7 Ups And 8 Downs From WWE King Of The Ring 2002

Since the main event itself is a complete dose of nothing, WWE decide to inject 30 cc of The Rock, and it proves to be mostly successful. Rock is easily the most over person on the roster at this point, and he brings some desperately-needed life to an otherwise dead match. He chases Heyman off commentary, gets shots in on Undertaker and Triple H, and just generally keeps people interested in what’s going on.

After Undertaker retains his title, Rock attacks him, with Triple H getting involved as well. All three men hit their finishers on each other, and you’d think this will lead to a triple threat at Vengeance, right? Well, we’ll see (spoiler: it doesn’t).

And that’s King of the Ring 2002. While obviously a fairly underwhelming show, it’s not particularly awful. RVD vs. Jericho is a great opener, Brock vs. Test is way better than it sounds, and Flair vs. Guerrero is as good as one could reasonably expect for Flair’s age. Combine that with Rock’s contributions, and you have a watchable show. However, it’s clear at this point in the company’s history that they desperately need the new stars to take the mantle and make the product dynamic, because guys like Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, and Triple H on their own are not gonna cut it.

Will they find their way? Find out next month as we look at the ups and downs from Vengeance 2002.