WWE Classic of the Week: Cactus Jack vs. Triple H from Royal Rumble 2000

The Street Fight for the WWE Championship between Cactus Jack and Triple H at Royal Rumble 2000 was merely the latest chapter in their rivalry—a rivalry that had spawned several wild and chaotic brawls in the three years prior to the pay-per-view showdown.

When all was said and done, however, the latest chapter became a defining one as the performers delivered a match that is looked upon and celebrated not just as one of the finest in Royal Rumble history, but one of the best in the five-plus decades of World Wrestling Entertainment.

A brutal, violent match that was fueled by the emotion of the competitors, the story behind it and the drive of its lead heel to prove himself a legitimate headliner in the industry, the contest was a defining one in the careers of both of its participants.

This is its story.

Background

In December 1999, Triple H and wife Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley took over WWE as part of the McMahon-Helmsley Era storyline. Much like fans in 2014 have learned, the couple could be downright ruthless when it came to toying with the lives of the men and women who worked under them, something Mick Foley found out all too well.

As one of the primary threats to Triple H's spot atop the industry, Foley became one of the targets of the power couple. He and The Rock were booked in matches designed to weaken them or even put them out of action.

When that did not work, the authority figures took it one step further, booking the former tag team champions against each other in a Pink Slip on a Pole match.

Foley lost the match and was given his walking papers.

How did Triple H and Stephanie celebrate? By hiring the artist formerly known as Mideon to dress as Mankind, one of Foley's personas, and humiliating him weekly.

That only fueled the hatred Foley felt for The Game and his not-so-blushing bride. When The Rock led the rest of the WWE in a protest of Triple H and Stephanie's actions, the power couple was left with no other choice but to reinstate Foley. 

In his first match back, Foley (as Mankind) teamed with The Rock and the Acolytes to battle D-Generation X in an Eight-Man Tag Team match. By the end of the contest, Foley was left bloodied and battered as fans wondered whether or not he could stop the momentum of Triple H.

Days later, on the January 13, 2000 episode of SmackDown, Mankind appeared and admitted that he was not, in fact, ready to face Triple H in a Street Fight at the Royal Rumble.

But he knew someone who was.

From there, he ripped off the bloodstained dress shirt worn by the masked Superstar, tore off the mask itself and revealed that it would be Cactus Jack challenging for the title, to which Triple H greeted with a look of awe.

The Cactus Jack revelation added more hype, more excitement and more anticipation to a match that had been beautifully built to.

Foley was so beloved and so taken advantage of by the McMahon-Helmsley Era that fans wanted nothing more than to see their hero bloody, brutalize and beat The Game before taking his title inside Madison Square Garden.

Did they get what they wanted?

Venue

Madison Square Garden in New York City

Broadcast Team

Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler

The Match

Match is NSFW

Analysis

There have been numerous Street Fights in World Wrestling Entertainment history, most of which have featured the biggest stars to ever lace a pair of boots, but one would be hard-pressed to point to one of those matches as being better than the instant classic that Foley and Triple H treated the audience to on January 23, 2000.

The perfect blend of sheer brutality and epic storytelling, the match had a little bit of something for every fans' taste.

Triple H handcuffing his opponent was a nice callback to the previous year's Rumble, where Foley found his hands bound behind his back and his head bashed in with a chair, courtesy of The Rock. It is even more fitting, then, that the Great One was the Superstar to come to his aid here, blasting The Game with a chair.

In what would go down as his defining performance, the night he was made by Mick Foley and forever cemented as an elite performer in the industry, Triple H was nothing short of brilliant. He proved himself equally as diabolical and violent as his opponent while, at the same time, he could take a beating unlike any other star on the roster.

The finish, with Foley suffering a Pedigree face-first into a large pile of thumbtacks, was gut-wrenching and disgusting but incredibly appropriate given the absolute hatred and disdain the Superstars had for each other.

From start to finish, the match is perfect. There are no flaws whatsoever and for that reason, it remains vividly etched in the minds of fans who witnessed it, the performers themselves and the commentators who called the action.

Aftermath

The rivalry did not end with Triple H's victory at Royal Rumble.

Fed up with Foley remaining a thorn in his side, The Game issued a challenge to his rival for any kind of match. The only catch? There could be no 2x4s wrapped in barbed wire or thumbtacks involved.

Foley's response? Hell in a Cell.

Eventually, the Hardcore Legend would go as far as to accept Triple H's demand that he put his career on the line.

With the stage set for another iconic battle, the two Superstars would step inside hell for another epic encounter.

Again, violence and brutality would be dished out. And, again, Triple H would win the match.

It was a fitting way to say goodbye to Foley and another essential step in the evolution of The Game as a credible main event entity.