Since 1988, SummerSlam has been WWE’s second biggest show of the year. As we count down the days to the 2016 edition, the Top Ten will rank the annual event’s matches year-by-year to determine the best SummerSlam matches of all time.
In this edition, a triple threat turns into a love triangle!
SummerSlam 2000 – August 27, 2000, Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Year 2000 was an amazing year for the WWF. Almost every show that year delivered a great card with classic matches, and SummerSlam 2000 was no exception.
The show’s main event was a triple threat match for the WWF Championship, with the Rock defending against Triple H and Kurt Angle. But while Rock walked in and out of the show with the title, the focus of the match – and a good chunk of the show – wasn’t on the champ. Instead, the spotlight was on the challengers and how they would interact. Triple H, who at this point was only married to Stephanie McMahon in kayfabe, was pissed with Kurt Angle for kissing his wife on SmackDown. So Angle and Helmsley getting into it and eventually accidentally knocking Stephanie out, leading to a Rock win was the logical ending.
The logic didn’t follow through for the rest of the story, but the Triple Threat was a fun match with three great athletes who were always ready to bring the goods in 2000.
Best Match: Edge and Christian (c) defeated the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz – TLC Tag Team Title Match. After these guys elevated the ladder match to a new level at WrestleMania 2000, the WWF raised the stakes with the first Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. It was a giant ball of destruction, with about a dozen tables getting wrecked and everyone taking crazy bumps. Edge and Christian continue to dominate the other two teams in these ladder matches, before
Worst Match: The Kat defeated Terri – Stinkface match. The Kat and Terri had a terrible match at WrestleMania 2000 and they had another terrible match here, where you could only win by shoving your ass in your opponents’ face. There’s a lot of great stuff in 2000 WWF, but this stupidity is not included there.
A Famous Debut?: During the WWF Title Triple Threat, Triple H tells Stephanie to grab the title belt. On her way to taking it, Stephanie unleashed an unholy slap on the timekeeper. Maybe she used it before, but it’s the first one I remember as I go through old shows.
Missed Opportunity?: In a locker room promo with Trish Stratus and Val Venis, preparing for their mixed tag team Intercontinental Title match against Eddie Guerrero and Chyna, Stratus lamented the fact that Chyna was going to be a centerfold. Trish asked Val if he thought Stratus would make a better centerfold, to which I’m sure millions of guys screamed out, “YES!”
Quick and Dirty: The first two matches on the show – Right to Censor vs. Too Cool and Rikishi and Road Dogg vs.X-Pac lasted less than 10 minutes combined. The two matches both had tons of energy with seemingly lots of crowd heat, but I felt like they both ended out of nowhere. But it goes to show that you don’t need a 15-minute spotfest to get the crowd going, just some good characters doing a popular shtick.
Weaponized Candy: Yet again, good ol’ JR’s glass bowl filled with candy comes into play. He must have gone through a ton of those things. The prop was used once agan to set up the match between Tazz and Jerry “the King Lawler, with Tazz attacking JR with it and Lawler looking for revenge. And AGAIN, the candy bowl gets broken, as JR used it to knock Tazz out while Tazz was choking Lawler out. I wonder if Ross picked up the candy that went flying.
The SummerSlam Top 10!
Two matches crack the list!
*DISCLAIMER* The Top Ten is for discussion purposes only and is in no way an official or authoritative list. It is simply my opinion.
1 – Bret “Hitman” Hart (c) defeated Owen Hart – WWF Title Steel Cage Match (1994)
2 – Shawn Michaels (c) defeated Razor Ramon – Intercontinental Title Ladder Match (1995)
3 – Bret “Hitman” Hart defeated Mr. Perfect (c) – Intercontinental Title Match (1991)
4 – Davey Boy Smith defeated Bret “Hitman” Hart (c) – Intercontinental Title Match (1992)
5 – Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard defeated the Hart Foundation (1989)
6 – Edge and Christian (c) defeated the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz – TLC Tag Team Title Match (2000)
7 – The Hart Foundation defeated Demolition (c) – 2-out-of-3 Falls Tag Team Title Match (1990)
8 – Ultimate Warrior defeated “Ravishing” Rick Rude (c) – Intercontinental Title Match(1989)
9 – “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan defeated Ted DiBiase and Andre the Giant (1988)
10 – The Rock (c) defeated Triple H and Kurt Angle – Triple Threat WWF Title Match (2000)