Ranking every WWE SummerSlam PPV in history

21. WWE SummerSlam 2004

• The Dudley Boyz def. Billy Kidman, Paul London and Rey Mysterio (6-Man Tag Match)
• Kane def. Matt Hardy (Till Death Do Us Part Match)
• John Cena def. WWE United States Champion Booker T in the first match of a “Best of 5” series
• Edge def. Batista and Chris Jericho to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship (Triple Threat Match)
• Kurt Angle def. Eddie Guerrero by submission
• Triple H def. Eugene
• WWE Champion JBL def. The Undertaker by DQ
• Randy Orton def. Chris Benoit to win the World Heavyweight Championship

The 2004 edition of SummerSlam was an interesting one. From top to bottom, there isn’t one match that I would ever put in the four or five-star range but there’s not really one match that was completely terrible. Even the Triple H vs. Eugene match was at least halfway entertaining. It was a bit wrong to give those two more time than every match besides the two World title matches, even a Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero match, but it was what it was.

The six-man tag to open the show was a lot of fun but as in keeping with the overall theme of the night, it was just a little too short. They didn’t even get 10 minutes but they made the most of their time and all the Dudleys were booked strong here, especially Spike.

Kane and Matt Hardy took part in a Till Death Do Us Part Match — which I still have to believe somehow had Vince Russo’s name all over it (oh wait, there was nothing on a pole so never mind) — with the winner getting to marry Lita. Kane won with a big chokeslam from the ropes, which was the best spot of the match. As for Lita, she just ended up running away.

The worst match of the night was probably John Cena and Booker T, who were having their first match in a best-of-five series for the United States Championship. Cena won here and would later win the series, and it was nothing special here and another short match. But at least it wasn’t Diva Dodgeball, which was actually a thing on this show.

The Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Championship was another decent effort and featured Chris Jericho, Batista and Edge, who actually won in his hometown of Toronto, even if the live crowd didn’t seem to care. This wasn’t a standout performance from anyone and again was a little short on time.

Next up was Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle. There was no title on the line or no stipulation but just two of the best wrestlers in the company going at it. They’ve had better matches with one another but this one was fun to watch, as most of their matches were. Angle was working the ankle throughout and won with the Ankle Lock. One of the best matches of the night, probably a tie with the main event.

After an average WWE Championship Match in which The Undertaker lost to JBL via DQ, the final match of the evening was a very young Randy Orton taking on Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship. Again, there was nothing overly special about this match but the historical significance of it plays a big part here.

With the victory, Orton became the youngest World Champion in WWE history and it’s extremely unfortunate that it can’t get talked about more, because Benoit. The win also led to Orton getting kicked out of Evolution the following night due to Triple H’s jealousy and that story still played a part in an Orton vs. Triple H match 15 years later.

I’m still wondering if I’m rating this one too high with there not being one big standout match like some of the others on the list, but without an insanely horrible match on the card, it’s hard to knock it down. It certainly wasn’t good enough to crack the top 20, which is where we’re headed next.