As I mentioned in my No Mercy review, the WWF product was starting to cool off by the unbelievable heights they had reached earlier in 2000, and that drop-off in quality is very evident by the time Survivor Series rolled around. For evidence of that point, look no further than the build to the match between Chris Jericho and Kane, which somehow started over spilled coffee. Then you have the extremely messy feud between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Rikishi, which completely failed to cement the big man as a legit world title contender, forcing the company to toss Triple H back into the mix as the real brains behind the vehicular assault on Austin. Pretty much the entire card for this show felt completely thrown together, with very little on it that most fans would actually care about. That being said, there is still some fun to be had in watching it, even if you have to sit through quite a bit of filler.
- Survivor Series 2000 comes to you from the Ice Palace(now Amalie Arena) in Tampa, Florida, the only WWE pay-per-view to date hosted there. That seems a bit unfair, as the crowd in attendance were relatively hot for all of the big matches, it wasn't there fault there were only three of those. Considering Southern Florida has become a spiritual home for the company in recent year, especially during the pandemic, I wouldn't be surprised if they do decide to return to this venue in the future.
- Our opening contest is an intergender six person tag match, pitting T&A and Trish Stratus against Steve Blackman and Crash and Molly Holly. This is the first of many thrown together tag matches on the night, one that makes even less sense because of T&A custom shirts mocking the APA, whom they most definitely are not wrestling. The crowd only really cares about seeing the women compete, as Molly gets the win over Trish with a sunset flip.
- The first of two elimination matches sees the Radicalz take on original D-Generation X members Chyna, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg, along with his new tag partner, K-Kwik(aka R-Truth). I find it funny that Billy's role in the tag match last month is apparently no longer canon, as Jim Ross on commentary states that this is his first match back since February. This is a better match than the first, not a huge surprise considering who's in it, though it was still nothing particularly special. Chyna going out first massively deflated the crowd, who only really cared about her, and most of the rest of the eliminations are greeted by absolute silence. Gunn, who is now getting a bit of a push under his new "The One" gimmick, is left to face Malenko, Benoit and Saturn all on his own. He does manage to take out Dean, but quickly falls to some cheating by the heels.
- It's time for Kane to take on Chris Jericho, and here's your reminder that these two are fighting over spilled coffee, in case you forgot. Most crowds in this era absolutely adored these two men, but this one is completely silent for this match, maybe because they're fighting over f***ing coffee. They mostly just kick and punch each other, as neither seems to be giving anything close to full effort. Jericho attempts a Lionsault, but as he lands, Kane catches him by the throat and delivers a Chokeslam for the win. The finish was cool and put over Kane's power well, but this was a disappointing effort from two of the best in the company.
- We're four matches in and finally have a title on the line, as William Regal defends the European Championship against Hardcore Holly. Regal looks good in this one, trouncing Holly with his mat wrestling, drawing some good heat from the crowd with his heel tactics and working over Holly's previously broken arm. The focus on the arm infuriates Holly, who eventually gets himself disqualified by hitting Regal with his own belt. Another completely forgettable match, though it did prove just how invaluable Regal was as a dependable midcard heel.
- Last month at No Mercy, Rikishi accidentally cost The Rock the WWF Championship, which in addition to accusing Rock of ordering the hit on Stone Cold, has earned Rikishi an a** whooping from the Great One. The crowd is really, really into Rocky, losing their minds for almost every move he performs, which actually gets Rikishi over as a heel by default. The biggest highlight of the match sees Rock absolutely blast Rikishi with a clothesline, sending the big man flipping in the air, which was revenge for the Stinkface. The People's Elbow gets The Rock the win, but Rikishi gets his heat back afterward, hitting four straight Bonzai Drops. This was probably the best match of Rikishi's heel run, and most definitely the match of the night, at least to this point.
- Up next, Ivory defends the Women's Championship against Lita, though whatever match these women initially had planned, it's quickly overshadowed by Lita accidentally getting busted open. The cut is caused by an accidental collision early in the match, and the challenger is quickly coated in blood. Fortunately for everyone involved, the crimson mask gets Lita over in a big way, as she looks like an absolute warrior, fighting through the blood and interference from Right to Censor. Lita gets a massive pop when she removes her shirt and goes for the moonsault, but Steven Richards saves Ivory. Lita attempts again soon after, only to be met by the title right off the dome, which allows Ivory to get the cover. Lita was already one of the more popular performers on the roster, but on this night, she might have been the most over person in the building.
- The start to Kurt Angle's reign as WWF Champion has been a bit mediocre, as evidenced by him defending his prize in the third to last match on the card against The Undertaker. Most of this match seems designed to humiliate Kurt, as Undertaker buries the supposed best wrestler on the roster, lifting Kurt's shoulders off the mat and making it clear that he could beat the champion at any time. Despite Angle telling allies Edge and Christian not to interfere, they do anyway, causing chaos before getting ejected. I don't really know what the point of any of this was, but thankfully, we actually get a match after all this BS. Angle tenaciously attacks Undertaker's leg, and his offense does look pretty good, but the American Badass doesn't do a great job selling. Kurt avoids a Tombstone Piledriver by landing on the apron and hiding under the ring, but Undertaker catches him before he can escape. The Last Ride lands, but before Earl Hebner makes the three count, he stops. JR and the King have been hyping up the possibility of another controversial Survivor Series title match all night, and now it looks like Earl is executing another screwjob. But from underneath the ring, the real Kurt Angle appears, rolling Undertaker up and grabbing the tights to retain his title. I wish the commentators hadn't hyped up the potential controversy so thick, as it meant the audience was likely ready for some sort of shenanigans, but otherwise, this was all done really well. This is the first usage of "twin magic" in WWE, as it was actually Eric Angle that Undertaker hit with the Last Ride, which explains why Hebner stopped his count. It's really smart booking, trusting the audience to know that Kurt had a twin brother, and a perfect way for a heel champion to retain.
- The second elimination tag match of the night pits Edge and Christian, who are teaming with Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather of Right to Censor, against the Hardys and the Dudleys. These teams have all had better matches against each other, as this one was marred by the need to put together so many eliminations in a ten minute match. Jeff Hardy is the Sole Survivor here, last eliminating Goodfather, and the faces have fun entertaining the crowd afterward, with Matt Hardy putting Val Venis through a table with a legdrop and Bubba Ray doing the same to Steven Richards with a powerbomb. It's all very formulaic, but the crowd just loves it, so it's at least good booking to give the fans what they want.
- Main event time, a grudge match between Steve Austin and Triple H with no countouts and no disqualifications. Most of the match doesn't stand out from many of the other wild brawls the two men have had throughout the past couple years, but things really pick up after Austin counters an attempted Pedigree on the steel steps, back dropping Hunter through the announce desk. Both men brawl backstage, where the Radicalz jump Austin, as their partnership with Triple H has been revived lately. The plan is to get Austin out to the car park, so Hunter can run him down with a car again, but Austin sees it coming. He gets in a forklift, lifting Hunter's car into the air, while the Game desperately pleads for his life. Austin then releases the car, sending it crashing down onto the concrete on it's top, presumably killing Triple H as the show just ends. A lot of wrestling fans got majorly pissed by WWE's use of cinematic matches earlier this year, especially the "Firefly Funhouse" match at WrestleMania, as they believe that a wrestling match should actually include some wrestling. To those folks, I present whatever the Hell this was, as evidence that this isn't some new phenomenon. I pretty certain that back drop was literally the only wrestling move performed in this one, and the whole thing ended with an actual attempted murder. It was also a pretty great match, as while the ending was admittedly a bit of a cop-out, it set the stage for plenty more high profile matches between the two to come, and also continued to add layers to Austin's character, as he's becoming more sadistic and ruthless than ever before. This was a very different way to end a show, but that didn't stop it from being highly entertaining half hour of action and getting me completely hooked in seeing what was next for these two men.
4/10
If you're looking for quality wrestling, Survivor Series 2000 definitely isn't the place the find it. The most entertaining match of the night was the main event, which I can't really considered an actual wrestling match, and while the WWF title match and Rikishi versus The Rock had their moments, neither really needs to be seen. This show does provide a good amount of entertainment value and was a pretty easy watch, but I can't in good conscience consider it a quality outing for the WWF, which desperately needed to just get this year over and done with.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: Armageddon 2000, site of the only televised six man Hell in a Cell match in WWE history. See you soon.
- Henry
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