Review of Summerslam

This is one of the most famous Summerslam that WWE has ever produced in my opinion. I have always love this on WWE DVD Collection. The DVD is worth it. There's plenty of good stuff on the extras section of this DVD. On top of plethora of post-match interviews, there's some pretty good training videos featuring The Rock and Brock Lesnar. I have to say, Brock Lesnar's training might be a bit over the top. You do get a bonus match with Brock Lesnar Vs Hulk Hogan from Smackdown that year. The DVD also has tons of stuff from Shawn Michaels such as interviews and video montages. Now to the venue, the New Yorkers crowd was really getting into the matches and one of the loudest. I love all their chants. The PPV and the wrestlers roster at the time was divide by two brands at the time: Smackdown show, and the Raw show. It was supposed to help boost WWE, by having two leagues like NFL does. It didn't work, and WWE cut the idea years later. The first match on the card is Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio. This would be Rey's first WWE pay-per-view appearance. This match was pretty good for the opening. I do have to say Olympic Hero, Kurt Angle's attire looks really awful. He looks like a candy cane. Hard to take him for a badass with an attire like that. There was a pretty good spot to check out where the referee blocks a dive so Mysterio sentons jump over the ref out onto Angle! Overall: The fast-paced match got the crowd into it. Plus, Kurt Angle was great as the villain. Ric Flair vs. Chris Jericho was another great match. They did a bit of violent feud leading to this match. We see video clips of the two taking shots at each other and Flair destroying Jericho's band Fozzy's equipment before this match. This was Ric Flair's first-ever Summerslam appearance, believe it or not. Both did a pretty good job in my opinion. Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero is the third match on the card. Honestly, I don't know what the feud was about. It had little build up. Watching Guerrero and Edge work is a joy to watch. The fourth match is probably the worst match of the night. World Tag Team Championship: The Un-Americans (Lance Storm and Christian) vs. Booker T and Goldust. I have always thought of the 2002's Un-Americans as the lame heels group that try too hard to be the 1997's Hart Foundation with their anti-Americans views. Booker and Goldust had got ridiculously over as a team due to their comedy skits backstage. This was the Daniel Bryan and Kane of its days. Interpromotional Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship: Chris Benoit vs. Rob Van Dam was next. Another fantastic match. Van Dam worked really hard and had one of his best WWE matches but Benoit was just brilliant throughout, controlling the match and working the shoulder. They used some nice psychology and eventually won the crowd over. Big thumbs for this match. Undertaker vs. Test is the second worst match of the night. Taker was coming off the back of a not-so-successful heel run, and Test was a member of the Un-Americans so this was a natural fit really. Undertaker was the American hero, as Test is the Canadian threat. Both were pretty good, but the match was so slow due to their height and weight. Plus, the buildup was pretty lame. The next match was the Unsanctioned match between Triple H VS Shawn Michaels. This was Shawn Michaels first match since 1998's WrestleMania XIV. We see a fantastic video montage showcasing the Triple H-Shawn Michaels violent feud. The whole feud last for years after this, until 2006. Unsanctioned Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H was a gem. Lot of weapons, blood and violent. This was Shawn Michaels return to wrestling since the crippling back injury that nearly end Shawn's career. I love this match. If there was any doubt as to whether or not Michaels could still "go", this would put an end to them. Triple H was looking as good and as crisp as he did prior to his first quad injury. This was need for both men. The main event is next. We get a video montage of Brock Lesnar's rise to the top, and The Rock winning the WWE Championship at Vengeance follow with training. It was intense. WWE Championship: The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar was great. Brock had had something of a meteoric rise, winning the King of the Ring and beating Hulk Hogan on his way to this match. Rock was on his way to Hollywood full-time so there wasn't much doubt as to the outcome here. The Rock would take a sixth month hiatus from WWE and would not return until late February 2003, when Vince McMahon booked him in a WrestleMania X8 rematch with Hulk Hogan at No Way Out. The crowd was really on Brock here. Explosive match, electric crowd. It was the match worth to end the night. Overall: great PPV. Probably my favorite Summerslam. Without giving out too much away, just check out the PPV.