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Yay Daniel Bryan! Boo John Cena.
Quick Results thanks to FanHouse
1. Intercontinental Championship Match - Dolph Ziggler © vs. Kofi Kingston went to a no contest when the members of Nexus attacked.2. Divas Championship Match: Melina defeated Alicia Fox © with a snapmare driver to become the new Divas Champion.
3. Handicap Match: The Big Show defeated CM Punk, Luke Gallows, and Joseph Mercury following a big right hand to Gallows and a chokeslam on Mercury. CM Punk abandoned his henchmen during the finish.
- The Miz cut an amazing promo announcing that he would be a part of Team WWE.
4. WWE Championship Match: Randy Orton defeated Sheamus © by disqualification.
5. World Heavyweight Championship Match: Kane © defeated Rey Mysterio with a chokeslam. .
6. 7-on-7 Elimination Match: Team WWE defeated Nexus.
The Good
- Nexus Sets the Tone - I usually hate when pay-per-view matches end with disqualifications or non-finishes but I must say that I liked their involvement in the opening match between Kofi and Dolph Ziggler. While I obviously didn't foresee this happening I started to get a feeling that something was up as the two never really got going. Wade Barrett's promo following the assault on Kingston was awesome. Regardless of what happens to this group once the angle runs its course I think Barrett will move on to very big things. The man can wrestle and he can work the microphone. The sky is the limit for the bare knuckle brawler from Manchester.
Read the rest after the jump!
- CM Punk's T-Shirt - Anytime Greg "The Hammer" Valentine gets a shout out I am a happy camper. As Magtt Striker noted, Punk's t-shirt "I broke Big Show's Hand" is an homage to Valentine's "I Broke Wahoo's Leg" from the late 70's National Wrestling Alliance.
- "John Cena literally said that I am the only superstar that can see him." - Brilliant. The Miz is on such a roll right now. His promo was 24 karat solid gold. Hard to believe that a few years ago this dude was just some clown on The Real World. I usually hate promos like this on pay-per-views but in this instance it was filler of the best type. Michael Cole's man love for Miz is a little disconcerting, though.
- Kane vs. Rey Mysterio - Despite having extremely low expectations before the match I actually liked it. Kane looked pretty dominant throughout the match as Mysterio was bumping for him like a champ. The offense Rey got in made sense and the three fall 619 attempts at the end of the match were pretty awesome. Bonus points for the post-match beat down. We all knew that The Undertaker was coming back but I still got excited when the casket was opened for a third time and he appeared. Kane versus The Undertaker has been done to death but I have to say that I am kind of looking forward to seeing them go at it one more time. Kane breaking free from Undertaker's grip and delivering the Tombstone was pretty cool as I was expecting the Big Red Machine to get clowned by Taker. I'm cautiously optimistic about the future of this feud.
- DANIEL BRYAN~! - !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Nexus vs. Team WWE (sans the ending) - This match had it all. Obviously the return of Daniel Bryan caused unparalleled excitement amongst the majority of the internet wrestling fans. The fact that he used a crossface was even more awesome as it seemed like that move was permanently retired once Shawn Michaels hung his boots up. Nexus looked beatable for the first time at the outset of the match but the two teams traded falls until Team WWE melted down after Chris Jericho and Edge went back to their heel ways and turned on Cena which led to an extended beatdown by the remaining three members of Nexus. Bryan was given a ton of time to make himself look like a star against Heath Slater. Miz predictably got involved in the match and ultimately led to demise of the American Dragon. A Daniel Bryan/Miz program is a-okay with me as it will not only be incredibly awesome but it will give Miz something to do while the WWE Title situation between Orton and Sheamus is squared away.
The Bad
- Alicia Fox vs. Melina - Terrible match. Awful finish. Good thing the belt means nothing. The best part of the whole segment? LayCool. I must say I was hoping for another Nexus run-in to mercifully put an end to that garbage but man on woman violence isn't very PG. I guess this means there will be a unification match in the near future for both women's titles?
- The Big Show vs. Straight Edge Society - What a nothing match. Luke Gallows and Joseph Mercury officially mean nothing in the grand scheme of things as they were totally clowned by the Big Show. Like I predicted in my last post, it's likely that this will be the beginning of the end for the SES as I'm sure Gallows will take offense to CM Punk bailing on his soldiers in their time of need. Side note: Punk needs to put in extensions or something. He looks terrible with out his long hair...almost as bad as when he was rocking the bleach blonde hair during his time in ROH.
- Sheamus vs. Randy Orton - I hate, hate, hate the plodding WWE Main Event Style~! with an undying passion. Once they started getting into the thick of things and throwing out some false finishes the action and enjoyment level increased significantly but that was in the final few minutes of a pretty long match. Sheamus got next to no heat from the crowd during his extended beat down of Orton and by the time The Viper got some offense in the crowd just didn't seem as hot for him as they were at the outset. The DQ ending was lame and will probably mean that their next match will carry a no rules stipulation that will really let them lay into one another. A DQ ending on one of your marquee pay-per-views is extremely counter productive but at least it will build to something else, I guess. Also, the lack of Miz cashing in his Money in the Bank contract is very disconcerting to me.
- Nexus vs. Team WWE (the finish) - John Cena is unquestionably the biggest star in the WWE. They know it, he knows it, we all know it. So why did he have to go over like that? The WWE booked the Nexus invasion perfectly up until 10:56pm EST tonight. This match was absolutely awesome and saved the show up until the finish. I'll be curious how the WWE follows up tomorrow night on RAW but I am afraid that they might've effectively killed this angle. I understand wanting to send the fans home happy, especially on one of the WWE's marquee pay-per-view events that finish left such a sour taste in my mouth.
The Ugly
- "Controlled Frenzy" - While it's Vintage Cole, it just doesn't make sense. Stop saying it.
- Melina's Entrance Attire - I'm no fashion aficionado but that was an awful getup. It reminded me of one of Rey Mysterio's Wrestlemania costumes.
- Michael Cole Strikes Again - I'm sure JR rolled his eyes when he heard Michael Cole call Mercury and Punk's top-rope double bulldog a DDT. Yikes! At least he didn't call it a maneuver.
- Commercials - Commenter rovert was being facetious but his comment that SummerSlam featured more commercials than clean finishes had some truth behind it. Lots of filler tonight.
- John Cena's Purple and Gold Attire - Yikes. I understand he was trying to play towards the hometown crowd but that t-shirt was atrocious.
- WWE.com Spoiling Themselves - This went up on the WWE website moments before the main event. D'oh!
- "This would be the greatest SummerSlam moment in Bret's great career if he leads his team to victory." - Hey Michael Cole, SummerSlam '92 is on the phone and would like to speak with you.
- Super Cena - Excuse the language, but fuck this dude.
This was really a pretty mediocre pay-per-view. The main event went a long way in salvaging the night but the ending was so mind numbingly bad that it overshadowed any of the positives that could have come out of the match, save for the return of Daniel Bryan. Hopefully there is something planned for tomorrow night's RAW to salvage what's left of this angle but I have very little faith in that coming to fruition. WWE creative managed to screw up the one angle that really had buzz surrounding it. I'm sure John Cena vs. Edge and Chris Jericho part 459 will put butts in the seats!
See you tomorrow night for Raw. Can't wait! /sarcasm