10 Best WWE SummerSlams Ever - According To Dave Meltzer
7. SummerSlam 2001 (3.15)
Perhaps the finest presentation of an otherwise wretched angle, SummerSlam 2001 was positioned as the biggest war zone of that year's WCW/ECW Alliance 'Invasion' angle, with nearly every battle on the card taking place either side of the imaginary dividing lines.
An excellent opener between Edge and Lance Storm sets the in-ring benchmark pleasingly high for the remainder of the night, matched later by X-Pac's battle with Tajiri and a stirring ladder match pitting Rob Van Dam against Jeff Hardy in a rematch of their death-defying battle one month earlier.
The card is not without flaws, and matches featuring The Rock tackle Booker T and Chris Jericho rumble with Rhyno suffer as much due to elevated expectations of the time, but the WWE Title contest between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle is a memorably anarchic throw-despite despite tacit efforts from 'The Rattlesnake' to gobble up his babyface foe.
Deep into his company loyalist turn, Angle is on the verge of his 'Wrestling Machine' killer persona, and bloodies up Stone Cold in a breathless quest for the title. Though Austin, even as a cowardly heel, takes up large portions of the match, his gradually increasing desperation is a thrill to watch, only marginally betrayed by a cheap disqualification finish.