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Submitted by Pt2 on Monday, August 16, 2004 at 10:41 AM EST
Summerslam 2004I don’t tend to do review columns. First of all, I’m not great at them. Second, there are already some fantastic review columns on the site, let alone the net as a whole (call me biased, but I do think this site still has the best). So don’t expect this to be an in depth review, more an opinion of the events of Sunday night. First things first: I have to ask why do things always tend to come back and bite me in the ass? I pretty much blasted the Smackdown brand last week, and then they go out and hold their own with the RAW brand on the PPV. While the more memorable parts of the show happened for the Monday night team, considering Smackdowns matches were in my view less well hyped, the stars did a good job of making them enjoyable. This new persona of Spike Dudley is really starting to come through. This is entertaining. I also liked the Six man tag match last night - reminded me of some of the earlier Summerslam events. The clash of styles between London/Kidman and the larger Dudleys worked for me. While it’s certainly no MOTY contender, it was pretty enjoyable, and seemed to work well as a good, often fast paced opener. Cena and Booker was no masterpiece, but it’s only the first match in the series. I don’t expect them to give it all to us yet. I think the right man won here, for the opening match. But the real test of this series is yet to come. Still, no complaints, even though it was a little bland for me. Matt Hardy and Kane wasn’t particularly to my taste. It wasn’t exactly bad.... but it wasn’t for me. I was surprised to hear the boo’s for Edge, to be honest. The match seemed a bit disjointed to me in places, my attention would occasionally waver, but the addition of Batista to the match helped it for me - the idea of a different style in there from Edge and Jericho, a more powerful man, helped the concept of the match for me. I think the right man won here too. Although the crowd was behind Jericho, I think Edge is more suited to the IC title. Jericho should be wrestling for the world title, not the IC title, his position in the mid card doesn’t really help him or the show. Move him up, let him go with Hunter, Benoit et al. Kurt Angle and Eddie - good mat skills on display, a match that was shown as a contest. It worked for me. Not bad, not bad at all. The idea of the thumb to the eye breaking up the momentum brought a sporting aspect to it that I think is missing a lot of the time. Undertaker and Bradshaw was nothing special, but it was never really going to be. Worked around this by having the biggest spot of the night at the end of the match. Good business sense, send the people away with something to talk about. It wasn’t an awful match, but it was a bit of a let down in the ring. the finish helps it though, typical old school Taker in a title match finish. Just a quick thought about Taker - is it just me, or as this Deadman angle gets older, does he start wrestling more and more like the Biker Taker? I know he didn’t wrestle exactly like the old deadman even on the angle’s return, but still, last night was like watching the American Badass more than the Undertaker. In all honesty, it’s better wrestling that way - but not really what I think people watch the Undertaker for. If I was surprised that the crowd booed Edge, I was pretty shocked that they booed Eugene. But still, they’ve paid their money, they can do what they like. The Eugene - HHH match, like I’ve said for the most of the card, was enjoyable but not great - Both men were pretty fluid in there, but nothing really happened to make you sit up and take notice. As much as I hate to admit it, I think the right man won here. It would have been nice to have Eugene win, but it might be too early to give him a win over the game.... plus, the way the match ended leaves them set up nice for another match further down the line. Now the big one. The main event of the night, Randy Orton vs. Chris Benoit for the world title. Well, we all knew that Orton was going to be the world champion, and I think we all had a feeling that it could be tonight. I’m not sure that Orton is ready to be the world champion yet, but his match last night, in all honesty, went a long way to convincing me. While it was no where near flawless, and isn’t one of the greatest matches of the year, it was certainly not bad at all. While Orton seemed to use two to many headlocks throughout the match, he seemed to pace it quite well for a man so young. Being in the ring with Benoit certainly couldn’t have hurt - but for the most part, while Benoit’s offence was more sophisticated, the structure of the match looked very 50-50. Orton showed some pretty impressive moves at times, as did Benoit. They paced their spots well, and as a result, I think they probably had the most memorable match of the night. They made the most of their spots, and I think they’ll be remembered for quite some time. As for the decision to make Orton champ: I’m not sure that it’s the right time. Sure, he had a good match with Benoit, but I believe I’ll take a wait and see attitude on this one. Orton has improved by leaps and bounds in his time at the WWE, and I think he will continue to improve. He has the natural heel charisma that you just can’t teach - and he’ll improve on the microphone to complement that natural charisma with more experience. His ring work is also improving.... and remember, people said that HHH wasn’t ready in 1999, and he went on to be in almost all the Match of the Year contenders in 2000-01, after he was put on the title. The finish of the match certainly will help to get the RKO over. He hit that move as quick as a cat, and it now has to look like one of the more dangerous moves in anyone’s arsenal. He beat Benoit cleanly, but in such a way that it doesn’t make either man look bad..... Hopefully a rematch down the line. Like I’ve said all the way through this, the PPV had very little in it that was exceptional. It was certainly worth a watch though. Nothing exceptional is compensated by nothing awful, and throw into that a good world title match, especially when you consider the age of Orton - you have a show that really doesn’t disappoint me. Now, this may not be a great review like some people can muster - but in all honesty, I think it’s a fair reflection if you watch it as a fan, first and foremost. Well, that’s it for the this column. Hopefully you enjoyed it. Look out for Tina vs. Random in the You be the Booker contest, coming soon. If you have any comments, feel free to send them to takeupandwalk@hotmail.com Take care, Pt2 *NEW GALLERY* The WWE SD & RAW Divas PARTYING in a CLUB! WOW!
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