Summerslam 2000 Retro Review: Our Match Ratings And Fightful Select Notes!

This month's FightfulSelect.com Retro Review features WWF Summerslam 2000! Thank you to our sponsor-level tier pledge Alex for recommending this show! To see the full retro podcast, head over to FightfulSelect.com and subscribe!

RTC defeated Too Cool (w/ Victoria)
5.5/10

• The musical intros were so different back then. 
• Jim Ross pushing the gate number was way different too.
• Steven Richards isn't happy the RTC are getting booed in the Bible Belt. They were such an over act, especially for a thrown together team. It really helped a lot of performers.
• Victoria makes a cameo alongside Rikishi as one of Godfather's "former Hos." Godfather shoves them down HARD
• Scotty Too Hotty looks younger today than he did in 2000.
• Rikishi gets tagged in and the place goes CRAZY. Richards tries to run, but Victoria throws Richards back in the ring.
• Scotty Too Hotty's facebuster wasn't too pretty, but the crowd loved it. He's caught with a superkick by Richards for the RTC win.

Backstage Crappenings

• We see Kurt Angle arriving, and calling Coach a fourth string announcer.
• Stephanie McMahon shows up and goes the opposite direction of Kurt.
• The makeup lady Janet and Stephanie are talking about Kurt angle. There's a hunk vs. hottie debtate. WUT. Stephanie says he's a good kisser. 
• Triple H wants Stephanie to STAY AWAY from Kurt Angle.

X-Pac defeated Road Dogg
5/10

• Jim Ross refers to these two as one of the best tag teams ever. Wut? He also mentions they competed together for the DX name 11 months prior.
• It's weird to hear Jerry Lawler actually break down moves.
• Sean Waltman has the best spin kick of all-time. 
• We get the hits, with the Bronco Buster and crazy legs knee drop. X Pac punches Road Dogg in the nuts on a pumphandle slam attempt and wins with the X-Factor. I would have really like to have seen Waltman reverse the Pumphandle Slam into the X-Factor, but it didn't fit the story of the match.
• X-Pac calls for a truce, but Road Dogg kicks him, bootybangs him (I don't know why) and Pumphandle Slams Waltman.

Intercontinental Championship
Chyna & Eddie Guerrero defeated Val Venis (c) and Trish Stratus
5.25/10

• Eddie Guerrero says he won't be jealous if Chyna wins the IC title, Chyna says one of them are getting lucky.
• I'd totally forgotten Trish Stratus and Val Venis were a thing. Venis tells her to pull her weight.
• I forgot how good in the ring both Guerrero and Val Venis are, but Eddie especially was one of the smoothest to ever compete. 
• There's a "Chyna get me a beer, bitch" sign. She also hooks the wrong leg on a pin attempt. Her kick to the ribs was incredible, though. Her clothesline was something special as well, which is just as much on Val Venis.
• Chyna press slams Trish and she wins the Intercontinental title. Eddie Guerrero lifts her up and they embrace.

Jerry "The King" Lawler defeated Tazz
5/10

• The video package for this was really good. Tazz was excellent in this role, really getting under Lawler and JR's skin.
• This is mainly a messy brawl, with Tazz using cheap tactics to gain an advantage over the much older Lawler. 
• Tazz misses a senton and Lawler pulls down the strap. What a working punch. 
• Tazz NO-SELLS A PILEDRIVER and screams "FUCK YOU!" Wow. He says he's coming after JR. 
• This wasn't much of a match, but the story was a lot of fun.
• With the ref down, JR cracks Tazz in the head with a jar and Lawler wins.

WWF Hardcore Championshuip
Steve Blackman defeated Shane McMahon (c)
5.5/10 (10 for the finish)

• Steve Blackman has been chasing Shane McMahon around non-stop while Shane gets interviewed.
• Shane McMahon runs from the ring, but eventually gets beaten up with a trash can and lid. 
• A trash can is placed on Shane's head and Blackman beats them with sticks. 
• An STF with a strap is applied, which wouldn't fly today. Blackman is in control, but T&A interferes.
• Test hits a trash can lid elbowdrop all the way across the ring.
• Blackman has a hope spot but Shane FLIIIIIIIIES through the air and gives him CTE with a road sign.
• Blackman fights off T&A and scales the Titantron. You know what happens. What a psychotic bump. Blackman jumps down and lands on Shane and pins him. Unfortunately some doofus in a Yankees hat blocked the great camera shot of Shane they had set up.

2 out of 3 Falls
Chris Benoit defeated Chris Jericho
6/10

• This is really weird for me. The only match of Benot's I've watched since 2007 is his Royal Rumble win. It feels dirty and weird. It's somewhat difficult for me to enjoy matches with people who have roids leaking out of their assholes as it is, but given how his life ended, it's really sad. Had this not been a sponsor-requested PPV, I wouldn't have covered this match.
• They wing at each other early, and even the referee falls into it.
• Pretty quickly Benoit blocks a Lionsault and submits Jericho with a Crippler Crossface.
• Jericho does an incredible roll through into the Lion Tamer and gains a submission win. 
• Jericho goes right back to the spine of Benoit. An outstanding series of backslide attempts results in a Dragon suplex for 2 by Benoit.
• Jericho hits a standing top rope huracanrana. Incredible. Eventually Chris Benoit gets the pin by holding the ropes.

World Tag Team Championship
TLC Match
Edge & Christian (c) defeated The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz
9.5/10

• This was one of my favorite feuds ever.
• How can I do this justice? A see saw spot, a bunch of ladder strikes and a 3D through a table kick things off. 
• Jeff Hardy whiffs on a Swanton through tables right after he landed a breathtaking leg drop over one.
• Bubba Ray is pushed from a ladder inside the ring to the outside through a bunch of tables. One of the coolest spots I'd ever seen to this point. Just PERFECT. Matt Hardy has an equally cool one at ringside. That sound was satisfying and horifying.
• Lita pushes Edge and Christian off the ladders. The integration of all these guys' friends was great.
• Edge spears Lita outside and her head hits the ladder. They climb up and win after knocking a dangling Jeff Hardy down.
• Edge & Christian were my favorites at this point, and this really solidified them as the kings of these matches.

Thong Stinkface Match
The Kat (w/ Al Snow) defeated Terri Runnels (w/ Perry Saturn)
0.25/10

• Hearing Howard Finkel declare this the "first ever thong stinkface match" is just hilarious.
• Saturn keeps covering up Terri.
• The Kat hits a horrible body slam "deep in that crotch," as JR said. She also does one of the shittiest spears ever.
• The Kat teases the finish, but Terri is pulled out. You know, storytelling.
• Kat couldn't even do the Bronco Buster right. Or a clothesline. She also misses a hip drop. 
• Kat kicks Terri into the ref's wiener. She then CRACKS Terri with head and wins.
• This got a 0.25 because it was a match that technically happened. Hearing Lawler shriek with glee as Al Snow put The Kat into "powerbomb position" was hilarious.

Undertaker vs. Kane

• These chairshots were HARD.
• Undertaker goes after Kane's mask early and often. He's unmasked to the point where we seem him bleeding. 
• Kane misses on stairs and hits the post, but Undertaker definitely doesn't miss. 
• Kane was so jacked back then, and Undertaker was arguably at one of his most immobile points. 
• Undertaker kicks Kane in the balls and takes his mask. There was no beginning or real end to this match.
• It's weird to see Kane at this point with actual hair and the mask off.

WWF Championship
The Rock (c) defeated Triple H (w/ Stephanie McMahon) and Kurt Angle
8.75/10

• This match was built so well throughout the night. Kurt Angle tries to call Stephanie before the match, but she's with Triple H. She pretends it's Linda on the phone. 
• Angle trashes Triple H before the match, and HHH comes out, leading to a brawl. The Rock isn't even there yet.
• We see the nasty botched table Pedigree. That was ugly. They wheel Angle out.
• The Rock comes out and battles with Triple H, and is disposed of after a few minutes. This allows Triple H to go get the stretcher.
• The Rock misses HHH by a MILE on a clothesline and then goes all Nakamura on Triple H's balls.
• Oh snap, Stephanie McMahon is out and checking on Kurt Angle. The announcing on this show is top notch.
• Triple H catching someone with a high knee as they run the ropes was always good. Stephanie McMahon gets involved, and Triple H ends up with a sledgehammer. He attacks Rock outside the ring into the post, too.
• The Rock really cranks a swinging neckbreaker. Man, that looked rough. In a good way. He also hits a superplex.
• Stephanie McMahon is shown backstage asking Kurt Angle to help Triple H for her. That's in time to see The Rock score a side belly-to-belly suplex that I don't recall being in his arsenal, but hey, Shamrock had been gone for a year. 
• Angle is back out and pulls Triple H out after he Pedigrees The Rock. Angle goes for the pin himself, but it's only 2. Angle is rewarded with a much prettier running belly to belly suplex from Rock.
• Rock Bottom on Angle, but HHH pulls him out! Wow, this is nuts and the crowd is going crazy.
• Triple H goes for the sledgehammer but accidentally hits Stephanie! Angle cracks HHH! The Rock punches Angle out of the ring!
• The Rock hits the People's Elbow on HHH. What an insane reaction to that. He retains.