[2000-01-23-WWF-Royal Rumble] D-Von & Bubba Ray Dudley vs Matt & Jeff Hardy (Tables)

[Superstar Sleeze]

Dudley Boyz vs Hardy Boyz - WWF Royal Rumble 2000 Tables Match

 

Holy shit, this was even better than I remembered! Super tight, exciting car crash spotfest of a match. I think I might prefer this over both the TLCs. I really liked how every single moment was motivated by putting someone through a table. They were indulging the crowd by trying to win the match and thats exactly how it should be. You win the match by putting people through tables so they were constantly setting themselves up for that. Really well done. I think a lot of car crash matches that this inspired just do crazy spots for the sake of crazy spots, but this match is better than those because all the crazy spots were motivated by securing a victory. I loved the escalation of spots in this match. Those chairshots were friggin' nasty. It is amazing Jeff Hardy is still alive nevermind wrestling given all the crazy bumps. Bubba chucking the table at Jeff as he came flying over the barricade. The Hardyz use a splash/legdrop combo to put Bubba through a table. My favorite spot up until the finish was when the Hardy desperately were trying to put Devon through a table, Devon moves from one table and Matt crashes through it, but Devon is now on top of another table, he moves again and Jeff canonballs through that table. Sick! The Dudz take advantage and Bubba SuperBombs Matt's ass through a table. JR gets the rules wrong as I think you had to put your opponents consecutively through tables so it actually reset as Teddy Long seemed to waive off everything and JR did say that at the beginning. The finish sequence is insane and is one of the coolest ever. Bubba is going to Balcony Dive through Matt on a bunch of tables, but Jeff unlaods with chairshots to the skull and Bubba falls through the tables. Matt sets Devon up on a table. Jeff rips his shirt off, soaks in the moment like a veteran pro and swandives off the balcony through Devon. Awesome finish!

The Hardyz were an updated version of the blowjob tag team. The best way to book blowjob tag team to get them over with men and women alike is have them prove their mettle against gnarly monsters in violent bouts. In a lot of ways this was just Fabs vs Moondogs 2000 or Fans vs Sheepherders 2000. It worked brilliantly. The ladder match with E&C put them on the map, but this match made them stars. One of the best spotfests I have ever seen. Loved it! ****1/4

[Bierschwale]

Super, super entertaining match. I'm with you on this definitely being better than TLC I, at least. I'll re-watch because i) it's great & ii) I'm not sure about the elimination rules beyond "offensive maneuver" and if it was only consecutive falls that could end the match.

 

I hate that this match has the legacy of being the progenitor for WWF/E tables matches when those stopped following the rules of this one. Those tag team tables matches from 2001-2003 or so when it was just one-fall and it didn't matter if your opponent was the one who put you through the table or not to lose are some of my absolute least favorite matches ever.

[soup23]

Matt has come a LONG way on the mic. Terri wants to assist the guys but they say no. 1800 Collect is presenting this show btw, wonder how their stock is doing now. The timing is really good on the first table tease where Matt barely shoves the table away on a back body drop. Jeff does a big dive to the outside to get the crowd popping. Jeff also hits Bubba with a hellacious chair shot. Bubba sends the table into Jeff and it doesn’t break. Bubba takes another awful chair shot right on the head this time from Matt. This match really has a visceral and violent feel mixed in within the stunts. Matt and Jeff do stereo dives and time it well to send Bubba through the table. D-Von takes a big chair shot too as a holy shit chant fires up. Matt misses a leg drop and Jeff misses a splash sending them both through tables although not through an offensive move by the Dudleys. Huge Dudley Bomb on Matt through the table and we are all tied up. Bubba’s glazed over sell job is very effective. The finish and setup may be the weak point of the match even though it looked visually stunning. It was the only portion of the match that felt really contrived to me with the way the Dudleys had to set everything up. Bubba ends up taking a back bump through two tables. Matt sets another one up and places DVon on it for the big Swantom and the Hardy victory. A pretty awesome garbage match overall. ***3/4

[Loss]

This was awesome. Because I'm weird, I actually popped more for the missed table spots than the actual table spots for a while -- stuff like the Hardys doing the attempted superplex on Bubba Ray and D-Von moving the table before Bubba Ray could go through it, and Jeff taking that high elevation back body drop in the early stages, with Matt moving the table just in the nick of time. I thought the teases added a great deal to the heat, and I also liked how the character stuff interacted with the stunt spots. The Dudleys put people through tables all the time, so D-Von and especially the loudmouthed Bubba Ray getting a taste of their own medicine was pretty satisfying. Matches like these were trailblazers in the company, and as they were copied, the stunts became more exaggerated while the element of violence became more stifled, which is a shame because it's here in spades. This isn't just guys taking crazy bumps to pop the crowd, although that element is definitely there. This is two teams going to war, both teammates looking out for each other when they see the other in danger, and logically finding themselves in situations where the bumps make sense. So they added logic and hate and character work and build and payoffs to the big spots in a way that brought it all together. ****1/4

[WingedEagle]

This was awesome. Because I'm weird, I actually popped more for the missed table spots than the actual table spots for a while -- stuff like the Hardys doing the attempted superplex on Bubba Ray and D-Von moving the table before Bubba Ray could go through it, and Jeff taking that high elevation back body drop in the early stages, with Matt moving the table just in the nick of time. I thought the teases added a great deal to the heat, and I also liked how the character stuff interacted with the stunt spots.

 

Its not exactly PWO2K, but Shuji Ishikawa & Koehi Sato vs. Takayuki Ueki & Masaya Takahashi tables match from BJW on 12/30/2016 is great for exactly this reason. They tease & pace the table spots so well throughout the match until it builds and builds to a great and anticipated finish. Had forgotten this as a gimmick that could actually be smartly and effectively incorporated into a match beyond a simple spot, but these are both examples of it nearly 17 years apart.

[Childs]

I tried to watch this without thinking too much about everything it helped spawn. And I have to give them credit for creating something that felt genuinely violent and chaotic. The key was how tight they kept it. I never felt like I was just sitting there waiting for some dude to set up a movie stunt in the middle of what was supposed to be a blood feud. These guys cared more about creating a vibe than about some "moment" that would live on through generations of video packages. All four of them were nuts of course, but Jeff really earned his reputation for being the most nuts. I hate the fact these car-crash matches have become endemic to WWE main-event programs. But if you want to see it done well, here you go.

[ohtani's jacket]

More tables. There was some criticism tonight about too many props in the dunk contest. How about too many tables in wrestling at the turn of the century? This was decent enough, but I thought it was weak compared to Tajiri vs. Super Crazy. It didn't help that the heat wasn't that great to start with and that the cameraman kept missing Jeff Hardy's spots. (Seriously, it was weird seeing Hardy literally fly into the frame.) The finish was well done, but there seemed to be some confusion over whether Bubba taking a chairshot and falling through the table counted as an "offensive move" and even after Hardy's nuts spot the timekeeper was late ringing the bell.

[GSR]

Pre-match in ring promo from the Dudleys with Bubba still doing the stuttering gimmick at this point. Big full nelson slam by Bubba on Jeff and he’s out to get the first table of the match. Bubba tries to backdrop Jeff through it, but Matt flips the table out of the way. Jeff with a vicious chairshot to Bubba on the outside, he then runs along the ringside barrier with the intention of putting Bubba through a table, however Bubba is back to his feet and when Jeff flies through the air he goes crashing head first into a table that Bubba throws at him. Hardyz with a double superplex on Bubba, but this time it’s D-Von who moves the table out the way. Matt pulls a ladder into the ring and the Hardyz use that as an offensive weapon. Matt with another brutal chair shot to Bubba’s head and then lies him on a table outside. He sets up the ladder, climbs it, and whilst he comes off it with a legdrop through Bubba and the table, at the same time Jeff with a splash from the top turnbuckle to him. Chair shot to D-Von and the Hardyz re-position the ring steps and prop a table up between them and the apron. They lay D-Von on it, Matt climbs to the top turnbuckle and comes off with a legdrop, but D-Von moves and he goes crashing through it to the floor. As D-Von is trying to get his bearings, Jeff with a flip dive through the ropes, but again D-Von is able to move and Jeff goes crashing through another table. Precision timing to the nth here. The Dudleys throw the ring steps into the ring, position a table on them and then superbomb Matt through the construction. They head out to the exit point and Bubba arranges some tables and stacks them up on one another. They lie Matt on the tables and Bubba drags Jeff up to the balcony. Bubba is about to splash Matt when Jeff low blows him. A couple more chair shots to Bubba and he takes a nestea plunge from the balcony through the tables (Matt had managed to get out of the way). Matt with a chair shot to D-Von, he then lays him on the table and Jeff with a Swanton Bomb from the balcony through D-Von and the table for the win.

 

Great stunt show, spotfest and the effort these two teams put in was off the charts. The timing on some of the spots was to the second and was spot on. All four put their bodies on the line and the chair shots that every one of them took looked, and sounded brutal. Knowing what we now know, I hated seeing them (I have a feeling I’ll be saying this a lot), and Bubba for one took too many. His selling with the glazed eyes was great, but only we know if he was selling and wasn’t actually concussed. For what this was, I thought it was excellent.

[Tim Evans]

Man, this was a lot more brutal than I remember it being. Jeff diving himself through a table on the outside looked insane. So were the non-stop chairshots. The dudleys took, even more, punishment than the hardy's. I remember Jeff's dive but I thought it was off the taxi cab and not just the balcony. Fun match but it's hard to watch in 2017.

[TravJ1979]

This has the benefit of being before every week had a tables match. It was also worked fantastically. Moving the tables in the early going made the build to finally going through one even bigger. This made my WWF 2000 Top 10. Best tables match ever. Best Dudley's match ever.

[SAMS]

They had great set ups for all the spots. For some, the process of setting up the tables is too contrived, but that only really works as a criticism for the final dive off the balcony, as they do spend a decent amount of time stalling while Bubba keeps pulling tables from the back, which knocks it down a little. The early part of the match has the Hardy’s flying all over the place - there isn’t any pandering to the crowd before any of the dives we see today, which I hate.

This is would be yet another chapter in the development of the car crash matches that the Hardy’s, Dudley’s and E&C ended up defining at the back end of the Attitude Era. The style gets disparaged at times but it delivers solid action, as there is rarely any let up or dead spots, and the guys truly look like they’re killing themselves for the win. While you would never encourage current guys to imitate it, this fact really separates it from multi-man matches now where guys have to lie around the ring for long periods having not endured enough punishment to warrant it. One of my favourite matches as a kid that totally holds up now 17 years later. ****

[Migs]

Really terrific match, before the tables match and these teams' offense became a cliche. It's really interesting to recall the power that was in those ideas in their initial presentation, and the match holds up shockingly well given what followed it.

[JourneybyTrain]

I remember getting a VHS copy of this PPV back in 2002 which makes it the first non-live show I've ever watched. Would have preferred this to open the show rather than Taz vs. Kurt Angle with that in mind but anyways I liked this way more than I expected. Last time I re-watched the TLC matches I remember they're being too many contrived overly long set-ups and some of the spots seeming kind of lack-luster. This one the only spot that required some set-up was the end, which was a cool spot (I think the visual off a balcony dive with the crowd behind Jeff is just cooler than a ladder dive) and even gave us two spots instead of one. Had some nice organic stuff as well, like Bubba flinging a table into Jeff when he was doing his running barricade senton.

[tbrett]

Love this match. I remember I didn't think the Dudleys were going to make it in the WWE and then this match put them on the map in the WWE. Good idea to make sure that you had to put both members members of the team through the tables consecutively which made sure they could do way more spots. Not an all-time classic but a really good match with great entertainment value.

 

****

[KB8]

I'm basically echoing most people, but the feel of hatred - communicated especially through those hellish chair shots - really stood out to me in this. It's hard to look back almost twenty years and find something new and unique about this considering how often the ground has been retrodden, but that sense of violence definitely elevated it to a point where I think I'd enjoy it more than just about everything that followed on from it (at least in the Hardyz/Dudleyz/Edge & Christian series). Where those later matches and TLCs escalated things through the scope of the highspots, I don't remember getting that feeling of escalated hatred. That this was fairly short and they mostly kept away from setting up overly convoluted scenarios certainly helped. I wouldn't call it a great match, but for better or worse it's an influential one and something that held up better than I'd have expected.

[Kadaveri]

The rule that you have to put both team members through a table consecutively is what makes this match work where most table matches don't. It's difficult to create drama in a "one fall" table match when they naturally end so abruptly. This format allows for switches in momentum to feel more important as whoever went through a table last is the team in peril.

 

****