August 25, 2004 Observer Newsletter: Summerslam review, arrest of Steve Austin’s girlfriend

The story of the 8/15 SummerSlam show at the Air Canada Center in Toronto was supposed to be Randy Orton winning the World title from Chris Benoit.

Instead, the story was the crowd reactions on a show that sold out with an announced crowd of 17,640, sold out weeks in advance, and an approximate $1.3 million ($1.0 million U.S.) live gate. WWE hasn’t had a crowd like that for a show since Wrestlemania. But when it was over, it seemed like the company didn’t want the crowd it got.

The problems are best explained in a letter from someone there live (see readers pages). The crowd cheered HHH and Orton probably more than anyone on the show. Chris Benoit was also cheered, as was Kurt Angle. They crapped all over the JBL vs. Undertaker WWE title match, doing a long wave, openly not paying attention to the match, clearly were reacting to things not in the ring, chanting “Spanish table,” apparently wanting someone to go through the table (HHH’s fault on that, because by clearing out the monitors, everyone expected a table spot, and kept chanting for the spot that never came for the rest of the show; I’m sure his mentality is doing it was to show clearing out the monitors doesn’t equal breaking the table so that it won’t be so “expected” the next night someone cleans out the monitors), “boring” and by the end, the entire upper deck was said to be chanting, “end this match.”

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