SummerSlam 2003: Angle and Lesnar Save a Big Four Card with a Complicated Finish

La Résistance and the Dudley Boyz open SummerSlam with a match that has recognizable teams and championship stakes but never develops enough urgency to feel like a Big Four opener. The Dudleys create the stronger crowd reactions and briefly appear to have the title won after the 3D, while René Duprée and Sylvain Grenier rely on outside help to survive rather than establishing control through a strong tag structure. Rob Conway's disguise as a cameraman becomes the decisive device when he strikes D-Von with the camera while the referee is distracted. The champions retain through interference, which preserves the feud but gives the match a flat ending. It is competent and story-driven, yet clearly below the level SummerSlam should establish at the start.

Undertaker and A-Train work a straightforward heavyweight match that depends on Undertaker's crowd connection more than on any especially compelling in-ring idea. A-Train's size gives the match a credible physical base, but the action stays methodical and rarely creates the sense that Undertaker is in genuine danger of losing. The referee bump and attempted chair shot introduce a shortcut late, only for Undertaker to counter the weapon and finish with the Chokeslam. The returning Stephanie McMahon attacking Sable after the bell supplies more memorable storyline movement than the match itself. Nothing is disastrous, but the bout feels like mid-card television placed on one of WWE's biggest annual shows.

Shane McMahon and Eric Bischoff are working almost entirely from authority-figure storyline heat, and the wrestling becomes secondary as soon as Jonathan Coachman and Stone Cold Steve Austin enter the picture. The Falls Count Anywhere stipulation gives the segment freedom to move around the ramp and ringside area, but the actual competitive structure is built around interference rather than sustained exchanges between the advertised opponents. Austin's Stunners neutralize Coachman and Bischoff before Shane hits the Leap of Faith through the Spanish announce table for the pin. The crowd enjoys the spectacle and the personalities are over, yet the match is more angle than contest. Its low grade reflects that limited wrestling depth rather than a lack of entertainment value.

Guerrero, Benoit, Rhyno and Tajiri give the undercard its first genuinely excellent match by making the four-way structure feel competitive rather than crowded. Guerrero and Benoit bring the strongest technical foundation, Tajiri adds sudden striking and submission threats, and Rhyno's power creates a different kind of danger whenever the match threatens to settle into two separate singles exchanges. The simultaneous Lasso From El Paso and Crossface sequence gives the championship picture a believable multi-directional crisis, while Tajiri's Tarantula creates the opening Guerrero needs to use the title belt. Guerrero then capitalizes with the Frog Splash on Rhyno to retain. The finish fits Eddie's opportunistic champion persona, and the match gives SummerSlam a high-end wrestling anchor before the world-title bouts.

Angle and Lesnar deliver SummerSlam's defining match by taking the athletic foundation of their WrestleMania rivalry and turning it into a more mature championship contest built around counters, submissions and control. Lesnar's heel alignment changes the emotional dynamic, allowing Angle to fight from underneath without sacrificing the sense that both men are elite athletes capable of ending the match at any moment. The Ankle Lock becomes the central story because Lesnar repeatedly escapes or counters it until Angle finally traps him after surviving Vince McMahon's chair interference. Lesnar taps, giving Angle a decisive submission victory in a major Big Four championship match. The interference adds drama without stealing the result, and the match stands among the strongest WWE Championship bouts of the Ruthless Aggression era.

Kane and Van Dam use the No Holds Barred stipulation to advance Kane's post-unmasking transformation while still producing a physical match that stands on its own. Van Dam's speed and improvisational offense give the bout variety, while Kane's power makes every ladder, chair and ringside exchange feel dangerous rather than decorative. The strongest moment comes at the finish when Van Dam dives toward Kane and is caught in mid-air, allowing Kane to Tombstone him onto the steel steps. That visual gives the victory a violent finality appropriate for the character direction. The match is not an elite hardcore bout, but it is effective, memorable and significantly stronger than most of the early undercard.

The second Elimination Chamber is one of the most debated matches on the event because its middle section creates enormous momentum for Goldberg before the finish deliberately cuts that momentum off. Jericho and Michaels establish a strong opening rhythm, Orton and Nash add bodies without immediately overwhelming the structure, and Goldberg's entrance transforms the match when he eliminates Orton, Michaels and Jericho in rapid succession. That run makes Goldberg feel like the obvious next champion and produces the loudest sustained reaction of the night outside Angle-Lesnar. Triple H then uses Ric Flair's sledgehammer to stop a Spear and steal the pin, retaining the title before Evolution continues the attack. The finish is coherent heel booking but emotionally deflating, leaving a match with excellent drama and a deliberately frustrating conclusion.