WWF King of the Ring (June 2001)

From East Rutherford, New Jersey; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Paul Heyman

Opening WWF King of the Ring Tournament Semi-Final Match: Kurt Angle v Christian: They've switched to all black ropes for this show, which makes for a really weird, WCW-ish vibe. Maybe they were secretly itching to use them all those years, but had to wait until they finally won the war? Christian tries attacking, but walks into a suplex and gets pounded in the corner. Kurt misses a charge to allow Christian a swinging neckbreaker for two, and a sunset flip gets one when Kurt counters into the Anklelock - quickly blocked by Christian, so Kurt overhead suplexes him. Shoulderblock knocks Christian out of the ring, and Kurt follows, but gets knocked into the steps. Christian tries to go to the top rope, but Kurt shoves him off into the guardrail, and rolls him in for two. Side suplex gets two, and a well executed snap suplex gets two. Guess all those Benoit matches paid off. Kurt tries another, but Christian cradles him for two, so Angle punishes him with a vertical suplex for two, as Shane McMahon comes out to observe. This distracts Angle (who faces Shane in a Street Fight later on), and he misses a flying moonsault to give Christian two. Inverted DDT onto the knee gets two, and Christian looks to finish with the Unprettier, but Kurt counters into the Anklelock! Christian grabs the ropes, so Kurt pulls him off for an Olympic Slam, but Christian counters into the Unprettier for two - broken up by Shane, who wants Angle to advance and wear himself out before their match later. And he gets his wish as an Olympic Slam sends Kurt to the finals at 8:17. Nothing special overall, but the last few minutes were damn good, and it was solid overall. * ¼

WWF King of the Ring Tournament Semi-Final Match: Edge v Rhyno: Rhyno shows some fire early, but walks into a leg lariat, and Edge dropkicks him out of the ring. Edge follows to crotch Rhyno on the rail, then whips him into it for good measure. Inside, Rhyno manages to expose a turnbuckle and rams Edge into it, and adds a cross corner spear for two. Rhyno keeps after the ribs with a bodyscissors, and a bodyslam sets up a nice flying splash for two. Edge counters a charge with a stungun, then quickly follows up with an inverted atomic drop and a neckbreaker. Sunsetbomb gets two, but Edge walks into a spinebuster to set up the Gore - Edge countering by launching into his spear at the same time for a double-knockout. Cute. Rhyno gets two off of it, but Rhyno runs into the previously exposed buckle, and the Impaler sends Edge to the finals at 8:54. Not a classic either, but I appreciated the psychology (and Edge's selling of it), and the match didn't overstay its welcome. * ¼

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Dudley Boyz v Kane and Spike Dudley: The challengers charge in and attack, and they work a cute bit where Bubba tries press-slamming Spike, but Kane catches him, and press-slams him into a bodypress on Bubba for two. Nice. Big boot from Kane gets Spike another two count, and Bubba bails to D-Von. Spike unloads on him as well, and passes to Kane to powerslam him for two. Spike tags himself back in but quickly falls into a heat segment. Bubba nearly puts him into the cheap seats with a backdrop, but D-Von misses a 2^nd rope flying headbutt, and Kane gets the tag. He's a house of fire (no shit!), but they badly blow a sequence where Kane powerslams Bubba, and the referee is forced to stop counting at two because D-Von misses his cue to break up the pin. Looked terrible, and JR assuring us that 'Bubba got the shoulder up!' when he very obviously didn't wasn't helping. The champs come back with a non-Wassup Drop on Kane, and the Death Drop finishes Spike at 8:33. It was really funny/fascinating to watch the crowd through the finishing sequence, as they looked like they really wanted to go nuts as they'd been conditioned to for stuff like the Wassup Drop, but since the Dudley's were heels at this point, they couldn't get properly into it. I liked the booking with Spike needing Kane to hold his hand through everything, and the heat segment was fun as well, with the smallest of the Dudley's bumping like a maniac. **

WWF King of the Ring: Kurt Angle v Edge: We're less than an hour into the show and it's already time for the finals? I mean, I get that Angle still has another match, but didn't they just buy WCW? Couldn't some of those guys worked the tournament? Anyway, Angle tries to talk Edge into laying down to allow him to stay fresh for Shane, but if that was really his end goal, he should have just offered the opposite. Who is he, 1997 Shawn Michaels? Edge responds by punching him in the face, and hitting a leg lariat - still selling the ribs from earlier, in a nice touch. Kurt helps him with that by overhead suplexing him OUT OF THE RING, and damned if that wasn't an insane spot. Inside, Kurt side suplexes him for two, and a snap suplex gets two. Chinlock, and Kurt unloads with knees to the ribs when Edge tries escaping. Side superplex, but Edge knocks him off for a sloppy cradle, so Kurt punishes him with an overhead suplex for two. Chinlock again, but Edge manages to recover on the third arm drop, and he fights out of it, so Angle tosses him over the top for his efforts. Kurt follows to forward suplex Edge across the rail, but ends up getting crotched on the top rope as they head back in, and Edge brings him down with a rana for two. Edge with a pair of clotheslines and a backdrop, then he fires Angle into the corner with a slingshot for two. Kurt desperately tries for the Olympic Slam, but Edge escapes, so Kurt counters a Russian legsweep into the Anklelock. Edge escapes with a victory cradle for two, but Christian comes out to distract the referee, and Kurt rolls Edge up to cutoff the comeback. Anklelock, but now here comes Shane, and he manages to spear Kurt for Edge to finish at 10:20. Really underwhelming, disappointing match. Not 'bad,' per se, just a chinlocky letdown. Decent psychology throughout though, and Edge took some terrific bumps. * ½

WWF Light Heavyweight Title Match: Jeff Hardy v X-Pac: X-Pac with a quick armdrag to start, and he schools the champ on the mat, but gets armdragged himself off of a criss cross, and Jeff puts him on the floor with a headscissors. Jeff follows with a clothesline off the rail, and in a asshole clenching bit, nearly steps on some unfortunate kid who doesn't see it coming. That could have ended very badly, but luckily didn't. Inside, Jeff misses a corkscrew off the top, and X-Pac slaps on a rope-assisted abdominal stretch. He hiptosses Jeff out for a springboard bodypress, and hits a spinkick for two on the way back in. Chinlock, but Jeff escapes and wins a slugfest, but walks into another spinkick for two. Lightning kicks in the corner setup the bronco buster, but Jeff dodges him, and hits a dropkick. They botch a sequence in the corner, but quickly recover with Jeff hitting a flying somersault bodyblock for two. Flying bodypress follows, but X-Pac rolls through for two, and hits the X-Factor, but Jeff's in the ropes. He throws a tantrum then tries again, but now Jeff is ready with a chincrusher to counter, and the Swanton retains at 7:12. Never really got properly going, but fine for what it was, and didn't overstay its welcome. *

Street Fight: Kurt Angle v Shane McMahon: Kurt runs in and immediately tackles him - grabbing a waistlock and hanging onto it like a pit bull as Shane thrashes on the mat. Side suplex, and Kurt knocks him around with a few kneelifts, but walks into a legwhip, and McMahon actually tries to control on the mat before thinking better of it, and bailing. Kurt decides to drop onto all fours to lure him back in, but trying to wrestle the Olympic gold medalist does not go well for McMahon, and Kurt gutwrench suplexes him. Pair of overhead suplexes follow, and Kurt toys with him on the mat for a bit. It should be noted that we're only a few minutes into this, and already both Kurt and Shane are bleeding hardway. He gets on all fours and begs Shane to try again, but McMahon thinks better of it, and decides to simply punt him in the ribs instead - quite stiffly. Diving backelbow sets up a pair of clotheslines, but a third misses, and Kurt grabs a waistlock, so Shane drops his weight to drop Angle out of the ring. That just serves to piss the Olympian off, however, and we have a chase on the outside - Shane managing to dive off the rail at him to avoid getting caught. He adds another dive off the rail for good measure - actually leaping over the announcers in the process. McMahon finds a kendo stick and goes to work, then clotheslines Kurt over the rail into the crowd - then snapmares him back over! Inside, Shane gets a few two counts out of the deal, then heads out and tosses some weapons in from underneath the ring. He wallops Angle with a road sign for two, so Kurt tries an enzuigiri, but Shane ducks it into an anklelock! Angle quickly escapes, but misses a charge into the corner, and Shane DDTs him. Sharpshooter, but Kurt reaches for the discarded kendo stick, and whacks his way out. Kurt keeps the stick to pay Shane back for earlier, but McMahon ducks and leaps over his swings, then jabs him for two. Shane goes for the kill with a shooting star press onto a trashcan covered Angle, but Kurt rolls out of the way! That gets Angle two, and he fireman carries Shane over the top, then follows for a brawl over to the entrance set. Shane manages to reverses a suplex out there, but can't capitalize, so Kurt decides to overhead suplex him through a piece of glass that's part of the set - only for the glass to fail to shatter, with Shane smacking into it, then landing with a thud on the concrete, head first. That was insane. McMahon is somehow not, like, a paraplegic, so Kurt decides to simply try try again - this time overhead suplexing him right through it. And that's not a stunt window, either, as both guys look like beef carpaccio after the spot. Oh, and they're not done by a long shot, as Kurt picks himself up and follows Shane behind the set, then decides to overhead suplex him through another window to put him back outside... which doesn't break. Kurt tries again, but still Shane just thuds into the uncooperative sheet of glass. Finally, Angle decides to forget the suplex, and throw him through it head first, and HOLY SHIT I don't think this could get more brutal. Both guys look like they've been in a car wreck here. Shane is understandably finished, but this isn't falls count anywhere, so Kurt still has to get him all the way back into the ring. Since he's dead weight, Kurt finds a trolley and wheels him down the aisle, hooks the leg... for two! Kurt doesn't know what else he could possibly do to him at this point, but settles on grabbing a trashcan lid - only for Shane to blow him low, and hit an Olympic slam for two. Shane has nothing left to follow-up, however, so Kurt sends him into the post with a slingshot, then Olympic Slams him off the top to finally finish the poor guy at 25:58. It's no secret that I've completely lost interest in the garbagy Hardcore Matches, but when done right, like this, they're awesome! And that's because this wasn't just a brawl for the sake of a brawl, it was a brawl with real hatred and issues. Plus, they actually BRAWLED - legitimately beating the piss out of one another, and bumping like mad men. If anything, this was too violent for my taste, though you have to give them credit for going all out for their art. ****

Main Event: WWF Title Triple Threat Match: Steve Austin v Chris Jericho v Chris Benoit: Austin doesn't want to start and hangs out on the floor, so Benoit and Jericho slide out and attack in the aisle. Austin decides to bail into the crowd to escape, but gets chased, and dragged back. Inside, Steve manages to hang with Benoit in a chopfest, but gets overwhelmed when both challengers start firing them off. Well, Texas is pretty far from Canada, after all. They pinball Austin for a bit, but it breaks down when Jericho tries a spinheel kick, and accidentally hits Benoit when Steve ducks down. Jericho decides to make the best of it and go after Benoit while Austin busies himself with exposing a turnbuckle - only to get trapped in the Walls before he can use it. Benoit breaks it up and backdrops Jericho out of the ring, then goes after a recovering Austin with stomps in the corner. Crossface, but Steve's in the ropes, so Chris snap suplexes him instead. Backelbow gets two, but a charge ends with Benoit getting launched out of the ring, and Steve follows to toss him into the steps. Back in, Steve levels him with chops (nice ones too... maybe Texas is closer than I thought) to setup a pointed elbowdrop for two, as Jericho finally decides to rejoin the fun... only for Austin to whip Benoit into him to knock him right back onto the floor. Stunner, but Benoit reverses, but the referee gets bumped on the turnaround and there's no one to count! Benoit decides to grab the title belt to finish him, and swings away like his name is Merrill, but it only gets two. Jericho pulls him out to the floor and takes him out of the match, then slides in and hooks the still downed champion’s leg for two. Steve wins a slugfest and tries for the Walls, but Chris reverses - Austin in the ropes. Jericho with a vertical suplex for two, but walks into a visually impressive spinebuster for two. Steve with a Russian legsweep for two, and he tries a sleeper, but Jericho side suplexes free, and hits a diving forearm. Pair of clotheslines and a bulldog setup the lionsault, but Steve lifts the knees to block. Stunner, but Jericho blocks, so Austin turns it into a Thesz press. Benoit runs in with a chair and accidentally bashes Jericho with a brutal swing, then takes a Stunner from Steve, allowing the champ to get the two count on Jericho himself. Austin superplexes Jericho, then decides to do it again for two! Number three, but Benoit recovers, and grabs Austin from behind for a five-alarm rolling German suplex - only prevented from continuing when Austin mulekicks him. Fabulous sequence. Everyone is left looking up at the lights now, and Jericho is up first - slapping the Walls on Stone Cold! Benoit decides to help out by applying the Crossface while Austin is trapped in the Walls, and though Steve submits, the referee rules they must continue since both guys can't win. Another nice sequence there. Benoit decides to put Jericho in the Crossface to settle things, but gets reversed into the Walls - Benoit managing to shove him off before he can lock it on. Chopfest goes Benoit's way for two, but a suplex is countered when Jericho dumps him over the top. With everyone down, suddenly Booker T makes his WWF debut - diving over the rail, and putting Austin through a table to a great crowd reaction! Security chases him away in short order, and with that interruption over, Benoit grabs Jericho with the three-alarm rolling Germans - only for Jericho to counter the third alarm into the Walls! Benoit makes the ropes to break, and wins a reversal sequence with a bodyslam. Flying headbutt, but Jericho slams him down off the top, and bulldogs him. He badly botches a lionsault (Benoit was out of position, and Jericho just went for it anyway) for two, and a bodypress sends them both tumbling out of the ring. Jericho ends up deciding to roll Austin back in with him, and hits a flying moonsault on him for two, when Benoit saves. Benoit gets rid of Jericho and hits a beautiful flying headbutt on Austin, but Jericho pulls the referee out at two. Benoit decides to punish him with a side superplex, but it leaves him down as well, and Austin manages to roll over and pin Benoit at 27:50. Very good, very long match - filled with unique and impressive sequences, and no lulls. My only gripe with this is that the Booker T run-in - while exciting - was disruptive to the overall match, and ultimately superfluous. Weird finish, too, as the logical ending should have been Austin pinning Jericho when Benoit can't capitalize, but whatever. *** ¾

BUExperience: The tournament itself was rather underwhelming, but the undercard was totally solid overall, and the last two matches (which alone make up a third of the show) are both really great, and in totally different ways. Strong effort from everyone, top-to-bottom.

****