Summerslam Live Thoughts

[Jimmy Redman]

I reviewed Summerslam with pics and gifs here:

http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/ww...and-review.html

Cena didn't botch a Styles Clash off the top. He countered the Frankensteiner by dropping down into the Boston Crab position and then transitioned into the STF. It just so happened that Bryan's head almost bounced off the mat.

 

Tyson Kidd has used the same counter many times and I'm sure he isn't the only one.

[Jmare007]

Trips will not wrestle Daniel Bryan....I just don't see it happening. They got to save his next match for Mania

No they don't. HHH isn't crippled like Undertaker. They can and will put him in a PPV match just to show where the power lies.

 

I don't disagree with your argument Will, but it's worth noting that HHH got his "I'm the Messiah, fuck the underlings" nut win Bryan took the fall off of his finisher, with Orton literally doing nothing

 

Lets hope so but the Punk thing was such a "Know your place" match that I can see Bryan getting the same reinforcement. Also, when Punk beat Cena two years ago, it was HHH's buddy Nash who got to do the honors. I still see HHH-Bryan in the next couple of months.

 

Well, if they really want the big payoff to be at Wrestlemania, Bryan is gonna need heels to feud with before the Rumble that take him away from the title picture. With Henry and Punk being faces, and no heel getting any decent amount of heat it seems La Nariz is the "only" choice they have. It's just too bad Hunter will do some idiotic shit and make D-Bry look like crap for the entirety of their feud. It's also worrisome that even if they get lucky and not fuck Bryan's momentum after 1 or 2 Triple H matches, there's not a lot of people he can work with that have enough heat to keep him rolling.

[Duo Dreamer]

The results of the Summer Slam main event may have been predictable, but it was executed very well. This will push Daniel Bryan to be a top face even more and when they put the title on him again, it will be more meaningful. It all about the chase. In addition, the results gives even more meaning to the WWE Championship.

[MikeCampbell]

Punk/Brock was what that much lauded Joe/Angle TNA Lockdown match should have been. They had a wrestling match, with some clear MMA influence, but kept it in the realm of wrestling.

 

The boys and I were thinking that the HHH/Orton thing plays out with the second coming of Evolution. HHH in the Flair role, and Orton in the HHH role. They could scoop up Ryback for the Batista role, and perhaps a newly ripped Kassius Ohono in the Orton role.

[Jmare007]

Punk/Brock was what that much lauded Joe/Angle TNA Lockdown match should have been. They had a wrestling match, with some clear MMA influence, but kept it in the realm of wrestling.

 

The boys and I were thinking that the HHH/Orton thing plays out with the second coming of Evolution. HHH in the Flair role, and Orton in the HHH role. They could scoop up Ryback for the Batista role, and perhaps a newly ripped Kassius Ohono in the Orton role.

He's looking like this

[anarchistxx]

I've only see Daniel Bryan vs John Cena, which was truly a wonderful match. Innovative, unpredictable, the crowd was molten, there were twists and turns. Bryan's condition must be astonishing, considering he can sprint around athletically after wrestling a difficult match for thirty minutes.

 

The ending? Even though we all knew it was coming, it didn't make it any easier to take. They threw away an incredible moment, a huge payoff for the fans. Couldn't they have just done it on Raw the next night? They would have got all the buzz with it happening on live television, without spoiling what was a really emotional and heartening ending to SS.

 

They are going to justify it by saying the plan is for Daniel Bryan to win the title again eventually, but after a few months feuding with Triple-H we'll soon see where his heat has gone. They wasted the one chance for me. Typical for WWE though, they never capitalise on these possibly defining moments like they should. Maybe HHH just wants a Wrestlemania match with Bryan so he can steal the show for once.

 

Full of praise for the match though, easily the best I have seen this year.

[Matt D]

It would have meant less if it didn't spoil the moment.

[WingedEagle]

Absolutely. Without the celebration, confetti, and thanks to mom & dad in the camera its impact is not at all the same.

[Log]

Bottom line: As long as Bryan is standing tall with the WWE title some time in the near future (Rumble? Mania?), the stuff last night will all be worth it.

 

I mean, really, we all knew it was coming. If it is part of a bigger plan, then I'm glad they stuck to it and didn't do their usual thing of panicking and changing direction when people catch on to their plans.

[Matt D]

Absolutely. Without the celebration, confetti, and thanks to mom & dad in the camera its impact is not at all the same.

Frankly it's the most honestly heelish, emotion-generating thing done in the WWE since, what? Punk cashing in on Hardy?

[anarchistxx]

Frankly it's the most honestly heelish, emotion-generating thing done in the WWE since, what? Punk cashing in on Hardy?

The problem is, it doesn't make me hate Randy Orton, it makes me hate the WWE booking team.

 

Bottom line: As long as Bryan is standing tall with the WWE title some time in the near future (Rumble? Mania?), the stuff last night will all be worth it.

Does anyone have any faith in this, especially since HHH is involved? Once he is through with Bryan, the momentum will be lost and the moment won't be the same.

[Death From Above]

We should book our own show with anarchistxx vs. Johnny Sorrow in a written opinions on a pole match someday. Guy who hates things vs. guy who likes things feud.

[Matt D]

The problem is, it doesn't make me hate Randy Orton, it makes me hate the WWE booking team.

I bet it makes you root for Bryan all the more when he finally gets his chance for retribution.

[bradhindsight]

Quite an emotional ride at the end of the match. You get the surprise CLEAN pin (this cannot be stated enough - even Punk's MitB win had a lame finish, Cena paralyzed from a distraction so he walks into a GTS and acts knocked out) - Bryan's reaction is priceless and then HHH is pointing around, shaking hands and celebrating. You're waiting for him to turn, then relaxing when the confetti comes out because it seems like the show is over. Then Orton comes out but turns away before Bryan starts yelling at him to cash in. Finally you get the turn (I don't know why we need a HHH heel character in 2013 but this was pretty good).

 

Bryan looked liked a beast here. Orton looks the worst, given he didn't hit a move, but that's ok here since he turned. One of the best endings they've done in a long time.

 

 

PTBN did a live blog with Soup's star ratings, pbp and commentary last night. Was a blast:

 

SummerSlam PTBN Blog

[anarchistxx]

I bet it makes you root for Bryan all the more when he finally gets his chance for retribution.

Maybe, but I still think the moment is lost. WWE has an impeccable track record in the last decade of stumbling across something that is hot, and ruining it rather than following it to a logical conclusion.

[Matt D]

It's very possible that this is going to turn into a Summerslam 93 thing. Attention Spans are fickle. This doesn't feel like, let's say, Christian immediately losing to Orton to me. That set up a bs heel turn that no one wanted and killed his momentum. This seems like something far more orchestrated and organic. This seems like part of the rocket strapped to Bryan, not a derailing of the push.

[Marty]

I'd have to assume that they'll play up that HHH/Bryan backstage argument (after the RAW match vs. Orton that was cut short) as part of the reason for HHH betraying Bryan, which would make sense.

[Frankensteiner]

Is Lesnar now done until Mania? As much as the talk is about Bryan, I think what they do with Punk now is just as interesting if not more so. It's pretty clear they're going to run some of form of Bryan/Orton/HHH in the upcoming months so there's really no mystery there (it's more of a question of execution).

 

I don't see what they can do with Punk to keep his momentum. I don't think doing a Punk/Axel feud now helps either guy.

[Matt D]

I honestly think it's important to get Bryan away from Orton almost immediately and into some other feud either against a monster or some other force. I'm hesitant but it almost might make sense to do sort of a corporate ministry angle with Kane costing Bryan his rematch for Wyatt at HHH's request and spinning that off for a few months before starting the build to Bryan earning his title shot back at the Rumble.

 

Punk on the other hand would be a great "mankind" to Orton's "late 98-early 99 Rock"

[MikeCampbell]

Typically, the wrestlers who win the title of MITB cash ins don't really hold it too long. The only exceptions I'm recalling offhand are Miz and Kane. But in most cases, especially recently, they've dropped it after only a month or two. I'm hoping that they do the obvious Orton/Bryan rematch next month, with a lame finish and then give Bryan the strap at HIAC.

 

I imagine the idea for Punk is that Brock is "done" and that Punk has to run through Heyman's gauntlet to get another shot at him. But, with Super Cena out, Bryan and Punk are pretty much the only top babyfaces.

[bradhindsight]

If HHH and Orton do form a stable, inserting Punk in there to tag with Bryan and battle that group woud make sense.

[anarchistxx]

Watched/skimmed through most of the rest.

 

Kane/Wyatt Family was fairly terrible, just a pointless bore. Rhodes/Sandow was solid if unremarkable, and at least the right man won. I skipped Christian/ADR; I find Del Rio to be dreadful and interminably boring, and the ending was never in doubt. Skipped the Divas match also.

 

The Ryback scene was amazing, best thing on the show up to then by a mile, I couldn’t stop laughing. He is both believable and hilarious as a bully, his character is extremely entertaining at the minute, I really like the direction they are going with it. “Ryback certainly isn’t an ambassador of the WWE Be A Star program,” by Jerry Lawler also cracked me up for some reason.

 

Lesnar/Punk was superb, fast paces, believable and athletic. Crowd was fantastic. Such a contrast to that dull, slovenly Lesnar/HHH match last year with a totally dead audience. Maybe Lesnar’s best ever match, Punk was the perfect foil. Part of me thinks they should have given the crowd what they wanted and had Punk win, especially considering what was coming later. Ironically given Punk’s size this was the one time where I felt Lesnar losing would have been believable. The HHH and Cena wins seemed entirely unrealistic, at least in the context of the way the two matches were worked.

 

The mixed tag was well worked and pretty fun.Bryan/Cena was incredible as I have already mentioned.

 

The PPV as a whole was a very good show, the two marquee matches delivered in a big way which is all you can ask for. Probably the two best matches of the year in WWE. Undercard was either underwhelming or I didn’t care.

 

Can’t believe RVD didn’t even make the card. Why bring a guy back under all that fanfare and then just throw him on the pre-show? The Shield as well, all that push and then they aren’t on the second biggest card of the year. No consistency whatsoever with the booking.

[Tim Cooke]

Punk/Lesnar was fantastic. MOTN for me. The kimura reversal into a cross armbreaker got a reaction I don't think I've ever seen for such a technical hold. Reversals of submission finishers often get pops but this was like reaction that Tamura or Han would get in RINGS for a cool reversal. One of the most brutal WWE matches I've seen.

 

Cena/Bryan was excellent. I think Cena's arm was much more fucked up than he lead on. He took all of the kicks but whenever Bryan went for his submission finisher, there was a tentativeness from both guys. There was no way to preplan for this, but I think a Fujiwara armbar would have worked equally well in popping the crowd and taking it easier on Cena's elbow if they had time to hype that as something Bryan was going to use as a strategy. I would have been fine with Orton cashing in (though the optimal thing to make Bryan in one night would have been to beat him as well) but the HHH involvement does nothing for me. It means more mic time for HHH, more wrestling, etc. That's the last thing Raw needs.

[MJH]

Is Lesnar now done until Mania? As much as the talk is about Bryan, I think what they do with Punk now is just as interesting if not more so. [...] I don't see what they can do with Punk to keep his momentum. I don't think doing a Punk/Axel feud now helps either guy.

Well the most glaring issue with Punk/Lesnar was that Punk didn't learn. The angles leading into the match showed that Punk can go relatively toe-to-toe and stand a chance if he ignores his want to get Heyman, and the match itself was fairly back-and-forth. But I lost count of the number of transitions based around Punk going after Heyman and allowing Lesnar to take over again, (and again, and again)... and Punk never learnt.

 

You had two options to play that out: Punk eventually learns to ignore Heyman long enough to maintain the advantage and win, or Heyman gets his and it's almost worthy of Punk getting distracted. Heyman "getting his" was a punch and a few seconds in the Anaconda Vice when there was a chair lying there, steps outside, a GTS, something Punk could've done that was far bigger. I mean, sure, you're limited by what bump Heyman can take but one big shot on the second biggest show of the year for a guy he really likes etc? I'm actually kind of amazed they didn't incorporate a ladder and allow Punk to do something to Heyman with it playing off the turn.

 

Maybe that's coming... but you can only do it vs. Curtis Axel, and, I mean, Curtis Axel? On a B-show? Lesnar's on a four-match-per-annum deal and has one left (which has to be Mania, and probably not against Punk even though this match has an easy rematch in how it ended).

 

That aside, it was still a strong match, though I'm with Dylan and think the Cena match was far more chaotic and fresh, even with the stupid finish.

 

As for the rest? I've no problems with the finish of the show. Cena/Bryan was strong too and they left plenty in the locker to have a bigger match later if needs be. Whether that's foresight or Cena's injury, but still, it beats blowing their load here as might have been the case. Cena's MITB and (especially) Raw matches vs. Punk were much more all-out, for instance. I don't think the crowd were reacting to the match so much, rather than just chanting (they notably dipped in the middle) but that's the nature of them nowadays really. I do hope they use the flying knee as a new hot KO finish for Bryan (there's a pleasant irony in him feuding with HHH now).

 

But, no, the top two matches delivered, Christian/Del Rio was solid, etc, and it was a fine show.

[Dylan Waco]

I could see them doing Heyman in a cage above ringside for a potential rematch with Brock/Punk. But a part of me thinks Punk never gets his win back and that Heyman brings in a new guy soon for Punk to feud with. I am higher on Axel than most, but he simply cannot fill that role now.

 

I'm really torn on what I think the better match was between the main and Punk/Lesnar. My initial response thought was Bryan/Cena, but I'm not sure I would feel that way on a second watch