KELLER'S WWE SUMMERSLAM PPV BLOG
AUGUST 19, 2012
LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES, CALIF. AT STAPLES CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW

-A video aired looking at the last 25 Summerslam events. Clips aired of Brock Lesnar over the years.

-Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler introduced the show, touting a crowd of 17,482.

1 -- CHRIS JERICHO vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero)

WINNER: Jericho via tapout in 13:00.

STAR RATING: **3/4

ANALYSIS: Good opener. The right length and pace for a non-main event grudge match between these two... Lots of talk from Cole early about Jericho's losing streak earlier this year, noting that he was distracted by his band. They played up that Jericho was trying to prove he can win "the big one," and he did so here... Vickie was good selling the agony of defeat afterward...

-Backstage Matt Striker interviewed Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar. Heyman said it's a fight to the finish and Lesnar will break the spirit of WWE. Lesnar said this is a fight that Triple H cannot win. Heyman did his thing where he always says three adjectives in alliteration style, calling Lesnar "destructive, dominant, and decorated."

-Quotebook - Paul Heyman: "If you ain't down with that, we've got two words for you - tap out."

2 -- DANIEL BRYAN vs. KANE

WINNER: Bryan via small package in 8:00.

STAR RATING: **

ANALYSIS: Good back and forth match between wrestlers with a size mismatch... In the end, Bryan showed great frustration with fans chanting "Yes! Yes! Yes!" leaving Kane time to recover and chokeslam him. Kane decided one chokeslam wasn't enough, but by getting greedy and set up a tombstone piledriver, he left himself vulnerable to a small package pin... Bryan is great at looking credible against a larger wrestle, and as a heel getting fans to forgo feeling sorry for him because of that size difference. His mannerisms keep getting better, as does his crowd reaction... Cole pushed that Bryan beat Kane one-on-one for the first time, and accentuated it by saying it was on the big stage of Summerslam...

-They cut backstage to Kane throwing a fit and everyone scurrying away in fright. When Josh Mathews tried to interview Kane, Kane grabbed him, screamed "Where is he?!?!" and then tossed Mathews several feet. Kane then marched off yelling "Bryan!"

-A P.S.A. ad aired telling people not to drink and drive.

3 -- THE MIZ vs. REY MYSTERIO -- Intercontinental Title Match

WINNER: The Miz in 9:00 to retain the IC Title.

STAR RATING: **1/4

ANALYSIS: Good to see Miz get a credibility-rebuilding clean win over a legacy star like Rey on a big show like Summerslam... Lots of talk by Cole about The Miz starring in "The Marine 3" which is coming out soon... Rey wore all black with a Batman logo on his mask... Miz dominated the first five minutes. Rey made a comeback, but Miz countered with a slingshot powerbomb for a two count at 6:00... In the end, Miz kicked out of a believable near fall on a roll-up, then hit the Skull Crushing Finale for the win... Just as Cole did on Smackdown on Friday, he talked about Miz coming back from his movie hiatus more vicious and aggressive in his attack with new moves. He said that's what you have to do in WWE for longevity sake, evolve over time. This is a good example to wrestlers who are being "tested" by being asked to job over and over all of a sudden that if you handle it well and don't whine and complain and instead just take it in stride and show up on time and work hard, they will work hard to rehab you when the roster spot opens for a big push again... Lawler can probably stop calling Rey Mysterio a "young man" anytime now since Rey has a son in high school and himself is deep into his 30s...

-An ad aired hyping WWE's new apps on iPhone, iPad, and Android. Remember, PWTorch has a free app (along with our MMATorch free app) also.

-Teddy Long told Eve backstage that all of the WWE Superstars love having A.J. as the Raw G.M. Eve gave Long an uncomfortable smile and said, unconvincingly, "She sure is." C.M. Punk walked up and rolled his eyes, then entered A.J.'s office. She tilted her head and smiled silently at him. He said he knows she's mad at him because he turned down her marriage proposal on national TV. He said she's disrespecting him just like his opponents and "the uninformed public" disrespect him. He said he will prove tonight, once again, that he is the Best in the World.

4 -- SHEAMUS vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/Ricardo) -- World Hvt. Title Match

WINNER: Sheamus in 12:00 to retain the World Title.

STAR RATING: **1/2

ANALYSIS: They turned it up early when both tumbled over the top rope and brawled at ringside... A few minutes later Del Rio shoved Sheamus into the ringside steps and then went on sustained offense including some chinlocks... Late, Del Rio applied the cross armbreaker. Sheamus lifted Del Rio high and slammed him hard to break the hold... Del Rio cut off Sheamus's momentum by ramming him into the exposed turnbuckle in the corner, then hitting his running roundkick to the head for a believable near fall. Ricardo complained. Del Rio slapped him and yanked him into the ring in frustration. He gathered himself. Ricardo threw his shoe to Del Rio, but it skipped past his hands and into Sheamus's hands. Sheamus used it to KO Del Rio for the win... The finish might have been 10 percent too complex for its own good, but overall a solid match with a good build to the finish...

-They went to footage earlier of Triple H telling referee Scott Armstrong that the match won't end by DQ or countout, but rather when someone taps out or gets pinned. Armstrong nodded in agreement. Why is the referee chatting it up with one of the wrestlers in the main event match he's been assigned to, and why is he letting Triple H talk to him like that? Can you imagine in any true competitive sport the referee hanging out in the locker room with one team or athlete, taking orders from him. This is one of Triple H's fatal flaws when it comes to his approach to how pro wrestling is portrayed - he puts hyping himself as the master of the universe and bigshot at the expense of things just feeling more realistic.

5 -- KOFI KINGSTON & R-TRUTH vs. PRIME TIME PLAYERS (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil) -- WWE Tag Team Title Match

WINNERS: Kofi & Truth in 7:00.

STAR RATING:

ANALYSIS: All night Cole has been declaring the end of matches prematurely way to often to create false drama. He did it here, too, shouting "New champs! New champs!" wen Darren Young had R-Truth down for a near fall. Truth came right back with his finisher and, since it was the actual finish, he just counted along with the ref and didn't prematurely inaccurately declare it over to create false drama. It's so transparently predictable and it gives away kickouts because WWE announcers almost never say it's over before the three count if it's actually over, so when they shout it's over during the pin, you know a countout is coming... As for the match, it was fine but it could have been on any episode of Raw or Smackdown...

-A video aired on charity appearances by WWE in L.A. over the weekend.

-A long video recap aired of the WWE Title feud with Punk, John Cena, and Big Show.

6 -- C.M. PUNK vs. JOHN CENA vs. THE BIG SHOW -- WWE Title Match

WINNER: Punk in 13:00 to retain the WWE Title.

STAR RATING: **1/4

ANALYSIS: Okay match. Pretty formulaic in that Show dominated almost all of it until they went to the gimmicky finishing sequence. The finishing sequence worked, but it would have been better to keep the Sheamus-Del Rio finish simpler if they were going to go this route with this match... Cena came out first, then Big Show, then Punk. Cole said this marks the 274th day of Punk's title reign. He said if he lasts one more week, he'll pass Cena and JBL and Yokozuna. He said he's got the 13th longest reign out of 110 in history. Lawler said the key phrase was "if he lasts one more week"... Cole asked Lawler when the last time was Punk actually main evented a PPV, then he told him it was last December. He said that shows Punk has a point regarding being disrespected... Show dominated the first 9 minutes. Cena fought back and caught Show from behind with a back suplex. Then he went into the You Can't See Me routine. Punk interjected himself and hit a top rope elbowdrop for a near fall... Cena and Punk took turns applying submission holds on Show. Eventually they both locked in their submissions - Cena with the STF and Punk with the Anaconda Vice. Show tapped out. The ref wasn't sure whom to award the win. Out skipped A.J., of course. After Punk and Cena made their case, she simply said, "Restart the match." Show had recovered and he chokeslammed both Cena and Punk immediately, then scored two counts on Cena and then Punk... Cena ducked a Show KO punch and then hit the Attitude Adjustment. Punk immediately threw Cena out of the ring and "stole the pin" for the win...

-They showed celebrities sitting front row including Piers Morgan, Fred Drst, Rick Rubin, David Arquette, and Maria Menounos. They should be able to do better than that.

-Kevin Rudolf performed the official Summerslam theme song, showing he can't sing in tune outside of the studio setting, apparently. Ouch. WWE Divas came out and danced with him. Cole danced obnoxiously with his arm around Lawler.

-A long video package aired on the Lesnar-Triple H feud.

7 -- TRIPLE H vs. BROCK LESNAR (w/Paul Heyman)

WINNER: Lesnar in 18:00 via tapout.

STAR RATING: **3/4 -- A different kind of match, so there might be wildly different star rating opinions on this, but I think it served its purpose well enough as a transition for Lesnar to something new. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it, but it was good enough as a chapter in the ongoing story of Lesnar, who has some money matches lying ahead and needed a WWE win over a legacy star like Triple H. What stood out is how much momentum Lesnar has lost. Also, Triple H seemed tired and well past his prime.

ANALYSIS: As Lesnar walked to the ring, Cole talked about Lesnar winning the NCAA Title, the WWE World Title, and the UFC Hvt. Title. "Brock Lesnar has done it all," he said... Lawler said Lesnar's body language and facial expressions suggest he's not as intense and confident as usual... The match began 24 minutes into the third hour, so there was a healthy 30 minutes of satellite time available to play this out... Lesnar charged at Hunter early, driving him into the corner, and then going for an early kimura lock... At 2:00 Hunter clotheslined Lesnar over the top rope to the floor. Lesnar took a great bump. Hunter shouted, "This is my house! WWE! Not UFC!"... Lesnar regrouped at ringside. Heyman tried to calm him. Lesnar took off his protective gloves and punched Hunter in the back of the head. Hunter rolled to the floor. Cole said Lesnar would lose a point for that in the UFC because it's illegal. Lawler said there's a reason it's against the rules. Lesnar slammed Hunter on the announce table at ringside, but had Hunter's arm torqued behind his back during the slam and on landing. Lesnar returned to the ring and yelled, "My ring!" Cole noted that ref Armstrong was not counting Hunter out because Hunter asked him not to. Since when does a wrestler get a private conference with an official before a fight to change the rules? That's so stupid how WWE established that... Lesnar went on sustained offense including more armlock attempts in the rinig and a beating at ringside. He leaped off the security wall at ringside and hit Hunter with a forearm... Quotebook - Cole on Lesnar: "He doesn't care about entertainment, he cares about domination"...

At 12:00 Hunter showed his first signs of life as he reversed Lesnar into the announce table. Lesnar began selling the area of his abdomen that he had surgery on. He gasped to Heyman, "Oh my stomach!" Cole brought up Lesnar's "history of stomach issues." That's putting it lightly... When they returned to the ring, Lesnar went for another arm submission, but Hunter kneed him repeatedly in the abdomen... Hunter set up a Pedigree, but Lesnar countered. Hunter broke free and did execute the Pedigree. Lesnar kicked out. The crowd popped... Lesnar came back with a low-blow. Heyman shouted from ringside, "He talked to you about this! This is the fight that he wanted!" In other words, no DQ rulings by the ref... Lesnar stood up and gave Hunter the F-5. Cole said it "was over," which frustratingly telegraphed Triple H's kickout at two... Lesnar reapplied the armbar and Hunter finally tapped frantically and believably as soon as Lesnar torqued it even harder... Cole: "Jesus, what a fight"... Hunter lost, but only after a low blow by Lesnar, so he "saves face" sort of, even though it was his own bone-headed demand to the ref earlier in the night that made it legal. Not sure where this leaves Hunter, although he was pelted with a loud chant of "You tapped out!" as soon as he stood up after "refusing medical attention." Hunter mouthed "I'm sorry" to the fans, letting them know he feels bad he let them down. That brought on a round of sympathy cheers... Cole wondered if this was the end of Triple H. As he excited the stage, Cole said, "I think he just said goodbye"...

Bruce Mitchell, Pat McNeill, and I will be discussing this show in-depth for about an hour for VIP members tonight.

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Join PWTorch assistant editor James Caldwell & PWTorch columnist Greg Parks (@GregMParks) for a post-PPV PWTorch Livecast at 11:30 p.m. EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/pro-wrestling-torch taking your phone calls on the event.

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