10 Fascinating WWE King Of The Ring 2001 Facts
WCW invades, Edge reigns, and Shane struggles to remain among the living.
WWE was experiencing the early fall-out of manmade war come June 2001, offering visual nibbles of their repurposed WCW roster. Lance Storm, Hugh Morrus, Stacy Keibler, and Diamond Dallas Page had all made their presence felt on WWE programming in the preceding weeks, with mixed results. Like, DDP's stalking The Undertaker's wife Sara when people were quite aware that he was married at the time to Playboy vixen Kimberly Page. Who thought up that angle?
The invasion spilled over into the 2001 King of the Ring, with Undertaker confronting DDP (by "confronting", I mean "beating him at his leisure for roughly 48 straight minutes"), as well as the arrival of WCW Champion Booker T. As far as the real story of the event went, WCW took a back seat (as did Edge winning the actual tournament) to the predicament of one Shane McMahon.
The common memory of 2001's King of the Ring is the sight of Shane O'Mac being repeatedly thrown into glass partitions that sometimes refused to break, resulting in cringeworthy thwacking sounds, and the spilling of fourth-generation millionaire blood. His street fight with Kurt Angle was the centerpiece of a memorable evening, one that demonstrated an expanse of potential that would be hardly taken advantage of.
Here are ten facts about the 2001 King of the Ring you may not have known.
10. It's The Only King Of The Ring With No Involvement From Jerry Lawler
A King of the Ring without the resident King. Lawler had taken a physical role at the first five pay-per-views sharing his royal moniker, wrestling at the 1994-96 events, and insinuating himself at both the 1993 and 1998 cards. At the 1999, 2000, and 2002 shows, Lawler sat on his familiar WWE perch as the color commentator for all of the festivities.
In February 2001, Lawler disappeared from WWE telecasts, quitting the company in protest of the firing of then-wife Stacy "The Kat" Carter. Paul Heyman (fresh off the sinking of his ECW promotion) replaced Lawler on primary broadcasts, including Raw and pay-per-views, until Lawler mended fences with WWE. "The King" returned after Survivor Series that year, and has remained with WWE since, albeit in a diminished role today.