As the WWE event weekend draws to it’s close (not gonna count Raw as a special event) I am left with a feeling of exhaustion, but also excitement. I urge you to not only check out my piece on last nights NXT Takeover show, but also the show itself. When looking at Summerslam, arguably WWE’s second biggest event of the year, I can describe it with one word. Weird. Onto the action!

 

Match 1: Randy Orton vs. Sheamus

I don’t have a huge amount to say on this match, as we’ve seen these guys compete before, but one thing I do want to touch on is that this feud is breaching Orton seemingly not caring levels, which would be really disappointing. Sheamus has an odd in ring style. He hits big spots, a few in this match, but it rarely makes the crowd get up in excitement. Orton feeds off the young guns who go all out with crazy athletic moves, such as Seth Rollins, and therefore isn’t the best fit for Sheamus. I understand why Sheamus came away with the victory; he’s the Money in the Bank briefcase holder, he has to look strong, but this feud could not end quick enough. Onto better matches for both guys!

Winner: Sheamus

 

The Prime Time Players (Champions) vs. The New Day vs. The Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores Fatal Four Way for the WWE Tag Team Championship

Ah now we’re getting to some really high quality matches! I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, The New Day are reeking charisma, and watching Big E dance might be my highlight of the night. That aside, all the teams really brought it here, each having moments to shine and give a reasonable belief that they should be Tag team champs. My biggest takeaway from the match: we FINALLY got to see Darren Young hit some solid offense, and he looked damn good in the ring. He and Titus are a formidable duo, and really bring out the best in each other. If you’re a fan of tag team wrestling, you should check this out. And as icing on the cake The New Day steal the victory, just as a smarmy heel should.

Winners and New Tag Team Champions: The New Day

 

Match 3: Dolph Ziggler (with Lana) vs. Rusev (with Summer Rae)

I was really looking forward to this match, as I believe that both these guys have a lot to prove, and their history gave me no indication that this match would be anything short of incredibly exciting. It was just that; as the two traded blows, I was on the edge of my seat on who was gonna squeak out the victory here. I truly believe that both these guys NEED a big win, and I can’t say the finish destroys either of them, this is the first instance of weirdness in the night. The two get counted out and after a post match brawl ensues I can only imagine this feud will continue, thankfully, as I would love to see these two in a No Holds Barred situation. I can give or take the Lana/Summer Rae face offs but the crowd seems to like it, and that’s the last time I’ll bring up the Brooklyn crowd here (can you tell I am annoyed?).

Draw Via Double Count Out

 

Match 4: Stephen Amell & Neville vs. Stardust & King Barrett

Not a whole lot to say about this match either but there are a few aspects I want to point out. Firstly, if you thought the celebrity wasn’t going to win this match, seek help. Also, we got A LOT of Steve Amell in this match! Since he’s not an actual wrestler, he was a little slow and didn’t get the finer points like selling, but damn if he isn’t athletic. He pulled off some awesome high flying reversals and offense, giving him the rare distinction of being a successful celebrity involvement in WWE. In terms of the other guys, not a whole lot of memorable moments, but I would really love to see Stardust utilized more. He’s a quality worker and deserves the air time.

Winners: Stephen Amell & Neville

 

Match 5: Ryback (Champion) vs. Big Show vs. The Miz Triple Threat for the Intercontinental Championship

Another fairly predictable one, as I can’t imagine they would strip Ryback of the IC belt this quickly after returning from his injury. That being said, I was surprised of how much I actually enjoyed this match. Now that Big Show is hamming up his slowness, he’s becoming a pretty funny villain. I do fear, however, that he is getting to the end of his career as he just doesn’t have the skip in his step that he used to. I don’t want to see him disappear, he’s a great character even in a non wrestling sense, and he’s a Legend at this point, but his in ring days seem numbered. In terms of The Miz, I love his mic work but he’s a little stale in ring. He’s not bad per se, he’s just not that exciting. I would love to see him as a manager (I didn’t come up with that idea, I heard it on the Cheap Heat Podcast), as that would utilize his strengths really well. I hope these guys go their separate way, and I’m hoping Ryback can elvate the IC belt to it’s former glory.

Winner and Still Champion: Ryback

 

Match 6: Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper vs. Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose

This may seem odd, but this was my favorite Bray Wyatt match in a long time. He seemed to be moving a little quicker, and his moveset just seemed all around menacing. These 4 know how to work together, and they each have their moments of strength, giving a clear winner but not really killing the loser. Dean Ambrose’s rebound rope move seemed way too forced in this match, and ended up looking awkward on broadcast. That being said, Reigns looked sharp, as he’s getting better with each month. The buddy team had a great homage moment when they performed the Legion of Doom’s Doomsday device, which had me grinning from ear to ear. I’m curious to see where all 4 of these guys go, as I was expecting a heel turn from Reigns after the victory. Whatever it is, it looks promising.

Winners: Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose

 

Match 7: Seth Rollins (WWE World Heavyweight Champion) vs. John Cena (United States Champion) in a Winner Take All Champion vs. Champion match

God I loved this match. Cena continued his run of incredible form in 2015 with a spectacular one with Seth Rollins here with a finish that made almost no sense to me. In terms of the match itself, Cena pulled out all the stops like usual and Rollins stepped up his game as well. Since becoming champion, I feel like Rollins hasn’t had that, “oh yeah, he’s incredible” match, but this was it. We see Rollins pull out moves we’ve never seen, such as a Superplex into Falcon Arrow, and we also see Rollins move like he’s a cruiserweight. They both had their storytelling on point, as they continuously one up each other, not knowing what it’ll take to win. Now onto the finish. The host of Summerslam was John Stewart, who, you’d only assume would play it fairly straight, and to add to that he’s been feuding with Rollins in promos. In a huge Swerve, he runs into the ring and hits Cena with a chair, setting up a pedigree for the win. There is no explanation (I assume it will be on Raw), but it almost seemed glossed over. Weird again. Well, Ric Flair’s record remains in tact.

Winner: Seth Rollins

 

Match 8: Team PCB (Paige, Charlotte, Becky Lynch) vs. Team BAD (Sasha Banks, Naomi, Tamina Snuka) vs. Team Bella (Nickki Bella, Brie Bella, Alicia Fox) in an Elimination Tag Match

After last nights GREATEST WOMEN’S MATCH IN WWE HISTORY, I knew that I couldn’t expect the same from this match. That being said, I thought this was overall fairly solid. At first there was a lot of beating up on Becky Lynch which I was really nervous about her getting slightly buried, and a lot of weirdness in that all 9 wrestlers tried to be included basically at the same time which was awkward. Once the first team was eliminated (Team BAD) the match picked up, and all 6 women looked excellent. Alicia Fox stood out the most to me, as I know the others have quality work in them, and I’ve seen her the least. She proved that she’s definitely part of the Revolution, and when she and Charlotte hit each other with Big Boots at the same time, I shouted at my TV. Charlotte looked the strongest, as she has in the past month, but considering her athleticism, that’s to be expected. I was really excited to see Becky Lynch get the clean pin and victory of Team PCB. Another group of NXT women shines!

Winners: Team PCB

 

Match 9: Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro

To say I was disappointed in this match would be a disservice to it, as it was a great match from both guys. When it comes to wrestlers of this caliber, in terms of pure wrestling, there’s a higher bar, and I was looking for them to get there. Owens looked strong as usual, and I can’t really complain about his work, but I would have loved to see some more variation in Cesaro like we saw in his series with Sami Zayn about a year ago. I don’t want to put him down as I think he has the ability to be a champion in the very near future, but I just want to see him go all out on a match in the main event Roster. Even though Owens got the clean win, I hope this feud continues, as I know they both have much better in them and they are the ones to bring it out of the other.

Winner: Kevin Owens

 

Match 10: Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker

The match too big for Wrestlemania (uh, ok). I was holding my breath with Taker came out, as I wasn’t sure if he would look like he did against CM Punk at Mania 29, or the first Lesnar match at Mania 30. Well, I’m happy to say that we got 29 caliber and he put on his best match in years. While he was slow as any wrestler his age would be, he didn’t miss a beat in this match, holding his own striking wise. I will say that I feared for his safety when he went through a table, but thankfully he came out ok. The storytelling experience from these two was clear here, in the near falls and submissions that could have ended the match in many cases. Now onto the last weird bit of business. Lesnar puts Taker in the Kimura Lock, and all we hear is the bell ring, but the ref didn’t call for it. Due to this, the ref orders the match to continue, but in the interim, while he’s distracted by the bell keeper who decided he was also a ref, Taker Low Blows Lesnar, and puts him in the Hell’s Gate submission. As it looks like Lesnar might tap, Brock has a stroke of genius and merely flipping off Taker, saying to him and us that he’ll never tap, he’d rather pass out. Which is what happens as the Ref calls off the match and The Undertaker wins. A replay shows later that Taker tapped to the Kimura, but the ref didn’t see, so he basically got away with one. What’s for certain, however, is that this feud is far from over and I’d imagine a rubber match at Wrestlemania next year. That being said, The Undertaker looks really good here, and I hope he has that one match left in him so he can ride off into retirement, arm raised in victory, looking as strong as ever.

Winner: The Undertaker