Of all the future multi-time world champions in WWE (and wrestling) history, very few have had as modest of a beginning to their tale as Randy Orton's first few months on the SmackDown brand. Orton had obvious potential to be mined, with a great lock and an elegant in-ring style, but he had almost no presence on the mic, and nothing to truly distinguish him from his fellow OVW graduates. After debuting on the blue brand in April of 2002, he was sent packing to Raw in September, and almost immediately went down with a shoulder injury, the first of an unfortunate many that would plague the rest of his career. While recuperating, Orton found his voice, transforming into a smarmy, narcissistic heel that interrupted other segments and matches to put over his recovery, and when he was finally ready to return, a grand future awaited. In one night, the entire landscape of the WWE was permanently altered, as Orton and fellow newcomer Batista linked up with two of the most recognizable heels in all of wrestling, as they were taken under the wing of Triple H and Ric Flair. The year of 2003 saw the quartet known as Evolution take over Raw, and Orton ascended the ranks in record time. Orton continuously worked the biggest stars in all of the business, earning two pay-per-view victories over Shawn Michaels, before ending the year as Intercontinental Champion, and the hottest name in wrestling. As the calendar changed to 2004, Orton proved that he was truly ready for the top of the card in his barbaric feud with Mick Foley, then flourishing in the midcard as the main event picture grew stale, frequently pulling out the match of the night in electric title defenses. Orton had taken to wrestling in a way few have ever done, and with business on a steady decline, Vince McMahon would take no half-measures. If Orton was to ever be ready, it had to be now, as he was suddenly entered into a world title match, in the main event of the second-biggest WWE event of the year. Two years ago, when Brock Lesnar became the youngest world champion in company history, Randy Orton was a complete afterthought. Now after a steady climb to the top, the 24-year old aims to reset the record books, and embrace his destiny.
- SummerSlam 2004 comes to you from the Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the home of the Raptors and Maple Leafs, and the first pay-per-view to be hosted in the venue after a number of WWE TV tapings. The duos of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (Raw) and Michael Cole and Tazz (SmackDown) are on hand to call matches from each of their respective brands.
- Our opening contest sees a newly-heel Spike Dudley, embracing a cowardly role after years as a courageous underdog, teaming with Bubba Ray and D-Von to beat an all-star cruiserweight trio of Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman, and Paul London. All three Dudleys are on top of their heelish games, with plenty of trash talk and taunting, while the babyfaces are as exhilerating as advertised, linking up for some wild action. Tons of bodies go flying every which way, and Little Spike seems to stand no chance once his two big brothers are taken out, as he gets absolutely trounced, laid out after a Hart Attack, a 619, and Kidman's Shooting Star Press. But Spike is pulled out of the fire thanks to a last minute save from D-Von, and Kidman is planted with the 3-D, allowing Spike to claim victory by tagging in to make the cover. This was as perfect an opener as you can really get for a big supercard like this, stuffed full of highlights and a delightful watch.
- The incredibly ugly and uncomfortable Kane, Matt Hardy, and Lita storyline takes another step forward in what was called a "'Til Death Do Us Part" match between Kane and Hardy, which the demon from Hell and rape perpetrator won, earning the right to wed Lita, wrestling really sucks sometimes. Matt's early ambush was great, but they settle into a standard, tit-for-tat wrestling match quickly, losing all momentum and audience investment. There's a lot of teases of big moves, before Matt is almost slammed through the ring with a hellacious avalanche Chokeslam from Kane, ending this one emphatically. Getting heat back on Kane after getting trounced by Undertaker at WrestleMania wasn't a terrible decision, but man, there have to be more tasteful ways to do it.
- At this point, I have to mention what's coming with this Toronto crowd, who have mostly been a standard WWE crowd at this point, but are about to become the defining feature of this night. It really kicks off with their reactions to a Randy Orton interview, as they turn the whole thing into a mess by insisting on cheering the detestable Orton, who is visibly flustered. After interacting with John Cena, who acknowledges the cheers for Orton, Randy goes into heel mode, ignoring the response to deliver his parting words, which were scripted for heavy boos. It's a hilarious mess, and a sign of the wackiness to come later on.
- John Cena kickstarts a Best of 5 series with Booker T, who has managed to get his mitts on the United States title, winning a heatless match with an F-U after Booker's Spinaroonie. There's really not much to say about this, Booker lands some kicks, then loses. Moving on.
- SummerSlam begins to go off the rails with Edge, who realistically should be entering to a mammoth ovation as an Ontario native, but instead the crowd rejects his white meat babyface act, booing him loudly throughout his Intercontinental Championship defense against Batista and Chris Jericho. This was a perfectly fine little dance, as they cycle through near falls and big moves, with Edge and Jericho really shining when they get to work with each other. I loved the moments where we got to see them trade counters, and Batista popping in every now and then to land his powerful offense was the right role for him. The two Canadians manage to fend off Evolution's ravenous pitbull, and Edge retains, chopping Jericho down with the Spear. Outside of the wacky crowd response, there wasn't a ton to write about, but it's fascinating to see Ross and Lawler struggle to comprehend the sudden nuclear heat Edge was receiving.
- The Torontonians were a little bit more mixed in our next contest, a WrestleMania rematch where Kurt Angle gets his win back over Eddie Guerrero, the vengeful ex-WWE Champion, who had lost twice to JBL thanks to Angle's meddling. Both men spam submissions, rolling around on the mat and trading holds. Toronto doesn't quite know what to make of it, and even as a fan of technical wrestling, I found the early minutes hard to get into, as it felt a little slow and lacking urgency. The match picked up with Kurt's spring to the top rope to deliver a belly-to-belly, and the final stretch got up to that highest gear, with finisher trading and a couple gorgeous counters. Eddie's Latino temper gets the better of him in the end, as after a healthy amount of interference by Angle's enforcer, Luther Reigns, all match, plus a kickout of the Frog Splash, Eddie loses his focus for a split-second. As Guerrero steps over Angle to interrogate the ref, he's suddenly taken down as the Ankle Lock is secured, with an added grapevine forcing a tap. It's disappointing to see how far Eddie has fallen already, this no longer felt like the triumphant warrior who captured the WWE Championship earlier in the year, and tapping clean sent a clear sign that his days in the title picture have come to an end.
- As I stated in my review, I believe the close to Vengeance was the point of no return for Eugene, who reached peak aggravation by deciding a World Heavyweight title match in the lamest manner possible, and the reaction he receives in front of this riotous assemblage shows that the bloom has truly fallen off the rose. Eugene is Public Enemy #1 in Toronto, who would be satisfied with nothing less than his dismemberment at the hands of Triple H, who becomes the most popular man in the city for these 14 minutes. That's entirely too much Eugene for anyone to handle, and booking him to stand and trade with Hunter was a laughably bad decision, this should've been a squash. Instead, Eugene hangs in there, stealing finishes from The Rock, Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, and Triple H himself. It's unfathomable that Eugene gets in so much, especially against against such a notorious backstage politicker, I cannot imagine why Hunter allowed this to happen. The man who dominated Raw for much of the past two years needed an intervention from Ric Flair, plus a distraction with William Regal coming in to wipe out Flair, in order to finally land a Pedigree and overcome this mighty obstacle. Everything about this was baffling beyond belief.
- Nonsensical shifts into parody with what comes next, as SummerSlam veers off the deep end with "Diva Dodgeball", where the Raw Diva Search contestants have been pitted against competitors from the women's division in a shoot dodgeball game. Three things here; first of all, this is the best you could do with your women's wrestlers at SummerSlam? Eff off. Second, the Diva Search gals are all sporting their most revealing bikinis, and I get it, they're here for eye candy, but that's terrible attire for dodgeball, imagine all the scrapes and bruises you'll get with all that exposed skin. But of course that doesn't matter, because they didn't bother to script this ish, so in a delightfully wacky twist, these swimwear and magazine models defeat eight trained athletes in a clean sweep. Good lord.
- Let chaos reign, as JBL and The Undertaker, now dealing with a restless crowd, have to try and make them care about an old school rasslin' showdown over the WWE Championship. It's a complete disaster almost immediately, as Toronto doesn't give them much of a chance, instead amusing themselves with a Mexican wave. I suppose the match was alright, what I did see was suitably hard-hitting and gritty, but it's impossible to pay attention. This is as obvious an example of a crowd going into business for themselves as I've seen in a while, and I don't think it helped that Bradshaw and 'Taker worked a similar narrative to so many other matches on the night. They traded moves aimlessly, locked in some rest holds, before cycling through trademark offense and near falls. JBL nails a couple Clotheslines From Hell, Undertaker breaks out the Last Ride after Layfield obviously places himself in position in the corner, and the Deadman is disqualified for wielding Layfield's title belt, a suitably lame finish for whatever this was. The spot after the match where JBL was Chokeslammed through the roof of his limo at least drew a positive reaction, which was a monumental achievement after this mess.
- Main event time, as Randy Orton spars with the wily Chris Benoit in a World Heavyweight Championship match that was yet another feather to Orton's burgeoning cap. This was stupendous, every bit the grueling, physical battle that you would expect from Benoit, but with added character work and athleticism from Orton. Benoit puts on a wrestling clinic, overpowering Orton and taking him down to the mat over and over again, but Orton remains resourceful, and adds a new move to his arsenal, a very impressive Argentine neckbreaker. Orton works at the neck of Benoit whenever he can, but the Rabid Wolverine is too smooth, too outrageously talented to be put down, and even after the diving headbutt is countered, Benoit is able to get the Cripper Crossface using a wickedly cool double kneescissor. I loved the decision to show Orton's fight to survival by having them go into a Gator Roll, with both men emerging disorientated. Orton, wise beyond his years, keeps his wits about, spinning around Benoit and striking with the RKO for the biggest win of his career. Orton could still use more seasoning, but keeping up with a technician as good as Benoit proved, both in and out of kayfabe, how much of a natural he is at this. The night closes with Orton reluctantly accepting a handshake from Benoit, who barks at him to "be a man". I don't care much for what was to come with Orton's character, but Benoit put him over strong on this night, and there was certainly every reason for hope with Orton moving forward.
5/10
Maybe in front of a different crowd, on a different day, SummerSlam 2004 could've been the blockbuster event WWE was hoping for. There was certainly potential here, but the undercard struggled, and so many creative choices were bemusing at best. Eugene didn't need to go toe-to-toe with Triple H, Undertaker getting disqualified was pathetic, and Diva Dodgeball had no right being on a pay-per-view, though at least it was entertaining schadenfreude. It's a messy top-to-bottom experience that at least ended strong, so it wasn't a complete loss.
- Henry
Comments