2002 for me was the best SummerSlam event I've ever seen, SummerSlam is always viewed as the second biggest event of the year after Mania and I think 2002 was the last year they made it look like so.
You had a card that can easily be a WrestleMania card at any time, the opener between Angle and Mysterio was one of the best openers that I've ever seen in any event.
Then you had Jericho and Flair, two great wrestlers who always put great matches with anyone, put them together and you had a great match.
Then Edge vs Eddie Guerrero, both did well, it was a back and forth match, quick paced and non stop action from both, WWE miss Eddie so much, we need a heel that uses dirty tactics like him, RIP Eddie.
Then Booker T and Goldust vs The UnAmericans (Christian and Lance Storm), a great tag team action when the Tag Titles meant something back then, Booker T was on a roll back then, Dustin Rhodes was always a good worker and decent in the ring, while Christian and Lance played their role to perfuction, really awesome match and the end with Test gave the heels more heat than they already had.
Then came a great match, one of the greatest SummerSlam matches EVER, and certainly should be in the top 10 list of the best SummerSlam matches, it is the IC title match between Benoit and Van Dam, say what you like about Benoit, for me he was and always be the best technician this buissness ever produced, he never had a bad match, ever, with anyone and anybody he always produced great matches, and RVD can always produce fast paced moves that makes your jaw drops, combine these two and add a title in the mix and you get a classic, WWE also miss these two, and we are sure on of them will never appear nor mensioned on our screen again, I hope the second returns as soon as possible.
Then came Taker vs Test and while this was a good solid match between two big men comparing it to the rest of the card, you have to feel this was the card's let down match, espcially considering that Taker's the one who got over this night and it was a clean win, had Test won, it would've given him the momentum needed for a push that might have brought him to a higher place in the upper midcard or maybe the main event in the future.
After that HBK returned to the action after a four year hiatus, watching this now, I still feel the same goosebumps that I felt when I saw him in action then, this unsanctioned street fight between Michaels and Hunter was their best match in their long standing feud, HBK looked as if he missed nothing and made everyone wonder had he not been imjuired how good his matches at the Attitude era would've looked like had he not been injuired, this was another classic on the card and also a definite contender for the best 10 matches in SummerSlam's history.
Last but not least came the mainevent where Brock Lesnar overcame The Rock to win the title and become the youngest WWE champion ever till 2004, a good back and forth match, these two had a good chemistry and this was a historic moment by all means since the torch was finally passed to the next big thing then, Brock Lesnar was to be the man who everybody thought was going to carry the company on his shoulders for the next 10 years or so, unfortunatly he decided to go to other ventures two years after this, this was also The Rock's final title match and he took a brief absent to shoot a movie.
Man I miss those days.
