Judgment Day 2001 Judgment Day 2001 was a professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) . It was the third such annual event and took place on May 20 , 2001 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento , California . Seven professional wrestling matches were featured on the event ' s card . The main event was Steve Austin defending the WWF Championship against The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred match . Austin won the match , and as a result , he retained his championship . Two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard . In a Chain match , challenger Kane defeated defending WWF Intercontinental Champion Triple H to win the title . The other featured bout was a Two out of three falls match , which saw Kurt Angle defeat Chris Benoit , two falls to one , to recapture his Olympic gold medal . The event grossed over $ 670 , 000 in ticket sales from an attendance of 13 , 623 — higher than the previous year ' s event . The 2001 event received a lower buyrate than that of the previous year ' s amount , however , as it received less than 300 , 000 pay - per - view buys . Background . The event featured seven professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by the WWF ' s creative writers . Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or fan - favorite gimmick as they followed a series of events which generally built tension , leading to a wrestling match . The name of a wrestler ' s character was not always the person ' s birth name , as wrestlers often use a Stage name to portray their character . The main event at Judgment Day featured a No Holds Barred match , a match with no disqualifications nor countouts , in which Steve Austin defended the WWF Championship against The Undertaker . The buildup to the match began on the April 30 edition of " Raw " , Austin retained the WWF Championship against Undertaker , though by disqualification after executing a low blow on Undertaker , thus resulting in the decision . In the following weeks , Undertaker attacked Austin , and at one point taking his vest and the WWF Championship . Around that tie , Undertaker , received a ( kayfabe ) phone call stating that his wife had been involved in a ( kayfabe ) car accident . The Undertaker found out that everything was okay and there had not been a car accident . The Undertaker then began to hunt down whoever made the phone call . On the May 17 edition of " SmackDown ! " , during Undertaker ' s match with Triple H , WWF Champion , Steve Austin appeared on the screen and admitted that he had made the phone call . Another main event at Judgment Day featured a Chain match , in which Triple H defended the WWF Intercontinental Championship against Kane . The buildup to the match started after WrestleMania X - Seven on the April 5 edition of " SmackDown ! " , when Triple H won the Intercontinental title by defeating Chris Jericho after WWF Commissioner William Regal interfered . Two weeks later on " SmackDown ! " , Triple H and Steve Austin interfered in Kane ' s WWF Hardcore Championship defense against Rhyno by injuring his left arm ( Kayfabe ) with multiple steel chair shots , enabling Rhyno to win the title . At Backlash , WWF Champion Steve Austin and I . C . Champion Triple H defeated The Undertaker and Kane to win the WWF Tag Team Championship in a tag team match , in which Austin ' s WWF title and Triple H ' s Intercontinental title was also on the line . Their victory was due to interference from both Stephanie McMahon - Helmsley and her father Vince McMahon , enabling Triple H to nail Kane in his injured elbow and in the head with the sledgehammer for the victory . The following night on " Raw " , Kane was scheduled to challenge Steve Austin for the WWF Championship but got attacked backstage by Austin & Triple H before the match started . Therefore , The Undertaker replaced Kane in the title match and defeated Austin by disqualification , but not the title . Afterwords , Kane came down to save Taker from the beatdown but ended up being put out of action for two weeks after Austin and Triple H targeted his left arm . On the May 14 edition of " Raw " , Triple H announced a chain match for the Intercontinental title pitting himself and Kane at Judgment Day .