Judgment Day (2001)
| Judgment Day (2001) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuring Steve Austin and Triple H | |||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation | ||
| Date | May 20, 2001 | ||
| City | Sacramento, California | ||
| Venue | ARCO Arena | ||
| Attendance | 13,623 | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| Judgment Day chronology | |||
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Judgment Day (2001) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and presented by RC Cola. It was the third such annual event and took place on May 20, 2001 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.[1]
Seven professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card. The main event was Steve Austin defending the WWF Championship against The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred match. Austin won the match, and as a result, he retained his championship. Two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard. In a Chain match, challenger Kane defeated defending WWF Intercontinental Champion Triple H to win the title. The other featured bout was a two out of three falls match, which saw Kurt Angle defeat Chris Benoit, two falls to one, to recapture his Olympic gold medal.
The event grossed over $670,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of 13,623—higher than the previous year's event. The 2001 event received a lower buyrate than that of the previous year's amount, however, as it received less than 300,000 pay-per-view buys.[2]
Background
The event featured seven professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by the WWF's creative writers. Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or fan-favorite gimmick as they followed a series of events which generally built tension, leading to a wrestling match. The name of a wrestler's character was not always the person's birth name, as wrestlers often use a stage name to portray their character.
The main event at Judgment Day featured a No Holds Barred match, a match with no disqualifications nor countouts, in which Steve Austin defended the WWF Championship against The Undertaker. The buildup to the match began on the April 30 episode of Raw Is War, Austin retained the WWF Championship against Undertaker, though by disqualification after executing a low blow on Undertaker, thus resulting in the decision. In the following weeks, Undertaker attacked Austin, and at one point taking his vest and the WWF Championship. Around that time, Undertaker, received a kayfabe phone call stating that his wife had been involved in a kayfabe car accident. The Undertaker found out that everything was okay and there had not been a car accident. The Undertaker then began to hunt down whoever made the phone call. On the May 17 episode of SmackDown!, during Undertaker's match with Triple H, WWF Champion, Steve Austin appeared on the screen and admitted that he had made the phone call.
Another main event at Judgment Day featured a Chain match, in which Triple H defended the WWF Intercontinental Championship against Kane. The buildup to the match started after WrestleMania X-Seven on the April 5 episode of SmackDown!, when Triple H won the Intercontinental title by defeating Chris Jericho after WWF Commissioner William Regal interfered. Two weeks later on SmackDown!, Triple H and Steve Austin interfered in Kane's WWF Hardcore Championship defense against Rhyno by injuring his left arm (Kayfabe) with multiple steel chair shots, enabling Rhyno to win the title. At Backlash, WWF Champion Steve Austin and Intercontinental Champion Triple H defeated The Undertaker and Kane to win the WWF Tag Team Championship in a tag team match, in which Austin's WWF title and Triple H's Intercontinental title were also on the line. Their victory was due to interference from both Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and her father Vince McMahon, enabling Triple H to nail Kane in his injured elbow and in the head with the sledgehammer for the victory. The following night on Raw, Kane was scheduled to challenge Steve Austin for the WWF Championship but got attacked backstage by Austin and Triple H before the match started. Therefore, The Undertaker replaced Kane in the title match and defeated Austin by disqualification, but di not win the title. Afterward, Kane came down to save The Undertaker from the beatdown but ended up being put out of action for two weeks after Austin and Triple H targeted his left arm. On the May 14 episode of Raw Is War, Triple H announced a chain match for the Intercontinental title between himself and Kane at Judgment Day.
Results
| No. | Results[3][4] | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday Night Heat | Raven defeated Val Venis | Singles match | 04:09 |
| Sunday Night Heat | Hardcore Holly and Crash Holly defeated Kaientai (Taka Michinoku and Funaki) | Tag team match | Unknown |
| 1 | William Regal defeated Rikishi | Singles match | 03:57 |
| 2 | Kurt Angle defeated Chris Benoit 2-1 | Two out of three falls match for Angle's Olympic Gold Medals | 23:58 |
| 3 | Rhyno (c) defeated Test and The Big Show | Triple threat hardcore match for the WWF Hardcore Championship | 09:13 |
| 4 | Chyna (c) defeated Lita | Singles match for the WWF Women's Championship | 06:30 |
| 5 | Kane defeated Triple H (c) (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) | Chain match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship | 12:27 |
| 6 | Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit won by last eliminating Edge and Christian | Tag team turmoil match | 32:09 |
| 7 | Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) defeated The Undertaker | No Holds Barred match for the WWF Championship | 23:08 |
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
| |||
- Tag team turmoil match
| Draw | Wrestler | Order | Eliminated by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) | 3 | X-Factor |
| 2 | Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn (with Terri) | 1 | APA |
| 3 | The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (with Spike Dudley) | 2 | APA |
| 4 | X-Factor (X-Pac and Justin Credible) (with Albert) | 5 | Jericho and Benoit |
| 5 | The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) | 4 | X-Factor |
| 6 | Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit | Winners | |
| 7 | Edge and Christian | 6 | Jericho and Benoit |
See also
References
- ^ "Judgment Day (2001) Venue". World Wrestling Federation. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ "Judgment Day (2001) Figures". ProWrestlingHistory.com. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ^ "Judgment Day (2001) Results". WWE. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
- ^ "Judgment Day (2001): Main Event". WWE. Retrieved June 28, 2013.