2001 has come to a end and 2002 has begun. But the near year long war between Shane McMahon and Eric Bischoff’s WCW vs The WWF continues to rage on as now Eric Bischoff holds 75% ownership of the WWF. However Stephanie McMahon was able to get 25% ownership before Survivor Series and remains the only McMahon a long with her mother Linda who is the C.E.O in the WWF. The Royal Rumble Match this year takes on a more important significance due to the war between WWF and WCW, Stone Cold Steve Austin seeks one last opportunity to get revenge on Chris Jericho and become the Undisputed Champion. Eric Bischoff though makes a move seeking to become the 100% owner of the WWF but while Bischoff seeks full ownership of the WWF, Vince McMahon makes his own return to the WWF after being forced out of the WWF at Survivor Series only this time he’s brought reinforcements…
Royal Rumble
January 20th, 2002 from the The Phillips Arena in Atlanta, GA
The 30 Man Royal Rumble Match
– The biggest story going into the Royal Rumble Match started the night after Vengeance on Monday Night Raw, Mid way through the show there was a hardcore match between Rob Van Dam and Mike Awesome and during the match WCW’s The Impact Players and Test come out and attack RVD and start beating down RVD until Tommy Dreamer makes his WWF debut coming through the crowd and hits the ring trying to help RVD and then The Dudley Boyz and Tazz come out as a huge brawl starts happening and then WCW troops of Raven’s Flock comes out to seemingly help WCW as they bring weapons out until Raven turns around and clocks Kanyon with a Singapore Cane as Stevie Richards and Saturn start attacking the other members of WCW as RVD, The Dudleyz, Dreamer, Tazz, Raven, Richards and Saturn beat down the WCW guys as the fans were chanting “ECW” as Paul Heyman made his return coming out to the ring and grabbing a microphone and proceeded to cut a promo about how he quit the WWF because he was not going to work for Eric Bischoff but Bischoff forgot of the talents he stole that helped make WCW what it was against the WWF and the talents he stole like Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko all came from one place and that was E..C..W as Heyman brings up how the WWF and ECW used to work together as Heyman says desperate times call for extreme measures and that the extreme renforcements have arrived and that is war between the WWF and WCW is about to be taken to another level. Eric Bischoff after seeing ECW’s invasion responds by making a 10 Man Tag Team Match for the main event between 5 WCW guys vs 5 ECW guys as the 5 WCW guys are the WWF Tag Team Champions The Filthy Animals, Scott Steiner, Sean O’Hare and Chuck Palumbo vs ECW’s 5 Guys being Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, The Dudley Boyz and Raven and before the match begins a huge brawl breaks out between both teams but WCW attempts to get the upper hand with Shawn Stasiak and Mark Jindrak coming out and trying to help WCW beat down the ECW guys until Tazz, Rhyno and the WWF’s Kurt Angle and The APA come out as Rhyno gores O’Hare, Palumbo and Jindrak while ECW takes care of the other 4 guys as Paul Heyman who was at ringside re-enters the ring as the WWF and ECW wrestlers stand side by side and Bischoff comes out on the ramp in absolute shock as Heyman cuts another promo talking about how ECW could not compete with WCW’s checkbook but they were a better product and much more creative then Eric Bischoff ever could be as Heyman reveals the new owner of ECW to be none other then…Vince McMahon as Vince’s music hits as Vince comes out with Bischoff in total stunned silence as Vince walks down the ramp and enters the ring as Heyman and Vince hug in the ring as Raw ends with the WWF and ECW guys standing tall as Bischoff is on the stage in his knees in total fear of knowing what ECW could do to WCW. Vince would appear on Smackdown cutting a promo saying that he is in fact the owner of ECW but as far as he is concerned ECW can do whatever the hell they want when they want as heading into the Royal Rumble, ECW stars with the help of the WWF stars would launch brutal attacks onto WCW stars such as attacking them with weapons and putting them through tables as Paul Heyman when 2002 began announced that there would be a ECW presence in the Royal Rumble Match.
– The second biggest story heading into Royal Rumble was the return of Triple H. The night after Vengeance on Monday Night Raw, Before the shit hit the fan with ECW, The nWo came to the ring and Hogan did the talking cutting a promo about the nWo’s victory over and Hogan made the huge announcement that his first match back in the WWF would be at the Royal Rumble and he would be one of the 30 partcipants in the Royal Rumble match. Nash then took over the talking and talked about Triple H and how the word is going around that he and Scott’s old buddy Triple H will be back very soon and Nash talks about how no matter what is going on between WCW and the WWF that he, Scott will gladly welcome him back with open arms and welcome him back into the nWo and they are interrupted by The Undertaker which leads to The Undertaker announcing his own entry into the Royal Rumble to make sure that Hogan does not win the Royal Rumble and to get his own measure of revenge by eliminating Hogan from the Royal Rumble. Over the next few weeks video packages were played hyping Triple H’s return which would be on the first Raw of 2002 in MSG as Nash and Hall would cut promos about the history between them and Triple H and says that they will be right there in MSG to welcome Triple H back because he looked to the Kliq after WrestleMania 14 and they will gladly welcome him to the nWo Kliq on January 7th. On the January 7th 2002 editon of Raw, Triple H made his return to the great reaction from the MSG crowd as Triple H cut a promo announcing his entry into the Royal Rumble and how he is back to become the Undisputed WWF Champion before being interrupted by the nWo music playing as Scott Hall and Kevin Nash did come out with smiles on there faces to see there friend back as Hall and Nash went down to the ring as Nash grabbed a mic and cut a promo telling Triple H that they were happy to see him back and Nash proceeded to make a announcement of there own that The Outsiders would be entering the Royal Rumble before Nash talks about the history between all of 3 them and says that Triple H owes the WWF nothing and that for so long he was punished just for saying good bye to his friends and Nash tells Triple H it’s time to come over to his family and Nash pulls out a nWo t-shirt and tosses it to Triple H as HHH looks it over and Nash and Hall make the Kliq sign as HHH takes off his jacket and then his shirt as it seems like he is going to fight Nash and Hall before smirking and he puts on the nWo shirt as all 3 make the Kliq sign and in a kin to the “Curtain Call” they shared a group hug as the nWo music played. Then as Nash was going to leave the ring as he was on the apron Hall and HHH were still in the ring, HHH grabs Scott by turning him around and pulling him in and hitting him with a spinebuster to a huge reaction as Nash turned around in shock as Nash then came back in the ring and tried to attack HHH but HHH fought back and clotheslined him over the top and ripped off the nWo shirt as HHH was going to pedigree Hall but Nash grabbed Hall by the foot and pulled him out of the ring as Raw ended with HHH doing his signature pose on the ropes as The Outsiders looked pissed off on the stage. Triple H explained his actions on Smackdown saying that as far as he is concerened The Kliq days are over and that he is not nWo 4 Life but he is WWF 4 Life as over the next 2 weeks The Outsiders would attack HHH on Raw and Smackdown until the final Smackdown when The Outsiders were seemingly going to attack HHH again but this time HHH grabbed the sledgehammer which forced The Outsiders to retreat.
– The third biggest story heading into Royal Rumble revolved around The Rock. The night after Vengeance on Monday Night Raw, The Rock faced Chris Jericho in a Steel Cage Match for the title where if The Rock lost he would never get another shot at the Undisputed WWF Championship against Chris Jericho and Jericho ends up defeating The Rock to retain the title after Ric Flair screws The Rock out of the match by slamming the cage door into The Rock’s face when he attempted to escape. The following week on Raw, The Rock would come out and announce his intentions to enter the 2002 Royal Rumble Match leading to Eric Bischoff coming out and initally denying entry into the Royal Rumble Match but Stephanie McMahon would then come out and announce that The Rock has a contractual right to enter the Royal Rumble match which leads to Bischoff pissed off challenging The Rock by saying he could enter the Royal Rumble all he had to do was defeat the WWF Hardcore Champion Sting in a Non Title Hardcore Match and he would gain entry into the Royal Rumble but if he loses then he would not only be banned from challenging for The Undisputed WWF Champion while Jericho was champion but he would be banned from entering the Royal Rumble Match and later in the night The Rock defeats Sting to gain entry into the Royal Rumble after ECW’s Rob Van Dam came out and hit Sting with the Van Daminator leading to The Rock hitting the Peoples Elbow on Sting for the victory. Heading into the Royal Rumble, Ric Flair, DDP and Scott Steiner would attack The Rock on a consistent basis on Raw and Smackdown to weaken him for the Royal Rumble as DDP, Steiner and even Ric Flair announced there own intentions to enter the Royal Rumble with Flair’s reasoning being that The Rock can call himself The Peoples Champion all he wants but he is not the man until he beats the man and that is Ric Flair and on the final Raw before the Royal Rumble, The Rock was announced by Shane McMahon to be the number 1 entrant in the Royal Rumble Match.
If Stone Cold does not defeat Chris Jericho then he will not get another shot at the Undisputed WWF Championship, Undisputed WWF Championship Match WCW’s Chris Jericho (c) defends against The WWF/ECW’s Stone Cold Steve Austin
– On the January 3rd episode of Smackdown, Stone Cold Steve Austin came out to the ring after a few weeks of mini feuding with Scott Hall of the nWo which included brawls in a Super Market and chasing Hall through a Church. Stone Cold would cut a promo about wanting a shot at Chris Jericho at the Royal Rumble for the Undisputed WWF Championship leading to Eric Bischoff coming out and cutting a promo telling Austin he is surprised that Austin would want to face Jericho instead of entering the Royal Rumble to potentially get his hands on Hollywood Hulk Hogan so Bischoff poses the question to Austin “Which means more to you Steve, The title or revenge?” so Bischoff makes a match between Stone Cold and the nWo’s Scott Hall and if Austin wins then he will grant Stone Cold his Undisputed WWF Championship Match against Chris Jericho at the Royal Rumble but if Scott Hall wins then Stone Cold will enter the Royal Rumble and he will enter the Royal Rumble at a entry number of Eric Bischoff’s choice as Austin responds by accepting Bischoff’s proposal but tells Bischoff to tell Hall he’s getting his ass whipped again tonight and that he is going to take the Undisputed Title away from Jericho and that was the Bottom Line Cause Stone Cold Said So. In the main event Stone Cold would face Scott Hall and Chris Jericho would attempt to interfere to cost Austin the match so he would not have to face him but Austin would overcome and defeat Scott Hall after a Stone Cold Stunner but after the match Jericho laid out Austin with the WWF Title as Smackdown ended with Jericho standing tall over Austin and drinking beers.
– The following week on Raw in MSG, Chris Jericho defeated Spike Dudley in a Non Title Match but after the match Stone Cold sprinted out to the ring and tackled Jericho down and rained down right hands as Jericho would be able to get Austin off of him as Jericho got out of the ring as Austin would continue to chase Jericho down getting his hands on him as they brawled all the way to the backstage area. Austin and Jericho continued to brawl to the backstage area and into the parking lot until Jericho low blowed Austin as Jericho was finally able to get into a car and escape as Austin then was able to get into his pick up truck and start it and drives away to chase after Jericho. Later that week on Smackdown, Chris Jericho came out to the ring and cut a promo bragging about beating both The Rock and Stone Cold at Vengeance to become the Undisputed WWF Champion and Jericho talks about how at the Royal Rumble he is going to cut the head off of the rattlesnake once and for all and send Stone Cold out of his life once and for all and then the glass shattered as Stone Cold came out to the ring as he entered the ring and got right in Jericho’s face but then Eric Bischoff comes out on the stage and Bischoff cuts a promo telling Austin that he had been doing a lot of thinking after last week as Bischoff makes a announcement regarding Stone Cold’s WWF Title Match at Royal Rumble and that is if Stone Cold does not defeat Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Title then Stone Cold would be banned from getting a WWF Championship Match until 2003 and as Austin was pissed Jericho hit Austin in the back with the WCW World Championship as Jericho proceeded to beat down Austin and lock him in the Walls of Jericho as Austin refused to tap but Jericho applied a lot of pressure until WWF Officials could finally come down and get Jericho off of Austin.
– The following week on the final Raw before Royal Rumble, Chris Jericho interrupts Stephanie McMahon’s promo as Jericho asks Stephanie how it feels that in 6 days that she will no longer be a part of the WWF (See the build to Bischoff vs Stephanie) as Jericho proceeds to insult Stephanie and Texas and that after she loses at Royal Rumble she can go back to being the ho that she is leading to Stephanie slapping Jericho in the face leading to Eric Bischoff coming down and whacks Stephanie in the back with a roundhouse kick as Jericho proceeds to lock Stephanie in the Walls of Jericho with Bischoff taunting Stephanie until Stone Cold runs down to the ring and Bischoff bails out but Jericho does not know Austin is coming out due to his back being turned to the entrance way as Austin attacks Jericho as Austin proceeds to stomp a mudhole in Jericho’s ass as Austin then picked up Jericho and went for the Stone Cold Stunner but Jericho was able to get out of it and slid out of the ring as Austin’s music hit as Austin stood tall in the ring with Jericho and Bischoff going up the ramp pissed off. Later that weeek on Smackdown, Stone Cold came out to the ring and cut a promo saying he was a drug addict and that his drug of choice is the Undisputed WWF Championship and that he needs to beat Jericho at the Royal Rumble to keep his sanity because he can not live without being the WWF Champion but then Jericho appears on the titantron in the parking lot at Austin’s pick up truck checking it out and Jericho tells Austin that at the Royal Rumble he won’t need to worry about his drug cause it’s going to stay with Y2J while Austin goes through de-tox but Jericho asks Austin about his pick up truck saying why does he always need black and Y2J offers to give Austin a paint job for his pick up truck as Jericho picks up a bucket and dumps green paint all over the truck as Austin immedtialy gets out of the ring and sprints to the backstage area as Jericho continued to dump the paint over the truck. Austin gets to the parking lot but Jericho is no longer there as Austin looks at his now green painted pick up truck pissed off as J.R and Jerry Lawler on commentary put over that there will be hell to pay for Chris Jericho at the Royal Rumble.
I Quit Match if Stephanie McMahon says I Quit she will surrender her 25% in the WWF to Eric Bischoff resulting in Eric Bischoff becoming the 100% Owner of the WWF but if Bischoff says I Quit then he must hand over his 75% to Stephanie McMahon making Stephanie the owner of the WWF WCW’s Eric Bischoff vs The WWF’s Stephanie McMahon
– On the final episode of Smackdown of 2001, Stephanie McMahon returned after being taken down by Eric Bischoff at Vengeance during the Undisputed Championship Match between The Rock and Chris Jericho as Stephanie cuts a promo about what the WWF has meant to her since 1999 and that she will not let Bischoff take full control over her birthright which is to one day own the WWF leading to Eric Bischoff interrupting Stephanie. Bischoff would cut a promo about how for the last month he and Stephanie have been butting heads ever since Stephanie stole the 25% he needs to become the 100% Owner of the World Wrestling Federation, Bischoff says that is the only reason Stephanie is still in the WWF and he wants her and the McMahon family out of sports entertainment now that Vince owns ECW. Bischoff then challenges Stephanie to a match at the Royal Rumble where if she loses she will hand over her 25% and make him the 100% owner of the WWF leading to Stephanie accepting and slapping Bischoff right in the face before leaving to a huge cheering reaction as Bischoff looked pissed off in the ring.
– The following week on the first episode of Smackdown in 2002, Comissioner William Regal came out and cut a promo about Bischoff’s match with Stephanie at Royal Rumble being one of the most important matches in the history of the WWF and Regal makes a announcement that he was told by Eric Bischoff to come out and make a very important annoucement regarding the match because Bischoff has decided since he holds the majority power of ownership in the WWF that the match between him and Stephanie McMahon will now be a I Quit Match and that Mr.Bischoff as Regal calls him has made the decision that if he does in fact say “I Quit” to Stephanie at the Royal Rumble then he will hand over his 75% of ownership in the WWF over to Stephanie McMahon as Regal leaves the ring.
– The following week on Raw in MSG, Stephanie McMahon opens up the show cutting a promo about the return of her husband Triple H to the WWF tonight but then she gets serious talking about the I Quit Match between herself and Eric Bischoff at the Royal Rumble saying that she is not a wrestler but like her father she is a fighter and that at the Royal Rumble she is going to do whatever she can to make Bischoff say I Quit leading to Eric Bischoff coming out to the ring to interrupt Stephanie and Bischoff cuts a promo saying at the Royal Rumble she is going to end up like her father and that is out of the WWF and being forced to go buy another dead promotion that he helped kill before Bischoff tells Stephanie that there is still a few weeks until the Royal Rumble and that he will do whatever he can between now and then to make her life a living hell starting right now which leads to Test running down to the ring and Test co-cocks Stephanie from behind with a clothesline as Test then picked Stephanie up and hit her with a pumphandle slam as Bischoff and Test stood tall over Stephanie McMahon. Later that week on Smackdown, Eric Bischoff put Stephanie in a match with Test and after Stephanie enters the ring Bischoff cuts a promo giving Stephanie a chance to back out of the I Quit Match at the Royal Rumble but Stephanie refuses leading to Bischoff telling Test “Test…she is all yours” as Test knocks Stephanie down with a clothesline as Test proceeds to toy with Stephanie until ECW’s The Dudley Boyz and Spike Dudley come out to the ring and attack Test as The Dudley Family attack Test as The Dudley Boyz hit Test with a 3D through the table as Bischoff stands on the stage all pissed off as The Dudleys help Stephanie up as Bischoff is furious that his plans were ruined by ECW.
– On the final Raw before the Royal Rumble, Stephanie McMahon opens up the show and cuts a promo about the Royal Rumble saying she will find some way to make Bischoff say I Quit so she can bring the WWF back to where it belongs and that is into the McMahon family. Chris Jericho interrupts Stephanie as Jericho asks Stephanie how it feels that in 6 days that she will no longer be a part of the WWF as Jericho proceeds to insult Stephanie and Texas and that after she loses at Royal Rumble she can go back to being the ho that she is leading to Stephanie slapping Jericho in the face leading to Eric Bischoff coming down and whacks Stephanie in the back with a roundhouse kick as Jericho proceeds to lock Stephanie in the Walls of Jericho with Bischoff taunting Stephanie until Stone Cold runs down to the ring and Bischoff bails out but Jericho does not know Austin is coming out due to his back being turned to the entrance way as Austin attacks Jericho as Austin proceeds to stomp a mudhole in Jericho’s ass as Austin then picked up Jericho and went for the Stone Cold Stunner but Jericho was able to get out of it and slid out of the ring as Austin’s music hit as Austin stood tall in the ring with Jericho and Bischoff going up the ramp pissed off. Later that week on Smackdown, Eric Bischoff came out cutting a promo about the Royal Rumble saying he will eliminate the McMahon Family from the WWF forever when he sends Stephanie out of the WWF and becomes the 100% owner of the WWF and then Bischoff personally invites ECW Owner Vince McMahon to the Royal Rumble to watch as his daughter gives away the last piece of the WWF that ties the McMahons to the WWF by saying the worlds “I Quit” as Bischoff threw the mic down and left the ring
Other Matches Include
WWF Intercontinental Championship Match The WWF’s Edge (c) defends against WCW’s Booker T
WWF Women’s Championship Match WCW’s WWF Women’s Champion Jazz (c) defends against The WWF’s Lita
Hardcore Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship WCW’s WWF Tag Team Champions The Filthy Animals *Rey Mysterio and WCW Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman* w/Torrie Wilson (c) defends against The WWF/ECW’s The Dudley Boyz.
Written by @DaDrainPipe