10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2000 Facts

5. Cactus Wasn't Supposed To Kick Out Of The First Pedigree

Royal Rumble 2000
WWE.com

After a brutal, bloody, and grueling 25-plus minutes of physical dissection, it was finally time for Triple H and Cactus Jack to go home. Helmsley delivered a Pedigree that would end most matches, but Jack muscled the shoulder up to a deafening cheer.

Turns out that the Pedigree was supposed to end the match. The look of bewilderment and disbelief on Helmsley's face wasn't an acting stretch - he legitimately had no idea why Foley kicked out. Was Foley refusing to cooperate?

Not at all. Veteran Foley was simply calling an audible, and told Helmsley to Pedigree him a second time on the thumbtacks for the finish. The fact that Foley was spared having any of said tacks pierce his eyeballs is probably a small miracle. In any event, the audible improved the finish by a) making Jack look superhuman, and b) by showing the lengths Helmsley was willing to go to win.

Contributor
Contributor

Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.