SummerSlam 2002 SummerSlam 2002 was the fifteenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . It took place on August 25 , 2002 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale , New York . The main match on the SmackDown ! brand was for the WWE Undisputed Championship between The Rock and Brock Lesnar . Lesnar won the match and the WWE Undisputed Championship after pinning Rock following an F - 5 . The predominant match on the Raw brand featured a Unsanctioned Street Fight between Shawn Michaels and Triple H , which Michaels won after pinning Triple H by reversing Triple H ' s Pedigree attempt into a jackknife roll - up . The primary match on the card was an interpromotional match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship between Rob Van Dam and Chris Benoit , which Van Dam won by pinfall after performing a Five - Star Frog Splash . The main matches on the undercard were The Undertaker versus Test and Kurt Angle versus Rey Mysterio . Background . The main feud heading into SummerSlam on the SmackDown ! brand was between The Rock and Brock Lesnar , with the two feuding over the WWE Undisputed Championship . On the June 24 edition of " Raw " , it was announced that Brock Lesnar would face off against the WWE Undisputed Champion at SummerSlam . At the King of the Ring , Lesnar defeated Test in the Semi - Final tournament then during the latter event , he defeated Rob Van Dam in the King of the Ring tournament to earn the right to face the WWE Undisputed Champion at SummerSlam . At Vengeance , the pay - per - view one month before SummerSlam , The Rock defeated The Undertaker and Kurt Angle in a Triple Threat match to win the WWE Undisputed Championship by pinning Angle after executing a Rock Bottom . On the July 25 edition " SmackDown " , during The Rock ' s WWE Tag Team Championship match against The Un - Americans ( Lance Storm and Christian ) , Lesnar interfered by nailing Rock ' s tag team partner Hollywood Hulk Hogan with an F - 5 . Due to Lesnar ' s interference , Rock and Hogan won the match by disqualification but not the titles . On the August 8 edition of " SmackDown ! " , Lesnar would put his SummerSlam title shot on the line against Hogan with the stipulation added that if Hogan were to defeat Lesnar , he would face The Rock in a WrestleMania X8 return match at SummerSlam for the Undisputed title . At the end , Lesnar locked Hogan in a bear hug . When Hogan kayfabe passed out , the referee stopped the contest . After the match , Lesnar then nailed Hogan in the head with the steel chair , causing Hogan to bleed . The following week on " SmackDown " , The Rock took on the WWE I . C . Champion Chris Benoit in a Champion vs . Champion match , which again involved Lesnar . During the match , Lesnar taunted The Rock while Rock was placed in the Crippler Crossface by Benoit . Rock , however , was able defeat Benoit following a Rock Bottom . On the final edition of " SmackDown ! " , after The Rock and Edge defeated Benoit and Eddie Guerrero in a tag match , Lesnar appeared to the ring for another stare down with The Rock , which led to a brawl between the two that ended the show . Another feud heading into SummerSlam was between Shawn Michaels and Triple H . At Vengeance , Michaels returned after being out for 4 years . Triple H was given the choice of deciding which brand he would appear for , SmackDown or Raw , and Michaels helped him decide by offering to reform D - Generation X ( DX ) on the Raw brand . Triple H chose to go to Raw , but the following night , as Michaels and Triple H were in the middle of reforming DX , Triple H turned on Michaels by nailing him with the pedigree . On the July 29 edition of " Raw " , Michaels was found in the parking lot , laying motionless following an ambush assault . He was also bleeding from the head due to someone putting his head through a car window . The next week on " Raw " , a security camera revealed to be Triple H that had attacked Michaels from behind . Triple H told Michaels that he did it to prove a point that Michaels was " weak " . Michaels then told Triple H that he isn ' t 100 % but he will be at SummerSlam . On the August 19 edition of " Raw " , Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff announced an Unsanctioned Street Fight between Triple H and Michaels for SummerSlam then later that night , Michaels interfered in Triple H ' s non - title match with The Rock and assaulted Triple H . At the beginning of the show , Brock Lesnar brought a front - row seat ticket to watch the main event between Rock and Triple H but even when Lesnar tried to interfere on Triple H ' s behalf , Michaels delivered a Sweet Chin Music on Lesnar . Michaels then leaped on top of Triple H and the security and ended the show by knocking Triple H down , sending a clear message that he ' s not weak as they head into their match at SummerSlam . Event . The event unofficially began with a " Sunday Night Heat " match between Spike Dudley and Steven Richards . Dudley pinned Richards . The first match was between Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio . The match started off with Mysterio getting the advantage over Angle , as he attacked Angle from the entrance way . The two entered the ring , which it saw Angle dominate Mysterio in the match . However , Mysterio was able to hit a huge senton , from the ring to the floor on Angle . The finish had Angle reverse an attempt top rope hurricarana , directly into the Ankle Lock , which Mysterio could not escape , and tapped out . The next match was a contest between Ric Flair and Chris Jericho . Jericho put Flair into the figure - four leg - lock . Chris insisted that Flair tapped out , but the referee ordered the match to continue . Flair then won the match by putting the same move onto Jericho . The third match of the night was between Edge and Eddie Guerrero . During the match , Guerrero targeted Edge ' s shoulder . Guerrero also countered a spear attempt by dropkicking Edge right in the shoulder , and Eddie deciding to deliver a frog splash onto Edge ' s shoulder instead of onto his torso . However , Edge rallied with an Edgecution and a Spear to get the pinfall . The next match was for the WWE Tag Team Championship . It was between The Un - Americans ( Lance Storm and Christian ) and Booker T and Goldust . During the match , Booker was able to hit a scissors kick to both Storm and Christian . But Test , made a run - in , giving Booker the big boot . Storm was able to make the cover , as a result , Storm and Christian retained the WWE Tag Team titles . The fifth match on the card was for the WWE Intercontinental Championship . It was a match between Chris Benoit and Rob Van Dam . Benoit went into this match holding the championship , that was exclusive to the Smackdown ! brand . Van Dam was on the Raw . Van Dam won the match , after pinning Benoit after a Five Star Frog Splash and taking the title from Benoit , and bringing it over to the Raw brand . The Undertaker against Test was next . Lance Storm and Christian both interfered in the match , but received chokeslam from The Undertaker . Undertaker won the match with a Tombstone Piledriver . After the match , Undertaker celebrated with an American flag . The seventh match was the Unsanctioned Street Fight match between Shawn Michaels and Triple H . This was Shawn Michaels ' first WWE match since WrestleMania XIV . Michaels came out fast , utilizing a punch - kick offense to start , but also hitting a reverse crossbody . However , Triple H took the advantage in the match , as he hit a series of backbreakers to Michaels . Michaels retaliated many assaults by Triple H , as he hit Triple H with a ladder . Michaels was able to hit a splash on Triple H from the top rope , through a table on the floor . The match came to an end , when Michaels went for Sweet Chin Music , but was reversed into a Pedigree , but Michaels reversed the Pedigree into a jackknife roll - up . After the match , Triple H struck Michaels with his sledgehammer twice , forcing Michaels to be carried away on a stretcher . The main event was for the WWE Undisputed Championship between The Rock and Brock Lesnar . Brock Lesnar dominated early with some power moves . The Rock went for the Sharpshooter . However , Paul Heyman got involved in the match , as he was attacked by the Rock . Which was followed by Heyman being delivered a Rock Bottom through the Spanish announcers table . The two gave each other a Rock Bottom . The match came to an end , when Lesnar stopped a People ' s Elbow . Then Lesnar hit the F - 5 on the Rock and got the three count , thus making Lesnar the new WWE Champion , and the youngest WWE Champion in history . Lesnar remained the youngest world champion in WWE history until Randy Orton won the World Heavyweight Championship in 2004 . Aftermath . On the August 26 edition of " Raw " , due to the requirements of the WWE Undisputed Championship being defended on both shows , Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff , expected Brock Lesnar to be able to return on " Raw " the next night . Lesnar and SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon appeared to announce that Lesnar ' s contract only required him to defend the title on " SmackDown ! " , forcing Bischoff to separate the World Heavyweight Championship from the WWE Championship and in turn making the title lose its " Undisputed " name . On the September 2 edition of " Raw " , Bischoff awarded Triple H the World Heavyweight Championship in the form of the old WCW Championship belt . The Undertaker went on to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Unforgiven , and again at No Mercy in a Hell in a Cell match . Shawn Michaels would return full - time to the ring at Survivor Series and win the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H in the first ever Elimination Chamber match . The Rock would take a 7 month hiatus from WWE and would not return until late February 2003 , when Vince McMahon booked him in a Wrestlemania X8 rematch with Hulk Hogan . This pay - per - view was awarded Best Major Show for 2002 by Dave Meltzer ' s Wrestling Observer Newsletter .