WWE King of the Ring 2001

RATING LEVELS:

Curt Hennig – A “GOAT” show, as Perfect as possible

Watch It – A consistently good show worth watching in its entirety

Watch It…With Remote in Hand – 3 or more above-average ratings

High Risk Maneuver – Mostly filler, inessential, but 1-2 good matches

DUDleyville – Zero redeeming qualities, chore to watch

King of the Ring 2001 – June 2001

Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight’s show, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is the WWE World Champion, Kane holds the Intercontinental Championship (but would not defend here), and the Dudleys are the recognized WWE Tag Team Champions. Rhyno was in the midst of his 3^rd reign as Hardcore Champion, Chyna is the Womens’ Champion (she would not appear on tonight’s show either), Matt Hardy held the European Championship, and Jeff Hardy is the Light Heavyweight Champion.*

* A quick note on the Light Heavyweight Championship - Prior to the spring of 2001, roughly around the time that WCW was purchased, the Light Heavyweight Title had basically been completely forgotten. Dean Malenko was technically the champion for 322 days** (April 2000 - March 2001), but rarely defended the title. The championship was ostensibly brought back for the sole purpose of unification with the more respected WCW Cruiserweight Championship. 

** Malenko's completely uneventful and irrelevant "reign" of 322 days was not even the longest in the title's history. Duane "Gillberg" Gill held the title for 453 days between November 98' and February 2000. Like Malenko, Gillberg rarely defended the meaningless title during his tenure as champ.

COMMENTATORS: Jim Ross and Paul Heyman

The 9th annual King of the Ring starts off with WCW's Diamond Dallas Page showing up through the crowd. DDP had been revealed as the mystery man stalking Sara, the Undertaker's wife. This was arguably the worst angle of the entire InVasion storyline. DDP's promo is proof that Vince had no clue who he was. As the promo goes on, though, DDP actually starts getting some cheers, unsurprising when you consider that (a) he was one of few "name" WCW guys that was part of the InVasion and (b) its hard to boo a guy with the cajones to brazenly challenge the Undertaker. Had he done that without the stalker gimmick, coming in as a cocky loudmouth swinging for the fences by going after the baddest dude on the block, DDP could've been a game changer for the company as his passion comes across and engages the live audience. Not a bad segment when you get past the awful storyline Page was saddled with. (2/5)

Kurt Angle vs. Christian in a King of the Ring Tournament match is our opening bout. Very briskly-paced with the commentary team bouncing back and forth between calling the match and hyping Angle's streetfight with Shane McMahon later in the evening. Overall, not an incredible match, but a good enough opener with a thrilling final few minutes. (2.5/5)

In the next match of tonight's tournament, Edge takes on longtime buddy Rhyno. Early on, Rhyno exposes the middle turnbuckle and Edge goes into it with a head full of steam. Edge seems to put in an extra effort to make Rhyno's offense look great and and there is a pretty excellent Spear/Gore collision towards the end. Well-paced with lots of impactful offense, this is a fine match and a considerable step-up from the by-the-numbers opener. (3.5/5)

The Dudley Boys defend the WWE Tag Team Championships against Spike Dudley and a mystery partner (Kane) in the evening's third bout. The Dudleys had vanquished Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit just 3 days earlier on SmackDown to regain the straps. While the action is good, after just three or four minutes, the crowd is already demanding tables - something that the heel Dudleys (wisely) don't give them (just like they don't add the "Waaassuupp" when D-Von hits a headdrop from the corner). Kane's power is as impressive here as ever, effortlessly powerslamming Bubba while Spike's pinball bumping shows why, despite his size and unkempt look, he was able to have a career that extended beyond the ECW Arena. There's a good, clean finish too, with a crowd-pleasing table spot after the bell. Solid, but not awesome. (2.5/5)

At this point, and it is not the first time tonight, the wrestling portion of the show takes a backseat to filler promos and backstage segments. Most importantly, these breaks provide us with snippets of DDP's personal life captured on camera - the stalker now being stalked. Again, this is supposed to give us a feeling of DDP getting a taste of his own medicine - but it just doesn't work. The Undertaker playing mind games with DDP comes off like he is sinking to his rival's level instead of intimidating him with his own brand of cerebral torture. The unintended effect is that you wind up rooting for DDP.

Oh, and Billy Gunn cuts a piss poor promo from WWE New York, complaining about how despite winning the 1999 King of the Ring tournament, he's not even included on this year's card. 

And just like that it is time for our King of the Ring final - Edge vs. Kurt Angle. Kurt Angle comes in looking to win his second King of the Ring tournament in a row, a feat never before accomplished...except by Bret Hart, who won the tournament in 1991 and 93' (there was no 1992 tournament to win). As Hart's name was still mud at the time, neither JR or Heyman note this. Anyway, in the opening minutes, Angle delivers an awesome belly-to-belly suplex on Edge that ends up with the Rated R Superstar on the arena floor. Like in his match with Rhyno, Edge's selling is excellent, while Angle dominates via chinlocks, suplexes, and cutoffs. There is a great finisher reversal sequence, but run-ins from Christian and Shane McMahon (his second of the night), as well as a ref bump late in the game push this one into overbooked territory. From a storyline perspective, these things are hard to argue with, but out of context, they hurt the match more than they help. (3/5)

X-Pac challenges Jeff Hardy for his Light-Heavyweight Championship in the next bout. I'd say this match feature's fairly good representation of what people refer to as "XPac Heat," the noticeable dip in enthusiasm and almost utter silence that he elicited as he walked down the aisle. JR notes that XPac was not even yet 30 years old yet, which is incredible when you think about how much he accomplished between the ages of 21 of 29 (and how much his stock dropped in the years that followed). A noticeable miscue in the second half of the bout hurts this one significantly, but it is plain to see that both men are working hard. While this match isn't atrocious, it's average at best, saved more by the participants' respectable efforts than by the story told. (2.5/5)

And we go back to the back where William Regal and Tajiri are hanging out. World Champion Steve Austin arrives, picks up the phone, and calls Vince, telling him he's heard a the rumor that if Jericho or Benoit win the belt tonight, they will take the title with them to WCW.

From here we get yet another hidden camera video of DDP in a parking lot. DDP calls out Taker, who doesn't appear, as it is revealed that the stalker is noneother than the Deadman's wife, Sara. After the reveal, DDP hops into the ring and begs Undertaker to "make him famous" while a sizable portion of the audience chants "DDP." Limp Bizkit blares and out walks the American Bad Ass, sporting no sunglasses, in "mom jeans" and an ill-fitting v-neck. From the moment the brawl begins, Page is in 100% sell mode, further hurting the angle because one expected he, having called out the Undertaker, would have had some sort of underhanded tactic ready for him. Sara shows up with a camcorder and, again, one wonders if the people behind this segment ever had any interest in DDP or just took pleasure in watching him make a fool of himself. This entire storyline could've been salvaged had DDP somehow got the upperhand and forced Sara to not only watch but record the dismantling of her husband. Instead, Taker dominates, Sara tapes it from a few feet away, and DDP retreats like a weakling. No blood. No major high spot. No reason for this angle to have happened aside from burying DDP. Everything about this segment is a flop, from Taker's ridiculous appearance to how one-sided the beatdown is to how "the brains" behind it didn't realize that by having DDP get whooped so handily, there was no reason for the storyline to lead to an actual match. (0/5)

From here we go to even more time-filler, with Steve Austin hunting around backstage to find Vince McMahon and a video build-up for our next match...

Which is the streetfight - Kurt Angle vs. Shane McMahon. If you haven't seen this match, words probably don't do justice to just how hardcore and violent this match is. The match begins with Angle baiting Shane into some actual wrestling and it is very physical, with Angle opened up a little bit within the first two minutes. This goes on for a little while, the Olympic Gold Medalist obviously toying with the Millionaire Heir. Shane eventually gets his hand on some weapons, which makes sense considering how outclassed he is in the ring. As the match goes on, there are loads of cool spots: Kurt Angle bridging out of Shane's pinfall attempts (and getting rocked with an elbow to the chest for his efforts), an immaculately devastating shooting star press from Shane-O, stiff forearms galore from the Olympian. As the match progress down the aisle, there is a sense that we're about to see a big spot. Shane's reputation made sure of it, especially after the stuntman fall he took months earlier in a match against Big Show. Unlike that ridiculous stunt, expertly choreographed, this time around, the bumps McMahon takes are almost hard to watch, only made tolerable by the fact that, in 2014, we know Shane is alive, able to walk, and doesn't seem to have brain damage. The first of the four suplexes Angle delivers in the stage area is the most brutal, but the next three are almost equally hard to watch, the two men continuing to go through with a very violent, very planned sequence that obviously was not working out. It is hard to watch, but it is also enthralling storytelling. At this point, the story of this match really kicks in. Having already wrestled two matches and having been put through a much more rigorous and frustrating match than he expected out of Shane McMahon, Angle is exhausted. Shane's lifeless body is too heavy for the exhausted Kurt, forcing him to use a nearby cart to bring his opponent back into the ring. But Kurt sells this too, putting all his might into every push. By the time he does get Shane in the ring, one wonders if Kurt even has the energy to make the almost superfluous pinfall. Is the finish that follows a bit contrived? Sure...the same way the final frames of a Schwarzenegger film are designed to effectively answer the question "What else do you need to do to kill this guy?" The fact that the answer is one that is definitive and that the right man wins is all I really need to enjoy it after considering what these two put their bodies through on this night. Still, I can't give a perfect score to a match like this. Unlike The Undertaker and Mankind's legendary cell match at the same event 3 years prior, a clash of two inhuman monsters, this was a match between an untrained amateur and an Olympic Gold Medalist. Even considering that Angle had already wrestled two matches that evening and that Shane had proven (in his matches against Vince, Show, and others) that he could inflict damage as good as anyone, there is something imperfect about that concept. There is also that odd, unsettling feeling that comes up when you watch this match. Its the same one that typically comes up when viewing another Mankind classic - his match against The Rock at the 99' Royal Rumble - and it is one that limits the replay value of this match. Still, for those interested in the extreme, this match is unquestionably an engaging and well-produced 25 minutes of non-stop action. As many good matches as Kurt Angle has had in his tremendous pro-wrestling career, this match with Shane would still fall in that 1% of all-time classics, a testament to Shane's abilities and the overall storytelling that Angle put into this one. (4.5/5)

So how do you top a match like that? Well, the answer is - wrestling. The night's main event pits WWE World Champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin against former WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. From the start, it is obvious that Austin is the ringleader and that he is out to outwork Jericho and Benoit, who had the reputations for being arguably the best two workers on the planet at the time. The first third is Austin/Benoit and, while it makes little sense that Jericho spends so much time on the outside, the in-ring action is captivating enough to keep you wishing it goes on forever. Similarly, when Jericho transitions in (and Benoit steps out for a spell), the match maintains its incredible pace and Austin shows just how good he was. Jericho and Benoit's offense is spectacular, but without Austin's selling, cut-offs, and character work, it would be nothing more than the same "workrate overload" they had done countless times in the midcard. This is a main event match and it is Austin who is the cornerstone. When Benoit and Jericho do finally seem to have the match for themselves, it is obvious they know eachother's playbooks just as much as they studied Austin's. Unfortunately, they are too evenly matched and both fatigued having never had to face Stone Cold, the champion who came into the match with the disadvantage of not having to be pinned to lose his title, but ended up knowing every trick in the book and just how much to keep in the tank to hold onto the prize. The biggest flaw in this otherwise excellent match might be the final pinfall, an emotional downer based simply on the fact that, after teasing multiple finishers from each one, we get an ending that veers closer to believability than dramatic. (4/5)

With an average match/segment rating of 2.72-out-of-5, there is much more to enjoy about King of the Ring than there is to complain about. It is one that could be and almost needs to be enjoyed in its entirety if you are going to get the full effect of the Angle/McMahon streetfight, the story of the match having so much to do with the idea that Kurt Angle had already walked that aisle 5 times, wrestled close to 20 minutes, before he is pushed to his limits by a brash amateur, someone who should be no challenge to an Olympic Gold Medalist. The fact that the match that follows could be argued as being significantly better, more entertaining, and more deserving of praise a decade later is more than just a cherry on top of a sundae - it is another heaping scoop of rocky road and extra whip cream. To get there, though, one has to be patient. The undercard is hit-and-miss, though, Edge puts on two great performances that, on any other show, could have been viewed as a star-making performance. The worst segment of the night is the DDP/Taker angle, but the matches surrounding it are routinely decent. XPac and Jeff Hardy, in particular, work harder than the audience gives them credit for, hurting modern viewers who might be more welcoming to the match had the crowd given even half a care.

FINAL RATING – Watch It…With Remote in Hand