Legacy Review
King of the Ring '01
June 24, 2001 from the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ
Commentary: Jim Ross and Paul Heyman
After holding the largest ever King of the Ring tournament in 2000 with a 32 man field, this year went back to 16 entrants with only the semifinals and finals taking place on the PPV. The four semifinalists are all heels and even all from the same loose stable of friends. On top of that, three months after the purchase of WCW WWF is finally starting to lay the groundwork for the coming Invasion angle, and a lot of that prep work will continue tonight. I should also note this is the first PPV after Triple H suffered his major quad injury on Raw, which forced a quick revamp of the ongoing Two Man Power Trip angle.
Tonight features another absolute killer stage, with the giant electric chair style KOTR throne. BANG! Yo it's me, it's me, it's DDP. The newly arrived to WWF DDP interrupts the show right as it starts, coming in through the crowd. He recently revealed himself as the one stalking Undertaker's wife Sara and taking voyeuristic videos of her. Certainly a weird way to go with DDP, and it's sadly an accurate early indicator of how the whole Invasion angle is going to go. DDP says that he's only shown the PG part of his collection so far, he's still holding back the, er, good stuff. He says he'll be front row for Raw tomorrow night, and shows of the "Make me famous" sign that he'll have. He then takes a seat ringside tonight. He's getting choice tickets quicker and easier than Green Tee douche. Look, he may be a nice guy, I don't know, but I get damn sick of seeing his face and stupid shirt plastered front row center every single PPV. We then go to commentary and Heyman stirs the invasion pot more, saying there's "rumors" that both Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit are negotiating with WCW and could take the WWF Championship with them should one of them win it tonight.
Semifinals: Kurt Angle def Christian in 8:51- Angle's in for a busy night tonight. Prior to tonight he defeated Hardcore Holly and Jeff Hardy while looking to become, per official WWF canon at the time, the first ever back to back and even first ever two time KOTR winner. Of course Bret Hart won the last pre-PPV KOTR tournament in '91 then the first one on PPV in '93 so he was already there, but the pre-PPV tournaments were still being erased from history at this point. On top of his tournament pursuit, Angle also has a Street Fight scheduled with Shane McMahon later tonight. Christian defeated Kane and Raven to get here. Christian jumps Angle as soon as he gets in the ring and stomps him down in the corner. Big pickup and takedown toss from Angle in response. He takes his turn to stomp Christian down in the corner. Bret bump in the corner from Angle and Christian hits a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Angle rolls through a Christian sunset flip and tries for the ankle lock. Christian fights free. Belly to belly suplex from Angle. A pretty big "Let's go Angle" starts up in the crowd. Angle seems almost surprised by it. He and Christian go back and forth through some of the usual ringside brawl stuff. Christian goes up top. Angle pushes him off and Christian FILES into the barricade! Cover by Angle for 2. Gutwrench suplex from Angle. Back suplex for 2. He cuts off a Christian comeback with a knee to the gut, setting off more "Let's go Angle" chants from the New York adjacent crowd. Regular suplex for 2. Flash small package from Christian for 2. They seem to have a disagreement over what to do next so Angle hits another suplex for 2. Christian comes back with a leg lariat to some boos. Shane McMahon comes out with a shirt showing off the new WWF-style WCW logo. It's a damn sight better than the giant oval and two wings WCW had been using their last couple of years. Angle goes up top, jaws at Shane, then goes for the moonsault! Christian dodges! Half nelson cradle for 2. Neckbreaker from Christian for 2. Angle goes for a German suplex. Christian reverses and uses that to hook up for the Unprettier. Angle ducks down and slaps on the ankle lock! Christian literally crawls over the ref to get to the ropes. Angle uses that to go for the Angle Slam. Another reversal by Christian into an Unprettier attempt, and this time it hits! Shane pulls Christian out of the cover! What? Christian doesn't know what's going on. Angle grabs him, hits the Angle Slam, and gets the win. Best guess, Shane wanted Angle to have to wrestle another match before their match to wear him down more. The match itself was fine for the short time and overbooking. Another counter filled stretch run shows where Angle's general match style is going. **1/2
In the back, Austin doesn't believe Vince was being serious when he said he wouldn't be here tonight because Vince is such a kidder. Then, Austin's reaction when Coach asks him about the Benoit/Jericho taking the title to WCW rumors is absolutely priceless. It's almost like he's debating with himself to leap into one of his ECW era promos running down Bischoff.
Back to the Taker/DDP situation with a full video recap of all the voyeur happenings so far. Then Heyman interviews DDP for DDP's second time on the mic already tonight. While he's talking, we see voyeur video of DDP in a restaurant having breakfast or lunch or something. DDP is not amused, going full hypocrite.
Nearly 30 minutes into the show, we've had one sub 10 minute match so far. PPV or Raw?
Semifinals: Edge def Rhyno in 10:20- The first semifinal was one half of E&C facing one of their longtime buddies, now the other half takes on another more recent friend. Edge defeated Test and Perry Saturn to get here, while Rhyno beat Tazz and another new WWF arrival, Tajiri. Staredown and jawing after the bell. Rhyno spits his gum at Edge! Back and forth slugfest. Leg lariat from Edge. Big chop in the corner. Rhyno responds with a back elbow and his own chop. Edge backdrops him over the top but Rhyno lands on the apron. Edge maneuvers Rhyno into the turnbuckle and dropkicks him down to the floor. Their turn to do some floor brawling. Edge crotches Rhyno on the barricade then clotheslines him off. Rhyno hot shots Edge in the aisle onto the barricade. Rhyno goes in and takes a middle turnbuckle pad off. Not a top one. Interesting strategery, let's see how it pays off. Well, as soon as Edge gets back in the ring Rhyno whips him into that corner and Edge goes chest first into the exposed buckle, so pretty well I guess. Rhyno targets Edge's now hurt ribs. Snap mare into a bodyscissors. After a near fall Edge manages to back elbow out. Falcon arrow style slam from Rhyno. Big splash off the top rope! Edge kicks out! Edge manages to lift Rhyno and hot shot him on the top rope. Inverted atomic drop and clothesline. Neckbreaker from Edge. Top rope fight. Sunset bomb from Edge! Rhyno kicks out. Rhyno gets a spinebuster and sets up. GORE AND SPEAR AT THE SAME TIME! Great collision and both guys are down. Rhyno drapes an arm over for 2. Cradle from Edge for 2. Edge dodges another Gore and Rhyno goes into the exposed buckle! Edgecution! Edge gets the win! Pretty good stuff. They're clearly setting Edge up as the sympathetic babyface for the final with the hurt ribs, but given their reactions to the semifinal matches I think the crowd's going to have other ideas. **3/4
Jericho goes full politician giving a bunch of non-answers to Tazz's questions about the WCW rumors.
WWF Tag Team Championship: The Dudley Boyz (c) def Spike Dudley and Kane in 8:24- Spike (who's also in a relationship with Molly Holly right now) got tired of being bullied by his big brothers so he challenged them for the tag titles. Kane, who's also the Intercontinental champion still, is his mystery partner for tonight. The Dudleyz had just defeated the Two Chrises, with an assist from Austin, for the tag titles on the SD before this show. Spike charges in and immediately gets beat down. Kane saves him with a double clothesline. Settle in with Spike and Bubba Ray. Spike hits a hurricanrana and ground and pounds Bubba Ray some. Bubba Ray presses Spike up, holds him forever, then tosses him into Kane. Kane catches him and tosses him back into Bubba Ray! Spike gets a 2 count off that cover. Big boot from Kane. Bubba Ray quickly backs off and tags. D'Von runs into a Spike drop toe hold. Kane no sells D'Von punches and powerslams him. Big elbow drop for 2. D'Von leapfrogs over Spike and tweaks his knee on the landing. Supposedly. He doesn't really take much advantage, he just pulls Spike down. I guess it doesn't take much since it's Spike. The Dudleyz start pounding away on little brother Spike. Back suplex/legdrop double team. Kane breaks the pin up. BIG Bubba Ray backdrop of Spike. Spike barely works over Bubba Ray for a sunset flip, then dodges a butt splash counter. Bubba Ray monkey flips Spike all the way across the ring. Sit out powerbomb from Bubba Ray for 2. Spike dodges D'Von's headbutt off the second rope. Tag to Kane. Hot tag run on both Dudleyz. Back suplex on Bubba Ray for 2. Powerslam for 2. D'Von was late breaking that up and I don't think Bubba Ray kicked out at all, it was hard to tell from the camera angle. The crowd boos it. Kane clears the ring out and Spike wants back in. Kane tags him in, then lifts Spike up and tosses him down onto both Dudleyz! Clothesline off the top on Bubba Ray from Kane and Spike covers for 2. Dudley Dog on Bubba Ray! D'Von does break that pin up in time. The Dudleyz double suplex Kane and give him the Whazzup Drop, heel style with no Whazzup. Missile dropkick on them both from Spike. D'Von counters a Dudley Dog. 3D on Spike! The Dudleyz get the pin to retain! Pretty solid placeholder match with Spike selling like a champ the whole way. I don't think anyone thought there was a serious possibility of a title change here. **
After the bell D'Von gets a table out. Kane comes in, powerbombs D'Von, then chokeslams Bubba Ray through the table and carries Spike out.
Christian visits Edge in the locker room and seemingly buries the hatchet on the arguments they'd been having during the tournament, wishing him luck in the final. After that we get more voyeur cam shots of DDP, doing the dastardly deed of......walking to his car in the parking lot, getting in, backing out safely and driving off at a reasonable speed. James Nguyen loves that shot (deep cut for my fellow Rifftrax fans).
King of the Ring Finals: Edge def Kurt Angle in 10:20- Edge is selling the ribs as he walks to the ring. Angle takes a mic, apologizes to Edge for getting mad at him last week, says he doesn't want anything to get in the way of their friendship, and offers a handshake that Edge takes. Angle then says he still has a Street Fight later tonight, there's no way Edge can win anyway because he's hurt, and because they're friends just forfeit now and let Angle rest up. Edge says no. With his fist. Flapjack from Edge. Commentary, as they have been all night, quickly start talking about DDP again as Angle stomps Edge down in the corner. Leg lariat from Edge. Angle belly to bellys Edge over the top rope to the floor! Edge gets whipped into the stairs. Back suplex back in for 2. Regular suplex for 2. Angle slows things down/saves himself for later with a chinlock. He cuts off Edge's comeback with knees to the ribs and sets him up top. Edge fights Angle off and tries to roll over Angle to roll him up but can't pull it off right and has to do it in stages. Another Angle belly to belly for 2. Back to the chinlock that goes all the way to arm drops. Edge fights back up but Angle momentum tosses him over the top back to the floor. He drops Edge ribs first on the barricade. Angle goes up top but Edge dropkicks him down crotch first. Top rope hurricanrana from Edge! Arm drape for a long 2. On knees slugfest. Clotheslines from Edge. He dodges an Angle dropkick, slingshots him into the corner, and cradles Angle for 2. Angle goes for the Angle Slam. Edge counters into an Edgecution attempt. Angle counters that into the ankle lock! Edge uses that, cradles Angle, and gets 2. Edge drops Angle with a modified Edgecution. He covers, but Christian runs out, distracting the ref. Angle rolls Edge up for 2. Angle ducks and Edge clotheslines the ref. Ankle lock! Edge taps, but the ref is out. Shane is in the ring. Spear on Angle! Edgecution! Edge covers and wins the crown! That does get a decent pop so the crowd went along after all. Edge would turn out to be a good KOTR winner, but it wouldn't be apparent for a while as he's still a good 4-5 years away from hitting main event level. It's not an instant catapult. That match, for whatever reasons, didn't come together well at all even before yet more overbooking kicked in. They definitely have better matches in them, as they'll prove down the road. Once again the King of the Ring tournament feels like something being done by rote because they have to rather than something that's getting the attention it deserves, which is why this will be the next to last one on PPV until the Triple H/TKO era and the next to last regularly scheduled annual one. *3/4
Back to DDP looking for hidden cameras all around the crowd. Cut to the back, where Coach is congratulating Edge on his KOTR win, the closest we'll get to any kind of coronation ceremony. Christian then comes in and insists he was only trying to help. Edge won so he isn't bothered. Elsewhere, Angle wants to murder Shane and insists no WCW wrestlers get involved in their match or Vince will make sure there's hell to pay.
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship: Jeff Hardy (c) def X-Pac in 7:10- First time in forever the Light Heavyweight title is being defended on PPV, and probably only because they're trying to set up as an equal to WCW's much more prestigious Cruiserweight title for whenever the inevitable title unifications happen. During entrances JR advertises the next PPV as Fully Loaded, which has been the July PPV the last few years. That will change before the show actually happens. Quick armdrag from Pac as the crowd gets into an "X-Pac sucks" chant. Pac works around Hardy to take him down again and rides all over him. Speed run and Hardy gets a Japanese armdrag into an ARMBAR. A flying headscissors sends Pac out to the floor. Hardy walks the barricade and dives on Pac! Back in Hardy goes for a crazy corkscrew that Pac sidesteps and Hardy splats on the mat. Guess it's been to pacey for Pac because he goes to an abdominal stretch with the usual rope leverage. The ref catches him and Hardy reverses. Pac hiptosses him over the top to the floor! Springboard crossbody to the floor from Pac. The crowd is not appreciative. Leg lariat from Pac back in for 2. Chinlock with a huge "X-Pac sucks" chant. Slugfest that Hardy wins. Another leg lariat from Pac for 2. Corner kick combo from Pac and Hardy is down in the drop zone. The bronco buster is thankfully dodged. Shotgun dropkick from Hardy. Slingblade! Legdrop to the gut. Pac tries to leapfrog in the corner but Hardy doesn't duck and they have an AWFUL collision in the corner. Cue the "You fucked up" chants from the smart/smark fans. Hardy recovers to hit Whisper in the Wind for 2. Crossbody off the top, but Pac rolls through it for 2. Hardy takes the shirt off and hits mounted punches. Pac counters that into the X-Factor! Ref Jack Doan counts 3, then quickly corrects himself because Hardy's foot was on the rope. Pac tries another X-Factor. Hardy counters with a jawbreaker! He goes up top but Pac crotches him. Hardy fights Pac off. Swanton Bomb! He gets the pin to retain! Fine Raw match. **1/4
Cut to Commissioner Regal's office, where he and Tajiri are discussing the "fantastic" KOTR tournament. Austin storms in, says he can't get a signal on his 2001 cell phone, and demands to use Regal's phone to call Vince. After having to identify himself by full name, he tells Vince in a near panic Jericho and/or Benoit are going to defect to WCW if they win the title. Regal gets on the phone to confirm, then Austin tells Vince to get his damn driver and get over here now.
Back, again, to DDP. We get another video of DDP getting OUT of his car and opening the trunk! Some real spicy stuff they're catching DDP doing. DDP's had enough. He gets in the ring and demands Taker show up. Another video of DDP WALKING BACKSTAGE! Scandalous! The camera turns around and no surprise it's Sara that's been taping DDP to get revenge. She says it's time for DDP to be made famous and Taker makes his entrance. Taker takes his sweet time slowly meandering down the ring, then putting his gloves on, and finally gets in the ring. This non-match brawl goes on about as long as a regular match would have, but let me sum it all up for you- all Taker. Despite DDP hitting a low blow and chairshots, Taker shrugs it all off and dominates DDP while Sara records it on her camera. DDP eventually runs away through the crowd. Pretty much how their entire feud will end up going. DDP couldn't even get any other WCW wrestlers to help him.
Street Fight: Kurt Angle def Shane McMahon in 25:58- WCW owner Shane decided to pick a fight with Angle for reasons I really can't fathom. He didn't even offer Angle a spot in WCW and got turned down, just decided to attack him. At least it finally got the whole Invasion angle going. Angle drops his medals down on the floor, charges in and tackles Shane! Angle rides Shane with a waistlock amateur style then hits a back suplex. Knees to the gut from Angle. Shane grabs a leg and hits a sort of dragon screw, then a Japanese armdrag. He then decides to mocking ride Angle a bit in the ring and then runs out to the floor. Angle is furious, getting into referee's position in the ring and demanding Shane get in and wrestle him. Angle's also bleeding, likely from the cut on the lip he got in the Edge match. As soon as Shane touches Angle, Angle takes him down. He pounds away with forearms on Shane's back. Gutwrench suplex. Ripcord belly to belly. It actually looks like Angle's bleeding from somewhere above his eye too. Another belly to belly. He tries a cradle that Shane fights, so Angle shows Shane just how superior he is on the mat by riding all over him. Again Angle gets in referee's position. Shane's a lot more cautious this time. He flips the script by kicking Angle right in the gut. Flying back elbow and clotheslines from Shane. Angle gets a waistlock takedown. He goes for a German but Shane runs him around the ring and sends him out to the floor. Again Angle is pissed. Shane leads him in a chase all around the ring, then hops on the barricade and comes down with a back elbow. Shane gets on the barricade behind English commentary. He leaps over commentary with a clothesline onto Angle! Shane goes under the ring and gets his trusty kendo stick, allowing JR to get out the "Legal as a headlock" line. Shane goes to town on Angle with the kendo. Both guys take post shots and Shane clotheslines Angle over the barricade. Shane continues to have the edge in the ringside brawl category. After a rough tackle into the steps where Shane looks legit spent he gets Angle in the ring and covers. Angle does an amazing bridge on his neck as a kickout. Three times, despite Shane's big splash and elbow drop to counter. Now Shane goes under the ring and gets trash cans, lids, and a plank of wood. And a handicap parking sign, which is what he hits Angle with first. A sign shot to the face only seems to fire Angle up. Shane ducks an enzuguri and puts an ankle lock on Angle! Angle kicks Shane in the head to get free. Rock style spinny DDT from Shane. Speaking of Rock, Shane puts on a Sharpshooter that might be even worse than Rock's. Angle crawls and gets to the ropes, but Shane pulls him back to the middle. Instead Angle gets the kendo stick and whacks Shane with it to get free. Shane dodges kendo swings and pummels Angle with quick jabs. Dancing straight right for 2. Trash can shot to Angle's head. Another to the gut. Shane puts the can on Angle and goes up top. He goes for the shooting star press, but Angle dodges and all Shane hits is trash can! That gets a "holy shit" chant. Just wait, folks. Angle drapes an arm over for 2. Angle goes for the Angle Slam. Shane grabs the ropes to counter, so Angle dumps him down to the floor. Angle knocks Shane up the aisle toward the stage area. Shane counters and hits Angle with a suplex on the floor. Slugfest in front of the stage. Angle runs Shane into one of the giant throne legs. Angle sets up another belly to belly. He tosses Shane into the stage on one of the plexiglass "KOR" logo panels, but the glass doesn't break! Another go. Shane goes through the glass this time into the stage! "Holy shit" chant two. Now Angle's bleeding from his arm and Shane has several cuts on his face from the glass. Angle sets up again inside the stage. Another belly to belly and again the glass doesn't break and Shane falls on his head! Both Angle and the ref clearly check on Shane. Let's try again. THE GLASS DOESN'T BREAK AGAIN! Japanese glass. Angle says screw it, grabs Shane, and just tosses him face first through the glass! Angle covers but it's not falls count anywhere. I think both guys are legit spent at this point. Angle's bleeding on both arms and staggers over to get an anvil case. He drags Shane up, puts him on the case, and starts to roll him to the ring! Genius. No, intelligence. Three I's. Angle drags Shane's bloodied carcass into the ring. Cover. Shane kicks out! Angle loads up a trash can lid shot. Low blow from Shane. He nails Angle with the lid! Shane hits an Angle Slam! One arm cover. Angle kicks out! Angle goes for the ankle lock. Shane tries to fight it, so Angle slingshots him into the corner and Shane ends up draped over the top rope. Angle gets the board of wood and hits Shane with it. Then he props the board on the top rope, climbs on top of it, hooks Shane up....AVALANCHE ANGLE SLAM! HUGE pop from the crowd and another "holy shit" chant for that. Angle crawls over, gets an arm over, and gets the pin! Fantastic match. Everyone remembers the glass panels in the stage that wouldn't break, and in this case that refusal to break only added to this match's mystique rather than took away from it, but there's a lot more going on than that. It does go on too long, they could have cut 10 minutes off and given that to the tournament matches and it wouldn't have lost anything, but that's more nitpicking than a major criticism. This match also went a long way toward establishing Angle's street cred for lack of a better term, earning respect from the fans and continuing his very clear upward trajectory at this point of his career. ****
Shane gets carried out by the refs to a nice ovation for putting on that show but then manages, barely, to walk out on his own the last little bit. Elsewhere, Austin goes out back to check if Vince is here. Still nope. Steve "Brooklyn Brawler" Lombardi tells Austin there's no more time, his match is now.
Triple Threat Match for the WWF Championship: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (c) def Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit in 27:50- This likely would have been a four way with the issues between Austin and Trips continuing before Trips' injury. It's also about this point that it really became clear that, as shocking as it was on the night at Wrestlemania, Austin's heel turn was not a good long term move. Jericho's got his new tweaked "ball through tunnel" entrance that he'll carry the rest of his run up to his first Fozzy hiatus, my personal favorite of Jericho's entrances. Austin keeps looking behind him on his entrance, seeing if Vince is there. He keeps stalling so the Chrises attack him on the floor. Austin tries to escape through the crowd and gets tracked down. The Chrises continue to beat Austin around the ringside area. Austin manages to backdrop Jericho on the floor, then attacks Benoit getting back in the ring. Chops from Austin as Jericho runs back in to make it 2 on 1 again. Double chops from the Chrises on Austin. Flying forearm from Jericho and he covers. Benoit pulls him off, showing the first disagreement in a match only one guy can win. After an Austin flurry he gets knocked between the Chrises as they get on the same page again. Austin ducks a Jericho heel kick and Benoit takes it! Jericho helps Benoit up....then attacks him! While that's going on Austin takes a top turnbuckle pad off, then joins Jericho in stomping Benoit down. Austin tries for the Thesz press but Jericho counters it into a Walls attempt! Benoit runs in, breaks it up, and back suplex dumps Jericho over the top to the floor. Benoit goes for the crossface! Austin quickly gets to the ropes before it's on. Benoit snap suplex. Austin momentum tosses Benoit out to the floor. He gets the belt, sticks it in Benoit's face and says "That'll never be yours!" in between stair shots. We get a shot of Jericho still down on the floor and see he's bleeding. His head had a glancing blow on the apron on the way down when he was dumped out, clearly he hit pretty hard because he's bleeding from the side of his head somewhere. While Austin's pounding on Benoit, Benoit gets a counter cradle for 2. Jericho finally slowly pulls himself back up on the apron. As soon as he's up Austin tosses Benoit into him, knocking him back down to the floor! Austin double middle finger to Benoit, kick wham no Benoit pushes out and Austin runs into Hebner, knocking him down. Benoit hits a Stunner! Cover but Hebner is still down. He recovers to count but Austin kicks out. Benoit goes out and gets the belt. Belt shot on Austin. Another cover with a slow count. Jericho breaks the pin up. He tosses Benoit out and they slug it out on the floor. Post shot for Benoit. Jericho runs in and covers Austin for 2. Big chops from Jericho. Austin tries to get Jericho into a Boston crab. Jericho pushes off the mat to power Austin off. Now Jericho goes for the Walls but Austin gets to the ropes. Suplex from Jericho for 2. Spinebuster from Austin. He gives Jericho some knees to the gut and hits a Russian leg sweep for 2. Sleeper from Austin. Jericho back suplexes out. On knees chop and punch exchange. Jericho gets momentum with a flying forearm and clotheslines. Benoit finally gets back up on the apron, and Jericho instantly springboard dropkicks him back to the floor! Bulldog on Austin. Lionsault! Austin gets his knees up! Jericho fights off a Stunner but Austin comes off the ropes with a Thesz press. Benoit brings a chair into the ring. Austin ducks and Benoit hits Jericho with it! Stunner on Benoit! Benoit falls back out to the floor. Austin covers Jericho instead for 2. He sets Jericho up top and superplexes him. Another setup and TWO superplexes on Jericho! Cover for a long 2. Let's go for three. Benoit runs in and cuts it off. ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLING GERMANS on Austin! And he doesn't stop at three! Four! Five! He goes for six but Austin low blows him to get free. Jericho fights Austin over into the Walls! Benoit puts the crossface on at the same time! Austin taps! Hebner forces the Chrises to break their holds. He says no decision because they both had holds on. Bad reffing. Austin tapped. He should be out of the match, and Benoit and Jericho should go one on one to determine the final winner. Jericho charges but Benoit wraps him up in the crossface! Jericho fights out and goes for the Walls. Benoit fights out of that. Huge chop exchange. Snap suplex from Benoit. Meanwhile, Austin has another chair. Benoit baseball slides it into Austin! Benoit hooks up for another suplex. Jericho lifts him up and drops him to the floor, but while doing that he snapped his own throat over the top rope. Someone comes in through the crowd. IT'S BOOKER T! BOOKER T IS HERE! He attacks Austin! Scissors kick! Commentary calls Booker the WCW Champion. He was the reigning champion when WCW sold so at least they're keeping that continuity. He suplexes Austin through the Spanish announce table! Security runs in to take Booker out. Meanwhile, Benoit is rolling Germans Jericho. Jericho counters and gets the Walls on! Benoit manages to get to the ropes. He runs Jericho's shoulder into the post. Another counter sequence and Benoit gets a slam. He goes up top. Jericho slams him off Flair style. Bulldog. Lionsault! Barely, that was a long leap. Jericho covers for 2. Jericho tries to Cactus clothesline Benoit but neither pull it off well and they both kind of flop over to the floor. Jericho takes the Spanish announce table cover and hits Austin with it. He leaves Benoit on the floor and decides to roll Austin back in instead. Jericho goes up top. Moonsault! Benoit pulls him out of the cover. Benoit hits the headbutt off the top rope! Jericho pulls Hebner out to save the pin! Benoit back superplexes Jericho! Again all three guys are down, with Benoit completely motionless on the mat. Austin slowly crawls over, covers Benoit, and gets a pin for a rather anticlimatic finish to retain. It turned out Benoit reaggravated an old neck injury on the landing from that back superplex, the latest in a spate of injuries or other issues (Eddie Guerrero) for higher end guys on the roster that would cause him to miss the entire next year, not coming back until after the first brand split draft. That was a good match for sure, but considering who was in there it was also a bit of a letdown. Like the previous match it was probably too long, a lot of the first half of the match felt much more like marking and killing time rather than really digging into it. Plus, again, the overbooking, which stems from two different problems: Austin's ill-conceived heel turn, and trying to get the Invasion story going from a lot of wrong directions. ***1/2
OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- With all the emphasis on non-match segments this felt as much like a good episode of Raw as a PPV. Still, nothing in the ring was truly horrible and the last two matches delivered to one degree or another so all in all it's a pretty decent show. Poorly booked King of the Ring tournaments were pretty much the norm by this point so expectations were never too high there to begin with, which is why they were about to be put on the shelf for a long while. This would be the last "normal" WWF PPV for a while as the Invasion angle kicked in fully after this, and the warning signs are already all over the place as to how that would end up going.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-