The first half of 2001

**Mr. Nerfect** · 01-19-2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeritron

I thought that summer would have been a good time for a Kane title run, since he was over as fuck. It was clear that they were looking to hold off on Jericho for a while, rightfully so. HHH and Benoit were hurt, and instead of rushing into the Invasion they should have built it slower and waited until they had it ironed out.

A Stone Cold/Kane fued would have been over as hell, and would have been a good oppurtunity to make Kane a champion for longer than 24 hours.

I'm a Kane mark, so that should say something, but while I'm not sure about the ring quality of a Stone Cold/Kane feud in 2001, he 2001 Royal Rumble would have set up for it perfectly. Kane had a hell of a performance in that match (actually what got me hooked on wrestling), and Austin just comes in at the end and uses a steel chair to get rid of him. That could have been used as fodder.

While 2001 was in so many ways an awesome year, there are a few things I think they could have done better. While many liked the Two Man Power Trip, I think things were pretty perfectly set-up so that Triple H could turn face (like originally teased) to do battle with Austin. Especially considering Triple H went over Austin in 3 Stages of Hell at No Way Out.

I guess that was the direction they were thinking about heading after Austin & Hunter lost the World Tag Team Championship to Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho, but injuries obviously got in the way of that. It's just that a lot of fans were turned away after Austin turned heel, and instead of creating a new top babyface to challenge Austin in The Rock's absence, they decided to have the remaining two of the "top three" act as heels.

Another of the WWE's bigger mistakes in 2001, in my opinion, was turning Booker T & Shane McMahon heel just for the sake of making the WCW guys all "evil." When Booker first jumped the barricade and put Austin through an announce table, the fans went NUTS. With The Rock out making a movie, Booker T would have been another great candidate to step-up and challenge Austin. A heel Austin vs. face Booker feud, pitting the WWE Champion against the WCW Champion could have been huge for the WWE. Instead they turned Booker into a clown and a Rock "wannabe."