Summer Slam (2004) - Event

Event

Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Rob Van Dam defeated René Duprée in a match taped for Sunday Night Heat. The first match that aired was a six-man tag team match between The Dudleys (Bubba Ray, D-Von, and Spike), who changed their name from the Dudley Boyz following their heel turn the month before, and the team of Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman, and Paul London. Towards the end of the match, Spike pinned Kidman after a 3D from Bubba Ray and D-Von to win the match for his team.

The next match was between Kane and Matt Hardy. Hardy gained control over Kane, after performing a Twist of Fate onto Kane outside of the ring and hit him with the ring bell. Kane then countered a suplex attempt by Hardy into a chokeslam from the top rope. Kane scored the pinfall on Hardy to win the match. As a result of the pre-match stipulation, Lita was forced to marry Kane, as part of their on-going storyline. The third match was between John Cena and Booker T in a "Best of 5 series" for the WWE United States Championship In this "series," Cena and Booker would compete in up to five matches, where the first person to win three matches would become the new United States Champion. Early in the match, Cena gained the advantage over Booker, but towards the end of the match, Booker performed a scissors kick on Cena, who retaliated by performing an FU. Cena scored the pinfall to win the match and gain the upper-hand in the "Best of 5 series."

The following match was a Triple Threat match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship involving Edge, Batista and Chris Jericho. During the match, Edge and Jericho performed double-team maneuvers onto Batista. Toward the match's end, Edge performed a spear on Jericho to score the pinfall and retain the title. The fifth match on the card was between Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero. Angle gained control over Guerrero early on in the match. Mid-match, the referee was knocked out, and as a result, Guerrero took his boot off and used it to hit both Angle and Luther Reigns, who was at ringside with Angle and tried to get involved in the match. The match concluded when Angle was able to counter a frog splash and perform an ankle lock on Guerrero. Angle then won the match via submission after Guerrero tapped-out.

The next match was between Triple H and Eugene. At the start of the match, Triple H pretended to attack the ring announcer, Lilian Garcia, as a distraction to attack Eugene. Eugene countered Triple H's attacks by delivering a Rock Bottom. During the match, Ric Flair came down to ringside to interfere, but he was ejected by the referee. As Flair was leaving from ringside, William Regal hit Flair with a pair of brass knuckles. After losing focus by watching the events that took place, Triple H performed a Pedigree on Eugene and pinned him to win the match.

The following match was for the WWE Championship between John "Bradshaw" Layfield and The Undertaker. Immediately, JBL and Undertaker started the match outside of the ring. Mid-match, the referee was knocked out, so Orlando Jordan, who accompanied JBL to ringside, handed JBL the title, which JBL used to hit Undertaker. In the last moments in the match, Undertaker countered and hit JBL with the title. The referee saw this and disqualified Undertaker, which resulted in JBL winning the match. Afterwards, Undertaker started to take his frustration out on JBL by delivering a chokeslam to JBL through the roof of JBL's limousine. This caused JBL to have to be taken out of the arena on a stretcher. During the match the fans did the "mexican heatwave".

The last match of the card was the main event between Chris Benoit and Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship. Early on in the match, Orton attempted to perform a Sharpshooter on Benoit, but instead, Benoit performed a Sharpshooter of his own. Later in the match, Benoit performed seven German suplexes on Orton, but lost the advantage after Orton blocked a headbutt attempt. Towards the end of the match, Benoit attempted to perform a Crippler Crossface on Orton. Orton, however, was able to escape, perform an RKO, and win the match via pinfall. As a result, Orton became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history. Following the match whilst Orton was celebrating his victory, Benoit returned to the ring and offered Orton a handshake, telling him to "be a man", which Orton accepted.