What's going on kiddies! Another pay per view in the box. Last night was the annual WWE Summerslam pay per view. In front of a sold-out Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, we witnessed some some pretty good action, and some hit-or-miss angles as well. One thing that struck in particular was the fact that every single championship changed hands last night that was on the line. We have a new Inter-Continental Champion, new Divas Champion, and especially a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. However, I will go into the event in detail for those that don't have the WWE Network (folks, as they keeping pushing, it's only $9.99!!).
First up was the Inter-continental Title match between champion The Miz and challenger Dolph Ziggler. Easily the most under appreciated match of the night, both guys performed well and it was enough to keep the people engaged in the match. Yes, Miz has a very annoying new "hollywood" gimmick (be for real, Mike Mizanin has done the small screen and DVDs/Blu-Rays, but big screens???), but his in-ring work has been actually better then before when he left to do The Marine 4 (coming soon with co-worker Danielle 'Summer Rae" Moinet). However, Dolph, a former two-time World Champion, is easily one of the best all-around performers on the entire roster, and has been for the past couple of years. These two young guys put on a pretty good match for the viewers, but at the end it was the Zig-Zag of Ziggler that was the death blow in the championship reign of The Miz, which by the way was only about forty-five or so days.
Next up, the Divas match. On paper, this match between champion AJ Lee and challenger (and former champion) Paige had the makings to be a Divas classic. Although it was short of that feat, it was still not a bad match. The build up to the match had Paige getting the best of AJ in confrontations, and referring to Lee as her "frienemy" (get it, friend and enemy?? Blame that on creative, folks). Arguably the two best overall Divas in the locker room (save for Natalya, Naomi, and a currently injured Tamina Snuka), these two have exchanged the title twice. When Paige graduated from NXT to the main roster the night after Wrestlemania, she defeated AJ, only for AJ to defeat the nearly-ten year veteran the night after Payback in much the same fashion. This is reality is their first regularly sanctioned match on a card. These two young ladies didn't have a very long match, and quite frankly it was very underwhelming, but Paige, or her twenty-second birthday yesterday (the youngest star on the entire main roster) won her second Divas Title with a cradle DDT that she called "The Ram-Paige." Although I would love to see another match between the two because of how good this rivalry can be, rumors are that AJ may be on her way out of the company to start a family with her newlywed husband, the severely-missed CM Punk. Only time will tell.
Next was a big time encounter between former members of the very impressive faction The Shield, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. This was a match I had been wanting to seen on a big stage like WWE due to their indie histories and how great both guys are as in-ring performers. Rollins has achieved accomplishments and garnered championships in ROH, PWG (if you don't know about them, I implore you to Youtube them), FIP, and FCW (later became NXT). He was also the first NXT Champion. Ambrose, on the other hand, had success in the previously mentioned FIP (that's Full Impact Pro), Evolve, and the animalistic promotion Combat Zone Wrestling, where he won two World Titles. The build to this match was done overall very well, with Ambrose finding time to attack Rollins at every turn possible. The stipulation for the match was it would be contested as a Lumberjack Match (others may refer to it as a Human Cage Match). I had my concerns initially, as I'm typically not a big fan of Lumberjack matches, but this match was easily the match of the night, or should I say fight of the night. The action didn't last terribly long in the ring, although the rules clearly state that if a participant leaves, or gets tossed from, the ring, the "lumberjacks" on the outside of the ring are to throw them back in the ring. Simply put, the match exploded onto the outside to where both guys fought amongst the crowd and then back to ringside. Truthfully the craziest spot in the match was a HELLACIOUS clothesline from Ambrose that literally knocked Rollins into a 180-degree turn in mid-air. However, despite his best efforts, the once-again-corporate Kane got involved and Rollins took the opportunity to use his Money In The Bank briefcase to hit "The Lunatic Fringe" in the face with it to pick up a big win. Although Ambrose has been signed on to star in an upcoming WWE Studios film, I would suggest this rivalry isn't over by a longshot. Unquestionably the best lumberjack match that I can ever recall.
The Flag Match was next between Jack Swagger and the undefeated Rushev. With their respective corner personalities of Zeb Colter and Lana, the patriotic build up has been intriguing, as Zeb has done a fantastic job on the mic with his promos, and Lana has done modestly continuing to get heat for her and her guy (both on AND off camera) Rushev. This, folks, was physical but in the end, it was Rushev with the win. Swagger was caught in the Accolade (Rushev's version of the Camel Clutch), but didn't tap out. Instead the young Oklahoman, and former World Champion, passed out. As per the stipulation of the Flag Match, the winner's flag would be raised and the country's national anthem would be played. Rushev, who had just brutally kicked a sixty-plus year old man in Zeb in the face, celebrated with glee as his country's song was played.
The match between WWE "principle owner" Stephanie McMahon (Levesque) and former Divas Champion, Brie Bella, was next. Nobody expected this match to me a Trish/Lita chess game...and it wasn't. To no surprise this was the worse match on the card, but then again, it wasn't about the technical nature of the match, it was the storytelling of the match. In all fairness, Steph is not a seasoned wrestler, nor has she ever been classically trained (what's sad is that, last night, she looked better as an in-ring wrestler then a few of the Divas in the locker room *cough Eva Marie cough*). The build was all the way on up until last week and the rather stupid and idiotic storyline twist of Brie's real-life husband, currently injured star Daniel Bryan, being involved in an affair with his "Physical Therapist" last week. While Brie putting her hubby's "Yes Lock" arm submission on Steph was a good visual, the match was, well, kind of what you would imagine. The story, however, involved one of the evening's biggest shockers (depending upon whom you ask) when Brie's twin sister Nikkie, turned on her and caused Steph to deliver the "Pedigree" onto an already semiconscious Brie for the one-two-three.
Next was the match up between Chris Jericho and (my personal favorite wrestler in the company since he debuted last year) Bray Wyatt. This was the rematch to their match last month at Battleground where Jericho, in his first match back in nearly a year, defeated the "Eater Of Worlds". The rivalry continued with more attacks from Wyatt and his two huge followers, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Although this hasn't been quite the verbal battle I had hoped that it would be, this has still been a somewhat compelling rivalry. This match pretty much picked up where their last match left off, only with the absence of those two big towers. After just past ten minutes, Wyatt picked up a much needed win over the soon-to-be Hall Of Famer in Jericho. Now that the rivalry is at one won and loss each, that naturally means a rubber match will be coming soon, and this one could be very good.
The next match was a tremendous one in the awesome, eleven-time World Champion "The Viper" Randy Orton against the company's next big megastar in Roman Reigns. Both men actually have one thing big time thing in common: both come from hugely successful families. We all know Orton is son of WWE hall Of Famer Cowboy Bob Orton Jr. and grandson of Bob Orton Sr. Reigns, on the other hand, is the son of Hall Of Famer Sika of The Wild Samoans. His famous family consists of The Rock, The Usos, Rikishi, Tamina, and deceased wrestlers Yokozuna and Umaga. This has already been a noticeable year for the young Reigns. Reigns had an outstanding showing in this year's Royal Rumble and had excellent matches (when with The Shield, they had exceptional matches against The Wyatt Family and the temporarily reunited Evolution). His clout continued to grow when being a part of the Money In The Bank ladder match and was in the Fatal Four Way match for the World Title at Battleground. This match was a highly competitive, back and forth match. Although Orton showed why he's one of the company's best of our generation, clearly this time is Reigns', as he picked up a big time win. Many would say he's not quite ready for that main event spotlight yet, and he's not, but with enough grooming, and continued hunger, he might be in an okay spot. I just feel that it's a shame that Caesaro, a much more worthwhile contender for that number two baby face role, had his momentum taken from him just to focus on Reigns, thus making Caesaro a relative job-guy now.
Finally, it was the big one. The main event. The World Champion, John Cena, defending against the unbelievably intense Brock Lesnar. The build for this match was simply off the page. The sit down, in depth promos between these two made this match a big fight feel, and it completely worked. Not to mention, Paul Heyman's mic work has been stellar as usual (if you have not peeped his new DVD/Blu-Ray "Ladies & Gentlemen, My Name Is Paul Heyman", it is simply FABULOUS and one of the best bios the company has produced since the riveting CM Punk bio). Cena's mic work has been excellent as well so the stage was set for an explosion. The result: one of the worse physical beatings in recent memory. With a huge chorus of boos from the sold out crowd in L.A., Cena stepped in the ring against Lesnar, who has already had a historic year by being the man that defeated The Undertaker to end his twenty-one year undefeated streak at Wrestlemania and sent Taker to the hospital with a severe concussion. Within five minutes of the match, Lesnar hit his F-5 finisher onto Cena, even though Cena kicked out. Cena was the unfortunate recipient of an exhausting sixteen suplexes and another F-5. This time, after all of that abuse, which was quite brutal, he couldn't kick out and we had a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Lesnar dethroned a fifteen-time World Champion. Say what you will about Cena, and most usually do, but Cena is a workaholic. We've seen this man put on noteworthy performances throughout his ten year run, but never have we ever seen him demolished quite like last night, with little to no offense from him whatsoever.
It's not the most popular decision for McMahon and company to give the belt to a part-timer like Lesnar, much less for him to be rumored to hold it until Wrestlemania at the least, but at the same time we all know that if one is about to shoot a movie or two, there's no need to have them hold on to the most prized belt in the company, and some would even say in the entire sport.
What this match showed was two things in particular: one, Cena was in fact human. Cena has been very much vilified for being "Super Cena", as in coming back each and every time from severe adversity to have very clear cut wins. While many were cheering at first, the cheers turned into concern after about the eighth suplex. Kudos to Cena for selling the punishment like he was, and for legitimately putting his body through that kind of torment. However, the second thing of note was that Lesnar is the most feared star perhaps in the history of the business, or at least of this generation. Lesnar commanded the attention of the people just by his mere presence, but once the match started, Lesnar turned on the switch, and it was such a one-sided match, to the point where you had sympathy for Cena. Not in the way that we've had sympathy for him in the past whenever he would take an abundance of punishment, but people were genuinely concerned with his well being. The scary thing about this, as well, is that he didn't cheat. This didn't step outside the ring. No "foreign" objects were used. There wasn't even any outside interference from Heyman. Cena, for the first time that i could ever recall, was plain and simply outmatched. In fact, there was a part in that match where Cena did his "Attitude Adjustment" finisher, and not only did he not pin Lesnar, but "The Beast Incarnate" sat up similar to The Undertaker, and laughed at Cena. Simply put, it was scary and slightly psychotic. Lesnar wasn't quite this incredible in his first run with the company, and that was very impressive in itself. This Lesnar is more mature and looks better than any of us could've imagined. Keep in mind, he left WWE after winning three World Titles from 2002-2004. He went to UFC and won their World Title as well, having quite a dominating run there as well, only to have his career in MMA end from diverticulitis. Upon his return, he has gone through the likes Of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, back in 2012, he had a bloody war against Cena at Extreme Rules, but he came out the loser in that exchange. However, this event will be known as the night Brock Edward Lesnar truly was, as Paul Heyman refers to him, "The Conqueror".
With it being Summerslam, and once again in L.A., of course the stars came out. ESPN's Michelle Beadle (who had a locker room falling out last year with CM Punk and AJ Lee), hip-hop trailblazer Rick Rubin, and the most dominant MMA female fighter in the world, Ronda Rousey, were all in attendance. Speaking of Rousey, the self-professed "Heyman Girl" and her "Four Horsewomen" collective are rumored to be a part of Wrestlemania 31 in California, which could be very, very interesting.
Overall, Summerslam was a fantastic show. Definitely better than the last few pay per views WWE has had since Wrestlemania. The question is now, how will WWE follow up with last night's excellent show? I can only hope tonight's RAW broadcast will continue the good storytelling and angles from last night. Also, Night Of Champions will be here next month. Will they repeat the success of last night? We'll see. Until next week people!
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