RADICAN'S WWE SUMMERSLAM PPV BLOG 8/23: Coverage of Orton vs. Cena, DX vs. Legacy

(1) Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler

-- If Ziggler wins I riot. ... Mysterio with a sick leapfrog into a moonsault off the top during the early stages of the match. ... Ziggler takes a page out of Tyler Black's book and nails Mysterio with the buckle bomb. ... Ziggler's headlocks are staight out Orton 101.

-- Mysterio goes for a springboard splash, but Ziggler catches him with dropkick. ... Ziggler ducks the 619 and hits a running legdrop for a good nearfall. ... Rey hits the 619, but misses the splash and Ziggler rolled him up for another great nearfall. ... Mysterio finally hits a huracanrana off the top for the pin. This was really good after a slow start. (***)

(2) Jack Swagger vs. MVP

-- Swagger and MVP are backstage with Josh Matthews. Swagger says he's a future WWE champ and MVP is just an ex-con. MVP says he will teach Jack a lesson tonight.

-- Crowd really isn't into this during the early going. ... Swagger is wearing down MVP witha chinlock, but MVP powers out. ... MVP fires back and hits the "ballin" elbow! ... MVP hits the playmaker for the win in a short match. (**)

-- Nancy O'Dell interviews Freddy Prinze. They make fun of wrestling and Freddy says Cena is going to win.

(3) Jericho & Show vs. Cryme Tyme

-- Jericho gets on the mic and says celebrities are parasites. He says him and Show are the most famous people in the arena tonight. Show gets on the mic, but Cryme Time interrupts to silence.

-- Not much heat here as Show and Jericho get the heat on JTG. ... Shad runs wild! ... Show cuts Shad off quickly and Jeri-show is back on the advantage. ... Shad finally tags out and JTG hits the mugshot on Jericho. Jericho gets the walls of Jericho on JTG. ... JTG gets the ropes, but Show nails him with a punch and Jericho pins him for the win. This was really boring at times. (**)

-- Josh Mathews is backstage with Punk. Punk has a screenplay about Jeff Hardy's life. Punk said the ending was fake because Jeff beats him. ... Punk runs down society. He says they don't make movies about him because he's not part of a poisoned society. Punk says the ending he writes will be very graphic. Awesome promo.

(4) Kane vs. Great Khali - why?

-- They just showed Holly Montag from the Hills in the crowd during Khali's entrance. ... They tease simultaneous chokeslams, but no dice. ... This ain't the worst match I've ever seen, but it's pretty bad. ... Kane wins with a crappy DDT. (DUD)

-- We get to see all the celebrities in the crowd.

(5) DX vs. Legacy

-- No main event for DX? Stunning! ... DX with one of the most elaborate entrances ever with HBK firing off a cannon on a tank. ... Triple H hops on the cannon and does crotch chops while it goes off.

-- Cody slaps Shawn early on, but Shawn returns the favor a short time later. ... Triple H gets the hot tag from HBK and has Ted set up for the finish, but Cody makes the save. ... Triple H is getting worn down by Legacy in their corner.

-- Triple H nearly tags out but Ted sends HBK flying to the floor with a forearm. This is good so far. ... HBK runs wild on Cody, but DiBiase takes him out from behind. ... Rhodes misses an elbow off the top on HBK. Michaels goes up top, but Cody cuts him off. HBK fires back and goes for an elbow but Cody gets his knees up.

-- Cody gets caught in the figure 4 by HBK, but Ted breaks it up. Hunter nearly nails Ted with the pedigree, but Cody breaks it up. ... Cody hits the cross-rhodes on HBK, but Triple H breaks it up. Triple H hits the pedigree on Cody. ... Ted hits the Dreamstreet on HBK, but Hunter brawls to the outside with him. ... HBK and Cody get up slowly and HBK nails him with the sweet chin music for the pin. This was really good. (***3/4)

(6) Christian vs. William Regal

-- Christian hit the killswitch while Regal was taking off his robe that is. Lousy time constraints! ... Koslov and Jackson jump right after. Regal then locks him in a nasty submission. (N/A)

-- We go to a WWE in Hollywood video package. The WWE wrestlers are glad-handing with celebrities. ... Some cool footage is shown from WWE's Axxess event in L.A. in conjunction with Summerslam. ... Aerosmith's "Honkin' On Bobo" is the theme music for Summerslam. That's funny on a number of levels.

(7) Randy Orton vs. John Cena

-- Cole: "He's (Cena) arguably WWE's biggest star!" ... Hardy vs. Punk is the main event. Hopefully they get enough time. They should since it's only 9:55 right now. ... Is that Tito Ortiz next to Prinze in the crowd?

-- The crowd seems split early with dueling chants for Orton and Cena. ... Orton has the upper hand early on and pounds away at Cena in the corner. ... Orton hit a big running knee drop on Cena and Cole screams, "Vintage Randy Orton." Somebody please put a gag on him.

-- Orton grabs variation #99 of the headlock, but Cena eventually escapes. ... Cena runs wild and sets up Orton for the Five knuckle shuffle, but can't hit the attitude adjustment. ... Orton ducks a flying bodypress from Cena and he goes spilling to the outside. ... Cena sets up Orton for the attitude adjuster, but Orton slips out and they hit clotheslines at the same time leaving both men down.

-- The crowd cheers for Orton, but boos Cena doing the "Yay, boo" spot. ... Orton shoves the ref to DQ himself and walks up the ramp with the WWE Title. ... Mr. McMahon orders the match to restart and if Orton gets DQ'd he loses the title. Yay! ... Orton takes out Cena and tries to get counted out by walking away with the title. ... Cena wins via countout, but Lillian announces that the match with re-start and if Orton gets counted out, he will lose the title.

-- Orton finally win the match with his feet on the ropes. So that's cool? Mr. McMahon didn't see it? ... Wait! Another ref runs out and tells the ref that Orton had his feet on the ropes. This should happen in every match!

-- The match restarts and Cena locks on the STFU right away. Orton struggles and a fan runs into the ring and tackles the ref. Wow! ... The fan is taken backstage after he tackled the ref. Cena looks pissed. Orton runs out of the ring and RKO's Cena on the ropes. ... He hits another RKO in the ring for the pin. Wow, there was a lot to digest, but it was pretty good. I wonder if the fan running in was real. (***1/2)

(8) Jeff Hardy vs. C.M. Punk

-- Hardy goes for a splash in the corner early on, but Punk catches him and slams him on the chair. Ouch! ... Hardy fires back with a huge chairshot to Punk's body as he tried a springboard press off the steps. ... Hardy tries to splash Punk through a table, but he gets out of the way at the last second. Wow! ... Punk goes for G2S on the ladder, but Hardy counters it a sunset bomb. ... Punk hit a superplex onto a ladder. Damn that had to kill. Ouch!

-- These two guys are going all-out here. This is nuts. ... Hardy nails Punk with a chairshot and sets up a. HUGE ladder near the announce table. The crowd is going nuts. Holy s---. Swanton through the table. ... Hardy out on the stretcher. ... Hardy gets off the stretcher, but can't stand. He fights his way into the ring and Punk can't believe it. ... Punk sends Hardy off with a kick and grabs the belt. That was awesome. (****1/2)

-- The lights flicker and Punk is standing over Taker and not Hardy. Holy s---! Taker chokeslams Punk! ... Very solid show overall. Get the replay!

Torch columnist Sean Radican is Tweeting on tonight's WWE PPV. We'll post his "blog" throughout the night with ongoing thoughts on the PPV.

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