Summerslam 2007: A Retrospective Look

[Dagger Dias]

This summer I'll be looking back on each of the previous Summerslam events, one by one. Every few days I will submit a new topic until we reach 2014's edition of the 2nd biggest brand in WWE.

This thread will be for discussing.... Summerslam 2007!

Summerslam 2007 took place on August 26, 2007. It was held at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Here are the results of the matches from this show:



0. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch defeated Paul London and Brian Kendrick in a tag team match

1. Kane defeated Finlay in a singles match (08:48)

2. Umaga (c) defeated Carlito and Mr. Kennedy in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship (07:23)

3. Rey Mysterio defeated Chavo Guerrero in a singles match (12:05)

4. Beth Phoenix defeated Michelle McCool, Torrie Wilson, Melina, Mickie James, Jillian Hall, Kelly Kelly, Kristal Marshall, Victoria, Layla, Maria, and Brooke by last eliminating McCool in an Interpromotional Divas Battle Royal (07:07)

5. John Morrison (c) defeated CM Punk in a singles match for the ECW Championship (07:04)

6. Triple H defeated King Booker (with Queen Sharmell) in a singles match (07:56)

7. Batista defeated The Great Khali (c) (with Ranjin Singh) by disqualification in a singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship (06:51)

8. John Cena (c) defeated Randy Orton in a singles match for the WWE Championship (21:42)




Now, here are some discussion questions concerning the event:

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

If you could change a few things about Summerslam 2007, what would it be and why?

You may only use wrestlers who were available at the roster at that time or make changes that could have realistically taken place in August 2007. Please keep in mind the situations going into the show such as who could actually have been pushed into a title match, or what songs existed back then if you wanted to change the show's theme music, and so forth.

You may only discuss Summerslam 2007 in this thread. The remaining Summerslam events will be getting their own retrospective threads, any posts regarding other events will be considered spam and you risk getting an infraction.

Discuss!

 

[Wolf Pac]

Like last year, this was another average/ok Summerslam for me. Thankfully, the Summerslam's would get better again as the years rolled by. These were just weird times for the WWE.

Favourite match: Orton vs. Cena. This match was completely fresh by this point and not as overbooked as it would be in the years to come. Apart from a match they had on the Eddie Tribute show, this was the first time the two had ever met on PPV.

Least-Favourite match: This is actually a tough one to pick. There's the Divas Battle Royal. The IC Triple Threat, which I'll explain below. Triple H vs. Booker even though the story made sense. Batista vs. Khali and not because Khali was champion. I actually didn't mind Khali as champion. He put on bad matches but he was someone that I could believe was a champion. I guess I'll go with the easiest answer, the Divas Battle Royal.

I would replace Carlito with Jeff Hardy in the Triple Threat IC Title match. The Triple Threat was a strange one, it had no story and all 3 men in the match were heels. Hardy was a babyface and he had a story with both Kennedy, who injured him during a match and who he put on the shelf for a little while, and Umaga.

Move the crappy Divas Battle Royal to the Dark match and put Cade & Murdoch vs. London & Kendrick for the World Tag Team Titles on the card instead. I don't know what was the deal with those two teams trading the Tag belts around on house shows but couldn't they have just done that on the PPV's instead?

 

[Aquaman6686]

This was the first PPV I ever attended live. I think it was a lot better than the previous two SummerSlams and better than several that followed. The only major change I would have made is I think CM Punk should have won the ECW Championship here, instead of a month later on ECW. It felt like a big moment that should have been on a PPV.

 

[Pedigree1]

Easily a average summerslam bout.. But thank the gods,they got better as the years rolled on by..

Easily the worse bout,was the Divas one.. Diva battle royals just dont belong the main card of any PPV,nothing against them but they take away from other important matches..Kick this match to the Pre-PPV or move it to Raw and have the Cade and Murdoch Match take its place..

Cade and Murdoch worked well together but trading belts with PL and TBK at house shows,made no sense.. Cade and Murdoch though,were a great tag team..

Move Carlito off the 3 man dance and have Jeff Hardy takes his place.. 3 Heels made no sense,that match needed at least one face in it.. Having Umaga go over was the right call,but still this match needed at least one face!

Favorite match was Orton vs Cena.. Brand new feud,not over-saturated this feud was brand new. Cena and Orton worked very well together,and a lot of great matches happened after this Feud. Great bout

 

[The Brain]

Like 2006 my memory is a little fuzzy on this show. It was a pretty forgettable SummerSlam. A lot of big names were missing from WWE at this time which made it challenging to deliver a big show. Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker were on hiatus. Edge was injured. Bobby Lashley was supposed to be a breakout star and he unexpectedly left the company after an injury. MVP had some momentum going at this time but health problems put him on the shelf for a while. I'm not sure where Jeff Hardy was but his absence leads me to believe he was serving a suspension. Any one of these guys could have helped this show.

My favorite match was the main event. Cena vs. Orton was a big match and one I figured would have been a mania main event. Having this main event SummerSlam made an otherwise lackluster show feel a least a little bigger. Very solid match too. My least favorite match was The triple threat IC match. It just didn't click. Macho Machismo mentioned three heels in the match didn't work. If I remember correctly WWE was teasing an Umaga face turn at the time but they never went through with it. Essentially it was three heels and Macho was right, it didn't work. Another face should have been added even if it was just someone like Santino Marella just to give the fans someone to pull for.

I would have had Cryme Tyme on this show. For the past several years people have joked about JTG but believe it or not Cryme Tyme was pretty over in 2007. "Money Money Yeah Yeah." The fans were behind them. I would have put them against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch.

One other change. This may not sound like much but the world title match with Batista and Khali really bugged me. I don't mind Khali being champion and defending against Batista. The feud was good so I'm fine with that. What bothers me is for weeks leading up to the feud Khali and Ranjin Singh were demonstrating how devastating Khali's vice grip was. He would crush basketballs and watermelons making it seem like there was no way Batista would be able to survive the hold. The whole angle was pretty much built on seeing if and how Batista could escape from it. Then the match comes and guess what. No vice grip. They didn't even incorporate the hold the spent weeks hyping into the match. That's just stupid booking.

 

[Judah's Lion]

this SummerSlam was especially average. i couldn't figure out why that was until Brain pointed out the missing names from this, the second biggest show of the year. HBK, Taker, Jeff Hardy, Edge, Bobby Lashley, MVP, etc. that's a whole lot of missing talent that could have made a difference.

still, not a terrible show. just nothing really standing out to me. i guess Cena/Orton was pretty memorable for it having that big fight feel.

the Tag Team Titles should have been defended on the main show and not in the dark match. they had a really fun rivalry around this time and it'd have been good to see this on such a big stage. adding Cryme Tyme might have been fun too. like Brain said, again, they were pretty over around this time.

why were Kane and Finley fighting? i'm not really against the match, but i seriously cannot remember why they were feuding.

Rey and Chavo delivered, as they always do. maybe give it a gimmick, such as a Street Fight or Ladder Match just to step up the intensity to what was a very personal rivalry.

the Triple Threat IC Title Match was just okay at best. Macho said it first, but three heels in one match for a "coveted" title is just a bad idea. i like Brain's idea of adding Santino Marella. he's always been very over and he did have history with Umaga. i'm gonna guess with Brain that Jeff Hardy was unavailable due to suspension and thus couldn't be involved. either way, add a face or turn any of the three that were in the match face.

the ECW Title Match was good. it'd make sense if it was an Extreme Rules Match, you know, since it was the ECW Title. and i'd have preferred CM Punk winning on a major stage. but otherwise, this was a fun feud.

Triple H vs. King Booker was decent enough. the storyline made sense so i don't have any real complaints there.

Cena and Orton were great. absolutely no changes there.

sorry for all the Brain love, but i had totally forgotten about the Vice Grip till i read his post. i do remember now though. even on WWE.com in their Power Rankings, the "academy" would mention Khali and his dreaded Vice Grip owing the folks at the website new basketballs and stuff. it was hyped up big time. if i'm not mistaken, they even had Khali destroy Mysterio with said submission maneuver on an episode of Smackdown. and then the big match between the two happens and there's no Vice Grip. too weird. i'd have Batista win via Reverse Decision when Khali refuses to release the Vice Grip. it'd put the giant over as the devastating powerhouse that he looks like and set up a rematch nicely down the road.

not too many changes on this card. even with all the missing talent, it was solid enough on paper. just needed a few tweaks here and there to put it over as a good and memorable show.