The 2000 Survivor Series was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 14th annual Survivor Series and took place on November 19, 2000, at the Ice Palace in Tampa, Florida. The event was highlighted by the titular Survivor Series match, a tag team elimination match that pits teams of multiple wrestlers against each other.
The main event was a No Disqualification match between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Triple H. The match resulted in a no contest when the action spilled to the backstage area. The undercard featured two Survivor Series matches; Kurt Angle versus The Undertaker for the WWF Championship; Ivory versus Lita for the WWF Women's Championship; The Rock versus Rikishi; William Regal versus Hardcore Holly for the WWF European Championship; Kane versus Chris Jericho; and Steve Blackman, Crash Holly, and Molly Holly versus T & A (Test and Albert) and Trish Stratus in a six-person mixed tag team match.
Production Background Survivor Series is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced every November by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1987, generally held around Thanksgiving in the United States. In what has become the second longest-running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble, referred to as the "Big Four",Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160) and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs with the addition of King of the Ring in 1993. The event is traditionally characterized by having Survivor Series matches, which are tag team elimination matches that typically pits teams of four or five wrestlers against each other. The 14th Survivor Series event was scheduled to be held on November 19, 2000, at the Ice Palace in Tampa, Florida.
Storylines Survivor Series featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Raw is War and SmackDown!—WWF's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a hero or a villain as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
The main rivalry heading into the event was between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Triple H. The rivalry dated back to previous year's Survivor Series, when Austin was run down by a car in the backstage area and was sidelined for one year. At No Mercy, Austin competed against Rikishi in a No Holds Barred match as it was Rikishi, who had run down Austin with the car at Survivor Series. On the November 6 edition of Raw is War, Austin competed against Rikishi and Kurt Angle in a Handicap match. Austin was being double-teamed by Rikishi and Angle until Triple H came to his rescue and forced Angle and Rikishi to retreat. Triple H then assaulted Austin with the sledgehammer and was revealed as the mastermind behind Austin's attack as he wanted to protect his WWF Championship. On the November 9 edition of SmackDown!, the WWF Commissioner Mick Foley announced that Austin and Triple H would compete in a match at Survivor Series. At the event, the match was made a No Holds Barred match.
Another predominant rivalry heading into the event was between Kurt Angle and The Undertaker over the WWF Championship. At No Mercy, Angle defeated The Rock in a No Disqualification match to win the WWF Championship. Undertaker returned to WWF on the October 30 edition of Raw is War after being absent since Unforgiven. On the November 9 edition of SmackDown!, Undertaker defeated Kane, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho in a Four Corners match to become the #1 contender for the title at Survivor Series.
At No Mercy, Rikishi's interference accidentally cost The Rock, the WWF Championship against Kurt Angle. The next night on Raw is War, Rikishi apologized to Rock for costing him the title and told him that it was just accidental but Rock did not forgive Rikishi. On the October 30 edition of Raw is War, Rikishi attacked Rock after Rock won his #1 contender's match against Chris Jericho. Following the assault, Rikishi revealed that Rock knew about the attack and had given Rikishi, the keys of the truck to run down "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at previous year's Survivor Series. On the November 2 episode of SmackDown!, Rikishi cost Rock, a title shot for the WWF Championship against Angle. On the November 9 edition of SmackDown!, the WWF Commissioner Mick Foley announced that Rikishi and Rock would wrestle in a match at Survivor Series.
On the October 23 episode of Raw is War, Chris Jericho accidentally dropped his coffee on Kane. This angered Kane and he knocked down Jericho through a nearby placed table. On the October 26 episode of SmackDown!, Kane interfered in Jericho's WWF Championship title shot against Kurt Angle and attacked Jericho, causing Angle to retain the title by getting disqualified. Jericho retaliated by costing Kane a WWF Hardcore Championship match against Steve Blackman on the November 6 episode of Raw is War. This eventually set up a match between Kane and Jericho at Survivor Series.
At No Mercy, Eddie Guerrero cost Chyna and Mr. Ass, their tag team match against Right to Censor (Steven Richards and Val Venis). On the October 23 episode of Raw is War, Billy Gunn defeated Venis in a standard wrestling match, despite interference by Right to Censor members. On the October 26 episode of SmackDown!, Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko defeated Triple H and Road Dogg in a tag team match after help by Perry Saturn. Later that night, The Rock, Chyna and Billy Gunn defeated Right to Censor in a six-person tag team match. On the October 30 episode of Raw is War, Guerrero defeated Chyna to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship and attacked her after the match, causing Mr. Ass to save her from the beating. Later that night, Billy Gunn lost a match to Steven Richards which meant that he could no longer use the name Mr. Ass. On the November 2 edition of SmackDown!, The Radicalz reunited when Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn helped Chris Benoit in defeating Triple H. On the November 6 episode of Raw is War, D-Generation X also reunited as Triple H, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg and Chyna defeated The Radicalz. Later that night, Triple H turned into a villain as he was revealed to be the mastermind behind "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's attack and as a result, left DX. On the November 16 episode of SmackDown, Road Dogg and his new partner K-Kwik defeated Malenko and Saturn in a tag team match. After the match, WWF Commissioner Mick Foley announced that DX and K-Kwik would compete against Radicalz in a Survivor Series match.
On the Sunday Night Heat before Survivor Series, WWF European Champion William Regal attempted to cut a promo to the crowd. However, he was interrupted by Hardcore Holly, who challenged Regal to a match that night. The match was then made official on the main card.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsJim RossJerry LawlerSpanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraHugo SavinovichInterviewersKevin KellyJonathan CoachmanMichael ColeRing announcerHoward FinkelRefereesMike ChiodaJim KorderasEarl HebnerJack DoanTim WhiteTheodore LongChad Patton
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, Val Venis defeated Jeff Hardy in a standard wrestling match airing live on the Sunday Night Heat pre-show.
Preliminary matches The first match that took place was a Six Person Mixed Tag match pitting Steve Blackman, Crash Holly and Molly Holly against T & A (Test and Albert) and Trish Stratus. Test and Albert controlled the match by using their power. However, Crash used his quickness against the big men to keep pace of the match. The action eventually occurred between Molly and Stratus. Test tried to interfere, causing Blackman and Crash to fight Test for Molly's aid. Blackman and Crash battled Test and Albert outside the ring, allowing Molly to perform a Diving Sunset Flip on Stratus to win the match.
The second match was a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match pitting The Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn) against Billy Gunn, Chyna, Road Dogg and K-Kwik. The two teams battled it out as the match started. Radicalz scored the first elimination when Guerrero hit Chyna with the WWF Intercontinental Championship belt, allowing Saturn to pin her for the elimination. The next elimination was Gunn performing a Sleeper Slam on Guerrero. Radicalz then took control of the match as Benoit eliminated K-Kwik by performing a Bridging German Suplex and then Saturn eliminated Road Dogg by performing a Northern Lights Suplex. Gunn tried to take control when he eliminated Malenko by performing a Legdrop Bulldog, which he called Fameasser. However, Gunn could not control the match for longer as Benoit and Saturn double-teamed him. Gunn tried to perform a Vertical Suplex on Benoit but Benoit countered it and attempted a pinfall. Saturn held Gunn's foot, allowing Benoit to score the pinfall. As a result, Benoit and Saturn survived the match.
The next match was a standard wrestling match between Kane and Chris Jericho. Jericho controlled the earlier part of the match by using his quickness against Kane's power but Kane eventually controlled his high-flying with his high-impact power moves. The action went back and forth as both men countered each other and battled each other's quickness and power. Kane eventually tried to perform a Tombstone Piledriver, but Jericho used his quickness by pushing Kane into the exposed corner of the ring. Kane's face was slammed into the steel pole and Jericho got a near-fall. Jericho then applied the Walls of Jericho, until Kane broke the hold. Jericho performed a Bulldog and tried to perform a Lionsault. However, Kane grabbed the flying Jericho by the neck and performed a Chokeslam to win the match.
The fourth match was a standard wrestling match for the WWF European Championship. William Regal defended the title against Hardcore Holly. The two superstars battled each other as the match went back and forth. Regal eventually started focusing on Holly's injured arm and mainly attacked his arm. This angered Holly and he hit Regal with the European Championship. As a result, Regal won the match and retained the title by disqualification. Holly continued to attack Regal after the match, until Regal finally escaped with the title.
The next match was a standard wrestling match between The Rock and Rikishi. The Rock started attacking Rikishi before the match even started as he performed a backdrop. The Rock went to the ringside and grabbed a steel chair. He tried to hit Rikishi with it but the referee took it away from Rock. As The Rock turned back, Rikishi performed a Savate Kick. Rikishi then focused on The Rock's injured chest and mainly attacked on his chest. As the action continued, the referee was eventually knocked out. Rikishi tried to hit The Rock with a sledgehammer but The Rock punched Rikishi and gave him a Rock Bottom and tried to pin Rikishi, but the referee was knocked out. As the referee recovered, Rikishi kicked out. Rikishi dominated The Rock by performing a Splash. Rikishi then humiliated The Rock by delivering a Stink Face, as Rikishi's gigantic, smelly buttocks was rubbed into The Rock's face. However, despite receiving a devastating Stink Face, The Rock quickly regained control of the match by performing a Clothesline, a Samoan Drop and an Spinebuster and followed up with a People's Elbow on Rikishi to win the match. However, Rikishi attacked The Rock after the match as he performed a Savate Kick and four consecutive Banzai Drops.