Monday, August 15, 2011

Summer Slam 2011

Second only to WrestleMania, WWE's Summer Slam pay per view was last night. I didn't get a chance to watch until this morning and it was...well...I'm still not sure.

-The six-man tag match to start the event off was entertaining, even if it was pretty unnecessary. It seemed to paint the picture of WWE's crowded roster. Miz, R-Truth, Mysterio, and Del Rio have been in the title picture over the past few months and I would have preferred to put two of them into a feud rather than a gimmick. I think that pay per views can exist without Kofi Kingston or Rey Mysterio and its telling that there was no US or Intercontinental title match even with Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes both receiving a lot of heat lately. I would love to see Miz or anyone of these guys (save Kofi) involved in a feud for the mid-card title. I would have liked to see John Morrison vs. R-Truth here rather than last weeks anticlimactic match on Raw (backstage drama aside). All that being said the match was entertaining.

-Was very surprised/impressed with Mark Henry and I thought this match was handled well with Sheamus being counted out. I like the idea of him sort of making a slow face turn. The spot where Henry slammed Sheamus through the barrier did make me jump up.

-Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly were actually allowed to have a wrestling match. Phoenix is a force in the ring and her power was accentuated as was Kelly's own ability. You wouldn't know that from the announcing which was focused on Jerry Lawler's hard-on, but either way, it was refreshing to see an actual match in a feud that wasn't focused on the two calling each other skanky or ugly or anorexic.

-Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett had the match everyone was hoping they would get to see. When I got back into wrestling in January (I'd been away a while) I was not a fan of Barrett. I thought the Corre was terribly boring and one-dimensional and his reign as IC champion was forgettable (though that was really a shortcoming of WWE), but after watching last year's Summer Slam I was really sold on him. I think he's due for push, as being the Intercontinental champion is meaningless in WWE right now. He's got it and his victory of Bryan hopefully results in something. That being said, since Daniel Bryan won Money In The Bank, he continues to be in the spot of putting people over. Bryan has been receiving more exposure, but with Michael Cole consistently putting him down as a "nerd" it's hard to build anything for him, especially if he's losing all the time. My patience is wearing thin with the Cole character and the team of Booker T and Lawler doesn't help make up for his shortcomings as an announcer. Booker, while being a big supporter of Bryan, is repetitive and hardly informative and Lawler, as a face isn't very interesting. I think that this announce team is oftentimes detrimental. Jim Ross should be doing the play-by-play while Cole's character should be pushed to third wheel. With Ross announcing, you're given a perspective of Bryan that is not only unbiased but focused on the tremendous talent of Daniel Bryan.

-Even though they have yet to produce a disappointing match, my interest in Christian and Randy Orton has been waning. When Edge came out and called Christian a "whiny bitch" Orton's victory was already cemented, and my brother and I put on our Statler and Waldorf faces, waiting to pounce on any lousy spots. We were eating our words by the end of another impressive effort. All prejudices aside (I'm not an Orton fan) this has been one of the year's best feuds and its a testament to the ability of these two that they have been able to give us four (five?) excellent matches. I would say that this has to be the last, as Mark Henry has set himself up as the likely candidate for number one contender, and hopefully Christian is utilized.

-It was with great reservation that I came into John Cena vs. CM Punk. I think this feud has come to represent so much in wrestling today, and for me, more than anything we see the speculative nature of wrestling today. The Masked Man referred to it brilliantly as wrestling's "areality". The internet has become an open forum for what should be done with a wrestler or an angle and consequently what they did wrong. The question of "what are they going to do?" has transformed into "how are they gonna fuck this one up?" I try to stay away from speculation (or at least scornful speculation--as everyone who has an idea or an opinion seems to believe any direction that differs from their own is the wrong direction), but when an angle such as this exists, it's hard not to participate. I was at Money In The Bank in Chicago, I got goosebumps. my voice went hoarse, I felt like I was a part of something special that night. When CM Punk showed up two weeks later I sat back and said "ok, let's see what happens." By the time we reached Summer Slam I felt like a lot of people had jumped ship on this angle and were already saying it was ruined. I wouldn't go that far, but I wouldn't say I was pleased when this match was announced so quickly. Even with Triple H as the special guest referee.

Punk and Cena took their time in the ring much like MITB. There were holds and reversals. It was well-paced and diligent (wrestling!) and worked very well following its chaotic predecessor. The crowd was hot as both men traded the advantage with Triple H calling the match straight down the middle. I was surprised to see the crowd was pretty in favor of Punk, given the location I thought it would be a Cena crowd, and I think Cena worked the part very well. In the past few weeks Cena has worn a tired expression that, despite my support of Punk, I can't help but empathize with. For all the "Cena sucks" and "You can't wrestle chants" John Cena has really rolled with the punches through all this and I feel he deserves a lot of credit.

The match reached a boiling point as Punk hit a suicide dive, not only taking out Cena but also knocking his head against the barrier. As Triple H reached 9 in his count, he went to the outside and threw both wrestlers back into the ring. Everyone was expecting The Game to play a part in the outcome of this match, and though he did, it wasn't in the way we seemed to be expecting. As the two regained their equilibriums they traded big moves, including a flying elbow from Punk which garnered a "Randy Savage" chant. Punk hit a second Go To Sleep and went for the pin. Cena put his foot on the bottom rope and Triple H counted 3 and the match was over. I, like most of the crowd at the Staples Center, was waiting for the inevitable call that the match had to go on, but nothing came of it. Cena gave his usual argument with the referee, the one that ends in respectful resign as Punk celebrated to a crowd that was mostly watching Cena and Triple H. Cena leaves and despite denying a handshake Punk allows Triple H to raise his hand. Out of nowhere Kevin Nash enters the ring, gives Punk a Jacknife and then out comes Alberto Del Rio to cash in the Money In The Bank briefcase and pin Punk to become the new champion.

I have to say, with plenty of time to let this one sit, I think the WWE really blew their load on this. They avoided the obvious turn of having Triple H screw Punk [for a moment there, after he offered his hand, I thought we were going to see Punk make a heel turn and announce that he was in cahoots with Triple H all along] but nothing was made of the fact that Cena got screwed here. The appearance of Nash was a definite surprise and sort of awesome, but why, when you have so much going with Cena and Punk bring in Del Rio? Raw should be interesting tonight, part of me thinks there are so many pieces to pick up that this story line is becoming a convoluted mess. But another part is pretty excited for the possibilities.

2 comments:

  1. I only partly agree with you. Maybe they shot their load early, maybe they didn't. It makes me very interested in seeing how everything plays out over the next few weeks.

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  2. Yea, i was upset at the match ending with Punk stealing one, and much happier that they turned it into something else. HHH needed to be involved in some refereeing hijinks, Del Rio needed to get that cheap, sure win eventually, and wtf Diesel? I really dug the majority of it.

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