Summerslam 2016

[Parties]

It's a different time now and I think arenas have successfully quelled such behavior, but it's not hard to imagine a scenario at the end of that show in which the fans pelt the ring with a hailstorm of trash and heaved beverages like some NWO-ruled Nitro.

[Microstatistics]

So according to reddit, Cena-Styles was a five star match and the Brock-Orton finish was a shoot.

[raul]

So according to reddit, Cena-Styles was a five star match and the Brock-Orton finish was a shoot.

espn called cena/styles 5* as well. i will now check their thoughts on brock/orton.

 

edit: they have not updated it it.

 

edit2:

 

 

Due to the very nature of sports entertainment, it's often difficult to determine what's real and what's a work. The argument for the finish being unplanned, however, centers around just how much blood Orton lost during this current PG-era in WWE where blood is rarely seen.

 

Lesnar appeared to open the cut on Orton's head with a short elbow while applying his patented ground-and-pound attack taken from his days in mixed martial arts. If the blood was accidental, Lesnar worked it into the storyline perfectly by twice pushing ringside doctors out of the way in order to apply more punishment with right hands to the head.

[C.S.]

What annoys me about the internet going gaga for Cena vs. Styles is you know it wouldn't get that reaction if #lolcenawins was the finish.

[gordi]

The great thing about ESPN is that they break down their ratings, so we can see that someone actually believes the Cena vs. AJ match had perfect storytelling, psychology, and timing. It's kind of beautiful, in a jolie laide way.

[soup23]

Well I am throwing a lot of love at Cena vs. AJ and the main event. Guess I am in the minority around here.

[NintendoLogic]

Scott Keith gave Cena/Styles ****3/4. So there you go.

[soup23]

Yep me, him, and Meltzer are three peas in a pod.

[Jimmy Redman]

This show was the greatest advertisement for NXT that ever was.

 

Seriously, WWE could save some coin by scrapping whatever they're spending on marketing for NXT, and just keep putting out the current product, throwing out a "Reminder, NXT and CWC is on Wednesdays" as the credits roll.

[fxnj]

I don't get the love for Cena/Styles at all. It kind of had a cool finish if a bit hammy, but I'll echo what people are saying that the stuff before that was just another finisher kick out match in the vein of Cena/Rock II. Lesnar/Orton looked like it had the potential to be great if it continued after the blade job but what was there just felt like an inferior copy of the Cena match 2 years ago. Charlotte/Sasha was easily the best match I saw on the PPV with lots of sick looking spots from both and some nice emotion at the end with Charlotte wanting to settle for nothing less than to remain the undisputed ace of the division.

[Parties]

One other wack option that could come out of that main event, BTW: Orton-Brock continues at some point in the future despite the two being on separate shows, and is justified by Shane and/or multiple McMahons being so angry with Brock for the F5 that we simply must have a co-branded feud.

[Jimmy Redman]

I liked Cena/AJ a lot, and I think the finish is really what got it there for me. In the middle when they no-sold the apron suplex and did the annoying 'we both hit our finishers one after the other to reset for the second half' thing that Cena now needs to purge from his matches they were losing me, but they saved it with the final third, creating some dramatic moments with the rana-forearm nearfall and the super FU kickout, and then bringing it home with AJ actually getting the win. AJ having to kick out of everything on earth, leading Cena to sell it like he'd never seen a guy kick out of so much stuff before, in order to pin the man clean, gives it a story and a weight that puts it above the totally mindless spamming of something like Cena/Rock II.

 

If Cena is going to lay down clean it's going to take pretty much all of that. This is the world we live in. It may not be economical, but it's consistent with the style and the levels of stuff Cena has kicked out of before.

[Microstatistics]

Well I am throwing a lot of love at Cena vs. AJ and the main event. Guess I am in the minority around here.

 

I liked the main event too. I actually really liked the finish. It obviously wasn't a shoot. Brock is not an idiot, he wouldn't legitimately start hurting Orton for no reason. It was a great improvisation (assuming obviously it wasn't the original finish) and fit his character perfectly. But people were shitting on Brock for it and calling him dangerous/reckless. The fact that he made it feel real should actually be a real testament to him. The Shane stuff was pointless though.

[El Dragon]

No offense, but if the spot was planned as a transitional thing and Brock just legit fired two god damned giant elbows into Orton that gave him a cut that was legitimately a "no way this match can continue" blow, Lesnar deserves every bit of shit he gets for being that reckless. Those were elbows from a MMA Heavyweight who has ended legitimate fighters with ground and pound strikes getting what certainly looked like a shoot gusher in blood from an elbow to a Non pro MMA fighter in the head. Look at those replays on the elbows. That would be brutal shit in the UFC.

[artDDP]

Something about that closing angle seems like a total work. They never cut away from it and I don't doubt for a second that Orton was willing (or talked into) taking a stiff shot to get the angle over.

 

Personally, I'm sick of Brock Lesnar. He shows up five times a year and does virtually nothing aside from tossing a few guys around because of the "suplex city" bullshit. He gets to swear and use blood to get himself and his angles over and isn't subject to a wellness policy and by all accounts it hasn't helped ratings or attendance one bit.

 

I liked the Cena vs. AJ match and that was about it.

 

Dean was acting like "see, I told you so" during his match and especially at the finish.

 

Charlotte and Sasha tried way too hard and took too many risks to have an "epic" match. It was good but could have been toned down quite a bit and it wouldn't have hurt. The crowd chanting "this is awesome" will just enable them (I saw someone on Twitter say that and I agree). Charlotte will need to work on being a heel because she can't be crying throughout the match because she dropped her friend wrong.

 

Seth Rollins was whining on Twitter about the fans chanting about the belt during his match.

 

Carmella coming out to total silence never ceases to make me laugh.

[jcmmnx]

I'm trying to figure out why the company that's been sued several times in concussion lawsuits approves shoot elbows to crack a guys skull open. I know Brock is above the law, but that's just stupid in the year 2016.

[Ricky Jackson]

The show was too long, mostly heatless outside of Cena vs Styles and nothing really grabbed me like Takeover or Battleground from last month

[El-P]

Holy shit. I totally should have gone to bed just after Sasha vs Charlotte, which, at the end of the day, is still probably the best match of the show. I'm SO glad I didn't try to stay awake to see that great Roman Reigns vs Rusev match. Ok, so this is Rusev & Lana turing babyface and officialy becoming Savage & Liz, right ? It has to be. Because if not, what the fuck. Already complete bullshit than a freaking angle on the PPV. The camera work is still killing everything BTW. Lana's outfit was the highlight if that second half.

 

Eva Marie's non entrance. Damn straight. She's got an official troll gimmick. That's pretty awesome. Now they have to figure how to make it work inside the ring...

 

Bottle of piss. Ok. The Demon's entrance has jumped the shark a lot time ago, but at least he's getting that title. Well. Oh.

 

Didn't watch Ziggler vs Ambrose. Come on.

 

Orton still has nothing to bring to the table. Brock does suplexes. Fuck, Brock was so unique at first, ad now every match of him is like Dan Severn vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara from Climax 96. That suplex city bullshit has made him a total gimmick worker instead of an actual spectacle. Terrible match. Oh, blood. Fuck me, Shane is gonna get more attention now ? BROCK VS SHANE AT MANIA, HELL IN THE CELL !!!!

 

Terrible show. Mania was bad, but this was awful. You know, a 2 and a half hour NXT PPV with a great last hour is perfectly acceptable. These mega overlong WWE PPV's really don't do that dull as fuck product any favors. Cena vs AJ Styles will be the staple of self-conscious epics for year. I don't want to see any match like this, ever.

[Matt D]

I really want to see what happens in a match next time Cena has to lose clean. I hope it involves sumo monster trucks.

[Jimmy Redman]

Also, for all the division has been shit on in the last month, the SD women went out there for a dead random six man, and lowkey had one of the better matches on the show. Certainly one of the least offensive.

 

Eva's troll was note perfect and outstanding, Nikki got a pretty big reaction (one of the things you notice going to house shows is just how over the Bellas actually are, particularly with children, of all people), Carmella actually played a good FIP, Naomi is a dancing, leaping face again, Becky is always great, the match was well worked, and Nikki got to forearm some bitch in the face and debuted a cool new finish. It may have been the only match that left me more excited about the participants than when it began.

[El-P]

I forgot to mention Naomi's outfit was ace too. Really, the women were the best thing on this show, overall. Including Eva Marie. (where was Emma ?)

[Scarlet-Left]

The Universal title looks really bad. The absolute worst it could look; just a gross palette-swap version of the world title. Since they did the same thing with the women's title (though that one doesn't look as bad), I'm legitimately worried that all three other titles are heading that way when they're redesigned.

 

The six-woman tag match, oddly enough, was probably my favourite match, after Balor v Rollins. Everything else was, either, marred by problems or was straight-up shit.

 

I was completely repulsed by the main event; sacrificing a returning star (and one of the few guys with mainstream appeal) to a part-time guy whose own foolish behaviour has dealt irreparable damage to his gimmick. I hate MMA; the finish was gross, even without the context of the poor booking.

[sek69]

n/m got worked by Twitter

[Blehschmidt]

El-P, Emma is out recovering from back surgery.

[Grimmas]

These super long shows always bring out the worst in the WWE. They should keep them short, it forces them to not make everything feel so bloated and long.