Customer Reviews

WWE King of the Ring 2002

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

The WWE continues to put on good pay per views in 2002 with June's King of the Ring. With the sudden loss of Stone Cold Steve Austin, the wrestlers and the company itself manage to entertain just as well as before.

1. King of the Ring Semi-Finals: Chris Jericho vs Rob Van Dam - It has been called the match of the night. These two rising young stars are able to entertain with a wonderful match that started off the show.

2. King of the Ring Semi-Finals: Brock Lesnar vs Test - A good match that is fairly stiff. Test and Lesnar wail on each other throughout the match with plenty of brawling and power moves.

3. Cruiserweight Title: Hurricane (c) vs Jamie Noble - A good cruiserweight match with two wonderful wrestlers. Sadly, they seemed to wrestle like heavyweights during this match instead of using their cruiserweight talents to their advantage.

4. Women's Title: Trish Stratus (c) vs Molly Holly - A basic womens match with nothing too extradinary. It is good to see the WWE make better use of their women in the recent year.

5. Ric Flair vs Eddie Guerrero - A well paced match with a mix of old skool style with the modern fast paced style. Flair begins his "last good run" with an impressive bout against Guerrero. Eddie was suppose to face Steve Austin, but since Austin's sudden departure, Flair picked up the dropped ball and has run with it.

6. Hulk Hogan vs Kurt Angle - The Hulkster faced the Olympic Gold Medalist in an impressive match. It was at the first KOTR ppv in 1993 that Hogan had his last match in the WWF until Feb. 2002, now Hogan returns and manages to keep up with Angle's speed and endurance. Angle continues to wear the wig he's had since losing his hair from Edge at Judgment Day. Surprisingly, Hogan taps out to Angle's ankle lock which is a very rare feat indeed.

7. King of the Ring Finals: Rob Van Dam vs Brock Lesnar - As a mark for RVD, I was cheering for him the entire time. This is the one point of this pay per view that disappointed me. Lesnar gets a win over RVD to become the 2002 King of the Ring, which also gives him a title shot at Summerslam in August. But since Lesnar only debuted on wrestling TV two months ago, does he really deserve this spot in the company? Only time will tell.

8. WWE Title: Undertaker (c) vs Triple H - A rematch from last year's Wrestlemania X-7 match, these two veterans provide the fans with an impressive match. The Rock commentates for a while before getting involved in the match himself. One can only imagine how much longer we'll get to see the Undertaker before he has to step aside for the young blood to rise.

A more than decent pay per view by far. With backstage segments involving Bubba Ray Dudley, Lance Storm, Christian, Booker T, Goldust, X-Pac, Big Show, Kevin Nash, and Shawn Michaels, King of the Ring 2002 is another great product by the WWE.

This really wasn't that great of a PPV

KOTR Semifinals
RVD vs Chris Jericho
Very good opener and match, sadly this is as good
as it's going to get tonight. Some good counters
and straight up wrestling from both. 8.5/10

KOTR Semifianls
Brock Lesnar vs Test
Pretty solid big man match where Test
delivered as he always USED to do. 7/10

Cruiserweight Title
Jamie Noble vs Nidia
Decent match,with Noble kinda draggin it down
though hurricane really shows his stuff here. 6/10

Ric Flair vs Eddie Guerrero
On a night where few matches did well, this one
was no exception sadly 5/10(I'm being generous cuz i
respect Flair)

Hulk Hogan vs Kurt Angle
Not a bad match, but nothin spectacular either.
Hogan FINALLY TAPS LIKE HE SHOULD'VE, YESSSS!!!
6/10

Womens Title
Molly Holly vs Trish Stratus
Decent for womens matches 4/10

KOTR Finals
Brock Lesnar vs RVD
Too Short, not that well done. Guess
who wins? 5/10

Undisputed Title
Triple H VS Undertaker
OH How boring can a match get? This thing
drags on and on and on till Taker Low blows
hunter. Sucked big time 4/10

Overall, Don't ever buy this Trash

This is the last of the King Of The Ring series and it was aired live from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross provide the play-by-play and color. Here are my ratings of the matches based out of 5 *****:

King Of The Ring Semi-Finals:

Match #1: Rob Van Dam (Intercontinental Champion) vs. Chris Jericho - RVD gets a huge "pop" from the crowd as chants of "Rob Van Dam" and "ECW" fill the arena. Chris Jericho plays the role of heel to perfection. RVD lands multiple kicks to Y2J's head, a somersault plancha to the outside of the ring, rolling thunder splash and a split-legged top-of-the-rope moonsault onto Jericho. But, Y2J is able to execute a double-armed top-of-the-rope suplex and a lion-sault onto "Mr. Pay-Per-View". This wasn't enough for Y2J as RVD hits a top-rope 5-star frog-splash and pins Jericho. Check the ending. Rating - ***1/2 (15 minutes)

Match #2: Test vs Brock Lesner (w/ Paul Heyman) - This was a pretty decent big man match as both guys really belt each other pretty hard. The beginning goes back and forth with both guys pounding on the other. Brock lands a spine-buster, back-breaker and power slam on Test. Test is able to connect with a sidewalk slam, a full-nelson slam and a pumphandle slam. But with some interference from Paul E., Brock connects with a F5 and pins Test. This was a pretty decent match and I wish Test would get more of a push as he is a very good wrestler. Overall rating - ***1/2 (8min 30sec)

Cruiserweight Championship: The Hurricane(C) vs Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) - This was another decent match as both guys are decent wrestlers. Hurricane Helmsly has a grudge to settle with Noble, as he stole his girl Nidia from him. Hurricane is able to land a couple of big-time moves such as: suplex from inside to outside the ring, a top-rope cross-body block to the outside, a top-rope swinging neck breaker and a power-bomb choke slam. But Noble is very resilient and tough as nails. Is The Hurricane able to get his revenge and keep his belt? A pretty good match. Rating- ***1/2 (12min)

Ric Flair vs Eddie Guerrero - The "Nature Boy" is gunning for one more big push, but "Latino Heat" is his first obstacle. This was the "stiffest" match on the card as both men really chop each other with ferocity. Ouch! Eddie does some great mocking of Flair, and as well as tremendous ring psychology on Flair. Eddie and Flair both execute their "finishers" on each other. There was outside interfence from Chris Benoit and also from Bubba Ray Dudley. Who benefited the most from the interference? Another decent match. Rating - ***1/2 (18min)

Hulk Hogan vs Kurt Angle - Hulk gets a huge "pop" and Angle gets a heels welcome. The crowd was super pumped for this match and was into this from the start. Angle is able to "Angle slam" the Hulkster, but the crowd helps Hogan to "Hulk up"! Hogan connects with the big boot to Angle's head, and rips off Angle's head gear exposing Angle's bald head. Angle gets pissed and introduces a chair to the ring. Is the Hulkster able to take Angle out of his game plan and score the pin? This was the most exciting match on the card. Rating - **** (12min)

King Of The Ring Final: Rob Van Dam(Intercontinental Champion) vs Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) - Rob Van Dam has the crowd behind him but Brock has his strength. Brock lands a standing power-slam with back-to-back backbreakers on RVD. RVD connects with his rolling thunder splash as well as his 5-star top-rope frog-splash onto Lesnar. Is it enough for "Mr Pay-Per-View"? Who is the new and last King Of The Ring? Rating - *** (5min)

WWE Undisputed Championship - The Undertaker(C) vs Triple H - This was also a decent match as both guys landed big shots on the other. The match flowed from in the ring to outside of the ring as the Undertaker was very methodical and precise with his moves. Paul E. is initially at ringside providing color for the match, but the Rock cames down and chases Paul E. away. As the match flowed to the outside of the ring, The Undertaker suddenly attacks The Rock. How does this effect the outcome of the match? Who is the Undisputed Cahmpion? Rating - ***1/2 (23min)

This disc has added bonus features of King Of The Ring Preliminary and Quarterfinal match highlights as well as interviews with Kurt Angle, Test and Jamie Noble. The best part of this disc was the backstage shoot with Goldust, Booker T and The Rock. Goldust does a great mimick of The Rock, and The Rock is hilarious with his repartee. That being said, I guess you can figure out that this wasn't the best pay-per-view WWE has done. I would rent it first or tape it if possible.

King of the Ring 2002 was one of the most boring and uneventful ppv's in a long while. Absolutely nothing of interest happened at this ppv. There were only two watchable matches and the rest of the card is terrible.

KOR Semifinal-RVD d. Chris Jericho: this was easily the best match of the night and it was the opener! Great back and forth action with RVD pulling out the win. Set the tone for a great night, but that didn't happen. 8/10

KOR Semifinal-Brock Lesnar d. Test: this was a pretty good match.
Test and Lesnar really put on an extremely hard hitting match that ends with Lesnar pinning Test. 5/10

Ric Flair d. Eddie Guerrero: this was a dull match with no buildup. Only put on the card to replace Austin vs. Guerrero. Interference from Bubba Ray Dudley gives Flair the victory. 2/10

Cruiserweight Title - Jamie Noble d. Hurricane: this really didn't deserve a spot on the ppv, especially since Noble had only been around for 3 weeks. Noble wins with the help of Nidia, even though she did a lousy job of making it look like she did anything. 2/10

Women's Title - Molly Holly d. Trish Stratus: once again this did not deserve a spot on ppv. Molly wins by grabbing the tights, even though she didn't really grab them until Trish had already been counted down. How come everyone who was supposed to cheat to win messed up in the actual cheating part? 2/10

Kurt Angle d. Hulk Hogan: this was the second best match of the night. Angle does a great job of making anyone look good, even that bald joke of a wrestler Hulk Hogan. Some great action in this match. 6/10

KOR Final - Brock Lesnar d. RVD: this final left no doubt who would win the title shot at SummerSlam. Who really thought RVD would get a main event, even though he deserves it two hundred times as much as that goon Lesnar. Lesnar wins with help from Heyman. Short match, nothing special. 3/10

Undisputed WWE Title - Undertaker d. Triple H: this was easily the worst main event I have ever seen. Slow paced, dull, fall asleep, boring match. Trips was injured, Taker didn't have it on this night. Easily Triple H's worst match in a while. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those internet Triple H haters who think they know what is going on in the WWE lockerrooms, I am a huge Triple H fan, but this match is bad. The Rock interferes and salvages any possible entertainment out of the match. If you buy this, fast forward to the end of the match to see Rock's interference, its the only good part. Awful overall match. 2/10

Overall this ppv gets a 30/80 which is utterly terrible. If you want a good 2002 ppv get SummerSlam, Survivor Series, or Judgment Day as they are packed with excellent matches. If you want to see a good Triple H-Undertaker match get WrestleMania X7, its classic.

1. King of the Ring Semi-Finals: Chris Jericho vs Rob Van Dam - I found this to be one of the more entertaining matches of the PPV. I'm a sucker for the work of Chris Jericho, and I feel that a Jericho/Van Dam feud would be great! I don't know if this would be the match of the night, but it was definitely one of the better matches.

2. King of the Ring Semi-Finals: Brock Lesnar vs Test - I liked the psychology of this match with Lesnar doing everything he could to get out of the way of Test's big boot. This was a power match, plain and simple. Nothing too complex. It was also fairly short. Not bad, for what it is.

3. Cruiserweight Title: Hurricane (c) vs Jamie Noble - This was the first PPV that Jamie Noble wrestled in. He had made his appearance several weeks prior and had begun a feud with Hurricane. This match was okay, but nothing special. As a cruiserweight match, it kind of stunk. As I understand it, the Cruiserweight division is where we should be seeing the high-flying offense that the big men cannot do. Sadly, this was mostly a mat-based match. Even so, I like the Hurricane, so it isn't all bad.

4. Women's Title: Trish Stratus (c) vs Molly Holly - The women's division has been steadily improving recently. Trish Stratus is one of the hardest working women in the WWE to become a credible wrestler. I respect that, but I find her character to not be very interesting. Molly Holly, on the other hand, is a talented woman and does not fit into the stereotype of the "Diva". I find this refreshing and her character interesting. This match was somewhat better than expected.

5. Ric Flair vs Eddie Guerrero - This was a match that was not supposed to happen. Guerrero was being put into a program with Steve Austin, but Austin walked out on the job and Flair stepped up to fill the spot in the PPV. With very little build up, this was one of the best matches of the night. Flair is rightfully a legend and can still entertain in the ring. Now that Guerrero is living clean again, he is one of the best performers in the WWE (now if he would only lose that accent...the one he didn't have in WCW). The was a more traditional mat wrestling clinic, with Flair proving that he can still "go" when called upon. Excellent match.

6. Hulk Hogan vs Kurt Angle - I know that Hogan is a legend, but I don't find him that entertaining. He is the same wrestler he was in the 80's, with no growth of character. That said, this match was better than I expected. Kurt Angle can pull a good match out of a mop (speaking of mops, Angle is still wearing the wig to cover up his bald head following the "Hair vs Hair" match against Edge), and he pulled one out of Hogan. Even with Angle in the match, it was better than it should have been, so hats off to Hogan and Angle for turning in a good match.

7. King of the Ring Finals: Rob Van Dam vs Brock Lesnar - Normally, I wouldn't give away who is in the final match of a tournament, but if you watch WWE programming, you know who won the match and got the title shot at Summerslam. This match was better than Lesnar/Test, but not quite as good as Jericho/Van Dam. Lesnar's main flaw is not his ring ability, but the fact that he does not get the crowd involved. He methodically goes to work and works on the opponent, but unlike Goldberg (a poor wrestler, but someone who got loud cheers), Lesnar does not play to the crowd. An okay match, not very long, but accomplished what it needed to for the story.

8. WWE Title: Undertaker (c) vs Triple H - While not as good as their match from Wrestlemania 17, this was not a terrible match. HHH was working hurt (his arm really was in bad shape), so was not able to perform at a top level. While a disappointing match, this wasn't as bad a match as some might have you believe. There was the expected run-in by The Rock, and while I am usually against any sort of interference in a Championship match, it was a saving grace.

This PPV was merely average. It featured a couple of interesting promo spots. One was a comedy spot featuring The Rock, Booker T, and Goldust (does Dustin Runnels get more entertaining as time goes on? I think so). The other was a brief interaction between the NWO (at the time, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, X-Pac, and Big Show) and Triple H. This is made interesting because of the real life friendship of Nash, Michaels, and Sean Waltman (X-Pac). Michaels, HHH and Waltman were part of Degeneration X, and with Nash (and Scott Hall) were members of the "Kliq". The suggestion was made that if HHH needed help in his match, all Hunter had to do was raise his fingers and make the sign and the NWO would come to his aid. It was an interesting angle and unfortunately, nothing ever came of it.

King Of The Ring Semi-Finals Match: Chris Jericho Vs. RVD - Talk about a pure classic confrontation between two outstanding technical competitors to open up the show! I thought their Hardcore Title match last year was something but boy ol' boy, this match surely blows that match clear out the water. This match is something all right. What Jericho and Van Dam did in this match is certainly one of a kind (no pun intended). Their moves were great as well as their spectacular high flying offense, they had great false finishes and outstanding counters, and to put the cherry on top, the crowd was into this match 100 percent. This was an awesome match and match of the night without a doubt. 4.5/5

King Of The Ring Semi-Finals Match: Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman Vs. Test - This match is the dead on definition of the word "stiff." Not saying that's a bad thing, the match is great in its own right but boy, these guys took a [...] load of hard hits in this bout. Brock and Test pulled out all the stops to make it to the Finals but the road there was surely a rocky one. These guys came out with a lot of hard slams including an awesome counter from Brock countering Test with a powerslam before Test delivered a devastating boot to the face of Brock that was heard around the arena. This was a hard fought battle between two guys that held their own but no disrespect to either Brock or Test, there was no way they were gonna top RVD and Jericho. 3.75/5

Cruiserweight Champion The Hurricane Vs. Jamie Noble w/ Nidia - This match was at the peak of the Cruiserweight division and it was a solid one at that. This was a great match between two guys that were on top of their game at the time with both guys using their size to perfection and the notion of Nidia getting involved numerous times. Noble takes a nasty fall on the outside after being suplexed by the Hurricane before he powerbombed his way to become the new Cruiserweight champion. 4/5

Ric Flair Vs. Eddie Guerrero - History will say this was supposed to be Stone Cold against Eddie but this was around the time when "Austin took his ball and went home" so Flair substituted in for him. This was also around the time Flair stated he still had one more good run left in him and by the show he put on here, he was right. Eddie focused on the leg of Flair which he started working on the previous RAW. Even applying Flair's own figure 4 leg lock on him before Flair made his comeback with the appearence of Chris Benoit. Benoit only had little interaction in the match as he had Flair in the Crippler Crossface on the floor while Bubba Ray Dudley interfered and delivered Eddie the Bubba Bomb to give Flair the win. This was an enjoyable match as I think it was better than their United States championship fights in WCW. 4/5

Women's Champion Trish Stratus Vs. Molly Holly - This was a fight from the start with Trish throwing her hat at Molly before the referee had to retrain Trish until the bell officaily rang. At the same time, this is a "lost classic" concerning the ladies as this was a great one on one match for the Women's Title. The match is good but the commentary does get annoying after a while with the constant [...] jokes from The King with JR getting in on the action from time to time. Again, this is a fine ladies contest that is better than their later rematch at Unforgiven. 3.25/5

Kurt Angle Vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan - This was advertised as the battle of the real-Americans to find out who is the true real-American. But as far as I'm concerned, this was nothing more than Hogan embarrassing Angle and running all over him in a typical Hogan form. There's no way a guy like Hogan could stay incontrol of a match this long with an otustanding mat technician like Kurt Angle. However, the ending was the saving grace as Angle did a great job countering Hogan's leg drop to earn the tap out victory. I think this was one of Hogan's best matches in his 2002-2003 run but I really felt this was a lacklustering perfromance from Angle (aside from the ending). Thankfully, Angle made it up at the next PPV. 3.25/5

King Of The Ring Finals Match: Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman Vs. RVD - As great as the first two King of the Ring matches were earlier in the night, this match was rather disappointing. Not because of the performance from either guys, but because of the match length. To only give 7 or 8 minutes for a match this pretigious only confuses me. Gladly, these two would put on a classic next month for the Intercontinental championship but gets over shadowed for no particular reason at all. But give the devil his due, for those 7 minutes, Brock and RVD went full throttle and gave a great perfromance. Good match with the match length only being its downfall. 3.5/5

WWE Undisputed Champion Undertaker Vs. Triple H - For some reason, this match did not click at all. Maybe it was becuase of HHH's injured elbow but this match was not what it could've been. To sum the match up, it's just a slugfest with a few high impact maneuvers, HHH delivering a suplex to Taker on the floor being one of them, until The Rock made his arrival to do commentary. Once the fight breaks out, HHH gets bloody with The Rock making his presence known before the final 3 count. However, what happened after the match was more interesting than what happened during the match. This wasn't Undertaker's best title defense during his championship run but like Angle, he made it up next month. 3/5

In the end, this being the last King Of The Ring PPV, the KOTR ended on a good note. There was a great King of the Ring tournament with the great RVD/Jericho match. I certianly give this event a recommendation at a fair price. But I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to get this as soon as possible.

this is horrible.the only good match was chris jericho vs rob van dam which is now available on the rob van dam best matches dvd.anyway this is one of the worst wwe shows ive seen.i borrowed it from the library.im a big triple h and undertaker fan but even for me their match stunk here.avoid buying this at any costs.the extras are bad too.if you want to see the rvd/jericho match, get the rvd dvd which is out now.

This PPV marked the last appearance for King of the Ring as a PPV. This PPV suffered from Austin leaving the WWF right before and Edge injuring his shoulder in a great cage match with Angle on Smackdown. Things had to be completely rewritten, and it shows.

1. RVD vs. Chris Jericho (KOTR Semifinal #1)
Watching this match first made it seem like this was going to be a great PPV. Match of the night by far. These two worked well together. Fantastic finish. (9/10)

2. Test vs. Brock Lesnar (KOTR Semifinal #2)
This match was short, but was actually pretty entertaining. Test put on a good match and seemed to carry Lesnar. (8/10)

3. The Hurricane vs. Jamie Noble (Cruiserweight Title)
Noble's first appearance on a WWE PPV. I thought this could be match of the night, but it was a bit of a letdown. OK match, but nothing too exciting. (7.5/10)

4. Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair
This was supposed to be Austin vs. Guerrero, but we all know what happened. The fued was thrown together at the last minute. The two actually worked well together. This match featured the return of Chris Benoit to PPV's. Bubba Dudley makes a surprise appearance. (8/10)

5. Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly (Women's Title)
Does anyone really care? (2/10)

6. Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. Kurt Angle
I was scared this woudl be a dud, but it actually turned out to be a decent match because of Angle. He carried Hogan throughout the match. Very surprising ending. (8/10)

7. RVD vs. Brock Lesnar (KOTR Final/Winner Gets a Shot at Undisputed Title at Summerslam)
Short and very predictable match. Everyone knew who was going to be the King of the Ring before the tournament started. (6/10)

8. Triple H vs. Undertaker (Undisputed Title)
Boring match that suffered because of Triple H's injured elbow. Good chair shot taken by Triple H in the match. The Rock's appearance seemed like a waist in this match. Not a good match. (5.5/10)

I do not recommend buying this DVD. The only good match is RVD vs. Jericho

Overall Rating: 6/10

After watching some poor wrestling at Backlash, and a small improvement at Judgement Day, KOTR was an excellent example of the WWE at its best! The KOTR tournament started out quickly and had two great matches, with Brock Lesnar and RVD duking it out in the finals. The championship matches were outstanding, with the women's and cruiserweight matches involving great moves and finishers (you never knew how the match would end!). The match I enjoyed the most was when Triple H and the Undertaker squared off for the Undisputed Championship. It was full of moves and surprises, and almost felt like a triple threat match when the Rock entered the ring and tried to take out the Undertaker. This match was also appealing since I am a fan of the Undertaker, and him defending the title was better than him winning it at Judgement Day!
Do not pass up on this great event!

I thought this ppv would be better. i thought the taker triple hhh match would be a lot better but it wasn't that good of a match. I thought the best match was the rvd vs jerico match and that was the opening match. If you buy this you will se what i mean.