The 2000 Judgment Day was the second

Judgment Day The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

(PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

produced by the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(WWF, now WWE). It took place on May 21, 2000, at

Freedom Hall Freedom Hall is a multi-purpose arena in Louisville, Kentucky, on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, which is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is best known for its use as a basketball arena, previously serving as the home ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. The inaugural

was an

In Your House In Your House (known as NXT TakeOver: In Your House in 2020 and 2021 and then NXT In Your House beginning in 2022) is a professional wrestling series of events created by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The events or ...

event held in October 1998. As a result of

Owen Hart Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wres ...

's death at Over the Edge in May 1999, Judgment Day was reinstated to replace Over the Edge in 2000 and was rebranded as an annual WWF pay-per-view event. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was an Iron Man match for the

WWF Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown's ...

with

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as on ...

facing The Rock featuring

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...

as the

special guest referee In professional wrestling, a referee is an authority figure present in or near the ring during matches. The referee's purpose is similar to that of referees in combat sports such as boxing or mixed martial arts, that is, as an arbiter of the rul ...

. Triple H defeated The Rock to win the championship by 6 falls to 5, after a disqualification in the final seconds by Shawn Michaels as a result of interference by the returning

Undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...

. Featured matches on the

undercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

included a Tag Team Tables match featuring

D-Generation X D-Generation X (DX) is an American professional wrestling Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Stable, stable, and later a tag team, who consisted of Triple H and Shawn Michaels. The group originated in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF ...

(

Road Dogg Brian Girard James (born May 20, 1969) is an American professional wrestler currently signed with the WWE where he serves as the Senior Vice President of Live Events. James was best known for his initial tenure with World Wrestling Federation ( ...

and

X-Pac Sean Michael Waltman (born July 13, 1972) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under the ring names 1–2–3 ...

) defeating

The Dudley Boyz The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D) are an American professional wrestling tag team that consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley (Mark LoMonaco) and D-Von Dudley (Devon Hughes). The team was also joined by various Dudley family me ...

( Bubba Ray and D-Von). The other featured match on the undercard was a

Submission match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

for the

WWF Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, currently defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roste ...

between

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the WWE, World Wrestlin ...

and

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jeri ...

, which Benoit won to retain the championship. The event grossed over $596,050 in ticket sales from an attendance of 16,827.

Production

Background

was first held as the 25th In Your House

(PPV) in October 1998;

was a series of monthly PPV shows first produced by the

(WWF, now WWE) in May 1995. The "In Your House" branding was officially retired following April 1999's event Backlash: In Your House, as the company moved to install permanent names for each of its monthly PPVs. Over the Edge, which was also previously an "In Your House" branded event, was held as its own PPV in May 1999, but due to the tragic death of wrestler

, the WWF would cancel that PPV chronology and reinstated Judgment Day as its own PPV to be held on May 21, 2000, at

. This second Judgment Day event established it as the promotion's annual May PPV.

Storylines

The main event of the evening was a 60-minute Iron Man match between Triple H and the then-current WWF Champion, The Rock. At

WrestleMania 2000 WrestleMania 2000 (sequentially known as WrestleMania 16) was the 16th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view events, event produced by the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took p ...

, Vince McMahon turned on The Rock and helped Triple H retain his title, joining his daughter Stephanie and son Shane in the McMahon-Helmsley Regime with Triple H and

. In the weeks leading up to Backlash, The Rock and Triple H's hostility had seemingly reached its climax. With the help of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock defeated Triple H at Backlash to win the WWF Championship. The next week on ''Raw'', Triple H stated that his rivalry with The Rock was "just beginning", and the following week, challenged Rock to a 60-minute Iron Man match for the WWF Title, One week later, Shawn Michaels would make a surprise return to the company, announcing that he would serve as special guest referee for the match. Another major rivalry heading into the event saw Shane McMahon begin a rivalry with the Big Show. Leading into WrestleMania, Shane had aligned himself with Big Show, who at the time was feuding with The Rock after Rock's victory in January's Royal Rumble match. Shane would then interfere in their match at No Way Out in February and help Big Show win, which earned Show the #1 contendership and a match with then-WWF Champion Triple H, whom Big Show had previously defeated for the title at

Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the sec ...

in November 1999. The match eventually grew to include The Rock and Mick Foley, and Big Show was the first wrestler eliminated from the ensuing Elimination Fatal-Four-Way main event. After WrestleMania, with Shane primarily siding with Triple H, Big Show began a brief period where he would imitate other wrestlers in a comedic role, which would lead him to gradually become a fan favorite. This earned him ridicule from Shane, so the two began a rivalry that led to a match at Judgment Day. Another feud involving the Regime was DX's feud with the

Dudley Boyz The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D) are an American professional wrestling tag team that consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley (Mark LoMonaco) and D-Von Dudley (Devon Hughes). The team was also joined by various Dudley family me ...

, which had started when the Dudleyz defeated the

New Age Outlaws The New Age Outlaws were an American professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Federation (WWF) made up of "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn. The duo became popular in the late 1990s as members of the second incarnation ...

at No Way Out for the

WWF Tag Team Championship The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...

and caused the breakup of the Outlaws. Although the Dudleys did help out the Regime at times, they eventually turned on them and became heroes in the eyes of the fans. At the time, Bubba Ray Dudley had taken to powerbombing many of the WWF's female wrestlers through tables and was keen on doing so to Tori, who was

's storyline girlfriend. This led to a Tag Team Tables match being set for Judgment Day. The ongoing rivalry between

and

over the

began at WresleMania 2000 where Benoit and Jericho, along with

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former Collegiate wrestling, ...

, faced each other in a Two-Fall Triple Threat match for both Angle's Intercontinental Championship and European Championship. Benoit won the Intercontinental Championship after pinning Jericho, while Jericho won the European Championship after pinning Benoit. Jericho lost the European Championship to

Eddie Guerrero Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was an American professional wrestler. He was a prominent member of the Guerrero wrestling family, being the son of first-generation wrestler Gory Guerrero. Eddie Guerrero is ...

the following night on ''Raw'' after

Chyna Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer; December 27, 1969 – April 17, 2016) was an American professional wrestler, bodybuilder and television personality. She first rose to prominence in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1997, where sh ...

turned on Jericho and aligned with Guerrero. Benoit would defend the Intercontinental Championship against Jericho at

Backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character * ''Backla ...

where Benoit won by disqualification after Jericho used the title belt to defend himself from Benoit's Diving Headbutt and was disqualified as a result. Benoit and Jericho had a rematch for the title on the May 4 episode of ''SmackDown!'' which Jericho won after hitting Benoit with the title belt and hitting him with the Lionsault. After aiding The Rock, confronting and insulting the McMahon-Helmsley Regime, Jericho was forced to defend the Intercontinental Championship on the May 8 episode of ''Raw''. After retaining the title against Kurt Angle and later Big Show, Jericho lost the Intercontinental Championship back to Benoit after special guest referee Triple H purposely got distracted by his wife Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley while Benoit tapped out to the Walls of Jericho and, after Jericho hit him to get his attention, Triple H hit Jericho from behind causing Jericho to be locked in Benoit's Crippler Crossface before Triple H called for the bell and awarded the title to Benoit despite Jericho not submitting. Benoit later announced that he would give Jericho a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship at Judgment Day in a

submission match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

Event

Preliminary matches

The event opened with Team ECK (

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

, and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

) facing

Too Cool Too Cool, originally known as Too Much, was an American professional wrestling tag team and group active in the World Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Entertainment) between 1998 and 2001 and for a short time in 2004 and 2014. The group ...

(

Scotty 2 Hotty Scott Ronald Garland (born July 2, 1973) is an American professional wrestler who was most recently signed to WWE as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. He also competed under the ring names "Too Hot" Scott Taylor (1991–1999) and Scotty 2 ...

, Grand Master Sexay, and

Rikishi A , or, more colloquially, , is a professional sumo wrestler. follow and live by the centuries-old rules of the sumo profession, with most coming from Japan, the only country where sumo is practiced professionally. Participation in official t ...

). Grand Master Sexay performed the Hip Hop Drop on Edge to win the match. Next,

defended the

WWF European Championship The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and WWF Intercontinental Championships within short ...

against

Perry Saturn Perry Arthur Satullo (born October 25, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestler known by his ring name, Perry Saturn. Since debuting in 1990, Saturn wrestled for promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Champions ...

and

Dean Malenko Dean Simon (born August 4, 1960), better known by the ring name Dean Malenko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a senior producer. He is best known for his time with Extreme ...

in a Triple Threat match. After

hit Saturn with a lead pipe that was hidden in a bouquet of roses, Guererro pinned Malenko with an Oklahoma Roll to retain the title. After that,

Shane McMahon Shane Brandon McMahon (; born January 15, 1970) is an American businessman and professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he was a wrestler, producer and minority owner. He is the founder and executive chairman of Idean ...

faced

Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as an in-ring performer, and as a commentator for its web television show, '' AEW Dark: Elevation,'' under ...

in a Falls Count Anywhere match. After interference from Big Boss Man,

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

Trish Stratus Patricia Anne Stratigeas (; born December 18, 1975) better known by the ring name Trish Stratus is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and yoga instructor. She is currently signed to WWE. Often regarded as one of the greatest Women's Per ...

and

Bull Buchanan Barry Buchanan (born January 15, 1968) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) under the ring names Recon, Bull Buchanan and B² and ...

, Shane pushed an amplifier onto Big Show's leg and hit him with a cinderblock to win the match. Later,

defended the

against

in a Submission match. Jericho passed out to the Crippler Crossface by Benoit, meaning Benoit won the match and retained the title. In the fifth match,

(

and

) faced

(

Bubba Ray Dudley Mark LoMonaco (born July 14, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and Impact Wrestling under the ring name Bully Ray. He was previously known as one-half of The Dudley Boyz tag t ...

and

D-Von Dudley Devon Hughes (born August 1, 1972) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he works backstage as a producer. Hughes wrestled for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1999 and for the WWF/E f ...

) in a Tag Team Tables match. X-Pac performed a Super X-Factor through a table on Bubba to win the match.

Main event

In the main event, The Rock defended the

against

in a 60-minute Iron Man match with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. Rock performed a Rock bottom on Triple H to make the score 1–0. Triple H performed a Pedigree on Rock to make the score 1–1. Triple H pinned Rock with a Small Package to make the score 2–1. Triple H performed a Piledriver on Rock to make the score 3–1. Rock performed a DDT on Triple H to make the score 3–2. Triple H was disqualified for attacking Rock with a steel chair, making the score 3–3. Triple H immediately pinned Rock using the ropes for leverage to make the score 4–3. Rock passed out to a Sleeper Hold by Triple H, causing a TKO and making the score 5–3. Triple H was counted out after Rock performed a Pedigree on an announce table to Triple H, making the score 5–4. Rock performed a People's Elbow on Triple H to make the score 5–5. After Road Dogg and X-Pac interfered,

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...

would make his return from injury, debuting his "American Badass" gimmick, and attacked Road Dogg, X-Pac,

and

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

. Undertaker attacked Triple H with a Chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver as the time limit expired. Rock was disqualified for Undertaker's interference, meaning Triple H won the match 6–5 and the title.

Aftermath

The Rock continued his feud with Triple H, who now had to also contend with The Undertaker and the also returning Kane. This led to a Six-Man Tag Team match at

King of the Ring King of the Ring was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The PPV event was held annually in June and was established in 1993 when the promotio ...

the next month featuring The Rock, The Undertaker, and Kane against Triple H, Vince McMahon, and Shane McMahon where if any member of Triple H's team was pinned, whoever scored the fall would win the WWF Championship. The Rock won the match for his team by pinning Vince McMahon. DX and the Dudley Boyz continued their feud at King of the Ring as well, with a Table/Dumpster match. DX won the match, but Bubba Ray got his revenge on Tori by putting her through a table. Less than a week before King of the Ring, Chris Benoit would lose the Intercontinental Championship to Rikishi. Edge and Christian would lose the WWF Tag Team Championship to Too Cool.

Crash Holly Michael John Lockwood (August 25, 1971 – November 6, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment from 1999 to 2003 under the ring names ...

would regain the Hardcore Championship from

Gerald Brisco Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco (born September 19, 1946) is an American retired professional wrestler. Brisco is best known for his time in the wrestling promotion WWE, where he was a backstage producer, and, during the 1990s, an on-screen character ...

, but would lose it back to him right before King of the Ring. Brisco would lose the title to Pat Patterson, starting a brief feud between the two.

Reception

In 2019, Kevin Pantoja of 411Mania gave the event a rating of 9.0 mazing stating, "When this company is on a roll, they can deliver something special. Following a stellar Backlash event, they gave us this gem. The Tables and Falls Count Anywhere matches are the worst things on the show and even they had enjoyable moments. The opener is hot, the European Title match is fun, the IC Title is fantastic, and the main event is the second best hour Ironman match I’ve ever seen. The show is paced well, with everything moving along smoothly. It’s so good."https://411mania.com/wrestling/kevins-random-reviews-wwf-judgment-day-2000-triple-h-vs-the-rock/

Results

Iron man match

References

External links

Official websiteWWE.com
{{WWEPPV, Judgment Day

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Events in Louisville, Kentucky 2000 in Kentucky Professional wrestling in Kentucky 2000 WWF pay-per-view events May 2000 events in the United States