by Rick Scaia
OnlineOnslaught.com

I had no idea what it would take to live up to that promise when I wrote it 12 months ago...  from a global perspective, 2001 was a year that shook our long-held sense of safety to the core, with terrorist attacks and anthrax outbreaks.  From a wrestling perspective, 2001 was a year in which three national companies were reduced to one, and in which ratings and attendance declined significantly.

Hell, from a personal perspective, 2001 was a year in which I had to quit suckling at SportsLine's teat and go out on my own to continue doing a website!

But through it all, here I am at my new home, with a fresh Year in Review titled "2001: A Wrestling Odyssey."  Just like I promised.  Even though I'm not getting paid to do it, like I would have if WrestleLine was still in business.

No, I'm not bitter...

And anyway, that's not the focus of this document.  We're here to review pro wrestling's last 12 months.  Not the last 12 months of the people who inexplicably got paid to write about wrestling.

And in talking about pro wrestling in 2001, there's only really one story that bears mentioning:  the World Wrestling Federation, after 2 years as the reigning #1 promotion in the US, became the ONLY national wrestling promotion.  Extreme Championship Wrestling went bankrupt after running a single pay-per-view in 2001.  And World Championship Wrestling?  It was purchased by the WWF in perhaps the most decisive of all possible finishes to the Monday Night Wrestling War.

But what did the WWF win by dominating the domestic wrestling scene?  It many ways, all they got was a stranglehold on a declining industry.  Wrestling's popularity peaked in 1998 and 1999, and was still enjoying fringe mainstream status in 2000.  But in 2001, wrestling was primarily a niche product, with a core of loyal fans keeping wrestling as one of cable TV's most popular phenomenon's, but without the massive cross-over appeal that once made wrestling t-shirts a common sight in every day life.

Where RAW and Nitro once combined for Monday night ratings over 10.0, 2001 saw RAW running unopposed and struggling to maintain a 4.0 rating.  The WWF may control 100% of the wrestling audience now, but that 100% is only about half of what the total audience size for the industry was 3 years ago.

Luckily, that stagnation is not really as apparent on the creative side of things as on the business side.  Though 2001 will also go down as the year that the WWF fumbled the entire WCW Invasion concept, the on-air product remains largely enjoyable.  The WWF also remained committed to presenting some of the best, most exciting athletes in the business, ensuring quality in-ring action at almost all times.

We'll get to the month-by-month analysis of how the WWF gained a wrestling monopoly in 2001, and the effect it had on the industry as a whole soon enough.  But first, it's the OO Year in Review tradition...

By way of setting the table for the rest of the YiR, we pause here to run down exactly where the business started on January 1, 2001, as well as where it ended on December 31, 2001.  It's worked well in the past, so we'll use it again as a way of getting you ready for the more detailed review that follows.

Here goes...

WWF Title
January 1 Titleholder:  Kurt Angle
December 31 Titleholder:  Chris Jericho (since 12/9)
Title Changes in 2001:  5 (among 4 different men)
Average Title Reign:  73 days
Notes:  Steve Austin dominated this title in 2001, holding it twice for a total of 243 days; Chris Jericho unified this title with the WCW/World Title on 12/9 to create the "Undisputed WWF Title"

WWF InterContinental Title
January 1 Titleholder:  Chris Benoit
December 31 Titleholder:  Edge (since 11/18)
Title Changes in 2001:  12 (among 9 different men)
Average Title Reign:  30 days
Notes:  Chris Jericho and Edge were the longest reigning IC Champs in 2001; Jericho had a single 72-day reign in the first part of the year, while Edge had three late-year reigns totaling 87 days; Kane (37 days) and Triple H (34 days) were the only other men to hold the title longer than a month

WWF Tag Team Titles
January 1 Titleholder:  Edge/Christian
December 31 Titleholder:  Dudley Boyz (since 11/18)
Title Changes in 2001:  17 (among 11 different teams)
Average Title Reign:  21 days
Notes:  The Dudley Boyz won the WWF tag titles a remarkable FIVE TIMES in 2001 alone; they were also the only team to hold the title for longer than 30 days at a stretch (they did this three seperate times, en route to holding the titles for 132 days in 2001)

WWF European Title
January 1 Titleholder:  William Regal
December 31 Titleholder:  Christian (since 10/30)
Title Changes in 2001:  6 (among 6 different men)
Average Title Reign:  61 days
Notes:  Matt Hardy's mid-year 122-day reign was the year's longest; this was the only actively-defended WWF Title to have no repeat champs in 2001

WWF Hardcore Title
January 1 Titleholder:  Raven
December 31 Titleholder:  Undertaker (since 12/9)
Title Changes in 2001:  39 (estimated; among 16 different men)
Average Title Reign:  9 days
Notes:  Raven won the Hardcore Title 10 times in 2001, assisted by the 24/7 rules; the title also changed hands more than one time in a single night 10 times in 2001 (including 4 times on 2/25 alone); title may have been deactivated

WWF Light Heavyweight Title
January 1 Titleholder:  Dean Malenko
December 31 Titleholder:  X-Pac (since 8/19)
Title Changes in 2001:  6 (among 5 different men)
Average Title Reign:  61 days
Notes:  X-Pac has held this title since August, but has since missed substantial time due to injury; his 133-day reign is still considered "active" for our purposes and was the year's longest in this division 

WWF Women's Title
January 1 Titleholder:  Ivory
December 31 Titleholder:  Trish Stratus (since 11/18)
Title Changes in 2001:  N/A
Average Title Reign:  N/A
Notes:  This title was inactive from the time of reigning champ Chyna's departure from the WWF in June until November, making it difficult to generate meaningful stats for this division; that means "VACANT" is probably the longest title reign for 2001, at about 120 days, with Ivory's year-starting 92-day reign getting honorable mention

WCW Title
January 1 Titleholder:  Scott Steiner
December 31 Titleholder:  Chris Jericho
Title Changes in 2001:  7 (among 4 different men)
Average Title Reign:  52 days
Notes:  With 2 reigns totally 169 days, Booker T dominated this division in 2001; however, his first, four-month reign was largely comprised of WCW's hiatus, so Scott Steiner's year-opening 119-day reign (when the title was being actively defended) is DEFINITELY worthy of note; Chris Jericho unified this title with the WWF Title to create the "Undisputed World Title" on 12/9

WCW United States Title
January 1 Titleholder:  General Rection
December 31 Titleholder:  N/A, Decommissioned 11/18
Title Changes in 2001:  8 (among 8 different men)
Average Title Reign:  40 days
Notes:  Booker T held this title for 131 days, but much of that was WCW hiatus; Rick Steiner and Chris Kanyon each had 45 day reigns while the title was being actively defended that are worthy of note; Edge was the last US Champ, and incorporated the title into the WWF IC belt on 11/18

WCW Tag Team Titles
January 1 Titleholder:  Kevin Nash and Dallas Page
December 31 Titleholder:  N/A, Decommissioned 11/18
Title Changes in 2001:  5 (among 5 different teams)
Average Title Reign:  64 days
Notes:  Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire enjoyed a year's-best 209-day reign, of which about 100 days was spent as part of WCW's hiatus; no other team came even close to holding the title for 90 days while it was being competitively defended, however; the Dudley Boyz were the last WCW Tag Champs, and incorporated the titles into the WWF Tag Titles on 11/18

WCW Hardcore Title
January 1 Titleholder:  Terry Funk
December 31 Titleholder:  N/A, Decommissioned 2/1
Title Changes in 2001:  1
Average Title Reign:  about 15 days
Notes:  Meng won this title on 1/15, and then defected to the WWF within a week; the title was dropped from WCW's storylines about two weeks later

WCW Cruiserweight Title
January 1 Titleholder:  Chavo Guerrero Jr.
December 31 Titleholder:  Tajiri (since 10/22)
Title Changes in 2001:  5 (among 4 different men)
Average Title Reign:  73 days
Notes:  Shane Helms held this title for about 99 days (with his title win coming immediately before WCW's hiatus and his title loss coming on WCW's second day back presenting competitive matches); of those who defended the title actively, Chavo Guerrero's year-opening 77-day reign and Tajiri's year-closing reign of 69-days are worthy of note;  Tajiri still defends this title to the present day, and it is apparently now the WWF Cruiserweight Title

WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Title
January 1 Titleholder:  None
December 31 Titleholder:  N/A
Title Changes in 2001:  2 (among two teams)
Average Title Reign:  N/A
Notes:  This title was only in existence for one week before WCW's hiatus and was not brought back when the company returned in July; Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo won a tourney final on 3/18, and dropped the title one week later to Rey Misterio and Billy Kidman

ECW Title
January 1 Titleholder:  Steve Corino
December 31 Titleholder:  N/A
Title Changes in 2001:  2
Average Title Reign:   N/A
Notes:  Rhino was the last ECW Champ, winning the title from the Sandman at ECW's January PPV; because of ECW's slow demise, it is impossible to generate other meaningful stats for this title

ECW TV Title
January 1 Titleholder:  Rhino
December 31 Titleholder:  N/A
Title Changes in 2001:  0
Average Title Reign:  N/A
Notes:  Rhino unified this title -- which he had held since 9/1/2000 -- with the ECW Title at the company's January PPV, before eventually debuting as "Rhyno" in the WWF;  because of ECW's slow demise, it is impossible to generate other meaningful statistics for this title

ECW Tag Team Titles
January 1 Titleholder:  Danny Doring/Roadkill
December 31 Titleholder:  N/A
Title Changes in 2001:  0
Average Title Reign:  N/A
Notes:  Doring and Roadkill were the last ECW Tag Champs, holding them since 12/3/2000; because of ECW's slow demise, it is impossible to generate other meaningful statistics for this title

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