411’s Instant Access 08.18.08: WWE SummerSlam 2008

Hey kids, I’m Scott, and this is 411’s Instant Access: WWE SummerSlam 2008. Instant Access is a new experiment here at 411 Wrestling that will feature immediate reaction to wrestling pay-per-views. The focus here is going to be on first thoughts and snap judgments instead of play-by-play with the goal of providing you with instant access to one two THREE writers’ thoughts on the show. That’s right, Instant Access will now feature multiple analysts for all WWE pay-per-views. Here’s the team for SummerSlam

• Scott Slimmer, author of Don’t Think Twice.
• Chris Lansdell, author of the all-new Lansdell’s Sunday Brunch News Report.
• Daniel Wilcox, author of Thoughts from the Top Rope.

Okay kids, enough with the explanations. Let’s get to the wrestling.

Jeff Hardy vs. MVP
Match Result: MVP defeats Jeff Hardy with the Drive-By Kick.
Match Length: 10:12
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: I’d like to think that Jeff Hardy and MVP have earned themselves a slightly higher place on the card, but on the other hand I have to admit that this was a great way to open the show and get the crowd excited. Hardy and MVP were given enough time to put together a good match, and it was smart to have MVP employ a predominantly grounded, technical offense. And while I’m usually opposed to run-ins on pay-per-view, I’m glad that Shelton made an appearance in order to establish himself as more than just a pawn in the feud between Hardy and MVP. Now Hardy has unfinished business with both Benjamin and MVP, and Benjamin has unfinished business with both Hardy and MVP, and MVP… well, MPV better watch his back on Smackdown…
Lansdell: Another good outing for these two, they really improved on the chemistry they didn’t have in their first PPV encounter. MVP had a couple of Hardy’s moves scouted, enabling him to regain control whenever Jeff got momentum, but ultimately needed a distraction from Shelton to get the win. Will we see a three-way feud now? Hope so!
Wilcox: This was really the only logical choice for the opener and definitely a good way to kick off the show. I liked that the match started out as a brawl because this rivalry is personal and the brawling puts that aspect over, but needless to say Hardy excels in high-flying and taking a beating, so brawling does not suit his style. MVP’s first controlled period was good if not spectacular, and they worked some fun stuff in. Hardy had a false comeback and MVP got that swank counter to the corner dropkick, which was awesome and a highlight of the match for me. Unfortunately, they were just hitting their stride when the ending came. I didn’t like Shelton’s interference at all considering that he should have an issue with MVP for twice costing him victories and kicking him in the head last week. No doubt though, things were getting really good towards the end and the right man went over, so no major complaints for this one.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ***¼
Lansdell: ***¼
Wilcox: ***¼
Average Match Rating: ***¼

Winner-Take-All Tag Team Match
Kofi Kingston (Champion) & Mickie James (Champion) vs. Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix
Match Result: Beth Phoenix defeats Mickie James with the elevated double chicken wing face buster.
Match Length: 5:39
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: This was a comedy match. On pay-per-view. With the wrong team getting the win. You can probably guess that I’m not real pleased about any of that. However, within those confines, I will say that everybody not named Santino did a nice job of showcasing their talent in the limited time allotted to them. And yes, Santino had the chance to display his comedic talents, but I didn’t pay forty bucks to see comedy. The bottom line is that this match was have worked just as well, if not better, on Raw, and that means it had no place on a pay-per-view.
Lansdell: Surprisingly good. I thought they worked the stipulation very well, getting in some man-woman action without making it a beating or a comedy match. Santino showed the talent I always thought he had, and Beth and Mickie were good as always. Not the ending I was expecting, but I can live with it. Where they go from here is going to be interesting, as I would expect a rematch but we’ve seen Mickie-Beth so much recently. Isn’t Candace on her way back too?
Wilcox: This match was actually more than a comedy affair, although the comedy spots were a nice touch. Mickie had one of her best ever performances here and worked really hard. Kofi wasn’t involved enough for my liking but the story of the match made sense and we got a double title change. I’m not sure now’s a good time to take the title off of Kofi, but this Glamarella angle has some legs and could make for some great television. Fun match.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: *½
Lansdell: **¾
Wilcox: **½
Average Match Rating: **¼

Shawn Michaels’ Announcement
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: Oh, I get it. Jericho punches Rebecca in the mouth and knocks her to the mat… which means that Rebecca lost her smile. Cute. But in all seriousness, as much as I usually think that extended promos on pay-per-view are a mistake, this was a HOT segment which only served to further intensify the best feud in WWE. “Tell them that Daddy will never… EVER… be Shawn Michaels.” Classic. Michaels will certainly want to exact some revenge on Jericho, so you can bet that Michaels is just a bit less retired that he’d like us to believe…
Lansdell: More intensity from the two best promo men in the business. As soon as Rebecca started trying to pull Shawn away, it was obvious what was going to happen. It was obviously a mistake and Jericho looked genuinely upset, but that plays perfectly into the angle that Shawn gets cheered no matter what he does. Jericho will blame Shawn for ducking and the crowd will not care. No matter how awesome this angle and its promo work are, I can’t help but wonder how good it would be with Punk instead of Jericho. Rebecca sold the punch like a superkick, which hurt the segment somewhat, but it was still strong.
Wilcox: This was one of the best promos of the year, in a year that has been packed with awesome promos. Jericho was his usual, fantastic smarmy self, and then Shawn turned it around with the “tell your kids Daddy will never be Shawn Michaels” line. This was awesome, and Rebecca took that right hand like a real pro and had a FAT lip to show for it.

ECW Championship Match
Mark Henry (Champion) vs. Matt Hardy
Match Result: Matt Hardy defeats Mark Henry by disqualification when Tony Atlas pulls him out of the ring and attacks him.
Match Length: 0:31
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: Seriously? Seriously? SERIFUCKINGOUSLY? A thirty second DQ match on pay-per-view? You get the point.
Lansdell: BULLSHIT
Wilcox: Really, they couldn’t do this on ECW? This got pay-per-view time? This is the kind of thing people crap all over WWE for and rightfully so. This was bullshit. Jeff making the save, hitting the Swanton off the apron and then the Hardys double suplexing Mark Henry was amazing, but not what I wanted to see. Fuck this.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: DUD
Lansdell: –*****
Wilcox: DUD
Average Match Rating: DUD

World Heavyweight Championship Match
CM Punk (Champion) vs. John “Bradshaw” Layfield
Match Result: CM Punk defeats John “Bradshaw” Layfield with the Go 2 Sleep.
Match Length: 11:52
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: This was a really well booked match. JBL was given the opportunity to showcase his brutal, smash-mouth power game, which is really all he has left at this point, and Punk was able to prove that he can find a way to win in any situation. Sure, this may not have been a technical masterpiece, but it certainly played to both guys’ strengths. There’s no reason for this feud to continue now that Punk has proven that he can beat JBL, but who will be Punk’s next challenger? I’m guessing that the result of the Cena / Batista match could go a long way to answer that question…
Lansdell: Finally, Punk gets a clean win over a top challenger without help. He didn’t get dominated the whole match, he kicked out of everything he needed to, and he looked resilient in victory. The match wasn’t even that bad, and with JBL that’s always a distinct possibility. Not everyone can work with his methodical style, but Punk did a decent job of it tonight. He should have shaken off the JBL challenge for now, the question is who’s next?
Wilcox: It started out slow but then really picked up towards the middle. They worked in some damn good spots and Punk managed to turn the crowd into his favour despite a large section of the audience cheering for JBL early on. Despite Punk getting busted hard way, they had a great match but the ending came a little out of nowhere for me, and they didn’t exactly get a lot of time to do their stuff.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ***
Lansdell: **½
Wilcox: ***
Average Match Rating: **¾

WWE Championship Match
Triple H (Champion) vs. The Great Khali
Match Result: Triple H defeated The Great Khali with the Pedigree.
Match Length: 10:00
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: This wasn’t a great match, but it did flirt with being a good match, and that’s actually a pretty big compliment when The Great Khali is one of the competitors. Triple H carried Khali to what was probably the best match of Khali’s WWE career (except for MAYBE the Punjabi Prison Match against Batista), so you have to give Triple H credit for continuing to be able to bring out the best in his opponents. However, much like Punk / JBL, there really is no reason for this feud to continue. And that, of course, means that Triple H will need a new challenger for his bright, shiny WWE Championship. Edge? Taker? MVP? Jeff Hardy? Big Show? And what ever happened to Umaga?
Lansdell: There was actually a semi-decent story in this match of Khali applying the Vice Grip but it not being enough and HHH trying and trying to get the Pedigree and finally succeeding. Never mind that the loss made Khali look weak and his Vice Grip look weaker, but HHH gets that Superman push that everyone hated Cena for. Ah well, It’s not cool to hate HHH right now so I guess he’s fine in the eyes of the IWC for the moment. We’re headed for an Edge-HHH title feud I think, since it’s too early for Taker-HHH.
Wilcox: I’ll admit, I wasn’t paying much attention to this match for obvious reasons, and I’m sure Small will provide enough verbal masturbation for all of us, but I must say I enjoyed what I saw. I immensely enjoyed the fact that Triple H overcame Khali hitting one of his finishers 3 times to win, and no doubt that Pedigree was pretty cool. I think we can all agree that this was much better than we expected and went just the right amount of time.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: **¼
Lansdell: **
Wilcox: **¼
Average Match Rating: **¼

First Time Ever
John Cena vs. Batista
Match Result: Batista defeats John Cena with the Batista Bomb.
Match Length: 14:10
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: I could talk about all the ways that this match was awesome, but there’s really only one that mattered. This was the epitome of a markfest, and I was lovin’ every minute of it. I seriously can’t remember that last time I had this much fun watching a non-gimmick match, and I give all the credit to the phenomenal ability of Cena and Batista to play to the crowd. The near falls were amazing, and watching Batista absolutely snap at the end was a great moment. Batista’s victory should move him into position to challenge Punk for the title, but where does that leave Cena? He’s lost a remarkable number of matches since returning in January, but how long can he stay away from the title scene before he no longer seems like a credible title challenger?
Lansdell: That was a heck of a match considering I had no expectations of quality whatsoever. They managed to play off each others abilities very well and just wail on each other. There were some awesome counters, some feats of strength, and a hot crowd. There is no WAY this feud is over here, and I firmly believe it ends with a heel turn for one of them. How much has Cena lost on PPV this year? Yes, he has indeed been…

Wilcox: People complain about the WWE main event style, but when it’s done right it can be fantastic, and Cena and Batista did it absolutely right here. This was balls-to-the-wall, fast-paced, no bullshit greatness and every single minute of it was enjoyable. The crowd was electric and adding that little bit more to the match to make it that much more special. When they really got going, things got incredible. They literally took things to a new level with the awesome “boo,” “yay” exchange on the top rope, leading to the sick powerbomb in mid-air counter. Hate or love these guys, if you didn’t enjoy this match, stop watching wrestling.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ****
Lansdell: ***½
Wilcox: ****¾
Average Match Rating: ****

Hell in a Cell Match
The Undertaker vs. Edge
Match Result: The Undertaker defeats Edge with the Tombstone Piledriver.
Match Length: 26:41
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: The Undertaker and Edge never fail to deliver when they’re in the ring together, and this match was no exception. They gave us everything we wanted in their TLC match at One Night Stand, and tonight they picked up right where they left off with a stellar Hell in a Cell match. Sure, there were tables and ladders and chairs (oh my!), but there was so much more. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen anyone escape the cell, and so the excitement was ratcheted up yet another notch when Edge and Taker made their way to the outside. Sure, at that point I began to have a glimmer of hope that they might actually have gone up top, but that really would have been insane given the height of the new cell. The double table choke slam near the end of the match was sweet as hell, and seeing Taker pull out the Conchairto was totally surreal. These guys once again stole the show, and that was before all Hell broke loose after the match. But here’s the real question: when Edge went through the ring and then Taker called forth the flames of Hell, what happened to poor little Hornswoggle?
Lansdell: I don’t think these two guys are capable of having a bad match. They pulled out some phenomenal spots in this match, and stepped it up one level from the awesome TLC match they had a couple of months ago. I was briefly disappointed that they didn’t go to the roof, but it would have seemed contrived if they had and it really wasn’t necessary. I’m sure a lot of people loved the retribution angle of Taker using all the stuff on Edge that Edge did to him, but it felt kind of forced to me. And that’s without mentioning the awesome visual of Edge falling through the ring and the flames coming out. I would hate to think what these two will do for an encore.
Wilcox: What is there to say? This was absolutely phenomenal. So many fantastic moments in this match, from Edge shouting “I understand” before splashing Taker through a table, to the body block through the Cell wall, to the Spear through the announce table, to the chokeslam through the stacked tables to the finish. This was completely insane and any minor complaint I have about this match is simply irrelevant because it rocked your face. Amazing stuff, and a classic moment in the ending. You won’t see too many greater spectacles than that, ever.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ****½
Lansdell: ****¼
Wilcox: *****
Average Match Rating: ****½

Final Thoughts

Match of the Night:
Slimmer: The Undertaker vs. Edge (****½)
And was there really any other possibility? The Undertaker and Edge tore the house down the last time they met at One Night Stand, and they did it again tonight in Hell in a Cell. These two guys have great chemistry with each other in (and out of) the ring, and there were some hella sweet spots strewn throughout this match. I’m not sure that I would rate this quite as high as Taker / HBK, Taker / Mankind, or Triple H / Cactus Jack, but this was still one of the best Hell in a Cell Matches in WWE history.
Lansdell: The Undertaker vs. Edge (****¼)
Did everything it was supposed to do, with only a minor quibble or two. Top-notch action.
Wilcox: The Undertaker vs. Edge (*****)
As good as Cena/Batista was, the Hell in a Cell is the match everyone will remember and the one that provided so many incredible moments.

Trash of the Night:
Slimmer: Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy (DUD)
SERIOUSLY?
Lansdell: Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy (–*****)
I say again: BULLSHIT.
Wilcox: Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy (DUD)
In a way, I am glad they did this so short because the other matches needed all of the time they got, but then why not just not include this match at all? It’s a disgrace to promise a match for a pay-per-view and then give us a 30 second DQ. Thankfully, I managed to not let this ruin an otherwise fantastic show.

Final Analysis:
Slimmer: The show got off to a rocky start, especially with the comedy match and the ECW disaster, but the second half of the show was MUCH better. Punk looked like a credible champion, Triple H carried a HUGE broomstick to a decent match, Cena and Batista really did put on the biggest blockbuster of the summer, and that was all BEFORE the Undertaker literally set Edge on fire. The questionable beginning means that this certainly wasn’t one of the best WWE shows of the year, but the last four matches did more than enough to let me remember this show fondly.
Lansdell: The evening started well, tailed off a bit, then got awesome with the last 2 matches. Minus the ECW Title fiasco, the card was solid top to bottom, with even Khali not being totally horrible. The mixed tag worked for me too. One of the better WWE efforts this year.
Wilcox: Amazing. Discounting the ECW crap, everything on this show either met or exceeded expectations. Hardy/MVP was a good opener and the Mixed Tag was a ton of fun. The two title matches were impressive and much better than most though they would be. And to cap the night off, we got two MOTYCs and furthermore, matches that will go down in history with some of the best ever.

Verdict:
Slimmer: ***½
Lansdell: ***½
Wilcox: ****½
Average Verdict: ***¾