August 2, 2004 Observer Newsletter: SummerSlam 2004 card finalized, Raw Iron Man match, more

After the first 60:00 singles match on live U.S. TV in 23 years, and the first ever to a national audience, the SummerSlam show for 8/15 in Toronto has finalized its top seven matches.

The Raw brand top matches will be Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton for the World title, HHH vs. Eugene, Chris Jericho vs. Batista and Kane vs. Matt Hardy. The Smackdown brand matches will be JBL vs. Undertaker for the WWE title, Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero and John Cena vs. Booker T for the U.S. title.

The long-term plan is to build toward HHH vs. Orton as the big match at Wrestlemania. With Orton garnering so much momentum, this seems like an easy build by putting Orton over as champion and causing dissension in the Evolution group. HHH originally wanted that match for last year’s Mania, but recognized it was too early for Orton, who has really come into his own as a major star in the past two months.

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