|Date: August 20, 2006
|Venue: TD Banknorth Garden |City: Boston, Massachusetts
|Attendance: 16,168 |Buys: 541,000
|Brands: Raw, Smackdown & ECW

|tweet me: @BastionBlogger

The Biggest Party Of The Summer! Summerslam tonight features 7 matches, four from Raw, two from Smackdown and one from ECW. The WWE Championship will of course be defended but the title hasn’t actually changed hands on a Summerslam event since 2002. That night Brock Lesnar defeated The Rock but tonight it will be John Cena that challenges Edge for the top title in the company. Edge won the title on the July 7th episode of Raw, beating Rob Van Dam and John Cena in a triple threat match. Since then the feud between Edge and John Cena got personal with Cena attacking Edge and Lita in their hotel room only for edge to get revenge by slapping John Cena’s father in his own house. Cena beat Edge by disqualification after Lita got involved on Raw a few weeks ago and so the match was made between Edge and Cena but this time if Edge gets disqualified then he will lose the title.

Over on Smackdown Batista was named number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship held by Booker T. Batista was forced into vacating the World Heavyweight title back in January and has been entitled to a match for the belt. Booker T won the title from Rey Mysterio at The Great American Bash and knew the match between he and Batista would eventually come. The ECW World Heavyweight Championship is also set to be defended as The Big Show, who won the title from Rob Van Dam a few weeks ago, defends against the man that Paul Heyman did not want to get a shot in Sabu. Sabu beat Rob Van Dam in a ladder match to earn the shot after Big Show inadvertently helped him win. Tonight Big Show and Sabu meet in an Extreme Rules match.

Another big match set for tonight pits D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) against Vince and Shane McMahon. Triple H and Shawn Michaels have made life difficult for the McMahons over recent weeks, mostly in immature ways like imitating them, buys them cocks and spraying dogshit all over them. The McMahons have used Umaga to soften up DX over recent weeks, separating the two men and having Umaga destroy them. The heated feud between Mick Foley and Ric Flair has continued with Mick Foley rejecting Flair’s offer for another match over the past few weeks. Eventually Foley gave in and challenged Flair to an I Quit match which will put an end to this very real-feeling rivalry. Another legend that returns to action tonight is Hulk Hogan who takes on the legend killer Randy Orton. Orton hit Hogan with an RKO onto a car at Saturday Night’s Main Event and Hogan challenged Orton to the match. Can Orton beat the biggest legend of them all tonight?

Also tonight Rey Mysterio takes on the man that cost him the World Heavyweight Championship last month, Chavo Guerrero. Chavo is coming out of retirement for one match which he says is to defend Eddie Guerrero’s honour. Mysterio will be looking for revenge in what should be a great match.

In a dark match prior to the event Carlito defeated Rob Conway.

The show kicks off with a video package, first focusing on DX and the McMahons and then hyping King Booker and Batista and finally John Cena and Edge.

Michael Cole is the man to welcome us to the show, he’s joined by Tazz. They throw to Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler from Raw who in turn throw to Joey Styles and Tazz from ECW!

Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero

This is the third PPV match between these two men. Chavo won the first at No Way Out 2004 and Mysterio then beat Chavo at The Great American Bash 2004. So this is technically the rubber match. Mysterio has a 1-2 record at Summerslam PPV’s but it’s a Summerslam debut for Chavo. Mysterio goes right to work on Chavo as the bell rings and the two men slug it out. Chavo hits an uppercut to take a brief advantage but Rey attempts a springboard moonsault, Chavo catches him but Mysterio arm drags Guerrero out of the ring. Rey hits Chavo with a baseball slide and then dives to the outside but Chavo rolls out of the way. Back in the ring Chavo stomps away at Chavo and chokes him with his boot. Rey fights back but Chavo drops him on the top turnbuckle. Guerrero hits a side suplex and lays in more boots to the ribs. Chavo then looks to set up for a top rope powerbomb to the outside but Rey counters it into a facebuster off the top.

Mysterio is up first and hits a basement dropkick to the knees and then a springboard cross body for the first near fall of the night. Chavo hits an uppercut and a clothesline but Rey hits a drop toe hold and a kick to the side of the head for another near fall. Mysterio heads to the top but Chavo goes up with him and looks to hit a German suplex but Mysterio elbows him off and hits Chavo with a hurricanrana. Chavo lands perfectly on the second rope and so Mysterio hits the 619 and then looks for the senton but chavo ducks it. Mysterio hits a hurricanrana and both men tumble to the outside. Vickie Guerrero then runs out and tells Chavo to stop, grabbing his leg and then slapping him! That distracts Chavo long enough for Mysterio to dive out at Chavo and hit him with right hands. Vickie then tells Mysterio to stop which distracts him allowing Chavo to suplex Mysterio back into the ring. Chavo attempts the 3 amigos but Mysterio counters the third, hits a hurricanrana and then hits the three amigos himself.

There are a few boo’s for Mysterio is this match. Rey heads to the top but Vickie Guerrero grabs the top rope and accidentally crotches Mysterio! Chavo hits Rey with a brainbuster and then heads to the top and hits the frog splash which is enough for the three! Chavo Guerrero beats Rey Mysterio tonight in a bit of an upset!

Rating: 6.5/10

King Booker and Sharmell are backstage talking in hilarious accents. Booker says that it is imperative that he defeats Batista tonight. Edge and Lita then walk in and claim to be the most powerful couple in sports entertainment. Edge says he’ll bitchslap John Cena like he did his dad last week. Booker says that if he keeps his title tonight and edge loses his belt then Edge should come to Smackdown and kiss his feet. Edge says that should he keep his title and Booker lose him then Booker must go to Raw and be his royal servant for the night. The wager is on.

The Big Show (c) vs. Sabu – Extreme Rules match for the ECW World Championship

This is a first PPV match between these men. It’s a Summerslam debut for Sabu but Big Show has a 1-0 record at Summerslam, unbelievably he hasn’t wrestled on a Summerslam event since 1999. Anything goes in this match and Sabu throws a chair at Big Show as the bell rings. Sabu hits the Arabian face buster but Big Show hits a drop toe hold and then crushes the chair with his boot. Show hits Sabu with a big headbutt and then a powerslam. Show applies a bear hug but Sabu bites him with break it up and then attempts a springboard cross body but Big Show catches him and then throws him across the ring with a fallaway slam. Sabu grabs a chair and throws it at The Big Shows head twice but then drops the chair so has to go out and get it before heading to the top and kicking it into Big Shows head. That earns Sabu a one count. Sabu pulls a table out from under the ring and sets it up in the corner.

Big Show grabs Sabu around the throat but Sabu pokes him in the eye and then heads up top and takes Big Show down with a bulldog. Sabu then springboards off a chair and bulldogs Big Show through a table! Both men get up and Show hits an electric chair drop on Sabu. Big Show is bleeding now. Big Show heads up to the middle rope and hits Sabu with a Vader bomb! Sabu rolls to the outside but Big Show also exits the ring and throws the steel steps into the ring. Big Show then pulls a table out from under the ring and slides it into the ring. Big Show sets up a table, laying across the two sets of steps but Sabu climbs onto it, falls off, and then jumps on Big Show who catches him and spinebusters him through the table. But maybe it was a DDT from Sabu? No idea but Sabu is up first. He gets another table, sets it up, climbs on it but Big Show catches him and chokeslams him through the table. This match started well but the ending was pretty poor. Sabu made a couple of mistakes which ruined it a bit. Big Show doesn’t look happy as he grabs his title belt back.

Rating: 4/10

We’re shown the crowning of the diva search with Layla winning. Layla is then backstage with the other WWE divas who give her a hard time. Trish leads the way in telling Layla that the other divas can call themselves divas for various reasons. Turns out that Trish was only joking and the girls initiate Layla by soaking her in the shower. The likes of Maria, Candice Michelle, Kelly Kelly, Jillian Hall and Torrie Wilson all involved in this one.

There’s a video package hyping Hulk Hogan and Randy Orton up next.

Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Orton

This is a first PPV match between these two men. The legend vs. the legend killer. Randy has a 2-1 record at Summerslam events whilst Hulk Hogan is 5-0 at Summerslam. At last years Summerslam event Randy Orton beat The Undertaker whilst Hulk Hogan beat Shawn Michaels. Two wins for the heels so far tonight, Randy will be looking to make it three. Hogan over-powers Orton in the early going, pushing him across the ring. Orton applies a headlock but Hogan gets out of it and shoulder barges Randy down. Randy goes back to the headlock but Hulk powers out of it again and takes Orton down with a wristlock. Randy hits some big right hands and an uppercut to take Hulk down. Hogan is looking old in this match. Hulk has won 66.6% of his 39 PPV matches. Orton attempts to smash Hogan into the top turnbuckle but Hulk reverses it and then lays into Randy with some big right hands.

It’s advantage Hogan as he knocks Randy down with a clothesline and then hits some more right hands. Randy exits the ring and drags Hogan with him, smashing the back of Hulks injured knee into the edge of the ring. Back in the ring and Orton targets the knee, laying into it with stomps and a chopblock. Orton heads to the top and attempts a cross body but Hulk ducks it and Orton hits the canvas. Hulk hits some right hands and tries for his trademark big boot but Orton ducks it and knocks Hulk down with a dropkick. Orton then motions for the RKO and when Hogan gets to his feet, Randy hits it! The referee counts the three but then notices that Hogans foot was on the bottom rope! Orton can’t believe it but the match will continue. Hogan “Hulk’s up”, points at Orton “youuuuu”, hits some big right hands, the big boots and then walks around the ring listening to the crowd. Wasting time. Hogan then hits the legdrop and gets the 3! Hulk Hogan beats Randy Orton tonight! That’s 6 for 6 at Summerslam for Hulk Hogan! It was a fun match because of Hogan being in it but nothing too great. I expected Orton to win the match to be honest. Hogan celebrates with the crowd, a middle aged woman that Jim Ross calls “old” and a bloke with a massive Hulk Hogan tattoo on his back which Hogan slaps.

Rating: 5.5/10

Mick Foley is backstage with Melina who doesn’t think the match is a good idea but Foley losing tonight would not be good for her reputation. Foley says he won’t be losing tonight.

Ric Flair vs. Mick Foley – I Quit Match

This is the second PPV match between these two men, Flair won the first a couple of months ago. Ric Flair is 1-0 at Summerslam events, he beat Chris Jericho back in 2002. Mick Foley is 3-1, he’s beaten the likes of The Undertaker, Triple H and won the WWE title back in 1999 at the event but he did lost in a handicap match to the New Age Outlaws in 1998. Foley goes right for Flair as the bell rings and then smashes a trash can into Flairs face. Both men are former WWE Champions. Foley pulls out Mr Socko and rams it down Flairs throat before releasing it, asking for the mic and telling Flair to say “I Quit”. Foley wraps barb-wire around his fist but Flair grabs him by the crotch and the hits Mick with a low blow. Flair hits lefts and rights and then wraps Socko and barb-wire around his own hand, chopping Foley and then throwing him into the ring steps. Mick then hits a right hand to knock down Flair before grabbing some plywood covered in barb-wire and smashing that into the face of Ric Flair.

Back in the ring and Foley rakes Flairs face with barb-wire. Foley then runs the barb-wire covered wood into Flairs face. Foley asks Flair if he quits again but Flair tells Foley to kiss his ass. Foley then rams the microphone into Flairs face as The Nature Boy bleeds all over the ring. Foley empties a bag of thumb tacks all over the ring and then powerslams Flair right into them! Foley asks Flair if he quits but Flair won’t say the words. Foley grabs a barb-wire baseball bat and rakes Flairs eyes with it but Flair stops it by hitting Mick with a low blow. Flair then throws Foley into the ring post and picks up the bat before swinging it into Foleys arm and shoulder four times. Flair hits Foley with more right hands and then asks Foley if he quits but Foley does not. Flair hits a low blow and then knocks Foley onto the apron before running the baseball bat into hit gut sending Foley to the outside.

The referee calls for help and a few referee’s run out. Melina also runs out as one of the referee’s says that Foley is done. The referee calls for the bell, it rings and this one is over! Flair says that this isn’t a “laid out on your ass match” it’s an I Quit match! Flair rolls Foley back into the ring, right through the thumb tacks and Flair lays into him with knees. Flair then rakes Foley’s eyes with the barb-wire as Melina watches on. Melina then throws in the towel! Melina gets on the mic and tells Flair to stop it. Flair grabs the mic and says that she does not quit for him! The match continues! Flair grabs the barb-wire baseball bat and looks like he’s going to hit Melina who is sat in front of Foley and Mick quits! Ric Flair wins what was a great match between these two men!

Rating: 8/10

Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and Armando Estrada are backstage and Vince is counting on Umaga as a resource tonight.

King Booker (c) vs. Batista – World Heavyweight Championship match

This is a first PPV match between these two men. Batista is 1-1 at Summerslam PPV’s, King Booker is 0-3. Booker is joined by his wife Sharmell. This match has a big fight feel to it, that’s for sure. King Booker slaps Batista in the early going and Batista shoves him to the mat. It’s worth noting that these two men recently got in a real life fight. Booker felt that Batista was disrespecting the Smackdown brand by wanting to go back to Raw. Batista counters a spin kick into a powerslam for a one count and Booker exits the ring. Batista rolls Booker back into the ring where Booker catches him with a kick. Batista hits a spinebuster and motions for the Batista bomb (to a few boo’s) but Booker slips out of the ring, onto the apron. He then hangs Batista on the top rope before getting back into the ring. Booker once again hangs Batista on the top rope and then lays in some boots. Batista is looking to join Hulk Hogan as the only men to have won at both the 2005 and 2006 Summerslam events. Booker applies a sleeper and a “boring” chant breaks out.

Batista gets out of the sleeper but Booker fights him off with kicks and then exits the ring. Sharmell gets up on the apron and so Booker smashes Batista with his sceptre! Back in the ring and booker gets a near fall. I love Booker T as World Heavyweight champion. Well deserved and I hope he keeps it. Booker applies a wristlock and then a hammerlock before locking on a sleeper. Batista gets out of it and Booker aims to hit a big kick but Batista ducks it and drops Booker on the top rope before taking him down with a couple of clotheslines. The two roll to the outside where Sharmell gets in Batista’s face. Booker then throws Batista into the ring steps before rolling the challenger back into the ring. Booker goes up top and takes Batista down with a missile dropkick for a near fall. Booker then hits the Book end for another two count. Booker goes for the scissors kick but Batista gets out of the way and then takes Booker down with a jackhammer for a near fall. Batista hits shoulder charges and then the worst Irish whips I have ever seen. Booker hits a neckbreaker, two count.

Batista hits a full nelson slam and then motions for the Batista bomb but Sharmell gets in the ring and hammers away at Batista! The referee calls for the bell and Booker drops Batista with a kick. This one is over though, it’s a disqualification win for Batista but King Booker retains his title! Batista drops Booker with a spinebuster and a Batista bomb as boo’s ring out in the arena.

Rating: 5/10

Shawn Michaels and triple H are backstage telling somebody that Vince McMahon claimed Umaga is the biggest and greatest monster in the company. Who were they talking to? My bets are on Kane.

There’s a video hyping DX and the McMahons next.

D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels & Triple H) vs. Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon

This is a first time tag team match between these two teams. In terms of Summerslam records, Shawn Michaels is 4-4-1, Triple H is 4-4, Shane is 1-2 and Vince McMahon makes his Summerslam debut tonight. Shawn Michaels is the only man wrestling on this show that lost at last years Summerslam event. DX are out first and give their usual DX schtick. The McMahons are out next and they call out the Spirit Squad! DX make quick work of them though! The McMahons then call out more men, Mr Kennedy, William Regal and Finlay from Smackdown! Finlay has a good go at both men whilst Regal and Kennedy take a beating. DX manage to dispose of those three men too! The McMahons then call out their next henchman, the ECW Champion, The Big Show! Michaels goes after Big Show as the Smackdown guys pull Triple H out and lay into him. Big Show takes out Michaels with right hands and headbutts. Finlay, Kennedy and William Regal take out Triple H on the outside. This match hasn’t officially started yet! Big Show rams Triple H into the ring post and then chokeslams him through a table!

The McMahons finally get to the ring and bell rings to start the match. Vince McMahon hits Shawn Michaels with a powerslam and then tags in Shane. Shane hits Michaels with some jabs and a right hand to take down Michaels. Triple H is still out of it in the remains of the announce table. Shane tags Vince who hits Michaels with a poor clothesline. Shane chokes Michaels with the tag rope and Vince hits Shawn with some elbows. Vince tags in Shane and the two McMahons hit Michaels with a double reverse elbow. Shane then takes a few cheap shots at Triple H. Shane hits three consecutive backbreakers on Michaels and then tags in Vince. Vince and Shane hit a double suplex on Michaels and then drop a double elbow. Triple H pulls himself up to his feet on the outside but Shane takes him right back down with a baseball slide. Vince and Shane hit a backbreaker/elbow drop combination reminiscent of Demolition. Vince and Shane then mock Bret Hart and hit the Hart Attack used by The Hart Foundation!

Vince pops Shawn up on his shoulders and Vince comes off the top with a Doomsday Device much like the Legion Of Doom! Shane hooks the leg of Michaels but HBK kicks out at 2! Michaels and Shane then slug it out but Vince attacks Michaels from behind. Shawn then takes both men down with a clothesline! Triple H gets up to the apron and Shawn Michaels tags him in! Triple H takes down both McMahons, dropping them with right hands, clotheslines, a high knee and a neckbreaker! Triple H hits Shane with a big spinebuster and then powerslams Vince. Michaels then comes off the top with an elbow drop on Vince. Michaels crossbodies Shane out of the ring, going over with him. Out come Armando Estrada and Umaga. Umaga takes out Shawn Michaels and then Triple H as Estrada distracts the referee. Kanes music then hits and out comes the big red machine! Kane fights with Umaga all the way to the back. Vince crawls over and pins Triple H but he kicks out at 2! Vince then takes out the referee!

Shane sets Triple H up in the corner and lays a trash can across him before heading over to the other side of the ring and attempting the coast to coast but Shawn Michaels gets back in the ring and hits Shane with sweet chin music! Triple H gets up, smashes Vince with the trash can, Michaels hits Vince with sweet chin music and Triple H finishes it with the pedigree! Triple H hooks the leg and the referee gets back in and counts the 3! D-Generation X win the match! This was a really fun match between these two teams. Reminiscent of the attitude era.

Rating: 7.5/10

There’s a video package up next for Edge and John Cena as they prepare to battle for the WWE Championship.

Edge (c) vs. John Cena – WWE Championship Match

This is the third one on one singles match between these two men on PPV. Edge won the first by cashing in the money in the bank contract at New Year’s Revolution 2006. John Cena then beat Edge for the WWE title at the Royal Rumble. Cena is 2-0 at Summerslam events and Edge is 6-1. Edge and John Cena both won at last years Summerslam, Edge beating Matt Hardy and John Cena beating Chris Jericho. If Edge is disqualified then he loses the title and due to the wager with King Booker earlier, if Edge loses then he has to kiss Booker’s feet. Cena lays into Edge in the early going with right hands, elbows and stomps as the crowd boo. and this is in Cena’s hometown. Cena hits a reverse elbow for a one count and then takes Edge down with a belly to belly suplex for the first near fall of the match. Cena misses with a shoulder charge in the corner and falls to the outside. Cena beats the ten count back in but edge immediately knocks Cena back out of the ring. Cena just beats the count again as a “Cena sucks” chant breaks out. Edge gets a near fall. Edge hits a spinning heel kick for another near fall.

Edge hits some right hands and Cena fires back with a few of his own. Cena hits a fishermans suplex for a near fall as the crowd boo some more. Edge then throws Cena out of the ring again, Edge is hoping for a count out victory in this one. Cena gets back in the ring and misses with a high cross body. Edge hits a clothesline for a near fall. Edge then applies a chinlock but Cena gets out of it only to run into a big boot. Edge heads to the top but Cena crotches him up there and goes up with him. Edge headbutts Cena down to the canvas below and then comes off the top with a clothesline for a near fall. Edge applies a camel clutch but Cena gets out of it pretty quickly and both men are down. Cena hits a bulldog but Lita hands Edge a chair. Edge says no as he’d lose the title by DQ but that gives Cena time to get up and he hits clotheslines and slams to take Edge down. Cena hits the 5 knuckle shuffle and then looks for the FU but edge slips down and hits Cena with an impaler DDT for a near fall. Edge goes up top but Cena gets up with him. Cena looks for as top rope FU but Edge nips down and attempts an electric chair drop but Cena hits a victory roll for a near fall.

Edge goes up top and hits a high cross body but Cena rolls through and looks to hit an FU! Edge slides down again and Cena pushes him into Lita! Lita hits the deck and Cena rolls Edge up for a two count. The two men then clothesline each other down to the mat. Edge gets up and motions for a spear but Cena counters it with a drop toe hold and then applies the STFU! Lita gets up on the apron with the WWE title belt but Edge pleads with her not to do anything. Edge then reaches the bottom rope to break the hold. Lita puts brass knuckles on Edge’s hand but Edge walks right into an FU! Lita then sets on Edge’s back! Both Edge and Lita manage to slide down and Edge then nails Cena with the brass knucks! Edge covers Cena and the referee counts the three! Edge wins and retains his WWE Championship tonight! Good match between these two men!

Rating: 7/10

And that was Summerslam 2006. For the most part it felt like a good pay per view. There were a couple of average bits but there was nothing terrible. The show started with a decent match between Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero. Chavo won the match with some help from Vickie Guerrero, albeit by accident. I saw this as a pretty big upset as Mysterio has been the man on Smackdown for the last 6 months. This feud will definitely continue and it’ll be interesting to see what Vickie Guerrero’s involvement is over the next few weeks. Big Show and Sabu were up next and I enjoyed the beginning of the match but it only got worse from there. Sabu made a few mistakes which I think will hurt him in the future. The finish was quite sloppy with Big Show putting sabu through a table but Sabu being up first before getting chokeslammed through another table. Weird. But Big Show retains his title and after the sloppy start with Rob Van Dam quickly losing the belt I think Big Show needs to hold the belt for a while.

Hulk Hogan beat Randy Orton which was an unexpected result. I definitely thought Orton would be winning this one. I’m not sure how this benefits Hogan as he will probably disappear off for a while. The match was ok, it was average but I would have liked to see Orton win. Maybe Hulk will stick around, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I think I’m probably in the minority when I say that I’d like to see Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair in a WWE ring. Speaking of Ric Flair, he was victorious against Mick Foley which was another interesting result. This match made Flair look like the true star. Foley lost the match about three times which included Melina throwing in the towel at one point. I’m not sure if this is the end of the feud or not, I would assume so, Really good match between these two legends though. Batista beat King Booker by DQ which means that this feud will continue. I have a feeling that originally Batista was pencilled in to win this match but Booker has been so good as of late that they decided to keep the belt on him. I wouldn’t mind seeing this feud go on a bit longer. The match itself was pretty average.

D-Generation X beat Vince and Shane McMahon despite interference from The Spirit Squad, Big Show, Umaga, Mr Kennedy, Finlay and William Regal. This was a really fun match and will possibly put an end to this feud. If they’re sticking with the DX re-union then they may as well put the world tag team championships on them. It might save a struggling division. Edge beat John Cena in the main event in another unexpected result. It was a creative ending with the brass knucks, something we’ve not seen for a while. Lita came across pretty dumb though, nearly getting Edge DQ’d on a number of occasions which would have meant Edge would’ve lost the belt. Edge and Cena have a lot of chemistry and I’m sure this feud will continue. Cena tends to be in or around the WWE title picture. Overall a good show with a few good matches. The DX/McMahons match was a lot of fun, as was Mick Foley and Ric Flair. A few decent matches so definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen the show before.

Overall Rating: 62.14/100 (ranked joint 51st out of 198)

Match Of The Night: Ric Flair vs. Mick Foley
Worst Match Of The Night: Big Show vs. Sabu
Surprise Of The Night: Chavo Guerrero defeats Rey Mysterio
Worst Booking Of The Night: Hulk Hogan beats Randy Orton
Superstar Of The Night: Edge
Summerslam 2006 Will Be Remembered For: The match between DX and the McMahons