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Later this month, WWE will host “The Hottest Party of the Summer” with their annual SummerSlam in Brooklyn, New York after a lengthy stay in Los Angeles.
Since the WWE Network was established, it is my goal to watch every SummerSlam and provide an analysis on what worked and what didn’t, provide a grade, and by the time we’re done, see what YOU would rank as your top matches in SummerSlam history.
We move to Year 14, the 2001 SummerSlam, coming to us from the Compaq Center in San Jose, California.
The main event featured The Rock coming back to Pay-Per-View, as he challenged Booker T for the WCW Championship. The WWF Championship was also on the line, with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin putting the title on the line against Kurt Angle.
Jim Ross continues his run as the play-by-play commentator. Joining JR in this edition is Paul Heyman.
After thirteen events recapped, the 1991 SummerSlam still remains the strongest event in the project. The 2000 edition had tremendous brawling entertainment, but everything else fell flat. Still, the TLC Match may be one of the greatest matches in SummerSlam history but we still have so many years to go to determine a true winner. But the rest of the show almost ruined what was a pretty good showing.
This edition featured The Invasion storyline, with almost every match featuring a ECW/WCW vs. WWF battle. Will this be enough to defeat the 1991 SummerSlam as the best of all-time?
Please click on the below links for previous editions on The Countdown to SummerSlam:
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Matches of Note
Photo: pintrest.com
Chris Jericho vs. Rhyno (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley)
Rhyno’s debut in the SummerSlam project was a success.
He showcased his strengths on Jericho with his variety of suplexes to show how powerful he was and how skilled he was when wearing down Jericho’s rib area after his glorious Gore while Jericho was in mid-air. On the other end, Jericho was great on the sell and can figure out that he had the experience to lead Rhyno to many of the events that happened during the match.
Jericho did blow past a couple of spots in this match, but gathered it back up at the end with a great roll up into a Liontamer. Stephanie was tremendous in Rhyno’s corner. Her distractions led to Rhyno’s Gore spot and the momentum change when Jericho kissed her to end her inteference. Without her in the match, it wouldn’t be nearly as developed. The story was the Jericho never accomplished a victory over Rhyno, and after the match, the chapter was closed on Rhyno’s success against Y2J.
Grade: B
Photo: WWE.com
Kurt Angle def. Stone Cold Steve Austin in a WWF Championship Match by Disqualification. Austin retained the championship.
Had Angle won, it would be higher. Angle’s best work to date as he bled a ton from at least a half dozen ring post spots by Austin. Angle’s in-peril work was exciting and thrilling because it set the tone for his ultimate payback. Austin was a brawling, yet cowardly champion. He showed unmatched intensity by attacking Angle many times outside the ring, including a suplex to the crowd.
Despite many Austin fans, he encouraged the audience to disapprove his actions on an Olympic Gold Medalist. Like many previous recaps, I was not a fan of the ending. I get that Angle was pretty limited, but still sold almost everything until the end where he applied the Ankle Lock. The ending was that Austin attacked three WWF officials and it took a WCW official to announced that Angle won by DQ. Angle did not like that choice and applied a quick Ankle Lock to the referee.
There was a lot of passion, enthusiasm, and the match could have been a thriller. Instead, the ending impaired the match. I would have taken Austin winning with a title belt hit to a clueless referee over what I watched. Other than that, the action was well-paced and showed another side of Angle I had never seen before.
Grade: B
Match of the Night
Photo: z3.invisionfree.com
Edge def. Lance Storm to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Outside of the rushed finish, this was a great opener. It was a classic wrestling match that showcased how great of an in-ring technician Lance Storm was in his effort to retain his championship. The work Storm did to put punishment on the back and abdominal region to Edge was done correctly. He was able to get his signature Half-Crab applied and Edge’s face was that of extreme anxiety in trying to get the ropes.
Edge was great in peril. He sold at the absolute right time and provided quick tactics that kept the match in another dimension. The quick start, the controlled selling to the wounded areas, and his final gasp were good enough to make this opening match one to watch again. The time they got was great, but maybe could have had a few seconds more after the Christian run-in to show exhaustion by both wrestlers. Overall, one can’t overly complain. For someone that had a reputation of lacking an “it” factor, Lance Storm showed charisma in this match.
Grade: B to a B+
Match That Fell Short
Photo: WWE.com
Rob Van Dam def. Jeff Hardy to win the WWF Hardcore Championship
I expected many death-defying moves, but instead I felt disappointed. Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam both appeared to have slowed the pace, which hurt the story. The grade is higher because they both took some dangerous risks with the ladder, hitting them at times despite the mistake near the end. For the placement on the card, it was booked right.
Another thing that riled me up as I watched this match was the superplex spot. RVD hit it very well, but both wrestlers get right back to the ladder not even a minute later. It damaged how painful and important a superplex could be. Another disappointment was the lack of “hardcore” action. Granted, they used the ladder in every big moment, however I was expecting more elements to a potential perfect storm. Overall, just a bad match that was placed in a good spot, though it inconsistently delivered.
Grade: C+
The Rest of the Card
Photo: WWE.com
The Dudleys and Test def. The APA and Spike Dudley (w/Molly Holly) – Outside of Test and Spike Dudley, this was expected to be a brawl. The Dudleys and APA continued to be a brawling pair, delivering clubbing punches, sensational spinebusters, while Bradshaw added quickness to his game with some great hot tag corner clotheslines. Spike ran his program, as he is usually good for that glorious bump. This time it was when he tried his Bulldog on Test, but met his match when he was thrown through a table. The Dudleys maintained control of the match, and they just used random power motives to wear down Spike. I also can’t forget the brief involvement of Shane McMahon, as he put the exclamation point on this match with a chair shot to an unsuspecting Bradshaw. This was your traditional Dudleys/APA style match, and other than a couple rushed attacks, it was as advertised. C
X-Pac def. Tajiri to Unify the WWF Light Heavyweight and WCW Cruiserweight Championships – This was a fun, but imperfect spot fest that demonstrated great quickness yet a lack of chemistry. Both wrestlers came out flying in this match and the difficult high-risk moves were mostly done well. But there was no real story other than the speed and it was even until Albert showed up. The only time Tajiri turned his back on X-Pac was the mist to Albert, and X-Pac made him pay to become a unified champion. C
The Brothers of Destruction def. Diamond Dallas Page and Kanyon in a Steel Cage to retain the WCW World Tag Team Championship and win the WWF Tag Team Championship – A glorified squash meeting a glorified story. The story of Undertaker’s retribution. He figuratively killed DDP often after Kanyon’s departure, ending it with a Last Ride that he dedicated to Sara. It was a squash, but The Undertaker made certain that the fans would not be entirely frustrated thanks to his talents in brawling and power. C
The Rock def. Booker T (w/Shane McMahon) to win the WCW Championship – The pacing of the match was a bit slow and could have tidied up if the match was shorter. Outside of the trademark and finishers, there was nothing special about this main event. Booker T was very educated with his feet and appeared that when using spin kicks or thrust kicked The Rock he was good, but not great. The Rock was adequate in peril, showed how painful early attacks were but as the match went on that was no story as to the punishment he endured. Shane McMahon might be the MVP in this match. He was very intelligent on when to help Booker T and also took a few hits for his champion after Bradshaw and The Rock laid him out after key moments that could have ended the match earlier. B- to a C+
Who Made the Grade?
Photo: WWE.com
Lance Storm – For a man that does not get credit for his charisma I thought he played his role brilliantly. He orchestrated his segment with Edge so well to a point that it could have even been higher on the card and I would not have grown tired of what Storm did in this event.
Kurt Angle – I am not a fan of blood in a wrestling match, but this one was for the right reasons. Austin was doing every dirty trick in the book, including ramming Angle’s face to the steel post multiple times. Still Angle’s offense proved powerful and he developed more confidence in his skills.
The McMahons – Both Stephanie and Shane played a minimum role, but when they interfered in any capacity it was an event that we could not wait for a result. They each had SummerSlam moments that we can remember for many years. Who can’t forget Stephanie being kissed by Jericho or Shane taking a Rock Bottom?
Who Did Not Make the Grade?
Photo: WWE.com
DDP and Kanyon – This was a cage match that ended up being a one-sided assault. It was a great story of how The Undertaker got his revenge on DDP, but I expected again a bit more from both DDP and Kanyon in getting some offense in. It almost never happened.
The Ladder Match – Granted this was not a bad ladder match. I looked for some tactics that would feature both talents. Maybe it was toned down because it was for only the Hardcore Title. Also previous hardcore matches threw everything and the kitchen sink. This one only had spots from the ladder.
Was SummerSlam 2001 a success?
Photo: hoffco-inc.com
Absolutely! The booking for this SummerSlam could not be questioned. Even the cool down segments involving the Light Heavyweight and steel cage match were placed at the right time. There were so many fresh encounters that had some impressive storylines in the process. I raise my coffee mug to Edge vs. Lance Storm as their actions in the ring hooked me from the story. Also in 2001, there were more matches on the card. Keeping the lineup with eight matches added time for each contest, and for the most part it, was given proper time to accomplish what needed to be done for this event.
As of now I am not sure if I would rank this the highest. From a full-card perspective, I think this was the best SummerSlam since the event began. Still, Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect from 1991 was better than any match on this card, but 2001’s card was solid from top to bottom that provided something that every wrestling fan enjoys in an event.
As of now, the 2001 SummerSlam was the greatest of all time.
Final SummerSlam 2001 SummerSlam Grade: B+
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