[2000-04-02-WWF-Wrestlemania 2000] Matt & Jeff Hardy vs D-Von & Bubba Ray Dudley vs Edge & Christian (Ladder)

[Loss]

I don't know what to think of this. I really enjoyed the Tables Match in January because it was an actual violent fight that made sense. This was more just a bunch of people jumping off of stuff. It was cool seeing a more primitive version of the TLC matches and it's hard not to respect the effort involved, but it's just stunt. stunt. stunt. stunt. stunt. stunt. stunt. stunt. stunt. Gets old after a while.

[El-P]

One of the most overrated match of the decade. And what turned the corner from cool ladder matches toward pure stuntfests and falling from high places mentality, thanks to that idiot Jeff Hardy, whose only quality is to be the unfunniest New Jack ever. Awful match in the long run because of its influence.

[Bierschwale]

Sigh.

[soup23]

A legendary spotfest that really holds up. These guys had the ladder match template and reimagined it again doubling down on the spots that worked in the No Mercy 99 match and adding new dynamics. Stuff like the double suplex off the ladder and the bumps coming from the ladder including the spear looked really vicious. My least favorite part of this was actually the ending with the stunt show setup for the Dudley stuff but at least in Bubba’s case, he has been presented as a psychotic individual that may value inflicting pain over having titles. Jeff’s Swantom Bomb was filmed wonderfully and Edge and Christian winning this is still a big upset overall. Great match. ****

[AstroBoy]

These guys had such great chemistry. I know it's a stunt show and everything but it built well. The spots were truly memorable and it was a star-making performance for lots of these guys.

 

Refreshing to see tag teams organically getting over and making names for themselves in this setting. Jeff Hardy carved out his niche, regardless or whether you like the influence or not, with these matches. They went a long way toward laying the foundation of Edge and Christian as dangerous opportunists.

 

Hard to rate properly I guess but it's a brilliant performance in making something special.

 

****

[Laney]

This is a total spotfest junk food match. Knowing that going in, you can just turn your brain off and enjoy it. This was very innovative for its time and it seems like they have overdone this type of match today. Sure you can analyze this match and tear it apart in terms of positioning and how some spots don't make any sense in terms of winning the match, but that wasn't exactly the point of the match. This was six guys putting on a stunt show to try to wow the crowd and get noticed.

 

This isn't for everybody, but I think it has its spot in wrestling.

[JourneybyTrain]

Decided to re-watch this after the tables match from the Rumble, while the match did drag at times with some spots being set-up and I preferred the tables match I thought this was pretty good. Some of the spots were really cool, I actually thought the best spot was Bubba chucking this time chucking a ladder into Jeff doing his barricade run. The Dudleys were definitely the high point of the match, liked them getting some babyface reaction and Bubba acting like a psycho path who's more concerned with putting people through tables then actually winning the match. Finish was a little anti-climatic after Jeff's big Swanton spot.

[TravJ1979]

Didn't like it. The January tables match holds up, this does not.

[Migs]

This match is the building block of all the multi-man ladder matches that followed, including Money in the Bank. So much here is still getting copied and repurposed. Still enjoyed it again this time after a number of viewings over the years.

[tbrett]

This was one of my favorite matches in 2000, after reading the comments I was expecting to be disappointed but I wasn't.  I still love this match, it is a spotfest but they didn't stop from bell to bell.  One thing that bothers me about the current MITB matches is that it is usually 2 guys in the ring and the other 4 playing around, in this match everyone was going most of the time.  If people were not in the ring they were brawling outside.  Toward the end they were laying around but they had taken a beatdown by then.  This set the standard for ladder matches for the next decade.  

****1/2

[Makai Club #1]

These teams have been feuding for a while now. E & C and Hardyz had the ladder match at No Mercy. Hardyz and Dudleys had the tables match at the Rumble. Makes sense to put them all in this match. The match is really, really good from an entertaining standpoint. All the spot were crazy and popped both the crowd and myself huge. All the teams get times to shine in the match and stood out here. The big moments however did leave to lapses in logic at times but I really don’t care all that much. This was awesome to watch. ****

[cactus]

I might be sick of seeing big car-crash spotfests every few months on modern WWE and AEW shows, but this is still a blast to watch as it felt fresh and the crowd can't believe what they are viewing. It's no wonder that they keep using Jeff's Swanton off the ladder in video packages two decades on as it's really quite a moment. The Dudleys placing a table between two ladders to create a makeshift platform was a creative way to work out some new high spots. Although they would later top this formula with TLC 1 & 2, this laid the groundwork and put all three teams on the mainstream map. This is still an incredibly influential spotfest and it's fingerprints are still all over future TLC, Ladder and Money In The Bank matches.
★★★★