WWE threw yet another curveball at Summerslam 2011. The conclusion of the show saw CM Punk pin John Cena after a Go to Sleep when Triple H failed to see Cena’s foot on the ropes, and then, during Punk’s celebration Kevin “Diesel†Nash hit Punk with the Jacknife Powerbomb leading to Alberto Del Rio cashing in and leaving with the title. In addition, Stephanie McMahon returned and was insulted by CM Punk.
The Cena-Punk match was very good, but a clear step down from the Money in the Bank PPV, rating at about ****. They were clearly not trying to top the first match, with this a much slower paced match. There were many rest-holds early, with more submissions than expected late, but also a good amount of high risk, a hot crowd and very good back and forth flow.
So, after another good match, where do we go from here? Punk winning the way he did would seem to indicate that the feud should continue, but there are numerous ways for WWE to go now. Do Cena and Punk continue without the belt now that that’s on Del Rio? Alberto, don’t forget, is announced to be facing Rey Mysterio for the title on Raw, so he could go that way. Of course, Triple H and Kevin Nash are both now involved as well. Does Cena go after H for his mistake, leaving Nash to Punk? Do Punk or Cena go after Del Rio? And why did Nash cost Punk the title? He’s paid off by Del Rio, Stephanie or Triple H, or he’s the Anonymous GM. There are a lot of questions, a lot of answers to be given, and so long as any thought is put into the answers, Raw is must-watch and interesting for at least the next few months.
Smackdown matches made up most of the rest of the card. Randy Orton disposed of Christian in a very good (*** ½) match before which Edge told Christian he was disappointed in him. Christian officially looks like a fluke champion, but has an interesting storyline. He must, at this point, be done with Orton, but there doesn’t seem another face ready to face him, or, really another heel ready for Orton, unless Cody Rhodes is transitioned into the role, which, with Ted Dibiase in the fold, makes for quite the intriguing story.
Mark Henry beat Sheamus by countout (***) in a solid power match, and Henry looked like a beast, tossing Henry through the barricade with an Alabama Slam type move. The crowd rallied strongly behind Sheamus against the beast, as well. With the countout, it’s hard to see this ending, but it was absolutely effective in getting both men and their feud over. Sheamus is really working out as a face. He needs some crowd popping spots and it’s easy to see him right back in the title picture. Henry is a good power worker, despite the hate he sometimes gets, who worked hard to be able to put on decent quality matches with most opponents.
Another heel won on Smackdown, who can go on to face Orton if need be, and that’s Wade Barrett, who defeated Daniel Bryan (****) in what is my match of the night. Bryan, of course, has the Smackdown Money in the Bank, which means that even though he lost cleanly, the feud will go on. This seems to be building to him putting up his briefcase for revenge, but either way, with matches of this quality, these battles will do wonders for the careers of both men. Bryan will likely get his big win back at the end and start to resemble more what he truly is – the best in-ring performer in the world.
I often ignore or complain about the Divas, but on this night, that wouldn’t be fair. Kelly Kelly has clearly worked a lot on her wrestling and it shows. The match was slow and sloppy, but Kelly and Beth Phoenix worked hard and told a good power vs. speed story. Kelly ended up winning with a nice roll-up counter (**).
The opener, a 6-man with Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston and John Morrison defeating Miz, Alberto Del Rio and R-Truth (***) was absolutely throwaway to get guys onto the show, but likewise was well-paced and had enough over competitors to get the crowd hot at the start of the night.
That heat was nearly killed by some incredibly poor decision making around the middle of the card. Using C-Lo for publicity wasn’t a terrible idea, but having him do two songs, then following him with a Divas match nearly killed the crowd. Luckily, it was one of the better Diva encounters and Bryan-Barrett fully won the crowd back by being awesome.
Overall, Summerslam was a very good show, one of the better ones ever with two excellent matches, and one very good one, a number of surprises, a hot crowd, and a ton of storyline questions that are intriguing having been raised. The PPV gets a 9/10 and would be, if not for Money in the Bank, show of the year.
