Summerslam, the second biggest night on the WWE calendar after Wrestlemania. This year had a disappointing one, not really anything to do with the matches, from what I saw, there was no bad match. Little things ruined this Pay-Per-View. It was quite average, and such a big- name event should be something more special. First off, this was a definitive "one-match PPV", building up the bout between Triple H and Brock Lesnar months prior, and throughout the entire PPV. It was annoying to say the least, every 2 minutes, having Lesnar's terrifying bicep right in my face, promoting the main event, over-hyping it. But here are my thoughts on the individual matches.
1. Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler: As a major Jerichoholic, I was really looking forward to this match, although I don't think Jericho's inability to win the "big match" was a very good motive for this rivalry. But who cares, this was actually a great match, with two of the most talented wrestlers in the business today showing off what they can do. Despite his loss, its good that Ziggler got such a good push from this rivalry, building up his main event potential, and now Jericho is on tour again with his band (sigh), its one less obstacle before we likely see Dolph in a main event situation. 8.5/10
2. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane: Once again, an very solid match between arguably the best technical wrestler today, and one of the industry's all-time finest. This rivalry didn't get much build-up, other than both of the contenders having feelings for the Raw GM, AJ Lee. My reaction to this rivalry, aside from "blah", as Bryan would say "NO!". But regardless, this was a solid, fast-paced match that I enjoyed very much. 7.5/10
3. The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio (Intercontinental Championship): Next to no build-up whatsoever for this match. That was disappointing, however, this was also a good match. The Miz brought his signature aggression, Mysterio bringing his always fantastic high-flying style. It was good, and nice to see Miz pull off a totally clean win, nothing cheap. 7.5/10
4. Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Championship): I can't remember the last time I've seen a cheap victory from a face, usually that's for the heel, but it was interesting to see that for a change. These guys are two of the absolute finest working today, and this rivalry has been boiling for months now, which was a good thing, making the match slightly more interesting. There was lots of dead time in this match, but it was solid nonetheless, just not Summerslam caliber. Or even WHC Title match caliber. 7/10
5. R-Truth & Kofi Kingston vs. The Prime Time Players (Tag Team Championship): This was just okay. Not much to say, it wasn't terrible, but nothing special. These guys are all very talented, but the tag team division isn't today isn't anywhere near as exciting as it was 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago. 6/10
6. CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Big Show (Triple Threat WWE Championship): Big Show dominated throughout most of the match, which made it quite dull. Also, I find it incredibly stupid that Big Show continues to make the same stupid mistake of going on the top rope and trying to do a splash, it NEVER works. Its just a way for his opponent to move out of the way, and give him a slight advantage. AJ coming out and restarting the match after the double submission by Cena and Punk (with Cena hilariously failing his positioning for the STF) really lost the momentum the match started to build. Also, we all know Cena lift the Big Show up, we've seen him do it for like 10 years, its not impressive anymore. As much as I like Punk, when he smacks John Cena to prevent a slam on Show, its annoying, he's done it like 3 times, and its highly irritating. I would've preferred a cleaner victory from Punk, but whatever, its main event time. 5.5/10
Oh wait, no it isn't. Its time for Summerslam Axxess or whatever its called. This is dumb, after the WWE title match, any momentum the event had, just died. Cool, anti-bullying is awesome, keep that crap on Raw, but I wanna see people beat each other up for Summerslam.
7. Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H: Finally, the big match. It built up for months, actually years. 10 years prior to this match, on the Raw after Summerslam 2002, Triple H confronted Lesnar for the WWE title. After The Undertaker interrupted, WWE fans have had to wait 10 years for this battle, and it was a battle. Hard-hitting, and quite enjoyable. The absence of HBK was disappointing. Hearing his tweets announced by Michael Cole all night was annoying, I wanted to see him, not his stupid tweets. But anyway, the match held up, I wanted to see Hunter bring out his signature sledgehammer, which was a major disappointment that he didn't. But overall, I liked the match, it was pretty heartbreaking at the end, which would've been fine if Lesnar had't quit the WWE the night after via Tout. Obviously he's not gone forever, like Chris Jericho, but it makes him look like a wimp when he just quits all the time. 8/10
I hope he didn't read this, I don't wanna die.
Overall: 6.5/10
1. Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler: As a major Jerichoholic, I was really looking forward to this match, although I don't think Jericho's inability to win the "big match" was a very good motive for this rivalry. But who cares, this was actually a great match, with two of the most talented wrestlers in the business today showing off what they can do. Despite his loss, its good that Ziggler got such a good push from this rivalry, building up his main event potential, and now Jericho is on tour again with his band (sigh), its one less obstacle before we likely see Dolph in a main event situation. 8.5/10
2. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane: Once again, an very solid match between arguably the best technical wrestler today, and one of the industry's all-time finest. This rivalry didn't get much build-up, other than both of the contenders having feelings for the Raw GM, AJ Lee. My reaction to this rivalry, aside from "blah", as Bryan would say "NO!". But regardless, this was a solid, fast-paced match that I enjoyed very much. 7.5/10
3. The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio (Intercontinental Championship): Next to no build-up whatsoever for this match. That was disappointing, however, this was also a good match. The Miz brought his signature aggression, Mysterio bringing his always fantastic high-flying style. It was good, and nice to see Miz pull off a totally clean win, nothing cheap. 7.5/10
4. Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Championship): I can't remember the last time I've seen a cheap victory from a face, usually that's for the heel, but it was interesting to see that for a change. These guys are two of the absolute finest working today, and this rivalry has been boiling for months now, which was a good thing, making the match slightly more interesting. There was lots of dead time in this match, but it was solid nonetheless, just not Summerslam caliber. Or even WHC Title match caliber. 7/10
5. R-Truth & Kofi Kingston vs. The Prime Time Players (Tag Team Championship): This was just okay. Not much to say, it wasn't terrible, but nothing special. These guys are all very talented, but the tag team division isn't today isn't anywhere near as exciting as it was 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago. 6/10
6. CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Big Show (Triple Threat WWE Championship): Big Show dominated throughout most of the match, which made it quite dull. Also, I find it incredibly stupid that Big Show continues to make the same stupid mistake of going on the top rope and trying to do a splash, it NEVER works. Its just a way for his opponent to move out of the way, and give him a slight advantage. AJ coming out and restarting the match after the double submission by Cena and Punk (with Cena hilariously failing his positioning for the STF) really lost the momentum the match started to build. Also, we all know Cena lift the Big Show up, we've seen him do it for like 10 years, its not impressive anymore. As much as I like Punk, when he smacks John Cena to prevent a slam on Show, its annoying, he's done it like 3 times, and its highly irritating. I would've preferred a cleaner victory from Punk, but whatever, its main event time. 5.5/10
Oh wait, no it isn't. Its time for Summerslam Axxess or whatever its called. This is dumb, after the WWE title match, any momentum the event had, just died. Cool, anti-bullying is awesome, keep that crap on Raw, but I wanna see people beat each other up for Summerslam.
7. Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H: Finally, the big match. It built up for months, actually years. 10 years prior to this match, on the Raw after Summerslam 2002, Triple H confronted Lesnar for the WWE title. After The Undertaker interrupted, WWE fans have had to wait 10 years for this battle, and it was a battle. Hard-hitting, and quite enjoyable. The absence of HBK was disappointing. Hearing his tweets announced by Michael Cole all night was annoying, I wanted to see him, not his stupid tweets. But anyway, the match held up, I wanted to see Hunter bring out his signature sledgehammer, which was a major disappointment that he didn't. But overall, I liked the match, it was pretty heartbreaking at the end, which would've been fine if Lesnar had't quit the WWE the night after via Tout. Obviously he's not gone forever, like Chris Jericho, but it makes him look like a wimp when he just quits all the time. 8/10
I hope he didn't read this, I don't wanna die.
Overall: 6.5/10
