7 Ups And 8 Downs From WWE King Of The Ring 2002
13. Up - Rob Van Dam Vs. Chris Jericho Delivers As Expected
Not much to say other than that this match rules. And why wouldn’t it? It’s RVD vs. Y2J.
Obviously, there’s a great mixture of athletic high spots and technical wrestling, but what strikes me as... frankly bizarre compared to the current WWE product is the way the audience interacts with the match. RVD is over as a babyface, and Jericho is over as a heel, and the audience displays that by cheering and chanting for RVD, while booing Jericho and chanting “Jericho sucks.” Moreover, they don’t bog the match down in tired “this is awesome” or “fight forever chants.” They just root for the good guy to beat the bad guy. By jove! What a concept!
Overall, this was a really hot opener between two major stars. What could possibly bring the crowd down? I suppose a lumbering big man match...