Royal Rumble (2002)

Royal Rumble (2002)

Promotional poster featuring a silhouette of The Rock.
Tagline(s) 30 Men, One Match, One W1nner
Theme
song(s)		 "Cocky" by Kid Rock[1]
Information
Promotion World Wrestling Federation
Sponsor(s) Final Fantasy X
Date January 20, 2002[2]
Attendance 12,915[3]
Venue Philips Arena[2]
City Atlanta, Georgia[2]
Pay-per-view chronology

Vengeance (2001) Royal Rumble (2002) No Way Out (2002)
Royal Rumble chronology

Royal Rumble (2001) Royal Rumble (2002) Royal Rumble (2003)

Royal Rumble (2002) was the fifteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It was presented by Square's Final Fantasy X. It took place on January 20, 2002, at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.[2] The main event was the Royal Rumble match, which Triple H won, after last eliminating Kurt Angle. The other matches were Chris Jericho versus The Rock for the Undisputed WWF Championship, Ric Flair versus Vince McMahon in a Street Fight, Edge versus William Regal for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, the team of Spike Dudley and Tazz versus the Dudley Boyz for the WWF Tag Team Championship, and Trish Stratus versus Jazz for the WWF Women's Championship.[4][5]

Background

The event featured six professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWF script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during and after the event.

The main feud was between Chris Jericho and The Rock for Jericho's Undisputed WWF Championship. The feud, which had begun in October 2001 while the two were members of Team WWF during the InVasion and traded the WCW Championship between them, continued at Vengeance, when Jericho defeated both The Rock and the reigning WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin to unify the titles.[6][7] On the following night's episode of Raw, Jericho successfully defended the Undisputed title over Steve Austin in a Steel cage match with the help from Booker T. During the following two weeks, Jericho had successfully defended the title against the likes of Rob Van Dam, The Big Show, and Kurt Angle. The Rock earned a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at Royal Rumble on the January 3 episode of SmackDown! by defeating Booker T.[8] On the January 10 episode of SmackDown!, The Rock and Rob Van Dam defeated Jericho and Test when The Rock made Jericho submit with the Sharpshooter.[9]

On the January 7 episode of Raw, buildup towards the Royal Rumble match started, with Austin saying he wanted to enter. Later that night, Triple H made his return after missing nearly eight months with an injury and announced that he too would be entering the Royal Rumble match. He was interrupted by Kurt Angle, who then announced his intentions to enter the match, which was to be his first, and mentioned his victory over Triple H at the previous year's Royal Rumble event when he was the reigning WWF Champion. Triple H performed a Pedigree on Angle in retaliation.[10] During a match between Austin and Angle on the January 10 episode of SmackDown!, Kane, The Big Show, and Triple H all interfered. In the end, only Triple H remained standing, until The Undertaker stared him down from the top of the ramp.[9] On the January 14 episode of Raw, Triple H stated that he wants to win the Undisputed WWF Championship. Austin came out, and they fought until The Undertaker came out, and hit Triple H with a chair, allowing Austin to hit the Stone Cold Stunner. The Undertaker then hit Austin with the chair.[11] On the January 17 episode of SmackDown!, Austin and Triple H defeated Angle and Booker T. After the match, The Undertaker again came out, and stared them down.[12]

The feud between Edge and William Regal continued from Vengeance. On the December 10 episode of Raw, Edge mocked Regal, prompting Regal to nail him from behind with brass knuckles.[13] On the December 13 episode of SmackDown!, William Regal and Kurt Angle faced Edge and Rikishi in a tag match. After the match, Edge hit Regal with a steel chair and an Edgecution onto the chair, breaking his nose, and causing him to bleed.[14] On the January 7 episode of Raw, Regal interfered after Edge's victory over Lance Storm and hit him with brass knuckles.[10] Regal challenged Edge to a match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at Royal Rumble, and Edge accepted.[9] On the January 14 episode of Raw, Edge and Rob Van Dam faced William Regal and Test, where Regal pinned Edge after using the brass knuckles.[11] On the January 17 episode of SmackDown!, Regal defeated Rob Van Dam when he used brass knuckles behind the referee's back. Later on the night, Regal came out during Edge's match with Test but failed to interfere when Edge nailed him and referee Nick Patrick with a chair.[12]

Event

Other on-screen talent[15]
Role: Name:
Commentator Jerry Lawler
Jim Ross
Carlos Cabrera (Spanish)
Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Interviewer Jonathan Coachman
Michael Cole
Lilian Garcia
WWF New York host Shawn Michaels
Ring announcer Howard Finkel
Referee Mike Chioda
Jack Doan
Brian Hebner
Earl Hebner
Jim Korderas
Theodore Long
Nick Patrick
Charles Robinson
Tim White

The first match was between Spike Dudley and Tazz, and the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) for the WWF Tag Team Championship. The Dudley Boyz dominated Spike in the beginning with Bubba Ray ripping off Spike's neck brace. Spike fought back by hitting Bubba Ray with a Dudley Dog but failed to capitalize. The Dudley Boyz then double-teamed Spike while the referee was preoccupied with Tazz. Tazz eventually came in, and both dominated. Stacy Keibler, who accompanied the Dudley Boyz, climbed on the apron, and distracted Tazz and Spike. Tazz and Spike are knocked out of the ring, but Tazz came back in, and applied the Tazzmission for the victory, and retained the title.[4][5]

The second match was between Edge and William Regal for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Before the match, the referee found brass knuckles in Regal's tights, and confiscated them. The match went back and forth before Regal knocked Edge out of the ring. Regal applied the Regal Stretch, but Edge reached the ropes to break the hold. Edge attempted a spear, but Regal pushed the referee to receive the move. Regal took out another pair of brass knuckles and hit Edge with them. The referee recovered to count the pinfall for Regal to win the match, and the title.[4][5]

The third match was between Trish Stratus and Jazz for the WWF Women's Championship with Jacqueline as Special Guest Referee. Jazz had the early advantage, focusing on Stratus' injured hand. Jazz then confronted Jacqueline, and they shoved each other. Stratus hit a bulldog, but Jazz countered with a roll-up, and hit a snap DDT. Stratus blocked an attack in the corner, and hit a bulldog to win the match, and retained the title.[4][5]

The fourth match was a Street Fight between Ric Flair and Vince McMahon. Flair gained the early advantage with punches and knife edge chops. McMahon knocked Flair out of the ring, attacked him with weapons, and sent him into the ringpost and steps. They return to the ring, and McMahon applied the figure four leglock, but Flair reversed it. McMahon reached the ropes, and went outside the ring. Flair hit a low blow, and hit McMahon with a television monitor, and a lead pipe. Finally, Flair applied the figure four leglock, and won the match by forcing McMahon to submit.[4][5]

Chris Jericho, the Undisputed WWF Champion heading into Royal Rumble

The fifth match was between Chris Jericho and The Rock for the Undisputed WWF Championship. Jericho took control early in the match, and removed the padding off one of the turnbuckles. Jericho attempted the Walls of Jericho, but The Rock escaped. Jericho continued his control until The Rock delivered a superplex, and a snap overhead belly to belly suplex. Jericho came back with two Lionsaults. The Rock then countered a missile dropkick, and applied the Sharpshooter. Lance Storm and Christian came out, and distracted the referee as Jericho tapped out. This allowed Jericho to hit a Rock Bottom. He then attempted a People's Elbow, but The Rock avoided it, and threw Jericho out of the ring. The Rock sent Jericho into the ringsteps, and hit a Rock Bottom through the announce table. Back in the ring, Jericho countered a Rock Bottom and applied the Walls of Jericho, but The Rock reached the ropes. The Rock accidentally hit the referee, and Jericho took advantage by attacking The Rock with the title belt. Jericho signaled Nick Patrick (a heel referee) to come out, and referee. The Rock hit a DDT, but Patrick refused to count the pinfall. The Rock attacked Patrick, and hit a Rock Bottom, and a People's Elbow on Jericho. As The Rock tried to revive the original referee, Jericho hit a low blow, sending The Rock into the exposed turnbuckle. Jericho used a roll-up with both feet on the ropes to win, and retain the title.[4][5]

The main event was the Royal Rumble match. The Undertaker, the eighth entrant, dominated upon entering the match, and eliminated all four of the remaining participants. Matt Hardy entered next and Lita, who accompanied Matt, entered the ring to help. The next entrant was Jeff Hardy, and all three attacked The Undertaker. The Undertaker eventually eliminated them both. The Hardys returned, and continued their attack, but were thrown out again. This distraction allowed Maven, the following entrant, to eliminate The Undertaker. The Undertaker returned, beat down Maven, and eliminated him. The Undertaker assaulted Scotty 2 Hotty during his entrance, and continued his attack on Maven into the crowd, and to the backstage area, including smashing his head into a popcorn machine. The match continued with Christian and Scotty 2 Hotty battling it out, and the ring began to fill with more wrestlers. Austin, the nineteenth entrant, dominated upon his entrance, and eliminated all three of the remaining participants. While he waited for the next entrant, he brought Christian and Chuck, whom he had eliminated, back in, and beat them down. Austin then eliminated the next two entrants, leaving him the only man in the ring. Triple H made his in-ring return from injury at No. 22, brawling with Austin. Mr Perfect returned as the twenty-fifth entrant to a loud ovation. The Big Show, the twenty-seventh entrant, dominated upon entering until Kane entered next. Kane eliminated The Big Show, and Kane was eliminated by Austin and Kurt Angle, the twenty-sixth entrant.[4][5] Rob Van Dam made his Royal Rumble debut by entering the ring at No. 29, taking down nearly everyone with a variety of high-flying moves, until Triple H hit him with the Pedigree. Booker T, also making his Royal Rumble debut, entered at No. 30 and eliminated Van Dam. He then did the Spin-a-Roonie, and was quickly eliminated from the Rumble after receiving a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin.

Triple H won the 2002 Royal Rumble match.

The final four remaining were Austin, Triple H, Angle and Perfect. Angle hit an Angle Slam on Triple H and three German suplexes on Austin. Austin hit a low blow on Angle, but Perfect and Angle double-teamed him. Angle eliminated Austin as he was trying to eliminate Perfect. Austin pulled Perfect outside and attacked him before Angle attacked Austin from behind. Back in the ring, Perfect and Angle attacked Triple H. Austin entered the ring and hit Perfect, Angle and Triple H with a steel chair before leaving. Angle hit Perfect with a clothesline by accident, and Perfect hit a Perfect-Plex on Angle. Triple H then eliminated Perfect with a clothesline, leaving only Angle and Triple H. It went back and forth before Angle sent Triple H over the top rope with a back body drop, but Triple H held on. Angle thought he had won, and celebrated. Triple H took advantage, and executed a facebuster knee smash on Angle, followed by a clothesline over the top rope to win the Royal Rumble match,[4][5] the longest 30 man Rumble in the event's history (the 2011 match, featuring 40 Superstars, was 27 seconds longer).[16]

Aftermath

Austin won a number one contender's match against Kurt Angle on the January 28 episode of Raw to earn a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at No Way Out. A feud between Austin and Chris Jericho started with Jericho interfering in Austin's match by attacking him with his title belt.[17]

The Undertaker continued his feud with Maven over the elimination during the Royal Rumble match, which grew to include The Rock after he mocked Undertaker for his quick elimination. The Undertaker's interference led to The Rock losing to Kurt Angle in the tournament to challenge for the Undisputed championship at No Way Out.[18] On the February 4 episode of Raw, during a tag team match, The Undertaker grabbed a steel led pipe from his motorcycle and nailed The Rock in the head with it, allowing Chris Jericho to score the pinfall win. The Rock retaliated by hitting him with a chair and helping Maven win the WWF Hardcore Championship that Undertaker had won at Vengeance; however The Undertaker performed a Tombstone Piledriver on The Rock onto the hood of a limousine in revenge.[19] A match was made between the two at No Way Out.[17]

Kurt Angle started a feud with Triple H, unhappy about how he lost the Royal Rumble match, and attacked Triple H after a confrontation.[20] During Triple H's match with Booker.T, Angle interfered and attacked Triple H. Angle then had Vince McMahon make a match between the two at No Way Out for Triple H's title shot at WrestleMania X8.[21] Triple H and his on-screen wife Stephanie McMahon were having problems, so she faked a pregnancy and demanded that they renew their wedding vows. Triple H discovered the truth, and ended their marriage.[17] Stephanie McMahon then announced herself as the guest referee in the match at No Way Out.[22]

Results

No. Results[2][23] Stipulations Times[24]
1 Spike Dudley and Tazz (c) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) (with Stacy Keibler) by submission Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 5:06
2 William Regal defeated Edge (c) Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 9:45
3 Trish Stratus (c) defeated Jazz Singles match for the WWF Women's Championship with Jacqueline as special guest referee 3:43
4 Ric Flair defeated Vince McMahon by submission Street Fight 14:55
5 Chris Jericho (c) defeated The Rock Singles match for the Undisputed WWF Championship 18:48
6 Triple H won by last eliminating Kurt Angle 30-man Royal Rumble match for an Undisputed WWF Championship match at WrestleMania X8 1:09:22
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.

Draw[25] Entrant Order Eliminated by Time[26]
1 Rikishi 6 The Undertaker 13:39
2 Goldust 4 The Undertaker 13:00
3 Big Boss Man 1 Rikishi 03:05
4 Bradshaw 3 Billy 07:17
5 Lance Storm 2 Al Snow 04:46
6 Al Snow 5 The Undertaker 05:12
7 Billy 7 The Undertaker 03:37
8 The Undertaker 10 Maven 07:40
9 Matt Hardy 9 The Undertaker 04:16
10 Jeff Hardy 8 The Undertaker 01:30
11 Maven 11 The Undertaker 03:34
12 Scotty 2 Hotty 12 Diamond Dallas Page 02:36
13 Christian 16 Stone Cold Steve Austin 12:14
14 Diamond Dallas Page 13 Christian 05:15
15 Chuck 17 Stone Cold Steve Austin 09:04
16 The Godfather 15 Christian & Chuck 01:48
17 Albert 14 Christian & Chuck 00:48
18 Perry Saturn 18 Stone Cold Steve Austin 02:57
19 Stone Cold Steve Austin 27 Kurt Angle 26:46
20 Val Venis 19 Stone Cold Steve Austin 02:58
21 Test 20 Stone Cold Steve Austin 01:42
22 Triple H - Winner 23:14
23 The Hurricane 21 Stone Cold Steve Austin & Triple H 00:39
24 Faarooq 22 Triple H 00:36
25 Mr. Perfect 28 Triple H 15:18
26 Kurt Angle 29 Triple H 16:09
27 Big Show 23 Kane 02:45
28 Kane 24 Kurt Angle 01:02
29 Rob Van Dam 25 Booker T 02:12
30 Booker T 26 Stone Cold Steve Austin 00:33

^ Undertaker assaulted and eliminated Maven following his own elimination by Maven. ^ This was Austin's 36th career elimination in the Royal Rumble, which was a record held for eight years until Shawn Michaels broke it in the 2010 Royal Rumble.

References

  1. ↑ "WWF Royal Rumble 2002". pWwew. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Royal Rumble 2002 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
  3. ↑ Wahlers, Dan (2004-01-21). "Royal Rumble history part two". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "411's WWF Royal Rumble Report 1.20.02". 411mania. 2002-01-21. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Powell, John (2002-01-21). "Rumble 2002 stumbles Triple H wins WrestleMania spot". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  6. ↑ "Vengeance 2001 official results". WWE. Archived from the original on 2007-07-16. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  7. ↑ "Vengeance 2001 results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  8. ↑ Keith, Scott (2002-01-04). "The SmarkDown Rant – January 3 / 2002". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  9. 1 2 3 McCluskey, Sean (2002-01-10). "411's WWF Smackdown Report 1.10.02". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  10. 1 2 "411's WWF Raw Report 1.7.02". 411mania. 2002-01-07. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  11. 1 2 Mahuad, Carlos (2002-01-14). "411's WWF Raw Report 14.01.02". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  12. 1 2 McCluskey, Sean (2002-01-17). "411's WWF Smackdown Report 1.17.02". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  13. ↑ "411's WWF Raw Report 12.10.01". 411mania. 2001-12-10. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  14. ↑ Keith, Scott (2001-12-13). "The SmarKdown Rant – December 13 / 2001". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  15. ↑ "WWF Royal Rumble 2002". Hoffco, Inc. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  16. ↑ "Royal Rumble Facts & Figures". WWE. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  17. 1 2 3 "411's WWF Raw Report 2.11.02". 411mania. 2002-02-11. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  18. ↑ McCluskey, Sean (2002-01-24). "411's WWF Smackdown Report 1.24.02". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  19. ↑ McCluskey, Sean (2002-02-07). "411's WWF Smackdown Report 2.7.02". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  20. ↑ Mahuad, Carlos (2002-01-20). "411's WWF Raw Report 20.01.02". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  21. ↑ "411's WWF Raw Report 2.4.02". 411mania. 2002-02-04. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  22. ↑ McCluskey, Sean (2002-02-14). "411's WWF Smackdown Report 2.14.02". 411mania. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  23. ↑ "Royal Rumble 2002 Results". WWE. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  24. ↑ "Royal Rumble 2002". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  25. ↑ "Rumble Match: Triple H (spot No. 22) wins the Royal Rumble Match". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
  26. ↑ "Royal Rumble 2002". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved April 8, 2011.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, May 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.