The Year in PPV- 2001, Part III

It's time to wrap up 2001 by ending the Invasion angle and crowning an Undisputed Champion...


11. No Mercy

No Mercy was a very solid show to watch, offering a little bit of everything for everyone. While a lingerie match with Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson will never be a 5-star classic, it at least needs to be acknowledged that there is a demographic that was extremely satisfied with the match. If you love hardcore matches with heated rivalries, then look no further than the ladder match for the Intercontinental Title between Edge and Christian. And if you want a super heavyweight gem, look at the match between Kane and Test, two VERY underrated big men who left me absolutely entertained in this little 10 minute match. And if you love big name superstars going at it, watch the clash between Booker T and the Undertaker.

This show also boasts two blockbuster main events for the two heavyweight championship belts. The final match on the card saw Stone Cold Steve Austin defend the WWF Championship in a triple threat against Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam. It's a good match, but the most memorable match of the evening happened right before it. The Rock defended the WCW Championship against Chris Jericho, in a feud that had a very slow burning payoff. It started with these two colossal egos clashing on the mic. Then it led to them clashing in the ring. These men at the time were still arguably the two biggest fan favorites in the company and left the fans very happy in this instant classic.

Recommended


12. Rebellion

Normally I go on rants with these types of shows, but here's an exception that I actually thoroughly enjoyed. How on earth did that happen?!?!? Well, it's like I said about this time period in wrestling, it had all this talent, but lacked direction. So, when you have a PPV that relies less on storylines and more on matches, you have a recipe for a solid show. The show opened on a VERY high note with an Intercontinental Championship match inside a steel cage. Edge and Christian continued their feud and really tore down the house in one of the last classic style cage matches (with the bars, instead of a chain wall). After that, the next highlight featured the Dudley Boyz defending the WCW Tag Team Championships against the Hardy Boyz and the APA. These are three of the Attitude Era's most popular teams showing what they do best: go out there and give it their all to entertain.

Then we get to the two world title matches. Around this time, there were 4 men really poking around the main event scene: The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, and Chris Jericho. Jericho defended the WCW Title against Kurt Angle in a forgotten gem that was recently released on the Road to Jericho DVD. You know when Jericho selects it, that it's worth checking out. But the main event saw Austin defend the WWF Championship against The Rock in a WrestleMania X-Seven rematch. It didn't have that spark that their Mania had, but it's still Stone Cold vs. The Rock. It's going to be good right? Well, yes, but I actually feel that of their documented matches, this is the weakest because it had the shades of the Invasion angle surrounding its booking. But for an overall show, this wasn't half bad to sit through.

Mild Recommendation


13. Survivor Series

For those who want to see this WWF vs. Alliance storyline come to an end, then this is the show for you and then some. This show really only had 2 throwaway matches that weren't too relevant for the aftermath of this storyline, but they were the first two matches on the card, so it's easy to move on. We had matches that unified champions, including an Intercontinental vs. United States Champions match (Test vs. Edge), and a steel cage match for the WWF and WCW Tag Team Championships (the Hardy Boyz vs. the Dudley Boyz). There was a 6-pack challenge to crown a new Women's Champion (Trish Stratus vs. Jacqueline vs. Lita vs. Molly Holly vs. Ivory vs. Jazz), and a battle royal where the winner would have immunity for being fired for one year.

And then it all came down to the main event: a traditional Survivor Series elimination match where the winning side would stay in business. Team WWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, Big Show, Kane, and the Undertaker) took on the Alliance (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Shane McMahon) in a back and forth war featuring 10 of the greatest superstars to come out of the Monday Night Wars, and in this winner take all situation, they fought like it was all their last match on earth. As history would suggest, it's obvious which side won, but you should still watch this epic match and feel the moment that brought a complete storyline failure and gave it one of the best payoffs imaginable.

Highly Recommended


14. Vengeance

Vengeance has a traditional undercard, but on this special night, it didn't really matter because the main event was something never seen before. The undercard did have a few memorable encounters. One of them, although not the greatest worked match, was a match that saw Matt and Jeff Hardy go at it with Lita as the guest referee. If you grew up as a fan of the Hardy Boyz, this match either had you heartbroken or excited to see which brother would stand out as the superior superstar. Another memorable gem on the card was the Hardcore Championship match with Rob Van Dam defending the title against the Undertaker. This match incorporated both unique fighting styles in a wild brawl that culminated in a very memorable spot outside the ring. Give it a watch and see for yourself.

This evening in history had a very memorable triple main event to merge the WWF and WCW Championships to create one Undisputed Champion. The winner of the WWF Championship match (Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle) would take on the winner of the WCW Championship match (The Rock vs. Chris Jericho) and the winner of that match would take their rightful step in history and be able to claim that they were the first Undisputed Champion in history. Not to give too much away, but the winner of the Undisputed Title that evening has been using that claim to fame to this day.

Mild Recommendation


Final Thoughts: The end of the year brought a storyline failure to a close, while still delivering some awesome matches, and ended the year with something absolutely memorable. And thus, this was the last full year of the WWF. The change of horizons was on its way as Ruthless Aggression would own the landscape in the months to come. With a large roster of talent, it's easy to see why this era is so popular with wrestling fans. Whether or not you like the Invasion storyline, there is a crap ton of great matches from this year that are obviously worth checking out on the WWE Network.


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