Interesting fact about WM16
 

According to the corporate WWE website, in April 2000, more than a million fans purchased WrestleMania 16, at the time making it the most watched non-boxing event in pay-per-view history.

I was not aware of this and I was a little shocked when I read this. For as much as it is perceived negatively overall as a WM card today by some, I remember ordering it and being SO excited for it. It obviously did well at the time and I remember the hype for it was huge.

Just thought this was an interesting bit of info. Any thoughts on why it did so well and still is sometimes viewed negatively by some today?

In retrospect, the card isn't really that good, but it's not as terrible as some make it out to be. However, the business was just so hot at the time, and with it being the biggest show of the year, it makes sense.

Triple H won the main event at the hottest WWF pay-per-view in history you say?

*cue James Steele*

What was bad about the Card. a HUGE Main Event, a Ladder Match, the Jericho/Angle/Benoit match etc.

I remember thinking it was a good card. As good as most manias.

I remember being pumped for this event when it happened! The thought of a Fatal Four-Way in the main event of Wrestlemania was crazy, and with basically the four hottest stars on the planet at that point, it was gonna be HUGE!!!

Then of course as someone else said, the triple ladder match and the triple threat IC/European title match pretty much sold this PPV for me.

I too always thought it was a good WM card, all things considered. Some of the lower card was a little weak, BUT it's the LOWER CARD for a reason. I mean, a pretty cool hardcore battle royal, triangle tag ladder match, triple threat with jericho/benoit/angle AND the huge fatal four way main event. Makes me miss the big time, multiple participant, single world title storylines and matches tbh. We don't get that very often anymore, if ever recently.

Too many tag matches IMO. Five including the Ladder Match and a 3-on-3. Mania should be/used to be the culmination of huge rivalries and you don't get that feel from all those tag matches.

Foley = buyrates

Yeah. Right. Hmph. Now THAT will put butts in the seats.

After watching Foley nearly kill himself putting Triple H over at the two PPVs before Mania, I can't remember ever wanting a guy to win a match more than I wanted Foley to win that four way.

Too many pointless tag matches really didn't help this show. Not one singles match hurt it in my view. You barely ever hear this show mentioned. For the Wrestlemania that happened during arguably WWF's hottest time, it's really got lost in the shuffle. Perhaps because a year later WWE put on what most would agree was the best Wrestlemania ever, in a stadium, and it was the first 4 hour Mania. It's easy to forget 16. If The Rock had won the title to close the show it may have been more memorable.

"Interesting Fact" #2: Chris Jericho was originally scheduled to be in the 4-Way. His place was taken by Foley.

I remember getting to watch this for free at my cousin's house. During that period, I most always ordered WM or knew someone who ordered it. I liked the ME being the first Fatal Four Way at WM. Then, having the triple threat ladder match and the triple threat for the IC/European titles made this a solid PPV. It's shocking that over a million ppl ordered it, but WWE was more quality back then. At least you got what you paid for, which was an awesome PPV experience...

I think the fact that the main event was all about the McMahons drew criticism because their soap opera was overexposed. History repeated itself a year later with the Invasion Angle.

I'm thinking the "WrestleMania All Day Long" thing definitely inflated the buyrate. I think it was like 10 dollars more for an 8 hour pre-show. I remember that only making it more exciting for me.

That was also the only Mania without a single 1-on-1 match, wasn't it?

Yep.

I definitely think there were far worse Wrestlemanias (9 and 11 I'm looking at you). I really enjoyed Wrestlemania 16 even with the lack of singles matches. I think the Benoit/Jericho/Angle match gets overlooked alot in terms of Mania matches.

You know, the only match that I was really pissed about was the main event. But, that was ONLY because I thought Foley should have won.

...and in defense of WM 9, it wasn't all bad.

It was a major let down. I'm not surprised about the buy rate - WWE was hotter than ever at this point, WCW was struggling and suffocating under their own terrible booking decisions, and you had a massive main event with four of the best guys in the business.

But, like already stated, there were too many pointless tag team matches and not enough singles matches that felt like real feud-enders. Bossman & Bull Buchanan vs D'Lo and Godfather AND T&A vs Head Cheese have no place on this card. The hardcore battle royal was pretty lackluster - Tazz should have won, and it probably should've just been a one-on-one hardcore match with Tazz vs someone with Tazz going over and looking like a killer. Kane/Rikishi vs X-Pac/Road Dogg was useless as well - Kane and X-Pac had been feuding for awhile and truthfully nobody gave a shit at this point.

Basically, WM2000 was hampered down by a really poor undercard. The TLC match was obviously amazing and the main event had its moments - the triple threat for the IC/Euro titles should've gotten more than the 14 minutes it was given - that could've seriously been a classic if they had gotten 20-25 minutes to really tell a story.

Really only had 3 matches worth viewing the rest were pretty weak even at the time as there were a lot of guys making their first WM appearances and the conclusion to the event didn't help matters much.

Really only had 3 matches worth viewing the rest were pretty weak as far as feud buildup even at the time as there were also a lot of guys making their first WM appearances and the conclusion to the event didn't help matters much.