An Alternate History Spinoff - WWF (1998 and Beyond)
Oct 1, 2024 4:53:40 GMT 1
Asaemon, dhk1989, and 3 more like this
Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Oct 1, 2024 4:53:40 GMT 1
Part LX: WWF Royal Rumble 2002
So I'm going to do something a little different for this post, since the 2002 Royal Rumble Match is deciding a new WWF Champion. I'm going to go over the first five matches on this six match PPV card (and all of the happenings surrounding them). Then at some point in the next few days, I'll make my post on the actual Royal Rumble itself. I figured that might be a better way to do it, since in this series, I usually post the results straight away. This way, I won't spoil the result of the Royal Rumble Match right out of the gate.
Just like in OTL, this show takes place on January 20th, 2002 from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
1.) Non-Title Steel Cage Match - Winner Advances To The Royal Rumble Match - Shane McMahon def. WWF Hardcore Champion Malice (with Father James Mitchell)
On the January 1st edition of Tuesday Night RAW, we finally got the conclusion of the rivalry between The Disciples Of The New Church and X-Factor. They had an Anything Goes Match where the losing unit was forced to disband. It was a wild and crazy match, but when the dust settled, The Disciples Of The New Church (represented by Brian Lee, Malice, Slash, and Vampiro) defeated the X-Factor team of X-Pac, Albert, Justin Credible, and Kid Romeo to keep that stable alive. However, in a bit of a shocking revelation, they formed an alliance of sorts with a returning Vince McMahon just one week later. Essentially, Vince had enlisted them in his war against his son, Shane McMahon. The first thing Vince did was give Malice, the biggest and toughest member of The Disciples Of The New Church, a shot at the WWF Hardcore Title. On the January 9th SmackDown, Malice would end up taking the title from Shane, who put up a good fight against Malice before ultimately succumbing to superior numbers when others members of Father James Mitchell's crew got involved. The next thing Vince wanted to do was to take away Shane's spot in the Royal Rumble, or at the very least, weaken him to the point that he'd barely be a factor. While Shane had already declared for the Royal Rumble Match, it was announced by Vince (not long after Shane lost the WWF Hardcore Title) that Shane would face Malice again....this time inside a Steel Cage....at the Royal Rumble PPV. The winner would advance to the Royal Rumble Match. Safe to say that Vince stacked the odds against his son, but despite taking a brutal beating at the hands of Malice, Shane would escape with the victory to keep his spot in the main event.
2.) Eight-Man Tag - The Bone Street Krew (The Undertaker, Rikishi, & Kronik [Brian Adams & Bryan Clark]) def. Shawn Michaels, The Rock, & The Samoan Destruction Crew (Jamal & Rosey)
Oh yes....your eyes are not deceiving you. The other notorious backstage alliance from the WWF in the mid-90's has taken center stage, in front of the cameras. I had mentioned in my previous posts that The Undertaker had turned heel. Well, following the events of Vengeance 2001, The Undertaker decided that it was time for him and his friends to take back control. On the December 19th edition of SmackDown, a dream tag team match took place for the WWF World Tag Team Titles, as Shawn Michaels and The Rock (who buried the hatchet after their feud from earlier in the year) won the titles from Steve Austin and Triple H. However, after the match, all four men were attacked by the group known as The Bone Street Krew. The Undertaker, Rikishi (newly heel), The Godfather (newly heel), KroniK (yes, I know Brian Adams was a member in OTL and Bryan Clark wasn't, but I wanted to keep KroniK together here), and a returning Savio Vega attacked all four guys and, much like The Disciples Of The New Church, formed an unofficial alliance with Vince McMahon. This led to a match on the January 8th Tuesday Night RAW where Rikishi and The Undertaker won the WWF World Tag Team Titles from Shawn Michaels and The Rock. Hurt by the betrayal of one of his family members, The Rock decided to list the help of some of his other relatives....Jamal and Rosey of the Samoan Destruction Squad....to help them fight back against The Bone Street Krew. An eight-man tag was set up for the PPV, and while The Undertaker's side emerged victorious, the war was far from over.
3.) Psycho Sid def. Tank Abbott (with Vince Russo)
This match essentially stems from the events of Vengeance 2001. In a tag team match where the WWF Intercontinental Title was on the line, Triple H (teaming with Stephanie McMahon) won the title from Psycho Sid when he pinned his partner, Vince Russo. Understandably upset, Sid spent the next few weeks trying to go after Russo, who decided to bring Tank Abbott back into the fold to be his protection. So this is basically Sid vs. Vince Russo's hired muscle. The match itself would only be a few minutes, and in the end, Sid would score the victory.
4.) WWF Light Heavyweight Title - Jason Jett def. Brian Christopher (c)
I decided to have two buffer matches with the lower card titles in the lead-up to the Royal Rumble Match. The first of those sees Jason Jett (the former EZ Money) defeating Brian Christopher to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Title. Jett had been building some momentum over the last few months, and this was sort of the culmination of that. Definitely not a great night for New Blood, as their leader's title reign gets cut a little short.
5.) WWF Women's Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - Jazz (c) def. Ivory, Jacqueline, & Molly Holly
Finally, we have another title defense for Jazz, as she wins a Fatal Four-Way Match against three of her previous challengers....Ivory, Jacqueline, and Molly Holly. Jazz has certainly proven to be a dominant champion, and she's showing no signs of slowing down.
There you have it! The undercard for the Royal Rumble 2002 PPV. Tune in next time as I go over the Royal Rumble Match itself. Who will be the next WWF Champion?
So I'm going to do something a little different for this post, since the 2002 Royal Rumble Match is deciding a new WWF Champion. I'm going to go over the first five matches on this six match PPV card (and all of the happenings surrounding them). Then at some point in the next few days, I'll make my post on the actual Royal Rumble itself. I figured that might be a better way to do it, since in this series, I usually post the results straight away. This way, I won't spoil the result of the Royal Rumble Match right out of the gate.
Just like in OTL, this show takes place on January 20th, 2002 from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
1.) Non-Title Steel Cage Match - Winner Advances To The Royal Rumble Match - Shane McMahon def. WWF Hardcore Champion Malice (with Father James Mitchell)
On the January 1st edition of Tuesday Night RAW, we finally got the conclusion of the rivalry between The Disciples Of The New Church and X-Factor. They had an Anything Goes Match where the losing unit was forced to disband. It was a wild and crazy match, but when the dust settled, The Disciples Of The New Church (represented by Brian Lee, Malice, Slash, and Vampiro) defeated the X-Factor team of X-Pac, Albert, Justin Credible, and Kid Romeo to keep that stable alive. However, in a bit of a shocking revelation, they formed an alliance of sorts with a returning Vince McMahon just one week later. Essentially, Vince had enlisted them in his war against his son, Shane McMahon. The first thing Vince did was give Malice, the biggest and toughest member of The Disciples Of The New Church, a shot at the WWF Hardcore Title. On the January 9th SmackDown, Malice would end up taking the title from Shane, who put up a good fight against Malice before ultimately succumbing to superior numbers when others members of Father James Mitchell's crew got involved. The next thing Vince wanted to do was to take away Shane's spot in the Royal Rumble, or at the very least, weaken him to the point that he'd barely be a factor. While Shane had already declared for the Royal Rumble Match, it was announced by Vince (not long after Shane lost the WWF Hardcore Title) that Shane would face Malice again....this time inside a Steel Cage....at the Royal Rumble PPV. The winner would advance to the Royal Rumble Match. Safe to say that Vince stacked the odds against his son, but despite taking a brutal beating at the hands of Malice, Shane would escape with the victory to keep his spot in the main event.
2.) Eight-Man Tag - The Bone Street Krew (The Undertaker, Rikishi, & Kronik [Brian Adams & Bryan Clark]) def. Shawn Michaels, The Rock, & The Samoan Destruction Crew (Jamal & Rosey)
Oh yes....your eyes are not deceiving you. The other notorious backstage alliance from the WWF in the mid-90's has taken center stage, in front of the cameras. I had mentioned in my previous posts that The Undertaker had turned heel. Well, following the events of Vengeance 2001, The Undertaker decided that it was time for him and his friends to take back control. On the December 19th edition of SmackDown, a dream tag team match took place for the WWF World Tag Team Titles, as Shawn Michaels and The Rock (who buried the hatchet after their feud from earlier in the year) won the titles from Steve Austin and Triple H. However, after the match, all four men were attacked by the group known as The Bone Street Krew. The Undertaker, Rikishi (newly heel), The Godfather (newly heel), KroniK (yes, I know Brian Adams was a member in OTL and Bryan Clark wasn't, but I wanted to keep KroniK together here), and a returning Savio Vega attacked all four guys and, much like The Disciples Of The New Church, formed an unofficial alliance with Vince McMahon. This led to a match on the January 8th Tuesday Night RAW where Rikishi and The Undertaker won the WWF World Tag Team Titles from Shawn Michaels and The Rock. Hurt by the betrayal of one of his family members, The Rock decided to list the help of some of his other relatives....Jamal and Rosey of the Samoan Destruction Squad....to help them fight back against The Bone Street Krew. An eight-man tag was set up for the PPV, and while The Undertaker's side emerged victorious, the war was far from over.
3.) Psycho Sid def. Tank Abbott (with Vince Russo)
This match essentially stems from the events of Vengeance 2001. In a tag team match where the WWF Intercontinental Title was on the line, Triple H (teaming with Stephanie McMahon) won the title from Psycho Sid when he pinned his partner, Vince Russo. Understandably upset, Sid spent the next few weeks trying to go after Russo, who decided to bring Tank Abbott back into the fold to be his protection. So this is basically Sid vs. Vince Russo's hired muscle. The match itself would only be a few minutes, and in the end, Sid would score the victory.
4.) WWF Light Heavyweight Title - Jason Jett def. Brian Christopher (c)
I decided to have two buffer matches with the lower card titles in the lead-up to the Royal Rumble Match. The first of those sees Jason Jett (the former EZ Money) defeating Brian Christopher to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Title. Jett had been building some momentum over the last few months, and this was sort of the culmination of that. Definitely not a great night for New Blood, as their leader's title reign gets cut a little short.
5.) WWF Women's Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - Jazz (c) def. Ivory, Jacqueline, & Molly Holly
Finally, we have another title defense for Jazz, as she wins a Fatal Four-Way Match against three of her previous challengers....Ivory, Jacqueline, and Molly Holly. Jazz has certainly proven to be a dominant champion, and she's showing no signs of slowing down.
There you have it! The undercard for the Royal Rumble 2002 PPV. Tune in next time as I go over the Royal Rumble Match itself. Who will be the next WWF Champion?