Summer Slam 2015

NXT Takeover Brooklyn spoiled my expectations for SummerSlam this year.

What is traditionally looked at by the WWE UNIVERSE™ as the number two pay per view of the year, felt flat thanks to the talent at NXT.

Don't get me wrong. There were some decent matches at SummerSlam but nothing came close to the Sasha Banks Vs. Bayley Women's Title Match. Let's not forget that NXT Takeover Brooklyn was two hours in comparison to the four hours of SummerSlam. Quality over quantity every time.

Seth Rollins showed tonight why he is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Finally! It's been a long time since Seth Rollins has been able to break out of his role as cowardly heel and finally perform. He looked good tonight. John Cena did a decent job although he really screwed up the Springboard Stunner. Hey, I'm not the only one that thinks so. 

Maybe it's time for John to drop the move and put it in his back pocket for a special match. Jon Stewart getting involved was fine, it was a "swerve" that nobody saw coming except for the fact that Cena was a little late getting up. Stewart had to stand around a little bit too long before he cracked him with the chair to the gut.

The Divas "revolution" is a dud as of this pay per view. At the very least, why not set up a feud between Nikki Bella against Charlotte? It seems like that's the direction they want to go, or is it? Why not give Charlotte the pin over Nikki to really put the stamp on it?

I don't really have much to say about Kevin Owens Vs. Cesaro other than it was a good match, and I was impressed that Kevin Owens had two good back to back matches. 

The rematch between Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker was way better than I expected. This match wasn't a wrestling match, but it was a really good story with two tough guys kicking each other's asses inside and outside the ring. The Undertaker went out there and performed way beyond expectation considering his body is battered and bruised up. Big props for taking that F5 on the table! Baw GAWD somebody stop the damn match!

However, this IS the WWE and leave it to them to screw up something good.

I understand what the WWE was trying to do. They wrote themselves into a corner and wanted to make everyone happy with this match by keeping both of them looking strong.

In a lot of ways, the two matches were similar. 

Now I'm not saying The Undertaker/Lesnar match stacks up to what Hart/Austin at Wrestlemania 13 did, but a lot of the beats were the same. The tone was the same. It had a similar story of the two hating each other and wanting to get the better of the other. Both matches were mostly brawls with good wrestling sprinkled in there. Both matches also ended in what looked like a double turn, where one man looks like the good guy and the other the bad by the end. The defiant hero refuses to give up and passes out, and the fallen hero wins at any and all cost.

That ending though. 

I think it could have been done a lot better. I've watched a lot of matches from many different wrestling promotions and have seen many different controversial endings. However, I don't think I've ever seen a time keeper decide to ring the bell without being told by a referee or the person in charge of the company to do so. Also, if the time keeper witnessed Undertaker tap out, then why didn't he ring the bell and disqualify Seth Rollins for the Jon Stewart involvement in the title for title match?

It's the little things that sometimes matters.

I DID like the low blow by 'Taker and the middle finger to passing out finish. That part was really well thought out and they turned something that might have been a footnote (the constant lowblows) into an element in the story. There was a payoff where The Undertaker couldn't resist and gave Brock Lesnar the low blow when the referee had his back turned. Not only did he get away with tapping out, but also committing a dickish move by giving Brock a low blow. 

It was a really good main event and was happy with how great the Undertaker and THE BEAST both went out there and performed their assess off...it now looks like they might have a third match...possibly at Wrestlemania in Dallas?