WWE SummerSlam (August 2004)

From Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Your Hosts are Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, and Tazz

Opening Six-Man Tag Team Match: The Dudley Boyz v Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman, and Paul London: D-Von Dudley starts with Kidman, and walks into a headscissors, followed by an armdrag, and a dropkick for two. Tag to London, and Paul hits a quick standing moonsault for two, then peppers him with a couple of dropkicks for two, but walks into a cheap shot from Bubba Dudley, and D-Von kills him with a clothesline for two. The Boyz cut the ring in half on Paul, and wow, Spike Dudley should not wrestle without a shirt on, like, ever. Guy makes 2002 Shawn Michaels look like 1988 Hulk Hogan. A miscommunication allows London to tag out to Mysterio, and he's a casa of fire. Brawl breaks out, and it's high spots galore from the babyfaces, but Kidman ultimately eats the Death Drop at 8:06. Hot opener - fast paced, and loaded with high spots to get the crowd going. **

Till Death Do Us Part Match: Kane v Matt Hardy: Lita must marry the winner. Matt blitzes him in the corner, and hits a uranage for two. Baseball slide sets up a guillotine legdrop for two, and Matt follows with a tornado DDT for two, but runs into a closed fist. Kane takes his head off with a clothesline, but Matt manages to knock him to the floor for a plancha, then executes the Twist of Fate out there. He goes for the countout, but Kane beats it in, so Matt stomps the shit out of him, and Lita passes him the ring bell to finish the job. Hardy clobbers him with said bell, but it only gets two. Twist of Fate, but Kane counters with a big boot, and hits a cool looking chokeslam off the top rope for the pin at 6:08. Certainly much better than the Vengeance match - more focused, and faster paced. * ¼

WWE United States Title Best of Five Series Match: Booker T v John Cena: This is the first match in a best of five series between the two, so Booker can't lose or retain the title tonight, only a 'fall,' so to speak. Cena snaps off a quick clothesline for two, and quickly executes the Throwback for two, but ends up getting crotched on the top rope, and dumped to the floor. Booker hammers him out there, then brings him in for a savate kick and a kneedrop. Slugfest goes Booker's way with the Harlem sidekick, and he slaps on a camel clutch, but John dumps him into the corner to escape, so Booker spinebusters him. Sidewalk slam sets up a chinlock, but John manages to duck the axekick. He starts making a comeback, but Booker cuts him off with a flapjack - only to get caught in the FU anyway at 6:25. On the short side - this was basically a TV match. And not even a GOOD TV match, at that. ½*

WWE Intercontinental Title Triple Threat Match: Edge v Chris Jericho v Batista: First fall wins. Batista knocks Edge out of the ring during the entrances, but gets jumped by Jericho, and chopped in the corner. Batista manages to powerslam Jericho to setup the Batista Bomb, but Edge clips his knee to stop it, so Batista gives him a snake-eyes for his troubles. He goes for the kill, but Jericho returns the favor by saving him, and Edge dropkicks Batista out of the ring. Edge and Jericho team up to take Batista out using the steps out there, then end up staring down in the ring. Edge wins the slugfest, but the Impaler is countered into the Walls, countered back by Edge into a cradle for two. Jericho with a bodypress, but Edge rolls through for two - though they were both in the ropes, so there shouldn't have been a count to begin with. Jericho gets the Walls on anyway, but Batista's back to break up the party, and post Chris. Reversal sequence with Edge ends in the champ executing the Impaler for two, but Jericho cuts off the Spear. Batista thanks him with a spinebuster for two, and everyone trades rollups - though nobody buys them as near falls. Jericho bulldogs Edge, but Batista cuts off the Lionsault, and Edge Spear Chris to retain at 8:25. Another quickie. We must be in for a patented Triple H forty-five minute wankfest later, or something. *

Eddie Guerrero v Kurt Angle: Kurt takes him down in a waistlock, but Eddie manages a fireman's carry, and they go to a stalemate. Another reversal sequence ends in Eddie controlling with a mat-based side-headlock, but Kurt counters to an overhead wristlock, so Eddie escapes with another fireman's carry, and grabs a hammerlock. Kurt escapes with a rolling German suplex, but Guerrero counters the second alarm into an anklelock, so Kurt grabs a clawhold to escape, then executes the Olympic Slam. He goes for his own Anklelock, but Eddie gets the ropes to break - allowing Luther Reigns (looking like a dead ringer for Warrior at the 2014 Hall of Fame in his suit) to take a cheap shot, and Kurt capitalizes with another Anklelock. Eddie gets to the ropes again, so Angle punishes him by wrapping the ankle around the post, then grounding him in a modified STF - taking advantage of the position by undoing Eddie's boot. Guerrero uses a chincrusher to escape, and quickly follows up with a side suplex that leaves both men looking up at the lights. Eddie controls the resulting slugfest, and hits the three-alarm rolling vertical suplex to setup the Frogsplash, but Kurt grabs him in his pop-up overhead suplex to counter for two. Olympic Slam: The Sequel, but Eddie counters with a DDT - only to miss the Frogsplash, and get Olympic Slammed anyway for two. Kurt rips off the unlaced boot from earlier and slaps the Anklelock back on to finish, but Eddie bumps the referee to save himself, then whacks Kurt with the boot. Eddie's smirk as he hides it from the official is brilliant - topped only by the look of shock when Kurt kicks out of the Frogsplash at two. And that shock allows Angle to slap on another Anklelock, and Guerrero is finished at 13:38. Yes, if you read this and wondered where the first half of the match went, you're not alone, as this felt like the last thirteen minutes of a twenty five minute match, as opposed to a fully formed idea. It was still good because the quality of their ring work was so crisp, but it had almost no flow, and just kind of went right into trading finishers with little/no buildup. ***

Triple H v Eugene: Slugfest to start, won by HHH with a knee, but he runs into a backelbow, and Eugene backdrops him. HHH bails, but Eugene is right on him, so Hunter hides behind ring announcer Lillian Garcia, then fires off a cheap shot when Eugene shows concern. HHH tries to suplex him out of the ring, but Eugene reverses, and unloads a ten-punch in the corner - only to lose count, and add a few more. Criss cross sees HHH blow out his knee, and he cons the referee into calling for help - only to clip Eugene when he falls for it, and hit a pair of backbreakers. Spinebuster, and they go to the floor for Hunter to whip him into the steps - tearing a nasty gash into Eugene's arm in the process. Back in, Hunter casually works him over, but Eugene starts slugging back, so HHH grabs a sleeper. Pedigree looks to finish, but Eugene backdrops free, and starts GASSING UP THE SHORT BUS!! Fists of Fury! Inverted Atomic Drop! Clothesline! Stunner! Big Boot! Legdrop! - but it only gets two. Eugene tries a flying axehandle, but HHH counters into the Pedigree, so Eugene counters back into a slingshot, and hits his own Pedigree for two - when Flair puts Hunter's foot on the ropes. That distracts Eugene, and the Pedigree finishes him at 14:05. The match was total junk, and was really hurt by the booking. Like, forget about the wrong guy going over, what I don't really get is why Triple H kept having to resort to cheating to outsmart Eugene, of all people. Shouldn't the angle have been that Eugene has to find ways to outsmart Triple H, with Triple H cheating outrageously in increasingly cruel ways? Playing the Flair role doesn't work when you're already bigger than the other guy, AND when his character is supposed to be mentally challenged. *

WWE Title Match: John Bradshaw Layfield v The Undertaker: Undertaker literally throws the champ out of the ring during the initial lockup, then stalks after him to slam his hand on the steps. Back in, Undertaker works the wrist, but Bradshaw blocks the ropewalk forearm, and hits a loose swinging neckbreaker. That looked terrible, and exposing. Sidewalk slam sets up a flying shoulderblock for two, but he gets caught in a fujiwara armbar, and Undertaker manages the ropewalk forearm. Reverse STO gets two, and he slaps on a triangle choke, but Orlando Jordan pulls JBL into the ropes to force a break. Undertaker kills him with a big boot, but the distraction allows Bradshaw to clip the leg, and wrap it around the post a few times, then whack it with a chair. Meanwhile, the crowd cares so much that they ignore the match to do the wave. They're just having fun, Michael! What is it with Toronto, and that bit, anyway? The announcers try to sell it as the fans trying to 'roll Undertaker on,' which is almost too funny to make fun of. They spill back to the outside, as the crowd LOUDLY chants 'Spanish table.' Keep it up guys, this is why you never get pay per views anymore. How dare you have fun in a non-WWE approved way! They don't even give them a table spot out of the deal, however, and Undertaker just superplexes him on the way back into the ring for two. Last Ride, but Bradshaw grabs at the bad leg, and counters into a spinning-toehold. Undertaker uses a choke to escape, and executes a spinebuster for two. Jumping clothesline hits, followed by a pair of corner clotheslines, and the snake-eyes for two. 'Taker, to his credit, is selling the leg throughout. Chokeslam gets two, but Jordan distracts him to stop the Tombstone, and Bradshaw hits the Clothesline from Wall Street for two. Double-big boot leaves both men looking up at the lights, and the referee down as well. Jordan capitalizes by passing Bradshaw the title belt, and he clobbers his challenger, but the referee is down. Jordan quickly makes do by grabbing the unconscious official and making the count for him (even Virgil would have to stop and admire that level of dedication - so long as you paid him $20 for his time, of course), but Undertaker still kicks out at two. He beats up Jordan, and delivers the Last Ride to Bradshaw for a dramatic two, then clobbers Bradshaw with the title belt out of frustration, and gets disqualified at 17:37. Well, that's his own fault, really. That was uncalled for. As for the match, they tried hard, though the attempts at psychology went absolutely nowhere, and a DQ ending in the world title match on the second biggest show of the year is a shit finish. * ½

Main Event: World Heavyweight Title Match: Chris Benoit v Randy Orton: Chris controls on the mat in the early going, and works an overhead wristlock for a while. Oddly, Chris has what looks like his old Horsemen tights on tonight, with the '4' modified to '4 real.' He goes for the sharpshooter early, but Orton actually reverses it - and there's a reason you never see Randy do that one anymore, because his version makes Rock look like a long lost Hart brother. Benoit reverses back, but Randy is near the ropes, so Chris shifts into the Crippler Crossface to try and cut him off. Orton manages to drop his body weight out of the ring to escape, and he posts the champion a couple of times out there. Back in, Randy goes after the shoulder with an armbar, but Chris uses chops to escape, so Orton forward-suplexes him across the top rope. Both end up fighting on the apron from there, and Benoit DDTs him onto it to win that particular battle. Back in, that gets two, and Chris adds a baseball slide when his challenger bails. Tope, but Randy sidesteps, and Benoit hits the rail head-first - and hard. That was cringe worthy in 2004, and considerably more so now. Back in, that gets Orton two, and he keeps after the neck with a chinlock. Orton with a delayed gutwrench elevated neckbreaker for two, which is a spot he really need to bring back, because it looks fucking awesome. Back to the chinlock, but Chris chops free, and a criss cross ends with both guys simultaneously throwing bodypresses, and colliding. Benoit wins the resulting slugfest, and hits a backdrop, but Orton blocks a German suplex, so Chris quickly shifts into a northern lights version instead for two. Superplex, but Randy manages to block that as well, and this time is able to capitalize with a flying bodypress for two. RKO, but Benoit blocks, and tries for the sharpshooter, but Randy blocks, so Benoit delivers a release German suplex, then slaps on the sharpshooter on the dazed challenger! Nice sequence there. Orton gets the ropes, so Benoit delivers a six-alarm (!) rolling German to adequately setup the flying headbutt, but Randy lifts his boot to block - in another cringe worthy bump. I mean, he just swan dove right into the boot there, not like the usual spots where guys hit the foot, but telegraph it by diving feet first. Randy goes for the cover off of it, but Benoit is ready with the Crossface. Randy escapes, and the RKO out of nowhere wins him his first world title at 20:09. It took a little while to kick into gear, but once it did they deliver a good, solid main event, with hard work from both, and which felt suitably epic. *** ¼

BUExperience: With the 2004 Draft finally giving RAW some strong workers to fill out their end of these joint cards, this show came together nicely with some strong matches from strong workers. And while the show delivered for the most part, having this huge roster to work with left them having to rush through most everything to make sure that everyone would have a place on the card, and a lot of matches fell flat(er) due to time constraints. Still, a solid card.

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