World Wrestling Federation – Summerslam 2000 – 27th August 2000
Despite not being renowned as one of the finest ‘workrate’ shows the WWF have ever produced, the thirteenth annual Summerslam event is actually surprisingly memorable. This show featured one of the competitors in the main event getting knocked out before the actual match, it has Shane’s famous bump off the Titantron, and of course it’s also the home of the first ever TLC Match. Other than that TLC Match, I’ve not seen any of this show since the night I watched it live so this should be a real blast from the past. The Rock will defend the WWF Championship against Kurt Angle and Triple H, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit try to settle their rivalry in a 2/3 Falls Match, Shane McMahon defends the Hardcore Title against Steve Blackman. There’s also Road Dogg vs X-Pac in the grudge match nobody wanted to see, and Undertaker vs Kane which may not be any better. Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler and Jim Ross will call the action from Raleigh, NC
We open with another great video package, called ‘Crimes Of Passion’. It shines a tongue-in-cheek, operatic spotlight on the HHH/Angle/Rock feud, with Freddie Blassie watching on like a slightly deranged puppet-master.
Right To Censor vs Too Cool/Rikishi
It’s a ppv debut for the RTC. As annoying as their music was, and as limited as Godfather (now Goodfather) is as a worker, man alive did they ever get some heat. It also got Stevie Richards onto a prominent TV slot which is ok by me. Tonight they face the ever-popular Too Cool/Rikishi trio, and tonight they are accompanied by Godfather’s Ho’s (including future Women’s Champion Victoria).
Rikishi and the Ho’s interrupt an attempted pro-censorship sermon from Steven Richards, much to RTC’s annoyance. Scotty tries an early moonsault press, but giving credit to Bull Buchanan, he actually hangs with the smaller man until Grand Masta Sexay joins his partner for a double suplex. Goodfather takes a nasty bump to the floor but does at least use his time on the outside to pieface his former Ho’s. Richards hits a powerbomb on Sexay for 2. Grand Masta retorts with a superplex to leave both men down. Rikishi tagged, with Goodfather and Bull having to charge the ring to save their leader from the Rikishi Driver. Victoria brings Stevie back in as he tries to escape. Goodfather eats a Samoan drop…only for Buchanan to save with the axe kick. STEVIE KICK on Scotty! Richards wins at 05:13
Rating - ** - Pretty forgettable but, as is standard for this period, the scorching live crowd made this infinitely more interesting. I quite liked the idea behind RTC – I just wish they’d found some better talent to put in it. Richards was a great mouthpiece for the group, and Buchanan was fine as the muscle. But Goodfather is a chore to sit through, whilst Ivory and Venis (who were recruited later) added very little either. I sympathise with Rikishi, who last month was hurling himself off a Steel Cage, but has now been sent right back to where he was at the start of the year – opening shows, teaming with Too Cool, and putting other guys over.
EARLIER TONIGHT – Kurt Angle arrives during Sunday Night Heat and angrily brushes off Jonathan Coachman’s allegations that he ‘took advantage of a married woman’ on Smackdown. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley arrives (separately)…and later in the hour Kurt went into her locker room (and hasn’t been seen since).
Shane-O-Mac tries to give his thoughts on the HHH/Kurt/Stephanie love triangle to Michael Cole but is chased off by Steve Blackman.
Road Dogg vs X-Pac
This is one of those ‘friendly rivalries gone bad’ situations and now sees former partners fighting to see who the better man is on one of the biggest ppv’s of the year. X-Pac accidentally headbutted his D-X comrade through a table on Raw last week to further stoke the fires of this feud.
X-Pac is obviously the better wrestler of the two, and proves it by riding Dogg on the canvas with ease. Roadie doesn’t take kindly to it and kicks his ass out of the ring (literally). He uses his power to some effect, but is considerably slower than Waltman – who uses rapid fire kicks to boot him into the corner. Dogg has the Bronco Buster scouted though, and leaves the ring before Pac can land it. He decks him with a spinning heel kick for 2 instead. Bronco Buster scores second time of asking, as large portions of the crowd begin to chant ‘boring’ at them. RD hits back with his signature jab combo into the Shake, Rattle & Knee Drop for 2. Pumphandle Driver countered…X-Factor countered! Pac finally counters another Pumphandle attempt with a low blow. X-Factor nailed for the win at 04:40
Rating - ** - Despite what the live crowd thought, this was surprisingly not-horrible. They used lots of familiarity counters, worked at a good pace and came up with a really fun finish as well. Waltman has always been a solid hand and he took the lead of course, but Road Dogg more than held his own. Sadly for these guys, their entrances (Road Dogg’s ‘Oh you didn’t know…’ and X-Pac’s green pyro/crotch chop combo) are way more over than their wrestling. I think these guys went separate ways after this, before returning with new groups – Road Dogg’s team with Ron ‘K-Kwik/R-Truth’ Killings, and Pac’s new ‘X-Factor’ stable were equally unsuccessful.
X-Pac wants to make nice with Road Dogg and offers a handshake…only for Dogg to drop him with the Pumphandle Slam and walk out.
Eddie Guerrero and Chyna are backstage, with Latino Heat saying he’ll be supportive if Chyna wins the Intercontinental Title in their match tonight. In the opposing team’s locker room, Trish Stratus objects to Chyna being in Playboy rather than her (don’t we all) and Val Venis angrily tells her to get her head in the game.
Val Venis/Trish Stratus vs Eddie Guerrero/Chyna – WWF Intercontinental Title Match
Seemingly buoyed by the success of having a singles title on the line in a tag match at King Of The Ring, WWF have brought the stipulation to the IC Title this evening. Val took the belt from Rikishi, thanks in no small part to Chris Benoit, and has kept it largely thanks to the interventions of Trish. Tonight it may catch up to this devious duo as they have former European Champion Eddie Guerrero and his mamacita Chyna (a former Intercontinental Champion in her own right) gunning for them.
Sensibly, Val ushers Trish to the apron so he can start…although he doesn’t really cope with Eddie’s quickness and is on the back foot for most of the opening minute. Finally he scoops Guerrero up for a backbreaker. Chyna comes to her man’s aid with a clubbing clothesline. Double flapjack from the challenging team gets 2. Chyna trades shots with Venis before absolutely DESTROYING him with a lariat. Trish jumps in and gets her attention for long enough for Val to deliver a back suplex. He then delivers a vertical suplex with such force that her ring pants start falling off her. Chyna low blows Val, then lands a DDT after he countered her Pedigree attempt. Hot tag to Guerrero who lands a rope run flying headscissors for 2. Venis retaliates with a blue thunder driver…and the two men collide in mid-air. They are both down and Val, out of necessity, has to tag Stratus in. She lays in a few cheap shots on Eddie but is powerless to stop him tagging Chyna – who promptly destroys poor Trish. Handspring elbow stopped by Val and a handful of Chyna’s hair. Stratus tries to clothesline Chyna…who just starts there and watches as her mass knocks Trish over! She press slams Trish and wins the Intercontinental Championship once again at 07:13
Rating - ** - This was better than expected to. Of course I’d have preferred a Venis/Eddie singles match, but they actually had a lot of fun with the stipulations. Chyna slugging it out with Val was fun, and they built very effectively to the inevitable Trish/Chyna showdown at the end.
Eddie lives up to his word and celebrates Chyna’s victory by strapping the belt round her waist. Venis is livid and walks out hurling abuse at Trish.
Stephanie McMahon has to cope with more questions about her kiss with Kurt Angle. She tells the wardrobe lady that Kurt was a good kisser…
Jerry Lawler vs Tazz
Whilst most have been universally critical of Tazz having to work Lawler, the positives were that he actually got to show far more personality and come off as far more of a bad ass than he ever had done before in his WWF tenure. He returned from injury and started attacking superstars for the hell of it. JR, doing his job as play-by-play commentator, objected to that which raised Tazz’s ire. After an ugly confrontation at the announce booth on Raw Tazz and the King ended up in a punch up...and things quickly escalated. Tazz was bloodied with a coffee pot, before the Human Wrecking Machine got revenge by abducting Jim Ross and trapping him in a car as he smashed up the windows with a bat. There is, of course, an interesting back story that isn’t acknowledged in all the silliness. That being that King doesn’t believe Tazz is big enough to be a credible wrestler, made no secret of calling him a midget during the WWF/ECW crossover a few years ago, and even showed up at an ECW Arena show to vent his frustration at their brand of professional wrestling.
Tazz comes out in a Stetson, shades and brandishing a walking cane in an effort to make fun of JR, which ultimately backfires as he gets so into it that he doesn’t see Lawler coming with a sucker punch. Jerry strings together his usual combination of fist drops, until eventually he misses one and hands the initiative to Tazz. Once again Tazz distracts himself hurling abuse at JR though, and again he eats Jerry’s fists as a consequence. Tazz goes for an inexplicable somersault senton, misses…and down comes the strap. Piledriver nailed…only for Tazz to no sell! Tazmission applied whilst still screaming at JR – who has had enough. He gets up from behind his announce desk and nails Tazz with his jar of sweets. It hands King the victory at 04:22
Rating - DUD - As I said, the actual angle wasn’t particularly bad. It allowed Tazz to show far more personality and charisma than at any other time in his WWF run to that point. The problem was that they tried to present Lawler/Tazz as an even fight. If the aim here was to put Tazz over, he should have been dominating the veteran, not basically getting his ass kicked and shouting at JR like a goof on the rare occasions he did have offence. Once again WWF spectacularly missed the point of Tazz’s character, and missed why he was so awesome in ECW. Seeing him staring at the lights for King and JR on one of the ‘big four’ ppvs is just sad.
Lillian Garcia is still chasing a Kurt Angle/Stephanie McMahon scoop, but can’t get close to Shane as he is still being chased around the building by Blackman…
Shane McMahon vs Steve Blackman – WWF Hardcore Title Match
To be fair to the Hardcore Title, it really did breathe life into stale midcard wrestlers who just weren’t that interesting anymore. Crash Holly’s career was reinvigorated, a whole hoard of nobodies got a spot on the Wrestlemania card because of it, and then through the summer we saw Steve Blackman become interesting for the first time ever as he combined hardcore weaponry with his martial arts prowess and produced some really entertaining results. Here he is trying to get his title back from Shane, who stole it from him on Raw after he’d fought off like five guys.
Blackman throws Shane a bone and offers him a kendo stick and a free shot. McMahon flees into the crowd but is cut off in the floor seats by Blackman diving off a barrier swinging a trash can at him. THRUST KICK off the guardrails! Steve pulls out a selection of trash can lids and uses one to sock McMahon across the knees. He then puts Shane inside a garbage can – peppering it with shots from those sticks. A leather strap is fastened around his neck, throttling him as Blackman applies a half crab at the same time. T&A run in to help, assaulting him whilst Shane recovers. JR has a sense of humour, pointing out that a year ago Test and Shane were fighting each other. MACHO ELBOW ON A TRASH CAN LID from Test! McMahon joins the party and smacks Blackman IN THE FACE with a metal sign. T&A drag Steve down the aisle by his neck, and he narrowly avoids getting a massive amp dumped on his head. Albert misfires, accidentally blasting Test with a kendo stick which presents Blackman with a window of opportunity. He grabs the stick and chases Shane…as he starts to climb up the Titantron. He literally climbs right to the top, within a few feet of the roof of the arena! And Blackman is right on his heels swinging a kendo stick. He cracks him across the back. SHANE FALLS OFF THE TITANTRON! Even though it was into a nicely cushioned crash mat area that still looked incredible. BLACKMAN DIVES AFTER HIM WITH AN ELBOW DROP! He somehow drapes an arm over Shane, winning back his Hardcore Title at 10:07
Rating - ** - The two bumps at the end were spectacular. It’s easy to be a cynic and say he landed on some crash mats – but it doesn’t change the fact that Shane plummeting from damn near the roof of the arena was a stunning visual (even if it was a cheap pop, and one he ruined by using the same spot multiple times in the coming years). And a deranged Blackman diving after him was almost as striking. If I’m honest, I felt the match was a bit of a missed opportunity. On the Raw preceding this ppv Blackman came up with some amazing pieces of innovation to fight off multiple opponents (on that occasion it was T&A, Shane plus Edge & Christian). He produced sequences that looked like they’d been ripped out of kung fu movies, and the crowd lapped it up. I was disappointed they didn’t go for more of the same here, instead opting for largely for generic WWF style ‘hardcore’ – meaning lots of tin foil garbage cans and clattering headshots without any real direction.
Stephanie watches from her locker room, desperate for news about her brother’s well-being. Kurt Angle arrives to offer a consoling hug. Mick Foley is on hand to crack a few jokes for good measure.
Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit – 2/3 Falls Match
I bet these two were thrilled at having to come out and work a ground based, mat wrestling match right after Shane’s bump. Nonetheless, this feud continues and actually got progressively more awesome after Fully Loaded. Both men came up short in their respective main event level matches (although both produced commendable performances) but have once again become embroiled in their bitter war with each other. Earlier in the year it was about the Intercontinental Championship, but now it’s all about proving who the better man is. They’ve attacked each other with chairs, driven each other through tables, stretched, bloodied and battered each other – and now have potentially three falls do inflict yet more punishment.
It’s not a mat-based opening exchange – they roll around on the mat throwing punches at each other like it’s a school playground scuffle. They end up falling out of the ring with both Benoit and the referee bumping right on their neck! The Wolverine recovers to hotshot Jericho shoulder-first into the ringpost! STF blocked…so Benoit floats to the Crippler Crossface instead. Y2J tries to counter that to the Walls Of Jericho but settles for a German suplex which gets 2! Benoit scoops him up for a shoulderbreaker then gets his knees up as Jericho goes for a desperate Lionsault. Crippler Crossface applied – forcing Jericho to tap out at 03:15 and handing the first fall to Benoit. He goes right back to another Crossface, pummelling at Y2J’s neck and shoulder before locking it in. Jericho crawls to the ropes to save the match. Not to be deterred, Benoit hangs him in the corner for a surfboard around the turnbuckles then launches his shoulder into the ringpost for the second time in just over five minutes. The third, fourth and fifth trip to the ringpost follow soon afterwards. Y2J’s arm hangs limp by his side, as Benoit plants him with a German suplex and makes sure to drop him right on that shoulder again. WALLS OF JERICHO OUT OF NOWHERE! He can’t lock the arms because of his injury but somehow he clings on, leaving the Crippler with no choice but to tap away the second fall at 08:39. Jericho doesn’t allow Benoit anytime to recover and scoops him up for a backbreaker as he looks to capitalise on the damage done by the Walls. He hits a diving elbow then rolls around on the canvas clutching at his arm. He also can’t hit his trademark rolling powerbombs on one arm. DRAGON SUPLEX by Benoit gets 2! They fight to the top rope, with Jericho landing a STANDING SUPER RANA! Both men are down! Even as the aggressor on that move though, Y2J came crashing down on his bad arm and struggles to recover. LIONSAULT! But by the time he’s back to his feet Benoit has already made the ropes. He even clings to the ropes in a roll-up counter, earning him a cheap win at 13:21 and therefore winning the match by two falls to one.
Rating - *** - Another fine instalment in this epic rivalry, albeit this wasn’t one of their best matches. The 2/3 Falls stipulation should have been a great one for them, but in less than fourteen minutes everything felt very rushed. I’d have liked to have seen Jericho sell the arm better, and I’d have liked this to have not gone on after a guy bumped off the Titantron meaning the crowd were near enough silent. There were some awesome spots, the usual brilliant counter sequences and lots of hard hitting strikes from these guys. But after their outstanding matches at Backlash at Judgment Day it’s a shame they couldn’t produce another classic on one of the ‘Big Four’
Edge & Christian vs Dudley Boyz vs Hardy Boyz – WWF Tag Title TLC Match
So after this trio of top line tag teams stole the show at Wrestlemania in the Triangle Ladder Match, there was always going to be a sequel. The antics of Edge & Christian at the helm of the tag division were notorious. Their ‘Five Second Poses’, their shady tactics to retain the belts, their desire to back out of matches and their growing use of chairs all served to infuriate the teams in pursuit of their belts. At the front of the queue were the table-smashing Dudleyz and the ladder-diving Hardyz…and after E&C tried to stage a ‘sit-down protest’ at their treatment, Commissioner Foley booked this. It now goes down as the stuff of legend and is revered as one of the most influential matches of the modern era. Lets see how it holds up thirteen years later.
The Hardyz are in their home state, and sprint to the ring to a thunderous ovation swinging chairs in all directions at their opponents. BUBBA CHAIRS JEFF IN THE FACE to block Poetry In Motion! Christian nails a Poetry In Motion Stinger Splash off a chair to D-Von. Bubba Ray makes an early dash for the belts only to be double powerbombed off the ladders by the Hardyz. Duelling ladders erected in the middle of the ring, which Edge uses to his advantage for a DOUBLE RUSSIAN LEGSWEEP off them to D-Von and Matt. Christian climbs…BUBBA BOMB OFF THE LADDERS! Edge & Christian set up a ladder seesaw, then shove Jeff off a ladder…THROUGH THE LADDER SEESAW! And it ricochets back straight into poor Matt’s face! Con-Chair-To misses as the carnage misses, before Ray storms the ring again throwing another ladder about. WASSUP HEADBUTT OFF A LADDER! D-Von returns with some wood. 3-D THROUGH A TABLE on Christian! That’s all four of their opponents incapacitated, and rather than win the belts the Dudleyz decide to build a tower of tables in the aisle. Edge saves Jeff from going through them with chair shots to both Dudleyz…then gets wiped out himself as Matt slides in with the Twist Of Late! Leg drop off a ladder by Matt! LEAPFROG LEG DROP OVER THE LADDER BY JEFF! Matt sandwiches Edge in a ladder, then uses a ROCKET LAUNCHER to hurl his own partner down on top! This is f*cking crazy! On the outside Jeff is busy climbing a colossal ladder. SWANTON OFF THE LADDER…MISSES! HE GOES THROUGH TWO TABLES! It was Bubba that moved, interesting because at Wrestlemania he actually went through a table in exactly the same fashion. Psychology in a TLC Match? Christian drops Matt with a reverse DDT off the monster ladder and all of a sudden everyone is out of it…except Bubba Ray Dudley! He makes a run through the belts. E&C SHOVE HIM OFF THE HUGE LADDER THROUGH THE F*CKING TABLE TOWER ON THE FLOOR! The crowd boo loudly as Edge & Christian look set to win…only for Lita to run in and shove them off the ladder! Matt has it won…UNTIL D-VON TIPS THE LADDER AND SENDS HIM THROUGH MORE TABLES ON THE FLOOR! EDGE WITH A SPEAR ON LITA! A semi-conscious Jeff Hardy goes after the belts with D-Von. The ladder gives way! Jeff and D-Von are left hanging from the ceiling and clinging to the belts! The champs whack them down like a piñata using the ladder! EDGE & CHRISTIAN WIN AT 14:49!
Rating - ***** - More than a decade later this remains one of the modern era’s defining matches. An unbelievable offensive splurge that went at a suicidal pace from the opening bell and didn’t stop once to catch it’s breath until the final act. Some criticised giving them less than 15-minutes, but I think the smaller time allowance really helped them. It forced them to work incredibly precisely, and eradicate a lot of the more elaborate set pieces and stalling sequences that they used at Wrestlemania (where they got much longer). What I particularly liked is that they weren’t just throwing mindless spots around either. Some of the counters were awesome. Edge & Christian use the Con-Chair-To – well it was scouted and ducked here. Jeff jumped off something high to put a Dudley through a table at both the Royal Rumble and at Summerslam – well tonight Bubba had it scouted and moved. There were multiple subtle little moments of brilliance like that, scattered amongst the carnage and violence likes shards of the tables their bodies were going through. The No Mercy ’99 Ladder Match, the Rumble 2000 Table Match and the Mania 2000 Triangle Ladder Match created the blueprint and set the stage for this. We saw six men at the top of their game, having learned what worked and removed what didn’t from that preceding trilogy of matches to produce this – a seminal classic, a defining moment for the Attitude era and one every wrestling fan needs to see. It’s been copied so many times in so many promotions since then, but this sh*t was absolutely ground-breaking back then and has very much stood the test of time.
Triple H has arrived it seems, and is understandably berating his wife for the kiss with Kurt on Smackdown. Steph says Angle took advantage of her…
The Kat vs Terri Runnels – Thong Stinkface Match
It’s these ladies again, and in the exact same slot they were booked in at Wrestlemania. Their job here is to goof off, show some skin and let the crowd recover after Edge, Christian, the Hardyz and the Dudleyz blew the roof off the place. To win you have to execute a Stinkface. Al Snow is in Kat’s corner, since Perry Saturn accompanies Terri.
Kat (who is rocking one hell of a camel toe) hits a body slam and goes for an early stinkface, only for Saturn to pull Terri to safety. Snow shoves her back in, allowing Kat to hit one of the worst spears you’ll ever see. That’s followed by an equally awful Bronco Buster. Saturn saves Terri from another stinkface as he shoves poor Kat into the canvas. Terri hits a dreadful bulldog then tries to rub her vagina into Kat’s face for no apparent reason. Kat grabs Head from Snow and delivers the stinkface to win the match at 03:04
Rating - DUD - I gave them the benefit of the doubt at Wrestlemania because they served their purpose well, and the outside interventions from Moolah and Mae Young were oddly entertaining. Al Snow and Perry Saturn weren’t anywhere near as fun as the old gals, this one dragged and was really quite unappealing. If I needed to see girls rub their asses and crotches in each others face I’d be using the internet for drastically different things other than reviewing wrestling shows I can assure you.
Undertaker vs Kane
Kane randomly turned on Undertaker on Raw a couple of weeks before this show. There wasn’t too much of a reason for it, so I like to think the writers were actually poking fun at themselves when they sent Kane out to justify it with a simple ‘because I am…a MONSTER’ line which would otherwise have been goofy as hell. I never particularly enjoy matches between these two, and this one is pretty notorious for not being very good. Anyway, Undertaker is coming for revenge since Kane has chokeslammed him through the ring and busted him open with a chair on recent television shows.
They start fighting during Kane’s entrance and a bell sounds (remember that) whilst they’re out there. Undertaker seems to be going for his brother’s mask which doesn’t go down well at all. Kane goes for a chair to fight him off, which turns out to be a bad call as the American Badass takes it from him to bat him across the spine. He rips a chunk of Kane’s mask off then takes evasive action as he takes a swing at him with the ring steps. Kane nearly knocks himself out clattering into the ringpost whilst brandishing the steps…then any mental function he has left is waffled out of him as Taker throws another set of steps right into his face. Kane is bleeding but somehow manages to nail Undertaker in the balls. The Phenom no sells that to spear him down again throwing more right hands. The mask is barely staying on Kane’s face now…so Taker rips it off! Kane walks out, and Taker’s music starts to play at 06:22…so I guess this match is a no contest?
Rating - DUD - To be fair to these guys, this wasn’t as bad as I remembered. Some of their brawling was pretty dynamic and looked extremely brutal. Sadly (and they’re not the only ones this evening) they were really let down by the shambolic booking of this. Their categorically, definitely, undisputedly WAS an opening bell, making the finish look incredibly retarded. Just because he didn’t lose, having Kane get his ass kicked and his mask ripped off still makes the Big Red Machine look very week in comparison to Undertaker (something he’s spent his whole career battling), and without a definitive victory Undertaker doesn’t look great either. I’m guessing Taker was having health issues at this time as this was the third ppv since his return where he was extremely protected (he worked a 6-man at King Of The Ring, and has worked two extremely brief singles matches).
In his locker room Kurt is rocking an old school cellphone and smirks as he starts dialling a number. Inevitably we cut to the McMahon-Helmsley locker room right afterwards. Stephanie is psyching HHH up to ‘destroy Rocky’…when her phone rings. ‘Oh hi…MOM’ – oh how we laughed.
The Rock vs Kurt Angle vs Triple H – WWF Title Match
Why can’t a guy and a girl be ‘just friends’ I ask you!? The HHH/Stephanie/Kurt love triangle was extremely fun at the time, and a very novel way to keep HHH in a prominent position, help elevate an up and coming talent like Kurt and keep him away from the WWF Championship. Sadly that position didn’t work with a Summerslam main event to sell. Putting Jericho and Benoit in main events at a ‘lesser ppv’ like Fully Loaded is one thing, but not for Summerslam. WWF needed buyrates, and with very few other options (despite a loaded midcard, if Undertaker isn’t fully fit then your established main event talent is pretty much Kane, HHH and Rock) Trips needed to go after The Rock again. Can he overcome his nemesis, or will his head be taken out of the game by the thorn in his side that is the Olympic gold medallist? I’m not sure if it’s to the credit or the detriment of the writing team – but in many ways HHH vs Kurt is the draw here. The Rock and the WWF Title just happen to be there too
Kurt comes out and refuses to apologise for kissing Stephanie, which certainly doesn’t impress HHH. He storms to the ring and attacks Angle, beating him all around the ring. The Rock is nowhere to be seen, and with no bell this brawl is entirely extra-curricular. The fight spills to the outside and onto the Spanish Announce Table. Hunter sets up for the Pedigree…BUT THE TABLE BUCKLES UNDER THEM! Kurt’s face hits the concrete floor with a splat and he is OUT! His eyes are open but he clearly has no idea what is happening. HHH has to restrain him and put him in the recovery position, and it’s clearly time for The Rock to get out here. Right on cue the champ arrives, confronted with the site of a fired up HHH standing in the middle of the ring wielding a sledgehammer. Angle is out it seems, so once again it’s Rocky and Triple H squaring off for the WWF Championship. Doctors are attending to Kurt, who still doesn’t seem to have a clue where he is even as Rock and Hunter brawl right past him. HHH hotshots Rock into the top rope causing him to bounce to the floor in a heap…then he turns and sprints down the aisle chasing the EMT’s as they stretcher Kurt away. He takes a few cheap shots at the semi-conscious former Olympian then tries to knock out his other opponent with a Pedigree on the floor. Rock counters that with a catapult into the Summerslam set! Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley is out helping the paramedics stretcher Angle away whilst the fight for the belt goes back towards the ring. HHH isn’t happy she’s out here but quickly orders her to go and get the WWF Title belt. SHE ACCIDENTALLY NAILS HER HUSBAND WITH IT!
Rock goes after Stephanie now, causing him to be low blowed by a woozy Triple H. He then blasts Rocky in the ribs with the sledgehammer! It was a cheap shot (even in a No DQ environment) but it opens up an injury and HHH is smart enough to know he needs to capitalise on it by working those ribs hard. There are multiple knees and punches to the midsection, then he picks Rock up and body slams him into the ringpost. Even when the champ does put some punches together HHH is able to cut off his momentum with a single shot to the stomach. It’s over-confidence that finally does for Triple H, as he tries a dive from the top rope only to be caught and countered with a superplex. Both men are down after that, and back in the locker room Stephanie has managed to rouse Kurt from his stretcher to an ambulance to ‘help HHH’?? In the ring Rocky lands a belly to belly suplex, but again is slow to follow up such is the damage that inflicts to his own ribs. Sure enough, Stephanie McMahon appears in the aisle dragging Angle back into the contest. He trips Rock…causing him to collapse into the PEDIGREE! ANGLE BREAKS THE FALL! He tosses the Game into the steel steps and tries to steal the pin for himself! ROCK KICKS OUT! I have no idea how Kurt is out here wrestling, and he even hits a perfect belly to belly suplex on Rocky for another 2-count. He punches at Rock’s ribs…only for Rocky to plant him right on his head with a DDT! Angle accidentally knocks HHH off the apron…ROCK BOTTOM ON ANGLE! HHH SAVES! Stephanie slides the sledgehammer into the ring, but Kurt grabs it and tries to use it on HHH! HELMSLEY ACCIDENTALLY PUNCHES HIS WIFE! ANGLE NAILS HHH WITH THE SLEDGEHAMMER! PEOPLE’S ELBOW ON HHH! Rock retains at 20:09
Rating - **** - Call me crazy, but despite all the adversity Kurt’s injury threw at them that was a tremendously entertaining main event. A lot of the credit has to go to Triple H who held it together as things fell apart around him. He looked out for Angle’s well-being when the knocked-out Kurt was flailing around like a wildman, he quarterbacked a basic yet solid sequence with Rocky which kept the crowd interested whilst Angle was in the back – and was then at the heart of all the sports-entertainment, completely OTT love triangle drama which the crowd absolutely lapped up at the end. This is the kind of thing only the WWF can get away with, (and even then, they get it wrong far more than they get it right) but the HHH/Stephanie/Angle thing was hot and it made for a gripping Summerslam main event. And if anything, the story they wound up telling made perfect sense. HHH was furious at Angle for kissing his wife, so knocked him the f*ck out of the match before it even started. He then got to go after the ‘most important thing in his life’ (the WWF Championship) and beat up his perennial nemesis The Rock…and in the end ultimately lost when he got distracted with all the drama of his wife and her suitor. Certainly not a workrate classic, but I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
The Rock leaves celebrating his victory, but all eyes are on the ring where Kurt Angle has scooped up Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley…and carries her away with HHH still knocked out from the hammer shot
Tape Rating - *** - I think this show was a real celebration of exactly how good a roster the WWF had at this time. The workers had all manner of bad circumstances thrown at them (mostly bad booking it has to be said) but there were still so many examples of the wrestlers working hard to make the best out of the hand they’d been dealt. Benoit and Jericho would have preferred more time to work a 2/3 Falls Match, but still beat the hell out of each other in what time they had. Was booking an inter-gender tag match for the IC Title the brightest idea? Possibly not but Guerrero, Venis…and even Chyna and Trish were throwing themselves around the ring and bumping like crazy to do their best with it. I bet Tazz didn’t enjoy putting Jerry Lawler (and JR) over on one of the ‘big four’ ppvs, but he certainly used this feud to showcase more of his personality than people who’d not seen him in ECW had ever seen before. I can’t imagine the Hardyz, the Dudleyz or Edge & Christian were delighted when they found out they’d only been given 15-minutes for their TLC Match, but they busted out quite possibly the greatest spotfest of all time. Kurt Angle getting knocked out before the main event even starts? Again – no problem for Rock and HHH who made do with what they had. I won’t lie and say it’s an all-time great Summerslam because it obviously wasn’t. Most of the show is made up of short, forgettable filler matches that were forgotten as soon as they’d finished. But I do think it’s worth pointing out how damn hard everyone was working out there. And with the awesome TLC Match, the utter soap opera of a main event plus another strong Jericho/Benoit outing this definitely wound up being a decent ppv.
Top 3 Matches
3) Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho (***)
2) The Rock vs Kurt Angle vs Triple H (****)
1) Edge & Christian vs Dudley Boyz vs Hardy Boyz (*****)