WWE Summer Slam 2015 review: Sizzle Fizzles

The Biggest Event of the Summer is here: WWE Summer Slam 2015! However, this event comes off the heels of a very strong NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event the night before. Will we see a summer sizzler, or will everything just fizzle out like how it’s been going for the last few PPVs?

Sheamus def. Randy Orton

We immediately start with one of the weakest matches on paper. We’ve seen these two go at it time and time again, so everyone pretty much knows what they are capable of. Brooklyn immediately went after Sheamus with the “You look stupid!” chants, which he managed to play along with wonderfully. In the end we got a good match out of the two, capped with a clean win by Sheamus.

Fatal 4-Way Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship
The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E w/ Xavier Woods) def. The Prime Time Players (c), Los Matadores (w/ El Torito) and Lucha Dragons

The New Day is certainly over with the Brooklyn crowd. For a Fatal 4-way, New Day managed to dominate PTP using standard Tag Team tactics. I really thought the crowd was out all through out the match, even after Titus O’Neil cleared the house. Speaking of which, WWE really has sorted out how to use PTP properly. They may not be the top tag team right now, but at least they have the art of the Hot Tag mastered. The end saw Kofi Kingston tagging himself in to steal the victory for The New Day in what could be one of the best tag team Fatal 4-ways in recent memory.

Dolph Ziggler (w/ Lana) vs Rusev (w/ Summer Rae) ends in a double countout

It’s really hard for me to care for this feud at all. We all know Ziggler’s good, and so does Rusev. So why can’t the bookers use something else to get these two in a storyline together? And we do not seem to be getting the end of this feud based on this result. Time to get ready to hear more “Cold Fish Lana” taunts within the next few weeks.

Neville and Stephen Amell def. Stardust and King Barrett

Look at Stardust donning the Goldust color scheme. And Amell donning the Arrow costume sans eyewear was a bit… underwhelming. Amell was surpisingly competent in his time in the ring, doing stuff like springboards, a hip toss and even an enzuigiri. Though it did seem at times that Barrett and Stardust were making sure that Amell won’t get injured when being slammed. Though with Neville getting the pin over Barrett via Red Arrow, one must think that is not over between Amell and Stardust. After what I’ve seen from Amell here though, I’m fine with another run between the two, provided that Amell gets some decent training next time.

Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Championship
Ryback (c) def. The Miz and Big Show

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but THANK GOD for The Miz. This match would’ve been really boring and awkward without him messing around and being a dipshit.Unfortunately, that’s really all I can say about this match.

Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose def. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper

I expected an explosive match, and that’s what I got. The sheer chaos that happened in this match was really entertaining as hell. I don’t mind Wyatt getting the loss here, as everyone really looked strong all match long, including Dean Ambrose who probably played the longest Ricky Morton sequence in recent times. Reigns’ final Spear to Wyatt kinda looked weak compared to the other times he used it, but it was probably due to the camera angle.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship and United States Championship Winner Take All Match
Seth Rollins def. John Cena to win the United States Championship

As expected, Brooklyn showing some love with the “John Cena sucks” chants. What’s not expected though, was Seth Rollins decked out in white like he’s the White Ranger. Commentary really played up Cena’s broken nose angle from a few weeks back, a rare case of WWE continuity in play. Cena and Rollins always work well together, going way back to Rollins’ Shield days. But there’s really a problem: is WWE ready to put Cena back on the top and push Rollins back down the line by tying Ric Flair’s championship record? The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart certainly would have none of it, allowing Rollins to get both the WWEWHC and the US title. It’s an unpopular finish, but I certainly think it is the proper way to go.

Trios Elimination Triple Threat Match
Team PCB def. Team Bella and Team B.A.D.

You’d think that after the previous night’s NXT Women’s Title match, the so-called Divas Revolution is in full swing. This match proves us wrong though. Clearly there’s a big discrepancy between the way Sara Amato is doing the NXT matches compared to the main show’s. There’s no doubt that the talent is there: Nikki has certainly imrpoved, Foxy’s always been awesome, same with Naomi. It’s just a matter of making a cohesive story between these ladies I think. Maybe it’s time they put the title on the line? Unless something significant of note would happen, consider the revolution at an impasse.

Kevin Owens def. Cesaro

This was supposed to be another match that can re-ignite the crowd at any given placement of the card. And they did just that with a very,very, solid performance. This is one match-up I do not mind happening again.

The Undertaker def. Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman)

Everyone was hyped for this match. And for once, somebody attacked Undertaker in the middle of his entrance. Just like most recent Lesnar matches, this ended up going to Suplex City fast. Thought it was also clear that Brock was conscious of the concussion that happened back at Wrestlemania XXX.Despite making a very brutal, entertaining match, WWE managed to somewhat mess it all up by using a screwjob-like ending. However bad the execution of the finish was, it was the most logical thing to do. They simply cannot afford to have Brock lose clean to Taker right now, but they also needed to have Taker get his win back. The end promo by Heyman where he declared Brock as the winner was done masterfully. Now WWE can go with a possible winner-take-all match between the two.

Overall, Summer Slam is still an alright show. However, it came after an exceptional NXT Takeover event, which really overshadowed the whole event. What started as a great summer sizzler ended up fizzling out due to that unremarkable main event finishing sequence. Way to go WWE.

Images courtesy of WWE