The 2002 Royal Rumble Match, January 20th, 2002

The Royal Rumble is my favorite tradition in professional wrestling, and I’m not alone. All things considered, this shouldn’t really come as a surprise. While the Rumble doesn’t give much opportunity for legendary in-ring performances, it does allow the pageantry and character clashes that drive wrestling’s narrative. It isn’t the height of athleticism, but it may be the height of sports entertainment. The Royal Rumble allows the crowd to see all of their favorite superstars compete at one time in one place. All of the narratives meeting on the Road to Wrestlemania and the direction of the promotion, going into its biggest show, are finally nailed down. The 2002 Royal Rumble is notable for a few reasons. First, it is the last Rumble under the WWF banner, as the company would change to the WWE that May. This is also the first one contested after the fall of WCW and ECW, and accordingly featured a mega-roster for creative to work with. A little built-in intrigue from the get-go. While I am a strong supporter of the idea that the current WWE roster is tops skill wise, here we have perhaps the most “over” version. These days, one would never be able to match the television time that a lot of this talent was able to receive between the big three of the Attitude Era. In many ways, this and the following Wrestlemania are the swan song of Attitude. A good Rumble is driven on uncertainty, both in who will enter the arena next and who will walk out with a ticket to Wrestlemania. This match is expertly booked, each wrestler having a chance to display their persona, no matter how comical, and constantly placing the top competitors in imposing situations. An air of uncertainty looms as competitors like Stone Cold and Triple H are confronted with the likes of Mr. Perfect and Diamond Dallas Page.

Maven, the winner of the first Tough Enough, eliminates The Undertaker.

The Wrestling Machine enters his first Rumble.

At one point, Kane, Austin, Triple H, Mr.Perfect, Big Show and Hennig are all in the ring together.

Once Kane left, RVD replaced him.

It would be hard for any wrestling promotion at any time to match that type of star power. The 2002 Royal Rumble is an end of an era, one that will never be replicated and changed the professional wrestling genre forever. This era would be capped with The Rock vs. “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan only weeks later, as the last battle of the Monday Night War came home.

This match is most easily accessed on the WWE Network, though it has been released on DVD numerous times as well.