WWF King Of The Ring 2001
WWF King Of The Ring 2001 (6/24/2001)- East Rutherford, NJ
OPENING VIDEO PACKAGE- not that good. The things the voice-over was saying and the images and the angles didn’t reall feel like they had any connection at all.
PAUL HEYMAN INTERVIEWS DDP- good
KING OF THE RING SEMI-FINAL MATCH: Kurt Angle vs. Christian- 4.75/10
KING OF THE RING SEMI-FINAL MATCH: Edge vs. Rhyno- 6.5/10
WWF WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Dudley Boyz(c) vs. Spike Dudley & Kane- 5.75/10. Lots of fun. He aftermath was okay.
EDGE & CHRISTIAN SEGMENT- good
KING OF THE RING TOURNAMENT FINALS: Kurt Angle vs. Edge- 7/10
EDGE PROMO- good
WWF LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Jeff Hardy(c) vs. X-Pac- 5/10
THE UNDERTAKER BRAWLS WITH DDP- GREAT segment. A good brawl, which really felt like a promise of things to come in this feud.
STREET FIGHT: Kurt Angle vs. Shane McMahon- 10/10. WOW! A PERFECT match! This match told an amazing story of escalating violence. Of going from amateur wrestling to extreme violence. Just some absolutely brutal spots. The suplex spots with the glass were just insane to watch. The first time Kurt did the suplex, you saw Shane just fall on his head… and it was sick. So when Kurt went to do the same thing again, we knew what to expect… and we were wrong. Absolutely amazing! Possibly my favorite No DQ’s match of all-time.
WWF TITLE MATCH: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin(c) vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho- 7.75/10. I had some major logical problems with this match. The first of which was the lack of DQs. We had blatant weapon use, a blatant low blow, and the ref getting manhandled, and yet there were no DQs. The traditional answer to this question would be “so you DQ one guy and have two winners?” To which I would respond, “yes. Either that or have the ref restart the match with just those two guys left, and have the disqualified guy be disqualified.” It is much better than guys being allowed to do whatever they want in every multi-man match.
Speaking of eliminations, here was my other problem with this match. They did a spot where Austin was both locked in the Walls of Jericho and the Crossface at the same time and he tapped out. Hebner didb’t know who to give the submission to… so he just restarted the match. WTF? Once again, the logical thing to do here would seem to be to have the match be restarted WITHOUT AUSTIN. I know that one of the angles going into this match was that Vince wasn’t going to be there… so did WWF really put on a show without some kind of kayfabe authority figure? That seems ridiculous to me.
Other than that, this match was very good. I really liked the Booker T interference, and JR and Heyman put it over perfectly. What I didn’t like, however, was the security guys not chasing Booker T into the crowd. He just jumped the barricade. He is not a WWE contracted employee, therefore he is not supposed to be on that side of the barricade. Their job is to go and THROW HIM OUT OF THE BUILDING. Not just chase him away from ringside.
Overall a very good show from the WWF. Everything was a least solid. The main event had its problems, but it was still a great match, and the PERFECT Street Fight more than made up for main event’s flaws.
OPENING VIDEO PACKAGE- not that good. The things the voice-over was saying and the images and the angles didn’t reall feel like they had any connection at all.
PAUL HEYMAN INTERVIEWS DDP- good
KING OF THE RING SEMI-FINAL MATCH: Kurt Angle vs. Christian- 4.75/10
KING OF THE RING SEMI-FINAL MATCH: Edge vs. Rhyno- 6.5/10
WWF WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Dudley Boyz(c) vs. Spike Dudley & Kane- 5.75/10. Lots of fun. He aftermath was okay.
EDGE & CHRISTIAN SEGMENT- good
KING OF THE RING TOURNAMENT FINALS: Kurt Angle vs. Edge- 7/10
EDGE PROMO- good
WWF LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Jeff Hardy(c) vs. X-Pac- 5/10
THE UNDERTAKER BRAWLS WITH DDP- GREAT segment. A good brawl, which really felt like a promise of things to come in this feud.
STREET FIGHT: Kurt Angle vs. Shane McMahon- 10/10. WOW! A PERFECT match! This match told an amazing story of escalating violence. Of going from amateur wrestling to extreme violence. Just some absolutely brutal spots. The suplex spots with the glass were just insane to watch. The first time Kurt did the suplex, you saw Shane just fall on his head… and it was sick. So when Kurt went to do the same thing again, we knew what to expect… and we were wrong. Absolutely amazing! Possibly my favorite No DQ’s match of all-time.
WWF TITLE MATCH: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin(c) vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho- 7.75/10. I had some major logical problems with this match. The first of which was the lack of DQs. We had blatant weapon use, a blatant low blow, and the ref getting manhandled, and yet there were no DQs. The traditional answer to this question would be “so you DQ one guy and have two winners?” To which I would respond, “yes. Either that or have the ref restart the match with just those two guys left, and have the disqualified guy be disqualified.” It is much better than guys being allowed to do whatever they want in every multi-man match.
Speaking of eliminations, here was my other problem with this match. They did a spot where Austin was both locked in the Walls of Jericho and the Crossface at the same time and he tapped out. Hebner didb’t know who to give the submission to… so he just restarted the match. WTF? Once again, the logical thing to do here would seem to be to have the match be restarted WITHOUT AUSTIN. I know that one of the angles going into this match was that Vince wasn’t going to be there… so did WWF really put on a show without some kind of kayfabe authority figure? That seems ridiculous to me.
Other than that, this match was very good. I really liked the Booker T interference, and JR and Heyman put it over perfectly. What I didn’t like, however, was the security guys not chasing Booker T into the crowd. He just jumped the barricade. He is not a WWE contracted employee, therefore he is not supposed to be on that side of the barricade. Their job is to go and THROW HIM OUT OF THE BUILDING. Not just chase him away from ringside.
Overall a very good show from the WWF. Everything was a least solid. The main event had its problems, but it was still a great match, and the PERFECT Street Fight more than made up for main event’s flaws.