Review: WWE Network’s 100 Best Matches To See Before You Die: #100 HHH vs Chris Jericho (Last Man Standing, WWE Fully Loaded 2000)

(Here’s the link for the match on the WWE Network: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31367907/?contentId=&contextType=wwe-show&contextId=fully_loaded

Ahhhh, I remember this match well. Triple H was at his peak, and Y2J was coming into his own, after finding his feet in the WWF. This match was a high point for Jericho after his brilliant feud with Chris Benoit (who?!?!?). Although HHH didn’t hold the WWE Championship, this match felt like the most important match on the card. The involvement of Steph, and Jericho’s continued insults directed at her (Trashbag ho, etc…) gave the match more intensity, than say, the bouts between The Rock and Chris Benoit (who?!?!?), or the Undertaker vs Kurt Angle. However, at the time, I was a massive fan of HHH (who doesn’t love a great heel?), so I was fully rooting for HHH in this bout. Who wouldn’t want to destroy a man who was continually calling their wife awful names?

And the match lived up to the build. HHH dominated most of the match, but Jericho made an impact, especially with the help of a steel chair. The amount of blood that poured from the head of HHH after a hard chair shot was unnerving, even back in the days blood was a common feature of WWF bouts. But these PG days of no blood (and no chair shots to the head) endow the match with an extra layer of violence. Chair shots to the head, blood…oh, those were the days! But I digress…

HHH setting up for the Pedigree…

There is a point in the match where Jericho struggles to get up after being Pedigreed and HHH looks shocked. It was the night that Jericho looked like he was a main event player. The match itself is one of the best Last Man Standing matches in WWF history. The curse of Last Man Standing matches is that they can become disjointed affairs that consist of high spot after high spot (See any Last Man Standing Match involving John Cena), but the story in this match is the injury to Jericho’s ribs. Jericho’s fight against his rib injury, and fight against HHH, binds the match together. A match that stands as one of the best WWF matches of 2000, in a year full of awesome matches.

VERDICT: 9/10. Fully deserving of #100…and maybe even a higher number!

Does this match belong in the WWE Network’s Best 100 Matches To See Before You Die? Leave your comments below!