Thirteen Part I: Censor with Mercy

Now is a good time as ever to really get into wrestling. I've been watching WWE for thirteen years and after some debating, I decided that now is a good chance to really talk more about what I liked growing up now that I'm older. So, there will be thirteen parts to this, talking about every year I've watched wrestling, from the house shows I can remember attending and most of all, my top three matches from that year that really stood out to me. Hop that anyone who reads this can enjoy something that I've been watching for so many years.

I: Censor with Mercy

Age: 8

Year: 2000

Hard to believe that my journey as a wrestling fan started in 2000. Well towards the end of the Attitude Era and close to the demise of WCW, I have no idea as to what is going on right now. Before anything, I did watch some wrestling here and there way before (my dad can always remember Sting for some reason). But to really pinpoint where I started watching wrestling, it would be before No Mercy 2000, where Kurt Angle defeated The Rock to become the WWF Champion. At this time, I was interested and this slowly started to build towards something I would love. Little by little, I started to know who Austin was, who Triple H was, who Angle, Taker, everyone at that time was. This was a time where I was just a interesting fan of this unknown show on television.

This was also around the time I was introduced to my first stable that I hated: The Right to Censor. There was no DX or nWo for me since hell, I started late watching wrestling. But these guys, man, I just hated them (however, while annoying, their theme song went to a nice little beat). At this point, you can see how sad this was for me to start at a time where everything was dying down from the Monday Night Wars that happened way before. But, as I said before, a fan of the sport has to start somewhere. It was also a time where I found out about Eddie Guerrero during Survivor Series of that year.

As the year came to a close, it took one match to really get me into it WWF at the time and this was the start of a ride I won't be forgetting anytime soon.

Top Three Matches of 2000

3. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship - No Mercy 2000
This was my first PPV match that I saw ever. This was pretty much what made me like The Rock and hate Angle at this time because of the way Angle won the title. At this point, I can at least know who the faces are and who the heels are and this was a good way for me to at least start my appreciation of wrestling as a whole.

2. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H - Survivor Series 2000
Now, from what my 8 year old brain could understand at this point is that Triple H was the mastermind behind the attack on Austin that sidelined him the previous year. I liked this match because at the time, it provided me with a chance to think that something from the previous year would come into ahead the next year. This match would be one of the many matches that would lead me to understand that to really like the present, you must look back in the past.

1. Armageddon Hell in the Cell Match for the WWF Championship - Armageddon 2000
This was the match of the small year for me because we had 6 men inside this large cage, trapped inside (not for very long mind you) in the hopes to leave Satan's Playground as the WWF Champion. The moment where Undertaker threw Rikishi off the cage into a truck was the highlight for me for the year. Even after only watching wrestling for such a few months, I felt so amazed at what was going on at the time and I was hooked. By the time 2001 rolled around, I was introduced to even more matches and something I always joke about on The Rant: The InVasion.