The 2002 Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 15th annual Royal Rumble event and took place on January 20, 2002, at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The event was based around the men's Royal Rumble match, a modified 30-man battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time and the winner received an Undisputed WWF Championship match at WrestleMania X8.
Six matches were contested at the event. The main event was the 2002 Royal Rumble match, which was won by Triple H, who last eliminated Kurt Angle. In other prominent matches, Chris Jericho defeated The Rock to retain the Undisputed WWF Championship, Ric Flair wrestled his first WWF match in nine years by defeating Vince McMahon in a Street Fight, and William Regal defeated Edge to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
This was the final Royal Rumble held before the introduction of the first brand extension in March. It was also the final Royal Rumble produced under the WWF name, as in May, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). This would also be the last Royal Rumble to feature one world championship until 2014.
Production Background
The Royal Rumble is an annual professional wrestling event, produced every January by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988; that first event was a television special before it became an annual pay-per-view (PPV) beginning in 1989. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four", and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs with the addition of King of the Ring in 1993. It is named after and centered on the men's Royal Rumble match. The 15th Royal Rumble event was scheduled to be held on January 20, 2002, at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Royal Rumble match is a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time, and the match generally features 30 wrestlers. Since 1993, the winner earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2002, the winner earned a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at WrestleMania X8, following the unification of the WWF Championship and WCW World Heavyweight Championship as the Undisputed WWF Championship at Vengeance in December 2001.
Storylines The event comprised six matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by the WWF's writers, while storylines were produced on the WWF's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown.
The main feud was between Chris Jericho and The Rock for Jericho's Undisputed WWF Championship. The feud, which had begun in October 2001 while the two were members of Team WWF during the InVasion and traded the WCW Championship between them, continued at Vengeance, when Jericho defeated both The Rock and the reigning WWF Champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin to unify the titles. On the following night's episode of Raw, Jericho successfully defended the Undisputed title over "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a Steel Cage match with help from Booker T. During the following two weeks, Jericho had successfully defended the title against the likes of Rob Van Dam, The Big Show, and Kurt Angle. The Rock earned a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at the Royal Rumble on the January 3 episode of SmackDown! by defeating Booker T. On the January 10 episode of SmackDown!, The Rock and Rob Van Dam defeated Jericho and Test when The Rock made Jericho submit with the Sharpshooter.
The secondary feud was between the two WWF Co-Owners Ric Flair and Vince McMahon. The feud began on the November 19 episode of Raw, when Flair made his return to the WWF and revealed that he had bought Shane and Stephanie's stock to the WWF, which now meant that he and Vince were co-owners the company. On the December 27 episode of SmackDown!, McMahon came to the ring to share his new year's resolutions when he was interrupted by Flair. Flair reminded Vince how he had tried to hire him to come to the WWF when he was under contract with the NWA back in 1988, until Flair eventually left the NWA (which, at this point, had become WCW) and came to the WWF in 1991, and how he had won the 1992 Royal Rumble match and became WWF Champion. Flair also brought up his main event match with "Macho Man" Randy Savage at WrestleMania VIII. Flair then claimed that he looked through all the contracts one of which he pulled out that said "Vince McMahon - Owner/Wrestler" which meant that Flair could officially book Vince to wrestle at the Royal Rumble. McMahon then asked "who's got the balls" to step into the ring with him, before Flair punched Vince in the mouth and announced that the two of them would face each other at the Royal Rumble. The following week, Flair announced that the match would be a Street Fight, which Vince agreed to. The next four weeks saw Flair and McMahon confronting each other in the build up to their match, including McMahon mocking Flair by putting on a blonde wig and one of Flair's trademark robes, before also assaulting Flair with a lead pipe. During a promo, McMahon stated he "loves destroying lives" and promised to destroy Flair's life at the Royal Rumble.
On the January 7 episode of Raw, buildup towards the Royal Rumble match started, with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Undertaker declaring their entries. Later that night, Triple H officially made his return after missing nearly eight months with a quadriceps injury, and announced that he too would be entering the Royal Rumble match. He was quickly interrupted by Kurt Angle, who then announced his intentions to enter the match, which was to be his first, and mentioned his victory over Triple H at the previous year's Royal Rumble event, when he was the reigning WWF Champion. Triple H then performed a Pedigree on Angle in retaliation. During a match between Austin and Angle on the January 10 episode of SmackDown!, Kane, The Big Show, and Triple H all interfered, leading to a huge brawl. In the end, only Triple H remained standing, until The Undertaker stared him down from the top of the ramp. On the January 14 episode of Raw, Triple H stated that he wants to win the Undisputed WWF Championship. Austin came out, and they fought until The Undertaker came out, and hit Triple H with a chair, allowing Austin to hit him with the Stone Cold Stunner. The Undertaker then hit Austin with the chair. On the January 17 episode of SmackDown!, Austin and Triple H defeated Angle and Booker T. After the match, The Undertaker once again came out, and stared them down.
The feud between Edge and William Regal continued from Vengeance. On the December 10 episode of Raw, Edge mocked Regal, prompting Regal to nail him from behind with brass knuckles. On the December 13 episode of SmackDown!, William Regal and Kurt Angle faced Edge and Rikishi in a tag match. After the match, Edge hit Regal with a steel chair, before giving Regal an Edgecution onto the chair, legitimately breaking his nose. On the January 7 episode of Raw, Regal interfered after Edge's victory over Lance Storm and hit him with brass knuckles. Regal then challenged Edge to a match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at the Royal Rumble, which Edge accepted. On the January 14 episode of Raw, Edge and Rob Van Dam faced William Regal and Test, where Regal pinned Edge after once again using the brass knuckles. On the January 17 episode of SmackDown!, Regal defeated Rob Van Dam when he used brass knuckles behind the referee's back. Later on that night, Regal came out during Edge's match with Test, but failed to interfere when Edge nailed him and referee Nick Patrick with a chair.
Event Preliminary matches + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:CommentatorJim RossJerry LawlerCarlos Cabrera Hugo Savinovich InterviewerJonathan CoachmanMichael ColeLilian GarciaWWF New York hostShawn MichaelsRing announcerHoward FinkelRefereeMike ChiodaJack DoanBrian HebnerEarl HebnerJim KorderasTheodore LongNick PatrickCharles RobinsonTim White The show opened with a tag team match between Spike Dudley and Tazz, and the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) for the WWF Tag Team Championship. The Dudley Boyz dominated Spike in the beginning, with Bubba Ray ripping off Spike's neck brace. Spike fought back by performing a Dudley Dog, but failed to capitalize. The Dudley Boyz then double-teamed Spike while the referee was preoccupied with Tazz. Tazz eventually came in, and both dominated. Stacy Keibler, who accompanied the Dudley Boyz to ringside, climbed on the apron, and attempted to distract Tazz. Tazz then locked in the Tazzmission until D-Von broke the hold. Spike then hit the Dudley Dog on Bubba and attempted to do the same on D-Von, but Spike was thrown out of the ring. D-Von then ran at Tazz in the corner which he dodged, before then applying the Tazzmission to retain the titles.
The second match was between Edge and William Regal for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Before the match, the referee found brass knuckles in Regal's tights, and confiscated them. The match went back and forth, until Regal knocked Edge out of the ring. Once back inside this ring, Regal applied the Regal Stretch, but Edge reached the ropes to break the hold. Edge then attempted a spear, but Regal pushed the referee in his path, incapacitating him. Regal then took out another pair of brass knuckles which he had hidden, and hit Edge with them. The referee then recovered to count the pinfall, and Regal won the title.
The next match was between Trish Stratus and Jazz for the WWF Women's Championship, with Jacqueline as the special guest referee. Jazz had the early advantage, focusing on Stratus' injured hand. Jazz then confronted Jacqueline, and they shoved each other. Stratus attempted to capitalize by hitting Jazz with a bulldog, but Jazz countered with a roll-up, and executed a snap DDT for a near fall. Stratus then blocked an attack in the corner, and delivered a bulldog to win the match, and retain the title.
The fourth match was a Street Fight between Ric Flair and Vince McMahon. Flair quickly gained the early advantage with punches and knife edge chops. McMahon then attacked him with weapons, and sent him into the ringpost and steps. McMahon then applied the figure four leglock, but Flair reversed it. McMahon reached the ropes, and retreated outside the ring. Flair then hit McMahon with a low blow, a television monitor, and a lead pipe. Flair then forced McMahon to submit to the figure four leglock to win the match.