Ring Crew Reviews: WWE Royal Rumble 2001

• DVD Packaging: This is the Royal Rumble Anthology edition so it comes in different packages with 5 discs in each one. The third volume box is black with gold trim.

• DVD Presentation: The menu is simple but it’s the same for every disc in the set. It has this triumphant fanfare playing over a brief montage from that year’s RR on the right half of the screen. The left half is the same as the box design except it’s white with gold trim.

• Relevant Storylines: Bubba has gotten over his stuttering problem but concussions are another thing altogether. Chyna wants to start a talk show with Michael Cole after her neck heals up. Steven Richards wants Chyna to be taken out on a meatwagon. Drew Carey decides to promote a PPV by hitting on another man’s sloppy seconds and then picking a fight with Kane. Triple H brawls with Stone Cold and this time doesn’t need a snake to do it.

• Scheduled Card:
1. WWE World Tag Team Championship: The Dudleyz vs. Edge & Christian (c).
2. Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit (c).
3. WWE Women’s Championship: Chyna vs. Ivory (c).
4. WWE Heavyweight Championship: Triple H vs. Kurt Angle (c).
5. Royal Rumble Match.

• Video packages focuses on the rumble match and actually shows Steve Blackman, Raven, and Val Venis as contenders to win the match in addition to the usual suspects of Rock, Taker, Austin, etc. Good package though.

• World Tag Team Championship: The Dudleyz vs. Edge and Christian (c). These teams along with the Hardyz basically feuded for 3 years on and off. Well this particular match was set up by some con-chair-tos. The Dudleyz jump the gun early and send EnC off but they both hang on and take an early breather to massive boos. EnC try to take a walk but The Dudleyz chase them down and brawl back to the ring. D-Von takes on Edge in the ring and nails a hangman’s neckbreaker as a “tables” chant starts up already. Edge quickly tags out and Christian doesn’t do much better. He eats a hip toss and a back elbow for 2. Bubba in and the faces hit a double shoulder block. Bubba drops an elbow for 2. Another “tables” chant as Bubba works the jab in the corner. Bubba flapjacks Christian down. Bubba grabs his head and JR plays up the concussion from a conchairto which sounds nice but we’ll see if he continues to sell it. He sends Christian across but Christian counters with an up and over headscissors. Bubba comes back with a sideslam for 2. D-Von in but Christian cuts him off and makes the tag to Edge. Edge runs right into a powerslam for 2. Edge reverses a whip and Christian nails D-Von in the head and he’s really selling the concussion. Nice. Edge with a back suplex and D-Von wails in agony. Christian in and he hits a Russian leg sweep and just smashes D-Von’s head into the mat. Simple but effective. Christian pulls D-Von into the corner and tells Bubba to go fuck himself while Edge works D-Von over behind the ref’s back. Crowd boos on cue. Edge comes in with no tag. He nails his own hangman’s neckbreaer but Bubba breaks up the pin. Christian in again with no tag. Gotta appreciate that kind of heel commitment to loose morals. “D-Von” chant gets going as Edge is tagged in and takes down D-Von with a snapmare and goes to the chinlock. Chioda demands that Bubba get back to the fucking tag rope. D-Von elbows out but runs into a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Edge shouts to Bubba that he’s going to “break him like a twig” referring to D-Von. Christian in with some choking and now Edge piles on behind the ref’s back. Edge tagged in and calls for a piledriver. Christian heads up top for the spike combo but D-Von reverses with a catapult and sends Edge into Christian and that crotches him. D-Von then rolls up Edge for a close 2. Nice sequence. Double clothesline and both are down. Christian still selling the crotch. Christian gets to his feet to distract the ref. D-Von gets the tag but the ref doesn’t see it. Chioda pushes Bubba back to the corner and EnC get some chairs and the crowd starts indiscriminately booing. They try the conchairto but D-Von ducks and takes them out with a double clothesline. He finally tags in Bubba. He takes down Edge with some rights and Christian with a backdrop. He hotshots Edge into the ropes. BubbaBomb for Christian. He hits a scoop slam on Edge and the crowd senses the “What’s Up” diving headbutt and is cheering like crazy. Now, the crowd wants some fucking tables. D-Von tries to get one but Christian cuts him off. Chioda tries to break them up as Edge tries to waffle Bubba with the belt but he ducks and school boys Edge for a razor thin 2 count. That could have been the finish. Christian jumps Bubba and preps the Unprettier. D-Von breaks it up and they call for the 3-D but Edge spears Bubba and Christian counters to a DDT on D-Von. Edge covers Bubba and only gets 2. Hot match. EnC try their own “What’s Up” diving headbutt that produces the hilarious visual of EnC being total nerds in simultaneously trying to mock and emulate the Dudleyz. JR: “Ah, this is heinous!” Bubba counters to a roll up but D-Von tosses Edge off into the pin and he crotches Christian on the landing. Christian rolls to the floor. A 3D for Edge follows and that’s all she wrote at 10:00 to crown new champs. Huge pop for that and the Dudleyz celebrate like crazy. This was only The Dudleyz second run with the tag belts in WWE and the first run was fairly uneventful so the euphoria seems genuine and even if not sells the moment. Perfect choice for an opener. EnC are eminently hateable as the douchey version of Bill and Ted but more importantly this was just good old fashioned tag formula with heels cheating and faces overcoming the odds and the crowd digging it. ***1/2

• Meanwhile, Drew Carey arrives at the arena.

• We cut to an interview of Michael Cole and his highlights interviewing Vince on Heat. He confirms that Austin will be in the RR and Triple H still gets his shot tonight despite shoving Austin on Smackdown.

• Trips is in the back with Stephanie. H says he doesn’t like Trish Stratus but it’s going to be dangerous tonight. Stephanie says that’s why going out there tonight to make sure that Trish doesn’t get involved. Drew Carey interrupts and says he saw Kamala at the airport and he sings. WTF? Then he asks if they know where he can find Vince because he wants promotion for his not very subtly plugged PPV. Stephanie points him in the direction of Trish.

• Meanwhile, the APA are playing cards in the back. I loved this gimmick. It was perfect and fit so well into many storylines. They show each other their entrant numbers. Crash Holly comes in and says if the APA gets in his way he’ll tosh them. Bradshaw quips, “And they call us drunks?” Farooq responds with a deadpan, “Damn.” No shit, although it’s not as animated as the catchphrase would become later.

• Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit (c). Video package just says it’s a heated rivalry. We get some awesome footage of them brawling in the back and Benoit getting the advantage by slamming a garage door on Jericho. Jericho gets the advantage with rights and a back elbow to start. He nails a clothesline and some chops in the corner. Benoit reverses a cross corner whip but Jericho gets the boot up. He comes charging out but Benoit goes for the armbar TD to set up the CC but Jericho punches to counter and rolls through to set up the Walls of Jericho. Benoit kicks him off and it’s a stalemate. Benoit tosses Jericho into the ringpost shoulder first. Benoit with some chops in the corner and a crucial shoulderbreaker. He goes for another but Jericho slides out. Benoit sends him off and Jericho hits the flying burrito. Jericho goes for the springboard dropkick but Benoit ducks and Jericho sails into the barricade. Benoit heads toward the ladder in the entraceway. Jericho tries to cut him off but Benoit whips him into the ringpost shoulder first. Benoit tries to slide the ladder in. Jericho goes for a baseball slide on the ladder but Benoit moves in and then sends Jericho into the stairs shoulder first. Awesome stuff. Benoit slides the ladder in and starts to climb in the middle but Jericho is up and hits an electric chair. Jericho gets the ladder and rams it right into Benoit’s head. Jericho then rams it into Benoit’s stomach. Jericho sets across the top rope in the corner. Jericho tries to whip Benoit into it but he counters and Jericho goes face first into the ladder. Benoit attempts a dive but Jericho has a chair and Benoit eats it head first. Brutal spot. Jericho hangs Benoit out to dry on the barricade and then rides the ladder toward Benoit but Benoit dodges and Jericho eats the barricade. Benoit then rams the ladder in Jericho’s mouth then gives Jericho a chairshot across the back. Benoit hits a clothesline in the ring and gets the ladder. Meanwhile, JR asks the Arab listening population if they know what a slobberknocker is. Benoit then launches Jericho headfirst into the ladder that is stood up in the corner. He goes for it again but Jericho slides out and pushes Benoit into it. Jericho atomic drops Benoit into the ladder and Benoit gets his leg hung up like a Tree of Woe. Jericho then goes up top and hits the super back suplex while Benoit is still in the ladder. Holy shit. Jericho tries to use it as a weapon but Benoit dropkicks it back into Jericho. Benoit with a high angle back suplex. Benoit places the ladder on top of the turnbuckle in the corner but gets reversed and whipped face first into it himself. Jericho then slingshots the ladder into Benoit’s grill. Jericho goes up top and throws the ladder down but Benoit catches it. Jericho then missile dropkicks the ladder into Benoit. Awesome again. Jericho sets up the ladder and starts to climb but Benoit forearms him and then back suplexes him out of the fucking ring. This is crazy. Benoit starts to climb but Jericho follows him up and applies the Liontamer across the top of the fucking ladder then casually disposes of Benoit but Benoit grabs the ladder at the bottom and rotates it over. This is an amazing back and forth. Jericho rams it into Benoit. Jericho sets up the ladder. Benoit annoys him so Jericho jumps off for a clothesline but lands in the Crippler Crossface and taps out immediately. “Y2J” chant fires up. Benoit then rams Jericho bad shoulder first into the ringpost. He tries again but Jericho counters with a hotshot into the ladder. Jericho sets the ladder up in the corner. Him and Benoit meet at the top. Jericho sets up a superplex but Benoit knocks him off and then hits the falling headbutt off the top. Jericho places the ladder on top of Benoit and tries to trap him but Benoit muscles up and pushes it off and Jericho eats it to the floor. Benoit starts to climb but Jericho gets a chair and hits Benoit across the back. Benoit tries to kick him off but Jericho goes off the ropes and dumps the ladder and Benoit falls all the way to the floor as JR hits his dramatic strides on commentary perfectly. Jericho sets the ladder up as Benoit struggles to get up. Jericho at the top and Benoit can’t recover and Jericho grabs the belt for a new champ at 19:16. Even as he gets the belt, Jericho still sells the shoulder. The gimmicky contrived spots with multiple ladders and tables in figure 8 formations are not prevalent but that doesn’t hold the match back in terms of effectiveness. It’s not how many ladders you use or high tall they are; it’s why and how you use them. Also, the slow-climb stuff is kept to a minimum. ****1/2

• Next we see Drew come to Trish but she says she’s with someone. Vince interrupts and says Carey should improv by competing in the RR.

• Billy Gunn tells Chyna not to go out because of the doctors. HIDE THE KIDS!

• Michael Cole interrupts Chris Jericho and he doesn’t say much of note.

• WWE Women’s Championship: Chyna vs. Ivory (c). Ivory comes out to the RTC music. I loved the Right to Censor gimmick. Underrated. The video package makes the feud seem like it was a year in the making or some shit. A spike piledriver, neck surgery, and at least 3 intimate sit down interviews with Michael Cole. JR says that “Ivory is sexually repressed and I think she’s 30 days a month pre-menstrual.” Thanks for that. Chyna with some clotheslines and a hair few hair takedowns. Chyna hits a snapmare off the top and lands some forearms. Chyna puts her on the top and then punches Ivory to the floor. Ivory tries to take off through the crowd but no go. Chyna press slams Ivory back over the barricade. King says that Chyna “rehabbed 24 hours a day.” That seems like a stretch. Chyna with a powerslam. Steven Richards tries to get involved but Chyna clotheslines and tosses him. Chyna with a handspring elbow but sells the neck. Steven Richards distracts the ref for an eternity as they sell. Ivory drapes the arm for the 3 to retain at 3:52. Lawler and Billy Gunn get in the ring to check. A “Sgt. Slaughter” chant comes up from a few as he appears. Squash with an injury angle finish. 1/2*

• Stephanie and Trish argue in the make up room.

• Drew Carey gets gear and meets Kane who no sells him and walks away.

• Tiger Ali Singh and his stable(?) with fucking D-Lo and Headbanger Mosh?!? When the fuck did this happen? Anyway, Vince comes in and says their RR spot has been given away to Drew. And Singh asks, “Who is Drew Curry?”

• We get some fans telling who they think will win the world title in tonight’s match between Triple H and Kurt Angle.

• Meanwhile, Triple H pumps up by headbutting a mirror.

• WWE Heavyweight Championship: Triple H vs. Kurt Angle (c). This is basically an extension of the Kreski love triangle still but now it also involves Trish because she’s in Angle’s corner. Stephanie’s “intense” facial expressions are annoying as fuck because they won’t quit showing them. Lockup and Trips goes to the arm wringer. Angle flips through and kips up. He fireman’s carry Triple H down and gets his own arm wringer. Triple H gets a break in the corner. Off a whip Triple H takes Angle down with a shoulderblock. Angle comes back with a hiptoss and a clothesline to send Trips to the floor. “Angle sucks” chant. When’s the last time Triple H was somehow outmanuevered or overpowered at his own “game” by a smaller wrestler? Back in, Triple H gets the advantage with right hands. He tries a whip but Angle counters and H gets backdropped. Angle goes back to the arm wringer and lifts Triple H off the mat with it and then drops him down. Always love that. Triple H tries a back suplex but Angle flips out and hits a trio of snap suplexes for 2 count. Trips rolls to the floor and takes a breather. Angle follows but gets whipped into the barricade. Triple H then hotshots Angle onto the barricade. Trips breaks the count and then sends Angle into the stairs. Back in, Angle gets a head of steam but Trips gets the drop toe hold and goes to the single leg reverse Indian deathlock and drives it into the mat a few times. Jesus Christ. JR tries to bring up the history of the move and King cuts him off to talk about Drew Fucking Carey. Triple H boots the knee and hits a dragonscrew leg whip. He tries another but Angle counters with an enzuigiri that gets 2 and the crowd is dead. But Angle goes back to the knee with boots. King decides to bring up his own history with Andy Kaufman and JR quips, “Yeah and they made a movie about it that 8 people saw.” Don’t mess with Oklahoma. They reverse each other’s whips and Angle hits the third one and Trips does his Flair-esque bump over the top. He recovers and trips Angle and does to crotch him on the ring post but Angle counters and pulls H back into the ring post. Can we stop with the endless cutaways to Stephanie? Angle sends Triple H into the stairs shoulder first. Back in, Angle goes for a clothesline in the corner but whiffs. H drops down and smacks Angle’s lead into the post. Stephanie distracts the ref and Trips gets a chair and hits it across Angle’s leg on the post. Triple H then hits a kneebreaker into the stairs. Nice. Back in, Angle starts to get up but Triple H clips the knee twice in a row. Triple H continues to work over the leg with elbows and an elbow drop. Now, Triple H applies the regular Indian Deathlock but Angle hits his way out with right hands. He sends Triple H off but eats a facebuster that gets 2. Triple H now drives the knee into the mat. Triple H now applies the Figure 4 on the correct leg and it gets a “Wooo.” They tease a couple two counts. Triple H rolls back and grabs the ropes. Trish tries to interfere but Stephanie won’t let her and they brawl over the SAT and here comes Vince. The crowd is into this at least. Too bad it’s been a solid 2 minutes since we had a look in the ring. Vince tries to take Trish to back over his shoulder. Stephanie tries to stop him and they “brawl to the back.” Really, we stopped the match for this? In the ring, Triple H tries to go back to the Figure 4 but gets rolled up for a close 2. He comes back with a clothesline and more elbow drops on the leg. He tries another Figure 4 but Angle boots him off into the turnbuckle and hits a DDT for 2. Off a whip reversal, they screw up something and Angle covers by hitting an inverted atomic drop and a bridged German suplex for 2. Crowd is still kinda passively watching this. Angle hits a side Russian legsweep and goes up top but Triple H crotches him and hits a fucking Razor’s Edge (called as such by JR) on the way down and Triple H works the 2 count a few times. Triple H sets up a Pedigree but its countered with a two leg takedown. He kicks off Angle into the turnbuckle but as he falls he crotches Triple H on the way down. Always a cool spot. Angle goes up top and actually hits his fucking picture perfect moonsault but only gets a two count due to his delayed cover from the injured knee. Triple H hiptosses him to the floor. Hebner checks on Angle. Triple H follows with a plancha from the apron but accidentally takes out Hebner. Triple H sends Angle into the ring post. Back in, Triple H goes up top but Angle counters with a pop up super-armdrag but there’s no ref. Angle tries to revive Hebner. Triple H follows and tosses Angle into the stairs and into Hebner accidentally. Triple H gets the belt and swings it but Angle counters with an overhead belly to belly. Angle swings the belt but Triple H counters with a Pedigree to a huge pop. But still no ref. Triple H tries to revive the ref but Austin comes out and brawls with him. Austin waffles him with the belt and Triple H blades off camera. Austin rolls Hebner in the ring and hits a Stunner on Triple H for good measure. Angle drapes the arm and gets the 3 at 25:20. Wasted opportunity. Overbooking killed it. When you have two guys like Angle and Triple H, you don’t need a 3 minute section of the match dedicated to Stephanie/Trish/Vince. You don’t need multiple ref bumps. You don’t need run ins. Besides at the end of the match, both guys looked like they could have won so “winning” this match becomes meaningless. Angle’s arm work went nowhere and Trips’ knee work was consistent but had no impact on the finish. ***1/4

• Taker and Rikishi prepare in the back.

• Rock is with Kevin Kelly. Rock says the Rumble is like one big pot of jambalaya. Rock says he’s sick and tired of asking whether Kane and Taker are together. Rock says it could come down to Bull Buchanan, Perry Saturn and even Stone Cold Steve Austin but he will win.

• Royal Rumble: The intro includes the Fink calling it the “Royal Rumba Match.” Rikishi gets his own package because he did it for da Rock and did it for da people. Kane and Taker are also pictured as threats as are Rock and Stone Cold. Fink says it’s 2 minute intervals for entrances. Jeff Hardy is first and Bling Bling/Bull/B^2 Buchanan is second. Buchanan tosses Hardy around. Hardy tries a headscissors in the corner but Buchanan tosses Hardy onto the apron. Hardy gets back in and hits a flying headscissors. Bling Bling comes back with a clothesline. He tries a press slam but no go. They trade whips. Matt Hardy is out at 3. Bling Bling whiffs on a charge on Matt. The Hardyz hit the assisted Air Sabu and dump Buchanan. The Hardyz stupidly agree to attack each other now. Matt with a back suplex. Jeff with a jawbreaker. Farooq out next. He hits a double clothesline on The Hardyz. Jeff botches the Air Sabu this time and they stall for a min. Matt hits a Twist of Fate and Jeff hits the Swaton and they dump Farooq. Matt tries to sneak Jeff and dump him but no go. They take off their shirts to get down to business. Lawler: “Are they going to fight or just get undressed?” The intervals are more like 100 seconds. Drew Carey is out to some majorly dubbed music. The Hardyz go through some shit while Carey takes some time. They Hardyz jockey for position on the top turnbuckle and eliminate each other. Kane is out next. Drew is asking for help from the refs and Hardyz but no one’s listening. JR: “The Big Red Machine is a big ole carnivore and Carey is a big ole pork chop!” More food metaphors. Carey offers a handhsake and some money to Kane. Kane tries a choke slam but Raven is out next and he breaks it up. Drew decides to eliminate himself. Kane and Raven botch a fucking side slam. Raven gets a fire extinguisher and some trash cans. Al Snow comes out early to brawl with Raven. Al Snow hits Kane with a bowling ball and then rolls it straight into Raven’s crotch in the corner. Kane big boots Al Snow down. Raven and Al Snow try teaming up on Kane including a double drop toe hold into a trash can. Saturn is out next and he starts working Kane’s legs. Raven tries a sleeper on Kane but no go. Kane press slams Saturn. Kane, the bastard, won’t go down. It takes Raven with a sleeper and Saturn and Al Snow beating the shit out of him before he finally goes down.

• The young up n comer Steve Blackman is out next at 10 with some kendo sticks and nunchucks. This is basically a hardcore rumble at this point. More brawling and Grandmaster Sexay is out. He goes for Al Snow and almost eliminates him. Raven goes to work with a trash can lid and tries to rearmount Kane with a sleeper again. Kane escapes and rolls to the floor and gets a trashcan and knocks GMS into next week and over the top. He takes out everyone with it. He tries to dump Blackman who hangs on and tries to skin the cat but Kane hits him over the head with the trashcan lid in a hilarious moment. Kane tosses Al Snow and big boots Raven over the top. Saturn is gone too as Raven and Al Snow continue brawling on the floor. Honky Tonk Man and his guitar are out next. HTM gets the stick and cuts a promo saying he wants a minute to sing his song. Kane gives him about 10 seconds, steals the guitar, waffles him with it and then throws his corpse over the top. Rock is next and the crowd is feeling the confrontation. Rock takes him down with flying burrito and tries to dump him but no go. Kane puts the brakes on and goes to work with rights and clotheslines. Huge “Rocky” chant. The Goodfather of RTC is out next. Rock casually dismisses him with the spit punch and Kane cuts Rock off with a right hand from behind. Kane with a vertical suplex. JR: “A carnivore chewing on a piece of Rockburger.” Taz is out next and he has some fucking pyro. Yes! Kane goozles him and sets him on the top and slugs him to the floor. Rock and Kane trade attempts to toss each other. Bradshaw out next and both are down. He hits a Clothesline from Hell and demolishes Rock. Rock hits a spinebuster but Kane clotheslines him down. Albert out next. Kane and Bradshaw take him down with a double shoulderblock. JR thankfully ignores Lawler’s incessant rambling about updates on Stephanie or Trish. Hardcore Holly out next. Albert htis the choke sitout powerbomb on Bradshaw. Bradshaw and Holly try to eliminate Rock and the fans are buying into these false eliminations. Albert hits the bicycle kick on Kane. Rock tries to eliminate Kane and the fans go apeshit but Kane lands on the apron. K-Kwik (R-Truth) out next. Hardcore Holly low blows Kane. Rock tries to powerslam R-Truth over the top but no go. Kane hits a powerslam on Holly and Bradshaw hits a powerbomb on R-Truth simultaneously. Kane tries to rest but Bradshaw gives him a Batista kick instead. Awesome.

• Val Venis out next at 20 and he jumps Kane. Kane takes him down with a spinebuster. Bradshaw spears R-Truth down. Rock hits a powerslam on R-Truth. William Regal out next. He stiffs R-Truth a few times and hits a variation of a Blue Thunder bomb. Rock with a spinebuster on Venis. Venis scoops Rock and tries to dump him and the crowd collectively shouts NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Bradshaw jumps him from behind and takes Venis down with a couple of Clotheslines from Hell. Test is next and he dumps William Regal. Test kills Val with a big boot. Kane headbutts T&A together. The returning Showster (and looking heavier) is out next. He easily tosses Test and R-Truth. He choke slams Albert and Bradshaw and Val Venis and Hardcore Holly. Big Show wants Kane and choke slams him to a big pop. Show wants Rock now but Rock boots him low to a big pop and hits the spit punch and a clothesline and Showster is gone. He starts taking apart the announce table. JR: “What the hell are you doing you big sonofabitch?!? We gotta work here.” Show pulls Rock under the rope and brawls with him. Crash Holly is out next. Show choke slams Rock through the announce table and then leaves. Meanwhile, the entire ring gangs up on Kane. Taker is out next to the dubbed “Red Devil” song. Taker beats everyone off Kane with rights. UT tosses Bradshaw, Hardcore, and chokeslams Val Venis to the floor. Kane tosses Albert and Crash Holly. Kane and Taker go face to face and a reluctant Scotty 2 Hotty is next. JR: “It’s like two giant men fighting over the last chicken leg.” Double chokeslam on Scotty and he’s gone as Rock is still out on the outside. Stone Cold is next as UT and Kane wait. Triple H jumps Austin from behind and they brawl in the entranceway. Rock in and he jumps Kane from behind but that goes nowhere. UT and Kane on the offense as Triple H continues beating down Austin. Austin blades. Mr. Ass out next. He tries fighting off UT and Kane to no luck. The refs finally pull Triple H off Austin. Rock fights back in UT but leaves his head down on a whip and eats a DDT. Haku (Meng) is out next to a quiet curiosity. He chops UT around but that doesn’t last long. JR wants Triple H’s blood for what he did to Austin and Lawler says he deserved it for interfering in Triple H’s match.

• Rikishi is out last at 30. Rikishi tries picking a fight with Austin but Austin is ready to go. Austin clotheslines Haku over the top. Taker chokeslams Rikishi. UT tries to shitcan Rock but he slides under onto the apron. Rikishi superkicks Taker over the top and he’s gone. Rock goes after Rikishi but doesn’t get the best of that one. Rikishi goes for the Bonzai Drop but Rock low blows him and tosses him out as UT leaves on his motorcycle.

• Final Four: Billy Gunn, Austin, Rock, and Kane. One of these doesn’t belong. Austin preps a Stunner but Gunn pushes him off and counters with a Fameasser. Billy Gunn tries to toss him but Austin reverses and tosses him instead. Rock with DDT on Kane and everyone is selling exhaustion. Austin and Rock lock eyes and the crowd is digging it. They go face to face to slug it out. Rock with a spit punch to get the advantage. Rock goes for the Rock Bottom but Austin elbows out and hits a Stunner to a loud pop. Kane attacks from behind and tries to dump Austin. Austin with a Thesz press and some rights then a low blow on Kane. Austin rakes the Rock’s eyes but he comes back with a Rock Bottom. Kane gets a head of steam and Rock tosses him between the ropes. Austin and Rock slug it out. Austin scoops him but no go. Rock now tries but Kane is back in and dumps Rock from behind. Austin lands on the apron. Kane celebrates and doesn’t realize Austin is still in. Austin attacks with rights but runs into a chokeslam from Kane. Kane calls for the Tombstone but Austin goes low. Kane rolls to the floor and gets a chair. Back in, he swings it but Austin goes low again. Off a whip reversal, Kane scoops Austin on his shoulder but Austin slides out and hits a Stunner. He gets the chair and hits Kane with it 3 fucking times and a clothesline later to win it at 61:52.

• One of my favorite rumbles. Each segment made perfect sense and allowed an assortment of wrestlers to hit some signature moves and spots. Also, and in a big upgrade over the previous few years, there was a variety of believable winners including Rock, Big Show, Taker, Kane, Austin and the finish was in doubt down to the last couple minutes. Even Rikishi was treated as a threat. Triple H and Big Show’s interference were also additions that made perfect sense and enhanced the story of the rumble and the ongoing storylines. And Kane’s mayhem over the first half and lasting 55 minutes total to eliminate 11 guys is great stuff. ****1/2

• WWEHV Wrap-up and Coach runs down the matches. The Dudleyz cut a promo and say that EnC had been ducking them and now they are happy to be champs again. I’m simplifying but it was good promo. Ivory says Chyna got what she deserved. Steven Richards says he wishes Chyna was dead. Good thing that didn’t make the PPV. Angle says he proved that he can go with the toughest and still be champ. GMS says Kane is a wild man and he doesn’t even know if the rumble is over yet. HTM whines that he didn’t get the opportunity to sing his song. William Regal says he was besmirched in his first rumble by the bloody heathen Test.

The 411: Epic fucking PPV. Outside of the Chyna/Ivory angle continuation, this is one of the best RRs ever with only four real matches. And with Angle/Triple H bringing up the rear with a still ***+ encounter, you know the show has to be good. The Dudleyz title victory and celebration, Kane's juggernaut BITCH routine, almost everything about the ladder match, and the continuation of the Austin/Triple H feud. Awesome awesome awesome.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]