WWE SummerSlam 2013 Review
Los Angeles, CA
August 18th 2013
Kane v Bray Wyatt – No DQ Inferno Match
The last time Kane was in an inferno match was at Armageddon 2006 against MVP. There’s a reason why they shelved this gimmick. In the 2006 conception of this match it was a match to see who could set the other on fire first. Here, it was a case of surrounding the ring in fire so that the Wyatts could be kept out. And it was one of the worst ppv matches for a long time. Kane is off to shoot See No Evil 2 and they needed a way to write him of TV for a while so, the poorly executed stairs to the head shot that finished the match was the way they chose to do it.
The Wyatts are a HHH project and are going to get the push that The Shield would have had had they not annoyed a lot of people back stage and inured Undertaker by being too stiff on Raw after WrestleMania. Bray looked way short of match practice but his facials are great and he really lives the gimmick. His downward spiral finish is no good and needs to be changed but this match ended with nothing resolved: the Wyatts are still in the same position they were before the ppv.
Damien Sandow v Cody Rhodes
Cody coming out minus the tash is a good thing if he is ever going to get over as a babyface. Sandow is excellent at being his character and is fantastic on promos but I just can’t see him as being the World Heavyweight Champion for long if, indeed, he is ever successful at cashing in. While Del Rio is champion, this won’t happen. These two had a reasonable match but it would have been far better if the briefcase had actually been on the line – the ladder would have helped bring heat and tension to some of their spots. It was a shame that they blew this off with Cody winning clean. I’m not sure where this leaves Cody but he should be champion within the next year or so.
Christian v Alberto Del Rio (c) for the World Heavyweight Championship
This match was preceded by a fantastic video package of Christian’s career that made me question whether he was hurt and this was maybe a way to signal that his time is coming to an end at WWE. Del Rio came out looking horrendous – his face was a mess. He has a black ear, a busted nose and a huge black eye. He and Drew McIntyre had got into a fight in a bar at 3am the night before when someone picked on Drew’s girl and Del Rio stepped in and got blind-sided. That said, Del Rio put in a great performance and the finish was awesome.
Del Rio’s aggression is fantastic and his heel move set is great, particularly on ppv when he tries new and different things. His enzuigiris were particularly stiff on this show and his backstabber on Christian was really creative. Christian was the sympathetic babyface who couldn’t get the job done and sold his shoulder throughout. There were tons of near falls at the end of the match but the arm bar finish looked great and rounded off the story of the match neatly.
Natalya v Brie Bella
Glad that Natalya is getting to wrestle on TV and on ppv now that Total Divas is doing so well over on E! This was a nothing match but the Alabama slam into the sharpshooter finish looked pretty good.
CM Punk v Brock Lesnar – No DQ Match
As the tremendous video package aired to hype this match, my hair stood up on the back of my neck as I considered that what I might be about to see could be a 5 star match. As it started I was slightly less confident: Lesnar came out and was looking heavy. I wondered whether he’d be able to keep up with the lithe Punk, Cole stated that there was a “50 pound difference between these two men” but it has to be more like 100. Brock looked 300lbs easily while Punk barely looks 210 these days. But these two, with Paul Heyman’s help, pulled out the best match of the year.
Lesnar brutally killed Punk throughout the opening stages, busting his back open on the announce table monitors. He threw him around like a rag doll and didn’t seem to tire. Punk got in some good offence, using chair shots, kicks and elbow drops to knock ‘the beast’ down. More impressive was that Punk was able to get Lesnar up and hit the GTS while it was great to see Lesnar doing the 3 Amigos in tribute to Eddie Guererro who he feuded with and lost his WWE title to a decade ago.
The MMA spots that they did really built the finish nicely but the guillotine that Punk used was never even close to being locked in and so didn’t look real enough. Lesnar tried an F-5 but Punk grabbed Paul Heyman's tie so he couldn't do it. Punk tried the GTS but Heyman interfered since it was no DQ. Punk went after Heyman but Lesnar went for an F-5, which was turned into a DDT by Punk. Punk used the Anaconda Vice but Heyman came in with a chair and Punk blocked him. He the put Heyman in the Anaconda Vice but Lesnar cracked Punk with a chair and used a series of chair shots and an F-5 on a chair for the pin. The crowd chanted Punk's name after it was over. These two got a standing ovation backstage after the match and Cole, JBL and Lawler were clearly impressed.
Dolph Ziggler & Kaitlynn v Big E Langston & A J Lee
Poor Dolph Ziggler. He should be World Heavyweight Champion right now. This feud is going nowhere and Ziggler as this kind of babyface doesn’t work and is totally frustrating to watch. He just needs time and a push so that he can work on his promo skills which are clearly there but just need the edges smoothing off.
This was an average match ending when Ziggler slipped out of the Big Ending and hit the Zig Zag for the pin. It wasn't much when the women were in, but it was in many ways positioned as the buffer match, so given what it was following, they had a tough time getting too much reaction. Kaitlynn hit a spear on AJ outside the ring when they were doing the finish inside the ring that looked absolutely great. No idea where this goes now. I really hope Dolph goes back in the title hunt.
John Cena (c) v Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title with HHH as guest referee
This was a tremendous match. It wasn’t necessarily better than Punk and Lesnar because it was a different kind of match. Daniel Bryan was so over in the building – he has actually been this hot on and off since WrestleMania 28 which shows you that fans love him and that he has some staying power at the top. They did all the near falls and near submissions with their regular moves as well as Bryan using the STF on Cena at one point. Bryan, at another point, got out of Cena's STF and had him in the Yes lock.
Bryan pinned him clean after a strange running knee to the face but when the three count came the finish didn’t matter anymore. The crowd were so happy and they were treated to a celebration with confetti and pyro. HHH sold it like he was delighted for Bryan, Cena shook his hand, Bryan went to the ringside camera to thank his parents. The whole thing was great after such an awesome match.
Randy Orton’s appearance complete with briefcase and heel facials was perfect. He teased the cash in, turned away, Hunter hit his pedigree on Bryan, turning heel so that Randy could calmly walk to the ring and pin Bryan to become champion. The whole thing was really well done and left everyone happy. The programme will now be Bryan and Orton at Night of Champions with Bryan as a babyface who is chasing the title that he was robbed of.
This was a great SummerSlam and, believe it or not, sows the seeds for WrestleMania storylines already: The McMahons are a united family that will feud come Mania. Orton and HHH are heels. Lesnar is still strong so that he can face Undertaker. Punk can still feud with Heyman and Curtis Axel. Cena can go and get his elbow surgery.
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