WWE Summerslam 2006 Review

Match 1: Chavo Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio
The opening contest of the night features two guys who are fighting for the same thing, the honor of Eddie Guerrero. They play videos before the match of the strong bonds these guys had with Eddie, really touching to watch and added another layer to the match to make things personal. The action was fine but nothing incredible, Rey Mysterio just had that insane chemistry against Eddie that he just can't find against Chavo. Nearing the end, Vickie Guerrero comes out and does her best to stop the match. She really just makes the match annoying more than anything else as all we can hear are her constant screams. She accidentally knocks Mysterio off the top rope as Chavo takes advantage and hits a Frog Splash for the win. Good match with a faulty finish. I understand that they wanted Vickie to cost Mysterio the match, but this just felt so odd.
Winner: Chavo Guerrero
Rating: **3/4

Match 2: ECW Championship - Extreme Rules - The Big Show (c) vs. Sabu
This match is so WWE in 2006. Both Joey Styles & Tazz are doing their best to hype this match but I think deep down, they both know this is pretty ridiculous. This is the first time the ECW Championship has been defended on the Summerslam stage as The Big Show defends the gold against Sabu. This was a fun mess of a match. They couldn't do much here so they covered it up with table spots. And it actually worked. Sabu drove Big Show through two tables and the crowd responded nicely to them both. However, his little botch after running atop one of the tables was pretty hilarious. Sabu wanted to drive Show through another table but ran into a Chokeslam through it for Show to win and retain his belt. Surprisingly, this wasn't as painful as expected aside from Sabu's botch on the second table spot. Either way, decent Summerslam match but odd to have on the card considering there's another hardcore match on the show.
Winner: The Big Show
Rating: *1/2

Match 3: Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Orton
This feels like last year all over again with Hulk Hogan being prominently featured on another Summerslam show. This time, it's against the young, brash Randy Orton. And this time, Hogan puts his opponent over. One of those things I just typed is true and it's not the latter. Crowd is hot for both guys and it's pretty split as tons of boos and cheers are ringing down for both guys. The match was pretty much what you would expect. There really isn't much to be said. It didn't really carry the same vibe or flow like his match last year against Shawn Michaels but Orton held his own and carried Hogan to a damn good match. Orton looked to score the win at one point by hitting his RKO until the referee discovered Hogan's foot was on the bottom rope. Hogan then Hulks up, points, kicks, and drops for the win. Having Orton go up against the biggest legend of all time makes sense, but he's definitely in a tight spot. There's no reason at all for Hogan to be going over guys like Shawn Michaels or Randy Orton. They actively compete on the roster while Hogan does not at all. A loss against either does not hurt Hogan's reputation whatsoever, but a loss for Michaels or Orton baffles the audience. Why are these guys losing to an old man? How am I supposed to believe these guys are legitimate main eventers? Sure, the argument can be made that Orton even being in the same match as Hogan is cool but to me, what really did any of this accomplish? Where does Orton even go from here? Plus, they didn't even let Orton drop Hogan after the match!
Winner: Hulk Hogan
Rating: **3/4

Match 4: I Quit - Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair
After seeing Hulk Hogan back in the ring, we get to see Mick Foley and Ric Flair. What year is this? The two have had bad blood for years and there was tons of blood here. Foley scored advantage of the match as he brought out the barbed wire early on. They made it clear that their feud was finishing here. From Foley wrapping Mr. Socko in barbed wire to him cracking Flair against the face with a board of barbed wire, the blood was flowing. Oh, and don't forget the thumbtacks. But once Flair turned the tables towards his way, things never came back. Foley looked like a mess and Flair was taking advantage of it. Beating him down with a baseball bat covered in barbed wire before Melina comes out and throws in the white towel for Foley. The match continues after Flair denounces Melina being able to make the call. Flair then threatens to beat Melina which leads for Foley to quit. A pretty good and bloody match that told a great story, too. Just weird to see them settling the score in a 2006 match.
Winner: Ric Flair
Rating: ***1/4

Match 5: World Heavyweight Championship - King Booker (c) vs. Batista
This is Batista's first World Heavyweight Championship bout since returning from injury. JBL lets us know that Batista has not competed in a contest of this magnitude for nine months so if there's anyway for Batista to win, it's to finish King Booker early or let the King's conditioning take over. These two had an off-screen altercation during a photo shoot which JBL teased about during the match. He was pretty locked in as a commentator here. They were having a stalemate of a match, nobody really picking up any advantages here and the crowd never really got into the action. Batista looked to score the win by hitting a Batista Bomb before Queen Sharmell jumped on top of Batista and the referee called for the bell. While it's pretty inarguable that they don't have the best chemistry ever, I personally enjoyed the ten minutes of action they gave us here. It leads to a bigger rematch down the road and anticipates more of Batista recapturing the gold.
Winner: Batista
Rating: **1/2   

Match 6: D-Generation X vs. Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon
This feud just won't go away. Before the bell tolls, The McMahons call out their goons in Mr. Kennedy, William Regal, & Finlay to take out DX. However, DX still gets the job done until The Big Show appears and runs rampant. He then landed a Chokeslam on Triple H through the announcers table. The McMahons then walk to the ring where they take out Shawn Michaels before Triple H does his best to mount a comeback. Umaga then comes out to the ring and hits a Samoan Spike on The Game and as he approaches Michaels, Kane comes out for the awesome save! I should note that The McMahons hilariously copied other famous tag teams by mocking their finishing moves. Anyway, the match still looks in favor for The McMahons but the tides turn when Shane McMahon wanted to hit his patented Coast to Coast on Triple H but was greeted by a Sweet Chin Music on the way down! Michaels then hits one on Vince McMahon as Triple H then landed a Pedigree following it. Never a dull moment, a regular tag match definitely wasn't the best route here and they probably figured as much. Through all the antics, they made it as entertaining as possible and the crowd ate it up. Good tag match here that definitely beat all expectations.
Winners: D-Generation X
Rating: ***

Match 7: WWE Championship - Edge (c) vs. John Cena
The main event for the 2006 edition of Summerslam has John Cena looking to regain the WWE Championship from Edge in a match where if Edge gets disqualified, the title switches hands. The chemistry the two have here is just fantastic. For all the flack Cena gets, he does a great job of selling the match and his opponents. And don't forget about Edge, this is him at the top of his game. Telling a great story in the ring, trying to score the count out victory numerous times throughout the match, and his hilarious facial expressions when Lita hands him a chair or the belt to hit Cena with. The main problem I had with this match is the same one we tend to have with lots of Cena matches. Edge was in control for so much of the match, it was almost as if Cena's offense was strictly coming off of rebounds. This strategy works for him most of the time but Cena just had his dad slapped in the face by Edge, why isn't he rushing this guy? But through all that, the match was great and the finish was awesome. Lita slips Edge a pair of brass knuckles and off a distraction, Edge drills Cena in the back of the head with a thunderous shot that knocks Cena cold out. Cena did a great job of selling the shot and Jim Ross on commentary was nothing short of brilliant to boot. Edge celebrates with Lita as Cena looks on in disbelief. Great ending to the show and really cool to see the heel walk out of a Summerslam PPV as the champ.
Winner: Edge
Rating: ***3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Definitely one of the more disappointing Summerslams in recent memory. Hulk Hogan going over, the bland undercard matches, and a disqualification finish for the World Heavyweight Championship all left a bad taste in my mouth. Thankfully, the last two matches were easy to watch but they didn't have enough firepower to save the show.
Rating: 6/10