SummerSlam classic: Shane McMahon vs Steve Blackman (SummerSlam 2000)

Just before the immortal momentSometimes in professional wrestling, you have these moments. These moments aren’t just any kind of moment. They define things. They define matches, wrestlers, shows, even eras. Some matches are made up by a single moment. One single event that makes all else seem inferior. This match is an example of that. It’s no secret that Shane McMahon has a history of death-defying stunts, and this match was an example of just that. In the hype of SummerSlam, let’s celebrate a match that had everyone’s mouths hanging open, and made Shane McMahon a star. This article looks back at three aspects of this match: the build-up, the match itself and the aftermath.

#1 The build-up

A dominant champion

The Hardcore Championship is one which is retired, but held a legacy of its own. In 2000, post-WrestleMania, Steve Blackman won the Hardcore Champion, which had a twenty-four hour defense system in which the champion must defend within twenty-four hours. This often resulted in segments featuring backstage assaults and sneak pinfalls for anyone to randomly win the title, resulting in some famous ones such as Molly Holly pinning The Hurricane. This would make for some entertaining television, and you could never be sure who would be the Harcore Champion by the end of the night.

When Steve Blackman won the championship, it appeared impossible to run a sneak attack on him, as he was always alert and quick to take out anyone. Eventually, he would lose it, to none other than the boss’ son, Shane McMahon, with help from Test, Albert, Mick Foley, Christian and Edge.

The rematch would be booked for SummerSlam that year, and the stage was set (quite literally) for a Hardcore match.

#2 The match

The fatal fall of greatness

McMahon entered with his championship, and Blackman followed with a trash can and Singapore cane (Kendo stick).

Things escalated really quickly when both men were outside, and Blackman took complete control. He first jumped off the barricade and took McMahon down, and proceeded to assault McMahon with the trash can. He would then place another can over his head and started attacking it with the kendo stick, and what appeared to be drum sticks.

When all things seemed to be going well, Test and Albert interfered, relentlessly attacking Blackman, who would take a severe beating from them for quite a while, despite trying to fight back. Eventually they would spill over to the stage, where Blackman fought them off using his cane.

While this was happening, Shane McMahon began climbing a supporting pole for the titantron, and after being spotted, was followed by Blackman, who brought the stick with him. On top, it took two whacks for McMahon to fall from a great height, and to add insult to injury, Blackman delivered an elbow drop from the same height, and pinned McMahon to win his championship back.

#3 Aftermath

Shane McMahon would go on to have a successful career

Shane McMahon was stretchered out of the building, and wouldn’t be regularly appearing on television until the following year.

Blackman continued to be a dominant champion, which, being the Hardcore Champion, is not a small achievement. He would defend on several occasions, similar to his earlier reign, but would lose it to Raven at the end of the year, to not win it back.

This match redefined hardcore. There already were some horrific falls (Mankind vs The Undertaker springs to mind), but none were of such large magnitude. It truly did make Shane McMahon a legend.