After five weeks, the WWE Network will finally get another main roster pay-per-view event when SummerSlam airs live on the 23rd of August from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. "The Biggest Event of the Summer" now can bolster that claim, for WWE has decided to extend the broadcast time to four hours, a time slot that has only ever been given to WrestleMania. In addition to the duration of the event, a predicted TEN matches are set to be on the card, that of course being highlighted by Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker, but as Brandon Galvin of RingRustRadio once said, we'll get to that. Let's jump into the card.
Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) vs The Undertaker
The Beast vs the Phenom. A WrestleMania moment turned into a sold out SummerSlam. To look at this feud, a wrestling fan must suspend disbelief. We know this is fifteen months overdue. We know Undertaker already avenged his WrestleMania streak (kinda?). We know this probably was a "Plan B" option for Vince. But we also know Undertaker was concussed for the majority of the match at 'Mania and if you think Brock Lesnar is going to go easy on a guy EVER... than you just don't know Brock Lesnar. What makes Lesnar so great is he approaches WWE as if it was UFC. Even though he knows the outcome to the match before it begins, he lives his character. That's what makes him so believable. The ability to do so is practically unrivalved in the company... outside of maybe the Undertaker. When given the death and destruction angle back in 1990, he ran with it. Mark Calaway truly is the Undertaker. To get at what I was saying earlier, we are going to put away any false notion that this won't be a brutal match. We are going to see Undertaker get beat up. Really badly. It is likely he suffers another concussion thanks to the plethora of suplexes that will be handed to him. Plus I hope to God 'Taker's knees hold up, because seeing him pick up Brock for those tombstones looked rough.
Another aspect of this match that is necessary to examine is the roles these guys are playing. Brock Lesnar is the face. I think? It is hard to tell because so many people love the Undertaker, even though he gave Brock two low blows, a classic heel move. For Lesnar to take a loss, on his limited schedule, it would create another opportunity to go away from television for a little while, and return around the Royal Rumble where he can pick up and start new with someone else (the Rock maybe?). If he were to gain a clean pinfall win, he could boast he beat the Undertaker for good and can turn his attention back to Seth Rollins if he is still holding the title. Countless possibilites, but it is shaping up to be a match "Too Big For WrestleMania" no matter how you look at it.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
SummerSlam is available for purchase on pay-per-view and the WWE Network on Sunday, August 23, 2015. Like my picks? Don't? Tweet at me @simon18williams and @SBCHive to get a conversation going. Who knows, by the time you tweet me, Big Show may have turned face again.
Dolph Ziggler (with Lana) vs Rusev (with Summer Rae)
What is predicted to be the relegated to the obligatory pre show match, Dolph Ziggler is yet again looking to steal the show. He returned to Raw this past Monday after weeks of Rusev running his mouth and disrespecting his girlfriend, Lana. Albeit, not really anyone knows what he is saying with his hooligan scream/Russian/Bulgarian noise he makes. The Ravishing Russian, though, has picked up her own beef with Rusev's female counterpart Summer Rae, calling her a "wannabe Lana". Summer Rae responded with stuff along the lines of Lana being upset just because she is jealous that Summer is with her old man. In terms of in-ring work this should be a good match. Dolph can work with pretty much anyone and Rusev is extremely agile on his feet for being such a big guy. Since it is Ziggler's first match in a month or so, having a face win to start off the night is never a bad idea, but in terms of advancement of any storyline moving forward with Ziggler/Rusev, or even Lana/Summer, the heels would likely have to pick up a win.
What is predicted to be the relegated to the obligatory pre show match, Dolph Ziggler is yet again looking to steal the show. He returned to Raw this past Monday after weeks of Rusev running his mouth and disrespecting his girlfriend, Lana. Albeit, not really anyone knows what he is saying with his hooligan scream/Russian/Bulgarian noise he makes. The Ravishing Russian, though, has picked up her own beef with Rusev's female counterpart Summer Rae, calling her a "wannabe Lana". Summer Rae responded with stuff along the lines of Lana being upset just because she is jealous that Summer is with her old man. In terms of in-ring work this should be a good match. Dolph can work with pretty much anyone and Rusev is extremely agile on his feet for being such a big guy. Since it is Ziggler's first match in a month or so, having a face win to start off the night is never a bad idea, but in terms of advancement of any storyline moving forward with Ziggler/Rusev, or even Lana/Summer, the heels would likely have to pick up a win.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Team Bella (The Bella Twins and Alicia Fox) vs Team PCB (Paige, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch) vs Team B.A.D. ["Beautiful and Dangerous"] (Naomi, Tamina Snuka, and Sasha Banks) in a Divas Triple Threat Elimination Match
In an angle which has been labeled a "Divas Revolution", nine female wrestlers will get a legitimate match to showcase their abilities. Backed by Stephanie McMahon, this "Revolution" features three former Divas champs, the current one, and the NXT Women's Champion (as of now until her match with Bailey the night before... *wink wink*). With none of these titles being on the line, it makes for an interesting booking decision for the higher-ups of the company: do you have the face anti-Diva team win? The heels? The veterans that can't decide whether they are faces or heels? With all of those questions, and countless heel/face turns possible, the one saving grace of the match is the stipulation: whoever gets pinned, their whole team is eliminated. What I think is most likely to happen, is Team PCB is going to pin either Brie or Alicia Fox for the win. Tamina would've taken the pinfall earlier in the match to have Team B.A.D. eliminated. This way the champion, Nikki, doesn't look so bad in the loss and Sasha Banks can catch a break as well following her title match (still winking). Multiple wrestlers from each team will shine in this format, since everyone will be involved some way or another, especially Paige and Charlotte. And as always, Tamina will be a nonfactor.
In an angle which has been labeled a "Divas Revolution", nine female wrestlers will get a legitimate match to showcase their abilities. Backed by Stephanie McMahon, this "Revolution" features three former Divas champs, the current one, and the NXT Women's Champion (as of now until her match with Bailey the night before... *wink wink*). With none of these titles being on the line, it makes for an interesting booking decision for the higher-ups of the company: do you have the face anti-Diva team win? The heels? The veterans that can't decide whether they are faces or heels? With all of those questions, and countless heel/face turns possible, the one saving grace of the match is the stipulation: whoever gets pinned, their whole team is eliminated. What I think is most likely to happen, is Team PCB is going to pin either Brie or Alicia Fox for the win. Tamina would've taken the pinfall earlier in the match to have Team B.A.D. eliminated. This way the champion, Nikki, doesn't look so bad in the loss and Sasha Banks can catch a break as well following her title match (still winking). Multiple wrestlers from each team will shine in this format, since everyone will be involved some way or another, especially Paige and Charlotte. And as always, Tamina will be a nonfactor.
Winners: Team PCB (Paige, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch)
Kevin Owens vs Cesaro
If you like Indy wrestling, this is your match. Two former Pro Wrestling Guerrilla competitors square off in the WWE for the first time on pay-per-view. As far as a technical wrestling match goes, not only does this match have a very high chance of being the best one of the night, it very well could be the best match all year. Knowing these two have extensive careers dating before their time in the WWE, the intensity of this match will be crazy, and a usually hostile New York crowd will love this contest. For the past few weeks Kevin Owens has walked out of matches with his reasoning being they are not worth his time. Cesaro, who's undergoing a long overdue face turn, has since called out Kevin Owens for said walk outs and tells him it is disrespectful to the WWE Universe. The promo work here has been alright, since Cesaro is a 5/10 in the mic skills category, but we all know what a good in-ring worker he is, so we get the gist of what he's going for. I'm excited to see where this angle will go after this match. A clean finish win will help propel Cesaro back into the US Championship hunt and work his way to the main event scene as a workhorse, but on the other hand, Kevin Owens cannot take yet another pay-per-view loss. He is on a two match PPV slide as of late thanks to John Cena, so using that as aggression towards Cesaro could lend itself right into the hands of the great heel that Owens is.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Neville and Stephen Amell vs Stardust and King Barrett
I couldn't be less excited for this match. The outcome is more predictable than the sun rising tomorrow. Barrett should change his name to King Jobber because now all of a sudden he is inserting himself into a Neville/Stardust feud per a loss on Raw or something? Anyways, Neville will be working basically this whole match until he hits the Red Arrow on Stardumb and tags in the Green one for the win. With poor build up over the last few weeks, the comic book aspect of Neville being a "hero" is going to waste. One good thing that can be taken away from this storyline is the fan art they showed on Raw. The stuff was really well done and with the right build, it could've meant something. Hopefully this is the end of this angle and the Stardust character for that matter. Cody was much better... oh and the King thing really isn't working either.
Winner: Neville and Stephen Amell
 |
| One of the sample fan art pieces done by Danny Hass featuring "The Arrow" Stephen Amell vs Stardust. |
The Prime Time Players (c) vs Los Matadores vs The Lucha Dragons vs The New Day in a Fatal Four-way for the Tag Team Titles
Vince just must love mulit-team tag matches. Or maybe it's the fact that their are no legitimate teams in the tag team division besides the New Day. Either way, this match is a bathroom break for me. There's not much I'm really looking for in this one besides The New Day picking up the win and the Lucha Dragons gaining some credibility through some acrobatic spots. In a dream scenario, after the match and a New Day win, NXT stars Enzo and Cass' music hits and they come out to the ring and point at the titles setting up a feud for the two groups. Since they are not being given a chance to compete really at all for Blake and Murph's NXT Tag Team Titles, it would make a whole world of sense for them to get a main roster debut in the city from which their characters get their edge. As mentioned earlier, look for some fun spots from Lucha Dragons and probably the Matadors. Both of these teams have done well in this format of a match before and won't be effected storyline-wise by taking a loss since they don't have much direction anyway. That being said, New Day rocks.
Winner: The New Day
Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns vs Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper
Two thirds from each of last year's Elimination Chamber competitors will step into the ring and hopefully end the Reigns/Wyatt feud that has been brewing for the last month. What started as a 1v1 scenario escalated over the course of "Ordinary Time" between the two PPVs. Bray opened the feud by costing Reigns the Money in the Bank ladder match and sending cryptic messages towards him the next few nights on TV. Wyatt used pictures of Reign's daughter in early promos and really seemed to walk the thin line of reality well, using the "anyone but you" montra. Since Roman Reigns is terrible on the mic, his rebuttal promos were weak at best, screwing himself and Wyatt out of what started as a good feud. I hate being so critical of such a gifted athlete and the obvious future of the company, but he doesn't bring really anything to the table in that category. To counter that, WWE Creative injects Luke Harper back into the Wyatt Family, forcing Reigns to call on his Shield brother Dean Ambrose to even the odds. Luckily for Reigns and Wyatt, both Ambrose and Harper are GREAT in the ring and will make up for the deficiencies in that area their teammates present come SummerSlam. A scenario I was thinking about was yet another former Family member get involved and ultimately interrupting the match: Erick Rowan. His goofy character change from silent enforcer to Rubik's cube guy from last year's Survivor Series event was good for short time, but since he has not been featured on television for months, it would be a great surprise return. If that were the case, the match would be over, but a 3-on-2 attack from the Family to what's left of the Shield would be just enough to bring out The Rock. Yup, the Great One. Roman Reigns was interviewed on Fox Sports' show "The Buzz" with Jimmy Traina and when asked about whether the fans in Brookyln (and live on the Network) will get to be "electrified". After slight hesitation, Reigns responded with, "I wanna tell you, but I don't want to give anything away." That being said, I think its more than likely we see Reigns, Ambrose, and the Rock laying the Smackdown together at SummerSlam.
Winner: Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose by DQ
Winner: Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose by DQ
Ryback (c) vs The Big Show vs The Miz in an Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Match
Surprisingly enough, the creative team hasn't screwed this one up even with the champion out for a few weeks with a staph infection. Ryback, the current Intercontinental Champion, is trying to give the title some credibility after it essentially turned into a jobber's title and being completely irrelevant. The Miz and Big Show have definitely done their part on the mic to progress the storyline through taking shots at Ryback on MizTV and commentary segments. As far as technical wrestling goes, you really won't see much, even though the Miz does do a pretty good job at it. Just as the announcers have been suspecting on air, it is most likely that the Miz will let Ryback and Big Show go to work on each other and slither in for a win late in the match. Such a heel move, right? At least a Skull Crushing Finale would get a pop.
Winner: The Miz
Surprisingly enough, the creative team hasn't screwed this one up even with the champion out for a few weeks with a staph infection. Ryback, the current Intercontinental Champion, is trying to give the title some credibility after it essentially turned into a jobber's title and being completely irrelevant. The Miz and Big Show have definitely done their part on the mic to progress the storyline through taking shots at Ryback on MizTV and commentary segments. As far as technical wrestling goes, you really won't see much, even though the Miz does do a pretty good job at it. Just as the announcers have been suspecting on air, it is most likely that the Miz will let Ryback and Big Show go to work on each other and slither in for a win late in the match. Such a heel move, right? At least a Skull Crushing Finale would get a pop.
Winner: The Miz
Randy Orton vs Sheamus
What seems to be the 400th match between these guys has been hyped minimally. With both of them being involved in tag team matches with guys like Kevin Owens and Cesaro, it felt like this match was forced out of the picture. Orton, would love to get a win over Sheamus here because he has cost him singles matches throughout the past few weeks. What makes Sheamus' position in this match interesting though, is the Money in the Bank briefcase which he won at the MitB PPV back in July. It has been rumored that there may be a cash in by the end of Sunday night. With Sheamus' heart not fully invested in the match with Orton, he very well could walk out like we have seen him and Kevin Owens do recently. But as always, I would love to see an RKO. Preferably out of nowhere.
Winner: Randy Orton by countout
What seems to be the 400th match between these guys has been hyped minimally. With both of them being involved in tag team matches with guys like Kevin Owens and Cesaro, it felt like this match was forced out of the picture. Orton, would love to get a win over Sheamus here because he has cost him singles matches throughout the past few weeks. What makes Sheamus' position in this match interesting though, is the Money in the Bank briefcase which he won at the MitB PPV back in July. It has been rumored that there may be a cash in by the end of Sunday night. With Sheamus' heart not fully invested in the match with Orton, he very well could walk out like we have seen him and Kevin Owens do recently. But as always, I would love to see an RKO. Preferably out of nowhere.
Winner: Randy Orton by countout
John Cena (c) vs Seth Rollins (c) in a "Winner Take All" Title For Title Match
This title vs title setup allows the WWE Universe to find out whether Seth Rollins has what it takes to go up against "Big Match" John, who is in position for his record-tying 16th World Title. Cena has elevated the United States Title back to relevance in the past couple of months thanks to great matches in his open challenges on Raw with the likes of Neville, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn. Even Stardust gave John Cena a run for his money. Seth Rollins, on the other hand, has been booked poorly, and ran extensive promos to start the show for like five weeks straight.
Neither man really wants the other's title though, they just want to shut the other one up. Kind of a funny approach to a main event caliber match, but it works in this angle being that John Cena has been content with his US Championship. When the bell rings, Seth will be on the offensive, looking to go after Cena's broken nose. Even though John is medically cleared, we all know it has a big target on it, ever since Rollins broke it on Raw three weeks ago.
This title vs title setup allows the WWE Universe to find out whether Seth Rollins has what it takes to go up against "Big Match" John, who is in position for his record-tying 16th World Title. Cena has elevated the United States Title back to relevance in the past couple of months thanks to great matches in his open challenges on Raw with the likes of Neville, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn. Even Stardust gave John Cena a run for his money. Seth Rollins, on the other hand, has been booked poorly, and ran extensive promos to start the show for like five weeks straight.
Neither man really wants the other's title though, they just want to shut the other one up. Kind of a funny approach to a main event caliber match, but it works in this angle being that John Cena has been content with his US Championship. When the bell rings, Seth will be on the offensive, looking to go after Cena's broken nose. Even though John is medically cleared, we all know it has a big target on it, ever since Rollins broke it on Raw three weeks ago.
The in-ring work is going to be great in this match. John Cena will continue to pull out all of the tricks (hopefully will do a stunner right) and continue to impress the doubters, putting the "5 Moves of Doom" rumor to rest. I would love to see Rollins try and copy some of Cena's signatures and finishers as it would go hand-in-hand with his new "U Can't See Knee" t-shirt. For an outcome of this match, I don't see either man taking home a victory. Its hard to look up and down the card and see a scenario of four matches having false finishes, but if thats what it takes to progress a storyline, I'll take it. After either a loss or disqualification to Randy Orton earlier in the night, I think Sheamus will head to the ring, briefcase in tow, double-disqualifing the competitors, and cashing in the contract on Seth Rollins, becoming the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This allows both guys a way out. It gives Cena an opportunity to go back to US Title challenges and putting over a younger talent and Seth Rollins to feud with Sheamus/The Authority as an anti-hero face (kinda like CM Punk, just not as cool, obviously). I threw in the Authority as a possible opponent because it would be a great change of pace to have Triple H disown Rollins and accept Sheamus as the new "it guy" for the Authority. This could start out as 1v1 Seth vs Sheamus feud and escalate to a HHH versus Seth Rollins match at WrestleMania. Pretty crazy right? But that is really far in the future and for now we have to worry about whether John Cena's nose will stay intact during this match or not.
Winner: N/A (no contest as a result of double-DQ from Sheamus)
Winner: N/A (no contest as a result of double-DQ from Sheamus)
The Beast vs the Phenom. A WrestleMania moment turned into a sold out SummerSlam. To look at this feud, a wrestling fan must suspend disbelief. We know this is fifteen months overdue. We know Undertaker already avenged his WrestleMania streak (kinda?). We know this probably was a "Plan B" option for Vince. But we also know Undertaker was concussed for the majority of the match at 'Mania and if you think Brock Lesnar is going to go easy on a guy EVER... than you just don't know Brock Lesnar. What makes Lesnar so great is he approaches WWE as if it was UFC. Even though he knows the outcome to the match before it begins, he lives his character. That's what makes him so believable. The ability to do so is practically unrivalved in the company... outside of maybe the Undertaker. When given the death and destruction angle back in 1990, he ran with it. Mark Calaway truly is the Undertaker. To get at what I was saying earlier, we are going to put away any false notion that this won't be a brutal match. We are going to see Undertaker get beat up. Really badly. It is likely he suffers another concussion thanks to the plethora of suplexes that will be handed to him. Plus I hope to God 'Taker's knees hold up, because seeing him pick up Brock for those tombstones looked rough.
Another aspect of this match that is necessary to examine is the roles these guys are playing. Brock Lesnar is the face. I think? It is hard to tell because so many people love the Undertaker, even though he gave Brock two low blows, a classic heel move. For Lesnar to take a loss, on his limited schedule, it would create another opportunity to go away from television for a little while, and return around the Royal Rumble where he can pick up and start new with someone else (the Rock maybe?). If he were to gain a clean pinfall win, he could boast he beat the Undertaker for good and can turn his attention back to Seth Rollins if he is still holding the title. Countless possibilites, but it is shaping up to be a match "Too Big For WrestleMania" no matter how you look at it.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
 |
| Lesnar and 'Taker are in the match of their lives come Sunday night. |
No comments:
Post a Comment