The Year in PPV- 2001, Part II

Let's continue 2001 by seeing the end of the Power Trip and the beginning of the Invasion...


6. Judgment Day

The undercard for this show is absolutely CRAMMED with big name stars who get tons of time to do what they do best. For example, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit wrestled for over 20 minutes in a 3 Stages of Hell match (Regular match, Submission match, and a Ladder match) for Angle's Olympic Gold Medals, there was a 30 minute tag team turmoil match for a future WWF Tag Team Championship match that had a lot of intrigue surrounding the mystery of who would be Chris Jericho's partner, Chyna fought in her last WWF match as she defended the Women's Championship against Lita (a Diva's dream match for some), and the Hardcore Championship was defended in a Triple Threat with Rhyno, Test, and Big Show.

The two main events continued the feud between the Brothers of Destruction and the Two Man Power Trip. Triple H defended the Intercontinental Championship against Kane in a Chain match, and Stone Cold Steve Austin defended the WWF Championship against the Undertaker in a No Holds Barred match. Both these matches lacked in technical quality, but they made up in hardcore quality and overbooking. It's a nice contrast for many of the well-wrestled matches on the card, providing a bit more variety to the show.

Recommended


7. King of the Ring

You know a show is great when the main event Triple Threat for the WWF Championship featuring Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho, is NOT the match everyone was talking about by the end of the night. An interesting note to make about this match is the potential involvement of Triple H. The Game was injured with a torn Quadriceps muscle and would miss action until January in 2002. With how this feud teased the dissention between Benoit and Jericho, one has to wonder if the original plans called for a Fatal 4-Way. Even more disappointment occurred at the end of the match when Benoit injured his neck and he wouldn't see action again until May of 2002. And if you wanna add more craziness, just wait til you see who makes an appearance at the end.

But the MVP of this evening is Kurt Angle, as he proved to be an integral part of the King of the Ring tournament and was involved in one of the most brutal matches in WWF history. The night's focus would normally be involved on the tournament, with the winners of Christian vs. Angle and Rhyno vs. Edge facing off. But, Angle had his mind focused on his Street Fight with Shane McMahon later on in the evening. That's right, Angle had the opportunity to compete in 3 matches on the same night. And that Street Fight is nothing to sneer about. It's HARDCORE as anything I ever saw in ECW. It's got tons of blood, people flying through glass, and a whole bunch of weapons and big spots. It's a must watch match on a night full of quality encounters.

Highly Recommended


8. Invasion

Picture this: We had a time in history when WCW and ECW banded together to put the WWF out of business. HOW ON EARTH DID THEY SCREW THIS UP!?!?!? Well, the Invasion PPV is certainly one of the best examples, since it got the big storyline off to a lukewarm response. This show should have had some of the most epic dream matches you could imagine. This should have featured the likes of Sting, Ric Flair, the nWo, Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, and a few others, but instead it featured the WCW midcard taking on the established WWF superstars. The matches are also too short to mean anything, making many of them just whiz on by without much care. Makes a lot of the evening feel pointless if you ask me. The only midcard match that works is the Hardcore Championship match between Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam. Now THERE'S a dream match to have during the Invasion.

By the time we get to the main event, it's an oversaturated 5 on 5 tag match with team WWF (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, and the Brothers of Destruction) taking on the Alliance (Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, Rhyno, and the Dudley Boyz). Sure, these 10 guys beat the crap out of each other, but wouldn't it have made sense to split these matches into 4 main events and made the momentum of stars flow better throughout the entire evening? Think about it: Brothers of Destruction vs. Dudley Boyz, Jericho vs. Rhyno, Angle vs. Page, and Austin vs. Booker in a battle of the World Champions. The only reason these 10 men fought in one crammed match was for the ending (which was another BIG problem with the Invasion).

Skip It


9. SummerSlam

This show had "Bodies" by Drowning Pool as the theme. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!?!?! Headbanging aside, this show actually is a MASSIVE improvement from Invasion in that it actually delivers bigger matches with bigger names. In order to do this, however, some of the WWF talent had to defect to the Alliance by turning on Mr. McMahon (a pattern that got old REALLY quick). Nevertheless, one can't deny the amount of talent on this show. From the opening match that saw Edge challenge Lance Storm for the Intercontinental Championship, to the showdown between Chris Jericho and Rhyno, to the main event between Booker T and The Rock for the WCW Championship, there was a lot to enjoy on this card.

One of my favorite matches of the evening was Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy in a ladder match for the Hardcore Championship. Remember that dream match I talked about in my Invasion review? Add a ladder to that....yeah, it got even better. But the match that really caught my attention was the WWF Championship match with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. These guys had a fierce chemistry with each other and involved a lot of fists thrown, blood spilled, technical wrestling, and overbooking. It's a terrific match, that probably a lot tend to forget because the ending. But don't worry, I'm sure they redeemed themselves down the road with a rematch.

Highly Recommended


10. Unforgiven

It's a show like Unforgiven that shows even with a number of good moments, the Invasion still provided tons of head-scratching decisions. This show has a poorly worked tag match between the Brothers of Destruction and KroniK, a throwaway United States Championship match before the main event, and a feud about the destruction of a mop (I'm serious....). With some of those flaws, how can this show still be credible? I'm glad you asked. For starters, it opened with a 4-way tag team elimination match for the WWF Tag Team Championships with the Dudley Boyz defending against the Hardy Boyz, Big Show and Spike Dudley, and Lance Storm and the Hurricane. This night also included an awesome Hardcore Championship match with Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho, The Rock defending the WCW Championship in a handicap match against Booker T and Shane McMahon, and Edge and Christian squaring off for the Intercontinental Championship. And to make the night even greater, we come to the main event.

In a match for the WWF Championship, Kurt Angle challenged Stone Cold Steve Austin, in Angle's hometown of Pittsburgh, only a few weeks after 9/11. Just take a wild guess what happened? I know the result is heavily projected, but it's that feel good moment the fans needed after the tragedy that befell the country earlier that month. I have absolutely no problems with the execution of this match, or this moment. It's one of the biggest defining moments in Angle's career and was the perfect way to end this night.

Recommended


Thoughts: Even if the Invasion has more than its fair share of questionable booking decisions, I'll be darned because it has some of the best matches in company history. I didn't really care for Austin's heel turn, especially with the logistics of why he would EVER join WCW (a company he openly despised working for), so I was really glad to rally behind Angle as the American babyface to challenge this turncoat. The Rock returned, Triple H and Benoit got injured, and we got to see Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Diamond Dallas Page in the WWF. It's a very mixed bag of momentum for main event and midcard matches, but I enjoyed a lot of the match quality over the arching storyline. But how would they bring the Invasion to an end? 

Concluded in Part III...


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