Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Cactus Jack vs HHH (WWE Royal Rumble 1.23.00)

Recently I was reading a decent debate about the best years of singles stars, where people would throw in typical greats like Ric Flair’s 1989, Kobashi’s 1993, Shawn Michaels’ 1996, or even new school ideas like Brock Lesnar’s Mania ’02 till Mania ’03 (I like it). The most contentious nominee seemed to be HHH’s in-ring year of 2000. What struck me was my internal impulse. I’m usually bored by HHH. I tend to dislike the guy. I’ve felt he’s never quite had that quintessential Wrestlemania match (2004 notwithstanding, though it can be argued – unfairly – that Michaels and Benoit carried that, and I enjoyed the ’06 Cena match for what it’s worth). Overall I think HHH hurts younger talent more than helps, and his calling card matches with pals like HBK or Orton tend to be masturbatory.

That being said, I actually remember HHH’s 2000 quite fondly myself, having not watched a great deal of it within the last half decade. I thought at the time his matches with Foley were compelling, loved his RAW match with Jericho and subsequent Last Man Standing Match, thought he had an underappreciated match with Benoit on PPV late in the year, and still find the sixt minute showdown with The Rock in May to be the best Iron Man match I’ve seen. However, I’m worried that the years gone by have tinted my nonexistent glasses rose colored.

This is the impetus for another one of my many mini-projects over the next few months. Find as many HHH 2000 matches as possible and watch the fuck out of them. See what stays, what goes, what holds up, and what was just the in vogue WWE stylings at the time. Sadly, the only match I have on hand right now is a HHH vs Cactus match. Pleasingly, it’s pretty much the first match I’d watch if I was going in chronological order. So we go to the DVD footage.

This won’t be a mat classic. It’s a street fight with a Madison Square Garden crowd. Good atmosphere. I remember watching this with My Friend Paul (MFP name drop) back at his parent’s place live. We loved this PPV when it happened. I’m talking top 10, even top five, as far as a complete show experience for us at the time. Not sure how it would do overall now, but it would be fun to get a full DVD and make MFP do a live blog of it with me.

This match starts hot and heavy with Foley actually moving around really well. The heck with Foley’s fast pace start, check out you, fit and fast Hunter! The man was quick, he bumped well, sold punches with more effort, and generally moved better. He was motivated by the art of the match it seems, not Muscle and Fitness Magazine covers. There’s something behind the two body changes over the past decade though. Foley is a case of bad knees, never being forced to be fit, several long retirements, and dominant fast food eating (add also bad genetics). Mr. Helmsley was in the healthiest shape of his life here, looking better than the IC title run, but before… well I’ll leave with this. Facially his head looks smaller and less weathered here than it did as the decade marched forward. Read up on Barry Bonds.

This match has a cool story I wouldn’t usually like, but given Cactus’ character and the gimmick match, it works. HHH makes use of the gimmicks right away with a bell shot and a chair, but Cactus won’t stay down. This heel will short cut anyway he can, but Foley will throw it right back in his face, and boy does Hunter take a beating when he does. Hunter takes a back body drop right into the front row and they brawl all around. There’s even a great bump into a set piece of bricks, and wooden pallets. HHH gives for his art.

The crowd here isn’t actually as hot as I would have thought, but the action is so tight and the shots/bumps so visceral that this really holds up in viewing. Cactus is a lovable brute and HHH is a desperate man. It’s more Flair-ian than HHH would ever attain in later attempts, at least on selling aesthetic. I’m not going on a Four Horseman-to-Evolution gang beatings, suits, and swagger ratio here. Foley introduces the barbed wire 2×4 but HHH ends up beating Foley with it. HHH even sells his former beating while wielding the weapon. This match is great. It’s not as dramatic as they obviously want it to be, but it works.

Cactus goes insane, a ref bump ensues, and HHH blades a gusher. There’s a lot of HHH take his beating, then finding ways to come back from underneath. The crowd is totally locked in once they do the prerequisite announce table bump, with Foley getting back body dropped through. Foley is indomitable, but takes two really good (unsafe) steel step bumps to the knees. HHH works over the leg a bit, and introduces hand cuffs to the equation. People are popping for the sporadic near falls, most with Foley about to win. They allude to the violent, over the top Cactus/Rock unprotected chair shots from a year before. They find a way around the head chair shots, opting for the back shots. It still looks good. Crap, Cactus just took a chair shot to the head. The Rock comes out and levels HHH with a chair shot. A fine story indeed. A police officer comes out and un-cuffs Foley in the aisle way while they both sell. I’m fine with that too. Maybe this match is just totally in my wheel house being a part of my favorite WWE calendar year ever, but this match is working for me.

Foley ends up giving Hunter a sick pile driver on the Spanish Announce Table after stalking him. Good stuff, and this match did not have the benefit of giant screen so everyone could see the stuff not in the ring. Foley (of course) introduces a bag of thumbtacks to the ring canvas. Big Steph (cute then) is out to distract and Foley ends up taking the back body into the tacks. HHH hits the pedigree for another hot near fall. Even HHH’s reactions seem better in 2000. He hits a second pedigree into the tacks for the win in 27 minutes. This match holds up, it ruled, and I’m still on the HHH 2000 great year bandwagon until I get more video evidence that contradicts this claim. The match started intensely, slowed as it built, but never lost its edge, and the teases and pay offs were great. Foley built the HHH heel machine, but HHH’s in ring presence had a lot to do with it too. I’m going 4 ¼ stars today (Aug. ’09). Meltzer went 4 ½ at the time and Keller went four stars, so I come out perfectly in the middle of those two. The psychology was great, maybe Foley didn’t need the chair shots, but the match never dragged. It sucked you in.