The 2002 Royal Rumble was the 15th annual

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 20, 2002, at the

Philips Arena State Farm Arena is a Multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose arena located in Atlanta, Georgia. The arena serves as the home venue for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It also served as home to the Atlanta Thrasher ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. It was the final Royal Rumble event produced under the WWF name, as in May, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was also the final Royal Rumble held before the introduction of the first

brand extension Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use this ...

in March. Six matches were contested at the event. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2002 event, the winner received a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at WrestleMania X8—this was the last Royal Rumble until

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

to feature one world championship. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was the 2002 Royal Rumble match, which was won by

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer. Levesque began his wres ...

, who last eliminated

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler and amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler. He first earned recognition for winning a Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, gold me ...

. In other prominent matches,

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) , where he ...

defeated The Rock to retain the Undisputed WWF Championship,

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

defeated

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...

in a Street Fight, and

William Regal Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as the vice-president of Global Talent Development. He is also known for ...

defeated Edge to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship.

Production

Background

The

is an annual gimmick

(PPV) produced every January by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania,

SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...

, and

Survivor Series Survivor Series, branded as Survivor Series: WarGames since 2022, is a professional wrestling event produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving ( ...

, which were dubbed the "Big Four", and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along with King of the Ring. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified

battle royal Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...

in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The 2002 event was the 15th event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 20, 2002, at the

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers. Traditionally, the winner of the match earns a

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

match at that year's WrestleMania. For 2002, the winner earned a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at WrestleMania X8, following the unification of the WWF Championship and (WCW) World Championship as the Undisputed WWF Championship at Vengeance in December 2001.

Storylines

The event comprised six matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes,

villains A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWF's writers, while storylines were produced on WWF's weekly television shows, '' Raw'' and '' SmackDown''. The main

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

was between

and The Rock for Jericho's Undisputed WWF Championship. The feud, which had begun in October 2001 while the two were members of Team WWF during the

InVasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

and traded the WCW Championship between them, continued at Vengeance, when Jericho defeated both The Rock and the reigning WWF Champion

Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson and later Steven James Williams; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, producer and retired Professional wrestling, profes ...

to unify the titles. On the following night's episode of ''Raw'', Jericho successfully defended the Undisputed title over Stone Cold Steve Austin in a

Steel Cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

with help from

Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to * Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century ** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T." * Booker T. Jones (born 194 ...

. During the following two weeks, Jericho had successfully defended the title against the likes of

Rob Van Dam Robert Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD) is an American professional wrestler. Known for his unique ring style—which includes his variety of kicks, acrobatic movemen ...

, The Big Show, and

. The Rock earned a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at the Royal Rumble on the January 3 episode of ''

SmackDown! ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

'' by defeating Booker T. On the January 10 episode of ''SmackDown!'', The Rock and Rob Van Dam defeated Jericho and

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

when The Rock made Jericho submit with the

Sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

. The secondary feud was between the two WWF Co-Owners

and

. The feud began on the November 19 episode of ''Raw'', when Flair made his return to the WWF and revealed that he had bought Shane and Stephanie's stock to the WWF, which now meant that he and Vince were co-owners the company. On the December 27 episode of ''SmackDown!'', McMahon came to the ring to share his new year's resolutions when he was interrupted by Flair. Flair reminded Vince how he had tried to hire him to come to the WWF when he was under contract with the NWA back in 1988, until Flair eventually left the NWA (which, at this point, had become WCW) and came to the WWF in 1991, and how he had won the 1992 Royal Rumble match and became WWF Champion. Flair also brought up his main event match with "Macho Man" Randy Savage at WrestleMania VIII. Flair then claimed that he looked through all the contracts one of which he pulled out that said "Vince McMahon - Owner/Wrestler" which meant that Flair could officially book Vince to wrestle at the Royal Rumble. McMahon then asked "who's got the balls" to step into the ring with him, before Flair punched Vince in the mouth and announced that the two of them would face each other at the Royal Rumble. The following week, Flair announced that the match would be a Street Fight, which Vince agreed to. The next four weeks saw Flair and McMahon confronting each other in the build up to their match, including McMahon mocking Flair by putting on a blonde wig and one of Flair's trademak robes, before also assaulting Flair with a lead pipe. During a promo, McMahon stated he "loves destroying lives" and promised to destroy Flair's life at the Royal Rumble. On the January 7 episode of '' Raw'', buildup towards the Royal Rumble match started, with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin declaring his entry. Later that night,

officially made his return after missing nearly eight months with a quadriceps injury, and announced that he too would be entering the Royal Rumble match. He was quickly interrupted by Kurt Angle, who then announced his intentions to enter the match, which was to be his first, and mentioned his victory over Triple H at the previous year's

event, when he was the reigning WWF Champion. Triple H then performed a Pedigree on Angle in retaliation. During a match between Austin and Angle on the January 10 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Kane, The Big Show, and Triple H all interfered, leading to a huge brawl. In the end, only Triple H remained standing, until

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name the Undertaker, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway ...

stared him down from the top of the ramp. On the January 14 episode of ''Raw'', Triple H stated that he wants to win the Undisputed WWF Championship. Austin came out, and they fought until The Undertaker came out, and hit Triple H with a chair, allowing Austin to hit him with the Stone Cold Stunner. The Undertaker then hit Austin with the chair. On the January 17 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Austin and Triple H defeated Angle and Booker T. After the match, The Undertaker once again came out, and stared them down. The feud between Edge and

continued from Vengeance. On the December 10 episode of ''Raw'', Edge mocked Regal, prompting Regal to nail him from behind with

brass knuckles Brass knuckles (also referred to as brass knucks, knuckledusters, iron fist and paperweight, among other names) are a melee weapon used primarily in Hand to hand combat, hand-to-hand combat. They are fitted and designed to be worn around the kn ...

. On the December 13 episode of ''SmackDown!'', William Regal and Kurt Angle faced Edge and Rikishi in a tag match. After the match, Edge hit Regal with a steel chair, before giving Regal an Edgecution onto the chair, legitimately breaking his nose. On the January 7 episode of ''Raw'', Regal interfered after Edge's victory over

Lance Storm Lance Timothy Evers (; born April 3, 1969), known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a Canadians, Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he works as a producer. He is best known ...

and hit him with brass knuckles. Regal then challenged Edge to a match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at the Royal Rumble, which Edge accepted. On the January 14 episode of ''Raw'', Edge and

faced William Regal and

, where Regal pinned Edge after once again using the brass knuckles. On the January 17 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Regal defeated Rob Van Dam when he used brass knuckles behind the referee's back. Later on that night, Regal came out during Edge's match with Test, but failed to interfere when Edge nailed him and referee Nick Patrick with a chair.

Event

Preliminary matches

The show opened with a tag team match between

Spike Dudley Matthew Jonathan Hyson (born August 13, 1970) is an American semi-retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler best known for his tenure in WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Spike Dudley. Prior to WWE, Hyson began performing ...

and

Tazz Peter Senerchia (born October 11, 1967), better known by the ring name Taz (also spelled Tazz), is an American radio personality, color commentator, and retired professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a color commentator f ...

, and the Dudley Boyz (

Bubba Ray Dudley Mark LoMonaco (born July 14, 1971), known by his ring name Bubba Ray Dudley (also spelled Buh-Buh Ray Dudley), is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for being ...

and

D-Von Dudley Devon Hughes ( ; born August 1, 1972) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, under a legends contract. He is best known for performing in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1999 a ...

) for the WWF Tag Team Championship. The Dudley Boyz dominated Spike in the beginning, with Bubba Ray ripping off Spike's neck brace. Spike fought back by performing a Dudley Dog, but failed to capitalize. The Dudley Boyz then double-teamed Spike while the

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

was preoccupied with Tazz. Tazz eventually came in, and both dominated. Stacy Keibler, who accompanied the Dudley Boyz to ringside, climbed on the apron, and attempted to distract Tazz. Tazz then locked in the Tazzmission until D-Von broke the hold. Spike then hit the Dudley Dog on Bubba and attempted to do the same on D-Von, but Spike was thrown out of the ring. D-Von then ran at Tazz in the corner which he dodged, before then applying the Tazzmission to retain the titles. The second match was between Edge and

for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Before the match, the referee found

in Regal's tights, and confiscated them. The match went back and forth, until Regal knocked Edge out of the ring. Once back inside this ring, Regal applied the Regal Stretch, but Edge reached the ropes to break the hold. Edge then attempted a

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

, but Regal pushed the referee in his path, incapacitating him. Regal then took out another pair of brass knuckles which he had hidden, and hit Edge with them. The referee then recovered to count the pinfall, and Regal won the title. The next match was between Trish Stratus and

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

for the WWF Women's Championship, with Jacqueline as the special guest referee. Jazz had the early advantage, focusing on Stratus' injured hand. Jazz then confronted Jacqueline, and they shoved each other. Stratus attempted to capitalize by hitting Jazz with a

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

, but Jazz countered with a roll-up, and executed a snap DDT for a near fall. Stratus then blocked an attack in the corner, and delivered a bulldog to win the match, and retain the title. The fourth match was a Street Fight between

and

. Flair quickly gained the early advantage with punches and knife edge chops. McMahon then attacked him with weapons, and sent him into the ringpost and steps. McMahon then applied the figure four leglock, but Flair reversed it. McMahon reached the ropes, and retreated outside the ring. Flair then hit McMahon with a low blow, a television monitor, and a lead pipe. Flair then forced McMahon to submit to the figure four leglock to win the match. Jerichoentrance

The semi-main event was between

and The Rock for the Undisputed WWF Championship. The Rock quickly took control of the match and got a near-fall following a samoan drop. However, Jericho soon regained control, and removed the padding off one of the turnbuckles. Jericho then attempted the Walls of Jericho, but The Rock escaped. Jericho continued his control, until The Rock delivered a superplex, and a snap overhead belly to belly suplex. Jericho retaliated with two Lionsaults. The Rock then countered an attempted missile dropkick, and applied the

. Just then,

and

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

distracted the referee as Jericho submitted, meaning The Rock could not win the title. As The Rock disposed of them, Jericho took advantage and executed a Rock Bottom and attempted a People's Elbow, but The Rock avoided it and threw Jericho out of the ring. Jericho then gained back some control and tried to hit a Rock Bottom through the Spanish announce table, but The Rock countered and executed a Rock Bottom of his own through the English announce table. Back in the ring, The Rock covered Jericho for a close near-fall. Jericho then countered another attempted Rock Bottom and again applied the Walls of Jericho, but The Rock reached the ropes and rolled Jericho up for another close near-fall on the second attempt. The Rock then accidentally hit the referee, and Jericho took advantage by hitting The Rock with the WWF title belt. Jericho then signaled for Nick Patrick (a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

referee) to come out and referee the match. The Rock then executed a DDT, but Patrick refused to count the pinfall. The Rock then attacked Patrick with a Rock Bottom, and executed a Spinebuster and a People's Elbow on Jericho. As The Rock tried to revive the original referee,

Earl Hebner Earl William Hebner (born May 17, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestling referee. He is best known for his time as senior referee for the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) from 1988 to 2005. Hebner (along with his identical twi ...

, Jericho again took advantage and hit a low blow, and sent The Rock into the exposed turnbuckle. Jericho then pinned The Rock with a roll-up using the ropes as extra leverage to retain the title.

Main event

The

was the Royal Rumble match.

, the eighth entrant, dominated upon entering the match, and eliminated all four of the remaining participants.

Matt Hardy Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he a former List of TNA World Tag Team Champions, three time TNA Wor ...

entered next and Lita, who accompanied Matt, entered the ring to help. The next entrant was

Jeff Hardy Jeffrey Nero Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and also appears on partner promotion WWE on its NXT (WWE brand), NXT brand. He is re ...

, and all three attacked The Undertaker, reigniting their previous rivalry with him. The Undertaker eventually eliminated them both. The Hardys returned, however, and continued their attack, but were thrown out again. This distraction allowed Maven, the following entrant, to eliminate The Undertaker. The Undertaker returned, beat down Maven, and eliminated him. The Undertaker then assaulted Scotty 2 Hotty during his entrance, and continued his attack on Maven into the crowd, and to the backstage area, including smashing his head into a popcorn machine. The match continued with

and Scotty 2 Hotty battling it out, and the ring began to fill with more wrestlers. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, the nineteenth entrant, dominated upon his entrance, and eliminated all three of the remaining participants. While he waited for the next entrant, he brought Christian and

Chuck Chuck () is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV produce ...

, whom he had eliminated, back in, and beat them down with Stone Cold Stunners, before throwing them back over the top rope . Austin then eliminated the next two entrants, leaving him as the only man in the ring.

then made his official in-ring return from injury at No. 22, brawling with Austin. Mr. Perfect returned as the twenty-fifth entrant to a loud ovation. The Big Show, the twenty-seventh entrant, dominated upon entering, until Kane entered next. Kane eliminated The Big Show, before Kane was also eliminated by Austin and

, the twenty-sixth entrant.

made his Royal Rumble debut by entering the ring at No. 29, taking down nearly everyone with a variety of high-flying moves, until Triple H delivered the Pedigree to him.

, also making his Royal Rumble debut, entered at No. 30, and quickly eliminated Van Dam. He then performed the "Spin-A-Roonie", and was quickly eliminated from the Rumble after receiving a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin. The final four remaining were Austin, Triple H, Angle and Perfect. Angle executed an Angle Slam on Triple H and three German suplexes on Austin. Austin then hit a low blow on Angle, but Perfect and Angle double-teamed him. Angle then eliminated Austin as he was trying to eliminate Perfect. Austin then pulled Perfect outside and attacked him, before Angle attacked Austin from behind. Back in the ring, Perfect and Angle attacked Triple H. Austin once again entered the ring and hit Perfect, Angle and Triple H with a steel chair before finally leaving. Angle then attacked Perfect with a clothesline by accident, and Perfect executed a Perfect-Plex on Angle out retaliation. Triple H then eliminated Perfect with a clothesline, leaving only Angle and Triple H as the final two. It went back and forth before Angle sent Triple H over the top rope with a back body drop, but Triple H held on. Angle thought he had won, and prematurely celebrated. Triple H took advantage, and executed a facebuster knee smash on Angle, followed by a clothesline over the top rope to win the Royal Rumble match.

Reception

In 2011, Jack Bramma of 411Mania gave the event a rating of 7.5 ood writing, "Despite the super hot crowd, this is a great rumble but only a good show altogether. The Rock-Jericho match is mildly disappointing knowing what they are capable of and the Flair-Vince match is nowhere near the level of even Vince’s best garbage matches. The Edge-Regal match is a good title match but easily missable. otoverwhelmingly outstanding, but still a solid recommendation."

Aftermath

Austin won a number one contender's match against

on the January 28 episode of '' Raw'' to earn a match for the Undisputed WWF Championship at No Way Out. A feud between Austin and

started with Jericho interfering in Austin's match by attacking him with his title belt.

continued his feud with Maven over the elimination during the Royal Rumble match, which grew to include The Rock after he mocked The Undertaker for his quick elimination. The Undertaker's interference led to The Rock losing to Kurt Angle in the tournament to challenge for the Undisputed championship at No Way Out. On the February 4 episode of ''Raw'', during a tag team match, The Undertaker grabbed a steel lead pipe from his motorcycle and nailed The Rock in the head with it, allowing

to score the pinfall win. The Rock retaliated by hitting him with a chair and helping Maven win the WWF Hardcore Championship that The Undertaker had won at Vengeance; however The Undertaker performed a Tombstone Piledriver on The Rock onto the hood of a limousine in revenge. A match was made between the two at No Way Out.

started a feud with

, unhappy about how he lost the Royal Rumble match, and attacked Triple H after a confrontation. During Triple H's match with Booker T, Angle interfered and attacked Triple H. Angle then had Vince McMahon make a match between the two at No Way Out for Triple H's title shot at WrestleMania X8. Triple H and his on-screen wife

Stephanie McMahon Stephanie Marie McMahon Levesque ( ; ; born September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is known for her various roles within WWE between 1998 and 2023. The daughter of Vince McMahon, Vince and Lind ...

were having problems, so she faked a pregnancy and demanded that they renew their wedding vows. Triple H discovered the truth, and ended their marriage. Stephanie McMahon then announced herself as the guest referee in the match at No Way Out. The 2002 Royal Rumble was the last Royal Rumble held under the WWF name, as in May 2002, the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was also the last Royal Rumble until

in which there was only one world championship for the Rumble winner to challenge for as in March 2002, the promotion introduced the first

, which split the roster into two distinct brands, Raw and

, where the wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. At first, the Undisputed Championship was available to both brands, but in September, it became exclusive to SmackDown! and renamed to WWE Championship after Raw introduced the World Heavyweight Championship as their top title. Additionally, King of the Ring was discontinued as a PPV following its 2002 event, thus the Royal Rumble, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, reverted to being called the "Big Four" until October 2021 when Money in the Bank was recognized as one of the "Big Five".

Results

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes. – Winner Undertaker assaulted and eliminated Maven following his own elimination by Maven.
This was Austin's 36th career elimination in the Royal Rumble, which was a record held for eight years until

Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of th ...

broke it in the 2010 Royal Rumble.

References

External links

Official websiteRoyal Rumble 2020
{{2002 WWF/WWE pay-per-view events

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2002 in Atlanta Professional wrestling shows in Atlanta 2002 WWE pay-per-view events January 2002 in the United States