Let’s Say Nice Things About... WWE in 2002

Now more than ever, the world needs a good dose of positivity. We here at Cageside Seats will do our small part to bring that positivity on a daily basis. Throughout the entirety of 2017, we’ll say something nice about wrestling and everything around it, past, present, and future.

As a reminder, only positive comments are allowed here. No negative comments, no troll comments, no back-handed compliments. None of that here. You have the rest of the site for that. Any comments that are not in the spirit of this feature will be flagged, deleted, and posters of said comments may be subjected to a ban.

This weekend is the fifteenth anniversary of Stone Cold Steve Austin walking out on WWE (for the second time that year, as it turned out). It was one of the biggest stories of a very tumultuous year in the wrestling business. Today’s subject: World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002.

I’ll start with the obvious. The Smackdown Six and the meteoric rise of Brock Lesnar.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, 2002 had its share of moments, such as...

the battle of the biggest crossover star in wrestling history and the man that would take his place...

Kane doing... whatever this is...

the first ever WWE Draft...

probably the best Summerslam ever...

and Shawn Michaels, heavyweight champion of the world.

Your turn. Say something nice about WWE in 2002.

Got a suggestion for a future “Let’s Say Nice Things About...”? Hit me up on the Twitter gimmick @notoriouseddie. I may not always respond, but I will read it.