Summerslam 2002 Review

Match #1

Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio

I’ve always really liked matches that were on the shorter side without much filler and this might be the best example of that you can find. This match goes nine minutes but tells an awesome story and is loaded with action. The match starts with Rey sneaking out from under the ring and giving Angle a headscissors takedown from behind. The big story going into this match was that Angle was going to break the ankle of Rey Mysterio and a good portion of the match is Rey managing to evade the ankle lock. Angle gets the win when Mysterio goes for a huracanrana off the ropes and Angle holds onto the ankle and forces Rey to tap out. Despite this being Rey’s first PPV match in WWE and losing, he didn’t look like a slouch at all and more or less came out looking just as good as Angle did. Great match!

We get some banter between Bischoff and Stephanie backstage. I hate both of these two as characters so much but Stephanie was kind of the lesser of two evils because at least she’s playing a face.

Match #2

Chris Jericho vs Ric Flair

The story behind this match is that Jericho was talking trash about Flair one week on Raw and Flair hit Jericho with a trash can. Later, backstage, Jericho takes out Flair with a trash can and makes him bleed everywhere. During a Fozzy concert on the Raw stage, Flair comes out and while Jericho gets away, Flair destroys the equipment and instruments. Pretty slow pace for this match with Flair being the lovable jerk and Jericho being the hateable jerk. Flair tries to lock in the Walls of Jericho at one point and Jericho reverses and gets the Figure Four on. Flair tricks Jericho and taps out a second after getting the ropes, voiding the submission. But Jericho thinks he’s won the match and breaks the hold. Flair low blows Jericho behind the ref’s back and locks in the figure four for the win. Pretty fun match, nothing amazing but it tells a good story.

Match #3

Edge vs Eddie Guerrero

Edge had recently had a shoulder injury from a cage match with Jericho and Eddie uses that to his advantage. Edge’s selling of the shoulder is fantastic and Eddie really goes out of his way at times to exploit it. Edge gets the win after being a bit too cocky and Edge tossing him off the ropes and hitting a spear! Another great match!

Match #4 – World Tag Team Championships

Booker T & Goldust vs The Un-Americans (Lance Storm & Christian) (c)

After bickering for months with Goldust trying to win Booker T’s friendship, Booker finally warmed up to Goldust and they set their sights on the Un-Americans, the tag team champions of the Raw brand. Goldusy does a wonderful job playing the face in peril for most of the match and the crowd goes nuts for the Booker T hot tag. Booker & Goldust have it won but Test runs in and big boots Booker, giving the Un-Americans the win. Pretty good match, definitely not worth skipping over if you’re a fan of even one of these four.

We get a live look-in at WWE New York where Jamie Noble is lending out Nidia to make-out with people. Jamie cheers on as Nidia sucks down some dude’s face. We cut to Bischoff and Stephanie in their office and Bischoff remarks that Nidia knows her place. What a sleazeball.

Match #5 – Intercontinental Championship

Rob Van Dam vs Chris Benoit (c)

Benoit won the title a couple weeks earlier on Raw and then immediately jumped to Smackdown. However Raw was given an opportunity to get the title back and RVD earned a rematch. A lot of really good wrestling in this match. RVD does his usual high flying stuff and Benoit just wears him down with brutal suplexes and headbutts. Still kind of hard to watch some of the bumps Benoit takes on his head. There’s a good two or three times in this match I thought RVD would tap to the Crossface. Van Dam reverses a back superplex into a crossbody and then hits the Five Star Frog Splash for the win in a fantastic match.

Match #6

Undertaker vs Test

Test has had the strangest booking in 2002. One week he beats Triple H. One week he goes toe to toe with Lesnar and almost beats him. And then most weeks he’s a complete afterthought on the roster. Now here he is feuding with Undertaker. Decent big man vs big man battle. Maybe went a tad too long but nothing to really complain about. Christian & Storm get involved but Undertaker takes them out. Test almost wins after a beautiful big boot. Taker gets the win via Tombstone. Weakest match of the night but not bad by any means.

Match #7 – Unsanctioned Match

Shawn Michaels vs Triple H

When Michaels originally returned, he joined the NWO. But shortly after, he convinced Triple H to come to Raw in the brand split and they reformed DX, only for Triple H to pedigree Michaels. After claiming Michaels is still his friend, Triple is in the ring and the titantron shows Michaels bloodied and out cold backstage. Triple H accuses multiple people of doing it but after security footage and a reveal from Michaels, Triple H admits he did it. This leads to the unsanctioned match where Triple H wants to end the Heartbreak Kid. Michaels takes the beating of a lifetime in this match from Triple H. Steel chair shots, belt whippings and lots of stiff shots to HBK. After drawing blood on Triple H, Shawn finds a second wind and begins repaying the favor. After both men take an insane amount of punishment, HBK reveres a pedigree into a jackknife cover and gets the win! However Triple H delivers a brutal sledgehammer shot to Michaels after the bell, putting him down. There’s a lot of matches in the HBK/HHH saga that I don’t enjoy, but this is not one of them. Fantastic match here from both of them and it really told a story.

As a cooldown segment, we get a segment in the ring with Trish Stratus & Howard Finkel. Howard had been a jerk to Lillian Garcia in recent weeks. Finkel hits on Trish until Lillian Garcia comes out and kicks him in the balls. I definitely get her appeal but I always found face Trish Stratus insufferable.

Match #8 – Undisputed Champioship

Brock Lesnar vs The Rock (c)

Brock won the King of the Ring for the right to main event Summerslam and The Rock won the Undisputed title a month earlier at Vengeance. A really interesting crowd because a lot of people knew Rock was leaving for Hollywood here and Lesnar has gone from getting “Goldberg” chants to being cheered. Although, at times Rock gets massive cheers as well. Brock overpowers Rock for much of the match. Rock finally manages to take Paul Heyman out of the match, Rock Bottoming him through the announce table. Back in the ring, Lesnar reverses a Rock Bottom and hits the F-5, beating The Rock and winning the title! Another very good match!

Overall

The whole show was just fantastic. The worst match on the card is Taker/Test and it’s still decent! I would say that Michaels vs Triple H was the best match of the night with Angle vs Mysterio coming in second and Benoit vs RVD coming in third. You really can’t go wrong picking this PPV to watch though, great stuff all around.