Inspired by strobogo's great WCW 2000 reviews, I popped in my WrestleMania 2000 DVD. It's not as good as his, but here's a recap with tons of pics...
WrestleMania 2000 (16) - April 2, 2000 - Anaheim, California - 18,034 in attendance
PRE-SHOW: Lilian Garcia sings "The Star-Spangled Banner". She was very over-dramatic about it.
MATCH 1: The Godfather and D'Lo Brown vs. The Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan
- Ice-T accompanies The Godfather and D'Lo (w/ Hos) to the ring and sings "Pimpin' Aint Easy". He was not over-dramatic about it.
- D'Lo did an impressive hurricanrana on Bull from the top rope.
- Finish: Bull Buchanan does a top-rope leg drop on D'Lo.
BACKSTAGE: A young, hot Stephanie McMahon and Triple H hold their titles and say, "Nothing can get better than this." Cut to 20 years later when they run the company into the ground.
MATCH 2: 15-minute Hardcore Championship Match: Tazz vs. Viscera vs. Sho Funaki vs. Taka Michinoku vs. Rodney vs. Joey Abs vs. Pete Gas vs. Thrasher vs. Mosh vs. Faarooq vs. Bradshaw vs. Hardcore Holly
- They should bring back the Hardcore Title. Fighting in the back was fun.
- Crazy match, with I think everyone being the champ at one point.
- Finish: Botched ending. Crash Holly never kicked out, and the ref didn't count the 3. Hardcore acted like he got the win, and they announced him the winner.
VT: WrestleMania Axxess: Fans got autographs from superstars like Stone Cold and HBK, neither of whom was at WrestleMania 2000. Fans could even announce a match with a young, skinny Michael Cole.
BACKSTAGE: Al Snow talks with Steve Blackman in the bathroom. Fitting.
BACKSTAGE: Intense close-up of Trish Stratus' breasts.
MATCH 3: T & A vs. Al Snow & Steve Blackman
- JR's mic goes out, and King is forced to do play-by-play. He's ridiculously bad at it.
- Teddy Long is the ref. Unlike Cole, Teddy's actually much fatter here.
- Finish: Test hits an elbow drop from the top rope. Pre-match, Al Snow had brought out some guy in a cheddar cheese costume, and post-match, he and Blackman beat him up.
BACKSTAGE: Mae Young helps The Kat get ready.
BACKSTAGE: Skinny Cole interviews The Dudleys.
MATCH 4: Tag Team Championship Match: The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian
- In his entrance, Jeff Hardy walks under three ladders, ensuring 21 years of bad luck to come.
- Bubba Ray Dudley takes a DDT in a comical way.
- Jeff Hardy does a 450 splash to a ladder.
- Tons of amazing spots - Christian with a cross body off the top of a ladder to the outside, Edge spearing Jeff Hardy off the ladder, Bubba giving Christian a 3D off the ladder, double suplex onto Devon from the top of the ladder, Jeff Hardy jumping off the railing into a ladder.
- Devon jumps off the top rope through a table.
- Bubba powerbombs Matt Hardy off the Spanish announce table through a table.
- Jeff Hardy does a Swanton bomb off a really, really tall ladder onto Bubba.
- Finish: Matt Hardy is pushed by Edge and Christian off the table on top of ladders through another table.
BACKSTAGE: Kevin Kelly interviews Foley. Foley says, "In what could be the final match of my career, fairy tales will come true for me. Bang, bang!"
MATCH 5: Terri vs. The Kat
- Moolah is in Terri's corner. Mae Young is in The Kat's.
- For some reason, Val Venis is the special guest ref. He cuts a pre-match promo: "Ya know something, ladies. The Big Valbowski and WrestleMania have a lot in common. We're both the single largest extravaganza of all time. We'll both get your blood pumping. The only difference is, while WrestleMania only comes once a year, The Big Valbowski comes every single night."
- Finish: I don't know who won - Terri I think. Mae Young gave Moolah a bronco-buster, and The Kat stripped Terri.
Backstage: Radicalz chat. Then Chyna and Too Cool chat.
MATCH 6: Radicalz vs. Chyna and Too Cool
- Finish: Chyna powerbombs Eddie, grabs him below the belt, then overhead press slams him. Pretty impressive.
VT: Some fans win front row tickets to WrestleMania via private jet.
BACKSTAGE: Big Show chats with Shane.
BACKSTAGE: Kurt Angle chats with a security guard about defending both is IC and European Titles.
MATCH 7: Intercontinental & European Championship Match: Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kurt Angle
- Jericho cuts a pre-match promo that said absolutely nothing. "Welcome to WrestleMania is Jericho" was cool to hear, though.
- Finish 1: Benoit wins IC Title by head butting Jericho from the top rope.
- Jericho with a signature double-powerbomb to Angle.
- Finish 2: Jericho wins European Title via Lionsault. Angle lost both his Titles without being pinned.
BACKSTAGE: Skinny Cole interviews Vince. Then Triple H chats with Steph.
MATCH 8: Rikishi & Kane (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. heels X-Pac & Road Dogg (w/ Tori)
- Rikishi gave a stink-face to Tori.
- Actual match lasts just 4 minutes.
- Finish: Kane tombstones X-Pac. Post-match, Too Cool and Rikishi and a guy in a chicken suit dance. Pete Rose comes out with a baseball bat to hit Kane, but Kane chokeslams him instead. Then, for some reason, Paul Bearer does the crotch chop. Then Rikishi gives Pete Rose stink-face.
BACKSTAGE: Kevin Kelly interviews The Rock. Nothing special.
IN ARENA: Celebrities such as Michael Clarke Duncan, Martin Short, and Screech are here.
MATCH 9: WWE Championship Match: Triple H vs. Mick Foley vs. Big Show vs. The Rock
- The big story is that there's a McMahon in every corner.
- Rock eliminates Show with a Rock Bottom.
- Foley jumps off the top rope onto The Rock on the Spanish announce table, but he comes up short. The table doesn't break.
- Triple H eliminates Foley with a pedigree on the steel chair. (Does Linda ever win anything?) Foley exits, then walks back and hits Triple H with a barb-wire 2x4.
- Rock suplexes Triple H through JR and King's announce table.
- Shane comes back out and hits Vince with a TV monitor. Steph is shocked.
- Vince battles back, but Shane hits him with an unprotected chair shot to the head. Vince blades.
- Finish: Vince comes back and hits
The Rock with a steel chair.
SWERVE. Rock kicks out the first time, but not after the second chair shot. Rock later Rock Bottoms Shane, Vince, and Steph. In a ring surrounded by trash thrown by the fans, Rock gives Steph the People's Elbow to close the show.
Thanks for reading. Hope somebody enjoyed it!