wrestling / Columns
Wrestling’s 4R’s PPV Edition: WWE Summerslam (2007)
WWE SUMMERSLAM Podcast~!
We are back for the latest Tremendous Tirades Podcast Adventure! We run down WWE Summerslam, a bad show riddled with mediocrity, delivering nothing interesting and burying (BERRIED) talent along the way. From there we move onto DEAR CHRISTI, where we discuss status of THE SHIRT, JD Dunn’s special proposal, Christi’s Favorite Female Wrestlers, Shoot Interviews and who exactly listens to our show. About an hour of fun just for you!
If that doesn’t work, copy and paste the following link into your browser and you’ll be fine: http://www.sendspace.com/file/7p7o0o
How the 4R’s of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. I will take the 4 main shows (5 if I go RetRo) of the week: TNA Impact, WWE Raw, ECW on Sci-Fi and WWE Smackdown. If we have a PPV, that show will get a special PPV edition of the R’s all to its own. I then group my feelings on the shows in various categories: The Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right is stuff that worked very well: a great promo, a great match and so on. PuRgatoRy is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and need discussed. It is not a bad place per say, as things can get remedied or go the wrong way the very next week. The wRong is what it sounds like: bad matches, bad or boring promos and so on. The Ridiculous is stuff that had no right on TV: Stupid angles, Diva searches and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come, unless you are TNA. They have a special R all of their own, the 6th R; the Russo-FN-Riffic~!
This column is supposed to be analytical, and at the right time very critical of the shows, it was the whole reason it was created. This is not a “mark” column, nor a “smark” column, I cannot speak for Geoff, but my goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. There are also occasions where I will bring out a 5th or even a 6th R to the column, so beware of those~! I will not apologize for my opinions, they are as they are, whether very positive or negative.
The Matches:
–Kane defeated Finlay @ 8:50 via pin *
–IC TITLE MATCH: Umaga defeated Ken Kennedy and Carlito @ 7:25 via pin **
–Rey Mysterio defeated Chavo Guerrero @ 12:20 via pin **½
–#1 Contender’s Divas Battle Royal: Beth Phoenix @ 7:10 *
–ECW TITLE MATCH: John Morrison defeated CM Punk @ 7:21 via pin **
–HHH defeated King Booker @ 7:55 via pin **
–WORLD TITLE MATCH: Batista defeated The Great Khali @ 7:00 via DQ (ASS) TRASH of the Night!
–WWE TITLE MATCH: John Cena defeated Randy Orton @ 21:35 via pin ***¾ MATCH of the Night!
The Right:
Orton vs. Cena – So we came to the main event of the evening. The build to this was good I thought, Orton had transformed into a very credible challenger and with the streak Cena has been on, it was easy to get excited for a good match. And a good match it was. In my opinion this match was the polar opposite of the rest of the show. It was a good match with inspired work, guys working hard and it felt like a PPV match, a BIG TIME PPV match. Then you add in the crowd aspect, who all felt as if this was a BIG TIME PPV match due to their love and or hate of John Cena. I have said before, while it is not traditional, John Cena works on many levels as your champion. People will either pay to see him lose or pay to see him win. They pay to cheer him and they pay to cheer against him. The fact of the matter is that the crowds are hot and the money is flowing, and that is a damn good thing. I will say that the beginning of the match, first 6-8 minutes were a bit slow and uninspired, not slow as in building up because it would be a long match, it was just there. But then they picked it up and things got great. I haven’t liked past encounters of theirs, as I thought they didn’t work well together but that was all gone tonight. This was a damn fine main event match, both guys worked hard, the crowd reacted in kind and this went a long way to making this PPV NOT the worst one of the year. They played the crowd so well, the finishing segment was tremendous and fun and Cena retained. My only complaint here is that the win came off so clean, and I have to go back to the old school thought of, “If I have already seen Cena defeat him so clean, why would I pay to see it again?” Besides that though, excellent stuff and a match that cheered me up after the lackluster rest of the show, which we will discuss now.
Purgatory:
Punk vs. Morrison – The ECW Title match was a that a lot of people were looking forward to according to my inbox. That’s a good thing when your third brand is actually drawing in some fans, good news. Morrison and Punk have had “good” matches in the past and are showing some very good chemistry together, which bodes well for the future of the company. They are both young guys and will be a round for a long time; so they need to be able to jell and work together. So CM Punk wins the 15-minutes of fame and earns his title shot against Morrison. He picks up tag team wins along the way but Morrison got the advantage going into the PPV. They went out there and had a match, it lasted just over 7-minutes and Morrison got the win with a roll up and using the ropes, which looked sloppy and totally deflated the crowd because of the shortness of the bout, the average style of the bout, the fact that the ECW is treated like the IC Title, the sloppiness of the finish and the fact that Punk didn’t get the big win. I will be saying this a lot tonight, but the fact is that the match was lacking. It didn’t feel like a PPV match, let alone a Summerslam match. This is one of the BIG FOUR PPV’s and is supposed to be on another level. They promote the show on another level and make it seem more important than the other shows. They say it is the biggest party of the summer, so since they have placed it on a higher lever I will judge it harsher than a normal PPV. This match didn’t feel like a Summerslam match, and it didn’t even feel like a PPV match; it felt like a match I can see on free TV on Monday, Tuesday or Friday. To me that is unacceptable. This show costs $40 and people expect a good effort, they expect great matches and memories; the things they have programmed us to want. But they did not deliver that here and in the end, a match that could have been pretty good or great came off as “just a TV match,” and that’s a shame.
Umaga vs. Kennedy vs. Carlito – The IC title three way was our second bout of the evening. I found it funny that on the pre-show they showed the entire Kennedy vs. Carlito match from Raw, which was one of the shittiest matches this year. But the had the bout, and they tried to make some alliances as usual and it all broke down because Umaga started killing bitches. They would manage to get Umaga to the floor and Kennedy would get his shoulder-breaking boot on him, which would leave him and Carlito for a bit. They worked much better tonight than on Monday. Umaga would come back in, but they would try and take him out as he missed a corner splash and they then nailed him with a TV monitor. This would not be enough to stop the man though as he would come back again and in the end he killed Kennedy with the Samoan Spike for the pin. I figure they are going to job Kennedy some since they will push him with the Vince angle, but I really think that Carlito should have taken the job, he’s been a bitch boy for a while and frankly needs more developmental time. Again I have to say that the fact is the match was lacking. It didn’t feel like a PPV match, let alone a Summerslam match. This is one of the BIG FOUR PPV’s and is supposed to be on another level. They promote the show on another level and make it seem more important than the other shows. They say it is the biggest party of the summer, so since they have placed it on a higher lever I will judge it harsher than a normal PPV. This match didn’t feel like a Summerslam match, and it didn’t even feel like a PPV match; it felt like a match I can see on free TV on Monday, Tuesday or Friday. To me that is unacceptable. This show costs $40 and people expect a good effort, they expect great matches and memories; the things they have programmed us to want. But they did not deliver that here and in the end, a match that could have been pretty good or great came off as “just a TV match,” and that’s a shame.
Rey Returns – So big return #1 of the evening was Rey Mysterio. They had changed his entrance music a bit for some drama, they had the extra pyro and such and he came shooting into the sky and people were happy. He wore silver and was painted silver, ala the Silver Surfer. Actually he was covering up his lack of muscular definition, because while it is not as bad as some have made it out to be, he is not in the same shape he used to be. He didn’t look bad mind you, some people are making it out like he is a fatty now, it isn’t that bad, but it does look like Rey hit the taco stand more than the gym if you catch my drift. They played up some good psychology with Chavo looking for the leg early and such and Rey trying to stay away. That would be the focus, Chavo going after the knee, Rey trying to stay away and then when he could, go after Chavo’s knee for revenge. It worked well and it was fine. The legwork was fine, the 619 teases were fine and in the end everything was…fine. Rey got the win, and the pop was fine. Broken record time, but once again I felt that the match was lacking. It didn’t feel like a PPV match, let alone a Summerslam match. This is one of the BIG FOUR PPV’s and is supposed to be on another level. They promote the show on another level and make it seem more important than the other shows. They say it is the biggest party of the summer, so since they have placed it on a higher lever I will judge it harsher than a normal PPV. This match didn’t feel like a Summerslam match, and it didn’t even feel like a PPV match; it felt like a match I can see on free TV on Monday, Tuesday or Friday. To me that is unacceptable. This show costs $40 and people expect a good effort, they expect great matches and memories; the things they have programmed us to want. But they did not deliver that here and in the end, a match that could have been pretty good or great came off as “just a TV match,” and that’s a shame.
Vince’s bastard kid… – Of course you know that we would have to have the continuation of the Vince’s bastard kid storyline on the PPV. They had wacky skits backstage with the GM’s all chilling with Vince in a giant sausage party, which Vince pointed out. Cryme Time would show up in another segment and say they could be the kid because they all like “money, money, yeah, yeah.” They all danced around but Vince, Regal did a Benny Hill dance and of course this led to Ron Simmons, DAMN. Later Mae and Moohah made their appearance that EVRERYONE jus loves. Mae Young says she wants to sleep with Vince so she can have his bastard son and then jumps on him and they make out and I poured gasoline in my eyes. Vince is disgusted and. Coach gives him a tic tac, but Vince decides he actually likes the taste. He liked it actually and is turned on now. Vince says old chicken makes good soup. What…the…fuck? Seriously, this was fucked up. It was funny at times and shows that Vince is willing to take as well as give. It was fine, this was fine since it is the biggest angle in the company and the ratings have been improving. I understand why they felt that had to do it on the show, but really, to me it was more of a problem than an aid. I have no problems with the soap opera stuff leading up and building the angles, but when we get to PPV can we let the matches speak for the story and let it come to a culmination? I jus think that they should keep this stuff on TV and leave it off of PPV.
NO BUYS? – MVP came into the Vince party at one point and said that Teddy Long had dropped the ball by not having MVP on the show. He then said he would offer up an open challenge to Matt Hardy for a special competition tonight. Alright, problem number one is that they are having this unadvertised, a feud that has been going on for a while and is popular and they decided to just toss it out there. MVP comes out after the Diva Battle Royal and has a cooler. He enlightens us to the fact that he used to be a common man and drink 40’s, but of course doesn’t do it now that he is famous and the MVP. But he would lower himself to have a beer-drinking contest with the common man Matt Hardy, we all knew where this was going. Matt came out, said some fluff and said since MVP has a substitute for the boxing match he had one for this contest. Steve Austin came out, drank beer, kick, wham, stunner on MVP and the crowd loved it. My issues are that #1, yes I am sorry if I am not cool anymore but I have seen this 8000 times and to me, it is old. Secondly, they did not advertise Austin on Summerslam. WWE PPV’s have done poorly in domestic buys, you would think that they would do anything to get PPV buys up. While surprises are nice and so is the “anything can happen feeling,” it doesn’t mean a lot when it is the same old shit. Add to that the fact that MVP did NOT need to be taking a stunner and this gets:
Eventhough a lot of people loved it.
The wRong:
Divas Battle Royal – I don’t have a lot to say about this. For the most part it was just cluster fuck. They had a lot of chicks in there that had no clue how to work a battle royal, which ran the risk of injury to be honest with you, and it was slow and generally bad. JR and Lawler tried to put over Beth big time, with her strength and all, but when she won they did a moment straight out of TNA and went SRAIGHT into the MVP challenge deal and that was that. I think this could have been done better, and while not as atrocious as some thought the match was, it wasn’t good I have to say.
Kane vs. Finlay – If you would look up this match in the Wrestling Terminology booklet, under PPV it would be defined as filler. Really, we started another Kane feud over coffee? Really WWE, coffee, really? They also kicked off the show with this match, I didn’t dig that either. Let me state that this was not a “bad match” as in horrible, them blowing spots and such, it was just “a match that wasn’t good.” It was everything you expected. Finlay worked the ribs, Kane used a lot of chokes, big boots, throat thrusts, Little Bastard got involved, Finlay used his SHACKALACKI, Kane chokeslammed him and pinned him. While not “bad” it was very BLAH, I didn’t care for it and they could have done a lot better if they chose, as apparently the Dervish vs. Londrick pre-show match was better than everything but the main event.
The Ridiculous:
HHH Returns: BERRIES Booker – So this is what we were building to, the return of HHH. Don’t fool yourself, while there were many title matches on the show, to the company and some people this was the main event of the show. The return of HHH. He got the extra long entrance so that he could soak it up, he went to all the corners and such and did get a great pop. I will say that HHH looked great. He is leaner, dropping 20-30lbs and looks like “Pre-Quad Tear 1” HHH, which is best for him. But that is where the praise ends. We all joked about it, we all talked about the return, the match and we all knew that Booker would lose to HHH. That was something we all knew and accepted going into the show. Unfortunately for Booker no one told him that this would be a burial. The match was portrayed as a blow off to a feud with the totally dominating babyface victory. He dominated the match, he for the most part no sold the offense of King Booker and made him his bitch, which is a shame. They could have done things much better, look at Rey vs. Chavo, Chavo wasn’t made a bitch. Of course Chavo isn’t running the company and fucking the bosses daughter, too bad for him. I thought this was done completely wrong and was totally unnecessary. To me this was the HHH ego speaking, thinking his return was the main event and that he had to look super strong. A shame he didn’t get the pop Austin did, that has to piss him off.
And yes I am going to repeat myself, again for emphasis. Outside of the crowd reaction due to the return of HHH, this didn’t feel like a PPV match, let alone a Summerslam match. This is one of the BIG FOUR PPV’s and is supposed to be on another level. They promote the show on another level and make it seem more important than the other shows. They say it is the biggest party of the summer, so since they have placed it on a higher lever I will judge it harsher than a normal PPV. This match didn’t feel like a Summerslam match, and it didn’t even feel like a PPV match; it felt like a match I can see on free TV on Monday, Tuesday or Friday. To me that is unacceptable. This show costs $40 and people expect a good effort, they expect great matches and memories; the things they have programmed us to want. But they did not deliver that here and in the end, a match that could have been pretty good or great came off as “just a TV match,” and that’s a shame.
Dear Booker,
You have been…
Love,
Larry
Khali vs. Batista – The world title match was set and I thought that coming into the match they actually did a good job of building up to the match. The horrified looks by kids when Batista ate the claw on Smackdown, and then this past week when Batista finally got the upper hand and knocked the giant to the floor and bloodied him. So the build was there, but could the back it up in the ring? No. This was in fact an awful, awful match. Very deserving of the “ASS” rating I feel. First of all Batista is no John Cena, as he just couldn’t get the fire of the crowd into the match and his selling didn’t help any. It was slow, plodding, as I mentioned Batista’s selling hurt things I thought. But that is not the worst part of it! On Summerslam, one of the BIG shows of the year they decide to do a DQ FINISH FOR THE MATCH! A match that just hits 7-minutes and they pull a DQ FINISH, and not even a creative one. Khali can’t pin Batista, so he gets the chair and waffles him for the DQ. People were chanting boring during the match and when this happened they deflated more and did NOT like this one bit. They let Batista get his heat back by hitting Khali 10-times with a chair. Hopefully we’ll get a PUNJABI PRISON MATCH out of this, just because it is fun to say. This was an abortion.
>
Closing Thoughts:
Overall Summerslam was a disappointing show ala last year, a study in underachievement. This show could have and really should have kicked ass, I thought that it would but I was wrong. For being one of the big four shows it once again underachieved with mediocre effort and matches you could see any week on TV. Add in an unadvertised Austin appearance (NO BUYS) and it was just not what it was supposed to be. The only real PPV effort was the main event as Cena delivered yet again. While not a MOTY candidate, due to the slow start, but it picked up and they had the crowd the whole match. It was the only match on the card that felt “important” or “big time.” Overall I will go with a 4.0 out of 10 and a huge thumbs down for WWE Summerslam 2007. For “the biggest party of the summer” it ended up feeling like a three hour, sub par edition of Monday Night Raw. This show costs $40 and people expect a good effort, they expect great matches and memories; the things they have programmed us to want but they didn’t deliver. I did enjoy the main event though, but not nearly enough to save the show. Save your money for Survivor Series, a UFC show or something else, just don’t buy this show.
2007 PPV Rankings:
–WWE Backlash 8.5
–ROH Respect is Earned 8.25
–WWE WM XXIII 8.0
–WWE Royal Rumble 8.0
–TNA Slammiversary 7.5
–TNA Victory Road 7.4
–TNA Sacrifice 7.25
–TNA Final Resolution 7.0
–TNA Lockdown 7.0
–WWE One Night Stand III 6.5
–WWE New Year’s Revolution (RAW) 6.0
–WWE Great American Bash 6.0
–TNA Against All Odds 6.0
–TNA Destination X 5.5
–WWE Judgment Day 5.5
–WWE Vengeance 5.0
–WWE No Way Out (SD) 4.0
–WWE Summerslam 4.0
–TNA Hard Justice 4.0
2007 TOP PPV Match Rankings:
– (WWE Royal Rumble) Last Man Standing WWE Title MATCH: Cena vs. Umaga ****¼
– (WWE Backlash) Last Man Standing World Title MATCH: Batista vs. The Undertaker ****¼
– (WWE Backlash) WWE Title MATCH: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton vs. Edge ****¼
– (TNA Sacrifice) Texas Death Match: Chris Harris vs. James Storm ****¼
–(ROH Respect is Earned) Mark and Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal and Claudio Castagnoli ****¼
– (WWE Royal Rumble) The Royal Rumble Match ****
– (WWE WM XXIII) WWE TITLE MATCH: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels ****
– (WWE ONS III) LADDER MATCH: The Hardy’s vs. TWGTT ****
– (TNA Slammiversary) King of the Mountain Match: Angle vs. Harris vs. Cage vs. Joe vs. AJ ****
– (TNA Destination X) NWA Title Match: Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe ****
– (TNA Lockdown) Lethal Lockdown (Team Cage vs. Team Angle) ****
– (WWE WM XXIII) Money in the Bank III ***¾
– (TNA Final Resolution) 30-Minute Iron man Match: Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe ***¾
– (TNA Victory Road) Match of Champions: Joe and Angle vs. Team 3D ***¾
– (TNA Victory Road) Ultimate X ***¾
–(ROH Respect is Earned) Bryan Danielson and Takeshi Morishima vs. KENTA and Nigel McGuinness ***¾
– (WWE Summerslam) WWE TITLE MATCH: John Cena vs. Randy Orton ***¾
2007 PPV MVP AWARDS:
This is a little added deal here, as I feel that there are some other things that should be mentioned from the PPV’s. Not every PPV will have one, it just depends on who I think steps up and deserves some extra recognition.
–Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker: A Rumble to Remember – WWE Royal Rumble
–JBL: Solo Commentating – WWE No Way Out
–AJ Styles and Rhino: Elevation X – TNA Destination X
–Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker: “They still got it!” – WWE WrestleMania XXIII
–AJ Styles: Almost Dies for his Craft – TNA Lockdown
–The Main Events: “We can step up.” – WWE Backlash
–Harris and Storm: Redemption – TNA Sacrifice
–Matt, Jeff, Shelton and Charlie: “Taking a Risk.” – WWE ONS III
–Jeff Jarrett: “Thank you Jill” – TNA Slammiversary
–Christopher Daniels: The Ultimate X reunites XXX – TNA Victory Road
–Ring of Honor Makes Major PPV Impact – ROH Respect is Earned
READER FEEDBACK~!
From Bob –
I don’t usually write to wrestling websites but after watching last nights show, I thought I had to. I only ordered the PPV because my elderly father-in-law wanted to watch it and he only has basic cable and he said he would pay it. Let me tell you, if I had ordered that load of crap myself, I would’ve emailed WWE to get a full refund. SummerSlam used to be one of their biggest PPVs. Last night with all the obvious endings, eg Triple H and Rey winning, as well as ALL 4 champions retaining their titles, I found myself hugely disappointed in the whole affair. Even the Cryme Tyme/GMs/VMAC “skit” couldn’t raise my opinion of this “event”. It’s not that I only like championship matches if the champ looses but all four champs need to be replaced. I mean I would expect this type of event on a lesser PPV but not for SummerSlam. Don’t they know that at some point you’ve got to end a storyline and start a new one. Most of the storylines that are currently running in the WWE have been going on and on and on. You can’t save everything for Wrestlemania. Lately, I find that I don’t bother with American wrestling at all, I usually end up watching Japanese wrestling on Youtube. I don’t speak the language but any wrestling fan would know what a “lariatoo” is.
Thanks for your time. Great job on the website. 411Wrestling is the only wrestling website I bother with reading
From Andrew Crow –
Finlay/Kane – *1/2
Umaga/Carlito/Kennedy – *1/2
Mysterio/Chavo – ***
Diva’s Battle Royal – DUD (TRASH of the night)
Morrison/Punk – **
Booker/HHH – *3/4
Khali/Batista – 1/2*
Cena/Orton – ***3/4 (MATCH of the night)Overall score: 4
Overall, a PPV worth getting if only to see Mysterio actually able to sell an injury the whole match (the first attempt at the 619, and the resulting collapse, was beautiful), and to see Orton really look like he deserves to main event. It’s a shame Cena won, since the star of the match was Orton (listen to his reaction when he comes out, mostly cheers, to Cena’s, which is so mixed it’s not even funny).
From Branden –
Decided to check out Summerslam earlier tonight. It’s the first PPV I’ve ordered since the phenomenal Wrestlemania 23, and if the quality of tonight’s show is any indication of things to come, it’ll be the last ppv I order until ‘Mania 24.
It was just really bland and boring, with nothing quite sticking out or being truly memorable. HHH looked great, probably in the best shape he’s been at in a few years now. The match was decent, as was Rey’s return. I felt that the CM Punk/John Morrison match had a lot of potential, but fell really short thanks to a dead crowd and a really disappointing ending. Tack the same onto the Intercontinental Triple Threat and Khali/Batista, along with boring filler matches like Kane/Finlay and a Diva Battle Royal, and you have the makings of a really boring, uneventful ppv.
On the upside, I thought the Stone Cold/MVP segment was very entertaining thanks to Austin, and the Cena/Orton main event was well worth it, as it was a great match that the crowd came viciously to life for. Nothing to go out of your way to see, but still, it was as good as what I’ve come to expect from two extremely talented workers, although I feel that a change is needed and I think it would’ve been nice to see Orton walk away with the belt. Not sure if this is building towards Cena/HHH II at Mania or what, but I just feel like that belt is never leaving Cena’s waist. I’ve just in the last year started to really come around and like Cena quite a bit, but I still think it’s time for a change.
TRASH of the night: Batista vs. Khali
MATCH of the night: John Cena vs. Randy OrtonWWE Summerslam 2007: 4 out of 10
From Dan –
The Benoit situation destroyed my love of modern wrestling and I have lived off WWE 24/7 since and thank goodness with this mess. I didn’t watch but c’mon, you don’t have to anymore. Cena wins AGAIN, shocking!!! Basically, Triple H got injured before WM and they have made it clear that anyone not named Triple H has a hope in hell of taking Cena out. Speaking of the king of kings, he spends 7-8 months rehabbing and in his first match back pins Booker in 7+ minutes. I mean, c’mon, we knew it would happen, but 7 minutes!!! Booker has NOWHERE to go now, he is dead. And then, Kennedy and Orton both job out. So basically, the company has Cena as the invincible champion and Triple H as the invincible monster who has returned from injury with apparently NO side effects or ring rust, able to take out a marketable heel in 7 minutes. And what’s with Cena killing Orton’s finisher, and then popping up with the FU. God, I really hate what wrestling has become, and with Vinny Russo ruining TNA for me, I have nothing else but to live in the past with WWE 24/7, which is currently showing at various points right now: Bret/Owen – Cage match, Bret/Bulldog – IC Title, Owen/Bulldog – Euro Title and Perfect/Bret – IC Title.
From Jason –
I watched Summerslam tonight. I came away from it with a few thoughts…
First and foremost is Chavo is awesome. I know he lost, but Rey and Chavo put on a show that was very believable. I felt Rey’s pain as he worked through his surgically repaired leg, and I felt Chavo’s ego as he tried to put Rey out again. I LOVED this match. I was going for Chavo but Silver Rey ruled as well.
Stone Cold showing up was pretty awesome. Matt sold it pretty well. I was hoping for MVP to do the spit take, but again, not everything works. I know they should have hyped Stone Cold showing up, but wrestling is supposed to be all about “anything can happen.”
Batista and Khali was ASS as you mentioned. I was hoping for more, but the shoulder pinches took to long and the crowd got pissed. Then the crap ending even had JBL LIVID!!! That match really disappointed me.
Morrison and Punk made me feel luke warm. Again, I expected more, but it was a good start, and I hope their next PPV match has more hype and interest.
Booker and HHH was fun. I wonder if they will follow it up…
Vince sucked, but man is Regal the funniest man alive!!! DAMN!!!
To finish, I was hoping a RKO would finish the show, but we can’t all get what we wish for. I guess Randy will have to keep up the good work and maybe he can get the title and do it and him proud. Now if he keep from shitting in people’s bags…
Finally from David –
Hey, LT- Summerslam was yet another in a string of what I call “vanilla” PPV’s that WWE has put on this year. Not awful, not good either, just there. My thoughts:
1 )The Crowd- Minus Austin, HHH and the main event, the crowd pretty much dumped on the whole show. They really added something to the main though. This crowd knew what it wanted and could’ve cared less for anything else.
2) Poor Finishes- Let’s see, the lame Punk/Morison finish (end an 8 minute title match on a cheap roll-up) and the terrible Batista/Khali finish killed two of the top matches on the card. They need to do SOMETHING with ECW and they seem to have no direction for the World Title.
3) Backstage skits- The WWE seems to have a formula: in comes a comedy character, people do stupid stuff, Simmons says “DAMN”…I guess.
4) Bright Spots: There were a few on this show: HHH looked good, Cena V Orton was excellent (I go 4 stars)and MVP is solid on the mic.
5) Rey Mysterio: I dunno, he looked a bit blown-up after the match and not quite ready. Not really bad but noteworthy…
My take- I give the show a 7.5…I put a 6.5 as a baseline for any show that didn’t really tick me off but didn’t really do anything else. I gave the extra point for the main event and the fun crowd…
Best Match- Cena V Orton: Well-built, good story, strong finish…all-around entertaining. Say what you will about Cena but he has brought it in PPV main
events this year.Worst Match- Batista V Khali- Punch, kick, rest hold, poor finish…JBL was right “Monkey Butt Ugly”
Thanks for joining me for this special edition of the 4R’s, and don’t forget to check out the regular edition complete with all of the other shows from the week!
For more interesting information on wrestling, check out Bryan Alvarez and Figure Four Weekly Online and Mike Campbell over at SPLASH MOUNTAIN!
