10 Fascinating WWE King Of The Ring 2002 Facts
4. Edge Was Supposed To Lose In The Finals To Lesnar
The original plans for the 2002 King of the Ring were to take a page out of the previous year's book, and have the reigning King lose in the final round. That would be Edge, who functionally dethroned Kurt Angle in 2001. Edge was to have passed down the royal lineage in defeat to "The Next Big Thing."
Plans changed in late-May 2002, when Edge was sidelined with a torn labrum in his shoulder. Edge apparently sustained the injury during a frenetic steel cage match with Angle on SmackDown, and thus had to be written out of immediate plans. He instead forfeited a qualifying match to Jericho, who promptly attacked him during his public bow-out.
Notably, Edge was back in action the day after the pay-per-view, defeating Lance Storm in a brief house show match, meaning he was only out of action for about four weeks.