Backlash 2001

Backlash 2001 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) promotion, which took place on April 29, 2001 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. It was presented by Castrol GTX, and was the third event under the Backlash chronology. Seven professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card.
The main event was a Tag Team match for the WWF Championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship, and the WWF Tag Team Championship between The Two Man Power Trip (Steve Austin and Triple H) and The Brothers of Destruction (Kane and The Undertaker), in which the person to get the fall would win the Tag Team Championship as well as the championship of the wrestler who was pinned. The Two Man Power Trip won the encounter to win the Tag Team Championship, for Austin to retain the WWF Championship, and for Triple H to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Featured matches on the undercard included a Last Man Standing match between Shane McMahon and The Big Show, which McMahon won, and an Ultimate Submission match featuring Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle, which Benoit won.
==Background==
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, Stone Cold Steve Austin took on The Rock for the WWF Championship in a face vs. face match. During the match, Vince McMahon interfered, which eventually led to Austin attacking The Rock with a steel chair to win the WWF Championship and in the process aligning himself with his long-time enemy. The next night on Raw Is War, there would be a rematch between the Rock and Stone Cold, this time in a Steel Cage match. Triple H would get involved in the picture when he demanded to know why Vince aligned himself with Austin, claiming that he took out Austin (referring to his previous feud with Austin that had ended only a month prior) for him. Vince arrogantly replied with "Austin was a winner at WrestleMania... you weren't," which led Triple H to leave the arena in frustration.Later that night, during the Austin-Rock match, Triple H entered the cage with his sledgehammer with the crowd believing that he would help The Rock. This was not the case, however; Triple H, along with Austin, attacked The Rock. he two, who did not christen themselves under any name, were called "The McMahon Alliance" for a brief time before being officially known 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 after Jim Ross told Austin his opinion of his alliance with Triple H and Vince McMahon. Later that night, Triple H defeated Chris Jericho to win the Intercontinental Championship. (During this time Triple H actually won the Intercontinental Championship twice; a week after defeating Jericho he was defeated by Jeff Hardy for the belt, but Triple H quickly regained the title on the following Raw. While holding both major singles titles, The Two-Man Power Trip (which Triple H and Austin had become known as) began feuding with the reigning tag team champions, the Brothers of Destruction. It was then decided the two teams would face off in a tag-team match "with all the titles on the line".
==Results==
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*WWE Heat match: Jerry Lynn defeated Crash Holly to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (3:37)
*WWE Heat match: Lita defeated Molly Holly (2:40)
*X-Factor (X-Pac, Justin Credible and Albert) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray, D-Von and Spike) (7:59)
*Rhyno defeated Raven to retain the WWF Hardcore Championship (8:10)
*William Regal defeated Chris Jericho in a Duchess of Queensbury Rules match (12:11)
*Chris Benoit defeated Kurt Angle in an Ultimate Submission match (31:31)
*Shane McMahon defeated The Big Show in a Last Man Standing match (11:53)
*Matt Hardy defeated Christian and Eddie Guerrero in a Triple threat match to retain the WWF European Championship (6:52)
*The Two Man Power Trip (WWF Champion Steve Austin and WWF Intercontinental Champion Triple H) defeated The Undertaker and Kane to win the WWF Tag Team Championship (27:11)
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Jim Ross
*Paul Heyman
*Carlos Cabrera
*Hugo Savinovich
;Interviewers
*Lilian Garcia
*Michael Cole
*Kevin Kelly	
;Ring announcer
*Howard Finkel
;Referees
*Teddy Long
*Chad Patton
*Tim White
*Mike Chioda
*Jack Doan
*Jimmy Korderas
*Earl Hebner
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*Backlash
==DVD release==
* Backlash 2001 on DVD
==External links==
* Backlash 2001 Official Website
* Backlash 2001 at CAGEMATCH.net
* on WWE Network
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:Backlash
Category:2001 pay-per-view events
Category:Events with Last Man Standing matches
Category:Events with Submission matches