The Greatest Match From Every WWE SummerSlam Ever

WWE manages here to do something that had as yet been wildly unsuccessful: getting Stone Cold over as a heel. While he’d engaged in nothing but nefarious, cowardly acts since WrestleMania X-7, Austin was so hot that convincing a crowd to boo seemed an exercise in futility.

Here, in Kurt Angle, they had a convincing babyface that could garner most of the audience’s support. Angle was already a main eventer, but this solidified him as a true top guy. He does the lot here, busting out catch wrestling and submissions, top rope moves, and bleeding buckets to cement himself as the new hero.

Austin, so underrated as the cowardly heel, is superb here, brutalising Angle and nailing stunner after stunner, then reacting in disbelief when he can’t put the Olympic champ down for the three.

The ending goes pretty crazy, but it’s not as overbooked as it could be given the era. Austin turns his wrath on the referees, and corrupt WCW official Nick Patrick comes down to give the DQ win to Angle - but Austin keeps the WWF Championship. Such was the quality of this match that the crowd didn’t even care about the non-finish.