April 2nd, 2000
Location: Anaheim, California
Venue: Arrowhead Pond
Attendance: 19,776
Theme song: "California" by Ike Dirty (composed by Jim Johnston)
Welcome to the 21st century! It's day 16, and a new millennium has begun, avoiding the Y2K issue of the world ending.
The WWF embraced the new theme, and instead of calling it 16, they replaced the edition with 2000 to represent the new year.
Vince McMahon was all set for his flagship show but had one small problem. His family was going out of control.
WrestleMania returned to the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, having hosted it just four years prior for WrestleMania 12.
While the location wasn’t new, tons of firsts surrounded WrestleMania 16.
To open the show, the WWF’s own Lilian Garcia made her WrestleMania debut and sang the “Star-Spangled Banner.” She was only a backstage interviewer at the time but would eventually be a ring announcer.
This WrestleMania would be the first since 1993 with a designed set and not opted for something generic or just a logo. You felt that the company’s budget grew within the previous few years and only continued to go up after that.
If you noticed in the detail box above, I've added a “theme song” line. In the past, the company used two different themes between WrestleMania 6 and 14 (6-8 had “The Grand Spectacle,” and then 10-14 used “WrestleMania”).
It was time for a change of pace. WWF musician Jim Johnston composed “California” for the big day and began having different artists contributing songs for WrestleMania.
The more critical point of the night had to be how unique the card was for Anaheim. For the first and only time at WrestleMania, there were no traditional one-on-one matches scheduled.
Every match had either some stipulation or involved at least three wrestlers or tag teams. Not to mention, nearly half of the performers involved were making their WrestleMania debuts.
For example, in a triple threat match between Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit, both the Intercontinental and European Championship were on the line. There would be two falls associated with this match.
Whoever won the first fall would take home the Intercontinental Championship, which went to Benoit. The second fall would involve the European Championship, which Chris Jericho would win.
Angle walked into WrestleMania with both titles and left the Arrowhead Pond with nothing. Not a fun WrestleMania debut.
Another interesting match would be the six-person intergender tag team match. Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, and Perry Saturn took on Grand Master Sexay, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Chyna. The latter would walk away with the victory.
There was no match for the Women’s Championship. However, there was a scheduled “Catfight” between Terri Runnels and The Kat. No further comment.
With those smaller moments mentioned, it’s time to bring up the three things that stood out to me from WrestleMania 16.
A hardcore rumble
If there’s one title I know many people miss, it’s the Hardcore Championship. With practically no rules involved in a hardcore match, anything could have happened.
But what made this championship so unique was that a “24/7 rule” was attached to it. That means the title could be defended anytime, anywhere, if a referee was present.
Crash Holly, the Hardcore Champion, defended it in the weirdest places and faced the weirdest opponents. Holly defended the title at a circus against clowns. He also defended the title in a children’s playground against the Mean Street Posse.
When WrestleMania 16 came around, the “24/7 rule” was removed for the night, and the Hardcore Championship would be defended in a Hardcore Battle Royal.
13 wrestlers would battle it out for 15 minutes in which whoever had the title at the end of the time limit would be champion.
What made this crazy was within the 15 minutes, the title changed hands ten times. It felt as if Howard Finkel was announcing “Here is the new Hardcore Champion!” every 2-3 minutes.
In the concluding moments, Tazz had his “Tazmission” submission hold on Crash Holly, but his cousin, Hardcore (Bob) Holly, slammed them both with a jar of candy and got the pinfall in the dying seconds to be champion.
The Hardcore Championship may have been a mess, but it was a fun mess that everybody enjoyed.
New heights reached
In 2000, the tag team division was at its possible best in company history, with the likes of The Dudley Boyz (Bubba and D-Von) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) making their debuts. Edge and Christian also began to break out in the division as a standout team.
All three teams were worthy of having an opportunity for the Tag Team Championship, which the Dudley’s held. It was announced for WrestleMania that the trio would face off in a triangle ladder match for the titles.
All six individuals would be making their WrestleMania debuts, hoping to stand out and leave an impression.
They did more than that. They would end up putting on the best match of the night and stealing the show.
With this being the second ladder match in WrestleMania history, one would wonder how they would top the classic between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 10.
Thankfully, it was the plethora of ladders that helped enhance the match. Guys like Edge and Jeff Hardy would take advantage of the height to perform diving moves.
With many moments to choose from, there were two that blew the audience away.
Now, the Dudley’s are known to be big fans of tables. In any opportunity they found to slam an opponent through a table, they seized it.
At one point in the ladder match, the Dudley’s brought out some tables because, at that rate, they may as well.
After slamming the Hardy’s through two tables, Bubba set up a table out in the entrance walkway, along with a giant ladder.
But Jeff Hardy came rushing back to knock out Bubba and laid him onto the table. That’s when Hardy decided to climb the ladder and perform one of the biggest dives WrestleMania had ever seen.
After Jeff crashed onto Bubba, back in the ring, Edge, Christian, and Matt Hardy were climbing two ladders set up in the ring with a table in between.
Suddenly, with Matt in between, Edge and Christian tossed him off the table and crashed onto a table set at the bottom.
With Edge and Christian all alone, they grabbed the tag team championship and stood on top in their first WrestleMania appearance.
Words can’t describe what went on in the match, as it’s one to watch yourself. The three teams set a standard for ladder matches in the future.
That was until they made it to WrestleMania the year after. More on that tomorrow.
A McMahon in every corner
We’ve reached the main event, and the lead-up to this one was entertaining?
As always, the road to WrestleMania begins at the Royal Rumble. In January at Madison Square Garden, The Rock eliminated the Big Show to win the Royal Rumble match.
Meanwhile, on the same night for the WWF Championship, Triple H defeated Mick Foley in a brutal and bloody street fight to hang on to the title.
The next month at the No Way Out pay-per-view, The Rock put his championship opportunity on the line against the Big Show, which he lost. Later, Mick Foley had another opportunity inside Hell in a Cell against Triple H for the championship.
Foley would lose and be forced to retire. That meant that at WrestleMania 16, it would be Triple H against the Big Show.
But on an episode of Monday Night Raw, The Rock was granted another chance to enter the main event by taking on the Big Show. With the help of once villain Vince McMahon, The Rock would win his match, and the main event was now a triple threat.
Finally, Vince’s wife Linda made a surprising return to the company. She announced that Mick Foley would get one final opportunity for the WWF Championship, making his dream to be in WrestleMania's main event come true. With now four competing for the biggest prize, the main event would be a Fatal Four-Way elimination match.
In saying that, you had each McMahon family member aligning themselves with a member of the Fatal Four-Way.
Vince was with The Rock, Linda was with Foley, Shane was with the Big Show, and Stephanie would be with her husband Triple H.
WrestleMania arrived, and right off the bat, there was one goal in mind between The Rock, Mick Foley, and Triple H: eliminate the biggest guy in the match.
Within the first five minutes, a combination of Foley using a chair and The Rock hitting the Rock Bottom on the Big Show caused him to be the first to hit the showers and lose his chance to become champion.
Continuing along, it would be a carousel of alliances, seeing The Rock and Foley working together before Foley and Triple H joined forces.
A few moments later, Triple H slammed Foley with a chair, executed his signature Pedigree on Foley onto the chair, and would eliminate the Hardcore legend.
It would come down to The Rock and Triple H in the final two, who took their fight to the stage entrance.
Once they made it back to the ring, Vince would once again remind everybody why he’s the biggest villain of the WWF.
As Vince picked up a chair to hit Triple H, he instead turned his back on The Rock and slammed him twice with the weapon.
Triple H was able to take advantage and retained the WWF Championship.
Before the night closed, The Rock would hit his Rock Bottom on Stephanie, Shane, and Vince. For extra measure, the Rock would give Stephanie the People’s Elbow.
But none of that would matter. The McMahon-Helmsley regime was in full swing, and Triple H would be the ring leader.
Final thoughts
This was a unique WrestleMania. I think it was a great idea to have every match be something other than a simple one-on-one match. It gave the audience something different to look forward to, knowing that we’re 16 years into this.
If anything, I think this is an underrated WrestleMania. There was a mix of “oh my goodness,” solid matches, and a hot crowd.
WrestleMania's ending was one that provided shock value, which is what you want when it comes to an event like this. You want to leave these events saying, “oh damn, what’s next?”
The Fatal Four-Way match was entertaining, as well as a bit emotional. I think the four individuals exceeded expectations for the main event.
For Foley, fans adored his Cinderalla story knowing the main event was his retirement match. It would be a few more years in which he eventually returned, but props to Mick for always putting up one heck of a fight.
Not to mention, the men who participated in the triangle ladder match also put up one heck of a fight. It’s a match that's swept under the rug because of what those three teams would accomplish later in their careers.
I also think the triple threat for both the Intercontinental and European Championship was also a bit underrated, knowing you had three great athletes in Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit. If it weren’t for the Hardcore Battle Royal, this would have been one of my three main points.
Sure, you have your flaws, like the catfight. But, it’s matches like that where you can put it off to the side and never bring it up again. Again, we don’t need to talk about it.
The 21st century started on a good note and would continue that trend in the upcoming year for the WWF.
But it would be a year later where the WWF had reached the pinnacle of sports entertainment. The first 16 years of WrestleMania were fun. However, nothing could have prepared anybody for the show that would go down as merely the best.
Results:
- Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan def. The Godfather and D'Lo Brown
- Hardcore Holly last pinned Crash Holly (c) - Hardcore Battle Royal for the WWF Hardcore Championship
- T&A (Test and Albert) def. Head Cheese (Al Snow and Steve Blackman)
- Edge and Christian def. The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) and The Dudley Boyz (Bubba and D-Von) (c) - Triangle ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship
- Terri Runnels def. The Kat - Catfight
- Chyna and Took Cool (Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) def. The Radicalz (Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn, and Eddie Guerrero)
- Chris Benoit def. Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle (c) - WWF Intercontinental Championship
- Chris Jericho def. Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle (c) - WWF European Championship
- Kane and Rikishi def. D-Generation X (Road Dogg and X-Pac)
- Triple H (c) def. Big Show, Mick Foley, and The Rock - Fatal-four-way elimination match for the WWF Championship
Rating: B-
Thanks for reading. Look out tomorrow when I take a look at WrestleMania 17.
19 days away until WrestleMania 35.
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