WWE SUMMERSLAM PPV FLASHBACK REPORT
AUGUST 15, 2004
TORONTO, ONT., CANADA
REPORT BY WADE KELLER, PWTORCH EDITOR

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler introduced the show. Michael Cole and Tazz previewed the opening match.

(1) Spike & D-Von & Bubba Ray Dudley beat Rey Mysterio & Paul London & Billy Kidman. London sold the first half of the match, then they went to hot tags, chaos, and a Dudley 3D on Kidman. (*1/2)

(2) Kane pinned Matt Hardy at 6:05. Lita threw the ringside bell into the ring and Hardy hit Kane with it. Kane put his leg on the middle rope to break the count. Kane stopped a Hardy superplex and chokeslammed him off the top to the mat. Hardy sold it well. Kane scored the pin. Lita looked stunned. They fit a lot into six minutes, but still a letdown. Too short. (*)

Todd Grisham interviewed Randy Orton. John Cena stepped in and cut a promo on Orton.

(3) John Cena beat Booker in the first of their Best of Five at 6:20. Same ol' from those two. (*)

Raw G.M. Eric Bischoff told Smackdown G.M. Teddy Long that Smackdown G.M.'s don't last, so he figures he'll be gone next time they do a joint PPV. Long said if Bischoff gets rid of Eugene, he'd be glad to sign him to Smackdown.

(4) Edge beat Chris Jericho and Batista in a three-way at 8:16 retain the IC Title. Okay, but rushed. The crowd booed Edge throughout the match, which was the story of the match. Edge gave Jericho a spear after Jericho got sidetracked by dropkicking Batista. Lawler said they were in Bizarro World because of the strange crowd reaction. (*3/4)

(5) Kurt Angle pinned Eddie Guerrero at 13:36. A strong three-star mat-based match focused on Angle working over Guerrero's ankles. It was a bit too one dimensional to rise above three-stars. It was a good start to a 20 minute four-star match, but it ended out of nowhere with a tapout win with an anklelock shortly after Guerrero had scored a nearfall with a frog splash. (***)

(6) Triple H beat Eugene at 14:07. Ross said if Eugene won, it would be the biggest upset in Summerslam history. Eugene was enamored with he crowd at first, but as soon as he saw Hunter it was all business. Hunter used Lilian Garcia as a shield, then threw her down to distract Eugene, who turned to check on her. He then teased suplexing Eugene from inside the ring onto the Spanish announce table, but Eugene reversed it. Hunter faked a knee injury to sucker the ref and Eugene into letting their guards down. The crowd cheered Hunter when he applied a sleeper at 8:30. The crowd booed when Eugene's arm didn't drop a third time. Eugene then hit a discus punch and a middle finger, which the crowd cheered. He followed with a Hulk Hogan style legdrop for a two count. Flair came to ringside and put Hunter's leg over the bottom rope on a pin attempt. Eugene thought he won. Flair tripped Eugene as he bounced into the ropes. The ref ordered Flair to the back. Flair threw a hissy fit. William Regal stepped out and KO'd Flair with brass knux. Hunter then surprised Eugene with a Pedigree for the win. Regal consoled a pouting Eugene as Hunter dragged an unconscious Flair by his feet to the back. Fun match. (**3/4)

The Raw Diva Candidates beat The Raw Divas in a quick pretaped Diva Dodgeball game.

(7) JBL (w/Orlando Jordan) beat Undertaker at 17:38 via DQ to retain the WWE Hvt. Title. The crowd booed Taker's offense and chanted "Spanish table, Spanish table." Taker dominated early. JBL came back at 10:15 with some offense. They went back and forth. The ref went down, so Jordan threw the title belt to JBL. He hit Taker with it. With the ref out, Jordan counted to two but stopped when Taker lifted his shoulder. Honesty overtook him. Taker KO'd Jordan with the belt, but the ref came to in time to see Taker hit JBL with it and called for the DQ. The crowd booed the finish. Taker then rammed JBL into the limo windshield afterward and then slammed him through the roof of the limo. (**3/4)

(8) Randy Orton pinned Chris Benoit to capture the World Hvt. Title at 20:09. They began slowly and built the pace a bit as they went. Benoit got some near submissions throughout and scored with six consecutive German suplexes. Orton surprised Benoit with an RKO out of nowhere for the win. Benoit left, then returned to shake hands with Orton. Very good match. (****)

***

PWTORCH NEWSLETTER #822
COVER DATED: AUGUST 21, 2004

-- Torch VIP members access to 2004 back-issue series.

COVER STORY: Orton wins title, then is turned babyface: Good timing or not?

BY WADE KELLER, PWTORCH EDITOR

With TV ratings, PPV buyrates, and house show attendance all slumping, Vince McMahon accelerated a babyface turn of Randy Orton. At the end of the Aug. 16 Raw, Evolution turned on Orton in dramatic fashion. After helping Orton retain the World Hvt. Title against Chris Benoit in the TV main event, just 24 hours after beating him at Summerslam to capture the title, Orton's Evolution partners celebrated in center ring with him.

When Batista lifted Orton onto his shoulders, Hunter signalled to Orton with a thumbs up signal. Hunter's facial expression then changed and he turned his thumb down. Orton's facial expression changed and he mouthed, "F--- no." At Hunter's command, Batista then dropped Orton backward to the mat. Hunter pounced as him and punched away at his face. Hunter, Ric Flair, and Batista took turns beating down Orton for over three minutes as the program ended.

The beatdown signals that Orton has been ejected from Evolution and gives fans official permission to cheer Orton. Orton had been getting cheered already, including in matches against Edge last month. He had a sizable portion of the Toronto crowd cheering for him at Summerslam throughout the match. He also received loud cheers at the start of Raw when he came out with the World Title belt. Fans like Orton, which changed WWE's initial tentative plans to actually turn Hunter babyface and have Orton become the leader of Evolution later this year.

Orton has taken an accelerated path to becoming the top babyface on Raw, leapfrogging Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels. WWE, quite frankly, is counting on Orton to have enough fan appeal to help turn business around. Orton has already shown enough ring savvy and mic skills to be a top tier player. Only his relative lack of experience and age (he's only 24, the youngest WWE World Champion ever) justifies any second-guessing of this quick elevation.

WWE, though, could have drawn out this major turn. They could have gotten months of subtle interplay out of Hunter showing growing signs of jealousy that Orton held the World Title, a title that WWE had stressed time after time "means more to Triple H than anything in the world." They could have given Orton more time to solidify himself as a strong champion before asking all fans to jump on his bandwagon. Instead of milking the angle, they went with the sudden turn, banking on the shock value of the angle spiking business.

With Raw and Smackdown ratings last week reaching multi-year lows, and with Monday Night Football just around the corner, WWE management wanted to be able to build around a fresh hot babyface. The feeling clearly is that Eugene wasn't cutting it with enough of the viewership to continue to be a central figure on Raw. He wasn't even mentioned during Raw, the day after Triple H defeated him at Summerslam. The future of Eugene's character is unknown at this time, but with Hunter moving on to feud with Orton, the Hunter-Eugene feud appears to be over for now.

Presumably Orton will defend the World Title against Triple H at September 12's Raw-brand Unforgiven PPV. Originally, that match was going to be saved for Raw's WrestleMania main event. By going with it so soon, it eliminates the obvious marquee first-time match-up between those two at WrestleMania. Will WWE be able to keep the match fresh enough to somehow headline WrestleMania with it anyway, or will WWE go a different direction, perhaps even featuring an interpromotional match-up at WrestleMania next year with Orton taking on someone from Smackdown? (John Cena? Undertaker? Kurt Angle? JBL?)

If fans don't get behind Orton because they feel he's being given too big of a push too soon, this turn could be a setback in Orton's momentum. But it could also be exactly the shot in the arm WWE needed to break the lethargic feeling their fanbase has had to recent storylines. A lot is riding on Orton becoming a top tier babyface they can build the brand around, but as good of a year as he's had, he hasn't proven he's ready for that responsibility yet.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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