Summerslam 2012: 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 2012!

Summerslam 2012 took place on August 19, 2012. It was held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Here are the results of the matches from this show:


0. Antonio Cesaro (with Aksana) defeated Santino Marella (c) in a singles match for the WWE United States Championship (05:08)

1. Chris Jericho defeated Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero) by submission in a singles match (13:05)

2. Daniel Bryan defeated Kane in a singles match (08:02)

3. The Miz (c) defeated Rey Mysterio in a singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship (09:09)

4. Sheamus (c) defeated Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez) in a singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship (11:22)

5. R-Truth and Kofi Kingston (c) defeated The Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young) in a tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship (07:07)

6. CM Punk (c) defeated John Cena and Big Show in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship (12:34)

7. Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) defeated Triple H by submission in a No Disqualification match (18:45)






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 2012, 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 2012. 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 2012 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]

I felt Summerslam 2012 was an interesting show. There was some good stuff and some not so good stuff here.

Favourite match: Nothing really stood out as great on this show but I'll go with Jericho vs. Ziggler. It was a good way to kickoff the show, it was like Jericho was facing a younger version of himself. The only thing negative about this match is that the story was about Jericho having never won on PPV since his return earlier that year and he needed a big win, which he got, but the next night on Raw he would lose a rematch to Ziggler and have his contract terminated.

Least-Favourite match: Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H. This one was pretty dull and didn't live up to the hype. It should've gone the way Cena vs. Brock went, with Brock dominating the match. Instead, Triple H had made himself look like his equal. 9 or 10 years ago that would've worked, but Triple H doesn't wrestle full time anymore and Lesnar had returned from the UFC, an asskicking machine. Also, I doubt anyone bought into that whole "Triple H might retire" moment after the match. This would've been better off happening back in the Ruthless Aggression Era.

One thing I would most definitely change is the World Heavyweight Title match. How many times had we seen Del Rio vs. Sheamus or were gonna see Del Rio vs. Sheamus by this point? The result was always the same, Sheamus beating Del Rio, and it had just gotten boring to see. You don't need to take Del Rio out of the match, just add Randy Orton to it and make it a Triple Threat. I was thinking Orton vs. Sheamus one-on-one at first but we had already seen that two years before, so adding Orton to the World Title match to bring something different to the match and mix things up would've been just fine instead. Del Rio and Orton would go on to feud a couple of months later anyway. I know we'd have two Triple Threat matches for both World Titles on the card, but we've seen two of the same matches for both belts on PPV's before.

 

[Pedigree1]

Pretty decent Summerslam,very well done.. The Jericho vs Ziggles match was pretty good.. Ziggler has always been a great wrestler,but IMO he should have gone over Jericho at summerslam.. That would have really been great for ziggler had that happened IMO.. Jericho didnt need the rub here..

Having Orton inserted into the WHC match,would have made it much better.. ADR was never expected to dethrone Sheamus as champion,we all knew that.. But having Orton inserted into it,would have made the match a little more difficult to predict..

Trips vs Brock match,was okay.. While i didnt like the fact that Triple H made himself look like his equal which would have been fine around WM18 time,this was 10 years later. Brock a wrecking ball,former UFC champion,would have eaten Triple H alive.. But in the end Brock going over was obviously the right call and i would have been mad as the most rabid Triple H fan if he had gone over

 

[The Brain]

SummerSlam 2012 had a pretty solid build but I need to give this show another look. I remember getting home just in time for the replay after a long weekend out of town and I was having a hard time staying awake for it. I never did give this a proper viewing.

I'll shock you guys. I think my favorite match was Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio. I really don't understand why so many on this forum hated that feud. I thought it was well done and progressed nicely over the weeks. They're both good in the ring but a lot of our members like to pick on these two for some reason. My least favorite match was Rey Mysterio vs. Miz. Unlike the good build Sheamus and Del Rio got this match was just kind of thrown together out of nowhere. I started losing interest in Mysterio around this time and Miz had been in a funk for a while. This one just didn't do much for me.

Where was Randy Orton? It's odd that he was just left off the show. I believe he served a suspension over the summer but he was back by SummerSlam if I remember correctly. Maybe they didn't want to welcome him back with a big PPV match after the suspension. I would have at least squeezed him in their for a match against either Cody Rhodes or Wade Barrett, preferably Barrett but I can't keep track of his injuries so I'm not sure if he was available.

 

[Judah's Lion]

Where was Randy Orton? It's odd that he was just left off the show. I believe he served a suspension over the summer but he was back by SummerSlam if I remember correctly. Maybe they didn't want to welcome him back with a big PPV match after the suspension. I would have at least squeezed him in their for a match against either Cody Rhodes or Wade Barrett, preferably Barrett but I can't keep track of his injuries so I'm not sure if he was available.

if my memory serves correctly, Randy Orton was in fact serving a suspension due to a wellness policy violation and Barrett was injured. this was that major injury that sidelined him right in the middle of his big feud with Orton in fact when many expected him to win MITB. so those two guys were both unavailable for this year's event.

pretty solid SummerSlam again here. but i'd do quite a few changes anyway. between this SummerSlam and the next WrestleMania (29), the matches just seemed so predictable (which is NOT always a bad thing) and mostly lackluster. the fact that many dubbed, and rightly so, Mania 29 as Rematch-Mania due to what happened at Mania 28 and SummerSlam 2012 is very telling. so i'd revamp the majority of this card.

starting with Jericho vs. Ziggler. i actually really liked this match and the storyline going into it. but i'd make a pretty big change. i'd do this match Career vs. MITB Briefcase and let Ziggler win on the big stage. Jericho was gone the next night on Raw anyway so i'd do it here with a bigger stage and bigger audience.

Cesaro vs. Santino for the US Title should have been on the main card.

Mysterio vs. Miz for the IC Title was okay. i wasn't too impressed with the match or the storyline. Mysterio was going thru multiple injuries (big surprise) and Miz was losing or had lost most of his steam by this point. maybe i'd add in Alberto Del Rio just to keep him on the card. and toss in Cody Rhodes while you're at it and make it a Fatal Fourway Match. all 4 of these guys have histories with each other so it'd be a fun way to contest for the IC Title.

R-Truth and Kofi Kingston vs. the Prime Time Players was fun for what it was so i'd keep it exactly the same.

Kane vs. Daniel Bryan was not what i had hoped for and quite frankly was a match that should have happened later in their story together. this is where i would have wanted to have CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan for the World Title in their first one-on-one match in the WWE. this would be similar to Cena vs. Batista from a few years ago as far as dream matches go and seeing how similar their career paths were. so i'd do that for the World Title.

this leaves quite a few names thrown together for the other World Title; Sheamus, Big Show, Kane, John Cena and Triple H, to be exact. maybe add one more name and make it a Six Pack Elimination Match. maybe Mark Henry?

i know what you're thinking... how Triple H? he was in a match. that'd be one of my biggest changes. 10 years after their first great match together, i'd do Brock Lesnar vs. the Rock!! this would let Brock Lesnar continue his streak of dominance. i'd have Brock Lesnar defeat Big Show, Rock and Taker all leading up to WrestleMania when he then would face Triple H for the FIRST TIME!. so Brock vs. Rock happens here. i bet Rock could have done this even with his movie and promotional schedule. and Brock being one of the biggest stars of the UFC and Rock being one of the biggest stars of Hollywood makes this an even bigger blockbuster match than the one they had ten years earlier.

so my SummerSlam 2012 would have looked very differently from the one we got, but i think some of the matches i've booked would have been even bigger and set up Mania 29 even that much better too.

 

[Dagger Dias]

This is my least favorite of the Staples Center Era Summerslam events. It was a big step down for me from the 2011 show, which was much better. The Miz VS Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship was my least favorite match by far. I dislike Rey and hate Miz so this match did not interest me whatsoever. I would have had Rey win the match, but it wouldn't have made it much better. Unfortunately no one really comes to mind who could have been in the match in Miz's place. He shouldn't have won the belt in the first place let alone retain it here though.

The rest of the show was alright. Trips VS Lesnar did not live up to expectations for me and should NOT have gone on last. The WWE Championship match should have. I also would not have included Big Show in this match. Punk and Cena had already faced each other before, but Big Show was not needed here. Then there's Alberto VS Sheamus.... I'm in the minority here, but I liked this feud. I'm with Brain on this one. This feud got way too much hate and that never made sense. I also would have wanted to see the US Championship match make it onto the main card. Title matches should not be pre-show matches.

 

[klunderbunker]

The main event was where Brock Lesnar's push went off the rails. His first match saw him dominate John Cena for fifteen minutes but HHH of course gets to stand toe to toe with him. You know, because HHH is a MAN and the GAME and the KING OF KINGS, which means that he can hang in a fight with a monster like Lesnar. And in case you didn't get the idea here, we got to watch it TWO MORE TIMES.

Other than that....there isn't much that stands out on this show. CEna vs. Punk vs. Big Show is there and doesn't need Big Show (but he's the WORLD'S LARGEST ATHLETE so people want to see him right?) to be interesting. Other than that we have a match in the never ending Sheamus vs. Del Rio feud and a bunch of other meaningless matches. It was a one match show and that match was ok at best.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

Disappointing show. Best match was probably Jericho/Ziggler. Worst match in terms of living up to the hype was Lesnar/HHH, but even Punk/Cena/Big Show fell flat.

Big Show was in the title match because they didn't want to do CM Punk vs John Cena for the second straight year, so they tried to do something a little different. This was the PPV right after CM Punk turned heel on The Rock at RAW 1,000 if I remember correctly. They made this show predictable by having Cena win the Money In The Bank, cashing it in at RAW 1,000 and then the inevitable chase of the title..

I think it would have been better to have Daniel Bryan in that position. Bryan was a heel and nowhere near as over as he was a year later. But Bryan/Punk/AJ had that love triangle thing going on and the "I dig crazy chicks" angle happening with Punk and AJ. I think it would have been best to have the blowoff of that feud at SummerSlam in the No DQ match instead of at Money In The Bank. It was a far more interesting angle than Cena/Big Show.

Other changes, I also would have put Big Show in the World Heavyweight Championship match with Sheamus. Swapped Del Rio with Big Show, and then have Cena feud with Del Rio... Maybe Del Rio could have cost Cena the title match at RAW 1,000 instead of Big Show, and have them feud outside of the title picture. I would have saved CM Punk's heel turn until after SummerSlam if they could, though I know they needed something big for RAW 1,000 (which seemed like a more important show than SummerSlam, to be honest), and they wanted to start the tease of Punk/Rock.

Brock Lesnar vs Triple H
CM Punk 'C' vs Daniel Bryan - WWE Championship No DQ Match with AJ as Special Guest Referee
John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio
Sheamus 'C' vs The Big Show - World Heavyweight Championship