Classic Review: WWF SummerSlam 2001

For this month’s Classic Review I’m going with another the SummerSlam, because so far I basically like the habit of being month-related or at least, I don’t know, “seasonal” about it. But WCW’s August PPV history is abysmal, and I definitely didn’t have it in me to watch a Sturgis show again, and other than that it’s just New Blood Rising. There’s fun to be had with bad shows, but it’s just feeling real the SummerSlam-y to me in the world right now.

So I ran a random draw with all the years from 1989-2004 (excluding ‘92, ‘94, and ‘95, because I simply can’t for different reasons), and then whittled those down to four for another random draw, then down to two, and here we are with the SummerSlam from 2001.

It was quite a time in the World Wrestling Federation. WCW and ECW had both gone under by the end of March ‘01, and now the WWF owned both names, putting them together as “The Alliance” because they were too cheap to pay for a proper WCW invasion and the WCW crew they had simply didn’t have enough star power, so you wound up having to include ECW as a boost in name, plus you could defect, like, Rhyno and the Dudleys over to that side, and THEN you get around to switching Steve Austin over, and so on.

It famously didn’t really work and the flailing, increasingly useless angle had to be wrapped up within eight months of the final Nitro.

BUT HERE WE ARE AT THE SUMMERSLAM!

WWF SummerSlam
Aug. 19, 2001
San Jose, CA

• We start with the music video for Drowning Pool’s “Bodies,” with WWF Superstars added into the mix.

• LOTTA PYRO! “The battle for sports-entertainment supremacy continues!” I assure you that it does not. JR drops a Gorilla tribute up top and then we’re RIGHT TO THE RING

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Edge vs Lance Storm (c)

Lance Storm is out first so he can do his in-ring mic shtick, this is actually a time where a lack of tradition is not to blame. Storm’s bit is interrupted by Edge’s music. Two Canadians so they “know each other very well,” Jim says, which I don’t know, maybe that’s true. Paul Heyman’s on the commentary with Ross. Now listen, there’s a lot about ‘01 WWF I enjoy, including the Ross/Heyman commentary pairing after Lawler got canned. And I found Austin skits very funny, even if they were a bad idea for various reasons. Lotta good matches! But it’s just always gonna be thought of as a year where they kinda fucked everything up after the greatest WrestleMania anyone had seen.

Ross points out that these two have very different personalities and also haircuts that reflect those differences. This is a solid match and a decent choice for opener on paper, but the crowd keeps losing interest and then they rally themselves awake when they realize they want to be having more fun. The WWF may be FIGHTING FOR ITS LIFE! They did lose at Invasion thanks to Austin’s turn.

Storm controls the match with simple, basic wrestling, doing nothing flashy. Man throws in an abdominal stretch, a move that was basically gone from wrestling TV by ‘01, nobody worked matches where abdominal stretches had a place anymore. We lost so much as the years rolled on.

Your support means a ton to me! If you want to read the premium stuff or even if you just enjoy reading the weekly free posts, please consider signing up and helping to support the newsletter!