5 Best Wrestling Matches of 2000
2000 was the best year in WWE history. Their roster was at its absolute deepest until the present day, the product was at its hottest, and the storylines and rivalries were simply the best. From both a critical and financial perspective, no promotion on earth could touch WWE in 2000. This is why, for the first time in this series, all five of the top matches of 2000 are WWE matches.
And the main reason for that is because of one man: Triple H.
2000 was the year of Triple H. it was the year during which he fully transformed into the bona fide main-eventer and left his old gimmick as a cowardly underhanded rule-breaker behind. Triple H became such a despicable heel in 2000 that fans booed anyone and everyone that opposed him. This led to some of the greatest matches in both WWE and wrestling history. That is why Triple H features in four of the five best wrestling matches of 2000.
The rest of the wrestling world – or at least, WWE’s biggest competitors – struggled to compete for critical acclaim during a year when WWE was doing so well. WCW and ECW were in dire straits, the former getting closer and closer to closing forever.
Even in Japan, a country that was rarely ever affected by WWE’s business, things were much than before. New Japan was suffering from critical failure after Inoki’s love affair with MMA caused his company to lose both money and fans. All Japan, meanwhile, suffered from an enormous internal shock as Mituharu Misawa led most of the AJPW roster to form his own company.
So which matches of 2000 were the absolute best? Read on…
#5. Triple H vs. Chris Jericho – Last Man Standing Fully Loaded 2000
Chris Jericho went into this match with something to prove. He wanted to show everyone he was as deserving as Triple H of being in the main-event. To prove that, he had to somehow overcome the remorseless Triple H while having an injured abdomen.
Triple H showed how he got the name ‘the Cerebral Assassin’ in the first part of the match. He targeted Jericho’s injured ribs, and even added insult to injury by letting Stephanie slap Jericho.
But things took a huge turn as Triple H’s ego got the best of him. After he shoved the referee, Jericho was able to recover enough to land a strategic low blow. From there, the match was perfectly even, with both HHH and Y2J fighting savagely back and forth. As the match progressed, Jericho got more opportunities to exact his revenge on HHH, including putting Stephanie McMahon in the Walls of Jericho, which he crowd clearly adored.
In the end, Triple managed to win by a narrow margin; he only had enough strength to get up to the count of ten before collapsing back to the ground. He and Jericho both went to war, and it was morbidly exciting watching them tear each other apart.