TJR Retro: WWF Smackdown 07/13/00 Review (Triple H vs. The Undertaker)
The WWF in 2000 reviews are back and this is being posted exactly 20 years after this show aired. That’s how it will be moving forward, so Smackdown’s will be on Mondays, Raw will be on Fridays and the PPVs will be Thursdays when they come up on the schedule like Fully Loaded on July 23.
At this point, the WWF was on the road to Fully Loaded and we know most of the card including the big matches.
Here’s the synopsis for this episode from WWE Network:
“14+ (D,L,V) / Triple H competes in a main event No Disqualification Match against The Undertaker. Before Kurt Angle goes one-on-one with Kane, the Olympic Gold Medalist makes a mistake that costs him dearly. Plus, X-Pac & Road Dogg take on The Hardy Boyz, Intercontinental Champion Val Venis teams with Test & Albert to battle Too Cool & Rikishi, and much more!”
Check out our WWF TV in 2000 archives in case you missed anything (Raw, Smackdown and PPV reviews) from earlier in the year. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport and tweet me to talk about this show or anything else. Let’s get to it.
WWF Smackdown #47
July 13, 2000 (Taped July 11)
From the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California
The Smackdown intro video played and then a huge pyro display went off in the arena. Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler were on commentary with Cole noting that Commissioner Mick Foley wasn’t there (just like on Raw) due to being on a promotional tour in southeast Asia. Cole noted that there were 17,000 fans and it was sold out for over four months. Back in 2000, pretty every much every TV event sold out as well as most house shows. Business was very good.
The trio of Rikishi and Too Cool made their entrance to a big ovation. Trish Stratus led out her guys, which were Intercontinental Champion Val Venis, Test and Albert.
Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay vs. Val Venis, Test and Albert (w/Trish Stratus)
Pre-match notes: Rikishi and Too Cool were the faces while Trish’s crew were the heels.
Rikishi with a double clothesline on T&A, then Too Cool with a double dropkick on Test and a double clothesline on Albert. Venis tripped up Sexay to take control. Test with punches on Sexay, then he missed a corner attack and Sexay hit a missile dropkick off the middle ropes. Scotty tagged in with a dropkick followed by a forearm to the face of Test, but Test came back with a Full Nelson slam. Albert tagged in with a corner splash on Scotty and Test with a boot to the face. Albert with a press slam on Scotty. Venis with a back elbow, elbow drop and knee drop on Scotty for two. Albert back in with a double team back elbow on Scotty followed by a leg drop to the arm. Albert missed a corner charge on Scotty, but he followed up with a clothesline. Albert with a leg drop attempt, Scotty moved and Rikishi got the hot tag against Venis. Rikishi with a double clothesline to T&A, then he sat on Albert and hit a Samoan Drop on Test. Venis with a clothesline on Rikishi. Scotty with the bulldog on Venis, the fans went wild and Scotty did the W-O-R-M into a chop on Venis. Rikishi with a running back splash on Venis against the turnbuckle. Stratus went on the apron, so Lita ran to ringside to take her down and the fans loved it. The Hardy Boyz were there too. Lita grabbed Trish by the hair. Albert knocked the Hardys down and took Trish away. Venis was alone in the ring, so Rikishi hit him with a Banzai Drop for the pinfall win at 6:58.
Winners by pinfall: Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay
Analysis: **3/4 Good match to put over the faces since Rikishi lost a few matches in a row due to interference from Tazz. It was also smart to put Too Cool and Rikishi on early because the crowd loved them. The fans popped big for Lita attacking Trish, which showed that rivalry was working. I would rather see a match like that instead of a promo to start the show. Rikishi and Venis were feuding, so Rikishi pinning him added to that rivalry as well.
After the match, Rikishi and Too Cool got the Hardys and Lita to dance with them. The fans loved it.
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley were shown walking backstage with Hunter holding a sledgehammer.
(Commercial)
Let’s Hear from Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley
Triple H made his entrance with the sledgehammer in his hand while Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley had her rarely defended Women’s Title with her. They were greeted with boos. It was rare to see Triple H in a plain black t-shirt instead of one of his shirts or a DX shirt.
Hunter said it’s no secret that he’s never really gotten along with Mick Foley. Hunter said tonight, Foley is trying to screw him by booking Hunter in a No Disqualification match against none other than the “American Badass” (bleeped) The Undertaker. Hunter said he beat Mick Foley throughout his career and now even after Hunter has retired Foley, Mick is trying to screw him over. The fans chanted “slut” at Stephanie. Hunter bragged about how he’s smarter than Chris Jericho after what Hunter did to Jericho in beating him up on Raw. Hunter said that Jericho was getting what was coming to him. Hunter talked about how he pretended to be so mad at Road Dogg on Raw and then he wanted to show some supreme acting.
There was a clip from Hunter and X-Pac arguing on Raw. Hunter said it looked like they were really hot at eachother. There was a clip of Hunter’s match with X-Pac, then Jericho showed up as the rat to get his cheese, but then DX worked together to beat up Jericho including Hunter hitting Jericho with a sledgehammer. Hunter said that at Fully Loaded, if Jericho can make it, he is going to finish what he started Monday night on Raw. Hunter said Jericho wants to talk about his beautiful wife then you need to be ready to pay the ultimate price.
Hunter said as for tonight, if Undertaker wants to play this game, he’s got another piece of footage. It was a clip of Jericho getting loaded into an ambulance on Raw. Hunter said this is no game and as of now, he’s no longer playing.
Analysis: It was a boring promo that took ten minutes to recap what happened on Raw. We really don’t need long-winded Triple H promos on every show, but that’s something that happened for nearly a decade.
There was a shot of Road Dogg talking to Lita in a hallway, Lita said, “how dare you?” and slapped Dogg in the face. The Hardys showed up and all the wrestlers were separated.
(Commercial)
The DX team of X-Pac and Road Dogg made their entrance. Dogg did a pre-match promo although it did not include the usual catchphrases. The Hardys entered with Lita and they got a big pop.
X-Pac and Road Dogg vs. The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) w/Lita
Pre-match notes: X-Pac and Road Dogg were the heels while the Hardys were faces.
Dogg was in control of Matt early on with punches to the ribs. Matt with a boot to the face and then he hit a moonsault press onto a standing Dogg for a two count. Hardys hit a double team fist drop/splash with Jeff getting a two count. Jeff with a dropkick on Dogg, then Jeff up top and he missed a twisting splash when Dogg moved. Jeff with a headscissors on X-Pac, Matt tagged in and a double leg drop by the Hardys. Dogg got in a cheap shot when Matt was whipped into the rope, which led to X-Pac hitting a spin kick to the head. Dogg choked Matt across the middle rope. Matt ran right into some punches from Dogg followed by a knee drop. X-Pac tagged in with the Bronco Buster on Matt, which drew major boos from the crowd. Matt avoided a charge from X-Pac and hit a clothesline on Dogg. Lita was looking tremendous at ringside. Jeff tagged in with a running double dropkick on both heels. Jeff hit the jumping attack on Matt’s back, which is known as Poetry in Motion, on both opponents. Matt hit the Twist of Fate on X-Pac, Jeff up top and he hit the Swanton Bomb on X-Pac, but Dogg pulled Jeff out of the ring to save his partner. That led to Test, Albert, Val Venis and my favorite Trish Stratus to come down to the ring. Trish grabbed Lita in a front facelock and walked her to the back. Back in the ring, Jeff was on the top, Dogg shoved him and Jeff went right into the X-Factor by X-Pac, who pinned Jeff for the win at 6:03.
Winners by pinfall: X-Pac and Road Dogg
Analysis: *** Good match that was full of action. The Hardys had so much energy when they made their comebacks after the hot tag. Cheap win by the DX guys due to the distractions at ringside. The booking made sense to screw over the Hardys, who were feuding with T&A at the time.
(Commercial)
There were members of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders at ringside including Charles Woodson, who had a great career as a cornerback.
A video aired about Chris Benoit that focused on his rivalry with The Rock.
Dean Malenko entered with the Light Heavyweight Title and two ladies with him. Al Snow, his opponent, entered with two blow up dolls. Here’s the proof.
Dean Malenko vs. Al Snow
Pre-match notes: Malenko was the heel and Snow was the face. Malenko had a gimmick as a bit of a ladies man even though he was not very charismatic.
Malenko was in control early with a jumping kick to the head. Snow came back with a shoulder tackle. They battled over a hiptoss and then Snow hit a side Russian legsweep followed by Snow hitting a clothesline for two. Snow whipped Malenko into the turnbuckle, then Snow kissed one of the blow up dolls on the floor. Snow got to the ropes when Malenko went for the Texas Cloverleaf submission. Snow came back with a Powerbomb, Malenko punched Snow to get out of a submission attempt and Malenko came back with a clothesline. Steven Richards ran out to ringside and grabbed the two blow up dolls while making Malenko’s ladies go to the back. Malenko hit a Northern Lights Suplex for a two count. Malenko hit a forearm to the head and both men were down. Malenko went up top, Snow with a superplex and Malenko hooked the legs to counter into a pin for the victory at 4:59.
Winner by pinfall: Dean Malenko
Analysis: ** It was a decent midcard match. The crowd didn’t seem like they cared at all. There wasn’t much going on here in terms of a storyline and it was just a way to get two solid workers on the show. Richards getting involved was the early stages of the Right to Censor gimmick.
Steven Richards did a promo ripping on indecent women whether they are real or inflatable. Richards said he’ll continue to censor that is inappropriate because it is for your own good. Lawler: “I like indecent women, you moron.” He sure does.
Eddie Guerrero and Chyna were shown walking backstage in one part of the arena and Chris Benoit in the other part of the arena. The Rock was watching on a TV backstage as well.
(Commercial)
The entrances took place for the handicap match with Chris Benoit out first on his own. Big pop for Eddie and Chyna during their entrance. Benoit gave Chyna the Crippler Crossface one week earlier on Smackdown.
Eddie Guerrero and Chyna vs. Chris Benoit
Pre-match notes: Eddie and Chyna were the faces with Eddie as the European Champion. Benoit was the heel here. All three of them are deceased today.
Benoit with a back elbow on Eddie followed by a belly to back suplex. Eddie came back with a hurricanrana along with Eddie hitting his own belly to back suplex. Eddie with a slingshot senton splash on Benoit. Chyna faced off with Benoit on the floor with Chyna doing a drop toe hold that sent Benoit into the steel steps. Benoit came back with a stiff powerbomb. Benoit with a snap suplex and a back body drop. Eddie got back into it with a back elbow followed by a Tornado DDT off the ropes. Benoit came back with a backbreaker. Benoit went up top, Eddie stopped him with a punch and Eddie hit a superplex, which led to Shane McMahon walking down to ringside. Shane went into the ring, Chyna got the tag, the referee never saw it because he was looking at Shane and that prevented a tag. The fans were chanting “Shane’s a pu**y” as Shane. I censored the word. Shane tripped up Chyna on the apron, so Eddie took out Shane with a dropkick. Benoit slapped on the Crippler Crossface near the ropes, Guerrero grabbed the bottom rope, the referee counted to five and Benoit didn’t let go, so Benoit was disqualified. This match went 5:32.
Winners by disqualification: Eddie Guerrero and Chyna
Analysis: **3/4 It was mostly a Benoit vs. Guerrero match with a bit of Chyna mixed in. Since Benoit was getting the WWE Title shot at Fully Loaded, they didn’t want him by pinfall to lose a match like this, so at least an intentional DQ is a way to get out of it.
Post match, Shane hit Chyna with the European Championship while Benoit held onto the Crossface on Eddie. Benoit complained to Earl Hebner for disqualifying him, so Benoit slapped the Crippler Crossface on Hebner. The Rock ran out to the ring for the save as the fans went crazy. Rock punched Benoit out of the ring and Rock kicked Benoit out of the ring. Edge ran into the ring with Rock hitting a spinebuster and Rock hit a Rock Bottom on Christian as well. Rock hit a Rock Bottom to Edge as well. The fans were going crazy in support of The Rock.
Analysis: I am always amazed at the ovations that The Rock got. He was so popular and loved by the fans. This was all about Rock retaliating against Benoit after what Benoit did to him.
(Commercial)
The Rock did a promo in the backstage area. It was fired up Rock saying that Benoit is not the most technical wrestler in the WWF, not a rabid wolverine, but he is the biggest chickens**t that Rock has ever seen. Rock said that at Fully Loaded he’s still putting his WWE Title on the line not because Benoit deserves it, but because he’s made it personal. Rock said he will give Benoit the beating of a lifetime and he ended it with his classic “stick the boot up your candy ass” line. Benoit showed up behind Rock and gave him the Crippler Crossface on the floor. Shane was there to taunt Rock as well. Shane said that he knows that Rock can smell that Chris Benoit will be the next World Wrestling Federation Champion. After the promo, Benoit was pulled off of Rock by some security guys.
Analysis: More heat for Benoit against Rock. Good storytelling to build to the WWE Title match at Fully Loaded.
(Commercial)
There were replays of Benoit’s attack on The Rock. They showed Benoit and Shane leaving the building.
The Acolytes duo of Bradshaw and Faarooq entered for what was supposed to be a Tag Team Title match.
Edge and Christian walked onto the stage with the Tag Team Titles around their waists. Christian said that they were ready to defend their titles. Edge said that unfortunately due to the “dis-professionality” of The Rock, he has suffered a back injury after a spinebuster and Rock Bottom. Edge said he was in Golden State Warriors bad shape, which drew boos thanks to some cheap heat. Christian said no title match tonight or five second pose, but he’ll have a singles match. The fans booed.
Christian (w/Edge) vs. Faarooq (w/Bradshaw)
Pre-match notes: Christian was a heel and Faarooq was a face.
Christian got a couple of nearfalls early. Christian with a boot to the face, but when he jumped off the ropes, Faarooq decked him with a clothesline. Faarooq whipped Christian into the steel steps. Faarooq hit Christian with the steps twice while Bradshaw talked to the referee. Backbreaker by Faarooq got a two count and a powerslam also got a two count. Edge did a distraction on the apron, so Christian hit a DDT on Faarooq. Bradshaw prevented Edge from cheating with the ring bell. Faarooq avoided a bell shot by Christian and Faarooq hit a spinebuster for the pinfall win at 2:35.
Winner by pinfall: Farooq
Analysis: *1/2 A quick match to further this storyline with the champs trying to avoid defending the titles. Christian bumped his ass off to make Faarooq look more powerful. Sometimes the heels cheating doesn’t work.
Post match, Edge went into the ring to help Christian as the dumbass Cole on commentary realized Edge wasn’t hurt. Christian hit Faarooq in the head with the ring bell. E&C’s music played even though they lost the match.
Kane was shown walking backstage because he’s up next and Kurt Angle was nervously walking elsewhere in the arena.
(Commercial)
They showed an XFL press conference with Vince McMahon welcoming the XFL to Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Xtreme team won the only season of the money-losing experiment.
Kane entered for his match.
Kurt Angle was backstage with Women’s Champion Stephanie McMahon there to wish him good luck. Angle complained about having to face Undertaker at Fully Loaded and he wasn’t happy about wrestling Kane. Angle complained about Commissioner Foley booking these matches. Angle asked for a hug, Triple H walked out of the room and Stephanie said that Kurt forced himself on her. Angle was terrified of his own fireworks as he walked out for the match.
Analysis: They were doing a fantastic job of planting the seeds for the Kurt Angle feud with Triple H with Stephanie doing well in her role as well. It would continue in the months ahead.
Kurt Angle vs. Kane
Pre-match notes: Angle was the heel while Kane was the face here.
Kane was very aggressive with punches and a delayed suplex, which is not a regular Kane move, but it looked impressive. Angle was begging off, then he tried a German Suplex and Kane elbowed his way out of it. Kane with a military press slam. Kane went up top and he hit his patented clothesline that he did in nearly every match of his run as Kane. Angle kicked the legs of Kane, then he drove his shoulder into the leg and Kane pounded Angle in the back followed by a big clothesline. Kane choked Angle against the ropes. Angle with a drop toe hold that sent Kane into the ropes followed by a dropkick to the knee. Angle grabbed the right knee of Kane and sent it into the ring post. Triple H went down to the ring and he whipped Angle into the steel steps. The referee didn’t see it because he was looking at Kane. Hunter sent Angle back in the ring and Kane hit a Chokeslam for the pinfall win at 4:47.
Winner by pinfall: Kane
Analysis: *1/4 It was an ass-kicking by Kane with Angle looking like a loser even though he won the King of the Ring a few weeks before this. It was also the second straight match where the referees missed a guy getting attacked by steel steps. It wasn’t a clean loss for Angle because Triple H sent him into the steps, but this match really failed to make people believe Angle had a shot against Undertaker at Fully Loaded. I think WWE got in the habit of making Kurt look too goofy at times and that hurt how he was presented. Things did get better as the year went on.
(Commercial)
There were a lot of “moments ago” replays on this show and they continued with Triple H sending Angle into the steel steps.
Hardcore Championship: Steve Blackman vs. Crash (Holly)
Pre-match: Blackman was a face although it was not it was a strong character. Crash was a heel that would get cheered. This was during a period where they were just calling him Crash instead of the “Crash Holly” name.
Crash attacked with a strap, but then Blackman got a hold with it and choked Crash with the strap. Blackman with a trash can to the knees and the back of the head for a two count. Crash choked Blackman on the top rope to create some space. Each man grabbed hold of kendo sticks with Blackman hitting Crash multiple times in the legs. Blackman with multiple kendo stick shots to the legs and the back. Crash went under the ring to get away and Crash sprayed a fire extinguisher into Blackman’s face. Crash whipped Blackman into the barricades repeatedly while using the strap to assist. Crash hit Blackman in the head with a trash can two times. Blackman managed to come back with a powerslam on the floor. Blackman picked up Crash and swung him into the steel steps. Back in the ring, Blackman with a DDT on Holly on a chair. Blackman hit Crash with nunchucks to the body. Blackman sat Crash onto a chair and Blackman did a pump kick that sent Crash onto a garbage can. Blackman covered for the win at 4:44.
Winner by pinfall: Steve Blackman
Analysis: ** It was just an average hardcore match during this time period. No real storyline or anything to the match other than to give Blackman a win in under five minutes to make him look like a dominant champion.
There was another replay of Chris Benoit attacking The Rock backstage earlier in the show.
Kevin Kelly gave an update on The Rock saying that he saw a fire in Rock’s eyes that he has never seen before.
Triple H was shown walking backstage with Stephanie McMahon while The Undertaker was elsewhere on his motorcycle.
(Commercial)
Triple H made his entrance with his storyline wife Stephanie McMahon, who was the Women’s Champion that rarely defended that title. Triple H brought a sledgehammer with him down to the ring since it’s a No DQ match. Triple H faces Chris Jericho at Fully Loaded. The Undertaker entered on a motorcycle and he’s got Kurt Angle at Fully Loaded.
No Disqualification Match: Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon) vs. The Undertaker
Pre-match notes: Triple H was the heel while Undertaker was the face.
The Undertaker with punches followed by a running clothesline. Hunter with a back elbow to the face, but then Taker hit a sidewalk slam for a two count. Hunter came back with a neckbreaker. Taker whipped Hunter into the ropes leading to a boot to the face. Taker set up for the Last Ride, but Hunter bailed and went up to the ramp with Taker following him with a clothesline. Taker punched Hunter back down to the ringside area followed by more punches from Taker. Hunter was sent face first into the top of the announce table followed by more punches and some choking. Stephanie grabbed Taker’s hair, so Taker choked her and Hunter got back, which led to Taker punching Hunter down. Taker was staring at Stephanie, so Hunter hit Taker in the ribs with a chair followed by a hard chair shot by Hunter to the back. Hunter sent Taker into the ring bell and back in the ring they went. Hunter bounced off the ropes leading to a clothesline. Taker fought back with punches, the crowd was getting into it and Hunter stopped the momentum with the running knee to the face for two. They were both standing as they exchanged punches with Taker dominating that showdown and Taker hit a powerslam for a two count. Hunter with a facebuster into the knee. Kurt Angle showed up as Taker hit a back body drop on Hunter. Angle went into the ring with the sledgehammer, he charged while Taker was holding Hunter for a Chokeslam, then Hunter moved and Angle hit Taker with the sledgehammer! Was Angle going for Hunter or for Taker? We just don’t know. Angle was stunned by what happened and he left. Triple H covered Undertaker to win the match by pinfall at 7:29.
Winner by pinfall: Triple H
Analysis: **3/4 This was an entertaining main event match with Angle getting involved and playing a factor in the finish where we don’t know if he was going after Hunter for revenge of what happened earlier or if he was going for his Fully Loaded opponent, The Undertaker. I liked the story of the match with Hunter controlling most of it, Taker did a nice job with the comeback as the crowd got more into it and then Angle showed up for the cheap finish.
Post match, Angle left while Triple H was helped by Stephanie and The Undertaker looked pissed off in the ring. That was the end of the show.
This episode of Smackdown had a run time of 1:33:52 on WWE Network.
Three Stars of the Show
- Triple H
- Hardy Boyz
- The Undertaker
The Scoreboard
This episode gets a 7 out of 10.
Good storyline progression throughout the show. If the matches seem short it’s because that’s how it was in this era. They didn’t have that many longer matches and that’s okay because I was entertained by most of the show. It’s usually all action, which makes it easy to watch. I think the match quality was very good for the most part with the two tag team matches to start and then the main event had a big finish with Angle accidentally costing Undertaker the match to help Triple H, who Angle didn’t like it. I thought it was clever.
What I really liked about the booking is that everything seemed to have a purpose and they built to the Fully Loaded matches very well. It’s not like some eras in wrestling where there are meaningless segments. Everything mattered here (even Al Snow bringing out two blowup dolls to ringside) and that’s why it is so fun to watch.
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Check out our WWF in 2000 archives for my reviews of all the other shows (Raw, Smackdown, PPVs) from earlier in the year. Thanks for reading.
John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport