100 Greatest WWE WrestleMania Moments
99. LOD 2000 Arrives (WrestleMania XIV)
Wrestling was practically obsessed with the year 2000 before it landed. Chris Jericho's 'Y2J' character revolved around the millennium, and erm...futuristic attempts to make everything seem cutting edge by adding 'z' to people's names dominated the day (The Dudleyz, The Hardyz etc). Before all of that, there was LOD 2000. As in Legion Of Doom 2000. An update on the classic Road Warriors team of old.
Hawk and Animal arrived with a fresh coat of paint in time for WrestleMania XIV. The pair had new spiked shoulder pads and a glossier sheen overall. Perhaps most crucially, they had charismatic babe of the day Sunny in their corner. That piqued immediate interest in the vintage tag-team from a predominantly teen and young adult male audience. Even Sunny wouldn't have helped had LOD 2000 tanked in-ring though.
Good news: They didn't.
'Mania opened with a 15-team Battle Royal that played to Hawk and Animal's strengths. They delivered thumping power moves en route to scoring a crowd pleasing win. Everyone agreed that this modern update on the retro Road Warriors formula was for the best, and it's kinda ironic that they eliminated dorky NWA wannabes The New Midnight Express to bag the victory; 'Bombastic' Bob Holly and 'Bodacious' Bart Gunn were a bit crap.
The familiar refrain of, "Eurgh! What a rush!" had people flying off their seats from the get go. Then, LOD 2000 lived up to the hype and went on to enjoy a credible (albeit short) run before Hawk's real-life substance abuse issues were bizarrely woven into an angle. The 'Attitude Era' explains that last bit, but this comeback was fab.