Best Summerslam of the new Millenium

[Shocky]

Alrighty, we are several weeks away from what typical is the best wrestling pay per view of the year. Wrestlemania is more for the show and big name matches, Summerslam typically has the best wrestling matches of the year, without the sizzle.

Same as the July Pay per view threads, figure we would look back at what has been a pretty decent pay per view throughout the years. Quick recap of the big 3 matches of the night on each pay per view.

Summerslam 2000:
WWF Championship Match: The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Kurt Angle
The Undertaker vs. Kane
TLC for the WWF World Tag Team championship: The Dudley Boyz vs. the Hardy Boyz vs. Edge and Christian.

Summerslam 2001:
WCW Championship Match: The Rock vs. Booker T.
WWF Championship Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle
WWF Hardcore Championship Ladder Match: Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy

Summerslam 2002:
WWF Undisputed Championship: The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar
Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels
Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Summerslam 2003:
World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber: Triple H vs. Goldberg vs. Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Kevin Nash
WWE Championship: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar
US Championship: Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit vs. Tajiri vs. Rhyno

Summerslam 2004:
WHC: Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton
WWE Championship: JBL vs. the Undertaker
Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero

Summerslam 2005:
Shawn Michaels vs. Hulk Hogan
Ladder Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero
Edge vs. Matt Hardy

Summerslam 2006:
WWE Championship: Edge vs. John Cena
D-X vs. the McMahons
Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Orton


Summerslam is typically a fucking stacked card, and my personal favorite pay per view of the year. I will be getting the anthology, if, and only if, Chris Benoit is not edited out, which is just a ridiculous idea that they are even contemplating that.

Vote and give reasons.

 

[Bentallica]

SS '06-I was there and all the matches were put on well, besides Orton vs Hogan. DX vs the McMahons was good, and the WWE Title match was decent. The undercard was great, with the I Quit match being my highlight of the night.

 

[Da Vinci's Nightmare]

It's a tough choice between SS 05 or SS 00, both were awsome. SS00 had a TLC match, and every TLC match has bin awsome! but SS05 had Micheals vs Hogan, which I though was a fantastic match and the Edge vs Hardy Match were very good, so for that reason, I will go with SS 05

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Summerslam 2002.

We saw a well put together passing of the torch in the Rock vs Brock match, and of all the pre-match vignettes I have seen, looking at the training each man went through was awesome. Seeing Lesnar jump into a tub of ice water after his workout made people think - this guy has arrived. Plus, the clean win made it all the more of an important moment.

HHH vs Michaels is quite possible the greatest friend/enemy/friend story of wrestling history, and this SummerSlam match was among the best of all time. Told a great story, fantastic action.

Summerslam '02 also proved how you didn't have to throw a championship or stipulation on each match to make it, as Shock said, a "stacked card." Just a decent story is all it took, along with solid in-ring workers.

 

[Mr.Kennedy]

I agree, I think that 2000 was the best WHOLE card....but when I look back, it seems like the match's are getting worse in a way, or maybe it was just the DX vs McMahons that ruined it for me....Not only that but It was that PPV that I first saw actually, The TLC match was amazing...the match that probobly got me most into wrestling....

 

[Doubleg60]

I was at Summer Slam 01 and the highlight for me was Kurt Angle vs. Stone Cold, spectacular match and would have been even better if it had a clean finish with a pinfall or submission, not that 3 referees get knocked out and then the WCW referee disqualies Austin garbage finish they did, that was stupid.


Triple H vs. Shawn was a classic, matter of fact I just watched that one last week. I agree it told a great story, I remember watching it on pay per view that year, and I don't think I was ever into a match more, than I was for this one. Those two men made the most hardcore, but realistic wrestling fan, believe to extent that it was real. That's the kind of work they put into that story line. Beautifully done.


Rey vs. Kurt was a classic and the best opening match I seen at Summer Slam in a long time.

Eddie vs. Benoit vs. Rhyno vs. Tajiri another classic. I gotta find that Summe Slam so I can watch that one.

The Randy Orton Match against Christ Benoit another classic. I truly believe it is an omen for Randy. Despite his attitude outside the ring, if he can beat Chris Benoit clean, and Benoit was one of the best, there's no doubt he could beat Cena this year.

My favorite Summer Slam match of the 2000's is Shawn Michaels vs. Hulk Hogan. I gotta say, Shawn carried the match. Usually it's Hogan fighting people bigger than him and he is carrying them, but Shawn owned Hogan in this match. Just my opinion.

 

[triple m]

I was at 05, Eddie and rey, Benoit winning the us title in under 25 seconds, Cena vs jericho, Orton vs Taker was hot, Cowboy bob making his presence known, and when hogan pined micheals The crowd was split, great show

 

[Mexican Geek]

I gotta say, Shawn carried the match. Usually it's Hogan fighting people bigger than him and (1)he is carrying them, but (2)Shawn owned Hogan in this match. Just my opinion.

1) Hogan carrying who..........??
2) any day of the week, with a hand back-tied



Anyway, may favorite: summerslam 2002.
Reasons:
How in the hell can we mention Summerslam 02 without highlighting Benoit vs RVD for the IC belt?? The match was great from bebbining to end, and instead of only listing what happened, you better buy the DVD and see this CLASSIC.
The rest of the card was pretty good: Rock vs Lesnar for the Undisputed belt... OMG, you could feel the crowd roaring before the Rock ran onto the ring to start a great fight. Lesnar delivered very well and i feel that this match gave him the "final touch" he needed.

Triple H vs HBK: what can i say, two of my favorites wrestlers and one move could resume what i thought of this match: HBK flying elbow from the top turnbuckle.... absolutely INSANE.

Jericho vs Flair was Ok, but not that great though. Flair with the chop-fest and a F4LL for the win.meh.

Kurt vs Rey:Your typical Rey match:TNA!! and you add Kurt Angle to the mix, Voila!! you got a great, great opener match.

The crowd played a important role here: The new yorkers were screamin like there were no tomorrow, i really enjoyed all the atmosphere, plus the great matches.

 

[WWEIsLife]

Im going to with Summerslam 2000 first because the Card from Top to Bottom was stacked. Fantastic WWF Title Match with The Rock,HHH,and Kurt Angle,TLC 1 off the page,Decent Undertaker/Kane Match with Kane's Mask getting pulled off,Good Hardcore Title Match with Blackman & Shane plus the two insane spots with those two and the Undercard was good too. That would be followed by in this Order for Best Summerslam of this Era:

2002,2006,2001,2005,2004,2003

 

[hbk&triple h]

Summerslam 2000:WE had a weak lower card but an amazing mid card and upper card.

Shane vs. Blackman:Thank god for the stipulation because Blackman sucks but this was not what I expected out of it and the only memorable thing was the end.

TLC 1:Absolutely and utterly amazing.This match blew me away more than the match at Wrestlemania.It was violent through and through.

2 out of 3 Falls:God Jericho and benoit had amazing matches and this proves my point further.

Kane vs. Undertaker:They had ana amazing rivalry and you would think it would have been good but it wasn't.Basically the whole match was punching and trying to get the mask off of him.

Triple Threat:This match was really good and the botched beginning is amazing.
Great card but didn't deliver as much.

Summerslam 2001:This card looked fairly good but wasn't good.
IC Championship:God damn these two are amazing and had a great match up.

Hardcore Ladder Match:This match was great and had great spots but honestly was too short.

Stone Cold and Angle:This match was very good and very entertaining.I enjoyed all of their encounters.

Booker T and Shane vs. Rock:This match was saved by Booker and had some humor in it.It was very fun.
Meh..this was an ok pay per view.

Summerslam 2002:The best Summerslam with only one match that didn't deliver.
Kurt Angle vs. Rey:This match is Rey's best in my opinion.It was a hell of an opener and was just so fast paced.

Jericho vs. Flair:Chop fest galore.I actually enjoyed this match a lot.

Eddie vs. Edge:Another amazing match.

Chris vs. RVD:This is utterly amazing and just delivered in every department.

Street Fight:Best match on the card.Shawn was so amazing and shook off that ring rust like nothing.It was long and everything was perfect about it.

Main Event:It was a great main event and I was hoping there would be no interference.

Summerslam 2003isappointment for a solid card.
US Title:I enjoyed thos match a lot and all four men delivered.Enjoyable match.

Kurt vs. Brock:Good match yet again but nowhere close to their first encounter.Good chair spots.

Kane vs. RVD:Good rivalry but didn't deliver with the No DQ stipulation.Ok match.

Elimination Chamber:Not nearly as good as the first but this one still entertained.Wrong person won.Should have been someone other than HHH and Goldberg.

Summerslam 2004:Horrible event.
Eddie vs. Kurt:Woah, this match was so mediocre and the Wrestlemania match was so great.

JBL vs. Undertaker:Worst match of their fued.

Randy vs. Benoit:Great main event.

Summerslam 2005:Solid card, but ok ppv.
Edge vs. Hardy:Sooo short and expected much out of it.

Ladder Match:Stupid storyline.Too long of match.Slow at parts.Very very stiff.Very spotty.Some good spots.

Undertaker vs. Randyrobably the best match of the night.Not as good as Wrestlemania but still good.

JBL vs. Batista:Ughh.Both suck.

Jericho vs. Cena:I enjoyed this match and loved the crowd.

HBK vs. Hogan:HBK tried his best but couldn't pull anything out of Hogan and the wrong person won.

Summerslam 2006:Somewhat entertaing and above average.
Sabu vs. Big Show:Entertaining, very short, and spotty.

Hogan vs. Orton:Really bad match.

I Quit match:I love this match.Very Brutal.

DX vs. McMahons:Very very entertaining and Great spots.

King Booker vs. Batista:Worst match of the card.

Cena vs. Edge:One of those rare moment where Cena puts on a good match.

 

[The Wrestling Giant]

All of you are talking about SS 00,02,and 05 but you can't tell me that SS 04 is not at the top. You had 3 great main event quality matches, 2 that went 25 minutes and one that went 23 minutes, and all 6 wrestlers involved are probably going to be in the Hall Of Fame. How can you go against that???

 

[Y 2 Jake]

All of you are talking about SS 00,02,and 05 but you can't tell me that SS 04 is not at the top. You had 3 great main event quality matches, 2 that went 25 minutes and one that went 23 minutes, and all 6 wrestlers involved are probably going to be in the Hall Of Fame. How can you go against that???

04 was ok. It certainly wasn't a classic.

Paul London, Brian Kendrick & Rey Mysterio vs. The Dudleyz & Spike was ok. Nobody cared about it though.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle was good but not memorable. Wasn't as good as there Mania match.

Taker vs. JBL was crap. Cheap finishes dont cut it at big shows.

Kane vs. Matt Hardy was fine. But again it wasn't anything special.

Batista vs. Edge vs. Chris Jericho was ok. Batista didn't deserve to be in the match though.

Eugene vs. HHH was fine. But what the fuck was Eugene doing at one of the biggest shows of the year?

And Benoit vs. Orton was good. But by no means a classic.

Sure it was a good show. But the only memorable elements were the Orton title victory and the crowds reactions to most of the matches. It is possibly one of the most forgettable cards of the past few years.

 

[Attack]

I liked the 2006 SS for one reason; the unpredictability. The WWE, World Heavyweight, and ECW Championships were all defended successfully. Also, everyone thought Cena would win the WWE Title back from Edge since the two ad been feuding all summer and SS was in Cena's hometown. But Edge still won. That in my opinion was what made 2006 SS great.

 

[wwe1581]

I'll go with SummerSlam 2000 Kurt was real funny back then with his 'why can't me and Stephanie just be friends' act i liked that a lot plus the TLC Match was amazing, Shane took a crazy fall in that Hardcore Match, plus the main event was solid

2001-Allaince vs. WWE was good to see Rock return to pay per view but there were some weak finishes to some matches

2002-close second, great event HBK and the Game had a classic battle, Rey vs. Angle was awesome also RVD vs. Beniot and Rock vs. Brock were solid

2003-Elimination Chamber Match kinda disappointed me wasn't bad just thought it coulda been better but Angle vs. Lesnar was a great match

2004-probably the worst wrestling crowd in history the only pop of the night was when Orton won the title the fans killed this event which would have been fairly good

2005-Good event just didn't see anything spectacular

2006-DX match and pre match was good i liked the hurdles they had to go threw to fight the McMahons and the I Quit was better than i expected considering the stage they are at in their careers

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Call me old fashioned, but I loved the invasion angle, so therefore.. Summerslam 2001 was my favorite out of the list. Several others had great matches, I'll list in a bit.. but this is mainly my take on SummerSlam 01.

The Matches:

Intercontinental Championship: Edge v. Lance Storm: Two of the best technical guys in the business, with the opening match. It was a solid back & forth match that could've went either way, especially with Christian's interference.

6 Man: Test, Dudleyz v. Spike, A.P.A.: One of the few 6-man tags that had a nice set up. This match was probably a filler on the card, but if something like this was a filler now.. it'd be better known as top quality. I loved everyone, except Spike back then. This was a good match for what its worth.

Cruiserweight/Light-Heavyweight Unification: X-Pac v. Tajiri: Minus the horrible gimmick/stable slapped with X-Pac, this was a solid match that many have forgotten about. I miss both men in today's business, & this match deserves more than what its every gotten.

Grudge Match: Chris Jericho v. Rhyno: Bar none, another great underrated match. Jericho has a way of carrying a lot of people he works with, but Rhyno had tons of talent back then, that some never gave him credit for. This was a solid feud match, all over Stephanie McMahon.

Hardcore Championship: Ladder Match: R.V.D. v. Jeff Hardy: Honestly, I'm saying it.. the ladder ruined this match. These two had a great showing at InVasion in a regular hardcore match, all the ladder did was make how the make ended one dimensional. These two could've had another great one-on-one single's hardcore match that did better, but it was still a nice way to make people think Hardy had a chance. (R.V.D. was almost bigger than the entire InVasion itself, so I doubt anyone thought Hardy would really win)

Unification Tag Team Championships: Steel Cage: Undertaker/Kane v. D.D.P./Kanyon: With Kanyon being the odd man out, this was a solid feud with Taker/D.D.P. & thats how it turned out. It was extremely one sided & a solid squash by Taker/Kane, but still somehow a great match.

W.W.F. Championship: Steve Austin v. Kurt Angle: Should've been the main event, but due to The Rock's return, it was over-shadowed. I'm sure the ending by DQ had something to do with it too. How many stunners did Angle take & still not go down? 3-4? Great match, but one too many rematches made me angry with this feud.

W.C.W. Championship: Booker T. v. The Rock: No offense to The Rock, but having him win the W.C.W. Championship was a joke. I'll give that if he was IN W.C.W. he would've been Champ, but having him be the guy to take it in W.W.F. was purely to shove a remaining nail in W.C.W.'s coffin. If you think about it, you never seen an InVasion (E.C.W.C.W.) guy take the W.W.F. Championship. Austin doesn't count, cause he was W.W.F. turned.

All in all, by far the better p.p.v. in my mind, with a top to bottom, SOLID line-up. Not a single bad match on the card.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Now I'll list my solid runners-up & why..

Summerslam 2000: Another top to bottom line-up, with a rocky start.. I loved the X-Pac/Roaddog match as one of the only under-card matches. T.L.C., Kane/Taker, Jericho/Benoit, Rock/HHH/Angle.. 4 Main Event matches that went greatly. Sure, the Taker/Kane match wasn't really a match, & the Main Event was more of a one-on-one with Angle coming in at the end, but still. 9/10 rating.

Summerslam 2002: Honestly, it was built around Rock leaving & H.B.K. coming back. The undercard kinda sucked. Flair/Jericho & Edge/Eddie Guerrero were the two solid undercard matches. I wasn't a fan of Booker/Goldust, Taker/Test wasn't exactly solid either. R.V.D./Benoit - somehow I can't even remember this match, so whats that say? Rock/Lesnar was way too predictable for a main event, & H.B.K./Triple H. should've been given the spot. By far, that was the match of the night for me.. as it was H.B.K.'s long awaited return.. a return that I really thought wouldn't happen. 7/10 rating - H.B.K./Triple H. sold me the p.p.v., but it wasn't enough to make me like the rest as a whole.

Summerslam 2003: W.W.E.'s line-ups since 01 kinda went downhill for S.S. p.p.v.'s. Taker v. A-Train?! So, WM is where Taker is dominate & Summerslam is where he builds a random jobber?! (slight wrestlers excluded) The 4-Way for the U.S. Championship was good, but could've went longer. Lesnar/Angle was solid, like always. Kane squashing R.V.D. wasn't great. & The Elimination Chamber should've been solid, but any match with Goldberg is a bust, as the little baby wants to be dominate in everything. THANKFULLY Triple H. won. 5/10 rating - Elimination Chamber & Angle/Lesnar sold it for me, but it was more of a let down.

Summerslam 2004: Decent undercard, nice build-up for everything. Cena/Booker was good, Edge/Jericho/Batista could've went longer, Kane/Matt Hardy was better than expected, & Orton/Benoit was a great shock-value finish. I didn't bother with HHH/Eugene as it was crap, Eddie Guerrero/Angle & J.B.L./Taker were overdone. 7/10 rating - Orton winning really re-sold me on believing anything is possible. Outside of that, not much can be said for this p.p.v. Still nicely put together.

Summerslam 2005: Another decently put together mid-card, that turned to crap before my eyes. Edge/Matt Hardy was overly done for the ending. Mysterio/Eddie Guerrero - how many times can you put Rey over & keep this feud going?! Angle/Eugene - again, how is Eugene on this p.p.v. against ANGLE?! Orton/Taker, Cena/Jericho, & H.B.K./Hogan were great. (yes, Hogan - but only due to H.B.K.) 8/10 rating - I can't stand that Hogan couldn't put H.B.K. over, & that Jericho couldn't win against Cena.. but overall, I loved the matches & this p.p.v. has nice replay value to me.

Summerslam 2006: First W.W.E. P.P.V. where all 3 major Championships were on the line. Big Show v. Sabu was a let down, Booker/Batista wasn't better & the only thing that sold me was Edge retaining over Cena! Hogan proved why he should've retired long before this, as Orton had to carry the whole match, ORTON?! Foley/Flair in an I-Quit match with Melina being the outcome, crap.. but still nice. D-X v. McMahons, highly overrated & slap-stick at best. 7/10 rating - Edge winning made me as happy as ever, but it was only slightly lived as I knew they wouldn't let Edge stay Champ. Hogan/Orton was a huge let down for what it should've been. D-X/McMahons Unforgiven HIAC should've been here.