SummerSlam 2005

1. Chris Benoit defeated Orlando Jordan by submission to win the United States Championship

If there ever was a squash on a pay-per-view that actually deserved to be a squash, this was it. Jordan was not going anywhere and Benoit, at the time, deserved this moment.

Rating: .25 (out of 5)

2. Edge defeated Matt Hardy by ref stoppage

I liked this more than most, but it was still a huge disappointment. I think if this happened at a smaller pay-per-view, it would have been viewed differently. This essentially was just set up for the cage match at Unforgiven.

Rating: 1.5

3. Rey Mysterio defeated Eddie Guerrero in a ladder match

***Match Of The Night***

This was awesome stuff, as expected. The storyline still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but the over-the-top booking worked pretty well here.

Rating: 4

4. Kurt Angle defeated Eugene by submission

This was essentially an extended squash, but man was it entertaining. Angle was in top form here.

Rating: 1.75

5. Randy Orton defeated Undertaker by pinfall

Most people seem to like this better than their match at WrestleMania 21, but I have to disagree. This seemed to have more rest spots and they just didn't gel like they did at Mania.

Rating: 3

6. John Cena defeated Chris Jericho by pinfall

This was Jericho's last pay-per-view match for over two years and it was a very solid outing. This was when the whole Cena backlash was really starting to become noticeable.

Rating: 3.5

7. Batista defeated JBL by pinfall

This was about 10 times better than I thought it would be. Far from great, it was at least entertaining and the booking made sense.

Rating: 2

8. Hulk Hogan defeated Shawn Michaels by pinfall

Sadly, Hogan wasn't even near the shape he was in for his WrestleMania match with The Rock, but Michaels did a fantastic job making this entertaining. The crowd was off the charts, as one would expect, and the result was a predictable, but fun throwback match.

Rating: 3

This was another really good show from the WWE in 2005. All of the matches delivered and they all felt important, which is hard to do these days. From top to bottom, there is no doubt this is one of the best SummerSlam events in it's 20+ year history.

Overall Rating: 84%