This Summerslam has the unfortunate responsibility to following up two absolutely fantastic Summerslams, with one of them being potentially the greatest of all time. We also have split commentary teams for the first time in Summerslam history here in 2002. Again this roster is absolutely LOADED with main event talent. We are coming live from Uniondale, New York for this Summerslam and the first match has the debut Summerslam match for Rey Mysterio. Also at this PPV we have the return of the greatest in ring talent of all time (at least in my mind) Shawn Michaels. If the last two things are anything to judge this PPV off of I’m certainly excited to be watching what may be the greatest stretch of in ring wrestling EVER. Let’s kickoff this PPV with… Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio… seriously Kurt Freakin’ Angle and Rey Mysterio are kicking off this Summerslam.
Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio: Man people love them some Rey Mysterio and as much as I enjoyed Angle’s run the prior year as a face he’s such a natural heel. This match starts incredible fast and Mysterio starts some of his patented offense equipped with hurricanrana’s. We get a pretty quick attempt at an ankle lock and 619 and the pace of this match is very quick. Angle starts to slow the match down a hair and starts trying to wear down Mysterio with submissions and power offense. This doesn’t go for very long as Mysterio starts back with a fast pace offense and Angle is bumping ALL OVER THE PLACE for Mysterio. We get an intense series of moves by both competitors even the ref getting in the way of a spot and Mysterio avoiding him and still hitting offense. The end of the match is a bit goofy looking with Ankle grabbing Mysterio from a top rope reversal and tapping Mysterio to the Ankle Lock. Wow a really good hot opener and very fast paced. Mysterio even with a loss looked really good with a former world champion.
Chris Jericho vs. Ric Flair: Talk about a dream match seriously. Two of the greatest all around performers of all time going head to head on a big stage this has to be good… RIGHT? These two start a very traditional psyche style match to begin and Flair gets an early two count. We go into the Flair chops in the corner and some back and forth and OUCH Flair isn’t able to properly do his turnbuckle flip. We get some action outside for a bit and then back inside the ring, we get the good old trusty wrist tape choke in the ring. Ah a classic heel move KUDOS! Some good psychology and nod to the audience also as Jericho goes up top and Flair runs over for the slam off the top rope. Flair attempts what I believe is supposed to be the Walls of Jericho however has it reversed and Jericho locks in the figure four some more good psychology and head nodding to the audience here. We get a false finish with Flair tapping as he grabs the ropes which leads Jericho to believe he has won however Flair locks Jericho in the figure four for the victory. Not a bad mad by any means but definitely gets viewed better because of the names more so than the performance.
Heyman hypes Brock Lesner and tells him to end the Rock like he ended Hogan.
Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero: You know when the Eddie tragedy happened I really think Edge is the guy that really filled that spot. If you think about it Eddie was the original opportunist and could carry people to a great match. Just my opinion but hey isn’t that why you read these damn things? Michael Cole with some really good foresight calling Edge “the future of Smackdown” he isn’t lying. We get a traditional start to this match with hammerlocks and reversals. Eddie really shows off early his athleticism and you remember just a few years back he was at the top of the cruiserweight division. Really cool spot with Eddie tied up in the ropes and Edge spears him while being there. Ouch Edge goes for it again and misses and takes a nasty bump onto the floor. These two men have really used the entire area of the ring and the outside of it in this match as they are constantly in and out. Edge hits a pretty cool DDT from the second rope for a near fall. We get a spear reversal that leads to a reversal of the frog splash and these two men are digging deep here last in the match. Edge then gets a near fall from a Frog Splash of his own then counters and hits a SPEAR! Edge gets the big victory on Eddie Guerrero. These two men work a very good match and probably right now the match of the night great psychology and execution from these two.
UnAmericans vs. Booker T & Goldust (World Tag Team Title Match): Could these two teams be any different of one another? Lance Storm and Christian very generic and serious and Booker T and Goldust provided some of the funniest moments in the WWF/E as a tag team. Goldust and Christian start the match and Goldust starts with a little butt offense. Goldust starts off the match pretty hot and has me thinking… How underrated is Goldust all time? I mean seriously hell of a heel run to begin, then a great face turn and feud with Pillman, and now in a genius comedic tag team with Booker T. What couldn’t this guy do? Pretty generic tag match between the two not bad just generic. Booker T gets the hot tag and cleans house and hits his amazing missile drop kick from the top rope. Another guy that could literally do it all in Booker T. Man the crowd goes nuts for the spinarooni how over was that thing huh? Of course we have a ref bump during the hot tag offense of Booker T and Test ends up interfereing and Chrstian gets the win. The UnAmericans win in a match under ten minutes that is pretty good.
Chris Benoit vs. Rob Van Dam (Intercontinental Title Match): The crowd loves them some RVD and I expect this match to potentially steal the show. How many times have I said that during this Retro-Review of the IC title match? We get some early back and forth between the two and Benoit gets the upper hand early. Really cool spot where RVD hits a kick in the mush then misses one and gets folded in half by Benoit. The intensity here between the two is fantastic. Benoit begins working on the shoulder you know using PSYCHOLOGY because of his submission finisher the cross face. Man RVD’s offense was so over during this time the crowd eats up the split legged moonsault. We get both men missing there top rope signature moves first the diving head butt then the five star frog splash. Benoit locks in the crippler cross face which I can’t put over enough I absolutely love that finisher however RVD gets to the ropes. The crowd is eating out of the palm of their hand and this match is soooooooooooo much fun to watch. Benoit is so stiff with everything but RVD takes it all like a champ and trust me I’m sure those kicks from RVD don’t feel too good. WHOA! Benoit with a trifecta of northern lights suplexes that looked freakin great! We get a cool spot where Benoit locks in the cross face again then moves it to a dragon sleeper and a counter by RVD into a cross face of his own. I LOVE THIS MATCH! Now it’s time for some classic RVD offense including but not limited to ROLLING THUNDER! Great sequence at the end of reversals leading to Benoit being down and RVD hitting a five star frog splash for the win. Wow I’m out of breathe watching that match.
Undertaker vs. Test: Do I have to go from RVD and Benoit to this or can I just get more Benoit and RVD? I will say Test certainly looks the part against the Undertaker not giving up size to the dead man. We get Test using the referee to his advantage early as he shoves the referee into the ropes during old school. The two men begin just kind of beating the hell out of each other and it looks good. We get Undertaker now going through his classic set of moves including but not limited to Old School until test cuts him off during a choke slam attempt only to be choke slammed a moment later. Undertaker goes for the last ride however here comes Lance Storm and Christian to return the favor and both of them get Undertaker’d. Undertaker hits the tombstone on Test for the victory. Not bad for a Test match and both men brought it wasn’t good or bad.
Shawn Michaels vs. HHH (Unsanctioned Match): Let me just say there is no chance this match isn’t getting match of the night. This match was built up perfectly and if you’ve never seen the faux DX reunion that led to this match stop reading this go to YouTube watch that and come back. Keep in mind while reading and potentially watching this match this is Michael’s first match back in over four years. This match starts with an absolute brawl of HHH throwing Shawn to the floor and Michael’s retaliating with a spear. The intensity of this match early is off the charts and so far no wasted movement INCLUDING A PLANCHA early from Michael’s. I guess we had to test the back out early huh Shawn. Michael’s grabs some weapons and brings htem into the ring including a trashcan lid however HHH cuts him off with a knee. Geez Shawn it’s almost as if Shawn is showing off at this point as he skins the cat he’s a video game hack. I know I’m guilty of this however many of us say AJ Styles is the new Shawn Michaels and AJ is great the current best wrestler in the world however nobody is Shawn Michaels. HHH now gains control and starts to psychologically beat down Michaels. The chair shots from HHH to Shawn’s back is cringe worthy and he doesn’t take anything off each shot. DDT onto a chair from HHH to HBK and Michael’s is now bleeding and the amount of offense done to his back has been insane. Man it’s like Michale’s told HHH beat the shit out of my back I want to see if it really will hold up. HHH has beat him not only with back breakers, back drops, suplexes, chairs but also Shawn’s own belt. HHH gets his trusty sledgehammer however HBK cuts him off before he’s able to use it. The crowd is absolutely electric for Michael’s and the amount of heat on HHH in this match is melting my TV screen. We end up with both men down at one point and LOUD very audible HBK chants are filling the arena. HHH now has a chair and catches Sweet Chin Music right in the mush for his troubles. We now get classic HBK offense with a couple of punches the flying forearm and the kip-up and it’s so incredible knowing he is off back surgery and the amount of punishment he has taken that he can do that. Its Michael’s turn now to beat the piss out of HHH with a chair and does so. These two men have literally used everything in the area they possibly could to beat the hell out of each other and now they’ve used the steps and Michael’s has a ladder. We get some awesome offense between the two with the ladder which ends up with HHH gaining the upper hand. My goodness this all leads us to a big splash off the top from HBK through a table that HHH is laying on and the crowd LOUDLY chants Holy Shit. This is the first time in my memory I can remember a WWF crowd chanting Holy Shit at an event. Shawn wants to top himself and drop the elbow from the top of the ladder. Then goes to tune up the ole band it’s blocked however he covers HHH with a jackknife pin and wins. This is about as close to a perfect match as you’ll ever see. Intensity, Psychology, OMG Moments, Storyline everything is there for a perfect match and these two delivered in spades. If it were in Tokyo it would have gotten seven stars. After the match HHH drills HBK with a sledgehammer getting the last laugh and looking like an absolutely dick in the process. HBK gets stretchered out. We still have the main event left and man I’m going to stop saying I’ve seen the greatest thing ever until the end of these because I have a feeling when I look back I’m going to have some tough decisions.
Brock Lesner vs. The Rock (WWE Title Match): Brock is a massive human being and looks like something you create in create a wrestler mode of a WWF/E video game. Brock tosses the Rock with ease early with a belly to belly. We get a lot of early Brock offense with him cornering and working over the Rock. Heyman even gets a shot in as the Rock goes to the outside and Heyman kicks him in the ribs. Man Brock was using the suplex city gimmick back in 2002 as he throws Rock over his head again like its nothing. The crowd is firmly behind Lesner with loud boos for the Rock when he strikes and extremely loud Rocky Sucks chants. We have both men laid out at one point and each men kip up at the same time. Which would have been extremely impressive had I not just seen a man who didn’t wrestle for four years, because of a broken back do it after being decimated for like twenty minutes. Rock’s sharpshooter is the worst thing in the history of professional wrestling and we have LOUD let’s go Lesner chants. How is the crowd this into this match I’m still dragging from the prior one. We get some more Paul Heyman interference and more Lesnar suplexes to the Rock who is bumping all around for Lesner. Don’t’ get me wrong this main event has been fantastic both men have brought there A Game and Lesner is looking like a million dollars. Rock hits a couples of Rock Bottom’s one through a table and another back in the ring however Lesner kicks out. OH MY! Rock gets up talking trash to the crowd until he gets hit with a Rock Bottom from Brock. While Rock’s sharpshooter is crap his spine buster is something of beauty. We get some reversals starting with a people’s elbow to a missed clothesline, reversed F5, revered Rock Bottom and Lesner ends up hitting the F5 and Rocky is on his way to Hollywood and Brock is the new face of the company. Man how great would a Shawn Michaels vs. Lesner match at the next years Wrestlemania have been?
Summerslam 1988 Review | Summerslam 1989 Review | Summerslam 1990 Review | Summerslam 1991 Review | Summerslam 1992 Review | Summerslam 1993 Review | Summerslam 1994 Review | Summerslam 1995 Review | Summerslam 1996 Review | Summerslam 1997 Review | Summerslam 1998 Review | Summerslam 199 Results | Summerslam 2000 Review | |Summerslam 2001 Review
Overall this PPV has been right there with the previous two. This show started a bit slower however I feel the high point was much higher than the previous years. It’ll be interesting once I go back and grade them all out and created my top five matches and events how things will change. The match of the night is no surprise HBK vs. HHH. Go watch this Summerslam along with the previous two you won’t be disappointed and until next time be awesome.