Brock Lesnar wins the WWE World Championship from The Rock at SummerSlam ‘02: August 25, 2002

Lesnar became the youngest WWE Champion in history with the win — his first WWE Championship. The Next Big Thing kicked out of a Rock Bottom in the hard-hitting affair (and a top 10 SummerSlam match). The Brahma Bull went for the People’s Elbow, but Lesnar turned him inside out with a clothesline. After a few reversals, Lesnar unleashed the F5 on The Rock to get the win.

SummerSlam 2002 also featured the returned of Shawn Michaels, who had left wrestling due to a back injury. The Showstopper hadn’t wrestled since losing the WWF Championship to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV. The Heartbreak Kid wasn’t coming back for a wrestling match with his buddy Triple H. He was coming for a street fight with the Game, who was revealed to be the perpetrator of a parking-lot attack that left Michaels in need of a wheelchair. The bloody brawl ended when Michaels reversed a Pedigree into a pin, an instant classic (the third best in SummerSlam’s history). The Game didn’t handle the loss well, attacking his former DX partner with a sledgehammer. Though Michaels was victorious, he left the arena on a stretcher.

More matches:

Kurt Angle defeated Rey Mysterio.

Ric Flair beat Chris Jericho.

Edge defeated Eddie Guerrero.

Lance Storm and Christian retained the World Tag Team championships in a match with Booker T and Goldust.

Rob Van Dam won the Intercontinental Championship from Chris Benoit.

The Undertaker defeated Test.