Gary Ballance
Here's a brief recap of this year's KoTR:KoTR Semi Final- Jericho vs Van Dam. Good opener. These guys obviously watched their Unforgiven match (as I did) before this match, as there's dozens of spots borrowed from it. Nonetheless, the highlights of both mens' offense, for me, were Jericho's Breakdown, Lionsault, Jumping Enziguri-type Roundhouse, Release German Suplex, Double Underhook from the top and, of course, the Walls of Jericho.(Would've liked to have seen Jericho use the Double Powerbomb on RVD, too.) Van Dam had some cool offense as well: his Split-Legged Moonsault, Somersault Over the Top Rope and Five Star Frog Splash to name a few. Although I enjoyed the match, I thought the ending was weak. Van Dam won,anyhow, w/ the Frog Splash. [Due to criticism of this match by Internet fans, Jericho shut down his Webpage and blasted Internet 'marks'. Let's overreact, shall we?]KoTR Sem-eye Final- Lesnar vs Test. Fair match. Highlight was Test & Heyman completely mistiming a shot from the apron by Heyman- it's hilarious to see. After kicking out of the big boot, Lesnar lands the F5 (which I think is the most powerful type of tornado- heard it in 'Twister') to advance.Jamie Knoble vs The Hurricane. Cruiserweight title match, and a damn good one at that. Knoble is a brilliant addition to the division, and with Rey Misterio on his way, things can only get better. Hurricane's top rope Swinging Neckbreaker was the highlight of this impressive contest, which ended w/ a win via Powerbomb for Jamie Knoble.
Eddy Guerrero vs Ric Flair. OK. Great to see the first Crippler Crossface in over a year! Match isn't wonderful, but Guerrero carries Flair (whose offense has always been limited to chops and the Figure 4) to a decent match. Cheap win for Flair (whose selling of moves- screaming- was quite amusing, particularly the dropkick to the knee.)Molly Holly vs Trish Stratus. Molly gets her first Womens Title reign from an unfortunately lacklustre match. (Good to see Dawn Marie on SmackDown!, by the way)Kurt Angle vs Hulk Hogan. Angle's offense is limited due to Hogan's age and size, so his Overhead Belly-to-Belly Suplexes and Rolling Germans (stolen from Benoit) are not a factor. Angle's ring attire is awful. Anyway, another fair-but-not-brilliant match. Hogan taps to the Ankle lock. Good win for Angle.KoTR Final- Lesnar vs RVD. Shorter than Jericho vs Van Dam, this one only goes to just over 5 mins. Impressive end to this match,as Lesnar amazingly counters RVD's crossbody, hoisting him into the devastating F5.Undertaker vs Triple H. This is going to sound harsh (considering HHH wrestled with a dodgy elbow) but this match was truly awful. If you find yourself paying more attention to the commentary, then the match must really suck. Awful finish to this one, too. The Undertaker's huge kick over the announce table to the Rock's face was the highlight for me! I have tons of respect for Triple H for wrestling the match, but objectively, it's incredibly tedious.I don't know what's wrong with the PPVs nowadays, (they're still good, but they're missing that spark) but I'm hoping things will pick up soon. By the way, I would've loved a PPV-length match between Billy Kidman and Lance Storm. 2 minute SD! matches don't cut it anymore!
Spawn Devil
Match 1: King of the Ring Tournament semifinal - Chris Jericho vs Rob Van Dam Chris Jericho met Rob Van Dam in the evening's first match, a King of the Ring Tournament semifinal. The match got off to a fast start. Jericho went for a full body press to RVD on the outside of the ring, but the Intercontinental Champion moved out of the way and somersaulted over the top rope onto his opponent. RVD followed that up with a kick to the face from the top rope. He tried to seal the win with a Five-Star Frog Splash, but Y2J shoved the ref into the ropes to knock RVD down. Soon after, Y2J removed the cover off one of the turnbuckles. The referee had to replace the covering, and in the process missed RVD's rollup that had Y2J's shoulders pinned to the mat. By the time the ref turned back around, Y2J had kicked out. RVD began to take over, nearly obtaining a pinfall after scoring a kick to the face and the Rolling Thunder. Jericho mounted a rally, but fell victim to a split-legged moonsault. Y2J managed to catch RVD in the Walls of Jericho, but Mr. Pay-Per-View reversed into a pin attempt that Jericho kicked out of. Moments later, Jericho rolled away from a Five-Star Frog Splash and hit a Lionsault. That looked to be the end of the match, but Van Dam somehow kicked out after a two-count. Jericho managed to put the Walls of Jericho on Van Dam again, but RVD grabbed the bottom rope to break the hold. Y2J tried to set up a superplex, but was thrown to the mat. That allowed RVD to hit his Frog Splash and get the pinfall to advance to the King of the Ring Tournament Final! After the match, Jerry "The King" Lawler" got a word with RVD. Van Dam said he wasn't afraid of facing Test or Brock Lesnar in the final. While he was talking, Jericho attacked him and locked on the Walls of Jericho, refusing to let go! Winner: Rob Van DamMatch 2: King of the Ring Tournament semifinal - Test vs Brock Lesnar The two big men met in the ring next for the second KOR Tournament Semifinal. Test struck down Brock with several stiff clotheslines early, causing Brock Lesnar to bring his protégé outside for a quick conference. Once back in the ring, Test continued to take it to Brock. The former NCAA Champion countered by ramming his shoulder into Test's gut in the corner. Lesnar slammed Test with a powerful suplex and followed with a back breaker. Test bounced Brock off the ropes, but only received a powerslam for the effort. Test's experience helped him get back into the match. He appeared to have the match locked up after hitting a Big Boot square to Brock's jaw. Somehow, Lensar managed to get his shoulder up at the last instance. Moments later, Paul Heyman stepped onto the ring apron and took a swing at Test. That allowed Brock to sneak up and hit the F5 on Test! Lesnar covered up his opponent and got the three-count to advance to the King of the Ring Final against RVD! Winner: Brock LesnarMatch 3: WWE Cruiserweight Championship - Jamie Noble vs The Hurricane Jamie Noble came to the ring with Nidia to challenge The Hurricane for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. The Hurricane wore his mask, but his green cape was draped around Nidia's neck. The Hurricane got the better of his challenger early on, but got into trouble when he started chasing after Nidia. Noble cut down the champion with a clothesline outside the ring. Noble continued to hold control, locking The Hurricane in an abdominal stretch. The champion rallied by crashing a big neckbreaker onto Noble. He delivered another neckbreaker by launching his body off the middle turnbuckle. Noble took the Eye of the Hurricane, but managed to kick out. Hurricane spied his cape hanging on a turnbuckle and went to retrieve it, but Nidia jerked it away. Hurricane responded with a cross body onto Nidia's boyfriend to the outside of the ring. Noble attempted to superplex THe Hurricane onto the the outside of the ring, but Hurricane instead dropped a huge neckbreaker from the top rope! Nidia tried to step in and help out, but she got blindsided accidentally by Noble. Hurricane chokeslammed the challenger, but Noble managed to kick out. The Hurricane's luck ran out there. Noble slapped Hurriane with a powerbomb and rolled up the champ. The Hurricane appeared safe after getting his foot on the rope, but Nidia shoved it off and Noble got the pin to become the new Cruiserweight Champion! Winner and New WWE Cruiserweight Champion: Jamie NobleMatch 4: Ric Flair vs Eddie Guerrero Latino Heat clashed with the Nature Boy next. Guerreo, feeling confident, mimicked Flair's walk early on. Although Guerrero mocked Flair'd abiities, the 16-time World Champion showed he's got plenty of fire left. He picked Guerrero straight up into the air and held him for several moments before suplexing him to the mat. Guerrero seemed intent on insulting Flair. Before long, Latino Heat locked Flair into the Nature Boy's own signature move, the Figure Four leglock. Flair made Eddie release him and later latched on the maneuver after Guerrero missed a Frog Splash. Chris Benoit made his way to ringside and watched the action intently. Guerrero tossed Flair from the ring and distracted the ref, allowing the Rabid Wolverine to strike. Benoit put the Crippler Crossface on Flair, who screamed in pain. The ref saw this and went out to order Benoit back to the locker room. Meanwhile, Bubba Ray Dudley stormed into the ring and nailed Guerrero with a Bubba Bomb! When the ref returned, Bubba had exited but Flair had draped himself over Guerrero and picked up the three count! Winner: Ric FlairMatch 5: WWE Women's Championship Molly Holly vs Trish Stratus The WWE Women's Championship went on the line next with Molly Holly attempting to take the title from Trish Stratus. Molly started off by wrapping Trish in an armbar, but the champ reversed into a rollup that the challenge had to kick out of. Molly climbed the top turnbuckle, but was sent crashing to the ring with a hurracanrana by Trish. Molly went for the Stratusfaction, but Molly pushed her off and countered with a belly to belly suplex. The two continued to tangle, with each using tremendous agility and strength to roll the other woman up. Molly came out on top and jerked on Trish's tights to gain enough leverage for a three-count!. Molly Holly became the new WWE Women's Champion! Winner and New WWE Women's Champion: Molly HollyMatch 6: Kurt Angle vs Hollywood Hulk Hogan Kurt Angle set out to prove that he's the real American hero by taking on Hollywood Hulk Hogan. The more experienced Hogan controlled Angle from the start, tossing him over the top rope several times. On one occasion, the Hulkster followed Angle outside the ring and smashed his face into the ring barrier. Angle managed to storm back, dropping the Hulkster with a belly to back suplex. He followed that with an Angle Slam, but miraculously, Hogan kicked out after two! Angle whined to the referee while Hogan Hulked up. He bounced Angle off the ropes and hit a boot to the face! Hogan then took Angle's wig off to reveal his smooth, bald cranium. Embarrassed, Angle turned and walked up the entranceway to grab a steel chair. Angle went to nail Hogan, but the Hulkster ducked and the chair bounced off the ropes and into Angle's face. But Hogan found himself in the ankle lock soon after. The pain was visible on Hogan's face, but he sucked it up. He tried to reverse several times, but Angle kept applying the pressure, and Hogan finally tapped out! Angle strapped his wig back on and celebrated in the center of the ring. Winner: Kurt AngleMatch 7: King of the Ring Tournament Final Brock Lesnar vs Rob Van Dam Two athletes competing in their first King of the Ring Tournament met in the final. It was a clash of styles, with Brock's power meeting RVD's agility and unorthodox attack. Lesnar began by overpowering RVD and bossing him around the ring. RVD struck back with a couple of kicks followed by Rolling Thunder. RVD tried for his Five-Star Frog Splash and nailed it, but Heyman whiplashed RVD on the top rope. RVD tried a springboard lateral press, but Brock caught him in midair and whirled off the F5! Just like that, Brock Lesnar lived up to his billing as the Next Big Thing by pinning Van Dam to become the 2002 King of the Ring! Winner: Brock LesnarMatch 8: WWE Championship The Undertaker vs Triple H Triple H attempted to take the WWE Undisputed Championship out of the Undertaker's hands in the night's main event match. The Game started off by knocking Taker down with a series of shots to the head. Taker, not to be outdone, thrust Triple H into the corner and delivered several punches to his abdomen. The champion controlled the pace of the match. He smashed Triple H with a guillotine leg drop off the ring apron. Triple H fought back with a suplex to the hard floor outside the ring. But a leg drop onto Triple H's throat back in the squared circle ended that rally. Triple H again mounted some offense, this time in the form of a spinebuster that knocked Taker for a loop. A high knee that connected with Taker's chin earned The Game a two-count. Things got crazy after that as referee Earl Hebner got trapped in the corner and was smashed by both men. Suddenly, The Rock came down to the announce table, sending Paul Heyman - who had been doing some commentary - scurrying. With the referee still down, the Undertaker went and grabbed a steel chair. He didn't get to use it initially, as Triple H knocked it from his hands. Outside the ring, Taker nailed The Rock with a cheap shot. The Rock tried to get a bit of revenge, but wound up hitting Triple H with a steel chair by accident! Back in the ring, Taker decked a bloody Triple H with the Last Ride. A second referee dashed into the ring to officiate the action. But after counting to two on the pin attempt, Triple H kicked out and the ref was thrown from the ring by Taker! Suddenly, The Rock dashed in and Rock Bottomed Taker before making his exit. Three battered men lay in the ring. Slowly, Triple H collected himself and draped his arm over Taker. Hebner came to his senses and began to count, but Taker awoke after a two-count. The Game scored a Pedigree to again put Taker sprawled on the mat. The ref couldn't count right away as he was still dealing with his own pain. Triple H attempted to help him, but Take caught him with a low blow. Taker rolled up The Game and got the pinfall to retain his title! Winner: The UndertakerThis pay-per view wasn't that good, I'm going to give it a C
