WWE SummerSlam 2003 DVD
(Sony)
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

World Wrestling Entertainment brought its second biggest annual pay-per view to Arizona ÷ and failed to put on a show hot enough for the desert.

WWE SummerSlam, which took place at Phoenix's America West Arena in August, featured four matches from each of the WWE's "brands": Monday night's "Raw" on Spike TV (formerly TNN), and Thursday night's "Smackdown!" on UPN.

The main event of SummerSlam was average at best, and the undercard wasn't very strong for an average pay-per-view's standards, let alone for the show-stopping event that SummerSlam has become.

The final match of the evening was the second ever "elimination chamber" match, featuring six wrestlers from the Raw roster: Raw World Champion Triple H, former WCW superstar Goldberg, the seven-foot, 300-pound Kevin Nash, third-generation wrestler Randy Orton, first ever undisputed WWE champion Chris Jericho, and 16-year WWE veteran Shawn Michaels.

The elimination chamber is a cage-like steel structure that surrounds the ring, with a "holding cell" at each corner. The rules of this unique match, which debuted at last year's November pay-per-view, Survivor Series, are as follows:

÷ Two men begin the match, with the other four wrestlers locked inside one of the four glass structures located at each corner of the ring.

÷ Every three minutes, a wrestler held in one of the four barriers is chosen at random to be released into the match.

÷ The match continues until one wrestler remains. A wrestler is eliminated from the match via pinfall or submission.

This match was surprisingly short, primarily because Triple H was working through a severe groin injury and was very limited in his mobility. Though Triple H retained his title ÷ cheating by using his trademark sledgehammer ÷ the star of the match was former WCW superstar Goldberg.

Goldberg stole the show by pinning three straight men ÷ Orton, Jericho and Michaels ÷ in short order and devastating fashion. Only Triple H's toy, handed to him through the steel chains of the chamber by his buddy, the geriatric Nature Boy Ric Flair, kept Goldberg from stealing the title.

Had Triple H been able to actually wrestle in this match, it would've been something special. The fact that he did very little brought it down to a mediocre level, and led to a very abrupt and anti-climactic finish.

The Smackdown! Brand won bragging rights by putting on the best match of the evening. The two "real" wrestlers in the WWE, Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, had yet to put on anything short of an amazing contest prior to SummerSlam ÷ and nothing changed as they exited AWA that evening.

Angle, Smackdown's World Champion entering the event, won an Olympic gold medal for freestyle wrestling in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Lesnar, the youngest WWE champion in history, won the NCAA Division-I wrestling title two consecutive years at the University of Minnesota.

After 25 minutes of amazingly skillful, old-school, freestyle-type wrestling, Angle retained his title by forcing Lesnar to submit to his "ankle lock" submission hold.

If you purchase this event, purchase it for this match only. The remainder of SummerSlam's card was not exceptionally special ÷ and certainly not worth the $300 ringside seats.