10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 2004 Facts
The Legend Killer reaches the apex of the WWE mountain at the age of 24.
By the summer of 2004, WWE programming had displayed quite the role reversal. Monday Night Raw was now thriving on the strength of quality weekly television, as Evolution warred with the likes of Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels, Edge, and others. SmackDown, on the other hand, began to languish with JBL as champion, and had become a dumping ground for forgettable characters like Kenzo Suzuki, Mordecai, and Luther Reigns. The repositioning in the 2004 re-draft went a long way toward making Raw look like the A-show once more.
SummerSlam 2004 was a bit of a mixed bag. Only two matches (Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton, Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero) really proved satisfactory from the admittedly-subjective "workrate" perspective. Mostly, the 2004 SummerSlam was a story-driven show, and that's nothing to take umbrage with. Long-running angles such as Triple H's annoyance with Eugene, the so-bad-it's-barely-quantifiable-as-good love triangle with Kane, Matt Hardy, and Lita, and the Angle/Guerrero rivalry that had played out since January, made it a colorful and eventful SummerSlam, if nothing else.
The biggest story of the night was the culmination of Randy Orton's rapid ascent to the main event, capturing the World Heavyweight title in a climax that provided a thrill in the moment, but would prove to be "too much, too soon."
Here are ten facts about SummerSlam 2004 you may not have known.
10. It Was The Birth Of "Bizarro World"
Remember when Jim Ross said that "traditional" fans at WrestleMania 22 were the ones booing John Cena? Or when Raw's announcers made it clear that the night-after-WrestleMania crowd was filled with intentionally-ironic revelers? WWE's blatant spin-doctoring of against-the-grain sentiment took some early roots at SummerSlam 2004.
While the fans in Toronto are more known for their disparate reactions during the Rock/Hogan match at WrestleMania 18, their undesired (by the company) reactions toward the performers prompted Jerry Lawler to openly declare Toronto "Bizarro World", which later became company parlance for any place that boos John Cena and Roman Reigns.
On this show, wrestlers like Eugene and Edge, established babyfaces, took the brunt of the negative response, while cool-heel Randy Orton basked in the positive vibes of his championship win.