Raw & Smackdown - May 29 & June 1, 2000

[cawthon777 0]

Just took a look at these yesterday and thought I would share.

 

Spring 2000 was a fun period, IMO, and the Memorial Day Raws are usually memorable (last night's might have been the exception).

 

As far as the undercard, Benoit was being pushed very hard at this time. On Sunday Night Heat, he would compete in his third title defense of the week with a win over Rikishi.

 

WWF @ Vancouver, British Columbia - General Motors Place - May 29, 2000 (sell out)

 

Raw is War - featured the Undertaker coming out to open the show but, before he was able to say a word, WWF World Champion Triple H, WWF Women's Champion Stephanie McMahon, WWF Hardcore Champion Gerald Brisco, Pat Patterson, X-Pac, Tori, the Road Dogg, Vince & Shane McMahon came out, with Triple H formally welcoming Taker back to the WWF and thanking him for putting the world title back around his waist at Judgment Day; after Taker and Triple H had words and Triple H prepared to enter the ring, the Rock came out on the stage and cut a promo on the McMahons and DX; moments later, Vince announced that Taker and the Rock would face each other later in the show; included Edge & Christian meeting Joe C backstage in which they had their picture taken with him, believing he was actually Mini Me from "Austin Powers"; after finding him later in the show, they apologized for not knowing who he was and wanted to make it up to him by doing a 5-second pose in his honor but wanted to know if he was a midget, a dwarf, a knome, or an Ewok; Joe C then told them to go (bleep) themselves and walked off; Vince McMahon, the Road Dogg, and Pat Patterson were all attacked backstage by an unknown assailant during the show; featured Chris Jericho introducing Kid Rock who, alongside Joe C and Uncle Cracker, performed "Cowboy" and "American Badass" live on the stage; during the performance, the censors were late in bleeping at least one obsenity; after the commercial break, Edge & Christian grabbed Joe C backstage and stuffed him in a trashcan, then repeatedly hit the can with a steel chair before throwing it into the wall:

 

D-Lo Brown, Perry Saturn, & Terri defeated the Godfather, WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko, & the Kat at 3:32 when Saturn pinned Malenko with the flying elbowsmash after D-Lo hit the Sky High on Malenko

 

WWF European Champion Eddie Guerrero (w/ Chyna) pinned Kurt Angle at 3:27 with a hurricanrana off the top after Chyna interfered and hit a low blow on Angle from behind, knocking him off the top; Angle's foot was underneath the bottom rope during the cover but the referee didn't notice

 

Too Cool defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Edge & Christian to win the titles at 3:32 when Grandmaster Sexay pinned Christian following a belt shot to the face after Joe C interfered behind the referee's back and used a hockey stick to land a low blow on Christian; Joe C and Rikishi came ringside late in the contest; prior to the bout, the champions did a 5-second pose to honor overrated midget rappers, a reference to Joe C, in which they got down on their knees and put on urban hats; after the bout, the new champions, Rikishi, and Joe C danced in the ring

 

KOTR Qualifying Match: Rikishi defeated Shane McMahon via disqualification at 2:34 when Shane hit his opponent over the head with a steel chair as Rikishi attempted to Stinkface an interfering Triple H; Triple H came ringside early in the bout to be in Shane's corner; after the bout, Shane hit Rikishi a second time before Triple H hit the Pedigree onto the chair and gave Shane a 3-count after he covered Rikishi

 

Test, Albert, & Val Venis (w/ Trish Stratus) defeated Chris Jericho, Matt & Jeff Hardy at 3:25 when Test pinned Matt after Albert, the illegal man, hit the Baldo Bomb on Matt behind the referee's back

 

Hardcore Holly defeated WWF IC Champion Chris Benoit via disqualification at 4:16 when Chris Jericho interfered, as Holly attempted to use a steel chair, grabbed the chair away, and hit it over Holly's head; after the bout, Benoit hit Holly over the head with the chair before all three men chased each other backstage

 

KOTR Qualifying Match: Bull Buchanon (w/ the Big Bossman) pinned Steve Blackman (w/ Al Snow) with the scissors kick at 3:22 after Blackman missed a diving headbutt; after the bout, Snow & Blackman were assaulted and beaten down by Bossman's nightstick until Blackman stole the weapon away and, with Snow, cleared the ring

 

The Rock fought the Undertaker to a no contest in a lumberjack match at around the 30-second mark when both men began fighting the lumberjacks; in the brawl that ensued, the lumberjacks ganged up on both men inside the ring and beat them down, with both men sustaining world title belt shots to the head until Kane made a surprise appearance and laid out several of the lumberjacks with chokeslams, including Triple H; prior to the bout, Vince McMahon came out on the stage and accused one of the two men as being the unknown man who attacked Vince, Road Dogg, and Pat Patterson earlier in the show; the crowd repeatedly chanted "Austin" during the segment; since no one fessed up, Vince made the bout into a lumberjack match; lumberjacks for the bout included WWF world Champion Triple H, WWF Women's Champion Stephanie McMahon, the Road Dogg, X-Pac, Tori, Test, Albert, Trish Stratus, Bull Buchanon, the Big Bossman, WWF Hardcore Champion Gerald Brisco, Pat Patterson, Vince & Shane McMahon; the show closed as Kane held the world title belt over his head while Triple H was knocked out underneath him

 

WWF @ Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome - May 30, 2000 (19,000+)

 

Smackdown! - included the Undertaker circling Vince McMahon's limo with his motorcycle upon Vince's arrival to the arena; without McMahon being aware of Triple H's agreement with Kane, Vince gave Taker a chance at a title shot at the King of the Ring but he would have to defeat both X-Pac & Road Dogg later in a handicap match; featured Shane McMahon talking with Edge & Christian upon their arrival to the arena, with Shane saying the Rock had been recently calling him asking to be #1 contender; Shane then told Edge & Christian that if they beat the Rock in a handicap match, they can be #1 contenders for the tag team titles but if Rock wins, he'll be #1 contender for the world title:

 

Matt & Jeff Hardy defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Too Cool via disqualification at 4:32 when Kane, still in possession of Triple H's world title belt, came to the ring and hit a chokeslam on Jeff; after the bout, Kane did the same to Scotty 2 Hotty; moments later, Kane grabbed a microphone and said that if Triple H wanted his belt back, he should come out and take it; the champion then came out with WWF Women's Champion Stephanie McMahon, with Triple H asking that Kane do the right thing and walk up the ramp to give him back his title; after Kane said he wanted a title shot, Triple H said that the only way he could become #1 contender would be to beat the champion in a non-title match later in the show; if he was successful, Kane would get a world title match at King of the Ring; Kane agreed and a referee returned the belt to the champion

 

KOTR Qualifying Match: Kurt Angle pinned Bradshaw with a reversal into the Olympic Slam at 2:46; after the bout, Bradshaw kicked Angle in the head and followed with a powerbomb

 

WWF IC Champion Chris Benoit defeated D-Lo Brown via submission at 4:16 after reversing an attempt at the Sky High into the Crippler Crossface

 

Terri Runnels defeated the Kat in an arm-wrestling match after she spat water in her opponent's face as Kat was about to win; Jerry Lawler was the guest MC for the event; after the contest, Kat attacked Terri and gave her the Bronko Buster but Lawler pulled her off and wanted one done to himself instead; Kat declined and left ringside

 

The Undertaker defeated X-Pac & the Road Dogg (w/ Tori & Vince McMahon) in a handicap match at 2:25 by pinning X-Pac with a chokeslam; mid-way through the bout, DX attempted to leave ringside but was blocked by the Dudley Boyz; after the match, Taker hit a chokeslam on D-Von Dudley; Vince McMahon did guest commentary for the bout; due to pre-match stipulations, Taker became the #1 contender to the world title and would receive a title shot at the King of the Ring

 

Chris Jericho pinned Hardcore Holly at 3:05 with the Lionsault after Jericho dropkicked Holly into Chris Benoit on the ring apron, causing Holly to hit his head against the steel chair in Benoit's hands; Benoit came ringside mid-way through the contest

 

The Rock defeated Edge & Christian (w/ Shane McMahon) in a handicap match at 5:51 by pinning Edge with a spinebuster and the People's Elbow, despite interference from Shane McMahon; due to pre-match stipulations, the Rock became the #1 contender to the world title and would receive a title shot at King of the Ring; had Edge & Christian won, they would have become #1 contenders to the tag team titles

 

KOTR Qualifying Match: Crash Holly pinned Albert (w/ Trish Stratus) at 1:26 by reversing a powerbomb attempt into a sunset flip; after the bout, Trish shoved Crash into the steel ring post on the floor and Albert followed by hitting a torture rack into a slam back inside the ring

 

Kane pinned WWF World Champion Triple H (w/ WWF Women's Champion Stephanie McMahon) in a non-title match at 5:16 with the chokeslam as Triple H attempted to hit Kane with a steel chair; prior to the bout, Kane grabbed a microphone and caused referee Tim White to leave, then said Earl Hebner would be the referee for the bout; after the bout, Kane held the world title belt over his head while the champion was laid out underneath him; due to pre-match stipulations, Kane became the #1 contender to the world title and would receive a title shot at King of the Ring (Hebner's surprise return after being gone a month)

Edited May 31, 2005 by cawthon777

[TheFranchise 0]

So.. did Taker or Kane get the number one shot?

 

Or was that a triple threat match?

 

I have no recollection of that KOTR..

[cawthon777 0]

It eventually turned into Rock, Kane, & Taker vs. Triple H, Vince, & Shane. If the faces won, the winner of the match would become the #1 contender. If the heels won, the KOTR winner would get the title shot at Fully Loaded.

 

At the last minute, Linda spurred on the stipulation that said the winner of the fall would be the champion if the babyfaces won.

[Epic Reine 0]

And didn't they give the main event for free on the Smackdown before KOTR?

[cawthon777 0]

And didn't they give the main event for free on the Smackdown before KOTR?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Kinda sorta, only the McMahons brought out just about every heel in the back to help them beat down the babyfaces.

[Jericholic82 0]

Ah I remember these shows well. Joe C in the trashcan was pretty funny. I still have a still shot of Too Cool Joe C and Kish in the ring somewhere on a disk. of course Kid Rock performed that night and dropped an F bomb on live TV. I have the Superstars episode of the next sunday on tape still and it has highlights of both these raw and sd show.

 

 

My fav was the sd the week before these when Vince gave an angry rock the night off and as rock was leaving in a limo, he asked Vince to come over as he had something important to tell him, as vince leaned in, Rock slapped him hard. FUNNY AS HELL>