{"id":150189,"date":"2026-01-08T13:13:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T18:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=150189"},"modified":"2026-01-08T13:49:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T18:49:59","slug":"royal-rumble-2001-final-four-wrestlemania-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/08\/royal-rumble-2001-final-four-wrestlemania-17\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE 2001 Royal Rumble Final Four and What Each Man Did at WrestleMania 17"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>WWE Royal Rumble 2001 arrived at one of the hottest times in WWE history. The company, then known as the World Wrestling Federation, was coming off one of its greatest years in the 2000s. A few months later, WrestleMania 17 (famously branded as <em>WrestleMania X-Seven<\/em>) was arguably the greatest Mania of all time. This Royal Rumble edition played a big part in making that year&#8217;s Showcase of the Immortals as epic as it was.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"mWUxkNaHy3\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/06\/royal-rumble-1992-final-four-wrestlemania\/\" target=\"_self\">The 1992 Royal Rumble Final Four And What Each Man Did At WrestleMania 8<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The 1992 Royal Rumble Final Four And What Each Man Did At WrestleMania 8&#8221; &#8212; Last Word on Pro Wrestling\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/06\/royal-rumble-1992-final-four-wrestlemania\/embed\/#?secret=nJLRJ58cxz#?secret=mWUxkNaHy3\" data-secret=\"mWUxkNaHy3\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Usually, the closing moments of the Royal Rumble Match tell us who will be the major stars heading into that year&#8217;s WrestleMania. More often than not, the final four competitors left standing in the Rumble are some of the company&#8217;s biggest stars&#8230; but there have been some exceptions, including in 2001! Without any further ado, the following names were the final four stars left in the 2001 Royal Rumble Match, and here&#8217;s what they did at &#8216;Mania 17.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Billy Gunn<\/h2>\n<table class=\"rumble-stats\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Number Of Eliminations<\/th>\n<td>0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Wrestlers Eliminated<\/th>\n<td>None<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Time In The Match<\/th>\n<td>7:22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Eliminated By<\/th>\n<td>Stone Cold Steve Austin<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Billy Gunn serves as an exception to the rule. Having entered the 2001 Royal Rumble Match at number 28, Billy benefited from his late arrival and made it to the final four alongside bigger singles stars. The multiple-time tag team champion played a minor role in the Rumble, making no eliminations and getting thrown out after only seven minutes of in-ring action.<\/p>\n<h3>What did Billy Gunn do at WrestleMania 17?<\/h3>\n<p>He didn&#8217;t have a match on the show.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>The Rock<\/h2>\n<h3>Rock didn&#8217;t win the Royal Rumble, but he still main-evented WrestleMania X-Seven<\/h3>\n<table class=\"rumble-stats\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Number Of Eliminations<\/th>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Wrestlers Eliminated<\/th>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>The Godfather<\/li>\n<li>Big Show<\/li>\n<li>Rikishi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Time In The Match<\/th>\n<td>38:42<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Eliminated By<\/th>\n<td>Kane<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The Rock finally established himself as the WWF&#8217;s top babyface during Steve Austin&#8217;s absence in 2000. The Great One was coming off a fantastic year, having won the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smarkdownsblog.com\/wwf-royal-rumble-2000-every-match-ranked-from-worst-to-best\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2000 Royal Rumble<\/a>, the WWF Championship twice, and competed in some of his best matches against the likes of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/14\/triple-h-defends-controversial-finish-to-john-cenas-wwe-retirement-match\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Triple H<\/a>, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, and others. The latter won the title from Rock in October 2000 at WWE No Mercy, thanks to a distraction from Rikishi, which led to a rivalry between them in the fall.<\/p>\n<p>After beating Rikishi at Survivor Series and competing in the iconic <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/26\/wwe-attitude-era-all-december-ppv-main-events-ranked\/5\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Six-Man Hell in a Cell Match at Armageddon 2000<\/a>, The Rock walked into the 2001 Royal Rumble Match as one of the favorites. Rock entered the bout at number 13, but that didn&#8217;t stop him from almost lasting until the end &#8211; he was in the ring for nearly 39 minutes. The Rock eliminated three wrestlers during his time in the Rumble before getting thrown out by Kane.<\/p>\n<h3>What did The Rock do at WrestleMania 17?<\/h3>\n<p>The Rock main-evented <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwe.com\/shows\/wrestlemania\/17\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>WrestleMania X-Seven<\/em><\/a>, defending the WWF Championship against Steve Austin. Despite coming up short in the Rumble, Rock got a WWF Title shot at No Way Out after winning a Fatal 4-Way Match on the January 29 episode of Raw Is War. The Rock defeated Kurt Angle to regain the title and would end up headlining WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Kane<\/h2>\n<h3>Kane&#8217;s performance at the Royal Rumble 2001 was legendary<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kane eliminates a record 11 entrants in the Royal Rumble\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SOJj2glimVo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<table class=\"rumble-stats\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Number Of Eliminations<\/th>\n<td>11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Wrestlers Eliminated<\/th>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Grandmaster Sexay<\/li>\n<li>Steve Blackman<\/li>\n<li>Al Snow<\/li>\n<li>Raven<\/li>\n<li>Perry Saturn<\/li>\n<li>The Honky Tonk Man<\/li>\n<li>Tazz<\/li>\n<li>Crash Holly<\/li>\n<li>Albert<\/li>\n<li>Scotty 2 Hotty<\/li>\n<li>The Rock<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Time In The Match<\/th>\n<td>53:46<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Eliminated By<\/th>\n<td>Stone Cold Steve Austin<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Kane hadn&#8217;t been involved in the world title picture for some time heading into the 2001 Royal Rumble, not even being among the <em>five<\/em> WWF Title challengers at Armageddon 2000. Despite not being expected to win, Kane had a legendary showing in the Rumble, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/08\/5-greatest-wwe-superstars-to-never-win-the-mens-royal-rumble\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">eliminating a record-setting 11 competitors<\/a> after entering the bout at number 6.<\/p>\n<p>Just when it looked like the Royal Rumble would come down to The Rock and Stone Cold, the Big Red Machine had other plans. He shockingly eliminated The Rock (in what was Kane&#8217;s 11th and final elimination in the match) and lasted until the very end with Austin. Although Kane didn&#8217;t get his hand raised in the end, this is easily one of the greatest moments of Kane&#8217;s entire WWE career, if not <em>the<\/em> greatest.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"uWPCcbqbbS\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/06\/the-5-best-wwe-royal-rumble-runner-ups-ranked\/\" target=\"_self\">The 5 Best WWE Royal Rumble Runner-Ups, Ranked<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The 5 Best WWE Royal Rumble Runner-Ups, Ranked&#8221; &#8212; Last Word on Pro Wrestling\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/06\/the-5-best-wwe-royal-rumble-runner-ups-ranked\/embed\/#?secret=PJlaH3n2jp#?secret=uWPCcbqbbS\" data-secret=\"uWPCcbqbbS\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>What did Kane do at WrestleMania 17?<\/h3>\n<p>Kane won the Hardcore Championship in a wild three-way hardcore match against Raven and Big Show.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_150299\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-150299\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-150299\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/RR_01212001_0004.jpg\" alt=\"Despite not being expected to win, Kane had a legendary showing in the Rumble, eliminating a record-setting 11 competitors after entering the bout at number 6.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/RR_01212001_0004.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/RR_01212001_0004-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/RR_01212001_0004-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/RR_01212001_0004-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-150299\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Stone Cold Steve Austin<\/h2>\n<h3>It was Stone Cold&#8217;s third Royal Rumble match victory<\/h3>\n<table class=\"rumble-stats\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Number Of Eliminations<\/th>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Wrestlers Eliminated<\/th>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Haku<\/li>\n<li>Billy Gunn<\/li>\n<li>Kane<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Time In The Match<\/th>\n<td>9:38<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Eliminated By<\/th>\n<td>N\/A (Winner)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Kane might&#8217;ve stolen the show at Royal Rumble 2001, but he wasn&#8217;t the only one who made history that night. Stone Cold Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble Match for the third time in his career, becoming the first (and, as of this writing, still the only) person to do it. Just a few months after returning from a neck injury, Steve Austin was determined to capture the World Wrestling Federation Championship for the first time since the summer of 1999.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Kane or The Rock, Austin benefited from the luck of the draw, entering the Royal Rumble at number 27. The Texas Rattlesnake was in the match for less than ten minutes and only made three eliminations (including Kane in the end) to win the 2001 Royal Rumble Match. With his victory, Steve Austin firmly reestablished himself at the center of the WWF&#8217;s main event picture on the road to WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<h3>What did Stone Cold Steve Austin do at WrestleMania 17?<\/h3>\n<p>As the Royal Rumble winner, Stone Cold challenged The Rock for the WWF Championship in the main event of <em>WrestleMania X-Seven<\/em>. The two biggest stars of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/02\/wwe-attitude-era-every-wwe-championship-match-at-the-royal-rumble-ranked\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Attitude Era<\/a> put on an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smarkdownsblog.com\/5-best-amp-5-worst-wwe-wrestlemania-main-events#:~:text=2.%20Stone%20Cold%20Steve%20Austin%20Vs.%20The%20Rock%20(WrestleMania%2017)\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">all-time classic<\/a>. At the end of the bout, Austin would infamously turn heel by joining forces with his biggest enemy, Vince McMahon, before pinning Rock to secure his fifth WWF Title.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: The Rock vs. &quot;Stone Cold&quot; Steve Austin \u2013 WWE Title Match: WrestleMania X-Seven\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UicJBCAIgto?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013 Stay tuned to the <\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\"><em><u><i>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0for more on WWE Royal Rumble and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the significant news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/tubitv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetv.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>A&amp;E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments), and\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Main Event, as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/events\/1773457579022155776?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WWE Royal Rumble 2001 arrived at one of the hottest times in WWE history. The company, then known as the World Wrestling Federation, was coming off one of its greatest years in the 2000s. A few months later, WrestleMania 17 (famously branded as WrestleMania X-Seven) was arguably the greatest Mania of all time. This Royal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5694,"featured_media":150296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7205,2192,4,3],"tags":[396,2435,7214],"class_list":["post-150189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-history","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-wrestlemania","tag-wrestlemania-x7","tag-wwe-royal-rumble"],"modified_by":"Steph Franchomme","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5694"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150189"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150302,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150189\/revisions\/150302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}