The 2006 SummerSlam was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 19th annual SummerSlam and took place on August 20, 2006, at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. This marked the first inter-brand pay-per-view to include the ECW brand.
The main match on the Raw brand featured Edge against John Cena for the WWE Championship, which Edge won by pinfall after hitting Cena in the back of the head with a pair of brass knuckles. The main match on the SmackDown! brand pitted King Booker against Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Batista won by disqualification following interference from Queen Sharmell. The primary match on the ECW brand pitted Big Show against Sabu in an Extreme Rules match for the ECW World Championship. Big Show won the match and retained the title after pinning Sabu following a chokeslam through a table. The undercard included D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) against Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon as well as Hulk Hogan against Randy Orton, which was Hogan's last match in WWE.
Several of the existing feuds carried on after the event. D-Generation X continued feuding with The McMahons, defeating them and The Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match the following month. The feud between Batista and King Booker also continued, with the two facing off as part of a fatal four-way match at No Mercy, which Booker won. The following month, at Unforgiven, John Cena defeated Edge in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to win the WWE Championship and conclude their storyline.
Production Background
SummerSlam is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced every August by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 1988. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four".Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160) It has since become considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind WrestleMania. The 19th SummerSlam was scheduled to be held on August 20, 2006, at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts and featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. It was the first SummerSlam to include ECW, a relaunch of the former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion that became WWE's third brand in May, subsequently also being the first SummerSlam to feature the ECW World Championship. This also marked the first inter-brand pay-per-view event to include ECW.
Storylines The main feud heading into SummerSlam on Raw was between WWE Champion Edge and John Cena. Edge won the title on the July 3 episode of Raw, defeating then-champion Rob Van Dam and Cena in a triple threat match. The following week on Raw, after defeating Shelton Benjamin, Cena attacked Edge, who was providing commentary for the match. Edge, however, fought off Cena and executed an Edgecution followed by a spear. Later that night, as part of the storyline, Cena attacked Edge and Lita, Edge's girlfriend, at their hotel. On the July 15 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII, Cena faced off against Edge for the WWE Championship. Cena won the match by disqualification after Lita interfered and slapped the referee. Since a championship cannot change hands via countout or disqualification, Edge retained the title. After the match, Cena attacked Edge and performed an FU through a broadcast table. Three weeks later, on the July 31 episode of Raw, a match between Edge and Cena for the WWE Championship was booked for SummerSlam, with the stipulation that if Edge got himself counted out or intentionally disqualified, he would lose the WWE Championship. On August 14, Edge went to Cena's father's house in West Newbury, Massachusetts, and slapped him.
The secondary feud on the Raw brand was between D-Generation X (DX) (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) and The McMahons (Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon). In December, Michaels interrupted Vince and told him that he should move on from the Montreal Incident. Vince responded by saying that he could screw Michaels like he did Bret Hart anytime he wanted. This led to a feud between Michaels and The McMahons which culminated in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 22 between Michaels and Vince. Michaels won the match despite interference from The Spirit Squad and Shane. Vince claimed that Michaels' victory was a result of "divine intervention" and booked himself in a tag team match with Shane against Michaels and God at Backlash. The McMahons would win the match after interference from The Spirit Squad. Two weeks later, Michaels faced the Spirit Squad in a five on one handicap match and suffered a knee injury when the Spirit Squad crushed his knee with a steel chair. Triple H, who Vince recruited, was ordered to crush Michaels' skull with a sledgehammer. When Kenny, the leader of the Spirit Squad, took the sledgehammer away from Triple H and attempted to hit Michaels with it, Triple H stepped in front of Kenny who charged at Michaels but Triple H hit him with a spinebuster and attacked the Spirit Squad turning face for the first time since 2002. This led to Michaels and Triple H reforming DX for the first time since their teased reunion in 2002. DX defeated the Spirit Squad at Vengeance in a five on two handicap match. The next night on Raw, DX mocked the McMahons in one of their famous parodies and when The McMahons and the Spirit Squad came out to confront them they were covered with Manure. Three weeks later, Vince set up a tag team match between himself and Shane against DX at SummerSlam.
The main feud on the SmackDown! brand was between King Booker and Batista over the World Heavyweight Championship. In January, Batista legitimately tore his triceps and was forced to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship. At No Way Out the following month, Batista cut a promo claiming that when he returned from injury, he would become World Heavyweight Champion once again. Batista made his in-ring return five months later, on the edition of July 15 of'Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII in a six-man tag team match. At The Great American Bash, King Booker defeated Rey Mysterio to win the World Heavyweight Championship, and Mr. Kennedy defeated Batista by disqualification. On the August 4 episode of SmackDown!, Batista defeated Kennedy and declined any congratulations until after he won back the World Heavyweight Championship. The following week, on SmackDown!, Batista thanked King Booker for holding onto "his" title and told him he would be needing it back at SummerSlam.
The main feud on ECW was between ECW World Champion Big Show and Sabu. On the July 25 episode of ECW, Sabu requested a title match against Big Show, but ECW Representative Paul Heyman denied his request. Later that night, after Big Show defeated Kane to retain the title, Sabu attacked Big Show with a steel chair. The next week, Heyman once again denied Sabu's request for the title match.
In retaliation, Sabu attacked Big Show with a steel chair and executed an Arabian Facebuster, a diving leg drop with a chair. On the August 15 episode of ECW, Sabu faced Rob Van Dam in a ladder match, where whoever won would be face Big Show for the ECW World Championship. Sabu won the match, and Big Show came out and executed a chokeslam on both Sabu and Van Dam.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsJim Ross Jerry Lawler Michael Cole John "Bradshaw" Layfield Joey Styles Tazz Spanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraHugo SavinovichRing announcersLilian Garcia Tony Chimel Justin Roberts RefereesMike Chioda Jack Doan Chad Patton Nick Patrick Charles Robinson Mickie Henson
Dark match Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Carlito defeated Rob Conway in a dark match following a Backcracker.
Preliminary matches The first match was Chavo Guerrero versus Rey Mysterio. Both men took control during the match. Vickie Guerrero interrupted the match and tried to stop both men from fighting. She pulled Chavo out of the ring and tried to stop him, but he kept on fighting. Vickie then tried to plead with Mysterio but accidentally shoved him off the ropes. Chavo took advantage by performing a frog splash on Mysterio for the victory.
The second match was an Extreme Rules match for the ECW World Championship between champion Big Show and Sabu. In the beginning, Sabu gained the advantage in the match as he threw chairs into Big Show's head and leapt off a chair to put Big Show head first through a table. As a result, Big Show began to bleed. After some back and forth action, Sabu took the upper hand as he performed a spike DDT on Big Show through a table. Big Show chokeslammed Sabu through a table for the victory.
The third match was between Hulk Hogan and Randy Orton. Orton took the advantage in the match, as he focused on Hogan's injured knee. The match saw Orton perform an RKO on Hogan. As Orton went for the pin, Hogan had his feet on the ropes. The referee did not see his feet and originally gave Orton the victory. Later, the referee saw that Hogan's feet were still on the ropes and restarted the match. Hogan won the match when he performed a leg drop on Orton for a pinfall victory. This was Hogan's last match in WWE.
The fourth match was an "I Quit" match between Ric Flair and Mick Foley. In the beginning, Foley stuffed his smelly gym sock, Mr. Socko, down Flair's gullet to apply the Mandible claw. Flair nearly passed out from the sock’s foul smell, but since the match was an “I Quit” match, Foley was unable to capitalize. The ring was surrounded by many hardcore objects, including Foley's signature bag of thumbtacks. Flair was thrown into these objects several times. He managed to hit Foley with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. When Foley got up, Flair charged him over the top rope onto a trashcan. Foley was unconscious until Melina, Foley's friend, came with officials to check him. Foley was unable to continue, so the referee rang the bell, giving Flair the victory. Flair said that the match cannot end until Foley quits, and continued the assault. Melina came down to save Foley, and eventually threw in the towel on Foley's behalf. Flair insisted on continuing the match until Foley quit. Flair continued to assault Foley with the barbed wire bat. Melina laid in between Flair and Foley, and as Flair was ready to hit Melina with the bat, Foley quit the match and gave Flair the victory to protect Melina.
Main event matches The fifth match was for the World Heavyweight Championship between Batista and the champion King Booker. During the match, King Booker set Batista up for the scissors kick, but as he performed the move, Batista countered it into a suplex powerslam. Batista tried a Batista Bomb, but Queen Sharmell interfered by attacking Batista as he tried to lift King Booker. As a result, King Booker was disqualified, so Batista won the match but not the title because a title cannot change hands by disqualification.