Summerslam Hits and Misses:
Summerslam Hits:
Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk: This barely gets match-of-the-night honors for me over the Cena/Bryan match. This was an incredible match/fight, with an incredible story being told along the way. Ultimately, it was Punk's obsession with getting his hands on Heyman that cost him, and he took it to Lesnar like no one else has prior. Never once going in did I expect him to throw more offense at Lesnar than anyone prior since Lesnar's return, and Punk had the 1-2-3 after hitting the GTS, only for Heyman to break it up. The tease of the F-5 following Punk going after Heyman only for Punk to counter into a DDT and the Anaconda Vice was an incredible sequence. Despite losing, Punk looks even stronger in defeat with all the offense he took and gave back to Lesnar, and Lesnar looks like a monster, especially with the brutal chair shots and the F-5 onto the chair to finish it. This was a fight from start to finish, incredibly stiff, and well-wrestled by both men. Throw whatever criticisms you like at Lesnar, but he showed he can really go in a major way. The psychology of it was brilliant here, and the match of the year in WWE thusfar.
****3/4.
Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena: A completely different match than the Lesnar/Punk one, but equally as good. This show was built around these two matches, and both delivered in a major way. Bryan and Cena went to war in a match that featured an incredible ending with Bryan not getting the win on a teased roll-up small or Cena passing out to the LaBell Lock, but rather, a double-knee shining wizard. It's surprising that Bryan got such a clean victory over Cena, but it worked within the context of Bryan's push in that he's been unstoppable in the ring. The energy both men brought was incredible, especially impressive with Cena not wrestling his typical style at all times and being injured as well. Just a fantastic match with both men showing what they were capable of given 30 minutes to work with.
****1/2.
Randy Orton walks out WWE Champion: It made little sense otherwise for HHH to be referee in the match and nothing to happen, and while there's a logic hole in that Orton destroyed his family and HHH himself 4 years earlier, it can work within the context of COO HHH as opposed to HHH the wrestler. HHH can sell it as being "better for business" rather then a true alliance with Orton. This seems like a logical next step in Bryan's feud with the McMahon's, and presents the possibility of getting Bryan over even more when/if he overcomes Orton and HHH after overcoming John Cena already.
Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio: A fantastic match for the World Heavyweight Championship. If creative had spent time putting a true issue between the two, this could have been even better, but that being said, this was a very good match as well. There's the spot where Christian had Del Rio down for two 3-counts when Del Rio had him in the cross-armbreaker that wasn't acknowledged by the announcers, but other then that, both men worked a strong match with some excellent counters and reversals, including into the cross-armbreaker that ended the match. A well-wrestled, strong World Title match, probably Del Rio's best of his World Title reigns. It will be interesting to see if Christian gets a rematch or Del Rio moves on.
***1/2.
Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow: A strong match with a somewhat surprising outcome. I suppose the idea could be going into the fall is of Cody being elevated into a World Championship contender with the win. It's the only reason I can think of for him to go over Sandow here, as perhaps Cody wins the World Title only to be cashed in on by Sandow at a later date. Another well-wrestled match on the undercard with a strong finishing sequence of the Disaster Kick, neckbreaker from Sandow, and the reversal into CrossRhodes for the pin. Short, but paced well in the time given.
**3/4.
Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn vs. AJ and Big E. Langston: A good buffer between the two main events, with the right team winning. AJ has gotten the best of Kaitlyn time and again, and Langston won the single's match between he and Ziggler, so Ziggler gets his win back by slipping out of the Big Ending into the Zig-Zag in a cool and fluid maneuver. I'm still not sure why I'm supposed to care about or like Ziggler as a face, but this was fine for where it was on the card.
**
Overall Show:The show was built around the co-main events of Cena/Bryan and Lesnar/Punk, and when both go 30 minutes and deliver in a big way, how can you call this anything but a great show? Both are instant match-of-the-year contenders, and the ending of Summerslam put incredible heat on Orton and HHH while getting fans behind Bryan all-the-more.
The undercard was solid enough as well. Both the World Title match between Christian and Del Rio and the single's match between Rhodes and Sandow were good, and the mixed tag served its purpose very well. There were some bad moments, but it was a show built on two matches, and those two delivered and then some.
A.
Summerslam Misses:
Natalya vs. Brie Bella: This was awful. I actually like the Total Divas show, but that doesn't mean I want to see either Bella wrestle. It's as if they've only regressed as they've become veterans, and despite Natalya's efforts, she couldn't get anything from Brie here. An embarrassment that didn't belong on PPV.
1/4*.
Bray Wyatt vs. Kane in a Ring of Fire Match: It's good to see the gimmick paid off and kept The Wyatt family out of the ring.
This was simply Kane dominating Bray until Harper and Rowan could get into the ring. It gives Bray a victory in his PPV debut, but it wasn't a good one. The post-match angle was decent, and it will be intriguing to see what happens when Kane returns. But the match itself was bad.
*1/4.
RVD vs. Dean Ambrose: A good match with a terrible finish. What was the point of having Big Show and Mark Henry ringside to help keep the Shield away, only for the Shield to interfere? Ambrose looked weak here with RVD being on offense 80% of the time, and the ending didn't do him any favors either. Weren't the Shield supposed to be able to fight by themselves as well?
**
Ryback:He goes from main-eventing a PPV against John Cena to the "Cryback" role, to bullying a chef on Summerslam. I have no words for how bad this was. It's time to hit reset on the Ryback character.
The Miz hosts Summerslam: Well, this was better then the Rock hosting WM 27 and doing a 20 minute promo to start the show, but surely theree's an in-between. Miz did nothing outside of being cut-off by Fandango, and provided no hype whatsoever. The Fandango interruptions were funny, but the Miz did nothing to enhance the show in any way.
