Summer Slam 2011

    by Gus Ramsey

For tonight's PPV, it's WWE vs. WWG. What We Expect vs What We Got. Remember, I don't read up on the internet on what's "really" going on. I prefer to be "surprised" by the action. So my expectations are as pure as Kelly Kelly. I'm also using tweets from fellow fans to help show what the expectations were. Much of this is play-by-play for those who didn't see it, with some opinion thrown in. It's not meant to be a sweeping review, but more a pseudo running diary.

1st match- The Miz, R Truth and Del Rio vs Morrison, Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio.

WWE: with news of a Mysterio having a legit knee injury, this seemed like it was going to be a 2-3. I expected the bad guys to win with Miz getting the pinfall. Here's what some of you said:
cluster eff of a match and a waste of talent either one of those guys could carry a singles match. I've got team ray
truth & morrison to fight towards the back. Kofi to make a mistake, and rey to get the 619 on ADR
mysterio pins truth after not being in the ring much due to his knee

WWG: Kofi got a large amount of time in the ring for his team. Rey and Morrison got Steve Blake and Matt Barnes-type Staples Center minutes. Del Rio crushed Mysterio with a kick before he ever got in the ring. The finish was pretty awesome as Rey had Truth and Miz lined up for a double 619. Del Rio grabbed Rey, but Morrison flew over the top rope and took out Del Rio with a spinning kick. Rey landed the 619 on Truth but Miz ducked it. Mysterio back-kicked Miz off the apron. Miz was then flattened by Kofi who flew off the top rope and Rey then finished off Truth with his splash.

2nd match- Mark Henry vs Sheamus

WWE: I think Sheamus wins this one. Henry will have him lined up for the ankle breaking move, but Sheamus will escape it and use the chair to win the match. Your thoughts:
 i think mark henry wins to keep his momentum going, on a path of destruction
 Short match between Sheamus/Henry, DQ to keep feud going
 sheamus win to set him up as next feud for christian. Clean win after big kick.
 potentially a Sheamus DQ 4 use of a chair or Mark Henry count out trying 2 avoid the chair + post match Henry beating for Sheamus

WWG: Henry dominated early, prompting Booker to say "he just left a skid mark on that man." Really. Sheamus rallied with some double ax handle shots followed by a series of blows to Henry's chest, looking like Jack in LOST when he was trying to pound Charlie back to life. Sheamus nailed him with a flying shoulder block from the top rope, but Henry kicked out at the 2 count. The action went outside the ring. Henry then picked up Sheamus, drove his back into the ringpost and then bulldozed him through the barricade and into the stands. Sheamus was counted out. It was an impressive sounding explosion when Henry drove Sheamus into the crowd. It was the first time someone that big spilled into the crowd at Staples since Shaq did one his pratfalls chasing a loose ball.

3rd match- Kelly Kelly vs Beth Phoenix
WWE: very little. hopefully a quick match. Your thoughts:
i expect a lot of people to visit the bathroom and the vendors for the next few minutes
Beth Phoenix wins with help from Natalya
 the death of Kelly?
I expect more toilet flushes than at any other time during SummerSlam


WWG: Kelly Kelly with an impressive leap outside the ring from the top rope. Beth did her Tony Atlas impersonation by pressing Kelly over her head and dropping her on the ring rope. Kelly won it by tucking on Beth's glam-slam attempt and rolling it under and over for the 3 count. I had predicted a match of 4:42. it was about 3:00 longer than that and about 5:00 too long in general.

4th match- Wade Barrett vs Daniel Bryan, Smackdown Money in the Bank champ
WWE: Figure the gutty Daniel Bryan story will continue. Expect Barrett to dominate the match but then get outsmarted at the end.  Your thoughts:
 I think this could be a sleeper match, both pretty strong but Bryan gets it w/submission
Daniel Bryan win in a fairly open match but Daniel Bryan wins via submission and plenty MITB case showing off 

WWG: Bryan came out and dominated early. Delivered a beautiful drop kick to Barrett in the corner. When momentum turned Barrett delivered a huge one-footed kick that sent Bryan off the apron. Moments later Bryan returned the favor. Bryan then nailed a great flying double-leg kick off the top rope but Barrett beat the 3-count. Bryan than literally kicked the bejeezus out of Barrett, delivering 7 straight kicks to Barrett's chest and head. Bryan then turned Barrett's attempt of wasteland into a submission hold, but Barrett made it to the ropes. After they both climbed the turnbuckle, Bryan got shoved off and  landed on the top rope, crushing his pennies in the bank. Then he got clotheslined off the rope and Barrett delivered his finisher to win the match. It was a weird match. Lots of cool moves and great wrestling. It just never got a huge reaction, which translated to the screen, at least for me.

5th match- Orton vs Christian
WWE: Christian kept promising something that was going to change everything. I thought Edge showing up would be a neat trick. And lo and behold, Christian introduced Edge before the match and out he came. Your thoughts:
 i smell a double cross coming (before the Edge entrance)
 I think Christian gets a clean win & they do a double turn (Christian to face/Orton to heel)
Can you see Edge swerving Christian? Rated RKO reunion. (before the entrance)
i feel more confident of christian retaining after that, i would hate to see him buried before the match then lose on top of that (after the Edge departure)


WWG: Edge comes into the ring and dresses down Christian for the way he has been behaving. highlighted by Edge calling Christian a whiny bitch.  Edge leaves Christian to fight his own battles. Orton tried to RKO Christian on the announce table very early. Christian escaped, grabbed his belt and ran out into the crowd. Orton tracked him down and kicked his rear all the way back to the ring. Christian got his hands on a kendo stick and beat Orton like he was John Rambo in a Hope, Oregon holding cell. Christian then tried to deliver a kendo stick beating off the top rope, but the viper caught him on the way down with a dropkick. A little later Orton pulled a pair of tables out from under the ring as the crowd chanted "we want table." This was impressive because normally it takes an hour to get a good table in L.A. Orton superplexed Christian off the ropes and onto one of the tables, which was laying flat in the ring. Orton then stood the table up in the corner, but Christian reversed momentum and had Orton set up for a spear into the table. Orton leapt over the spear, but Christian avoided the RKO and threw Orton out of the ring. Orton then sent Christian flying into the steel steps, sending Christian into a full airborne summersault. But Orton soon got smashed into the steps and then took a monitor to the head. Christian got Orton atop the spanish announce table, setting him up for a RKO. Christian tried it, but Randy blocked it, pulled off the RKO and the spanish announce table came tumbling apart (like it didn't do at Money in the Bank.) Then things really got nuts. Back in the ring, Orton kicked out of a 3-count following a kill switch. Christian then brought 2 chairs into the ring for the con-chair-to to finish Orton off. Before trying it, Christian spit on Orton 3 times. Even the Iron Sheik doesn't hock-too that much! Orton dodged the chair, got a hold of it and lost his mind. He knocked Christian off the apron with a chair and through the table outside the ring. Randy then emptied the bucket and threw everything into the ring in preparation of destroying Christian with all of it. The stairs, a garbage can, the kendo stick, Jack Nicholson's resume, everything. After a few minutes of beating the hell out of Christian, Orton had him lined up for an RKO but Christian nailed him with the kendo stick. Christian tried a reverse-leap off the ropes, but Orton caught him in the air and RKO'd him onto the stairs that were in the ring. A spectacular conclusion to a spectacular match. Orton's left thumb was a bloody mess. These guys really let it all go. I think it's time to move on from them, perhaps matching up Orton vs The Miz next.

6th match- Cena vs Punk
WWE: I expect it'll be impossible to match Chicago's energy and performace. I think in the end HHH inadvertently screws Punk and Cena wins. I think it's too soon to give up on the "Pissed off Punk chases the belt" storyline. It's only been about 6 weeks. Need to milk it more. Plus, there is a lot of money to be lost if Cena turns heel. Here's what you thought:
wins when Triple H tries to screw over Punk but screws it up and costs Cena the win.
i think Punk wins with HHH screwing Cena
HHH inadvertently screws Cena is my pick
They're in LA, I call a Rock run-in to screw Cena, Punk wins.
Prepare yourselves for HHH to help Cena win (but no heel turn) b/c Cena has been a "company man"
Cena going heel as the Corporate Champ, Rock 1998 style!

WWG: before the match we see Stephanie and HHH talking in the hallways and the announcers intimate that Steph could be relaying the insulting comments Punk had for her earlier in the night, the best of which was Steph offering to shake CM's hand as she wished him luck. Punk said "I would, but I know where that hand has been." Punk enters the ring to a huge ovation. It ain't Chicago but LA is in Punk's corner.
  Bell rings at 10:20 ET.
  We get the first battle chant at 10:22.
  We get a good Fruity Pebbles chant at 10:24
  The chants have been carrying a fairly slow moving match so far. If this is going 35-40 minutes, the guys are pacing themselves.
   Business picks up over the next few minutes with some reversals. Then Punk gets Cena in a submission in the middle of the ring, but Cena managed to reverse it into his own submission. Then it switched back in Punk's favor. After a pair of 2-counts, Cena reverses and Punk scrambles to get a foot on the ropes. HHH has been quiet so far. Just as I say that, Punk dives through the ropes and levels Cena. Both guys are on the verge of being counted out, HHH climbs out of the ring and throws both guys back into it, avoiding the double count out. Cena lands a great dropkick. He has some amazing hops. Cena lands a 5 knuckle-shuffle but can't put Punk away. Punk gets off a kick to the head and gets a 2-count of his own. Cena tries to climb the ropes and Punk nails him with a knee to the chin, followed by a bulldog off the second rope, but only got a 2-count. Cena catches Punk coming off the ropes and throws an STF on CM, but he gets to the ropes. Cena finally gets off the AA but CM kicks out. Punk avoids Cena coming off the top rope, nails the GTS but HHH slow to the mat and it's only a 2-count. Punk then pays homage to Macho Man with a flying elbow from the top rope, but again Cena kicks out. Crowd smartly chants "Randy Savage!" right after. Punk then nails Cena with a GTS and gets the 3-count but Cena's foot was on the rope. HHH didn't see it. Punk is the champ. Cena explains to HHH  that he blew it before leaving the ring. HHH offered Punk a congratulatory handshake, which was refused, and then HHH raised Punk's hand before leaving the ring. And just when you thought it was over, Kevin Nash came into the ring, nailed Punk with two huge shots, laying Punk out. Then Alberto Del Rio shows up with a ref to cash in his Money in the Bank contract, nails Punk with a kick and wins the belt. A stunning turn of events to close it out. Now Del Rio will face Mysterio in the 619 tomorrow night on RAW.  Immediate reaction to the conclusion on twitter was mixed, but as David Lagana (@lagana) said, leave them asking more questions. Now we have to turn into RAW tomorrow night for at least a few answers.