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2000 is one of the most bipolar years in wrestling history. For WWE, it was arguably the best year in that company’s existence. They were riding high on the popularity of top stars like Kurt Angle, Triple H, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and many others. The company was raking in money hand over fist, and it looked like they could do no wrong in the eyes of fans.
As for WCW, the opposite was true. That company was so deep in the hole that nothing could save them. The show was mired in awful creative direction, apathetic wrestlers, and financial peril that made everyone desperate for any kind of attention.
That desperation caused the writers – particularly Vince Russo – to double down on the things that made WWE successful: swerves, incoherent storylines, constant heel/face turns and ‘realistic’ themes.
Unfortunately, in WWE Russo had Vince McMahon to nix any bad ideas, whereas in WCW Russo was more or less free to do as he pleased. That freedom led to some of the trashiest, dumbest and worst wrestling matches of all time, and further helped put WCW out of business.
Here are four terrible WCW matches, and one WWE match, because it would be unfair to say 2000 went without any blemishes for them whatsoever.
#5 Mike Awesome vs. Vampiro – WCW Halloween Havoc 2000
Even though the link says the stipulation, that wasn't obvious when the match first took place. The things that occurred before and during this match were all either dumb or horrifying. Vampiro and ‘That 70’s Guy’ Mike Awesome hit the ‘both-guys-hit-shoulder-tackles-on-each-other-and-neither-man-goes-down’ spot, despite Mike Awesome being ripped, taller, and heavier by almost 50 pounds.
They brawled into the crowd, yet the referee never started counting them out. Vampiro then pulled the ultimate magic trick by hitting Awesome with a microphone (yes a microphone intended for promos, complete with wire and everything), before a fan hit Awesome in the head. It became even more chaotic afterward (and not in a good way), with the entire match layout looking completely random and void of any real story.
There was never any explanation for the rules/stipulation, so people watching (including Stevie Ray who was on commentary) were confused as to what was legal and what wasn’t. It was a complete mess that should rightfully scare any fan that actually enjoys watching pro wrestling.
#4 Kevin Nash vs. Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner – WCW New Blood Rising 2000
Have you ever wanted to see a match that completely destroys the credibility of wrestling as entertainment? Well look no further. This dreadful match was one of many Vince Russo ‘worked/shoot’ style matches where the line between reality and kayfabe was blurred. The problem was that the line wasn’t only blurred here; the actual realism of the action was thrown completely out the window.
The entire contest was made to look like a ‘shoot’ but only ended up making a mockery of wrestling altogether. Not only did Goldberg enter the arena after the match had already started (this was intentional), but he also dead-weighted Goldberg on the Jackknife Powerbomb (also intentional) and left the ring, flipping off Vince Russo (who was on-stage) as he left.
As if this attempt to show ‘realism’ wasn’t bad enough, the commentators tried to explain to the fans that Goldberg was being unprofessional for not taking Nash’s finisher. Tony Schiavone even said that the powerbomb ‘was by design’, and then later praised Scott Steiner for being ‘professional’ when he took the Jackknife.
In summary, WCW booked a match that made it as explicit as possible that wrestling is fake. While most people knew this by 2000, no wrestling company had ever made that truth so blatantly obvious.
That decision destroyed WCW’s credibility even further, as it left more people wondering what the point of WCW programming was if everything was fake and they as fans had nothing to cheer for if all the moves were ‘by design’.
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#3 Pat Patterson vs. Gerald Brisco – Evening Gown Match - King Of The Ring 2000
There are bad matches, and then there’s this garbage. Two men in their fifties in drag fighting over the Hardcore Championship in a match where one wrestler has to strip the other.
The only good thing about this match was that it was short, lasting only three minutes. But those three minutes went by at a painfully-slow rate, thanks to the ‘action’ that was composed of some of the most unfunny and disturbing content WWE has ever produced.
There is not a single person on this planet other than Vince McMahon that thought people would be entertained by Pat Patterson hiking up his dress to reveal granny panties. Nor did they want to see Brisco hitting Patterson with a Bronco Buster. These are the kinds of things that turn people away in droves and make people that usually like wrestling HATE it.
Luckily for everyone, Crash Holly came down to end the match by hitting both Patterson and Brisco with a garbage can lid. And when he did, the crowd went absolutely nuts, giving him a better reaction than he ever got in his life. Not because he was some kind of great character; but because he brought a merciful end to this utter nightmare.
#2 Major Gunns vs. Miss Hancock – Rip Off The Clothes Match – WCW New Blood Rising
There were so many things wrong with this match when it took place. First, it was between two people that weren’t particularly athletic, with one of them becoming known as Stacy Keibler in WWE.
The in-ring action was extremely limited, and it felt like little of note really happened. The Wrestling Observer rated it -2 stars for the terrible action, which is completely justifiable given what actually took place.
It’s the post-match ‘angle’ that really makes this a trash-heap. After the match was over, Hancock ‘suffered a miscarriage’ live on WCW programming. She began clutching her stomach and screaming in agony and the commentators began talking in ‘serious voices’.
It was one of the most disgusting ratings ploys ever executed in wrestling. no one wants to tune in to a wrestling program and see a woman writhing in pain because she miscarried. This is something that drives away potential new viewers, disgusts existing loyal fans, and likely offends people that experienced such trauma in real life.
The last thing anyone wants to see is a real-life tragedy being lampshaded in wrestling for a little bit of (negative) attention.
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#1 Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff vs. DDP & David Arquette, WCW Thunder, April 26, 2000
This was the most blasphemous match in wrestling history. It marked the point of no return for WCW, and righteously earned its ‘honor’ of the Wrestling Observer’s ‘Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic’ for the year.
You see, this match had a stipulation that whichever participant scored the pinfall would become WCW Champion. And the one that did here was David Arquette, the actor. An actor became WCW Champion. Arquette held the same title held by such great wrestlers as Ric Flair, Harley Race, Sting, Vader, and many others.
What was supposed to be some kind of big ratings ploy for WCW ended up being the absolute worst example of Russo-style ‘swerve booking’ imaginable? The publicity that was generated was all negative and destroyed what little goodwill fans had left for WCW at that point.
Under no circumstances should a non-wrestler ever win a world title that is meant to have some kind of meaning. Even if the match was passable as an in-ring contest, the end result more than justified its inclusion on this list and as arguably the absolute nadir of pro wrestling in North America.
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