WWE SummerSlam (August 2010)

Original Airdate: August 15, 2010

 

From Los Angeles, California; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Matt Striker, and Jerry Lawler

 

Opening WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Dolph Ziggler v Kofi Kingston: Kofi blitzes him at the bell, and the champ ends up on the outside. That allows Kofi a tope, but Ziggler dodges, and Kingston just takes a nasty bump off of it. He just went all in on that one. Dolph leaves him out there to eat the count, but Kofi beats it, so Ziggler traps him in a chinlock for a bit. Turnbuckle smash is worth two, so Ziggler snapmares him to set up a somersault necksnap for two. Is it any wonder that, back around then, when I heard that Curt Hennig’s kid was wrestling, I just assumed it was Ziggler? Dolph works a reverse chinlock, but a corner splash misses, and Kingston makes a comeback. 2nd rope bodypress connects, but Ziggler rolls through for two. Kofi responds with a cradle for two, but Dolph keeps coming with a rocker dropper for two. Corner charge misses, allowing Kofi a flying axehandle, but the Trouble in Paradise misses. That allows Ziggler a sleeper, but the Nexus run in for a no contest at 7:05. This was a lot of nothing, before some nice back-and-forth at the tail end, though the finish sucked. Couldn’t they do that doe some jobber match, instead of the Intercontinental title? Oh, wait. ¾*

 

WWE Diva's Title Match: Alicia Fox v Melina: I don’t know what Melina is wearing for her entrance here, but I feel like Twitter wouldn’t approve of it. Fox works a headlock early, but Melina wins a criss cross, and takes her down for some fishhooking. Melina pounds her in the corner, and a flapjack gets her two. Leapfrog goes badly when Melina lands wrong on her bad leg, but Fox fails to target it, and gets superkicked out of the ring. Melina chases, but eats post, and at least Fox manages to capitalize on THAT with some success. She works the arm (despite the giant blinking target on the leg), but Melina fights her off in short order, and makes a comeback - finishing with a facebuster at 5:20. This was nyet good, with lots of awkward exchanges, and very little story. DUD

 

Handicap Match: Big Show v CM Punk, Luke Gallows, and Joseph Mercury: Mercury tries charging, but gets swatted away. Same for Gallows. Punk won’t take the bait, however, instead commanding his guys to double up instead of taking it one at a time. That doesn’t go well for them either, and Show puts an exclamation point on it by press-dropping Mercury over the top at Gallows. Punk tries sneak attacking, but that gets him blasted, and he bails. Show follows, so Punk jabs him in the throat to try setting up something with the post, but Show easily avoids that as well. Gallows and Mercury come back to help, however, and finally a triple team is enough to subdue Show. They continue the effort as the action heads back inside, and apparently the tag rule is just completely out the window here. Show randomly decides to make a comeback, but Punk blocks the chokeslam, and dodges an avalanche as well. Punk unloads, and a tandem 2nd rope bulldog with Mercury is worth two. Punk pounds Rick Harrison’s giant hands, but Show gets annoyed, and dumps him over the top. He takes Gallows and Mercury out with a double clothesline, and chokeslams Mercury at 6:47, with Punk bailing on the match instead of trying to make the save. This one at least had something of a story to it, but that story belonged on TV. Quite the pay per view thus far. *

 

WWE Title Match: Sheamus v Randy Orton: If anyone interferes in the match they are suspended indefinitely, and if Orton loses, he can't get another shot while Sheamus is still champion. Though, really, that's not saying much. This isn't exactly the Bruno Sammartino era of title reigns. Sheamus tries pounding his chest early, but Orton shrugs him off, and unloads. Clothesline sends Sheamus over the top, and another one sends him into the first row. Orton drags him back into the ring for a Garvin stomp for two, and a catapult under the bottom rope puts the champion back on the floor. Orton follows to whip him into the barricade out there, but one into the steps gets reversed, and Sheamus puts the boots to him on the way back inside. Clothesline sets up a kneedrop for two, and Sheamus works a chinlock from there. Orton fights to a vertical base, so Sheamus tries a vertical suplex, but Randy reverses. That allows the challenger to try for a DDT, but Sheamus backdrops him over the top to block. Sheamus follows to send him into the barricade a couple of times, and he hooks the leg for two on the way back in. Axehandle gets two, so he works an armbar, and uses an inverted DDT across the knee for two. Chinlock, but Orton uses a side suplex to break free, and an inverted headlock backbreaker gets him two. Slugfest is won by Orton, and he makes the big, fired up comeback. Vertical superplex gets two, but Sheamus fires back with a uranage across the knee for two. Brogue Kick misses, sending the champ crashing over the top, so Randy pulls him in with the rope-hung DDT. RKO looks to finish, but Sheamus manages a block, and he hooks the leg for two. Crucifix powerbomb, but Orton counters to the RKO, so Sheamus counters to the Brogue for two. Sheamus is frustrated, so he brings a chair in, and gets himself intentionally disqualified at 18:56. I didn’t care for that as the finish of a twenty minute PPV title match, but this was solid work outside of that, and the crowd was into it throughout. **

 

World Heavyweight Title Match: Kane v Rey Mysterio: Rey uses his speed to keep Kane from stringing offense together, but he keeps getting pounded before he himself can mount any. Rey manages to set up a 619, but Kane dodges, and he dumps Mysterio to the outside. Rey steals the high ground to frustrate the champion, and he blasts him with a baseball slide, then dives off the apron with a seated senton. Rey tries a dive on the way back in, but Kane knocks him off the ropes, and he ducks his challenger into the post, then baseball slides into him for a little sandwich action. Corner whip only gets two, so Kane keeps the hurt on the back with a bearhug, but Rey fights free. Headscissors positions Kane for the 619, but the champ blocks with a clothesline for two. Kane dumps him to the outside, so Rey tries springboarding back in, but Kane boots him off the ropes, and Mysterio goes crashing back to the floor. Kane looks to drag him in, but Rey drops him into the barricade with a drop-toehold, and he dives with a flying headbutt for two on the way back in. Kane fights back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two, and another backbreaker is held into a submission. Sidewalk slam gets two, but a trip to the top ends badly, and Rey manages an inverted DDT for two. Flying seated senton connects, so Kane tries fighting him off with the tombstone, but Rey counters with a tornado DDT for two. Springboard flying legdrop gets the challenger two, and a kick to the head is worth two. Ain’t that a kick in the head? Rey tries a dive, but lands in a punch to give Kane two. Kane opens the casket he’s brought with him and tries to chokeslam the challenger into it, but Rey counters with the 619. Kane blocks, so Rey uses a springboard flying dropkick to set it up again, only for Kane to counter with a chokeslam - which Rey then counters back with a rana! That sets up a successful 619, but Kane blocks the springboard flying splash, so Rey switches gears with a cradle for two instead! Kane manages to nail him with a big boot as they get vertical, however, and the chokeslam finishes at 13:30. Good psychology, solid storytelling, though a little underwhelming. ** ½

 

Main Event: Fourteen-Man Tag Team Elimination Match: John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, R-Truth, Daniel Bryan, and Bret Hart v Wade Barrett, David Otunga, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Darren Young, Skip Sheffield, and Michael Tarver: Big brawl to start, with the WWE guys cleaning house. Bryan and Young start, and Daniel is all fired up - blitzing him with kicks, and putting him away with crippler crossface at 0:43. Dust settles on Jericho and Gabriel next, and Chris is quick with a side suplex, before passing to Truth. Truth lands a leg lariat and a suplex-jawbreaker for two, but Justin fights him off with kicks. Over to Tarver to pounds Truth with strikes, but a corner charge his boot, and Truth is able to tag Morrison. Morrison comes in hot with a dropkick, and he lands a leg lariat of his own. Springboard roundhouse kick sets up Starship Pain, and Tarver is gone at 3:35. The Nexus all take to the floor to regroup and strategize, and the dust settles on Morrison with Skip. Skip powers him around, and a pair of corner whips lead to a trio of vertical suplexes for two. Morrison tries slugging back, but Justin is right there with a cheap shot from the apron, and Skip clobbers him with a clothesline at 7:31. Truth hustles in, and gets a couple of shots in before eating a clothesline as well at 7:58. Jericho comes in next, and gets some traction in the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, allowing Skip a press-slam. Nexus work Jericho over in their corner, but Wade hits boot on a corner charge, and Chris lands a 2nd rope dropkick. That allows a tag to Bret, and the Hitman comes in slugging on Slater. Bodyslam sets up a pointed elbowdrop, and an inverted atomic drop leads to the Sharpshooter, but Slater tags out to Skip while in the hold. That pisses Bret off, so he grabs a chair (that someone just conveniently slid into the ring for no reason), and whacks Skip for the DQ at 12:05. Bret looked a lot better here than his embarrassing showing at WrestleMania, at least. And his post-DQ tantrum is nearly Montreal quality, so we good. Jericho capitalizes on a loopy Skip with the Codebreaker, and Edge finishes him off with a spear at 13:12. Gabriel rushes in, but Edge big boots him down, and uses a cross corner whip to set up a corner spear. Flapjack gets two, but Justin comes back with a spinkick for two, and Nexus work him over. Slater’s strategy of dumping him to the outside to try for a countout after a single move seems pretty stupid, however. Otunga tries a uranage, but Edge counters with a DDT, and Jericho tags in to put him away with the Walls at 19:13. Slater’s in right away, so Chris sends him flying out of the ring (in a nice bump), and Jericho lands a flying backelbow on the way back in - only to run into Cena by accident, allowing Slater a neckbreaker at 20:04. Edge and Cena argue over who gets to come in next, allowing Slater to schoolboy Edge at 20:38. Edge responds by spearing Cena off of the apron on the way out, and Jericho (apparently still pissed about his elimination as well) punctuates it by kicking John while he’s down. Nexus drag Cena in, and they gang up on the battered warrior. They cut the ring in half for what feels like an extended period of time for a match that’s already over twenty minutes deep, but he fights Slater off long enough for the tag to Bryan, and Daniel comes in hot. German suplex and a running dropkick knock Heath loopy, and a jumping forearm knocks him to the outside. Bryan dives after him with a tope, and a flying dropkick finds the mark on the way back inside. Heath tries a schoolboy for two, but Daniel quickly shifts to a crippler crossface at 29:01. Bryan is feeling strong, but before he can take on the next man, he’s blasted from behind by WWE United States Champion Miz (sore for being snubbed as a member of the team), and Barrett hooks the leg at 29:32. Good showing for Daniel here, his work looked excellent. Cena is still all shook up from the beating he took before the tag, however, and Justin works him over. Corner charge misses, allowing Cena to make a comeback, but Barrett tags in before he can execute the Attitude Adjustment. Nexus pull up the mats and DDT Cena on the concrete (though, sadly, it’s 2010, so no blade job to really get it over), and Gabriel goes for the kill via a flying 450 splash, but John dodges, and hooks the leg at 34:50. Barrett comes in to finish the job on the battered Cena, but John is ready with a quick STF at 35:17. This wasn’t a bad match at all, but it felt like it went on forever, and especially started dragging after Edge’s elimination. Like, I get needing to wear Cena down to add drama for the finish, but doing two extended heat segments in a match that’s already over twenty minutes long before the first one even starts isn’t the best booking. * ¾

 

BUExperience: Outside of the novelty of seeing Bret Hart back at SummerSlam for the first time since headlining the event in 1997, this did nothing for me.

 

DUD