Original subtitles

Summerslam is on the air.

The event of the summer.

Break out the sunscreen and the flip flops.

It's the hottest event of the summer.

Whether you're looking for action,

excitement,

or custody battles?

And I never saw nothing like that.

Summerslam has it all.

Today we look back at the greatest moments of SummerSlam

in the 2000s.

I think we've seen it all now.

I don't think I've ever seen anything in my life

like we have just witnessed.

This is WWE's Greatest Moments.

Acknowledge me.

My God.

Stone Cold with a beer bath.

This is surreal.

Look at this.

He slammed him.

Welcome, everyone, to WWE's Greatest Moments.

I'm Michael Cole, and on this edition, we're looking back at

the hottest matches in superstars that defined an era

in SummerSlam history-

The 2000s.

And there were no bigger superstars that defined that era

than Batista and John Cena, each with Hall of Fame caliber

résumés and multiple world championships behind them.

They never had a one on one matchup.

That is, until the 2008 edition of SummerSlam.

This is a match that has been six years in the making.

One goal tonight.

Who's better than who?

Really, it became a Batista-John Cena WWE.

We were mirror images of each other,

but very competitive at the same time.

These two men are very evenly matched.

It was bubbling under the surface.

People wanted to see these two guys finally fight each other.

Oh, and a spear.

Cena Cena.

He kicked out.

Both felt that they were number one, and both wanted to

show the other that the audience felt they were number one.

The cover.

He got him.

He got- oh kick out at two and a half.

When you get two people that just want to put on a good show,

it's easy.

And the intensity and emotion boiling

from the pores of Batista.

Kick right to the face.

Lashing out at Cena.

Batista's in another gear here.

Batista Bomb.

You can feel it going back and watching the video,

but I don't think you can really-

Unless you were there, you wouldn't really know

how special the energy was.

Back and forth from the get go.

It was the ultimate showdown

between the WWE's two biggest stars.

The lying, cheating and stealing ways

of Eddie Guerrero were legendary.

He'd do anything to not only gain victories,

but gain a psychological advantage over his opponents.

Look no further than his rivalry with longtime friend

turned foe Rey Mysterio.

When Eddie dropped a bombshell on the Mysterio family.

I'm your father, Dominik.

Is it true, dad?

Is it really true?

Dominik is my son.

Me and you at SummerSlam for the custody of Dominik.

And one of the craziest stipulations to a match ever.

The very custody of Dominik Mysterio hung in the balance.

For the first time in the history of the WWE,

the custody of a child will be determined in a match.

Briefcase is hanging up in the center of the ring

and you have to grab a ladder.

Climb that ladder and pull that briefcase

with the custody papers in it.

Oh, Eddie Guerrero with a cheap shot.

Typical Guerrero fashion to start off this matchup.

My dad was like "The company wants to do a story line with-

with you and me and Eddie.

Oh look at this.

The hilo.

Oh my God.

The hilo.

Watching it live everything was just, you know, so surreal.

Oh my God, spinebuster.

Oh my God I never saw nuttin' like that.

Here we go.

Look at this.

He's gonna do it.

Come on, Rey.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yes yes.

Every moment that I spend in the ring with Eddie is special.

To be able to go out there and perform as his best tag team

partner, or perform as his number one rival,

but now I go back and say,

"Wow," special moment.

Dominik is going home with Rey and Angie.

Oftentimes, the word icon is thrown around quite loosely,

but in the summer of 2005, two superstars wouldn't

be denied that accolade.

Talking about Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan.

Michaels and Hogan tag team partners.

These two had a short lived friendship that ended

as quickly as it began.

Oh.

What the?

Michaels just superkicked the hell out of Hogan.

As The Heartbreak Kid goaded the Hulkster

into a fantasy matchup at SummerSlam,

the world anticipated just who was the bigger icon.

Certainly a mixed reaction.

A lot of Hulkamaniacs here tonight,

but also a lot of Shawn Michaels fans as well.

It is absolutely electric inside the MCI Center.

I don't care what anybody says.

I don't know anybody that doesn't want to have an

opportunity to say they worked with Hogan.

Shawn Michaels flew everywhere,

and he did everything he could to make that match

as entertaining as possible.

Michaels missed the elbow from the top.

Shawn Michaels came flying off into Hulk and

into the referee.

Low blow.

No description needed.

Michaels knocked out Hogan once with Sweet Chin Music.

No, he got it.

He got it.

It's over, it's over, it's over.

He got it.

Michaels got Hogan with a Sweet Chin Music-

referee counting.

Forget about it.

Oh my God.

The love of God Hogan powered out.

Michaels heading for the ride.

Oh.

My God, the big boot.

The impact.

Can he?

Here it is.

He hit it.

The leg drop.

The leg drop.

The hook of the leg.

Hogan wins.

It was one of the best Hulk Hogan matches ever.

And no surprise who he's in the ring with.

Hulkamania lives.

Heading into SummerSlam 2006, there was no hotter rivalry than

that of the WWE champion Edge and John Cena.

These two spent most of that year competing over the richest

prize in the game, but things very quickly took

a turn and got personal.

Welcome to West Newbury, Massachusetts,

the home of the former WWE Champion John Cena.

You son of a bitch.

You want to come into my old man's home and push him around?

Fueled with vengeance, John Cena not only looked to reclaim

his WWE title, but avenge his own father.

You are looking live at the sold out Banknorth Garden

in Boston, Massachusetts.

Welcome to the biggest party of the summer.

Summerslam '06 was fun.

Like the "Champ is Home" sort of thing.

Because it was John's homecoming,

every fan that was there expected John Cena

to take the title.

Are you ready, JR?

I'm ready.

I want to see Edge get beat up,

because if he did that to my dad,

I would go out there and I would fight him.

Wait what?

There's Lita-

What are you doing?

-handed him brass knucks.

Brass knuckles on the hand of Edge.

If there was an opening for John, when him and Edge are

going toe to toe, I was going to make sure that didn't last long.

Oh, with brass knucks in the back of the head.

Cena knocked out.

Brass knocks.

John Cena has had the worst week of his life.

His dad gets the hell beat out of him-

Cena comes home and gets screwed out of the WWE title.

The main event SummerSlam.

And for it to go that good-

That felt really good.

It was not the biggest party of the summer for John Cena.

The animosity between CM Punk and Jeff Hardy

is stuff of legend.

There were no more polar opposites when it came to the

lifestyles of the two.

Cm Punk boasted a straight edge life and oftentimes belittled

some of the choices of Jeff Hardy.

So if you want to imitate me,

why don't you try living a clean lifestyle?

The stage was set for SummerSlam 2009,

where Jeff Hardy put his World Heavyweight Championship

on the line in a match Hardy

helped make famous-

a TLC match.

Sometimes you have

storytelling that it just works

hand in glove, polar opposites going up against each other.

You debilitate.

One maims.

And then one climbs.

A TLC match.

This is what Jeff Hardy does, right?

This is why we love Jeff Hardy.

He puts his body on the line for everybody.

TLC matches are my comfort zone.

We were complete opposites.

And-and that made it great.

Oh.

Oh my God.

So far, Punk has been more extreme than the Extreme Enigma.

They were doing things in this match

that were just unbelievable.

But what's Hardy going to do with this ladder?

Oh.

The match delivers in only the way that they can.

Those two guys are able to keep the crowd eating out of the

palms of their hands.

And that's what we're all doing.

God.

Right on the bad ribs.

On those injured ribs.

And Hardy crashes and burns.

And CM Punk has won the world title.

I thought it was all gangbusters.

I thought we did great business.

I thought we told an emotional story.

I was proud, you know, to be in a spot like that.

It's one of the, if not the best singles feud I had in

professional wrestling.

The year 2000 saw the rise of the new Hardcore

Division in WWE.

At SummerSlam 2000, Hardcore Champion Shane McMahon was out

to prove how extreme he could get.

Whoa.

Let's go.

Time to party.

Defending his title against "The Lethal Weapon"

Steve Blackman.

Oh boy.

Blackman is ready JR.

Poor Shane what's he gotten himself into?

If you don't know who Steve Blackman is,

he was a legitimate badass.

He was a no nonsense dude.

Blackman has found his niche in his Hardcore Division,

I can tell you.

At one point in this Hardcore title match,

Shane McMahon's fight or flight kicks in

and he goes with flight.

Shane now is going to try to distance himself from Blackman,

Look out Shane.

He's right behind you.

Where are you going?

He's starting to make that climb up the side of the

SummerSlam screen, but Steve Blackman is chasing him up.

Wait a minute, Shane.

That's about as far as you can go.

God, how high are they?

Always been outside the box thinker.

And I was like, "How can I be different than everybody else?"

The red light hits and all of a sudden you can't help it.

I get red light fever and so does everybody else.

Shane McMahon brought this on himself.

Oh my.

My God,

Shane McMahon.

Oh, for the love of God, must have fell 50ft.

I'm sorry, I don't care who you are-

to take that type of fall backwards and not even worry

about looking back

What?

On him.

What is- oh.

Blackman putting his own life on the line.

And Blackman wins it.

My God, I've never seen anything like this in my life.

There's no question that the summer of 2002 belonged

to the newest sensation in WWE, Brock Lesnar.

The indestructible Brock Lesnar.

But the man standing in Brock's way

to the top of the mountain.

none other than "The Great One."

Brock Lesna, you want to send a message to The Rock?

Well, The Rock's got a message for you.

Just bring it.

He is the challenger.

In the biggest match of his young career.

Brock Lesnar was ready for the main event.

There was no task that could be put before Brock

that he couldn't conquer.

Not even The Rock.

Here we go.

Wasting little time-

The Brahma Bull rushing the ring.

And here we go.

The Rock and Brock colliding with the title on the line.

Whoa.

First time I ever saw Brock Lesnar.

I thought he was the most insane athlete

I've ever seen in my life.

And I think everybody thought-

Brock Lesnar just all power.

The crowd kind of shifted in Brock's favor,

which was really startling because The Rock was

so incredibly popular.

Look out went for another Rock Bottom.

The thunder.

Brock Lesnar, he countered.

Oh, man.

F-5.

F-5, an F-5 to The Rock.

The cover.

One-

Hook of the leg.

-two, three.

Brock Lesnar has defeated The Rock.

I don't think that anybody would be prepared for the rise

that he had, you know, going from where he started to beating

The Rock, but he did it in dramatic fashion.

Brock Lesnar has become the youngest champion

in WWE history.

Summerslam is no doubt the hottest event of the summer, and

there was no hotter rivalry in 2008 than that of the Rated-R

superstar, Edge and The Phenom The Undertaker.

Edge.

Oh my.

At One Night Stand, edge had taken The Deadman to the extreme

in a match he helped make famous-

TLC.

Edge is the world champion.

Now is The Undertaker's turn to bring edge into his home turf-

The demonic Hell in a Cell.

I don't know if any athlete

in the history of the WWE has given

The Undertaker more problems than Edge.

Oh.

I want to say a match made in heaven.

I think it was more of a match made in hell.

I don't know if trying to raise the bar

is a necessarily doable thing.

Where do you take the risks?

The cage has just- imploded.

You have to try and do it with your story.

Tombstone.

You pay for your sins.

The conscience of the WWE wins Hell in the Cell.

Just when you thought it was all over-

The Deadman wasn't done yet.

The demon apparently thinks his night's work

has yet to finish.

Oh my God, Edge has just been thrust through the ring

straight to hell.

Really-

In my career, that stands out as an iconic moment.

I know if I were a fan in the audience and I saw that,

I'd be like, "Oh hell yeah."

Nothing is cooler than The Undertaker and the theatrics

that surround The Undertaker, and that was one iconic image

that's going to last forever.

One of the most amazing confrontations in WWE history.

If you're looking for one of the most inspirational stories

in WWE history, look no further than that

of "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels.

At WrestleMania 14, HBK was forced into retirement due

to a severe back injury.

Four years later, a vicious attack in the parking

lot left HBK injured.

It was you, Hunter.

You're damn right it was me, Shawn.

They say I'll be 100%-

100% by say, uh,

Summerslam.

Shawn Michaels has not wrestled in over four years.

I didn't know physically where I was at.

We locked up and did like 2 or 3 things that I remember going

like, "Buddy, you are fine, let's go."

Michaels off the top rope.

Oh my God.

Michaels.

Oh the Game, my God.

My God, what a backbreaker.

No, no.

Michaels helpless-

hanging upside down.

Triple H versus Shawn-

How could you go wrong, right?

These are two of the best wrestlers of their generation.

Shawn Michaels putting his life on the line.

Oh, God.

The carnage.

What a match.

You would have never guessed Shawn Michaels

had been off for four years.

It was really incredible.

Shawn Michaels oh, for the love of God, the elbow.

I remember thinking so many times during that match like,

"This is unbelievable."

Thinking like, "What has he been training the whole time?

I don't understand how he can be this good."

Bang.

No.

It's blocked.

I thought he had it.

It was blocked.

Oh, no.

Pedigree.

My God a-

No.

Oh, Michaels.

A roll up.

Will it be, can it be?

Yes.

HBK.

My God.

HBK

It was mind boggling.

Still to this day, I look back on that and it's one of the

greatest performances I've ever seen.

In 25 years, I've never seen as much courage.

It is now time for our number one moment.

And if you like, crashes and burns, this one's for you.

The tag team scene was literally on fire in 2000 with The Hardy

Boyz, the Dudley Boyz, and Edge and Christian at the forefront.

Well, each team had their own weapons of choice.

Commissioner Mick Foley made an unprecedented match for that

year's SummerSlam.

At SummerSlam-

It's going to be Edge and Christian against The Hardys,

against the Dudleys in a TLC match.

Tables and Ladders and Chairs.

Oh my.

The only way to win the match

is to climb the ladder and retrieve the tag team belts

that are hanging above the ring.

They're fired up JR.

That was an action movie.

For the love of God-

Did you see that?

Straight adrenaline all the way through.

From the minute it started, it did not stop.

Zero downtime.

It looks like a car wreck.

It became like an amazing storytelling concept

of a car crash.

No.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

That ended up being successful right?

For the love of God, a death defying leap.

Don't do it.

Oh.

We knew we wanted people to walk away

really remembering this for what it was-

the first TLC match.

Bubba Ray.

Oh, God.

Oh, no.

The human body went 20ft off a ladder through four tables.

My God, they're hanging.

D-Von and Jeff Hardy are hanging.

What the heck?

No.

Look out.

Oh, no.

Whoever was winning the match, that was fine

because we knew at the end of the day,

all three teams would be remembered

for what we accomplished together.

Edge and Christian have done it.

It's been 25 years later and people still talk

about that match.

We were the founding fathers of the TLC match.

I think we've seen it all now.

It's matches like those that made SummerSlam the must see

event of the summer.

Every year, our superstars look to leave even more lasting

impressions on the WWE universe.

Well, that'll do it for this edition of

WWE's Greatest Moments.

I hope you've enjoyed this look back at SummerSlam and one of

the hottest decades of Sports Entertainment-

The 2000s