Superstar Sleeze Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 WWF World Tag Team Champions Edge & Christian vs Hardyz vs Dudleyz - WWF Summerslam 2000 TLC I remember like this a helluva a lot more than both the Wrestlemania triple threats they had. At first, I couldn't figure out why. Sure it was fun, senseless, mindless violence. The real value is how well the finish is executed. Each wrestler is eliminated in a hellacious fashion. Jeff Hardy's swandive is sick. Then Bubba's crashing through four tables on the outside from a 20 ft ladder in the ring is insane. Then Matt Hardy is sent out the same way only you forget there are tables there so you are freaking the fuck out! Edge's spear on Lita looks super safe until you hear her head crack against a ladder. Nasty! The chicken fight dangling from the belts reminds me of how much fun the greatest video game ever, Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain was. I miss playing that with my brother on PS2, stacked roster and easy controls (I suck at video games). At the age of 10, I remember really liking Edge & Christian and thinking they were hilarious. I was surprised how much they were booed by the Nor Cackalacky crowd, which was not just pro-Hardyz, but liked the Dudz too. The beginning of the match features a lot of crazy spots and is entertaining, but the high water mark is how well they do the finish. ****1/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigVanCrush Posted May 7, 2017 Report Share Posted May 7, 2017 I don't think this comes close to TLC II or III in terms of pacing, but Matt's backwards table bump off the ladder is probably the most batshit insane thing done in any of the three matches. This is a great stunt show, one of my favorites ever but my biggest issue is the setup time for the bigger spots. TLC II and III didn't really have that issue because there was always something going on whereas here the action would stop at points. Like I said, not as good as the first two sequels but still a goddamn great stunt show. ****1/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Badger Posted June 14, 2017 Report Share Posted June 14, 2017 Matt and Devon's bumps are insane as is Jeff's homage from hell to Sabu. It was as if I was watching him plummet to his death! Not to scoff at Bubba's but, that I saw that one coming. A big thing of note, Edge and Christian were a pretty good albeit vanilla tag team then, right around this time they became a jerky "we're too cool, too funny" heel team. They were still vanilla as all hell but, now they were annoying. Sadly this match encapsulated that. Dudleys and Hardyz are going all out taking career shorting bumps and Edge & Christian sorta just do their "we're here but only like 70% of the way." Edge is a guy I've never really cared for and his performance here was forgettable. I had high hopes for this but, really it was a bunch of guys falling off the ladder. No creative use of the tables, ladders or chairs...this is coming from a person who's only seen 2-3 ladder matches chronologically later than this (at the time & date of this post). Really...its just we've got baby ladders then poppa ladder. Watch everyone fall... Its a nice spectacle but not much of a match... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted October 4, 2017 Report Share Posted October 4, 2017 Still an awesome spotfest in my mind with less convolution than the Mania match which I still really liked. This had some crazy bumps including the Swantom, Bubba going through the table stack outside, Christian taking the ass bump, Matt's backward bump and the D Von flat back bump from hanging on the cords. There was hardly any downtime and the match kept building and building topping themselves. I thought Edge was pretty easily the worst one here as he took the most safe bumps, had the only real awkward moment where he dives into a ladder hanging on the ropes after Bubba had moves and climbed the ladder too fast at the end to retrieve the belts not putting over the damage. Overall, this absolutely should be mentioned with the classics that helped define a genre of WWE garbage matches. ****1/4 (8.3) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroBoy Posted November 5, 2017 Report Share Posted November 5, 2017 The whole Edge running into an unoccupied ladder because Bubba moved way ahead of time was pretty funny and glaring. I really like Bubba in these matches and feel like he adds an air of violence instead of just the stunt show to the proceedings. Not much to say about this. They produced a spectacular car crash match and the crowd loved it and it fit the feud they were in. And I love that Edge and Christian were pretty consistently strong during this whole feud, always coming out on top in these big matches. ***1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 This one had some strengths over the Mania match (less convolution), but it also felt like the bumps built a little less cleanly (Bubba and Matt get taken out by basically the same bump, although the visual of Matt falling backwards is insane). Still an insane, effective match that built really strong legacies for all six involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted December 13, 2019 Report Share Posted December 13, 2019 Upon watching this and the sequel back to back, I think I prefer this one more. The match length flies by, there's no downtime nor is there any moment where the action stagnates. All the big spots look organic, with only Bubba's big table spot having a contrived set-up as he clearly moves the ladder into potion before he takes the plunge. Matt Hardy's backwards ladder bump will never not freak me out. Probably one of WWE's best ever spotfest. ★★★★¾ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Microstatistics Posted September 27, 2021 Report Share Posted September 27, 2021 I think this is easily the best match of its kind from this era. A few narrative points I picked up on that I feel are enough to label this as more than just a mindless stuntfest. - The Dudleyz were too fixated on their beloved tables, which caused them to waste time and lose the initiative (Jerry Lawler made a similar point on commentary) - The Hardyz (in particular Jeff) were needlessly enamored with daredevil maneuvers and so when one didn't pan out, they would crash and burn badly - Edge & Christian, on the other hand, were the most pragmatic and cunning. soup23 mentioned Edge taking the weakest bumps but I think that's a positive in the context of the story. These two did only what they needed to do to win and that seems to be the recipe for success since they had this match won twice (once prior to Lita's interference) and why they won WM2000 and TLC II as well. Anyway, the biggest strengths of this match are the non-stop action (with reasonable selling and transitions), the violent bumps, and the escalation. D-Von's bump near the end is particularly underrated and always makes me wince. ****1/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.