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Match 1: WWF Tag Team Championship Dudley Boyz w/ Stacy Keibler vs. Spike Dudley and Tazz Tazz and Spike have new theme music. Lawler said it was Tazz's new music by Cypress Hill. Match starts off with a double neckbreaker on Spike. Bubba takes the protective collar off Spike's neck. Spike hits Bubba with the dudley dog but is unable to make a cover because he is badly banged up. Double team on Spike while the referee stops Tazz from coming in. Dvon misses a top rope headbutt on Spike. Dudleyz clothesline each other by accident. Tazz tagged in and cleans house with head and arm taz-plexes. Spike hits Bubba with a top rope cross body. Dudley dog on Bubba. Stacy gets on the apron, Tazz puts her in the tazmission. Dvon knocks Tazz out of the ring. Dvon knocks Spike out of the ring. Tazz climbs back in the ring and applies the tazmission on Dvon for the submission win. Winners: Spike Dudley and Tazz

Match 2: WWF Intercontinental Championship William Regal vs. Edge Before the match referee Nick Patrick checks all around the ring for the brass knucks. Patrick then checks down Regal's pants and fins the brass knucks and takes them away. Match starts off with a back body drop by Edge. Edge stomps Regal in the corner. Edge slams regal's face off the canvas. Regal hits a high knee to the face of Edge. Backslide by Edge for a two count. Regal suplexes Edge on his face for a two count. Regal with jumping knees to the face for a two count. Regal with a double underhook powerbomb for a two count. Regal knocks Edge out of the ring with a knee to the head. Edge ddt's Regal out of the ring onto the ring apron. Back in the ring Edge gets a two count. Both men run into each other at the same time. Edge with a suplex for a two count. Regal with a wastelock suplex. Edge, out of desperation, comes back with a clothesline for a two count. Regal puts Edge in the regal stretch, Edge makes it to the ropes. Edge puts Regal in the regal stretch, Regal makes it to the ropes. Rollup by Edge for a two count. Edge hits a top rope heel kick. Regal reaches in his tights for an object. Edge spears the referee into Regal by accident. Regal hits Edge with a left hand right in the face. Regal puts the object back in his pants. Regal rolls over on Edge for the easy pin. In the replay it was revealed that the object was the brass knucks. Edge is helped out of the ring and to the back by referees. Winner and New Intercontinental Champion: William Regal

Match 3: WWF Women's Championship Special Referee: Jacqueline Jazz vs. Trish Stratus Match starts off with Jazz attacking Trish before the bell rings. Backdrop by Jazz. Jazz hits a big splash for a two count. Sunset flip by Trish for a two count. Jazz drops Trish across the ropes. Jazz stomps on Trish's broken hand. Leg drop by Jazz for a two count. Jazz bends Trish's hand across the ropes. Jazz gets in Jackie's face. Jackie pushes her back. Trish rolls up Jazz for a two count. Trish hits the stratusfaction bulldog but Jazz counters with a rollup for a two count. Jazz hits a ddt for a two count. Jazz with a splash in the corner. Jazz walks into a big boot. Trish hits the bulldog again, this time for the pin. Winner: Trish Stratus

Match 4: Street Fight Ric Flair vs. Vince McMahon Match starts off with Vince pushing Flair down. Vince does a body building pose. Hard shoulder block by Vince. Vince struts around the ring. Flair trips up Vince and gets the upperhand in the corner with punches. Vince cops Flair in the corner. Flair reverses and hits chops of his own. Vince rakes the eyes. Clothesline by Vince. Vince clotheslines Flair off the ring apron. Vince follows out and hits Flair in the head with a sign. Vince sends Flair into the guard rail. Vince hits Flair in the head with a trash can. Flair is bleeding now. Vince shoves Flair into the ring post and ring steps. Vince bodyslams Flair on the floor right in front of his children. Vince takes the children's camera and takes a picture of himself holding Flair by the hair. Back in the ring Vince drops his body weight across Flair's leg. Vince slams flair's leg across the ring apron. Vince wraps Flair's leg around the ring post. Back in the ring Vince puts the figure four on Flair. Flair reverses the figure four. Vince makes it to the ropes and escapes to the outside. Vince grabs a lead pipe from ringside. Flair low blows Vince. Both men roll to the outside and Flair regains the advantage with chops. Flair hits Vince in the head with a monitor. Vince is now bleeding. Flair's children take a picture of Flair biting Vince on the head. Back in the ring Flair repeatedly punches Vince in the head. Flair low blows Vince. Flair picks up the lead pipe and nails Vince square across the head with it. Flair locks on the figure four in the middle of the ring. Vince taps out. Winner: Ric Flair

Match 5: Undisputed Championship The Rock vs. Chris Jericho Match starts off with Jericho telling Rock to just bring it. Rock hits a samoan drop for a two count. Rock spears Jericho and mounts him with people's fists. Jericho hits a flying forearm. Rock slams Jericho face first into the mat. Jericho drops Rock across the ropes. Jericho with a spinning heel kick for a two count. Jericho with a suplex. Jericho exposes the top turnbuckle. Rock counters the walls of jericho with his leg strength. Jericho connects with a missile dropkick for a two count. Jericho grounds Rock to the mat with a headlock. Rock fights out but jericho sends him back down with a reverse elbow. Rock crotches Jericho on the top rope. Rock follows up and delivers a superplex. Rock lays the smackdown with right hands. Rock with a belly to belly throw for a two count. Jericho with a flying forearm followed up by two lionsaults in a row for a two count. Jericho and Hebner get into a shoving match. Rock counters a missile dropkick and puts the sharpshooter on Jericho. Lance Storm comes down and distracts the referee. Rock takes out Storm. Christian comes in with his title belt but Rock counters and sends him out. Jericho attempts the people's elbow but Rock counters and throws Jericho out of the ring. Rock follows out and sends Jericho into the ring steps. Rock removes the tv monitors from the announce tables. Jericho drops Rock across the spanish announce table. Rock delivers the rock bottom to Jericho on the announce table (they jumped from one announce table to the other to pull this move off). Back in the ring Rock gets a two count. Jericho counters the rock bottom and locks on the walls of jericho. Rock makes it to the ropes. Rock with a rollup for a two count. Rock hits Hebner by accident with a flying forearm. jericho hits Rock between the eyes with the undisputed title. Patrick comes in but Jericho only gets a two count. Rock ddt's Jericho but Patrick refuses to count. Rock gives Patrick the rock bottom. Rock bottom on Jericho followed up by the people's elbow. No ref to count. Rock tries to revive Hebner. Jericho low blows Rock. Jericho sends Rock into the exposed turnbuckle and rolls Rock up for the pin. Jericho's legs were on the ropes for advantage. Winner: Chris Jericho

Match 6: The 2002 Royal Rumble Match The match will start off with two men at first and one man will enter at every two minute intervals. Only way to eliminate your opponent is send him over the top rope to the floor. Rikishi is the first man out. Goldust is out second. Match starts off with Rikishi attacking Goldust from behind. Rikishi throws Goldust over the top but Goldust's feet do not touch the floor. Third man out is Big Bossman. Rikishi crotches Goldust on the top turnbuckle. Bossman clotheslines Rikishi. Bossman and Goldust double team Rikishi. Fourth man out is Bradshaw. Rikishi gives Bossman the stinkface. Rikishi clotheslines Bossman out of the ring for the elimination. Rikishi with a samoan drop on Bradshaw. Bradshaw powerbombs Goldust. #5 man out is Lance Storm. #6 man out is Al Snow. Bradshaw hits Storm with the clothesline from hell. #7 man out is Billy Gunn. Bradshaw hits Gunn with a big boot. Snow superkicks Storm off the ring apron for the elimination. Gunn eliminates Bradshaw. #8 man out is Undertaker. Undertaker chokeslams Gunn. Undertaker chokeslams Goldust out of the ring for the elimination. Undertaker eliminates Snow. Undertaker eliminates Rikishi with a clothesline. Undertaker throws Gunn out for the elimination. Undertaker is now in the ring by himself. #9 man out is Matt Hardy accompanied by Lita. Lita gets in the ring and low blows Undertaker. Matt hits Undertaker with the twist of fate. Matt and Lita double team Undertaker. Lita goes back on the outside to watch. #10 man out is Jeff Hardy. Matt, Jeff, and Lita triple team Undertaker. Undertaker hits a double clothesline on Matt and Jeff. Matt and Jeff do the twist of fate and swanton bomb on Undertaker. Undertaker eliminates Jeff. Undertaker gives Matt the last ride powerbomb. Undertaker eliminates Matt. #11 man out is Maven. Lita jumps on the ring apron and Undertaker shoves her off. Matt and Jeff jump back in and double team Undertaker. Undertaker throws them out. Maven hits Undertaker with a dropkick from behind and sends him over the top rope for the elimination. Undertaker gets back in the ring and pummels Maven with punches. Undertaker throws Maven THROUGH the ropes to the outside. Undertaker hits Maven with a chair. #12 man out is Scotty Too Hotty. Undertaker throws Maven back in the ring. Undertaker hits Scotty with a right hand on the rampway. Undertaker throws Maven to the outside again and hits him with a chair. Undertaker continues beating Maven all the way up to the concession area, where he sends Maven head first through the glass popcorn container. #13 man out is Christian. Christian and Scotty are the only two in the ring at this point. #14 man out is Diamond Dallas Page. DDP nails Christian with the diamond cutter. DDP eliminates Scotty. #15 man out is Chuck Palumbo. #16 man out is The Godfather with 12 hoes. The hoes stay on the stage to watch. DDP is eliminated by Christian and Palumbo. #17 man out is Albert. Christian and Palumbo eliminate Albert. Christian and Palumbo eliminate Godfather. #18 man out is Perry Saturn. #19 man out is Steve Austin. Austin eliminates Christian. Austin eliminates Palumbo. Austin eliminates Saturn. Austin is now in the ring by himself. Austin throws Christian back in the ring and gives him a stunner. Austin throws Palumbo back in the ring and gives him a stunner. #20 man out is Val Venis. Austin stomps Val in the corner. #21 man out is Test. Test clotheslines Austin. Test and Val double team Austin. Test hits Val with a big boot. Austin eliminates Val. Austin hits test with the stunner. Austin eliminates test. Austin is in the ring by himself again. #22 man out is Triple H. Austin and Triple H stare at each other. Both men trade blows. #23 man out is The Hurricane. Austin and Triple H clothesline each other at the same time. Hurricane stands in the ring above Austin and Triple H and tries to do a double chokeslam. Not happening. Austin and Triple H eliminate Hurricane. Triple H clotheslines Austin. #24 man out is Faarooq. Faarooq with a spinebuster on Austin. Austin hits Faarooq with the stunner. Triple H clotheslines Faarooq out of the ring for the elimination. #25 man out is Mr. Perfect. Perfect takes turns attacking Austin and Triple H. #26 man out is Kurt Angle. Angle kicks Triple H down in the corner. Austin mule kicks Perfect. Austin chops Perfect in the corner. Angle suplexes Triple H. Austin saves Triple H from getting eliminated by Angle. #27 man out is Big Show. Show chokeslams Perfect. Show double clotheslines Austin and Triple H. #28 man out is Kane. Show and Kane trade punches. Kane kicks Show between the legs. Kane bodyslams Show over the top rope for the elimination. Austin hits Kane with the stunner. Angle eliminates Kane. #29 man out is Rob Van Dam. RVD hits Angle with the 5 star frog splash. RVD cleans house. RVD with the rolling thunder on Austin. Triple H gives RVD the pedigree. #30 man out is Booker T. Booker eliminates RVD. Booker does the spinaroonie. Austin stuns Booker. Booker falls over the top rope for the elimination. Angle slam on Triple H. Angle with multiple german suplexes on Austin. Austin low blows Angle. Angle and Perfect double team Austin. Angle eliminates Austin, as Austin was trying to eliminate Perfect. Austin brings Perfect on the outside with hard right hands. Angle follows out and attacks Austin from behind. Back in the ring Perfect and Angle double team Triple H. Austin enters the ring and lays out Perfect, Angle, and Triple H with chair shots. Austin leaves to the back. Angle clotheslines Perfect by accident. Perfect-plex on Angle. Triple H clotheslines Perfect out of the ring for the elimination. We are now down to two - Triple H and Kurt Angle. Triple H kicks Angle down in the corner. Angle walks into a big boot. Angle with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Choke take down by Triple H. Angle almost eliminates Triple H. Angle thought he had won. Facebuster on Angle. Triple H throws Angle over the top to the floor for the final elimination. Winner of Royal Rumble 2002: Triple H

Good Solid PPV with entertainning matches, I give this PPV an A-

Usually, the Royal Rumble is my favorite of the WWE events. There's just something so unique about that format that makes it eminently watchable. Not so here in 2002, sadly.

Some further thoughts...

-William Regal wrestling in a title match is embarrassing. I'm honestly not sure what the appeal of his schtick is.

-The Flair/McMahon street fight is solid enough from a match perspective, but so odd when those figures are taken individually. Instead of the corporate weasel, apparently McMahon is now "jacked bodybuilder". Flair is a bit of an acquired taste (never mine, truth be told)--the kind of over-the-top theatrics which worked so well in WCW but to my mind never translated perfectly to WWE.

-Jericho/Rock is, again, "fine", but no real heat or rivalry behind either of those guys. How many times can the company play the "cheating Stephanie McMahon" angle?!

-The Rumble itself is extremely boring, for the most part. The only kicks I got from it were the return of Mr. Perfect and the inclusion of Big Show (seemingly made for such an event). Other than that, a bit of a slog to a predictable finish.

As I've mentioned on the PPV events immediately preceding this one, this post-Attitude Era WWE style is not connecting with me. A bit too polished, predictable, and generic (in terms of matches and characters). I never thought I'd say this, but even the end of the Attitude Era (as messy as that was) might have been better than this overall product.

Wrestling has got progressively worse over the last decade but the Rumble has, if anything got better. This one was excellent. One of the more predictable winners ever but good to see Austin out early, some great stars returning, good laughs and a brilliant scene with Maven & Undertaker.

This is one of my four favorite wwf ppv's. It was good. Even though you know who would win the rumble. HHH, after is 8 month rehabing. It was only obvious. It was good to see 4 superstars return even if you don't like them or not. I would give this rumble 10/10. It was one of there better ones. There was much more wrestling then talking this time.