There may not have been a lot of momentum for the WWF at the end of 2000, at least on pay-per-view, but that quickly changed at the start of 2001. This Royal Rumble is often regarded as one of the best ever, featuring a pretty incredible field of competitors, and the WWF decided to also stack up the rest of the card, adding an Intercontinental Championship ladder match between Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho and a world title match between Kurt Angle and Triple H. It may not be much of a surprise for me to tell you that I really loved this show, but just how good was it?
- Royal Rumble 2001 comes to you from the cleverly named New Orleans Arena, no prizes for guessing where it's located, which is now known as the Smoothie King Center. This is home base for the New Orleans Pelicans, and the WWE obviously loved it, coming back for three more pay-per-views, before it really got elevated in status thanks to WrestleManias 30 and 34 taking place at the local Mercedes-Benz Superdome, as it was the host venue for both the 2014 Hall of Fame ceremony and the legendary NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in 2018, in addition to a whole bunch of Raw and SmackDown episodes. As time has gone on, it seems like "The Big Easy" is finally getting it's due as a true wrestling hotbed, and this show might not have the reputation it does without the incredible atmosphere provided by the 17k in attendance on this night.
- Our opening contest is a tag team title match, as Edge and Christian defend against the Dudley Boyz. Nothing about this match really stands out from the rather predictable tag team formula that the WWE has always employed, but the crowd didn't care, they were rabid for all of this. D-Von and Bubba are both carrying in storyline concussions thanks to attacks from the champions, and this match exposes the fact that the booking team and D-Von himself have no clue what a concussion actually is. Edge and Christian spend a large portion of the match working on D-Von's head, which he sells like a mild headache, before Bubba gets the hot tag and everything goes into overdrive. Both teams come very close to ending it, including a dramatic near fall after Edge catches Bubba with a Spear, but in the end, the challengers lay claim to the gold after a 3D. This may not have been anything special in the ring, but it was a perfect choice as an opener, getting the crowd incredibly hyped for the rest of the night.
- I tend not to bring up the real life circumstances surrounding Chris Benoit too often, as I don't think it's necessarily relevant when I'm reviewing these shows, but knowing the kind of damaged state his brain was in, his match with Chris Jericho on this night caused me to cringe a couple times. Don't get me wrong, this is one of the best ladder matches in WWE history, a perfect combination of high spots and incredible physicality, but it became really tough to watch after Benoit launches himself at Jericho on a suicide dive, only to meet an unprotected chair shot to head before crashing face first on the floor. Even though that was probably the spot most people remember best from this match, there was another wild one later on, as Benoit misses a headbutt off a ladder and his skull literally bounces off the canvas. It's up to you whether any of this really detracts from this match, but even with it's drawbacks, I still thought this was a masterpiece. The Walls of Jericho on top of the ladder is the type of spot that could look really gimmicky and fake, but was executed perfectly by both men, and I really loved Benoit stopping Jericho from claiming the belt immediately following that spot by pushing over the ladder with his feet. They do go for maybe one too many "push over the ladder" spots, which meant the finish, as Benoit falls off the ladder to land chest-first on the top rope, sort of came out of nowhere, since both guys had been able to recover from those falls in enough time to stop the other from winning. That being said, I also thought Benoit sold the ending really well, falling over himself in a desperate bid to re-enter the ring. He just has the gift of presenting wrestling matches as real fights, and this was probably the best he's ever used that gift. Ladder matches, even thought they can be exciting, can really shatter your immersion, especially when it comes to setting up big spots, as all the participants so obviously need to work together to make them safe. But this match pretty much completely avoided that particular pitfall, an enthralling 18 minutes of action that provided a fitting end to this feud, with Jericho finally getting the big win and the IC title.
- Now to something so much worse, as Ivory defends her Women's title against Chyna. Chyna recently suffered a storyline neck injury at the hands of Val Venis, and though she dominates the first couple minutes of this match, she quickly goes down after attempting her handspring back elbow. Ivory makes the cover, and everyone tries to make this as serious as possible, with Jerry Lawler even getting up from commentary to check on her, which he hadn't done since Owen Hart's death. Honestly, f*** WWE and f*** Vince for even thinking about doing this, let alone actually following through. It's a complete mockery of Owen's tragedy and so many of the other serious injuries that can occur in a ring by going this far just to set up a storyline. Let's move on.
- The crowd in New Orleans isn't really sure how to react to the WWF title match, as Triple H and Kurt Angle are both pretty definitive heels. A lot of the opening exchanges are met with pure silence, and the wrestling is technically sound but uninteresting, before the drama surrounding Stephanie McMahon and Trish Stratus takes over. Trish is managing Kurt and getting very "close" to her father, so Steph eventually goes after her. The crowd wakes up for this brawl, as Vince tries in vein to break it up, with both competitors literally stopping in the ring to watch as well. Once all three are backstage, the focus shifts to Hunter working on Kurt's leg, which Angle did a really fantastic job selling. A ref bump allows Stone Cold to interfere, getting his revenge for Triple H costing him the title a couple weeks before. Austin hits Triple H with the belt and a Stunner, as Kurt once again survives a grueling title match. This was not the best work of either man's career, but had more than enough smoke and mirrors to make it interesting, and the in-ring action was very solid.
- Main event time, as 30 men compete for the right to headline WrestleMania X-Seven. A lot has been said by many other reviewers over the years about the booking of this match, and it is probably the best booked Rumble match I've seen. The first third of the match sees Jeff and Matt Hardy team up and fight, before Kane begins his destructive run. There's a bit of comedy from Drew Carey's appearance, which was fun and he did a good job putting Kane over. Then you get some hardcore shenanigans from Raven, Al Snow, Perry Saturn and Steve Blackman, before one more comedy spot, this time involving surprise returnee the Honky Tonk Man. The second third of the match is dominated by the bigger stars, as Kane and The Undertaker team up to eliminate some lesser threats, while Big Show returns to chokeslam some fools before being taken out by The Rock again. This was much less interesting, but still did well to put over the big names, who were needed for the ending. The final third of the match is punctuated by the entrance of Steve Austin, who immediately gets attacked by Triple H. Rikishi, entering last, manages to take out Undertaker, before Rock, Austin and Kane thin the field. Finally, you get that iconic moment as Rock and Austin lock eyes, Stone Cold just gushing blood, as you can actually see the WrestleMania plans coming together. Austin's return from neck surgery had not quite measured up to his run in '98-'99, but this is where one of the biggest stars in the business finally looks like himself again. Austin just about survives Kane's attempt to eliminate both he and Rock, before nailing the big bastard with three chair shots and sending him packing to win his third, and final, Royal Rumble. Even though this match did drag at points, the booking was just so good, particularly when it came to Kane. He had dealt with a lot of stop-start pushes and confusing character motivations the past couple years, but just like Austin, the magic of his initial run was recaptured here. If you want to know how to book a Royal Rumble, just study this version, and you'll learn everything you ever needed.
10/10
I can't quite consider Royal Rumble 2001 a perfect show, mostly thanks to the Chyna/Ivory debacle, though the WWF title match was a bit underwhelming and while the main event was very good, it did have a bit too much dead airtime. That being said, it's one of the greatest WWE pay-per-views ever. The Royal Rumble is definitely one of the best ever, and the ladder match was brutal and absolutely brilliant, showcasing just how great Chris Benoit was at the top of his game. This is a definite must watch.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: No Mercy 2001, as Kurt Angle defends his WWF Championship against the man he won it from, The Rock. See you soon.
- Henry
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