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Well folks, this blog is one year old. It has done more than I ever could have dreamed.
Today, I’ll be capping a match that pretty much started my WWE fandom.
My first episode of RAW was the July 22nd, 2002 edition (as of this writing, Monday’s RAW will mark 11 years exactly I became a full-time fan). It was the night after Vengeance, where The Rock became Undisputed WWE Champion.
Also occurring at Vengeance was Triple H signing a contract with RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff after a friendly persuasion from Shawn Michaels.
Eric tried to stir some crap up with The Game and The Heartbreak Kid by making HBK Triple H’s “manager”, HBK quit, then came back, with the notion that the old band D-Generation X would surface.
Only that didn’t happen.
Triple H delivered the world’s worst Pedigree to his best friend.
Yes, one that looked worse than Marty Garner’s.
The week later, Triple H was explaining his actions while he got news that someone had their head rammed through a car window.
That man was Michaels.
A “whodunit” unfolded. It resulted with Triple H taking blame after the security camera cleared showed the malevolence of The Game. Triple H only admitted it because he wanted to prove to the world that Shawn was weak and was vulnerable.
On a satellite camera, with bandages and cuts all over, Shawn vowed to return for Summerslam to a MASSIVE POP.So the road to Long Island was paved, and the two brawled their way to SummerSlam.
August 25th, 2002 was indeed a hot and humid day as I remember it in New York State.
A huge card of action surrounding this match ensued. Kurt Angle made Rey Mysterio tap in the best opener of all 2002. Edge defeated Eddie Guerrero in a decent match, ditto for Ric Flair on Chris Jericho. Lance Storm & Christian used devious means to retain their tag gold against Booker T & Goldust. RVD defeated Chris Benoit in a underrated classic to win the Intercontinental Championship. Undertaker defeated Test in a battle of big men. Lastly, Brock Lesnar became Undisputed WWE Champion after shockingly defeating The Rock clean as a sheet.
The match covered today was just before the Rock/Brock main event.
A match so epic it should have been the main event!
So here we go!
The chapter from the Summerslam 2002 DVD kicks off with Jim Ross and Jerry “the King” Lawler discussing how Shawn’s been away for four years leading up to this encounter. Most people watching today (or at that point) may not have seen HBK perform either live or on the soon-to-be-developed YouTube.
As usual, the video package is A+. Anything less would be utter failure if WWE had a college with a course solely dedicated to video production. The main summary shows Shawn and Hunter as friends closer to brothers. However, that brotherhood was shattered by the evilness and the ego by a man who believes his time is here and now.
Shawn comes out first to an epic introduction. Shades of Undertaker’s King of the Ring 1998 entrance as pyro shoots off every time HBK takes a step. JR hopes that this match is not a decision Shawn will regret for the rest of his life.
Up next is Triple H, fresh off of bone chip removal in right arm. Ridiculously jacked, fitting of what the character had at the time. For some odd reason, HBK made his entrance, then the bell sounded for Howard to do ONLY HHH’S ENTRANCE! If this was Lillian Garcia, both men would have had botched intros!
As Motorhead blares, another thing blares: Shawn’s ego. Not afraid to stand off against his former best friend, he jumps over to the top rope in a corner and tells him figuratively to bring it!
Shawn throws first shirt and here we go!
The first few minutes are split between the two, with Shawn getting a little more offense in. Like the good ol’ days, Shawn does a crossbody over the top and onto The Game! Huge moment, and it shows HBK hasn’t missed a step in four years.
Want more proof? Hunter, after averting trash can lid disaster a first time, tries to grab Shawn by the hair back into the ring. Shawn then smacks the lid against Hunter’s head, and skins the cat back in! HOLY MOLY BATMAN!
Shawn makes Hunter eat more trash can, and follows it up with a shot from the top rope. Sensing superkick time, Shawn tunes up.
“Derp.”
Like the Cerebral Assassin he is, Hunter sidesteps the danger, and gives Shawn a backbreaker!
The next couple of minutes sees Trips completely bitch out Shawn. Focusing on the back, Triple H throws Shawn into turnbuckles like a little child. To add insult to injury, Hunter tells Shawn to “SUCK IT” then kicks him back down. The heat for this part was incredible!
Triple H zones in even further on the back, with multiple elbow drops on the area, maybe even hitting the plate surgically embedded in there. This gets a near-fall, and this prompts The Game to get a chair.
Hunter doesn’t give Shawn’s back one moment to rest. Like Jason Giambi, Hunter swings for the fences with the chair.
After almost getting pinned again, Shawn tries to fight his way out of this predicament, adding in a near-fall of his own! Hunter quickly resumes control with a face-buster.
Despite the objections of referee Earl Hebner, Hunter DDT’s Shawn onto a chair for a near-fall. Oh lookie, BLOOD!
Shawn’s been busted open, with just enough blood to look like a crayon was coloring outside the lines.
Hunter pretends he’s a daddy with a score to settle, so he takes off HBK’s own belt and whips him like a government mule! Creatively, Hunter wraps that belt around his fist so when he decks out Shawn, the buckle is striking the cut! BRUTAL!
Shawn attempts to get to a vertical base while Hunter is looking outside the ring area for something.
That something would turn out to be your friend and mine, MR. SLEDGIE!
Earl tries to stop it, but Shawn has the whereto to get out of trouble. Hunter quickly gets back his momentum into an abdominal stretch. Tsk tsk, we got a rest-hold!
Hunter grabs the rope for additional leverage, which makes Hebner seethe. I mean, Hebner gets into Hunter’s face, pushing him around showing whose boss!
“BIGGER DERP!”
The confrontation allows Shawn to try to get some groove back. Instead, Hunter positions Shawn for a superplex. Shawn may have pushed Triple H off, but Hunter pushes Hebner into the ropes, which in turn crotches Michaels.
Michaels loses some balance and winds up in the ‘tree of woe’ position. This allows Triple H, with the chair in hand, to get another free shot in on Michaels! Once again, that back shot is the equivalent of a Major Leaguer getting a home run deep into the stands!
Hunter sets up the chair middle of the ring, and delivers yet another backbreaker to Shawn! This time, the sitting portion of the chair is more mangled than a victim of Dr. Hannibal Lecter!
After another failed series of near-falls, Hunter stomps down the chair, and gives his old buddy a sidewalk slam on the steel apparatus! ANOTHER mini-series of near-falls ensues!
Hunter’s yelling at Shawn to STAY DOWN! Frustrated at his inability to put him away, Game puts the chair down again. Potential Pedigree coming up, but the only thing that happens is a low-blow from Shawn straight to Hunter’s Netherlands!
Once again, Shawn is trying to gain some momentum. Only Hunter’s got that chair again. Will it connect?
It did connect, but not in the way nature intended! Shawn managed to kick that chair back into Hunter’s face! What’s the result?
Ughhh…..
More crimson than red ink on a failed test!
Shawn is finally turning the tide! The elbow to the face followed by a kip-up ensues, and this crowd on Long Island is ESTATIC! After a back body drop, Shawn winds up the chair for some Sweet Skull Music! THAT HIT WITH A BULLET!
After getting whipped over the ropes, Hunter is now getting what is due to him. Some lid shots, some belt shots, it feels like a little bit of everything!
As Shawn is raping Triple H of his dignity (or whatever he may have had left), the crowd is chanting for TABLES! Keep in mind there are mini rivulets of blood all over the ringside area!
Michael Cole and Tazz make a go for it after Shawn whacks Triple H so hard in the head with the lid that Hunter goes flying! Hugo “kindly” lets Shawn take his boot for another dose of cranial carnage. I tell you what, Shawn’s racking up the fines in Wellness isn’t he?
“A heel for a heel!” Nice work King!
Hunter tries to get up only to get a nasty-looking Bulldog on the bottom half of the steel steps! GNARLY!
Okay, this just got real: Shawn pulls out the LADDER! We’ve had chairs, garbage cans, and belts up to this point, but now we’ve got the big time piece of metal that made HBK famous!
Triple H met the ladder in person as HBK rammed it into his head!
After shoving the ladder deep into the solar plexus of The Game, Shawn then successfully catapulted Hunter right into it! Since he was busted open, the only thing that’s being assassinated is Triple H’s blood supply! As this point, Gordon Solie would salute from the grave saying that this is indeed a crimson mask!
Lawler made a note on commentary that Hunter would never have imagined being massacred like he is against Shawn. See kids, this was when King made valid and astute comments on commentary!
After failing a near-fall, Shawn tried to get that ladder into the ring. He failed again as Hunter had the synapses to do a baseball slide. As HBK lies hurt to the outside, Hunter’s face is telling a story, with little drops of blood going to the mat.
Hunter got some free shots in and tried to go upstairs. Shawn however met up with him and delivered a superplex! Shawn covered Hunter to a 2, and then met a high knee courtesy of Hunter channeling Harley Race.
With conclusion in his sights, Hunter gets the top half of the steel steps chucked away from earlier. It looks like a free shot, but instead, Shawn delivers a drop-toe-hold to Hunter on the steps! YIKES!
Both men get up and Shawn clotheslines Hunter right over the top, onto the ladder! Hunter’s left knee got jammed in the ladder while the right one caught a metal edge. I’m sure he’s thankful he got knee pads!
Finally, Shawn unveils the table from under the ring! While setting it up, he takes down Hunter with one punch. Although H would get right back up, he was then met with a fire extinguisher. Gee, he lands on the table.
HBK rolls back in the ring.
HBK climbs the top rope!
HBK LOOKS ARROGANT!
HBK TAKES FLIGHT!
TOUCHDOWN!
Jim Ross says something very true here. If this was a Falls Count Anywhere match, the bout would have ended right here! The crowd was LOUD, and the carnage was poetic justice. But no, the show must go on!
Shawn slowly gets the ladder in the ring, and Hunter just as slowly rolls into the ring himself. HBK sets that ladder up, and climbs up it!
Mouthing, “I love each and every one of you,” he elbows The Game from the top!
Instead of being down though, it gives Shawn a big jolt of adrenaline.
The crowd is calling for it, and the commentators are calling for it.
SWEET…CHIN…MUSIC!
Shawn tunes up the band (which I might add might be measured in sixteenth notes), gets sidestepped into a Pedigree, but Shawn counters out into a pinning predicament!
1
2
3!
BAH GAWD SHAWN HAS DONE IT! THE FANS HAVE THROWN THEIR ARMS UP! JIM ROSS IS NECK-FATTING LIKE CRAZY! LAWLER’S SPAZZING OUT LIKE A GIRL!
Howard announces Shawn as the victor as Shawn gives Earl a little kiss on the forehead.
There is a little bit of irony here: The picture of Shawn before WrestleMania XIV was an image taken after he said his match was for Earl. Hebner had a brain aneurysm just before the big show, and was laid up for a while. While Hebner should have ref’ed what could have been Shawn’s last match, he instead refs the first match Shawn would have from the comeback!
As HBK has his hand raised, he simultaneously gets another kiss: from a sledgehammer!
Hunter, with his face still caked in blood, goes into unholy evil mode with the sledge. Taking liberties, he delivers a parting blow to his fallen foe.
The scene of a still very-well-bloodied Hunter laughing after Shawn is put on a stretcher is some of the most horrifying imagery in WWE history.
It’s a Pyrrhic victory for Shawn, and a redemption spell for The Game.
While they would fight again, and with bigger stakes in tow, this is the one match that truly defines their feud.
Shawn Michaels in his autobiography admitted this match should have been with Vince McMahon. The implication being that Shawn was going to avenge his injuries, and the injuries done to all of his friends (like Steve Austin, Triple H, Kevin Nash, amongst others). Vince would be the slave-driving boss while Shawn would be the savior.
Instead, Hunter wanted the match with Shawn, and the rest is history.
Shawn and Hunter would feud on-and-off for nearly four years. Ironically, they would reunite to take down the one man who originally should have faced Shawn in the first place. Also, the man who would be Hunter’s real-life father-in-law!
Instead of wrapping this up, think of it as a new beginning. Here’s to 20,000 more (actually, 40K as of this revision) views and another year of great things to come!
Revised: 7/21/13
