WrestleMania 2000 WrestleMania 2000 ( chronologically known as WrestleMania XVI ) was the sixteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay - per - view produced by the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) . It took place on April 2 , 2000 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim , California . This WrestleMania has the distinction of the only WrestleMania not to feature at least one standard one - on - one wrestling match . The main event was a four - way elimination match for the WWF Championship involving reigning champion Triple H , The Rock , Mick Foley , and The Big Show , which Triple H won after last eliminating The Rock . Main matches on the undercard included a triangle ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship involving Edge and Christian , The Hardy Boyz , and The Dudley Boyz , and a two - fall triple threat match for the WWF Intercontinental and European Championships involving Kurt Angle , Chris Jericho , and Chris Benoit . Background . The main feud heading into WrestleMania was between Triple H , The Rock , Mick Foley , and The Big Show , with the four feuding over the WWF Championship . At the Royal Rumble two months prior , The Rock won the Royal Rumble match to become the number one contender to the WWF Championship at WrestleMania by last eliminating The Big Show , and Triple H defeated Cactus Jack ( Mick Foley ) in a Street fight to retain the WWF Championship . The proceeding month at No Way Out , The Big Show defeated The Rock to gain entry into the WWF Championship match at WrestleMania . Also at the event , Triple H defeated Foley in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the WWF Championship . Per the pre - match stipulation , Foley had to retire from professional wrestling . On the March 13 edition of Raw is War , The Rock managed to win back his title shot by defeating The Big Show with help from a returning Vince McMahon , thus making the WWF Championship match a Triple Threat match . Then , the following week , after Triple H retained his title against both The Rock and The Big Show , Linda McMahon came out announced that he would be defending his belt in a Fatal Four - Way match against not only The Rock and The Big Show , but also Mick Foley . The second main feud heading into the event was between Edge and Christian versus The Hardy Boyz ( Matt and Jeff Hardy ) versus The Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray and D - Von ) for the World Tag Team Championship in a Triangle Ladder match . On the January 17 edition of " Raw " , Jeff Hardy was scheduled to face Bubba Ray Dudley in a match . The match saw Jeff pinning Bubba Ray after delivering a Swanton Bomb . After the match , the Dudley ' s attacked the Hardy Boyz , in which they powerbombed Matt on top of a table . On the January 20 edition of " SmackDown ! " , Matt was placed in a match again D - Von Dudley . The win was given to Matt , after a disqualification took place . Jeff and Bubba Ray made their way to the ring , in which both teams began brawling against one another . Bubba Ray prepared to powerbomb Matt into a table , that was set up by the Dudley ' s . Bubba Ray , however , was hit by Jeff with a chair , causing him to fall onto the tables . The Hardy ' s then set up a table of their own and put D - Von on it , and Matt proceeded to perform a legdrop on D - Von through the table . At the Royal Rumble , the Hardy ' s defeated the Dudley ' s in a tag team tables match . The following night after the Royal Rumble , the Dudley ' s showed respect towards the Hardy ' s in which they would help them defeat the New Age Outlaws for the World Tag Team Championship . In return , the Hardy ' s would have to grant the Dudley ' s a title shot at the Tag Team Championship . During the tag title match , the Dudley ' s stopped the three count , after the Hardy ' s had the match in their favor and allowing the Outlaw ' s to retain the titles . After the match , the Dudley ' s then went onto perform the 3 - D on them . In months leading to the event , Hardcore Champion Crash Holly had been involved in several matches which took place at increasingly unusual places , a situation that the champion had brought on himself . On February 24 , 2000 , Crash defeated Test for the Hardcore Championship on " SmackDown ! " with help from his cousin Hardcore Holly and was so excited to be champion that he declared that as long as a referee was present , he would defend the title anytime at any place — a rule that was referred to as the " 24 / 7 " rule . Crash ' s decision backfired on him in a big way , as his title defenses often took place in odd places like a laundromat , an amusement park , and Newark Liberty International Airport to name a few as wrestlers were quick to strike to take the gold . Crash decided that he was tired of being on guard all the time and offered a shot to any wrestler for WrestleMania , provided that the 24 / 7 rule would be suspended until afterward . Several wrestlers took Crash up on his offer and the match became a battle royal . Event . Before the show , Lilian Garcia sang a rendition of " The Star - Spangled Banner " . The first match that aired was a tag team match between the team of The Godfather and D ' Lo Brown ( who were accompanied to the ring by rapper Ice - T , who also sang their entrance music ) against the team of The Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan . The Godfather and Brown gained the early advantage over Buchanan and Bossman , as they were able to execute a leg drop and a splash combination . Buchanan and Bossman , yet , retaliated after Bossman delivered a Sidewalk slam and Buchanan delivered a Leg drop from the top turnbuckle into a pinfall and winning the match . The second match was a hardcore battle royal for the WWE Hardcore Championship involving defending champion Crash Holly . The rules of the match were that ; the match would go on for fifteen minutes , the championship could exchange hands an unlimited amount of times during the time limit , and the final wrestler with the Hardcore Championship would win the match and remain the Hardcore Champion . The first championship exchange occurred after Tazz pinned Crash , which proceeded with Viscera pinning Tazz . The third championship exchange occurred after Funaki pinned Viscera , however , Funaki was then pinned by Rodney . The fifth championship exchange occurred after Joey Abs pinned Rodney , which proceeded with Abs being pinned by Thrasher . The seventh title exchange occurred after Pete Gas pinned Thrasher , though , Gas was then pinned by Tazz . The ninth title exchange occurred after Crash pinned Tazz , which proceeded with the final championship exchange , as Hardcore Holly pinned Crash , thus , Hardcore Holly won the Hardcore Championship . The next match was a tag team match between the team of Al Snow and Steve Blackman against the team of T & A ( Test and Albert ) . Back and forth action between the two teams towards the end of the match , where Albert delivered a Baldo Bomb on Snow , while Test delivered an Elbow drop from the top rope onto Blackman into a pinfall for the win . The fourth match was a WWF Tag Team Championship triangle ladder match involving The Hardy Boyz , Edge and Christian , and champions The Dudley Boyz . Edge and Christian first gained the advantage after Edge climbed the top rope and spear ed Jeff , who was climbing a ladder . Edge and Christian were then given consecutive 3 - D ' s by The Dudley Boyz . The Dudley Boyz then brought tables into the ring and onto ringside , where D - Von splash ed Jeff through a table in the ring , while Bubba powerbomb ed Matt through another at ringside . The Hardy Boyz would then retaliate after Jeff delivered a Swanton bomb off a ladder onto Bubba , through a table . As Jeff did so , Matt climbed a ladder , along with Edge and Christian , who pushed Matt off the ladder through a table . The situation allowed Edge and Christian to reach and grab the championship belts that were hung from the rafters , thus gaining their first ever the Tag Team Championship . The fifth match was a Catfight between The Kat and Terri with special guest referee , Val Venis ; the winner of the match was determined by the diva who threw their opponent out onto ringside . The Kat threw Terri out onto ringside ; Venis was however distracted by Mae Young , who was at ringside managing The Kat , and was unable to see the action . Terri was again thrown onto ringside by The Kat , though , the action was not seen by Venis as he was yet again distracted by Young . In retaliation , The Fabulous Moolah , who was at ringside managing Terri , pulled The Kat out of the ring , which was seen by Venis , thus Terri won the match . Whilst celebrating , Mae Young attacked Terri and The Fabulous Moolah before giving Moolah the bronco buster whilst Kat stripped Terri of her clothing . Next was an Intergender Tag - Team match between the team of Too Cool ( Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty ) and Chyna against the team of The Radicalz ( Perry Saturn , Dean Malenko , Eddie Guerrero ) . Both teams fought back and forth towards the end of the match , where Chyna was tagged into the match and delivered a press slam , powerbomb , and a sleeper slam and pinned Guerrero for the win . The seventh match was a two - fall triple threat match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship and WWF European Championship , involving Kurt Angle , Chris Benoit , and Chris Jericho . The first fall would be for the Intercontinental Championship , while the second fall was for the European Championship . In the beginning of the first fall , all three men exchanged pin attempts towards midway into the match where Benoit broke up a Chicken wing submission by Angle onto Jericho . The situation allowed Benoit to climb to the top turnbuckle and delivered a Diving headbutt on Jericho into a pinfall to win the Intercontinental Championship . During the second fall , Jericho and Benoit delivered a double powerbomb onto Angle , which proceeded into Benoit delivering three German suplex es onto Jericho . Afterwards , Benoit attempted to deliver another diving headbutt onto Angle , however , Angle moved out of the way , resulting in Benoit hitting the ringmat . This situation allowed Jericho to deliver a Lionsault into a pinfall to win the European Championship . The final match on the undercard was the tag team encounter between Kane and Rikishi against D - Generation X ( X - Pac and Road Dogg ) . Shortly into the match Rikishi delivered a Diamond cutter onto X - Pac , which proceeded into Kane delivering a Tombstone piledriver into a pinfall for the win . The main event was a WWF Championship four - way elimination match involving The Big Show ( with Shane McMahon ) , Mick Foley ( with Linda McMahon ) , The Rock ( with Vince McMahon ) , and the defending champion , Triple H ( with Stephanie McMahon ) . In the beginning of the match , Show press slammed Triple H and Rock ; however , all three competitors then attacked Show . The situation allowed The Rock to eliminate Show , after delivering a Rock Bottom into a pinfall . After the elimination , Foley delivered a double arm DDT on Triple H . Though , Triple H retaliated as he performed two consecutive Pedigree s , and hitting Foley with a steel chair into a pinfall , thus Foley was eliminated . After Foley was eliminated , The Rock and Triple H brawled in and out of the ring with neither superstar gaining the advantage over one another . Although , Triple H gained the advantage when Vince hit The Rock with a steel chair two consecutive times , thus turning Vince heel . The attack with the steel chair allowed Triple H to pin The Rock to retain the WWF Championship . After the match The Rock gave the Rock Bottom to Vince , Shane and Stephanie McMahon , before giving Stephanie a People ' s Elbow . Aftermath . After the event , The Rock continued to feud with Triple H over the WWF Championship . The feud continued on the episode of " Raw is War " after WrestleMania , where The Rock pinned Triple H in a non - WWF Championship match . The following week on " Raw is War " , the feud intensified , where The Rock defeated The Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan in a handicap steel cage match . After the match Triple H , Shane and Vince McMahon attacked The Rock , however , which caused him to lose a great amount of blood . Later that week on " SmackDown ! " , it was announced that The Rock would face Triple H for the WWF Championship at Backlash . At Backlash , The Rock , with help from Stone Cold Steve Austin and Linda McMahon , defeated Triple H to win the WWF Championship . The next night on " Raw " , Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Jericho to win the European Championship after Chyna turned heel and betrayed Jericho . Jericho went on to feud with Chris Benoit over the Intercontinental Championship , which led to Benoit defeating Jericho at Backlash to retain the title . Guerrero and Chyna entered a feud with Essa Rios and Lita after Chyna left Lita to be attacked by The Dudley Boyz . At Backlash , Guerrero defeated Rios to retain the European Championship . Reception . WrestleMania 2000 was met with unfavourable critical response . John Powell of Canadian Online Explorer ' s professional wrestling section called the event " a flop " ; he further noted that " It was supposed to be sports entertainment ' s greatest event of the year . It was supposed to the best the WWF has to offer . It wasn ' t . " He went on to claim that , " WrestleMania 2000 from The Pond in Anaheim , California , will go down as one of the worst WrestleManias the World Wrestling Federation has produced in its 15 - year history of broadcasting the flagship spectacle . " He further cited , " The only one - on - one match being the ludicrous Cat fight between Terri and The Kat , the other congested WrestleMania bouts suffered from constant stalling of one form or another as wrestlers lay prone for extended periods of time or engaged in low - impact brawling on the outside of the ring so that the audience could direct their attention to the other participants . This approach left many WWF superstars looking foolish for selling holds longer than they needed to . " He further cited " Ironically , the first - ever All - Day - Long pre - show recapping the history of WrestleMania for eight hours prior to the premiere wrestling event was better than the card itself . " He gave the overall event a score of 3 out of 10 stars , which is a considerably lower score than the previous year ' s event which received a rating of 8 out of 10 stars . The main event between Triple H , Mick Foley , The Big Show and The Rock for the WWF Championship was rated 4 out of 10 stars , the Two - fall Triple Threat match for the WWF Intercontinental and European Championships between Kurt Angle , Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit along with the Triangle Ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship between The Dudley Boyz , The Hardy Boyz and Edge and Christian received the highest rating of 8 out of 10 stars and The Cat Fight between Terri and The Cat received the lowest rating of 0 out of 10 stars . Robert Leighty Jr of 411mania gave the event a score of 7 . 0 out of 10 . 0 and commented on how there were " some good matches on the undercard , and an ok Main Event make this a good WrestleMania .