WWE SUMMERSLAM PPV
AUGUST 15, 2003
TORONTO, ONT. AT ACC
Report by Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

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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, setting up Orton's babyface turn that started the next night on Raw when he was kicked out of Evolution. Very good match. (****)

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

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