How much is too much? That's what the WWF couldn't quite grasp as their boom period wore on. They kept having to get more and more creative to keep being able to top what they did last time. That meant they eventually started clutching at straws. We had stupid matches such as 'the kennel from hell', a steel cage inside a cell with dogs inside. We had McMahon family members in nearly every segment, Stephanie McMahon getting a push which was in overdrive. Eventually fans tired. There's a term called 'jumping the shark' which stems from an episode of 'Happy Days' in which The Fonz water skied over a shark, representing the moment the show went from popular broadcast about friends hanging in a diner into over the top ridiculousness. WWF by late 2000 had started to 'jump the shark'. The simple feuds which had originally engaged us had now been blown up into silly things that made us want to switch off. Where you once had factions such as DX or The Nation, in 2001 you now had groups like Right To Censor. Creatively the WWF had lost it. Too many run ins, too many swerves, too many turns. Even things like the violence and blood had lost all impact, getting done so regularly that fans just didn't care any more. When Mick Foley was retired at No Way Out 2000 it felt like just any other match. Looking back now on WWE Network it stands as mega violent. WWF's booking in the period had robbed the company of meaning, everything was getting so overdone that fans had started to stop caring.
