PPV REVIEW: WWE Judgement Day 2002

WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Event poster
May 19, 2002
Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee

In some ways, WWE Judgement Day 2002 was a night of firsts. 

It was, of course, the company's first PPV since they switched from being the WWF to WWE.

It was also the first PPV appearance of future main eventer, world champion, and movie star, Dave Batista. 

Yet it was also a night of lasts. 

This was the last time we would see Stone Cold Steve Austin competing before he "took his ball and went home" for a while, and it was the last time Brock Lesnar would be stuck around the undercard before his King of the Ring 2002 victory catapulted him to main event status. 

With all that being said then, let's head on down to Nashville and check out the show.






Judgement Day is Upon Us

WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler called the event
Tonight’s show began with a rather sinister video package that spliced clips of the company’s biggest stars talking about their rivals with ominous footage of a noose and, eventually, somebody hanging from said noose.

As morose as that was, it eventually gave way to the standard pyro, crowd shots from the audience and the newly re-christened The World restaurant (formerly WWF New York), and our greeting from Jim Ross.

Tonight, he and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler would be calling all of the action, including this, our opening contest: 

WWE Intercontinental Championship 
WWE Intercontinental Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam 

This was as solid an opening match as you were going to get.
WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Eddie Guerrero defended the IC title against Rob Van Dam

Miles better than their match at Insurrexion 2002 and at least on a par with their battle at Backlash 2002, it was a tremendous back-and-forth encounter that engaged the crowd from bell to bell.

After a very enjoyable match, Eddie Guerrero got the backslide on RVD and scored the fall thanks to rope-assisted shenanigans.
Your Winner and Still Intercontinental Champion: Eddie Guerrero 

Out in the back, Batista made his WWE PPV debut as Deacon Batista, Reverend Devon’s muscle-bound briefcase carrier.

The two were joined by Vince McMahon and his assistant, Stacy Kiebler, who was set to challenge Trish Stratus for the women’s Championship.

WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Batista, D'Von, Stacy Kiebler and Vince McMahon
The Reverend called for a prayer to ask  The Good Lord to keep Stacy safe, but when he, Keibler and Batista had their eyes closed in prayer, Vince opened his and used the moment to do a sly bit of perving on Stacy’s boobs and bum.

I get that this wasn’t very PC, but McMahon’s facial expressions throughout this whole segment were at William Regal levels of funny, and I couldn’t help but find this whole segment hilarious.

It was followed by a quick video in which an old woman trimmed her bush and set fire to it as a means of telling us to Get the ‘F’ Out.

WWE Women’s Championship 
WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus (w/ Bubba Ray Dudley) vs. Stacy Keibler (w/ Reverend Devon & Deacon Batista) 

WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Bubba Dudley mocks Stacy Kiebler
Since being split up in the draft, Devon had been a heel and was Vince’s ‘Spiritual Advisor’ which put him in Stacy’s corner while Bubba Ray Dudley had turned face and formed a loose alliance with Trish Stratus which meant that he was in her corner.

I mention this, because even though both women worked hard in this match, it was clear that the only reason for this taking place was to give The Dudley Boyz an excuse to be back in the ring together.

The match was as good as you were going to get out of Trish and Stacy, but it was more of a plot device than anything.
Your Winner and Still Women’s Champion: Trish Stratus 

Indeed, we got our obligatory Dudleyz reunion after the match followed by Devon and Deacon beating up Big Bad Bubba and dumping him through a table.

Let’s Be Friends

Backstage, Ric Flair and Vince McMahon decided that since they were both now heels they should shake hands and pretend to like each other despite having hated one another’s guys for months on end.

OK, so it was heavily implied that neither man really liked the other, but why even bother having this segment at all?

The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy) vs. Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman

WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Paul Heyman teamed with Brock Lesnar against The Hardy Boyz
For all that Brock Lesnar did in his career, it’s mad to think that his first few months in the WWE were limited to beating up The Hardy Boyz every week.

This was just another in a long series of matches that the three had were the challenge was to make Brock look like a total monster without making Matt and Jeff look like total jobbers.

To that end, they were mostly successful. The brothers took the fight to The Next Big Thing in an entertaining contest but ultimately fell short.

Following a fun bit of action, Brock destroyed Jeff Hardy before finally tagging in Paul Heyman who got the three count.
Your Winners: Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman 

Out in the back, Mark Lloyd interviewed Booker T

The Booker Man had been hand-selected by Ric Flair to be the newest member of the New World Order which was apparently how that worked now.

It was dumb, but not as dumb as the way the promo ended.

After boasting about being a five time (five time, FIVE TIME!) Dubya See Dubya champion and not really addressing Lloyd’s comments at all, Booker noticed a woman in an evening gown randomly standing by herself and looking completely out of place.

Wanting himself a piece, Mr. Five Time approached her and accepted her hotel key so that they could apparently go and have some sexy times later on.

It was very silly and made no sense whatsoever.

Who was the woman?

Why was she dressed all fancy yet randomly hanging around next to some dirty production equipment backstage at a wrestling show? 

After a quick look at the rivalry between Steve Austin and Ric Flair, it was onto our next match.

Handicap Match
Nature Boy Ric Flair & The Big Show vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin 

WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Stone Cold Steve Austin
This was famously Steve Austin’s last PPV match until No Way Out 2003 and, honestly, with a match like this, it’s hard to blame The Texas Rattlesnake for ‘taking his ball and going home.’

This was Stone Cold Steve Austin, main event superstar and certified legend competing in what was basically a midcard match.

Some of the action was fairly decent, and the chop-offs between Austin and Flair was fun stuff, with the crowd chanting ‘WOO!’ Every time Flair landed a chop and ‘WHAT?’ Each time Austin did.

Yet despite that, this really felt like a demotion for Stone Cold.

In the end, X-Pac came down and accidentally kicked his nWo team mate Big Show in the face, Austin delivered stunners all round and won what was a pretty entertaining but still questionable contest.
Your Winner:  Steve Austin

Afterwards, Austin drank a couple of beers and hobbled to the back, probably feeling annoyed that he’d gone from main eventing to being done within the first hour of the show.

Hair vs. Hair Match
Kurt Angle vs. Edge

WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Edge vs. Kurt Angle
These two had a cracker of a match back at Backlash which this fan enjoyed immensely.

Since then, Kurt Angle had meant to reveal a new t-shirt boasting all of his accomplishments but Edge had switched it to one that said ‘You Suck’ on it.

By some twist of logic, that low meant the two were set to meet again in a hair vs. hair match which turned out to be arguably even better than the aforementioned Backlash encounter. 

A thrilling contest that only got better the longer it went on, this one saw Edge and Angle really up their game as they built to a dramatic finale with Edge battling out of the Ankle Lock and scoring the win with a roll up. 
Your Winner: Edge

Post-match, Angle attacked Edge but the future Rated R Superstar made a quick comeback and dragged his rival to the entrance where a barber was stationed with all of his tools.

Before the Olympic Gold Medalist could get his head shaved, however, he managed to escape and run off. Edge gave chase, leaving the bemused barber to stand around aimlessly.

Earlier, I was going to say they really should have brought Brutus Beefcake in for this segment, but now I see why they didn’t.

Booker T’s Naked Bum

Down the street, we went inside a room at the Marriott Hotel where Booker T was about to get it on with the random woman from earlier.

You’d have to imagine that it was only due to Booker’s inflated ego that he was perfectly OK having a cameraman in the room while he was about to get it on.

Anyway, the girl wanted the lights off which was the obvious cue for something to happen.

Sure enough, Booker’s estranged tag team partner Goldust emerged, and when the light came back on he was under the covers with Booker and his girl. 

The reason? Booker hadn’t been returning any of his phone calls and he wanted to get the proverbial band back together.

In the only entertaining moment, Booker fled from the bed and left the room where his bare bum on full display.

Honestly, I can’t explain why, but that part was funny whereas the whole rest of this skit was just plain dumb.

Hell in a Cell is a Cell in Which There Will be Hell

Before the next match, we went to Smackdown commentators Michael Cole and Tazz to put over their show’s big match.

“Hell in a cell is simply a cell,” said Michael Cole. “And Triple H and Chris Jericho will go through hell in that cell.”

Well, thanks for that original and creative explanation, Michael. 

A video package then followed which did a better job of explaining the feud than Michael ‘State the Bloody Obvious’ Cole had just done, and with that it was on to the cell where the hell would be.

Hell in a Cell
Chris Jericho vs. Triple H

WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Triple H vs. Chris Jericho - Hell in a Cell
This was the first Hell in a Cell match since the multi-man match at Armageddon 2000.

It was also excellent, way better than said match and even better than HHH and Chris Jericho’s meeting at Wrestlemania 18.

It didn’t necessarily start out that way, however. The early part of the match was slow and sluggish as The Game and The Larger Than Life Living Legend cranked up the violence factor and tried to inflict as much damage as possible.

Then, referee Tim White absolutely stole the show by getting knocked off the apron and taking a wicked bump into the steel mesh.

Honestly, it was an insane bump that was more impressive than any individual spot that the actual wrestlers pulled off. Sadly, it was also the spot that ended White’s career as a referee and eventually led to those awfully distasteful segments a few years later where White would repeatedly try to off himself.

The moment Tim landed on the floor, JR started yelling. 

“But Tim White has the key! Tim White has the key!”

Not “OMG, Tim White just went flying and got knocked the F out.” Or “holy crap Tim White must be hurt!” But “Tim White has the key!”

Jim Ross, ladies and gentlemen, master of subtlety.

Sure enough, White’s bump would lead to the cage being opened so that a gaggle of officials could rescue him, but not before Chris Jericho kicked his ass for costing him the match.

The cage opening was the real turning point.

We got some brawling, a cool spot where HHH DDT’d Jericho on top of the ever ill-fated Spanish announce table, and then The Game making a call back to his No Way Out 2000 match against Cactus Jack by producing a barb wire-wrapped baseball bat.

The two inevitably made their way to the top of the cage where some excellent action culminated in a match-winning pedigree.

I loved this match.
Your Winner: Triple H

Out in the back, Kurt Angle tried to hide from Edge by pretending to be a woman getting her hair cut.

Edge caught up to the Olympic Gold Medalist and the chase continued.

We then saw a video in which a couple had sex in the back of a car while Mark Henry’s old ‘Sexual Chocolate’ music played. The window went down with a WWF logo on it and came up again the WWE logo on it.

Get it? 

Because GET THE ‘F’ OUT!

Meanwhile, at The World, Maven and Torrie Wilson were on a date where Torrie talked about how much she liked to take her clothes off.

WWE Tag Team Championship 
WWE Tag Team Champions Billy & Chuck (w/ Rico) vs. Rikishi & Rico

WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Billy & Chuck vs. Rico
No, I didn’t make a mistake there.

Rico was still Billy & Chuck’s stylist but Vince McMahon had decided to screw with Rikishi by making Rico his partner for tonight’s match.

Ultimately, the plan backfired because when Rico went to kick his partner in the face, ‘Kishi ducked and Chuck ate a face full of boot. 

Chuck also ate some big ol’ booty as Rikishi squashed him and one three count later we had new tag team champions.

The match was nothing. 

It lasted about three minutes and wasn’t very exciting, but at least it served it’s purpose in putting some space between the Hell in a Cell match and the main event. 
Your Winners and New Tag Team Champions: Rikishi & Rico

WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Kurt Angle got shaved bald
Out in the back, Edge continued to pursue Kurt Angle, only for Angle to sneak attack his enemy and whack him over the noggin with a trash can lid.

The former champion then led Edge to the arena and the barbershop area, aiming to chop off his long, blonde locks.

Instead, Edge kicked his foe in the gut and knocked him out with a sleeper hold and shaved Angle’s head to create the look that Angle would maintain for the rest of his active career.

Finally, Edge encouraged the crowd to sing along to Angle’s theme, replacing their usual ‘you suck’ chants with ‘you’re bald’ ones.

Then, we got a video for the main event before the bell rang snd the match itself got under way.

WWE Undisputed Championship 
WWE Undisputed Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. The Undertaker 

WWE Judgement Day 2002 - Undertaker beat Hulk Hogan for the Undisputed Title
In another ‘first’ for this PPV, it was the first PPV to see Undertaker using his Dead Man Walking theme song.

Tonight, he and Hogan met in their first PPV match since This Tuesday in Texas, and it was probably about on a par with that match in terms of quality.

That’s not to say it was bad or anything, but after several solid matches on this show, Hogan/Taker wasn’t exactly going to end things on a high note.

After some decent but unspectacular action, Vince McMahon came down and got himself beat up by the Hulkster.

The distraction allowed ‘Taker to waffle the champion with a chair and pin him for the title much like he’d done back at Survivor Series 1991.
Your Winner and NEW Undisputed Champion: The Undertaker

Afterwards, the new champion destroyed Hogan with a chair before walking to the back with the belt proudly around his waste.








In a way, it was entirely fitting that the first WWE-branded PPV should end with the man synonymous with the WWF being taken out and destroyed once and for all.

It was a poignant moment on which to end what had been an all-round good show.

Though not every match was amazing, the opening Intercontinental Championship match was very entertaining , the Hell in a Cell match was really enjoyable, and the Hair vs. Hair match was an awesome Match of the Night winner.

Skip the women’s match, the handicap match, and the main event, and this is a good show to watch.


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