King of the Ring (2000)

Rikishi and Chris Benoit wrestling at King of the Ring

The first match that aired live on pay-per-view was a King of the Ring tournament quarter-final match between Rikishi and Chris Benoit. Rikishi dominated most of the match until Benoit started using submission maneuvers. He locked in the Crippler Crossface on Rikishi, who caught hold of the ropes. Benoit released the hold but hit Rikishi with a chair and was disqualified. However, Benoit continued to attack Rikishi with the chair and applied another Crossface on Rikishi.

The next match in the quarter-final round was between Eddie Guerrero and Val Venis. Guerrero and Venis got momentum over each other in the match. In the closing moments of the match, Venis tried to hit a Money Shot on Guerrero but Guerrero blocked the move. Venis' valet Trish Stratus jumped on the apron, prompting Guerrero's valet Chyna to prevent Stratus from interfering. Venis took advantage and scored the pinfall following a fishermans suplex.[4][20]

Bull Buchanan vs. Crash Holly at King of the Ring

The quarter-final continued pitting Bull Buchanan against Crash Holly. Buchanan dominated most of the match and due to his bigger size, Buchanan easily performed his moves on Holly. Buchanan tried to finish Holly with a Scissors Kick but Holly ducked the move and pinned Buchanan with a roll-up to win the match.

The final match in the quarter-final was between Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho. Jericho dominated earlier part of the match until Angle got the momentum. Angle continued to perform his moves on Jericho until Jericho regained momentum. In the closing moments of the match, Angle tried to hit the Angle Slam on Jericho but Jericho avoided the move and locked Angle in the Walls of Jericho. The WWF Women's Champion Stephanie McMahon interfered in the match and distracted the referee. Angle tapped out to Walls of Jericho but the referee was distracted. Jericho released the hold and knocked out the referee. Stephanie tried to hit Jericho with the Women's Championship belt but Jericho ducked and Angle was hit instead. Jericho kissed Stephanie but Angle got the advantage and hit an Angle Slam on Jericho for the victory.[4][20]

Edge and Christian doing their entrance routine before the WWF Tag Team Championship match at King of the Ring. Edge and Christian would go on to win the match

Next was a Four corners elimination match for the WWF Tag Team Championship as the champions Too Cool (Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) defended the titles against Edge and Christian, the Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) and T & A (Test and Albert). T & A was the first team to get eliminated when Matt Hardy pinned Test following Jeff's execution of the Swanton Bomb. The match went back and forth until Christian eliminated the Hardy Boyz by pinning Matt after hitting him with an Impaler. The match was left between Too Cool and the team of Edge and Christian. Too Cool dominated the challengers and seemed to have the match won when Sexay hit Edge with a Hip-Hop Drop and tried to pin Edge but there was no referee present. Christian took advantage and hit Sexay with a tag team championship title belt, allowing Edge to pin Sexay for the Tag-Team Championship.[20]

Val Venis and Trish Stratus at King of the Ring

After the tag team title match ended, the semi-final round of the King of the Ring tournament took place with Rikishi taking on Val Venis. Venis dominated the match by working on Rikishi's shoulder that was injured during Rikishi's match against Chris Benoit earlier in the night. Venis injured Rikishi's arm and continued to damage the arm until Rikishi performed a belly-to-belly suplex on Venis, pinning him for the victory. After the match, Venis' valet Trish Stratus tried to attack Rikishi but Rikishi countered her attacks. Venis low blowed Rikishi and attacked his injured arm and shoulder with a chair before leaving.

The next match in the semi-final was between Kurt Angle and Crash Holly. Angle dominated the match and pinned Holly after an Angle Slam to advance to the final round.[4][20]

The seventh match of the event was a Hardcore Evening Gown match for the WWF Hardcore Championship between champion Pat Patterson and challenger Gerald Brisco. Brisco brought a 2x4 to the ring while Patterson brought a teddy bear to the ring. Patterson suggested that he would lay down for Brisco so that Brisco could pin him for the title. Brisco agreed but Patterson started attacking Brisco. Brisco performed a Bronco Buster on Patterson in the corner. Crash Holly interfered in the match and attacked Brisco with a trash can. Holly used the 24/7 rule and pinned Patterson to win the Hardcore Championship. As a result, the match resulted in a no contest.[20][21]

X-Pac wrestling the Handicap Tables Dumpster match at King of the Ring

The eighth match was a three-on-two Handicap Tables Dumpster match pitting the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) against D-Generation X (Road Dogg and X-Pac) and Tori. The match started in the ring but the action would move outside the ring. The Dudleyz dominated most of the match by knocking out Road Dogg through a table. X-Pac battled Bubba Ray with some quick moves but D-Von suplexed X-Pac over the top rope onto the table. Tori hid in the dumpster. The Dudley Boyz began chasing Tori until DX took advantage by attacking the Dudleyz with steel chairs. The Dudley Boyz were then shoved into the dumpster and Tori closed the lids of the dumpster. As a result, DX and Tori won the match. After the match, the Dudleyz came out of the dumpster and pulled Tori out of the dumpster. DX tried to save Tori, but the Dudley Boyz hit the 3-D on X-Pac. Road Dogg was also hit with a 3-D. D-Von brought a table and set it in the ring. Bubba Ray caught Tori and powerbombed her through the table.[20]

Kurt Angle at King of the Ring. He went on to win the King of the Ring tournament

Next was the final round match of the 2000 King of the Ring tournament pitting Kurt Angle against Rikishi. Rikishi dominated most of the match by using his power moves against Angle. Angle took advantage of Rikishi's injuries and focused on his injured arm and shoulder. Angle slammed Rikishi into the steel steps outside the ring and threw Rikishi into the ring. As Angle returned to the ring, Rikishi hit Angle with a Samoan Drop, a Neckbreaker and a Stink Face but was unable to defeat Angle. Angle performed an Angle Slam on Rikishi but got a near-fall. Rikishi hit Angle with a Savate Kick and climbed to the top rope. Angle attacked Rikishi and hit him with a Belly-to-Belly Suplex from the top rope to win the 2000 King of the Ring tournament.[4][20]

The Rock won the WWF Championship at King of the Ring

The main event was a six-man tag team match between McMahon-Helmsley Faction (Triple H, Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon) and the team of The Rock, Kane and The Undertaker for Triple H's WWF Championship. The stipulation was that if a member of the Rock's team got the pinfall at the end of the match, regardless of who it was, that man would be the WWF Champion. The match went back and forth with Rock's team working on Shane in the beginning. Triple H would later tag in and would battle all the three opponents. The match continued with both teams battling on each other. In the closing moments of the match, Rock tried to hit Triple H with a People's Elbow, but Kane attacked Rock. Kane hit Triple H with a Tombstone Piledriver and tried to pin Triple H but Undertaker attacked Kane with a chair. Undertaker chokeslammed Shane from the top rope through the announce table. In the ring, Vince tried to take advantage of a prone Rock with his own version of the People's Elbow, but The Rock countered with a Rock Bottom and got the pinfall to become WWF Champion for the second time in three months.[20]

The tournament took place between May 29 and June 25, 2000.