Search - WWE Summerslam: The Complete Anthology, Volume Four on DVD

SummerSlam's Most Worst Years

Scotty M. | Georgia | 05/15/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This has to be the most weakest group of Summerslams events ever put together. The only reason I gave this set a three star rating is because some of the matches from this set are worth seeing and needs to be seen if already haven't.

Now I'll be honest, I did not purchase or will not purchase this set because I have all of these events taped on VHS and on DVD already. So therefore, I do not know what has been edited or blurred out or what music has been altered.

2003 - SummerSlam hosted from Phoenix this year and is probably the best SummerSlam of this set. The Elimination Chamber returned after it's debut a year earlier as the World Heavyweight Champion Triple H (who was injured) defended the World Title against Goldberg, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, & Kevin Nash in the demonic structure. This Elimination Chamber Match is also referred to as the worst ECM in history mainly because Triple H was limited at best in the match and simply because Goldberg wasn't getting over with the fans since his debut at Backlash earlier in the year. The match was however topped by Smackdown's WWE Championship Match in a Wrestlemania XIX rematch as WWE Champion Kurt Angle went against Brock Lesnar. Other highlights of the event are the Fatal Four Way Match for the United States Championship with Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. Rhyno vs. Tajiri and the No Holds Barred Match between Kane and his former tag team partner RVD. Other matches include The Dudley Boyz vs. World Tag Team Champions La Resistance, Undertaker vs. A-Train with the return of Stephanie McMahon, and the match between Shane McMahon and Eric Bischoff with so many twists throughout the match and Stone Cold Steve Austin returning.

2004 - "Bizzar-O-World" was SummerSlam's home this year as it hosted from Toronto, Canada; during the same time as the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. This event was centered around Randy Orton becoming the youngest World's Champion in history after defeating the World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit in a classic wrestling match. Other bouts includes The Undertaker challenging WWE Champion J.B.L. for the WWE Championship, Edge being booed in his home town as he defends the Intercontinental Championship against Chris Jericho and Batista, Kurt Angle returning to the ring to face Eddie Guerrero in a Wrestlemania XX rematch (the second best match of the night), Triple H vs. Eugene, Match No. 1 for the United States Championship as John Cena battles Booker T, Rey Mysterio, Paul London, & Billy Kidman vs. Bubbah Ray, D-Von, & Spike Dudley, and also Diva Dodgeball involving the WWE Divas vs. the WWE Diva-Search contestants. And finally Matt Hardy vs. Kane where the winner would Marry Lita on Raw.

2005 - SummerSlam this year was main evented by the "Immortal" Hulk Hogan taking on the "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels in a special "Legend vs. Icon" dream match. Other matches from this night includes The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton in a Wrestlemania 21 rematch, WWE Champion John Cena vs. Chris Jericho (Jericho's last inring Summerslam performance until Summerslam '09), & Eddie Guerrero's last Summerslam appearence as he faced Rey Mysterio in a Ladder Match. But most of the matches here were just squash matches including Chris Benoit winning the United States Championship from Orlando Jordan in under 30 seconds that led to a series of matches of Benoit making Orlando tapping out in faster time, Matt Hardy returning to the WWE to seek revenge against Edge & Lita but only to lose after a 5 minute fight due to a lost of blood, Batista returning home to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against J.B.L in a No Holds Barred Match, and lastly Kurt Angle in his last SummerSlam appearence only to beat the mess out of Eugene.

2006 - The slogan to this year's SummerSlam was "The Biggest Party Of The Summer" but the bottom line is that this year's SummerSlam was just plain BAD! WWE Champion Edge took on John Cena in Cena's home town of Boston, MA where the stipulation was if Edge got DQed then he was lose the WWE Title to John Cena while we see Edge getting more cheers then Cena all throughout the match. The rest of the card just came off stale as the recently reunited D-Generation X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) faced Mr. McMahon and his son Shane McMahon in a Tag Team Match but was overkilled thanks to a lot of interferences and the McMahons trying to mock legendary teams such as the Hart Foundation and the Road Warriors all throughout the match, World Heavyweight Champion King Booker vs. Batista in a "bad" match that ended in a Disqualification, Hulk Hogan returning to take on Randy Orton in a typical "Hulkamania" match, Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero feuding in the "Eddie Guerrero" storyline where we see the heel turn of Vickie Guerrero, the ECW Champion Big Show vs. Sabu in an Extreme Rules Match that just came off so sloppy and botchful, and lastly an "I Quit" Match between Ric Flair and Mick Foley that started off so good but the ending is what killed the whole match.

2007 - This year's SummerSlam is probably the weakest out of this bunch which only held one good match in WWE Champion John Cena vs. Randy Orton. This year's SummerSlam was also centered around two big returns in Triple H and Rey Mysterio. Triple H however returned only to squash King Booker in his match while Rey Mysterio went out to face Chavo Guerrero again but only to be remembered for his outfit rather then his return match itself. Batista taking on the World Heavyweight Champion Great Khali in probably the WORST match in SummerSlam history. The rest of the card is only average at best as the Intercontinental Champion Umaga went against Carlito and Mr. Kennedy in a Triple Threat Match, John Morrison defending his ECW Championship against C.M. Punk in probably their weakest match out of all their matches throughout the year of 2007, Kane vs. Finlay, a WWE Diva Battle Royal, and Stone Cold Steve Austin returning to challenge M.V.P. in a Beer Drinking Contest that ended in your typical Stone Cold beer bash.

This SummerSlam set is the weakest one out of the four SummerSlam volume sets. I recommend holding off this set for awhile and I recommend the other three SummerSlam volume sets before this one."

SummerSlam Takes A Downwards Turn

D.P. | California | 05/09/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is the forth & final volume of the SummerSlam Anthology that was already released. These were the most recent periods where the Attitude era was over, the brand extention is in full effect, and the company officially became World Wrestling Entertainment so you don't have to concern yourself with any blurring of the old WWF logo.

2003 - The Elimination Chamber returns to WWE here as Triple H defended the World Championship against Goldberg, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, and Kevin Nash. This was one of those matches where you have to understand the story they're telling as Goldberg just wasn't getting over as hoped in WWE (weather that's WWE's creative or Goldberg's own fault is another debate for another time) & with Triple H getting another injury after they already announced the original main event vs. Goldberg, this was booked to have Goldberg return to his old WCW dominate monster character to get him over...again, a match where you have to understand what they're doing to value it. The other highlight matches featured the WrestleMania rematch with WWE Champion Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar and a fatal fourway for the WWE United States Championship with Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit vs. Tajiri vs. Rhino. Other matches include a No DQ match with Kane vs. RVD, Undertaker vs. A-Train, World Tag Team Champions La Resistance vs. Dudley Boyz, and Shane McMahon vs. Eric Bischoff in a match that had the rules changed as they went along with a suprize heel turn and cameo appearence of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

2004 - "Let The Games Begin" as WWE's tagged this event as their version of the Summer Olympics. The main event featured World Champion Chris Benoit defending his title against Randy Orton in a classic wrestling match that saw Orton become the youngest World Champion in WWE history while the other main event here was Kurt Angle's PPV return in another rematch from WrestleMania months ago but this time against Eddie Guerrero. The rest of the card featured WWE Champion J.B.L. vs. Undertaker, Triple H vs. Eugene, Chris Jericho went against both Batista & Intercontinental Champion Edge in a match that saw the beginnings of the current "Rated R Superstar" character we know as Edge was booed in his hometown, John Cena vs. Booker T in the beginning of their Best Of 5 series for the United States Championship, a six man tag with Rey Mysterio & Paul London & Billy Kidman vs. all 3 Dudley Boyz in Bubba & D-Von & Spike, the WWE divas (Trish, Gail Kim, Victoria, Jazz, Stacy Keibler, Molly Holly, Nidia) had a dodgeball match against the then-Diva search girls (Michelle McCool, Maria, Christy Hemme, Joy Giovanni, Amy Weber), and the Matt Hardy vs. Kane in a "Winner Gets To Marry Lita" match as part of the infamous "Lita's pregnant with Kane's baby" storyline that I'm sure most of us would like to forget.

2005 - "Legend vs. Icon" summerized all the hype surrounding this SummerSlam as it was main evented by the dream match between Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels that's probably remembered more for the backstage politics than the match itself. The other highlight matches here were final WWE PPV appearence of Chris Jericho for over 2 years as he went against WWE Champion John Cena, the WrestleMania rematch with Undertaker vs. Randy Orton, and a ladder match between Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero in a storyline that at least gave us the "I'm Your Papi" catchphrase & t-shirt. Besides that, this SummerSlam was filled with nothing but complete squash matches as Chris Benoit won the U.S. title from Orlando Jordan in 30 secs., the real life scandal between Edge & Lita & Matt Hardy resulted in a quick 5 min. fight, Kurt Angle beat the living hell out of Eugene, and World Champion Batista returned home in a quick No Holds Barred match against J.B.L.

2006 - "The Biggest Party Of The Summer" turned out to be a party that needed a serious makeover here as this was a one match show as the WWE Champion Edge went against the hometown boy in John Cena with Edge being able to lose the WWE Title on a DQ which resulted in some pretty comical moments between Edge & Lita. The rest of the card just fell completely flat as the recently reunited D-Generation X went against Vince & Shane McMahon in a match that was given an overkill of interference along with the McMahon's trying to be funny which fell flat on me, World Champion King Booker went against Batista in a match that was just awful as they weren't clicking at all, Hulk Hogan returned to the ring against Randy Orton in your typical limited "Hogan" performance that you get in this day & age, Rey Mysterio went against Chavo Guerrero in a match that was more focused surrounding the "Eddie Guerrero" storyline & Vickie Guerrero at ringside that was...again...overkill, and Big Show defended his ECW Championship against Sabu in a Extreme Rules match that was very sloppy & botched, and Ric Flair went against Mick Foley in an "I Quit" match that started out strong but got really weak towards the end.

2007 - This is really the worst way to end the anthology as this SummerSlam was again...a one match show with Randy Orton going against WWE Champion John Cena. The rest of the card was mediocre to poor as Triple H returned to the ring in a glorified squash match against King Booker, Batista went against World Champion Great Khali in possibly the worst match in SummerSlam history (and that's no exaggeration), Rey Mysterio also returned from injury against Chavo Guerrero that's more remembered for his bad choice in costume than the match itself, John Morrison defended the ECW Title against C.M. Punk in the worst match of their series at that time, Intercontinental Champion Umaga was in the middle of a short-term babyface run against Carlito & Mr. Kennedy, Kane vs. Finlay, a divas battle royal, and a beer drinking contest between M.V.P. & Matt Hardy's replacement....Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Unfortunally, these series of SummerSlam events all have something in common...they didn't live up to the hype or their potential there to have a classic PPV in the series. If you just need to get this volume then I suggest just getting the entire anthology or finding the original DVD releases of the '03 & '04 events because this is the weakest volume of them all & I can't stress that enough."

Look Elsewhere For The Good Stuff

R.A. McKenzie | New York | 05/02/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is a sad review to write. I'm a huge fan of the WWE, and don't often go less than 3 stars with a PPV review. After all, there's got to be something worthy of purchase, right?

Well...there's not much to go out of your way to see. "SummerSlam: Vol. 4" encompasses the 2003-2007 editions of the WWE's annual August event, and they're five of the worst:

*****2003*****
To be honest, this event has been well-received by most people. The parts I like are that Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar competed for the WWE Championship in match that was comparable to their "WrestleMania XIX" main event. I think most would go with the "WM" showdown, and certainly their "SmackDown" Iron Man Match. But, this encounter is PPV material, and well worth seeking out. Another strong match is a Fatal Fourway for the United States Title, between Rhyno & Tajiri & Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero (the champion). I wouldn't call this a "lost classic", but I gotta give credit where credit is due. Most people like it a lot more than me, so I wanna be fair.

The main event is the 2nd Elimination Chamber Match, and it's never was & never will be called the best. It starts strong with Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, and Randy Orton doing some good back-and-forth action. Kevin Nash wasn't a big draw, but he was still a welcome presence. But when Goldberg enters, it's almost like a WCW rewind. Everyone looks silly when Goldberg gets rolling. And the finish --- which I now understand Triple H was injured --- is still stupid. A good match was soured by a poor ending.

The rest of the card is forgettable. Undertaker and A-Train (two guys I often enjoy) just didn't have a good match together. The grudge match between Shane McMahon and Eric Bischoff was filled with interference, but the violence wasn't engaging. The biggest shocker is that a No Holds Barred Match with Rob Van Dam was shockingly average, as it was mostly just to push Kane's new monster persona.

Overall, the 2003 "SummerSlam" may be accepted by most people, but I'm sticking to my minoriy vote.
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*****2004*****
While better than the 2003 event, this one is more disappointing, because all of its matches could've been incredible. The opening 6-Man Tag Team Match featured The Dudleyz against Rey Mysterio, Paul London, & Billy KIdman...somehow, it never reached greatness. Matt Hardy and Kane are two very capable performers, but their 2004 feud never delivered good matches. Besides, seeing Lita in a marriage angle is kind of a sick joke nowadays.

John Cena and Booker T began their Best-Of-Five series for the United States Title, and none of them were as good as they could've been. Cena had just become less technical with his ring skills, and I guess Booker didn't carry him as well longtime fans expected. The biggest shocker is how a Triple Threat Match between Chris Jericho, Batista, and Edge (the Intercontinental champion) became nothing more than a passable display of one-on-one skirmishes. For 10 minutes, there was barely any 3-way action, and these men gave us a very basic contest.

I actually enjoyed the grudge match between Eugene and Triple H, but I think that's mostly due to seeing the mentally-challenged character get a much longer match than we usual. Plus, I was a huge fan of the Evolution faction, which might've made it more enjoyable. And the "SmackDown" main event is one that I mildly enjoyed, but most people hate it. The Toronto crowd just started doing the Mexican Wave while JBL and Undertaker were working their butts off. I have to admit, the aftermath with JBL getting chokeslammed through the limo is as phony as ever, especially because you can see the soft roof moments before it breaks.

Don't get me started on Diva Dodgeball. The "RAW" Diva Search was always a boring affair, and this was the worst game of dodgeball ever. Period.

The reason to watch this card (if you want) is for two matches. Kurt Angle made his return to the ring after a few months to battle Eddie Guerrero. They had better matches before and after this one, but fans of technical wrestling won't be disappointed. And the 2004 "SummerSlam" has my favorite main event in the PPV series history: Randy Orton challenges Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship. I've often said that there are few matches I want every WWE fan to see, and I would call this one of them. I respect those who choose not to watch Benoit matches after the June 2007 tragedy, but if you're able to watch his body of work, then please be sure to watch this enduring classic. For what it's worth, Randy Orton doesn't deserve to have this moment censored from his career.

The 2004 "SummerSlam" is probably the best on this set, but this should've been a 5-star PPV. Instead, only a couple of its matches meet their potential.
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*****2005*****
"RAW" and "SmackDown" both got 4 matches each on this card. Both brands had two matches worth the PPV airtime, and both brands had two matches that sucked big time!

Let's start with the garbage:
"SmackDown" opened the show with Chris Benoit winning the United States Title from Orlando Jordan within 30 seconds. Considering their previous PPV matchup was one of my favorites of the year, I was furious at this ridiculous decision. Their other letdown was Batista defending his World Heavyweight Championship in his hometown Washington DC agaisnt JBL. Their preivous PPV encounter was the worst match of the year, so thankfully this was at least watchable. Like every other Batista/JBL singles match, you can skip this one.

"RAW" decided to have Kurt Angle wipe the floor with Eugene within 4 minutes to get his Olympic Gold Medals back. What a wasteful way to use an Olympic athlete in our nation's capital. More shocking is how WWE let the hottest storyline of the season start off with Edge beating a bloody Matt Hardy so badly that the ref stopped the match after 4 minutes! The storyline makes sense, but only 4 minutes doesn't.

Thankfully, both "RAW" and "SmackDown" had two matches worth your time:
The main event had Shawn Michaels versus Hulk Hogan, a dream match we never thought we'd see. While not a classic, this was easily on of Hogan's best matches in his late career. HBK, as always, delivered the goods. "RAW" also featured a solid contest with WWE champion John Cena defending the belt against Chris Jericho. This was about the time that WWE fans started to turn on Cena, plus there were enough fans who recognized that Jericho deserved another run with the gold. All in all, a fine match that works. I don't know if Cena was "carried" or not, but in the end, I don't care because I was entertained from start to finish.

The two "SmackDown" successes involve continuing feuds. Randy Orton and Undertaker competed in a "WrestleMania rematch", of sorts. I actually prefer this match over their other 2005 grudge matches, though most will probably prefer the "WM 21" encounter. This contest allowed Taker and Orton to have a longer match, and share equal time to control the pace to tell a compelling story. In the end, definitely give this one a look.

The last match to discuss is Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio fighting in a Ladder Match to gain custody of Dominick. The storyline had Dominick be Rey's adopted son, with Eddie keeping the secret of being his father the whole time. The Ladder Match is tough to watch, mostly because a couple of botches result in some painful spots. Also, Mysterio's smaller body makes for some hard impacts. If you can forget the storyline --- even though I personally enjoyed it --- then you're in for a treat.

I consider "SummerSlam 2005" to be a 50/50 PPV. Take your pick.
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*****2006*****
You'd think that with only 7 matches on the card, the WWE crew and wrestlers would make them all count. Unfortunately, less isn't always more.

The ECW brand was in rough shape after their "One Night Stand" relaunch in June 2006. Their TV shows were terrible, and Big Show made for one of the worst ECW World champions ever. Just watch the sloppy Extreme Rules against Sabu to see what I mean. I've always hated Sabu, and Big Show got pretty boring around this time, so do the match.

"SmackDown" had two matches on this card, neither of them anything special. Chavo Guerrero and Rey Mysterio had a strong feud on their hands, even with the shameful use of Eddie Guerrero's real death. But their opening match was nothing compared to their Cruiserweight displays from years past. And the World Heavyweight Championship Match between King Booker and Batista was a sloppy borefest. Ever since coming to "SmackDown" in mid-2005, Batista was in a real slump until working with Undertaker at "WrestleMania 23", as evidenced on this night.

"RAW" had four big matches on their hands, and while they're entertaining, they're nothing special. Hulk Hogan worked with a bad knee to face Randy Orton; all I'll say is that it's a Hogan match, and that it's a good thing that this main event got demoted to a lower spot. The "I Quit" Match between Ric Flair and Mick Foley seems to get a lot of praise from people, but I never thought it was anything more than a solid weapons match. Then again, I've never been a huge fan of Foley's.

The return of D-Generation X was a tremendous success for "RAW" TV, and their No Holds Barred Match against Vince & Shane McMahon was a lot of fun to me. The McMahons and DX will do anything to excite an audience, and I enjoyed the weapons-filled bloodbath. As for our main event, I was surprised that Boston seemed to cheer for Edge instead of West Newbury, MA's John Cena. Anyway, I'm not a fan of Edge/Cena matches. Other than their TLC Match in Toronto (in which Cena got more fans than Edge), I haven't enjoyed their series. Aside from the passable physicality, the finish makes no sense. Edge was supposed to lose the WWE Championship if disqualified, but yet Lita's interference didn't end the match. Kind of a dumb way to close the show, no?

Par for the course, the 2006 "SummerSlam" just doesn't leave you satisfied.
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*****2007*****
Last and certainly least, we are now treated to one of the worst PPVs of the year. The 2007 "SummerSlam" failed on so many levels, that its bright spots stick out like sore thumbs.

I heavily recommend watch Rey Mysterio make his long-awaited return to the ring, as he faced Chavo Guerrero in one of their best matches together. I also enjoyed watching CM Punk and John Morrison continue their program for the ECW Championship. I admit that it's not a must-see match, and that their Sept. 9 contest on "ECW" is a million times better than anything the ECW has produced since its 2006 return. But if you must endure the PPV, then perhaps you'll enjoy yourself.

The undercard is completely forgettable. Kane and Finaly opened the show in a decent but forgettable contest. Umaga, Mr. Kennedy, and Carlito failed to make their Intercontinental Title Triple Threat Match anything special, mostly because we had no idea which of the 3 heels we were supposed to cheer for.

The Diva Battle Royal sucks. So does the pointless segment where M.V.P. and Matt Hardy continued their efforts to out-do the other. Stop me if you've heard this one: MVP starts drinking beer, glass shatters...

Another wrestler returning from injury was Triple H. After an entrance longer than Undertaker's, HHH and King Booker delivered a formulaic by-the-numbers match. It's basically all signature moves, and lacks any suspense we want from a wrestling match.

The two main events are godawful, plain and simple. Batista defended the World Heavyweight Championship against The Great Khali, and John Cena defended the WWE Championship against Randy Orton.

I expected Batista/Khali to suck, although 8 minutes of Khali submission holds and a DQ finish made matters worse. Oddly enough, Khali and Batista improved as time went on. But never in my wildest dreams did I think that Orton & Cena would bore the crap out of me like they did. Orton applied so many headlocks that I started to become sleepier than John Cena. And by the time our two combatants start to pull off their finishing maneuvers, I just wanted it to end ASAP.

The 2007 "SummerSlam" is one of the worst PPVs of its year, and one of the worst of the WWE's annual event.
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So, after this long review, what do I recommend you do to watch some of the matches I liked? Well, here goes:

* 2003 - Look up Angle/Lesnar on YouTube, and any other match you wish. I know they're available.

* 2004 - Purchase the original "SummerSlam 2004" DVD, so that you can own two great matches (Angle/Guerrero and Orton/Benoit), and maybe you'll enjoy some of the decent matches more than I did.

* 2005 - If you don't already own the excellent "Ladder Match" 3-disc set or "Hulk Hogan Ultimate Anthology" sets, then pick this one up for cheap. Half of the matches are very good, and the other half are so short you won't miss anything.

* 2006 - The good matches are on other WWE DVD sets (Foley/Flair, DX/McMahons, Cena/Edge). The rest isn't worth your time. Skip It.

* 2007 - If you're thinking of about watching this one out, I pity you. It's your loss of time and money.

Overall, I recommend purchasing these sets individually for very low prices. Unless you're a completist, skip "Volume 4"."