Summerslam 2002 Review

JR and King call the shots on the Raw matches and Tazz and Cole are working for Smackdown. We are live from Long Island NY.


Match #1

Singles Match

Kurt Angle Vs Rey Mysterio


Rey made his debute about 2 weeks ago and between now and Mania 19 was probably his most over period, after that he got stale as hell. Angle is wearing his ugliest outfit yet. The candy cane singlet. Cole shows his stupidity as Angle waits on Rey's entrance and Rey sneaks in from the crowd and perches on the tope rope RIGHT IN FRONT OF COLE and he doesn't know Rey is there until the camera does a wide shot and he see's Rey on the tv monitor. Rey jumps in with a rana, then Angle takes him down and tries the anglelock but Rey sends Angle outside and they fight. Back inside Rey tries a bulldog and gets german suplexed. Rey rolls him up for 2. Angle backbreaker gets 2. Angle blocks a headscissor with a backbreaker. Into a half crab, but Rey cradles for 2. Rey gets a jawbreaker, Kurt blocks a sunset flip and gets a suplex. Rey reverses the angle slam and dumps him. The ****head referee won't let Rey do his highspot so Rey somersault plancha's over the ref over the top rope onto Angle outside. Back in, springboard legdrop gets 2. Kurt counters to an anklelock, but Rey counters that and hits the 619 on Angle. West coast pop gets 2. Leg lariat and Rey goes up, and then dodges the possum suplex. Rey tries a top rope rana, and Angle catches him with the ankle lock and Rey gives it up at 9:18ish by my count. Short but hot opener. 3 stars.


Match #2

Singles Match

Ric Flair Vs Chris Jericho


On the DVD release Flair is using his WWF 91/92 theme. Jericho hammers away and gets a clothesline then hits a backdrop suplex, he misses an elbow and Flair chops away. Flair dumps Jericho and chops him outside. Jericho chops back. They brawl outside and Jericho drops him on the railing and they head back in. Jericho slugs him down and gets a dropkick for 2. Wrist tape gets used for some choking by Jericho. Jericho suplex and he heads up top but Flair slams him off, weird seeing Flair catch somebody else in that spot. Flair chops back and gets a backdrop suplex for 2. Jericho reverses a suplex, but Flair reverses the walls for 2. Jericho chops and tries a bulldog, but misses the Lionsault. Flair goes to a half crab or a really bad looking WOJ. Jericho fights out and slaps on a figure four but Flair grabs the ropes at the same time he is tapping which causes some controversy. Jericho chokes Flair on the ropes and tries a running cannonball but crotches himself. Flair gets a lowblow and slaps on the figure four to win at 10:20ish by my stopwatch. This didn't do a whole lot for me. As legendary as Flair is, I can count on 2 hands how many ppvs ive seen him at where he won a match with his finisher. Im only going 2 1/2 stars.


Match #3

Singles Match

Edge Vs Eddie Guerrero


Edge has his 1998-2001 theme due to copyrights on DVD I guess. Edge gets a flapjack then Eddie takes over. Criss cross and Edge gets a powerslam for 2. Edge ties him up in the ropes and spears him, but misses the 2nd attempt. They brawl outside and back in. Eddie stomps him and uses an arm takedown. Edge goes up top and gets arm dragged off. Eddie uses a hammerlock and stomps him down. Eddie uses a crossface chicken wing in the only time ive seen him use it, but Edge fights free and gets caught in a Herb Kunze armbar. Backdrop suplex on the shoulder leads into a wristlock, but Edge powerslams him. Backdrop, but he runs into an elbow. Edge with the bulldog for 2. Eddie gets dumped and Edge follows with a bodypress to the floor. Back in, they head up and Edge reverses a superplex attempt into a super x factor for 2. Eddie blocks a spear with a dropkick to the shoulder. Eddie up top but the frogsplash gets knees. Edgecution gets 2. Another try is reversed to a Northern Lights suplex for 2 by Eddie. Neckbreaker sets up another try at the frog splash, but Edge follows him up. Eddie knocks him off and splashes the shoulder but it only gets 2. I think that should of been the finish. Edge powers up and spears Eddie with the bad shoulder and shows no ill effect and gets the pin at 11:45. 3 stars. Eddie should of won with the frogsplash on the shoulder, not Edge forgetting about the pain to use the crippled shoulder to get the win.


Match #4

Tag Team Championship Match

Lance Storm And Christian Vs Booker T And Goldust


Goldust and Christian start. GD gets a butt butt on Christian for 2. Storm in and he gets atomic dropped. Booker in an he hits an elbow and sideslam. Kneedrop gets 2. Goldust comes back in and gets tagged by the heels and they pick on him in the corner. Christian chokes GD and gets a backbreaker for 2. Goldust gets a suprise rollup for 2 but Christian cuts off the tag. Booker hottags and he cleans house. Booker missle dropkicks Christian for 2. Flapjack and the ref is bumped. Booker gets the axe kick and does a spinerooni and Test runs in and kicks his head off so Christian can pin him at 9:30ish. Nothing amazing. 2 stars.


Match #5

Intercontinental Championship Match

Chris Benoit Vs Rob Van Dam



Rob uses some kicks to start, pretty stiff, and Benoit catches a leg and takes him down. Benoit misses a charge and RVD cross bodies for 2. German suplex almost kills Rob. Benoit goes for the neck, and a short arm clothesline gets 2. Backbreaker gets 2. Snap suplex gets 2. Benoit tries a standing armbar and elbows him down, but Rob packages for 2. Monkey flip, but Benoit drops him and starts chopping. Rob goes up and misses the moonsault, and Benoit goes up and he misses the flying headbutt. Rob goes up and tries a 5 star but that misses aswell. Benoit right to the crossface but RVD manages a foot on the ropes. Benoit goes back to chopping. Rob goes up and gets shoved off onto the barricade, then gets posted. Back in, Benoit gets a shoulderbreaker and slugs him down for 2. Benoit tries a surfboard while security runs somebody out. Rob powers out, but Benoit holds the wrists and turns it into a strait jacket. Rob Rob gets away but Benoit takes him down again. RVD drops Benoit and goes for rolling thunder but Benoit grabs him and goes for the crossface. RVD counters but Benoit reverses into a counter and a cradle for 2. Rob works the arm and dropkicks it. Rob comes back with a springboard dropkick for 2. Spinkick and Rolling Thunder get 2. Rob goes up, but gets crotched and superplexed, RVD manages to counter and land on Benoit when they fall though. RVD is up first and lands the frogsplash and gets the IC title back for Raw at 16:25. Im going 3 1/2 stars.


Match #6

Singles Match

The Undertaker Vs Test


Taker works the arm. Clothesline gets 2. Taker ropewalk is blocked as Test crotches him, then they fight outside. Back in, Test chokes away. Corner clothesline and he attacks the arm but it goes nowhere. Taker gets a backdrop suplex, but Test punches back. Taker DDT gets 2. He gets his ropewalk this time and snake eyes, but Test stops a chokeslam. Another one hits, and the Un Americans run in and Taker beats them up but Test gets the boot, but naturally it's only 2 1/2. Taker gets the tombestone in the worst match of the night at 8:18. 1 1/2 star.


Match #7

Unsanctioned Street Fight

HHH Vs Shawn Michaels


Shawn punches away and dump HHH outside. Shawn with a vault onto HHH and they head back in. Shawn finds a garbage can, but gets dropped on the railing. Back in, Shawn gets a clothesline and goes up for a double axehandle. Superkick misses and HHH gets a pendulum backbreaker and another one and Shawn acts like he is dying. Course, after December 2002 he never sold the back again. HHH whips him into the corner and beats him down. Elbow to the back gets 2. HHH get a chair and whallops Shawn in the back for 2. Shawn reverses a suplex for 2, but walks into a facebuster and gets ddt'd on the chair for 2. HHH takes off Shawn's belt and whips him. HHH fetches the hammer but Shawn stops him. HHH goes to an abdominal stretch. He uses the ropes and the ref yells at him about it. Earl Hebner should be smart enough to remember it's UNSANCTIONED!!! They head up and Shawn gets crotched and hung upside down. HHH gets a chair and sets it up so he can use it for a pendulum backbreaker on Shawn's already "destroyed back". Sideslam on the chair gets two. Pedigree attempt, but Shawn goes low to block. HHH follows with a chair but Shawn superkicks it back in his face and HHH is busted wide open. I didn't notice but shawn was "busted open" earlier in the match now all the blood is gone. Shawn hits the flying forearm and a kip up and the crowd goes nuts. Chairshot and Shawn dumps HHH and over to the announcers table where he grabs Hugo Savinovich’s boot, and whacks HHH with it. He pulls out a ladder and rams HHH with it a few times. He props it against the post and slingshots HHH into it. Back inside Shawn superplexes him for 2. Sunset flip gets 2. HHH hits him with the high knee for 2. He grabs the stairs, but Shawn drop toeholds him and HHH falls on them. Shawn sets up a table and puts HHH on it then goes up top and hits a flying splash through the table as the holy **** chant starts up. Back inside Shawn climbs the ladder and drops an elbow. Superkick misses, but he reverses the Pedigree for the pin at a long 27:20. HHH takes him out with the hammer to have the last laugh (as usual) Shawn gets stretchered out but would be back in time for Survivor Series. Im going 4 stars. My highest mark for hardcore/spot matches.


Match #8

WWE Championship Match

The Rock Vs Brock Lesnar w Paul Heyman


Everybody knows who's gonna win as Rock leaving for Hollywood again was no secret so he gets the Golbderg/Lesnar Mania 20 treatement. Rock charges in and attacks but Brock gets a overhead release belly to belly for 2. Backbreaker and the crowd immediately goes into the "Rocky Sucks” chant. Brock attacks the ribs and sends him out and just pummels him. Back in, Brock gets another suplex for 2. Rock slugs back, but Paul trips him up and Brock stomps away. Powerslam gets 2. Crowd gets on Rock again, so he starts using his subtle heel persona. Good for him, they wanna turn on him just like that fk em. Brock stays on the ribs, but a blind charge hits shoulder first into the post and Rock gets a belly to back suplex. Both do the kip up at the same time in a nifty spot, and Rock slugs away. DDT gets 2, however. Rock goes after Heyman, then gets Brock isin quite possibly THEE worst looking sharpshooter ive seen yet. Rock goes after Heyman again (now that's just dumb) and Brock catches him with the bearhug that put out Hogan. Rock makes the comeback and gets a nutshot but Brock won't slow down. Lesnar goes back to the ribs, and Rock fights back again. Outside Rock clears JR and Lawler's table and Heyman gets his tubby self put through it with the rock bottom. Brock gets posted and back inside rock bottom only gets 2 1/2. BROCK BOTTOM!!?? Only 2. Rock with a spinebuster and he goes for the Hollywood elbow but Brock pops up and murders him with a clothesline. He goes for an F-5 but Rock counters, rock bottom avoided, and the F-5 finishes it at 16:03 to give Brock the title. Turncoat crowd aside. It was a good main event. 3 stars.


Overall Opinion: Second best 2002, just a little bit behind Mania 18. The worst match on the card was 1 1/2 stars and everything else averaged between 3 and 4 stars with Jericho/Flair only puling a 2 1/2 and the tag match getting 2 stars. No Duds and no womens matches to clutter the card. This would be even better if they didn't have Garcia beating up poor Finkle, and that crap with Nydia at the world to waste 8 or 10 minutes which could of gone to another match.


Final Score: Im giving this show a solid 8.0 stars out of a score of 1.0 to 10.0 on the IMDB scale. This was my first time seeing this show so but whatever.