Chris Masters d. Hurricane in the Sunday Night Heat match. Yes, out of all the guys that aren't on the show tonight, THIS was the match they put on Heat. Tremendous. Y'know, I'll never understand how WWE has this great oppurtunity with a one-hour, live, nationally televised show to get last minute buys for PPVs and they totally waste it. Masters won in about 2 minutes. Totally rushed, but at least it was entertaining while it lasted.
Lillian singing the national anthem kicks off the show. God, Lillian's singing of that song so kicks ass..
Chris Benoit d. Orlando Jordan to win the US Title (0:26). German suplex, crossface, and Benoit won in less than half a minute. What an odd opener.
Eddie & Mrs. Eddie met. She wanted Eddie to not hurt Rey and his family. Eddie got mad.
Edge d. Matt Hardy (4:50). Yep, it went from one of the most intriguing feuds in a LONG time to second-match on the card material in a matter of 3 weeks. Stupid WWE writers. Stupid, stupid writers~! The match was a series of very stiff punches and kicks (which was good, as obviously worked punches would have looked ridiculous in this match). One spot had Matt standing on the apron and Edge spearing him straight through the ropes. Later, Matt was hitting Edge in the corner, when Edge lifted Matt and dropped him on the post, and Matt took a hell of a bump with it. Matt was busted open, Edge continued with some really nice looking stiff kicks, and the ref stopped the match due to Matt being unable to continue. Really, I think it should have been the other way around, with Edge not being able to continue due to crazy Matt.
Rey Mysterio d. Eddie Guerrero in a ladder match (20:19). Great match. They really pulled out all the stops, and did some incredible looking and insanely dangerous spots. At one point Eddie was climbing up the ladder, and Rey positioned a second one against Eddie's ladder as a ramp. Rey them backdropped Eddie off of the ladder, on to the ramped ladder. Rey's ladder then collapsed and Rey fell RIGHT on it. He'll be lucky if his ass isn't blue for the next week. At one point Rey was hanging from the briefcase and fell into a wicked powerbomb. Later, Eddie was hanging and Rey pulled him down and Eddie landed akwardly on his ankle, perhaps injuring it. Eddie then just started yelling at either Charles Robinson or Rey. He wasn't even selling, just screaming "Fuck! What the fuck was that!?!?" Odd. Finally, Eddie was up the ladder and his wife ran in. His wife then pushed the ladder over and held Eddie back as Rey got the briefcase and won.
Chris Jericho cut a promo on John Cena. I'm gonna' miss him while he's touring with Fozzy next month.
Kurt Angle d. Eugene (about 4:30). Crowd was totally behind Angle. Okay, time to turn Eugene. Eugene got some Rock & Austin spots in, but Angle mostly dominated. He won with the ankle lock. He then had the medals put on him as he stood on a chair, like an olympic ceremony. JR put over Angle huge, pretty much building him up for his title match next month.
Randy Orton d. Undertaker (17:13). Match was mainly Orton working over Undertaker's leg. The psychology was there, but the match got boring at times. Not bad, but nowhere near their WrestleMania match. End came when an old man came in the ring from the crowd, security got him out, Undertaker went to pick Orton up and Orton hit the RKO for the win. Old man was revealed to be Bob Orton. Lame ending. If they wanted to put Orton over then why not just let him go over clean?
John Cena d. Chris Jericho to retain the WWE Title (14:37). Solid match. There were dueling "Let's Go Cena" and "Let's Go Jericho" chants. The crowd was INSANELY hot during the final 5 minutes of this match. Total 50/50 crowd and they were all on their feet. They teased a Jericho win with a lion-tamer, as Cena made the ropes and Jericho pulled him back center. Cena went for a middle-rope FU, but Jericho reversed it into a side-suplex. Cena won with the FU. The crowd added an extra * to this match. Really good match.
They debuted a new WrestleMania 22 logo. I don't like it.
Batista d. John Bradshaw Layfield to retain the World Title in a No DQ match (9:07). Batista just dominated the whole thing. Nothing spectacular, but because of the short time it was all action. Batista won with a powerbomb on the steps which couldn't have felt good.
Hulk Hogan d. Shawn Michaels (21:25). Hogan's entrance consisted of this big ass American flag dropping down. I just felt like pointing that out. Really good match. Shawn was a bumping MACHINE for the first 5 minutes. It was to the point that I thought "Man, you have a broken back. Cool it off a bit." Shawn put on a TREMENDOUS performance here. Hogan got busted open and did a hell of a bladejob. Two ref bumps and a sharpshooter to tease Bret Hart. Hogan won with a legdrop. Afterwards they shook hands. So, sadly, Shawn is no longer a heel.
Overall, a middling show. Nothing mind-blowing but nothing bad either. The ladder match, Cena/Jericho, and Shawn's performance were all spectacular and nothing was below average, so there ya' go.
(edited by OMEGA on 21.8.05 2307)
The answer to WWE's financial problems...
Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
I am so friggen pissed that Michaels is back to face ALREADY. My God he was at least 10 times more entertaining as a heel then a face. I can't believe we probably won't see HBK as a heel again.
As for the show is was average-good, Matches that should have been short were, Best match for me was Taker/Orton with solid wrestling.
Eddie looked really pissed after he fell, seemingly that he felty someone messed up the spot, probably mad at himself. Some awkward looking spots hat didn't work out the way it should.
HBK was bumping like crazy tonight and the way he acted after the big boot seemed like he was trying to make Hogan look bad.
I didn't see the show but reading Wade Keller's review I saw that he gave the HBK/Hogan match **** 1/4. I don't usually put a lot of stock into his ratings, but that one caught my eye. Did you guys think that it was at that level? Because if it was that would have to be one of Michaels' best performances ever, all things considered.
I'm going to keep it short and pointless right here with the one thought I had as soon as I got in my car leaving the bar.
"If you're going to charge an extra five bucks for what is supposed to be the second biggest show of the year, please TRY to make the show last two hours. Thanks."
Originally posted by BigSteveI didn't see the show but reading Wade Keller's review I saw that he gave the HBK/Hogan match **** 1/4. I don't usually put a lot of stock into his ratings, but that one caught my eye. Did you guys think that it was at that level? Because if it was that would have to be one of Michaels' best performances ever, all things considered.
The match sucked. It definitely was NOT 3 star level.
Hogan looked like crap, and HBK was overselling big time.
Sorry but this was NOT a great show.
Benoit vs. Jordan. The finish we should've gotten a month ago. So what was the point then? Jordan's US title REIGN OF TERROR is finally over. Waste of time.
Edge vs. Matt Hardy. Another dud, considering this was one of the big money matches people paid to see. Nothing happened and it was under 5 minutes. Waste of time.
Angle vs. Eugene. The match sucked. I think the Eugene thing has ran its course. This was a complete waste of Angle's time when he should be facing a guy like Shelton Benjamin, a great wrestler who is now jobbing to Chris Masters and Carlito. The only good thing about this match was watching Angle beat the "tard" out of Eugene. And that's how you turn Eugene, considering it makes about as much sense as most WWE writing these days.
Eddie vs. Rey. I hate how the announcers say that Eddie has NEVER beaten Rey Mysterio. YES HE HAS YOU FUCKERS! Eddie beat Rey for the world title LAST YEAR! He beat Rey in 2002 on numerous occassions. In 1997 he beat him for the CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE! I hate WWE revisionist history. Anyway, this match was good, despite some obviously blown spots. However it was marred by the horrible feud surrounding the match with interference by both Vicki Guerrero and...Dominick. Where was the child services lady when Dominick ran in? What a bitch.
Orton vs. Taker. This is symbolic of bad wrestling. Orton works over Taker's leg for 15 minutes...really just to stall time. It had no impact on the finish of the match. Orton has no finishing maneuver involving the legs. Orton still isn't ready for the main event.
Jericho vs. Cena. WWE obviously has no faith in Cena in the ring. This was basically a repeat of Wrestlemania 21. Have Cena get his ass kicked the whole match, then pull in the victory at the end with the FU. The match would've been better if Jericho kicked out of the first FU, but whatever. Poor Jericho carries Cena's ass the whole match than jobs after basically no offense at the end.
JBL vs. Batista. OK, well the match sucked at Great American Bash, and it sucked here. Though actually doing a finishing move on the steel steps was awesome. I hope this signals that JBL is done in the main event for a while. Smackdown desperately needs to freshen up the main event scene. Hopefully that will be the only good thing to come out of this match.
Hogan vs. HBK. Anyone who calls this a FOUR STAR MATCH is on drugs. Hogan looked like absolute crap in the ring. He could barely walk or bounce off the ropes. Just punching and knife edge chops. HBK bouncing like a stupid maniac off right hands. Pathetic match. I didn't feel the drama at all. The worst was HBK applying what is without hyperbole the WIMPIEST sharpshooter I've ever seen, probably more due to Hogan's bad knees than anything else. Hogan wins of course. Double lame :mad: .
Anyway, I hardly wouldn't call this a GREAT PPV.
Where are your tag team champions? Your cruiserweight champion? Booker T? SHELTON BENJAMIN?! CHRISTIAN! Guys who are the future of the company.
The brand extension has ran its course. Its made the brand only PPV's mediocre and the rosters have extremely thinned out. WWE needs to do something sooner or later.
(edited by The Vile1 on 21.8.05 2032)
(edited by The Vile1 on 21.8.05 2033)
"Don't compare my arm...to your cheap arm!" -Edward Elric
I'd personally say that ****1/4 is a bit much. However, I thought it was great for what it was. And what it was was basically Michaels working his ass off trying to have the best match possible.
The answer to WWE's financial problems...
Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
Wife #1: "Eddie's wife looks like Vicki Lawrence". Me: "She looks as OLD as Vicki Lawrence." Jenn: "She DOES look as old as Vicki Lawrence!"
Good show. Not terribly memorable for any reason, but was still worth watching.
My favorite moment of the night: Angle's use of the chair as a podium. That was just perfect.
The ladder match had some insane moments, regardless of whether or not there were botched spots. Definetely kept our attention.
Thanks for coming, Orlando! Benoit's quick win actually worked for me. Pulling out the quick win like that once in awhile isn't a bad thing.
I agree...the crowd made the Jericho/Cena match that much better. Good match anyway made that much better by fan involvement.
Why is it that a ref will raise a wrestler's arm three times to check for signs the wrestler can continue before stopping a match...EXCEPT for Masters matches?
If Dominic was technically there as a paid attendee, why didn't Security jump all over him when he entered the ring?
Originally posted by BigSteveI didn't see the show but reading Wade Keller's review I saw that he gave the HBK/Hogan match **** 1/4. I don't usually put a lot of stock into his ratings, but that one caught my eye. Did you guys think that it was at that level? Because if it was that would have to be one of Michaels' best performances ever, all things considered.
Pfft, not even close I'd say. It was a good spectacle and novelty, but the whole match was Michaels just bumping like crazy (sometimes to a ridiculous degree) while Hogan moved as little as possible and tried to hold onto the ropes at all times.
Overall I enjoyed the PPV and thought it was worth the money, but I completely echo the comments about Michaels turning face again already. There hasn't been a heel that entertaining in years and yet they totally wasted it on a single feud with Hogan that helped nobody. The face turn was just a totally depressing end to the PPV. It wasn't a case of "Aww, they're friends again", but rather "Motherfucker, that's the end of the awesome show-stealing HBK segments every week??".
For the record my match of the night was definitely Taker/Orton. The two of them seem to have some sort of chemistry between them because they dragged me right into the match in exactly the same way they did at Mania. I couldn't have cared less when the match was about to start, but within five minutes I was totally into it.
WCW Archive WCW Magazine Archive: Last Updated 18th August - Ongoing WCW Magazine archive. Includes cover scans, contents, release dates and more. WCW Promotional Ads Archive: Last Updated 18th August - Now featuring over 100 promotional ads, including everything from PPV's to the WCW Hotline. WCW VHS Archive: Last Updated 22nd July - Currently serving mainly as an image gallery for almost all WCW VHS releases, but work has begun on adding full listing and details for all the releases.
Benoit beating Jordan that fast was the single greatest thing I have seen the WWE done since Benoit going over clean at Wrestlemania for the title.
Kurt Angle is the man. That's all there is to it. I firmly believe if the writing and fanbase/support of the Attitude Era would've continued, Angle would have been just as big as Stone Cold or the Rock.
It seemed to me that Eddie cursing after that fall was just in-character Eddie swearing because he should've won the match right there. He failed to unhook the briefcase, when he had enough time to.
McMahon for President isn't serious...is it?
The DC crowd won me over, they were INTO it. Not to mention cheering for Angle, and the dueling "Lets go Cena/Lets go Jericho!" chants!! Those chants gave me hope for the Jericho/Cena match, although Jericho still lost....at least it was a good match..
Dammit. After all my hopes something creative would've been done with Hogan/Michaels, it's a typical "Hulk conquers overwhelming foe" bit complete with kickout and burial of finisher + heel repentance at the end. Way to kill anything the feud had been building up with the ol' (and AWESOME) HBK.
(edited by PsychoticMidget on 21.8.05 2236) We're the middle children of history...no purpose or place. We have no Great War, no Great Depression. Our great war, our defining crucible, is a spiritual war.
CTX, you're speaking my language. Just listening to the LAW, they said Taker/Orton was boring, but that is to be expected since they are usually negative. I would give HBK/Hogan ***.
Eugene...Booed?!? I'm surprised they didn't start saying this is Bizarro land here in Washington D.C. I feel a possible gimmick canning for Eugene if they can't fix what happened with angle.
Anyone catch the comment made by JR during the Cena/Jericho match saying "Jericho is trying to recapture the most coveted title in the Federation."
Did they hire an ECW/TNA crowd for the Cena/Jericho match or what?
"Lets go Cena/Lets go Jericho"
Hogan/Micheals...WOW...I loved it. Anyways...those were the fun parts of the show for me.
Vince for President!!!!
Fear Prophet.
J.J. Dillon: "I'd rather flip burgers at McDonald's than work for Vince McMahon again." July 3, 2004 New Era Of Wrestling
So-so PPV. With a star-studded card, I was expecting a bit more, but anywho...
Match of the night was without a doubt Eddie vs. Rey. Rey's outfits have seemed to cause some "mess-up's" lately with the mask at WrestleMania; the slippery looking upper-body seemed to cause some trouble tonight. With that said though, the second mess-up came off REALLY well as long as nobody got hurt.
Four and a fourth is a bit too much for the HBK/Hogan match. Coming into the PPV, I was expecting a Rock/Hogan caliber crowd. Maybe I just couldn't hear it that well in the bar or maybe it's the size difference of the MCI Center and the Skydome, but the match wasn't as classic as it could have been.
Dug the "McMahon for President" segment. Didn't quite dig the new WrestleMania logo. Nothing spectacular.
Anybody care to seem why the MCI Center turned crazy for no reason during the Cena/Jericho match? Not a bad match and I liked the way Cena came out with the F-U at the end. The world title match seemed to be a little too short on the other hand.
I know this is a set-up for a less foreshadowed match at Unforgiven, but the writers really screwed up the Matt Hardy thing tonight. Second match of the night and stopped due to blood? Hogan, 8 times older than Hardy, was pouring puddles tonight and got no such thing...
man the crowd had some major major MAJOR heat when they stopped the edge/hardy match, and it was pissed off heat. I can't believe they took something that had that much potential and fucked it up like that. I would have been fine with that ending, and I'm a Hardy mark, IF it had been believable at ALL!!!!!! That was total crap -- I was so pissed off by that shitty booking I felt like not watching the rest of the PPV... knowing what was doomed to occur during HBK/HH
However, I was glad I didn't turn it off for the spectacular cena/jericho which I was 100% expecting to not enjoy at all, like most of the Cena matches. However, I totally fell in love with that match, really phenomenal stuff from Jericho. I wish that the ending had been as exciting as the teaser wins from Jericho, it was kinda anticlimatic.
Rey/Eddie was really good I thought. Best line "You dont' shake the LADDER!!!!! GIVE ME A HUG!" God, could I love Eddie more?
HBK and HH tasted like burning and made baby Jesus cry. The handshake at the end made me hate everything about wrestling. I can only hope this means no more fricking Hogan, even if it does mean heel HBK is gone from my life once again :~(
However, I was glad I didn't turn it off for the spectacular cena/jericho which I was 100% expecting to not enjoy at all, like most of the Cena matches. However, I totally fell in love with that match, really phenomenal stuff from Jericho. I wish that the ending had been as exciting as the teaser wins from Jericho, it was kinda anticlimatic.
It was anticlimatic because one would think after handing Cena's proverbial ass to him the ENTIRE match, it would take a little more than FU to put Jericho down. They did the same thing with JBL at Wrestlemania 21 which was about as long. Plain and simple, WWE does not have faith in Cena to carry his end of the match, so that's how they book it.
"Don't compare my arm...to your cheap arm!" -Edward Elric
However, I was glad I didn't turn it off for the spectacular cena/jericho which I was 100% expecting to not enjoy at all, like most of the Cena matches. However, I totally fell in love with that match, really phenomenal stuff from Jericho. I wish that the ending had been as exciting as the teaser wins from Jericho, it was kinda anticlimatic.
It was anticlimatic because one would think after handing Cena's proverbial ass to him the ENTIRE match, it would take a little more than FU to put Jericho down. They did the same thing with JBL at Wrestlemania 21 which was about as long. Plain and simple, WWE does not have faith in Cena to carry his end of the match, so that's how they book it.
After seeing Cena go on "offense," I'm inclined to agree with the WWE if that is their thinking. Cena always looks lost, and Jericho's heart wasn't in the match from my view, so it was okay at best. Like some said, the crowd made the match better.
Overall, I missed the first three matches, so I missed the best match of the night apparently. What I saw was fine, with Angle winning over the crowd being a highlight.
Now I love good ol' HBK, but COME ON SHAWN! Michaels seemed to channel Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair in his overselling every Hogan punch. You can make someone look good without going that overboard. The ending was awful as well, but I'm content with a face Michaels, so it's not a total loss.
Good but not great for SS. It certainly wasn't awful though.
For all your CZW and Nickels Trivia information. I am now the Sex Division Trivia Champion, and on September 10 I face someone who actually works part time in the WWE! Will I be starstruck, or will I hold him down worse than the WWE holds down Val Venis? STAY TUNED!
"Look guys, it's 'Lake Man!' Hope you can fit into our NARROW office, Mr. Big Lake" --MST3K The Collection V. 7
Whatup. I will give SummerSlam thumbs up for no bad matches and two impressive one man shows, though there was nothing blowaway I'd be in a hurry to go back and rewatch.
1. Benoit killing Jordan in 15 seconds was hilarious. At the same time, they need to start having Benoit do ... stuff again.
2. Matt/Edge was like shit, fuck, they're stiffing the fuck out of each other. And for the first four minutes it was awesome and just what it should've been, and Matt was totally over. And then came the lunacy of that finish. What the hell yo. It's ALMOST like this isn't being booked very well.
3. Eddie and Rey took an insane amount of punishment with the ladder. Brutal match. The stuff with Dominick and Vicki made sense with the storyline but it took the match down a notch. ***3/4
4. Highlight of Eugene/Angle was them doing the Austin/Angle stunner sequence. The no time limit stipulation certainly played a big part in this match. Another satisfying squash but once again I'd request that the company's best workers get to do more than squashes on the second biggest show of the year.
5. Taker/Orton dragged in the middle but these guys have some magic together with great counterspots. Yay Bobbo Classic. Should've had a way cooler finish. ***
6. Cena vs. Jericho ended up being really good with the super hot atmosphere. Another strong Cena PPV match, though this was the first one where a significant amount of people were against him. ***3/4
7. Batista/JBL was like, oh. Well then. No blood? No smashery? Still, Batista was effective just killing him with great malice in a few minutes.
8. Hogan/Shawn was a pretty incredible one-man show of bouncing around. I have not seen that much flipping and flopping since the presidential campaign of Senator John F. Kerry. I would not want to get anywhere near Hogan's radioactive blood let alone cover my arm in it. Countering the big boot with the HBK fivearm was sweet. Shawn Michaels carried Hulk Hogan for more than 20 minutes, damn. ***1/2
Shawn going back babyface afterwards was most saddening.
I swear to Goddess, I was thinking before the first match: "Wouldn't it be cool if Benoit just took down Jordan and slapped on the crossface right away? Nah, never happen -- they have to protect their oh so valuable investment in Jordan ... "
I really liked Eddie/Rey, botched spots and suicide attempts and all. At least it wasn't dull, which is more than you can say for the championship matches. Best match of the feud so far, and if they're finally bringing it to an end (I hope) that was a great one to go out on.
Edge/Hardy just confirmed my feeling that WWE isn't serious about pushing Matt -- they're just using him as a prop to build Edge up a bit. Of course, Matt'll probably come back tomorrow night swearing vengeance (hey...) but it'll take a lot more for me to believe that they're actually going to do anything with him.
McMahon for President? Okay, I'll say it ... couldn't be any worse.
Taker vs. Orton bored me. The foolery with Cowboy Bob just made Taker finally eating a pin for a change feel anticlimatic.
I'm not sure what my favorite moment of Michaels/Hogan was -- it'd have to either be Michaels's superball sell of the big boot, or him sneering "You want Bret?" and putting the Sharpshooter on Hogan. Most fun match I've seen from Michaels in a long time. Still, ****.25? Pfft.
Ling-Ling into battle go Fulfill destiny of the soul Sever skull of adversary Shove it in the poo-poo hole
All the children sing: Kill kill kill kill die die die Kill kill kill kill die die die....