If not for Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho, I don’t think I would’ve bought the show tonight. Wait, didn’t I say that at the last PPV write-up? Oh well. There’s only one other compelling match, and they’ve done everything they can to ruin that one. Jeff Hardy and Triple H are now fighting to see who gets Kozlov, or something like that. I’m not exactly sure why he’s in the middle of their feud, and don’t really care because they’ve done a terrible job promoting the match. The ladder by itself is more intriguing than this match.
We’re opening up with Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry. I guess it’s good to get it out of the way early.
Big D is going to send me his thoughts after the matches and I’ll add them after mine. This might be interesting. Our tastes in wrestling are very similar at times, and completely opposite at others.
1. Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry
Henry took most of the match and it was very slow. The crowd popped for Hardy pulling the Twist Of Fate out of his ass as Henry had him up for a slam. Todd Grisham and Jerry Lawler (I didn’t hear why The Teacher wasn’t doing the color) are trying to sell this as Hardy’s biggest win ever. Hardy keeps his ECW championship.
Save for SummerSlam, which I always buy, I wouldn’t have bought the past few WWE PPVs if not for the Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho feud. It’s been one of the best things I’ve seen in wrestling in years, and because of it, I’ve wanted to see everything. It’s very similar to the Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley feud from several years ago in that it hasn’t been the main event feud, but it’s been the must see feud. I couldn’t care less about Batista vs. JBL vs. Kane vs. CM Punk, or any mix of the “top” guys. And even though I hated the way Jericho won the World Belt earlier this month, at least with him on top now, their feud can be at the forefront like it deserves. And with their recently announced ladder match at No Mercy, it look like I’m buying another WWE PPV.
Triple H is also defending against Jeff Hardy. While it’s going to be a good match, I have to wonder how Triple H will treat him. If Edge made Smackdown over the summer, Triple H is literally killing it this fall. The show has become his play toy with his insider remarks, his burial of his challengers, and just his general malaise. He’s tired and bored. You’d think that it’d be in him to make someone right now and that guy could be Jeff Hardy. I think Hardy needs to win the belt to freshen up that brand, but I’d bet against it. I’m not sure they’re comfortable giving Hardy the championship considering that he’s failed them before with drug test failures, but also, I’m not sure Triple H thinks Hardy is at his level. If it were Orton, Michaels, Undertaker, or Batista, I don’t think he’d have a problem dropping the title. I’m just not sure he will to Jeff Hardy.
As it is, WWE has me with at least one more PPV this year (I’ll probably get Survivor Series) and I’m excited to see Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho have a match of the year candidate.
Here’s the YouTube version of a Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels ladder match from many years ago.
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.
I was alerted yesterday by our own Big D that in addition to the Raw Heavyweight Championship Scramble match, according to the Smackdown spoilers (don’t worry, I won’t spoil the actual matches), we will have another scramble for the other championship belt. What?
You don’t have to look very far back to when WWE did something similarly. Let’s go back to February of this year. They had a great idea for a yearly stipulation that made sense. John Cena won the Royal Rumble and because of that win was scheduled for the Wrestlemania title shot. The question always becomes, “What happens with the other title?” They had an awesome solution. Put six of your top guys in the Elimination Chamber match, and the winner would get the other title shot. You could do that every year at No Way Out and you have two special pay per views back to back with the first being the Royal Rumble.
Of course, they screwed it up. Cena decided to take his title shot at No Way Out even though he said the only reason he came back to win the Royal Rumble was because he wanted to main event Wrestlemania. And thus, instead of only doing one Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out, they did two. Imagine if at last week’s pay per view, in addition to the Undertaker and Edge Hell In A Cell match, they decided that John Cena and Dave Batista would be decided in similar fashion. Stupid right?
We had coverage of last night’s WWE SummerSlam show. A few of our writers gave their thoughts about the show.
SummerSlam
GG
Show overall rating: Thumbs up
Best Match: John Cena vs. Batista
Worst Match: Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry
I know, I know. I’m supposed to say that the Hell In A Cell match between the Undertaker and Edge was the best match of the night. I thought it was well done and very good. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say I had more fun watching the slobber knocker that was Cena/Batista I. It was hard hitting and fast paced and I loved the huge power spots. If not for the terrible submissions, I would’ve loved it even more. I think what ruined Edge/Undertaker for me were the chair shots to the face and head. I know they are doing them a lot safer now, but I still get an odd feeling when I see someone getting a chair shot to anywhere above the back.
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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.
If it weren’t for the fact that SummerSlam, by name, means the biggest summer wrestling PPV of the year, I’m not sure I would consider this weekend’s show all that big of a deal. JBL and the Great Khali are in title matches, neither Chris Jericho or Shawn Michaels are wrestling, and John Cena vs. Batista, a match that should be huge, isn’t all that interesting.
There is one big match and thankfully, Edge has been carrying his feud with the Undertaker. It’s not like the Undertaker has been around recently to help. And while it’s the match that will likely sell the most PPVs, I still feel as if I’ve seen them wrestle enough matches already to last a life time. I understand that this is the big one, a Hell In A Cell match, but I can’t wait for them to move on to other opponents.
This was originally written for Epinions.com on July 10th, 2004.
Typically in World Wrestling Entertainment, tradition is usually kept intact, even though there are a few notably disgusting moments within the company’s history of violating tradition and it’s principles. However, one of the WWE’s most time-honered traditions have been the Royal Rumble match and event. Since 1988, the Royal Rumble match was a proving ground. The rules were simple. 30 Men would compete under the rules of a Battle Royale. The match begins with two men, and every two minutes or so (it changes year to year), a new wrestler will join the Rumble. This continues until all 30-Men have entered. A wrestler is eliminated if he is thrown over the top rope and both feet touch the floor. A winner is declared whenever all other participants are eliminated and one man remains.
Originally, the Royal Rumble event was just an idea to draw fans into seeing their favorite superstars within one match. The “every man for himself” motto that has been used since it’s inception brought about intruiging possibilities. Friends fighting friends. Enemies battling enemies. Even tag teams would sometimes battle it out (Demolition, the Hardy Boyz). Though most of the time, the Royal Rumble match is tiring and overly long, there have been a few notable Royal Rumbles which were very fun to watch and entertaining (1992, 1997, 1998, and 2001 are my personal favorites). In 1993, a special stipulation was added to the Royal Rumble match. The winner of the Rumble would become the instant #1 Contender for the World Championship and compete for it in the Main Event at that year’s Wrestlemania, which is the WWF/WWE’s biggest annual event.
If it weren’t for the fact that SummerSlam, by name, means the biggest summer wrestling PPV of the year, I’m not sure I would consider this weekend’s show all that big of a deal. JBL and the Great Khali are in title matches, neither Chris Jericho or Shawn Michaels are wrestling, and John Cena vs. Batista, a match that should be huge, isn’t all that interesting.
