I didn't really get to fully experience Steve Austin as a heel watching Backlash for my last review, since he was in a tag match and wasn't really the main focal point. But that changes here at Judgment Day, as he defends his WWF Championship against The Undertaker in the main event. Despite multiple opportunities and both being two of the best in the business, those two men have never really had a true classic with each other. I have my doubts that that changes on this night, but we'll see. The rest of the card is filled with gimmick matches, a chain match for the Intercontinental title, a two out of three falls match and a tag team turmoil match, which are combined are given pretty much the entire run time of the show. For the most part, this feels like a very transitional period for the WWF, with the Invasion angle set to begin in about a month's time, so this show is really just about ending some on-going feuds and putting the pieces in place for one of the biggest storylines in wrestling history, at least on paper.
- Judgment Day 2001 comes to you from the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California, the now-former home of the Kings. This is the second of three WWE pay-per-views to be hosted in the venue, preceded by the 1993 Royal Rumble and followed by 2009's The Bash. Sacramento can't really be considered a wrestling hotbed in any way, but does tend to produce some very good crowds, and this was no exception.
- Our opening contest sees WWF Commissioner William Regal in action, as he takes on Rikishi, who just turned face a couple weeks ago by Stinkfacing Stephanie McMahon. For as much guff as Rikishi's heel run has taken over the years, rightfully so, I might add, it was terrible, it's very odd to see him as a dancing, crowd-pleasing babyface again, with all of his actions over the past eight months completely ignored by the commentary team and the company. This isn't much of a match, as Rikishi gets the Stinkface in on Regal pretty quickly, which Regal sells beautifully, staggering around ringside, face wrinkled in disgust. This actually proves to be in Regal's favor, as Rikishi is lured into a false sense of security before going down to the Regal Cutter. More than likely the only reason this match happened was for Regal to sell the Stinkface, though he did also get to pick up a very clean win over a man who was just in the main event scene a few months ago, so that was a nice compensation.
- The feud between Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle got an extra wrinkle over the past month, with Benoit stealing Angle's Olympic gold medals and stuffing them down his pants. Angle wants his medals back, challenging Benoit to a match for them, which will be a two out of three falls match. The first fall in pinfalls only, the second submissions only, and the third, if necessary, will be a ladder match with the medals hanging above the ring. I'm not really sure why this wasn't just a straight up ladder match, I've already seen these two guys score pinfalls and submissions over each other in the past, I don't need to see it again. The third fall is also the best one of the match, as while Angle's extra aggression out of the gate was a nice character touch, nothing about the first two falls is particularly interesting, as both guys are obviously taking it easy so they can stay fresh for the big ladder bumps. Benoit hits an Angle Slam almost immediately to take the first fall, but after some brawling on the outside, Angle evens the score with the Ankle Lock. Benoit showed at the Royal Rumble just how great he can be with a ladder, and this is no different, as both guys take turns punishing each other with the ladder. The crowd is really into this portion of the match and there's a couple great spots, including Benoit suplexing Angle onto the ladder, as Kurt just smacked off the steel. Angle passes out in the Crippler Crossface, but Edge and Christian intervene, saving their buddy and holding off Benoit for long enough to allow Angle to unhook his medals, although he's immediately sent toppling off the ladder by an irate Benoit. The ending interference was definitely not needed, I really wanted to see these two men finally settle their feud, but it was booked to give Benoit a reason for what he did later in the night. This wasn't as good as their previous efforts, but I still thought both men deserve props for taking some definite punishment during the ladder portion of the match, which, again, is really what this should've just been all along.
- The impressive Hardcore title reign of Rhyno continues in our next bout, as he defends against Test and the Big Show. Most of the match is just a walk and brawl, as all three men head backstage, where Show takes a bump onto some pallets. Back in the ring, Rhyno finishes Show off with a very creative leaping Gore, as he tosses a trash can at Big Show before running up a pair of steps to gain elevation. The finish looked good and I'm glad Rhyno is providing the hardcore division a ton of stability with a solid title reign, but the actual match was uninteresting.
- After returning from her "neck injury" to win the Women's Championship from Ivory at WrestleMania, Chyna was not in action at Backlash, mostly just squashing different members of the women's division and demanding better competition. She gets it here in the form of Lita, who is over like rover in Sacramento, as the entire arena loses it's mind for her entrance. In a bit of a rarity for this time, this is just a straight up wrestling match, no clothes-ripping to be found. They've also been given 6 and a half minutes to work, which is an absolute age in comparison to so many other women's matches of the period. The in-ring action is mostly fine, especially when you consider the lack of experience from both competitors, but the story gets a bit confusing. Chyna and Lita are supposed to be working the respectful rivals angle, so they mostly just exchange offense for the first few minutes. Then Eddie Guerrero shows up as he's been adding some tension to Lita's relationship with Matt Hardy, which was recently acknowledged on-screen for the first time, and Chyna disrespects her challenger by lifting her up during a pinfall. The champion eventually retains with a powerbomb, before the two women raise each other's arm in a show of respect after the match. I get the feeling this would be a bit easier to understand had Chyna not stopped working for the company shortly after the match, putting an end to whatever the WWF had in mind.
- Both members of the Two-Man Power Trip are fighting a Brother of Destruction on this night, as Triple H is tasked with defending the Intercontinental Championship against Kane in a Chain match. There's only so much you can really do with the stipulation, so both men mostly just brawl and work in the occasional choke spot. Stone Cold interferes, allowing Hunter to hit a low blow, but an errant chair shot from the WWF Champion costs The Game the match, as Kane is able to make the cover and win his first of two IC titles. These two men were probably capable of having a very entertaining match, but it was never going to happen with this stipulation. Even though he won this match, it's obvious that Kane was a complete afterthought at this time, as the main event storyline was focused around The Undertaker and the drama between Triple H and Steve Austin. Perhaps a good title reign could've gotten his star back on the rise again, but he continued to stay in his brother's shadow despite being champion before dropping the belt to Albert.
- Time for tag team turmoil, a gauntlet match where two teams start and compete to eliminate each other, with a new team entering after one is eliminated. The APA quickly take out Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko(remember when those guys were high-profile WCW defectors) before getting help from the Hollys to eliminate the Dudley Boyz. This is part of a storyline between the Dudleys and the Hollys centered around the kayfabe relationship of Spike Dudley and Molly Holly, and it's best left forgotten. X-Factor then go on a tear, as X-Pac and Justin Credible get plenty of assistance from Albert to eliminate the APA and the Hardy Boyz, much to the delight of Paul Heyman on commentary. The work of Jeff and Matt helps get the crowd into it, as they had been pretty silent to this point. Chris Jericho then enters, with surprise tag partner and former rival Chris Benoit, who is here to help Y2J eliminate X-Factor so he can get revenge on Edge and Christian. They do just that with an impressive Walls of Jericho/Crippler Crossface submission maneuver on X-Pac, much to the delight of the crowd. Edge and Christian do gain an initial advantage, as their opponents are a bit worn down, especially Benoit, but the Rabid Wolverine rallies to tap out Christian as the two Chrises are now number one contenders. This match was given plenty of time, over half an hour, to progress a whole bunch of different storylines and did so pretty well. The WWF clearly saw a future in Albert and used this match to put him over as a big threat in preparation for that IC title win, though history tells us that push didn't really work out. This also set up a tasty tag title match between the Power Trip and Benoit and Jericho, which was both a tremendous match and also the contest that saw Triple H suffer his first quad tear, ending his incredible main event run that began in 1999. This was probably about as good as a match like this really can be.
- Main event time, as Stone Cold Steve Austin defends the WWF Championship against The Undertaker. The match has been made No Holds Barred thanks to a demand from Undertaker, who is royally at a fake phone call he received informing him his wife had been in a car accident that Austin took credit for. The crowd is really into this main event, relentlessly booing the Texas Rattlesnake and coming unglued for the American Badass' entrance and big moves. Most of the match is just busy work, a lot of strikes, some rest holds, the occasional weapon shot, nothing to really dig into. It starts to get a bit interesting after Undertaker chokeslams Austin through the announce table, angering guest commentator Vince McMahon. Austin gets a very close near fall after a chair shot and a Stunner, before McMahon and Triple H attempt to get involved. Undertaker gets a hold of the chair and swings wildly, attacking everything that moves as the crowd goes ballistic. It seems like a new champion is about to be crowned as Undertaker sets up the Last Ride, but Triple H strikes at just the right time with the sledgehammer. Austin goes to make the cover as Kane's pyro goes off, but the Big Red Monster is just a second too late, as Triple H holds him off while the three count is made. The finishing stretch was very fun, some classic sports entertainment shenanigans as Undertaker struck everything that moved. I also appreciated Austin's heel work in this match, as he gave the crowd no reason to cheer him and they played along, which was great. The actual match wasn't very good but it was all about setting up the eventual showdown between Austin and Triple H, which unfortunately never happened.
5/10
Judgment Day 2001 is not a well-remembered show, but there's still some good to be found if you're willing to look for it. Benoit and Angle had another good match that was significantly better in it's final act, which is also what you can say for the main event. The tag team turmoil was given enough time to succeed, and I also enjoyed seeing Kane win a big singles title, a pretty rare sight, even though his booking was pretty lackluster. Even though the show itself was quite average, the crowd made it infinitely more entertaining to watch, they were extremely hot all night and gave the company the exact response they would've wanted, especially for the main event. Good work, Sacramento, your town is still a bit boring though.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: King of the Ring 2001, where the Invasion angle truly begins as Shane McMahon battles Kurt Angle in a hellacious Street Fight. See you soon.
- Henry
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