WWE SummerSlam (August 2011)

Original Airdate: August 14, 2011

From Los Angeles, California; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Booker T, and Jerry Lawler

Opening Six-Man Tag Team Match: Miz, Alberto Del Rio, and R-Truth v Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston, and John Morrison: Those sky blue ring posts matches with black turnbuckles and white ropes is actually a great look. Miz and Kofi start, but not much happens. Over to Truth and Morrison, and John peppers him with stuff. The heels turn it around on John, and work him over. Kofi catches a tag and runs wild for a bit, and an SOS on Miz gets two when Del Rio saves. Kofi dropkicks Del Rio out of the ring, but Miz uses the reprieve to recover, and he hits Kofi with a jawbreaker for two. The heels work Kingston over next, until Rey gets the hot tag, and he runs wild on Truth. Roundhouse kick gets him two, and he tries a 619, but Del Rio trips him up, and Roseanne Barr the door! Kofi and John take out Miz and Del Rio with dives on the floor, allowing Rey a flying splash on Truth at 9:34. ¾*

Sheamus v Mark Henry: Henry tries using his size to control early, but Sheamus won’t back down, and throws punch after punch. Sheamus finally manages to pound him down, but Henry blocks a uranage by dumping him over the top. Mark presses him back into the ring for a splash for two, and Henry works him over. Henry with backbreaker rack, but Sheamus escapes, so Henry corner whips him. Henry tries a pump-splash, but Sheamus dodges, and makes a comeback. Henry fights him off, and tries for the slam, but Sheamus counters with a Brogue kick. It knocks Mark out of the ring, so Sheamus goes out to drag him back in, but gets driven through the barricade by Henry instead! That allows Mark to roll back in, and Sheamus is counted out at 9:21. ½*

WWE Divas Title Match: Kelly Kelly v Beth Phoenix: Kelly hammers her into the corner to start, so Beth tries a charge, but the champ blocks. Kelly with a headscissors to send Phoenix to the apron, and Kelly uses a standing headscissors on the apron, before dumping Beth to the outside. Kelly dives after her with a 2nd rope bodypress on the floor, but Beth blocks a backslide on the way back in, and clobbers Kelly with a clothesline. Phoenix with a press-drop across the top rope for two, and a hip attack in the corner follows. Snapmare gets the challenger two, so she works a chinlock, as Cole goes on a weird rant about how he’s ‘turned off’ by Kelly because he read that her Maxim photo spread was airbrushed. Phoenix with a backbreaker rack, but Kelly fights free, and delivers a neckbreaker. Kelly looks for a comeback, but Beth is ready with an Oklahoma stampede, and Kelly ends up in a tree of woe. Kelly dodges a charge and hooks a schoolboy for two, but Beth strikes back with a sidewalk slam for two. Big boot, but Kelly dodges, and snaps Beth’s throat across the top rope. Handspring backelbow, but Beth blocks. That allows her to go for the Glam Slam, but Kelly counters with a victory cradle at 6:32. Good effort from both women here. *

Daniel Bryan v Wade Barrett: Barrett hammers him down to start, and he grabs a side-headlock. but Daniel fights free, and delivers a dropkick. Bryan takes him down to stretch a bit, and a corner dropkick gets him two. Wade fights back with a scrapbuster for two, and a big boot sends Daniel to the outside. Barrett rolls him in to cover for two, and he grounds Daniel in a chinlock from there. Wasteland, but Bryan blocks, and dumps him to the outside. Daniel follows with a high knee on the floor, and a flying dropkick gets him two on the way back in. Wade fights back with a pumphandle-slam, but Bryan blocks, and unloads with kicks for two. Corner charge misses, allowing Barrett a big boot, but Bryan counters Wasteland into a guillotine choke. That fades Wade to the mat, and Daniel shifts to the LeBell lock, but Barrett has the ropes. Daniel responds with more strikes, but a superplex attempt ends in Daniel getting crotched on the top rope. Wade clotheslines him off from there, and the Wasteland finishes at 11:45. This was pretty solid. **

World Heavyweight Title No Holds Barred Match: Christian v Randy Orton: Gosh, how many times did these guys wrestle each other on pay per view in 2011? Slugfest to start, won by the challenger. He pounds Christian in the corner for a beating, but Christian fights him off, and dives off the middle with a backelbow for two. Cross corner whip, but Randy reverses, and he catches Christian with a backdrop on the rebound. Orton puts the boots to him, and a kneedrop gets him two. Christian fights him off with a ropechoke, so Randy tries the rope-hung DDT, but Christian backdrops him over the top to avoid it. He follows, but Randy sends him into the barricade to avoid an attack, and Orton preps an announce table. He tries the RKO on the announce table, but Christian slips free, and bails into the crowd to walk out on the match. Randy chases, dragging him back for a ten-punch count in the ring, but a charge misses, and Orton hits the post as he flies through the ropes. Christian responds by grabbing a kendo stick to hammer on Randy with for two, and a rotating spinebuster gets another two. Christian dives off the middle with a kendo, but Randy throws a dropkick to block, and he makes a comeback. Christian tries a 2nd rope dropkick, but Orton blocks, and hooks a somersault cradle for two. Orton with mounted punches, so Christian bails to the apron, but Randy drags him back with the rope-hung DDT. Christian counters to the killswitch, but Orton counters back with an inverted headlock backbreaker for two. Punt, but Christian dodges, and tries crotching Orton on the post, but Randy reverses him into it. Orton follows to the outside to beat on him, and the rope-hung DDT finally works on the way back in, getting two. Randy props a table up in the corner, but Christian blocks getting tossed through it, and he tries a spear, but Orton dodges. Orton tries the RKO, but Christian blocks, and he tosses his challenger over the top. Christian follows for a whip into the steps, but Randy reverses. Christian fires back by hitting him with a monitor, and he tries an RKO through an announce table, but Randy reverses. Inside, Orton tries another RKO, but Christian counters into the killswitch for two. He decides to try a conchairto, but Orton rolls out of the way, and nails Christian with the chair. Christian tries bailing to the apron, so Randy nails him with the weapon again, and the champ goes crashing through a table. Orton brings the steps into the ring and looks to curbstomp Christian on them, but the champ gets away. Reversal sequence ends in Orton powerslamming him through that corner leaning table from earlier, and some kendo shots follow. Orton brings a trashcan in to DDT Christian on, but Christian blocks the RKO with a kendo shot. That allows him a springboard, but Orton catches him in an RKO on the steps to win the title at 23:40. Both guys worked really hard here, and they kept an incredible pace for a twenty four minute match, but it also felt like it was too long by about five minutes, and the garbage brawling isn’t my thing (even if this was a good version of it). ** ¾  

Main Event: WWE Title Match: CM Punk v John Cena: Both men have a claim and are recognized as the champion here (with each even having a version of the belt), and this is to settle it. Triple H acts as the special guest referee for this one. Feeling out process to start, and Punk takes control working a chinlock/bodyscissors to ground John. Cena escapes and works a chinlock of his own, and a suplex gets him two when Punk tries escaping. Back to the hold, until Punk fights free successfully, and hammers Cena with a series of knees for two. A pair of headbutt drops get him two, and you know, I have to say, HHH could have been an actual referee. Most workers who guest referee are horrible, but he actually blends in so well that I find myself forgetting he’s there. Punk works a bodyscissors, but Cena escapes, so Punk tries a suplex, but Cena blocks. That ends in Punk snapping his throat across the top rope, and a springboard dropkick knocks Cena out of the ring. Cena beats the count, so Punk hooks the leg for two, and he puts the boots to him, continuing to target the ribs. Seated senton splash gets him two, and he keeps Cena grounded in a mat-based abdominal stretch. Cena fights free with a scrapbuster, and he looks for a comeback, but Punk throws a knee to the injured ribs for two. Kneesmash in the corner, but John dodges, and again goes for a comeback, but Punk fights him off again. He tries slowing it down with a headlock, but John fights out with a slam - only for Punk to block the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena looks for an STF, but Punk counters that into the anaconda vice, but Cena counters that to an STF. Punk counters to a keylock, and he shifts it into some pin attempts, but Cena uses the momentum of a kick out to counter to an STF. Punk manages to make the ropes to save himself, and he backdrops Cena over the top as both guys recover. Punk dives after him with a tope, and both guys are in danger of getting counted out, but HHH doesn’t want any of that bullshit, so he takes it upon himself to physically drag them both back in. I’m serious, he missed his calling. He’s a great wrestler, but he could have been a legendary referee. Reversal sequence ends in John throwing a dropkick to set up the Shuffle, but Punk counters the Attitude Adjustment into a sunset cradle for two. Pinfall reversal sequence ends in Punk kicking him in the brain for two, but Cena fires back with an emerald flowsion for two. Cena goes upstairs, but Punk blocks him from diving, and CM with his own dive in the form of a 2nd rope bulldog for two. Punk tries a dive off the top, but Cena sidesteps, and locks him in the STF. Punk crawls into the ropes to save his hopes, so Cena drops him with an AA for two. John tries a flying rocker dropper, but Punk dodges, and the GTS gets him two. Punk climbs to the top with a flying elbowdrop for two, so Cena uses a cradle for two, but Punk fires right back with a kneesmash. Cena gets fired up with a series of rights, so Punk throws another knee, and and the GTS gets the pin at 24:06 - HHH missing John’s foot on the ropes! This wasn’t near the level of their Money in the Bank match, but it was a damn good entry once it got properly going. And hats off to Triple H for the best special refereeing performance of all time. Afterwards, Punk disrespects HHH by refusing a handshake, so Kevin Nash randomly pops out of the crowd to powerbomb him. With Punk staring up at the lights, Alberto Del Rio suddenly shows up, and decides to cash in his briefcase. *** ½ 

WWE Title Match: CM Punk v Alberto Del Rio: Punk is just stirring at the bell sounds, and Del Rio clobbers him for a quick title win at 0:10. DUD

BUExperience: The main event and the Christian/Orton matches are both good, and while the rest is not, those two alone make up a good hour of the show, so it’s not a total loss.

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