One MIND-BLOWING Secret From Every Year Of WWE History

25. 2000 - The WWF Nearly Booked An Explosion Match

WWE's Deepest Secrets Vince McMahon
WWE.com

At WrestleMania 2000, Kane teamed with Rikishi to beat X-Pac and Road Dogg. It was one of several matches booked to get as many names as possible on the card in what was a bizarre historical curio: just one singles match took place on the show. It was dire, but in WWE’s defence, so many of those names were over. 

WWE was right to reward Rikishi with the spot. He had exploded very suddenly in popularity - and on the subject of explosions, his inclusion in the Kane Vs. X-Pac programme helped to thwart the original plan. 

Kane Vs. X-Pac was first envisaged as a singles match, and the idea thrown around - just long enough for WWE to look into the logistics, anyway - was for it to be wrestled under Exploding Death match rules. Obviously, that never happened. It was a very un-WWF thing, even in the experimental, dangerous turn of the century landscape. There was no way of doing it well, creative surmised, especially indoors. 

And what a pity. 

Kane staggering around and doing very little in the way of movement before getting over in a stunt was the role he was born to play.

 
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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!