2001 in professional wrestling

List of years in professional wrestling

2001 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

Calendar of notable live events

January

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
NJPW Wrestling World 2001 January 4 Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan 52,000
FMW New Year Generation 2001: Day 1 January 7 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
ECW Guilty as Charged (2001) January 7 Hammerstein Ballroom New York, New York 2,500
WCW Sin January 14 Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana 6,617[1]
FMW New Year Generation 2001: Day 6 January 16 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WWF Royal Rumble (2001) January 21 New Orleans Arena New Orleans, Louisiana 17,137
AJPW
NJPW
Giant Baba Memorial Spectacular January 28 Tokyo Egg Dome Tokyo, Japan 30,000

February

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
FMW New Year Generation 2001: Day 6 February 6 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WCW SuperBrawl Revenge February 18 Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, Tennessee 4,395[2]
WWF No Way Out (2001) February 25 Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada 15,223

March

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
FMW Winning Road 2001: Tag 2 March 5 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
FMW Winning Road 2001: Tag 7 March 13 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WCW Greed March 18 Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida 5,030[3]
AAA Rey de Reyes (2001) March 30 Convention Center Ciudad Madero, Mexico N/A
CMLL Juicio Final (2001) March 30 Arena México Mexico City, Mexico 16,670

April

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
FMW Fighting Creation 2001: Tag 2 April 1 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WWF WrestleMania X-Seven April 1 Reliant Astrodome Houston, Texas 67,925
CMLL 45. Aniversario de Arena México April 13 Arena México Mexico City, Mexico
FMW Fighting Creation 2001: Tag 3 April 15 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WWF Backlash (2001) April 29 Allstate Arena Rosemont, Illinois 15,592

May

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
NJPW Wrestling Dontaku (2001) May 5 Fukuoka Dome Fukuoka, Japan 55,000
FMW FMW 12th Anniversary Show May 5 Kawasaki Stadium Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan 10,500
WWF Insurrextion (2001) May 5 Earls Court Exhibition Centre London, England 15,794
FMW Neo 2001: Day 1 May 11 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WWF Judgment Day (2001) May 20 ARCO Arena Sacramento, California 13,623
AAA Triplemanía IX May 26 Plaza de Toros Mexico City, Mexico 10,000

June

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
FMW King of Fight 2001: Day 1 June 8 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WWF King of the Ring (2001) June 24 Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey 17,777

July

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
FMW King of Fight II 2001: Day 9 July 20 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WWF Invasion July 22 Gund Arena Cleveland, Ohio 17,964
FMW Rolling Thunder Riverside Death Match Series In Edogawa Kyotei July 24 River Boat Race Field Tokyo, Japan N/A

August

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
FMW Super Dynamism 2001: Day 4 August 3 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
N/A Fourth Annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show August 9 Oak Hills High School Cincinnati, Ohio N/A
NJPW G1 Climax August 4-12 N/A Tokyo N/A
N/A Terry Gordy Memorial Show August 11 Boutwell Auditorium Birmingham, Alabama N/A
FMW Super Dynamism 2001: Day 6 August 11 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WWF SummerSlam (2001) August 19 Compaq Center at San Jose San Jose, California 15,293

September

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
WWC WWC 28th Aniversario September 8 Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium Bayamón, Puerto Rico N/A
FMW Super Dynamism 2001: Day 14 September 9 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
AAA Verano de Escándalo (2001) September 16 El Toreo Naucalpan, Mexico 18,000
WWF Unforgiven (2001) September 23 Mellon Arena Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 13,855
CMLL CMLL 68th Anniversary Show September 28 Arena México Mexico City, Mexico N/A

October

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
FMW Power Splash 2001: Day 4 October 9 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WWF No Mercy (2001) October 21 Savvis Center St. Louis, Missouri 15,647
FMW Power Splash 2001: Day 13 October 22 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WWA The Inception October 26 Sydney Superdome Sydney, Australia 8,500

November

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
FMW Iizuka Car Race Special I November 3 N/A Fukuoka, Japan N/A
WWF Rebellion (2001) November 3 Manchester Arena Manchester, England 15,612[4]
FMW Iizuka Car Race Special II November 4 N/A Fukuoka, Japan N/A
FMW Scramble Survivor 2001: Day 1 November 5 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WWF Survivor Series (2001) November 18 Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina 10,142
AAA Guerra de Titanes (2001) November 23 Plaza de Toros Mexico City, Mexico 15,000
FMW Scramble Survivor 2001: Day 1 November 23 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
World Xtreme Wrestling Yokozuna Memorial Show November 29 WXW Arena Allentown, Pennsylvania N/A

December

Promotion(s) Event Date Venue Location Attendance
FMW FMW PPV December 9 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
WWF Vengeance (2001) December 9 San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, California 11,800
CMLL Sin Piedad (2001) December 14 Arena México Mexico City, Mexico 10,900
FMW Year End Sensation 2001 December 21 Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A

Accomplishments and tournaments

AAA

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Rey de Reyes La Parka, Jr. March 30

WCW

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship Tournament Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo March 18

WWF

Accomplishment Winner Date won Notes
Royal Rumble Stone Cold Steve Austin January 21
King of the Ring Edge June 24
Undisputed WWF Championship Tournament Chris Jericho December 9

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Category Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year Stone Cold Steve Austin
PWI Tag Team of the Year The Dudley Boyz
(Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
PWI Match of the Year The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge and Christian (WrestleMania X-Seven)
PWI Feud of the Year Shane McMahon vs. Vince McMahon
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year Rob Van Dam
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year Stone Cold Steve Austin
PWI Comeback of the Year Rob Van Dam
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year Edge
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year Kurt Angle
PWI Rookie of the Year Randy Orton
PWI Woman of the Year Lita
PWI Editor's Award Johnny Valentine

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame

Inductee
Black Shadow
Diablo Velasco
Lizmark
Bull Nakano
El Satánico

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

Category Winner
Wrestler of the Year Keiji Mutoh
Most Outstanding Kurt Angle
Tag Team of the Year Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Most Improved Keiji Mutoh
Best on Interviews Stone Cold Steve Austin

Title changes

ECW

ECW World Heavyweight Championship
Incoming champion – Steve Corino
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
January 7 The Sandman Guilty as Charged This was a Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Canes match also involving Justin Credible.
January 7 Rhino
April 11 Deactivated ECW closed on April 4, 2001, and World Wrestling Entertainment purchased its assets in 2003.
Incoming champion – Rhino
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
April 11 Deactivated N/A
Incoming champions – Danny Doring and Roadkill
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
April 11 Deactivated N/A

NJPW

Incoming champion – Vacant
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
January 4 Kensuke Sasaki Wrestling World 2001
March 17 Scott Norton N/A
April 9 Kazuyuki Fujita Strong Style 2001
Incoming champions – Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima)
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
September 23 Osamu Nishimura and Tatsumi Fujinami G1 World 2001
October 28 BATT
(Keiji Mutoh and Taiyo Kea)
Survival 2001: Fighting Destination in Fukuoka
Incoming champion – Minoru Tanaka
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
July 20 Masayuki Naruse Dome Quake
October 29 Kendo Kashin Indicate of Next
Incoming champions – Koji Kanemoto and Minoru Tanaka
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
March 6 El Samurai and Jushin Thunder Liger Hyper Battle 2001
July 20 Gedo and Jado Dome Quake

WCW

Incoming champion – Scott Steiner
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
March 26 Booker T Nitro This was the final episode of Nitro as WCW was purchased by the WWF on March 23, 2001. The title was then defended on WWF programming where it was referred to as the WCW Championship.
July 24 Kurt Angle SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on July 26.
July 30 Booker T Raw Is War
August 19 The Rock SummerSlam
October 21 Chris Jericho No Mercy
November 5 The Rock Raw The title was referred to as the World Championship on November 19, 2001 after the demise of The Alliance.
December 9 Chris Jericho Vengeance After defeating The Rock for the World Championship, Chris Jericho defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin to unify the World Championship with the WWF Championship. The World Championship was retired and the WWF Championship became the Undisputed WWF Championship.
Unified
Incoming champion – Chavo Guerrero, Jr.
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
March 18 Shane Helms Greed
July 3 Billy Kidman SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on July 5.
July 30 X-Pac Raw Is War
October 9 Billy Kidman SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on October 11.
October 22 Tajiri Raw The title became the WWF Cruiserweight Championship when the WWF defeated The Alliance at Survivor Series on November 18 and replaced the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.
Title was renamed WWF Cruiserweight Championship on November 18 and replaced the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.
Incoming champion – General Rection
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
January 14 Shane Douglas Sin
February 5 Rick Steiner Nitro
March 18 Booker T Greed
July 24 Kanyon SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on July 26.
September 10 Tajiri Raw is War
September 23 Rhyno Unforgiven
October 22 Kurt Angle Raw
November 12 Edge Raw
November 18 Retired Survivor Series
Incoming champion – Terry Funk
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
January 14 Meng Sin This was a triple threat hardcore match also involving Crowbar
January 21 Deactivated N/A Meng left WCW for WWF a week after winning the title to compete as Haku in the 2001 Royal Rumble and the title was abandoned
Incoming champions – N/A
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
March 18 Kid Romeo and Elix Skipper Greed Defeated the Filthy Animals in a tournament final to become the inaugural champions
March 26 The Filthy Animals
(Billy Kidman and Rey Misterio, Jr.)
Monday Nitro: Night of Champions
March 26 Abandoned N/A The World Wrestling Federation purchased WCW and the Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship was abandoned.
Incoming champions – The Insiders (Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash)
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
January 14 The Natural Born Thrillers
(Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire)
Sin Titles renamed to WCW Tag Team Championship
August 7 The Brothers of Destruction
(Kane and The Undertaker)
SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on August 9.
September 25 Booker T and Test SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on September 27.
October 8 The Hardy Boyz
(Matt and Jeff Hardy)
Raw
October 23 The Dudley Boyz
(Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on October 25.
November 18 Unified Survivor Series

WWF

Incoming champion – Kurt Angle
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
February 25 The Rock No Way Out After the WWF purchased World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in March 2001, the WCW Championship became a second concurrently active world championship in the WWF.
April 1 Stone Cold Steve Austin WrestleMania X-Seven This was a no disqualification match.

WWE recognizes Austin's reign as lasting 176 days.

September 23 Kurt Angle Unforgiven
October 8 Stone Cold Steve Austin Raw
December 9 Chris Jericho Vengeance Earlier the same night, Jericho defeated (WCW) World Champion The Rock for that title. By defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship, Jericho unified both titles as the Undisputed WWF Championship.
Title was renamed Undisputed WWF Championship on December 9
Incoming champion – Chris Benoit
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
January 21 Chris Jericho Royal Rumble This was a ladder match
April 3 Triple H SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on April 5.
April 10 Jeff Hardy SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on April 12.
April 16 Triple H Raw Is War
May 20 Kane Judgment Day This was a Chain match
June 26 Albert SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on June 28.
July 23 Lance Storm Raw Is War
August 19 Edge SummerSlam
September 23 Christian Unforgiven
October 21 Edge No Mercy
November 5 Test Raw
November 18 Edge Survivor Series
Incoming champion – Dean Malenko
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
March 13 Crash Holly Sunday Night Heat Aired on tape delay on March 18.
April 29 Jerry Lynn Sunday Night Heat
June 5 Jeff Hardy SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on June 7.
June 25 X-Pac Raw Is War
August 6 Tajiri Raw Is War
August 19 X-Pac SummerSlam
November 18 Retired N/A
Incoming champion – Ivory
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
April 1 Chyna WrestleMania X-Seven
November 1 Vacant N/A
November 18 Trish Stratus Survivor Series This was a six pack challenge for the vacant title also involving Ivory (Alliance), Jazz (Alliance), Jacqueline (WWF), Lita (WWF) and Mighty Molly (Alliance).
Incoming champion – William Regal
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
January 22 Test Raw Is War
April 1 Eddie Guerrero WrestleMania X-Seven
April 24 Matt Hardy SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on April 26.
August 27 The Hurricane Raw Is War
October 22 Bradshaw Raw
October 30 Christian SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on November 1.
Incoming champions – Edge and Christian
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
January 21 The Dudley Boyz
(Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
Royal Rumble
March 5 The Hardy Boyz
(Matt and Jeff Hardy)
Raw Is War
March 19 Edge and Christian Raw Is War
March 19 The Dudley Boyz
(Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
Raw Is War
April 1 Edge and Christian WrestleMania X-Seven This was a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match also involving The Hardy Boyz
April 17 The Brothers of Destruction
(Kane and The Undertaker)
SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on April 19.
April 29 The Two-Man Power Trip
(Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H)
Backlash
May 21 Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho Raw Is War
June 19 The Dudley Boyz
(Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on June 21.
July 9 The Acolytes Protection Agency
(Bradshaw and Faarooq)
Raw Is War
August 7 Diamond Dallas Page and Kanyon SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on August 9.
August 19 The Brothers of Destruction
(Kane and The Undertaker)
SummerSlam
September 17 The Dudley Boyz
(Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
Raw Is War
October 22 Chris Jericho and The Rock Raw
October 30 Booker T and Test SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on November 1.
November 12 The Hardy Boyz
(Matt and Jeff Hardy)
Raw
November 18 The Dudley Boyz
(Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)
Survivor Series
Incoming champion – Raven
Date Winner Event/Show Note(s)
January 22 Al Snow Raw Is War
January 22 Raven Raw Is War
February 3 K-Kwik House show
February 3 Crash Holly House show
February 3 Raven House show
February 4 K-Kwik House show
February 4 Crash Holly House show
February 4 Raven House show
February 6 Hardcore Holly SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on February 8.
February 6 Raven SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on February 8.
February 10 Hardcore Holly House show
February 10 Raven House show
February 11 Hardcore Holly House show
February 11 Al Snow House show
February 11 Raven House show
February 17 Steve Blackman House show
February 17 Raven House show
February 18 Steve Blackman House show
February 18 Raven House show
February 25 Billy Gunn No Way Out Pinned Raven during a title defense against The Big Show
February 25 Raven No Way Out
February 25 Big Show No Way Out
March 19 Raven Raw Is War
April 1 Kane WrestleMania X-Seven This was a Triple Threat Hardcore match also involving The Big Show
April 17 Rhyno SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on April 19.
May 21 Big Show Raw Is War
May 28 Chris Jericho Raw Is War
May 28 Rhyno Raw Is War
June 12 Test SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on June 14.
June 25 Rhyno Raw Is War
June 25 Mike Awesome Raw Is War
July 10 Jeff Hardy SmackDown! Aired on tape delay on July 12.
July 22 Rob Van Dam Invasion
August 13 Jeff Hardy Raw Is War Pinned Rob Van Dam during a title defense against Kurt Angle
August 19 Rob Van Dam SummerSlam
September 10 Kurt Angle Raw Is War
September 10 Rob Van Dam Raw Is War
December 9 The Undertaker Vengeance

Debuts

  • Uncertain debut date

Retirements

Deaths

See also

References

  1. "WCW Sin Results". TWNPNews. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
  2. "WCW SuperBrawl". Archived from the original on 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
  3. "Greed". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  4. "Historical Cards: Rebellion (November 3, 2001. Manchester, England)". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 156. 2007 Edition.
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