Posted in: Doctor's Orders
Doctor's Orders: Wrestling Yearbook 2002
By Dr. CMV1
May 19, 2011 - 8:03:28 PM

The Wrestling Yearbook: 2002

The Year’s Top Stories

-The New World Order (Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall) return to be involved in major storylines for Wrestlemania X-8. Hogan is welcomed back with open arms by the fans, in particular during his match with The Rock at Mania – an all-time classic.

-Raw and Smackdown split into two separate into two distinct brands. Raw struggles for much of the year, while the Smackdown Six (Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Chavo Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and Edge) routinely put on great matches on a Paul Heyman booked show

-The World Wrestling Federation is renamed World Wrestling Entertainment after losing a legal battle for the rights to the “WWF” to the World Wildlife Fund.

-While there are many notable returns during the year (the aforementioned NWO, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, Triple H, Eric Bischoff, and Shawn Michaels), there are also several notable departures (mainly Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock)

-The Undisputed Championship is disputed after 9 months of having a single world champion. Brock Lesnar takes the WWE title to SD and Triple H is given the World title (old WCW title) on Raw.

Top 10 Matches

1) Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H in a Non-Sanctioned Street Fight at Summerslam – I will never forget watching this match. Only one other time have I been so legitimately scared for a performer, as we really did not know the shape of HBK’s surgically repaired back. I honestly can’t imagine this having gone any better than it did.

2) The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan – The atmosphere at Wrestlemania X-8 for this match was something you’ll rarely get to see and should appreciate it accordingly. The wrestling wasn’t brilliant, but the overall presentation was as close to perfect as you could get from a far past his prime Hogan

3) Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit vs. Edge and Rey Mysterio at No Mercy (Tag Team Match of the Year) – Sans for the TLC matches that defined an era of tag team wrestling in the WWE, this was the best tag team match of the last decade. These four of the SD Six produced so many memorable moments…

4) Triple H vs. Chris Jericho in a Hell in a Cell Match at Judgment Day – What disappointment they drew from their main-event at Wrestlemania that year, they made up for with one of the most underrated HIAC matches.

5) The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar at Summerslam (World Title Match of the Year) – The arrival of Brock coincided with the departure of Rock in a great match that completely blew me away with its quality given that Brock had not yet had the opportunity to show that he could perform at such a level

6) Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar in a Hell in a Cell Match at No Mercy – Much like the aforementioned Y2J-HHH match, this bout between Lesnar and Taker is one of the more underrated Cell matches. Lesnar showed his ability to step outside the standard wrestling match and have a great match with different kinds of opponents in different environments

7) Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero in a No Disqualification Match from Smackdown (Mid-Card Match of the Year) – The great thing about SD in 2002 was that the guys that did not necessarily get the time to shine on PPV got the chance in TV matches. Edge and Eddie had performed in two PPV mid-card bouts and shown flashes of potential, but tore the house down on an October SD episode

8) Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle from Unforgiven – If you are a fan of a rapid fire, non-stop action with a ton of high spots then this is the match for you. We’d seen these two have lengthier battles, but this one clocking in at just under 14-minutes was a thing of pure beauty

9) Edge vs. Kurt Angle in a Hair vs. Hair Match from Judgment Day – The arrival of Edge into the upper echelon of in-ring performers in 2002 was a surprise in my eyes, but the kind that made me a fan of his for years to come. It was this match that made me proclaim to a friend that Edge was my “favorite of the next generation”

10) Kurt Angle vs. The Rock vs. Undertaker at Vengeance – Featuring a flurry of finishing moves and high spots, this match kept you guessing who would pull off the win, even if conventional wisdom suggested The Rock since Lesnar was the #1 contender awaiting the winner at Summerslam

Cruiserweight Match of the Year: Jamie Noble vs. Billy Kidman at Survivor Series – Not many cruiserweight matches were given a ton of time on PPV, but they were always booked properly with the performers going all out

Intercontinental Title Match of the Year: Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam in a Ladder Match on Monday Night Raw – In a year where there were not many options to choose from, this re-match from Backlash featuring a battle of frog splashes was the top one of the lot


Top 10 Wrestlers

1) Kurt Angle – He had a year in 2002 that would rival the top years that any top performer has ever had in the history of wrestling. This was the year he hit his stride and changed gear from very good to the best

2) Triple H – He was not as consistent as Angle, but he had a lot of top tier matches and was involved in some of the bigger angles of the year. Considering he was coming off his first quad tear, it was all the more impressive

3) Edge – He had a breakout year in terms of consistent in-ring performance, as he excelled in his PPV opportunities and tore down the house in several instances on both PPV and television

4) Chris Benoit – He was only around for half of the year, but it was as if the time off for neck surgery only made him a better overall performer, as he showed little ring rust and had a stellar second half of the year

5) The Rock – While only being around for a matter of a few months, the Great One delivered a lot of memorable matches against Jericho, Hogan, Angle, Taker, and Lesnar. That’s a standout year, no matter how short

6) Chris Jericho – Y2J had a year of ups and downs, starting with his ill-fated first main-event push that found him with a lot of poor storylines to work with, but he still managed an impressive year with several excellent matches

7) Eddie Guerrero – His mid-card status kept him from reaching the Benoit-level for returning superstars, but he did more than enough as part of the Smackdown Six on a weekly basis to elevate himself into the top ten

8) Brock Lesnar – In a year when he debuted, won the King of the Ring, beat the Rock for the Undisputed title in a classic match, and proceeded to have a memorable series of matches with Undertaker, Lesnar found his place amongst the elite

9) Rey Mysterio – Despite only being involved in matches from late July onward, Mysterio’s performances were so good that their quality trumped a lot of the longer tenured performers. The SD 6 are well represented amongst the top 10

10) Hulk Hogan – The nostalgic feeling that Hogan provided for a little over half of the year was partly responsible for my return to mega wrestling fandom; credit must be given where credit is due and tribute must be paid.


Top Pay Per Views

1) Summerslam – It is one of the greatest PPV events in the history of wrestling featuring classic matches in HBK vs. HHH and Rock vs. Brock and an unprecedented supporting match cast of mid-card gems like Angle vs. Mysterio, RVD vs. Benoit, and Guerrero vs. Edge. T’was the rare card where everything came together on the same night with even the matches that should not have been good exceeding expectations to add to a special evening of wrestling.

2) No Mercy – The often forgotten October event had a healthy competition for match of the night with Kane and Triple H giving us the goods for the World title, only to be outclassed by four of the SD six in the tag team championship match that made shortlists for 2002 MOTY. Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match for the WWE title nearly matched the tag championship bout. All in all, an event that puts most of its October brethren to shame

3) Wrestlemania X-8 – A lone standout match in Rock vs. Hogan in their all-time classic encounter was surrounded by several high quality matches. Ric Flair vs. Taker surprised many, while HHH vs. Y2J disappointed many, but there was enough depth in the secondary matches (RVD-Regal, Kane-Angle, Christian-DDP) to make this an event worth of the Mania name and leave you with enough lasting memories that sneak this onto many an underrated Mania list.

4) Royal Rumble – One of the most star studded Rumbles of the era headlined a very solid event that also included an excellent Undisputed Championship match between The Rock and Chris Jericho. The Rumble had several memorable moments and, if you were a fan of the Monday Night Wars, there were plenty of familiar faces to get you feeling reflective. A solid match in the mid-card between Edge and William Regal added to the overall presentation.

5) Survivor Series – The last of the big four rounds it out, but not without stiff competition from several events (Judgment Day, Unforgiven, and King of the Ring). In the end, it came down to the novelty of the Elimination Chamber and two very good tag team matches to push the November classic over the edge. A long forgotten Cruiserweight title match between Billy Kidman and Jamie Noble is worth a watch, as well

Top 3 Rookies

1) Brock Lesnar – The mega push for the Next Big Thing made him a no brainer for top rookie, but his quick learning curve and strong performances during that big push saw him earn the top spot

2) Rey Mysterio – While not a rookie in the traditional sense, he was a rookie in the WWE and did a marvelous job showing a new audience the amazing things that he was capable of

3) Jamie Noble – Back then, the cruiserweight division mattered and it was defended in credible matches on PPV. Noble was an entertaining, albeit goofy character, but he shined bright amongst a weak crop of newcomers