#9 Birth of ‘The Game’ - January 20th, 2000 (5.0)
Just days before the Royal Rumble, Cactus Jack and Triple H once again came face-to-face on SmackDown. The show also had a solid main event, with Kane, The Big Show and The Rock facing each other in an Over The Top Rope Lumberjack match. Kane won the match, and The Big Red Machine carried the momentum into the Royal Rumble.
The final segment involved a confrontation between Triple H and Cactus Jack, where the former warned the latter that he would punish him at Royal Rumble, and told him not to let his kids watch the PPV. Cactus said it would be Triple H that would find out what he is truly capable of the hard way.
Both men then brawled, with Triple H decking Cactus Jack with chair shots.
In the end, however, Cactus piledrove Triple H through the announce table, and celebrated with the WWE Championship to close the show! The January 20th edition of SmackDown had a 5.0 rating, similar to the previous week.
