2001 Royal Rumble

[z99zazn]

Okay, I see a lot of people on these forums bitchin' all about how the current product of the WWE is nothing compared to the product we had during the attitude era. While these opinions don't really bother me like they bother some, they can get a bit annoying. True, I see what some people are saying, but I digress.
Well, something about the Royal Rumble I've always liked. Not sure why, just love the concept. Well I'm in the process of renting each year of the RR on Netflix and watching all the PPV in order. So today, I just finished the RR from 2001. Well it has been about a good month or two since I watched the last RR, and most of the time, I would pay attention to only the actual Royal Rumble match, most of the other matches I really didn't care about. But here are the matches-

The Dudley Boyz vs Edge and Christian (C) for the Tag Team Belts
Looking back on it now, I don't think this match was anything special. It was just an average match for tag team standards back then. But it was just such a shock, as it was SO much better than any tag team match that we've seen on WWE television in years. I mean, honestly, how could anyone ever think that in today's WWE, there could be a "D-VON" chant! That is how over these guys were. Makes me miss the days of a tag team division that mattered.

Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit (C) for the Intercontinental Belt in a ladder match
Maybe the best ladder match I've ever seen. While guys take new bumps and do more crazy stuff in ladder matches every time, you could really tell how innovative this was. You can call me crazy here, but something about a ladder match only having one ladder involved I like so much more. Thats a little bit too picky, I know, but I just prefer it that way. One ladder just feels right to me, more than fifteen different ones. But anyway, what can you say about these guys, both great workers, and Y2J with his mic skills are among the best in the modern times. If you have never seen this match, do yourself a favor and look it up on youtube. Amazing, simply amazing.

I'm not going to even review the Chyna vs Ivory match for the Women's Title, seeing as the match was too short. The angle looked decent, and really thinking about it , Right To Censor was an awesome stable.

Kurt Angle (C) vs Triple H for the WWF Championship
While definitely not a classic match up, I really enjoyed this one. There wasn't a face in the match, and that is something I liked seeing, something we don't see in the WWE anymore. Both guys are good workers IMO, even if you are a Trips basher, you have to admit that. Another thing I liked seeing was Triple H working on Angle's hurt knee, doing a variety of moves focusing in on hurting the knee. We don't see that much anymore, but it should come up more. I feel it makes everything more realistic. Besides the match itself, there was a fued between Trish and Steph that really helped intensify the match, and it was so different than anything we see these days. The Austin run in was a good ending to me too, just a fun match to watch!

30 Man Royal Rumble
Such a good Royal Rumble. A few huge storylines. Kane and Taker were getting back together, and people were wondering about it. The Big Show came back. The Rock said that he'd win. Austin screwing Trips earlier in the night, and Trips returning the favor. Besides just Taker, Kane totally dominated. There was a hardcore aspect to the Royal Rumble for a few minutes that we will never see in a WWE ring again. Just a different kind of match. I really didn't know who I thought would win, but I kind of figured it was either going to be Austin or The Rock. Sure enough, Austin. But didn't take away from the fact that it was a great Royal Rumble.

Things I Noticed
-It just never gets old to me hearing the old Jerry Lawler. The King was so funny back in the day. While not rooting on only heels, he was a pervert and constantly made jokes. I miss that now. Sure, I understand the product has changed, but that doesn't mean the King can't add humor. I sure as hell think he was funnier than this stupid Santino shit we have to watch every week.
-The highlight packages were so much different. But I liked them a lot more! Maybe it just happened because of the fact we've seen the same Randy Orton highlights for 5 months straight, but I really don't like seeing the fucking highlight videos anymore.
-Y2J and Rocky both had small promos in the back. These days, they don't have those promo interviews much anymore. The only person we ever see them with seems to be Orton, and he isn't exactly a person that I think should be doing that. Y2J and Rocky are both so damn cocky and can be funny that they're great on the mic and the interviews really help utilize them.
-The old title belt was damn pretty.
-The fueds back then were so much more in-depthly done.

Overall, I have to say I think I like the old product a lot better. Just more enjoyable overall for me. I don't discount what they have out right now at all. I watch it every week. I'm not gonna stop. I really can't wait for the 3 hour Raw to come on in 90 minutes! But, saying that, I really like the old WWF better. Just a more fun environment. Anyone remember this PPV or these fueds? Thoughts?

 

[Mitch3721]

I still have this PPV on VHS, and like i agree with you fully, the ladder match and the royal rumble were both great, maybe two of the best matches you can find with these particular gimmicks, and as for the other matches, they were solidly done. The 2001 Royal Rumble is what a PPV should be, solid wrestling, innovative and building strong storylines for the future (HHH/SCSA)

 

[Yodude "The Rock" Barber]

I agree, I wish It was still here. It was more exciting and..well less "Predictable" The PG rating might have increased sales a little by getting kids to buy more. It was more fun to watch and easier to get in to. People like The Rock were great , and the older Chris Jericho made me LoL.

 

[dhines1671]

i was there and i remember the crowd seemed pretty hot all night, the walls of jericho spot on the top the ladder sticks out in my mind as 1 of the highlights....great show. I've never watched the ppv, but i miss the old king. always yelling puppies got old, but if he tried to back heels now cole isnt strong enough to play off of so king has to carry the team...he needs a good straight man like vince or gorilla from back in the day so he can be more like the old king or how the brain was

 

[z99zazn]

When it comes to the old King, I wouldn't want him back 100% heel like he was when VKM was on the announce team. I liked the, I guess you would say, tweener King? He just added a lot of energy to the broadcast, and the way that JR played off with him was perfect. Listening to King nowadays just really isn't anything. I always get hope when he talks about the Matt Hardy cast, cuz he seems to be sticking up for him, but we all know they're not gonna turn him heel.

 

[Paradox100]

Oh man, man, oh man. Royal Rumble 2001, was a GREAT pay-per-view. Hell, the royal rumble match even had Drew Carey! haha, that was actually pretty funny. But, this being my first ppv to watch, I loved it. 2001 seemed like the best year of the 2000's. But this ppv itself, sticks out, because, it had comedy, some hardcore, solid tag teams, great workers. Go get this off netflix..... now.

 

[Fresh32]

Yo. Been a reader on Wrestlezone for a while, This my first reply... Anyway, back to the point...

Damn... The Royal Rumble 2001 was one of the best Rumble's i've ever seen. The hardcore thrown into the rumble was awesome... along with Kane's domination.. Hell they even had Drew Carey. They even had The Honky Tonk Man... THE HONKY TONK MAN.. Just to get destroyed by Kane. Just like Mitch, I still got this rumble on VHS aswell. This rumble made a real good Road-To-WrestleMania, leading to what IMO was one of the greatest WrestleMania's i've seen, WrestleMania X7. The Austin interference in the Angle-HHH WWF Title Match was a good added twist, leading to Austin getting jumped from behind on his way to the Ring for the Rumble by HHH, Overcoming being a bloody and beaten man and winning the Rumble.
Overall, the Build-Up for the Matches at the Rumble was set-out in a real unpredictable way which made it better than what it could have been.
The Old King was awesome because he would just keep goin' for the heel constantly, checking out the divas and keep yelling "PUPPIES".
Jericho-Benoit was one hell of a Physical yet Technically Sound Feud which lead to one hell of a Physically brutal Ladder match that I consider as one of the best.
Kurt-HHH Build Up with Trish and Steph made for good entertainment, but match could've been better, don't get me wrong, The match they put on was real good, but i say could've been better IMO.
Dudleyz-E&C Fued actually turned out pretty good, because E&C had Heel radiating off them which made this Feud work better and really put over the Dudleyz that night and which made Tag-Team wrestling respecteable in that era.
The Rumble Match - The Hardcore, The Build-Up, The Entertainment, The Star Power in it (Not including Drew Carey.. Or Drew 'Curry' To Tiger Ali Singh), The promos cut by The Rock (Body after Body after Body over the Top Rope...), Austin (Ima' whoop someones ass, win the Rumble and Go to Mania'...), Undertaker (I'll Make You Famous...), Even Rikishi (Still goin' on with the.. "I Did It... For The Rock...") and The Rumble match itself was truly great and entertaining.
Overall (Again), This was one of the greatest and most memorable Royal Rumble's that i enjoyed watching and that i suggest people should check out how awesome this Rumble was. I should really go find that VHS and watch it now.

Wrestling Back Then Owned. The Attitude Era Owned. The WWF OWNS WWE.
BTW... Bring Back The Hardcore Title... Hardcore 24/7 was The Shit.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

This particular Rumble is probably my all time favourite. I even watched it on DVD only 2 nights ago and i never get bored of it.

The Dudleys/EC match was a well executed opener for the night, and tbh you wouldn't expect them to go all out in this contest, especially considering that TLC II was on the near horizon at WM. What made it most memorable, was the fact that the Dudleys actually won the match with a pinfall, instead of E+C getting DQ'd as they had throughout the majority of 2000, meaning for once we actually got new tag team champions!!!

Benoit/Jericho IC Ladder match was one of the best this decade, and again looking back, some of those chair shots, especially when Benoit did the suicicde dive and got his head smashed in, had to contribute to Benoit's dimensia 6 years later. Probably started all his neck problems that year as well. Overall, a classic example of two of wrestlings best in-ring talents continuing an awesome fued.

Chyna/Ivory Women's Title match was i guess, what we expected to see. Chyna obliterating Ivory for 5 minutes, goes for something flashy, match over. I don't really think they needed to draw this fued out any longer personally, because i'm sure Chyna won the next month anyway, because she defended the belt at WM against Lita. Still, this is where Chyna was most over until the 'Latino Heat/Mama Cita' era, so they had to get her on the show somehow, plus i guess they felt they needed to make us hate RTC even more (if that were possible). If it didn't work, using them to get King and The Kat to quit probably did.

WWF Title match HHH v Kurt Angle. I personally felt this match dragged on for a bit, but i also think that they knew it would drag on, which is why they had the whole Trish/Steph thing in the middle. That little interlude did go on for about 10 mins out of a 30 min match after all. Having 2 heel cerebral technical wrestlers was a risky choice imo but they did pull it off well, there just never seemed to be any real suspense as to who was going to win. Austin's run-in worked well considering the storyline they were working towards for the PPV before Mania, and combined with the Cat-fight, i think it helped save this match from being forgotten completely.

Royal Rumble match. Now this particular Rumble seemed to have it all. Celebrity entrants, legends from the past, and a 7"2' 500 pound behemoth making his return to the ring. When Show's music hit, my jaw dropped to the ground. I couldn't believe it, and i don't think anyone else could have either. Both King and JR just shout 'What?' as Show walked through the curtain to really put over the shocking return. 6 or 7 one-arm chokeslams later and he's thrown out by the Rock, who then got chokeslammed through the announce table. Bea-utiful!

Kane dominated that Rumble, no question. He lasted nearly an hour, eliminated 1/3 of the combatants and earned the only thing he's likely to be remembered for in 10 years time, the elimination record. This was back during the best 2 years of Kane's career most likely, and it really showed in this match.

The Kane/Taker alliance was a good story hanging over the Rumble, Rikishi being named #30 made it seem even more likely that a super-heavyweight was going to WM, but instead, Austin gets his 3rd Rumble win and we were on our way to witnessing Rock/Austin II and the most shocking heel turn since Hogan joined the NWO.

Overall, an awesome Rumble, and imo there hasn't been one nearly as good since, except the 2007 one, and i only say that because Taker won it.

 

[Upgrayedd]

The WWF was still awesome all the way until mid 2001 when Triple H got injured and the horribly booked invasion storyline.

Royal Rumble, No Way Out, WrestleMania 17, Backlash (I was there!!), Judgment Day, etc. were great PPVs. I'd say they continued to be average well into early 2003 but after WrestleMania 19 I can't say what it was but they just never felt the same since.

I think it's because the invasion angle was saved by the Austin vs. Kurt Angle storyline (even though it made no sense to have Austin be the leader of the Alliance), then Flair came back as the half "owner", then Hogan, Hall and Nash came back, Hogan vs. The Rock was awesome, Hogan coming out with the red and yellow was freakin' sweet and then after that we had Brock Lesnar dominating and Paul Heyman booking SmackDown! in late 2002/early 2003 which was really good. After WrestleMania 19, however, they just seemed to really give up. While the overall product wasn't as good they managed to have some really great things here and there.

So yeah I think 2001 was their last "great year" (at least the first half) and they had some great things go down until 2003 but after that they just dropped the ball.