with it and beat on Bulldog with the broom handle. Hardcore hit Bulldog in the head with a toolbox leading to the tools spilling everywhere. Bulldog hit Hardcore with the toolbox as well. They went back out of the ring with Hardcore spraying a fire extinguisher to Bulldog’s face. Crash Holly entered with a referee, Hardcore hit a bulldog and Crash hit Hardcore in the back of the head with a trash can lid. Crash hit Bulldog with the trash can lid and covered for the pinfall to regain the Hardcore Title once again at 2:33.
Winner and New Hardcore Champion: Crash Holly
Analysis: * It was a typical hardcore match with a few weapon shots. It was not very interesting.
That led to Crash running away with the title like he had done so many times before. Hardcore went back in the ring and hit a Falcon Arrow slam on Bulldog on a steel chair.
Pat Patterson was interviewed backstage by Kevin Kelly. Patterson wanted to remind us of when he made Rikishi hit skid row leading to Patterson holding up his dirty undies.
It was back to the bar with Boss Man and Buchanan getting into an argument with a guy that mentioned the Acolytes. The guy was taken out of the bar.
(Commercial)
The fastest “Slam of the Week” sponsored by Western Union showed Gerald Brisco splashing Bubba Ray Dudley through a table on Raw.
Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) vs. Big Show
Pre-match notes: All three guys were faces. This was the second Dudleys match of the night.
The Dudleys brought a table down to ringside before the match. The Dudleys didn’t have to tag in and out of the ring. They were both in the ring trying to knock Show down with a clothesline, but Show blocked it. D-Von with a low blow followed by a double suplex from the Dudleys. Shane McMahon appeared on the stage. Show teased a Chokeslam on D-Von through a table, but Bubba prevented that. Show with a double clothesline on both Dudleys. Show splashed both Dudleys against the turnbuckle, Show with a Gorilla Slam on D-Von and a Chokeslam by Show on Bubba. Show left the ring to bring the table into the ring as Shane looked on from the ramp. Show put Bubba on the table by the turnbuckle. Show teased going to the middle turnbuckle, but D-Von saved his partner and the Dudleys hit a 3-D through the table for the win at 2:47.
Winners: The Dudley Boyz
Analysis: *1/4 They set up the finish well. The rest of it was boring and the crowd didn’t know who to root for. All three guys were heels before WrestleMania, but they all turned face after WrestleMania.
After the match, Shane went down to the ring after the Dudleys left. Shane punched and choked Show. The Dudleys saw it on the screen as they were leaving, so they went back into the ring with a table. That led to DX going to the ring to save Shane from an attack. Tori slapped Bubba across the face two times and she slapped D-Von once. The heels left while the three faces were down in the ring.
Analysis: It was a good segment for building heat for the heels. That sort of thing happened a lot in this era with the evil McMahons in charge. This segment was better than usual. The Judgment Day matches were Shane vs. Big Show and Dudleys vs. DX.
(Commercial)
Replays aired of Shane, DX and Tori beating up the Dudleys.
The APA guys were in their office and Faarooq showed Bradshaw a video of Bull and Boss Man in the tavern, so that led to the APA leaving.
European Championship: Eddie Guerrero (w/Chyna) vs. Perry Saturn (w/Dean Malenko)
Pre-match notes: Eddie and Chyna were the faces while Saturn and Malenko were the heels.
Guerrero was aggressive early with a belly to back suplex followed by a senton splash over the top onto Saturn. Guerrero charged, Saturn launched him into the turnbuckle and hit a clothesline. Saturn tried a splash off the turnbuckle, Guerrero avoided it and Saturn hit a flapjack. Guerrero came back with a jumping kick. Saturn with a boot to the face of Guerrero, they went to the turnbuckle and Guerrero hit a hurricanrana off the top (Frankensteiner) for a two count. Saturn countered a hurricanrana into a Powerbomb. Saturn went up top and connected with an elbow drop for two. Malenko distracted the referee, Chyna was on the apron and hit Saturn in the head with the flowers. Eddie covered Saturn for the pinfall win at 3:18.
Winner by pinfall: Eddie Guerrero
Analysis: **1/2 Good match that could have used more time. The finish was clever because it put over how crafty was in terms of being able to help Eddie win matches. At Judgment Day, it was a three way for the title between Eddie, Dean and Perry.
After the match, we found out that Chyna hit Saturn with a lead pipe that was in the flowers. Eddie had no idea about it.
Analysis: Even though Eddie and Chyna were faces, they still did heelish things occasionally. This was an example of that behavior.
(Commercial)
They showed Jerry Tolliver from WWF Racing at ringside. That WWF Racing venture did not go well.
It was back to the bar where Bradshaw and Faarooq showed up to get in a bar fight with Boss Man and Buchanan. They got into a fight at the bar with Bradshaw tossing a guy into a bathroom door. Faarooq beat on Boss Man with a bar stool and a case of beer. Bradshaw tackled Buchanan into a door and they broke the door. Bradshaw tossed the case of beer onto Buchanan. The Acolytes stood tall while the heels were out on the floor.
Analysis: This feud didn’t produce any good matches. However, this bar fight was entertaining to watch. That would have been an expensive bill for WWE to pay after this was over.
Rikishi and Too Cool were shown walking backstage. The Degeneration X were also shown backstage walking towards the ring for the main event.
(Commercial)
There was another replay of Patterson’s Stinkface on Rikishi. Stop showing that!
The entrances took place for the main event first with the heels followed by the faces. Give some props to these fans for making this creative sign for Rikishi. I didn’t say good, but it is creative!
Tag Team Elimination Match: Triple H, Road Dogg and X-Pac (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and Tori) vs. Rikishi Phatu, Scotty 2 Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay
Pre-match notes: DX were the heels while Too Cool and Rikishi were the faces. This was an elimination match.
Road Dogg sent Sexay into the turnbuckle, Sexay came back with a kick to the face and a missile dropkick. Scotty tagged in for a Too Cool double team elbow drop. Rikishi tagged in with a leg drop on Dogg. Scotty with a shoulder tackle on X-Pac, a punch to the face and X-Pac came back with a spin kick to Scotty’s face. Scotty with the bulldog on X-Pac and Dogg went into the ring to stop the Worm attempt, so Scotty gave Dogg the Worm. Sexay kicked Triple H to prevent him from interfering. Scotty did the W-O-R-M and a chop to Dogg for a cover, but Triple H saved his partner. Dogg hit a pumphandle slam and covered Scotty while the ref was busy watching Rikishi and Hunter. That led to Sexay going up top with the Hip Hop Drop leg drop to Dogg’s heat and Scotty covered Dogg, but still no referee. X-Pac spin kick to Sexay and the X-Factor face into the mat on Scotty. Dogg covered Scotty to pin and eliminate him. I think X-Pac was legal.
Scotty 2 Hotty eliminated
The referee Tim White tried to get Scotty out of the ring, so Hunter hit a low blow to Sexay without the ref seeing it. Hunter with a Pedigree to Sexay and Hunter covered for the pinfall to eliminate Sexay.
Grandmaster Sexay eliminated
Rikishi faced off against the three heels in the ring. Rikishi with punches, a Samoan Drop on Dogg and a Cutter on Dogg. Rikishi whipped the three guys into the corner, Hunter pulled the referee in front and Rikishi splashed the referee by mistakes. Rikishi with a back body drop on Hunter. X-Pac and Dogg stomped away on Rikishi to put him down. The Dudleys ran out to the ring to save Rikishi since the referee was down. The Dudleys hit a 3D on Road Dogg and a 3D on X-Pac as well. Huge pop for that.
Rikishi sat on top of X-Pac and Dogg at the same time, so the referee counted them both down. Rikishi eliminated both men at the same time.
Road Dogg and X-Pac eliminated
It was down to Rikishi and Hunter as the last men for their teams with fans chanting “Rikishi” as Hunter hit a facebuster. Patterson walked down to the ring with the stained underwear in his hand. Patterson put the stained underwear in Rikishi’s face and he laughed about it. Rikishi got a hold of Patterson and gave him a headbutt. Rikishi got the stained underwear and put it into Triple H’s face. The crowd cheered that loudly as Rikishi kicked Hunter down. Stephanie went into the ring, so Rikishi stared at her. Patterson punched Rikishi and that led to Rikishi splashing into Stephanie into the corner. Rikishi punched Patterson and delivered the Stinkface to him. Huge pop for that revenge Stinkface from the big man. Rikishi went across the ring to Stephanie, who was passed out against the turnbuckle. Hunter got back up, kicked Rikishi in the gut and hit a Pedigree for the pinfall win at 11:20.
Rikishi eliminated
Winner by pinfall: Triple H
Analysis: *** That was a good match that had a different feel to it because elimination matches were not that common. Rikishi was very popular with the fans and he was believable as a top face in a situation like that. It was booked well. There was also some of the gross out comedy that Vince loves to book with the stained underwear. It’s cheesy, but it worked in terms of getting the crowd invested in the last few minutes. That was also one of the longest main event matches of this era because usually, they go under ten minutes. It was nice to see a longer match in the main event slot. Hunter getting the win was no surprise since he was in the Judgment Day main event. If he lost this match it would have been the wrong decision.
Triple H helped Stephanie back up to her feet as the show signed off. Stephanie’s “acting” was not good. The show ended less than one minute after that pinfall.
This episode of Smackdown had a run time of 1:27:54 on WWE Network.
Three Stars of the Show
- Triple H
- Rikishi
- The Dudley Boyz
The Scoreboard
This episode gets a 7 out of 10.
It was a night that was heavy in heel wins. There were also three finishes where the referee didn’t see what happened. Even though there were some face wins, Eddie cheated to win thanks to Chyna, Crash won a match he wasn’t even in and then the Dudleys win was a handicap match. It’s not really a complaint, though. It’s more like an observation.
I thought they did a good job of building up the Judgment Day matches as best they could. Obviously, with no Rock there he couldn’t further his storyline with Triple H, but his absence allowed for more screen time for the others. Rikishi was booked like a big star like Jericho on the previous Raw while the Dudleys were all over the show.
The Vince McMahon promo was also memorable just for the “life sucks and then you die now” that is pretty fitting for his heel character. I always remember that one.
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Check out our WWF in 2000 archives for my reviews of all the other shows from earlier in the year. Thanks for reading.
John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport