Summerslam 2008: 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 2008!






Summerslam 2008 took place on August 17, 2008. It was held at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. Here are the results of the matches from this show:




0. Big Show defeated Bam Neely in a singles match

1. Montel Vontavious Porter defeated Jeff Hardy in a singles match (10:12)

2. Glamarella (Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix) defeated Kofi Kingston (c) and Mickie James (c) in an intergender tag team match for both the WWE Intercontinental and WWE Women's Championship (05:39)

3. Matt Hardy defeated Mark Henry (c) (with Tony Atlas) by disqualification in a singles match for the ECW Championship (00:32)

4. CM Punk (c) defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield in a singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship (11:52)

5. Triple H (c) defeated The Great Khali (with Ranjin Singh) in a singles match for the WWE Championship (10:00)

6. Batista defeated John Cena in a singles match (14:10)

7. The Undertaker defeated Edge in a Hell in a Cell match (26:41)






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 2008, 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 2008. 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 2008 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!

 

[The Brain]

SummerSlam 2008 was an interesting show. Both title matches felt a little weak but this still seemed like a well built show. Khali was ok in a title match in 2007 but by 2008 he wasn't being taken that seriously anymore. He wasn't a horrible choice for Triple H but I don't think the fans were seeing him as the threat WWE had hoped. CM Punk vs. JBL was ok but I wasn't really on board with Punk as champ in 2008. I think he got the belt too soon and his first reign wasn't anything special. WWE made up with two somewhat weak title matches by delivering two other main event caliber matches without any title involved. Undertaker vs. Edge in Hell in a Cell felt like a big deal. This was a year before HIAC became an annual PPV so the gimmick still had a more special feel to it.

My favorite match was John Cena vs. Batista. I was actually a little disappointed when this was announced because I thought this should have been a mania main event. I quickly accepted it wasn't going to happen at mania and got excited for the big match. This was a blockbuster match and gave SummerSlam the special feel that the previous two shows lacked. It was a good match and I even got it a mania like I wanted two years later.

My least favorite match was Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry. These two didn't look good together on paper and the match went less than a minute. I never liked the WWE version of ECW and this terrible title match didn't do anything to change my mind.

My change is nothing special. I would have liked to have seen Rey Mysterio vs. Umaga. Not a blockbuster by any means but I think it would have been a fun clash in styles. I just don't like when deserving guys are left off big shows. Both these guys deserved to be a part of SummerSlam.

Also I enjoyed the Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho segment. I think most of us would prefer a match to a verbal segment on a PPV, especially a big one like SummerSlam, but I thought their segment was pretty well done.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Major improvement over the previous two forgettable Summerslam's. The Jericho-Shawn angle was brilliant. I said in the previous Summerslam thread that these were weird times for the WWE, 2007 - 2010 is my least favourite period in the WWE, but Jericho & Shawn's feud is my favourite thing to come out of that time along with Taker vs. Michaels at WM 25. I wonder why didn't they do this angle on Raw and have the Unsanctioned Street Fight they had at Unforgiven, here instead? It would've been more fitting and more memorable if it had taken place on a bigger stage like Summerslam.

Favourite match: It's between the two main events, Cena vs. Batista and the Hell in a Cell match, both which were great. But I remember being more excited for Cena vs. Batista because I always wanted to see the two guys that came out of Wrestlemania 21 the WWE's newest top stars, finally hook it up in the ring with each other, so Batista vs. Cena.

Least-Favourite match: Hardy vs. Henry. I also didn't care for WWECW, I think I stopped watching it after December To Dismember. Probably a good thing it did end by DQ in 30 seconds cause they likely would've put on a stinker if they did have a proper match. I also didn't like the Intergender Tag match. That had "Raw" written all over it, not "Summerslam".

Replace the Intergender Tag match with Rey Mysterio vs. Umaga.

I wouldn't have minded what I mentioned above about moving Shawn and Jericho's Unsanctioned match down to Summerslam. I dunno, I just like the idea of 5 main events on the PPV although the non-title matches would be the only main events that were truly big.

 

[Tyrant25]

Great, great show. Definitely exceeded the prior year's Summerslam.

My favorite match was Edge vs. The Undertaker. This was Undertaker's first match back after being "banished" from the WWE, so it definitely had a big feel. The match was amazing, had some great spots including the Spear through the cell. I remember marking out when that happened. It's also worth a mention that The Undertaker sold this match perfectly, as if he were seeing stars the entire match. The right guy won, The Undertaker pretty much had to. The finish was a bit odd though; The Undertaker giving Edge a Chokeslam off of the ladder and through the ring, triggering a blast of fire as Edge fell through. Not very realistic to say the least. Though Edge had a great return at Elimination Chamber the next year.

John Cena vs. Batista also had a big fight feel to it. I always wanted to see these two go head-to-head, seeing as though they had been the two of the top stars for a while. Seemed like a dream match honestly. This is the match in which Cena broke his neck, but somehow he pulled off finishing it. It was a great match and very surprising to see Batista win.

My least favorite match... probably Jeff Hardy vs. MVP. I believe this was Jeff Hardy's return from suspension. I don't remember the match vividly, but Hardy and MVP never really had great chemistry, so that's my pick.

Also, as aforementioned, the segment between Jericho and Michaels was amazing. Jericho vs. Michaels is my favorite rivalry of all time, and also my favorite match of all time (at No Mercy 2008). This segment added so much heat to the feud. Jericho accidentally punching Michaels' wife was quite a sight. Jericho actually said in an interview that he really punched her mistakenly. She ended up with a busted lip. Jericho was a great heel at the time, and this segment did nothing but add fuel to the fire. Every match these two fought on over of the course of that feud were nothing short of incredible.

Quite possibly my favorite Summerslam ever, though the next year's Summerslam gave it a run for its money (can't wait for that retrospective look). My rating: 8.5/10

 

[Pedigree1]

Summerslam 2008 was indeed a great show.. Very good as a matter of fact.. I didnt like the fact that Matt hardy beat Mark Henry.. Henry by then,should have been a unstoppable monster being the WSM of course.. Nothing against Hardy but in no way,should he have gotten a win over Henry.. I would have pulled this off the Card,and replaced with Umaga squashing Rey Mysterio.. That would have been more enjoyable..

Favorite match has got to go to Cena vs Batista.. This is what i have been saying all along.. When Motivated and well actually gives a damn,batista is a fantastic wrestler.. This was one of those matches where it was a joy to watch,and batista and Cena on this night,had amazing chemistry together.. It honestly felt like a WM ME match,only we got it on summerslam..

The Taker Edge match,was also very good.. Back and fourth match,and i thought really that Edge was gonna pull it off and he almost did.. Awesome match,and terrific story line leading up to it.. Undertaker giving Vickie the Tombstone was awesome..

The Shawn Michaels Segment was well done. Jericho by then,was at his best as a heel. Just downright a bastard,and proving it by,punching although Kayfabe Seans wife Rebecca (I think thats her name).. Just a great segment..

I could have done without the Intergender match as this should have been on the Pre-show not on a summerslam card.. Although Beth catching Santino was quite amusing and beth doing 99%of the work

 

[Judah's Lion]

this was the best SummerSlam since 2002 and it's not even close. the two World Title Matches were both okay, but the real main events were absolutely stellar.

it's a pretty significant change right off the bat, but i'd do Big Show vs. JBL. Big Show should have been on the main card and the Punk/JBL match was just okay as far as their chemistry goes.

i'd also switch up the MVP/Jeff Hardy and Glamarella/Kofi & Mickie matches a bit...
Women's Title: Beth Phoenix vs. Mickie James, one-on-one.
IC Title: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Santino in a Triple Threat Match. i loved Santino's Honk-a-Meter gimmick after this show, but i think these two matches would have been better than what we actually got.

as everyone has said, in this and other forums, WWECW was pretty rough. matches like Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry that end in under a minute don't help that perception any. i'd ditch Matt Hardy and put Kane vs. Mark Henry in a slugfest for the WWECW Title. it wouldn't be a classic by any means, but this is where i'd begin to build up Mark Henry as the unstoppable monster by beating Kane in a hard-hitting brawl.

for World Title #1, i'd do CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy. they had a really enjoyable feud around this time or a little later and it'd be a fun match to see on this show. give CM Punk the win.

for World Title #2, i'm okay with Triple H vs. Khali. it wasn't the greatest technical masterpiece of all time, but nobody expected that. it was enjoyable enough though and there were times that i really did think that the WWE was gonna pull the trigger on Khali again as World Champ.

Cena vs. Batista was absolutely freaking epic. i remember being so excited for this match. it definitely had Mania Main Event written all over it. but we got that match at Mania 26 for the World Title, so no complaints here. and i was shocked to see Batista get the win. this match was just flat out enjoyable from beginning to end.

Taker/Edge inside Hell in a Cell was amazing. i absolutely loved this match and feud. Edge never looked too strong against Taker but he was booked as being highly intelligent and opportunistic, so he was able to sneak out his fair share of wins against the Dead Man. this was just a great way to end what was a very lengthy and personal feud.

HBK/Jericho was a brilliant segment. i'm still debating on if i'd have done that segment on Raw or the previous ppv and then do the Unsanctioned Street Fight for SummerSlam. i think that's what i'd do here. have the confrontation at the earlier ppv and do the Street Fight at SummerSlam instead of the next ppv.

so there's my SummerSlam card. lots of changes, as usual. my final and closing thought: where was Orton?

 

[Dagger Dias]

This was a really good show and one of the better Summerslams in recent years. It also had one of my favorite PPV theme songs of all time. There is one major change that I would have made to the card. Jericho and Michaels should have had a match here. While I enjoyed the segment, a feud as amazing as theirs deserved showcasing in the form of a match. This is Summerslam we're talking about, the second biggest show of the year!

As for changes beyond that.... It's tough. I want to give better challengers to the world titles, but Triple H really didn't have any other options beyond Taker or Edge who need to keep the awesome Hell In a Cell match they had. I was fine with this closing the show, which is a rarity for me since I usually argue that the World Championship needs to go on last. Cena or Batista could have faced Punk in a better match than JBL got out of Punk, but the Cena VS Batista match helped add more to this show. I'll leave the card alone other than adding an official match for Jericho and Michaels. Favorite match? By far the Edge VS Taker match! It more than lived up to expectations. The worst was probably Matt Hardy VS Mark Henry. Nothing special there.

 

[klunderbunker]

This was one of the last big Summerslam cards and one of the biggest the series has ever seen. The Cell match was quite the sight (stupid ending aside) and Cena vs. Batista is Cena vs. Batista. This felt like the biggest show of the year and might have beaten out Wrestlemania in a rare occurrence. It's one of the best ever and it more than holds up.