#165: Hardcore Battle Royal, WWE WrestleMania 2000 (4/2/2000).
This is, as the title suggests, a Hardcore Battle Royal for Crash Holly’s Hardcore Championship. The rules are as follows: There’s a 15 minute time limit, and the title can change hands at any time during the duration of the match. However, whoever is the champion when the time expires will leave WrestleMania as the Hardcore Champion. There are 13 men in this match, and they are: Tazz, Viscera, the Mean Street Posse, Hardcore Holly, Kaientai, the Headbangers, the Acolytes, and Crash Holly.
This is around the same time that the Hardcore Championship adopted the 24/7 rule, which meant that it could be defended anywhere, at any time. Crash Holly was the king of this gimmick, and it was one of the most fun storylines throughout 2000. For this match, though, he had two days of rest where the rule was suspended. Good for him.
You’re probably reading this and asking yourself “Why is he reviewing this of all things?” Well, I have a certain nostalgia-related love for this match. I used to watch this match every year in preparation for the next WrestleMania. It’s ridiculous, it’s stupid, and it’s a lot of fun. I have WrestleMania 2000 recorded on VHS, and I used to watch it all the time as a young kid. So, I’ve seen this match probably a hundred times or more. It’s pure garbage, and that’s why I love it.
The match begins with everybody brawling, and almost everyone ends up on the floor immediately. Tazz and Crash go at in the ring, and Tazz grabs Crash and suplexes him over head. He makes the cover, and Tazz has won the Hardcore Championship! He will be the target for the time being. Tazz goes to the floor and goes right after Viscera, who grabs him and splashes him into the ring post, then a slam to the floor. Viscera makes the cover, and he’s the new champion.
Everybody is hitting each other with random weapons at ringside. Viscera has the Japanese flag beating up the Posse. He then uses a cookie sheet on Mosh. The Posse gang up on Viscera, and Faarooq has a lead pipe. Crash is busted open. Viscera takes both Acolytes with a cookie sheet. Thrasher hits Hardcore Holly with a tennis racket. Bradshaw throws a trash can at Pete Gas. Viscera chokes Crash in mid air.
Funaki hits Most with a boxed fan. Bradshaw with cookie sheet shots to the head of Holly, Viscera, Rodney, Tazz, Pete Gass, Joey Abs, and Crash, before taking one to his own head by Tazz. Holly smashes Viscera with a trash can lid, and gets a nearfall. Pete Gas is busted open too. This is mostly just weapon shots at ringside, as we have 10 minutes left to go. Michael Clarke Duncan is having the best time at ringside for this!
Joey Abs drops Tazz with several shots to the head. In the ring, Viscera drills Thrasher, Rodney, Funaki, Taka Michinoku and Mosh with a cookie sheet. The Acolytes are in the ring, and destroy Kaientai with powerbombs, then they throw Viscera off the top rope. That gets a huge pop. Faarooq with a 2x4 breaks it across Viscera’s back, and then Bradshaw hits a shoulder block off the top. They throw Kaientai on Viscera on top, and Funaki ends up winning the title. He runs off backstage, and everyone makes chase!
Rodney attacks Funaki, and he is able to win the title, but walks into a clothesline by Joey Abs. Gut wrench suplex on the concrete, and Abs is the new champion, and he gets hit by a shelf, and then thrown into a door by Thrasher. He covers, and he’s the new champion. Mosh, his own partner, attacks him with a stick. Pete Gas starts beating on Thrasher, as everyone makes their way back to the entrance ramp. Gas with a fire extinguisher to the eyes, and the head. He makes the cover, and he’s the new champion. He celebrates like he just won the WWE Championship, and Tazz grabs his bloody head and brings him back to ringside. He sends him head first into the ring post, then hits a suplex on the floor. Tazz gets kicked in the head by Holly, but Tazz is still able to win and regain the title. Hardcore Holly is tehre to throw him into the steel steps. He gets a nearfall off of that. Mosh attacks Holly, and tries to pin Tazz. Funaki hits Crash, who falls onto Pete Gas.
Hardcore Holly throws Tazz into the ring, and now and Crash double team the Human Suplex Machine. Crash hits Holly with a trash can lid. Tazz with a lid shot right to Crash. His blood is on the lid. Bradshaw on the floor destroys Joey Abs with a trash can lid. Holly drives his boot into Crash’s throat. Tazz with a huge belly to belly suplex to Crash. Holly with a scoop slam to Tazz, and Crash breaks up the pin. He and Tazz exchange nearfalls.
Holly with a dropkick to Tazz that gets a nearfall. Tazz with a Northern Lights suplex to Holly that sends him to the floor. Crash comes back in with a cookie sheet that drills Tazz, and he’s able to regain the title! 35 seconds to go, and Tazz gets the biggest pop of WrestleMania 2000 to this point by applying the Tazzmission to Crash. The time winds down, and Holly comes into the ring with a candy jar and breaks it across both of their heads. He makes the cover, and Tim White stops counting as the time expires. Jim Ross says that Crash got his shoulder up, but he clearly did not. Howard Finkel announces that the WWE Hardcore Champion is Hardcore Holly, as everyone looks on in confusion.
The ending was very much botched, as I think Crash was supposed to kick out, and he didn’t. That’s why the referee stopped counting, as he was expecting Crash to kick out. Well, it’s okay, because Crash just regained the title the next night on Raw, so whatever. This is a total clusterfuck of a match, and I never tire of watching it. It’s fun, it’s messy, and it’s total nostalgia for me. When I think of top Attitude Era moments, the Hardcore Title always comes to mind first. This is a gimmick that only worked around this time – I’m looking at you, 24/7 Title.
This isn’t good at all, but it’s a lot of fun. Plus, it’s nice to hear Tazz getting pops like this at WrestleMania, when the company had pretty much given up on pushing him by this point.