BRM Reviews WWF Royal Rumble 2000

[Big Red Machine]

WWF Royal Rumble 2000 (1/23/2000)- New York, NY

KURT ANGLE PROMO- LOVED IT! Kurt’s early heel character was just plain awesome.

KURT ANGLE vs. TAZZ- 4.25/10, but great for such a short match. Tazz got one of the biggest debut pops I have ever seen in WWF (possibly second only to DDP [I think Goldberg’s would have been up there, too, but the way his entrance is, it dilutes the pop). I do wish they had done a lot more with the fact that this broke Kurt’s undefeated streak, though. Giving this all of the time they wasted with the bikini contest probably would have delivered a sure-fire classic.

TABLES MATCH: The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz- 8/10. AWESOME match and it really did a good job of giving you a feeling of just total carnage.

BIKINI CONTEST- DUD! A ridiculous waste of time. Oh G-d! Mae Young just bared her breasts. I’m brining this down to -2/10

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Chris Jericho(c) vs. Chyna(c) vs. Hardcore Holly- 4.25/10. I really hated Chyna cheating here. Not only is she the babyface, but her whole angle was that she was a woman proving that she could compete with men. If she has to cheat in order to do so, then she really can’t compete with men, killing her character. It also really hurt their interaction the Rumble match. Chyna angrily going right for Jericho, and then yelling at him when they are both on the floor after being eliminated makes a lot more sense if she has a good reason to be angry.

WWF WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The New Age Outlaws(c) vs. The APA- 3.5/10 WAY too short

STREET FIGHT FOR THE WWF TITLE: Triple H(c) vs. Cactus Jack- 9.25/10. An amazing match that really felt like an escalation in the level of violence in the WWF from anything we had seen before. Would have been a bit higher, but I had some major problems with Hebner trying to stop them from using the barbed wire 2x4 in the beginning, and with the cop letting Foley out of the handcuffs. Seriously. The Rock was just there a few seconds ago. If The Rock had asked the cop for the keys to the handcuffs and unlocked Foley himself, I would have been fine with it, but the way they did it, this cop just randomly got involved for no reason.

ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH- 7.75/10 It felt like it ended just as it started to really get going. The finish was very well done, though.
They did a GREAT job with Rikishi. This made him look like a beast. Giving him and Viscera the entire minute and a half alone and having Rikishi eliminate him at the end of it before anyone else got in the ring was very good.
I popped HUGE for Backlund and got SO pissed when Jericho eliminated him.

Overall, a good show from WWE, but is really only that good on the strength of two matches. Definitely a must-buy for fans of Foley, Triple H, the Hardys, or the Dudleys, though.

[Serujuunin]

Definitely a must-buy for fans of...the Hardys...

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