What if... Kane had won the 2001 Royal Rumble?

[The Assassin]

I thought it might make for an interesting discussion to hear other people's thoughts on this idea -

What if Kane had eliminated Austin and won the 2001 Royal Rumble match?

or... in other words... How would you have booked a big Kane push in early 2001?

Now don't get me wrong, Austin's win took him to an AMAZING match with The Rock at Wrestlemania X-7, but this topic is NOT about "replacing" or making comparisons to the Rock/Austin confrontation. It's about what COULD have happened, in an alternate universe, if WWF had given Kane a big push in 2001, starting with the Royal Rumble win.




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MY THOUGHTS...

Personally, I was 14 at the time of the PPV, and was a big fan of current wrestling then. WWF was at the height of it's popularity obviously, and like many other fans I was absolutely HYPED watching the Rumble live. It's still, in my opinion, one of the best wrestling PPVs ever made.

I was also a huge Kane fan. I thought his performance in the Rumble was outstanding, and I was on the edge of my seat hoping he would win. Obviously he didn't though, and was eliminated by Steve Austin who got the win. I can remember feeling hugely disappointed. I did like Austin, but the way I saw it, Austin had already won the Rumble twice before, and had 4 world title runs too.

I thought (and still do) that the Kane character had some good momentum at the time, and I think a big push would have really worked. I'd have booked Kane to eliminate Austin and win the Rumble. With Kane going on to a world match at WrestleMania, winning that, and have a good-length title-run, as the "unstoppable" monster type character, as you'd expect.

I'm not sure who I'd have chosen as his Wrestlemania opponent though. Obviously the whole Invasion angle would have kindof interfered with my angle too, but WWF scriptwriters/bookers wouldn't have known that was coming at the time anyway, so I'm not gonna worry about fitting my ideas around real happenings in what, as I said, is an alternate universe.

So yeh... I know my ideas are a bit sketchy. But I was always more of a WCW guy than a WWF guy anyway, so I don't feel confident going into much more detail with my ideas. But I'm more interested in hearing everyone else's thoughts anyway

[Deleted]

your gonna need Kane fans for this man.

I have never seen Kane as anything except a Main Event level jobber.....he lost every big feud he was in up to this point.good monster but I never seen him as being remotely capable of being the guy.

[cordless2016]

At the time I thought Kane had a ton of potential, but considering how popular Austin and Rock were, everybody knew that that was the true main event, and anything else would have been a letdown. Now had the Invasion angle never happened, I would have given Kane a huge push after his IC title win over HHH. I would have given him a long run w/ the IC title for about 5-6 months as an unstopable monster, and then would have had him win the 2002 Rumble and win the WWF title at WM18 against HHH in a rematch from earlier.

[nibs92]

had the rumble led up to any other ppv main event it may have worked but i just think Kane headlining WM just wouldn't work.

a way round it could have been this:

at no way out Kane's WM spot is on the line against Austin. Austin wins by DQ as Kane destroys him and won't let up, thus leading to the finish.

they book Kane as the unstoppable monster, possibly in tandem with the undertaker, throughout the summer.

whilst the whole WWF is on alert for the big red monster, WCW invades causing total chaos in the WWF.

WCW gathers momentum and is winning the war against the WWF.

Kane then turns face and leads the WWF to ultimate victory against the invaders.

a bit of a long shot and i don't think Kane would have been the man to do it. however may have worked in an alternative universe.

[DTP.]

Would have ruined the WrestleMania X-Seven main event.

[Deleted]

I can see your point assassin but the triple threat hardcore match at wrestlemania was awesome and considering the popularity of stone cold and the rock at the time it was probably the best thing for the writers to do tbh.

[tnafan17: The Total Package]

I can see where your coming from, but I don't think him winning the Rumble would have done much for the company. Austin & Rock were to hot of a commodity and they were putting bottoms in seats.

[jasonphoenix1]

If Kane was not in it Drew Carey would have won.

[Bozwell634™]

I think it would have been good too see and when i think back at that time he ad so much momentum as a real MONSTER!

Now dont get me wrong the match Kane was in at X-7 was really good and I enjoyed and with Austin winning it see up his match with The Rock nicely as well, along with their match at WrestleMania 19, but it would have been something different and if you think it I wonder if that happens how it would changed Kanes career and perhaps the WWE at the moment?

[The Assassin]

i think most of you guys are totally missing my point. i said very clearly the discussion isn't supposed to be about replacing the austin/rock match or making comparisons to that... it's more like in an alternate universe. so we can explore kane ideas stemming from a royal rumble '01 win as well as having the austin/rock confrontation.

[Adam]

Aug 25, 2011 22:04:51 GMT -5 jasonphoenix1 said:

If Kane was not in it Drew Carey would have won.

Not gonna lie, that made me LOL.

[Deleted]

2001 is my favorite Royal Rumble of all time.

Kane should have won.

[vivalaraza1331]

Strictly in an "alternate reality":

-Kane wins the Royal Rumble match

-Two weeks later, on Raw, Kane is found laid out in the backstage area. His mask is ripped off but he is lying face-down and appears to have suffered some sort of serious injury. The angle allows him to leave television until after Wrestlemania X-7.

-The previously-booked Stone Cold-Triple H match at No Way Out would now not only be a 3 Stages of Hell match but would also include the winner receiving a WWE Championship match.

-Austin wins, challenges The Rock at the big event. Everything from then until the first post-Mania Raw remains the same.

-One week after the Austin-Helmsley alliance is revealed on Raw, Kane returns and rescues the Hardys and Lita from the beatdown at the hands of Austin and Helmsley. Playing into the established desperation Austin felt to win the WWE Championship, Kane reveals that it was Austin who attacked him and put him on the shelf, ruining any chance he had of going to Wrestlemania and becoming WWE Champion. From there, you can basically run the Brothers of Destruction vs. HHH/Austin storyline, just with a different--and in my opinion, better--backstory. Only in the scenario, Kane challenges Austin while Trips and Undertaker continue their Wrestlemania X7 story.