There are a great deal of fans unfamiliar with the UK-exclusive pay-per-view events that WWE promoted from 1997 until 2003. While many were merely glorified house shows for the fans in Europe, there were occasions where the events turned out to be quite good, such as the Smackdow-exclusive Rebellion 2002. Brock Lesnar and manager Paul Heyman teamed up to battle Edge in the night's main event, a handicap match for Lesnar's World Championship. Originally scheduled to featured The Undertaker taking on Lesnar, the future Rated-R Superstar filled in admirably. In the hottest streak of his young career, he demonstrated strong chemistry with The Beast, and Heyman's antics helped fuel crowd response, leading to a quality main event. Los Guerreros battled Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle for the WWE Tag Team Championships in the co-main event, further spotlighting the considerable talent of the SmackDown Six, while Rey Mysterio and Tajiri challenged Jamie Noble for the Cruiserweight title in a Triple Threat match (also featuring Tajiri). In a nice surprise, Raw's on-loan Booker T helped make up for the lack of main event star power as he battled the slightly delusional Matt Hardy, Version One, in the night's opening contest. With one of the most talented rosters of all-time, SmackDown presented a show that proved why the Paul Heyman era of the show remains one of the best in company history.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
