SummerSlam Reaction
*I write the reaction articles as I am watching the show so the thoughts are more raw (pun not intended)
Starting the show off with Jon Stewart is a great way to keep the casual viewers watching. Love that he embraced the “What!” chants. Mick Foley is always a nice surprise. The banter between him and Stewart was actually pretty funny. Foley has always been good at the self deprecating humor so hearing him admit to being afraid of Brock Lesnar doesn’t hurt his stock. Good moment to open the show, but the first match is going to be the most telling.
Orton VS Sheamus
Are they just trying to get this out of the way? Or hoping you forget about a Sheamus cash in by the end of the night? Orton almost hitting the RKO right off the bat made my heart stop. I thought we might get the best present off all, a 15 second match. Sounds like “Respect the Hawk” might be a thing soon. Bummer. I don’t think I have seen Sheamus off the top rope often, nice to see some differences in him. I can’t tell if the crowd is booing Sheamus because he is the bad guy or they just don’t like him. They soon answer my question as they start chanting Enzo Amore’s catch phrase and the “Ole” chant often heard at soccer matches and in support of Sami Zayn. After some rough shots to the face, Orton starts bleeding which instantly makes the match more interesting. There was a brilliant counter when Orton caught the Irish man on the top rope for his signature DDT. Sheamus follows that with his chops to the chest from the apron. The problem I have with that move is it feels like something a baby face would do, no reason for it hear. After hitting an RKO…outta nowhere, Sheamus rolled out of the ring which again, I actually liked. Good way to keep the finisher looking strong without having to kick out. The end of the match comes when they reverse each other’s finishers a couple times until Sheamus hit the Brough Kick twice in a row in a pretty creative finish. I know I was pretty down on this match a large portion of talking about it but it was not that bad. Good action, solid moves, good story telling eye opening finish.
WWE Tag Team Championship
Prime Time Players Vs New Day VS
Lucha Dragons VS Lost Matadores
You have to love New Day. They are some guys who are having fun with their characters and make you actually listen to their promos for their gold heel work. When did it become common place to keep track of how many days a champion has had the title. What a great funny sequence of New Day trying to pin themselves to win the title. Happened to quick for anyone to really get what was going on. I wish commentary would quiet down when Xaviar Woods was shouting, more people would rather listen to him. I think Darren Young got beat by every team just to make the hot tag that much more dramatic. When Titus finally got in the ring he pretty much took out every team leading to a giant spot fest which was actually pretty cool. El Torito got what was coming to him and Big E spearing someone through the second rope always looks nice. New Day got some pretty big cheers for winning, their comedic antics are making them pretty popular.
Dolph Ziggler VS Rusev
Ziggler and Lana have the same chemistry has me and comparisons. Lana in Ziggler’s corner looks weak, and worried, and not at all what made her so popular to begin with. With Rusev she would stand up straight, nose pointed high and smug. I hate seeing her so cheerleaderish. I have to give it to the crowd here. An hour in to the show and the crowd is still hot. I also just realized Lana is wearing denim. Kids, the 90’s looked a lot like that. The match ends in a double count out which would be interesting if something eerily  similar didn’t happen at Survivor Series last year. The brawl after the match got Lana the biggest pop of the night thus far. Even though the storyline is crap, crowd loves Lana.
Stephen Amell & Neville VS
Stardust and King Barett
Amell looks like he is a real fan so I do not think this is going to be quite as ridicules as Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone. When Amell came out, the crowd went mild. There is a lot more standing around than what you would want from a wrestling match. When Stardust and Amell finally lock up, it is a bunch of dodges followed by a hip toss. The replays We are getting from Amell are again, just dodges. Jumping over Barret and kip ups arn’t impressing anyone. Let’s be honest, a cross body from the top rope is nothing more than a trust fall. I am surprised Amell didn’t get the pin. To the people who watched just to see him, they might be impressed, to wrestling fans, it was a bathroom break.
Triple Threat Intercontinental Championship
Ryback VS Big Show VS The Miz
We are 90 minutes into the show and I have to be honest, I am getting tired. Some of the matches have just been boring or predictable. And now we have a Big Show match. Better have a high energy match soon or I may not make it to the end of the night. Miz is playing up the role I wrote for him perfectly trying to steal a pin every chance I got. The match ends with in six minutes of starting after it is Ryback who steals a pin. I expected nothing and I was still disappointed.
I wish Jon Stewart could be on more wrestling. The guy has delivered promos every day for sixteen years.
Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper Vs
Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns
Finally, a match I know will be good. Side note: Is this the first time Harper is wearing something other than blue jeans? Ambrose running across the announce tables was brilliant. The match turns into chaos as in a quick turnaround, the Wyatt family gets in huge offense against Dean and Roman leaving Dean by himself as Roman recovers on the outside of the ring, Ambrose continues to take a beating not being able to get any offense in himself, which is not something I want to see this match. The crowd began to chant “Roman’s sleeping” in a funny moment right before Roman gets the hot tag and the crowd boos. So I guess, Roman gets all the offense dean takes the hits. Former shield brothers get the win. No swerves or double crosses here, that’s what I get for reading message boards.
Title VS Title
Winner Takes All
John Cena VS Seth Rollins
Well, this match is happening now. Alright. Expected it to be later but I guess they didn’t want the crowd to into it before the main event. The video package was as good as you get. Either guy really could win. Can’t help but notice Rollins tights here, instead of the black gear that has almost become a staple in the Rollins attire, he is wearing white pants. A little jarring, almost like if Cena wore tights instead of jorts. Of course with such a big PPV in New York, Rollins is getting heavy cheers. The match started with to many rest hold for my taste but picks up a bit after as both guys hit high octane moves. Loving the hot crowd who seems to be largely pro Rollins instead of anti Cena. It’s almost kind of sad that I was just waiting for Cena to hit the AA. Nobody gets pinned after one AA anymore. Imagine Stone Cold having to hit multiple stunners every match, it would lose the allure after a couple months too. The match is exciting sure, but we have seen a lot of these spots before. Like Cena throwing someone over his shoulders after picking them up from the ground, or Rollins landing on his feet to counter an AA. Of course as I type that Cena locks in a figure four and as the crowd going crazy because it is something new. The point I am trying to make is how wild the crowd would go if Rollins pulls out the curb stomp again. Rollins missed the phoenix splash and landed hard on his face which looked brutal. Just further evidence he belongs in the main event.
The match ended in one of the most fascinating finishes in recent memory. Jon Stewart turned on Cena and helped Rollins win the match. Not something anyone really predicted. Lets ignore Stewart jumped the gun a bit and telegraphed what he was going to do but I am not sure if that fully falls on him. I think after his 2015 resume Rollins is a lock for superstar of the year.
3 VS 3 VS 3 Women’s Elimination Match
Team Bella VS Team B.A.D VS Team PCB
I think it’s insulting to Sasha Banks that Team B.A.D comes out to Naomi’s music when it is Banks who is obviously the most talents of the nine women in this match (at least top three). I assume Paige dyed her hair blue because she saw how over Blue Pants was last night. Tamina tagged herself in which felt weird, why would you do that in an elimination match? Just let the other teams fight and pick up the pieces. Team B.A.D is eliminated first and I think I am terrible at predictions. It is nice to see that Paige is making the hot tag instead of receiving it. It was probably more entertaining than it should have been to hear Brie Shout “Brie mode” and completely whiff. Anyway, PCB gets the win in an honestly a slow match. A lot slower than I thought it would be.
Cesaro VS Kevin Owens
The match I am looking forward to the most. I may not fully understand why these guys are fighting but with the talent they bring to the table, I don’t care. Maybe because these guys are still so fresh their move set is refreshing. Which makes me worry about our main event. The pure athleticism from Cesaro plus the ring psychology of Kevin Owens equals my favorite match of the night. The whole match could be recapped in gif form. Can’t wait until he is back to wrestling in main events.
Brock Lesnar VS Undertaker
The last time we saw these two fight we got a lackluster match with a surprise ending. This time I can’t imagine anyone knows for sure who takes the win. The gong of the Undertake is such an iconic sound now and days because of how little you hear it anymore. Right off the bat I look away knowing we got a long entrance in for us and Lesnar surprises me by jumping the gun. We may just get the brawl we have been looking for the last few weeks. The crowd is truly split here, and not just hating one guy and liking one guy but truly rooting for both guys. This is one of the cases where I just want a good match. I have no dog in the fight. This is just as physical as I would want it to be. After seeing Taker get in some heavy offense, I am reminded what a good Lesnar match looks like. Instead of Lesnar beating his prey around for ten minutes, we get back and forth. Seeing Lesnar suplex Undertaker so much just makes me worry for ‘Takers health, I really don’t want him to get concussed again. The F-5 through the announce table was a nice spot and somehow got Lesnar bleeding more which just adds to this match so much more. The banter between the two then the choke slam out of nowhere was one of the best parts of the match. And then them laughing at each other before trading blows. This is a match that ‘Taker needed to shows some newer fans why this guy is the most feared man in WWE history. Truly historic match. Interesting controversial finish where there is a dispute of if Undertaker tapped or not. The bell rang which got the ref to yell at the time keeper in a moment that really made me wonder if it was supposed to happen (Of course it was, nothing ever goes off script) ‘Taker took advantage and low blowed Brock before putting him Hell’s Gate This just confirms my fear of a rubber match, hopefully before WrestleMania but let’s be honest, it’ll be at biggest stage of em all. Shocking to see the phenom resort to dirty tactics but nobody is truly going to boo him for it. For the first time in an over a year, Lesnar gets the loss.
Overall, meh show for me. Main Event lived up to the hype, Championship match had a shocking finish, and Kevin Owens delivered again. It may not go down in history as the greatest SummerSlam ever but it was one to remember for all the right reasons.
