Random Network Reviews: SummerSlam 2011

SummerSlam 2011
August 14th, 2011 – Staples Center in Los Angeles, California – Attendance: 17,404

The summer of Punk. CM Punk had a “Summer of Punk” during his Ring of Honor run in 2005 but we were treated to one on the big stage after he dropped his infamous pipe bomb. Punk would go on to win the WWE Title in one of my favorite matches ever at Money in the Bank, and the rematch was set for SummerSlam. CM Punk vs. John Cena, Champion vs. Champion because Punk left for a week, allowing John Cena to win a vacant WWE Title. It was being billed as the biggest match in WWE history.

The show opens with the National Anthem performed by Adam Jones on guitar. Then we move to the opening video package based on the domino effect of CM Punk winning the title and leaving the company. Commentary is Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Booker T. Michael Cole nearly creams himself at the appearance of the Miz, who opens with a promo. He is cut off by R-Truth, who was doing his fantastic heel stuff. He is interrupted by their partner, Alberto Del Rio, who gets a good pop.

Six Man Tag Team Match
Alberto Del Rio, R-Truth and The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston, John Morrison and Rey Mysterio
Interesting to note that not only was the Miz just WWE Champion earlier in the year, but he and Rey Mysterio were in the finals of a WWE Championship Tournament before quickly being relegated to this opening six man tag. Kofi Kingston and Miz start off, highlighted by a very elevated monkey flip by Kofi. He tags John Morrison and they work a double team flapjack with in sync nip ups. Truth enters and brawls with Morrison. Booker T decides that it’s pertinent to the match to note that R-Truth has a fresh haircut, which he actually doesn’t. Both teams get in their offense, with Kofi being the most impressive probably. He gets a near fall with a springboard cross body before nailing the Boom Drop. BOOM! BOOM! Trouble in Paradise is nearly reversed into the Skull Crushing Finale, but that is reversed into the SOS. Alberto Del Rio, finally getting involved, breaks the count. Miz uses the Daizee Haze Mind Trip for two. That’s my SHIMMER knowledge for you kicking in. Del Rio, Mr. Money in the Bank and the Royal Rumble winner for this year, gets tagged and mimics Kofi’s taunt. They seem to be playing off of Kingston being the face in peril, which works well as he’s good in that role. Jerry Lawler claims that the recently canceled Lopez Tonight was canned because Miz appeared on it too much. If that’s the case, how is Raw still on the air? Kofi hits a double stomp on Miz and gets the hot tag to Rey. Commentary mentions that he is the number one contender for the WWE Title and gets a shot tomorrow night as he comes in hot. He has a fun exchange with R-Truth and gets the future Awesome Truth in position for a double 619. Del Rio trips him up to prevent that, leading to Morrison hitting a corkscrew onto him. Kofi then dives out onto Miz, before a Mysterio splash is enough to put away Truth.

Winners: Kofi Kingston, John Morrison and Rey Mysterio in 9:36
A really fun way to start the show. It seemed like it was a last minute thrown together contest, and it might have been, but all six guys worked hard and managed to get a fair amount of stuff working in under ten minutes. With his title shot in 24 hours, the right guy got the pin. ***¼

Backstage, John Laurinaitis is asking CM Punk for a public apology. The WWE Champion gives a hugely phony apology before turning around into Stephanie McMahon. Seeing Stephanie was a rare treat during the time. She wishes him luck which Punk doesn’t believe. Punk admits to calling her idiotic and she offers him a handshake but he declines because he knows where that hand has been. THIS IS A PG SHOW DUDE!

Mark Henry vs. Sheamus
Goddamn, the Hall of Pain was a fantastic time for Mark Henry. This was an interesting matchup since Henry was on an absolute roll, but Sheamus was also just starting to rise towards his eventual World Heavyweight Title run in 2012. We start exactly the way we should, with these two guys just beating the hell out of each other. After knocking Sheamus outside, Henry press slams him back in, which was impressive. I’m surprised as Henry just continues to dominate. He applies a bearhug type maneuver that Sheamus breaks, but it doesn’t go far. However, he does start to tally with a huge double axe handle. He climbs to the top and comes off with a shoulder block for two. The crowd was chanting, “We want Ziggler” I believe. He hits the Brogue Kick, but it knocks Henry out of the ring. When Sheamus goes out to get him, Henry ends up tackling him through the barricade! The crowd is trying to rally Sheamus but we get the countout finish.

Winner via countout: Mark Henry in 9:22
A solid big man battle. It was two guys using their power to their advantage, which is old school and worked pretty well here. The countout finish also made sense since Sheamus was hot and needed to be kept somewhat strong. **½

Josh Matthews interviews the World Heavyweight Champion Christian about some news that will change SummerSlam. Christian won’t give away the news, but has an insurance policy to make sure that Randy Orton doesn’t leave with the title. We move to a Cee-Lo Green live performance featuring Divas randomly dancing. This was the use of the Bella Twins before Nikki got her own set of twins.

Divas Championship
Kelly Kelly (c) w/ Eve Torres vs. Beth Phoenix w/ Natalya
I think this is a bad spot for this match. The crowd needed to wake back up after Cee-Lo and this isn’t the way. Poor Natalya went from part of the “Divas of Destruction” to farting gimmick within months. Beth, a face at the time, won her title shot and then turned heel. Kelly came out of the blocks showing no fear. She would go on to botch a flying head scissors and even stumbled on a move where she was supposed to land on her feet. She knocked Beth outside and hit a second rope cross body out there. Back inside, she begins to fall victim to Beth’s power game. Beth just woman handles Kelly and applies a back breaker like submission. Kelly escapes with a neck breaker but just gets slammed into the corner. She gets put in the tress of woe, but gets free with a rollup for two. Kelly has the most basic move set given to every Diva with some ability to do a handstand or head scissors. Beth goes for the Glam Slam but Kelly counters into a roll up to win in a finish that is overdone like crazy when it comes to Beth.

Winner and Still WWE Divas Champion: Kelly Kelly in 6:33
Decent Divas match. When Kelly was on the offensive early on, it struggled, but it wisely was mostly dominated by Beth. The finish is overdone to the point where I can’t stand it though. **

Stephanie McMahon is shown leaving John Cena’s locker room. CONTROVERSY! We then cut to R-Truth who says they shouldn’t have lost. It’s a conspiracy. A C-O-N-SPIRACY. He’s talking to Jimmy Hart, who says he can take him to the top. Truth likes the idea, saying “it’s time to think big, not little…Jimmy.” This makes him say that Hart smells like Little Jimmy and he scares him off because of the conspiracy. Ron Artest, or Metta World Peace, is randomly backstage and watching this with his daughter.

Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett
At the previous month’s Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View, Daniel Bryan won the Smackdown briefcase and Wade Barrett felt that it was rightfully his. Commentary, for one wisely, points out their history as members of the Nexus. The match opens with both guys trying to gain the upper hand. Bryan stretches Barrett out in ways that he shouldn’t get stretched, and Barrett plays the brute. Bryan connects with a big corner dropkick for two. The offense has been more in Bryan’s favor, which I did not expect. A big kick gets him two before he tries his backflip/running elbow combo, only to be caught in the Winds of Change for a near fall. Wade is no in the driver’s seat, although Bryan does get in a sweet running elbow. Barrett nails a huge kick outside but is again, only enough for two inside. He attempts Wasteland from the apron outside, but Bryan wriggles free and dropkicks him off the apron. He follows with a diving knee from the apron and is getting his second wind. Bryan fires off some stiff kicks to the chest, before one to the head earns him a near fall. He misses a shot in the corner, leading to a big boot from Barrett. Wasteland attempt is stopped by elbows and Bryan moves into a submission that he turns into the LaBelle Lock! Barrett uses his long arms to reach the ropes though. A great job is being done of making sure both guys look great. They go up top and Bryan is crotched on the rope. Barrett follows with a big clothesline and Wasteland for the clean pinfall.

Winner: Wade Barrett in 11:47
That was much better than I expected. I knew that both guys are really good, but things just clicked. Very even contest and both guys looked great. I really enjoyed this. ***½

A video package airs chronicling the Christian/Randy Orton rivalry. See, Christian finally won his first World Heavyweight Title at Extreme Rules, only to lose it five days later to Randy Orton. This hurt me as a big Christian fan. He turned heel and won the belt at Money in the Bank via disqualification due to the stipulation. Basically, Christian didn’t win much in this feud, but the matches were always really good.

Before the match, Christian drops his bombshell by announcing the man who will be in his corner tonight, Edge! Edge had just retired after WrestleMania earlier in the year and crowd pops hard for him. He comes out and ends up running down Christian for being a crybaby. He even puts down the fact that Christian won the title by disqualification. I get that it was fun to see Edge again, as it always is, but this served no purpose as it did nothing but humiliate the World Heavyweight Champion.

World Heavyweight Championship No Holds Barred Match
Christian (c) vs. Randy Orton
It’s clear that Edge’s words messed with Christian’s head, but he smack talks Randy Orton at the bell. Orton retaliates with a clothesline, though Christian goes old school with a thumb to the eye. He gains a near fall with a second rope European uppercut. Orton ends up going for his rope hung DDT but Christian blocked it and sent Orton outside. Good job of playing up their knowledge of one another after their series of matches. Things seem to get serious when they go onto the announce table and Orton attempts an RKO. Christian blocks it, grabs his World Title and high tails it. Obviously, Orton catches him and brings him back to the ring, but the wily Christian dodged Orton and he crashed into the post. A “Let’s go Christian” chant breaks out. The champion gets a kendo stick and drives the point of it into Orton’s throat, choking him. Booker T says that Christian has lost it over the past few months because past Christian would have never done something like that. Bravo commentary. A rollup near fall nearly turns the tide, but Christian hits a nice spinebuster for two of his own. Christian tries to leap from the second rope with the kendo stick but Orton meets him with a dropkick. Orton goes clothesline, clothesline, duck and powerslam before using the kendo stick for two. Lou Thez Press by Orton, RIGHT HANDS RIGHT HANDS, THE RATTLESNAKE STRIKES! The rope hung DDT is again countered into the Killswitch, which is reversed into a backbreaker for two. There goes that knowledge of history again. He goes for the Punt, but Christian slips out of the way. Tables are being brought into play now. With a table closed on the mat, Orton nails a second rope suplex onto it for two. Orton sets it up in the corner, like he’s Rhino or something. Christian snaps off a reverse DDT and begins to signal for the Spear through the table. Orton leaps over him and tries an RKO but is shoved outside. He goes out, only to hit the steel steps very hard. Orton steps up the steel steps on the apron, but gets thrown into them. Back to the announce table and Christian mocks Orton’s pre-RKO mannerisms. He tries the RKO, but Orton blocks it and hits one of his own! Both men slowly crawl in the ring, and Orton’s second RKO is reversed into the Killswitch! The crowd totally bought that as the finish but Orton kicks out. Christian goes to that dark place and sets up for a one man con-chair-to. However, Orton is on his back, which would make this sick if it worked. After getting spit on, Orton moves and hits Christian with the chair, even knocking him off the apron and through a table. This has been fantastic. Orton sets up the bottom of the steel steps inside, but ends up snapping off a powerslam through the table in the corner! FUCK! I think he should have tried a pin because Christian kicking out of that would have been great for him. Orton whips him with the kendo stick some more before finally hitting the rope hung DDT on a trash can. Orton signals for the RKO on the steps but Christian nails him with a kendo stick. He springboards off the second rope right into an RKO on the steps that gets the three.

Winner and New World Heavyweight Champion: Randy Orton in 23:43
Who says you can’t do a great No Holds Barred match without blood and in the PG world? These two went out and had a fantastic match. It was creative, we had the storytelling of Christian going to darker places and the play off of their history, as well as some seriously big time spots. I loved this match. ****½

Clips are shown of the week that the WWE had in Los Angeles leading up to SummerSlam. The Be a Star and Axxess stuff are the focal point. The promo video for the main event blatantly uses dubbed in Cena chants at Money in the Bank. That crowd was about 97% Punk positive.

WWE Championship
CM Punk (c) vs. John Cena (c)
Triple H is the special referee for this match. A basic feeling out process starts this, with neither guy really gaining the upper hand. The crowd is clearly into this with lots of chants to get them through the simple early goings. The crowd is pretty split, much different than Money in the Bank. Booker complains that the match is too technical right now after he sees a gutwrench suplex. Punk blocks the STF and springboard dropkicks Cena to the outside. Punk decides that he is a super heavyweight and just sits on Cena for two. Through “Fruity Pebble” chants, Cena hits a shoulder block, but his next one is stopped by a high knee. Punk misses his knee in the corner, so Cena hits the shoulder block combo this time. His back suplex is reversed into a headlock takeover and he hits the knee strike on the ropes. His bulldog is countered into Cena’s back suplex. Five Knuckle Shuffle is blocked with a kick, but Cena grabs it. These guys having each other scouted extremely well. Punk uses the rarely seen at this time, Koji Clutch but Cena turns it into the STF. Punk counters into the Anaconda Vise, but Cena reverses into the Crossface. WELL FUCK! Punk gets free and sends Cena outside. He follows with a suicide dive and Triple H starts the count. They nearly get counted out, but he stops, go outside and brings both guys back inside. WE’RE NOT ENDING IT LIKE THAT! I like this, as it makes HHH not just a bystander in the ring and someone with actual power who wants to make sure we have the winner he guaranteed. They’re up in the ring and trade shots, with the crowd now behind Punk more. He misses a kick, blocks an Attitude Adjustment, but runs into a dropkick from Cena. Five Knuckle Shuffle hits, but the AA is reversed into a rollup for two. They do a bridge reversal before Punk connects with a kick to the skull for two. A big slam from Cena also gets a near fall. Cena climbs up, but Punk stops him with a knee. He leaps off with a bulldog like he’s Rick Steiner but that’s not enough. His next leap off the top is caught and ends with him in the STF! He gets out and they trade finisher near hits, until Cena hits the AA but only for two! Cena misses the leg drop bulldog and Punk hits the GTS but only for two. FALSE FINISHES EVERYWHERE! Punk goes to the top and hits his lame looking elbow for two again. Punk is not happy with HHH and argues with him, allowing Cena to get two with a small package. Cena fires away now, but Punk wins out with a big high knee. A second GTS gets the three, but Cena’s foot was on the rope!

Winner and New/Still WWE Champion: CM Punk in 24:17
Really good match, but my least favorite of their four big matches (MITB, SS, NOC & Raw 2013). Great callbacks to how well they know each other and a great series of counters and false finishes, without overdoing it. ****

Punk gets back in the ring and Triple H offers him a handshake. He declines but HHH raises his hand in victory anyway. Trips leaves as Punk celebrates, until Kevin Nash of all people comes from the crowd and gets in the ring behind Punk. He clotheslines him and nails the Jackknife as Triple H looks on stunned. Nash leaves through the crowd as Alberto Del Rio and a referee comes out with the Money in the Bank briefcase.

WWE Championship
CM Punk (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio
Unlike other times, we don’t get the long winded announcements that Del Rio is cashing in. It just starts, he kicks Punk and wins the title.

Winner and New WWE Champion: Alberto Del Rio in 0:12
No Rating.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

I definitely enjoyed this three hours of programming. When I watched it live, I remember being upset because the WWE took the title off of CM Punk, who was the hottest thing in wrestling. This led to the WWE Title being swapped at nearly every Pay-Per-View after this. However, subjectively looking back, it was good. The main event was really good and the show stealer was the World Heavyweight Title match. The opener was fun and Barrett/Bryan is a forgotten favorite of mine. There is nothing that really needs to be skipped and it’s a fun time.