Royal Rumble 2002 Review
Royal Rumble 2002 Review
Hello all, my name is Chris DiFrancesco and I am new to TWC community. I was brought on board to cover old shows and I chose to cover the years 2002-2010 because I felt this was probably one of the best stretches of WWF/E programming ever. I’m looking forward to everyone taking this ride with me. If you’d like to follow me on the social media platforms, here is the info!
Instagram: @chrisdifrancesco
Twitter: @CDiFran24
Quick bio: I’m 32, been watching WWF/E since 1990. I’m married with a baby girl who came into this world this past October. I have a Bachelors Degree in Journalism, and TV/Radio from Rider University. I covered MLB and the NHL as a beat writer in Philadelphia for 11 years. Hosted a podcast for Olio.fm for over 5 years. Will be restarting soon. Notable guests: Shawn Michaels, Jim Ross, Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, Bruce Prichard
The 15th Royal Rumble extravaganza commenced on January 20th, 2002 inside Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA. The business was red hot at this time as we had just saw the epic return of ‘The Game’ Triple H after missing nearly a year with a torn quad, and Chris Jericho entered the event as the first ever Undisputed Champion.
With a relatively weak under-card, this night was all about and built on the Royal Rumble match and Triple H’s return to the top spot. It’s crazy to think that a pay-per-view that had The Rock challenge Jericho for the Undisputed title was almost a mere afterthought when looking back on this show. That’s not a knock on the performers or the story build heading into the Rumble. What it does say is just how hot the Hunter return was. His miraculous return on Raw weeks earlier could arguably be considered the greatest ovation is Madison Square Garden, even pro wrestling history. The place shook. The live camera shook. At one point, it was even difficult to hear Motorhead in the background.
Ratings for these matches will be based on my personal opinion and will be on a scale from 1-to-10, with 1 being completely forgettable and 10 being ‘must see.’
Nonetheless, let’s get to the reason why we are here. Ladies and gentleman, the 2002 Royal Rumble!
1- Tazz and Spike Dudley (c) defeat The Dudley Boyz (w/ Stacy Keibler) to retain the WWF Tag-Team Championships in 5:06:
Solid opener but maybe a little too short. The Dudley’s dominated right off the bat and I quickly thought, then, the Dudley’s would make quick work of the babyface duo of Tazz and Spike. Well, that did not happen. Tazz got the hot tag from Spike, however, the ref did not see it! After attempting the double-team on the little Dudley, Spike avoided contact causing D-Von and Bubba Ray to clothesline each other. This lead a legal tag to the ‘human suplex machine.’ Despite a distraction attempt for Keibler, Tazz slapped on the Tazzmission tapping out D-Von to retain the tag titles for he and Spike. 3/10
2- William Regal defeats Edge (c) to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship in 9:45:
To me, this is an unlikely match-up to have at arguably the biggest show on WWF’s calendar that’s not Wrestlemania. What people don’t remember is just how over Regal was as a heel during this era. At this time, Regal was beating guys with his weapon of choice, brass knuckles. Regal knew how to get heel heat and it was great to watch. To the match, prior to the opening bell, referee Nick Patrick checked Regal’s tights to see if the challenger was carrying brass knuckles. Not surprising, he was! As Patrick took the weapon away, Edge began his attack on Regal. This was a real good back-and forth match-up as Edge showed he could pretty much work with any man on the roster and at this point Regal was a technical gem. The finish came when Regal pulled his brass-knucks out of his trunks, and pulled Patrick in front of him to create the distraction. When Edge went for his spear finisher Regal caught him in the head with a loaded left hook. Regal made the cover and captured the coveted IC title! 7/10
3- Trish Stratus (c) defeated Jazz to retain the WWF Women’s Championship in 3:45:
Right off jump street, Jazz took advantage offensively focusing on the Stratus’ visibly injured hand. Jazz then turned her attention to Jacqueline, who was serving as the special guest referee. They shove each other which led to Stratus attempting her bulldog finish but Jazz reversed it into a schoolboy roll-up and a DDT. The finish saw Stratus block an attack in the corner and deliver Stratusfaction for the pin to retain her title. 1/10
4- The ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair defeated Mr. (Vince) McMahon via submission in a Street Fight at 15:00:
I loved the video package setting up this contest. It encapsulated the heel persona of Mr. McMahon so well. I’m a sucker for great video packages and this one showed how demonic the Mr. McMahon character could be and what Flair was in for. This feud began back in the middle of November when it was revealed that Flair had ‘purchased’ WWF stock from Stephanie and Shane McMahon and is now a ‘co-owner’ of the World Wrestling Federation. The lead into this match was a memorable segment on Raw in which VKM donned the Flair robe mocking the Nature Boy. Flair confronted McMahon but the chairman viciously attacked Flair with a lead pipe. Their match at the Rumble wasn’t a mat classic by any means, however, it told a great story. McMahon has always been a fighter. He’s been fighting his whole life and that’s his wrestling style, for a lack of a better term. In typical Flair fashion, the match starts off with numerous punches and knife-edge chops to the massive chest of McMahon. As the match went on, McMahon busted Flair open (no shock) midway through with numerous weapons usage including that devastating lead pipe. McMahon used the ring post and steel steps to aid in his attack. Flair nailed McMahon with his own weaponry in the form of television monitors and said lead pipe. The finish came when Flair actually made someone tap out to the Figure-Four leg lock! 6/10
5- Chris Jericho (c) defeated The Rock to retain the WWF Undisputed Championship in 18:50:
The video package was solid on this one. Told Jericho’s story to becoming the first ever Undisputed champion nicely. A month prior to the Rumble at WWF Vengeance, Jericho defeated BOTH Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock in the same night to become the inaugural champion. Nobody and I mean nobody saw that coming. Getting back to the video package, it made Jericho look like the heel superstar that he became during 2001-02 heading into this showdown with ‘The Great One.’ These two future hall of famers had a great wrestling match here. Good back and forth wrestling with numerous false finishes, including Rock kicking out of TWO Lionsaults. We even had some gaga interference in this one. Lance Storm and Christian came out to the aid of Jericho and they received a beatdown for their efforts. The interference wasn’t totally wasted when Storm’s distraction helped Jericho hit a Rock Bottom on the challenger. The Rock kicked out after a long two count! Minutes later, Rock put Jericho through the Spanish announce table with a huge Rock Bottom. After a couple ref bumps and more Rock Bottoms, Jericho hit Rock with a low-blow, smashed his head into the exposed turnbuckle, and rolled up Rocky for the slow three count to successfully retain the Undisputed title. 9/10
And now, the Royal Rumble match!
Here’s the order of entry for the 2002 Rumble Match:
(1) Rikishi
(2) Goldust
(3) Big Boss Man
(4) Bradshaw
(5) Lance Storm
(6) Al Snow
(7) Billy Gunn
(8) The Undertaker
(9) Matt Hardy
(10) Jeff Hardy
(11) Maven
(12) Scotty 2 Hotty
(13) Christian
(14) Diamond Dallas Page
(15) Chuck
(16) The Godfather
(17) Albert
(18) Perry Saturn
(19) Stone Cold Steve Austin
(20) Val Venis
(21) Test
(22) Triple H
(23) The Hurricane
(24) Faarooq
(25) Mr. Perfect
(26) Kurt Angle
(27) Big Show
(28) Kane
(29) Rob Van Dam
(30) Booker T
Here’s the order of eliminations:
(1) Big Boss Man
(2) Lance Storm
(3) Bradshaw
(4) Goldust
(5) Al Snow
(6) Rikishi
(7) Billy
(8) Jeff Hardy
(9) Matt Hardy
(10) The Undertaker
(11) Maven
(12) DDP
(13) Albert
(14) The Godfather
(15) Scotty 2 Hotty
(16) Christian
(17) Chuck
(18) Perry Saturn
(19) Val Venis
(20) Test
(21) The Hurricane
(22) Faarooq
(23) Big Show
(24) Kane
(25) RVD
(26) Booker T
(27) Steve Austin
(28) Mr. Perfect
(29) Kurt Angle
Highlights:
As stated at the top of the article, this Rumble was all about redemption for Triple H. But, there were a few big highlights along the way.
The first big pop of the Rumble came when The Undertaker arrived at number 8 and eliminated five wrestlers withing three minutes. One of the most shocking moments in Rumble history occurred after Taker eliminated the Hardy Boyz.
Matt and Jeff came back into the ring to attack Taker following their elimination, which game the infamous Maven an opportunity of a lifetime. With Undertaker’s back turned against the ropes, Maven hit the Dead Man with a dropkick that sent him over the top rope and onto the floor. Undertaker, along with the rest of the world, was in complete shock!
Undertaker came back into the ring and unleashed hell on Maven, eliminating him almost instantly.
Stone Cold came out at number 19 and the Atlanta crowd went bananas. Austin threw a few guys out before it was time to the play the game at number 22.
Triple H came out to a mega pop at number 22 and he entered the ring slowly as only the Rattlesnake awaited. It was such a surreal moment to see these two former tag-team champions staring at each other in the ring.
A few moments after the stare-down, the Hurricane was next up at 23! Helms entered the ring and attempted a double choke-slam on both Hunter and Austin. Obviously, didn’t work.
Another cool nostalgia moment came when Mr. Perfect made his WWF return at number 25. Perfect had a great showing and stayed in for over 15 minutes. Kurt Angle came out next at 26 and he would last all the way until the end.
The final two came down to Triple H and Angle and they had themselves a solid battle to the very end. At the end Kurt Angle tossed Triple H over but Hunter was able to pull himself up and get back in the ring. Whilst celebrating, Hunter taunted as Angle had no idea Hunter had swooped back in the in ring. Triple H clotheslined Angle over the top rope and sending him to WrestleMania X8 to face the Undisputed Champion! 10/10
This Rumble match is one of the most memorable events of all time. It’s one that most wrestling fans recall fondly. From a personal standpoint, I thought it was the best Rumble in WWF/E history. The crowd was so hot from jump street and it’s amazing how stellar the match was without the likes of The Rock or even Jericho, who was the champion.
