PPV REVIEW: WWF Insurrexion 2002

May 4, 2002

Wembley Arena, London, England

Like most UK-exclusive PPVs, WWF Insurrexion 2002 may never be remembered for anything that took place in the squared circle, yet regardless, it's still an event that holds a unique place in the history of professional wrestling. 

For one thing, it was the last ever PPV of any type by Vince McMahon's sports entertainment empire to be branded as a "World Wrestling Federation" event. 

Technically, Backlash 2002 was the company's last WWF Pay Per View on American soil, but since Insurrexion took place a few weeks later, it holds the distinct honour of being the last major event to take place before the company became WWE. 

Still, that's not the only reason why it's important. 

After all, it was following this event that the WWF superstars boarded a plane and embarked on what would go down in history as the infamous Plane Ride From Hell. 

That tumultuous journey has already been covered in great detail by just about every pro wrestling site on the web, so for today, let's simply head down to London for the World Wrestling Federation's last hurrah. 

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The Battle Has Crossed the Ocean 

We began tonight with a simple video which spliced footage from moments from some of the bigger storylines going on at the time with a generic vocice over which told us that all of the stars who hated each other had crossed the ocean to continue their battle.

As opening videos went, this was hardly the greatest, but let's face it, nobody watches a pro wrestling event purely for the opening videos.

When it was over, we got the customary crowd shots and introduction from Jim Ross and Jerry 'The king' Lawler. 

King was on one as he promised to teach JR all about how to speak the Queen's English and then spent the evening demonstrating how to do so by tossing out phrases like "It's all gone Pete Tong" which, honestly, I don't think I've heard anybody say in about 20 years.

It means "it's all gone wrong," in case you were wondering.

With that, it was on to our opening match.

World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship
WWF Intercontinental Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam

I've mentioned multiple times before that no matter how good the performer, they always seemed to turn it down a notch or two when they came over to jolly old England. That was still the case with two talented wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero and Rob Van Dam, as their intercontinental championship match here paled to in comparison to the excellent encounter they'd had a fortnight previously at Backlash 2003.

Still, RVD and Guerrero at their worst was still better than many others best and this was still a fine effort nonetheless.

After a very good opener, Eddie Guerrero tossed the referee into the corner to get himself disqualified. 

Your Winner via Disqualification: Rob Van Dam (Eddie Guerrero retains)

Afterward, Eddie chased the official around the ring, only to get whacked in the face by one of Rob Van Dam's 'educated' feet. RVD then proceeded to wallop his rival with the title belt and finish him off with a crowd-pleasing frog splash before basking in the glory of the fans, making this the perfect way to start off the show.

The UK is Full of Trash...And So is Terri Runnels

Backstage, Terri continued to settle into her new role as a backstage interviewer by asking Molly Holly and women's champion Jazz for some comments about their upcoming match.

Playing the puritan, Molly lambasted Trish Stratus, Terri, and other models for exposing their bodies and then turned her attention to the UK tabloid newspapers which featured topless models on Page 3.

According to Molly, Trish Stratus was trash, the Page 3 models were trash, and the whole UK was trash.

Terri then stood up to Molly by claiming that The Hurricane's former sidekick was jealous that she didn't have good boobs. As if to prove that she, Terri did have good boobs, she proceeded to get her kit off and stand around in her bra. 

Don't get me wrong, Terri was all kinds of gorgeous, but that was a pretty trashy move. 

WWF Women’s Champion Jazz & Molly Holly vs. Trish Stratus & Jacqueline 

The ‘Divas’ era wasn’t exactly known for producing five-star classics, but it has to be said that all four women worked hard in this match and did the very best job they could with what they had.

Though it wasn’t spectacular by any stretch, it was a fairly enjoyable wrestling match in which Trish, Jacqueline, Molly, and Jazz were able to show off their wrestling prowess rather than their boobs.

Naturally then, the crowds all chanted for puppies.

In the end, Trish and Jacqui hit a couple of matching tornado DDTs for the three count.

Your Winners: Trish Stratus & Jacqueline 

Backstage, X-Pac twiddled his nun-chucks and boasted to Scott Hall about destroying Kane so bad that he was able to steal The Big Red Machine’s mask.

Tonight, ‘Pac promised that he’d never return to England again if he couldn’t beat Bradshaw.

“I don’t know why you’d want to come back here anyway,” scoffed Hall.

Cheeky.

X-Pac vs. Bradshaw

This wasn’t as random a match as it sounds.

Bradshaw had been jumped by the nWo on a previous episode of Raw and found himself loosely aligned with Stone Cold Steve Austin in a war with the black-and-white rebels.

Tonight, he went up against X-Pac in what was a reasonably entertaining match.

Prior to the bell, ‘Pac -who always came to the ring wearing Kane’s mask now- loosened the padding from a middle turnbuckle and later used the exposed buckle to beat Bradshaw into a bloody pulp.

That wasn’t enough to put the Texan away, but plenty of outside interference courtesy of Scott Hall certainly was.

Though this was never going to earn Match of the Night honours, it was a perfectly serviceable undercard match that this fan enjoyed.

Your Winner: X-Pac

Out in the back, a pissed-off Undertaker told Jonathan Coachman that he was going to destroy Triple H tonight just like he destroyed Hollywood Hulk Hogan on that week's episode of Raw.

'Taker didn't care about The Game's passion for the wrestling business. All he cared about was kicking ass, and that's exactly what he was going to do tonight.

This was standard stuff from Booger Red, but that didn't make it any less of a convincing promo.

World Wrestling Federation Hardcore Championship
WWF Hardcore Champion Steven Richards vs. Booker T

Pac/Bradshaw may not have been as random as it appeared, but this match certainly seemed to be thrown together at the last minute. 

Steven Richards had beaten Bubba Ray for the Hardcore title on Raw with an assist from Jazz and here put it on the line against Booker T, who, despite being a heel, was very popular with the London audience.

"I guess they like a sucka over here," quipped a puzzled JR as he tried to figure out why 'T was getting such a positive reaction.

The crowd response helped elevate what was a good match in its own right and probably the best thing this writer has ever see that had Steven Richards involved.

The hardcore stuff was kept to a minimum in favor of some honest-to-goodness pro wrestling and was all the more enjoyable for it.

After a good battle, Booker T decked Big Stevie to win the hardcore title.

Your Winner and NEW Hardcore Champion: Booker T

As Booker was celebrating, Crash Holly ran out and rolled him up for a flash victory.

Your Winner and NEW Hardcore Champion: Crash Holly

Crash's joy was short lived as Booker almost immedietly got up, decapitated him with his patented scissor kick and regained the title.

Your Winner and NEW Hardcore Champion: Booker T

Not that he'd have much chance to celebrate either. Tommy Dreamer and Justin Credible rushed out next and began an attack, only to get their butts whooped and sent packing.

Finally, Steven Richards returned to the ring wih Jazz, whacked Booker from behind and took the title back.

Your Winner and NEW Hardcore Champion: Stevie Richards

Honestly, there was more title changes in this one segment than there had been in the entire history of UK-based WWF PPVs.

Brock Visits Planet Stasiak

Up next, we got a look at newcomer Brock Lesnar's feud with The Hardy Boys, which was based on nothing more than Matt and Jeff repeatedly getting their asses kicked by The Next Big Thing.

Tonight, they'd team up to fight Brock and Shawn Stasiak in what was supposed to be a tag team match. Paul Heyman, however, had other ideas.

Backstage before the match, he urged Shawn to stay on the apron and have an easy night, essentially letting Brock do all the work.

The Hardy Boys (Matt & Jeff Hardy) vs. Brock Lesnar & Shawn Stasiak (w/ Paul Heyman)

So of course, Stasiak didn't stay on the apron, he rushed to the ring ahead of his partner and took the fight to Matt and Jeff, only to inevitably get beaten up. 

Eventually, Big Brock managed to tag himself in and commence with the dismantling of his opponents, but when he attempted to shoulder tackle Matt in the corner, Hardy moved out of the way. That allowed the man from Planet Stasiak to tag himself back in and swiftly eat a Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb to technically give Brock Lesnar his first official taste of defeat in the World Wrestling Federation.

Your Winners: The Hardy Boys

Afterwards, Brock F-5'd everyone in sight.

As a side note, I want to register how much I enjoyed Shawn Stasiak. 

I know that's not a popular opinion, but the time he tried to attack The Rock at Summerslam 2001 and ran straight into a wall was absolutely hilarious, and the whole Planet Stasiak thing, if given enough time, could have gotten over.

Anyway, that being said, let's move on with the show.

William Regal: Britain’s Last Great Hope

Backstage, William Regal spoke to Jonathan Coachman about challenging Spike Dudley for the European Championship.

Trying to make sure he was still very much the heel, Regal put down his own countrymen and insisted that he was a role model to all the “dossers” in the audience.

World Wrestling Federation European Championship
WWF European Champion Spike Dudley vs. William Regal 

The match itself was pretty good, not necessarily because of the actual wrestling but because it was very cleverly done.

After a few minutes of decent action, Spike Dudley appeared to bust his ankle. Presenting it as legitimate, the champion spent a long time agonizing in the corner until a trainer arrived on the scene, cut Spike’s boot off and began helping him to the back.

The crowd gave Spike a genuine ovation, believing that the whole thing was real, but then Regal attacked him from behind to show that it wasn’t. 

Back in the ring, the challenger dominated but made the mistake of being too cocky, making a pin attempt and then breaking it at the count of two so that he could punish his opponent even further.

That was to be Regal’s downfall.

Spike got up, caught his rival off guard with a small package and that was that.

Your Winner and Still European Champion: Spike Dudley 

Afterwards, Regal blasted Spike with his trusty brass knucks.

This was followed by a video pacakage detailing the story behind our next match.

To sum up, Ric Flair had been the special guest referee for Steve Austin’s match at Backlash 2002 against The Undertaker. Flair had inadvertently counted a fall on Austin not realising that The Rattlesnake’s foot was on the rope.

Flair then tried to make things right by giving Austin a tag team match pitting him and Bradshaw against the nWo, but someone had knocked Bradshaw out so Big Show took his place.

Big Show then proceeded to make heel turn #824 by turning on Austin and rejoining the nWo for the first time since the late 90s.

The two would clash next.

The Big Show vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin 
Special Referee: Nature Boy Ric Flair 

Prior to the bell, Ric Flair came out and made himself the special guest “second” referee, meaning he’d be on the outside of the ring while Retro Pro Wrestling favourite Nick Patrick would officiate on the inside.

The match was...I mean it was as good a match as you were going to get out of a bloated Big Show at this stage of the career and was very formulaic (Austin worked his opponent’s legs, Big Show beat up Austin, Austin made a comeback and won) but it was entertaining in its own right and pretty enjoyable.

Towards the finish, Nick Patrick got bumped and Scott Hall and X-Pac came out, only for Flair to see them off.

Kevin Nash then turned up but Stone Cold gave him a stunner, followed up with one for Show and won the match.

Your Winner: Stone Cold Steve Austin 

Post match, Flair returned to the ring and tried sucking up to Austin by boasting about how he’d gotten rid of the nWo. Unimpressed, Stone Cold gave Flair a beer then stunned him into oblivion.

A video then reminded us of the moment The Undertaker cost Triple H the WWF title at Backlash, leading to tonight’s main event.

The Game was a Smackdown star and had no business being on a Raw show like this one, but that didn’t fit the narrative so nobody mentioned it.

The Undertaker vs. Triple H

There was nothing particularly remarkable about this match, not that you’d know that if your only experience of it was from JR’s commentary.

Doing his job perfectly, Ross sold this like it was the greatest match of all time and that both The Game and The Dead Man had waged an absolute gruelling war on each other.

The truth was that they took everything down a notch from their usual standards and delivered a match which, while enjoyable in its own right, was nothing more special then you might see on an average episode of Raw.

Triple H went over with the Pedigree.

Your Winner: Triple H

Afterwards, HHH and ‘Taker had a post-match staredown as the latter walked backstage, forgetting to take his motorbike with him.

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These UK PPVs were never stand out classics, but give to give credit to the Raw roster, Insurrexion 2002 was better than average.

Nothing outright sucked, almost everything was watchable, and the wrestling-starved UK audience were pumped up enough that it created a great atmosphere.

All in all then, a resounding success of a show. It’s just a shame that what would happen on the plane ride home was anything but a success.

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Other 2002 pro wrestling reviews: 

• WWF Royal Rumble 2002 
• WWF No Way Out 2002 
• WWA - The Revolution
• WWF Wrestlemania X8
• WWF Backlash 2002
• NWA-TNA: Weekly PPV #1

Other WWF/WWE UK event reviews:

• WWF Battle Royal at the Royal Albert Hall 1991
• WWF Summerslam 1992
• WWF One Night Only 1997
• WWF Mayhem in Manchester 1998
• WWF Capital Carnage 1998
• WWF No Mercy UK 1999
• WWF Insurrexion 2000
• WWF Rebellion 2000
• WWF Insurrexion 2001
• WWF Rebellion 2001

Be the first to catch the latest Retro Pro Wrestling reviews by following on Facebook or Twitter @RetroPWrestling.

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PPV REVIEW: WWF Royal Rumble 2002

January 20, 2002

Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia

In the final PPV of 2001, Chris Jericho beat The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin on the same night to become the first-ever Undisputed Champion.

Of course, you already know that because Jericho would spend the better part of the following decade bragging about it.

What you may not know -or at least not remember quite so vividly- is that after his monumental, history-making victory, Y2J would spend most of January 2002 playing second fiddle to storylines revolving around Vince McMahon’s rivalry with WWF Co-Owner Ric Flair, Triple H’s triumphant return from injury, and the major stars entering the Royal Rumble match.

In fact, the Undisputed Champion was so overlooked that on the Smackdown before the 2002 Royal Rumble, stars like Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, The Undertaker, and The Game himself had all confronted Jericho’s opponent for tonight’s show -The Rock- to tell him how much they were looking forward to going one on one with The Great One at Wrestlemania, taking it as a given that he would beat Y2J.

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Was that the case? Was tonight’s Undisputed Championship match a foregone conclusion or would Chris Jericho prove that he wasn’t someone to be underestimated?

Let’s review the 2002 Royal Rumble and find out together, shall we?

30 Men. 1 Winner.

Tonight’s opening video was another pretty captivating moment, first looking at some historic moments such as Hacksaw Jim Duggan winning the 1988 Royal Rumble, Vince McMahon winning the 1999 event and so on before reminding us that Val Venis, Goldust, The Godfather, and the legendary Mr. Perfect would all be returning for tonight’s battle royal extravaganza.

Speaking of legends, this well-made video finished by reminding us that almost all of the company’s main event stars not named Jericho or The Rock would be also be aiming to throw each other over the top rope en route to WrestleMania.

With that out of the way, we got crowd shots and pyro galore along with the obligatory welcome from announcers Jim Ross and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler before heading down to the ring for our opening match.

World Wrestling Federation World Tag Team Championship
WWF Tag Team Champions Tazz & Spike Dudley vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D’Von Dudley w/ Stacy Kiebler)

The interesting thing about reviewing most of these shows from mid-2001 on is that I’ve never seen them before and have very little clue about what actually happened on them outside of major stuff like Jericho’s aforementioned Undisputed Championship win and the upcoming Rock/Hogan match at Wrestlemania 18.

Around this time I tuned out of wrestling altogether and wouldn’t start watching again until 2008.

So everything I’m seeing all this for the first time and have to admit I was pretty surprised to see Tazz and Spike Dudley pick up a win here.

They had beaten The Dudleyz on either a Raw or Smackdown broadcast (I forget which) that came from Madison Square Garden.

This cynical fan had assumed that it was just a fun way to pop the New York crowd before Spike and Tazz handed the belts back in this opening contest.

Alas, that wasn’t to be. After a reasonably entertaining six minute match were nothing of note happened, Tazz slapped the Tazzmission on D’Von Dudley to retain the gold.

Your Winners and Still Tag Team Champions: Tazz & Spike Dudley

Prior to the next match, we got a look back at the intense and violent rivalry between William Regal and Intercontinental Champion Edge. The champ had broken The Englishman’s nose but Regal had been busy hiding brass knuckles about the place and secretly using them to deck both Edge and Rob Van Dam.

Eventually, Edge had lost his mind and went nutso with a steel chair.

The two would meet tonight, but not before the champion gave an interview to Lillian Garcia.

Showing flashes of the charisma that would eventually make him a main event star, Edge told Lillian that if it came to it, he would simply deck Regal with a chair just like he’d done when he broke his nose.

World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship
WWF Intercontinental Champion Edge vs. William Regal

Prior to the match, referee Nick Patrick gave Regal a full pay down and found those ominous brass knuckles stuffed down his pants.

Naturally, he confiscated them, forcing Regal to fight fairly (or at least as fairly as heels ever did) in his second of two solid PPV outings with the future Rated R Superstar.

Like their last match at Vengeance 2001, this one saw Regal’s experience and technical ability give him the upper hand, only for Edge’s youth and tenacity to keep him in the fight.

After a good showing, Patrick got bumped, allowing the challenger to reveal that he’d had another International Object in his knickers the whole time and punch Edge’s lights out with it.

One three count from a groggy zebra later and we had ourselves a new Intercontinental Champion.

Your Winner and New Intercontinental Champion: William Regal

Post match, Michael Cole caught up with Regal in one of those ring-side interviews we hadn’t seen since the days of Todd Pettingill. Ever the heel, Regal claimed to know nothing about an illegal weapon and insisted that he’d beaten Edge because he’d been ‘blessed with the power of the punch.’

World Wrestling Federation Women’s Championship
WWF Women’s Champion Trish Stratus vs. Jazz

Special Guest Referee: Jacqueline

Last seen on pay per view as The Alliance’s mystery woman in the women’s elimination match at Survivor Series, Jazz had since been “rehired” by the WWF and built up as a serious brute, going straight after women’s champion Trish Stratus and beating the crap out of her.

Things got even more serious on the go-home Smackdown when she’d slammed Trish’s hand in a trunk, forcing the blonde beauty to head to ringside with said hand heavily bandaged.

This match was more of the same from the former ECW wrestler. Jazz battered Trish from pillar to post in a way that made you convinced she was going to pulverise her into submission and take her title.

Instead, Stratus -who had hit maybe two offensive moves in the entirety of this short match- simply landed her patented Stratusfaction bulldog and retained her title.

This short encounter wasn’t terrible or anything, but it was weird that they built up Jazz to look so tough and then had her lose so easily.

Your Winner and Still Women’s Champion: Trish Stratus

Earlier that day, Ric Flair had arrived at the arena with his daughter Meghan and son Reid.

The Nature Boy had little time for interviewer Jonathan Coachman, simply stating that his kids were there to watch him kick Vince McMahon’s ass.

That match was apparently next.

Street Fight
Nature Boy Ric Flair vs. Vince McMahon

For those keeping score, this was Flair’s first PPV match since WCW Greed and his first WWF PPV match since Survivor Series 1992.

It was also awesome, not necessarily for the quality of the wrestling but because both men were fantastic entertainers who excelled in their respective roles; McMahon as the absolute d**k heel and Flair as the Dirtiest Player in the Game who could give every bit as good as he got.

Naturally, Nature Boy began bleeding about three minutes into the match as he sold The Chairman’s offence like he’d just been stabbed in the face. There was also a fun spot where McMahon snatched a camera from Megan Flair and used it to take a selfie with his opponent years before any of us knew what that word meant.

Eventually, Flair made his valiant comeback, busted McMahon wide open and made him tap to the Figure Four, bringing to an end what had proved to be a very fun match indeed.

Your Winner: Ric Flair

Backstage, Michael Cole tried to interview Nick Patrick and ask him if he’d reviewed the footage from the Regal/Edge match.

Before he could reply, however, your reviewer’s favorite referee was interrupted by Stephanie McMahon who wanted to brag about how her husband, Triple H, was going to kick everyone’s ass in the Royal Rumble, including Stone Cold Steve Austin’s.

Not content with that, Steph, who had been having problems with Austin’s wife Debra, promised to kick her ass too.

It was at that point that she was interrupted by Stone Cold himself.

What?

I said she was interrupted by Stone Cold Steve Austin.

What?

I said she was interrupted by Austin who just yelled WHAT at her until she left, leaving The Texas Rattlesnake to tell Michael Cole that he -Stone Cold- was going to win the Rumble match.

What?

I said he told...Ah, forgot it.

Anyway, after a hype video for our Undisputed Championship match, we went down to ringside for Rock/Jericho.

World Wrestling Federation Undisputed Championship
WWF Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho vs. The Rock

Every time Rock and Jericho met it was good stuff, and while this fan still prefers their awesome outing at No Mercy 2001 as the best of their three PPV bouts, this one was still fantastic.

Halfway through, Rock looked to have the match won with that terrible sharpshooter he used to do, only for Jericho’s allies Lance Storm and Christian to distract Earl Hebner so that the ref didn’t see Y2J tapping.

The match then continued, heading to the outside where the challenger hit the champion with a Rock Bottom off the Spanish announce table through the English language announces table.

With every twist and turn things got better and better, with Hebner once taking a bump and Nick Patrick running in, only to reveal his true heel colors and refuse to count what could have been a match-winning three count for The Great One.

Naturally, Rock planted Patrick with a Rock Bottom, but got kicked in the goolies and had his head rammed into an exposed turnbuckle before Jericho covered him with both feet on the ropes.

One three count later, Chris Jericho, the man it seemed nobody in the WWF had expected to win, had done just that.

Your Winner and Still Undisputed Champion: Chris Jericho

As the carnage was cleared up and we prepared for the Rumble, we went to WWF New York where Shawn Michaels had been entertaining the crowd.

Speaking to Jim Ross, HBK said he’d enjoyed being a wrestling fan and watching ‘the two men most influential on [his] career,’ Ric Flair and Vince McMahon, going at it earlier on the show.

Encouraged to predict a Rumble winner by JR, Michaels didn’t pick his former DX buddy Triple H but said it was likely to be one of his fellow Texans, Stone Cold or The Undertaker.

Finally, it was time for what we’d all been waiting for:

The 2002 Royal Rumble Match
Featuring: Rikishi, Goldust, Big Boss Man, Bradshaw, Kurt Angle, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Triple H, Mr. Perfect, Val Venis, The Godfather, Lance Storm

We started with Rikishi at number one and the returning Goldust getting a big flashy entrance as Howard Finkel announced him as ‘the individual who drew number two.’

Ross and Lawler made out like nobody had seen Goldust In decades, but it had only been about two and half years since he last left the WWF and he’d appeared at WCW Greed a year earlier.

Anyway, he and Rikishi got into some early brawling notable only for the fact that Goldust got thrown over the ropes a couple of times and only narrowly hung on.

The Big Boss Man, who had recently returned as an ally of Vince McMahon and Booker T was up next but didn’t last long and was done not long after number four entrant Bradshaw arrived.

Lance Storm, Al Snow and Billy ‘I’m Gay Now LOL’ Gunn also showed up, while Goldust and Rikishi showed themselves to be resilient by staying in the match, but it was all a little underwhelming as you never got the feeling that any of these wrestlers might actually win.

Then, finally, The Undertaker rolled into Atlanta, GA on his motorbike and business, in the immortal words of JR, was very much about to pick up.

Taker quickly cleaned house, leaving him ready for a showdown with the next two entrants, Matt and Jeff Hardy.

This was the payoff for an Angle on a recent Smackdown where he had destroyed both brothers and Lita, putting all three in the hospital.

Matt and Jeff had been at odds back at then but this beat down had brought them back together and they waged war on their aggressor until he finally eliminated them.

Then, Maven entered, and in one of the most famous moments in Royal Rumble history, eliminated Taker with a swift drop kick after Big Evil was distracted by The Hardyz on the outside of the ring.

Not one for taking the embarrassment too lightly, Undertaker unleashed holy hell on Maven, destroying him with a chair then thrashing him all the way though the crowd to the concession stand and ramming the Tough Enough winner’s head through a pop corn machine.

Other Royal Rumble 2002 highlights included:

The Godfather bringing out three different sets of hos for his big return and dancing with them for so long that by the time he finally got to the ring the ten count started for the next competitor to enter. As he did all this, King & JR talked about how he’d ‘gone legit’ by opening his own escort service.

Steve Austin getting a huge pop as he entered and quickly eliminated Christian, Chuck Palumbo, and Perry Saturn. While he was bored waiting for the next entrant, Austin threw Christian and Chuck back in the ring, Stone Cold Stunnered then again and then eliminated them a second time.

The Hurricane comically grabbing both Austin and Triple H by the throat for a chokeslam. The two - who had been beating the hell out of each other up until that point- reacted in pain, then looked at each other as if to say ‘what the hell is this?’ And then swiftly chucked the WWF’s resident superhero out of the ring.

Mr Perfect getting a huge ovation first for his entrance and then later for busting out a PerfectPlex then lasting all the way to the final four.

Perfect was joined in this group by Austin, Kurt Angle, and The Game. Surprisingly, Austin was the first to go, returning to the match moments later to take everybody out with a steel chair before Hennig finally got thrown over.

Last but not least, Angle thought he’d eliminated HHH and was celebrating when Hunter revealed he’d held onto the ropes.

One hard clothesline later and the 2002 Royal Rumble was over.

Your Winner: Triple H

While not the best Royal Rumble match ever, that one did at least have its moments and the final stretch leading into The Cerebral Assassin’s big victory was the most exciting part.

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This show was built entirely around the last three matches and all of them were decent to great.

The Rumble match was the least entertaining of the three, though as I just mentioned, even that had its bright spots.

McMahon/Flair was surprisingly very enjoyable and Rock/Jericho was the undeniable highlight of the night.

Throw in a good Intercontinental title match, and the WWF was off to a good start to the year.

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Other 2002 pro wrestling reviews: 

• WWA - The Revolution
• NWA-TNA: Weekly PPV #1

For more Royal Rumble reviews see:

• Royal Rumble 1988
• Royal Rumble 1989
• Royal Rumble 1990
• Royal Rumble 1991
• Royal Rumble 1992
• Royal Rumble 1993
• Royal Rumble 1994
• Royal Rumble 1995
• Royal Rumble 1996
• Royal Rumble 1997
• Royal Rumble 1998
• Royal Rumble 1999
• Royal Rumble 2000
• Royal Rumble 2001

Be the first to catch the latest Retro Pro Wrestling reviews by following on Facebook or Twitter @RetroPWrestling.

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PPV REVIEW: WWF King of the Ring 2001

June 24, 2001,
Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Over the course of the year 2000, Kurt Angle had enjoyed the best rookie year in WWF history up to that point.

Not only has he captured the European,  Intercontinental and WWF Championships, he had also been crowned that year’s King of the Ring winner.

Tonight, the Olympic Gold Medalist was looking to keep his incredible streak alive by becoming the first two-time King of the Ring winner on top of facing Shane McMahon in a grudge match.

Yet that wasn’t the only interesting thing happening in the WWF at this time.

On Raw, Triple H had suffered a horrific injury in a tag team title match on Raw in which he and partner Stone Cold Steve Austin faced Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. Despite gutting it out to finish the match, The Game’s injury was so severe that he’d be out of action until the following year.

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With The Rock out shooting The Scorpion King and The Undertaker tangled up in a dumb stalker angle with DDP, that left only Austin and Angle propping up the top of the card.

That perhaps explains why tonight, Benoit and Jericho found themselves in tonight’s main event, taking on Stone Cold for the WWF Championship.

Would the two Chrises take the title back to Canada?

Let’s find out...

Welcome to King of the Ring...

Our opening video was one of the WWF’s best yet. It featured shots of a royal throne that looked ominously like an electric chair, sitting in a dark, creepy-looking building while we got shots of some of the main stars we’d see on tonight’s show.

It was very creatively done and very impressive, and it was followed, as always, by shots of the crowd and a greeting from the announce team, tonight made up of Jim Ross and Paul Heyman.

As the Dane was panned the arena, we saw that the throne/electric chair motif had made it to the set design, with an enormous version of it looming over the entrance.

Whatever else may have gone done on this night, there was no disputing the fact that this certainly felt -and looked- like the biggest and most important King of the Ring PPV to date.

Make Me Famous

Before we got to any of the matches, the show was interrupted by the WWF theme of one Diamond Dallas Page.

You know DDP, right? The guy was universally loved during his last few years with WCW and who famously had a smoking hot wife called Kimberly who we’d seen on TV countless times over the years?

Yep, well the WWF brain trust had decided in their infinite wisdom to ignore all of that and introduce him to their audience as an unhinged heel who was stalking The Undertaker’s wife, Sarah. Now, far be it for this writer to say anything negative about Sarah, but just to reiterate, he was stalking her while he had Kimberly Page, this Kimberly Page sitting at home.

Anyway, Dallas made his way to the ring via the crowd because -as Paul Heyman quickly reminded us- he was a WCW star and had no right to be there. This despite the fact that he had his own entrance music.

Once in the ring, the former WCW Champion declared that he had some very non-PG photos that he had taken of Sarah Taker and reminded us that he’d gone after her not because he’d suddenly gone insane, but because he wanted The Undertaker to make him famous.

To that end, he challenged The American Bad Ass to come and find him, announcing that he wouldn’t be hard to find as he’d be sat in the front row with a sign that read ‘MAKE ME FAMOUS.’

DDP clearly did the best he could with what he’d been given here. It was just a shame that what he’d been given was pretty dumb.

After that, JR told us that Spike Dudley and a mystery partner would challenge The Dudley Boyz for the tag team titles while Heyman addressed rumours that either Chris Benoit or Chris Jericho had been negotiating with WCW and were looking to take the title off Steve Austin and into enemy territory.

King of the Ring Semi-Final 1
Kurt Angle vs. Christian

This was as good an opening match as you were going to get from two guys like Kurt Angle and Christian, with lots of quality action leading to an exciting finish.

At one point, WCW owner Shane McMahon came down, seemingly to distract his rival Kurt Angle.

However, after a great sequence in which Christian escaped the ankle lock,  got picked up in an Angle Slam but reversed that it unto an Unprettier, McMahon stopped him from getting the pin.

The confusion allowed The Olympic Gold Medalist to regroup, Angle Slam his opponent and win the match.
Your Winner: Kurt Angle (Advances to the final)

The announcers couldn’t understand why Shane would do such a thing if he hated Angle, but really, it was obvious:

The two were due to meet in a street fight later on in the show so, if Shane set it up so that Kurt had to compete in two matches first, that gave him an obvious advantage.

Where’s Vince?

Backstage, Jonathan Coachman wanted to get Steve Austin’s thoughts on the rumours that Benoit and Jericho were planning to beat him and take the title to WCW.

Austin, however, had no idea what he was talking about and only wanted to know where Vince McMahon was.

Though this wasn’t yet full-on comedic Austin, it was getting there and was pretty funny.

Please, I’m Beggin Ya, Make Me Famous

For saying the WWF were acting like Dallas Page was a nobody, they sure were spending a lot of time on him.

Up next, we got a look back at him stalking Undertaker’s wife and ‘Taker himself promising to kick his ass. This was followed by Paul Heyman interviewing Page, only to be interrupted by footage on the titantron which showed someone stalking Page while he ordered lunch at a restaurant.

Naturally, Page didn’t find it amusing.

King of the Ring Semi-Final 2
Edge vs. Rhyno

Looking to do what his tag team partner couldn’t, Edge locked up with real-life buddy and on-screen associate Rhyno in this second semi-final match.

Though some might disagree, this definitely looked like the better of the two semi-finals, with both men holding nothing back and really turning up the aggression.

At one point, we got a great-looking spot where Rhyno’s gore and Edge’s spear canceled each other out, though even that full-on collision wasn’t enough to put either man away.

After more solid action, Edge finally hit Rhyno with the Impaler to secure his place in the final.

Man, that was fun.
Your Winner: Edge (Advances to the Final)

Earlier, on Heat, Spike Dudley had challenged his brothers for the tag team title. The smallest Dudley had fallen out with his brothers as part of a Romeo & Juliet angle in which he’d fallen in love with Molly Holly.

Live in the arena, with Molly by his side, Spike refused to be drawn into revealing his mystery partner, promising to save that for when he hit the ring.

Before he got there, however, he and Molly were confronted by D’Von and Bubba Ray, both of whom were playing the heel.

Spike wasn’t the only one refusing to give anyway. Back in the locker room, Chris Jericho toyed with new interviewer Tazz by announcing that he was aware of the rumours he would take the WWF title to WCW but wasn’t going to say whether they were true or not.

World Wrestling Federation World Tag Team Championship
WWF Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D’Von Dudley) vs. Spike Dudley & WWF Intercontinental Champion Kane

This was better than it probably sounds. The Big Man/Little Man combo of Little Spike and The Big Red Machine added a unique touch to what could have otherwise been a mediocre tag team match.

It was especially fun to see Spike come so desperately close to winning the tag team titles only for The Dudleyz to kick out at the last moment. That’s to say nothing of the great moment when Kane gorilla pressed his pint-sized partner and launched him to the outside on top of Bubba Ray and D’Von.

Alas, even that wasn’t enough to get the win for the makeshift team as the champs retained thanks to the 3D.
Your Winners and Still Tag Team Champions: The Dudley Boyz

Afterwards, D’Von got the tables but Kane ended up slamming Bubba through it, keeping up the tradition of The Dudley Boyz never (or at least rarely) successfully putting anyone through a table on PPV despite that being their whole gimmick.

Coming Up, The Final

Backstage, tensions seemed high between Edge & Christian, but all Christian wanted to do was wish Edge well in the final.

Meanwhile, over at WWF New York, 1999 King of the Ring winner Bad Bum Billy Gunn was furious about the fact that his stock had plummeted so far that he wasn’t even on tonight’s card.

King of the Ring Final
Edge vs. Kurt Angle

Before they locked up, Angle encouraged Edge to forfeit so that he (Angle) could be well-rested for his street fight with Shane McMahon while also sparing the future Rated-R Superstar the embarrassment of losing to the Olympic Gold Medalist.

Unsurprisingly, Edge responded by walloping Angle in the mush. The bell sounded, and this soon evolved into another solid match.

Though it’s arguable that the two semi-finals were better, there’s no denying that Angle and Edge put on a solid performance here.

After the inevitable cameo from Christian failed to end the match, Edge actually tapped out to the ankle lock but the referee was out so didn’t see it.

Shane then ran in and speared his nemesis. Edge got the cover, the referee miraculously recovered in time to make the count as they always do, and this one was done.

Though it was a good match, the fact that Edge tapped out and had to rely on Shane O’ Mac to help him win sure did put a dampener on Edge’s victory.
Your Winner and 2001 King of the Ring: Edge

Backstage, Chris Benoit also refused to tell Tazz whether or not he was going to take the WWF Championship to WCW if he won it.

Meanwhile, out in the crowd, a paranoid-looking DDP looked around the place from his front-row seat.

The Era of Awesome

In lieu of any kind of coronation ceremony, King of the Ring winner Edge was awarded a brief backstage interview with Jonathan Coachman.

After Christian stopped by to congratulate him, our new King declared that the Era of Awesome has begun.

Elsewhere in the arena, an enraged Kurt Angle ranted and raved about his loss and vowed that if any WCW star got involved in his street fight with Shane, he would ensure they never worked again, went on welfare, and starved to death.

Harsh.

World Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Championship
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy vs. X-Pac

Though it was short and mostly forgettable, this was nonetheless a decent filler match.

Sure, there was a blown spot halfway through and sure, it was nowhere near as good as it could have been, but it was otherwise an OK effort.

After dominating most of the contest, X-Pac succumbed to a Swanton Bomb and lost the match.
Your Winner and Still Light Heavyweight Champion: Jeff Hardy

Backstage, Steve Austin was having trouble getting hold of Vince McMahon on his cell phone, so he stormed into William Regal’s office to use his landline.

What followed was a funny exchange where it sounded as though Vince was screwing with the champ and pretending not to recognise his voice.

‘Vince, it’s Steve,’ he said. ‘Steve Austin...Vince, it’s Stone Cold Steve Austin, the World Wrestling Federation Champion....I’m fine, how are you?’

I can’t do it justice here, but trust me, it was funny.

Anyway, The Texas Rattlesnake was really worried about the rumours that Benoit and Jericho were planning to take the title to WCW and only just stopped short of begging the Chairman to come to the arena and fix the problem.

This was the early days of Austin’s storyline where he became super dependent on Vince, and it played out well here.

Page Gets His Wish

After more footage of DDP going about his business that day, it was revealed that it was Sarah who had been stalking him.

She turned the camera on herself and told DDP that it was time for him to become famous.

Sure enough, The Undertaker arrived and proceeded to kick Page’s ass all over the place.

This wasn’t a match, it was just a straight-up ass whoop on’ with Dallas making only the briefest of comebacks.

Sure, this whole angle may have been silly, but if this fun brawl was the full extent of the pay off then it was worth it.

Backstage, Austin stalked the parking lot area waiting for Vince.

He asked a steward how long it would take for someone to drive to the arena from Greenwich. The steward initially had no idea, but when Austin asked him a second time he suddenly gained a whole new level of knowledge and declared that it would take ‘about an hour and a half.’

Growing infuriated, Austin demanded the guy send Vince to him as soon as he arrived.

Street Fight
Shane McMahon vs. Kurt Angle

Holy sh*t.

That’s what the crowd chanted half a dozen times throughout this incredible, violent street fight, and for good reason too.

Surpassing just about anything either man had done before in a professional wrestling ring, this kept getting better and better the longer it went on.

Of course, the match is best remembered today for Kurt suplexing Shane through the glass set design (and how reluctant that glass was to break) and it was an insane spot. What was even better was the sight of both men covered in blood and broken glass and keeping the fight going afterwards.

Everything before that was equally as enjoyable, and when Kurt Angle used a lumber board as a platform to hit Shane with the match-winning top-rope Angle Slam, it was a thing of violent beauty.
Your Winner: Kurt Angle

Out in the back, an increasingly anxious Austin stalked the parking lot, still waiting for Vince McMahon.

There was no more time left, however, as he has to head to the ring while a video package played highlighting his turbulent relationship with Vince and issue with Benoit and Jericho.

Triple Threat Match for the World Wrestling Federation Championship
WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho

I’m not sure if it’s because you had two babyfaces attacking a heel, or because the crowd were spent after the awesome street fight, but this one started off without much life to it.

OK, so it was still the collective talents of Benoit, Jericho, and Austin in one ring, so it was always going to be decent, but it didn’t really seem to get exciting until the final act.

They started with both challengers applying their finishing holds to the champion at the same time. Stone Cold tapped, but Earl Hebner declared that since only one man could be champion, Austin’s submission didn’t count.

Things continued with a surprise run-in from WCW Champion Booker T, who attacked The Texas Rattlesnake and put him through the Spanish announce table, giving Benoit and Jericho the chance to go one-on-one with each other.

Austin was eventually dragged back into the ring by Jericho, but despite the best efforts of both his opponents, he was still able to escape with his gold intact.
Your Winner and Still WWF Champion: Steve Austin

Not the greatest main event of all time, but at least it got better the longer it went on.

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The early part of the title match aside, King of the Ring 2001 was a consistently good show. The actual tournament gave us three quality matches, the tag team title match was more fun than it should have been, and that street fight was one of the greatest of all time.

Of all the WWF’s 2001 PPVs, King of the Ring may not have been the best, but to be fair, the bar had been set pretty high. The company were enjoying an incredible run in terms of quality.  It was just a shame that all of that would soon be overshadowed by The Invasion.

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Other reviews of 2001 pro wrestling events: 

• WCW Sin
• WWF Royal Rumble 2001
• WCW Superbrawl: Revenge 
• WWF No Way Out 2001
• WCW Greed
• WWF Wrestlemania 17
• WWF Backlash 2001
• WWF Insurrextion 2001

Other WWF King of the Ring reviews:

• King of the Ring 1993
• King of the Ring 1994
• King of the Ring 1995
• King of the Ring 1996
• King of the Ring 1997
• King of the Ring 1998
• King of the Ring 1999
• King of the Ring 2000

Be the first to catch the latest Retro Pro Wrestling reviews by following on Facebook or Twitter @RetroPWrestling.

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PPV REVIEW: ECW November to Remember 1999

November 7th, 1999
Buffalo, New York

(NOTE: This ECW November to Remember review was originally written back in 2009. I recently discovered a bunch of my archived reviews and wanted to include them here on RPW, hence the introduction referencing 'ten years' and the different format from normal RPW reviews) 

Ten years (2017 update: make that 20!) to the day that Paul Heyman's Original Extreme Championship Wrestling presented the '99 version of their pay per view event, November to Remember, your favourite wrestling reviewer does just that; remembering  an event which featured Masato Tanaka challenging Mike Awesome for the ECW title and a great three-way dance between Jerry Lynn, Tajiri and Super Crazy.

Joey Styles and Cyrus the Virus opened the show

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In front of a rabid crowd, ECW's legendary announcer, Joey Styles and the smooth-talking Cyrus the Virus welcomed everybody to the show before Joel Gertner arrived. Gertner did absolutely nothing of note, instead taking a back seat to the arrival of Tazz.

The Human Suplex Machine, about to embark on a career in what was then the World Wrestling Federation, was greeted by loud chants of 'You Sold Out!' from the Buffalo crowd.

Ignoring them, Taz instead turned his attentions to antagonising Styles. The announcer made the smart move and left the ring, leaving Tazz to take his frustrations out on Gertner before hyping his upcoming match with crowd-favourite Rob Van Damn.

Spike Dudley beat Simon Diamond 

Prior to the bout, Diamond and Dick Hertz went through an innuendo-laden promo before Jazz came out for no reason and was swiftly destroyed by Hertz.

The match itself was nothing special, with Diamond essentially brutalising his opponent throughout until Spike Dudley scored the upset with the Acid Drop.

Little Guido beat Nova

After the match, The Full Blooded Italians ran in and attacked Dudley, causing Nova to run in for the save and resulting in an impromptu match against Little Guido.

Better than the previous contest, Nova looked genuinely impressive against his diminutive opponent until Big Sal interfered on behalf of his FBI teammate and ultimately cost Nova the match.

The two men continued their assault in the post-match until Chris Chetti came to the rescue. Danny Doring and Roadkill then ran in, destroying the returning Chetti and bringing to an end the overkill of run-ins.

Honestly, if WWE or TNA presented that many pre and post-match run-ins in such quick succession, your reporter is sure that fans would hate it. But of course, this was the original ECW, who could seemingly do no wrong in the eyes of their ever-loyal fans.

 Jerry Lynn beat Yoshihiro Tajiri and Super Crazy in a Three-Way Dance. 

Tajiri was led to the ring by a wheelchair-bound Jack Victory and Steve Corino, who cut a pre-match promo putting over 'The Japanese Buzzsaw' as the 'King of the three-way dance'.

Tajiri certainly disappoint here, but neither did his opponents, Jerry Lynn and Super Crazy; the latter hitting a jaw-dropping moonsault from atop the entrance set. Unfortunately for Crazy, it wasn't enough to win the match and shortly after he was eliminated by The Japanese Buzzsaw.

Jerry Lynn eventually pinned Tajiri to end a very exciting bout that was easily the best on the card to this point.

Afterwards, Lynn was attacked by Steve Corino, but managed to overthrow his adversary and leave with his head held high.

Da Baldies (Spanish Angel, Tony Devito, P.N. News and Vito LoGrasso) beat New Jack and The Chair Swingin' Freaks (Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten) in a handicap match.

With a 4-on-2 advantage, Da Baldies wasted no time in attacking The Chair Swingin' Freaks until New Jack and his plethora of weapons came to the rescue. What followed was one of ECW's trademark out-of-control hardcore brawls that spilled all over the arena and was thus hard to keep track of.

Save for a death-defying spot in which New Jack leaped off the top of a basketball board and nearly killed himself, nothing interesting happened until Spanish Angel blasted Jack with a guitar and won the match for his team.

Sabu and Bill Alfonso Cut a promo

In a rare sombre moment for ECW, Alfonso put over Sabu's upcoming contest against Chris Candido, dedicating the bout to the memory of Sabu's recently-deceased friend.

Sabu beat Chris Candido 

Back on home turf following an ill-fated run in the WWF, the sadly-no-longer-with-us Chris Candido made his way to the ring with real life partner Tammy Lyn Sytch (who had a much better run in the big leagues as Sunny) to take on Sabu in a disappointing affair.

As one of the most popular stars in the company, Sabu had the full support of the ECW faithful behind him as he and Candido made full use of chairs and tables to beat the hell out of each other. Unfortunately, the two didn't do anything fans hadn't seen a million times before, and when Sabu finally made his opponent submit with the Camel Clutch, nobody cared.

Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka warmed up

Backstage, Tanaka stopped running on a treadmill long enough to tell Mike Awesome that he would take his title. Awesome, busy working on his arms, replied by threatening to break Tanaka's back.

Mike Awesome beat Masato Tanaka to retain the ECW World Heavyweight Championship

With Judge Jeff Jones in his corner, champion Awesome successfully defended his title against Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling's Masato Tanaka in the best match on the card.

The two behemoths collided in a hard-hitting battle with some high-flying action which belied their well-built frames, and after withstanding some brutal punishment at the hands of the challenger, Awesome finally beat his foe with a top-rope Awesome Bomb.

Rob Van Dam beat Taz to retain the ECW World Television Championship

Hoping to leave the company with some gold around his waist, a WWF-bound Taz met Rob 'Mr. Pay Per View' Van Dan in a decent bout. The challenger looked to be on form too, dominating the bulk of the contest with some heavy-handed offence. Ultimately, however, it was Van Dam who left with the title after beating Taz thanks to the Five-Star Frog Splash.

Afterwards, a departing Taz showed his respect to the champion, slapping hands with Van Dam and shaking hands with the Television Champion's manager, Bill Alfonso.

Rhyno and The Impact Players (Lance Storm and Justin Credible) beat The Sandman and ECW Tag Team Champions, Raven and Tommy Dreamer. 

For most of its tenure, and certainly afterwards, Raven, Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman were the true embodiment of Extreme Championship Wrestling, and seeing all three on the same team was a huge attraction for this pay per view.

Their opponents, Lance Storm, Justin Credible and Rhyno were the newcomers on the scene and out to make a name for themselves.

The Sandman, making his return to the company followed a disastrous run in World Championship Wrestling, takes more time to get to the ring than the actual match lasts for; soaking up the adulation from the fans before joining his partners to take on the Impact Players and Rhino.

The match itself was decent enough, though hardly fitting of a true main event performance and after ten minutes of action, Raven turned on The Sandman, drilling him with a Singapore Cane shot that allowed Justin Credible to pick up the victory for his team.

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This event would ultimately prove to be ECW's penultimate November to Remember event. The group presented one more in 2000 before eventually being taken over by the global wrestling powerhouse that is World Wrestling Entertainment.

Thankfully, the final outing for November to Remember was a much better send off for the pay per view, as despite a couple of great bouts, the 1999 version was ultimately nothing special.

For more ECW, WWE, WCW, and TNA reviews follow Retro Pro Wrestling on Twitter or like the new Facebook page.

Thanks for reading.

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