On to the PDC.
Next match was Ric Flair vs. Chris Jericho. Somewhat the same formula as Flair vs. Eddie Guerrero from the last show, only with a lot more chops. Entertaining, the match was, but I was somewhat shocked to see Jericho tapping out to the Figure 4. Wow. Flair didn't even work on the leg, either, and he got him to tap. I'm assuming a rematch will occur tomorrow on RAW? Good stuff overall.
Next, it was Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge. Another good midcard match, although it seemed to get less time than other matches. Maybe it seemed short from how fast those guys truly are. Eddie Guerrero has done nothing but lose high profile matches since his WWE comeback, but I guess that could have been terms of his return? Edge is the one to push, and maybe, just maybe, he could be built up as the man to beat Lesnar?
Booker T/Goldust vs. Lance Storm/Christian was up next. Solid tag match, although I wanted Booker T and Goldust to finally win the titles and breakout as a tag team. It's too bad that their opportunity to shine as a team is getting pushed back again. I guess with Test being guaranteed to lose that night, you have to keep the group strong by making the team win the other match.
Very good bout between Chris Benoit and Rob Van Dam. Although it wasn't mindblowing, it some solid ringwork there between RVD and Benoit. With RVD, though, I seem to notice that he relies on the same flips and kicks in every match. Benoit was pretty damn physical as always, and the match had some good time to develop. RVD won cleanly with the 5 star froggy splash, and with Stephanie laughing afterward, it looks like RVD is going to Smackdown as IC champ soon. It looks it.
Undertaker vs. Test was as good as I thought it could ever be, and that doesn't say much. The Undertaker has been an eyesore on anything lately, and he only looked good at Vengeance because he had the Rock and Kurt Angle to play with. Battles of the Bigmen do not work well in 2002, as faster pace matches with smaller guys seems to catch on better. Wow, the Undertaker won the match, too. Why not throw a curveball one of these days and have someone go over the Undertaker for a change. Test losing this match does nothing for all of the badass hype the announcers always give him. Nice of the Undertaker to easily manhandle the Tag Team champions in this match.
BRAVO to the Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H match. I may have hated the storyline, but the match was a freakin' classic! Shawn Michaels, given the limitations and the REAL threat of a crippling back injury, was spectacular in this match, showing several hints of his old dare-devil offense with some incredible brawling. Major kudos to Triple H, who just made his best friend look like a million bucks. Incredible stuff, and given HBK's limitations and the fact that this is his first Pay Per View match in more than 4 years, this is indeed a Match of the Year Candidate for the WWE, IN MY OPINION. Good God, that was a great brawl and match. After losing to HBK cleanly, with a great ending I might add, Triple H attacked Shawn's back with the sledgehammer, possibly ending HBK's career for good, at least in the storylines. But let it be known... HBK did in fact have one last great match in him, and a major PDC salute to both Triple H and HBK for a super match last night!
Stupid segment with Howard Finkel, Trish Stratus, and Lilian Garcia. It was done to cool the crowd off after HBK vs. Triple H, but man, think of something better than this. An announcer feud?!? Good lord!
The main event was Brock Lesnar vs. Rock. Good, but not great. Lesnar needs to do more than just powermoves. HUGE kudos to the Rock for putting over Lesnar cleanly. That's probably the best way to put over Lesnar here. I did like the finish of the match, very much, with fights over the Rock Bottom, eventually leading to the F5 for the 1, 2, 3. Amazing thing to note here... The SummerSlam crowd seemed to hate Rocky, from what I thought I heard? I thought I heard "Rocky Sucks" chants and cheers for when Lesnar won the Undisputed title?
LAST WORD: Damn good show here, with it becoming the best of 2002 thus far. HBK and Triple H put on a great show and the midcard was satisfying. Main Event was good, but not surprising, although Rocky put over Lesnar cleanly. This show deserves an
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