10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2001 Facts
Austin's return from spinal surgery leads to a gutsy Royal Rumble victory.
What's the greatest run of three consecutive WWE pay-per-views ever? For my money, nothing can top the trilogy that began the year 2001. The triumvirate of the Royal Rumble, No Way Out, and WrestleMania X-Seven are all A-plus shows, each with matches that either are five star-caliber, or at least border on perfection. No WWE trio before or since can sniff that group of events.
The 2001 Royal Rumble could arguably be the greatest Rumble in event history, matched up with real heavyweights like the 1992, 2000, and 2005 editions. Yet for one reason or another, the 2001 Rumble is sometimes lost to history, perhaps because there was an event two months later that dwarfed it and every other WWE pay-per-view before or since. It's tough to bask in light beneath the looming X-Seven shadow.
Shame, because you won't find many shows that boast three good-to-great men's championship bouts (particularly the ladder match) and an excellent Royal Rumble match, all in one night.
Stone Cold Steve Austin's thrilling victory also set an exciting path for WrestleMania, as the Attitude Era's cornerstone would be trying to regain the WWE Championship that he hadn't held since SummerSlam 1999. Somebody cue up Limp Bizkit's "My Way".
Here are ten facts about the 2001 Royal Rumble you may not have known.
10. It Was WWE's First PPV In New Orleans
Coming up in 2018, WWE brings WrestleMania back to "The Big Easy", four years after WrestleMania XXX was cause of major economic windfall for the region. New Orleans city officials asked WWE to return, wanting them to be a part of the city's 300th birthday celebration, and WWE was more than happy to oblige the invitation.
WrestleMania 34 will be the sixth WWE pay-per-view in New Orleans, coming 17 years after the 2001 Royal Rumble (held in the New Orleans Arena) was the first. Given what a cultural and social hub NOLA is, it's interesting that WWE had never held a pay-per-view there in their first 15 years of running such events.
Also interesting to note that both WCW and ECW beat WWE to running pay-per-views in the city. WCW's 1993 Halloween Havoc and ECW's 1998 November to Remember both emanated from the Lakefront Arena at the University of New Orleans.