Mike Reviews Every WWF/E SummerSlam Opening Match – 2003 to 2007

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

We’ve got some more SummerSlam opening matches for you today, with nothing that I think will be super memorable for anyone but there is a possibility that some of the matches will be decent.

Whilst you’re here, I wrote and article for Gaming Respawn regarding THIS years SummerSlam, so feel free to click the link if you’d like to see what I thought

https://gamingrespawn.com/wrestling/57470/wrestle-respawn-wwe-summerslam-2022-good-but-too-long/

SummerSlam 2003

Opening Match
Raw Tag team Titles
Champs: La Resistance (Sylvain et Rene) Vs The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von)

La Resistance were doing the “Evil Frenchman” gimmick due to Vince McMahon being pissy that the French wouldn’t agree to take part in the illegal war in Iraq. The Dudleyz had always been announced as being from Dudleyville but now they are magically from New York so they can do the whole Pro USA gimmick. Rob Conway had debuted by this stage as a French sympathiser and he had been doing the “disguised mystery man” gimmick where he would jump the babyfaces.

This has decent crowd heat and the action is solid in the early stages when The Dudleyz are on offence. The crowd of course wants to see tables, but they don’t get them right away. They do enjoy seeing The Dudleyz give the Heel Champions a kicking though, with the cheap xenophobic angle working with the audience for the most part. Eventually a Sylvain cheap shot on Bubba leads to the cut off and the Champs work Bubba over with basic stuff.

Bubba does a decent job selling it, but the Champs were pretty green at this stage so they’re kind of limited. Rene does show some good charisma though and he’d be a pretty entertaining solo act in 2004. Bubba eventually catches Sylvain with a Bubba Bomb and it’s hot tag D-Von, who does a nice comeback and the Champs do a good job bumping and feeding for it in all fairness to them. D-Von gets a powerslam on Rene for two and things break down following that.

Both teams have chances to win it and eventually all four guys are going at in the ring, and it’s quite exciting actually. The Dudleyz seem to have it won with the 3-D on Rene, but Rob Conway clocks D-Von with a camera behind the referees back, which is enough for the three. Spike Dudley tries to make the save following the match but he gets clobbered with the camera as well.

WINNERS AND STILL CHAMPIONS: LA RESISTANCE
RATING: **

That was fine, even if the storyline was pretty cheap and tasteless. The Dudleyz would win the tag belts the next month in a tables match

SummerSlam 2004

Opening Match
The Dudley Family (Bubba Ray, D-Von and WWE Cruiserweight Champ Spike) Vs Smackdown Tag Champs Paul London and Billy Kidman, and Rey Mysterio Jr

This one came about because Spike surprisingly went Heel on Rey in order to win the Cruiser belt, whilst London and Kidman defeated The Dudleyz to win the tag belts. Thus both feuds are converging here in the opener. Spike was actually a pretty effective weasel Heel hiding behind his bigger brothers and his run with the belt would have probably been more fun if they had a slew of over opponents for him to cheat out of the belt, but the Crusier division and it’s roster weren’t exactly being treated well at the time (when has it ever in WWE for that matter?)

The babyface trio shine for a bit in the early going until a Bubba cheap shot leads to London getting cut off in the Heel corner. London sells all of that well of course, whilst the Heels show off some good villainous behaviour. The crowd still chants that they’d like to see tables though, which was what they would always say when The Dudleyz were wrestling regardless of what their Face/Heel alignment was. It’s a fun heat segment for the most part though, thanks in part to how well London sells.

Eventually London is able to fight off both Bubba and D-Von to give us a Rey hot tag segment. Rey runs wild on Spike, with Spike bumping around nicely for all of that, leading into the match breaking down. The action is good in the closing stretch, with the crowd finally starting to get into it after being mostly quiet for the majority thus far. London gets a big dive out onto Bubba and D-Von, which allows Kidman to come off the top with a Shooting Star press onto Spike back inside. D-Von breaks up that pin though and 3-D on Kidman allows Spike to get the pin.

WINNERS: THE DUDLEY BOYZ
RATING: ***

That seemed like a needlessly flat finish when they could have had the babyfaces win to pop the crowd and start the show on a positive foot. It helped get Spike’s new character get over at least in that he essentially got handed a win from the jaws of defeat on account of his brothers helping him out. The match itself was good fun, with the babyfaces delivering some nice offence and the Heels being good villains. London and Kidman would lose their belts to Rene Dupree and Kenzo Suzuki in the autumn before feuding with one another, whilst Spike would lose his Cruiser belt to Funaki in December

SummerSlam 2005

Opening Match
United States Title
Champ: Orlando Boredom Vs Chris Benoit

Orlando Jordan (Or “O.J.” to his pals) had defeated John Cena of all people to win the belt earlier in the year and had gone on to have a pretty uneventful reign as Champion. Jordan wasn’t especially over and his matches were usually pretty awful, so his run with the belt wasn’t highly regarded. He’d managed to defeat Benoit on the previous Smackdown pay per view with the help of an unprotected turnbuckle, but Benoit remained a challenger and tonight is his chance to wrest the Title away and get some revenge.

They decide to not even bother having the two guys wrestle one another properly in this one. Instead they just have Benoit defeat Jordan in mere seconds with a German Suplex and the Crippler Crossface. It’s a very effective way of both rehabbing Benoit and giving Jordan his comeuppance for being such a lousy Champion. The crowd responds well to it and the segment ends up being a success for that reason. Benoit does the big celebration as well, which helps make the belt look important that a guy of his calibre is happy to hold it.

WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: CHRIS BENOIT
RATING: SQUASH

This remains one of my favourite opening matches, just for the visceral glee the fans took in seeing Jordan’s miserable Title reign end in such a succinct and brutal manner. Benoit would end up losing the belt to Booker T but he’d win it back again in 2006 and have a very fun series of matches with MVP in 2007 over it. Jordan would be pretty done following this Benoit feud, as he lost again to Benoit a number of times and had a brief run in TNA during the “new” Monday Night War before disappearing from mainstream American Wrestling for the most part

SummerSlam 2006

Opening Match
Chavo Guerrero Jr Vs Rey Mysterio Jr

Eddy Guerrero, Chavo’s uncle and Rey’s good friend, passed away in 2005 and that had led to Chavo and Rey having an on screen alliance. Chavo had grown jealous of Rey though and cost him the World Title against King Booker, so we’ve got this match as a continuation of the feud, with Vicky Guerrero on the outskirts trying to stop both men from destroying one another.

They start this one hot and it’s good action, with both hitting dives to the floor early on. The crowd actually sounds a bit divided, with some of them seemingly backing Chavo in this dispute. There are audible boos when Rey gets some offence in, such as leg kicks, although Chavo does get booed as well. This one has some good intensity for the most part, with it feeling like both men really don’t like one another and the wrestling being a good mix of high-flying and brawling.

The match is mostly back and forth, with both men trading the momentum. Rey eventually manages to catch Chavo with the 619, to more audible boos, but Chavo is able to dodge the West Coast Hop and both men end up tumbling out to the floor. This is Vicky’s cue to join us as she tries to talk Chavo out of dishing out more punishment to Rey. When Chavo won’t listen, she slaps him, which allows Rey to take him out with a TOPE SUICIDA.

Rey is also distracted by Vicky though, which gives Chavo a window back in. Both me try the Three Amigos, with Rey’s getting some more noticeable boos, as the crowd was really starting to push back on Rey’s act during the time. Vicky ends up “accidentally” jamming the ropes when Rey heads to the top following that though, which leads to Chavo getting a Brain Buster and a Frogsplash for the three count.

WINNER: CHAVO GUERRERO JR
RATING: ***1/4

This was a good match, although the stuff with Vicky at the end was overdone and her screeching got super annoying after a certain point and she wasn’t even supposed to be a Heel yet! Chavo and Vicky would end up being revealed as being aligned not too long after this, leading to Chavo putting Rey out with an injury for a bit until Rey returned in 2007 to get some revenge

SummerSlam 2007

Opening Match
Fit Finlay w/ Hornswoggle Vs Kane

Finlay and his little buddy had been causing mayhem and had gotten on the wrong side of Kane after Finlay had knocked a cup of coffee over him, so we’ve got this match here to settle it, although I think they may have had more matches on TV following this. Kane seems to have a case of serious DDP Disease here as his mid-section is all taped up following a Finlay shillelagh attack, which Finlay of course targets when he cuts Kane off by preventing a clothesline off the top.

Kane sells the injury well, with Finlay’s offence looking good, so it’s a solid opening match for the most part. Kane eventually makes the comeback, which leads to Finlay bringing Hornswoggle into play. Hornswoggle wants none of Kane though, but Kane gets side tracked enough going after him that it allows Finlay to regain his footing in the bout. In a nice touch, Kane’s ribs hurt too much that he can’t get a Choke Slam and that allows Finlay to get a DDT for two.

Finlay tries to use the shillelagh but Kane cuts him off with a throat thrust and then tries to use it himself. The ref takes it away of course, which allows Hornswoggle to pass Finlay another one, which Finlay then hits Kane with whilst the ref is distracted for two. That was a very well done near fall and the crowd totally bit on it. Finlay misses a charge in the corner and Kane manages to get the Choke Slam this time for three and a good pop from the crowd.

WINNER: KANE
RATING: **1/2

Solid opener there, with Kane selling the mid-section well and the closing stretch being nicely put together. Kane would end up winning the ECW Title in 2008, whilst Finlay would go babyface when Hornswoggle was revealed to be Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son

In Conclusion

No classics in this one but most of the wrestling was solid and the Benoit match was a fun moment even if the match itself wasn’t amazing.

I hope to see you all next week for 2008 to 2012!