I wouldn’t usually blog about Raw or Smackdown, but this is the biggest Raw or Smackdown show in a very long time. They’ve done a great job publicizing the event, and you could say they’ve done a better job than promoting the PPV. There are many champion versus champion matches.
But it looks like we’re opening up with an 8 man tag.
1. Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Fit Finlay, and Batista vs. MVP, JBL, The Brian Kendrick, and Kane
I’m already tired of Gregory Helms’ “I’m just saying,” gimmick by the way.
Let’s hope there’s a lot of MVP and Kendrick for the heel side.
The match wasn’t as exciting as I thought it’d be and it was really long. But the last two minutes were great. Rey Rey made the hot tag to Jeff which lead to everyone getting in the ring and kicking each other out of the ring. Rey hit MVP with the 619 and Jeff hit the swanton for the pin.
Winner: Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Fit Finlay, and Batista
To a lesser extent, having the ability to purchase the show in HD was also a buying factor. We don’t even get Raw or Smackdown in HD out here in Gilroy, CA. Charter needs to work on their HD signal as I’m seeing a bit of pixelation.
1. ECW Championship Scramble
Matt Hardy and the Miz started out the match. No pinfalls, but the Miz did hit his finisher for a two count.
Chavo came out next, hit the frog splash on Matt Hardy and is the in match champion.
Hardy hit the side effect and pinned Chavo and is the in match champion. Mark Henry is in next.
Henry hit the world’s strongest slam on Chavo and pinned him and is the new in match champion. Finlay is the last guy in.
Finlay pinned Hardy, but then Hardy pinned The Miz. Hardy is the current in match champion. The Miz has a nasty cut and is bleeding pretty badly.
Hardy played keep away for about 3 minutes, which didn’t really make sense because the rules state that you can pin anyone an win the belt. But Hardy is the new ECW Champion. Henry lost the belt without having been pinned.
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1. Jeff Hardy vs. MVP
MVP used a few submissions and Hardy sold for a lot of the match. Hardy made his comeback and hit the “Whisper In The Wind”. He went up top for the swanton, but saw Shelton Benjamin come out and jumped on him. He went back to the top and then missed the swanton. MVP hit the “Shining MVP” for the win. Pretty good opener.
Winner: MVP by pin fall
Santino and Beth Phoenix did an interview with Maria where the gist was that Maria couldn’t have Santino anymore because he was all Beth’s. Maria looks awesome.
Tomorrow night, WWE celebrates 21 years of SummerSlam, the “biggest party of the summer” as they’ve been calling recently. There have been 20 SummerSlam Events since 1988. But were all of them really worthy of being called the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th best PPV of the year? Absolutely not. So today I’ve decided to take a look and list what I consider the Top 10 Greatest SummerSlam Pay-Per-Views of All Time! So sit back, relax, and enjoy.
10. SummerSlam 1988
So we begin with the very first SummerSlam in 1988, live on PPV from Madison Square Garden in New York. The whole purpose of the creation of this PPV was for the WWE to compete with NWA’s Great American Bash, hoping to convert wrestling fans to save their hard-earned cash and purchase their show at the end of the summer as opposed to the Bash. This soon became the last of the “Big Four” PPVs, alongside Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, and of course, Wrestlemania. The main event was a highly-anticipated tag team match between Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion Randy Savage, collectively known as “The Mega Powers” against Ted Dibiase and Andre the Giant, collectively known as “The Mega Bucks”. Savage won a 16-Man Tournament at Wrestlemania IV, last defeating Dibiase to become champion. Hogan had teased prior to the show that Miss Elizabeth would showcase her “eenie, weenie bikini”, which is creepy in retrospect considering she is no longer with us.
Besides that huge match, the most memorable part of this Pay-Per-View was the Ultimate Warrior defeating the longest reigning WWF Intercontinental Champion in history - The Honky Tonk Man. Honky was scheduled to face Brutus Beefcake, but prior to the match, Beefcake was hospitalized by “The Outlaw” Ron Bass. Honky came out on the show and challenged anybody in the building to take the title and the undefeated Warrior came out and pinned him in thirty seconds to take the title, beginning the monster four year run that he would have in the WWF. Tag Team wrestling was definitely one of WWF’s high-points during this era, as Hart Foundation vs. Demolition was easily the best match on the show, followed slightly by the Rougeaus vs. The Bulldogs.
Every week I will try look at Raw, ECW, TNA, and Smackdown and give my thoughts. These are just my thoughts ladies and gentlemen, just my thoughts.
Random wrestling thoughts for the week of July 21, 2008:
Raw
After all the great work that Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels did last night, the Raw show opens with Kane and his bag. Great, just great.
It appalls me how much JBL is pushed considering that with his back injury, he’s one of the worst wrestlers in the company. I know he can talk, but if when he gets in the ring, I want to fast forward, what good is that?
What a shitty opening segment.
Paul London is out to face Lance Cade. Where’s London’s big, huge bodyguard? Wait, that’s Brian Kendrick.
1. Miz and Morrison vs. Hawkins and Ryder vs. Jesse and Festus vs. Finlay and Hornswoggle
Fit Finlay rules. He carried most of the match until he made the hot tag to Hornswoggle and then Jesse tagged into the match after Hornswoggle went wild for about 5 seconds. Festus then went um, dumb? and Hawkins (or Ryder?) pinned Jesse after tripping him off the top rope. Hawkins and Ryder are the new Smackdown tag champs. Good opener, even if it was fairly quick.
But it looks like we’re opening up with an 8 man tag.
