In this WWF Royal Rumble 2001 review, the 30-man Rumble match features a plethora of top stars, Kurt Angle defends the WWF title against Triple H, and much more.
Let’s jump in!
- Show: Royal Rumble 2001
- Date: January 21, 2001
- Location: New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, LA
– Always loved the video hype packages in this era. The sponsor is 1-800-COLLECT, and during the open, there’s a “Playboy: When Trish When” sign zoomed in on. Of course.
The Dudley Boyz vs. (c) Edge and Christian – WWF Tag Team Titles
The Dudleyz took Conchairto on RAW, and Bubba was sent through a table on SmackDown. Hot tag to Bubba early on but the referee didn’t see the tag. D’Von ducks the Conchairto. Edge goes for a belt shot, but Bubba gets near fall. The Dudleyz go for the 3D, then Edge hits spear on Bubba for another near fall. Edge and Christian try the “Wasssuuppp” spot, but D’Von throws Edge on Christian. And then the Dudleyz hit the 3D to win the titles. JR with the “those damn Dudleyz have done it!” line to add to the fun.
- Rating: ***1/2
– Drew Carey is at the Rumble!
– Vince McMahon says Steve Austin will be in Rumble, while Triple H will get his match against Kurt Angle.
– Triple H is with Stephanie McMahon. He wants her to play nice with Trish Stratus. Meanwhile, I loved the “Game Over” shirt. Steph then takes Carey to see Trish.
– The APA are playing cards. They show each other their Rumble numbers. Crash Holly says he’s gonna eliminate them even though they’re friends.
Chris Jericho vs. (c) Chris Benoit – Ladder Match for IC Title
This is an excellent match. Some of the noteworthy moments include Jericho hitting Benoit in the head with a chair on dive to the floor (which is always difficult to watch given what happened with Benoit). There’s also Benoit suplexing Jericho backwards over the top and onto the floor. Jericho uses the octopus on top of the ladder, but Benoit uses his power to push the ladder over with Jericho on top of it. Eventually, it’s Jericho sending Benoit outside before grabbing the title for the win.
- Rating: ****
– Carey with Trish. He’s selling his accomplishments. So what does Vince do? He puts Carey in the Rumble to impress both his fans and Trish.
– Chyna with Billy Gunn. He pleads for her not to wrestle.
– Jericho joins Michael Cole and celebrates winning the IC title.
– Video package pushes Chyna’s injury at hands of Ivory, with Ivory mocking her.
Chyna vs. (c) Ivory – Women’s Title
In case you forgot, the RTC entrance music was just terrible. Chyna controls the match until she starts playing up the neck injury. That allows Ivory to pin her for the win. Jerry Lawler leaves commentary to go into ring, and Billy also comes out. I get what they were trying to do, but she barely hit Ivory on the injury spot.
- Rating: NR
– Steph goes to makeup. Trish is there, so Steph threatens her.
– Carey is in the locker room, and Kane walks in.
– D’Lo and Mosh are with Tiger Ali Singh. Vince says they’ve been replaced in Rumble by Carey.
– Triple H grunts into a mirror and then headbutts it. An interesting motivational tactic there.
– Hype video for Triple H vs. Angle, and it plays up the Vince and Trish affair.
Triple H vs. (c) Kurt Angle – WWF Title
There’s a “Hey Trish, spank me” sign in the crowd. Those Trish signs were quite popular. This is a methodical Triple H match. Both are heels, which is always tough to execute. Triple H works on Angle’s knee throughout and uses the Figure Four on him at one point. Trish tries to get involved, which leads to her and Steph exchanging slaps and fighting on the announce table. Vince comes out, picks up Trish over his shoulder, and leaves. However, Steph chases and attacks her. Triple H hits the low blow on Angle and gives us another trademark Earl Hebner two count. Then it’s the Hebner ref bump after Triple H hits him off the apron. And it’s another Hebner bump with his head bouncing off the steps. Triple H hits the Pedigree but there’s no ref. Austin comes out and destroys Triple H, as they play up Triple H costing Austin the title. Austin with the belt shot and Stunner, and Hebner returns for the slowest three count ever as Angle covers for the win.
- Rating: ***3/4
– Kevin Kelly with The Rock, who hypes his opportunity to win the Rumble.
– Hype video for the Rumble match.
The 2001 Royal Rumble Match
Jeff Hardy is No. 1, while Bull Buchanan is No. 2. Matt Hardy comes in at the No. 3 spot, and Bull is eliminated. They play up the every man for himself gimmick with the Hardyz squaring off. Farooq joins the mix at No. 4, but he’s quickly eliminated. Matt tries to send Jeff packing and they rip off their shirts and try to destroy each other. Here comes Drew Carey at No. 5, and there’s huge “Drew” chants from the crowd. This was back before WWE completely obliterated the novelty of celebrity appearances. The Hardyz fight in the corner, then Matt and Jeff eliminate each other. Drew is on his own and is clearly the current favorite to win the Rumble.
Kane makes his way out at No. 6. Carey pleads for the Hardyz to get back in the ring in a hilarious spot. Drew goes for the handshake and offers Kane money. Pure gold. Raven in at No. 7. Raven saves Drew, but then Drew decides to eliminate himself. Al Snow comes out of nowhere and attacks Raven, so apparently, Snow is No. 8. Snow rolls a bowling ball right into Raven’s balls. Strike. Dueling trash can shots to Kane, then it’s Saturn at No. 9. To say that Terri’s outfit is revealing would be an understatement. Steve Blackman in at No. 10, and this is the height of the hardcore era in WWE since this is basically a hardcore match at this point.
Grandmaster Sexay joins the action at No. 11. The fans loved them some Too Cool. Kane hits Sexay with a trash can and eliminates him. Then Kane throws out Blackman and Snow before doing the same to Raven and Saturn. Here comes the Honky Tonk Man at No. 12. Kane hits him with the guitar and shakes his head. You know what’s next. Kane eliminates Honky as The Rock enters at No. 13. WWE is advertising TheRock.com on his overlay. Superstars with their own domain names was pretty cool. The Goodfather is in at No. 14. Rock quickly eliminates Goodfather before Tazz joins at No. 15. Kane eliminates him in about five seconds and the crowd is not happy about it.
Bradshaw in at No. 16, and I’m not sure why they played up APA’s numbers in the earlier segment since it had no impact in the actual match. Albert enters at No. 17. Hardcore Holly is at No. 18. Rock nearly eliminates Kane, and it’s K-Kwik at No. 19. Bradshaw with the powerbomb on K-Kwik, and I’m convinced Bradshaw was trying to destroy people in this era. Val Venis joins at No. 20.
William Regal arrives at No. 21, then it’s Test at No. 22. Test eliminates Regal, and it’s a surprise return with Big Show at No. 23. Show quickly eliminates Test and K-Kwik, then he chokeslams nearly the entire group, including Kane. Rock clotheslines Show and eliminates him, which leads to Show going after the announce table and pulling Rock out of the ring. Crash Holly in at No. 24 as Show chokeslams Rock through the announce table. Meanwhile, everyone tries to gang up to throw Kane out, but it doesn’t work. The Undertaker joins at No. 25, and yes, the Undertaker.com hype is there.
Taker and Kane clear the entire ring, and poor Scotty 2 Hotty has to enter at No. 26. His facial reactions are just awesome. Taker and Kane eliminate Scotty, with Rock still struggling to get up on the outside. Here comes Steve Austin at No. 27, but Triple H attacks him from behind. Rock gets back inside the ring, and Austin is busted open and bleeding everywhere. Billy Gunn in at No. 28, and this is when he was using ‘The One’ gimmick. Austin is bleeding profusely at this point as Haku enters at No. 29. Rikishi is No. 30, and those two would eventually form a tag team that was enjoyable.
Rikishi goes after Austin, who is covered in blood. But Austin eliminates Haku, then Rikishi superkicks Taker to eliminate him. Rock hits a low blow on Rikishi, and that allows Rock to eliminate Rikishi in the corner. The final four are Austin, Rock, Kane, and Billy. Austin eliminates Billy, and folks, the cut on Austin’s head is just insane. Austin and Rock stare each other down from different corners, then meet in the middle. Austin hits the Stunner on Rock, but Rock eventually hits the Rock Bottom on Kane. Rock throws Kane through the middle rope to the outside, which allows Austin and Rock to go at it for a bit. Kane makes his way back in as Austin and Rock fight near ropes. Then Kane eliminates Rock.
Kane with a chokeslam on Austin, but Austin hits a low blow on Kane. However, Kane grabs a chair, and it’s Austin that reverses the momentum to hit a Stunner. Austin with three chair shots to Kane, and he hits a clothesline to eliminate Kane for the victory.
- Rating: ****1/2
BLAKE’S TAKE ON WWF ROYAL RUMBLE 2001
The Rumble match is one of the best in company history (I still prefer 1992 by a slight margin due to the Ric Flair storyline and Bobby Heenan’s commentary), so that makes this show worth the watch. When you factor in how good the undercard is, it makes it that much better. Combine all of that together, and it’s the best Royal Rumble card that WWE has ever produced.
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