BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
Summerslam is often said to be the second biggest show of the wrestling year behind WrestleMania. I always felt it was Survivor Series, but I can see the argument. Summerslam is one of the original four PPVs and has given the WWE/F some of its biggest moments of all time. There have been title swaps, careers made, iconic matches, and milestones at this annual show. The history is there.
Can this current product live up to that standard? I don’t know. The talent sure as hell can, but the actual way the said talent is used turns out to always be the issue. The company has changed it’s format with the Network and these PPV cards have already started to lose their luster and spectacle. It’s turning into special edition of RAWs. They’re both three hours. One just doesn’t have AS MANY commercials. The whole Triple H/Stephanie thing rubs me the wrong way, I can care less about Cena being in another main event and I’m to the passive point in WWE where I won’t allow any expectations to form. They’re never met anyway. On paper the matches seem like they could deliver.
Ambrose and Rollins in a Lumberjack Match will end up being a great match but I never liked this stipulation, especially on a PPV. Why not have a Lumberjack flag match for Rusev and Swagger and let Ambrose and Rollins run with a cage match or a no holds barred. It won’t be their last match so I’m not losing sleep over it. Ambrose wins because Rollins has the briefcase. That’s WWE logic. If you have a championship prop you lose! The rest of the undercard is kind of stacked. They don’t have Bo vs. Truth, Dust Bros vs. Rybaxel, the Tag Titles, Adam Rose, Big Show, Kane, and a few others without matches. I’m sure they’ll be outside the ring for this if anything.
The Miz and Dolph for the IC Title should be decent enough. I like both guys. Dolph is one of my favorite performers in the company, but the problem here is that there is no interest for this. I want to see a good match here, but something really cool has to happen for it to be memorable at all come a few days after the show. I want Dolph to win so I’ll just go with it. Dolph wins. The flag match is going to happen. Swagger should not win this. Rusev crushes him after a long match. Paige is a cool heel now which seems promising. She rocked it in NXT. AJ Punk is back. She is a very awesome talent. My issue is that her promos are CM Punk. Her tone, her style, her cadence, etc…. It’s all the same as Punk. It HAS been for a few years now. Nevertheless, I’m hopeful it’ll be fun. AJ wins.
Randy Orton can’t lose to Roman Reigns. Reigns is the new guy on the rise and will get to the top in the near future. He can’t just run right through Randy Orton. Orton needs to win this to regain his heat and then carry this on a little longer. Imagine a Randy Orton/Roman Reigns Hell in the Cell match. A quick loss is not the proper rub. So yeah, Orton wins. The same can be said for Wyatt and Jericho. This match could be really solid. Both guys need the boost. Wyatt should at the top of the card and Jericho is someone who can help him get there while maintaining his own perceptive status. With Harper and Rowan banned from ringside I think Wyatt wins. It’s a much more impactful win to know he did it without his gang at ringside.
I don’t want to see Stephanie and Brie. I’m sure it’ll be a fun spectacle, but it’s just getting tedious for me. People are loving it so that’s awesome. I’m just not connecting with it. I’m glad there is a strong female storyline at the forefront though. It says a lot about where things are now compared to the past. Stephanie gets the win here. She’s been eating more crow lately than normal so I expect her to regain her heel footing with a win here. Maybe Brie’s sister goes heel on her.
The main event is there. Cena and Brock. Here’s the thing. It’s wrestling. Everyone expects Brock to win this match. He just beat the Undertaker and everyone things he’ll carry the momentum and win the belt. It’s an obvious route and no one is blinking an eye. Cena is on his way out to make movies or some hyped up and contrived nonsense that everyone got hooked into in the “wrestling media”. Remember WrestleMania? It was clear that Taker was going to win his match and the streak would keep going. It was just a match and didn’t have the same gusto. Then boom! The streak is over and we are all shocked. I could see the WWE doing the same thing here. The general census is that Cena wins this and the next few months are laid out. It’s too painfully lame. I don’t want Cena to win this, but I don’t really care if Brock does either. I just want to the most intriguing story. For the most intriguing story moving forward I hate to say it, but Cena wins.
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