WWE Summerslam 2005 Review

Match 1: United States Championship - Orlando Jordan (c) vs. Chris Benoit
The opening contest for the 18th annual Summerslam is for the United States Championship as Orlando Jordan defends the gold against Chris Benoit. The match starts and within the first minute, Benoit locks in his Crippler Crossface and submits Jordan. Crowd pops big, that was pretty damn cool! I'm sure lots question a title match being so short but I dig having an unexpected finish like this and the fans did, too.
Winner: Chris Benoit
Rating: n/a

Match 2: Edge vs. Matt Hardy
We all know the story here with Lita being the fuel added to the fire between these two guys. This is pretty much the first marquee match of the stacked show. Off the gate, the two throw huge blows and the gates have been opened. Lita watches on as the two beat the hell out of each other before Edge drops Hardy on the ringpost. Hardy is bleeding and he is bleeding bad. Edge doesn't stop and continues to lay it on Hardy before the referee finally calls off the match. This was more of an angle than a match so I can't really give it a star rating but it worked. Got the point across that they're going to need a cage or something to finish this.
Winner: Edge
Rating: n/a

Match 3: Ladder - Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio
The soap opera stories continue for the night as the winner of this match gets the custody of Dominick. Through this ridiculous story, this was far and away one of the best ladder matches that I have ever seen. This match often gets remembered for the time Vickie Guerrero didn't come out to the ring in time while Eddie was pulling on the briefcase. This is unfortunate because this match was spectacular. They were going at one pace and it was full speed ahead. They spaced out their big moves perfectly and had some of the most innovative spots I have ever seen. Not to mention that they landed them all smoothly and the crowd reacted big time for every single one. The finish came when Vickie pushed Eddie off the ladder allowing Rey Mysterio to climb to the top as Vickie held down Eddie. A disappointing finish but considering how much of a soap opera this feud was, it made sense. But even still, it would have been cool to see a better ending with Mysterio being able to score the win without any assistance. One of my personal favorite ladder matches that everybody should check out, ignore the soap opera story and just enjoy the match.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Rating: ****1/2

Match 4: Eugene vs. Kurt Angle
This is going to be fun. They have a no time limit rule going on and it looks as if Kurt Angle is just here to have his way with Eugene. This crowd is absolutely hot for Angle, cheering all the suplexes he drops on Eugene but they're pretty hot for Eugene, too. Angle hits the Angle Slam within three minutes into the match and makes Eugene submit with the Ankle Lock. Afterwards, Angle places a steel chair in the middle of the ring where he stands on it. He then demands for the referee to place his gold medal around his neck. Awesome. An odd spot for Angle to be in at a Summerslam but it's also another short match for the night as they're likely saving time up for the main events.
Winner: Kurt Angle
Rating: 3/4*

Match 5: The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton
The rematch from WrestleMania 21 as Randy Orton looks to avenge his loss against The Deadman. I loved their encounter and WrestleMania and this one should be a worthy follower. There's nobody in the WWE, past or present, like The Undertaker. For all the recognition he gets for his gimmick and ambiance, he's just as amazing in the ring. Orton made sure to focus on Undertaker's leg early on and Undertaker sold it as perfect as you can imagine. Tazz also did a fantastic job on commentary selling the injury as Undertaker was visibly limping around the entire way through. Cool finish for the match when an apparent fan ran into the ring as Undertaker held him back. Security rushed out and pulled the fan out as Orton capitalized on the situation and hit an RKO for the win. Orton then revealed it was his father disguised as the fan afterwards. This gives Orton a big victory and sets up a bigger rematch down the line.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***1/4

Match 6: WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. Chris Jericho
This whole notion that John Cena is a thug is just plain ridiculous, nobody believes it. Either way, his match here against Chris Jericho should be a good one. Crowd is absolutely rocking, this is Cena's early stages as the face of the company and the hate is unreal. The crowd was begging for him to lose and it's funny to think that they believed Jericho really had a chance at making Cena submit. Watching this now, it was really just a typical Cena match but it still holds up in 2015. Good action and Jericho was fantastic in his role as a heel. They got a few cool spots in and a great finish with Cena landing his FU finisher out of nowhere to retain the gold. Like I said, this was almost like a foundational John Cena match and it worked here. Cena needed a strong title defense on a big PPV and this was definitely it.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ***

Match 7: World Heavyweight Championship - No Disqualification - Batista (c) vs. JBL
After switching brands from Raw to Smackdown, Batista needed a big heel to face off against after conquering Triple H. JBL was the perfect choice. They start the match hot and take it out on the stage before the match really even begins. They finally bring it back when Batista speared JBL through a barricade. Inside the ring, they gave us a stiff contest that Batista quickly put JBL away from an awesome Batista Bomb on the steel steps in the middle of the ring that have off a loud thud to score the win. Batista then ripped up a JBL bill after the win, that was a nice finishing touch. Good match for what it was worth but it still didn't live up to any expectations. They were in a weird spot, acting as the bridge from the two bigger matches on the card. The WWE Championship match along with the main event didn't have any stipulations added so they needed to differentiate themselves from those ones and this was the perfect way to do so. Having the no disqualification match in between fit nicely and with the time they had, I thought they gave us a pretty good match with a sick ending.
Winner: Batista
Rating: **1/2

Match 8: Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels
From what I can recall, there really hasn't been a match in the past ten years that was perfectly built more than this one right here. Shawn Michaels proved to us again that he certainly is the best performer in the ring and out of the ring both as a heel or babyface. The antics, the promos, and everything else in between leading to this match was simply amazing. There was an atmosphere in the arena for this match that was unprecedented. The electricity in the house was off the charts, Michaels finally finds out if he can beat the legendary face of the company, Hulk Hogan. This match is notorious for Michaels selling the crap out of everything Hogan did to him, it was hilarious and I'll admit, it spoke volumes of how good Michaels is in the ring. Jim Ross, who was also amazing in his role on commentary, kept repeating how Hogan was bigger and stronger than Michaels so it almost made sense that Michaels would roll across the ring after a punch to the head from Hogan. Ross also mentioned that it this was going to be a longer match, then the "younger" Michaels would easily have the advantage due to his conditioning. Blood always makes these types of matches better and there was buckets pouring out of the head of Hogan. They pulled out all the smoke and mirrors for this one. Hogan had a crimson mask going and Michaels looked relentless. But after hitting a Sweet Chin Music, Hogan wouldn't go down and was able to hit his Leg Drop for the win. Should also mention that Michaels danced around the ring after Hogan hit a big boot before the finish. The two shake hands after the match, you can guess how Michaels felt about losing to Hogan on this one. Either way, this was more of Michaels proving why he is the best in the game more than anything else. They pulled out all the smoke and mirrors to cover Hogan's limited skills and it worked. Perfectly timed moves that all had some sort of effect and in turn, it made every close finish matter that much more. I really wish they would have done a rematch down the line but politics likely got in the way of things. Regardless, that was a Summerslam main event for the ages. It wasn't the best in-ring match ever but the hype, the electricity, and the magnitude it had on the company at the time all stand out.
Winner: Hulk Hogan
Rating: ****

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
A pretty average Summerslam (aside from the Ladder match) until it finally hit the main event, basically the match the entire show was circled around. It's no wonder why this show ranks up there as one of the highest purchased PPV shows of all time as the main event was hyped amazingly. Safe to say, the main event delivered and if you haven't checked it out, then you're missing out.
Rating: 7/10