How do you think Wrestlemania 2000 would have shaped if Austin and Taker were around?

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Wrestlemania 2000 is considered one of the worst Wrestlemania ever and that because of wo reasons:
a) There wasn't a single one-on-one match on the card
b) Two of the biggest stars of that era, Austin and The Undertaker, would miss that Wrestlemania due to injuries.
I believe WWE would have put together a much better card if those two were around at the time.

Here is how I believe it would have shaped:

1) Edge & Christian vs The Dudley Boyz(c) vs The Hardy Boyz (Triangle Ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship)
No reason to change this one.

2) Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle vs Chris Jericho (2 out of 3 Falls match for the WWF Intercontinental and European Championships)
Again, another great match. No reason to change that one either.

3) Triple H (w/ Stephanie McMahon) vs Mick Foley (w/ Linda McMahon) (Hell in a Cell Retirement match)

4) The Undertaker (w/ Vince McMahon) vs The Big Show (w/ Shane McMahon)
The break-up of the Unholly Alliance. Vince should have been very high on The Big Show at that time in order to include him in a championship match so I believe if The Undertaker was around, Big Show would be given a match against him.

5) Hardcore Battle Royal
It would be fun.

6) Too Cool (Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) and Chyna vs The Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko).
Just a filler match.

7) Kane vs Rikishi (Singles match)

8) Stone Cold Steve Austin(c) vs The Rock (Royal Rumble Winner) (WWF Championship)
Well, I know it's a rematch form the previous Wrestlemania, but I believe it was bound to happen. Face vs Face this time.

That doesn't make it the best Wrestlemania of all time, but it's a card that makes Wrestlemania seem like a Wrestlemania.

What do you think? How do you think Wrestlemania 2000 would have shaped if Austin and The Undertaker were around?

 

[Edge=GOD]

Eh, HHH v Mick Foley in a HIAC retirement match .. One month after HHH won the first retirement match? I don't see the point in that. Personally I liked it how it was .. though perhaps we would have seen Undertaker v Big Show and Austin in the 4 way instead of Big Show?

Edit .. thinking about it, Didn't Big Show "technically" win the Rumble? I can't remember but I think he threw the Rock over, both his feet touched but the ref only saw one and he pulled Show out after? Like I said I can't remember xD forgot the build upto it

 

[Why Always Me]

I simply think Austin would of faced Taker.

Rock was now the bigger star so he would of still been in the main event, it would of probably been one on one against Triple H as there would of been two huge matches to sell the PPV rather than having 'A McMahon in every corner'.

Then Big Show would of faced Mic Foley in some sort of Hardcore match.

Simples.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

For me, this Mania seemed to be HHH's coming out party. With that in mind this is what I would have done.

Fatal fourway title match: I would keep this match but replace Show with Austin. Mankind would be the first wrestler eliminated (around 10 minute mark), then the remaning 3 would wrestle till about the 30 minute mark with HHH pininng one of the two, then about 5-8 minutes later pininng the other. This instantly puts Trips on Austin and Rocks level and could very well have lead to Trips beating Taker at WM XVII.

Then I would have Show against Taker. Show needed a big match early on to set up his run. While being in the original main event was good, he was only in the match for like 5 minutes. Here he can get a solid 15-20 minutes to work with a great and elevate himself to top status (remember he was lost early on). Vince always liked matches with the big boys and they don't get much bigger then these two.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Eh, HHH v Mick Foley in a HIAC retirement match .. One month after HHH won the first retirement match? I don't see the point in that. Personally I liked it how it was .. though perhaps we would have seen Undertaker v Big Show and Austin in the 4 way instead of Big Show?

Edit .. thinking about it, Didn't Big Show "technically" win the Rumble? I can't remember but I think he threw the Rock over, both his feet touched but the ref only saw one and he pulled Show out after? Like I said I can't remember xD forgot the build upto it

I wouldn't have Triple H face Foley at No Way Out nor at The Royal Rumble, but straight at Wrestlemania.
Forget about The Rock-Big Show storyline. I think it wouldb't have played out if Austin was around

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I simply think Austin would of faced Taker.

Rock was now the bigger star so he would of still been in the main event, it would of probably been one on one against Triple H as there would of been two huge matches to sell the PPV rather than having 'A McMahon in every corner'.

Then Big Show would of faced Mic Foley in some sort of Hardcore match.

Simples.

I thought of that as well in the beginning. But then I saw that Triple H and The Rock had had numerous PPV matches throughout 1999 and they also faced each other at the very first episode of Friday Night Smackdown. So, I decided that also having them headline Wrestlemania wouldn't be an idea that Vince would like nor the fans at the time.

 

[pshanbhag92]

My guess is..
We'd see Stone Cold Steve Austin defeat Triple H for the WWE title at the main event. The Rock (face) would lose The Undertaker (heel).
Big Show, Kane and Mankind would probably have some kind of hardcore triple threat match.

 

[joshmosh127]

I would have liked to have seen Angle vs. Taker. I think that mtach would have had great potential with two superstars who could really put on a show. I would have even liked to have seen Taker win that match and have a him and Angle battle it out all year after leading up to a rematch at the next wrestlemania and maybe having Taker loose the streak to Angle. I heard it was originally suppose to be Taker vs Angle at Wrestlemania 2002 and it was Undertakers idea to loose, but it was scrapped for the most garbage casket match with Mark Henry. I love Taker but I think the streak should end. Not because I dont want him to be undefeated at Wrestlemania, but because it would be the most shocking thing to ever hit the WWE

 

[ryder123]

Survivor Series '99 main event was to be the ultimate triple threat, Austin, Rock and Triple H with Vince as Referee. I'd like to have thought this match would main event Mania 2000

 

[Killercam]

If both Austin and Taker were healthy I think they would have probably repeated what was supposed to be the survivor series triple threat match with Trips, Rock & Austin. I think Trips would have won the SS match, fueded with Foley at Rumble and Taker at the Feb PPV. Foley accidentally or intentionally costs Taker that match which leads to:
WWF Title: HHH vs Rock vs Austin Part II and Rock goes over, then you could get a farewell HIAC match with Taker defeating Foley. The rest probably would have stayed the same

 

[HBsam31]

If both Austin and Taker were healthy I think they would have probably repeated what was supposed to be the survivor series triple threat match with Trips, Rock & Austin. I think Trips would have won the SS match, fueded with Foley at Rumble and Taker at the Feb PPV. Foley accidentally or intentionally costs Taker that match which leads to:
WWF Title: HHH vs Rock vs Austin Part II and Rock goes over, then you could get a farewell HIAC match with Taker defeating Foley. The rest probably would have stayed the same

I agree with this scenario, however I would have always liked to have seen Austin/Taker one on one at Mania. had that happened at that time though we may not have the streak. Same for those that said Taker (heel) vs Rock (face). I could see either one of those matches making the streak non existent.

 

[thebarber]

Interesting. Foley was only brought back fro Mania 2000 as Austin went down with injury, Foley was actually retiring at Survivor Series 1999, but agreed to stay on to help Vince through with Austin being on the shelf. Jericho was orignally to be in the main event of Mania, hell the advertisinjg promotional stuff had Jericho all over it, then was replaced by Foley. So if Austin was on the scene,. Foley would not have been on the card.
As for Taker, as he had been off tv for months, it is hard to know who would have been fed to him, Im guessing Big Show. I think the card would have ended up like this.

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Triple H(c) vs Steve Austin vs The Rock vs Chris Jericho

Undertaker vs Big Show
Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit
Edge and Christioan vs Hardys vs Dudleys

the rest of the card would have been the same

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

There was such a huge power struggle between the McMahon's in 1999 leading into 2000, that I still believe there would have been a "McMahon in every corner".. well at least 3 corners. I see the main event as..

WWF Championship
Triple H (C) (w/ Stephanie McMahon) vs Stone Cold Steve Austin (w/ Linda McMahon) vs The Rock (w/ Mr. McMahon)
Special Guest referee: Shane McMahon

Weeks leading up to the event, Stephanie and Vince would fight over Shane.. trying to lure him to their side and help their guy win. Linda would still be backing Stone Cold, like she did most of '99. I think the end result would be the same though, Vince screws The Rock to help Triple H win, and to make up with his daughter. Shane allows the interference glady counts the 3. Vince has united with his children, strengthening the McMahon-Helmsley era. Linda's left disappointed. Show probably ends with Stone Cold stunning Triple H anyhow.

Who really knows what could happened. Great "what if" scenario though.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Interesting. Foley was only brought back fro Mania 2000 as Austin went down with injury, Foley was actually retiring at Survivor Series 1999, but agreed to stay on to help Vince through with Austin being on the shelf. Jericho was orignally to be in the main event of Mania, hell the advertisinjg promotional stuff had Jericho all over it, then was replaced by Foley. So if Austin was on the scene,. Foley would not have been on the card.

I've also heard that Jericho was supposed to be in the main event, but whether Austin was there or not I don't see how that could've gotten in the way of Jericho being in the main event. Whether it was Austin, Foley or Show who was the third man in the match, Jericho still could've been in the Fatal 4 Way. I'll assume that maybe they had second thoughts and didn't think he was ready to main event just yet.

-

Anyway I think we still would've had that Fatal 4 Way match with every McMahon in each corner, just with Austin in the match instead of the Big Show, with Vince in his corner while Rock had Shane in his (dunno whether they'd both be heel or babyface for the match though). And the match would've ended with Vince turning on Austin to help HHH retain as a way to re-start the Austin/McMahon feud and have Austin feud with the McMahon-Helmsley faction. Rock would've feuded with the McMahon-Helmsley faction also, helping Austin go up against them at times, but Austin would've been the main guy going up against them.

And Taker would've faced Show. If anybody remembers, Taker and Show were a tag team before Taker took time off to heal up from his injury, they never did split em up, they just had Taker tell Vince backstage that he was walking out and that was it. If Taker was still with the company at the time, I think we would've seen Taker & Show remain as a tag team for the rest of 1999, then starting at the Royal Rumble, in the RR match they would've slowly began to break-up with Taker & Show dominating the match together, eliminating everyone left & right, but then Taker deceiving Show eliminating him from the match or vice-versa, leading to a feud between the two which would've concluded at Wrestlemania. I don't think Taker would've faced Foley in a second HIAC match, if that were gonna happen then we wouldn't have gotten HHH & Foley in a HIAC match at No Way Out. And Austin & Rock had feuded with Undertaker just a couple of months before Taker left, so I doubt we would've seen Taker face either of those two aswell at Wrestlemania.

 

[King Patrick Star]

Wrestlemania 2000 is considered one of the worst Wrestlemania ever and that because of wo reasons:
a) There wasn't a single one-on-one match on the card
b) Two of the biggest stars of that era, Austin and The Undertaker, would miss that Wrestlemania due to injuries.
I believe WWE would have put together a much better card if those two were around at the time.

Here is how I believe it would have shaped:

1) Edge & Christian vs The Dudley Boyz(c) vs The Hardy Boyz (Triangle Ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship)
No reason to change this one.

2) Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle vs Chris Jericho (2 out of 3 Falls match for the WWF Intercontinental and European Championships)
Again, another great match. No reason to change that one either.

3) Triple H (w/ Stephanie McMahon) vs Mick Foley (w/ Linda McMahon) (Hell in a Cell Retirement match)

4) The Undertaker (w/ Vince McMahon) vs The Big Show (w/ Shane McMahon)
The break-up of the Unholly Alliance. Vince should have been very high on The Big Show at that time in order to include him in a championship match so I believe if The Undertaker was around, Big Show would be given a match against him.

5) Hardcore Battle Royal
It would be fun.

6) Too Cool (Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) and Chyna vs The Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko).
Just a filler match.

7) Kane vs Rikishi (Singles match)

8) Stone Cold Steve Austin(c) vs The Rock (Royal Rumble Winner) (WWF Championship)
Well, I know it's a rematch form the previous Wrestlemania, but I believe it was bound to happen. Face vs Face this time.

That doesn't make it the best Wrestlemania of all time, but it's a card that makes Wrestlemania seem like a Wrestlemania.

What do you think? How do you think Wrestlemania 2000 would have shaped if Austin and The Undertaker were around?

The problems, as you stated, with WrestleMania 2000 was:

A) There wasn't a single one-on-one match on the card.
B) Two of the biggest stars of that era, Austin and The Undertaker, would miss that Wrestlemania due to injuries.

I, myself, enjoyed WM 2000, because of the fact that there were no one-on-one matches and two of the biggest “camera hogs” weren’t around, which gave The Rock, Mick Foley, Big Show and Triple H a chance to shine in the Main Event of the Grandest Stage Of Them All. Remember, prior to WM 2000, only the Rock has Main Evented WM, the year before.

Back to the topic, if Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Undertaker were not injured in early 2000, I think the best way to use them would also solve your two main issues.

A) One-on-One Co-Main Event
B) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker

With your two biggest Stars at the time wrestling one-on-one, there is no need to have the WWF Title on the line in that match. The Title would serve a better purpose for the Fatal Four Way Elimination match, which would then be the second Main Event of the evening.

 

[The Jeff]

I firmly believe that under this scenario, it would've been SCSA v Triple H for the title and The Rock v Undertaker, with The Rock winning. there was no mention of the streak until later on. They make it out to be historical now, but until wrestlemania 18, it didn't matter