411’s Instant Access 08.15.10: WWE SummerSlam 2010

Hey kids, I’m Scott, and this is 411’s Instant Access: WWE SummerSlam 2010. 411’s Instant Access is the companion piece to 411 Live Pay-Per-View Coverage and features immediate reaction to wrestling pay-per-views. The focus in Instant Access is on first thoughts and initial reactions instead of play-by-play with the goal of providing you with instant access to one two three four FIVE writers’ thoughts on the show. Here’s the team for SummerSlam:

• Scott Slimmer, author of Don’t Think Twice.
• Justin Weinblatt, our special guest from 411 Games, author of The Silicon Valley 10 & 1 and Loves It or HATES IT!.
• Jeremy Thomas, editor of Wrestling’s 4R’s and author of The Hush-Hush News Report.
• Mike Uphoff, author of 411’s WWE Smackdown Report.
• Chris Lansdell, 411’s Games Editor and author of Elimin8.

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

Intercontinental Championship Match
Dolph Ziggler (Champion) w/ Vickie Guerrero vs. Kofi Kingston
Match Result: No contest due to interference by Nexus.
Match Length: 7:00 (ish) (The bell never officially rang to end to the match.)
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: This match seemed like a logical choice to open the show, but that’s just about the only good thing I can say about the contest. As has been the case in so many Intercontinental Championship pay-per-view matches this year, Kingston and Ziggler simply seemed incapable of putting on a match that felt as though it was of a significantly higher caliber than what we see on free television every Friday night. They may have been able raise the quality of the match with a strong finishing sequence, but unfortunately they were denied that opportunity due to the interference by Nexus. I suppose I understand the desire to once again assert Nexus as a chaotic, destructive force, but Nexus should not have been pushed by neutering the opening match of the second biggest WWE pay-per-view of the year. Ultimately this was just the same kind of match that we’ve seen on Smackdown time and time again, only this time it didn’t even have a finish.
Weinblatt: Hey guys, did you know that the Nexus is the most dominant force in the history of the WWE? In case you didn’t, they’re going to remind you by interrupting a match that you paid to see. I thought that Kofi and Dolph had the potential to be pretty darn good, and what we saw was alright, but it was ruined by shitty booking. I guess WWE just assumed we don’t care about Dolph and Kofi, and with this kind of booking, why should we?
Thomas: You know, I was actually looking forward to this match. Don’t get me wrong, I knew it was going to go on first, but I thought it would be a good little SummerSlam opening. And they wrestled about seven minutes of a tolerable start to a match. This would have worked well on SmackDown, but not here on SummerSlam where they basically crapped on the match. I do give it credit, however, for establishing Nexus as a threat once again right off the bat. Still, the non-finish ending pissed me off as they could have easily had the attack happen post-match and not rob of us of an actual PPV payoff to this feud.
Uphoff: Kofi took a sick bump on that suicide dive through the ropes. It was nice to see a Fameasser. Dolph looked good here, even providing a nice counter to Trouble in Paradise with the sleeper hold. I hated Nexus running in on this match and screwing the ending. It was a decent match that got better at the end with some false finishes until Nexus ran in.
Lansdell: OK, so we start the night with the IC title match, and quite the little match it was shaping up to be. These two guys work well together, which seems to be something we’re saying a lot about Dolph Ziggler. OK so he has a dumb name, but he can go. Then for some bizarre reason, Nexus runs in and attacks the two Smackdown guys. Huh? They haven’t done that since the very start of the angle. So it was allegedly to scare off any potential seventh members, but wouldn’t it have made more sense for them to just intimidate Miz? Or try and make a deal with him? The only bright side is that Kofi and Dolph will have to do this again, and given how it was shaping up I don’t mind that at all.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: *¼
Weinblatt: *½
Thomas: *¾
Uphoff: **½
Lansdell: **¼
Average Match Rating: *¾

Divas Championship Match
Alicia Fox (Champion) vs. Melina
Match Result: Melina defeats Alicia Fox with the Mind Trip.
Match Length: 5:25
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: This was pretty much you’re standard issue Divas Championship match. Nothing was horribly botched, but nothing particularly noteworthy happened. I’m a bit torn on the WWE Divas division at the moment. I like the fact that WWE hasn’t totally abandoned the division and is still attempting to give the ladies exposure with pay-per-view matches. However, when all of those pay-per-view matches are middling and forgettable, you have to begin to wonder if anything is actually being accomplished. If WWE seriously wants to get behind the Divas division, then they need to invest some serious time in legitimately training the Divas. Fit Finlay’s training was huge reason behind the success of the Women’s division in the glory days of Trish Stratus and Lita. Finlay’s best days in the ring are probably behind him, and the same could most likely be said of William Regal as well. If Finlay and Regal were to be taken off the active roster and tasked with truly reinventing the Divas division, then I have to believe that the quality of the Divas matches would improve exponentially.
Weinblatt: Pssst Alicia. If the story is about Melina returning from a LEG injury, and she’s holding her LEG, and LIMPING, attack her LEG! Not her shoulder. Wow this was bad. The match was surprisingly slow paced, with a long lock up at the beginning, and the ref checking on the competitors every few minutes. The offense that we did see was sloppy, and the psychology was terrible, mainly thanks to Alicia. I don’t know whether it is ring rust, or Alicia’s limitations, but Melina looked bad here. The best part of this match was the announcers trying to justify Alicia’s attack on the shoulder. The post match angle was passable for what it was. I’m not a fan of LayCool’s schtick, but in terms of workrate, Michelle is a huge step up from Alicia.
Thomas: First off, Melina’s outfit. What the hell. Okay, so that’s out of the way. This was better than their Raw match for sure, though that’s not to say it was actually good. Melina and Alicia were still awkward together and why would you tease the re-injury and then have Melina win? Now Alicia looks like a scrub for not being able to beat a one-legged woman with ring rust. The post-match antics were good as they will hopefully lead to a unifying of the Women’s titles, but otherwise I could have skipped this. And remember, that’s coming from a Melina fan.
Uphoff: What the HELL is Melina wearing? I don’t think even Lady Gaga would wear that. Melina: Warrior Princess! Melina hits a SWANK curb stomp and gets some unique offense and uses her matrix move. These two showed a nice level of competence and got the crowd interested, but Alicia brought this match down a little. It seemed like her heart wasn’t in it. Decent match, but Alicia could have done better.
Lansdell: Whether or not Melina actually hurt her knee in this one, I’m not sure. Either way it turned what was shaping up to be a good match into an unfortunate scrambled ending, Disregarding Melina’s horrible, inexplicable outfit that looked like she ran over Big Bird and wore his skin, she looked good here and Alicia was less bad than normal. Plus I got to see the Mind Trip hit perfectly, and I love the Mind Trip. I just hated the LayCool stuff, which felt tacked on after Tiffany’s suspension for beating down the Chosen One.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: *½
Weinblatt: DUD
Thomas: *¼
Uphoff: *½
Lansdell: *½
Average Match Rating: *¼

3-on-1 Handicap Match
The Big Show vs. The Straight Edge Society
Match Result: The Big Show defeats Luke Gallows and Joseph Mercury by choke slamming Joseph Mercury onto Luke Gallows.
Match Length: 6:49
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: WWE sort of booked themselves into a lose / lose situation with this match. Booking a coherent and compelling 3-on-1 handicap match is difficult, especially under tornado rules, and the result was more or less a chaotic mess. Defeating three men should have made Show look good, but his win was severely tarnished by the fact that he really only beat a pair of goons that had been abandoned by their leader. I suppose the real point of this match was to further the implosion of the Straight Edge Society, but an internal feud between the members of the SES could only go so far. The logical way to book such a feud would be to have Gallows and / or Mercury turn face and feud with Punk, but neither Gallows nor Mercury is anywhere near ready for a solo face turn. If a SES implosion storyline is looming, then it needs to be short and sweet so that Punk can move on to the kind of high-profile feuds and high-quality matches that he deserves.
Weinblatt: So, the Straight Edge Society can’t beat the Big Show in a 3 on 1 match. It’s official, the Straight Edge Society is the WWE’s Team Rocket. The match itself was ok. The action was well choreographed, and I loved the spot by the stairs. It wasn’t a classic, but it was about as good as it could’ve been. It would have been perfectly acceptable, and maybe even enjoyable, but it’s hard to see CM Punk continually buried.
Thomas: Okay, let’s start with what I like about this. CM Punk survives to fight another day and yet Show wins for the feud to continue. That’s it. This was the sloppiest match from Show or Punk that we’ve seen in a long time. This could have been subtitled “Whoever wins, the Straight Edge Society loses” because if they won…yay, they beat one man between the three of them. If they lost…they lost to one man. It ended as well as it could have but boy, getting there wasn’t pretty. When you’re so sloppy that you end up under a 500 pound man after a bulldog, that’s time to give up the match. Yeah, didn’t dig this at all.
Uphoff: Punk’s shirt was pretty cool. It was ok. I don’t really understand why Big Show gets the win here, as he really doesn’t need it. People will buy him as a threat regardless. The SES really needed the win here, and I guess they’re done. It’s a shame, because they had a lot of mileage left in the tank. Average 3 on 1 match with some decent moves.
Lansdell: I didn’t hate this. It was a stupid fucking idea for a match that could not possibly make SES look any better, but the match itself was not horrible. Show no-sold all the hand-based offence having no-sold a broken hand to start the match, but other than that it was OK and semi-protected Punk with the ending. Was it good? Hell naw. But I didn’t hate it.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: *¾
Weinblatt: **½
Thomas: *¾
Uphoff: *½
Lansdell: **
Average Match Rating: **

WWE Championship Match
Sheamus (Champion) vs. Randy Orton
Match Result: Randy Orton defeats Sheamus by disqualification after Sheamus inadvertently throws the referee out of the ring.
Match Length: 19:02
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: This was sort of a tale of three matches. The first fifteen minutes or so of the match were admittedly slow and methodical, but Orton and Sheamus both demonstrated the ability to mount meaningful, well planned, high impact offense. Those first fifteen minutes certainly didn’t set the world on fire, but they did showcase the fact that Orton and Sheamus can put together a competent match. That being said, Orton and Sheamus really began to impress me in the last few minutes of the match. They strung together a fantastic closing sequence of counters and false finishes, and a Celtic Cross or RKO to finish the match would have left us with a much better match than I think most of us were expecting. However, rather than a Celtic Cross or RKO, the match ended with a bullshit disqualification. A bullshit disqualification. In a title match. On pay-per-view. Bullshit. At least the bullshit finish of the Intercontinental Championship match furthered a storyline that would play out later in the evening. This bullshit finish was just, well, bullshit. The disqualification finish virtually guarantees that the feud between Sheamus and Orton will continue for at least another month. In fact, at this point I’d wager that the Sheamus / Orton feud will continue until Triple H is ready to return to seek revenge on Sheamus.
Weinblatt: I like Sheamus a lot, but so far he hasn’t shown that he can put on a great match. This one started off very slow, and the two just didn’t seem to mesh well with each other. The brawling and rest holds just didn’t do it for me. Things picked up towards the middle, when Randy went into “crazy Randy” mode, and they had a nice little series of counters. Then, just as I was starting to get interested, we had an incredibly lame non-finish. I’m assuming that the table was supposed to break on that last spot, but it didn’t, and therefore, it looked quite lame. So far, WWE is batting a 0 in my book.
Thomas: This guys are a perfect example of a lacking sense of chemistry. Sheamus and Orton are both talented guys who can wrestle a good match, but they just don’t click together and it showed in the awful, slow as shit opening half. Now, this was the match of the night so far, but that isn’t saying all that much. This was also better than their Royal Rumble match, mostly because of the final half of the match where it really picked up. Now, the Game isn’t back and Cena’s probably still busy with the Nexus, so we couldn’t not have Orton continue but having Sheamus lose would have hurt him, so they went with the DQ that they needed and I’m okay with that. The biggest problem with this match was the fact that they REALLY needed to pick it up here and they didn’t enough. This was a fine match, but a great or even really good one? Sorry, no. It was merely adequate for a PPV match.
Uphoff: Sheamus looked good in this match dominating Orton with a lot of offense. Every time Orton tried to make a comeback, Sheamus cut him off. The crowd was UNGLUED when Orton made his comebacks, and the counters at the end of the match were some really good stuff. Counter after counter that really had the crowd and the bar that I was in going for both sides. Don’t like the DQ ending, but the RKO on the announce table was AWESOME. Great match between the two with solid booking and storytelling, and what their match at the Royal Rumble should have been.
Lansdell: I enjoy Randy Orton matches for the most part. Sure his style is a little boring, but his normal opponents make up for it and provide a perfect foil to it. I also enjoy Sheamus, who is a fresh face who has proven, at least in my mind, that he belongs in the main event. As Dana White is fond of saying though, styles make fights. These two have similar methodical styles…which makes for one slow, boring fight. There was more stomping in this match than there is at the Changing of the Guard. The finishing sequence looked promising…and then they went the bullshit route with the DQ. FUCK ME. That means we get a rematch. FUCK ME TWICE. HHH should be back soon to alleviate the boredom, but these two guys need to stop wrestling each other. Couldn’t they have had Sheamus go over in some way that left doubt instead of a second non-finish in a title match on the same show?
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ***
Weinblatt: **½
Thomas: **¾
Uphoff: ***¼
Lansdell: **½
Average Match Rating: **¾

World Heavyweight Championship
Kane (Champion) vs. Rey Mysterio
Match Result: Kane defeats Rey Mysterio with the Choke Slam.
Match Length: 13:34
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: Rey Mysterio can adapt his in-ring style to work well with a variety of opponents, and Kane has shown that he can still conjure a worthwhile match when necessary, so it was really no surprise that these two men were able to put together a thoroughly enjoyable match. It certainly wasn’t anything classic or revolutionary, but it was a good time from start to finish. The “surprise” return of the Undertaker may have been a bit predictable, but I applaud WWE for letting Kane get a clean victory before his brother’s inevitable appearance. With Kane revealed as the Undertaker’s assailant, I have to assume that the Big Red Machine will now transition away from Rey Mysterio and into a feud with the Deadman. The Brothers of Destruction will be occupying the World Heavyweight Championship scene for at least a month, so it appears that Rey Mysterio will have to look elsewhere for his next feud. We’ve already seen lengthy Mysterio / Punk and Mysterio / Ziggler feuds, so my guess would be that either Drew McIntyre or Cody Rhodes will be elevated up to a feud with Mysterio.
Weinblatt: Who would’ve thunk that this match would have a clean finish? Perhaps my expectations have been lowered by a night of total ass, but I really enjoyed this match. It was a nice back and forth bout, which made Rey seem like a credible threat to Kane. Kane looked more motivated than he’s been in a while, and Rey’s miraculous counters looked far crisper than they usually did. Now for the post match shenanigans. Because of my incredible intellect, I was the only person in the world to anticipate Taker popping out of the casket (insert Chandler here). I’m also the only one who could’ve predicted that Kane was the true attacker. But, I’m sure that all of the common fans were on the edge of their seats. At least the over dramatic standoff worked really well.
Thomas: This match was okay as well. Rey and Kane have generally worked well together and they did so here as well, but something just seemed to be missing. They were a bit sluggish against each other and the crowd didn’t seem to care much at all. It wasn’t until the last couple of minutes of the match until things really seemed to pick up and that helped give the match a good impression. The post-match antics were obvious and expected…except Kane beating Taker in the face-off. Taker makes his big return and gets owned? What federation is this again? And yes, I did like that because it puts the Big Red Monster over more.
Uphoff: Mysterio’s flying headbutt off the top rope was pretty cool, as was Kane’s jumping sideslam. Great inverted tornado DDT by Mysterio. This match had some nice counters at the end, and the right man won. It was your standard Mysterio/ big man match, but had some nice stuff with some good pacing. Taker returning was predictable, but Kane Tombstoning him was not.
Lansdell: Rey Mysterio has shown several times that he can have a good match with a big man. This was no exception, as he elevated Kane to a very enjoyable and watchable match with a CLEAN win for the heel champ, which he absolutely needed. Although I liked the way they executed it, I really wish they could have found a way to make someone else responsible for Taker’s beatdown. And why was he coughing when talking to Rey? Kane leaving Taker lying at least makes the champ look strong, but we all know that Kane is dropping to his brother. Still, if they had to do it this way it was a good start.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ***
Weinblatt: ***
Thomas: **¾
Uphoff: ***
Lansdell: **¾
Average Match Rating: ***

Seven-on-Seven Elimination Tag Team Match
Team WWE vs. Team Nexus
Match Result: John Cena (sole survivor) last eliminates Wade Barrett with the STF.
Match Length: 35:19
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: That’s right, I totally called Cena telling Miz to take a hike before revealing the true final member of Team WWE. Of course, I also called that final member of WWE being Triple H, so I guess I really don’t know jack. Anyway, the return of Daniel Bryan will almost certainly be the IWC mark-out moment of the year, but I was pleasantly surprised that the live crowd popped for Bryan as much as they did. Bryan looked like a world beater both at the beginning and end of the match, and several members of Nexus got a chance to shine as well. The action was fast and furious from start to finish, and the order of eliminations on both teams seemed to make sense. In fact, my only complaint about this match is that Cena got a clean win over Nexus. The match set up potential Cena / Jericho, Cena / Edge, and Bryan / Miz feuds, but where does that leave the vanquished members of Nexus? We still have yet to learn Nexus’ true objective and the identity of their leader, so we’ll have to hope that those forthcoming revelations will provide Nexus with a way to stay relevant even after losing to Cena’s army.
Weinblatt: One of the great things about wrestling is being surprised, and I was completely surprised by the last minute addition of Bryan. Great bait and switch with the Miz. Bryan started off early showing that he may really be the best in the world. The man looked incredible tonight. All of the members of Team Cena were in top form, with crisp offense, and great selling. They helped Nexus shine, and with the exceptions of Young and Otunga, I think everyone in Nexus looked good. Gabriel and Barrett looked exceptionally impressive, and Sheffield looked a lot better than I anticipated. Sheffield may never be a star, but he could make a strong upper mid-card heel with a little work. I enjoyed almost everything about this match. I liked Bryan’s incredible offense. I marked out when Bret (who looks to be in much better condition than he was at Mania), locked in the Sharp Shooter (his elimination was kind of silly, but it was the only way to eliminate him without him taking a bump). I loved Jericho and Edge’s hissy fit on Cena. The Miz’s briefcase shot could be the start of a beautiful feud. Gabriel and Barrett’s corner beatdown on Cena was great. And Cena standing tall against Nexus helps elevate an exciting young star to the top of the card. Alright, I meant everything up to that last sentence. I liked everything up to the finish, which saw Super Cena Hulking up and defeating the Nexus. I can deal with the Nexus losing, but why have Cena stand tall alone? If Team Cena has to win, why not end it with Cena and Bryan celebrating? Why not have Jericho and Cena survive, and end in a stand off? Cena standing alone doesn’t put anyone over, and doesn’t advance any feuds. Hopefully, something good will come of it, but for now it seems like a wasted opportunity to put someone over. Aside from the finish though, the match was everything it should have been.
Thomas: Yes, the WWE clearly put all their eggs in one basket for this show, but it was one hell of a basket. First they had the IWC mark-out moment as Daniel Bryan Danielson returned and Twitter exploded. And then they give him the first elimination. if it wasn’t clear that Darren Young is the weak-ass link of the Nexus, it’s clear now. From there, they did everything they could to put Nexus over…except one little detail. But we’ll get to that. There were some stupid moments of this match, sure. Bret DQ’ing himself comes to mind. Did they forget Bret is THE veteran in the WWE these days and should know details like “don’t hit the guy with the chair when the ref is watching?” But otherwise, I really enjoyed this. Skip and Gabriel got big boosts, Barrett looked good and Bryan looked like a freaking star. Now, the finish, I know a lot of people will complain about. I’m not. Yes, it would have been better of the Nexus won. But they looked like legitimate threats against Edge, Jericho and Cena, three of the biggest guys in the company. That’s more than enough. I loved this match and I think it played out just fine.
Uphoff: OH MY GOD, IT’S BRYAN DANIELSON! I just almost shit my pants. I thought there was a chance this would happen, but I didn’t really think it would. Bret getting DQ’d was the best way to get him out of the match. The bar that I was at was absolutely ELECTRIC for this match. Seeing the Lionsault hit is always nice to see. Everyone in the Nexus played their part. Cena sold more in this match than I’ve seen him sell in his entire career. Daniel Bryan gave a hell of a performance as well. Super Cena prevailed in the end, and some won’t like that, but he made Nexus look good. Without a doubt, some won’t like my rating, but this is the best match that I have seen WWE put on in a long time. It also sets up so many matches. Bryan vs. Miz, Jericho vs. Cena, etc. This was the epitome of great booking.
Lansdell: DANIEL FUCKING BRYAN. Now that we have that out of the way, I struggle to find anything wrong with this match. That does NOT mean it’s getting 5 stars from me, but it did everything it needed to do. Nobody dominated, with several people getting two eliminations. Nexus wasn’t buried, they all looked strong (except Young and possibly Tarver, who STILL hasn’t knocked anyone out) and made the match competitive. Edge and Jericho vs. Cena is an interesting feud coming out of this, and it seems like Miz and Bryan will feud over the US title. Bret did more than I thought he could do, Sheffield and Gabriel both had their stock elevated and even Heath Slater showed me something. I think the order of NXT eliminations is pretty telling too. WWE always has a major summer storyline that ends at SummerSlam, so although a Nexus win would have let the story continue I don’t think that was ever in the cards. They entertained us over the summer, which in the past has seen Vince McMahon get blown up don’t forget. Great end to a poor PPV.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ****¼
Weinblatt: ****¼
Thomas: ****
Uphoff: ****½
Lansdell: ****¼
Average Match Rating: ****¼

Final Thoughts

Match of the Night:
Slimmer: Team WWE vs. Team Nexus (****¼)
This was definitely the most hyped match on the card, and this was really the only match on the card the exceeded expectations and delivered in every way possible. It was entertaining in and of itself, it created several new stars, and it set up months of potential feuds. This was a quality match that truly mattered in the overall booking scheme, and it’s one of the matches that will define WWE in 2010 for all the right reasons.
Weinblatt: Team WWE vs. Team Nexus (****¼)
Even though I didn’t like the finish, the main event delivered on nearly every level. The Nexus finally got a chance to shine in the ring, several storylines were advanced, and I was engaged from the opening bell to the closing bell. Great work all around.
Thomas: Team WWE vs. Team Nexus (****)
There is no other option. The WWE banked everything on this and it came off fantastically. From Bryan’s return to Miz gaining uber-heat for taking him out, to the Nexus looking like they belonged in there and the strong story throughout the match this was THE match of SummerSlam to see without a doubt.
Uphoff: Team WWE vs. Team Nexus (****½)
This was everything I wanted and more. Read above.
Lansdell: Team WWE vs. Team Nexus (****¼)
Come now, could it have been anything different? The only match on the entire pay per view that I will ever want to watch again, it elevated 4 or 5 guys and has set up feuds for the next couple of months.

Trash of the Night:
Slimmer: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston (*¼)
I really do like Smackdown’s mid-card, but they have to figure out a way to put on pay-per-view matches that are able to exceed the quality of a standard television match. The Divas Championship match may not have been as technically proficient as the Intercontinental Championship match, but at least Alicia and Melina gave us a bit more than we see from them on Raw each week. The fact that Ziggler and Kingston weren’t even given the chance to finish their match makes this an easy pick for Trash of the Night.
Weinblatt: Alicia Fox vs. Melina (DUD)
With Tiffany’s little snafu, there was no competition. This match was bad, even with my low standards for women’s matches.
Thomas: The Big Show vs. The Straight Edge Society (*¾)
This match was screwed from the get-go, but the sloppy execution killed it even deader. I was annoyed throughout the entire match and it just didn’t play well at all. Hopefully Show vs. Punk at the next Pay-Per-View will be better.
Uphoff: The Big Show vs. The Straight Edge Society (*½)
I expected more and got less. I was disappointed, and these four were capable of better.
Lansdell: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston (**¼)
Some were touting this as a potential show-stealer, and I thought it might have had a shot. The ending ruined that. It might not have been the worst match on the card, but it certainly annoyed me the most.

Final Analysis:
Slimmer: The first hour of the show had three disappointing, forgettable matches. The second hour of the show had two decent, passable matches. And the third hour of the show had one hell of an entertaining match that just so happened to contain the IWC mark-out moment of the year. So ultimately we had a show that started very slow but continued to get better and better as the evening progressed. This was really a one-match show, and luckily that one match did deliver. However, the other five matches really only ranged from poor to middling, and that’s simply not good enough on the second biggest WWE pay-per-view of the year.
Weinblatt: Before the main event, I was entirely ready to tear the WWE a new one. Then the main event came along, and exceeded all of my expectations. In showbiz it’s always best to leave on a high note, and the WWE certainly did that. However, while the main event helped to redeem a lousy card, it’s not enough. There was absolutely no reason to cut off Kofi and Dolph, and having a second non-finish in Randy Orton vs. Sheamus was equally irritating. Aside from the main event and Kane vs. Rey, nothing in this show is worth seeing. So, despite the great event, this has to be a mild thumbs down.
Thomas: One great match does not a great show make. The first half of SummerSlam was incredibly lackluster, the World Title matches were very good for a Raw of Smackdown but didn’t do what it needed for a “Big Four” Pay-Per-View and that was most of the show. Everyone was pretty much going through the motions and allowing the fourteen-man main event to carry the whole thing. I want to give this something higher, but I just can’t. In the end this was a show that’s worth seeing for that one match, but otherwise can be skipped.
Uphoff: First, let me get this off my chest. I hate the crap that WWE has been putting out for months that poses as their PPV’s. And until the title matches, I was dead-set on a rant tearing the WWE a new asshole for the shit that we fans have had to put up with. Then the title matches happened, followed by the main event, and what we fans got was another solid yet unspectacular PPV. That might have been fine for any other PPV, but this is SummerSlam, the #2 show of the year. This is bullshit. Three matches does not make a PPV. I would still buy this PPV, but it isn’t like the WWE put a lot of effort into this PPV, outside of the main event. This has to change, or the lackluster PPV’s will continue. Is this SummerSlam terrible? No. Is it great? No. Is it better than the rest of the SummerSlams in the past few years? Maybe so. All that aside, get it for the last three matches.
Lansdell: I’m not the hardcore ROH mark that some are, but when Cena said Miz was off the team I got excited. I had to pause the damn match to make my hands stop shaking when Bryan was announced. Pathetic I know. The whole show rode on the main event, and that main event delivered big time. Unfortunately it was surrounded by too much excrement to make this anything more than a decent show.

Verdict:
Slimmer: **½
Weinblatt: **½
Thomas: ***
Uphoff: ***
Lansdell: **½
Average Verdict: **¾