WWE Royal Rumble 2000: Top 5 Moments From the Historic Event

The WWE is just about a month away from the second-most anticipated event of the year. The Royal Rumble is always a hot topic for the WWE Universe.

With that, it is always fun to look back before going forward. I am going to focus on the Rumble show from 2000 to today.

Live from Madison Square Garden in New York City! Here are the top five moments from a very memorable show...

5. Miss Rumble?

Honestly, I did not like this over 11 years ago. I still do not like it. This entire segment was yet another "Attitude Era Moment" that I could have done without. For every amazing moment WWE had during that time period, they had another dozen ridiculous moments.

This was one of them.

It was a bunch of divas trying to be Miss Rumble by dressing in swimsuits to impress a select few judges. They all looked beautiful, but this was all about one more Mae Young "appearance."

I do not even need to mention what happened next. Most of us know. The few that don't know shouldn't even bother worrying about it. It was bad...yet memorable!

4. Tazz Debuts!

I was a Tazz fan back in 2000, so this was cool to see. I never thought he would be a top talent in WWE, but he made the most of his run.

Seeing his debut here was amazing! The crowd knew it was coming. Kurt Angle all but confirmed it during his prematch promo, but that didn't matter.

Tazz came out, choked out Angle and left. It was that big of a debut. Sadly, I can't rank this too highly because I knew it was never going to amount to much.

3. Tables Match

Matt Hardy teamed up with his brother Jeff Hardy to take on the Dudley Boys on this night. The catch? It was a tag team Tables match.

These two teams did not disappoint one bit. From the crazy spots to the loud crowd reactions, this match was a big highlight for all four men's careers in WWE.

The Hardy Boyz won the match here, but both teams "won."

2. Lackluster Rumble

Honestly, this may be my least favorite Royal Rumble match. There are a few problems I had with it. Even in 2000, I found myself yawning throughout, so these are not some "hindsight" thoughts.

1. Only The Rock (and maybe Big Show) had a chance to win. I never thought for one second Kane would win. X-Pac was the No. 30 entrant, and nobody cared. Rikishi and a few others tried to make an impact, but this was all about Rocky.

2. It featured many stars already in matches from earlier on in the night. I do not know if the WWE did not have enough talent, but this was dreadful. The same wrestlers from matches in the beginning of the show were coming out to participate in the Rumble. Very rarely do I like WWE doing this—very rarely.

3. This goes back to my first point, but this thing dragged. It seemed like the ending would never arrive. The fans just waited for The Rock to come out the entire time, as did I.

4. Finally, I know it was a fun idea, but Too Cool dancing during the match was just too much. It really did make a joke of the situation, and Rikishi made them look like low-level comedy guys a minute later. Yes, they were a hysterical team, but this was not needed here.

All in all, this match did not entertain me. I enjoyed Taka running out over and over again, but even that ended badly. He got injured in one of his eliminations. The final straw was the conclusion.

A controversial ending? Come on! As I have mentioned before, I really did not like WrestleMania 2000, and the ending on this night may have been even worse.

1. Street Fight

Thankfully, Triple H was at the top of his game in 2000. Thankfully, Mick Foley was Cactus Jack at the Royal Rumble. Thankfully, both men knew what they had to do at this event.

They had to put on a great street fight for the WWE title. They had to!

Well, they did more than that. Both men put on one of the greatest matches in the history of this business. Everybody involved put on a spectacular show, and I must include Earl Hebnar and Stephanie McMahon as well.

Triple H retained his title over Cactus Jack in a grueling battle that left many amazed. They were left breathless over two wrestlers putting everything they had into entertaining the fans. Kudos to WWE!

Easily the best moment from Royal Rumble 2000.

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