Vengeance '01

Legacy Review

Vengeance '01

December 9, 2001 from the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, CA

 

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

 

Armageddon had been the name for the last couple of December PPVs, but with this show coming just months after 9/11 WWF decided the time wasn't right for that. Instead this will be the first PPV under the Vengeance name. Next year Vengeance will take over as the July PPV name, and Armageddon will be reinstated for December. Interestingly, the poster for this show features Triple H even though he was still a month away from his return. Jerry Lawler is back on commentary, taking back over from Paul Heyman on the Raw after Survivor Series. Lawler's absence from the company was completely unrelated to anything WCW, but having Heyman on commentary from the WCW buyout through the end of the Invasion angle really was perfect timing.

 

The Invasion angle wrapped up at Survivor Series, which also included unifying the midcard and tag titles on that show. But, that still left the top titles, which is what we'll be dealing with tonight. Just before getting on the on ramp toward the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania season. Both the WWF Championship and the World Championship (rechristened from the WCW Championship) will be defended tonight in separate matches, then the winners of those matches will meet in the main event to determine the first ever Undisputed Champion. In addition, we have the new post-Invasion story of Ric Flair now being a 50/50 co-owner of the WWF alongside Vince, thanks to Shane and Steph selling all their stock to him to fund their ultimately failed WCW and ECW purchases. Where Flair got the money to buy all that stock despite all the alimony he's got to pay will forever remain an unanswered question.

 

I've lost track of how many of these "Freddie Blassie watching" openings we've gotten the past couple of years. Still, this one mostly works thanks to the incorporation of classic footage and the hook of crowning the first ever in wrestling history undisputed champion tonight (in WWF's mind, but at this point in time you'd be hard pressed to find another company that mattered worth a damn, especially in the US). Could have done without all the weird interpretive dance bits going on around him though.

 

Vince's music interrupts commentary's usual intro and he makes his way out to the ring. He had just started the Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club, forcing William Regal to become the first member in order to be reinstated into WWF after he jumped to the Alliance during the Invasion. On the SD before this show a group including Austin, Rock, Undertaker and, naturally, Rikishi and his ass got some revenge and Vince is none to pleased about it. After some ranting at the audience to respect him, including saying "You'll laugh when I tell you to laugh!" which feels like a shoot comment, Flair interrupts, says people came here to see a PPV, and tells the first wrestlers to come out. Vince storms off in a huff after Scotty and Albert get in the ring.

 

Scotty2Hotty & Albert def WWF European Champion Christian & Test in 6:12- Want some random teams? We got random teams. The last couple of months of the Invasion the Alliance largely turned into a vehicle to try to move Test up to the next level (again), but as usual with these things Vince had already lost interest. Big Attitude Era style jump start in the aisle. We settle in with Christian and Scotty in the ring, with the arena completely covered in smoke from the pyro. I don't know how the upper section can see anything. Scotty outwrestles Christian so Christian bails and tags Test in. Scotty dodges and also tags out. Albert does a Vader style tackle on Test and hits a big splash for 2. He doesn't appreciate Christian breaking the pin up and shoves him off the apron. Scotty tries mounted punches on Test but Christian pulls him down and Test clotheslines him. That sends Scotty in peril for a bit while JR and Lawler amuse themselves by trying to come up with team names for the Scotty/Albert combination. It's so good to hear the two of them together again. Heyman was clearly superior to Lawler in match analysis, the core function of the job, but JR and Lawler are such a great team that play off each other so well. Scotty goes into dodge mode on Test and manages to hit him with a superkick. Tags on both sides. Albert runs Christian over and jabs away on Test. He squashes both heels in the corner. Giant swing on Christian! OK, credit to him for getting that out. Dizzy Albert falls on Christian for a long 2 count. He fights off a heel double team with a double clothesline. Albert sets up for the Baldo Bomb but Test pulls him out to the floor. Scotty runs into a Christian reverse DDT and Christian does the mandatory heel attempt to do Scotty's worm. Albert breaks that up and we're in full on DONNYBROOK mode. Test big boots Albert but Scotty barely breaks the pin up. Christian gets backdropped over the top rope, Scotty drops Test in the drop zone and the W O R M hits. But, Test rolls out of the ring as soon as it's hit. Christian gets in and goes for the Unprettier on Scotty. Albert breaks that up, plants Christian with the Baldo Bomb, and gets the pin. Meh. *3/4

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Edge (c) def William Regal in 9:06- Nice rough lockup to start. The ref forces a break, but they go right back into it. Edge gets the first shots in and hits a missile dropkick off the second rope. Regal rolls out for a think, then throws Edge into the post. European uppercut from Regal back in. Edge comes back with a backdrop. Regal gets a straight right hand for 2. Knees to Edge's face and another European uppercut. Edge counters out of a full nelson and tries a sunset flip. Regal grabs Edge's hair to block it and drops a knee on him for 2. Edge gets a flash small package for 2. Regal running knee to Edge's head for 2. Suplex from Regal for 2. Edge blocks a kick and hits a swinging neckbreaker. Clothesline as Edge starts to build momentum. He hurricanranas Regal off the top rope for a long 2. Northern lights suplex for 2. A back elbow from Regal puts Edge back down. Edge uses his legs to leverage Regal over the top down to the floor. He tries coming off the apron but Regal dodges and Edge crashes into the stairs. Regal takes advantage of the ref checking on Edge to find the brass knucks he planted under the ring skirt. Sneaky place to hide them. Back in Regal covers and Edge just barely gets a foot on the rope just as 3 hits. Double underhook powerbomb from Regal for 2. Desperation enzuguri from Edge and both guys are down. Roll up from Edge for 2. Backslide for 2. Regal puts Edge back down with a forearm. Another double underhook powerbomb from Regal. A third. Edge kicks out again. Frustrated Regal stomps the hell out of Edge. He gets the knucks out of his tights. Spear outta nowhere! Edge gets the pin to retain! Just fine but no more. Edge, honestly, continues to underwhelm a bit early in his singles run. We know he'll get there eventually. **1/2

 

Kurt Angle storms into Flair's office and tries his best to rile Flair up, but Flair keeps agreeing with him on everything. Finally Angle has enough and leaves. Funny stuff.

 

Jeff Hardy def Matt Hardy in 12:30- Another big post-Invasion angle, the first of what would be many breakups of the Hardy Boyz. This one stemmed from Jeff choosing an adrenaline high over winning in the tag title match at Survivor Series. Not the last time Jeff would choose a cheap high over doing the right thing. Even though it was Jeff's screw up that started this Matt's the one being positioned as the heel, which will be common practice during all their feuds. It's also put Matt's girlfriend Lita in the middle of it all, and because of that she will be the special guest referee for this match. Lita's ref outfit is...unique. Jeff is still trying to make the baseball cap happen. Lockup into a nice basic start. Top wristlock fight into hammerlock reversals. Matt gets a leg takedown and walks over Jeff. That also knocked the cap off. Speed run and Jeff gets an armdrag into an ARMBAR. Matt tries to counter but Jeff rolls through and hangs on. Matt goes full heel by going to a hair pull and back elbowing Jeff. Slam/fistdrop combo from Matt for 2. Chops in the corner from Matt. Jeff reverses and hits his own chops. Eye poke from Matt and he drops Jeff on the top rope. Diving clothesline for 2. Matt hooks on a sleeper. Jeff escapes and puts on his own sleeper. Matt back suplexes out. Jeff dodges the legdrop off the second rope. Jawbreaker from Jeff. His legdrop off the second rope hits for 2. Jeff hops up top but Matt pushes him down into the tree of woe, then gets pissed at Lita for wanting to get Jeff down. That gets Matt some good boos from the crowd. Roll up from Matt for 2. He tries to toss Jeff over the top but Jeff lands on the apron. Matt tries for a sunset bomb. Jeff blocks it and hurricanranas Matt on the floor! Jeff flips over Matt back in the ring and hurts his knee on the landing. Matt sees the target and goes right for it. Chop block on Jeff and some more shots on the knee. Matt then changes tacks and goes for a piledriver. Jeff works free and hits a Russian leg sweep for 2. He ledgrops Matt's legs into a stack up cover for 2. Matt gets back on the knee and puts on a half crab. Jeff crawls over and gets a rope break. Matt goes for a figure four (on the wrong knee) but Jeff pushes him out to the floor. Jeff hobbles over to hit a baseball slide. He tries for a plancha but his knee can't take it. Matt grabs the leg again but Jeff gets a desperation kick. Stand up slugfest. Matt hooks up for the Twist of Fate. Jeff counters into the crotch legdrop and hits a back suplex. He drags himself and his bad knee up to the top rope. Matt catches him and slams him off the top Flair style. Another Twist of Fate attempt. Jeff counters and goes for a Twist of Fate. Matt counters that into a backslide for 2. They have a bit of trouble deciding where to go after that. Eventually Matt gets Jeff down and tries for a rope leverage pin, but it's blatantly obvious and Lita breaks it up. Matt didn't like that at all. That allows Jeff to get a roll up for 2. Jeff goes up top again but again Matt catches him. He goes for an avalanche Twist of Fate. Jeff blocks it. Swanton Bomb! Matt gets a foot on the rope, but Jeff pulls it off before Lita can see and gets the pin! Matt tries to argue after but Lita can't call what she didn't see. There were bits in there I really liked, especially them trying to do a more old school style match rather than the crazy spotfest you'd expect from them, but they didn't hold it together as well as they could have. The knee work reminded me of the Rock N Roll Express breakup match at Great American Bash '91, but this wasn't near the flop that one was. It also suffered from the crowd clearly not caring, especially after Edge & Christian already had a big breakup not long before this. It was too soon. They'd quickly realize that and the Hardyz would be back together by the first of the year. **1/4

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: The Dudley Boyz (c) (w/Stacy Keibler) def The Big Show & Kane in 6:50- For those keeping track this is the third time in recent months Show's tried to take either the WWF or WCW tag titles from the Dudleyz, and with his third different partner. He's clearly trying a new strategy, going from small guys Spike Dudley and Tajiri to Kane. D'Von tries to maneuver around Kane at the start but it doesn't work out for him. Kane easily takes out both Dudleyz. Show pounds on Bubba Ray and hits a powerslam for 2. Bubba Ray sees a goozle coming and grabs the ropes to stop himself. He wants to tag but D'Von refuses to tag back in! Bubba Ray eye pokes Show and now D'Von will tag. He walks right into a Show side suplex for 2. Corner squash from Show. Show whips Kane into corner clotheslines on both Dudleyz. Kane whips both Dudleyz into the same corner, then whips Show to squash them both. The Dudleyz go to the floor and Kane hits them both with a double clothesline off the top rope. For some reason Stacy gets in the ring to scream at the Dudleyz to get up. Show pulls her skirt down from behind, then puts her over his knee and spanks her! I'm not into the spanking part personally, but seeing Stacy in her underwear.....uh......yeah. Give me a second to refocus. After my mental cold shower the Dudleyz manage to hit Kane with the reverse 3D to finally get some offense going for the first time. Bubba Ray then takes Kane's knee out and the Dudleyz hit the Whazzup Drop. Double flapjack from the Dudleyz and they set up for the 3D. Kane big boots D'Von and clotheslines Bubba Ray to cut that off. Tag to show. Clotheslines for everyone. Big backdrop on D'Von. Corner avalanche on Bubba Ray. Goozle on D'Von. Bubba Ray chop blocks Show to stop the chokeslam. Everyone in the pool! The Dudleyz maneuver Kane into clotheslining Show from the top rope. Bubba Ray tries to cover but Kane tosses him out. Kane goes over to help Show and tries to apologize. Show doesn't want to hear it. The Dudleyz jump while they argue but easily get fought off again. Big boot from Show on Bubba Ray. Now Show accidentally knocks Kane off the apron. He goes for Stacy again but D'Von saves her. Bubba Ray takes a top turnbuckle pad off. Both Dudleyz lift Show up, drop him on the exposed buckle, and get the pin. JR: "It was not a pretty match". No it wasn't. The Dudleyz continue to struggle to have decent matches with any teams other than Edge & Christian or the Hardyz. 1/2*

 

The Undertaker's had an interesting ride since the Invasion ended. Vince creating the Kiss My Ass Club caused Taker to snap, because he saw himself as the biggest Vince ass kisser of them all and that embarrassed him. When Vince tried to force JR to join the Kiss My Ass club, Taker stopped JR and asked if he was really going to do it. When JR said "HELL NO!", Taker then asked "Why? You think you're better than me?" and attacked JR, turning heel. Since then Taker's targeted RVD as the new hot shot in WWF, constantly attacking RVD all while demanding everyone respect him.

 

WWF Hardcore Championship: The Undertaker def Rob Van Dam (c) in 11:08- The Hardcore title is a big come down for Taker, but that aside the feud makes sense. The crowd's pretty behind RVD. Good power vs speed stuff at the start. RVD does his backflip out of the corner but runs into a Taker big boot. Taker drops an elbow for 2. RVD gets a back elbow in the corner, hops up top and hits a super flippy senton for 2. Spinning heel kick for 2. RVD goes out of his wheelhouse and puts on a headlock. Taker uses that to drop him crotch first on the top rope and big boots him down to the floor. That leads to some back and forth ringside knockaraound. Oh yeah, this is right when JR started calling Taker "Booger Red". RVD clotheslines Taker over the barricade into the crowd. He tries to springboard off the barricade but Taker catches him with a gut shot. Some crowd brawl stuff follows. Taker takes a fan's Mexico flag and chokes RVD with it! RVD hits an asai moonsault off the hockey wall! Taker sends RVD flying over some spare guardrail pieces and stays in control as they fight to the side of the stage. RVD fires off a fire extinguisher and hits Taker with it. Trash can shot for Taker. That looked like a proper can, not one of the super thin ones they usually use. RVD then climbs the arena steps all the way up to the top of the floor entranceway. Crossbody dive onto Taker for 2! A ton of dust from something flew up where they hit. Now they work behind the stage and up the steps onto a side part of the stage proper. Taker crashes into some spare bits and bobs up there and RVD covers for 2. Through the curtain to the main entrance area. RVD hits a legdrop for 2. Taker scoops RVD up and runs him headfirst into one of the trons! He sets up for a Last Ride on the stage. RVD grabs the side of the tron to get free! Clothesline from Taker. Taker goes behind the curtain and comes back with a chair. RVD kicks it into Taker's face! Rolling thunder on the stage! That gets a 2 count. The Vandaminator hits for 2. Taker dodges another kick attempt and gives RVD some chairshots. Both guys look for something big near the edge of the stage, each countering the other. Eventually Taker wins, chokeslamming RVD off the side of the stage into a stack of tables below! Taker covers and gets the pin to win the Hardcore title! Good stuff. It's fun seeing Taker in the almost alternate Hardcore universe as that was something new for him. Pure RVD style match too, Taker let RVD lead for most of it and played along great. Being the Hardcore champ will give him even more license to earn respect the hard way. RVD can also check "jobbed to Taker" off his mandatory WWF to do list before even being considered to move up to the next level. ***

 

Jericho storms into Flair's office, annoyed at the world for thinking he doesn't have a chance in hell tonight. Flair's "If you can pull it off more power to you" response doesn't help any. 

 

WWF Women's Championship: Trish Stratus (c) def Jacqueline in 3:34- Lawler commends both womens' "well developed lungs". Oh yeah, he's back. Lockup and clean break. After a Trish shoulderblock Jacqueline gets a roll up for 2. She NAILS Trish with a couple of forearms and hits a backdrop. A "we want puppies" chant gets Lawler going like you'd expect while Trish hits a couple of kicks. She tries to follow up but Jacqueline shoves her away *hard*. One of Trish's kicks must have caught her flush. She also shoves the ref away, then plants Trish with a forearm and pummels her with some very straight stomps. Slams from Jacqueline. Trish takes advantage of Jacqueline dragging her up by the arm to hit a short clothesline for 2. Trish goes for a high kick but Jacqueline ducks and sweeps her other leg out, resulting in a nasty looking landing for Trish that gets a big gasp from the crowd. They're not chanting for puppies now. Trish dodges in the corner and tries for what looks like a sort of Gedo clutch, but neither of them can pull it off right. Clothesline from Jacqueline, once again very stiff. Another backdrop. Trish flips out of a suplex attempt and both women exchange chops. Trish goes for the Stratusfaction but Jacqueline pushes out. Basement dropkick to Trish's back for 2. Off a corner whip Trish flies back and they have an ugly looking collision. Backslide from Trish and that gets the pin! I don't know if they planned to work so stiff or it just happened out of mutual annoyance, but damn that part worked beautifully. They do have a handshake after the bell so it might have been the plan. When they tried wrestling moves it didn't go very well half the time, but the striking was on point and that absolutely got the crowd into it and respecting it as a proper wrestling match instead of just hoping someone's top came off. **

 

Now for the main part of tonight's proceedings, the mini tournament to crown the first ever Undisputed Champion. But before that is an extremely long video recap that shows just how far this whole "Kiss My Ass Club" thing has already gone. It's ridiculous and pure Vince McMahon humor. The whole pomp and circumstance leading up to the start of the title matches is really good, making this feel as much of a big deal as possible considering it's on the December PPV, traditionally a dead time on the schedule before getting into Rumble season.

 

WWF Championship: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (c) def Kurt Angle in 14:55- Running back the main WWF Title feud from the Invasion one more time. Lawler mentions they attempted to get this "unified thing" done when he was AWA World champ, which is a nice callback, and true. Instead of Austin's usual jump start he and Angle go nose to nose in the middle of the ring while the crowd eats every bit of it up. Cautious start after the bell. Very cautious. Lockup! I can't remember the last time I saw Austin lock up. Neither guy will break in the corner and they roll across the ropes to the other corner. Finally we have an extremely slow, cautious break but no one tries anything. Another lockup and this time ref Mike Chioda forces Angle to break. Austin, far from upset, is happy at Angle showing so much fire. One more lockup and this time Austin lays in some strikes to crank things up a notch. Off a whip Angle grabs the ropes and slides out of the ring to pretty big boos from the crowd. Back in Angle gets a waistlock takedown and Austin quickly rolls out to rethink things. Coming back in Austin tells Angle he's #1 with both hands. Speed run and Austin catches Angle with a back elbow. Chops from Austin. Angle grabs a kick attempt. Austin quickly rolls to get free because he knew what Angle was going for. Angle ducks a clothesline and puts on another waistlock. Austin grabs Angle's arm to power free and twists into an arm wringer. Angle reverses into his own arm wringer and Austin quickly eye pokes him. Neither guy afraid to heel it up. He continue working on Angle's arm. Angle's clearly inspired Austin, it's great to see Austin the pure wrestler come out again as much as he was capable of anymore. More Austin chops in the corner. He momentum tosses Angle over the top to the floor. Austin follows and runs Angle's arm into the post. Angle catches Austin coming back in with stomps. Armbar slam from Austin! Cover for 2. Yet more chops from Austin. Austin ducks under and gets a waistlock. Angle counters and gets Austin down into the ankle lock! Middle of the ring! Austin crawls for the ropes but Angle drags him back. Austin tries again and this time gets a rope break. Angle charges but Austin backdrops him over the top rope to the floor. Spanish announce table shots for Angle. Angle maneuvers Austin across the ring and posts his knee! Now Angle hits some chops from the floor. Post wraparound figure four! Hi Bret Hart. Back in Angle puts the ankle lock back on. Austin rolls over and manages to kick free. Belly to belly suplex from Angle. Austin tries to chop back but Angle eye rakes him. He stomps Austin down in the corner. Austin comes back up slugging. Whip reversal and Austin Bret bumps into ROLLLLLLLING GERMANS. All three hit. Cover for 2. Angle goes up top. Moonsault! Austin dodges! Speed run. Austin Thesz press! Spinebuster for 2. Austin ducks under a shot and hits a German! Another! He goes for three but Angle back elbows out. Austin grabs him again and hits three! It wasn't pretty but he just got it. How about four? Five! Austin remembers Angle German suplexing him like 8 times in their Summerslam match. Austin covers and Angle JUST kicks out! They fight against the ropes and Angle hits a sneaky low blow. Angle Slam! Slightly slow cover and Austin just kicks out! Angle DEMANDS Austin get back up. Angle goes for a Stunner but Austin pushes free. Austin STUNNER! He covers and gets the pin to retain the title! Damn good stuff. Not on the level of their Summerslam match but still what you'd expect from these two. I can only imagine how great an Angle vs WCW era Austin match when he could still really wrestle could be. ***1/2

 

Cool down segment: Test pushes into Trish's locker room then virtually tries to force himself on her in a "walking the line toward sexual assault" way. He reminds Trish he can't be fired because he has IMMUNITY. Still? Trish doesn't care and rightly forces him out anyway. Creep. 

 

World Championship: Chris Jericho def The Rock (c) in 19:05- These two traded the WCW Title between them a couple of times during the Invasion and had built up a hugely personal feud, despite both being on the WWF side and both being faces, at least at the time. If tonight's crowd reactions are anything to go by you could probably officially say Rock's passed Austin as WWF unquestioned #1 star. Jericho's dyed the bottom part of his hair red, which will never not look weird to me. Not the red, the fact it's only on part. Lockup and Rock cranks a headlock. Nice extended speed run and Rock gets a couple of armdrags into an ARMBAR. Jericho does a flippy escape and works around into a headlock. Another speed run and this time Rock hits a clothesline. Jericho tries to escape but Rock pulls him back in. Another Rock clothesline. Spinning heel kick from Jericho and Rock goes out to the floor. Jericho hits the springboard dropkick and both guys trade shots around the usual ringside objects. Coming back in Jericho hits a flying back elbow off the top rope (after clearly signaling Rock "elbow" by patting his elbow) for 2. Suplex from Jericho and the old style ARROGANT COVER! No better indication than that Jericho's going back heel. Hebner doesn't even bother to count that. More speed and Rock hits a flying clothesline for 2. Back suplex from Jericho for 2. Clothesline for 2. They mistime a backdrop counter and Jericho kicks empty air. Rock sells it anyway. Kicked the air so hard the wind hit Rock. Snap belly to belly from Rock. Samoan drop for 2. Jericho hooks on a sleeper. Rock slowly goes down. Arm drops and Rock fights back up. Jericho cuts it off with a back elbow. He goes for the Lionsault, but sees Rock dodging and lands on his feet. Big right hands from Rock. Jericho counters with the misdirection bulldog. The Lionsault hits! Rock kicks out! Jericho is furious and has a little temper tantrum. Another confirmation he's a heel again. Snap suplex from Jericho and he goes up top. Rock catches him and gives him some chops while Jericho sits on the top rope. Jericho fights off a superplex attempt. Crossbody off the top, but Rock rolls through for a long 2 count. Jericho fires back with a clothesline and stomps. Rock dodges in the corner and Jericho FLIES over the top rope head first into the post! Jericho recovers quickly on the floor, dropping Rock on the barricade and slingshotting him into the post. Jericho then clears off the English announce table and drags Rock onto it. Rock fights off a Rock Bottom attempt on the table and DDTs Jericho through the table! Jericho grabs his head after impact in a way that looks like he caught it bad on something there. Jericho is extremely wobblelegged as Rock drags him up, but in a selling way, not truly loopy. Probably. Back in the ring Rock coils to finish it. Jericho fights the Rock Bottom off and hits a skull crushing finale. Senton from Jericho as he's clearly still trying to put himself together and still holding his head. Rock's in position, so Jericho decides to do his own People's Elbow. Rock grabs Jericho's legs and puts on the World's Shittiest Sharpshooter! Nice counter. Jericho counters that before it's fully on and puts on his own Sharpshooter. Even nicer counter. Rock tries to fight, slowly fades, then has one last push to the ropes. Jericho quickly goes for the Walls but Rock pulls him into a small package for 2. Rock Bottom! But Rock's too hurt and can't follow up. Oh great. Here comes Vince. Now Rock covers while Hebner's distracted. Rock punches Vince out. Spinebuster! Pad off. He goes for the People's Elbow, stops because Vince is on the apron and flips him back in, then finishes off hitting the Elbow on Jericho. But then Rock goes right for Vince again. Tactical error. Jericho low blows Rock and hits his own Rock Bottom! Cover and Jericho pins Rock with the Rock Bottom to win the title back! The overwhelming favorite to walk out Undisputed Champion is out. More Rock/Jericho goodness let down by the heavy distraction finish. ***3/4

 

As soon as the last match ends the glass shatters and Austin makes his way out for the main event, barely giving Jericho time to catch his breath. Austin's still limping from the ankle lock earlier.

 

Unification Match to Create the Undisputed WWF Championship: World Champion Chris Jericho def WWF Champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in 12:31- Jericho tries to hide in the ropes but Austin drags him out. Angle comes in and lays out Austin with a chair! Rock then comes in and plants Jericho with a Rock Bottom, then chases Angle off. Now the bell rings to officially start as we get our first look at the Undisputed Championship match graphic. Both guys are down and Hebner counts. The fans are chanting for Triple H, who WWF heavily teased possibly appearing on this show (as I mentioned he was on the poster) even though he wasn't ready yet. Jericho is up first and covers Austin for 2. Chops from Jericho. Running elbow to Austin and he does some ground and pound. Corner clothesline. Austin pops out of the corner with a spear! Not something you often saw from him. He pounds Jericho on the mat and gives him some buckle shots. He goes for a quick Stunner but Jericho escapes. Austin knocks him off the apron to the floor. Chops from Austin on the floor. Jericho gets run into the post. Austin pulls up the floor pad, exposing the floor. Jericho hits some shots and Austin bumps partially on the exposed floor while Jericho clears off the Spanish announce table. Fight on the table. Jericho blocks a Stunner and tries for the Walls on the table. Austin fights it and flips Jericho off back to the floor. He suplexes Jericho on the exposed part of the floor. Back in Jericho dodges in the corner and Austin goes shoulder first into the post. Jericho sees the target and runs it into the post again. Austin dodges a dropkick and slingshots Jericho into the corner. Clothesline from Austin for 2. Jericho uses that to counter into a Fujiwara armbar attempt. Not sure how well he's got it on. Jericho puts his feet on the ropes for additional leverage while Hebner desperately tries to make it look like he can't see. Finally he does and forces Jericho to break. Suplex from Jericho. Jericho tries coming off the top rope but Austin catches his coming down. More corner chops from Austin. He tries a backdrop, but Jericho rolls through it and hooks the Walls on! Austin slowly fights over and gets a rope break. Off a rope run Austin ducks and Jericho wipes out Hebner. The crowd starts chanting for Triple H again. Straight low blow from Jericho and he hits Austin with a Stunner. Vince is gesturing for someone to come out. It's former WCW and off and on crooked referee Nick Patrick, now a full fledged WWF referee. He straight up tells Jericho to cover Austin. Flair runs out, drags Patrick out of the ring and punches him out! Vince punches Flair and runs him into the post! Now Austin low blows Jericho. He sees Vince and immediately doesn't care about anything else but murdering Vince. Back to normal there. After getting back in Austin hits a Thesz press and elbow drop. Jericho tries for a missile dropkick. Austin dodges and puts Jericho into a Boston crab! Jericho's tapping but there's no ref. Now Booker T runs in! He's in street clothes and commentary specifically says he "doesn't work here anymore". He nails Austin the back of the head with the WWF Title belt and escapes back out through the crowd. Vince drags Hebner back in. Jericho covers, Hebner does the slow count, and Jericho gets the pin to win! The result no one, I mean NO ONE, expected. Jericho walks out the first ever Undisputed Champion. Forevermore it will be said that Jericho beat Rock and Austin in the same night to become the first Undisputed Champion. Never mind how he did it, which truly never gets mentioned. Jericho and Vince celebrate together as the show closes. The match is OK, but buried in crazy overbooking and even without that they never really hit high gear anyway, partially due to the overbooking and partially due to having already worked a match earlier. **1/2

 

On the surface Jericho was not an awful choice to win the title here as it should have finally gotten his career to the next level and cemented him as a permanent main eventer. The problem was the follow up, where Jericho was turned into the biggest weasel heel imaginable and was essentially a second fiddle joke of a champion to counter the massive face Triple H was after his return. Not to mention pairing Jericho up with his archnemesis Steph just because he was feuding with Trips.

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- The undercard is nothing special, but once they got to the mini title tournament the matches mostly delivered. You also have the historical importance of the first ever world title unification in WWF, even if it's in a weird spot on a very B PPV. Those matches are also let down some by the bevy of interference and how bad the follow up will be, at least as far as the champion is concerned. The last PPV of 2001 closes the book on what turned out to be a very transitional year for both WWF and wrestling as a whole, with everyone coming to grips with the new normal of WWF being the ONLY show in town. 2002 will turn out to be no less historically significant for WWF, with huge returns, the buildup to huge departures, massive debuts, the first ever roster split and even the entire company being forced to change its name.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C+