Smackdown

Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
February 3, 2000

As SmackDown! kicked off from Detroit, Cactus Jack and his four friends - Eddy Guerrero, Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit - came to the ring to explain their actions on Monday. Cactus said they left the ring after putting a beating on Triple H because they weren't after Triple H's blood (at least not yet); they were only after contracts. Cactus suggested that Triple H and the rest of D-Generation X were afraid of a little competition. That brought out DX, along with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and Tori. Triple H denied Jack's allegations, saying they welcomed competition. With that in mind, Triple H said he'd give the foursome a little tryout. Malenko would take on X-Pac, Guerrero and Saturn would tag up against the New Age Outlaws, and Benoit would face Triple H himself! The champion said that if the foursome could win two out of three matches, they'd get their contracts. Knowing that DX likes to travel in packs, Cactus promised that he'd be watching the matches from backstage - with a two-by-four wrapped in barbed wire - and he just dared DX to interfere.

The Intercontinental Title was on the line as Chris Jericho, accompanied by Chyna, took on Gangrel with Luna. Luna repeatedly tried to interfere on Gangrel's behalf, but Chyna stopped her, and in the end the undisputed Intercontinental Champion got the win with the Walls of Jericho.

Next up, Dean Malenko tried to win the first of the three match series for his friends as he took on X-Pac. Malenko maneuvered X-Pac into the Texas Cloverleaf submission, but the degenerate was near the robes and Malenko had to break the hold. While Tori distracted the referee, X-Pac delivered a low blow and then finished off Malenko with an X-Factor.

The Big Show went through "hell and high water" to get video proof that The Rock's feet touched the ground at Royal Rumble. When he showed it to Triple H, the champion lived up to his end of the deal and awarded Show a match against The Rock at No Way Out. The winner moves on to face the Federation Champion at WrestleMania.

Claiming that there wasn't a woman in the Federation that could beat him, Harvey Wippleman put his Federation Women's Championship on the line against Jacqueline, who won a drawing earlier for the right to compete for the title. In a match that lasted about 20 seconds, Jacqueline pummeled Harvey with several shots to the head. Then she kicked him, bodyslammed him, dropped an elbow and pinned him to become the new Women's Champion! After the match, Jackie stripped Harvey down to his underwear and he ran embarrassingly back to the dressing room.

The Rock, Tazz and Kurt Angle then competed in a Triple Threat Match. The Rock was in control as he Rock Bottomed both opponents. But after he covered Angle, the Big Show appeared and dragged the People's Champion out of the ring. Meanwhile, Angle, lying on his side, was technically pinning Tazz, who was still flat on his back. The referee administered the three count, and Angle picked up the win as the Big Show chokeslammed The Rock outside the ring!

Perry Saturn and Eddy Guerrero took on the duo that Triple H called the "best tag team ever," the New Age Outlaws, in the second of the series of three matches. In the end, Eddy Guerrero delivered a Frog Splash to Billy Gunn. However, Guerrero landed improperly and badly injured his left elbow. Road Dogg quickly pinned him for an Outlaw victory. Even though DX had won the best of three series, Triple H agreed to take on Chris Benoit later in the show.

Next up, Al Snow and Steve Blackman battled Crash and Hardcore Holly. Snow picked up Hardcore for the Snow Plow, but Crash came flying off the top rope with a missile dropkick, knocking his cousin on top of Snow into a pinning predicament. However, Snow rolled over and scored a pinfall victory! Hardcore was irate after the match, blaming Crash for the defeat, and the two cousins got into a scuffle.

In singles competition, Rikishi Phatu took on the Big Show. Before the match got underway, Rikishi sent his buddies Too Cool back to the locker room, saying he wanted to handle things on his own. And handle things on his own he did - at least in the beginning. Phatu got of to an early offensive advantage, manhandling the 500-pounder like never before with a Samoan drop, belly-to-belly suplex, and leg drop. However, the Big Show recovered and hit Rikishi with a chokeslam - but Phatu kicked out at two! Big Show was absolutely shocked, and he grabbed a steel chair and clocked Rikishi with it, earning himself a disqualification. Too Cool run out to help their homie, and both got a chokeslam for their trouble. Then The Rock arrived, pummeled the Show with rights and lefts and, when that didn't work, clobbered him with the chair. He continued the onslaught with a Rock Bottom, and then kicked him repeatedly until Federation officials arrived.

Chris Benoit had nothing to lose as he stepped into the ring against Triple H. Twice Benoit had Triple H in his finishing maneuver, the Crippler Crossface. But the first time, the referee had been knocked out and didn't see Triple H tapping out. The second time, the champion was near enough to the side of the ring where he could grab the ropes. Benoit continued his offensive assault with a headbutt off the top rope, but the groggy referee's count was slow, and Triple H kicked out just before three. The champion hit a low blow, and followed up with a Pedigree to secure the victory. Triple H and Stephanie celebrated a DX clean sweep as SmackDown! came to an end.