WWE Insurrextion was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event that was produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), an American professional wrestling promotion. Established in 2000, the events were held and broadcast exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first three events were held when the promotion was still called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) with the 2002 event being the promotion's very last PPV held under the WWF name. Insurrextion also aired on Viewers Choice pay-per-view in Canada, while the 2002 and 2003 editions also aired in the United States on tape delay as part of the WWE Fanatic Series, a pay-per-view "best of" program.

WWE Insurrextion
The WWF Insurrextion logo
WWF Insurrextion logo
PromotionWorld Wrestling Entertainment
BrandRaw (2002–2003)
First event2000
Last event2003

To coincide with the brand extension, the events in 2002 and 2003 were Raw-exclusive shows, with the 2002 event being the promotion's first Raw-exclusive PPV. Following the 2003 event, all-UK exclusive PPVs were discontinued as WWE started to broadcast Raw and SmackDown! from the UK in 2004. Triple H was featured in the main event of all four editions of the PPV.

The 2002 event is also associated with the infamous "plane ride from hell" incident, which occurred during the flight back to the United States after the PPV.

History

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In 1999, the American professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) ran two pay-per-views (PPV) in, and broadcast exclusively for, the United Kingdom. The first was No Mercy, which was held in May, and the second was Rebellion in October; the No Mercy name was later used for another PPV held in the United States that same month, which became a mainstay on WWF's PPV calendar. In early 2000, the promotion announced that May's United Kingdom-exclusive event would be titled Insurrextion. It was scheduled to be held on May 6, 2000, at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London, England. Like Rebellion, Insurrextion was established as a series of annual pay-per-views to be held exclusively in the United Kingdom.[1]

The 2002 event was the promotion's final PPV event held under the WWF name,[2] as just two days after the event, the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE),[3] with the 2003 event being the only Insurrextion held under the WWE name.[4] The 2003 event was the final Insurrextion as all-UK exclusive pay-per-views were discontinued as WWE started to broadcast Raw and SmackDown! from the UK in 2004.[4]

To coincide with the brand extension introduced in March 2002, in which the promotion divided its roster into two separate brands, Raw and SmackDown!, where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform,[5] the 2002 and 2003 events were held exclusively for the Raw brand.[2][4] The 2002 event was also WWE's first Raw-exclusive PPV held.[2]

Events

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Raw-branded event
# Event Date City Venue Main Event Ref.
1 Insurrextion (2000) May 6, 2000 London, England Earls Court The Rock (c) vs. Shane McMahon vs. Triple H in a triple threat match for the WWF Championship [1]
2 Insurrextion (2001) May 5, 2001 The Two Man Power Trip (Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) and Triple H) vs. The Undertaker in a Handicap match for the WWF Championship [6]
3 Insurrextion (2002) May 4, 2002 Wembley Arena Triple H vs. The Undertaker [2]
4 Insurrextion (2003) June 7, 2003 Newcastle, England Telewest Arena Triple H (c) vs. Kevin Nash in a Street Fight match for the World Heavyweight Championship [4]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "WWF Insurrextion 2000 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "WWF Insurrextion 2002 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  3. ^ "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Drops The "F" To Emphasize the "E" for Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d "WWE Insurrextion 2003 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  5. ^ "WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SMACKDOWN Distinct Television Brands" (Press release). WWE. March 27, 2002. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
  6. ^ "WWF Insurrextion 2001 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved April 18, 2018.