5 Awesome Performances...
5. Triple H Vs Cactus Jack - WWF Title Match, Royal Rumble 2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-QTkPmdkZw This street fight for the WWF title was one of the best promoted bouts of the Attitude Era. At his absolute best as a merciless heel, Hunter with on air wife Stephanie had been giving Mick Foley hell. The feud heated up when Foley ditched his Mankind persona to reveal he would fight as the psychotic Cactus Jack against Helmsley at Royal Rumble. It was a compelling sell. Held in New York's Madison Square Garden, the always vocal Manhattan crowd were electric for Hunter and Foley's clash. Both men played their roles with brilliance. The cold look on Foley's face said it all - his eyes were soulless, this was going to be brutal. Hunter played his act to perfection as well, selling his own facial expressions at the right times to work the nuances of the narrative. The men kicked things off with brawling, before steel steps and a chair got involved among a selection of power moves. The first sick spot was a chair that HHH drilled into a charging Foley's head. The fight spilled out of the ring into the crowd, before Foley suplexed Helmsley on to a rack of wooden pallets. This bump caused a huge gash in HHH's leg, and it is testament to his toughness that he was able to continue without any sort of obvious pain. Back in the ring, Helmsley showed his skill as a worker as he carried the action and put Foley's attacks over. The in-ring psychology that Hunter demonstrated was what gave all the big weapon spots leverage. Barbed wire was the next big weapon spot. Hunter sold it perfectly and did a great blade job. This match is proof that blood has a place in wrestling. The action transitioned to the outside again, a bump for Foley through the announce table. The action led to Hunter handcuffing Foley, only for The Rock to come out and nail Hunter with a steel chair. Cactus ended up gaining momentum, nailing a sick piledriver on the announce table. A bag of thumbtacks came out next, Foley dispensing them in the ring and getting set to punish Triple H. It wasn't to be for Jack however. Hunter back dropped Foley on the tacks ... and then hit a pedigree on Foley to drive his head right into the pins. Ouch. It was a brutal match, exactly what a street fight should be. There was no holding back, Hunter showed toughness in taking several sick bumps and weapon shots. It was his selling ability and work rate that really got the match over. The Game carried Foley to one of his best ever matches, and in doing so established his own reputation as one of the very best workers in the industry. This performance elevated Hunter to the level of Austin and Rock as a main event star in the Attitude Era. Regarding the match, Mick Foley said in his memoir "I wish it had been my last match. It was that good. Triple H was at his absolute best here, and I was only a small step behind."