SummerSlam 2005 Review

Sunday, August 21st, 2005
MCI Center
Washington, D.C.

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Lilian Garcia opens the show by singing "The Star-Spangled Banner".

United States Championship Match
Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan

They lock up and Jordan gets in a cheap shot. Benoit gets a suplex and puts him in the Crippler Crossface and that is all. Benoit is the new US Champion. I thought this was a unique way to start the show and was the only match on the card that you could do this to. 25 seconds is the official match length.

Match Rating: 1/4* (out of 5)

Eddie Guerrero is backstage with Vickie. She says that this isn't about Dominik, it's about him finally beating Rey. Vickie says that he could care less (I'm assuming she means couldn't). Vickie reassures him that she loves him with all her heart. She tells him that his heart of gold won't allow himself to beat Rey tonight. He throws her out of the locker room and tells himself that he will beat Rey.

Edge vs. Matt Hardy

Back in 2005, I was this was the match I was really looking forward to on this show. Hardy runs down to the ramp to start brawling. They make it to the ring to get the match started. Hardy gets the early advantage until Edge hits him with a headbutt. Edge hits a Spear on Hardy on the apron, sending both men to the floor. Back in the ring, Hardy starts throwing haymakers. He backs Edge into the corner and continues with the blows until Edge lifts Hardy up and drops him face first on the ring post. Hardy did a good job of selling that. Edge pulls him back in the ring and he is now bleeding. Edge continues attacking his head with some knees and boots to the face. The referee checks on Hardy and decides to stop the match to a huge chorus of boos. This was a curious decision at the time and nearly 15 years later I feel the same way. They both worked a convincing style, but I'm not sure I get Edge walking away as if he was hardly even in a fight. For what it was, it was entertaining despite the brief run time.

Match Rating: **1/4 

Ladder Match For The Custody Of Dominik
Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

Eddie kicks things off with a suplex, but Rey comes back with a monkey flip. Outside of the ring, Eddie tosses Mysterio into the ladder and then he brings the ladder into the ring. Eddie goes for the quick victory, but Mysterio hits a springboard dropkick to knock Eddie off. Eddie grabs another ladder, but Rey throws him out of the ring. Rey hits a dropkick into a ladder. From there, Mysterio hits a springboard seated senton to the outside, which was pretty awesome. They both begin to climb up the ladder and are throwing right hands halfway up. Eddie gets his hands on the briefcase, but Rey stops him, so Eddie goes for a sunset flip powerbomb. However, Guerrero doesn't get a hold of him and looks to have hit his head on the ladder, but Rey falls back anyways. Eddie gets up and dropkicks a ladder into Rey in the corner. Eddie sandwiches Rey between two ladders and hits him with a hilo. Dominik is at ringside and they are continuing to show shots of him throughout the match. Eddie is climbing the ladder, but Rey pushes a second ladder to use it as a ramp and hits a back body drop, but both ladders collapse and Rey looks to have a shot to the back also. Rey sets up the ladder again, but Eddie dropkicks him off. Eddie then tosses Rey into a ladder set up on the top rope in another cool spot. Eddie is climbing the ladder, but Dominik runs in and attempts to shake the ladder. Eddie turns around and waives his finger at him. Eddie starts yelling at him and tells him that he's his daddy now. Rey comes from behind and Dominik escapes out of the ring. Rey slams him into a ladder and then hits a 619 with the ladder still in Eddie's face. He drops the dime with the ladder still on top of Eddie. Eddie stops Rey from grabbing the briefcase and puts him on his shoulders. Rey counters out and he successfully hits a sunset flip powerbomb. Rey has his hands on the briefcase, but Eddie kicks the ladder out from under Rey, leaving him hanging there. Rey drops down and Eddie hits a powerbomb. Eddie puts the ladder over Rey's chest and starts to climb. Eddie has the briefcase, but is having problems getting it off the hook. Rey starts moving the ladder and after a struggle gets it out from under Eddie. He then pulls Eddie off the hook and he takes a big fall. Eddie hits the Three Amigos, with the third one being on top of a ladder. I love the intensity with which they are hitting all of the big moves here. Eddie is once again close to the top of the ladder and now Vickie Guerrero is out in the ring to get him to stop. He tries to tell her to go to the back, but instead she pushes the ladder, causing Eddie to nearly hit the ropes on the way down. Rey sets up the ladder, but Eddie is attempting to climb. Vickie pulls him off and Rey grabs the briefcase. Dominik comes into the ring to celebrate with Rey. Rey's wife Angie comes out to join them, while Eddie throws a temper tantrum. Rey runs back in the ring and hits him in the head with the briefcase. There were a few spots that didn't work out, but I really enjoyed this match a lot. These guys are such a joy to watch, no matter how silly the storyline is.

Match Rating: ****

Chris Jericho is back with Todd Grisham. Jericho says the time is now for him to become the WWE Champion.

Eugene vs. Kurt Angle

It's still hard to believe that Eugene faced Triple H and Kurt Angle in consecutive SummerSlam events. Angle comes right in and starts wailing away on Eugene. This is the Kurt Angle we all love. Eugene trips up Angle and goes for the People's Elbow, but Angle gets up and nails him with a clothesline. It should be noted that the crowd is 100% behind Angle here. After two German suplexes, Eugene tries to comeback but again Angle hits another German suplex. Eugene hits the Rock Bottom, but Angle kicks out at 2. He goes for the Stunner, Angle counters into the Angle Slam, but Eugene counters that and ends up hitting the Stunner for another close call. He puts Angle in the Ankle Lock, but Angle rolls through and then hits the Angle Slam. The straps are down and now Angle puts him in the Ankle Lock and Eugene taps. This was a pretty convincing win there for Angle, as it should have been. The Eugene character had run it's course and I'm not even sure how he got booked into this one. After the match, Angle grabs a chair and brings it in the ring. Christy tries to stop him, but Angle dumps Eugene out instead. Angle then sets up the chair and stands on it. He then has Mike Chioda award him the gold medal around his neck. For such a short match, it was intense and a fun squash.

Match Rating: **

Torrie, Maria, Ashley, Candice Michelle and Stacy are all shown out back washing the a limo in their bikinis. The limo has a sticker with the President of the United States sticker on it and when it's the window rolls down, Vince McMahon says "Why not?".

Undertaker vs. Randy Orton

Orton hits a hip toss, but Taker fires back with a big boot. Taker goes for Old School, but Orton pulls him off and hits an arm drag. After a flurry of right hands from Orton, Taker turns it around on Orton and hits him with a series of fists. Taker hits another huge boot to the face of Orton for a 2 count. Taker hits his leaping clothesline and hits a running knee into the corner. Orton ducks a boot in the corner and Orton is able to kick out his leg as it was hung up on the rope. Orton hits a quick DDT for a nearfall that Taker breaks by putting his leg on the rope. Orton sees it and leaps onto his knee and follows it up by hitting his knee on the ring post. Orton hits a snap body slam nicely and goes back to work on the knee. Orton ducks a clothesline attempt and clips the knee of Taker. Taker pushes Orton out of the ring with his good leg and then slams Orton into the steel steps. Taker then hits a guillotine leg drop. Orton goes for the RKO, but Taker throws him off. Orton reverse a Tombstone, but Taker reverses it back. Orton counters that with a neckbreaker for a 2 count. Orton hits a top rope crossbody, but Taker rolls through and delivers a chokeslam. Someone is in the ring now and Taker helps him get taken out of the ring. He goes and picks Orton up, but Orton hits a RKO out of nowhere and gets the victory. I forgot that Taker didn't kick out of a RKO here. Orton goes up to the man who went into the ring and he reveals himself to be Bob Orton and Taker tries to go after them. This was another good match between these two, even if the leg work didn't have much of a purpose.

Match Rating: ***1/2

Jericho is shown backstage shaking hands with Eric Bischoff and tells him that tonight is the night.

WWE Championship Match
Chris Jericho vs. John Cena

This is probably the first match that I can remember there being a loud chorus of booing for Cena. Cena tosses over the top rope and he goes out quickly to attack Jericho. Back in the ring, Cena sends Jericho into the turnbuckle, but Jericho bounces back and hits a dropkick. Cena gets in some right hands, but Jericho tosses Cena through the ropes and follows up with a missile dropkick off the apron. Jericho begins using an electrical cord to choke Cena with and then heads back in the ring. Jericho sets Cena up on the top turnbuckle and hits a top rope superplex, leaving both men down. Cena launches himself at Jericho, but Jericho ducks out of the way and then hits him with his modified bulldog. Cena avoids a Lionsault, but Jericho lands on his feet. Jericho goes for a victory roll, but Jericho then rolls through and tries to go for a Walls of Jericho. Cena is able to kick out and send Jericho to the floor. Cena hits a guillotine leg drop off the top rope on Jericho as he was crawling back into the ring. That move is a hard one for me to believe that Jericho wouldn't have moved out of the way there. Jericho counters out of a FU and into a DDT for a 2 count. Both men looked a little slow to start things off, but the pace is picking up considerably and the crowd is getting into dueling chants. Cena nails Jericho with a clothesline and both men are once again down. Five Knuckle Shuffle Time, but Jericho trips him up and puts him in the Walls of Jericho. Cena is finally able to get to the bottom rope to break the hold. Jericho goes up to the top rope, but Cena is there to greet him and goes for a FU, but Jericho counters into a back suplex for a nearfall. Jericho was arguing with the ref and Cena is able to counter Jericho into a FU to pull off the victory. That was a really entertaining match and the crowd was electric. Cena was improving with every match around this time.

Match Rating: ***3/4

No Holds Barred Match For The World Heavyweight Championship
JBL vs. Batista

JBL and Batista immediately start brawling in the entrance ramp and in the production area. Batista uses a fire extinguisher early on. JBL takes control after throwing Batista into a crate. They start making their way through the crowd, where JBL jams a steel chair at Batista. Batista fires back with a spear through the barricade. They finally make it to the ring and JBL hits a short arm clothesline and is slugging away at Batista in the corner. JBL grabs a belt from someone at ringside and starts whipping Batista. He starts choking him with it until Batista is able to hit a suplex to break the choke. Batista now has the belt and takes the opportunity to get some revenge. JBL gets a boot up at a charging Batista and then hits the Clothesline From Hell, but Batista is able to kick out. That surprisingly did not get the reaction I thought it would in Batista's hometown. This match is already light years better than their dud at Great American Bash. JBL brings in steel steps into the ring. He sets up Batista for a powerbomb on the steps, but Batista hits a back body drop. JBL goes for another Clothesline From Hell, but Batista hits a spinebuster. Batista hits the Batista Bomb, but doesn't go for the cover. Batista looks over at the steps and decides to do it one more time, but this time does it on the steps and that is all for JBL. It was good to see them learn from their mistakes and put on a match that was so much better than their previous encounter. This was extremely quick paced considering both are true heavyweights and they kept it on the shorter side.

Match Rating: ***

Shawn Michaels vs. Hulk Hogan

Hogan gets a huge American flag as his backdrop. After a long pause, they finally lock up and Hogan of course tosses Shawn across the ring. Shawn gets up two more times and gets the same result. Hogan hits a shoulder block and Shawn bumps out of the ring in what will become the theme of the match. Hogan slams Michaels in the turnbuckle and we get the old Curt Hennig bump out of it. Michaels is able to turn things around by taking a move out of Hogan's playbook, the thumb to the eye. Hogan hits a back body drop and then clotheslines him out of the ring. Hogan brings Michaels in the hard way and then follows up with a clothesline. It's still kind of bizarre to me that this match actually took place. Hogan blocks a head to the turnbuckle, so Michaels slaps him twice across the face. Hogan hits an Irish whip into the turnbuckle, but Michaels gets another slap to the face in, so he knocks him out to the floor. Hogan body slams Michaels on the Spanish announce table. Michaels is able to sneak out of Hogan's grasp and pushes Hogan into the ring post. Michaels gets in a bunch of right hands and although Hogan is able to push him off, Michaels keeps coming at him and now Hogan is busted open. Michaels gets him in an extended headlock until Hogan is able to counter out into a suplex. Michaels is able to hit a flying forearm and nips up. He goes up to the top rope, but Hogan avoids the elbow drop. Hogan is back on his feet, but Michaels again hits the flying forearm and knocks out both Hogan and the ref. Michaels nips up again and starts heading to the top rope again. He changes his mind and puts him in the Sharpshooter again. The crowd is anticipating Bret Hart to come down, but we all know that wasn't the case. A second referee is now down to call the match. Michaels isn't really able to put the hold on that convincingly due to the size of Hogan's legs. Hogan is able to grab the bottom rope to break the hold. Michaels goes for it again, but Hogan kicks out of it and Michaels hits the second referee on his way down. Hogan is up, but limping and Michaels is able to hit him with a low blow. Michaels now has a steel chair and hits Hogan with an unprotected shot to the head. Michaels hits the elbow drop off the top rope, but there is still no referee. Michaels nails him with Sweet Chin Music, but Hogan tosses Michaels off of him at 2 and he is hulking up. Hogan hits the big boot, follows it up with the leg drop and that's all. That was a heck of a performance by Michaels and it resulted in one of the best matches in Hogan's career. After the match, as Hogan is celebrating, Michaels pushes him from behind. Michaels reaches out his hand and after thinking long and hard about it, Hogan shakes it. I would love to know what they were saying to each other there. Michaels thanks the fans on his way to the back and Hogan's celebration continues. I loved that this match followed the Hogan formula, but with a different twist with it being a true worker as his opponent. I can't speak for all of the great Japanese wrestlers there are, but as far as WWE goes, Michaels is the absolute greatest of all time.

Match Rating: ****

If you enjoy WWE's style of wrestling, I can't imagine not liking this show. There have been shows with better matches on it, but this one is just a pure enjoyment. It was booked wisely and never once did it feel long. If only the current product would go back and watch a show like this so they can see how to pack three hours with the emotion and excitement that they did here. This is a definite thumbs up.

Overall Rating: 88%