ironhorse_iv
It's the Stone Cold truth! 2001 Royal Rumble was indeed, one of the best wrestling shows, I ever saw. The show at New Orleans was truly packed from the opening to the closing, with some of the greatest competitors that ever lived. It was a night worth remembering for. However, there were a few faults, I can't overlooked even for my nostalgia love for then WWF (WWE), like comedian, Drew Carrey awkward appearance in the Royal Rumble match, when he clearly isn't a fan of pro-wrestling, to a few too many filler vignettes, to unwatchable taboo Crash TV angles, that were a bit too dumb, over sexualized, or extremely violence for even my taste, at the time. While, some of the stuff, they did back then, was truly amazing. Rewatching it, there were a lot of things that now, really bugs me, like the chair shots to the head, or the overuse of blading. Nevertheless, the show is still watchable. Just note the cringe-worthy moments are just a little bit more noticeable, now. Some parts of the show, hasn't aged well. Let's start with the pre-show episode of Sunday Night Heat, in which, Lo Down (D'Lo Brown and Chaz) faced Kaientai (Taka Michinoku and Shoichi Funaki) in a tag team match for a chance to take part in the Royal Rumble. Not only, are the wrestlers playing politically incorrect somewhat racism stereotypical characters of Arabs & Japanese, but the whole angle of seeing, what tag team was more evil, is kinda cringe-worthy, when looking back at it; seeing how WWF Magazine also printed a poster to Kaientai destroying New York City with the World Trade Center on fire in order to make them look more popular. Yes, this really did happen, a few months, before 9/11 happen. Look it up. While, I can still get a laugh at how over the top, these acts, I still kinda think of it as offensive. Added to that trouble; it's funny that the match didn't really matter, as Drew Carey wound up being entered instead. It's so bad. Despite that, the preliminary matches on the card were a lot better. The opening match to the card, saw the Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray & Devon Dudley) defend their tag team championship against Edge & Christian. It was a very nice opening, with both teams being red hot. However, it was a bit hard to watch, due to the concussion angle that probably can't be done, in today's wrestling world. Nevertheless, both teams put on a show that might be, overlook, by some fans, because the lack of table shots. This brings us to the Ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship between champion, Chris Benoit and challenger, Chris Jericho. What a great match with a great angle. Lots of sick looking bumps, using Benoit's head. Hard to watch at times, due to what happen to Benoit, later on, his career. Women Championship was next, with champion, Ivory facing challenger, Chyna with Right to Censor member, Stevie Richards at ringside. Alright match for the most part, but the whole broken neck angle doesn't make much sense, seeing how unrealistic fast, Chyna recovers from neck surgery in kayfabe terms. I know, it was done to make it, look like Ivory got a fighting chance, but gees louise; it kinda undermined Ivory's talent a bit here. It's sad, because I always found her to be a better wrestler than Chyna. The WWF Championship is next, with champion, Kurt Angle defending his belt against challenger, Triple H. As much as the match was great. I hatred the angle. It was so McMahon family driven. It was a bit awkward to see a heel vs heel match as one of the main event of the show. The fans didn't know, who to choose, here. In spite of that, the 30 Men Royal Rumble that follow that mess, was truly the right choice to end the show, with. Without spoiling it, too much, some of the best highlights from the match, has to be the hardcore rumble parts with Kane doing the most single eliminates in a Royal Rumble match in his career, the return of Honkytonk Man, and The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin facing down. It was amazing match, worthy to be talk about in the same astrosphere as the 1992's 'Royal Rumble', 1998's 'Royal Rumble' and others. It was one hell of a performance. Overall: Because how good, most of the matches, were. I have to say, Royal Rumble 2001 is a must watch PPV, I highly recommend seeing this show, despite some flaws.
ricky_says_hi
2001 definitely was the best year for WWF and its first PPV starts things off nicely.TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Dudleys against Edge and Christian a pretty good opener, the Dudleys are always great to watch but there wasn't much coming from Edge and Christian. there didn't seem to be any real threat but it was still pretty solid. lol when the two canucks try to hit D-Von on either side of the head with two steel chairs, he ducks and they bash off each other. Dudleys get a 3-D for the win. 7/10 INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH - LADDER: Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit most action packed match of the night with both men using the ladder and other weapons. i think it was the longest match, Benoit tried a suicide dive but got whacked with a chair from Y2J, Jericho put him in the walls of Jericho while they were both on top of the ladder. Benoit tried a diving headbutt but missed and bounced his head off the mat. Jericho hit him in the back with a steel chair and caused him to flop out of the ring. Jericho climbs the ladder and gets the title belt. 9/10 WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Ivory vs Chyna this goes to prove that Chyna shouldn't wrestle women. it's a pretty one sided match with Chyna tossing Ivory around the ring like a rag doll and having fun with her outside the ring. she goes back inside and tries a handspring back elbow but injures her neck, allowing Ivory to climb on top of her and get the pin. 5/10 WWF CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Kurt Angle w/Trish Stratus vs Triple H w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley pretty good bout between two good wrestlers. Triple H of course can't stick to the rules for long and has Stephanie distract the referee so he can hit Kurt's ankle with a steel chair. Kurt gets the upper hand in the middle of the match and Stephanie's voice as she cheers on her husband is like nails on a blackboard. The game cheats again by using the ropes for leverage as he puts Kurt in an Indian deathlock. Trish breaks the hold and Stephanie slaps her. the two have a catfight and Vince comes down to separate them and has to carry Trish over his shoulder while Stephanie chases after them. the ref gets knocked out so he can't count to 3 when Triple H lands the pedigree. Stone Cold comes out and attacks Triple H. Kurt and the referee come round and Kurt gets the pin. 8/10 ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH: It started with the Hardy Boyz double teaming Bull Buchanan and Farooq but eliminating each other with a surprise appearance from Drew Carey. Kane dominates the match but it becomes hardcore as Raven, Al Snow and Steve Blackman bring weapons. The Honky Tonk Man shows up, sings his song and gets whacked over the head with his guitar by Kane. The Rock shows up and so does Big Show and gets eliminated early, he chokeslams Rock through the announce table in revenge. Undertaker comes in and him and Kane clear house. poor Scotty 2 Hotty has to enter alone with both of them. Stone Cold arrives but gets ambushed by Triple H before he can enter the ring. The One Billy Gunn, Haku and Rikishi enter and the final 4 is Stone Cold, Rock, Billy and Kane. Stone Cold wins and celebrates with beer. it would have been better if Billy or the Rock had won because Stone Cold was way overrated at this time. 8/10
TreyJ02
The 2001 Royal Rumble was perhaps the greatest ever, most certainly better than the 2000 Royal Rumble. There were four matches, and then the actual Royal Rumble itself. The first match was for the Tag Team Championship, with champions Edge and Christian taking on the Dudley Boyz. After a huge upset by Edge and Christian, Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley captured the Tag Team gold. The second match was for the Intercontinental Championship, in which Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit battled it out in a Ladder Match. Jericho won that match, and became the new Intercontinental Champion. The next match was for the Women's Championship, and Chyna made her return to battle the champ Ivory. After a freak mishap and an injured Chyna, Ivory was able to steal a win and retain the title. Chyna was rushed by medical personnel out of the ring, with Billy Gunn at her side. The fourth match was for the WWF Championship, Kurt Angle with Trish Stratus taking on the challenger Triple H with Stephanie McMahon Helmsley. After a cat fight between Trish and Stephanie, and Vince McMahon carrying the two out of the ring, and Stone Cold Steve Austin's interference, Kurt Angle was able to score a pin and retain the title once again. The main event was of course the Royal Rumble match. It was made up of 30 superstars, including the Hardy Boyz, Bull Buchanan, Hardcore Holly, Kane, Rikishi, Tazz, the Acolytes, Test, Steve Blackman, Billy Gunn, The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and even Drew Carey among others. The big suprise was perhaps the return of The Honkytonk Man, Haku, and The Big Show. The winner was Stone Cold Steve Austin who defeated Kane, and will go on to WrestleMania XVII to face Kurt Angle for the World Wrestling Federation Championship. If you have a chance to catch this event, it's definately a must see.
