BRM Reviews WWF King Of The Ring 2001

[Big Red Machine]

WWF King Of The Ring 2001 (6/24/2001)- East Rutherford, NJ

OPENING VIDEO PACKAGE- not that good. The things the voice-over was saying and the images and the angles didn’t reall feel like they had any connection at all.

PAUL HEYMAN INTERVIEWS DDP- good

KING OF THE RING SEMI-FINAL MATCH: Kurt Angle vs. Christian- 4.75/10

KING OF THE RING SEMI-FINAL MATCH: Edge vs. Rhyno- 6.5/10

WWF WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Dudley Boyz(c) vs. Spike Dudley & Kane- 5.75/10. Lots of fun. He aftermath was okay.

EDGE & CHRISTIAN SEGMENT- good

KING OF THE RING TOURNAMENT FINALS: Kurt Angle vs. Edge- 7/10

EDGE PROMO- good

WWF LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Jeff Hardy(c) vs. X-Pac- 5/10

THE UNDERTAKER BRAWLS WITH DDP- GREAT segment. A good brawl, which really felt like a promise of things to come in this feud.

STREET FIGHT: Kurt Angle vs. Shane McMahon- 10/10. WOW! A PERFECT match! This match told an amazing story of escalating violence. Of going from amateur wrestling to extreme violence. Just some absolutely brutal spots. The suplex spots with the glass were just insane to watch. The first time Kurt did the suplex, you saw Shane just fall on his head… and it was sick. So when Kurt went to do the same thing again, we knew what to expect… and we were wrong. Absolutely amazing! Possibly my favorite No DQ’s match of all-time.

WWF TITLE MATCH: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin(c) vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho- 7.75/10. I had some major logical problems with this match. The first of which was the lack of DQs. We had blatant weapon use, a blatant low blow, and the ref getting manhandled, and yet there were no DQs. The traditional answer to this question would be “so you DQ one guy and have two winners?” To which I would respond, “yes. Either that or have the ref restart the match with just those two guys left, and have the disqualified guy be disqualified.” It is much better than guys being allowed to do whatever they want in every multi-man match.

Speaking of eliminations, here was my other problem with this match. They did a spot where Austin was both locked in the Walls of Jericho and the Crossface at the same time and he tapped out. Hebner didb’t know who to give the submission to… so he just restarted the match. WTF? Once again, the logical thing to do here would seem to be to have the match be restarted WITHOUT AUSTIN. I know that one of the angles going into this match was that Vince wasn’t going to be there… so did WWF really put on a show without some kind of kayfabe authority figure? That seems ridiculous to me.

Other than that, this match was very good. I really liked the Booker T interference, and JR and Heyman put it over perfectly. What I didn’t like, however, was the security guys not chasing Booker T into the crowd. He just jumped the barricade. He is not a WWE contracted employee, therefore he is not supposed to be on that side of the barricade. Their job is to go and THROW HIM OUT OF THE BUILDING. Not just chase him away from ringside.

Overall a very good show from the WWF. Everything was a least solid. The main event had its problems, but it was still a great match, and the PERFECT Street Fight more than made up for main event’s flaws.

[cero2k]

triple threat matches are by default booked as no dq

a ref is an authority figure that can decide all those match problems with what he did.

booker could have a ticket. i think that it is kayfabe acceptable that run ins like that happen

[badnewzxl]

triple threat matches are by default booked as no dq

a ref is an authority figure that can decide all those match problems with what he did.

booker could have a ticket. i think that it is kayfabe acceptable that run ins like that happen

this

[Big Red Machine]

triple threat matches are by default booked as no dq

a ref is an authority figure that can decide all those match problems with what he did.

booker could have a ticket. i think that it is kayfabe acceptable that run ins like that happen

Then why don't people (especially heels) resort to weapons use or low-blows more often?

It seems like an odd decision for the ref to make. It is usually the sort of thing that an authority figure would do, and it seemed a lot more logical than just restarting the match. Also, it was a missed opportunity to add fuel to the "Austin is paranoid" angle.

As for Booker, having a ticket is irrelevant. He jumped the guardrail. No one is allowed to jump the guardrail. Look at any real sport, or (more importantly) any time someone has jumped the guardrail at a wrestling show. That person is either detained or thrown out of the arena. If they wanted to sell this as "Booker T doesn't work for the WWF," then he needed to be chased after.

[cero2k]

triple threat matches are by default booked as no dq

a ref is an authority figure that can decide all those match problems with what he did.

booker could have a ticket. i think that it is kayfabe acy don't people (especially heels) resort to weapons use or low-blows more often?

It seems like an odd decision for the ref to make. It is usually the sort of thing that an authority figure would do, and it seemed a lot more logical than just restarting the match. Also, it was a missed opportunity to add fuel to the "Austin is paranoid" angle.

As for Booker, having a ticket is irrelevant. He jumped the guardrail. No one is allowed to jump the guardrail. Look at any real sport, or (more importantly) any time someone has jumped the guardrail at a wrestling show. That person is either detained or thrown out of the arena. If they wanted to sell this as "Booker T doesn't work for the WWF," then he needed to be chased after.

because at the end of the day wrestlers only do those things when they've tried everything, but any wrestler will try to win with wrestling skill alone.

im not saying the booking was the best, but i don't see the problem a ref makibg those decisions.

your line between kayfabe and non kayfabe is to blurry. if we can believe that kane rips and burns rings with no repercussions or that clay is a funk dancer who fights, then we can believe that booker did a run in and wasn't chased all the way out of the building. you don't need to chase him to sell that he doesn't work there, just have jr tell you. and for those in the audience who don't know who he is, big deal, wait for raw and see him next to shane and he'll tell you about him

[Big Red Machine]

triple threat matches are by default booked as no dq

a ref is an authority figure that can decide all those match problems with what he did.

booker could have a ticket. i think that it is kayfabe acy don't people (especially heels) resort to weapons use or low-blows more often?

It seems like an odd decision for the ref to make. It is usually the sort of thing that an authority figure would do, and it seemed a lot more logical than just restarting the match. Also, it was a missed opportunity to add fuel to the "Austin is paranoid" angle.

As for Booker, having a ticket is irrelevant. He jumped the guardrail. No one is allowed to jump the guardrail. Look at any real sport, or (more importantly) any time someone has jumped the guardrail at a wrestling show. That person is either detained or thrown out of the arena. If they wanted to sell this as "Booker T doesn't work for the WWF," then he needed to be chased after.

because at the end of the day wrestlers only do those things when they've tried everything, but any wrestler will try to win with wrestling skill alone.

im not saying the booking was the best, but i don't see the problem a ref makibg those decisions.

your line between kayfabe and non kayfabe is to blurry. if we can believe that kane rips and burns rings with no repercussions or that clay is a funk dancer who fights, then we can believe that booker did a run in and wasn't chased all the way out of the building. you don't need to chase him to sell that he doesn't work there, just have jr tell you. and for those in the audience who don't know who he is, big deal, wait for raw and see him next to shane and he'll tell you about him

1 & 2. Fair enough

3. I would prefer that Kane not be burning things, and I think they should address it. As for Brodus Clay, he is an example of what I like to call a "regular person" gimmick. He is a person with a "normal" job who moonlights as a pro wrestler. It is improbable, but it is certainly plausible. We are supposed to believe that, during the day, and on his nights off, Brodus dances in funk clubs. Just like we are supposed to believe that, during the day, Duke Drosse picks up your garbage, IRS tries to catch you cheating on your taxes, and Grizzly Redwood goes into a forest and chops down trees.

The Booker T thing is different, though, because of the nature of the angle. We are supposed to believe that this guy from an outside company (which has spent the last six years trying to put the WWF out of business) just jumped the guardrail and tried to injure the WWF Champion. If some random guy who jumps the guardrail just to do a lap around the ring gets arrested and thrown out of the arena, how much more so should a trained wrestler (which makes him extremely kayfabe dangerous) be arrested and thrown out to stop him from hurting any other WWF wrestlers?

[badnewzxl]

The Booker T thing is different, though, because of the nature of the angle. We are supposed to believe that this guy from an outside company (which has spent the last six years trying to put the WWF out of business) just jumped the guardrail and tried to injure the WWF Champion. If some random guy who jumps the guardrail just to do a lap around the ring gets arrested and thrown out of the arena, how much more so should a trained wrestler (which makes him extremely kayfabe dangerous) be arrested and thrown out to stop him from hurting any other WWF wrestlers?

you're ignoring a HUGE point here: WCW was now owned by Shane McMahon, who was also still part owner of the WWE. THATS why Booker got in there so easily. It's all part of THAT (i.e the Invasion) angle. I know you didn't enjoy that angle so much bc it was "universally crapped on" but it's part of the angle nonetheless; it has a simple explanation that DOES make sense. Sure, Booker COULD have been chased out and it would have further established that he wasn't a WWE guy and he wasn't spose to be over the guard rail, but they didn't need to do that bc (as you said) Booker worked for the company "which spent the last six years trying to put the WWF out of business." Ppl KNEW who he was; they knew he wasn't a WWE guy. Why not let him get the heat?

I grow tired of WWE having security and cops and crap get involved; it's a friggin novelty, trying to make everything seem more "real." The problem with that is you can't do it every time, so it doesn't make much sense when it's done in the first place. You have Miz and Truth get arrested at HIAC, but not Nexus during their entire run? Having cops and security involved is cheap heat; now, if the LOCKERROOM comes out and bounces a wrestler, THAT makes sense to me; I miss that.

[Big Red Machine]

The Booker T thing is different, though, because of the nature of the angle. We are supposed to believe that this guy from an outside company (which has spent the last six years trying to put the WWF out of business) just jumped the guardrail and tried to injure the WWF Champion. If some random guy who jumps the guardrail just to do a lap around the ring gets arrested and thrown out of the arena, how much more so should a trained wrestler (which makes him extremely kayfabe dangerous) be arrested and thrown out to stop him from hurting any other WWF wrestlers?

you're ignoring a HUGE point here: WCW was now owned by Shane McMahon, who was also still part owner of the WWE. THATS why Booker got in there so easily. It's all part of THAT (i.e the Invasion) angle. I know you didn't enjoy that angle so much bc it was "universally crapped on" but it's part of the angle nonetheless; it has a simple explanation that DOES make sense. Sure, Booker COULD have been chased out and it would have further established that he wasn't a WWE guy and he wasn't spose to be over the guard rail, but they didn't need to do that bc (as you said) Booker worked for the company "which spent the last six years trying to put the WWF out of business." Ppl KNEW who he was; they knew he wasn't a WWE guy. Why not let him get the heat?

I grow tired of WWE having security and cops and crap get involved; it's a friggin novelty, trying to make everything seem more "real." The problem with that is you can't do it every time, so it doesn't make much sense when it's done in the first place. You have Miz and Truth get arrested at HIAC, but not Nexus during their entire run? Having cops and security involved is cheap heat; now, if the LOCKERROOM comes out and bounces a wrestler, THAT makes sense to me; I miss that.

I am not saying that they shouldn't have had him interfere. I am not disputing how Booker got close to the ring or how he got into the building. I am saying that Shane owning WCW is irrelevant. Once Booker jumped the guardrail, he needs to be removed from the arena. I am saying that security should have chased him into the crowd (or at least not leave ringside. As you said, most people knew that Booker wasn't a WWF guy, and for the few who didn't, having him jump the guardrail established that. What I am saying is that because it has been established that Booker isn't a WWF employee, he needs to be treated like any other person who isn't a WWF employee who did that would be treated (or maybe they should have made even more of an effort to restrain him since being a wrestler makes him more kayfabe dangerous).

I absolutely agree with you about the cops, and I think that, especially for an invasion angle, it NEEDS to be the lockerroom who comes out and chases the guy away. If I remember right, Nexus was usually chased away, and they beat up arena security (who, I think, should always be used rather than cops).