10 Fascinating WWE King Of The Ring 2002 Facts
The runt of the Big Five litter goes out with Lesnar winning, but a whimper otherwise.
The freshest piece of business going in WWE by the summer of 2002 was young Brock Lesnar, a 6'3", 295 pound overabundance of angry muscles that ravenously ripped through the lower half of the roster. Lesnar turned heads, functioning highly as a hybrid of Bill Goldberg and Ivan Drago. His presence on the main WWE roster was necessary, as things were getting tedious otherwise.
The Rock belonged to Tinseltown. Steve Austin was dealing with ugly personal drama. Triple H and The Undertaker had worn out their welcome in the main event scene. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and the nWo could tap into nostalgic feels (especially Hogan), but at their age offered little steak to match the sizzle. Gifted stars like Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Edge, and others had the potential to be top guys, but still lived a notch below the cluttered main event.
Lesnar was an attempt at new blood, a new face among the pungent, stale crowd. The 2002 King of the Ring was the last of its kind on pay-per-view, cutting the Big Five down to the Big Four that had existed up until ten years prior. Aside from putting Lesnar over strong, the 2002 version is not a show worth remembering.
Here are ten facts about the 2002 King of the Ring you may not have known.
10. Lesnar Was Supposed To Face Austin In A Qualifier
Stone Cold had grown intensely dissatisfied with his role in WWE by 2002, feeling he was being fed heaping spoonfuls of nothing but lousy creative. By all accounts, the generally-stubborn and insistent Austin had grown to be almost impossible to work with, due to his tendency to stand up for his personal brand. He hated being wasted in inferior stories.
Austin was set to take part in a qualifying match for the King of the Ring tournament with Lesnar that would've seen evil boss Ric Flair book new Austin enemy Eddie Guerrero as a guest referee. Guerrero would've screwed Austin over, allowing Lesnar to win.
A hesitant Austin apprehensively agreed to the plan, but then booked a flight home early on that Monday, walking out on WWE for the second time in less than three months. Austin later said that it was short-sighted to waste the match with Lesnar, which had marquee ambitions, on free TV like that.