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By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Before last night's Summerslam PPV, I wrote about WWE's options to elevate top young stars in a time period when it's become obvious WWE needs to put some new faces in new places higher up in the company's top storylines.

I was writing about wrestlers not already on the card in a potential bonus match-up, specifically John Morrison, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, and Evan Bourne. But with Christian vs. William Regal reduced to a wardrobe malfunction and a seven second match, it wasn't going to happen.

Instead, WWE delivered star-making performances from wrestlers already on the card. Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase had star-making matches despite taking losses at Summerslam last night.

You could put C.M. Punk in the same category or say he was already a star and this was merely confirmation on WWE's second biggest stage that he's here to stay as a top star. With Punk, it felt like Summerslam 2004 all over again when Randy Orton made himself a household wrestling name taking his first World Title against the wrestler who shall not be named.

The PPV started with Dolph Ziggler wowing the audience and picking up a "Let's Go Ziggler" chant near the end of his match against Rey Mysterio. The same guy who was fodder for MVP and Sherri Shepherd a few months ago (ironically planting seeds for a major push) was one of the stand-out wrestlers on the PPV.

Dolph vs. Rey was the victim of a tough spot on the card at Night of Champions, but WWE put them in a position to succeed at last night's Summerslam. I like what Torch reader Adam Riemer said in his Summerslam Reax about WWE building anticipation for Dolph finally winning that IC Title.

Ziggler needed to lose this match, they need to build him up more and they are right on track with that. There is no reason to put the title on him so soon. His feud with Rey is just getting off the ground and it is wonderful to see a program being built around the IC title again.

Chris Jericho said in his Baltimore Sun interview - the one about WWE being at a crisis point for building up young stars - that WWE's plan is to re-focus on "getting heat" on the IC Title belt again. Consider the job accomplished. Dolph's star was made at Summerslam. Kenny "Starmaker" Bolin meter - 4.0/5

Jack Swagger vs. MVP left a great deal to be desired in their second match on the card. Tough spot following another awesome Rey Mysterio match. Perhaps another "rubber match" for Swagger, this time against MVP, will receive more TV time to deliver a more satisfying match-up between two of WWE's future stars. Kenny Bolin meter - 1.0

No one expected Chris Jericho & Big Show to drop the titles to Cryme Tyme, but I feel like Cryme Tyme has benefited from working with two established stars. The spot where JTG put on his John Cena face and forced himself to the bottom rope to break out of the Walls of Jericho was a memorable moment that helped cover for Cryme Tyme's loss. Kenny Bolin meter - 3.0

The big star-making match of the night, though, was DX elevating Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, who were presented as the smartest bunch of recent teams trying to get at DX. Members of La Resistance and Spirit Squad would still have jobs if this match was applied to those past feuds.

You could be facetious and say, well, Triple H made all previous opponents look like idiots with them taking the same formula offense without figuring it out so that one day when the right opponents would come along, they could be elevated. DiBiase and Rhodes were the right opponents. They looked good for finally being that one team to be scripted to figure out the DX routine and counter their moves.

There was even a subtle moment after the match when Triple H looked down at Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes as they were being helped out of the ring. It wasn't the same look of "that was easy" reserved for Spirit Squad. It was that all-important, can't-be-understated "look of respect" that was the final touch on a nice 20-minute piece of business that helped make DiBiase and Rhodes. Follow-up is very key tonight on Raw, but this was high on the Bolin meter. Kenny Bolin meter - 4.5

The PPV concluded with the aforementioned star-confirming match between Jeff Hardy and C.M. Punk that had the feeling of a Match of the Year contender being on the big, bright stage in the Summerslam main event. It will be darn-near impossible for anything in the U.S. to top Undertaker vs. Michaels from WrestleMania 25, but the Summerslam main event at least generated plenty of buzz for Punk.

The PPV concluding with Taker's return to set up an apparent program against Punk for the World Title was star-making itself. Every person on the WWE roster would line up at McMahon's office to take a chokeslam from Taker to close the PPV. It means Taker thinks his next opponent is money.

Taker returning to WWE TV to work with Punk also showed the difference between Raw and Smackdown, as exemplified by what Jericho said in the Baltimore Sun interview.

The legends of WrestleMania 25 returned with vastly different options in front of them. HBK returned from sabbatical with no one new to work with on Raw. Taker returned from sabbatical with any number of people to work with on Smackdown. Michaels and Hunter made do working against Legacy at Summerslam. Meanwhile, Taker-Punk has infinite possibilities.

The takeaway from this year's Summerslam was WWE taking the first major step to address the "crisis point" of needing to establish or confirm new stars. Plenty of work left to do, but Summerslam put in motion the long over-due youth movement.

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