WWE King of the Ring (June 2002)

From Columbus, Ohio; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Opening WWE King of the Ring Tournament Semi-Final Match: Chris Jericho v Rob Van Dam: Jericho controls through a reversal sequence out of the initial lockup, but runs into a backelbow off of a criss cross, and both guys trade armdrags and dropkicks to a stalemate. Weird, overly close-up camera angles here for some reason, which is really distracting. Rob with a monkeyflip and a corkscrew legdrop for two, but Chris snaps off his diving forearm to take control, and follows with a spinheel kick. He tries a springboard dropkick, but RVD dodges to put Jericho on the floor, then follows him out with a beautiful somersault tope suicida. Rob rolls him in and follows with a flying sidekick to setup the Five Star Frogsplash, but Chris shoves the referee into the ropes to crotch Van Dam on the top! Jericho double-underhook superplexes him down for two, but a corner charge misses, and Rob catches him with a neat drop-toe cradle for two. Jericho cuts off the comeback with a lariat for two, then an awkward bit follows, as Chris decides to remove the turnbuckle cover in full view of the official, and as the referee goes to put it back, Van Dam cradles Chris - with no one to count. I appreciate the idea behind that spot, but it was just beyond awkward and poorly executed. Chris cuts him off again with the Breakdown for two, and a kneelift sets up a bow-and-arrow. Rob escapes, so Chris tries spearing him into the corner to cut him off again, but RVD dodges, and unloads the lightning kicks. Spinheel kick and a springboard sidekick get two, and Rob counters an enzuigiri with a spinkick to setup a handspring moonsault for two. Chris fires back with an enzuigiri for two, but Rob dodges a bulldog, so Chris shifts gears with a release German suplex instead, for two. Another awkward spot follows, as Rob catches him with a stungun, but Jericho sells it like a backdrop, and Van Dam follows with the splitlegged moonsault for two. Chris blocks an assault in the corner with a sunset flip into the Walls, but Rob victory cradles to escape. He tries a slingshot into the previously exposed buckle (I thought the referee fixed that earlier?), but Jericho lands on the middle ropes and dives back at him with a bodypress - only for Van Dam to kick him out of the air. Unfortunately, Rob gets knocked into the exposed buckle as he tries following up, and Jericho cradles with his feet on the ropes for two. Bulldog sets up the lionsault, but Rob rolls out of the way, and spinkicks him again. Frogsplash, but now Jericho rolls out of the way, and completes the lionsault spot for two. Good sequence there. Rob tries a rana, but Jericho counters into the Walls, so Van Dam grabs the ropes to escape. Superplex, but Van Dam manages to knock him down, then follows with the Frogsplash to advance at 14:32. It had its moments, but overall felt really forced and awkward. **

WWE King of the Ring Tournament Semi-Final Match: Brock Lesnar v Test: Brock wins a ferocious lockup battle to get Test into the corner for some shoulderblocks, but a cross corner charge hits elbow, and Test fires off a pair of clotheslines. Big boot, but Lesnar stops short, and drops to the outside to dodge it - Paul Heyman there to help him regroup. He comes back in all tough, but Test actually tosses him around, and actually stomps a mudhole in the corner. Really guys? Test with a pair of backelbows, but he runs into a spinebuster, and Brock hits a series of elbowdrops, then nearly tears down the ring with a cross corner whip. Side suplex gets two, and he follows with a two-alarm no-release backbreaker and a powerslam for two. Test manages to catch a charging Lesnar in a sidewalk slam, followed by a pair of cross corner clotheslines. Test with a full-nelson slam for two, and he tries a pump-handle slam, but Brock counters into a German suplex - only for Test to elbow his way out, and complete the pump-handle for two. Big boot, but Brock counters into a powerbomb - only for Test to counter back into the boot for a dramatic two count. Another boot, but Heyman hops up onto the apron to run interference, and Lesnar hits the F5 to advance at 8:18. Given where they were headed with Brock, this really should have been booked as a squash in less than five minutes, and certainly without needing Heyman to win. Decent power match otherwise, though. *

WWE Cruiserweight Title Match: The Hurricane v Jamie Noble: Oddly, the graphic for this shows the old WCW Cruiserweight belt (with WWE logos), but they weren't even using that belt at the time. They scrap around through a lockup, and Hurricane manages to escape a wristlock by simply decking his challenger. Well, whatever works. Schoolboy gets two, and they trade wristlocks on the mat until Noble manages to rake the eyes, and dump him into the corner for a beating. Why is Noble dressed like Justin Credible here? Was he hoping to catch Heyman's attention, and get programmed with Brock, or something? Hurricane wins a reversal sequence with a superkick for two, and he slaps on a mat-based headscissors. Jamie counters into a side-headlock, and they spill to the outside for Noble to take his head off with a lariat as Hurricane chases after Nidia. Inside, that gets two, and a snap suplex is worth two. Abdominal stretch, but Hurricane escapes, so Noble side suplexes him for two. Another suplex, but Hurricane counters into an inside cradle for two, and follows with a quick bodypress for two. Victory roll, but Jamie counters with an electric chair for two, then goes back to the abdominal stretch - this time a mat-based version. Meanwhile, Ross and Lawler have a rather creepy conversation about various wrestlers' sexual prowess. Hurricane escapes and hits a straightjacket sitout slam for two, and tries a sleeper, but takes a stunner. Noble with a sleeper of his own, but Hurricane escapes, and manages a neckbreaker. Hurricane with a 2^nd rope diving neckbreaker for two, but Noble blocks the Eye of the Hurricane with a German suplex for two. Hurricane hits the Eye on the second try for two, and he vertical suplexes his poor challenger out of the ring to setup a flying bodypress out there. Nidia runs interference to allow Jamie a baseball slide, however, but an attempt to superplex Hurricane is countered into a visually impressive swinging neckbreaker off the top. Cover, but Nidia distract the referee, so no count. Hurricane keeps it going with a chokeslam on Noble for two, but a trip back to the top gets him crotched, and Noble powerbombs him for the title at 11:38. Fans (well, 'fans') of WCWs dying days would certainly expect more here... very disappointing, flat outing. * ¾

Ric Flair v Eddie Guerrero: All black outfit for Flair tonight, which is a weird look on the Nature Boy. Plus, he didn't even coordinate his trim - red on the tights, white on the boots. For shame! For shame! Eddie gets feisty in the early going, and tosses Ric around, then knocks him to the floor with a dropkick off of a criss cross. Flair marches back in and reverses him in the corner - unloading a chop so furious that Guerrero actually sells it by flying out of the damn ring. That was fun. Yeah, but now Eddie's pissed, and he storms back in with some closed fists, and chops of his own. Flair responds in kind, adds a mulekick for good measure, then keeps destroying Eddie with chops until Guerrero finally bails to the outside to catch a breather. Back in, Eddie drop-toeholds him into a front-facelock, but Flair muscles up into a hanging vertical suplex to escape. Eddie responds by dropkicking the knee and going to work on it with a modified leglock. Figure four, but that's the line, and Ric cradles him for two. Eddie responds by weakening him with more shots in the corner, and he slaps on an anklelock, then wraps Ric's knee around the post for good measure. Eddie with a slingshot double stomp on the way back in, and he wraps the leg around the bottom rope for some kicks at the knee, then snaps it across with a slingshot splash across the leg. Cool, unique stuff. That's enough to allow Eddie the figure four, and a close-up reveals that Flair is bleeding a bit - which looks hardway. Ric makes the ropes to escape the hold, so Eddie snapmares him to setup an inverted somersault necksnap. Another snapmare sets up a chinlock, but he ends up getting backdropped over the top. Guerrero manages to snap Ric's neck across the top rope to stop a follow-up, however, and adds a vertical suplex on the way back in to setup the Frogsplash - only for Ric to roll out of the way. Flair wastes no time clipping the knee, and it's Figure Four time as Chris Benoit makes his way to ringside. Eddie gets the ropes to break, so Flair tries a vertical suplex, but gets countered into a rollup for two. Eddie with a backslide for two, so Flair tries cutting him off with a mat-based side-headlock that's supposed to trigger a bridging reversal sequence, but they can't quite get it. Luckily, it didn't look terrible, and the announcers were able to quickly cover by saying that Flair's weight was simply too much for Eddie to bridge up from. Eddie with a tornado DDT for two, and as Guerrero argues the count, Benoit pulls Flair to the floor for a Crippler Crossface. The referee notices and breaks things up, which allows Bubba Dudley to sneak in and hit Eddie with the Bubba Bomb - Flair crawling in for the pin at 17:00. Like a lot of Flair's stuff from 2002, this was fun, though the overbooking at the finish was unnecessary. ** ¾

WWE Women's Title Match: Trish Stratus v Molly Holly: Trish is all pissed, but Molly has no patience for her, and shoves her around right away, then backdrops her. Trish manages to reverse a turnbuckle smash, but a forearm is countered into a fujiwara armbar. Trish manages to counter into a cradle for two, but Molly swats her right back down with an array of stomps. Trish counters a whip with a victory roll for two, and manages a neckbreaker for two before Molly can cut her off again. Stratus with a double-underhook cradle for two, but she gets overzealous, and stungunned across the middle rope. Holly dropkicks her out of the ring for some chops on the floor, and a whip into the rail leaves the champ in the front row. Molly gets crotched on the top turnbuckle and brought down with a rana on the way back in, and Trish unloads a dropkick. Roundhouse kick sets up a bulldog, but Molly counters into a bridging German suplex for the title at 5:41. This was actually a damn fine women's WRESTLING match - intense, and well paced. * ½

Hulk Hogan v Kurt Angle: Kurt's sporting a hilarious toupee (held on by amateur headgear) here, as a result of the Hair v Hair match at Judgment Day. That's some awesome goofiness right there. Hogan overpowers him during the initial lockup, and slaps on a standing side-headlock, but Kurt counters into an overhead wristlock. Hulk escapes and shoulderblocks him out of the ring, so Kurt comes back in all hot and bothered, but gets launched out again during a criss cross. Hogan follows to knock him into the rail this time, then back in, Hulk unloads turnbuckle smashes. Windmill punch puts Angle down, and Hulk goes for the toupee, but gets blown low. You'd think, of all people, Hulk Hogan would be more sensitive about concealing baldness. Kurt with a pair of side suplexes for two, but Hogan manages to reverses a vertical suplex, and bodyslam him. Angle recovers with a sleeper, but Hulk reverses, so Kurt escapes with yet another side suplex. Olympic Slam gets two and triggers the HULK UP!! Fists of Fury! Big Boot! Toupee Rip Off! Fists of Fury II! Big Boot II! - but Angle slides out of the ring to avoid it. Hulk's game for a countout victory, and Angle seems game to give it to him, but Hulk makes the mistake of strutting around with the toupee like it's Halloween Havoc '96, and Kurt rushes back in with a chair. It backfires, and Hulk big boots him again for the Legdrop - only for Angle to counter into the Anklelock for a clean submission at 12:08. Solid effort all around, though it felt a bit limited because Kurt couldn't wrestle his normal high-impact style with Hogan. * ¼

WWE King of the Ring #1 Contenders Match: Rob Van Dam v Brock Lesnar: Winner earns a WWE Title shot at SummerSlam, as if the winner wasn't obvious enough already. Not that Van Dam (already the reigning Intercontinental Champion at this point) wouldn't be a fine choice, but come on. Brock tries overpowering right away, so Rob starts firing off kicks at the knee, but a monkeyflip out of the corner is countered with a powerbomb. Lesnar stomps his back to hard he probably left an imprint of Rob's belly button on the canvas, then scoop powerslams him for two. Brock with the two-alarm no-release backbreaker, and he slaps on a bearhug. Hey, someone in the crowd has a 'Jimmy John's' sign they try to get Brock's attention with. Guess it must have worked, because now he does their endorsements. That's some quality sign-age, right there. Charge in the corner misses, however, and Rob swipes at the legs with more kicks to setup a flying sidekick - taking Lesnar off of his feet for the first time. Rolling thunder gets two, and a corkscrew legdrop sets up the Five Star Frogsplash, but it takes so much out of Rob that he can't cover. Heyman punctuates it by hopping onto the apron and snapping Van Dam's neck across the top rope, but it backfires as Rob flings back and falls onto covering Brock for two. Goofy spot there. RVD baseball slides Heyman to take him out of the proceedings, and tries a 2^nd rope bodypress, but Brock catches him in the F5 for the crown at 5:42. Duh. RVD was definitely the right man for the... ahem... job here, as he put Brock's spots over huge, and made him look like the monster he needed to be - even if the bookers were still making stupid decisions like him needing Heyman's help. *

Main Event: WWE Title Match: The Undertaker v Triple H: Well, at least these two can usually be counted on to have good chemistry, so as long as this doesn't turn into one of Triple H's usual overindulgent 2002 wankfests, this should be fun. Slugfest ends in Undertaker corner whipping him, but Hunter fires back with a quick clothesline over the top, and they spill to the floor for a brawl. Back in, Undertaker pounds him in the corner, but misses a boot, so HHH tries a ten-punch, but gets stungunned. Undertaker adds a lariat for two, and then drapes Hunter across the apron to guillotine him with a legdrop for two. Undertaker with a big boot for two, and he tosses his challenger out to the floor, but follows, and gets snap suplexed out there. HHH tries to keep it going, but runs into a clothesline as they re-enter, and Undertaker follows with a quick legdrop for two. Superplex, but Hunter headbutts him down, and hits a backdrop - only to walk into a jumping clothesline for two. Undertaker removes one of the turnbuckle covers, but gets reversed going into it, and Hunter capitalizes with a neckbreaker and a spinebuster for two. Undertaker manages a snake-eyes into the exposed buckle, but Hunter snaps off a high knee for two. Undertaker immediately comes back with a DDT for two. The bipolar flow of this match is making it really hard to get properly into. Chokeslam, but Hunter counters into the Pedigree, so Undertaker counters into a slingshot - HHH crashing right into the referee. Both guys get jealous of him getting to lounge around on the mat and immediately decide to join him with a double-knockout spot, as The Rock makes his way down to shoo Paul Heyman away from the commentary table, and sit-in himself. Undertaker recovers first and brings a chair into the ring, but Hunter punches it out of his hands, and hits a kneeling facebuster. Clothesline puts Undertaker on the floor, but he manages a big boot as Hunter follows - then decides to give one to Rocky too, so he doesn't feel left out. Well, that's nice. Sharing is caring, after all. Undertaker grabs another chair, but now Rock kicks his ass and takes it away - only for a swing to end up hitting HHH by mistake. Whoops. Back in, Undertaker delivers the Last Ride, as another referee runs in to count two. Weird that, at Judgment Day, the referee getting bumped resulted in his fellow officials rushing down with freaking bolt cutters to come to his aid, but here, the referee has been unconscious for going on five minutes, and no one's even bothered to check on him. Gotta love wrestling logic. Speaking of poor referees, Undertaker beats up the new one, as Rock slides back in and Bottom's the champion. Meanwhile, I think I spot Steve Austin doing a run-in, but it's actually just a random security dude who's a dead ringer for him. Well, that was confusing. At least that other Attitude Era security guy wore a beret to avoid dangerous mix-ups like this. Hunter gets an arm across the chest as the original referee finally shows signs of life, but Undertaker gets the shoulder up at a dramatic two. Both guys take an eternity using the ropes to get back to their feet in the most overindulgent manner humanly possible, and HHH hits a Pedigree, but the poor referee appears to be having a heart attack and can't count. Frankly, after being unconscious for over five minutes, that's the least of his problems. HHH then proves why none of those three 'h's stand for 'humanitarian,' as he grabs the chest clutching referee and drags him over to count the fall, but it backfires as Undertaker manages to schoolboy him for the pin at 23:44. Overlong, and a wretched ending, but not a bad match overall. Not a good one, either, but not as bad as you might expect a twenty five minute early 2000s Undertaker match to be. * ¼

BUExperience: This is actually a really good card on paper, and while a lot of the matches ended up being disappointing in execution, it’s still a solid enough show, with no stinkers. Not a must see, but decent.

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