Falls Count Anywhere SUMMERSLAM Recap

08-16-04

I play beach volleyball under the name "Fleshy McBeachteats."

SummerSlam Recap
Another SummerSlam has come and gone and I’d say that the show was, over-all, stronger than I expected. My only issue was some of the booking choices, and the amount of time some of the matches got.

Rey Mysterio, Paul London and Billy Kidman lost to The Dudleys in a match that was entertaining enough to call good, but not nearly long enough to develop into something really good. Six man matches need a lot of time to properly come together, and they rushed to a finish, though that ending segment was very good. They did the quick tags and back and forth stuff early, which set the table. London got to play Face in Peril while getting beat on by the Dudleys for a while, but managed to tag Rey. Big Rana off the top rope, and Spike used his ramrod headbutt to good measure. Kidman does a really solid flying elbow. I remember when Shawn Michaels started using the flying elbow and saying that was the sign that he was gonna be the champion sooner than later. Somehow, I don’t think I’ll ever say the same thing about Kidman. London hit a nice Plancha and this led to the ending where Rey hit a 619, and Kidman then got his Shooting Star Press, but Bubba pulled him out of the ring. Spike then got the pin after the D-Von and Bubba hit the 3D.

Is this any way to solve a love triangle?

Speaking of matches that didn’t get enough time, Kane beat Matt Hardy in the ‘Til Death Do Us Part match. They did pack a lot into the match, but they needed more time and more violence to really make it a strong pay-off. Matt got offense to start, which was smart, and he even hit the Tornado DDT, which is a personal favorite move of his. Kane got the lead back and worked Matt over with a choke. Matt managed to give Kane a crossbody and then the Twist of Fate while Kane was on the floor. Kane barely avoids a countout, and Lita got the ring bell and handed it to Matt. He nailed Kane with it, but didn’t get the pin. Matt went up top, but Kane caught him, looking like he was gonna go for the chokeslam, but fought out of them. Matt went up to the top, but Kane caught him and gave him the chokeslam which gave Kane the win. Lita was not happy and ran away from Kane.

Randy Orton was in the back doing a bit of a promo when John Cena cut in, saying thanks for the intro. The two of them have great charisma together and should be given a long-building program. Let Orton and HHH have their Mania fun, then let John and Randy fight at SummerSlam, or even better Survivor Series 2005. That would be sweet.

Speaking of rushed matches that had big potential, John Cena beat Booker T in the first of their best of five. They opened with a smack talking and then they got down to business. Cena had a really nice rolling neckbreaker. Booker’s offense was solid, but far from great. They worked for a while, with Booker missing and Axe Kick and then the one-man flapjack. Booker did the Spinnerooni, but Cena got him up for the FU, which led to the pin. A TV-level match on PPV between two real stars is not the way to go.

Bischoff and Theodore R. Long had a discussion that showed the Teddy really does know how to talk as well as any promo guy in the biz. They trade barbs, with Bisch noting that by the next Joint PPV, there’ll be a new GM anyhow. Long then came back by saying that if Eugene leaves RAW, Teddy would take him and make him a superstar. Believe dat!

The Three-way match between Jericho, Edge and Batista wasn’t as good as it could have been, since they gave it less time than they would have had it been on free TV. The guys worked a lot into the small time frame, and Batista brought a solid amount of himself to the match, allowing it to be stronger than if he had just allowed himself to be carried. Jericho was easily the crowd favorite, and they were loud. I bet even if Edge weren’t in the middle of a turn that Jericho would still have overwhelmingly carried the Toronto crowd. Batista took another Tornado DDT, and Edge goes for a spear, Jericho hits a clothesline, which the crowd loves. The finish saw Batista miss a clothesline and fly to the outside, then Jericho got a near-fall with a roll-up and then gives him a bulldog. Jericho gives Batista a dropkick, but Edge spears him and gets the pin in under ten minutes.

Eddie and Kurt have a match that was really good, but too short and not at the level of their Mania match. They worked a smart match, but more than that, they worked a match that made use of every second they had. It was obvious that this show was being programmed towards getting HHH and Orton over as the really important things in the business. They did some trading, and at one point early, Eddie got an ankle lock on Kurt. Kurt gave an Angle Slam to Eddie pretty early too. Kurt started to work Eddie’s ankle, which is a nice touch, though it’s easy to go too far and actually hurt a guy’s ankle by doing a worked working over of it.

Luther got his fingers in the match a little. I really think Luther Reigns might, just might, be a real asset in the coming months for SD.

Eddie hit an Angle Slam (Guerrero Slam?) of his own, too. At that point, I knew this match wasn’t going to be the end of this feud, as they had Eddie do so many of Kurt’s moves that you could tell that they are building to some big event between the two of them, maybe a move vs. move match, which we haven’t seen in ages. Eddie hit his three suplexes, then turned an attempt at an Angle Slam into another DDT. Eddie went for a Frog Splash, but missed. Kurt took off Eddie’s boot and lookced on the Ankle lock. That was a really nice touch. After a while, Eddie got the boot and nailed Kurt with it. He then hit the Frog Splash, but Kurt kicked out, allowing Eddie to get the Ankle Lock again for the win. There’s more to this feud and I can’t wait.

Is this any way to solve a love triangle?

Triple H beat Eugene in a match that wasn’t bad, but it was pretty much the story of HHH when he’s not in the main event: do some brawling, work outside and only sell the big moves. Eugene is a little too repetitive, doing the Rock Bottom, Stunner and Pedigree. He should be working in more moves from the olden days, like Hogan’s Leg Drop, Snuka’s Splash, Savage’s Elbow, and perhaps even Lawler’s Piledriver. Eugene is a damn good worker, and he hit the Double Axehandle off the top to the outside on H. He was about to go to work on HHH, when Hunter grabbed Lillian Garcia and pulled her in front of him. Then he tossed her down so that Eugene would help her, which allowed HHH to take the advantage.

After they got back in the ring, HHH worked on Eugene’s back with a couple of backbreakers, but showing that HHH doesn’t really like working with Eugene, he goes for a sleeper. The crowd actually turned on Eugene a fair amount here, though he did get at least some support the whole way through. Eugene was about to take a Pedigree, but then gave HHH a Pedigree of his own! Flair put H’s foot on the rope. He was about to be sent to the back when Regal came out and leveled Flair with a set of brass knux. Eugene is happy and distracted, which allows H to get the Pedigree and the win. Man, they could have done so much better.

Diva Dodgeball. I can’t believe they are doing an actual Diva Dodgeball match. This was lame, but apparently it was also not a work, as they seemed to really be playing. The Search Divas schooled the Real Divas, with only Busty LaRue-esque candidate Joy getting eliminated. Carmella wasn’t with the Searchers. Lame, but short.

The Undertaker took on John Bradshaw Layfield and ended up getting disqualified. It was just about as slow as you’d expect. This went 17 minutes and honestly, writing this a few hours later, I can’t remember a single spot up until UT hit JBL with the belt. They did do an interesting post-match, where JBL and UT brawl on the floor. JBL goes to his limo, which Taker slams him on. UT is about to leave when he went back and chokeslammed JBL through the roof of the car. Nice ending for an awful, too long, way boring match. Reading other recaps, I am reminded that Orlando Jordan did participate a lot, and I really think this might be a good role for him. Get the belt back to Eddie already!

Be a man!

Great Main Event! There was little question that this was going to be a good match, but it was really one of the better matches of the year for both of these guys. Randy Orton looked really good. Benoit, even though he was going to be losing the belt with little hope of seeing it again for more than a year, put on a hell of a match. They did testing out spots to start, then they did a test of strength, which led Benoit to bridge back, then return to get the top wrist lock.

Early on, the trade moves and advantage back and forth, and it’s an exciting match from the start. Benoit went for a dive through the ropes, but ended up going head-first into the rail. Orton then took over for a while, working a camel clutch for a time and a neckbreaker. Orton even did a gut-wrench backbreaker! Benoit comes back, getting a Northern Lights Suplex for a near fall. They did a spot where they both went down after both trying crossbody blocks. Orton went for an RKO, but Benoit clotheslined him and then gave him a Release German Suplex. Benoit gave a ton of German Suplexes, which I don’t approve of as both guys are taking too much punishment on their necks in a time when everyone needs to be healthy. Benoit got a cross face, but Orton managed to escape. Benoit beats on Orton, then goes to the ropes,, but Orton hits the RKO for the pin and the World Title in twenty minutes.

After the match, Benoit tells Orton to ‘be a man!’ and shake his hand. Orton does, and he leaves the ring for Orton to celebrate.

Chris Garcia