Review for WWE Tagged Classics: Survivor Series 2001 and Vengeance 2001

These two PPVs signalled the end of the infamous Invasion angle. Now, I could go on again about how bad this angle was, but I won't. Because it finally hit me: Face facts it doesn't matter what they did, we would always be disappointed with this angle. Even if we did have Goldberg, the nWo, Sting, it wouldn't have mattered because no one cared about WCW, that is why no one was watching. In these last two PPVs WWE actually presented something worth watching and even if I didn't like the previous few PPVs, I have to say I did enjoy watching these.

Survivor Series 2001

European Championship Match
Christian vs. Al Snow

Typical mid-card match, nothing to shout about, but certainly not a bad match at all.

William Regal vs. Tajiri
This match was actually pretty good. Again, it's not exactly the best match ever, but it's certainly not a waste of time.

Intercontinental Championship and US Championship Unification Match
Edge vs. Test
Another great match. Has to be said, even if the Invasion sucked to high heaven, they at least still knew how to book a good mid-card. Watching Edge now shows just how far he has come over the years and why he is in the position he is now.

Steel Cage WWE/WCW Tag Team Championship Unification Match
Dudley Boyz vs. Hardy Boyz
How hot is Stacy? I mean seriously even if this wasn't a great match... and it is... I would happily sit through it for Stacy's distraction techniques. This was a great match. Not one of the best by either team, but certainly a great match. This is how you unify the tag belts.

22-Man Immunity Battle Royal
A typical battle royal, a bit too short for my liking, but a nice fix for those Rumble fans like myself.

Six-Pack Challenge for vacant WWE Women's Championship
Trish Stratus is in this match. That's all you need to know.

Winner-Take-All Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match
Shane McMahon, Booker T, Rob Van Damn, Kurt Angle and Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Big Show, Chris Jericho, The Rock, Kane and The Undertaker
I love Survivor Series matches and this is actually a pretty good one. Sure, I could whinge about how badly this is booked with only two actual WCW/ECW wrestlers on the other team, but I won't. The fact is, in the ring we have some of the best talent WWE (as a whole) had at the time and this was pretty good showcase of this talent.

The extras are a very bizarre, but fine, a showcase on Edge and a perfect recap of what happened on Raw the next night including William Regal's infamous induction into the Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club and the debut of Ric Flair. This is something that I feel all WWE PPVs should do, to show the aftermath of the results.

Vengeance 2001

Scotty 2 Hotty & Albert vs. Test & Christian
Good match.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Edge vs. William Regal
Great match. Regal is such a good classic heel and Edge is able to hold his own against Regal's mat wrestling which is perfect to watch.

Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy
I remember this had a pretty good build to it and it was even better than the 2008-2009 version. Funny, how in 2001, Matt was still considered the one who would breakout as a champion. Great match. Plus Lita in a referee outfit is pretty hot... so much so that even JR comments on it.

World Tag Team Championship Match
Dudley Boyz vs. Big Show and Kane
Again, worth watching for Stacy alone (The sight of Big Show spanking Stacy is just... wow!) This was actually a pretty good match and the team of Kane and Undertaker looks just unstoppable, but the Dudleys were able to show just why they are considered one of the best tag teams ever and with this performance, it's hard to argue.

Hardcore Championship Match
Rob Van Dam vs. The Undertaker
Someone got a haircut! Taker looks a little odd with a crew-cut, but he was such a great heel. Rob Van Dam is probably one of the few non-WWE guys who actually had success during this time and the reason is that he is simply the best that there is at what he does. This could have been just a squash, but it turned into a pretty good old-skool hardcore match with an amazing ending.

Women's Championship Match
Trish Stratus vs. Jacqueline
I forgot just how good Trish was. She wasn't just a gorgeous Diva, but was pretty damn good in the ring too.

WWE Championship Match
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle
World Heavyweight Championship Match
The Rock vs. Chris Jericho
Winner of each Championship Match in a first-ever Undisputed WWE Championship Match
For those who haven't seen it, I won't spoil who win the first two matches, but really pair up the above four men in any combination and it will always be an amazing match. These three matches were a perfect ending to the PPV, though I always wish it had a better ending.

WWE Tagged Classics Survivor Series and Vengeance 2001 is not a bad set of PPVs, in fact, compared to the previous four or five PPVs these were wonderful. It contained a number of great matches, true it's not all great, but then you could say that about anything these days.