SummerSlam '04 - Air Canada Centre - 8/15/04 |
This SummerSlam was a bit underwhelming for me. I had extremely high expectations for an overall great card with multiple classics, and other than two predictably great matches there wasn't much else going on. It seemed like there were some time management issues given how short some of the bouts were, but I can't figure out where all that time went.
The opening six-man between the three Dudleys and Rey Mysterio, Paul London & Billy Kidman was a fine way to kick off the show. Very quick and exciting, and showcased some nice Cruiserweight action, plus Bubba and Devon.
Second was the payoff to one half of one of the stupidest ongoing angles I can remember: Kane had been stalking Lita, trying to hook up with her. Lita was dating Matt Hardy at the time, who ran to her rescue. Kane challenged Matt to a match, where if Kane won, Lita would be forced to marry him. First, in what universe would any woman agree to marry a guy she hated, if her boyfriend couldn't beat up said creep? Why wouldn't Lita have just gotten Kane arrested for stalking her and repeatedly assaulting her boyfriend? Second, in what universe would a marriage under duress be legally binding?
Kane beat the bejeezus out of Matt to win the match, and Lita ended up having to marry him. Then Kane impregnated her, about which she was horrified, until Gene Snitsky showed up one day and bashed Kane with a chair, causing him to land on top of Lita, causing a miscarriage, about which Lita was devastated. So she was upset that the demon spawn her evil stalker husband gave her would never be born. And then Kane became the babyface in a new feud with Snitsky, only to later feud with Edge, for whom Lita dumped Kane, turning heel in the process. Unbelievable. Sorry for the tangent. This Kane-Hardy match stunk.
Next up was John Cena vs. Booker T in a Best-of-Five series for the vacant US Title, and the company inexplicably put Match #1 on the SummerSlam card. I was looking forward to this, but being the first match in the series it only went 6 minutes and amounted to very little.