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Surprises dominate Rumble 2001

John Powell

It’s pay-per-view time again and wouldn’t you know it, BIG surprises are promised beforehand. I’m beginning to experience deja vu. Aren’t you? Lo and behold, it’s the Royal Rumble 2001 from the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, La., and the World Wrestling Federation delivers. Imagine that.

Let’s forget about the winner of the 30-man, over-the-top-rope, battle royal for a moment. Everyone knows who has that position locked in. Just like the last million or so Rumbles where a shot at the WWF World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania is on the line, it makes the guess work a lot easier to determine who will receive the coveted spot. Let’s focus on the surprises. The WWF steals a page from the Eric Bischoff Guide To Booking Wrestling Matches and enters comedian Drew Carey in the Royal Rumble. Carey eliminated himself as he was left in the ring with Kane once the Hardy Boys booted themselves.

Next up, the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time, the HonkyTonk Man makes his WWF return. He cuts his signature promo. Sings his song. Kane lays him out with his own guitar and tosses him out. Great to see Honky again though this dumping all over the veteran WWF wrestlers angle by the Federation really doesn’t say much for them respecting their own history.

The Big Show gets called back from the minors (Jim Cornette’s Ohio Valley promotion) to fill in a Rumble gap. Thing is, I thought this guy was supposed to LOSE weight not GAIN it. Wow. What a roll he’s carrying. He’s more out of shape than ever before. If he doesn’t watch it he’ll be teamed with Rikishi soon enough. Show cleans house and chokeslams The Rock through a table before getting the heave-ho in short order. My guess is that’s the last you’ll see of the Big Show until he gets his act together.

Finally, in a move that embarrasses Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling, their Hardcore Champion — Meng (called by his old WWF name, Haku) — enters the Rumble at Number 29. Really strange, that. The most obvious pairing would be with Rikishi but the two didn’t team-up during Meng’s time in the Rumble. Can you say a tournament for the WCW Hardcore Title on Nitro tonight? I gotta see how WCW explains this one and how the WWF uses Meng, if at all. It might’ve been a one-shot deal. Who knows?

Of course, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble but not, at least in my mind, without some controversy. When the buzzer went at Number 27, Austin came out. He never made it to the ring though. Gaining revenge for what Austin did to him during his WWF World Title match against Kurt Angle earlier on, Triple H pummeled Stone Cold into a bloody mess before he had the chance to enter the ring. Billy Gunn was next and in the ring as Austin lay battered on the arena floor.

If my Royal Rumble knowledge serves me correctly, every participant must enter the ring before the next contestant comes out. Otherwise, they are disqualified. If the rule wasn’t in place a wrestler could just hang around outside the ring as long as they like never getting into the fray until the field is whittled down. Was the obvious mistake intentional? The announcers never mention the rule violation. Could Kane be declared the Rumble winner on Raw tonight possibly setting up a four-way dance at WrestleMania? If Austin’s Rumble victory holds true it is just another gaping hole in a recent WWF storyline further pointing to the lack of organization and continuity in the WWF booking department during the last four or five months.

As I mentioned, Kane and Austin were the last two men with Kane doing a Ric Flair and being in the match for just over an hour. Kane joined at 7 minutes and 11 seconds in and was put out by Austin at an hour and 57 seconds. The last three men were Kane, Austin and The Rock. After being chokeslammed by The Big Show, Rock sat out much of the Rumble match on the arena floor as Austin did. The Rock and Austin lock eyes and fought as Kane slumped in a corner. Kane snuck in to push The Rock out. Kane chokeslammed Austin and attempted to cave-in his skull with a steel chair. Austin fought back chair-shooting Kane three or four times then clotheslined him out to be the last man standing in the Rumble.

The pay-per-view itself wasn’t as creative as last year’s show. The tedious replay of XFL, WWF restaurant promos and angle recaps which were already shown on Heat before the pay-per-view really damaged the broadcast forming noticeable gaps in the action. Still, the Rumble itself, the amazing Jericho – Benoit ladder bout and the WWF World Title match made up for the repetitious footage and the jumbled storylines.

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