The 2001 Backlash was the third Backlash

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

(PPV) event produced by the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...

(WWF, now WWE). It took place on April 29, 2001, at the

Allstate Arena Allstate Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Rosemont, Illinois, United States. It is located near the intersection of Mannheim Road and Interstate 90, adjacent to the city limits of Chicago and O'Hare International Airport. The facility opened ...

in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

suburb of

Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,202. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before that. Whi ...

and was

presented In medicine, a presentation is the appearance in a patient of illness or disease—or signs or symptoms Signs and symptoms are the observed or detectable signs, and experienced symptoms of an disease, illness, injury, or condition. A sign for ...

Castrol GTX Castrol is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The name ''Castrol'' was originally just the brand name for com ...

. Seven professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WrestleMania X-Seven. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was a "winner take all"

tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

in which the WWF Champion

Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...

teamed with his Power Trip ally, Intercontinental Champion

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...

, to take on the WWF Tag Team Champions, The Brothers of Destruction (

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majorit ...

and Kane). The stipulations were that if Austin and Triple H won, they would become the new tag team champions. If Undertaker and Kane won, the WWF and Intercontinental Championships would be awarded to them based on who scored the winning fall. The Power Trip won the match after Triple H hit Kane with a sledgehammer, thus gaining the tag team championship and retaining their own titles. Featured matches on the undercard included a Last Man Standing match between

Shane McMahon Shane Brandon McMahon (; born January 15, 1970) is an American businessman and professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he was a wrestler, producer and minority owner. He is the founder and executive chairman of Ide ...

and The Big Show, which McMahon won, and an Ultimate Submission match featuring

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling ...

and

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former collegiate wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Total Nonstop Actio ...

, which Benoit won.

Production

Background

Backlash is a

(PPV) event that was established by the

(WWF, now WWE) in 1999. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WWF's flagship event,

WrestleMania WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event held annually between mid-March and mid-April by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Since premiering in 1985, 37 editions followed, ...

. The 2001 event was the third event in the Backlash chronology. It was scheduled to take place on April 29, 2001, at the

in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

suburb of

. The 2001 event featured the backlash from WrestleMania X-Seven.

Storylines

The event featured seven professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of events which built tension, culminating in a wrestling match or series of matches. At WrestleMania X-Seven,

fought The Rock for the

WWF Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDow ...

. During the match,

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the ...

interfered, which eventually led to Austin attacking The Rock with a steel chair to win the WWF Championship and in the process align himself with his long-time enemy. The next night on ''Raw is War'', a rematch between the pair took place in a

steel cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

interfered in the match, attacking The Rock and partnering up with Austin and McMahon. Briefly known as The McMahon Alliance, the pair began being referred to as "The Two Man Power Trip" (or " The Power Trip" for short). On the episode of ''SmackDown!'' following WrestleMania, Austin assaulted his long-time friend

Jim Ross James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator, analyst, and senior advisor. Ross is best known for a long and distinguished career a ...

after Ross criticized his alliance with Triple H and McMahon. Triple H then defeated

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jeri ...

to win the Intercontinental Championship for a third time in the main event, bringing both of the major singles titles in the company to the new alliance. Shortly after this happened, The Brothers of Destruction ( Kane and

) began feuding with Austin and Triple H (in between, Triple H traded the Intercontinental Championship back and forth with

Jeff Hardy Jeffrey Nero Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and musician. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Hardy is widely considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time and is regard ...

for a brief period). A match between the two teams was signed for Backlash. Undertaker and Kane were not simply satisfied with that, and they demanded and were given a title shot at the reigning WWF Tag Team Champions, Edge and Christian, on the April 19, 2001 edition of ''SmackDown!''. The brothers won the match, but were attacked by the Power Trip afterwards. On the next ''Raw is War'', McMahon told Austin and Triple H that the match at Backlash, which was now to be contested for the Tag Team Championship, had an additional stipulation added to it. At the time, he and his wife Linda were going through (kayfabe) problems in their marriage and Linda, who McMahon had demanded a divorce from in December 2000, was seeking a divorce that he refused to give her. Since Linda was still the (on-screen) CEO of the company, this gave her power to veto her husband's decisions and force compromises. McMahon told the Power Trip that Linda had forced him to include one other caveat in the match. Austin and Triple H would indeed get their championship opportunity at Backlash, but in order to do so they would be required to place their singles titles at stake as well. The winning team would receive control of all three championships. If Austin and Triple H were to win, they would become Tag Team Champions in addition to their status as the WWF and Intercontinental Champions. If Undertaker and Kane were to win, they would receive both singles titles. Whoever scored the fall would receive the title of the wrestler they defeated, with the other receiving the other title; this meant if Austin took the fall, he would lose his WWF Championship to whoever pinned him or made him submit and Triple H would have to forfeit his Intercontinental Championship to whoever did not score the victory for the Brothers of Destruction.

Event

Before the event began, a dark match took place on

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

in which Crash Holly defended the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship against Jerry Lynn. Lynn pinned Holly with a Roll Up whilst holding Holly's tights to win the title. In another dark match,

Lita Lita or LITA may refer to: People * Lita (given name) * Lita (wrestler) (born 1975), American professional wrestler * Adriana Lita, Materials scientist *Leroy Lita (born 1984), Congo football player * Selina Jahan Lita, Bangladesh Awami League pol ...

faced Molly Holly. Lita performed a Litasault on Molly to win the match.

Preliminary matches

The event opened with

X-Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

( X-Pac, Justin Credible and Albert) facing The Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley and Spike Dudley). X-Pac and Credible performed a double Superkick on Bubba to win the match. Next,

Rhyno Terrance Guido Gerin (born October 7, 1975) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Rhyno or Rhino. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where he is one-half of the Impact World Tag Team Champions in his seco ...

defended the WWF Hardcore Championship against

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned ...

in a Hardcore match. Rhyno performed a Gore on Raven to retain the title. After that, WWF commissioner

William Regal Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is known for his over 20 years spent in WWE, as both a performer and an on-screen authority, and for his t ...

faced

in a Duchess of Queensbury Rules match. Jericho attempted a Lionsault on Regal but the Duchess announced the first round had expired, allowing Regal to pin Jericho with a roll up for a near-fall. Jericho forced Regal to submit to the Walls of Jericho but the Duchess announced submissions did not count. Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho on the Duchess, allowing Regal to hit Jericho with a steel chair to win the match. In the fourth match,

faced

in a 30-minute Ultimate Submission match, a variation of an Iron Man match. Angle forced Benoit to submit to a Leglock to make the score 1–0. Benoit forced Angle to submit to a Cross Armbreaker to make the score 1–1. Angle forced Benoit to submit to the Ankle lock to make the score 2–1. Angle forced Benoit to submit to the Crippler Crossface to make the score 3–1. Benoit forced Angle to submit to a Single Leg Boston Crab with his knee on Angle's neck to make the score 3–2. Benoit forced Angle to submit to the Ankle Lock to make the score 3–3. The time limit expired, leading to the referee continuing the match in overtime. Benoit forced Angle to submit to the Crippler Crossface to win the match 4–3. Next,

faced

Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as an in-ring performer, and as a commentator for its web television show, '' AEW Dark: Elevation,'' under ...

in a Last Man Standing match.

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

interfered, performing a Big Boot on Big Show. Shane climbed the stage structure, allowing Test to attack Big Show in the staging area. Shane performed a Leap of Faith off the Titantron onto Big Show, who was lay in the staging area. Test used a Camera to help Shane stand but Big Show could not stand by a ten count, meaning Shane won the match. After that, Matt Hardy defended the WWF European Championship against

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

and

Eddie Guerrero Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was an American professional wrestler. He was a prominent member of the Guerrero wrestling family, being the son of first-generation wrestler Gory Guerrero. Eddie Guerrero is ...

. Edge interfered, performing a Spear on Hardy.

interfered, attacking Edge. Christian performed an Unprettier on Guerrero but Jeff broke up the pin with a Swanton Bomb. Hardy performed a Twist of Fate on Christian to retain the title.

Main event

In the main event, The Two-Man Power Trip (

and

) faced The Brothers of Destruction ( Kane and

) in a

Tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

for The Brothers of Destruction's WWF Tag Team Championship, Triple H's WWF Intercontinental Championship and Austin's

. Triple H performed a Pedigree on Kane and Austin pinned Kane but Undertaker broke up the pinfall. Kane performed an Enziguiri on Austin, causing Austin to collide with the referee. Undertaker performed a Last Ride on Triple H but the referee did not see the tag, voiding the pinfall.

Stephanie McMahon Stephanie McMahon Levesque (born Stephanie Marie McMahon; ; September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is the current chairwoman and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the world's largest prof ...

interfered, leading to Kane performing a Big Boot on McMahon.

interfered, handing Triple H his sledgehammer. Triple H hit Kane with the sledgehammer to win the match, retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship and Austin's WWF Championship and win the WWF Tag Team Championship.

Aftermath

The feud between The Two Man Power Trip and The Brothers of Destruction continued. The next night on ''Raw is War'', Austin and Triple H broke Kane's arm in storyline. It was then announced Kane would face Triple H in a Chain match for the Intercontinental Championship and Undertaker would face Austin for the WWF Championship at

Judgment Day The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

. At Judgment Day, Austin accidentally hit Triple H with a steel chair during his chain match with Kane, causing Triple H to lose his Intercontinental Championship. Triple H did not return the favor, however; instead, he helped Austin retain his title against the Undertaker. The next night on ''Raw'', the Two-Man Power Trip faced

and

with the tag title on the line. In this match, Triple H suffered a legitimate and career-threatening injury when he misstepped, causing him to suffer a tear in his left

quadriceps The quadriceps femoris muscle (, also called the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads) is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the sole extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large ...

. Despite his inability to place any weight on his leg, Triple H was able to complete the match. Near the end of the match, Jericho tried to pin Austin, but Triple H got in the ring and tried to hit Jericho with the sledgehammer. Jericho avoided the blow and the sledgehammer instead hit Austin, a situation Jericho and Benoit took advantage of to win the match and the titles. The 2001 Backlash would be the final Backlash event to occur before the introduction of the

brand extension Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use th ...

the following year in March, where the promotion split its roster between the Raw and SmackDown! brands where the wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. The 2002 event in turn featured wrestlers from both brands.

Results

References

External links

Official websiteWWE.com
{{WWEPPV, Backlash 2000s in Chicago 2001 in Illinois

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

Professional wrestling in the Chicago metropolitan area Events in Rosemont, Illinois 2001 WWF pay-per-view events April 2001 events in the United States