2002 Royal Rumble Thoughts

   The 2002 edition of the Royal Rumble provided some fun surprises, great returns, the moment that made Maven famous, and a fantastic final four.  Along with the Rumble match were some other matches, including Championships on the line and Ric Flair's first WWF match in nine years.  It was definitely a fun event.  

Tag Team Titles - Taz & Spike Dudley vs. Dudley Boys

    A lot of things that happened in early 2002 were remnants of the WWF's win over WCW.  In March of 2001, WCW went under and in the WWF's storyline, Shane McMahon bought WCW.  He joined his WCW with sister Stephanie's ECW to become the Alliance.  Everything was on the line at the Survivor Series.  During that time, the Dudley Boys were part of the Alliance, as was Taz.  Spike remained with the WWF.  They teased an angle between Taz and Stone Cold Steve Austin.  Due to Taz standing up to the leader, he was kicked out of the Alliance.  He befriended Spike, who was being picked on by his brothers.  Together, they won the WWF Tag Team Titles.  Despite having a good distraction in Stacey Keibler as their manager, the Dudleys couldn't capitalize and Taz locked in a Tazmission for the win.  It's a shame they never did an Austin/Taz program because it would have been cool.

Intercontinental Title - Edge vs. William Regal

   This feud had developed in December, 2001 when Regal took offense to Edge's remarks about him.  The conniving Englishman used brass knuckles to dispose of his enemy Edge.  When the match began, the referee discovered brass knuckles in Regal's tights and took care of that situation right away to make it a fair fight.  When Edge was ready to end the match with a spear, Regal pushed the referee in front him to take the maneuver.  With the referee out, Regal reached into his tights for a second pair of brass knuckles and used them on Edge.  When the referee finally came to, Regal pinned Edge and became the new Intercontinental Champion.

Women's Title - Trish Stratus vs. Jazz

   In the middle of her reign as Women's Champion, Chyna suddenly left the WWF and six women entered a match to determine a new Title holder at the 2001 Survivor Series.  Trish Stratus was the new Champion but her feud with Jazz was not over.  In just two years time, Trish got very good very quickly and was on her way to becoming one of the greatest Women's Champions in WWF history.  Jazz got into it with referee Jacqueline, which ultimately cost her the match and the opportunity to become the WWF Women's Champion.


Street Fight - Vince McMahon vs, Ric Flair

   Before the WWF defeated the Alliance for full control, the McMahon siblings owned half the company in shares.  The night after the WWF won the war, Ric Flair made his return and confronted Vince McMahon.  Flair said that Shane and Stephanie sold their shares to a consortium and that man was Flair himself. McMahon was irate that he was now co-owners with Flair, which led to a match between the two.  Being that McMahon was not a wrestler, he had to think of other means to defeat Flair. However, the Nature Boy was the "Dirtiest Player In the Game" and he was ready.  After a Figure Four, it was all over.  Vince was so distraught after the loss that he decided to bring in the nWo.

WWF Championship - Chris Jericho vs. The Rock

   Chris Jericho defeated The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin to become the first Undisputed WWF Champion, a fact he has yet to never fail to mention.  The Rock received the first Title shot and it was doubtful Jericho would remain Champion.  As expected, Jericho had help in the form of Lance Storm and Christian, who distracted The Rock.  When that failed to work, crooked referee Nick Patrick came out to replace the injured referee.  The Rock attacked Patrick, followed by performing a Rock Bottom and People's Elbow on Jericho.  However, while the Rock was trying to revive the original referee, Jericho low blowed The Rock and sent him into the exposed turnbuckle.  Jericho managed to roll up The Rock to retain the Championship.

Royal Rumble Match

   This year, the previous year's number 30 entrant Rikishi, started at number one.  Number two this year was the returning Goldust.  When the Undertaker entered the match, he dominated and eliminated everyone left in the ring.  The next two entrants were Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy.  The Hardy Boys, along with Lita, all attacked the Undertaker to try to eliminate him.  Even though the Hardys were eliminated, they kept returning to the ring.  While this was going on, Maven entered the match.  Due to the distraction, Maven came from behind Taker with a dropkick and eliminated the Dead Man.  The Undertaker was irate as he reentered the ring, eliminated Maven, and proceeded to beat the stuffing out of him throughout the entire arena.  It was one of the most shocking eliminations in Royal Rumble history.

   Stone Cold Steve Austin entered the match at number nineteen and picked up where the Undertaker left off. Austin eliminated everyone in sight until he was the only one left, a sight we've seen in several Rumble matches.  The buzzer rang for #22 and it was the long awaited and promoted return of Triple H.  At number 25 entered the unexpected Mr. Perfect to an unbelievably loud ovation.  Soon after, Kurt Angle, the Big Show, and Kane entered the brouhaha.  The last superstars to enter were Rob Van Dam and lucky number 30 Booker T.  After a Spineroonie, Booker received a Stunner for his troubles and was eliminated.  The final four were Austin, Triple H, Angle, & Mr. Perfect.  Mr. Perfect had a tremendous showing in the Rumble and even performed a Perfect-Plex to the delight of the crowd.

   Now it was down to Mr. Perfect, Triple H, and Angle.  Triple H eliminated the impressive Mr. Perfect and now it was down to the Game and Kurt Angle.  After a few more minutes of brawling, Triple H vindicated himself by winning the Royal Rumble and going on to WrestleMania to win the WWF Title from Chris Jericho.  In the end, this was a great Royal Rumble match and Rumble card in general.




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