June 23, 2002 – Columbus, Ohio (Nationwide Arena)
[ King of the Ring 2002 Image Gallery ]
Full list of King of the Ring Winners
SUNDAY NIGHT HEAT: Hosted by Jonathan Coachman & D-Lo Brown..
PARKING LOT: Jamie Noble & Nidia arrived at the arena in a beatup truck. Jamie told Nidia that after tonight they’ll be riding in style..
RECAP: The feud between The Hurricane and Jamie Noble..
BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW: Terri interviewed “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair, who said that he has gone on record saying he has ONE GREAT RUN left. Flair said he’s gotta prove to all the fans that he was still the Nature Boy.. Wooooo!
REPLAY: The Rock’s speech on RAW.
BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW: Jerry “The King” Lawler interviewed Molly Holly, who said she will restore dignity to the WWE Women’s title. Lawler asked Molly about the Divas ligerie special on Tuesday. Molly said that she turned down the offer to compete. Lawler said something disrespectful that implied Molly had a big butt.. Molly stormed off in a huff..
RECAP: The feud between Hulk Hogan and Kurt Angle..
REPORT: Chris Jericho at the NHL awards in Toronto..
OUTSIDE: The Rock arrived to the arena..
TAG TEAM MATCH
The Hardy Boyz defeated Raven & Stevie Richards: Raven walked out on Stevie Richards…
KING OF THE RING – SEMI-FINAL MATCH
Rob Van Dam defeated Chris Jericho to advance: Midway through the match, RVD tried a Five-Star Frog Splash, but Y2J shoved the referee into the ropes to knock RVD off the top rope. Y2J removed the cover off one of the turnbuckles, so the referee had to replace the padding, and thus missing RVD’s pin attempt! Jericho managed to put the Walls of Jericho on RVD, 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 for the win! Rob Van Dam advanced to the King of the Ring Tournament Final!
BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
Jerry “The King” Lawler & Rob Van Dam: RVD 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. Y2J refused to let go!
LOCKER ROOM
Paul Heyman & Brock Lesnar: Paul Heyman tried to psych up Brock Lesnar for his match with Test. Heyman told Brock that he is the Next Big Thing. Heyman said that he will be the next King of the Ring!
KING OF THE RING – SEMI-FINAL MATCH
Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman defeated Test to advance: Test struck down Brock Lesnar with several stiff clotheslines. Test continued to take the fight to Lesnar, but Lesnar 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 whacked Lesnar with a Big Boot to the jaw. Lensar managed to get his shoulder up at the last instance to prevent a pin. 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! Brock Lesnar advanced to the King of the Ring Final against RVD!
BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
The Coach & Bubba Ray Dudley: The Coach looked to get predictions from superstars on their picks to win the finals. Bubba said it was great that two superstars from RAW were in the finals. Bubba felt that Brock Lesnar had too much power for Rob Van Dam.
BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
Mark Loyd & Christian & Lance Storm: Lance Storm & Christian said that WWE was prejudiced against Canadians. Christian said that the entire world hates America. Lance said they need to carry the flag of civility, tolerance and peace.
WWE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE
Jamie Noble w/Nidia defeated The Hurricane to win the WWE Cruiserweight title!: Nidia came out wearing the Hurricane’s green cape. The Hurricane 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. Hurricane tried to retrieve his cape, but Nidia jerked it away. Hurricane responded with a crossbody onto Noble outside of the ring. Noble attempted to superplex 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 her boyfriend, but she got blind-sided accidentally by Noble. Hurricane chokeslammed the challenger, but Noble managed to kick out. Noble slapped Hurriane with a powerbomb and rolled up the champion. The Hurricane appeared safe after getting his foot on the rope.. Nidia shoved it off and Noble got the pin to become the new Cruiserweight champion!
BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
Terri & Eddie Guerrero: Terri asked Eddie Guerrero about Ric Flair. Eddie first said hi to some family members, listing a few dozen names. Eddie said that he’s in the best shape of his life. Eddie said that Flair can’t do half the moves that Latino Heat can do!
GRUDGE MATCH
“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair defeated “Latino Heat” Eddie Guerrero: Eddie Guerrero mimicked Ric Flair’s infamous strut early on. Flair picked Guerrero up into the air and held him for several moments, but Flair countered by suplexing Eddie to the mat! A while later, Guerrero locked Flair into the figure four! Guerrero missed a Frog Splash on the Nature Boy! Flair then locked a figure four of his own onto Guerrero. Chris Benoit made his way to ringside and watched the action intently. Guerrero tossed Flair from the ring and distracted the referee. This allowed Benoit to attack the Nature Boy at ringside. Benoit put the Crippler Crossface on Flair, who screamed in pain. The referee saw this and went out to order Benoit back to the locker room. Bubba Ray Dudley stormed into the ring and nailed Guerrero with a Bubba Bomb! When the referee returned, Bubba had exited but Flair had draped himself over Guerrero. Ric Flair got the three count!
WWE WOMENS TITLE MATCH
Molly Holly defeated Trish Stratus to win the WWE Women’s title : A few minutes into the match, Molly climbed up to the top turnbuckle. Trish caught her, and flipped her back into the ring with a modified hurracanrana. Trish went for the Stratusfaction, but Molly pushed her off. Molly countered with a beautiful belly to belly suplex. Molly jerked on Trish’s tights to gain enough leverage for a three count! Molly Holly becomes the new WWE Women’s champion!
BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
Mark Loyd & Kurt Angle: Kurt Angle asked what Hulk Hogan ever did to become an American hero. Hogan was an American Hero because Vince told him he was going to be one. Kurt said he was going to make Hogan tap like Mr. Bojangles on speed.
GRUDGE MATCH
Kurt Angle defeated Hulk Hogan by submission: Kurt Angle was wearing a wig to cover his recently shaved head. Early on, the Hulkster smashed Angle’s face into the ring barrier. Angle managed to storm back, dropping the Hulkster with a belly to back suplex. Angle followed that with an Angle Slam, but miraculously, Hogan kicked out after two! Angle whined to the referee while Hogan “Hulked” up. Hogan 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. The chair bounced off the ropes and smacked into Angle’s face! Hogan found himself in the Anklelock soon after. The pain was visible on Hogan’s face, but he sucked it up. Hogan tried to reverse several times, but Angle kept applying more pressure. Finally, Hogan tapped out! Angle strapped his wig back on and celebrated in the center of the ring.
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT
Goldust & Booker T: Goldust attempted his best impression of The Rock to Booker T. Suddenly, the Rock came in and showed Goldust how it was really done. The Rock said that there was no way Goldust could ever be him. Booker said The Rock didn’t have to worry about Goldust. Instead, he should be concerned with the five-time WCW Champion – Booker T! Booker said the two never saw eye to eye on anything, but he was down with what The Rock said last week on RAW. The Rock said he was there for one reason; to watch the WWE Title match. The Rock needed to stop several times, as Goldust kept trying his impression.
KING OF THE RING TOURNAMENT FINAL
Brock Lesnar vs Rob Van Dam: Brock Lesnar began by overpowering RVD and tossing 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. Brock caught him in midair and whirled off the F5! Brock Lesnar pinned RVD to become the 2002 King of the Ring!
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT
Triple H & The nWo (Kevin Nash & X-Pac & Shawn Michaels): Triple H met the nWo backstage on his way to the ring. The Game embraced his old friends Kevin Nash, X-Pac and Shawn Michaels. Nash told Triple H that if he needed them tonight, they’d be there for him..
WWE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
The Undertaker defeated Triple H to retain the WWE Heavyweight title: Triple H started off by knocking the Undertaker down with a series of shots to the head. Undertaker thrust Triple H into the corner and delivered several punches to his abdomen. Undertaker 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. HHH hit a spinebuster that knocked Taker senseless. A high knee that connected with Taker’s chin earned The Game a two-count. Referee Earl Hebner got trapped in the corner and was accidentally smashed by both men. Suddenly, The Rock came down to the announce table. Rock sent Paul Heyman – who had been doing some commentary – scurrying away from the anounce table. With the referee still down, the Undertaker went and grabbed a steel chair. Undertaker 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! Rock swung a chair at Taker, but wound up hitting Triple H by accident! Back in the ring, Taker decked a bloody Triple H with the Last Ride (Power-bomb). A second referee dashed into the ring to officiate the action. After counting to two on the pin attempt, Triple H kicked out! The new referee was thrown from the ring by Undertaker! Suddenly, The Rock dashed in and Rock Bottomed the Undertaker before making his exit. Three battered men lay in the ring. Slowly, Triple H collected himself and draped his arm over Taker’s chest. 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 referee couldn’t count right away as he was still dealing with his own pain. Triple H attempted to help him, but Taker caught him with a low blow. Taker rolled up The Game and got the pinfall to retain his championship!
POST MATCH
The Undertaker & The Rock & Triple H: The Rock stormed back to the ring and delivered a People’s Elbow to the Undertaker! Rock then consoled Triple H, who grabbed Rock and struck him with a Pedigree! Taker managed to collect himself and chokeslammed Triple H! Dead Man Inc. celebrated by holding the WWE Championship high over his head!
FULL 2002 KING OF THE RING TOURNAMENT BRACKETS
BRACKET A (Matches take place on WWE Television)
X-Pac \ Goldust / X-Pac \ Eddie Guerrero \ } Rob Van Dam Rob Van Dam / Rob Van Dam /
BRACKET B (Matches take place on WWE Television)
Christian \ Val Venis / Val Venis \ Edge (forfiet) \ } Chris Jericho Chris Jericho / Chris Jericho /
BRACKET C (Matches take place on WWE Television)
Test \ The Hurricane / Test \ Hardcore Holly \ } Test Tajiri / Hardcore Holly /
BRACKET D (Matches take place on WWE Television)
William Regal \ Booker T / Booker T \ Brock Lesnar \ } Brock Lesnar Bubba Dudley / Brock Lesnar /
SEMI-FINAL & FINAL (Matches take place on PPV)
Rob Van Dam \ Chris Jericho / Rob Van Dam \ Test \ } Brock Lesnar Brock Lesnar / Brock Lesnar / 2002 King of the Ring!
