List of WrestleMania 2000 Behind-the-Scenes and Production Facts

Rock Should Have Won the Championship — The Debated Decision

Widespread Belief That Rock Was the Logical WM2000 Champion

The near-universal critical and fan consensus around WM2000's main event is that The Rock should have won the WWF Championship — making WM2000's booking one of the most debated championship decisions in the event's history. The 'first heel wins WM main event' distinction, while historically notable, was not universally applauded. Multiple analysts argued that Rock's extraordinary crowd popularity and his Royal Rumble-earned title shot made him the obvious WM2000 champion, and that the decision to have Triple H retain was either a mistake or a deliberate withholding of the payoff for commercial purposes.

Steve Austin Was Absent Due to Injury

Most Popular WWF Performer Missed WM2000 Entirely

Steve Austin — still the most commercially valuable performer in professional wrestling — was absent from WM2000 due to the serious neck injury he had sustained in 1999. His absence forced WWF to build WM2000 around a championship picture that lacked its most powerful draw. One Cagematch reviewer specifically noted that 'lack of Austin and Taker impacted this card heavily.' Austin's return in 2000-2001 and his subsequent WM performances demonstrated what WM2000 was missing.

The Undertaker Was Also Absent

Second Major Absence Alongside Austin

The Undertaker was also absent from WrestleMania 2000 during a period of personal and contractual matters. Combined with Austin's injury absence, WM2000's two biggest single-match draws from WM14 were both unavailable — forcing the WWF to build the entire event without either of the performers most associated with the Attitude Era's commercial peak.

Vince McMahon's Surprise Return and Rock Alignment

March 13 Raw Surprise — Key to Rock Getting Into WM Main Event

Vince McMahon had been absent from WWF television since December 1999. His surprise return on the March 13 Raw — helping The Rock defeat The Big Show to reclaim his WM title shot — was one of the most strategically timed surprise appearances in WWF history. The alignment of Vince with The Rock, rather than the McMahon-Helmsley regime, added the 'McMahon in Every Corner' structure to the WM2000 main event and created the political family warfare dynamic that promoted the match.

Ice-T Performed Live — Godfather's Entrance Music

Hip-Hop Legend's Live Performance at WM2000

Hip-hop legend Ice-T performed The Godfather's entrance music live at WrestleMania 2000 — appearing on stage to provide a genuine musical performance to accompany the Godfather and D-Lo Brown's opening match entrance. The live performance gave the opening match a celebrity dimension and communicated the Attitude Era's genuine engagement with hip-hop culture as a mainstream entertainment element.