On this date in WWE history: Brock Lesnar pins the Rock at SummerSlam to win his first WWE title
by Jesse Holland on Aug 25, 2011 10:31 AM EDT
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2002 was an interesting year for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
In addition to the return of the New World Order (NWO), "Stone Cold" Steve Austin abandoned ship over "creative differences," Triple H was back after a devastating quad injury and of course, The Rock began his seventh WWE championship reign by defeating The Undertaker and Kurt Angle in a triple-threat match at Vengeance.
Easy come, easy go.
That's because on August 25, 2002, "The Great One" would go one-on-one with Brock Lesnar, who made his pro wrestling debut earlier in the year with a Goldberg-esque push, where he pretty much ran through anyone and anything in his way.
And he had a little help from Paul Heyman.
But it all came to a head on this date in WWE history, when Lesnar challenged the "Brahma Bull" for the undisputed title in the main event of SummerSlam at the Nassau Coliseum.
Video of their epic feud after the jump.
Whaddaya say Cagesiders?
Fantastic main event? Or overshadowed by the "Unsanctioned Street Fight" between Shawn Michaels and Triple H that was held right before it?
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That was the most
schziophrenic crowd I have ever seen. One minute they are cheering Lesnar, the next minute they cheer the Rock. Lesnar could have had a special career in WWE, had he decided to stay.
"The helmet doesn't make you, you make the helmet"- Jimbo Fisher
by Matt Champion on Aug 25, 2011 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions
Incomprehensible
“Rocky Sucks”??? I don’t know why people turned on him like that. The worst thing I’ve ever seen was everyone booing him while cheering that flabby geriatric Hogan in their Wrestlemania match. Disgraceful.
by ComeOnYouSpurs on Aug 25, 2011 11:07 AM EDT reply actions
Perhaps they knew the Rock
would disappear after this match.
"The helmet doesn't make you, you make the helmet"- Jimbo Fisher
by Matt Champion on Aug 25, 2011 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions
That and
I think it shows that people will eventually get tired of seeing everybody. Hell there was a time when Cena was actually pretty well-liked.
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Aug 25, 2011 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes Cena
was the top dog for awhile until maybe a year ago. Now that the Rock has come back, the boos and mixed reactions for Cena grow even louder. Here’s to hoping C.M. Punk launches into superstardom soon.
"The helmet doesn't make you, you make the helmet"- Jimbo Fisher
by Matt Champion on Aug 25, 2011 1:37 PM EDT up reply actions
F-Five
Best finishing move. Brockzilla was a terror (albeit a fake one) in WWE.
by GSP33 on Aug 25, 2011 11:08 AM EDT via iPhone app reply actions
gotta love
simple mma fans and their incapacity to understand pro wrestling.
fake? what?
When ever Mike Ditka boards an aircraft the aircraft changes it's call sign to Bear Force One.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Aug 25, 2011 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions
One of the best Summerslams ever
from top to bottom, Angle – Mysterio opener, Street fight, awesome main event. This match in particular shows just how great The Rock really was in the ring. And the fact that he jobbed clean solidified Lesnar as a made man.
I was just watching this match on the "History of the WWE Championship" DVD
The Rock’s matches on the disc reminded me that there is something especially corny about face Rocky. When face Hogan or face Cena are corny, I’m okay with it because they’re giant ’80s-style cartoon characters. Those guys always said corny stuff before they beat the bad guy.
However, face Rock is supposed to be cool. Can’t be too cool when using moronic insults like “Barney’s anus.” The Rock says something like that and I just want to see him get punched in the face. So that was probably at work with the NY crowd booing Rocky too because he was at the height of saying utterly goofy stuff that was anything but cool (“strudel,” “popcorn fart”).
On the other hand, this led to Hollywood Rock when he came back, and that character was incredibly awesome.
LET'S GO CENA!!!
i hope cena kicks rocks ass at mania!
by sasapoof69 on Aug 25, 2011 2:00 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Wow a Summerslam that didn’t destroy a hot angle and was good from top to bottom, I almost forgot those even happened. But seriously that was the night that I saw what Vince and others saw in Brock Lesnar and that he was more than a Goldberg clone.
He could actually wrestler and work a match, also the atmosphere was great as the NY crowd buried Rock and ushered in the ear of Lesnar. Truly great stuff and it was all possible because the WWE did the right thing by having Brock not only beat Rock but beat him clean making him legit in the eyes of everyone.
I'd never seen this match before.
I stopped watching around the time the Invasion angle started, but damn I wish I kept watching. This match was great. A few things:
- The double kip up. Holy shit the double kip up. That was so fantastic, and the crowd ate it up.
- As much as I hate Cole now (GDYC!), he is actually quite good when focused on just calling a match. When he starts becoming his own character, he sucks. When Lesnar hit Rock with a Rock Bottom, Cole quickly proclaimed he hit a “Brock Bottom”. Not saying that wasn’t easy, but it’s way more clever than I’d originally given him credit for.
- Can someone explain to me the crowd? I wasn’t watching at this time, but thought Rock was face and Lesnar was a huge heel. Why was the crowd so in favor of Lesnar? They weren’t in his hometown. I just don’t get it.
- Lesnar was a little stiff at times, but holy shit can he move for a man his size. With more polish, he could have been one of the all-time greats.
- I know Cena adopted the FU as a middle finger to Lesnar, but the FU (err. “Attitude Adjustment”) is just so dumb. The F5 on the other hand? Awesome.
The Long Island
WWE fans are kind of like Canadian WWE fans. They cheer for who they want to cheer for, they don’t give a rip about the face/heel dynamic. Plus, at that time the Rock was disappearing to do more movies so the fans were probably upset about that.
"The helmet doesn't make you, you make the helmet"- Jimbo Fisher
by Matt Champion on Aug 25, 2011 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Lesnar was fun
Shame he didn’t like wrestling, he could’ve dominated for years.
My fellow Americans, I have not been entirely truthful with you. I did gagoogidy that girl. I gashmoygadied her gaflavity with my googus. And I am sorry.
I’ve never really liked Lesnar in wrestling or mma, maybe it’s cause he took the title from Rock & then his first fight was against Mir who I like a lot
I'm picking nits
but Mir was Brock’s 2nd and 5th fights, respectively.
Nobody saw the Kim fight.
And the outcome of most of his WWE matches were harder to predict.
by The so-called Beautiful on Aug 25, 2011 11:03 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I hate it when Rock loses...
But got to love the fact that he is willing to put someone over, especially a new blood, and not politic his way to stay champion or simply keep on winning for the longest of time.
by Man from Manila on Aug 26, 2011 4:54 AM EDT reply actions
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