ironhorse_iv
It's the Stone Cold truth! 2001 Royal Rumble was indeed, one of the best wrestling shows, I ever saw. The show at New Orleans was truly packed from the opening to the closing, with some of the greatest competitors that ever lived. It was a night worth remembering for. However, there were a few faults, I can't overlooked even for my nostalgia love for then WWF (WWE), like comedian, Drew Carrey awkward appearance in the Royal Rumble match, when he clearly isn't a fan of pro-wrestling, to a few too many filler vignettes, to unwatchable taboo Crash TV angles, that were a bit too dumb, over sexualized, or extremely violence for even my taste, at the time. While, some of the stuff, they did back then, was truly amazing. Rewatching it, there were a lot of things that now, really bugs me, like the chair shots to the head, or the overuse of blading. Nevertheless, the show is still watchable. Just note the cringe-worthy moments are just a little bit more noticeable, now. Some parts of the show, hasn't aged well. Let's start with the pre-show episode of Sunday Night Heat, in which, Lo Down (D'Lo Brown and Chaz) faced Kaientai (Taka Michinoku and Shoichi Funaki) in a tag team match for a chance to take part in the Royal Rumble. Not only, are the wrestlers playing politically incorrect somewhat racism stereotypical characters of Arabs & Japanese, but the whole angle of seeing, what tag team was more evil, is kinda cringe-worthy, when looking back at it; seeing how WWF Magazine also printed a poster to Kaientai destroying New York City with the World Trade Center on fire in order to make them look more popular. Yes, this really did happen, a few months, before 9/11 happen. Look it up. While, I can still get a laugh at how over the top, these acts, I still kinda think of it as offensive. Added to that trouble; it's funny that the match didn't really matter, as Drew Carey wound up being entered instead. It's so bad. Despite that, the preliminary matches on the card were a lot better. The opening match to the card, saw the Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray & Devon Dudley) defend their tag team championship against Edge & Christian. It was a very nice opening, with both teams being red hot. However, it was a bit hard to watch, due to the concussion angle that probably can't be done, in today's wrestling world. Nevertheless, both teams put on a show that might be, overlook, by some fans, because the lack of table shots. This brings us to the Ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship between champion, Chris Benoit and challenger, Chris Jericho. What a great match with a great angle. Lots of sick looking bumps, using Benoit's head. Hard to watch at times, due to what happen to Benoit, later on, his career. Women Championship was next, with champion, Ivory facing challenger, Chyna with Right to Censor member, Stevie Richards at ringside. Alright match for the most part, but the whole broken neck angle doesn't make much sense, seeing how unrealistic fast, Chyna recovers from neck surgery in kayfabe terms. I know, it was done to make it, look like Ivory got a fighting chance, but gees louise; it kinda undermined Ivory's talent a bit here. It's sad, because I always found her to be a better wrestler than Chyna. The WWF Championship is next, with champion, Kurt Angle defending his belt against challenger, Triple H. As much as the match was great. I hatred the angle. It was so McMahon family driven. It was a bit awkward to see a heel vs heel match as one of the main event of the show. The fans didn't know, who to choose, here. In spite of that, the 30 Men Royal Rumble that follow that mess, was truly the right choice to end the show, with. Without spoiling it, too much, some of the best highlights from the match, has to be the hardcore rumble parts with Kane doing the most single eliminates in a Royal Rumble match in his career, the return of Honkytonk Man, and The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin facing down. It was amazing match, worthy to be talk about in the same astrosphere as the 1992's 'Royal Rumble', 1998's 'Royal Rumble' and others. It was one hell of a performance. Overall: Because how good, most of the matches, were. I have to say, Royal Rumble 2001 is a must watch PPV, I highly recommend seeing this show, despite some flaws.
Xophianic
Along with Backlash, Fully Loaded and Summerslam (all year 2000), this was is one of my favorite WWF pay-per-views. Aside from Ivory vs Chyna (which was inexcusable crap), every match was solid and excellent. The Dudley Boyz vs Edge & Christian for the Tag Team Titles was very exciting and a good starter for the great pay-per-view. Kurt Angle vs Triple H for the WWF Title was very good, though it ended differently than I expected. Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Title was the best match of the night and definitely the best of the year so far.And of course there was the main event, the Royal Rumble itself. It was very exciting and entertaining, with great action moments and very funny moments too. It featured the returns of the Big Show, Al Snow and Haku. It included funny moments from Drew Carey and the Honky Tonk Man. The overall Rumble was very good, with Stone Cold Steve Austin winning, of course.Everybody knew Stone Cold was going to win, but the most impressive of the night was obviously Kane. Kane, who has always been one of my favorite wrestlers, was in the Royal Rumble for over an hour. He outlasted everybody and took out more wrestlers than anybody else did. Though he was one of the first ones out, he was also the last one eliminated, and it was almost disappointing to see Austin beat him. You've got to be impressed with Kane. It was truly his night.
