Welcome to Inside Pulse’s Live Coverage of WWE Summerslam 2013! Keep it here for all the match-by-match updates, with the latest update in ITALICS!
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The Card:
1) Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton for the vacant WWE Championship
2) CM Punk vs. Ryback with Paul Heyman
The panel consists of Josh Mathews, The Miz, Titus O’Neil, and Tensai. Renee Young is back in the Social Media Lounge of course. Use the hash tag #WWEBattleground to join in the conversation.
This is the typical Kickoff match, with both men getting their spots in and getting the crowd fired up. Ziggler hits The Dropkick and the series of elbow drops for a near-fall. Sandow comes back and knocks Ziggler to the floor. For some reason they cut to commercial. Back from the break and Sandow is still in control. Sandow goes up to the top rope but Ziggler catches him with a forearm on the way down. Both men are on the mat now. Ziggler fires up and unleashes a flurry of offense, including the Stinger Splash. He hits mounted punches in the corner and a neckbreaker. Ziggler misses the Fameasser and Sandow hits the Edge-O-Matic for two. Sandow hits a flipping neckbreaker for two. He goes for Terminus but Ziggler counters it and hits the Fameasser for a near-fall. They continue to go back and forth and Sandow takes his knee pad down and abuses Ziggler with a variety of knee strikes. Ziggler is able to weather the storm and hits the Zig Zag to get the pin.
WINNER – Dolph Ziggler (pin)
Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, and Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler are on commentary.
This isn’t just a hardcore rules match, it’s a “Battleground Hardcore Rules” match. It doesn’t take long for the match to spill to the floor and things get hardcore. The announces mention how Damien Sandow injured his knee in the Kickoff match, so he probably shouldn’t cash in tonight. RVD brings a steel chair into the match and hits a slingshot DDT right on the chair for two. Del Rio comes back with a Backstabber for two. The Champ continues to abuse RVD with the chair. RVD fights back with kicks. He brings out a ladder and uses that to his advantage. Del Rio counters with a trash can, but RVD proves himself more adept with weapons. RVD slams Del Rio on top of the ladder and hits the split-legged moonsault for a near-fall. He goes for Rolling Thunder on the ladder but Del Rio rolls out of the way. Del Rio locks on the Cross Armbreaker and Ricardo Rodriguez comes in the ring to break it up with a bucket! Del Rio is furious and RVD almost scores the pin with a quick rollup. The Champ tosses RVD to the floor and screams at his former ring announcer. Rodriguez won’t take it anymore though and fights back, but he pays for it when Del Rio throws him to the floor and kicks him in the face. Del Rio tries to bring a ladder into the ring and RVD kicks it back in his face. RVD delivers a splash off the apron on the ladder. Back in the ring RVD covers for two. RVD sets up for the Van Terminator but Del Rio avoids it. Del Rio sets up a chair and hits the Raven Drop Toehold. He drills RVD with a superkick to the face. Del Rio then traps RVD’s arm in the chair and stomps on it. He locks on the Cross Armbreaker and RVD taps out!
WINNER, and Still Champion – Alberto Del Rio (submission)
Backstage – The Real Americans are lamenting the sad state of affairs as far as Canadian immigrants making their way into Buffalo. WE THE PEOPLE!
Marella and Swagger start the match, reprising their epic feud over the United States Title from early 2012. They mat wrestle back and forth a bit and Santino fires up. Santino brings out the Cobra but can’t strike with it. Swagger rolls to the floor and runs into Hornswoggle and his mini Cobra. That just fires Swagger up and the Real Americans take control. Swagger and Cesaro show impressive teamwork as they keep Santino isolated. Eventually the hot tag is made and Khali is a house afire. Khali hits Cesaro with the Brain Chop and Swagger breaks up the cover. Santino takes Swagger out with a dive to the floor. Cesaro takes Khali down and executes the biggest Cesaro Swing ever, and that’s enough to get the pin! The crowd LOVES that move.
WINNERS – The Real Americans (Jack Swagger & Antonio Cesaro, with Zeb Colter)
WWE and Susan G. Komen are working together to find a cure for breast cancer.
Truth earned this match by pinning the Champion in a non-title match. Axel dominates the early going both in and out of the ring. He hits a nice dropkick for two and continues to keep Truth on the mat. Truth fights back and almost scores a pin. He hits the Ax Kick for a near-fall. Axel avoids a charge in the corner and hits the McGillicutter for the pin.
WINNER, and Still Champion – Curtis Axel
AJ has Tamina Snuka with her, and Brie has her twin sister Nikki in her corner. Brie is game for a fight, but AJ is ready for her and. AJ controls the action both in and out of the ring. She goes after the arm, which is good strategy given her finisher. Brie tries to fight back but AJ keeps knocking her down. Finally Brie makes the comeback and rolls AJ up for a near-fall. Brie hits a backbreaker for two. She hits the knee to the face but gets distracted by Tamina beating up her sister. That gives AJ the chance to execute a schoolgirl rollup to get the pin.
WINNER, and Still Champion – AJ Lee
Dusty Rhodes is with his sons, while United States Champion Dean Ambrose is with his Shield brothers. Things get tense early on, as there is so much on the line in this match. The Tag Champions take the early control and go to work on Cody. They work him over for a few minutes until Cody is able to wipe Rollins out with a moonsault. Goldust gets the hot tag and the crowd loves him. Not only does the crowd love him, but he’s trending worldwide! Reigns fights back and sends Goldust to the floor. Goldust almost gets counted out but he barely makes it back in. The Shield works Goldust over, keeping him away from his younger brother. Eventually Goldust makes the hot tag and Cody is all over the Tag Team Champions. Cody hits Rollins with a Muscle Buster and Reigns has to break up the cover. The match breaks down a bit. Cody hits Reigns with the Disaster Kick and clotheslines him to the floor. Ambrose distracts Cody and then gets into it with Dusty on the floor. Of course Dusty wins that battle and chases Ambrose up the aisle. Back in the ring Rollins rolls Cody up for a near-fall. Cody then hits Cross Rhodes to score the pin to a huge pop!
WINNERS – Goldust & Cody Rhodes
The babyface roster comes out to celebrate with the Rhodes family, who have earned and/or kept their jobs with this huge win.
Hell in a Cell is coming to pay-per-view on October 27!
Cole sends it over to the Kickoff panel, who discuss the results so far. Everyone is rooting for Daniel Bryan in the main event.
Brad Maddox is backstage on the phone with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, promising them that the rest of the night will go smoothly. Vickie Guerrero comes in and Maddox asks her for help in making sure the rest of the show goes well. Poor Maddox gets no help, as Vickie just laughs in his face.
Bray Wyatt his the Wyatt Family (Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) with him. Kofi does his best in the early going but Wyatt’s unorthodox offense is too much for him. Every time Kofi tries to fight up Wyatt has an answer and is able to keep him on the mat. Finally Kofi hits a Crucifix Bomb, and I don’t believe I’ve seen that in WWE before. Kofi unleashes a flurry of offense, including the Boom Drop. He misses Trouble in Paradise and Wyatt bowls him over. Wyatt charges and Kofi is able to send him to the floor. Kofi then takes out all three family members with a nice flip dive. Back in the ring Kofi hits a high cross body block for two. Kofi tries the SOS but Wyatt counters with Sister Abigail to get the pin.
WINNER – Bray Wyatt
Paul Heyman is with Ryback, of course. Punk is aggressive in the early going and Ryback takes a powder to regroup with Heyman, twice. The second time Punk wipes him out with a suicide dive. Punk shoves Ryback into the ring post. Back in the ring Punk hits a high cross body off the top rope for two. Ryback fights back using his superior power. He wears Punk down for quite some time as the crowd chants unfavorably in his direction. After several minutes Punk makes the comeback and puts together a string of offense. Heyman gets on the mic and calls himself the Best in the World to distract Punk. That gives Ryback the chance to hit a huge powerbomb for two. Ryback goes for another one but Punk slips out and hits a roundhouse kick. Punk goes up top and hits Hail to the King for two. He tries Go 2 Sleep but Ryback counters to a powerslam for two. Heyman looks to hit Punk with a kendo stick but the referee catches him. While the referee’s back is turned Punk hits Ryback with a low blow to get the pin.
WINNER – CM Punk
Don’t Try This At Home.
The Kickoff panel discuss the show again and hype the main event. Miz mentions that Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are gone, which leads him to predict Daniel Bryan winning the match tonight. Titus O’Neil and Tensai agree with that prediction.
During the video package the feed goes out, and DirecTV tells me they are experiencing technical difficulties. I will update as soon as I am able… Apparently there was a power outage in Buffalo, but we are back now.
Bryan immediately starts working a headlock. He hits a nice dropkick. Momentum shifts back and forth several times in the opening minutes as the crowd establishes that they are firmly behind Daniel Bryan. They fight on the top rope and Bryan goes for a super rana but Orton shoves him off onto the top rope. Orton then hits a nice clothesline for two. He hits the snap powerslam for another two-count. Bryan is able to come back and send Orton to the floor. He follows him out with a suicide dive and then unleashes a flurry of kicks. Back in the ring Bryan goes for a missile dropkick but Orton catches him with a powerbomb. Orton cinches on a Boston Crab. Bryan counters with an inside cradle for two. He tries the Yes! Lock but Orton reaches the bottom rope. They go back to the floor and Orton throws Bryan into the steps. Orton uses the ring post to further abuse poor Bryan. Back in the ring Orton hits a Cowboy Bob Superplex for a near-fall. Bryan fights back with strikes and a backslide for two. He lands a knockout kick to the side of the head for another two-count. They spill back to the floor and Bryan whips Orton into the steps. Bryan goes up top and wipes Orton out with a dive. Back in the ring Bryan goes back to the top and hits the diving headbutt! Orton kicks out at two. Bryan hits five straight IEDs and then the Yes Kicks. Orton catches the last one and hits an exploder. He follows up with the Orton DDT. Orton signals for the RKO but Bryan blocks it and turns it into the Yes! Lock! The Big Show’s music hits and Show storms down the aisle and pulls the referee to the floor. Bryan is pissed. Show knocks Bryan out with a right hand and looks conflicted about it. Brad Maddox brings out a new referee, and it’s the formerly fired Scott Armstrong. Show pulls this referee out too and knocks him out! Now Orton is pissed. Show gets in the ring and knocks Orton out! Maddox looks concerned. With both referees and both wrestlers knocked out, I guess it’s a no contest?
WINNER – No one
