Flashback Reviews WWE SummerSlam 2005

One of the toughest tasks for any wrestling promoter is trying to manage the egos of the actual wrestlers. And when it comes to egos you will be hard pressed to find any larger than Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michales. Now the two legends had never wrestled one another so there main event was a huge event. Originally the two men were supposed to face off in a best of three series and Michales wanted to play it more shades of gray for his gimmick. Hogan though wanted Michales to turn heel. Than I guess Michaels was to good a heel and pissed Hogan off and the planned series turned into one and done. Hogan also insisted he was going over. So Michales… We will get to that.

Also this in an interesting time in the WWE. John Cena and Batista are in the middle of there first world title reigns. Randy Orton is being rebuilt after his disaster of a first title run and face turn. A real life issue was being used to book a match on this show only to be counter balanced by a ladder match for custody of a child. SummerSlam 2005 is a strange beast and I want to look at it.

We open with presenting of the colors and Lilian Garcia singing the national anthem. They are doing this on the actual show is due to the event being in DC. Time to piss people off I never though Lillian was all that good as a singer. he’s not awful but it’s also clear why she never made it as a singer. Since WWE wants SummerSlam be WrestleMania part 2 why not spend some money to get an actual star to do it? Our actual open has a heart monitor beeping or flattening depending on video clips. We than moves to highlights of the feud on the card. Its a decent opening but pretty basic. It helps the rock song the use has energy. The song stops when they move into portion on Hogan and Michales and that really makes it feel bigger.

Out announce team is JR The King, and Coach for Raw. Oh god this is awful. By 05 King and JR should been retired and broken up for good. Coach added nothing. Why Coach does a great job on ESPN he was never great in wrestling. For Smackdown its Cole and Tazz who were good at times but usually at there best thanks to editing.

WWE United States Championship Orlando Jordan (c) vs. Chris Benoit- Rest in peace Nancy and Daniel. Moving on

In the locker room Eddie Guerrero is tying his boots. His wife Vickie comes in and says they need to talk. She says they need to talk but says he’s done but she insists she’s not. Vickie says this isn’t about Dominick this about him wanting to be better than Rey. Eddie admits he want to be beat Rey but claims its about his love for Dominick. She says its about hurting Rey. Eddie says he needs someone to carry on the Guerrero legacy and if she thinks it’s about hurting Rey’s family she’s crazier than he is. Vickie tells him she loves him and talks about she knows he has a heart of gold and says that wont’ allow him to hurt Rey or his family. Eddie gets mad saying she thinks he can’t beat Rey. Eddie screams he will prove everyone wrong. He kicks her out before sitting down saying “I will beat Rey I can beat Rey.” Eddie does great here playing a man driven insane by his desire to prove he is the better man. Vickie is ok here.

After thanking some of the troops in attendance we go to a highlight video for Edge and Matt Hardy match. We see videos from there on screen relationships and photos from there private life with old audio clips. We than move into her affair with Edge. Even showing the screen from WWE.com where Matt was fired and Lita on ByTe This talking about the break up. Along with video of Edge and Lita’s onscreen relationship before seeing the brawls between Edge and Matt. It’s an ok video. Frankly I think they should have used some of the clips from Matt’s non WWE videos during this time.

Edge with Lita vs. Matt Hardy- So in real life Matt Hardy and Amy “Lita” Dumas dated for years. And he and Adam “Edge” Copeland were good friends. At some point Copeland and Dumas started a real life affair. Let me make this clear for anyone that wasn’t a fan back than this was not a story line. This really happened and Matt was pissed. He revealed the affair publicly and the WWE than fired him. However the damage for long time face Lita was done. The fans started to boo her to the point they WWE had no choice put to pair her with Edge and turn her heel. Matt meanwhile got a lot of buzz for various videos he posted online ragging at WWE, Adam, and Amy. And with a word being he was about to debut in TNA, WWE rehired him. Again if you weren’t a fan this felt like huge moment in the career’s of all three. Taking such a personal and private issue and turning in into a story line. Many myself included thought it would be the hottest feud WWE had in years and a chance to print money.

JR declarers this will be a slopperknocker. They talk about what a fight will be. Than because this is WWE they make jokes about Lita being a slut. Edge meets Matt at ring side and they brawl. Edge sent into guard rail and Matt swings wild. Finally into the ring. Ground and pound by Matt as a huge Hardy chant breaks out. Rear naked choke by Hardy and Edge gets the ropes. Hard strikes by Hardy as Edge tries to cover in the corner. Referee in to get Matt back allowing Edge to hit a headbutt. Punches to the back of the head by Edge. Matt rolls to the apron. Spear by Edge through the ropes to the floor by Edge. Edge rolls Hardy back into the ring. Big haymaker by Matt. Mounted punches in the corner by Hardy. Edge shoves Matt up and Matt winds up hitting the ring post face first and falls to the floor. Matt is bleeding as Edge goes out to get him. Hard shots by Edge. Matt can’t even stand. Knees tot eh face by Edge. Boots to the face now. The referee is trying to get Edge to back off so he can check on Hardy. Another stomp to the head and the referee calls it off. And yes that’s it. There is no Matt grabbing the microphone and demanding Edge return to face him. No heel boss coming out to yell at Patton for being weak and restarting it so Edge can finish what he started. It’s just over. And right than and there the feud was badly damaged.

Now let me make this clear I have no issues with Edge winning even on referee stoppage. My issue is how short this match was and how one sided it really feels. This match should have been a long back and forth battle. Both men should have bleed. We should have brawling and yeah weapons. It should have been epic rollar coaster ride. Yeah the idea of Matt not being able to fight on could have worked in a match that went more than five minutes. Here it just smacks of the office still being pissed at Matt and feeling he needed to be punished so he was beat quickly in his return match. And make no mistake the feud never got as hot as it should have been. Because the message was clear that Matt was not a priority. Had the WWE booked this right no doubt in my mind both men could have been true main eventers and hell there final blow could have been perfect to main event a PPV with a huge stip like TLC or Hell in a Cell. Instead Matt was buried. Sure Edge did reach the main event just a few months later but WWE costs themselves money on this all to punish a guy that had already lost his girlfriend been humiliated and than already been fired.

Post match the fans boo and not in a heel heat way in a “Are you fucking kidding me” way. To there credit Edge and Lita do a great job playing the smary heel couple while Matt does an excellent sell job as someone. After the boos the crowd goes silent and still all I could think what might have been. Do this after a actual long match I could have seen the fans giving Matt a standing ovation instead I think people are discussing if they should get another hot dog.

We jump over to Tazz and Cole. They talk about than Sentor Hilary Clinton. We than go to the hype video for The Ladder Match. Tazz calls this the most important match of Rey’s career. We get highlights of Rey and Eddie’s match at the Great American Bash which Rey won on a roll up. Than Eddie going back on his world and unveiling the secret he is Dominick’s real father. Rey getting served custody papers. Rey begging Eddie not to do this and Dominick telling Rey he was scared. Rey bating Eddie into losing his temper to accept a ladder match. It’s a decent video mainly as both Eddie and Rey were great in the roles. The only issue is how insane the stipulation is. Post video Cole tries to hype it as historic and it just comes off strange.

Ladder Match For The Custody of Dominick Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Myterio- On Smackdown real life good friends Eddie and Rey started teaming up together and even held the WWE Tag Team Championships. After wrestling each other at Mania 21 where Rey won Eddie started to show signs of resentment towards him. Finally Eddie turned heel but still couldn’t beat Rey. Now haven been driven insane but his obsession with Rey Eddie threated to reveal some secret he and Rey shared. That being that Dominick was adopted by Rey. Eddie wanted to destroy Rey wanted the boy back. So this match is Rey’s chance to keep his child. I’m very torn on this. The idea of a good friends been turned enemies can work and the logic Eddie’s pride being wounded is solid. And well turning heel I think breathed some new life into Eddie as he had been playing the “I lie cheat and steal” face for so long it was stale. The problem is they must have decided “They blow off can be a ladder match at SummerSlam” and than had to figure out a reason why it was a ladder match. So thus we get this Young and The Restless who the daddy story and the bat shit insane idea of ladder match for custody of a child. Just think about for a second. Eddie does a great job heeling up prematch going over to Dominick who is in the crowd. Again the idea is kind of stupid but Eddie is doing great as a heel. Rey is more held back in his sending the idea all the pressure in the world is on him. Rey walks up to his son and kisses him on the head. Cole and Tazz do a good job ragging at Eddie but not going over the top about it. Eddie again goes up to Dominick just to taunt Rey.

Bell rings and Eddie taunts Rey who stares daggers at him. Eddie with a cheap shot at the tart on a knee and than he hammers Rey. Backdrop suplex by Guerrero. Mysterio reveres a whip than a leap frog than he send Eddie into the air with a monkey flip. Guerrero to the floor. Eddie pulls Rey out and sends him into the steps and than run him into a ladder in the entryway. Mysterio is down and Eddie takes the ladder to the ring. Eddie tries to set it up as Rey limps back to the ring. Eddie is up. Springboard dropkick by Rey knocks Latino Heat down. Eddie gets a second ladder and hits Rey into the leg with it. Rey tries to battle back. Eddie sent to the floor again. Drop kick to a ladder sends it into Eddie face. Seated senton to the floor form Mysterio. Damn they are lucky they didn’t get hurt. Rey starts to climb but is hurting. Eddie up the other side. Exchange of punches. Eddie to the top but Rey with punches to the stomach. Eddie slams Rey’s face into the top of the ladder. Bad botch is up next. Eddie was clearly going for a sunset flip bomb off the top but Rey didn’t fall with him instead Eddie goes up and over and than a second later Rey falls down. Tazz does a good job of covering saying Eddie was trying to do a sunset flip but it was more he took Rey off balance. Guerrero rams the ladder at Rey and smothers him in the corner. Eddie out to get another ladder. Rey is starting to move and has a ladder dropkick by Eddie onto the ladder smashes Mysterio into the corner again. Eddie slams Rey onto a ladder and sandwiches him between two. Flipping senton over the top by Eddie onto the ladder. . Eddie back to slamming the ladder onto Rey. Eddie sets up a ladder. Rey places another lades as a ramp and uses it to race up. We get another botch The plan is clearly for Rey to back body drop Eddie onto the ladder he used as a ramp. The problem is the ladders start to fall to early for Eddie hits awkward and Rey falls off and I think smacks his head on step. It still looks spectacular but man it it had to hurt. Rey back up and starts to climb. Dropkick by Eddie knocks over the ladder. Guerrero put the ladder on the top ropes and than launches a charging Rey over hi body onto the ladder. Rey grabs his stomach screaming.

Eddie with a sick smile as he sets up the ladder. Eddie climbs and suddenly Dominick is in the ring. Dominick tries to shake the ladder. Eddie sees this and turns around and climb down. Eddie screams at the boy. He than demands Dominick hug him and than tells him he’s his new daddy. Again Eddie does great here coming off like such a monster. The only knock is Dominick who well was well a little kid and thus never really reacts. He does seem nervous but more in “All these people are watching way.” Not “I’m scared of Eddie” way. Eddie screams Dominick is going to learn the hard way and is about to slap him. Rey stops him back drops Eddie. Hard whip sends Eddie into a ladder. 616 with the ladder in front of Eddie. Rey grabs his leg. Springboard leg drop onto Eddie who is under the ladder. Rey sets up the ladder and climbs. Eddie is up and hits and goes for a elerctric chair. Rey reveres into a power bomb amazing spot as again it could have ended in disaster if they had lost balance. Rey climbs and gets tot he top as Eddie kicks the ladder out. Rey falls and Eddie power bombs him.

Eddie pins Rey under the ladder so he has to watch. Eddie climbs slowly and taunts by waving him. Eddie just had to pull it down and tan he stalls and stalls and acts like he cant’ get it unhooked. Rey finally tips the ladder away. Eddie holds and spins . Rey grabs him and Eddie falls awkward and very well cold have blown out his knee. This was a pretty infamous moment. Vickie Guerrero was supposed to run down and knock Eddie off. She missed her cue badly. Rey and Eddie to improvise this. It’s muted on the network but Eddie on the PPV could be heard yelling “Where the fuck was Vickie! God Damn It!” Even on the network you can still see Eddie slapping the mat pissed off about it. Three amigos by Eddie final one onto the ladder. Eddie starts to climb again he goes real slow. Now Vickie comes out and begs him to stop. Eddie asks what’s doing and than she shoves the ladder over knocking Eddie to the ground. Vickie is in shock with what she did. Rey is stunned but gets up and starts to climb. Eddie is back up and Vickie pulls him away Rey gets the case. Now let me say this I think both men clearly wanted to have a five star classic. Both men were great in there roles. But to many things went wrong to make this that classic they wanted. One is the fact no matter what they are fighting for custody of a child so instead of making it ultra dramatic you just go “Man wrestling is strange.” Than you have the botches. Part of that is the nature of ladder matches where free falling and using them can go wrong any second but still it hurts the match. From a production standpoint I think they over cut show Dominick’s reactions. Now again he was a kid so I don’t want to bash but I don’t think he was ever quite sure how to react moment to moment. Now her missing the actual planned end is bad but I really don’t mind Vickie’s role in the finish. It makes sense given her segment earlier and it fit the story. Eddie had become such a bastard even his wife couldn’t support him anymore.

Post match Rey hugs his son. Eddie yells at Vickie before she leave. Angie Rey’s wife comes out to celebrate why Eddie throws a tantrum. Rey gets back in the ring and hits Eddie in the head with the briefcase. Its great final “And FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!” To Eddie after the match. The feud did have one more match with Eddie winning a cage match. After that Eddie moved into a feud with Batista. Sadly this would be the final major PPV appearance for Eddie as he passed away later that year.

Backstage Chris Jericho is with Todd Grisham who asks what his mindset going into what maybe the biggest match of his career. Jericho mocks Cena’s time is now theme song but says the time is now for Jericho be WWE champion. He says after he beats Cena the Chain Gang will abandon him. He bring up beating Austin and the Rock in one night. Now that was one of Jericho’s most over used lines but here it works he’ ranting about Cena and saying “He can’t compare them” its pretty good heel promo by Jericho.

The Eugene Invatential For Olympic Gold Medal Eugene with Christ Hemme vs. Kurt Angle- No Time Limit match- They had moved Angle over to Raw and why he was feuding with Both Cena and Michales in part they really truly had nothing for him until after Cena vs. Jericho and Michaels vs. Hogan was over. So he started doing a Kurt Angle Inveatnail where if he couldn't’ bet someone in three minutes they would get his 1996 Gold Medal. Eugene had manged to last the distance thus taking the medal. For those that don’t recall Eugene is one of those infamous WWE ideas. He was the mentally handicapped nephew of Eric Bischoff. He was this uber wrestling fan that would often use moves from old school wrestlers. Now I always hated the gimmick but I do know people that thought it had potential. Sadly WWE blew a chance to make him a solid mid card act but rushing him into a story line with Triple H and than over doing bad WWE comedy with him. Hemme is with Eugene because WWE really had nothing for her but the won the Diva Search so they kept putting her on TV.

Angle attacks Eugene before the bell with a slap and than stomps on him. Big uppercut by Angle and more stomping and choking him with the boot. Angle drags Eugene down by his hair. Stiff short arm clothesline by Angle and again. Eugene ducks a third and hits a spine buster. People’s elbow attempt by Eugene but Angle get up and hits a lariat. Angle with a cover for two move shots to the face. Series of German Suplexs by Angle. JR fucks up calling it the belly to back. Eugene with awful looking elbows to the stomach than some weak chops and kicks. Corner splash misses. Angle with a release German gets two. Again Eugene thrown down by his hair. Angle starts to ram Eugene’s head into the corner which the underdog no sells and than hits some punches. Rock bottom by Eugene gets two. Stunner attempt by and Angle escapes. Angles looks for the Angle Slam and Eugene escapes and hits the stunner and gets two. Eugene goes for the Ankle lock. Kurt escape and sends Eugene into the corner. Angle slam. Kurt drops the straps and gets the ankle lock. Eugene taps out at JR puts over hot dominate that was. It was an ok match but it really felt like a TV. More like this would be the type of match used in a Rock vs. Hurricane style mini feud.

Post match Angle gets a chair. They tease like he is about take out Eugene but instead he throws him out of the ring. Angle than has the referee to put the medal on his neck. The fans are cheering Kurt like a face. Showing by this point the train had derailed for Eugene as fans were sick of him. We than waste time showing some of the Divas in bikinis watch a limo that they imply belongs to President Bush. The window lowers and it’s Vince who says “Why not?’ Total waste of time. But WWE had to have a reason to justify keeping people like Torrie Wilson around so we get these cheap segments.

The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton- After awful world title and face run Orton had in late 04 the company turned him heel again and restarted his legend gimmick. Orton targeted The Undertaker and his streak for WrestleMania 21 where Undertaker won. When Randy was drafted to Smackdown the feud was picked up with Orton costing The Undertaker chances at the World Heavyweight Championship. Orton bails out at the start. Tazz calls it a good move saying he can’t let Taker set the pace. Lock up and Taker throws Orton down. Orton right back up and Undertaker slaps him. Orton duck a big right hand and again. Undertaker is trying to strike the problem is he looks way to awkward. He always wanted to be high level stiker because he was a big MMA fan yet he looked bad doing it. Headlock by Orton. Undertaker shoves him gets a shoulder block and gets two. Headlock by Undertaker. Running shoulder by taker. Hip toss by Orton than a clothesline. Undertaker with a big boot when Orton takes time to mock the fans. Taker covers and gets two. Awful looking key lock by Undertaker it looks more like he’s trying to help Orton do a yoga stretch than cause him pain. Arm wringer by By Undertaker. Old school by Undertaker attempted bu Orton uses an arm drag that gets two. Uppercuts by Randy Orton. Right hands by Orton which actually look they would do damage. Taker tosses Orton in the corner by his throat. Lefts and rights by The Undertaker. Hard whip by Undertaker and he runs into an Orton boot. Than Orton charges into Taker’s boot. Undertaker covers for two. Clothesline to the back by Taker. The Undertaker with the flying clothesline. Orton if out of position so it winds up being more like a tackle. Hard rights by Undertaker. Running knee to the gut in the corner by Undertaker. Taker goes for a second running knee. Orton moves and Taker gets hung up on the ropes. Taker falls to apron. DDT by Orton when Taker tries climb back in.

The Undertaker gets his foot on the rope but than Orton cannonballs onto it. I really like that spot. It makes sense and shows Randy is always thinking looking for the opening. Orton slams the knee on the apron than on the ring pots. Orton back in the ring. Undertaker struggles to stand up. Randy stomps the bad knee and than bars it. Knee drop by Orton for a two count. Undertaker tries to rally but The Legend Killer shuts it down with a stomp to the face. Orton ties up Taker’s leg in the ropes. The Undertaker with kick meaning he ignores all the work Orton did on the leg. Elbow to the stomach by The Deadman. Snap powerslam by Orton for another near fall. Orton with a spinning toe old than a leg lace. Taker’s shoulders on the mat getting a few two counts. Taker wit a sudden reverse and slams Orton’s leg into the mat. Kick again using the bag leg by Taker. Orton rams into the bag leg and ties it up again. Another cannon ball by Orton. Suddenly taker using is good leg kicks Orton over the top rope. Undertaker slams Orton face first into the steps. Orton draped on the apron. Taker with a leg drop. Back in the ring Undertaker with Old school than follows up with an STO that gets two. The Undertaker with snake eyes. Orton no sells and hits a dropkick. Taker shoves Orton off when he goes for the RKO. Deadman looks for the Tombstone but Orton reverses than, Undertaker with the reverse. Orton reveres again and hits a neckbreker for two. Orton pounds on Undertaker with his forearms. Orton up to the top rope. Flying cross body Undertaker rolls through. Undertaker set for a choke slam and hits it. Suddenly some guy is in they act like it’s a fan. Referee is dealing with the fan. RKO by Orton for the win. Orton leaves the ring and see the fan is really Bob Orton Jr Randy’s father.

The match itself is actually pretty good however the finish is wrong. This was actually a good time for both men in terms of there ring work. Orton had not yet settled into his overly slow plodding way of wrestling. He could still pick up the pace for time to time. And he would also break out of his normal move set actually mixing it up. Undertaker has leaned back out after being rather chunky during his American Badass days. He was still in good enough shape to keep a decent pace. I mean his striking was ok. When he tried to do MMA style it sucked but his normal worked wrestling punches looked ok. I do some issues with how his would just ignore the bad leg. I get “he’s Undertaker” but still that mindset damages the drama. But the finish is just stupid. First it was clear by how slow everyone was to react that it was not some fan that got in ring. Also why not let Orton just hit the RKO to shock everyone and get the win. It would have been a huge deal instead of having Randy’s dad just show up. Sadly this feud started out pretty well but dragged on and on. It came down to Randy always needing Dad’s help to win until Undertaker finally ended it with a win in a hell in a cell.

Post match the Ortons run away as Undertaker gives chase. The Raw team takes over again we than get a crowd shot of Ken Melman the than Republican National Committee Chairman than Ed Gillespie a previous holder of that role. We than get the WWE championship hype video. We see Raw’s Raw debut on Jericho’s Highlight Reel. Cena’s issues wit Raw GM Erich Bischoff and refusing to play politics. Bischoff saying doesn’t want Cena as champion. Bischoff naming Jericho number contender. Past highlight from Jericho and Jericho attacking Cena. Cean hitting the FU on Bischoff. It’s a bland hype video. I mean it’s the old Heel Boss wants is chosen one a champion. Backstage we see Jericho and Bischoff shake hands and Eric wish him luck. Bland segment

WWE Championship John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton- So there is a lot to explain going on both on screen and behind the scenes. Cena had won his first WWE title back at WrestleMania in a match that didn’t really come off well. Famously Tazz declared “That’s it.” He started to get some momentum back with an I Quit match against JBL. However they moved Cena over to Raw kind of putting him below Batista for few weeks. Meanwhile Jericho was planning to take time away from wrestling. Wanting to go out on a big feud he pitched to Vince working with Cena. Now this could have actually been a good idea. After all Jericho was still one of the very best in the world at this time. And the guy is pretty unselfish thus he could have given Cena a great feud. Sadly WWE had to start feuding Cena with Bischoff in the very stale Rebel Face Champion vs. The Man Heel Boss. All because in WWE’s mind “Austin and McMahon drew well so the idea will always work.” So instead of being about Cena and Jericho it was about Bischoff and Cena. All it came off was an Eric Bischoff from WCW vs. a lamer version of Austin who liked hip hop. And it doesn’t help that even back than no matter how much they try to play Cena as some Anti Authority person fans know he’s beloved by the office.

Trash talking face to face as the bell rings. Lockup and the break after a stalemate. Headlock by Jericho he is shoved off and hits a shoulder tackle. Punches by Cena. Exchange of shots and tan Jericho takes control. Running corner clothesline by Jericho followed by the snap suplex. Cena ducks a clothesline but Jericho hits a spinning heel kick. Jericho hits the second rope for that spring board dropkick he does but than he goes flying over. I think the idea is supposed to be Cena ducked it but the problem is to safely clear the ropes Jericho had to pretty obvious he was going to miss. Cena tackles Jericho and than tosses him back in hard whip int the corner and than a back elbow by Cena. Jericho gets rammed face first into the corner. And JR has a meltdown on commentary. Both King and Coach are selling that Cena is a thug. So when Cena attacked on the outside King acts mad. Than JR freaks out and rambles about King having a moment and wanting tea. It was this annoying thing JR would do I think when ever he didn’t like King said. Dropkick by Jericho and he hits some ground and pound. Chops by Jericho and some boots to the gut. Delayed vertical suplex and a cover by Jericho that kicks out of. Baseball slide dropkick by Jericho and he goes for a chin lock before tearing at the mouth. Cena battles back as they exchanges punches. Cena thrown to the outside hard. Dropkick off the apron from Y2J. Jericho grabs a cord and chokes Cena. Back into the ring. Running kick to the ribs by Jericho. Top rope superplex by Jericho and both men are hurting. I think Jericho didn’t get over enough and hit wrong. Jericho runs into a boot more rights by Jericho. Back body drop by Cena than a series of awful looking clotheslines. John Cena goes for a flying shoulder block but Jericho ducks. Running bulldog by Jericho. The Lionsault but Cena moves. Jericho lands on his feet. Cena looks for the FU but looked for a victory roll and goes for the walls of Jericho. Cena kicks him away and Jericho goes to the floor.

Jericho starts to climb back in. Cena to the top and comes off a leg drop when Jericho’s head is between the ropes. Cena slowly crawls to the cover one two, foot on the rope by Jericho. Cena goes for the FU but Jericho counters into DDT. Near fall for Jericho. Kick to the back by Jericho than a back breaker followed up with elbow drops. Jericho uses the ropes to choke Cena. Jericho takes time to play for the fans who pop like he’s the biggest face ever and than runs into a Cena clothesline. Exchanges of punches. Cena takes control and knocks Jericho down another running clothesline series by the champion. Sloppy hip toss by Cena than a side slam. Cena goes for the five knuckle shuffle but Jericho with a take down and locks in the Walls of Jericho. Cena with an awful sell job he actually over selling so instead of look like he’s in pain he looks like he’s making funny faces. Cena almost has the ropes but Jericho pulls him back to the center. Cena crawls again and breaks the hold and a good chuck of fans boo. Jericho to the top rope and Cena cuts him off. Cena sets for the FU but Jericho escape and hits a bell to back superplex. Cena kicks out at two. Jericho goes for his running bulldog but Jericho picks him spins him in the air and hits the FU for the win out of no where. Its an ok match but no means great. Jericho does his damdest here but well it’s Cena five moves of doom and at this stage he could pretty sloppy. To be fair WWE hadn’t gone Super Cena yet so he actually sold a bit more than we are used to today. But at best it’s an ok match. Really a bigger issue is JR on commentary. He’s clearly trig to make Cena the new Austin. Even coming off like he mad lipped some old lines and put Cena where Austin had been.

Post match Cena celebrates. JR and Coach put over Cena’s win. King says Bischoff won't be happy. The Cena and Jericho feud went on until Jericho was fired for failing beat Cena thus writing him off TV. The Bischoff and Cena feud dragged over for way to long until finally Bischoff left TV and Cena would instead feud with heel GM like Vickie, Johnny Ace, The Authority, you know pretty much all of them.

Cole and Tazz start the hype job for the main event pointing out it’s the first time Batista will defend in his hometown of Washington DC. The hype video shows the contract signing between two with JBL bragging about is win (via DQ) at the Great American Bash. Than Batista letting JBL name the stipulation for the match with it being No Holds Barred. And the intense brawls between the two.

No Holds Bared For the World Heavyweight Championship Batista (c) vs. John Bradshaw Layfield- Ok again a lot to explain in both Kayfab and real life that leads to this match. In kayfab when Cena was drafted to Raw it left Smackdown with out a champion thus Teddy Long had a six way with the winner becoming the Smackdown Champion. JBL won only for it than be revealed that Batista and his world heavyweight strap were the final draft pick thus there would be no belt. Instead JBL was now the number one contender. At the Bash JBL had won via DQ after Batista used a chair after getting pissed due to inference by Orlando Jordan. Behind the scenes the feud was extended after the original plan of Batista losing the belt to Muhammad Hassan was killed off due to WWE being so stupidly tasteless that UPN banned the gimmick. For his entrance JBL has hundred dollar bills with his picture on it. JBL attacks the champion during his entrance but Batista sees it coming Belt shot by Batista the he rams challenger into a case by entryway. JBL battles back but Hard forearms turns it for Batista again and than JBL sent into a table. Fire exegishre shot by The Animal. Bradshaw reveres a whip and sends Batista into a table. Batista’s head sent into a guard rail. Batista returns the favor and hits a right hand. Chair shot by JBL who goes for it again. Spear by Batista sends them crashing through the rings side bearer. Both men are slow getting up. JBL sees a chance to send the future Dr ax the Destroyer into the ring post. Short clothesline by JBL than a garvin stomp. Hard right hands by JBL drops Batista. JBL grabs a belt to whip and scream “Come on Animal!” Now JBL uses to belt to choke. The referee asks if Batista wants to stop. Batista fades.. Finally the champion gets behind and hits a side suplex to break the choke. Now JBL gets a whipping. Hard shoulders in the corner from The Animal. Batista runs into a boot. Clothesline from Hell but it only gets two for JBL.

A frustrated JBL brings the steps into the ring. Batista is still down. Set up for a power bomb. Last second backbody drop by Batista. JBL goes for the Clothesline from hell again. Batista catches him for a spine buster. Batista bomb but no pin. Tazz and Cole are shocked. The fans chant one more time as Batista looks at the steps. Batista bomb on the steps for the ! Win. This match is way to short for what is was it was pretty good. Both men brought some good intensity fitting the match. I’m not saying they needed to go a half hour but it doesn’t even go a full ten minutes. A little more would have really added. This wrapped up the feud with these two. Batista would start a story line with Eddie Guerrero while JBL got stuck working with the Boogeyman.

We go to the Raw team who start the final hype between for the main event. JR calls us this a match between two legends. We get the hype video starting wit Michaels begging Hogan to team with him to give the fans one more match. Hogan’s return and agreeing.. Them teaming up on a July 4^th Raw and winning. Than Michaels superkicking Hogan. Michales saying was living off a years old rep while he’s been recreating himself ever night. Michales superkick various people including Roddy Piper. Hogan telling Michaels he’s taken it to another level and calling him out for a cheap shot. Hogan saying Michaels about himself while Hogan is about the Hulkamanics. Michaels saying Hogan can’t touch him in the ring. Its a really good video sold on the fact well it was legit the first meeting wit the two. Sadly they leave out some great heel promos Michaels had cut.

Shawn Michaels vs. Hulk Hogan- Hogan had returned at WrestleMania 21 saving Eugene from a beat down by Muhammad Hassan and Davari. After the evil foreigners attacked HBK he asked Hogan to return and team with him. The Dream Team won that match than teamed again on July 4^th to beat Kurt Angle and Carltio but post match Michaels hit sweat chin music. Michaels turned heel mocking Hogan for his age, his lack of talent compared to someone like Michaels. Also legitimately this was a huge dream match that had NEVER been done before. Hell I don't’ think they even touched in Royal Rumble. Of course you have two men known for huge egos and playing politics. The original plan was best of three with each man winning one and than a final blow off. According to reports Michaels wanted to it be face vs. face but Hogan wanted him to turn heel. Which Michaels did and actually did some great heel segments. Hell microphone wise you could say it was the best work he had done ever. Than apparently Hogan felt Michaels went to far mocking his age. From what I can tell by the time it was to late to change the SummerSlam card Hogan claimed he was dealing with back issues and thus this would the only match. Hogan was booked to go over and well Michaels wasn’t happy and thus well went full on Shawn Michales. He spent the whole day trying to piss Hogan off and in the match itself oversold everything to ridicules levels.

JR points out neither man has ever lost a one on one match at SummerSlam. King hypes how big it is while Coach picks HBK to win and finally end Hulkamania. King says Hogan always puts it all on the line. Coach rants about Hogan being about his ego and only caring himself. As Hogan is doing his entrance Michales plays around and slides in and out of the ring. Circles around the ring at the start. The men look around and finally lock up Hogan shoves Michaels off who falls to his ass than pops up and hits the ropes. More circling another lock up and Hogan shoves him off and again. Both times Michaels falls over. And we get a shot of Hogan’s face just as it hits him what Michales is doing. Another lock up and hammerlock into a headlock by Michaels. He works it. Hogan breaks it with elbows than a big shoulder block by Hogan. Michaels falls to the floor flops around and throws a fit. Lockup and a knee by Michaels and than hard hammer shots. Chops by Michaels. Hogan reveres a whip and HBK clearly throws himself onto the top ropes. Kicks to the gut by Hogan. Michaels starts boucing as high as he can until he crotches himself. Hogan shakes the ropes. Big right hand by Hogan than more rights. HBK’s head sent into the corner he than bounces away and pops up acting punch drunk. HBK down on a right hand. Thumb to the eye by Michales. Shawn back to the chopps. Back body drop by Hogan than a clothesline sends Michaels to the floor. More wild flipping by HBK before falling. Coach declares Michaels might have to much energy. Michaels back on the apron and Hogan brings him by puling the ropes so he flips. I think Hogan just yelled “Come on Shawn!” and not in a trash talk way more like he’s legit trying to get him to stop over selling. Clothesline by Hogan than back to rights. Hogan sets for a back body drop and gets kick. Chops by Michaels again. Hogan blocks an attempt to ram in into the turnbuckle. Slap to the face for Michaels. Hogan is pissed and swing wild Michaels ducks and slaps again before slamming the Hulkster into the buckle. Hogan reverses a whip. Michaels flips over the top and slaps Hogan again. Big right and by Hogan and Michaels somersaults off the apron. Hogan smacks HBK’s head into the guard rail. Slam onto the Spanish announce table. Hogan whips Michaels into the guard rail. Shawn this time spins around like a dancer doing a turn and than falls over.

Hogan has this “your fucking kidding me look.” Hogan has picked Michesl up but he slips off the back. Hogan sent into the ring post. Michaels does it again. Back into the ring. Mounted corner punches by Michaels until Hogan shoves him away. Michales runs back to do it again and repete and repeat. Ground and pound by Michaels until the referee pulls him off. Hogan has been busted open. Given what we know I have to wonder of Michaels kept rushing back to keep Hogan from doing the blade job. Sure its a huge risk but I don’t think HBK cared at this point. Punches to the face by Michaels. Hogan is dazed. Sleeper hold by Michaels. We get great shot off the blood flowing on HBK’s arm. The referee checks the arm. Hogan keeps the arm up on the third time. Backdrop suplex by Hogan. Flying forearm by Michaels. HBK to the top rope for elbow drop. Hogan moves. Both men are up Hogan starting to Hulk up and Michales jumping around. Hard right hands. Hogan goes for the big boot but Michales goes for the forearm the referee takes the bump. Kip up by Shawn Michales. HBK acts like he’s about to do the elbow but stops and puts Hogan in the sharp shooter. New referee out Michales doesn’t even make an effort to sink in the hold content to just let Hogan scream and no doubt laugh to himself. Hogan to the ropes but Hogan pulls him back. Ok Hogan starts to tap here. Now I think he’s supposed to be “digging deep’ But it looks more like he’s taping. I have to wonder if he slapping the mat to single Shawn to start moving towards the ropes again. Hogan gets the ropes to break the worse sharp shooter not counting the Rock’s.

Michales goes for the sharp shooter again but Hogan kicks him off and sends HBK into the second referee. Hogan is back up but hurting. Low blow by Michaels. HBK gets a chair. Smack right to the head of Hogan. Top rope elbow drop connects. Let’s tune up the band. Sweat Chin Music referee wit a slow count. Hogan power free. Hulk up time. Over the top selling again by Michaels. Big boot as final fuck you to Hogan HBK gets up runs around the ring and than falls over. Hogan poses and than drops the leg for the 1 2 win. Well that was interesting to say the least. I recomned watching it just see te most obvious case of a guy saatouging his own match ever. It is kind of entertaining in a strange way like the movie The Room. I can’t say it’s good but even with the antics I’ve seen much worse.

Post match Hogan celebrates when HBK gets back in the ring and shoves him. They act like they will fight until HBK extends the hand and Hogan takes it. Michaels says he needed to do. JR declares there is a lot of class in that ring… JUST SHUT UP JR! I mean after that you are saying that. I don’t care if Vince did tell him to say that it was stupid. Michaels leaves as Hogan keeps celebrating. JR and King try to put over Hogan’s legacy as he posses. We close with Hogan doing his thing as JR signs off. Hogan would leave the WWE for about a year.

This is a strange show I mean the main event alone is worth checking out just out of infamy. But than again you have a ladder match for a child. There really isn’t a great match on the card. A big part of that is lack of time. Only four matches go over ten minutes. Hell not even the Batista and JBL match goes over ten. Three don’t even go five. Sure with the match I didn’t review it was part of a gimmick they were doing. And with Angle he should crushed Eugene but maybe you don’t do Angle vs. Eugene instead find someone you could do a realistic ten mintue match with Kurt. Also it was bullshit Hardy vs. Edge was that short so they could punish Matt. Its not the worse SummerSlam but defently not a great one.