It's the WWE's second biggest event of the year and it was the 28th edition of SummerSlam. Taking place in New York City, just as it did in its inaugural edition, albeit in Brooklyn rather than Manhattan, WWE was going to pull out all the stops to make it a huge event. Would we see any surprise returns? Maybe start foreshadowing for a clash at WrestleMania?
This SummerSlam saw a WrestleMania XXX rematch between The Undertaker and the man who cost him his streak, Brock Lesnar. While Lesnar wasn't defending any SummerSlam streak, he did have a 5-1 record going in. How did he come out of it?
We had a share of title matches as well, including a title for title match between Seth Rollins and John Cena.
Here's the match card:
- The Prime Time Players (C) vs. The New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. The Lucha Dragons
- Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
- Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler
- Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper vs. Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose
- Big Show vs. Miz vs. Ryback
- Stephen Amell & Neville vs. Stardust & King Barrett
- Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro
- PCB vs. Team Bella vs. Team B.A.D
- John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (Winner Take All)
- Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker
SummerSlam's card was jam packed, with even more matches than we saw at WrestleMania. Being four hours and not including a half-hour Rock/Rousey/Triple H/Stephanie segment, we expected a lot of wrestling for the 2015 edition of SummerSlam.
Read ahead for tonight's results and our thoughts on the event. This is your final warning that SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
Another Orton/Sheamus match, yay. Some back and forth action ensues, which included a couple of good spots from Orton, including catching Sheamus in his signature DDT, but from the top rope. Sheamus went for his Battering Ram from outside the ring, which led to the "out of nowhere" RKO. Sheamus would roll out of the ring, preventing Orton from getting the pin.
Orton rolls Sheamus back in, going for a punt, but Sheamus avoids it and hits White Noise. After an RKO attempt from Orton, Sheamus Brogue Kicks Orton into the corner. Orton stumbles out and Sheamus hits a second one to get the win.
Winner: Sheamus
Match Rating: 6/10
The Prime Time Players (C) vs. The New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. The Lucha Dragons
The match begins with Titus and Big E. Kofi tags himself in, throwing Titus out to go for the pin on Big E, which the announcers say would count for a win. Tag team chaos ensues between the four teams with several quick moves and near falls. Kalisto is monkey flipped by Sin Cara into a splash on Kofi for a near fall. Darren Young soon finds himself in trouble at the hans of New Day, but hot tags Titus in, who cleans house on all opposing teams. A distraction by Xavier Woods halts his momentum, but we soon get Titus and Fernando as the legal men.
Titus then double powerbombs The Lucha Dragons while they're trying to double superplex Diego - who replaced Fernando (messy spot). Titus hits Clash of the Titus on Fernando, who had come back in the ring, but Kofi kicks Titus and gets the pin on Diego for the win.
Winner: The New Day - New Tag Team Champions
Match Rating: 8/10
Rusev (w/ Summer) vs. Dolph Ziggler (w/Lana)
The match started with Rusev and Ziggler highlighting their strengths, with Rusev showing his brute strength in his offense, with Ziggler relying on quickness and agility. The announcers point out how similarly Summer Rae is now dressed to how Lana used to dress. Soon Rusev show some impressive agility of his own, first with a spinning heel kick and then a standing senton bomb.
Dolph cinches in a Sleeper Hold. Rusev escapes, but Ziggler hits a Fameasser for a near fall. Rusev hits Ziggler with a big kick and locks in The Accolade. Lana slaps Summer on the outside, which distracts Rusev, thus breaking the hold. Rusev brings Dolph to Lana to taunt her, but Ziggler breaks out of it and knocks Rusev over with a super kick. The referee counts both men out, as Ziggler fails to get back in the ring on time.
Winner: Draw via Double Countout
Match Rating: 7/10
Stephen Amell & Neville vs. Stardust & King Barrett
An incredibly cheesy comic book style promo plays, which you may like or not. Neville and Barrett begin the match and Neville pulls his gravity-defying attack. Stardust comes in the match and demands for Neville to tag Amell in, which he does. Amell springboards himself into the ring, but Stardust shoves him over and starts attacks him. Stardust goes for a back suplex, but Amell lands on his feet and hip tosses Stardust. A surprised Stardust tags Barrett in. Following a leap frog by Amell, Barrett Stardust start to double team him and take control. Amell takes a front suplex from Stardust but kicks out. He then hits an enziguri on Stardust and hot tags Neville. He hits the Red Arrow on Barrett, but Stardust interrupts the count.
Amell hits a cross body onto Stardust and Barrett to the outside and throws Barrett back into the ring, where he takes another Red Arrow. Neville gets the pin. One of the better celebrity performances in a wrestling ring.
Winner: Neville & Stephen Amell
Match Rating: 6/10 - very good, considering it was a 'celebrity' match
Big Show vs. Miz vs. Ryback (C)
A staph infection to Ryback pushed this match over from Battleground to SummerSlam. This match served as more of a buffer in the middle of the show to the highly anticpated second half.
After a double team on Big Show fails, Show goes for a senton on Ryback from the second rope, which connects. Miz tries to steal the pin, but Ryback kicks out. Ryback soon makes his comeback and hits Shellshocked on Big Show, but Miz hits him with a Skull Crushing Finale. Miz tries to cover both men, but both men kick out. Ryback soon recovers and yells "stupid" at Miz then goes for his finishing move. Miz fights out but runs into a knockout punch by Show. Ryback knocks Big Show out of the ring, and quickly covers Miz for the win. Ryback retains the Intercontinental Championship.
Winner: Ryback (C)
Match Rating: 5/10
Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper vs. Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose
The crowd cheered just about everybody in this match except Roman Reigns. Ambrose did a lot of the heavy lifting with the Wyatts to start the match, including a great spot running across all three announce tables to take out Bray with a flying clothesline.
Harper knocks Reigns to the outside then gives him a superkick over the announce table. Reigns is out, leaving Ambrose on his own. After suffering a double team from the Wyatts, the crowd starts chanting "Roman's sleeping!" as Reigns takes his mid-match break for Ambrose to do the work. Eventually Reigns comes to and hot tags into the match to boos. Reigns makes his comeback, eventually nailing Bray with a Superman Punch. He then hits one on Harper. Ambrose tags in and the former Shield brothers team up to hit a Doomsday Device on Bray, but Harper breaks up the count. Reigns soon powerbombs Harper with Ambrose's help. Ambrose blocks a Sister Abigail attempt from Wyatt and hits Dirty Deeds. Reigns tags in to boos. A stunned Wyatt gets back to his feet only for Reigns to hit the spear for the win.
Winner: Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose
Match Rating: 6.5/10
John Cena (C) vs. Seth Rollins (C) - Winner Takes All
A little surprising that this match went seventh on the card, but perhaps WWE felt they needed a break between the top two matches. Cena was going for his 16th title reign, which would tie Ric Flair (at least according to WWE's count). Rollins comes out looking like the White Power Ranger.
The match starts and soon the two begin exchanging blows, with Cena protecting his nose. Rollins begins with some high flying offense, but Cena soon comes back with shoulder blocks. He hits a very bad Springboard Stunner.
Some cool spots in this match including Rollins hitting a frog splash and imitating Super Cena, via an AA from a cross body counter. Cena even tried to win with a Figure Four, trying to emulate Ric Flair for a 16th world title.
Cena hits an AA, but Rollins' legs knock the ref down as he's being slammed. With no referee, Rollins catches a knee to Cena's nose again. Jon Stewart runs down to the ring with a steel chair, seemingly to nail Rollins. Cena comes to, but Stewart nails Cena - swerve! Rollins takes advantage, and gives a Pedigree to Cena onto the chair for the win.
Winner: Seth Rollins (C)
Match Rating: 8.5/10
Team PCB vs. Team Bella vs. Team B.A.D.
The Divas Revolution is here, but would the WWE actually give the women more than the three minutes they got at Battleground? The teams exchange multiple tags, until all three teams eventually take turns taking out another with suicide dives to the outside. Tamina soon slams Becky Lynch on the apron and brings her into the ring. Brie tags in and catches Tamina with a face buster, scoring the pin to eliminate Team B.A.D.
Nikki and Becky continue the match, with Nikki hitting the Rack Attack, but the pin is broken up. Nikki tags Brie in, while Becky tags Paige. Brie soon unloads with "Yes" kicks on Paige. Brie tags Alicia, who dominates Paige, until Paige fights her off to tag Charlotte. Charlotte cleans house, and soon lands a Figure Eight on Alcia. Nikki breaks it up, but Paige sends her to the outside. Alicia tags Brie, while Charlotte tags Becky.
The two exchange moves and Brie soon goes for a missile dropkick. Becky avoids it, hits a pumphandle slam and covers her for the three count. A solid Divas tag match, but for the revolution to really begin, we need these new ladies in more meaningful matches.
Winner: Team PCB
Match Rating: 6.5/10
Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro
In a match for the hardcore wrestling fans, many expected this to steal the show.
The two worked an incredible pace in this match, with Owens pulling moves no man his size should be able to do, hitting tornado DDTs and springboard moonsaults. Cesaro showed his ridiculous strength, gutwrenching Owens from the top. We would see fast-paced, hard-hitting, back-and-forth action with plenty of impressive moves, counters and near falls.
One last barrage by Owens included his rotating superplex and a Pop-Up Powerbomb for the one, two, three! That's right, it only took one finisher to win this time. Smart move to have Owens win, as he needed a rebound after losing to Cena at two straight PPVs (and losses to Finn Balor in two NXT Title matches). Cesaro will be able to recover from this and likely will get a win back over Owens soon.
A really good match, but I'm not sure if this one is better than Cena/Rollins. A bit of emotion was missing from it.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Match Rating: 8/10
Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker
Lesnar attacks Undertaker before he can complete his ominous entrance, attacking him before he gets his jacket off. Taker recovers and clotheslines Lesnar out of the ring. A real fight feel to start things out.
The two exchange signature move attempts before Lesnar hits a belly to belly. Suplex 1. That's followed up with a German. Suplex 2. Taker blocks a third one, sending Lesnar into the turnbuckle. He follows it up with Snake Eyes and a big boot. Lesnar is cut and Taker attacks him. He hits his leg drop on the apron.
The two go back in the ring and exchange more blows, before Lesnar counters a chokeslam into a German. Suplex 3. Another. Suplex 4. A third. Suplex 5. Lesnar then goes to the announce table, removing the top. He F-5s Taker through the table. Taker beats a 10-count to get back in the ring.
Taker plays possum and chokeslams Lesnar after a great verbal exchange. Taker follows with a Tombstone. Brock kicks out at two. Lesnar sits up, laughing, but Taker sits up and laughs right back. The two exchange more blows. Lesnar climbs the top and locks in a kimura. Brock is forced to break the hold in the ropes and gets a Last Ride, but he kick out of that too. Lesnar gets up first and hits the F-5, but Taker kicks out. Taker hits a third F-5, trying to emulate the WrestleMania XXX ending, but Taker kicks out again.
Taker suckers Brock in and locks in the Hell's Gate. Lesnar fights out and locks in a Kimura. The bell rings even though Taker didn't tap, without the referee's signal. The referee tells off the timekeeper and with the ref distracted, Taker low blows Lesnar and locks in the Hell's Gate. Lesnar refuses to tap, delivering the finger to Taker, but he passes out. Taker gets the win.
An amazing match, wayyy better than WM XXX. The bizarre ending takes away from it a little, but the image of Lesnar flipping off Taker while passing out was amazing.
Replays then played, showing that Taker had indeed tapped out to the Kimura, but the referee didn't see the tap. Heyman sees the replay, rings the bell himself and grabs the mic. He says "you all saw it!" and declares Lesnar is the winner. However, the official decision for now...
Winner: The Undertaker
Match Rating: 9/10