Backlash 2000
Edge and Christian vs. Road Dogg and X-Pac
Debra looks absolutely fucking hammered for her announcing duties. In case you were wondering, E&C's heel turn was put on hold for this match, so they were the faces here. JR acts like a true idiot here by stating that "there are some people that say that Road Dogg and X-Pac are perhaps the greatest tag team in history". Yeah. They're the greatest team ever, despite the fact that they never held the tag belts EVER, and they've only been consistently teaming for a few months combined. Anyways, the match is quite a decent opener, which got the already-hot crowd into things. The ending is the reason why people rarely use the bell part of the ring bell, as X-Pac is just RIPPED open hardaway. Good match. ***1/4
Dean Malenko vs. Scotty Too Hotty
This was back when Dean brought actual significance to the Light-Heavyweight Title, and held it for a long time, before losing it to Crash, thus rendering it as a joke title again. This is a slower-paced cruiserweight match, with great psychology (and lousy selling by Scotty). Slower-paced matches aren't necessarily bad if the psychology's there. Dean hits his stride here, working on the knee with masterful precision. Just too bad Scotty didn't sell it. He even did the friggin' WORM, while hopping on the knee Dean was butchering the whole match. Scotty makes it up to me, though, by taking one of the sweetest finishes I've ever seen: a Superplex reversed in mid-air to a DDT. It has to be seen to be believed. Just an awesome sight. ***3/4, for Dean's all-round greatness, and Scotty's bumping.
APA vs. Bull Buchanan and Big Bossman
About as breathtakingly excellent as you expected. Basically, they lumber around, do stuff, and more stuff. A couple more minutes of stuff, and some stuff on top. Ding, dong, the crowd is dead. Every good card has a low point, and this match isn't afraid to adopt to that position. DUD. It's sad if Bull Buchanan looks better than anyone else in the match, but he did.
Crash vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Tazz vs. Perry Saturn
This is almost like the Hardcore Battle Royal, except the objective is to pin Crash, or Crash pin one of the others. Crash, expectedly, takes an absolute, unholy asskicking with mustard, and cole slaw on the side. A couple of great "HOLY SHIT!" spots using the meathooks on the entranceway that have to be seen, like the ending to Scotty vs. Malenko. Crash just gets the hell beat out of him by everyone, but he still survives and takes the belt. Neat little twist to the match. ***1/2
Big Show vs. Kurt Angle
This is perhaps the funniest thing I have ever seen in pro wrestling. Seriously. I get the giggles just typing about it. Big Show does his dead-on Hulk Hogan impersonation, and I almost die laughing the first time I see it. What really did it for me was Show actually HULKING UP, and doing the boot and the legdrop (with him clapping his hands like Hogan did). The match itself sucked big, but the entertainment value was the main thing here, and it delivered that in SPADES. 1/4*
Dudley Boyz vs. T&A
Man, Trish is gorgeous in that pink attire, and that video package that was shown beforehand, with Trish posing on the table, was, well...um...inspiring. The match was okayish, though you can feel the crowd totally turn the Dudleyz into full-blown faces through the course of the match, while Test and Albert played to a silent house. Nothing was terrible here, and the crowd explodes when Bubba finally puts Trish through a table. Man, the crowd popped for EVERYTHING (except for Bull Buchanan/Bossman vs. APA, but who gives a shit about them?). **
Eddie Guerrero vs. Essa Rios
Eddie's entrance totally kicked ass, as he actually drives a '57 Chevy to the ring. Austin never had that much style when he drove his vehicles to the ring. Another great touch was when he went into full Chippendale mode, and wrestles in his tux pants and his bowtie. Essa gets the DAVE SMASH~! pop, but Lita is well-recieved (and hot here, with the tight shiny pants). A bit sloppy, but a sweet quasi-lucha match with cool little spots, and good wrestling from Eddie. The bad part was Chyna getting her prom dress ripped off. King is creaming himself at the sight of Chyna, a real man's man. ***1/2
Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho
As if this PPV wasn't SWANK~ enough, we have the first one-on-one PPV match in this awesome rivalry. Just a damn fine WRESTLING match, like most of the matches on this card. The intensity was off the charts, too. A killer spot happens, where Jericho is Irish-whipped into the steps. He jumps over the steps, and goes back towards Benoit, only to have the stairs dropkicked into his lower regions. Just a cool spot that we just don't see enough of. The ending was a letdown, but it lead to more matches between the two, so it is forgiveable. Seeing Jericho counter the headbutt with a belt shot was a great visual, though. This was a great match, but they would only get better. ****1/4
Rock vs. HHH
Shane McMahon is the guest referee, marking the second Backlash in a row that Shane refs the main event. This was back during the time where HHH was almost God-like in the ring, where he gave a lot of himself in every little match. This match was pretty damn sweet, with HHH cheating his nose off, and Rock making superhuman comebacks at the right time to make the crowd pop big. Even the resthold serves a purpose in the match, which was to further establish Shane's biased approach as the ref. In a night of cool, kickass spots, Rock takes both HHH and Shane, and Rock Bottoms the both of them through the Spanish table at the same time. Just another great visual. Austin making a big appearance near the end, causing the place to go absolutely APESHIT, as if they weren't wired enough. The buildup to the finish was very good, and the fans leave happy with Rock winning. ****1/2
Verdict: Can't go wrong with this PPV. Two ****+ matches, four ***+ matches, and one of the funniest things ever in wrestling. WWE was really in it's best in-ring groove at this point. Thumbs way the fuck up.
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