"SummerSlam™" - RAW™ & SmackDown™ Co-production
Location: The MCI Center, Washington, DC
by "Rockin" Robin Drodge
Event Date: August 21, 2005
Match Number One - SmackDown™. United States Championship: United States Champion, Orlando Jordan Vs. Chris Benoit. This was the opening match for SummerSlam™ and it was rather short. Chris Benoit hit a german suplex on Orlando Jordan and then Benoit applied the crippler crossface on Jordan; in which he tapped out to the move. The winner and new United States Champion is Chris Benoit
Match Number Two - RAW™. Edge with Lita in his corner Vs. Matt Hardy. This match was rather short. The ending saw Matt Hardy hit his head on the outside ring post and then Edge followed up with a stiff kick. Hardy started to bleed and the referee decided to stop the match, so as a result, Edge ended up winning this match.
Match Number Three - SmackDown™. Ladder Match. Eddie Guerrero Vs. Rey Mysterio. The rule for this match was to climb the ladder that was at ringside and to pull down the brief case that was placed above the ring that contains the custody papers to Dominic. This match was all right. The ending saw Eddie hit his three suplexs; Eddie’s final one was on a ladder that was in the ring. Then Eddie decided to climb the ladder and when attempting to pull down the brief case, Eddie’s wife came out and knocked the ladder down. Then Rey started to climb the ladder while Eddie tried to climb another ladder, but once again his wife pulled him off it, resulting in Rey climbing the ladder and pulling down the brief case in order to win the match. After the match was over, Rey celebrated with his wife and his son Dominic.
Match Number Four - RAW™. Kurt Angle Vs. Eugene. This match was for Kurt Angle’s Olympic Gold Medal. The match did not last long. Angle hit Eugene with the angle slam and locked on the ankle lock in order to make Eugene tap out to the move.
Match Number Five - SmackDown™. Randy Orton Vs. The Undertaker. This match was all right. The ending came when a supposed fan came into the ring. Security personnel entered the ring in order to remove this person. This distracted the Undertaker, and thanks to this distraction, it allowed Randy Orton to hit the RKO on the Undertaker in order to pick up the pin-fall victory. After the match was over, Orton went up the ramp and the supposed fan returned to reveal his identity, which was Randy Orton's father, “Cowboy” Bob Orton.
Match Number Six - RAW™. WWE™ Championship. WWE™ Champion, John Cena Vs. Chris Jericho. This was a very good match. Cena and Jericho certainly delivered in this match. The ending saw Cena hit the FU on Jericho to pick up the pin-fall victory to retain his Championship.
Match Number Seven - SmackDown™. "No Holds Barred" World Heavyweight Championship Match. World Heavyweight Champion, Batista Vs. John “Bradshaw” Layfield (JBL). This match was all right. The ending saw Batista hit the sit-down power bomb on JBL. Then he had hit another sit-down power bomb on JBL on the steel steps that was already in the ring, which resulted in him picking up the pin-fall victory to retain his Championship.
Match Number Eight - RAW™. The Main Event. The Icon Vs. The Legend. Shawn Michaels (The Icon) Vs. Hulk Hogan (The Legend). This was a very good match. During the match Hulk Hogan was busted open above his eye and he lost a lot of blood as the match went on. The ending saw Shawn Michaels hit the sweet chin music on Hogan, in which he only got a two count. Then Hogan hulked up and hit the big boot on Michaels and then followed it up with the leg drop to pick up the pin-fall victory.
Some additional comments regarding SummerSlam™.
ü This year's SummerSlam™ Pay-Per-View was a complete sell-out, just like last year's SummerSlam™. The number of fans in attendance for this Pay-Per-View were 18,176.
ü I thought that it was time that Chris Benoit won the United States Championship. In my opinion, he is a good wrestler and he deserves another opportunity at the World Heavyweight Championship before his career is over. So I thought that his match with Orlando Jordan was rather quick, however I am happy that he won the Championship.
ü I don’t know what the WWE™ was thinking for the Matt Hardy and Edge match. It seemed rather early to have this match and the way that they ended the match did not make any sense at all. I did not think that either Edge or Matt Hardy would win the match but I thought that they would do something to cause a no contest to keep the feud going. However, having Hardy hit in the head with the ring post on the outside of the ring and then to stop the match because of blood loss was very ludicrous. The reason I thought it was ludicrous is because in the Main Event between Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels, there was a lot of blood from Hogan when he was busted open above the eye, the referee never even considered stopping the match. In the Edge vs. Matt Hardy match, the referee stopped the match as soon as Matt Hardy started to bleed. I am sure the Edge and Hardy feud will continue but they could have done something better with the way that they ended the match.
ü I thought that Eddie Guerrero would win his Ladder Match against Rey Mysterio, due to the fact that Guerrero had already lost six matches to Mysterio, therefore I thought that he would win the match, but this did not happen. However, with Rey winning, I am hoping that this feud is now over and they both will move on and start new feuds.
ü I think that the WWE™ needs to do something with the Eugene character because he was supposed to be the baby face in his match with Kurt Angle, however Eugene was booed out of the building so he was the heel in this match and Angle was the baby face. I think the fans are tired of the Eugene character; I think that the WWE™ needs to do something with him soon.
ü The WWE™ Championship match between John Cena against Chris Jericho. This was a very good match but I think the fans sent a message to the WWE™ indicating they need to take the belt off Cena. The fans, for the most part, cheered Jericho as the match went on. However towards the end of this match, the fans started a chant for both Cena and Jericho. The chant was "Let's go, Cena", while at the same time the fans started a chant "Let's go, Jericho". Cena is not a great wrestler, however he is good on the mike so I don’t understand why he is the Champion at this time. I was not surprised that Cena kept his Championship for two reasons. The first reason would be that Jericho would be taking some time off to focus on his music career. The other reason would be that the WWE™ sent out a newsletter to people living in Oklahoma City, in which they announced the Main Event for the next WWE™ Pay-Per-View "Unforgiven™," that it would be John Cena defending the WWE™ Championship against Kurt Angle, which will take place on September 18. So the WWE™ is famous for giving the outcome of a match, such as promoting a Live Event or a Pay-Per-View.
ü The Batista and JBL match was all right. I thought that there would be a lot more fan reaction for Batista because he was in his hometown defending his Championship. However, the fans appeared to be dead for the match. There was really no fan reaction at all.
ü I thought the Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels match was very good, however it could have been better. The reason for this was that on RAW™, that took place on August 15 in Montreal, the same location where the 1997 Survivor Series "screw job" took place. Shawn Michaels started the show with a promo about his match with Hulk Hogan for SummerSlam™ and brought up Bret Hart’s name a lot. In fact, they even played Hart’s theme music, however Hart did not come out to the ring or show up that night. During the night, the fans in Montreal were screaming, "you screwed Bret and we want Bret". So while the match between Michaels and Hogan was going on, the fans in Washington, which it is not in Canada, started some chants of "you screwed Bret and we want Bret". In fact, just like in Montreal, Michaels applied the sharpshooter on Hogan and there were some rumors that Bret Hart may have shown up and got involved in this match. However, it could have been a good possibility for him to have made his WWE™ return, especially when two referees get knocked down that someone might interfere. However, nothing ever happened and the match went on and then soon ended. My opinion on this is the WWE™ don’t realize what they could have if Bret Hart made his return, even if it was just for one night, it would make the fans very happy. I think the WWE™ is dropping the ball with the possible return of Bret Hart. The WWE™ is all about making the fans happy, so at this point bringing Bret Hart back would be what the fans want.
It is time for Bret and Vince McMahon to put the past aside. The perfect time for Bret Hart to return would have been in Montreal, Quebec, Canada or Washington, D.C.
This has been the SummerSlam™ report written by your author Rockin' Robin Drodge here at the Canadian Connection.
© 2004 Robin Drodge, All Rights Reserved
(This page was last updated on 2007-01-01 )
© 2004 Robin Drodge, All Rights Reserved
WWE™, WCW™, Wrestlemania™, SmackDown™, SummerSlam™, Survivor Series™, the names of its events, superstars and finishing moves are all registered trade marks of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
