This is an uneven PPV. About half of the matches are worth seeing, but the other half are barely average.
1) Shelton Benjamin vs. Ric Flair. Visibly fake. Benjamin has to pull his punches and receive about 50 backhand slaps. I can accept Ric Flair as a ringside interference, but putting him in the center of the ring, alone, at his age, is a joke. **
2) Jonathan Coachman vs. Tajiri. Another joke. The only way this match could be good is if Tajiri demolished "The Coach" in three minutes, but this doesn't happen. The high-kicking "Japanese Buzzsaw" deserves better booking than this. *1/2
3) Chris Jericho vs. Christian and Trish Stratus. A 2-on-1 handicap match. What could have been yet another mediocre encounter between these two men is made a little more lively by the involvement of Trish (who even gets spanked here!). **
Then we get a small segment / tribute to Chris Benoit, at whose hometown this PPV was shot. Nice, but it removes even the last drop of suspense about the outcome of the main event.
4) Victoria vs. Lita (for the women's title). FANTASTIC!!! This is what the word "wrestling" is all about. The match lasts only 10 minutes, but you can see more technical holds and moves in these 10 minutes than in entire PPVs. Even the camera stays mostly on the ground level to follow the action. These two women work excellently together, and - in another nice touch - there is no fake "hate" between them, only respect (at one point, they smile and congratulate each other). Victoria is a terrific champion - she should be wearing the belt more often. ***
P.S. The aftermath of this match shows how badly misused Gail Kim was in the WWE.
5) Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley. A no-holds-barred fight for the intercontinental title, with the Evolution banned from ringside (yes, really!). I'm not a fan of hardcore matches, but I have to admit this one delivers what it promises. Some CRAZY stuff here. *** if you like this sort of thing, ** if you don't.
6) The Hurricane and Rosey vs. La Resistance. Hurricane and Rosey are an interesting, unorthodox team (one looks like a cruiserweight, the other like a sumo wrestler), but after about 3 minutes Eugene shows up and the commentators, the crowd and even the cameraman stop paying attention to the match. I guess Eugene was supposed to turn it into a comedy, but he turns it into a tragedy instead. ** until he appears, then 0.
7) Kane vs. Edge. Slightly better than other Kane matches, because it's relatively short and the action is mostly confined inside the ring. By the way, is there anyone who believes that someone like Edge can defeat someone like Kane in a real fight? **1/2
8) Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H vs. Chris Benoit. A triple-threat match for the heavyweight title. This is a good main event. However, that's all it is - simply "good". Benoit does his nice submission moves, HHH tries to dominate through sheer power, and HBK plays "Sweet Chin Music" (when he's not knocked out cold outside). And of course when "A" (whoever that may be) is about to lose to "B", "C" interferes. In the end, the right man wins and the fans go home happy. No surprises here. **1/2
