 |
| The first of many classics from Rey in WWE Photo Credit: WWE.com |
SummerSlam 2002 was a ridiculously stacked card that showcased the newly renamed WWE hitting on all cylinders. The card was full of great matches. A few of them were noteworthy in WWE history as the event marked the return of Shawn Michaels to active competition and Brock Lesnar’s first WWE Championship victory.
The opening match of the night also holds the distinction of being Rey Mysterio’s first appearance on a WWE pay-per-view, and it did not disappoint. Of course, as he was matched up against then walking Match of the Night Kurt Angle, he was given quite the opponent to shine with.
Before the bell even rang Mysterio blindsided Angle, jumping him from behind while the Olympian’s music was still playing throughout the arena. Rey’s attack came from the top rope with a springboard inverted headscissors that rocked Angle. Mysterio followed this up with a lightning fast legscissors-dropkick-monkey flip combo that had Angle reeling. Rey was moving at 100 miles per hour out of the gate and the tone was set for the sprint to follow.
I’ve always been a proponent of opening a show hot. WrestleMania X probably has the best opening match ever, and WWE generally does a good job of putting the right match at the start of the show. I’ve been surprised over the years that stealing the show in the opening contest on PPV hasn’t become more of a staple. Again, with a card as stacked as this one was it’s hard to say that Rey and Angle stole anything, but they worked as though they wanted to, and in the end, that’s what’s important.
After being thrown off his game at the start, Angle would make a strong comeback almost immediately, overpowering Rey and reversing an Irish whip, sending Mysterio to the corner chest-first for the Bret Hart bump. Angle wrapped him up immediately for a German, which Rey countered with a switch behind Angle, leading Kurt to grab Rey’s leg for an unconventional take down. Rey then kicked Angle off to the ropes, but Kurt sprung back towards his prone opponent flipping over his legs and trapped him in an ankle lock. Rey grabbed the ropes for an immediate break and the match reset.
It’s important to know at this point that all of the action just described happened in literally 30 seconds. It’s seriously the fastest, most insane start to a match I can recall off the top of my head. It certainly wasn’t 1996 anymore and Rey was just starting to show a little bit of mileage (although he’s still lean and much less bulky than he would become). If both guys weren’t at their physical peaks, they were damn close to it, and moving this quickly through the top of the match, they looked perfectly at ease and in top form. There was a smoothness to their interactions that didn’t feel at all forced or choreographed. It was just one of those right place/right time matchups where everything they were doing together just clicked.
Angle refused to let go of the ankle on the break so Rey started in with the forearms. Changing tactics, Angle tossed Mysterio into the air and the luchador countered with a backflip and lands on his feet. Angle responded with a charge, which sent him into the corner when Rey countered with a drop toe hold. Mysterio tried for a 619 too early and Angle easily avoided the move by bailing to the outside. Not content to simply catch his breath though, Kurt grabbed Rey by the boots and dragged him to the outside with authority. Michael Cole and Tazz are commentary and they name dropped Billy Kidman and the shame that his recent pinfall victory brought to Kurt Angle, which got a chuckle out of me 11 years later.
Done punishing Rey on the outside, Kurt tossed him back into the ring and put the boots to him before executing a stiffly perfect standing vertical suplex. Kurt’s crowd work here was tremendous and the arena was 100% into everything the guys were giving them. Angle’s strut around the ring exuded the smug, badass physical capabilities of a man who always kept them lurking just beneath the goofy veneer. However, when on display, they solidified the guy as a bona fide main eventer, which was insane at the time for a guy who was primarily working a comedy gimmick. I mean, he was practically dressed as a cross between a superhero and a candy striper in this match, and it didn’t matter – he was still recognized as one of the baddest men in the building, no questions. Watching him at this stage of his career, particularly after his mostly forgettable run with TNA, I’m reminded of just how complete he was in those first five or six years. It’s easy to think that he could have been so much more had the WWE gone the way of Rock and Austin with him and made him a straight up ass kicker but to be honest, I think that it was the goofy persona that helped Angle become as big a star as he was in a company full of “serious business” personalities.
Back to the match, Kurt slugged Rey then sent him to the ropes. Rey kicked to counter Kurt’s telegraphed backdrop then stupidly attempted his Rube Goldberg bulldog only to eat a CRAZY German suplex from Angle. Rey wisely rolled to his belly to avoid the pin, but Angle hung on with a death grip. Rey grabbed the ropes to break, but Angle pounded away on his lower back, continuing the punishment. Rey suddenly swung around Kurt and rolled him up with sunset flip for a surprise two count.
Guys? This match was only two and a half minutes deep at this point. I know, right?
At this point Kurt decided that the feeling out process was over and drilled Rey with a nasty looking back breaker. He scored a two count as the match slowed down, just barely. After tying Mysterio up in the ropes, Angle drove a knee into his back, broke at the ref’s four count, then viciously did it again. The rabid hatred for Angle in the building was off the charts. Rey is still the new kid on the block in WWE, having made his debut less than a month prior, and Angle taking away his offense was the perfect booking to juice a hot Long Island crowd to start the show. While Mysterio was definitely a known quantity in the US at this point, he had been killing time since WCW ended, riding out the lucrative guaranteed contract that WWE wanted nothing to do with, spending time working in Mexico and some scattered indies. It had been over two years since he was a featured player on the national stage and the crowd at SummerSlam was amped to see him perform.
Much to the crowd’s chagrin, Angle continued his assault, measuring Mysterio in the corner and landing huge right hands. Finally Rey was able to duck out of the way and respond with some stinging forearms of his own. Angle would revisit his power advantage by sending Rey into the corner with an Irish whip, but Rey countered off the second rope with an attempt at another headscissors. Angle refused to budge, instead dropping Rey with a vicious side slam, which earned him a two count.
It was four minutes into the match before either guy would break out an honest to goodness rest hold in the form of Angle’s nasty looking single leg Lion Tamer, which made all kinds of sense as it kept up the pressure on Mysterio’s back and allowed the guys to reset as they prepared to go balls out to the finish. On top of all of this, the hold just looked legitimately painful – another little detail adding to a tremendously well-worked match.
Rey would reverse that hold into a small package for a two-count of his own, but Angle responded again, dropping his opponent with a stiff lariat. Angle’s aggression here was really something to behold. Every move has a purpose and there was little to no daylight showing at all. After another two-count Angle would rile the crowd up again, taunting Rey and continuing to rain down blows on him. Rey countered once again, this time hitting Angle with a jaw-jacker to cause some separation and followed up with more driving forearms.
Angle’s attempt to end another comeback by countering a sunset flip would flame out as he missed Rey with another heavy blow, hitting the canvas as Mysterio squirmed out of the way. However, Rey still hadn’t figured out how to take it to Angle without going to the ropes and Angle would cut him off again with a perfect belly-to-belly throw. Angle would pop up and immediately take down the straps on his singlet, bringing the crowd to its feet in unison. Kurt stalked Rey and set him up perfectly for the Angle Slam, only to eat the business end of an arm drag from Mysterio. More angry than hurt, Kurt made the reckless mistake of charging Rey, who ducked out of the way, leading Angle to crash over the top rope out of the ring.
Once outside, Angle would regroup and climb back on to the apron, only to have his feet kicked out from under him by a sliding Mysterio, knocking Kurt off the ring and giving him a mouth full of apron on the way down. Seeing his opponent stunned, Rey sprung off the ropes, but this time it would be the ref who would stop his momentum, stepping in front of Rey before he could launch an assault to the outside. The crowd was NOT PLEASED at this turn of events which would lead to an absolute explosion when Rey regrouped and delivered a perfect flipping senton to Angle on the outside after leapfrogging over the ref. This was a great spot, which like all great spots would get overplayed through the years, but it was perfect just to see the crowd out of their minds at this point.
Back in the ring, we had arrived at kitchen sink time. Mysterio used the top rope to deliver a springboard legdrop, gaining another two-count. Another Irish whip reversal sent Rey to the corner, but he leaped off the second rope and nailed a no-look jump onto Angle’s shoulders. Again, the smoothness of this match is just remarkable. I’ve seen that spot fail far more often than succeed, but here it not only succeeded, but it looks like something Rey improvised on the spot rather than the overly choreographed dance move requiring cooperation from both guys that is essentially was. Angle countered this by dropping Mysterio face first to the canvas and immediately locking in an Angle Lock. Mysterio, however, would quickly kick out, dropping Angle into position for the 619, which he would hit before nailing a picture perfect West Coast Pop. He could only muster a two count with Angle kicking out at the absolute last split second, causing the fans to lose it completely.
Still focused on the task at hand, Rey’s desperation started to show as he threw a strange spinning heel kick at Angle, dropping him to the mat once again. Not established as a main eventer by this point, Michael Cole conceded that a victory over Angle would indeed have been an upset for Mysterio. That said, he had looked every bit Angle’s equal here, and as far as WWE is concerned, he was made.
Rey took way too long climbing the ropes here which is all the opportunity Angle needed. The gold medalist made a charge for the corner, looking for a rope assisted belly to belly. However, Mysterio would dodge with a dive to the canvas and respond with a springboard dropkick, sitting Angle down on the top turnbuckle. Rey would climb again, looking to drop Angle with a top rope hurricanrana, but Angle slipped out of the headscissors in mid air and locked in a vice-like Angle Lock once both men hit the canvas. Rey would go for the ropes here, but at this point it was academic. Angle pulled Rey to the middle of the ring forcing him to submit.
And if you can find a more action packed ten minutes of high quality professional wrestling, I’d love to see it.
While this match wasn’t the start of Paul Heyman’s time as the lead booker for SmackDown, I think it served as a terrific mile marker for when things got REALLY good for the blue brand. Angle and Mysterio would go on to have about a million matches in the coming months, both as singles and in the triple threat tag team feud featuring all of the SmackDown Six. Some of those matches are even better than this one, but there is something to be said for being first, and this encounter certainly set a high bar for a very entertaining few months to follow.
The opening match of the night also holds the distinction of being Rey Mysterio’s first appearance on a WWE pay-per-view, and it did not disappoint. Of course, as he was matched up against then walking Match of the Night Kurt Angle, he was given quite the opponent to shine with.
Before the bell even rang Mysterio blindsided Angle, jumping him from behind while the Olympian’s music was still playing throughout the arena. Rey’s attack came from the top rope with a springboard inverted headscissors that rocked Angle. Mysterio followed this up with a lightning fast legscissors-dropkick-monkey flip combo that had Angle reeling. Rey was moving at 100 miles per hour out of the gate and the tone was set for the sprint to follow.
I’ve always been a proponent of opening a show hot. WrestleMania X probably has the best opening match ever, and WWE generally does a good job of putting the right match at the start of the show. I’ve been surprised over the years that stealing the show in the opening contest on PPV hasn’t become more of a staple. Again, with a card as stacked as this one was it’s hard to say that Rey and Angle stole anything, but they worked as though they wanted to, and in the end, that’s what’s important.
After being thrown off his game at the start, Angle would make a strong comeback almost immediately, overpowering Rey and reversing an Irish whip, sending Mysterio to the corner chest-first for the Bret Hart bump. Angle wrapped him up immediately for a German, which Rey countered with a switch behind Angle, leading Kurt to grab Rey’s leg for an unconventional take down. Rey then kicked Angle off to the ropes, but Kurt sprung back towards his prone opponent flipping over his legs and trapped him in an ankle lock. Rey grabbed the ropes for an immediate break and the match reset.
It’s important to know at this point that all of the action just described happened in literally 30 seconds. It’s seriously the fastest, most insane start to a match I can recall off the top of my head. It certainly wasn’t 1996 anymore and Rey was just starting to show a little bit of mileage (although he’s still lean and much less bulky than he would become). If both guys weren’t at their physical peaks, they were damn close to it, and moving this quickly through the top of the match, they looked perfectly at ease and in top form. There was a smoothness to their interactions that didn’t feel at all forced or choreographed. It was just one of those right place/right time matchups where everything they were doing together just clicked.
Angle refused to let go of the ankle on the break so Rey started in with the forearms. Changing tactics, Angle tossed Mysterio into the air and the luchador countered with a backflip and lands on his feet. Angle responded with a charge, which sent him into the corner when Rey countered with a drop toe hold. Mysterio tried for a 619 too early and Angle easily avoided the move by bailing to the outside. Not content to simply catch his breath though, Kurt grabbed Rey by the boots and dragged him to the outside with authority. Michael Cole and Tazz are commentary and they name dropped Billy Kidman and the shame that his recent pinfall victory brought to Kurt Angle, which got a chuckle out of me 11 years later.
Done punishing Rey on the outside, Kurt tossed him back into the ring and put the boots to him before executing a stiffly perfect standing vertical suplex. Kurt’s crowd work here was tremendous and the arena was 100% into everything the guys were giving them. Angle’s strut around the ring exuded the smug, badass physical capabilities of a man who always kept them lurking just beneath the goofy veneer. However, when on display, they solidified the guy as a bona fide main eventer, which was insane at the time for a guy who was primarily working a comedy gimmick. I mean, he was practically dressed as a cross between a superhero and a candy striper in this match, and it didn’t matter – he was still recognized as one of the baddest men in the building, no questions. Watching him at this stage of his career, particularly after his mostly forgettable run with TNA, I’m reminded of just how complete he was in those first five or six years. It’s easy to think that he could have been so much more had the WWE gone the way of Rock and Austin with him and made him a straight up ass kicker but to be honest, I think that it was the goofy persona that helped Angle become as big a star as he was in a company full of “serious business” personalities.
Back to the match, Kurt slugged Rey then sent him to the ropes. Rey kicked to counter Kurt’s telegraphed backdrop then stupidly attempted his Rube Goldberg bulldog only to eat a CRAZY German suplex from Angle. Rey wisely rolled to his belly to avoid the pin, but Angle hung on with a death grip. Rey grabbed the ropes to break, but Angle pounded away on his lower back, continuing the punishment. Rey suddenly swung around Kurt and rolled him up with sunset flip for a surprise two count.
Guys? This match was only two and a half minutes deep at this point. I know, right?
At this point Kurt decided that the feeling out process was over and drilled Rey with a nasty looking back breaker. He scored a two count as the match slowed down, just barely. After tying Mysterio up in the ropes, Angle drove a knee into his back, broke at the ref’s four count, then viciously did it again. The rabid hatred for Angle in the building was off the charts. Rey is still the new kid on the block in WWE, having made his debut less than a month prior, and Angle taking away his offense was the perfect booking to juice a hot Long Island crowd to start the show. While Mysterio was definitely a known quantity in the US at this point, he had been killing time since WCW ended, riding out the lucrative guaranteed contract that WWE wanted nothing to do with, spending time working in Mexico and some scattered indies. It had been over two years since he was a featured player on the national stage and the crowd at SummerSlam was amped to see him perform.
Much to the crowd’s chagrin, Angle continued his assault, measuring Mysterio in the corner and landing huge right hands. Finally Rey was able to duck out of the way and respond with some stinging forearms of his own. Angle would revisit his power advantage by sending Rey into the corner with an Irish whip, but Rey countered off the second rope with an attempt at another headscissors. Angle refused to budge, instead dropping Rey with a vicious side slam, which earned him a two count.
It was four minutes into the match before either guy would break out an honest to goodness rest hold in the form of Angle’s nasty looking single leg Lion Tamer, which made all kinds of sense as it kept up the pressure on Mysterio’s back and allowed the guys to reset as they prepared to go balls out to the finish. On top of all of this, the hold just looked legitimately painful – another little detail adding to a tremendously well-worked match.
Rey would reverse that hold into a small package for a two-count of his own, but Angle responded again, dropping his opponent with a stiff lariat. Angle’s aggression here was really something to behold. Every move has a purpose and there was little to no daylight showing at all. After another two-count Angle would rile the crowd up again, taunting Rey and continuing to rain down blows on him. Rey countered once again, this time hitting Angle with a jaw-jacker to cause some separation and followed up with more driving forearms.
Angle’s attempt to end another comeback by countering a sunset flip would flame out as he missed Rey with another heavy blow, hitting the canvas as Mysterio squirmed out of the way. However, Rey still hadn’t figured out how to take it to Angle without going to the ropes and Angle would cut him off again with a perfect belly-to-belly throw. Angle would pop up and immediately take down the straps on his singlet, bringing the crowd to its feet in unison. Kurt stalked Rey and set him up perfectly for the Angle Slam, only to eat the business end of an arm drag from Mysterio. More angry than hurt, Kurt made the reckless mistake of charging Rey, who ducked out of the way, leading Angle to crash over the top rope out of the ring.
Once outside, Angle would regroup and climb back on to the apron, only to have his feet kicked out from under him by a sliding Mysterio, knocking Kurt off the ring and giving him a mouth full of apron on the way down. Seeing his opponent stunned, Rey sprung off the ropes, but this time it would be the ref who would stop his momentum, stepping in front of Rey before he could launch an assault to the outside. The crowd was NOT PLEASED at this turn of events which would lead to an absolute explosion when Rey regrouped and delivered a perfect flipping senton to Angle on the outside after leapfrogging over the ref. This was a great spot, which like all great spots would get overplayed through the years, but it was perfect just to see the crowd out of their minds at this point.
Back in the ring, we had arrived at kitchen sink time. Mysterio used the top rope to deliver a springboard legdrop, gaining another two-count. Another Irish whip reversal sent Rey to the corner, but he leaped off the second rope and nailed a no-look jump onto Angle’s shoulders. Again, the smoothness of this match is just remarkable. I’ve seen that spot fail far more often than succeed, but here it not only succeeded, but it looks like something Rey improvised on the spot rather than the overly choreographed dance move requiring cooperation from both guys that is essentially was. Angle countered this by dropping Mysterio face first to the canvas and immediately locking in an Angle Lock. Mysterio, however, would quickly kick out, dropping Angle into position for the 619, which he would hit before nailing a picture perfect West Coast Pop. He could only muster a two count with Angle kicking out at the absolute last split second, causing the fans to lose it completely.
Still focused on the task at hand, Rey’s desperation started to show as he threw a strange spinning heel kick at Angle, dropping him to the mat once again. Not established as a main eventer by this point, Michael Cole conceded that a victory over Angle would indeed have been an upset for Mysterio. That said, he had looked every bit Angle’s equal here, and as far as WWE is concerned, he was made.
Rey took way too long climbing the ropes here which is all the opportunity Angle needed. The gold medalist made a charge for the corner, looking for a rope assisted belly to belly. However, Mysterio would dodge with a dive to the canvas and respond with a springboard dropkick, sitting Angle down on the top turnbuckle. Rey would climb again, looking to drop Angle with a top rope hurricanrana, but Angle slipped out of the headscissors in mid air and locked in a vice-like Angle Lock once both men hit the canvas. Rey would go for the ropes here, but at this point it was academic. Angle pulled Rey to the middle of the ring forcing him to submit.
And if you can find a more action packed ten minutes of high quality professional wrestling, I’d love to see it.
While this match wasn’t the start of Paul Heyman’s time as the lead booker for SmackDown, I think it served as a terrific mile marker for when things got REALLY good for the blue brand. Angle and Mysterio would go on to have about a million matches in the coming months, both as singles and in the triple threat tag team feud featuring all of the SmackDown Six. Some of those matches are even better than this one, but there is something to be said for being first, and this encounter certainly set a high bar for a very entertaining few months to follow.