Review of WWE: Summerslam 2006

Introduction

Since the inaugural event in 1988, Summerslam has become the distinct number two pay-per-view event in the WWE calendar. Behind Wrestlemania, it holds the biggest matches of the year, and generally draws the most fan interest.

This year, one of the feature attractions was Hulk Hogan, who has competed in five previous Summerslam events, in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 2005. Hogan squared off here against Randy Orton, the cocky newcomer to Hogan`s beloved old-timer.

Also on the card were the re-formed D-Generation X, who took on Vince and Shane McMahon in a tag team encounter, as well as Batista, who challenged King Booker for the World Heavyweight Championship.

The main event of the card was another instalment in the John Cena vs Edge feud, as the latter put his WWE Championship on the line in a match where a disqualification would lead to a title change.

Held in front of 16,168 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston on 20th August, Summerslam was tagged as "the biggest party of the summer".

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is excellent for a DVD of this genre. It is much better than the heavily-pixellated live television feed. These days, nothing less than excellence is expected from a WWE DVD production, and they`ve lived up to their reputation here - fullscreen does not get any better than this.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. Everything is clear, from ring entrance music, to commentary, to in-ring action. Speaking of commentary, this is provided by Michael Cole and JBL for the Smackdown matches, Joey Styles and Tazz for the ECW matches, and Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler for the RAW matches. A little more sanity would have been nice at the announce booth, but that is the audio`s only flaw.

There are also 2.0 tracks in Spanish, German, French, and Italian, as well as subtitles for Portuguese and Dutch viewers.

Features

Extras on this disc are short, but rather sweet. There is a three-minute featurette on the making of the Summerslam commercials, plus two of the commercials themselves (which, as much as I hate to admit, raised a smile from me).

Also included is a nine-minute feature on the aftermath of Summerslam for John Cena and Edge, taken from the following evening`s edition of RAW. This includes highlights of Edge`s match with the returning Jeff Hardy, and is a nice digest of what was a show-long story.

Conclusion

Summerslam 2006 began with what should have been one of the hottest matches of the year in Rey Mysterio vs Chavo Guerrero. The latter, of course, cost Mysterio his World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash, and with the added dimension of Chavo`s claim that Mysterio is trying to live off the name of Eddie Guerrero, this was being groomed as a huge match.

Because of this, it was a surprise to yours truly that it was the opening match on the card, but based on the reaction to the match, perhaps this was a well-judged move. In itself, it was pretty good, but the crowd were not happy about what they saw as the exploitation of Eddie Guerrero, and especially the use of his wife Vickie as a part of the storyline. This dragged the match down, as did the finish, which lacked the intended surprise value.

Next up was the ECW Championship match, as Big Show defended the belt against Sabu in a no-disqualification match. This was all big moves and weapons shots, something that has been done so often in the last ten years, that it has lost all meaning. Furthermore, there was at least one big move that was completely botched, making this bout come across, at times, as amateurish.

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler then took over announcing duties, for the bout in which the "Legend Killer" Randy Orton challenged 53 year old Hulk Hogan. This was as good as could have been expected, which was decidedly average. Still, the fans lapped it up, and no doubt Hogan will be back on pay-per-view before he finally finishes up.

In a bout which featured some of the best interviews in years in its lead-up, Mick Foley then faced Ric Flair in an "I Quit" match, where the winner would only be decided when his opponent said "I Quit". This was a brutal bloodfest, but it contained no wrestling whatsoever. Still, it was an entertaining brawl, despite another dreadful finish.

The World Heavyweight Championship was on the line next, as Booker T defended against Batista. This, without question, was the worst match of the night, to the point where it was probably the worst World Title match in recent memory. In particular, Batista`s timing was off, and the two had severe communication problems at severals points. Indeed, the end sequence in which Batista uses a powerbomb on Booker has been edited by a couple of seconds for this DVD release, so that it looks much better than it originally did live.

In theory, the match pitting Shane & Vince McMahon against D-X should have been much worse than the previous encounter, but thankfully, it turned out the opposite way. There was little great wrestling to it, but was entertaining for what it was.

To some degree, the main event saved the day, as this feud (and Edge primarily) has done for the entire year 2006. Because of previous outside interference that has aided Edge, it was stipulated that he would lose the title if he was disqualified. This was certainly the match of the night, not least because the fans - be they positive or negative towards Cena - were so into it, especially at the bout`s conclusion. If I had one complaint, it was that the dreaded outside interference (which this bout`s stipulations were supposed to negate) featured in the conclusion once again.

Overall, Summerslam was a below average card, that was made to seem better by a very good main event. I also enjoyed the Rey Mysterio vs Chavo Guerrero match, but it was hurt by a poor finish. This then set the tone for the evening, as four other bouts also concluded poorly.

There is no excuse for that on pay-per-view, especially when you want people to pay up next month, too.