Tales from the Attitude Era

Former WWF writer Tommy Blacha and co-host Rob Pasbani dive into the June 8, 2000, episode of SmackDown from Buffalo! The road to King of the Ring features a chaotic main event and one of the most dangerous splashes in WWE history. We break down Rikishi’s legendary splash off the 10-foot stage onto Val Venis, a move that still makes our knees hurt just watching it. We also witness a historic chara...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, former WWF writer Tommy Blacha and co-host Rob Pasbani recap the June 5, 2000, episode of RAW is WAR from the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. The night begins with massive dissension in the McMahon-Helmsley faction as Triple H, Vince McMahon, and Shane McMahon engage in a family shoving match that results in everyone—including Stephanie McMahon—ge...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, former WWF writer Tommy Blacha and co-host Rob Pasbani head north to Vancouver for the May 29, 2000, episode of RAW is WAR! It’s a Memorial Day classic featuring one of the hottest (and most anti-American) crowds of the year. We break down the massive return of Kane, who interrupts a chaotic lumberjack brawl between The Rock, Undertaker, and the McMahon-He...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, former WWF writer Tommy Blacha and co-host Rob Pasbani head north to Vancouver for the May 29, 2000, episode of RAW is WAR! It’s a Memorial Day classic featuring one of the hottest (and most anti-American) crowds of the year. We break down the massive return of Kane, who interrupts a chaotic lumberjack brawl between The Rock, Undertaker, and the McMahon-He...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, former WWF writer Tommy Blacha and co-host Rob Pasbani review the May 25, 2000, episode of SmackDown from Evansville, Indiana. The McMahon-Helmsley faction is running scared as The Undertaker returns to SmackDown on his motorcycle, chasing Vince, Shane, and Brisco throughout the arena! We also discuss Tommy's growing burnout during this period and his real...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, former WWF writer Tommy Blacha and co-host Rob Pasbani review the May 22, 2000, episode of RAW is WAR from Indianapolis. It's the fallout from Judgment Day, and while Triple H is the new champion, The Rock is on a warpath! In a candid moment, Tommy reveals that this was the specific week he first considered quitting the WWF creative team due to burnout and...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, former WWF writer Tommy Blacha and co-host Rob Pasbani review one of the greatest pay-per-views of the year: Judgment Day 2000! The main event is a historic 60-Minute Iron Man Match between The Rock and Triple H for the WWF Championship, with the returning Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. The night ends in absolute chaos with the shock return o...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, former WWF writer Tommy Blacha and co-host Rob Pasbani head to Detroit for the May 18, 2000, episode of SmackDown! It's the final stop before Judgment Day, and the McMahon-Helmsley regime is pulling out all the stops with a main event stipulation that defies logic: a Lumberjack Handicap Tables Match featuring The Rock & The Dudley Boyz vs. DX & The...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, former WWF writer Tommy Blacha and co-host Rob Pasbani review the wild, go-home episode of RAW is WAR from May 15, 2000! The Rock makes his triumphant return from filming The Mummy Returns and immediately accepts Triple H's challenge for a 60-Minute Iron Man Match at Judgment Day. The show kicks off with the massive surprise return of Shawn Michaels, who r...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, former WWF writer Tommy Blacha and co-host Rob Pasbani review the May 11, 2000, episode of SmackDown from New Haven, CT. With The Rock away filming The Mummy Returns, Vince McMahon takes center stage to deliver his iconic, scathing "Life Sucks (And Then You Die)" promo to the live audience. The McMahon-Helmsley regime books a chaotic night, culminating in...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, Rob Pasbani and former WWF writer Tommy Blacha break down the chaotic May 8, 2000 "kitchen sink" episode of RAW is WAR! With The Rock away filming The Mummy Returns, the McMahon-Helmsley regime turns its full attention to the new top babyface, Chris Jericho. Vince McMahon guarantees Jericho will lose his Intercontinental Championship and forces him to run...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, Rob and former WWF writer Tommy head to Richmond, VA – Earl Hebner's hometown – for the May 4, 2000 episode of SmackDown! Fresh off The Rock's historic WWF Title win at Backlash and a record-setting RAW, the McMahon-Helmsley regime stacks the deck once again. Vince McMahon forces The Rock to defend his newly won championship in a seemingly impossible main...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, Rob Pasbani and former WWF writer Tommy Blacha dive into the chaotic aftermath of one of the greatest pay-per-views ever: the May 1, 2000, episode of WWF Monday Night RAW! It's The Rock's first night as the new WWF Champion, and the McMahon-Helmsley regime is already plotting to take the title back. A furious Vince McMahon books The Rock into a Steel Cage...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, Rob Pasbani and former WWF writer Tommy Blacha are joined by special guest, comedian and pro wrestler Peter Angelo (@metalpetecomedy), to review one of the greatest pay-per-views of the era: Backlash 2000! This is the epic culmination of the WrestleMania fallout, where The Rock finally gets his one-on-one match against Triple H for the WWF Championship. Th...

Rob and former WWF writer Tommy review the final stop before Backlash: the April 27, 2000, episode of SmackDown! The entire show is built around one massive question: is Stone Cold Steve Austin really in the building? The McMahon-Helmsley faction spends the night on a frantic hunt for Austin, falling for a series of pranks and red herrings. It all leads to an explosive conclusion where Stone Cold...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, Rob and former WWF writer Tommy break down the go-home episode of RAW is WAR from April 24, 2000, just six days before the epic Backlash pay-per-view! The show is packed with final confrontations, including a verbal showdown where Chris Jericho delivers his infamous "lost her flower" line about Stephanie McMahon. This sets up a massive main event tag team...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, Rob and former WWF writer Tommy head to the heart of ECW country, Philadelphia, for the 4/20/2000 episode of SmackDown! The show features a fantasy champion vs. champion match, as WWF Champion Triple H takes on the reigning ECW Champion, Tazz! With Backlash just around the corner, the main event sees The Rock and Chris Jericho go one-on-one in a Lumberjack...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, Rob and former WWF writer Tommy dive into one of the most iconic and chaotic episodes in history: WWF RAW is WAR from April 17, 2000! This is the night Chris Jericho shocked the world and pinned Triple H to become the WWF Champion... for a few minutes. Tommy shares the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the match came together, including the fact th...

This week on Tales from the Attitude Era, Rob Pasbani and former WWF writer Tommy Blacha head to the Ice Palace in Tampa for the April 13, 2000 episode of SmackDown! The road to Backlash is getting shorter, and we discuss the creative pressures of building a pay-per-view card with only a few weeks of TV. With the roster in their home state of Florida, the show has a fun, house-show vibe. The Rock...

On this episode of Tales from the Attitude Era, Rob and former WWF writer Tommy Blacha break down the April 10, 2000 episode of Raw is War! We discuss the fallout from WrestleMania 2000 and why this Raw felt like a "casserole of leftovers." The Rock is on a quest for revenge against the McMahon-Helmsley faction and demands his shot at the WWF Championship. Vince McMahon finally explains his shocki...

It's the Smackdown after WrestleMania 2000, and the Rock has had enough of DX's antics and gets a bit of revenge for being screwed at WrestleMania. Plus, the Latino Heat angle kicks off with Chyna, the Radicalz are finding their new place on the card, the tag team division is heating up with the Dudleys, T&A, Hardys, and Head Cheese all vying for a spot, and we get some great wrestling this ep...

It's the night after WrestleMania 2000, and while the world waited on an explanation from Vince McMahon, we didn't quite get one. Instead, he teamed with DX to try to stop the Rock. This is the episode where Chyna finally gives into Eddie Guerrero's advances and we start the memorable storyline between the two of them. Plus, Big Show goes Hollywood with an attempt at an evolution of his character....

It's traditionally the biggest show of the year, but in 2000, WrestleMania felt more like a thrown-together episode of Raw. Former writer Tommy Blacha talks about what worked and what missed the mark, why the crowd was so quiet all night, heightened expectations, his vision for the Hardcore Title segment that got a little muddied, and we dive deep into why the fatal four way main event and the Vin...

WrestleMania 2000 is only a few days away in our timeline, and for this review of #WWESmackdown, comedian and show business star Dave Hill joins us to share his views on pro wrestling as we get through the last episode before Mania, and there's a lot here from Stephanie's win of the WWF Women's Title, the hardcore title schenanigans and the tag team division really heating up. Watch this episode o...

It's the final WWF Monday Night Raw before the biggest show of the year, and things get out of whack when the first segment runs much longer than it should have, forcing cuts to the timing of the rest of the show. Watch as former head writer Tommy Blacha describes the mayhem backstage and also some angles he hoped to get across before the big PPV this weekend - namely never getting a Hardcore vs....