WWF SummerSlam (August 2001)

From San Jose, California; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Paul Heyman

Opening WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Lance Storm v Edge: They trade waistlocks to start, and Edge wins a criss cross with a flapjack. Dropkick and a clothesline put the champ on the outside, and Edge takes the fight to him out there. Edge with a flying bodypress on the way back in for two, but Lance counters a vertical suplex with a forward version across the top rope. And, ugh, I still hate that stupid SummerSlam logo that looks like they're trying to sell me a bag of Skittles. What was so wrong with the old school one anyway? Storm with a kneelift for two, but a second try gets him cradled for two, so Lance punishes him with a forward-falling suplex for two. He keeps after the abdomen by driving a series of knees, but Edge counters the Maple Leaf with an inside cradle for two. Storm knocks him in the ribs again to cutoff a comeback, and blocks a crucifix with a rolling fireman’s carry slam for two. Abdominal stretch, but Edge escapes, and powerslams him. Edge with a series of clotheslines and a backdrop, followed by a spinheel kick for two. Storm tries to stop the comeback with a chincrusher, but takes the Edge-o-Matic for two. Sitout powerbomb gets two, but Lance manages to sucker him into the Maple Leaf. Edge struggles for the ropes and reverses (into a shitty one, too), but Storm escapes, so Christian runs in - only to spear Edge by accident! That gets Lance a dramatic two count, so Lance decides to superkick him into oblivion - only for Edge to counter into the Impaler for the title at 11:18. Psychologically fine for the most part, but all the abdomen work didn't build to anything or go anywhere. * ½

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Test and The Dudley Boyz v Spike Dudley and The Acolytes: I don't care how many years it's been, it's still super weird to see Nick fucking Patrick refereeing a WWF match. D-Von starts with Faarooq and controls, but walks into a spinebuster. Bradshaw and Test tag in, and of course, Bradshaw controls. I still don't get the appeal of that guy, how he got to the level he did a few years later (and for as long as he did), and why we still have to suffer him on commentary. Plus, by most accounts, he's not a very nice guy behind the curtain either. Like, seriously, never has anyone done more with less. Spike comes in a cradles D-Von for two, but ends up getting caught in a tree of woe from Bubba, and it's heat segment time! Tag to Bradshaw for a barn of fire, and Test takes the Clothesline from Hell, but suddenly Shane McMahon decides to run out and whack Bradshaw with a chair - Test scoring the fall over it at 7:19. Didn't need to see it on pay per view, but I guess into every life a little filler must fall. ¼*

WWF Light Heavyweight Title v WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Tajiri v X-Pac: Why even bother doing a title versus title match with two WWE guys? I mean, you just bought WCW AND ECW in the same year. How hard is it to book dream matches? This is also during the weird period where X-Pac actually thought it would be even remotely appropriate not to wear a shirt in the ring. X-Pac wins a reversal sequence with an armdrag, and dominates a test-of-strength, but Tajiri wrestles him down for a quick standing moonsault for two. Another reversal sequence ends with X-Pac on the floor via a rana, and Tajiri follows with a baseball slide and a springboard moonsault out there. Back in, Tajiri walks into a spinkick, and X-Pac capitalizes by slapping on a surfboard. Sitout powerbomb gets two, but a bronco buster attempt gets him caught in a tree of woe, and Tajiri baseball slides him. Handspring elbow gets two, and the Tarantula wears X-Pac down, but he manages to roll through a flying bodypress for two. X-Pac goes up to capitalize, but Tajiri brings him down for this complex cradle (sort of resembling a gedo clutch cradle, but not exactly), and then sends him into the corner with a slingshot to setup a bridging German suplex for two. X-Pac manages to superkick him out of the ring for a somersault plancha, and inside, he adds the X-Factor for two - Tajiri kicking out into a cradle for two. X-Pac spinkicks him, but a powerbomb is blocked, so Albert hops up onto the apron to distract Tajiri, and a second X-Factor finishes at 7:34. A few awkward portions, but solid overall, with strong effort by both men. ** ½  

Chris Jericho v Rhyno: Rhyno wins a slugfest at the bell, and tries a standing side-headlock, but takes a bodypress during a criss cross, and Chris chops him. Rhyno tries tossing him, but Jericho hangs on and hits a flying axehandle, followed by a spinheel kick for two. Walls, but Rhyno rakes the eyes - only to get backdropped out as he charges. Chris with a springboard dropkick, but Stephanie McMahon hooks his ankle as he tries a flying bodypress to the floor, and Rhyno spears him on the way down. That leaves both guys dead for a little bit, with Stephanie hilariously golf clapping to motivate Rhyno. It works, I guess, as he rolls Chris in for two, then forward suplexes him across the top rope for good measure. Bodyscissors wears Jericho down, and an airplane spin into a cutter is worth two. That would actually make for a cool finisher for one of the interchangeable midcard geeks on the roster these days. Bow-and-arrow, but Chris fights free, and cradles for two. Rhyno cuts him off with a vertical suplex, but a flying splash misses, and Chris fires off a hangman’s clothesline. Backslide gets two, and a pair of shoulderblocks set up an ugly springboard moonsault press for two. Jericho with a 2^nd rope dropkick, but Stephanie distracts the referee to prevent a count, so Chris kisses her. Well, that'll learn her. Bulldog sets up the lionsault for two, but Rhyno blocks a short-clothesline with a spinebuster, and slaps on an elevated crab to add insult to injury. Jericho makes the ropes (would it have killed them to let him reverse them with the old 'he's a master of the hold and therefore knows the counters' bit?), and hits an enzuigiri, but walks into a belly-to-belly suplex. Gore, but Chris sidesteps him, and slaps on the Walls for the submission at 11:47. A few sloppy bits from Jericho, but otherwise solid, psychologically sound, and well paced. ** ¼

WWF Hardcore Title Ladder Match: Jeff Hardy v Rob Van Dam: They trade hammerlocks to start, but a reversal sequence leads to a stalemate. Oh, who are you guys kidding? Get to the spots! Jeff blocks a dropkick and drops a leg downstairs, so Rob tries backdropping him out, but Jeff hangs on, and hiptosses his challenger. He follows with a springboard corkscrew bodyblock, but a flying splash out there misses, and Van Dam quickly hits a draping legdrop on the rail, then goes for the ladder. Jeff knocks it out of his hands with the rail running dive spot, and brings it in himself, but Rob seesaws it into his head to stop the effort. Rob goes for it, but Jeff ups the ante by seesawing it into his other head, then hits a springboard-slingshot moonsault onto him. Rob blocks a cross corner charge and hangs him in a tree of woe, then pulls him down for Rolling Thunder onto the ladder. Why bother pulling him down, though? Why not just leave him hanging in the tree, and climb? Well, whatever, it was a cool sequence regardless. Van Dam with a spinkick and a superkick to leave Hardy sprawled out on the ladder, and he slingshot legdrops him. Rob goes for the ladder, but Jeff baseball slides it into his face, and steals it away - climbing. Van Dam stops him with a flying kick to knock him off the ladder, then covers Jeff over with the ladder, and cartwheels his way into a standing moonsault onto it. Oh, Rob. You and your ridiculous flippy-floppy bullshit. He climbs, but Hardy cuts it off by missile dropkicking the ladder, and goes for the Swanton, but RVD rolls out of the way. He quickly tries to capitalize with the Five-Star Frogsplash, but Hardy rolls out of the way of THAT, and decides to simply climb instead of trying something high risk. Good deal. Van Dam climbs the other side for a foot race, and we have a fight atop the ladder - RVD winning by vertical suplexing the champ down. Ouchkibibles. Rob climbs, but now Jeff follows his up for another battle atop the ladder - this one going Hardy's way with a crazy sunsetbomb. That was some insane shit, yo. Jeff climbs, and actually grabs the belt, but Rob pulls the ladder away to leave him hanging - a nasty fall awaiting him should be unsnap it. Rob swings him up there for fun, and tries to flying spinheel kick him down, but he can't make the height, and splats. Hardy falls anyway - sans belt - but rushes back up. Van Dam tips the ladder over to stop him, and makes a climb himself to snag the belt at 16:33. Sloppy at points, but fun, and totally delivered what you'd want out of this - minus a proper finish. *** ½

WWF Tag Team Title v WCW World Tag Team Title: Cage Match: Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon v The Brothers of Destruction: Here's another goofy one, as the WCW guys have the WWF belts, and the WWF guys have the WCW belts. Seriously, what was WITH Vince in 2001? Of all people in wrestling, you'd think HE'D know how to book this angle in his sleep. Kane and The Undertaker toss both guys around at will, so Dallas blows Undertaker low and rams him into the cage a couple of times, then clotheslines him for two. 'Taker quickly cuts that off with a big boot, and they switch dance partners. The Brothers continue to toss them around like jobbers, but Undertaker goes for one big boot too many, and walks into a leg lariat from Kanyon, followed by a DDT from Dallas. Page and Kanyon climb, but the Brothers stereo zombie sit-up, and pull DDP back down. Kane goes to do the same to Kanyon, but Undertaker orders him to let Kanyon escape the cage, thus allowing the Brothers to properly squash Dallas. You know, as opposed to the whole match thus far, which was just half-assed squashing. They completely destroy poor DDP without breaking a sweat, and the Last Ride finishes him at 10:13. Really dull, punchy-kicky match. You'd think a WWF versus WCW match (with actual WWF and WCW guys this time), with actual stakes, and in a cage would be a gimme as a draw, but you'd be wrong. DUD

WWF Title Match: Steve Austin v Kurt Angle: Angle attacks Austin in the aisle to get things started, but Stone Cold out brawls him. Inside, but Kurt grabs him in a takedown, and unloads on the mat with mounted punches. Into the corner, they trade chops, and Kurt levels him with a lariat, then hits a bodypress for two. He telegraphs a backdrop to allow Austin to take him down, and Steve goes after the knee with a spinning-toehold, but Angle counters into the Anklelock - Steve grabbing the ropes, then bailing. Kurt chases, but the knee slows him down, and Austin manages to clothesline him. Back in, Kurt shows some fire, so Austin responds by backdropping his ass right back out - over the top. Heh. In again, Steve snap suplexes him three times for two, but Kurt counters a fourth into a three-alarm rolling German suplex. Austin tries to escape, so Kurt adds four more alarms. Wow, that can't be good for Austin's neck. Olympic Slam, but Steve blocks, and clips the knee to slow Kurt down, then superplexes him for good measure. He doesn't even bother covering, rather baiting Kurt into the Stunner - and that only gets two. Another one knocks Angle out of the ring, and Austin follows to bash his head into the ringpost - busting him open. Steve gives him two more trips into it, then decides to use the title belt to finish things, but the referee steals it away, so Austin just goes back to posting him - adding two more. That was just brutal, and Kurt's selling of the beating (along with gory bladejob) were magnificent. Inside, all that still only gets two. Yeah, and if you thought he was upset before, now he's just plain pissed. Steve tosses his carcass back outside for yet another trip into the post, but Kurt blocks a slam onto the announce table by shoving Austin into the crowd. Kurt has nothing to follow-up with, however, and Steve grabs him for a vertical suplex into the audience! He tosses Kurt back over the rail, but takes too long following, and Kurt catches him in an Anklelock ON the rail as he climbs back over! Wild! Another great spot immediately follows, as even in his dazed state, Kurt realizes he can't win the title on the floor, so he DRAGS Austin up the ring steps in the hold (IN THE HOLD!) and into the center of the ring. Just awesome stuff here. Stone Cold grabs the ropes to break, and rolls back out to the floor to regroup, but Kurt staggers after him - overhead suplexing him out there, then immediately adding a side suplex. Man, they're not holding back, are they? Kurt rolls him in for a flying moonsault for two, and a reversal sequence ends in Austin applying a cobra clutch - only for Angle to channel Bret Hart, run the ropes, and turn it into a cradle for two. He didn't do it quite as well as the Hitman used to, but still. Austin is prepared for the counter, however, and hangs onto the clutch like a pit bull after getting the shoulder up. Kurt fades, but manages to fall into the ropes to shake Austin loose, but Kurt is too battered to follow-up, and Stone Cold Stunner's him... for two. Kurt uses Austin's own tights to pull himself up and tell him to bring it, so Steve decides to punish him with another Stunner - only for Angle to counter into the Olympic Slam for another dramatic two. Kurt with a DDT for two, so Austin blows him low to stop the onslaught. The referee objects, so Austin Stuns him, and goes out to snag the title belt. Another referee runs in to object, so Steve smacks him with the belt instead - allowing Angle to sneak up with another Olympic Slam. No referee, however, so WCW Official Nick Patrick runs in... and disqualifies Austin for all the referee abuse at 22:31. Terrible (and I mean terrible) overbooked  non-ending aside, this was easily one of the best matches I've ever seen. Non-stop pace and drama for over twenty minutes, with hard hitting spots and visual touches like Austin's brilliant facial expressions throughout, and magnificent psychology - not to mention, avoiding mindless brawling to fill time. Twenty-two minutes they didn't even LOOK at the entrance set, and all the announce tables are still intact! **** ½

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Booker T v The Rock: Rock takes it right to him right closed fists, but stops to go chases Shane McMahon around the ring, and gets clobbered - but quickly recovers with a Samoan drop for two. Booker fires back with a quick kneelift and unloads chops in the corner, but walks into a clothesline coming off the ropes, and Rock hooks a magistral cradle for two. Booker with the Harlem sidekick for two, and they spill to the outside for Booker to crotch his challenger on the rail. They fight into the crowd for a bit - with Booker controlling - as Shane works to remove a turnbuckle pad. Back into the ring, Booker hits a short-clothesline and a kneedrop for two, and nails him with a diving forearm to cutoff a potential comeback. Chinlock, but Rock starts to escape, so Booker shifts into a bow-and-arrow, but Rock escapes into a spinebuster anyway, and shifts into a sharpshooter. Shane hops onto the apron so Rock breaks the hold to deal with him - allowing Booker to superkick him for two. Rock fires back with a short-clothesline and a slingshot into the exposed buckle, then drops him with a DDT for two. Shane decides to take matters into his own hands, and clobbers Rock with the title belt, so the Acolytes come back down and put him out of commission. The damage is done, however, and Booker grabs Rock in the BookEnd (called the 'Rock Bottom' by JR, and quickly corrected by Heyman), but it's only enough for two. See, because they're inferior. Not blacks, of course, WCWs. Rock comes back with a jumping clothesline and an overhead suplex for two, and a spinebuster sets up the Peoples Elbow for two when Shane stops the count. Rock gives McMahon a Rock Bottom on the floor (if you want a job done right...), but walks into a spinebuster from the champ as he comes back in to finish. Axekick, but he takes too long to cover, and Rock Bottoms him at 15:19. Well, this was for the WCW Title, and the match fittingly had a strong WCW vibe. That's not an insult, necessarily, but compared to the WWF Title match, this was definitely a letdown, and felt like it would have been at home on a 2000 WCW pay per view. *

BUExperience: Honestly, Austin/Angle is enough to carry this show on its back alone, but along with a solid undercard, and historical significance up the wazoo, this is an easy winner. Sure, the WCW Title match wasn’t very good, and sure the Cage match was total garbage, but in total that was, what, twenty five minutes of wrestling? The good easily outweighs the bad here, and the WWF Title match is a must see

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