#51: Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio, WWE SummerSlam (8/25/2002).
Boy, am I fucking hyped for the theme this week! My theme for the first week of July (how is it July already?) is the fabled “Smackdown Six” era of WWE from 2002. If you aren’t aware of what that means, let me give you a history lesson.
In July of 2002, Paul Heyman – the man who just got his ass kicked by The Bloodline – became the head writer of Smackdown. This was during the time when Raw and Smackdown had just become their own separate brands, and with it came its own separate team of writers. In the eyes of Vince McMahon, he wanted legitimate competition within his company. Why? Because history says that competition breeds quality – The Monday Night Wars being the biggest example.
So, Heyman was quick to get to work on building Smackdown to be better than “the A Show” in Raw. To do so, Heyman decided that the best route was to build Smackdown around a group of individuals. The men in question? Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero. In focusing on these men, whether in tag matches or singles matches, Heyman believed that all six would benefit greatly, and future megastars would be built in the process.
This decision led to one of the best periods of television in WWE history. While Raw was the “sports entertainment” show, with groundbreaking storylines such as “HLA” and “Katie Vick,” Smackdown kept it simple by focusing on the wrestling itself. In hindsight, I’d say it more than paid off. I’m happy to say that when I was a 9 year old kid, I preferred Smackdown over Raw every single week because of this. The action was always exciting, and it helped make Smackdown must see TV – something WWE had a hard time with throughout 2002 in a post Attitude Era world.
Starting things off this week is the opening match from the 2002 SummerSlam, between Kurt Angle and the recently debuted Rey Mysterio. Angle is coming off of a thrilling Triple Threat Match at Vengeance against The Rock and Undertaker. Mysterio made his long awaited WWE debut recently and immediately threw himself in the mix – by diving off of a steel cage onto the Un-Americans. He’s been a thorn in Angle’s side in recent weeks, and here is the blow off match.
The crowd is hot as Angle enters first. By hot, I mean they’re chanting “You Suck” really loud. Fun fact: the only time I’ve previously watched this match is from the VHS tape my mom recorded this event on – a tape where she missed Angle’s entrance entirely. So, this is the first time I’m seeing it! Rey’s music hits next, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Out of nowhere, he jumps off the top rope behind Angle and hits a springboard hurricanrana. Another, and a dropkick into the corner. Mysterio hits a monkey flip out of the corner.
Angle quickly grabs the ankle twice, and Mysterio gets to the ropes. Drop toe hold into the turnbuckle by Mysterio. Angle escapes the ring and violently pulls Mysterio to the outside. Angle brings Mysterio back into the ring. He stomps on the back and hits a suplex. The fans are white hot for this one! Mysterio goes for a bit of offense, and Angle counters with a variation of a German Suplex. Mysterio rolls Angle up for 2.
Big clothesline by Angle, and that gets a 2 count. Back breaker by Angle, and that also gets a 2 count. Angle pulls on Mysterio’s back against the ropes, bending him like a pretzel. Angle unloads with shots to the head of Mysterio in the corner. Mysterio fights back with forearms of his own, and he tries for a leg scissors out of the corner, and Angle counters with a side slam. Half crab submission attempt by Angle next. Mysterio counters with a pin attempt, and Angle responds with another hard clothesline. Dueling chants for both men. Jaw breaker and a forearm by Mysterio next. Angle counters a sunset flip, and hits a high belly to belly suplex. The straps come down, as Angle gets fired up. Mysterio counters the Angle Slam with an arm drag, then sends Angle over the top rope.
The ref is checking on Angle, and Mysterio dives over him and the ropes with a senton to Angle! Springboard legdrop by Mysterio back into the ring, and Angle kicks out. Angle catches Mysterio in the Ankle Lock, but Mysterio counters and sends Angle into the middle rope. 619 connects by Mysterio! He hits the West Coast Pop, and Angle just barely kicks out. Mysterio looks stunned! Mysterio goes to the top rope, and Angle rushes him. Mysterio jumps over him and dropkicks him.
Mysterio meets Angle back on top, and hits a spinning hurricanrana – except Angle counters on the way down with the Ankle Lock! Angle pulls him back to the middle of the ring, and Mysterio taps out. What a cracker of a match! Easily one of the best opening matches in WWE history, and one of the best matches under 10 minutes you’ll ever see. Despite being the bigger star, Angle was more than willing to sell his ass off for Mysterio. He helped get the newcomer over huge. That West Coast Pop nearfall was outstanding. Credit to Mysterio, too. Just under a month since his WWE debut, and he has become a thrilling addition to the roster. Fantastic fucking match right here!