WrestleMania 2000: An Underrated Classic

When you ask most wrestling fans their opinion on WrestleMania 2000, their responses will vary from “it’s okay” to “this is the worst WrestleMania to ever exist I hate you for making me think about it, you’re no longer invited to the party.”

However when you ask me about it, I’ll tell you that it’s actually an underrated classic, not one of the best WrestleManias ever, but in my opinion, it is definitely a great WrestleMania. This is not a full PPV review but rather a post where I argue on behalf of WrestleMania 2000.

So let’s address the primary argument people have for WrestleMania 2000; the fact that, excluding the two minute street fight between The Kat and Terri Runnels, the show features no traditional singles matches, but instead the card is filled with tag team and multi man matches. Now, yes, that is incredibly strange for a WrestleMania, however just because something is strange, doesn’t make it bad, like that Undertaker guy, people like him, the spooky zombie guy, quite strange if you ask me. Let’s look at the highlights of WrestleMania 2000.

WrestleMania 2000 features a triple threat between Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. Sounds incredible right? Well it was, it features three of the greatest of all time going at it, all in their first WrestleManias. The only thing people dislike about it is the weird stipulation. See this match was two falls to a finish. Kurt Angle entered as both the European and Intercontinental champion. In this match, the first fall would be for the International Championship and the second for the European Championship.

Chris Benoit pinned Chris Jericho to win the International Championship and Chris Jericho pinned Chris Benoit to win the European Championship. So yes, it was a weird way to do a triple threat, but think about what this booking accomplished. Kurt Angle held both championships and instead of keeping the two championships together, you split them back up like god intended by giving them to two other wrestlers, to create two separate title scenes, as it should be. In addition, it moved the championships off Kurt Angle without him being beaten, preserving his credibility as he would win the WWE Championship later in the year.

Oh there’s also that triangle ladder match between the Dudley Boyz, the Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian, you may have heard of this match, it’s really good. Three of the greatest tag teams ever in the greatest stipulation in wrestling history, in the match that will forever serve as the blueprint for incredible tag team ladder matches, which will never fail to entertain the crowd for years to come. Every great tag team ladder match that you have loved through the years, this match inspired it.

Let’s talk about the main event. A Fatal 4 Way elimination match for the WWE Championship between champion Triple H, The Rock, Big Show and Mick Foley. That’s already great in the attitude era car-crash television style, but let's add more drama. Each wrestler has a member of the McMahon Family in their corner. Stephanie with Triple H, Vince with The Rock, Shane with Big Show and Linda with Mick Foley. This match was a train wreck but in an entertaining way, it was chaotic action for over 30 minutes. It was never boring for a second, and in an unprecedented result, heel champion Triple H walked out of the main event of WrestleMania as the champion. Again, different, but with the story of Triple H being the new top guy and in the spirit of making him a truly once in a generation star, it was the perfect finish.

So to conclude, WrestleMania 2000 is weird, there’s no denying that, it’s a weird show but it’s in the weirdest era of professional wrestling. At the end of the day, it’s a really fun show to watch and set multiple precedents for WrestleManias going forward, WrestleMania 2000 is indeed an underrated classic.