WWE Royal Rumble 2002

There is a moment, just minutes into the opening encounter of the 2002 Royal Rumble pay-per-view that sums this whole event up pretty well. The bout features Tazz and Spike Dudley against The Dudley Boyz for the WWE Tag Team Titles, and with the contest barely started and with The Dudleys already firmly in control, the crowd break into a hearty chorus of “we want tables”. Disregarding the fact that the Dudley Boyz were the heels and that the tag team titles were on the line in a match that had barely began, the fans were calling for them to fast-forward, past their pursuit of the belts and in contradiction to their disposition as heels, to using their most over spot. Like a rock band, past their best, and being heckled to play the hits of yesteryear rather than the material they’re attempting to promote from their most recent release, in this moment it was clear that The Dudley Boyz were no longer relevant beyond the nostalgia of their biggest hit. The feeling of staleness wasn’t helped by the concept behind the opener which would see Bubba Ray and D-Von on the opposite side of the ring to their kayfabe brother Spike, and Tazz; a combination of rivals which had been seen before in ECW, and even in this different setting, still felt like a rehash. The lack of fresh ideas and the sense that those involved were trying to recapture former glories is the abiding theme of this show.

WWE Survivor Series 2004

WWE Survivor Series 2004 took place at a time when the promotion were in the middle of transitioning from the botched push of Randy Orton (which had led to his World Title win in the main event of Summer Slam that year) and the hugely successful push of fellow Evolution member Batista (who would go on to win the World Title from Triple H in the main event of Wrestlemania 21). Going into the show, Randy Orton was positioned as the main babyface in the company, in position as the team captain of the good guys in the main event opposing ‘The Game’ as team captain on the heel side of the aisle. Unfortunately, due to a combination of Orton not really being ready for the babyface top spot- and the manner in which, having won the title (to become the youngest World Champion in WWE history), Orton was unceremoniously defeated by Triple H at Unforgiven just a month later to lose the belt- he didn’t live up to this billing and Survivor Series drew just 325,000 buys on pay-per-view (though a number that would have been considered a success more recently, was at the time the lowest number the show had done in 7 years). The number was put down to Orton and following this show, the spotlight would really begin to shine on WWE’s next project-  Batista.