10 Epic WWE TV Matches That Could Have Been On PPV
3. Tazz Vs. Triple H - SmackDown 2000
The US wrestling scene of the late '90s was an interesting trichotomy of promotions. The war between WCW and WWF, with ECW as the forgotten sibling in the background, made for the most competitive environment the industry has ever seen.
Stars would jump ship and switch allegiance at the drop of a hat, yet the shows themselves rarely mixed. For the most part, each promotion stood as their own entity... until an interesting scenario took place in early 2000.
Mike Awesome had jumped to WCW while he was reigning ECW Champion. Meanwhile, Tazz was contracted with the WWF. However, Paul Heyman was allowed to bring Tazz in for a shock return, booking him to defeat Awesome for the ECW Championship, all while he was still a member of the WWF roster.
The subsequent week saw Tazz appear on both Raw and SmackDown with the ECW Title. All of which led to a historic "Champion vs. Champion" showdown between WWF Champion, Triple H, and ECW Champion, Tazz, on SmackDown.
Had this match taken place at any other time in history, it would have made a monumental PPV main event. Sadly for Tazz and ECW, WWF was at it's hottest and Triple H was heading into one of the most memorable title matches of the Attitude Era, leaving this inter-promotional collision as SmackDown filler. Plus why give a rival so much airtime on a PPV?