The Big Bossman entered the year 2000 as 4 time Hardcore Champion after beating Al Snow on October 12th. This was after a rivalry that included Bossman feeding Snow his little dog for dinner (wonderful!). By this time, the Hardcore Title had lost it's gleam (no pun intended). The matches weren't very interesting anymore, all the gimmicks had been done. Plus, most of the competitors were not exactly charismatic (see: Bossman, Big). It was time for a new gimmick.
The new gimmick would have to wait a month, when Test won the title from the Bossman on January 17th. Test had risen to prominence with his "engagement" to Stephanie, but once Triple H got involved, Test's participation was no longer needed. So Test was thrown the Hardcore Title, but failed to sustain any pop.
Crash Holly was being bullied (golly!) by the Big Bossman, so imagine the Bossman's dismay when Crash defeated Test for his Hardcore Title. The title which had previously been fought over tooth-and-nail, chair-and-garbage can by the likes of Mankind, Al Snow, Road Dogg and Hardcore Holly was now held by Elroy Jetson. The 24/7 gimmick was born as the superheavyweight claimed he would fight anyone, anytime, as long as a referee was present. This led to Pete Gas of the Mean Street Posse beating Crash while he was sleeping on March 13th, in his hotel room. Crash quickly won back his title, and then taking off from the rest of the Posse.
(At this point, keeping all the Hardcore Champions straight gets pretty difficult, so try to keep up)
The 24/7 bit had Crash (now 2 time Hardcore Champion), being attacked everywhere he went, and incredibly paranoid. So a temporary hold was placed on the 24/7 rule, so that all who wanted the Hardcore Title could enter a 15 minute Battle Royal at Wrestlemania. The Title could change hands at any time during that 15 minutes, with whomever had the final pin at the end of the 15 minutes leaving Wrestlemania as champion. Of the competitors here are the winners, in order, each laying claim to being Hardcore champions: Tazz, Viscera, Sho Funaki (of Kaientai), Rodney (of the Mean Street Posse), Joey Abs (also of the Mean Street Posse), Thrasher (of the Headbangers), Pete Gas (now 2 time champion), Tazz again (2 time champion in 15 minutes), Crash (his 3rd reign) and finally, Crash's own cousin cheap-shoted him to leave Wrestlemania as 3 time Hardcore Champion.
The next night on Raw, Crash defeated his cousin to become 4 time Hardcore Champion.
The next week on Raw is War the "Houdini of Hardcore" faced Perry Saturn in a sanctioned match. Saturn at the time was the only Radical to have not yet won a title, and the Hardcore division seemed to fit the man with the funny eyes. He defeated Crash in the backstage area where the APA had set up their offices. Tazz then sneak attacked Saturn, to pin him for his 3rd Hardcore Title. However, their interruption upset the APA, so Tazz became just another victim of the APA, Crash pinned him and was then laid out by Bradshaw.
With his brother Jeff hurt, Matt Hardy battled Crash on Sunday Night Heat. Matt's daredevil tactics mixed with the anything-goes Hardcore rules made for an exciting match in Hardy's home state of North Carolina.
With the help of interference from others who wanted a piece of the Hardcore Title, Crash would regain his title the next night and escape through the crowd before anyone could get at him.
The British Bulldog took time out of his hectic schedule of beating up bar patrons, doing drugs and threatening his wife to fight in a PPV taped in his native England on May 6th. To appease the fans, the Bulldog won the honoured Hardcore Title
And then lost it 3 days later back to Crash. I'm not sure if Davey Boy has been heard of since, and that's not a bad thing.
In a match with the Godfather in May 15th, the glory that was the Hardcore Title was illustrated when after Crash was knocked down, one of the Godfather's hoes (the wrestler known around the minors as Bobcat, who had previously been knocked around by Viscera) pinned Mr. 24/7 to become Hardcore champ. Her celebration lasted a few bounces until Crash school-boyed her and got out of Dodge as 8 time champ.
As Crash was sleeping backstage, Gerald Briscoe pinned him gently as a referee quietly gave the three count. The stooge was Hardcore Champion, and the nation groaned
Crash regained his title for the 9th time on June 12th, lost it to
the other stooge on June 16th, and then regained it as Patterson
and Briscoe dualed for it in an Evening Gown match set up for Vince
McMahon's amusement.
On June 27th, "The Lethal Weapon" Steve Blackman, who had consistently failed to draw any heat or pop in every situation he had ever been thrown into during his time with the WWF, defeated Crash to win his first Hardcore Title. This was the start of the rebirth of the Hardcore division.
It was a slow start, as the 24/7 Crash shtick was somewhat popular,
so these two exchanged victories on July 2nd. But after that night,
Blackman would hold the title for almost two months, and his
mastery of martial arts weapons started to garner the attentions of
viewers.
For his interference in a match between the Rock and Chris Benoit, Commissioner Mick Foley decided to punish Shane McMahon by setting him up in a match against Steve Blackman. Shane-O's fear of Blackman went a long way to establishing Blackman's building dominance. However, with the help of Edge and Christian and a newly returned Big Show, Shane won the Hardcore Title. Learning that he would have to face Blackman at the upcoming PPV, Shane begging Edge and Christian to pin him, but Foley decided he didn't like the 24/7 rule, suspending it until the PPV.
Blackman defeated Shane McMahon at the PPV, and the 24/7 rule was ended. Mick Foley, the very first Hardcore Champion, had decided that he never liked the gimmick. He said it was cute. The problem is, the Hardcore Title was never supposed to be cute, it was supposed to be harcore, with two men slugging it out, doing anything to hurt the other man. This was a great description of Steve Blackman, who had finally found a home in the WWF.
At the Unforgiven PPV on September 24th, another Hardcore free-for-all match was set up, this time a 10 minute "Hardcore Invitational", with the same rules as Wrestlemania. The competitors were Crash Holly, Al Snow, Sho Funaki, Test, Perry Saturn and, of course, Blackman. Crash scored the first (and his final) victory, becoming 12 time Hardcore Champion. Perry Saturn then won his second Title, but Blackman left as champion, and would go on to have a 3 month reign as the greatest Hardcore champion ever (but if this list has shown you anything, that's not saying much).
In a three-way match on December 22nd's episode of Raw is War, Blackman (who debuted a new T-shirt, can you believe Steve Blackman got his own T-shirt?) defeated Hardcore Holly outside in the bitter cold for the 1-2-3. But on his way back inside was cold-cocked by a 2x4 at the hands of Raven, who pinned him to become Hardcore champion. Throughout the match, J.R. and Lawler were referring to the 24/7 rule, saying that it had been suspended because people were too afraid to sneak attack Blackman (not so! Foley suspended it! I hate it when they don't get there stories straight). I guess the rule is back, can anyone say "13 time champion Crash Holly"?