Summerslam - World Heavyweight Championship - Jeff Hardy (c) vs CM Punk, TLC

[X]

I've criticized Hardy quite a bit on these forums, but I won't deny his talent, especially in a gimmick match atmosphere. The feud thus far between these two has been fan-fucking-tastic, and one of the best things I've seen out of the WWE in years. I may be going into hyperbole drive here by saying this, but I feel that in 10 years time people will look back at the promos CM has been cutting in the same way they look back at Foley's Anti-Hardcore promos in ECW. I'm serious, that's how much CM has impressed me thus far. No one can ever again claim he can't cut a promo, ever.

I fully expect Punk to win here. All signs are leading to Hardy taking a leave from the WWE when his contract expires soon, so I see no reason as to why he'd retain here. I'm predicting this will be a very good gimmick match, and actually makes me want to tune into a WWE PPV for the first time in...well years really, the last WWE PPV I ordered was Wrestlemania 23.

This should be a good one. Ladder matches go hand in hand with Summerslam, and this should be a real fun one to watch.

 

[jwhunt]

We got to see who gets the last laugh on the final Smackdown to get the winner of the TLC at SummerSlam.

 

[GeminiJ13]

Why would Jeff fuck up the best thing the WWE finally gave to him? He will do exactly that and have another shitty title reign.Jeff is truly his own worst enemy and should have re-signed his contract when Vince decided to give him the belt after he has already fucked up and almost got fired twice! If Jeff cared about being the champ as much as he should he wouldnt be going anywhere. Tommy Dreamer will have a better title reign than Hardy after Summerslam. Punk should win because he is better for business, hes the safe bet, and probably deserves it due to the heat he has generated as a heel. Why would they even let Hardy win it just to drop it a month later to CM Punk anyhow? Maybe Vince wants him to leave on good terms.

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

I see a 70% chance of Punk winning this one. Dave (Thunderball) summed it up perfectly:

"Anything can happen in the WWE"

Punk is the safe bet and the most obvious victor here. Now, how often does WWE throw us a swerve like this? I think there is still quite a good chance that Jeff will retain here and will maybe drop the title to Punk on Smackdown. I wouldn't count Jeff completely out... yet.

 

[HBK-aholic]

In complete agreement with NorCal here - this match is going to be great. In recent weeks I've started to really enjoy this feud, the promos have only got better and both athletes are really good in the ring. The TLC was practically invented for the Hardy Boys, and for that reason I want Hardy to win here. It'd be great ammunition for Punk if he somehow defeated Hardy in 'his' match, but the mark in me is screaming for a Hardy win here.

 

[Rebecca]

Punk is the safe bet and the most obvious victor here. Now, how often does WWE throw us a swerve like this? I think there is still quite a good chance that Jeff will retain here and will maybe drop the title to Punk on Smackdown. I wouldn't count Jeff completely out... yet.

To be fair, most people said that about their match at Night of Champions. They all said Jeff was leaving and wouldn't be winning but look what happened. I still don't believe any of the reports regarding Jeff, they've been saying the same crap for months, and everytime he stays after a PPV, all the sites change their stories. Granted, he could have won at Night of Champions just so WWE could squeeze everything out of Jeff before he leaves, but who knows right? If Jeff retains at SummerSlam, people will just assume he's leaving at the next PPV, then the next, and the next.

I do agree by the way, Punk is the most obvious victor once again, and Jeff could still retain. I just think it's great how good the bookers on Smackdown are doing, nobody here has any idea who has the match won at SummerSlam. I'd mark the hell out if Punk won via giving Jeff the GTS into a table, either way, I don't think either of them can 'lose' the match so to speak. Both are going into a TLC, and despite everything, both are going to come out looking like winners - credibility speaking. But hey, never count Jeff Hardy out; see Night of Champions and Armageddon for that. I'll be happy with whoever the winner is, I like both, i'm sort of hoping Punk will win the title back, simply because I prefer Jeff chasing the title, that being said, we've not really seen what he can do with propper reign.

Anyway, if Punk loses, or Jeff loses, I think it's best to look on the bright side and be glad that both Punk and Jeff, are now main eventing one of the biggest PPV's of the year. I hope they let both superstars go all out, because when Punk was wrestling with IWA, his TLC match against Chris Hero was not only amazing, but down-right exceptional.

 

[JBK2008]

With Jeff more than likely leaving, Punk will win for sure then feud with Matt or the returning Undertaker right after. If were all wrong about Jeff leaving, then he'll for sure win. The guy is way over and a 3 month plus run would be cool to see from him.

However this is reality and CM Punk will win here...

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Punk is going to win. If Jeff's leaving, it makes NO sense for him to retain the belt to try to 'swerve' people. Make him drop it like it's hot and leave with his tail tucked between his legs. It'd also be nice to do an 'injury angle' where Matt turns on Jeff and ends up beating the dog piss out of him and sticking a needle in his arm. That'd be hardcore. But Punk wins this, unless the WWE pulls off some ****** move, has Jeff win it, then drop the belt at the next Smackdown taping for some sort of Tournament. Please don't let that happen.

 

[2012isbs]

I picture CM Punk winning by doing some insane gts on to a chair, off ladder through a table to win the match. Then on SD they will reveal that Jeff was injured by the GTS at SS and his career is most indefinately over then Punk will talk aobut how drugs are bad and Jeff is bad then Matt will come out and attack Punk, becuase of that promo where he said as a child peopel knew if they stepped on Jeff they stepped on Matt and how he's used to protecting his lil bro.
I think it's insanely stupid that the druggy is the good guy/ role model while Punk is the bad guy because he thinks drugs are bad, especially since WWE is PG. So now kids will think it's ok to do drugs and we'll have kids doing drugs becaue Jeff did and he was a good guy, where as straightedge CM Punk was a bad guy.

 

[TomSmithUK]

I honestly don't know which way this is going to go, because I'm not entirely convinced that Jeff Hardy is going.

However, I for one, am looking forward to the sick ass bump he takes to explain his TV absence, I mean let's face it, thats the only way he can keep up his "I love the fans thing". Plus the big bump puts Punk over more than just climbing the ladder. Remember the aura the Undertaker had after KotR 1998? Every time he came out, you were expecting something massive, every stipulation added to a match you thought, what's the spot going to be. Punk needs that, because he's undersized and needs that danger factor from somewhere

 

[The Rob]

Well with Hardy plainly on his way out, this match will simply be a question of when rather than if when it comes to CM Punk winning the World Heavyweight Championship. However just because Hardy is bound to lose this match, that dosen't mean he won't put on an incredible performance. I can see him taking a number of huge risks in this match, and maybe with another incredible moment that Jeff will be remembered by.

Should be a very interesting match, and if Punk wins (which he will), it'll give him a massive push towards being one of the lead main eventers in the company, as with Jeff leaving there needs to be someone who can take over.

 

[Cracka Jack]

I could see Jeff winning cleanly, but with Punk totally beating the crap out of him afterwords, leading to him vacating the title. This would put Punk even MORE over as a heel, adding a sort of "sore loser" quality to his character. Then, they could have a tournament on Smackdown! to decide who the new champ is.

 

[big time fan]

i personally donot understand why people are so crazy about the hardy's. i think they suck! this is one of the reson that the wwe is having a hard time now because instead of them giving somebody like john morrison a push they push wresters like the hardy's. get rid of both of them, when you do i will start back watching some.

 

[Jonnie Walker]

Punk won in a really great match.Jeff did some crazy shit,but the best part was the end,with the huge Swanton.Then Taker returned,and I marked the fuck out!The first and last matches were the best.Cena vs. Orton was a clusterfuck or what-the-fuckery.Taker made me freak out as soon as I heard the gong.A very good match.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Possibly my pick for match of the year. After so many underwhelming TLC matches - Edge/Undertaker, Edge/Cena, Edge/Hardy, Edge/anyone really... - the WWE have finally re-installed it as the most exciting match in wrestling.

Despite the expectedly huge number of spots and, in my mind, the creativity in those spots, it never felt as contrived or as over-prepared as pretty much all variations of ladder matches have done in the past. It being a TLC match and all, it was nice that the spots came thick and fast. Even though I knew the results, I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen in the end.

I was a little confused why the paramedics didn't pick Punk up to. Perhaps they were the same paramedics that Punk told to "go around" and they were getting revenge by refusing him treatment.

The Undertaker bit at the end was a nice touch, even if I completely expected it. Rumours that Hardy's leaving and that Undertaker's returning? Put two and two together.

Really, this match was so predictable that it was unpredictable. They crossed the fucking line, man.

 

[RVDgurl]

Possibly my pick for match of the year. After so many underwhelming TLC matches - Edge/Undertaker, Edge/Cena, Edge/Hardy, Edge/anyone really... - the WWE have finally re-installed it as the most exciting match in wrestling.

Could be a MOTY candidate. It was definately well put together and the fact that the rest of the SS card was very lackluster only helps to make this match stand out that much more.

Despite the expectedly huge number of spots and, in my mind, the creativity in those spots, it never felt as contrived or as over-prepared as pretty much all variations of ladder matches have done in the past. It being a TLC match and all, it was nice that the spots came thick and fast. Even though I knew the results, I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen in the end.

This was certainly one of the better gimmick matches I've seen in a while. There were plenty of the hardcore spots, but the guys didn't rely solely on them. There was drama and a bit of actually wrestling moves thrown in as well.

The Undertaker bit at the end was a nice touch, even if I completely expected it. Rumours that Hardy's leaving and that Undertaker's returning? Put two and two together.

I think we all figured that the Undertaker would make his return ASAP as soon as Hardy gave notice. And I think it was obvious we would be getting a taste of Taker as soon as the lights flickered at the end of this match. I did like the way they approached this- putting Taker on the mat in Hardy's place. That was a fresh idea instead of just having him standing there in the ring like they always do.

 

[CENASUXORTONRULZ]

well summerslam is over and beyond us and everyone at the bar was soooo glad Randy Orton won to retain his title after 3 times he beat Cena! It shows now who the fans want as champion and it is definitely not CENA! Everyone at the bar jeered him and everyone in LA jeered Cena big time while the rest cheered Orton on !! RKO! RKO! RKO!
Let's hope he doesn't wrestle him again !!

 

[byrnside]

Absolutely Match of the Year candidate. The only other match I can think of that was that entertaining to me in 2009 has been the Undertaker vs HBK at Wrestlemania. Correct me if I'm wrong, or missing something. I'm definitely gonna miss Jeff. But I'm confident he'll be back.

 

[NSL]

I think this match was great, but it may have been overshadowed by the post-match material.

From beginning to end, Punk and Hardy did everything you'd expect from a TLC match, and they did it well. Hardy shined as the crowd favorite, even though everyone knew he was leaving. Punk did all the awesome heel things that you'd expect, and it worked great for the finish.

Post match, I was screaming like a girl, jumping on my couch, marking out like a 6 year old over The Undertaker's return. I love the idea of a Punk v. Taker feud, and the idea never crossed my mind before then. It'll carry Punk through the end of the year (hopefully), and possibly set up Taker's match at WrestleMania, with him defending the title against either the rumble winner (Batista), or the EC winner (Edge).

Grade: B+ Great match, but you're all batty for saying MOTY. It's a solid TLC match, but it's just that...A gimmick...