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WWE Royal Rumble 2000 - Street Fight for the World Wrestling Federation Championship: Cactus Jack vs. Triple H
Staredown to start. Cactus is talking some junk and Trips looks bewildered. Finally, they just slug it out and Cactus gets the advantage. They trade turnbuckle smashes. Trips tries to cut him off but Cactus comes back with more rights and hits the bang, bang taunt. He wants the testicular charge in the corner but Trips rolls to the floor. Cactus follows with a baseball slide to the floor and hits a swinging neckbreaker. Triple H tries to crawl back in but Cactus nails a leg drop across his back and H goes back to the floor. On the floor, Cactus introduces Triple H to the stairs and the ringside table. Triple H finds the ring bell and nails Cactus with it. Back in, Triple H has got a chair and he's challenging Cactus to come in. Cactus tells him to go to hell and charges in and eats a brutal fucking chairshot right to the head. Trips celebrates and starts to untie the turnbuckle but Cactus gets back to his feet and takes Triple H down with a clothesline. Cactus places the chair on Triple H's face and then hits a leg drop on it for 2. H staggers to get to his feet but Cactus boots him to the floor. Triple H comes back with a hard forearm and some right hands of his own. He charges at Cactus who counters and backdrops him into the crowd. They aimlessly brawl through the crowd and down into the entranceway. Cactus gets a couple of wooden pallets and snap suplexes Triple H on to them. Cactus squeals like a pig for intimidation and then waffles Triple H with a trash can. Cactus whips Triple H into the a mock garage door about 10 times. I could swear I hear a "boring" chant and King tries to cover by saying it's a "Foley" chant. Eh, I doubt it. The problem is that they are brawling in a narrow tunnel and the majority of the crowd can't see it, although I'm sure they had to have some video screen. Cactus drags Triple H forward but he slips behind and nails a back suplex on a trash can. Cactus gets the advantage with some hands and hits the testicular charge right into the fucking stairs. That had to have murdered his knees. Cactus goes under the ring and goes the barb wire wrapped 2x4. The ref tries to reason and in the distraction Triple H goes low. He steals the 2x4 and hits Cactus with it four times: two to the gut and two to the back and it's not rubber tipped. He tries another but Cactus counters with a right to the gut and then low blows Triple H with the 2x4. Hebner takes the 2x4 away to large boos. Meanwhile. Cactus hits the double arm DDT to almost no reaction and both sell exhaustion. Hebner tells the SAT to put it under their table and provides the awesome visual of Hugo not knowing what to do with it. Cactus drapes the arm and that gets only 2. Cactus wants the 2x4 and threatens to take out Hebner. Hebner tells him where it is to save himself. Cactus goes after Hugo who pleads ignorance and he lays him out. Finally, someone gives him the 2x4 and he's back in the ring with it. Hebner tries to reason with Cactus and Triple H charges in but Cactus moves and Triple H takes out Hebner. Cactus then levels him to the head with the barb wire and the camera focuses on Cactus, so Trips probably blades (but it's tough to tell). Cactus hits the elbow drop with the 2x4 on Trip's face and the crowd ooos and ahhs. Cactus covers but only gets 2. As H staggers to his feet, we can see the blood already on his left leg that they focus on the next night on RAW but I have no idea where the gash came from. Cactus hits Triple H again in the head with the 2x4. Trips tries to escape and Cactus grinds the barbwire into his open wound and Trips wails in agony. Awesome. On the floor, Cactus continues working over the wound and tosses Triple H onto the announce table. Cactus preps a piledriver but Triple H counters with a backdrop through the EAT. Back in, Triple H hits some right hands. He preps the pedigree but Cactus counters with a slingshot into the turnbuckle and then a bulldog onto the barbwire. Perfect placement. Cover but only 2. Cactus clothesline and both on the floor. Cactus gets a head of steam but Trips hiptosses him into the stairs and holy fuck that had to hurt. Triple H then whips him into the stairs and Cactus eats it knees first and flips over. That bump always kills me. Back in, Trips clips the knee and now goes after the bad knee with the 2x4 a few times in a row. Psychology in a street fight. Triple H rolls to the floor and gets something from Fink and they are handcuffs in a nice callback to the match last year. Cactus struggles to fight back but Trips goes back to the knee and handcuffs Cactus. Triple H hammers Cactus with some rights. Trips gets the stairs and puts them in the ring. He tries to ram Cactus but he counters with a drop toe hold and Trips eats it facefirst. He tries to charge Cactus but he gets the boot up. Cactus then lands a headdrop as a low blow. Perfect placement again and then bites Triple H. That's close to the exact same sequence as the previous year but it worked both times. Cactus targets Trip's ear with another bite. Hebner pulls him off and Triple H clotheslines him down. Trips gets the chair and rams Cactus with a gutshot. He levels him on the back too and the back piece breaks but no one notices. When Triple H swings again, the piece comes loose and flies into the entranceway and the crowd gasps because they think it was shrapnel from Cactus's punishment, which I guess it is but not how they thought. Cactus rolls to the floor. Cactus is trying to escape to the locker room. Trips levels him with the seat of the chair right to his head. Cactus eggs him on for more and Trips preps another but Rock comes out and nails Triple H in the ring with a chairshot and leaves back to the locker room. That didn't make a lot of sense in terms of field of vision but in terms of the match's emotion it's gratifying. A cop comes and gets Cactus out of the handcuffs. Cactus is on a rampage and sends Trips into the announce table. This time, Cactus nails the brutal piledriver on the announce table but the fucker doesn't give. Triple H is a corpse and Cactus carries him into the ring. Cactus goes under the ring and pulls out a bag of something. Lawler starts calling it a sandbag which is funny. Cactus empties the bag and it's thumbtacks. Stephanie comes out to try to stop the match. Cactus isn't having it. He hits Trips with some rights hands but gets a head of steam and is backdropped on them. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh shit. Cactus then rolls INTO them to get to his feet. Ahhhhhhhhh. Triple H hits the Pedigree and immediately covers but the bastard kicks out at 2 and no one can believe it. Big "Foley" chant. Triple H then boots him to the gut and hits the Pedigree into the tacks and the crowd gasps again. Hebner has the clear away the tacks before he can make a count but that's enough to get the 3 and retain. Post-match, Triple H is stretchered out. Cactus recovers and is having none of that shit. He wheels the gurney back into the arena and tosses Triple H into the apron and back into the ring. He gets the barbwire 2x4 and hits Triple H one more time for good measure. This was an epic street fight that really put Triple H on the map as a bonafide big time star. The push was there before the match, but the way he busted his ass and went toe to toe with Cactus in a brutal environment really solidified his standing with the fans as a legit player. Cactus stepped up as well and really put Hunter over as he was nearing the end of his career (at the time anyway). The match itself was brutal and also had a nice homage to the year before with the handcuff spot halfway through. Cactus kicking out of the first Pedigree was great drama as well. Great match here that served its purpose on many levels. ****3/4 - *****
Staredown to start. Cactus is talking some junk and Trips looks bewildered. Finally, they just slug it out and Cactus gets the advantage. They trade turnbuckle smashes. Trips tries to cut him off but Cactus comes back with more rights and hits the bang, bang taunt. He wants the testicular charge in the corner but Trips rolls to the floor. Cactus follows with a baseball slide to the floor and hits a swinging neckbreaker. Triple H tries to crawl back in but Cactus nails a leg drop across his back and H goes back to the floor. On the floor, Cactus introduces Triple H to the stairs and the ringside table. Triple H finds the ring bell and nails Cactus with it. Back in, Triple H has got a chair and he's challenging Cactus to come in. Cactus tells him to go to hell and charges in and eats a brutal fucking chairshot right to the head. Trips celebrates and starts to untie the turnbuckle but Cactus gets back to his feet and takes Triple H down with a clothesline. Cactus places the chair on Triple H's face and then hits a leg drop on it for 2. H staggers to get to his feet but Cactus boots him to the floor. Triple H comes back with a hard forearm and some right hands of his own. He charges at Cactus who counters and backdrops him into the crowd. They aimlessly brawl through the crowd and down into the entranceway. Cactus gets a couple of wooden pallets and snap suplexes Triple H on to them. Cactus squeals like a pig for intimidation and then waffles Triple H with a trash can. Cactus whips Triple H into the a mock garage door about 10 times. I could swear I hear a "boring" chant and King tries to cover by saying it's a "Foley" chant. Eh, I doubt it. The problem is that they are brawling in a narrow tunnel and the majority of the crowd can't see it, although I'm sure they had to have some video screen. Cactus drags Triple H forward but he slips behind and nails a back suplex on a trash can. Cactus gets the advantage with some hands and hits the testicular charge right into the fucking stairs. That had to have murdered his knees. Cactus goes under the ring and goes the barb wire wrapped 2x4. The ref tries to reason and in the distraction Triple H goes low. He steals the 2x4 and hits Cactus with it four times: two to the gut and two to the back and it's not rubber tipped. He tries another but Cactus counters with a right to the gut and then low blows Triple H with the 2x4. Hebner takes the 2x4 away to large boos. Meanwhile. Cactus hits the double arm DDT to almost no reaction and both sell exhaustion. Hebner tells the SAT to put it under their table and provides the awesome visual of Hugo not knowing what to do with it. Cactus drapes the arm and that gets only 2. Cactus wants the 2x4 and threatens to take out Hebner. Hebner tells him where it is to save himself. Cactus goes after Hugo who pleads ignorance and he lays him out. Finally, someone gives him the 2x4 and he's back in the ring with it. Hebner tries to reason with Cactus and Triple H charges in but Cactus moves and Triple H takes out Hebner. Cactus then levels him to the head with the barb wire and the camera focuses on Cactus, so Trips probably blades (but it's tough to tell). Cactus hits the elbow drop with the 2x4 on Trip's face and the crowd ooos and ahhs. Cactus covers but only gets 2. As H staggers to his feet, we can see the blood already on his left leg that they focus on the next night on RAW but I have no idea where the gash came from. Cactus hits Triple H again in the head with the 2x4. Trips tries to escape and Cactus grinds the barbwire into his open wound and Trips wails in agony. Awesome. On the floor, Cactus continues working over the wound and tosses Triple H onto the announce table. Cactus preps a piledriver but Triple H counters with a backdrop through the EAT. Back in, Triple H hits some right hands. He preps the pedigree but Cactus counters with a slingshot into the turnbuckle and then a bulldog onto the barbwire. Perfect placement. Cover but only 2. Cactus clothesline and both on the floor. Cactus gets a head of steam but Trips hiptosses him into the stairs and holy fuck that had to hurt. Triple H then whips him into the stairs and Cactus eats it knees first and flips over. That bump always kills me. Back in, Trips clips the knee and now goes after the bad knee with the 2x4 a few times in a row. Psychology in a street fight. Triple H rolls to the floor and gets something from Fink and they are handcuffs in a nice callback to the match last year. Cactus struggles to fight back but Trips goes back to the knee and handcuffs Cactus. Triple H hammers Cactus with some rights. Trips gets the stairs and puts them in the ring. He tries to ram Cactus but he counters with a drop toe hold and Trips eats it facefirst. He tries to charge Cactus but he gets the boot up. Cactus then lands a headdrop as a low blow. Perfect placement again and then bites Triple H. That's close to the exact same sequence as the previous year but it worked both times. Cactus targets Trip's ear with another bite. Hebner pulls him off and Triple H clotheslines him down. Trips gets the chair and rams Cactus with a gutshot. He levels him on the back too and the back piece breaks but no one notices. When Triple H swings again, the piece comes loose and flies into the entranceway and the crowd gasps because they think it was shrapnel from Cactus's punishment, which I guess it is but not how they thought. Cactus rolls to the floor. Cactus is trying to escape to the locker room. Trips levels him with the seat of the chair right to his head. Cactus eggs him on for more and Trips preps another but Rock comes out and nails Triple H in the ring with a chairshot and leaves back to the locker room. That didn't make a lot of sense in terms of field of vision but in terms of the match's emotion it's gratifying. A cop comes and gets Cactus out of the handcuffs. Cactus is on a rampage and sends Trips into the announce table. This time, Cactus nails the brutal piledriver on the announce table but the fucker doesn't give. Triple H is a corpse and Cactus carries him into the ring. Cactus goes under the ring and pulls out a bag of something. Lawler starts calling it a sandbag which is funny. Cactus empties the bag and it's thumbtacks. Stephanie comes out to try to stop the match. Cactus isn't having it. He hits Trips with some rights hands but gets a head of steam and is backdropped on them. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh shit. Cactus then rolls INTO them to get to his feet. Ahhhhhhhhh. Triple H hits the Pedigree and immediately covers but the bastard kicks out at 2 and no one can believe it. Big "Foley" chant. Triple H then boots him to the gut and hits the Pedigree into the tacks and the crowd gasps again. Hebner has the clear away the tacks before he can make a count but that's enough to get the 3 and retain. Post-match, Triple H is stretchered out. Cactus recovers and is having none of that shit. He wheels the gurney back into the arena and tosses Triple H into the apron and back into the ring. He gets the barbwire 2x4 and hits Triple H one more time for good measure. This was an epic street fight that really put Triple H on the map as a bonafide big time star. The push was there before the match, but the way he busted his ass and went toe to toe with Cactus in a brutal environment really solidified his standing with the fans as a legit player. Cactus stepped up as well and really put Hunter over as he was nearing the end of his career (at the time anyway). The match itself was brutal and also had a nice homage to the year before with the handcuff spot halfway through. Cactus kicking out of the first Pedigree was great drama as well. Great match here that served its purpose on many levels. ****3/4 - *****