After the whole brand extension, Smackdown and Raw stars went overseas to do certain shows in different countries. Smackdown took off to Melbourne, Australia right before Summerslam to do a ppv for the Aussies. The WWE is no stranger here for they did mammoth shows in the 80's as some of those matches are featured in the extras on the DVD. This ppv has basically no importance to Summerslam but it does give the Aussies something to watch, quite like Insurrexion and Rebellion are to the Brits. The recorded figure for this event was 56,000 people..which if they aren't lying is quite impressive. The main event would be The Rock vs Brock Lesnar vs HHH in a triple threat match for the WWE title.....why? They've been hyping The Rock vs Brock Lesnar all month so why would they ruin the storyline by having a match mere weeks before? Ah well, least this was only shown in Melbourne with Smackdown wrestlers so Summerslam would go off without a hitch.
AUGUST 10, 2002
COLONIAL STADIUM
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Commentators: Michael Cole and Tazz
We open up with Stephanie McMahon on her way to the ring.....uh oh. Luckily, all she does is thank the fans for coming out and we head for our first match.
Match 1
Rikishi vs Rico (Kiss My Ass match)
As absurd as this match sounds, the fans actually went wild for this one. Before the match Rikishi and Stephanie dance on the entrance way.....a sign of things to come unfortunately. The rules of the match are whoever loses has to kiss the other's ass. Rikishi poses in the ring as the bell sounds and Rico whacks him in the back.....bad idea. Rico tries to escape but Rikishi flings him back in and goes on offense before Rico counters with a superkick. Michael Cole mentions Rikishi got the scar on his stomach in a drive by shooting when he was a teenager, which they turned into an goofy angle about 7 years before this where Rikishi would "hit the streets to make a difference and keep kids away from violence." It was a nice idea in theory but promoting anti-violence in a violent environment such as wrestling is just wrong no matter how good the message you're trying to get across is. Anyway back to action Rico gos to work in the corner and hits a nice jump kick that stuns the big man. Rico goes for a sunset flip but wisely crawls away just as Kish was about to sit on him. Rikishi hits a BtB and drags Rico to the corner and goes for the banzai drop, but Rico moves at the last second. Rico hits a low blow out of nowhere and Michael Cole chastises referee Jimy Korderas. Rico hits a Bolo Yeung style leg underneath the arm/kick to the face combo but poses for too long. Rico goes upstairs but misses the moonsault and Rikishi scores with the samoan drop then covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Sheesh, that was short....on a ppv no less. Rico protests to the ref about kissing Rikishi's massive ass so instead he attempts to spin kick Rikishi...and fails. Rikishi hits a superkick and does the running ass slam. Rikishi backs it up and hits the stinkface as Tazz sounds like he's about to throw up. The crowd goes wild and Rikishi celebrates in the ring by bringing 2 blond boys in the crowd into the ring and they all dance together. As for the match.....it was too short to decide if the match was good or not so if you thought what I typed was good, you be the judge.
Time of Match: 2:31
Winners: Rikishi by pinfall
The next segment is Jamie Noble and Nidia going surfing on Ocean Road and its nice to see them out of character for once and not act like trailer trash. Its also funny to see the guy giving them surfing lessons has to be a good foot taller than the both of them. Nidia can't surf for beans but Noble looked pretty good for a first timer. They show the two walking on the beach with huge mounds of seaweed on the ground then going to a national park and talking about how beautiful the place is.
Match 2
The Hurricane vs Jamie Noble (with Nidia) for the WWE Crusierweight Championship
Noble had beaten Hurricane for the title at King of the Ring and finally Hurricane gets his long awaited rematch.....in an Australian ppv. As Hurricane makes his entrance, Tazz admits his favorite superhero as a child was Ricky Ravioli and Michael Cole calls him an idiot. Hurricane hip tosses Jamie into the ring to start the match and unloads with offense, California rolls under a clothesline attempt and pokes Jamie in the eye. Hurricane ties Noble in the tree of woe and stands on his package....ouch. Hurricane calls for the chokeslam but Jamie counters it and runs into a superkick. Noble rolls outside but Hurricane goes upstairs and hits a flying bodypress from the top rope to Noble on the floor. Hurricane rolls Noble back in and Nidia comes from out of nowhere and kisses Hurricane, causing him to say "WAZZUPWITDAT!" Hurricane chases Nidia in the ring and runs into a clothesline from Noble. Jamie hits a snap suplex and covers for a 2 count as Tazz and Cole discuss Australian Football. Noble hits a snapmare and locks in a surfboard before Hurricane powers out of it but runs into a back suplex. Noble walks over and kisses Nidia but Hurricane counters with a small package for 2. Tazz "Every time I hear the words small package I think of you Cole" Hurricane hits a body press and goes for a victory roll but Noble falls backwards with an electric chair, crashing Hurricane to the canvas. Cole hypes up the bra and panties match as Noble chokes Hurricane on the bottom rope. Jamie distracts the ref and Nidia chokes Hurricane down before Noble catches him in a sleeper. Hurricane does the fade then revive routine as Tazz says referee Jimmy Korderas usually refs matches like a jackass. Hurricane hits a sleeper of his own before Noble switches out of it and runs into a spinning head scissors. Hurricane goes back on offense and hits a running neckbreaker for 1...2. NOOOO. Noble charges but eats boot and Hurricane hits the blockbuster for 1....2..NOOOO, just in time Noble got the shoulder up. Hurricane calls for the finisher but Noble slides under him and hits a t-bone Tazz plex. Sick spot...the cover gets 1...2...nope, kicked out just in time. Noble goes for the tiger bomb but Hurricane reverses it and hits his finisher. He covers......1....2...wow, Noble just gets the shoulder up as Nidia screams. Hurricane goes for the un-prettier (wtf?) but Noble gets out of it and hits Northern Lights for 1...2, nope. Hurricane takes a breather in the corner, but moves as Jamie charges and Noble goes shoulder first into the ringpost. Both of them go upstairs and Hurricane hits a swinging neckbreaker from off the top.....ouch. Hurricaine slowly covers for a long 2 count and calls for the chokeslam, but Nidia distracts him long enough for Noble to sneak up behind, hit a backslide with the feet on the ropes for 1....2....three, Noble retains the title in a great match. Nidia grabs the belt and hits the ring to revive Noble but Hurricane cuts her off and stands on the belt. Nidia hits on him but Hurricane comes to his senses and calls for the chokeslam, then gets out of the way of a charging Noble and he crashes into Nidia. Hurricane hits the chokeslam on Noble, poses with the belt and spanks Nidia before leaving the ring. Its a shame we had to wait 4 years before Hurricane could just be himself and put on 5 star matches like this one without the goofy gimmick.
Time of match: 8:45
Winner: Jamie Noble by pinfall (still Crusierweight champ)
The next segment is Lance Storm, Christian and Kurt Angle getting rides from a local motorcycle gang, throwing boomerangs and hitting up the zoo. Christian is somehow able to throw the boomerang in a straight line and Angle has a blast making fun of him for it. Later on Kurt admits he's never seen a giraffe before as Lance has camera duty. Kurt steps on a scale and is shocked to see the number but then notices Lance's foot on it. Christian tries to feed a kangaroo some leaves and it runs away and Christian has this hilarious look in his face. You can hate Lance, Kurt and Christian for their in-ring characters but seeing them act sympathetic toward animals to me is special because it shows they are human beings with hearts. Kurt said it best "There's a time to be tough, and time to let your soft side out" Well now its time to get tough because its on to the tag team title match.
Match 3
Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio Jr vs The Un-Americans (Lance Storm and Christian) for the WWE Tag Team Championship
It is the ppv debut of the legendary Rey Mysterio Jr, one of the greatest and fastest cruiserweights finally is here and he gets a huge ovation from the crowd. Remember one of WCW's last stops before dying in 2000 was Australia and they did huge numbers over there, so no doubt they remember Rey, Kidman and Lance Storm. As the heels make their entrance Cole talks about Lance, Christian and Angle being in marsupial heaven and Tazz says "What the HELL is a marsupial?" The cruiserweights get a huge ovation from the crowd as Cole says Mysterio owns over 75 masks...wouldn't doubt it. Lance and Kidman do a nice chain wrestling sequence including a flying snap mare by Kidman followed by head scissors and a dropkick. Lance hits a jawbreaker and tags in Christian as some guy walks across the screen with a huge FOLEY IS GOOD sign. Lance and Christian double team but they're both clotheslined by Kidman who tags out to Mysterio. Rey goes up to and hits a hurracurrana on Christian and a springboard bulldog. Christian gets the upper hand with boots in the corner before Rey goes back up top and is thrown to the floor by Christian. Storm takes advantage and tosses him back inside as Tazz says there's no Stacker 2 in Australia. Christian puts the boots to Rey as the Un-Americans make frequent tags and hit a huge hot-shot on Mysterio. Christian clubs away at the back of Mysterio's head as Michael Cole stirs the pot by saying it was Tazz's fault Christian wasn't hired by ECW way back in 97 and Tazz points the finger at Heyman. Christian baits Kidman in the ring as Storm chokes Mysterio down, and then Christian locks in a rest hold. Mysterio powers out of it and hits a springboard dropkick from the second rope. Christian grabs Mysterio by the boot to prevent him from tagging out but gets caught with an enziguiri. Rey crawls over but Storm intervenes and knocks Kidman off the apron allowing Christian to drag Rey into the corner. Lance hot-tags and flapjacks Rey 6 feet into the air and locks in an arm-bar. Rey powers out of it so Lance goes for a german suplex which Rey lands on his feet. Rey hits a spinning heel kick and tags in Kidman, who proceeds to clean house. Kidman rolls through a back suplex and bulldogs Lance and covers for 1..2...nope. Billy hits the sit-down powerbomb but Christian grabs a tag title belt and runs into the ring. Kidman cuts him off and clotheslines him down but turns around into a superkick by Lance Storm. Lance covers.....1....2....noooooo, Mysterio breaks it up with a dropkick. Christian hoists Rey on his shoulder and Lance goes upstairs for a Doomsday Device but Kidman crotches Storm with a dropkick. Rey kicks Christian onto the second rope and calls for the 6-1-9 and hits it. Rey runs into Kidman who launches him into Lance and hits a hurracarrana. They drag Lance into their corner and Kidman goes upstairs for the 7 Year Itch as Mysterio poses for the crowd. Kidman hits the Itch and covers for 1....2...NOOOOOO, Christian pulled the ref out of the ring. Kidman responds with a baseball slide and launches Mysterio into an asai moonsault down across Christian....great spot. Lance Storm crawls over, grabs the tag belt and waffles Kidman with it and covers for 1.....2....3 to win the match. The winners hardly look like it as Kidman and Mysterio had all the momentum going, and this was just the beginning of Mysterio Jr's run in WWE.
Time of match: 8:42
Winners: The Un-Americans by pinfall (Still tag team champions)
The next segment is Edge, Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson hitting up the city. Kidman admits he's not much of a shopper and they lose Torrie in Queen Victoria's Market for a bit causing Billy to scoff at her to Edge's delight. Billy and Edge walk by a bunch of trash bags and Kidman says "These are all her bags here, all the stuff she's bought!" Billy and Torrie are actually married in real life so I guess its ok to jab at each other. Edge stops to check out a black Elvis impersonator....hahaha. Kidman, Torrie and Edge proceed to have the biggest pieces of cake and pie I have ever seen. How are Americans such fat asses when Aussies have those monstrosities? On to the next match before I get hungry.
Match 4
Chris Jericho vs Edge
This inter-promotional match takes place because Jericho jumped to Raw and Edge wants one last shot at him. Edge comes out with a video camera and records the 56,000 strong in attendance. Tazz says Edge is wearing Smackdown colors while Y2J is wearing Raw colors....which is true, Jericho has red tights and Edge has blue. Jericho grabs the mic and cuts a whiny heel promo saying he's king of the world and has no idea what a wanker is. Edge just stands there as Jericho says Australia sucks and so does Edge....then Edge catches him with right hands. Jericho slides under the rope and gets chased back inside by Edge and runs into a forearm. Edge hits a flapjack and mount punches before Y2J gets a thumb to the eye. Jericho gets tied up on the tope rope Andre the Giant style and Edge hits the spear and a spinning heel kick. The cover gets 1...2..nope. Jericho bearhugs Brian Hebner to distract Edge long enough to droptoe hold him into the corner. Jericho hits a clothesline and stomps away before doing the hand to the ear taunt, then chokes him on the second rope. Jericho jumps on him and hits the ali shuffle then hits an elbow to the sternum. Cole says NYC cabs stink while Melbourne ones are very clean as Jericho hits a back suplex on Edge. Tazz scoffs at Cole's comment since he's from Brooklyn as Jericho locks in a surfboard. Cole "The drivers are very hospitable" Tazz "The drivers are what, they spit on ya?" Edge powers out of it and hits a running roll up for a 2 count before Jericho hits another clothesline. Y2J hits a delayed suplex as Cole once again hypes up the bra and panties match. Jericho exposes the steel turnbuckle and Edge rolls him up, but Hebner's too busy putting the turnbuckle back on to count the pinfall attempt. Jericho hits a standing dropkick and an abdominal stretch, then uses the rope for leverage IRS style. Hebner notices Jericho grabbing the rope and kicks the arm off, allowing Edge to hiptoss Y2J. Jericho hits a clothesline and chokes Edge on the second rope and goes for a second jump/shuffle attempt but this time Edge rolls out of the way. Edge rallies on offense with clotheslines and a face buster for 1...2...nope. Jericho flips over Edge in the corner and charges right into snake eyes. Edge goes upstairs but Jericho chops him and goes for the superplex, but Edge turns it into a sit-down facebuster from off the top rope. Edge covers for 1...2...noooooo, Jericho gets the shoulder up. Edge goes for a flying forearm but nails Brian Hebner when Jericho moves out of the way. Y2J hits the headlock takedown and goes outside, shoves ring announcer Tony Chimel out of the way and grabs a chair. Tazz "Hit Chimel while you're at it!" Jericho goes to hit Edge but runs into a spear, but Hebner's out so there's no cover. Edge goes for another spear but Jericho leaps over it and hits the running facebuster. Jericho misses the lionsault and Edge hits yet another spear. Hebner comes over for 1....2...NOOOO, barely gets the shoulder up. Jericho picks the chair up and hits Edge in the throat then hits the lionsault for 1...2....NOOOOO, wow Edge kicked out. Jericho slaps at Hebner then tries a frankensteiner but Edge catches him and slingshots Chris into the second rope. Edge hits edge-o-matic and covers for a long 2 count. Jericho reverses the Edgecution and goes for Walls of Jericho, but Edge turns it into a cradle like Cena did at Vengeance for 1....2..THREE. Wow, talk about deja-vu, 2 ppv's in a row Jericho's been cradled out of the Walls of Jericho. Jericho shoves over the steel steps, whacks the ringpost with a steel chair and heaves a plastic chair into the ring as Edge watches the whole tantrum. Edge sets the plastic chair up and sits in it and watches Y2J leave. Edge then leaves the ring and climbs halfway up the metal pillars that holds the roof up to celebrate. Again, good match and these two won't meet again until the Royal Rumble with Jericho headed to Raw.
Time of Match 14:59
Winner: Edge by pinfall
The next segment is Fan Frenzy, where they show the fans chilling with the wrestlers. Mark Henry is shown winning 19 straight Smackdown: Just Bring It matches and Stacey Keibler posing with about a hundred people. They even have a Make Test Laugh contest which ends with the whitest Australian you'll ever see imitating Booker T causing Test to howl with laughter.
Match 5
Stacy Keibler vs Torrie Wilson (Bra and Panties match)
You know, these two "divas" have been around the business for three years at this point and they still stink up the ring every time. But fear not.....we got VAL VENIS as the special guest ring announcer so maybe we can salvage this one. Tazz says his great-grandfather invented disco with Led Zeppelin before Val's promo starts. In this epic speech, he talks about being an expert on "going down under" before introducing Stacy Keibler. Val introduces Torrie Wilson saying he'd like to get it on to the brink of dawn (his words not mine) with Torrrie before introducing her. I don't want to ruin the ending for anyone, but Torrie is wearing red leather pants and a shirt while Stacy is wearing a short black skirt and a tanktop, which wardrobe you think would be easier to rip off someone? Stacy shakes the refs hand and goes for Torrie's but then slaps her across the face to start the contest. Stacy hits a scoop slam which Torrie lands on her side instead of her back as Tazz asks why Michael Cole is checking out Torrie's elbow when there are better things to look at. Stacy whips Torrie off and hits another slam before applying a side headlock. Stacy grabs Torrie by the hair and takes her down, but Torrie counters with a hiptoss. Torrie hits a series of clotheslines and tries to rip Stacy's clothes off but fails. Stacy tries to boot Torrie in the mid-section and her foot comes nowhere close and Torrie sells it anyway....ugh. Stacy swings and misses as Torrie hits a series of chops before Stacy hits a hotshot on the top rope. Stacy manages to get Torrie's shirt off and waves it around to the crowd before Torrie yanks her down by the hair. Torrie yanks Stacys tanktop off and Stacy leapfrogs over the top rope to the apron. Stacy snaps Torrie off the top rope but Torrie hits a baseball slaide to quel the momentum. Back inside Torrie hits an actually decent snap suplex then goes to remove Stacy's skirt, but Stacy victory rolls through it and tries to pull Torrie's pants down. Torrie hits a schoolgirl and from the camera angle I'm watching on the DVD, it looks like she's shoving her whole hand up Stacy's ass....she's really not doing that, but still that's disturbing. Stacy swings and misses again and Torrie takes her down, they proceed to roll around over the ref as Tazz scoffs "That's the most action he's had in a month!" The ref gets up and smiles from ear to ear as Tazz calls him a sick pervert and Stacy looks at him funny. Torrie comes from behind and pulls the ref's pants down exposing his red underwear.....ewwwwwww I'm gonna hurl. As the ladies share a laugh at the ref's expense NIDIA comes from out of nowhere and attacks Torrie. She and Stacy doubleteam before Torrie double clotheslines them both. Torrie hits a nice swinging neckbreaker on Nidia and pulls her jean shorts down and off....ok I feel better now. Torrie throws the shorts over the top rope and Nidia races to get them like a dog playing fetch. Stacy hits another one of her boots to nothing (aiming for the midsection again) but Torrie counters by slingshotting her into the corner. Torrie rolls her up and removes the skirt exposing the Paul Stanley Special (black lace panties) to win the match. Val Venis calls Torrie a laundry list of compliments in his announcing of the winner as she spanks Stacy out of the ring. As a straight male fan, the match would have been perfect if they didn't pull the ref's pants down in the middle of it. If Val Venis was the ref, then maybe the female fans would have the big O but not this guy. This was the drawback to having "divas" that could barely work, either have bad matches or this kind of crap.
Time of Match: 4:43
Winner: Torrie Wilson
The next segment is highlights from the Challenge Charity Dinner held for cancer victims. Remember the auction from Insurrexion I covered on that review, same thing here only difference is its for people in Australia. Anyway on to the main event.
Match 6
Triple H vs Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) vs The Rock in a No-DQ match for the WWE Championship
For a once in a generation ppv, they sure had the home run shot. The three biggest names in the business at the time are gonna get it on for the big one in front of 56,000 people. As great as the match sounds it kind of takes away from the main event of Summerslam but since they barely mentioned this event on Smackdown and WWE Magazine I guess its all good. All three get huge pops for entrances and I begin to think if this would be a landmark event. Bell rings and the three men stare down as Michael Cole says how Lesnar put Hulk Hogan out of action 3 weeks earlier on Smackdown. Hulk was actually gone for pretty much 6 months because he didn't show up on Smackdown again until the end of January....not that I was complaining. Rock and Lesnar shout at each other than trade blows as HHH looks on. Rock then punches Brock into HHH and they do the "one man pinball" routine where they punch the man in the middle a bunch of times. Rock and HHH team up and hit a double back elbow smash as Michael Cole says if Brock wins the match he'll be the youngest WWE Champion of all time. Rock and Trips double clotheslines Lesnar out of the ring as HHH then nails Rock with a clothesline. HHH works over The Rock in the corner before Rock catches him with a clothesline. Rock hiptosses Brock back in the ring and fires away in the corner. Rock turns his attention to HHH which allows Lesnar to assault Rock in the corner. Brock hits shoulderblocks in the corner before HHH takes over and blasts away at the champion. Brock and Triple H measure The Rock and take turns punching him down before Rock runs into a knee to the facebuster by HHH followed by a clothesline by Lesnar. HHH covers and Rock kicks out as Lesnar never moved....what was he thinking? Cole and Tazz call Brock on his mental lapse as Brock and HHH continue to work over Rock together. Rock rallies with right hands but they miss a double clothesline so Rock knocks them both to the ground. Rock whips Lesnar who runs over HHH with a clothesline before getting nailed with fists by Rock. HHH rolls out on the apron as Rock backdrops Brock over the top rope to the floor. Rock slides out and throws Brock into the time-keeper's area before Paul Heyman sneaks over and hops up and down behind The Rock and then screams when Rock turns around, now that was funny. Rock chases Heyman around the ring before HHH strikes like a viper with a clothesline. HHH drops Rock sternum first into the barricade then snaps Lesnar off the top rope. HHH back inside beats Lesnar down in the corner as the ref counts...why? I thought this was supposed to be No-DQ or did Cole screw up the billing again? Lesnar hits a running shoulderblock on HHH in the corner before hitting more of them in the corner. Lesnar calls for another running shoulderblock but HHH catches him with a high knee before sending him into The Rock who rams Lesnar head first into the turnbuckle. Rock hits his hand to the air punch that nearly sends Brock over the top rope to the floor and calls for the rock bottom, but HHH sneaks begind and hits a neckbreaker for a 2 count. Lesnar swings and misses and HHH hits the spinebuster then covers for 1...2...nope, near fall. Lesnar hits a swinging neckbreaker but Lesnar breaks up the pinfall attempt. Lesnar goes for the F-5 but HHH blocks it, then goes for the pedigree on Lesnar but Brock backdrops out of it. Lesnar blocks the rock bottom and clotheslines HHH over the top and out. Lesnar hits a BtB suplex and throws HHH into the ringpost. Lesnar continues to dissect The Rock and hits a bear hug as Tazz says this was the move that ended Hulkamania. HHH is on the ground outside busted wide open as Lesnar continues to wear down Rock...until Rock does the fade then revive routine. Rock powers out of it and runs right into the F-5...noooo, Rock lands on his feet to counter the attempt with a clothesline and a DDT. Rock covers for 1...2....negative, Lesnar got a shoulder up. Rock takes Brock down and locks in the sharpshooter as Michael Cole brings up how Rock was apart of the national champion Miami Hurricanes while Brock won a national championship in wrestling for Minnesota. After a while HHH staggers in and clotheslines Rock off of Lesnar. HHH hits the pedigree on The Rock and covers for 1..2....nooooo, Lesnar breaks up the count. Lesnar picks up HHH and hits the F-5 to HHH and covers for 1...2...THR...NOOOO Rock breaks up the count. Lesnar reels Rock into the ropes wiht right hands before Rock counters with a spinebuster, followed by THE...PEOPLE'S...ELBOW. Rock covers for a loooong 2 count as Heyman hops up onto the apron to taunt Rock. Rock drops Heyman off the apron with a right hand then turns around into an F-5 by Lesnar but HHH breaks up the count. HHH hits the pedigree on Lesnar an covers for 1....2..NOOOOOOO, woah Lesnar kicked out of the finisher of finishers. HHH is shocked and complains to the ref but turns around into a rock bottom. Rock covers for 1....2..THREEE Rock retains the title. Guess Summerslam's main event is safe in a decent match. This was the first time HHH and Lesnar locked up and it would also be the last for something would happen after Summerslam that would help define the "brands".
Time of Match: 14:31
Winner: The Rock by pinfall (Still WWE Champion)
That about wraps up the Global Warning Tour....its been 20 years since then and I doubt they'd be able to draw 55,000 nowadays unless Rhea Ripley was in the main event. As for this DVD it wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst. It had absolutely nothing to do with Summerslam and has no importance at all but its nice to see the wrestlers be themselves on camera and not in character all the time. I was going to review the bonus matches from 1986 but in all fairness those old school matches damn near put me to sleep so I curtailed halfway through the first one. I give it 2 stars out of 5 because there's really nothing noteworthy about it and buy only if you want to complete a collection. I view this as basically another Insurrexion/Rebellion where they had to give the overseas fans just enough to keep them interested but not enough to rip off the American fans all set to order Summerslam. Still the highlight has to be the white guy imitating Booker T, I'm still laughing at that.
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