SUMMERSALM 2008
August 17 Indianapolis, Indiana
Conseco Fieldhouse
SummerSlam 2008 had a strong show on paper.
Headlined by a Hell In A Cell match featuring The Undertaker and Edge, who had been involved with a hot feud for most of the year. We had a WWE Title Match and a World Title match. The resurgent Jeff Hardy went up against MVP, ECW Champion Mark Henry went against Matt Hardy and we had the IC and Woman’s Championship both on the line in the one match.
We also had the dream match of John Cena vs. Dave Batista.
A solid card to be sure.
To provide us with their thoughts on this SummerSlam and to see if it live up to the hype is …
Greg De Marco: Greg plies his trade doing The Wrestling 5 & 1 every Sunday and can also be found has a regular contributor to But & Sell and he also has his very own podcast. Greg is a very busy cat.
Scott Rutherford: Longtime 411 stalwart and jack of all trades for over 7 years. Has bounced between most zones as an editor or news columnist. Spends most of his time these days offering music reviews and a Top 5 Wrestling contributor.
Jeff Hardy v. MVP Winner: MVP via pinfall Time: 10:12
Mickie WWE Women’s Title & Intercontinental Title: Kofi Kingston & Mickie James vs. Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix. Winner: Marella and Phoenix to become IC and Woman’s Champion respectively. Time:
Shawn Michael Retirement Speech Winner: Chris Jericho! Time: n/a
ECW World title: Mark Henry v. Matt Hardy Winner: 0:33 Time: Hardy via DQ
World Heavyweight Title: CM Punk v. JBL Winner: Punk via pinfall to retain. Time: 11:11
WWE Heavyweight Championship: Triple H vs. The Great Khali Winner: HH via pinfall to retain Time: 9:20
John Cena vs. Batista Winner: Batista via pinfall. Time: 13:42
Hell In The Cell: Edge vs. The Undertaker Winner: The Undertaker via pinfall Time: 26:40
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Best Match: The Undertaker vs. Edge (Hell in a Cell Match) – I know this match was a lot more “show” than it was “match”, but it was an excellent spectacle. The ring work was actually really good, but the spots were so much more fun. The spear that brought down the Cell wall made me mark out like crazy, and I liked the inclusion of the ladder and tables. This is definitely in my top 5 Cell matches, and I appreciate it for what it is. Worst Match: Triple H vs. The Great Khali – This match was exactly what it sounds like: Triple H playing the underdog babyface (a role that is pretty out of place for him) while Khali lumbers around the ring trying to look menacing. Triple H is not the guy to get a good match out of Khali. I don’t know if anyone is, but I did enjoy the match he had against Daniel Bryan on NXT. Anyways, this wasn’t the worst WWE Championship match of all time, but no one will ever throw this match on just to watch a classic. Anyways, this was a pretty good card, so at least this match stood out as the worst and there wasn’t a slew of crappy matches to compete with it. Highlight: Edge is sent to Hell – This was overbooked and a little ridiculous, but it was done perfectly and provided me with a moment I’ll always be able to visualize. It was a great way for someone to go out when taking a break afterwards. Great stuff. Hidden Highlight: John Cena reversed a running powerslam from Batista into an FU, and it was a really slick way to enter the move. If he ever has a match against The Undertaker, he will reverse a Tombstone in this manner. MVP: Edge – This man was the easy MVP of this show, both on the actual PPV and in the build to it. His Cutting Edge segment that sent Mick Foley out of the WWE was beautifully executed, and then the Cell match itself was a fantastic match. Edge showed that he belonged in that environment and proved that he was still among the hardest workers in the main event spot in the WWE. Overall Rating: 7.0 – Aside from the WWE & ECW Championship matches, this was a very good show. Cena and Batista’s encounter had an epic feel to it, Jeff Hardy had a good bout with MVP, CM Punk had a fun title defense against JBL, and the Hell in a Cell match to close out the show is one of my favorites. Definitely a thumbs up for this show.
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Best Match: The Undertaker vs. Edge – One of my favorite Hell in the Cell matches in history, and one that is often called “the last great Hell in the Cell match” by many different outlets. The match is currently hindered by a thematic pay-per-view and the lack of blood. The Undertaker was at his best in this environment, and Edge looked like he had something to prove. Many great moments were given to the viewer, including Edge’s three table spear on ‘Taker. Worst Match: Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry – If you were going to let Jericho, Shelton Benjamin or one of your tag champs wrestle on this show, I could have understood cutting this one short. Instead, the ECW Championship was once again made to look important in Matt Hardy’s “title defense” against Mark Henry. Highlight: Batista goes “animal style” – The end of the John Cena-Batista match was very well done, with Batista snapping and going into “animal mode” to defeat John Cena. The WWE made the right decision in putting Batista over, and I like the way in which they did it. Hidden Highlight: CM Punk vs. JBL – This is a hidden highlight because it was so surprising, and is easily forgotten. Many people wrote this off as an easy win for JBL, and likely a crapfest to boot. It was actually a good match, and a surprising win for Punk (who never actually lost to end this reign). MVP: Edge – Edge put on one of the best matches of his life, and will likely be remembered as competing in the last great Hell in the Cell match. Both men worked their asses off, but this was Edge’s night to shine. Overall Rating: 6.5 – This rating is elevated by a great John Cena-Batista match, a surprisingly good CM Punk-JBL match and, of course, a classic between Edge and The Undertaker. I strongly recommend checking it out.
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Best Match: Undertaker vs. Edge (Hell in a Cell Match) – A lot of people have given this match shit for being goofy and overbooked in the finish, but considering Undertaker’s character does it really matter that much? Sometimes you just have to suspend your disbelief. This was all about Undertaker getting his revenge on Edge and he did just about everything to destroy the guy. Not a classic or anything, but a very good and entertaining match that gets a lot of unwarranted criticism. Worst Match: Triple H vs. Great Khali (WWE Title Match) – Another year, another abysmal title match involving the Great Khali. I mean they tried to do some decent psychology stuff in this one but the crowd just didn’t give a fuck and the match came off like hot garbage as a result. Highlight: Oh my God! You killed Edge! You bastards! – Yes, I realize that joke is terrible and at least thirteen years out of fashion. That’s the thought that comes to my mind when I see the way Taker dismantles him in the main event of this show though. He doesn’t just beat him, he uses all of his opponent’s finishers plus his own through a series of tables, gives Edge the con-chair-to, pins him, and then chokeslams him literally to hell in a flaming hole in the center of the ring. Over the top? Maybe just a bit. You definitely got the idea they wanted you to though, and that’s “Don’t fuck with ‘Taker”. Hidden Highlight: John Cena vs. Batista – I remember dreading watching this match at the time because I wasn’t very keen on either man, but I remember this match was probably where both guys started to win me over and convince me of their worth as workers on the card. They one-upped this at Wrestlemania 26, but this was still much better than anyone had expected and had that elusive “big match feel” throughout the whole thing. MVP: Undertaker – I think anytime that you put on as dominant of a performance as Taker did in the main event here, you probably should win the MVP award. Especially when you chokeslam your opponent into a flame-ridden hell dimension. Overall Rating: 6.0 – This is actually a pretty decent show. You’ve got a couple of very good main event matches to round everything off, an unforgettable encounter between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho, and a decent opener. It’s not an outstanding show or anything, but there’s enough good stuff on it for me to give it the Thumbs Up.
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Best Match: HIAC is usually a tough match to fuck up but with guys like The Undertaker and Edge you would expect something decent and this was. Couple of knocks are the lack of blood which usually figures into a match like this and while it isn’t essential to match quality, it certainly loses the intensity it usually brings. The match itself is really good and while not an all time classic, it certainly is match of the night. Just ignore the silly ending. Worst Match: The ECW title match. Ever wonder why Matt lost his mind? Have a look at this match and you will find a couple of clues. Just a shitty thing to do to one of your major titles. Highlight: Santino on Beth’s shoulders after winning their match. For some reason I laugh every time I see this. Glamarella was worth its weight in gold and when Santino showed up with the Honk-o-Meter I was sold. The ADHD of Vince and the rest of the booking team meant we never got to see the logical end of this but the over-the-top post mach revelry was a great moment. Hidden Highlight: CM Punk and JBL. This is the way you use your veterans who still have name value and how you go about making your young champion credible. Lessons that at one point those in charge knew that are being lost a little each day currently. MVP: Cena and Batista. Both guys have limitations in the ring but this match showed how these guys worked well together. One of the few “modern” dream matches that the WWE was able to manufacture and it did pay off thanks to the hard work of both men involved. Overall Rating: 5 – Outside the ECW title match there is nothing to actively hate about this PPV but outside of the last two match everything is forgettable and vanilla. Luckily this was also the OOV that Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho decided to ramp up their feud when Jericho slugged Michaels wife. I don’t hate it but I don’t really love it so I call it right down the middle.
