Which Was Better: Summerslam 2002 or Summerslam 2005?

Last week, the large majority of you thought ECW December to Dismember 2006 was worse than WWE Battleground. Believe it or not, I am right there with you. For some reason, the bitter taste of a ‘non-finish’ to a pay-per-view main event never truly leaves your mouth regardless of the story line. Even so, the ECW brand in late 2006 was not even close to being able to present their own PPV. As questionable as Fall 2013 was for WWE, it was far better than anything from ECW December to Dismember 2006.

This week was easy: Summerslam! With Battleground now in the rear view mirror, all eyes are on the biggest party of the summer. Since the last debate was on the negative, it is only fair to go back to the positive. Obviously, Summerslam 2002 was a prime candidate right off the bat. However, which event could give it a challenge? Good question. Did I go with last year? Maybe the 2008 version with a few main events? How about the under rated 2003 Summerslam? No, no, and no! After initially picking Summerslam 2000 and rewatching the event, I changed my mind and selected a much better PPV…

Just a friendly reminder: I do not use the comments section nor do I up/down vote anything. Sorry!

Which Was Better: WWE Summerslam 2002 OR WWE Summerslam 2005?

Build/Hype for Summerslam 2002 – Really good promotion surrounding the two main events. Under cards are nice to have on pay-per-view, but the big stars in big matches with big stipulations bring in the big money. Summerslam 2002 succeeded in creating a sense of urgency where you HAD to see what would happen. Just to keep this (kind of) short, the go-homes shows from WWE had excellent cliffhangers. For Raw, it featured The Rock vs. Triple H as a main event breaking down into a giant brawl. The Rock went after Brock Lesnar in the crowd, while Triple H and Shawn Michaels traded punches on the ramp. All the while, Jim Ross was screaming in grand fashion. What a way to get jacked for Summerslam! With Smackdown, The Rock and Brock Lesnar came face to face to close the show. After Rocky yelled “Just Bring It” to the Next Big Thing, it was ON! This time, it was Michael Cole getting all jazzed up selling the pay-per-view. No doubt, it worked.

Build/Hype for Summerslam 2005 – I loved WWE is summer 2005. Really most of 2005 was great. In focusing on just the summer, there was so much to enjoy: ECW One Night Stand, entire month long Draft, Matt Hardy saga, Edge/Lita pairing, HEEL Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart/Vince McMahon shaking hands, Montreal RAW opening promo from HBK, Hulk Hogan returns, Chris Jericho’s final program, rise of Christian, John Cena and Batista officially become stars, Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio drama, Muhammad Hassan fiasco, etc. So much was going on, most of it being entertaining. What stood out was obviously ‘the old HBK’ showing up on WWE television to face Hulk Hogan at Summerslam for the first time ever! To this day, I get goosebumps when re-watching the promo for that match. Not only did it continue the hot streak of WWE delivering strong content, it registered one of the biggest non-WrestleMania pay-per-view buy rates in WWE history. Yes, history. Well deserved too.

Olympic Gold Medalist Wins at Summerslam 2002 – Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio is often heralded as the best PPV opening match of all-time. While I would not go that far, it ranks right up there with the best of them. Mr, 619 was fairly new to the company, so Angle was the perfect guy to work with. You knew you would be in good hands, and the live crowd would be into it. This went just as expected. Bunch of high flying action from the small underdog before getting caught by the submission specialist. Angle won by tap out and kicked off this show in a huge way.

Olympic Gold Medalist Wins at Summerslam 2005 – While not up to par with Summerslam 2002, Kurt Angle had a very impressive showing here. At Summerslam 2005, Kurt Angle basically destroyed Eugene to win back his gold medals, as Christy Hemme watched from ringside in horror. Long story to explain THAT story line! Regardless, the end result was what it should have been. Angle defeated Eugene, got his gold medals back and went towards another WWE Championship main event match the following month. Chalk one up for Summerslam 2002 in this section.

Undercard Fun at Summerslam 2002: Ric Flair vs. Chris Jericho – I do not think ‘undercard’ is the right term here. Seems a little insulting to Ric Flair and Chris Jericho. However, this was the best description available. Either way, this was a decent feud for both men but never captured my attention very much. Flair had just started to wrestle full-time again, and Jericho had just jumped to the Red Brand, so it kind of came together that way. Even if there were some shenanigans involved, Flair won via tap out.

Undercard Fun at Summerslam 2005: Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio in a ladder match – For the custody of Dominic! Yep, a kid was the prize here. Like Angle/Eugene, this would take a long time to fully explain. Quick version: Eddie Guerrero was the biological father, but Rey Mysterio actually raised him…so he was the TRUE father. Yeah, one of those cases. Anyways, these two had the impossible task of making this ridiculous story line pay off in a stunt filled ladder match. Hey, even Vickie Guerrero made a cameo helping Rey Rey win! Eddie lost a lot of matches to Mr. 619 in 2005, but somehow – it always made sense. In comparison to 2002, I think this ladder match was better than Flair vs. Jericho by a slight margin.

The Undertaker Wrestles at Summerslam 2002 against Test – Remember The UnAmericans? How fun those guys were. Before moving to the Smackdown brand, The Undertaker feuded with Test. It was nothing amazing, but that was no fault to the performers. You can only go so far with the Anti-Americans story line after doing it over and over and over. The match was about what you would expect. Taker won and headed towards the main event scene on Thursday nights, and Test…did not exactly light the world on fire for the rest of 2002…

The Undertaker Wrestles at Summerslam 2005 against Randy Orton – A rematch from WrestleMania 21 earlier in the year. Cowboy Bob Orton interfered as a fan which led to Randy Orton pinning The Undertaker after an RKO. When looking at the entire Summerslam 2005 card, it is easy to forget this match even took place. There were sooooo many other things that overshadowed it. Even so, it featured two future WWE Hall of Famers, so it much rank higher than Taker/Test from 2002.

Rated R Superstar Spotlight: Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero at Summerslam 2002 – Just two WWE Hall of Famers going at it during a series of matches. They wrestled a month later on pay-per-view, as well as the classic on Smackdown with the use of a ladder. During summer and Fall 2002, there was nothing better than just watching the Blue Brand mid-card card go at it in the ring. This bout at Summerslam was no different. Edge was not in the main event at this time (nor was Eddie Guerrero), but it was clear the future was bright. Edge was victorious here.

Rated R Superstar Spotlight: Edge vs. Matt Hardy at Summerslam 2005 – Once again, Edge was victorious…but it was not entirely without any controversy. You would have thought that Matt Hardy would return to WWE and get revenge against Edge (and Lita). While he did get a win over the Rated R Superstar the following month inside a steel cage at Unforgiven, he basically got destroyed at Summerslam. Bloodied. Beaten. Edge just pummeled him and would not stop until the referee called it off. Welcome back Matt! I do credit both men for working through whatever past history they had and made this a very convincing “shoot” feud. Close call in this debate – flip a coin. Both 2002 and 2005 were even in terms of quality for Edge.

Lance Storm and Christian defeat Goldust and Booker T to retain the Tag Team Titles at Summerslam 2002 – This went back to the UnAmericans story line. What started out on Smackdown made its way to RAW by the time summer ended. Truth be told, I remember back to this match being SO sure of myself that Goldust and Booker T were going to win the tag gold here. I was so sure of it. Well, wrong! Lance Storm and Christian got some help from their fellow Canadian stablemate Test to retain. Not a bad match or anything. Just like Test/Taker though, there are certain limitations with the repetitive “USA” story line.

Batista defeats JBL to retain the World Title in a No Holds Barred match at Summerslam 2005 – Fun little brawl here. I know the comparison is not entirely fair (Tag titles vs. World title). However, that is the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Both got about the same amount of time. Both were pretty good. Both had defined heels taking on defined faces with gold on the line. Batista defeated JBL to keep the World Title and continue his dominance.

Secondary Main Event: Shawn Michaels vs. Triple in an Unsanctioned match at Summerslam 2002 – Did you really expect anything else? Would Shawn Michaels come back to WWE after fours years just to deliver a subpar match? Of course not. You knew Triple H was also going to help his buddy every step of the way to turn this thing into a classic. Mission accomplished. Even if you believed HBK would come through, his performance had to exceed expectations. WWE can say it was ‘unsanctioned’ all they want. I know what I saw, and I saw one of the best Summerslam matches ever with an excellent finish. HBK wins via rollup but gets a sledgehammer in the back afterwards from HHH to write him off television. Worked beautifully.

Secondary Main Event: Chris Jericho vs. John Cena for the WWE Title at Summerslam 2005 – This was the beginning of the sorta-kinda-totally ridiculous “John Cena Hate.” For some reason that will never make sense to me, it still continues to this day nearly NINE YEARS LATER! Unreal. Either way, Chris Jericho was leaving WWE but had one last thing to do: Feud with John Cena and give him a big win on a big stage over a big name. The feud connected because it was rap vs. hip hop, old school vs. new school, veteran vs. newcomer, etc. All of that was put together in a nice neat little package where the live fans in Washington DC were ready for a fight. However, a funny thing happened about half-way through the match. Literally out of nowhere, a “Let’s Go Jericho” chant started…that developed into a “Let’s Go Cena, Let’s Go Jericho” dueling chant. There was even a moment where Y2J stopped what he was doing and looked into the crowd with a confused look on his face. From there, the now famous dueling chants for and against Cena were born! Even though the champ retained his WWE Title cleanly, this match was extremely memorable because of the crowd and set the stage for Cena’s career going forward – for both his fans and his haters.

Main Event: Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Summerslam 2002 – Right up there with HBK/HHH in terms of memorable bouts. Maybe not as entertaining or as amazing…wow! I recall being absolutely jacked for this battle. Rock vs. Brock for the title. The training videos were pretty cool at the time. Brock Lesnar was obviously being treated as a beast. The Rock was as high profile as you can get with wrestling and mainstream crossover. Then you add Lesnar just destroying Hulk Hogan on Smackdown a few weeks before Summerslam. It all culminated with an awesome main event with a HOT crowd and a clean championship win for The Next Big Thing. What makes this stand the test of time is the fact that we only got to see this once. Yeah, a rematch could occur eventually, but right now – the dream match occurred one time. HBK/Taker got a rematch. Rock/Hogan got a rematch. Andre The Giant/Hogan got a rematch. Rock/Cena got a rematch. Yet, Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock still has that aura around it. Speaking of…

Main Event: Legend vs. Icon – Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels at Summerslam 2005 – First time ever and like Brock/Rock, it never happened again. As outlined above, this feud was just about as good as it gets. The Sweet Chin Music from Shawn Michaels to Hulk Hogan? On 4th of July? Shocking. The Piper’s Pit the following week was great. HBK turning it up a notch and playing ‘bad guy’ for a change was remarkable. Hulk Hogan proving he can STILL bring it. In ring and out of the ring as I stated; Summerslam 2005 drew one of the BIGGEST non-WrestleMania buy rates in history. No doubt, a bulk of the credit goes to this main event. Then six days before Summerslam, HBK mocking Bret Hart and teasing his return? So amazing. Best of all? When it came time for the match, there was no let down. HBK bounced all over the ring (sometimes too much), and The Hulkster bled all over the ring to make up for any of his limitations. One leg drop later, Hogan pinned HBK. As the two shook hands and everything went back to ‘normal’ the next night, I think WWE can be proud of the feud, match, and presentation.

Overall: I recently watched both WWE Summerslam events. As history goes, Summerslam 2002 is likely to be remembered more just based off the two memorable main events and many great performers in the under card. However, I enjoyed Summerslam 2005 more when giving it another view this past week. I was quickly reminded why it had such a monstrous PPV buy rate. The true result is in YOUR hands though. Vote in the poll and feel free to leave a comment below!