SummerSlam 2006 Review

Sunday, August 20th, 2006
TD Banknorth Garden
Boston, Massachusetts

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Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero

As soon as Chavo gets into the ring, they start going at it. This is Chavo's highest profile match in a long time. Mysterio misses a dive to the outside, but then Chavo is able to hit one as a follow up. Rey attempts a comeback, but Chavo drops Rey face-first into the turnbuckle. Chavo hits a right hand and Rey's mask accidentally falls off. They do kind of a weird spot where they both go face-first off the top rope. Mysterio leaps backwards off the second rope and hits a hurricanrana into a 619. Chavo ducks the seated senton and Rey hits a hurricanrana to send Chavo over the top rope. Out comes Vickie Guerrero and she tells Chavo to stop. She hits him with a slap to the face and Mysterio hits a dive through the ropes. Vickie now pleads with Rey to stop, allowing Chavo to suplex Rey into the ring and into the Three Amigos. Myterio escapes the third and then goes for it and is met with a lot of boos. Rey goes up top and Vickie crotches him and plays it off as if it was an accident. Chavo hits a brainbuster and a Frog Splash for the victory. This just all fell really flat despite having the opening slot on the card in a big wrestling town. This just didn't click.

Match Rating: **1/4

We get a fun backstage spot with Edge and Lita arguing with King Booker and Queen Sharmell about who the power couple of WWE is. 

Extreme Rules Match For The ECW Championship
Sabu vs. Big Show

Sabu starts off with a chair, but it quickly is gone and Big Show is destroying him. Sabu tries a springboard crossbody, but Show catches him and tosses him. Sabu is able to snap Show's neck on the top rope and tosses a chair at his face. Sabu hits a missile dropkick with a chair, but Big Show kicks out of the pin attempt. Sabu sets up a table over in the corner and then hits a bulldog off the top rope. Sabu then runs and hits a modified bulldog through the table. Show quickly recovers and hits a Vader Bomb off the second rope. Show tosses in the ring steps and a table. He takes forever to set up the table on the steps and then in runs Sabu and screws up the spot. He slips off the table and then awkwardly still does the move, which is a DDT through the table. He sets up another table and goes for another move, but this time Big Show catches him and chokeslams him through the table for the victory. This had no flow to it and the crowd didn't care outside of the spots. They've started the show with two TV matches. 

Match Rating: *3/4

They show Layla winning the Diva Search, which leads to her backstage. The Divas are rude to her, but then let her know they are just joking. They instead throw her in the shower and spray her butt with water. 

Randy Orton vs. Hulk Hogan

This snakebit feud fell all the way to third match on the card. Hogan does get a huge pop here and then drags out the entrance forever. Hogan does the punches in the corner and on the 10th one, he bites Orton instead. Oh yeah, he also did a crotch chop. Last year's SummerSlam match with Shawn Michaels was my favorite Hogan match. This one isn't. Orton is able to grab Hogan's leg and slam it on the edge of the ring. They are playing up Hogan's torn meniscus and Orton is all over it. Orton goes off the top, but Hogan ducks and goes for a big boot. Orton ducks it and hits a dropkick. Orton hits the RKO, but Hogan gets his foot on the rope. The referee counted to 3 and Orton thinks he won. They make an announcement that Hogan's foot was indeed on the rope and the match will continue. It's time for the Hulk Up and then Hogan hits the big boot. He plays to the crowd and then hits the leg drop to end it. This wasn't good. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Melina checks in on Mick Foley backstage. Melina is worried about Mick tonight and wondering if it will hurt her career. Foley fires back, walks away and Melina smiles. 

I Quit Match
Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair

Not surprisingly they go right at it and Flair gets hit with a garbage can. Mick grabs the mic early and tells Flair it's going to get a lot worse, but Flair doesn't give up. Instead we get to hear him breathe. Foley goes for Mr. Socko, but Flair grabs him by the crotch. Foley puts on the sock and barbed wire and knocks Foley out of the ring. Foley grabs a barbed wire piece of plywood and rams it right into Flair's face. Out come the thumbtacks and Flair gets body slammed into them. Foley shoves the mic in his face, but more groaning from Flair. Next up, it's the barbed wire baseball bat. Flair's able to get the bat away and hits Foley in the arms with it. Flair then threatens to murder Foley and hits a low blow. Flair gets a running start and hits Foley off the apron and he takes a pretty bad looking bump past the padding. Out comes the officials and Melina to check up on him. The officials say it's over, but Flair says that it's not ending that way. Flair attacks him more with the bat and barbed wire, which prompts Melina to throw in the towel. Flair isn't accepting that either, so we're still going. Flair goes again with the bat, but Melina gets in the way and Foley quits. What a terribly booked ending. 2006 me liked this a lot more than 2022 me. Melina continues to check on Foley after the match and he does the slow walk to the back. 

Match Rating: ***

Vince and Shane McMahon are back with Armando Alejandro Estrada. Nothing happens.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
King Booker vs. Batista

If this doesn't show you how much they care about SmackDown, I'm not sure what will. Batista catches a spin kick and hits a powerslam for a 1 count. Book tries to leave with Sharmell, but Batista throws him back in. This time Booker misses a spin kick and Batista hits a spinebuster. He goes for the Batista Bomb, but Booker is able to roll away and snap Batista's neck on the top rope. The crowd could not care less about this match. Thanks to some distraction from Sharmell, Booker hits Batista with the scepter. The Randy Savage/Ultimate Warrior one was a million times better. Batista quickly comes back by dropping Booker on the top rope and hitting a clothesline. Back on the outside, Booker throws Batista into the steps. This match has no flow at all. Booker hits a neckbreaker, but Batista kicks out at 2. Batista goes for the Batista Bomb, but Sharmell runs in and we have a DQ. This show has been so poorly booked so far. Booker goes for the Scissor Kick, but Batista hits a spinebuster and Batista Bomb. This was a total turd of a title match at a major show. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

DX is talking to someone behind a door and saying that Vince thinks Umaga is the bigger, badder monster than him. 

DX vs. Vince & Shane McMahon

The Spirit Squad come out first and DX easily takes care of them. Next up it's Mr. Kennedy, William Regal and Finlay. They mostly take care of them until Big Show comes out and attacks Shawn, allowing the other 3 to take care of Triple H. The match hasn't started yet for the record. Triple H gets thrown through the announce table and now the McMahons make their way to the ring. They dominate Michaels. Triple H tries to make a comeback, but they kick him over the announce table and into JR. They hit Demolition and LOD's finishers, but Shawn kicks out at 2. Michaels hits a double clothesline and wouldn't you know it, Triple H is ready to come on in. They destroy them until Umaga comes out. He hits the Samoan Spike on Triple H, but then out comes Kane. Number of people who want to see that feud: 0. Vince crawls over to Triple H, but he kicks out. Vince then nails the ref. Shane goes for coast to coast, but Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music. That was pretty sweet. Triple H hits the Pedigree and that is all. This is a hard match to rate, as it was mostly smoke and mirrors. It was decent for what it was, but nothing worth going out of your way for. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

WWE Championship Match
John Cena vs. Edge

If Edge gets disqualified here, he loses the title. We get an early near countout spot, which wouldn't be surprising the way this show was booked. We get a second one, which is an interesting choice. Cena tries to fight back, but Edge hits a spin kick. I do give credit to both performers here and the WWE for making this match feel fresh, even though they did wrestle at Royal Rumble. Here comes Cena, who is still getting a lot of boos despite being in his hometown. Edge is able to toss Cena over the top rope to slow his momentum. Cena again attempts a comeback, but Edge again stops him, this time with a boot to the face. They battle up on the turnbuckle and Edge headbutts Cena off. Edge hits a top rope clothesline and that gets a 2 count. Lita throws in a chair, which Edge can't use and it distracts Edge, allowing Cena to come back and hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle while the announcers ridicule Lita's judgment. Edge comes back with a DDT, but Cena kicks out. Cena pulls out a victory roll, but Edge kicks out. Cena runs into a boot, but rolls through the crossbody and picks up Edge and puts him in for a FU. Edge escapes, but gets pushed into Lita on the apron and gets rolled up for a nearfall. They hit a double clothesline and both men are down. They are in second gear now. Edge is up and goes for the Spear, but Cena hits a drop toe hold into the STFU. Lita tries to use the belt, but Edge pleads for her not to use it. Edge gets to the rope and Lita slips on brass knuckles on Edge's hand. He misses the punch and he puts up Edge for the FU. Lita comes in and is also up for the FU. He flings her off and Edge escapes. Edge hits Cena from behind with the brass knuckles and gets the victory. This was really well done and honestly the right finish despite the hometown crowd. Edge needed to be solidified as a top heel and this did it. There were so many bad booking decisions tonight, but this wasn't one of them. Well done by all three involved to help save this show from being a total dud. 

Match Rating: ****

Well, this one was nowhere near as good as I had remembered. The main event was very entertaining and ended things with a slight surprise, but the rest of the show is very skippable and in many points, hard to watch. There were just so many matches that lacked chemistry and the ones that were pretty good, were booked poorly. This is a one match show. 

Overall Rating: 51%