XX is here.
Summer Slam 2004 – Toronto
(Dark: Regal/Benjamin d. Spike/Stevie)
(Show opens with an extended highlight package. We see shots of Benoit and Angle, Benoit winning the NWA belt three times, juxtaposed with Angle winning the Olympic gold medal…Angle’s debut at WM XV, 5 years ago, when he took the American flag from Jarrett and Angle Slammed he and Dustin…Benoit’s getting Cactus Jack to submit to the crossface a year later at XVI, as the Alliance swept Wrestlemania…numerous nose to nose confrontations between Angle/Benoit – then an extended clip, say 30 seconds, of WM XVII, and, in the 2001 Match of the Year, Angle getting the pinfall, beating Benoit, and the locker room hoisting Angle in the air….very quick images of Angle’s title defenses, Van Dam/Booker/Flair/Hennig/Rey/Jericho/Michaels/Brock --- and then Angle tearfully handing the belt to Vince and walking away on RAW in ’03 – we dissolve into the images of Benoit and Guerrero, taking off their masks after winning the tag titles from Jericho and Storm at Summer Slam 2002 – then we see Benoit’s turn at Royal Rumble ’93, he draws the enormous face pop suplexing the rest of the Horsemen – which morphs into Angle’s turn 8 months later, he rises from the wheelchair to Slam Eddy and Vince…now we see extended Angle/Benoit, from Summer Slam one year ago – Angle tapping his forehead as he leaves the ring following a 30 minute draw – then to Royal Rumble 2004, where Angle defeats Eddy to win the title for the second time, to this year’s Match of the Year at WM XX, when Benoit cradled Angle to win his second WWF Title…and finally to the recent months…Angle attacking the Brain Trust…Benoit pinning Regal, Angle’s new Enforcer…and finally Angle’s return after his summer on suspension…Angle attacking Benoit, putting him in the ankle lock as Benoit screams in pain.
Now we see shots of Eddy, Jericho, and Paul London….we see clips of Eddy and Jericho from the NWA in 1998, culminating with Eddy’s defeating Jericho for the NWA title at Starrcade. We then see Jericho’s Y2J Break the Walls Down babyface debut on RAW, and his IC win over Waltman at Survivor Series ’99…then an extended clip of Eddy beating him again, this time at Wrestlemania XVI…we see Jericho exhaulting after Survivor Series 2000, regaining the IC and beating Guerrero…we see Jericho and Storm, as the Hart Foundation 2K, win the tag titles over the Dudleys and Edge and Christian at Royal Rumble 2002…and then lose them to Guerrero and Benoit at Summer Slam…we then see the transformation of both men…Jericho seeing Stacy kiss Lance and become Dark Jericho…Eddy turn on the Horsemen and feud with his nephew Chavo…Jericho toss Christian off the Cell at XX – he and Trish making out on the top of the cage as the medical personnel rush to ringside…Eddy winning the IC at XX…he and Benoit hugging with their belts in the air at show’s end…then with a crash, it’s Paul London coming into the screen, the fans chanting, “Please Don’t Die” as he dives onto the ramp, onto the guardrail, onto a table…we see London beating HHH in the 64 man tournament…London standing on a buckle with the other 3 members of the Nu Clique…London pinning Jericho as he and Edge beat Jericho and Hunter in a RAW tag….we see the 3 men going nose to nose to nose on Raw…
….now quicker images…Flair and Leviathan beating Haas and Benjamin at XX…RVD getting turned on by Paul E and the Dudleys, then he and Mysterio taking them out and making the signs for the belts….
…a shot from WM XV…Edge and Christian turning heel on the Hardys, and making the sign of the Clique with HHH and Waltman…a year and half later, Edge and Christian turning on HHH, hitting him with the Con-Chair-To to bounce him from the Clique..Edge and Christian each taking Michaels superkicks at XVIII, as they go down to HHH and Razor…Edge being stretchered out with a broken neck after the last TLC match at Royal Rumble 2003…HHH attacking Spanky with the sledgehammer, breaking his arm…and then doing the same to Michaels at XX…Edge, gone a year and a half…sprinting to the ring to spear Jericho and drive he and HHH from the ring…Edge and HHH brawling all summer…
It’s Summer Slam from Toronto! JR and Taz on the announce.
1. Orton/Cena d. Dudleys (w/ Paul E)
-The two time tag champs, the Dudley Boys, are shocked by the upstart, largely comedic Orton/Cena tag team. When Paul E attempts to interfere in the match,
RVD runs to ringside to take him out, Van Dam hitting a frog splash on Paul E on the outside. Orton and Cena get the fall using whatever double team maneuver we can think up for them, and they celebrate like children, their biggest win to date. RVD stands on the ramp, pointing to himself with his thumbs. This wraps up the Dudleys.
2. Undertaker d. Kane (w/ PAUL)
-Recall that, after they did not get a match at XX, PAUL and Kane turned on the Dead Man, deciding he was what was holding Dead Men Walking back – they left him in a pool of blood on RAW, causing the Taker to vanish…he returns here in Toronto – and is, once again, Undead. Whole old gimmick, down to the purple hat. We sell that as a thing – he tombstones Kane – then is attacked by PAUL – the Giant chokeslams the Taker – a monumental feat..but, of course, the WWF Legend does the Zombie sit up – and a freaked out PAUL warily retreats as JR and Taz do what you’d expect them to do. Going forward, he'll do the undead entrance but keep the submission in ring style which is the best bet for work.
3. Kidman d. Dinsmore
Recall we’re doing a disgruntled generational thing here; Kidman, upset with the treatment given his former partner, Noble, let go by the company after Benoit broke his ankle at the Rumble, cut a “the younger guys don’t get any respect around here” promo…he was confronted by the veteran Dinsmore (Eugene) pissed that a guy who was US Champ in the NWA when he was 24 is bitching while he’s been sitting at Ohio Valley for 5 years waiting to get called up.
Kidman goes over clean in a solid match – then takes the mic. – “that’s for the young guys being kept down” – Alabama Bob and Ulysses Morley then hit the ring – Bob tells Kidman he doesn’t have any respect – guys like me and Morley have been here ten years, we don’t get to work the big shows, but we just do our jobs – you young guys are little bitches…
Enter Orton and Cena…..they stand with Kidman, Orton saying that as a 3rd generation superstar and the son of the legendary Cowboy Bob Orton, he was taught to respect his elders…but he was also taught to take what is rightfully his…
Cena says something in a rhyme and shows Morley the big clock around his neck, “yo time is up, son”
And they brawl. 3 on 3 – the advantage swings to the veterans when Spike and Stevie enter on their side, and they drive the kids from the ring.
4. Booker T d. Matt Hardy
Simple feud, recall that after over a year, Van Dam finally prevailed in his long feud with Matt at XX, a feud that saw them double turn. A pissed off Matt has now been called out by Book, who only wrestles to get paid, because Bischoff owes Book money from ’03, when he hired Book to take RVD out.
Booker goes over. GOT TO GET PAID, in a seemingly innocuous fashion – but as Matt exits…he reconsiders..and in a manner that seemingly surprises everyone (production had to cut back to the ring for this, as it had started the next highlight package) comes back to the ring and grabs the mic…Matt says he’s been in the WWF since 1994, he worked as a Clique Ring Boy, everyone knows him – he and his brother Jeff were two time tag team champions – and Matt just wanted to tell everyone in the WWF, from the announcers to the other wrestlers – to Vince McMahon himself – to fuck off.
The people are surprised, obviously.
Matt says, one more thing – I quit. And throws down the microphone, exiting the arena through the crowd.
The announce, unsurprisingly has no idea what to do with this – so they throw it to the highlight package for the next match.
5. NO DQ: Edge d. HHH
Edge goes over HHH in his return to the ring after a year and a half; it’s all garbage, as Edge is a garbage wrestler now. Blood and broken things. Edge takes the sledgehammer from Hunter, drives it into his head, and then spears HHH through the table for the win. Edge stands on the buckle, makes the sign of the Clique for the face pop. Which, hopefully, he gets.
6. Unified Tags: Rey/RVD d. Flair/Leviathan
The men who once feuded over the IC add tag belts, RVD pinning Flair with the frog splash. The announce notes the absence of Chavo, the third Horsemen, still gone since his loss to Eddy at XX, and speculate as to why he wouldn’t be there for his stablemates. As Flair exits, it’s also fair to speculate how many more matches he has left – and if, in fact, that wasn’t his last title match.
7. Worldwide Titles: Jericho (w/Trish) d. Eddy d. London
Jericho wins his 3 rd IC, placing him only behind Michaels all time. This is rock star Jericho – Jericho’s the burned out rocker – Trish his junkie model girlfriend. As close as we can get to implying they’re coked up all the time, that’s what I want to do. Jericho now wrestles shirtless in the leather pants. Eddy is pure, warm babyface Eddy – London is pure, high energy, Clique babyface.
Important Jericho spot is a Trish spot where after a London bump to the outside, Trish gives him as X rated a kiss as they can get away with – perhaps she licks his stomach - then kicks London in the head. This pisses Jericho off – and he slaps her hard across the face – she slaps him hard back.
That’s not related to the finish – it’s just establishing the gimmick – the two of them fight, physically fight all of the time. And then they make up. And trash a hotel room. They're always both bruised up, their promos become more and more incoherent, any drug rumors that can be placed in the sheets would be helpful. It's kinda Sid and Nancy, kinda Jericho as Jim Morrison. They're fried.
It’s one fall to a finish – they have Jericho pin London (who gets in as many spots as possible, he doesn't get many PPV shots in this stretch, it helps to make them count) to protect Eddy for the next thing. Jericho lays Eddy out with the belt postmatch – save by Chavo.
Chavo returns – and it’s to save his uncle Eddy, with whom he has been feuding for awhile. Jericho and Trish make out/pass out in the aisle.
8. Undisputed Championship: 2 of 3 falls: Benoit d. Angle (w/Regal/Benjamin/Haas)
Canadian crowd hot for Benoit – we give them what they need. They kick Team Angle from ringside early. Recall the stip is the 3 rd fall is submission only, as neither man has tapped to the other (or to anyone, ever) and so we have that to sell.
Doesn’t much matter who wins what fall – Benoit does his thing, Angle is a complete heel. We trade submissions all over the place for the third fall, we have Angle put Benoit in the sharpshooter to particularly piss everyone off – in the end, it’s Benoit, rolling from the anklelock into the crossface – beating Angle, winning the rubber match, and keeping his straps.
Angle throws a fit postmatch, smashing up some stuff at ringside, absolutely enraged as the move from "Angle who loves being a heel" to "Roided up heel Angle" is underway. The show ends with Benoit in the aisle, holding up his three belts – and Angle throwing chairs, busting up the monitors, hitting the Angle Slam on the Spanish Announce.
Survivor Series is coming from Cleveland.
And, for the first time since Angle took him out on RAW, Vince returns - he says that the TitanTrust, sadly, will not be returning, that at the Royal Rumble next year an announcement will be made as to who will lead the WWF creatively, but for tonight, he has an announcement, the Number One Contender’s Battle Royal which was not held after Mania – will be held – and it will be held on RAW – tonight!
Angle music. Angle hits the ring, says that he isn’t here to stop the battle royale this time – he’s here to enter as number one, throw everyone else out, go to Survivor Series and become a 3 time WWF Champion!
Vince says – nope. None of that’s going to happen. Since you decided to attack the TitanTrust back in April, when we tried to do this the last time – I've decided that it’s only fitting that you are excluded from this year’s battle royal – and since we only do this every other year – if you want to win it – you’ll have to wait until 2006!
Fans cheer, you know, like they do – Angle fumes – then goes to the announce, grabs a headset – and decides he’s going to do commentary if they won’t let him wrestle and become a gold medalist at that too.
It’s Battle Royale time – winner gets Benoit at Survivor Series – place your bets…
1. Tajiri
2. Yang
-It’s the tag partners leading off spot. Recall, they aligned Tajiri with Ultimo, both against Yang, they then brought Yang into the fold, but at Mania, Ultimo turned on Tajiri – Yang came to Tajiri’s aid – and that wrapped up Ultimo. All year long, from today forward until we pass the Rumble, Tajiri and Yang will be feuding with the Spreekillers, Helms and Rhyno. None of that ever makes PPV, but it’s good TV.
3. Benjamin
-Okay, Shelton’s going to turn black. He’s going to evolve over the course of the summer into S$ (S Money, see 'cause his name is Benjamin) Bling, entrance music, his promos, a posse – S Money (S$) as Angle is calling him right now on the announce will be “Keepin’ it Gangsta.” I think many people have always wondered why such an obvious heat gimmick, the modern day black athlete - a Terrell Owens/Allan Iverson gimmick really hasn't been tapped by WWF.
And that gimmick is just part of the new Team Angle gimmick - which I'm totally stealing from The Shield. The new Kurt Angle character is Vic Mackey, he's already bald, and when he's not wrestling, he's in jeans, a t-shirt, and mirrored sunglasses. Benjamin's his Shane Vendrell, the young protegee, and Angle will encourage every move Benjamin makes to get more gangsta. Charlie's gonna be Lem, friendly, genial, sensitive, a little too soft for the gig - but everyone likes him - the particular dynamic here is that Benjamin likes him, given what we've already established as the backstory between the two - Charlie's really Benjamin's only link to his earlier humanity. Regal doesn't have a Strike Team analogue - Regal's still Arn to Angle's Flair. Regal's the enforcer of the group. Not complicated.
It's Team Angle.
Anyway – Tajiri and Yang obviously attack Benjamin – leading Angle to leap from the announce – hit the ring – and he and S Money (get used to it) dump both (30) Jimmy and (29) Tajiri.
Angle sneers and leaves the ring to go back to the announce, putting on his headset to gloat.
4. Rey
-One half of the Unified tag champs – and if you think the pairing of he and Van Dam largely came out of nowhere, what’s your point, exactly?
5. London
-Fresh of the IC shot the night before comes the young Cliquester, super high energy Paul London – and now we have some threeway action going. Like yo' momma likes it. Aw, yeah.
6. Shoeless Rob Conway
-We introduced Conway briefly in the 64 man tournament, now we give him a gimmick – he’s the bumpkin. Young, a little wild easily led. We’re gonna stick him with…
7. The NeoCon George Herbert Bradshaw III
-This is Bradshaw’s new gimmick. We give him his current look and rap, I like the suits and the cowboy hat. Bradshaw’s all Texas. We’re gonna have him spout the same political schtick that he uses on the road or on Fox News – and he’s a heel. We put stuff in his mouth like it was sure good that we passed that tax cut for the rich – or we’re just about to find the weapons of mass destruction, if you people would just tell your sons and daughters over in Iraq to look a little harder or Bin Ladin’s not really that big a deal, so it’s okay we haven’t got him – whatever ridiculous White House spin is in the air – he’s gonna say it and we’ll frame him as an idiot.
The name's a double wordplay, Bush 41's first middle name (rich dudes have lots of middle names) was Herbert, and this makes his initials GHB, 'cause who doesn't love some rasslin' drug humor?
He’s gonna try to convince the young guys to enlist, that it’s their duty to join his army – first is Conway. Eventually, when they turn Morley, this is where he’ll go, since he’s of a similar political mindset. Right now, Bradshaw and Conway brawl while the other three continue.
8. Orton
9. Cena
-tag partners, obviously, they just sent the Dudleys out of the WWF at Summer Slam – they go in on Conway’s side as Bradshaw tries to call time out to counsel them on their futures as Young NeoCons. They don’t want to hear it and wear him out. The other 3 way continues as the ring fills up.
10. Bob
-Bob came in on Dinsmore’s side at Summer Slam, whereas Orton and Cena came in on Kidman’s – so they just brawled last night – meaning Bob goes in with Bradshaw to make it a 3 on 2, while the Benamin/Rey/London three way continues.
That’s too many guys in the ring – Angle exasperatedly says on the announce – how can S Money rock his new gimmick if that guy with no shoes on is pulling focus?
Angle enters, dumps Conway (28) and when Bradshaw extends a hand to thank him – he dumps Bradshaw too (27). Angle returns to the announce.
11. Stevie
-Stevie joins Bob, as did he last night, against Orton and Cena. 3 way continues.
12. Leviathan
-Uh oh. Stevie (26). Bob (25). Cena (24). Orton (23). Big man’s gotsta eat. Leviathan roars – shakes the ropes. The Ultimate Batista!
13. Morley
(22) Morley. Big man was still hungry.
14. Chavo
-Okay, Chavo, like Leviathan is a Horseman – which Chavo is quick to remind Leviathan of as soon as he got in the ring and saw the fire in his eyes. Chavo throws up the four fingers fast – Leviathan pauses for a moment – but responds – and the two men then attack the Benjamin/Rey/London 3 way.
Recall, there’s Horseman tension. Chavo didn’t appear at ringside to aid Flair and Leviathan in their tag team loss last night – but did appear to save Uncle Eddy from Jericho one match later. Now, here Chavo is, professing Horseman loyalty.
15. RVD
16. Edge
17. Regal
-All come in to aid their stablemates – Van Dam and Rey are tag champs – Regal and Benjamin are part of Team Angle – Edge and London are Clique. So, now we have an 8 man, effectively. Time to clear the ring a bit. London(21) is tossed by the Horsemen. Rey (20) by Team Angle. Benjamin (19) by RVD.
18. Kidman
-With Benjamin eliminated – Angle hops off the headset – and he and S Money seize the opportunity to attack the also eliminated Rey – they doubleteam him on the outside – leading RVD to eliminate himself (18) by diving to the outside to wipe them out. The four men then brawl to the back.
19. Spike. The old guy/new guy rivalry continues (although, I’m unsure how Spike is a grizzled vet and Kidman a young upstart – but there you go) as Spike and Kidman brawl, as did they the night before, while Chavo fights Edge and Leviathan tries to eliminate Regal.
20. Rhyno
-We’ll let him gore both Spike and Kidman to get his pop.
21. Helms
-SpreeKillers! And they’re gonna go right after the Horsemen – leading to some two on two there, allowing Edge and Regal to go at it – and Spike and Kidman to resume their fight.
22. PAUL~
-The Big Giant chokeslams everyone in the ring – except for Leviathan – who blocks the chokeslam and then bodyslams big PAUL.
23. Undertaker
-Cause that’s the program, Taker beat Kane the night before – and now makes the slow, Dead walk to the ring – slow enough that PAUL is able to rise from the bodyslam to wait the charge. The Taker hits the ring and the two brawl.
24. Haas
-Charlie comes in with Regal, they double team Edge. Horsemen v. Spree Killers. Spike v. Kidman. UT v. PAUL. 11 guys in the ring. Here comes 12…
25. Christian
-I want the big face pop for Christian. Gone since Mania when he took the big Hell in the Cell bump – then dragged himself out for the formation of the Nu Clique and the face turn in the Michaels save.
But he comes in now to join his brother – and they go to work, eliminating Regal (17) and Haas (16) --- while the Horsemen overcome Rhyno (15) and then Helms (14). Edge and Christian then double team Spike (13) and Kidman (12) – while Leviathan monstrously clotheslines PAUL (11) and then the Taker (10) out of the ring…
…big multiple elimination pop as suddenly the ring only contains Chavo, Leviathan, Edge, and Christian.
26. Jordan
-We met Orlando in the 64 man tourney, he’s a ping pong ball here, knocked around by both sides.
27. Book
-We’re putting the black guys together. Sad, really. Book decides to save Jordan – and the angle we’re gonna run is Jordan looks up to Book, “hey bookerman, teach me how to get paid” . That leads to Jordan getting tossed by Edge and Christian (9) and Book by Leviathan and Chavo (8).
3 men left – 4 in the ring – who will go to Survivor Series to meet Benoit? Who? Who? Who?
28. Flair.
Wooooooooo!!!! Flair is in and the Horsemen have the numbers – Edge gets dumped (7) and now it’s 3 on 1 against Christian – but he’s able to overcome the odds in a babyface way – and toss Flair out (6). Big face pop by the Christian Coalition!
29. Eddy
Guerrero just lost the IC last night – he enters and goes for the Big man, Leviathan, which keeps Leviathan from Christian.
Eddy/Leviathan. Christian/Chavo. 1 man left. Final Five
30. Jericho
Here comes the IC Champ, Trish in tow. He takes his time to get to the ring – Leviathan has Eddy almost eliminated, ready to go --- Christian disengages from Chavo to get his long awaited shot in at Jericho (a reminder in a minute) allowing Chavo to go to Leviathan/Eddy…and instead of helping Leviathan eliminate his uncle…he helps Eddy eliminate Leviathan! (5)
The Big Man has to be restrained by every security guard in the building, he screams at Chavo that he’s a dead man – Eddy eyes his nephew, who, after their long feud, saved him last night and now today, warily…
4 left….
Recall that Christian and Jericho feuded all through 2003, that was DarkJericho, taunted by Christian and Trish over the Stacy/Lance hookup. That feud turned both guys and culminated in Trish’s turn at XX in the Hell in the Cell when they tossed Christian off the top. This is his return –his first chance to get even.
Chavo and Jericho fought just last night when Jericho took Eddy’s belt.
And last night, Jericho did take Eddy’s belt – further, they’ve been feuding in the WWF literally for 4 years – and in the NWA before that – Jericho/Eddy is now an all time legendary war – so the other 3 guys in the ring are just itching – Jericho smiles tells them all to kiss his ass.
They toss him over (4).
Big face pop – which Eddy takes advantage of by tossing out Chavo (3).
Eddy shrugs his shoulders and smiles – and then it’s Eddy and Christian, Eddy and Christian – Eddy and Christian – who will go to Survivor Series to wrestle for the Undisputed Title….
Eddy.
Eddy throws Chrsitian over, and has a chance to recapture the World Title – against his longtime best friend – turned rival – turned best friend again – the Crippler Chris Benoit.
And that’s your main event at Survivor Series. Benoit/Eddy for the strap. Two best wrestlers in the company for the top prize in the world.
We’re gonna do Harts/Guerreros stuff in full force now. I want to bring as many Guerreros in as I can get, we’ve teased this storyline before – but I want to go all out to make clear that the Guerreros think of themselves as the first family of professional wrestling – and they think the Harts have stolen their thunder.
We also, and this is really my thinking with this program, explicitly refer to the Dynamite/Steamboat series. WM XX was where is it all began again – and how it began 20 years ago was with the two best wrestlers in the company going head up for the strap.
20 years later, here we are. And Benoit, obviously, is the Dynamite Kid, version 2.0.
We’ll also use Jericho and Chavo here, both to egg the animosity on between the two principals (Jericho is full heel and hates Eddy – Chavo we’re unsure about, but he doesn’t express any love for Benoit). We’re gonna do some tags, Guerreros against Jericho and a reluctant Benoit. Some reverse singles matches – and we’re gonna do the IC match out of this program too – Jericho v. the former champ Chavo. As we go all Harts/Guerreros for Survivor Series. It's the all encompassing program.
We set up the tag match in the battle royal. It’s RVD/Rey defending against Angle and Benjamin, S Money is a 2 time tag champ, Angle tries for his first tag belt.
Chrsitian’s gonna make his return to PPV – and he’ll do so against the Freaky Monster Leviathan. We’ll do Flair/Leviathan tags against some combinations of Edge/Christian/London – and finally conclude with Leviathan taking London out pretty good. How will Christian, just 5 months after falling off the Cell, be able to stack up against the Monster?
Edge is gonna wind up in a 3 way. The old guy/new guy program continues, it’s Spike and Kidman who wind up front and center and in a Survivor Series match. They’re doing an in-ring promo that Edge interrupts – spears both of them – then says he’s tired of the old guys, tired of the new guys – the only guys that matter in the WWF are the Clique – and he’s gonna make their Survivor Series match a 3 way.
Booker and Jordan began tagging after the battle royal – we put them in the mix with Yang/Tajiri and the SpreeKillers – out of that whole mess comes a Book/Helms singles match at Survivor Series.
We’ve got Undertaker/PAUL.
The opening tag is again Cena and Orton – they’re tagging against Bradshaw – and his partner, Conway. Shoeless Rob was persuaded to join the NeoCon cause “your name has the word Con in it – that’s gotta be a sign, right?” and so there’s that.
But the thump is at the top – it’s the Harts and the Guerreros – Survivor Series ’04 is coming from Cleveland! Benoit v. Eddy for the WWF Title for the first time ever at PPV, backuped up by Jericho v. Chavo for the Worldwide belts, Rey and Van Dam defend against Angle and S$, and Christian returns to PPV against Leviathan. Survivor Series 2004! Call your cable company!!
