SummerSlam 2004 SummerSlam 2004 was the seventeenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . It was presented by Stacker 2 ' s YJ Stinger and took place on August 15 , 2004 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto , Ontario and featured talent from the Raw and SmackDown ! brands . The main match on the Raw brand was Chris Benoit versus Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship , which Orton won by pinfall after performing an RKO . The predominant match on the SmackDown ! brand was John " Bradshaw " Layfield ( JBL ) versus The Undertaker for the WWE Championship , which JBL won after Undertaker was disqualified . The featured matches on the undercard included Kurt Angle versus Eddie Guerrero and Triple H versus Eugene . Background . The main feud heading into SummerSlam on the Raw brand was between Chris Benoit and Randy Orton , with the two feuding over the World Heavyweight Championship . At Vengeance , Benoit defeated Triple H to retain the title . On the July 26 edition of " Raw " , Orton won a 20 - man battle royal , last eliminating Chris Jericho , to become the number one contender to the title at SummerSlam . Also that night , Benoit defeated Triple H in a 60 - minute Iron Man match to retain the title with the help of Eugene . The following week on " Raw " , Evolution ( Orton , Batista , and Ric Flair ) defeated Benoit , Edge , and Chris Jericho . Evolution won the match after Orton pinned Benoit following an RKO . On the August 9 edition of " Raw " , Benoit defeated the team of Orton and Triple H in a Handicap match by disqualification . The primary feud on the SmackDown ! brand was between John " Bradshaw " Layfield ( JBL ) and The Undertaker , both of whom wanted the WWE Championship . JBL had won the title two months prior at The Great American Bash by defeating then - champion Eddie Guerrero in a Texas Bullrope match . One month later , on the July 22 edition of " SmackDown ! " , JBL defeated a jobber to retain the title . After the match , Undertaker came out and challenged JBL to a match at SummerSlam . On the August 5 edition of " SmackDown ! " , as JBL called out The Undertaker , a midget wrestler came out and began to imitate the real Undertaker . The real Undertaker came out shortly afterwards and attacked JBL , until Orlando Jordan came out to help him . The following week , Undertaker defeated Jordan by disqualification after JBL interfered and executed a Clothesline from Hell on Undertaker . The secondary feud on the SmackDown ! brand was between Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero . The feud first started at WrestleMania XX , when Guerrero defeated Angle to successfully retain the WWE Championship . Guerrero lost the title to John " Bradshaw " Layfield ( JBL ) in June , when Angle , then - SmackDown ! General Manager , screwed Guerrero and declared JBL the winner . Three weeks later , on the July 15 edition of " SmackDown ! " , JBL defeated Guerrero in a Steel Cage match to retain the title . Towards the end of the match , El Gran Luchadore ( portrayed by Angle ) interfered , giving JBL enough time to escape the cage and win the match . After the match ended , Guerrero attacked Luchadore and pulled off his mask , revealing him to be Kurt Angle . On the following edition of " SmackDown ! " , Vince McMahon scheduled a match between Angle and Guerrero for SummerSlam . The secondary feud on the Raw brand was between Triple H and Eugene . The feud first started , when on the May 17 episode of Raw , during an in - ring segment with The Rock , Eugene revealed that is favorite wrestler was in fact Triple H due to Eugene ' s adoration of " playing games " . Capitalizing on this opportunity , Triple H began to befriend the star - struck and naive Eugene even making the young wrestler an honorary member of Triple H ' s stable Evolution . However , Triple H soon revealed that this was all a calculated ploy and that he planned to utilize Eugene to help him win back the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Benoit . Yet , Triple H ' s plan failed miserably when during his title match with Benoit at Vengeance , Eugene inadvertently hit him with a steel chair costing him the match and the championship . The following night on Raw , Triple H responded by brutally assaulting Eugene in the ring after falsely implying that he had forgiven him for the preceding night ' s events . On the July 26 episode of " Raw " , Eugene would return to exact a degree of revenge by costing Triple H his re - match with Benoit . This led to an infuriated Triple H demanding a match between the two at SummerSlam , to which Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff consented . Event . Before the event went live on pay - per - view , Rob Van Dam defeated René Duprée in a match taped for " Sunday Night Heat " . The first match that aired was a six - man tag team match between The Dudleys ( Bubba Ray , D - Von , and Spike ) , who changed their name from the Dudley Boyz following their heel turn the month before , and the team of Rey Mysterio , Billy Kidman , and Paul London . Towards the end of the match , Spike pinned Kidman after a 3D from Bubba Ray and D - Von to win the match for his team . The next match was between Kane and Matt Hardy . Hardy gained control over Kane , after performing a Twist of Fate onto Kane outside of the ring and hit him with the ring bell . Kane then countered a suplex attempt by Hardy into a chokeslam from the top rope . Kane scored the pinfall on Hardy to win the match . As a result of the pre - match stipulation , Lita was forced to marry Kane , as part of their on - going storyline . The third match was between John Cena and Booker T in a " Best of 5 series " for the WWE United States Championship In this " series , " Cena and Booker would compete in up to five matches , where the first person to win three matches would become the new United States Champion . Early in the match , Cena gained the advantage over Booker , but towards the end of the match , Booker performed a scissors kick on Cena , who retaliated by performing an FU . Cena scored the pinfall to win the match and gain the upper - hand in the " Best of 5 series . " The following match was a Triple Threat match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship involving Edge , Batista and Chris Jericho . During the match , Edge and Jericho performed double - team maneuvers onto Batista . Toward the match ' s end , Edge performed a spear on Jericho to score the pinfall and retain the title . The fifth match on the card was between Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero . Angle gained control over Guerrero early on in the match . Mid - match , the referee was knocked out , and as a result , Guerrero took his boot off and used it to hit both Angle and Luther Reigns , who was at ringside with Angle and tried to get involved in the match . The match concluded when Angle was able to counter a frog splash and perform an ankle lock on Guerrero . Angle then won the match via submission after Guerrero tapped - out . The next match was between Triple H and Eugene . At the start of the match , Triple H pretended to attack the ring announcer , Lilian Garcia , as a distraction to attack Eugene . Eugene countered Triple H ' s attacks by delivering a Rock Bottom . During the match , Ric Flair came down to ringside to interfere , but he was ejected by the referee . As Flair was leaving from ringside , William Regal hit Flair with a pair of brass knuckles . After losing focus by watching the events that took place , Triple H performed a Pedigree on Eugene and pinned him to win the match . The following match was for the WWE Championship between John " Bradshaw " Layfield and The Undertaker . Immediately , JBL and Undertaker started the match outside of the ring . Mid - match , the referee was knocked out , so Orlando Jordan , who accompanied JBL to ringside , handed JBL the title , which JBL used to hit Undertaker . In the last moments in the match , Undertaker countered and hit JBL with the title . The referee saw this and disqualified Undertaker , which resulted in JBL winning the match . Afterwards , Undertaker started to take his frustration out on JBL by delivering a chokeslam to JBL through the roof of JBL ' s limousine . This caused JBL to have to be taken out of the arena on a stretcher . During the match the fans did the " mexican heatwave " . The last match of the card was the main event between Chris Benoit and Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship . Early on in the match , Orton attempted to perform a Sharpshooter on Benoit , but instead , Benoit performed a Sharpshooter of his own . Later in the match , Benoit performed seven German suplexes on Orton , but lost the advantage after Orton blocked a headbutt attempt . Towards the end of the match , Benoit attempted to perform a Crippler Crossface on Orton . Orton , however , was able to escape , perform an RKO , and win the match via pinfall . As a result , Orton became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history . Following the match whilst Orton was celebrating his victory , Benoit returned to the ring and offered Orton a handshake , telling him to " be a man " , which Orton accepted . Aftermath . On the August 16 edition of " Raw " , Randy Orton defeated Chris Benoit in a rematch to retain the World Heavyweight Championship . After the match , Evolution ( Batista , Ric Flair , and Triple H ) , threw Orton a mock celebration , only to reveal that they were not pleased with his new victory . While Batista had Orton propped on his shoulders , Triple H gave him a pleased thumbs up , but abruptly changed it to a thumbs - down . He then told Batista to drop Orton to the mat , and Flair and Batista attacked Orton as Triple H told him that he was nothing without Evolution . On the August 23 edition of " Raw " , Triple H told Orton to give him the title or " pay the price " . Orton refused , and then he spat in Triple H ' s face and hit him with the title belt turning Orton face . Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff then scheduled a match between Orton and Triple H for the title at Unforgiven . At Unforgiven , Orton lost the title when he was pinned by Triple H . The feud between John " Bradshaw " Layfield ( JBL ) and The Undertaker continued . The next few weeks on " SmackDown ! " , JBL wore a neck brace , to signify that he was recuperating from Undertaker ' s chokeslam . On the August 26 edition of " SmackDown ! " , Orlando Jordan defended the WWE Championship for JBL against The Undertaker . Undertaker won the match via disqualification following interference from JBL ; as a result , JBL retained the title . The following week on " SmackDown ! " , General Manager Theodore Long scheduled a Last Ride match at No Mercy between JBL and Undertaker . At No Mercy , JBL retained the title after interference by Heidenreich . After Diva Dodgeball , the Raw Diva Search continued on , with Christy Hemme being announced as the winner on the September 20 edition of " Raw " . The following week , Carmella DeCesare , who was the runner - up , turned heel and began a feud with Christy that came to a head at Taboo Tuesday , where Christy defeated Carmella in a Lingerie Pillow Fight .