WWE Clash at the Castle

WWE Clash at the Castle

Cardiff, Wales, UK - September 2022

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the WWE Universal Champion was Roman Reigns, his cousins The Usos held both the RAW and SmackDown Tag Team Championships, the Intercontinental Champion was Gunther, the United States Championship was held by Bobby Lashley, the RAW Women's Champion was Bianca Belair, the SmackDown Women's Champion was Liv Morgan, and the Women's Tag Team Championships were held by Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez.

Bayley, Iyo Shirai, and Dakota Kai took on Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss in the opener. Bliss's entrance CGI thing is still the crazy Lilly doll, but she seems to be 100% back to being the old Bliss? I don't watch the weekly shows so I don't know that for sure...When the match began, Bayley got a massive face reaction from the live crowd as they serenaded her with the classic "Hey Baby" chant. As the match progressed, the in-ring action quieted down the crowd for a few minutes at the time, but any time Bayley was featured in the ring, the song re-started. Meanwhile, on commentary, Michael Cole got to "let loose" a little bit, mentioning Io Shirai's previously unspoken-of history with Asuka from Japan. The in-ring action seemed stilted at times with certain sequences not so much telegraphed as they just seemed to be being performed at three-quarters speed. A strike exchange between Shirai and Bliss was particularly awkward, Asuka literally disappeared for several minutes, and Belair slipped into the background for most of the match too, but Bayley's heel performance was great and when Belair got her time to shine, her offense looked tremendous (especially the military press and powerbomb she hit Kai with). I liked the finish too as the heels needed to go over and the fact that Belair ate the pinfall helps cement the Damage Control faction's credibility. Not the greatest six-person match I've ever seen or even close enough and maybe a couple minutes too long, but this wasn't terrible. (2/5)

In a nice moment, the family of Davey Boy Smith was welcomed to the show and Bret Hart was shown in the crowd to honor their match from 30 years back. It was then time for one of the most highly anticipated bouts of the evening - Sheamus vs. Gunther (aka WALTER) for Gunther's Intercontinental Championship. I haven't had much of a chance to review Gunther/WALTER's work due to him not getting much of a push on WWE's main roster pay-per-views, my disinterest in NXT UK, and WALTER not even being a featured guy in plain ol' NXT. Gunther was backed up by the reunited Imperium - Giovanni Vinci and Ludvig Kaiser - which was played like a big deal. Before the match began, Gunther and Sheamus' henchmen went to war around the ring as the two leaders of their respective factions locked eyes. It was a beautiful moment. As soon as the bell rang, Sheamus and Gunther started unloading on eachother, both men known for their clubbering blows. The crowd was super into this from the very start and while Sheamus and Gunther didn't need to bust out anything fancy, they did the simple stuff excellent and when the match called for a big spot - like Sheamus tumbling to the floor from the top rope - they knocked it out of the park. After just 5-6 minutes, Sheamus' chest looked like it had been rubbed with sandpaper, but he just continued to take them (along with some nasty kicks too). This is the sort of match the WWE needs to start putting on their major cards more often, just a straight up fight between two guys that know their strengths, play to them, and don't bother with overly choreographed sequences or too many cutesy counters or an unnecessary amount of false finishes. By the time they got to the big strike exchange, the toll the match had taken on both guys was palpable. One of the final sequences - which saw Sheamus miss a Brogue Kick and get hit with a Gunther powerbomb - was imperfect and needed to be salvaged via commentary, but it didn't mar things too much and they had the audience back moments later when Sheamus hit a powerbomb from the corner of his own. The finish saw Sheamus attempt a Brogue Kick but have to stop himself due to a lower back injury, then eat a second not-so-great powerbomb, before falling for good to a devastating lariat. I wouldn't call this a Match of the Year contender necessarily, but it was certainly one of the better WWE matches of 2022 and a great showcase for Gunther. (4/5)

The next match saw Liv Morgan defend her SmackDown Women's Championship against Shayna Baszler. I'm a big Baszler fan and have been disappointed with how she's been handled on the main roster, her best main roster run coming as part of a tag team with Nia Jax. At the same time, Morgan is in the midst of a major storyline and has been getting reactions (good and bad) on TV so I didn't have my hopes up that they would do a title change here. Baszler may not have had her arm raised at the end of this contest, but she did a fine job working as the dominant heel, her facial expressions showing real malice and cockiness and all of her offense looking sharp. Morgan bumped and sold, but not much else. I'd be much more into Morgan as the plucky underdog if she at least had a move or two that looked like they could reasonably swing the tide of a match or catch her opponent so off guard that she could get the quick win. Her finisher is not it, but that's basically all she connected with to earn the W. It just didn't feel earned to me after how much punishment Baszler doled out (and how little she had to suffer). I even would've preferred some sort of "slip on a banana peel"-type ending to at least build to a rematch where Morgan could actually get a win by outsmarting Baszler or using Baszler's overconfidence against her. I don't rate matches on what they should've been, I rate them on what they are, and this was inoffensive and in that slightly below average-to-average range. (2/5)

Rey Mysterio and Edge reunited - they were WWE Tag Team Champions on SmackDown something like 20 years before this, IIRC - to take on Edge's old faction, Judgment Day (Finn Balor and Damian Priest) in the next match. I've been lukewarm about Edge's post-retirement work as some of it has been tremendously bloated and overcooked and I was never much of an Edgehead to begin with (I'd be better described as one of Christian's "Peeps"). Mysterio is among the greatest babyfaces in the history of pro-wrestling and he still routinely outshines nearly everyone on any card he's on, but its no longer a guarantee. I like the team of Balor and Priest despite both guys being better in singles. Anyway...this one was really, really good. I love how Mysterio and Edge showcased not only their veteran instincts, but also a few throwback moves to their tag team run 20 years ago. It really felt like this was a true reunion of a classic team (even if they weren't really a classic team) and a battle of the Old Guard vs. The New. The crowd was the "6th Man" as they sometimes say in basketball as they were just HUGELY behind Mysterio and Edge and didn't cheer anything that Balor did (despite Finn being somewhat a "local"). To me, that just goes to show how much this storyline - despite its imperfections and leaps of logic - was over with this crowd. Ripley and Dominick were on the outside but didn't play into things too much until the finish as Dominick eventually helped his father and Edge get the victory...which didn't quite add up as, during their emotional post-match celebration, Dominick then kicked Edge in the balls and clotheslined his father to the ground as Judgment Day watched and laughed. I'm hoping that Dominick's heel turn has more to do with Rey not stepping aside or with Rey teaming with Edge instead of with his own son, but I think its going to be more about Dominick joining Judgment Day (which means that him causing Judgment Day to lose was part of the plan, which makes no sense). Still, ignoring the nonsensical aspect of Dominick's actions and subsequent heel turn, this was a really fun match and exceeded my expectations. (3.5/5)

Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle squared off in the night's penultimate match. The build to this was your standard wrestling fare until just last week, when Rollins made a "shooty" comment (that was definitely 100% approved by real-life creep Matt Riddle) about how Riddle's wife had divorced him and taken away his kids. This pushed their feud into "blurring reality," but because it was filmed on Raw and Riddle seems to live his life like an open book (with some pages grossly stuck to eachother), I didn't buy the angle at all. And, based on the crowd reaction, neither did the fans in Cardiff who spent most of the match serenading Rollins and booing Riddle. It didn't help that they wrestled this match like it was any other they could've had, both coming to the ring with their usual swagger and prancing about instead of, y'know, coming in like they actually wanted to hurt each other. Rollins has to be one of the most inconsistent "top workers" in modern wrestling - at least for me - as, depending on his opponent and what "version" of himself he's performing as, he can either be quite good or just inexplicably off-note. This was one of those off-note nights to me as Rollins laid the dramatic nonsense on thick. I get that this was part of his desire to play "mind games" with Riddle, but there was still a disconnect (especially with the Elton John-inspired jumpsuit he was sporting). Riddle is arguably just as technically skilled as Rollins and just as equally prone to no-selling and delivering aerial moves that are flashy but lack any real impact. I love Riddle's knee strikes and suplexes, but the Triple Lindy flippy move he does to the floor looks like something out of a gymnastic routine (and he barely ever connects on it in any way). I'm guessing they're prolonging this feud to get to a stipulation-based match at Extreme Rules but Rollins' victory seemed fairly decisive. There was too much good stuff to call this bad, but this just isn't my style of action. (3/5)

Main event time - Drew McIntyre challenging Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. As expected, the crowd was massively behind McIntyre from the start and popped huge whenever it seemed like he might just somehow win the title. Reigns and McIntyre did a nice job of building up the suspense slowly, the match not really catching fire until about halfway through, but the crowd's enthusiasm and passion made even the slower parts work. After what Reigns and Lesnar did at SummerSlam, practically any match Reigns had was going to feel lesser in comparison but there's no denying that these two worked hard and that, by the end, the fans were biting on every false finish and went absolutely crazy for the teased Austin Theory cash-in, the initial ref bump, and then the debut of the third Uso: Solo Sikoa. I'm guessing that Solo's debut is going to lead to a big Survivors match at Survivor Series, but to me, that match is going to need some sort of real stakes to make me care. Booking McIntyre to lose in front of such a supportive, pro-Drew crowd is a decision worthy of criticism, though, to be fair, Reigns has had such a strong title reign that I fully understand why they want to keep it pristine until it is time to crown a new champion (and that Drew is just never going to be that guy). A good-not-great match that I don't think will age particularly well due to the crowd-deflating ending. Oh, and that post-match segment with Tyson Fury singing "American Pie"? Really, really dumb. (3/5)

This was one of the better WWE shows of the past few months, helped tremendously by a red hot crowd and the air of change brought on by the transfer of power from Vince McMahon to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon over the past six weeks. This was, in a sense, Triple H's biggest "coming out" party, though, to be fair, much of this card seemed to be in the works - especially the main event - when the show was first announced. Any which way, its Kwang Score of 2.92-out-of-5 is well-earned with only the opener and the SmackDown Women's Championship matches failing to deliver on their promise (which is unfortunate because, theoretically, I liked the fresh match-ups). The Gunther/Sheamus match was, rightfully, praised by Meltzer and near every other wrestling critic as the match of the night (and even the whole weekend, which also included the AEW All Out 2022 show on Sunday), but the Edge & Mysterio/Judgment Day tag shouldn't be overlooked either. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

WWE The Great American Bash 2008

WWE The Great American Bash 2008

Uniondale, NY - July 2008

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the World Heavyweight Champion was CM Punk, the WWE Champion was Triple H, the ECW Champion was Mark Henry, the United States Champion was Matt Hardy, and the Intercontinental Champion was Kofi Kingston. The World Tag Team Champions were Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, while the Miz and John Morrison held the WWE Tag Team Championships. Mickie James was the Women's Champion, but on tonight's show, the Divas Champion would be crowned as well. 

 

A 4-way WWE Tag Team Championship match is our opener as The Miz and John Morrison defend the titles against Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins, Jesse and Festus, and the son-and-father duo of Hornswoggle and Finlay. When people talk about the WWE not caring about their tag division for years at a time, this is the sort of match that they could point to. Miz and Morrison were an entertaining team, but none of these other teams were particularly over and even 'Swoggle and Finlay had run their course in terms of bringing something fresh to the table. That's not to say that Finlay isn't still the best worker of the bunch, but after the feud with Vince McMahon, the act really had nowhere to go but to the bottom of the card. This isn't a bad match and it doesn't overstay its welcome, but I wish they had figured out a more meaningful, purposeful finish as Miz and Morrison deserved better for getting their tag team over and Ryder and Hawkins would go on to do nothing of merit as champions. I also will go on record here and say that Festus (Luke Gallows) is a guy that I don't think I've ever seen have anything better than an average match in the WWE. (2/5)

Another title change happens against as Matt Hardy defends (and ultimately drops) the United States Champion to Shelton Benjamin. Like the previous title change, this one is a bit puzzling as Matt Hardy was over and was coming off a very good feud with MVP. While Benjamin would go on an extensive run with the title, a reign that would run for 243 recognized days (the 8th longest in the title's history), I don't remember any particularly great feuds or matches in that time. Even Wikipedia only lists R-Truth and Hurricane Helms as challenges for the title during that stretch, which doesn't exactly lend any prestige to the title. Anyway...this is a "good enough" match but it took a minute for the fans to really start getting into it and then it ended rather suddenly with Benjamin hitting his finisher to get the clean W. I feel like if they had actually been given just 2-3 more minutes to work in a few more false finishes, this would be much better remembered and Benjamin's reign would've started off on something better than a forgettable 10-minute match. (2.5/5)

After a quick taped promo from CM Punk, the ECW Champion Mark Henry defends his title against Tommy Dreamer, who is accompanied by Colin Delaney. I never noticed it, but Delaney looks like he could've played Daniel Bryan's sickly little brother. This is a nothing match, not just because it only goes about 5 minutes, but because Tommy Dreamer and Mark Henry are two guys that could've only possibly had a good match together if Dreamer was allowed to use weapons. Which...I think he was? Am I wrong or wasn't the ECW Championship automatically wrestled under No DQ rules? Regardless, Delaney turns on Dreamer to give Henry the win, but this should've been a squash anyway because Dreamer was a jobber. (0.5/5)

Next up - Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho. A pre-match video package helps set the stage for this one, a rematch from Judgment Day (and, according to Cagematch, also from a RAW match in May). This match is most known for its ending, but before we get to the final 5-6 minutes - a stretch unlike practically anything else in WWE history up to this point (but one that seems to have been echoed by some of Brock Lesnar's more dominating performances years later) - Michaels and Jericho put on an excellent match in its own right that felt personal from even before the bell rang. This is a match with lots of attention to detail, something that it really seems like Jericho wanted to be studied. This level of self-consciousness can come across as overwrought sometimes, a little too "smart" or clever maybe, but in this match, the details all work and because this level of storytelling was (and is) so rare in the WWE, this match stands the test of the time even before the finish. Jericho hadn't really introduced his cold-blooded "killer" gimmick - inspired by the villain from No Country for Old Men according to him - but this seems like his debut even if he was still rocking the long pants rather than the tights. Michaels, meanwhile, is a bump machine (he takes a particularly awesome one on the apron from a Jericho dropkick), selling his ass off but also timing his comebacks and hope spots for maximum audience engagement. Again, there seem to be some levels at play here as even as he's getting his ass kicked, this is Michaels essentially "stealing the show" in a way that Jericho never could. The match shifts gears once Michaels hits his elbow drop and looks to hit his finisher but gets distracted by Lance Cade. Jericho attempts a Codebreaker, but Michaels clings to the ropes and sends Jericho to the outside, and then connects with a brilliant moonsault to the floor. Michaels looks to end it back in the ring but gets caught with an elbow to the previously damaged eye and the match transforms entirely into an angle. At first Jericho doesn't realize that Michaels has been busted open, but once he does, he goes immediately into attack mode. The crowd is appalled - at first because the ref won't let the match continue - but Jericho and Michaels do a tremendous job of spacing out the flurries of targeted offense from Jericho, MIchaels' agonized selling, and the ref's pleading to make the prolonged beatdown actually work as a believable finish without putting the heat on the referee (Michaels even gets a brief hope spot in with a crossface, a nice touch that allows the audience to see that he's not going to quit but that it he has also clearly lost the match due to blood loss). A terrific, terrific match that is somewhat forgotten as people point to their Unsanctioned and Ladder Match from later in the year as the best bouts of their rivalry, but this one is absolutely worth checking out on its own merit. (4/5)

The first ever Divas Champion is crowned as Michelle McCool takes on Natalya. It was weird seeing Natalya with red hair. This match goes less than 5 minutes, which is a bit of a shame because they actually wrestle a good, action-packed, serious match for the minutes they get. It feels competitive and like a big deal...until the finish happens suddenly and Natalya has essentially been jobbed out. To make matters worse, McCool's victory is interrupted by a Jericho promo claiming that the fans have just witnessed Shawn Michaels' last match. Its a shame that McCool and Natalya couldn't be trusted with even 8 minutes to work a real match because the 4 minutes we do get indicate that they could've put together something better than the opener. (1.5/5)

The World Heavyweight Championship is on the line next as CM Punk defends against Batista. Punk had won the title by cashing in his briefcase after Batista powerbombed Edge on an episode of Raw. At the time, much of the IWC was hugely into CM Punk and Batista, despite having some very good matches with Undertaker in 07', still had the reputation of being a guy who "couldn't wrestle." I was curious about this match as I don't recall these two ever meeting again (maybe on an episode of Raw?). I thought this was pretty darn good considering that it was face/face but that Punk was not nearly as established or over as Batista. As Lawler noted on commentary, this was a real clash of styles as Batista tried to use his power and heavy clotheslines to take Punk out while the underdog champion resorted to devastating kicks and knees. While the match only goes 10 minutes or so, its a very solid 10 minutes that is completely ruined by the arrival of Kane. Ugh. I don't necessarily recall where the story went from here - which is somewhat surprising because it wasn't that long ago I watched SummerSlam 2008 - but a quick search through my own blog reveals that Punk would end up feuding with JBL and Batista would face John Cena. So...why does Kane even do the run-in exactly? After the match, to make sure CM Punk is made to look even less like a credible champion, Batista hits him with a Batista Bomb. It really is too bad that these guys didn't work together again because they had good chemistry and they both are excellent at playing "shades of grey" characters so there was really no way they could've gone wrong once Punk was more established as a top guy. (3/5)

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. John Cena in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl was next. This wasn't my cup of tea. While Mick Foley and The Rock and Chris Benoit and Kevin Sullivan were able to bring life to matches like this - brawls in exotic locations like boiler rooms, parking lots, and famously a bathroom - Cena and JBL struggled to do much aside from slam each other into car doors, car windows, and car hoods. At one point JBL tried to blow up a car with Cena inside of it and, minutes later, Cena got some revenge by impaling a car holding JBL with a forklift. Seeing Michaels and Jericho bring legit violence and danger to their match - one as straightforward as they get, really - made this match seem cartoonish in comparison too. The finish allowed Cena to take the L without losing too much "face" as JBL was poised to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship the next month. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Triple H defending the WWE Championship against Edge. I'd be curious to know what the Triple H/Edge backstage relationship was as these two spent most of their careers in the same company and were both legit main eventers for several years that overlapped, but had only a single PPV match (and only one other 1-on-1 match ever according to Cagematch). This match doesn't necessarily make me wish they'd had more matches, but then again, this match doesn't really play to either guy's strength. Triple H has never been a particularly great babyface and Edge is a much funner wrestler when he's (a) allowed to play the chickenshit heel who'll do anything to retain his title and/or (b) allowed to bust out chairs, ladders, and tables for high spots. As just as a straight-up wrestler, Edge has never been great, though he and Triple H do work hard and have the audience with them for the most part. Things get much, much more exciting when Alicia Fox and Vickie Guerrero show up with the best spot of the entire match being Edge accidentally spearing his "ex-fiancee." The distraction allows Triple H to get the W but Edge gets to keep his heat because he wasn't necessarily beat 100% clean. Like the previous match, this was fine but nothing truly special, earning an extra half-point for the nasty spear that Vickie took. (3/5)

With a Kwang Score of 2.4-out-of-5, this show is salvaged by an all-time great match between Jericho and Michaels, a decent enough main event, and a very solid Batista/CM Punk match that - with a better finish - might've entered into "must see" territory. Unfortunately, the Henry/Dreamer match is more angle than match (but not a very interesting one) and the JBL/Cena match plays like a much more sanitized version of the stuff they'd done years earlier (though I should give the WWE at least some credit for actually having JBL get the W). The work in the opener isn't bad, necessarily, but doesn't feel worthy of a PPV card and the first ever Divas Championship match is treated like a reason to give the audience a bathroom break rather than a showcase of what Natalya and McCool could actually do - which is a shame because they were actually capable of delivering something better than they were ostensibly allowed or given time to do. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

WWE Armageddon 2007

WWE Armageddon 2007

Pittsburgh, PA - December 2007

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, the WWE Champion was Randy Orton and the World Heavyweight Champion was Batista. The Intercontinental Champion was Jeff Hardy, the United States Champion was MVP, the Women's Champion was Beth Phoenix, and the ECW Champion was CM Punk. The World Tag Team Champions were Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly, while the WWE Tag Team Champions were The Miz and John Morrison. 

Armageddon 2007 kicks off with the United States Champion, MVP, defending his title against Rey Mysterio. MVP had been getting a fairly strong push since joining the main roster in 2006 and would soon be engaged in a lengthy feud with Matt Hardy. Him and Mysterio have excellent chemistry, MVP really taking the fight to Mysterio and bringing good ring psychology to the match by trying to keep Mysterio grounded. Some of the other highlights included Mysterio hitting a springboard moonsault and a great hurricanrana out of the corner that got a big pop. The finish was lackluster as MVP got himself counted out to retain the championship. At the time, I probably would've wanted to see MVP get the victory - even if it was cheap - rather than taking the L, but in hindsight, this was probably the right call to maintain Mysterio's status as a top guy. The finish prevents this from being a truly great match, but the action was so good I'd still consider it above average. (3/5)

Tonight's "ECW match" is ECW Champion CM Punk and Kane taking on Big Daddy V and Mark Henry. CM Punk works hard here and his minutes in the ring are the best of the bunch, but this is exactly the type of big man match one would expect and it runs for at least 3-4 minutes too long, its 10-minute duration feeling like twice that. If I'm not mistaken, they'd eventually turn Kane back into more of a "tweener" and have him challenge Punk for his ECW Championship along with Big Daddy V and Mark Henry, but I'm not 100% sure on that. The crowd is dead for stretches of this, which is unsurprising considering that this felt like a TV match more than a PPV-worthy contest. Maybe some stakes would've helped here? Or more involvement from Matt Stryker? Or some teasing of tension between Punk and Kane? This was bland. (2/5)

After a backstage segment involving Edge and his girlfriend Vickie Guerrero, Mr. Kennedy took on Shawn Michaels. Michaels had a really good series of matches against Randy Orton in the months leading up to this so I was curious if his streak of good outings would continue here, especially considering Kennedy's reputation of inconsistency. Kennedy goes right after Shawn Michaels from the start, this match starting with no sort of "babyface shine" at all. Instead, Kennedy dominates in the early goings until Michaels mounts a bit of offense and we get a match-changing moment when Michaels stomps on Kennedy's hand on the steps. Intentional or not, I like how Michaels' viciousness is a through-line that can be tracked to the Orton feud and then into his matches with Kennedy and then maybe even through the Ric Flair at WrestleMania the next year and the rivalry with Chris Jericho. Is it possible that 2007-2008 is actually Michaels' best run? Matches like this one would bolster the argument as he does a great job selling his back. There were some boring stretches, but these two wanted to put on a "mini-epic" and Michaels certainly does everything he can to make Kennedy look like a top guy (even if the crowd isn't fully there for it). I really liked the finish as it was inventive and played into Kennedy's injured hand perfectly. Maybe not a full-on "hidden gem," but also possibly Kennedy's best match in the WWE? (3.5/5)

Another big time match follows as we get Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy to decide who will challenge for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. Hardy was the Intercontinental Champion at the time and was very popular, but not yet at his popularity peak. Triple H was over too, undoubtedly, but this is around the time when I really feel like he should've been adapting his character to show more vulnerability...which he does here by *spoiler alert* losing clean. And yet I was still a bit miffed by the finish as Hardy's win was treated a bit like a fluke instead of being as definitive as it could've been. The 15 minutes of action before that are good, but this is definitely a Triple H match more than a Hardy match when I think it would've been funner to see Triple H come out of his comfort zone a little bit. Also, because Hardy was the underdog, the crowd seemed to be overwhelmingly behind him and they might've got bigger reactions had Triple H been a bit more heelish. A good match, but not as great a match as I remember hearing it was at the time. (3/5)

The next match was a continuation of The Great Khali/Hornswoggle feud, which started as the Vince McMahon/Hornswoggle feud months earlier. Khali's opponent is Swoggle's buddy (and father? I forget) Finlay. Everyone looks back at Khali's matches against Michaels and Cena to point to times and ways that Khali could be carried to something passable, but you never hear about this one. Granted, this match was presented as nearly as big a deal as his bouts with either of those two - Finlay was never a main eventer - but this match proves just how good the Belfast Bruiser was. Building the entire match around Khali's chest chops is a genius move to not only get over how powerful and dangerous Khali is, but it plays to the big man's strengths by not forcing him to do anything that requires too much athleticism. It also mean that when he does deliver another move - in this case, a simple bodyslam - it feels like a potential finisher. Finlay's selling is great from beginning to end and though I didn't like the finish (one shillelagh strike shouldn't be enough to beat Khali no matter how terrible Khali was as a worker), this was a solid piece of filler. (2.5/5)

Randy Orton defends his WWE Championship against Chris Jericho in the next match. The story coming into this match was that Orton had defeated all his major foes - John Cena, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels - proving that he was the top guy on RAW and felt he had nothing left to accomplish. Meanwhile, over the previous few weeks (months?), cryptic videos had been airing on RAW hyping the arrival/return of someone that most everyone believed to be Jericho. Jericho eventually did come out to interrupt an Orton promo and challenge him to this title match. Like the Triple H/Hardy match, there just seems to be something "off" about this despite the two not necessarily having bad chemistry or not working hard. You can't even blame the lack of heat on too many restholds. The last third of the match is when they finally seem to go to a second gear and get the audience's attention. The way Orton sends Jericho into the announce table and Jericho crashes into JBL was unexpected and a perfect way to ignite a feud between the two (they'd face off at the Rumble), though it also led to a very deflating finish to this match. I'm also not sure why Orton got to hit the RKO on Jericho after the match as Orton losing by DQ didn't really make him seem weak and, if anything, Jericho not being able to win the title hurt him more than Orton losing the match. (3/5)

After a commercial for the Rumble, Jillian Hall came down to the ring and "performed" an absolutely awful Christmas song. It was just brutal to listen to and not funny at all. It also had no connection to the Women's Championship match that followed - Beth Phoenix defending against Mickie James. They get well under 10 minutes and there's an audible "Boring" chant halfway through. I was surprised that James stuck with the company for a good while after this as she and Phoenix deserved more time than this to show what they could do. (1/5)

Main event time - Edge vs. The Undertaker vs. Batista for Batista's World Heavyweight Championship. Despite being the third wheel in the match - as the storyline going into this and into the subsequent WrestleMania was all about the Edge/Taker feud - Batista is the quiet MVP, his cut-offs and intensity outshining both Edge's cowardly heel act and The Undertaker's presence. Batista was shuffled down the card after this despite carrying the Blue Brand's main event scene for most of 07'. This match is fine for what it is - a sub-15 minute "sprint" with lots of hard-hitting action but really no story - and I didn't like the finish at all, which introduced the Edgeheads but barely had them factor into the finish. Why introduce two Edge lookalikes and not have them be the key reason why Edge is able to get the W? Nothing worth revisiting and Batista's title reign and last extended main event push ends with a whimper instead of a bang. (3/5)

With a Kwang Score of 2.63-out-of-5, Armageddon 2007 is a decent show but lacks a truly great match (the closest being the Michaels/Kennedy bout). The title match could've been much more epic but never reaches that level despite Batista and Undertaker's chemistry and the inclusion of Edge as the "spoiler." Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy is a weird match where they tried to do something unexpected by giving Hardy the upset victory, but because he got there in fluke fashion and the rest of the match was built more around The Game than around Hardy's risk-taking, it's a match that doesn't feel nearly as memorable or important as it should've been. Orton/Jericho is fine, but features a disappointing screwy ending that hurt Jericho more than it made me excited to see him feud with JBL. A mostly skippable show not worth investing your time in.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

WWE SummerSlam 2022

WWE SummerSlam 2022

Nashville, TN - July 2022

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Roman Reigns was both the WWE and the Universal Champion, the Usos held both sets of Tag Team Championships, Liv Morgan was the SmackDown Women's Champion, Bianca Belair was the RAW Women's Champion, Bobby Lashley was the United States Champion, and Gunther was the Intercontinental Champion (but did not appear on the show).

Bianca Belair defended her RAW Women's Championship in the opener against Becky Lynch. These two had a better match at WrestleMania, but this was still really, really good aside from a few noticeable telegraphs. Considering Belair is only 5-6 years into her wrestling career, she has to be considered in the top 5 of all talents exclusively produced by the WWE system as she absolutely "belongs" in the RAW main event. Lynch will always have her fair share of supporters as "The Man" character was as over as any babyface the company had seen since Daniel Bryan's big run in 2013-14, but Belair has earned the crowd's appreciation since her main roster debut and, in seemingly every big match, busts out at least one or two very impressive feats of strength and athleticism. I liked the clean finish here and most everything that before, though I do wish they had played a bit more into last year's SummerSlam shocker. I wouldn't call this "must see" but it was close. (3.5/5)

After the match, Belair and Lynch shook hands and then we had the shocking return of Bayley, who then welcomed out Dakota Kai and Io Shirai. I'm willing to buy into this faction if they're actually treated like a real threat. If Bayley is ready to compete, and is able to compete at the level she was before her injury, she's certainly got the credibility and character to take the title off Belair...but are Kai and Shirai only going to be Bayley's "muscle"? Is that really the best use of both? Their inclusion also seemed to bring to mind the questions still surrounding Sasha Banks and Naomi, who, as the former Women's Tag Champions would've made more sense as either Bayley's back-up or the heroes coming to defend Belair. A good moment, but not quite good enough to get a +1 from me.

Logan Paul had his second career match in the second match of the night - taking on his WrestleMania tag partner, The Miz. This had much less "smoke and mirrors" than I thought it would, with Ciampa getting a few shots in but Maryse not playing much of a factor. Paul looked good in a match that ran considerably longer than I expected. Considering the amount of money Paul is likely earning per match, I'm not surprised that the company has clearly put plenty of resources into making him look good for more than just a 5-minute sprint. The question remains, though, what Paul brings to the table in tangible dollars. As a match this was good, albeit highly structured, match that felt believable thanks to how well-established The Miz's in-ring character is. Unlike Austin Theory, whose athleticism is undeniable, The Miz has always been a bit more of an opportunistic brawler, a guy who can hit his big moves well but is also easily distracted by his own gameplan (which almost always features a number of shortcuts). Because he plays the "beatable" heel so well, losing to Paul the way he did - from a miscue with Maryse - didn't feel cheap at all. I'd be much more on-board with Paul if he was positioned as the heel, but hopefully that's the next step now that the feud with The Miz seems over aside from the likely Paul & AJ Styles vs. Miz and Ciampa match coming down the line. (3/5)

Austin Theory challenged Bobby Lashley for his United States Championship next. Once again, Lashley got a huge response from the live crowd, though it seems like the WWE has no interest in actually pushing him beyond that Upper Midcarder level despite having a very solid couple of years. I liked watching Lashley dominate Theory at last month's Money in the Bank, was less excited about Theory winning the briefcase later in the night, and was lukewarm to seeing this rematch. This was fine but unremarkable aside from the fact that once again Lashley got the clean win and Theory, who is supposed to be in the middle of some sort of main event push, was once again made to look like your average midcard heel. I'm not sure I understand the logic of trying to re-create the next Miz, but I'm also not much of a Theory fan so I'm not sad about the booking. (2.5/5)

This was followed by Rey and Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Balor and Damian Priest in a No Disqualification match. The stipulation allowed this one to start off very loosely with the babyfaces not bothering to play by any sort of tag rules and just going straight at the heels with high-flying offense. The crowd was pretty dead for this, though, which is unsurprising considering just how little credibility The Judgment Day have. After just a couple minutes, the crowd began chanting for tables...which Priest responded to by applying a chinlock. Based on the pre-match video its clear that there was a running thread involving Eddie Guerrero from the start of this rivalry, but its unclear what Guerrero has to do with anything and invoking him during the match via shoulder shakes and Balor trying to bust out the Three Amigos made no sense and just drew more attention to how heatless this was. The best sequences and stretches came when Rey was in the ring, though I really liked Balor and Priest's cut-offs of his momentum. Rey and Dom's failed attempt at a double 619 got a huge reaction from the crowd, but the biggest of the match came from the unexpected return of Edge, who took out his former teammates with a pair of spears to help get the Mysterios the W. This served its purpose - which was to "cool down" the crowd a little bit before giving them a big ending with Edge's return. I wish the match itself had been more exciting and hardcore, though, with Lesnar and Reigns doing a Last Man Standing match later in the night, I can understand why they were limited to just a couple chair shots. Not terrible, though, as Rey Mysterio is simply too good a performer to stink out the joint. (2.5/5)

Pat McAfee took on Baron Corbin in the next match. To me, this felt a bit like one too many "celebrity" matches, though I'm fully aware that McAfee is a WWE regular and has been for quite some time now. The point is, he's not a trained wrestler, he's a color commentator, and I'm not sure the WWE should be going out of their way to make it clear that celebrity fans can come into the ring and hold their own against capital-S Superstars. Of all of McAfee's matches, this was the least impressive and it had nothing to do with Corbin really and was still mostly good. He nearly botched a front-flip off the top rope to the floor and his final move - a Code Red - was ugly, but every other big moment in the match worked and the crowd was very much into it, even chanting for Michael Cole at one point when Corbin shoved him near the announce table. There was a small bit of interaction between McAfee and Corey Graves too...which, if the rumors are true about Graves possibly competing again, means that he's going to be McAfee's next opponent. Call me a stick in the mud, but "Commentator vs. Commentator" matches are not the kind of action I'm looking for any pro-wrestling company and never have been (ditto for "Referee vs. Referee" matches). As a "spectacle" match, this was fine, but won't have anyone forgetting McAfee's much funner WrestleMania match or the real-life Roadrunner cartoon we got with Johnny Knoxville and Sami Zayn. This should've been on an episode of SmackDown, not taking up time on a show that ran well over 3.5 hours but would've been more digestible closer to 3. (2.5/5)

We got a promo from Drew McIntyre to fill in even more time and hype the upcoming UK special. McIntyre gets good responses from the crowd, but he doesn't feel like a true main eventer to me after losing major matches to Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley (and Orton if I'm not mistaken?) over the last couple years. 

In a rematch from Money in the Bank, where they arguably stole the show with a lengthy battle, The Street Profits challenged The Usos for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championships. I really liked their match at the previous PPV but wasn't as over-the-moon with it as others. I liked the new wrinkle here of having Jeff Jarrett involved, though I do kinda wish we had got at least one guitar shot. I mean, what's the point of having Double J show up if you're not going to see him brain somebody with an acoustic six-string? This was shorter and more to-the-point than their last match - which I appreciated - and I also appreciated the clean, decisive ending, though I do wonder where the Profits go from here. The commentators did play up the fact that Ford has been earmarked for a singles run and how much that gets under Dawkins' skin, but if they're not going to give Ford a true singles push, him becoming "just another guy" is not a very enticing development. Anyway, another good-to-great match from The Usos, who have a resume as good anyone's on the list of all-time great WWE Tag Teams. Unfortunately, the company can never seem to build up more than 1 or 2 at a time so The Usos are now, once again, on top of the mountain without credible challengers. The Viking Raiders certainly ain't it, either. (3.5/5)

Matt Riddle showed up from the crowd and called out Seth Rollins. Like the McIntyre segment, this was done to get them in front of the audience, to provide some variety, and to have them included on the biggest show of the summer. Nothing wrong with that, but it also wasn't anything "must see." 

Ronda Rousey challenged Liv Morgan for the SmackDown Women's Championship next. I really liked how straight-forward this match was as Rousey basically dominated Morgan for most of its brief runtime. Rousey was dangerously close to becoming "just another wrestler" in some ways, putting on a back-and-forth match with Natalya last month when Natalya has spent most of her WWE career as a midcarder/gatekeeper and has never been pushed as particularly "dangerous." Even against Charlotte and Becky Lynch, Rousey had to almost downplay her legitimacy. Here, there was much less of that and Rousey went right after Morgan's arm/shoulder and Morgan did a marvelous job selling the damage. The finish - which saw Rousey essentially pin herself by accident while applying an armbar - ran the risk of "babyfacing" Rousey and turning Morgan into the "lucky heel," but the crowd is so fully behind Morgan and Rousey is so naturally unlikeable that I think the audience will still be in Morgan's corner at their inevitable rematch. I'm curious to see where this feud will go, which is more than I can say about many of the current rivalries in the WWE. This wasn't a "great match" by any means, but it was interesting and progressed Liv's storyline in a way that made it stand out from the rest of the show. (3/5)

Main event time - Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar in a Last Man Standing match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. I got very nervous when Reigns got a lengthy, lengthy introduction and then Lesnar got one of his own (which included him driving a tractor down to the ring). With how long the pre-match shenanigans went, I feared that these two had opted to fill up their ring time with "fluff" rather than deliver a real match (which is a bit of how I felt about their WrestleMania match, which seemed very "light"). Fortunately, I was way wrong: Lesnar and Reigns brought it here, putting on the rightful sequel to their first (and only other great) match from WrestleMania XXXI. This was a match of three parts really - a wild and very fun brawl that went all over the ring and into the crowd, then a memorable stretch involving Reigns getting dumped from the tractor into the ring with the ring itself eventually get upturned, and then the final stretch, which saw run-ins galore and Lesnar getting up to break the 10 count after multiple would-be finishers (including a nasty double superkick from the Usos). I doubt this will be Lesnar's last match and I'm not convinced it will even be the last Reigns/Lesnar match, but this felt like as big a send-off as possible and a much, much better way to cap their feud for awhile than their lackluster WrestleMania match. Was this the absolute best Last Man Standing match ever? I wouldn't go that far...but in terms of "spectacles," this was an action movie in a wrestling ring and the use of the tractor was capital-I Insane. A "must see" match, but not any sort of "mat classic." (4/5)

With a Kwang Score of 3.06-out-of-5, SummerSlam 2022 was a strong show with a wild main event, a very good (arguably great) opener, an even better Tag Team Championship match, and some interesting "celebrity/part-timer" matches in Paul/Miz and Rousey/Morgan. Oddly enough, it was more often the WWE's "regulars" who underwhelmed - the Mysterios/Judgment Day felt like filler (with even the return of Edge feeling pretty insignificant by the end of the night), Theory/Lashley would've felt lackluster main eventing an episode of Raw, and while McAfee is over and had a great entrance, his match against Baron Corbin was average at best. Still, there was enough good on this show to check out most of it.

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

WWE Survivor Series 2007

WWE Survivor Series 2007

Miami, FL - November 2007

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the WWE Champion was Randy Orton, the World Heavyweight Champion was Batista, CM Punk was the ECW Champion, the World Tag Team Champions were Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, the WWE Tag Team Champions were The Miz and John Morrison, the Women's Champion was Beth Phoenix, the Intercontinental Champion was Jeff Hardy, and MVP was the United States Champion.

Opening up the show we get CM Punk defending his ECW Championship against The Miz and John Morrison in a triple threat match. Miz and Morrison were the WWE Tag Team Champions, but were not yet totally best friends and doing their Dirt Sheet segments. In my review of the pay-per-view before this, Cyber Sunday, I noted that CM Punk and The Miz had better-than-decent chemistry despite their supposed legit friction with each other (which Miz has since claimed he had no idea existed). This match adds John Morrison, who was wrestling with notably more aplomb than maybe at any other point in his career. While the Morrison of Impact and Lucha Underground and AEW today is the more complete in-ring worker, this Morrison is trying to steal the show and working like doing so might actually get him to the main event (it didn't, which makes him the only guy in the match who never reached that status). This one isn't an all-timer, but it is fun and action-packed from beginning to end and there are a handful of well-timed, well-executed spots that kept this one hot from bell to bell. The Miz is the least polished of the three, but he's better here than many fans likely remember him being in 2007-2008. CM Punk is over with the crowd, though he'd obviously become a much bigger star a few years later. A very good opener to the show. (3.5/5)

A 10-woman tag match follows (though its not fought under Survivors rules), the teams being split based on heel/face dynamics and not brand. For the heels, we have Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, Victoria, Layla, and Melina, while on the face side there is Mickie James, Maria, Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool, and Torrie Wilson (who would wrestle her last singles match later that month). They get less than 5 minutes of ring time, which tells you just about all you need to know about how much thought and story was put into this match. There are talented women in this match - Victoria would go on to have a great run in TNA not long after this, Mickie James was the division's ace, Phoenix and Melina were dependable - but they're not given the opportunity to really show what they can do in a match like this. The finish was the most notable part of the match as Mickie James "stunned" Melina by planting a kiss on her before hitting her finishing move. (1.5/5)

Next up - Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly challenging Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade for the WWE Tag Team Championships. The first match went under 10 minutes, the second match under 5, and this one goes just 7-8 minutes too. Unlike the previous two matches, though, this one does not seem to do much for the crowd. Re-watching shows from this span of years, I can now officially say that Murdoch and Cade were as "meh" of a tag team as I remember, rarely great, sometimes good, mostly just there. Holly does most of the work in the match which keeps this from being a particularly interesting match to watch even if you're curious about Cody's first major matches in the WWE (for "young Cody" matches, it'd likely be best to start with his work as part of Legacy). After a really good opening match to the show, things have really dipped considerably...(1.5/5)

The night's only true Survivors match followed - Jeff Hardy, Triple H, Kane, and Rey Mysterio battling Big Daddy V, Kennedy, Finlay, Umaga, and MVP. There were a bunch of storylines built into this match and lots of history, plus with Triple H, Mysterio, Umaga, and Finlay involved, you had four very dependably good-to-great wrestlers (along with MVP and Jeff Hardy, who were going through two of the better runs of both of their careers). Even Big Daddy V was actually being treated somewhat credibly at the time! Matt Hardy was originally supposed to be on the babyface team too but was taken out by MVP (though I'm not sure about it, I'm thinking maybe this was done because the babyface team had so much more star power and credibility?). On paper, the idea of Triple H and Jeff Hardy eventually winning the match after being down 5-on-2 sounds completely implausible, but this match actually has a bunch of really good moments and enough smart booking mini-decisions to make it work for me. Big Daddy V eliminating Kane early adds heat to their feud and gives some needed cred to Big Daddy V, who also plays a role in Kennedy's elimination later. Plus, V's eventual elimination happens after a double-team move rather than just one guy pinning him. While it was predictable that Rey would take a fall (as the smallest guy in the match), I like that he doesn't go first and that his elimination comes at the hands of Umaga, who is built up as the biggest threat of the match. MVP is eliminated by Jeff Hardy in the match's needed "feel good" moment before it essentially becomes a Finlay and Umaga vs. Hardy and Triple H match, something that absolutely works. Does the match make total logical sense? No. Does it overtly push Triple H and Jeff Hardy as the top guys to the detriment of guys like Kennedy, Umaga, and MVP? Sure. But the action is good from beginning to end and it wrapped up a number of storylines that needed to be put to bed before the Rumble in January. Not an all-time great Survivors match, but not bad at all. (3/5)

Hornswoggle vs. The Great Khali is next. This was more "angle" than match. Before the match, Vince McMahon gives his "son" Hornswoggle a pep talk about how they are McMahons and that McMahons always defy the odds and beat the monsters that come after them (like the federal government). Its classic Vince stuff, which doesn't go down so smooth now that its been basically confirmed that Vince is not only an asshole, but a sexual predator. Anyway...Shane McMahon makes a surprise appearance, which I completely forgot about. Did he appear on TV over the next few months? I'm not going to look into it. Shaq was shown at ringside before the match so when Khali and Hornswoggle actually square off, the crowd erupts into a "We Want Shaq" chant. There's not that much "action" as Swoggle attempts to escape Khali for a couple minutes, spits green mist in Khali's manager's face, and then basically gets bitch-slapped by Khali in the center of the ring (which does draw huge heat). This leads to Finlay running down the aisle and saving his buddy (if I'm not mistaken, it might've later come out that Finlay was actually his father all along?). This was kept short enough to serve its purpose. Its hard to rate things like this, but for being what it was, I'm fine saying it was your average angle, hurt most by Khali not being able to express any emotion or even sell damage when Finlay strikes him with the Shillelagh...(1.5/5)

In a rematch from the previous pay-per-view (Cyber Sunday), Shawn Michaels once again challenges Randy Orton for his WWE Championship...only this time, the Sweet Chin Music is outlawed. At the same time, Orton will lose the title on a DQ. Considering that I don't think Shawn Michaels won a single match without the move in the prior decade, this was supposed to be a big deal but I've always hated gimmicks like this. That being said, Michaels works this match quite differently than his usual, applying a vice-like headlock early and continuously coming back to a submission-based strategy. While he was never known for his technical wrestling, Michaels works every hold pretty well (save for maybe a sloppy Sharpshooter). Orton tries to bait Michaels into using a Sweet Chin Music but can never get him to bite. There's a cool moment when Michaels, after hitting a bunch of his signature offense, teases the superkick but ends up using his stomp routine as a trick to lure Orton into a small package for a nearfall. The actual finish is well-executed as Michaels attempts a variety of submissions only for Orton to send him into the corner. On instinct, Michaels preps for an "out of nowhere" Sweet Chin Music but stops himself before he pulls the move off, leaving him vulnerable for Orton's RKO. Like the Cyber Sunday match, this one suffers most from there being no real possibility of Orton dropping the title. Michaels - and, soon after this, Chris Jericho - were positioned as challengers for Orton to defeat en route to what was already being rumored as a showdown with Triple H at WrestleMania. But, again, like the Cyber Sunday match, the fun in this match is seeing the chemistry between Michaels and Orton and the way they could weave the stipulation into the psychology of the match. Those two elements are what makes it work and kept me engaged from bell-to-bell despite my initial apprehension. I've seen some reviewers go "high" on this match, rating it as a near-masterpeice but I wouldn't go that far. Very good, but not a "must watch" to me. (3.5/5)

Main event time - Batista vs. The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match. This was the "rubber" match after almost a full year feud between Batista and Taker. Their Cyber Sunday match was very good so I had high hopes for this one too. I don't think I've seen every Hell in a Cell match, but the good ones stick in your memory and I'd call this one a good one save for the screwy finish (which sees Edge return to screw over the Deadman). Batista gets to show off his power, Undertaker gets to work as an almost-heel and deliver some nasty, violent offense that one usually doesn't see from a babyface, and the crowd is fully into it. Plus, unlike the previous bout, there was a real sense that this match could go either way. I've seen some reviews that critique Undertaker's "dominance," but this is his signature match (one of several) and I didn't find it nearly as "one-sided" as some paint it. Does Batista look outmatched at times? Sure...but part of this entire feud was that Batista was forced to fight an Undertaker who had become increasingly angry and driven to put The Animal down and that Batista, to his credit, refused to back down to the aura and mythology of the Phenom, somehow not just surviving The Undertaker's ever-more-personal wrath, but finding ways to beat him like he had at Cyber Sunday. (4/5)

With a respectable Kwang Score of 2.64-out-of-5, the 2007 edition of the Survivor Series isn't an all-time great show, but it does feature at least two very good-to-great matches in Orton/Michaels and the main event. The opener isn't great enough to be considered a "hidden gem," but its close and is a particularly interesting match to watch in hindsight considering the career paths of all three men. The Survivors match isn't an all-time great one, but its better than average too. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

WWE SummerSlam 2010

WWE SummerSlam 2010

Los Angeles, CA - August 2010

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the World Heavyweight Champion was Kane, while the WWE Champion was Sheamus. The United States Champion was The Miz, the Intercontinental Champion was Dolph Ziggler, the Women's Champion was Layla (though I think she was actually co-champion with Michelle McCool), the Divas Champion was Alicia Fox, and the Unified Tag Team Champions were The Hart Dynasty, who don't appear on the show. 

Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero) defends the Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston in the opening match. Kingston is really good here, taking an insane belly flop on the floor in the opening minutes and not taking his foot off the gas for the duration of the match. Ziggler works hard to slow him down, eventually locking him into a sleeper hold before The Nexus shows up and jumps both guys, ending the match with a whimper. The crowd was into this, both guys were putting in a ton of effort, and while I know these two wrestled each other hundreds of times over the years and I usually wouldn't care too much about a match like this, they really had won me over when the unfortunate finish put an end to things. This was on its way to being at least slightly above-average, but the ending wrecked an otherwise hot opener. I'm guessing this was Vince's way of making sure that the Nexus got even more heel heat before the main event. (2/5)

Next up...Alicia Fox defends her Diva's Championship against the returning Melina. I'm not sure if Fox got knocked loopy early in the match or she was just woefully out of her depth. Either that or she is putting on one of the most realistic selling jobs ever. Melina sells knee damage but Fox either forgot that that was going to be a key theme in the match or wasn't experienced enough to realize that Melina was trying to build a match around working her knee. Things go from not great to bad on commentary as Striker and Lawler make it clear that Fox is ignoring the obvious knee injury to go after Melina's shoulder for no reason. The match only goes around 5 minutes and ends with Melina delivering a move not dissimilar to Miz's Skull Crushing Finale, but because it wasn't established as Melina's new finisher, the audience gives it no reaction and seems genuinely shocked that she wins with it. After the match, LayCool show up and get into it with Melina. I forget if this led to a unification between the Women's Championship and the Divas Championship...? This was objectively bad. (0.5/5)

CM Punk, Luke Gallows, and Joey Mercury teamed up to face Big Show in the next contest. These sorts of matches are super predictable as Punk, the leader of the Straight Edge Society, tried to avoid Big Show at every turn as Gallows and Mercury played his bumbling stooges. Unsurprisingly, the Straight Edge Society team disbanded not too long after looking completely impotent here. A year later, CM Punk would be the most talked-about wrestler on the roster having dropped his "pipebomb promo" and airing his grievances, which probably included having his stable - who got great reactions - treated like cowards and losers and losing a handicap match to a noticeably not-in-shape Big Show. (1.5/5)

The Miz makes his way to the ring to cut a promo about how big of a star he is and how much the WWE's various main eventers are begging him to join their team against The Nexus. Miz ends the lengthy promo by saying that he will, in fact, fight for Team WWE. 

The WWE Champion, Sheamus, defended his title against Randy Orton next. Sheamus and Orton worked a slow, methodical pace for the majority of the match. This is the kind of bout that might explain why so many people found Orton boring as a babyface and not all that much more interesting as a heel, though, to be fair, Orton does have the crowd fully engaged for his comeback. A "slow burn" match can be really, really good, but it takes the right competitors with the right amount of hope spots to take the crowd on a journey. It also helps when the destination is good. At this point, Sheamus didn't have the arsenal of cut-offs or signature moves or even the confidence to keep a 20-minute match interesting and it shows during the perfunctory rest hold segments and even in his body language at times. Orton is fine, but he had such better matches than this throughout his career that its almost as if he's checked out for everything but his fiery comeback...which ultimately leads to a solid closing sequence that runs into a creative dead-end as Sheamus gets disqualified when he brings a chair into the ring and the ref ends up on the floor. After the match, Orton hits the RKO on a table to tease a Miz cash-in, but we don't get it. Another bullshit ending which, if you count the fact that Big Show didn't really get his hands on CM Punk, makes for the third one of the evening. (2/5)

The World Heavyweight Championship match follows - Kane defending against Rey Mysterio. The storyline coming into this match was that Kane, who had cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Mysterio (who had won the title a couple months prior at the Fatal Fourway PPV) at the previous pay-per-view, now blamed Rey for attacking the Undertaker. I'm not sure of all the details, but everybody knew that it was actually Kane who had put Taker on the shelf except Michael Cole, who was now a semi-heel announcer. Anyway...these two faced each other hundreds and hundreds of times over the years and while they never had an outright bad match, I can't recall them having a particularly great one. This isn't it either. Mysterio puts in a great effort, but he was fairly banged up around this time and was working through various injuries, if I'm not mistaken, eventually taking off time the following summer (which just shows how much of a trooper he was as a worker and should've never been threatened with having dates added to his contract years later). Kane eventually wins with a chokeslam after a 13 minute match that feels longer because of how plodding Kane works. After the match, they do a great tease with Kane opening up the casket he had brought down and everyone expecting Taker to be inside only for him not to be inside until the second time he opened it up. Taker asks Rey if he's the one who attacked him and Rey tells him no, which leads to Taker grabbing Kane by the throat. Kane responds by grabbing Taker by the throat and they have a scuffle that ends with Kane tombstoning the Undertaker. (2/5)

Main event time - Team Cena vs. Team Nexus. This match is a bit infamous for its finish, but I'll start from the top. After Team Nexus - Wade Barrett, Skip Sheffield (Ryback), Michael Tarver, Justin Gabriel, Darren Young, Heath Slater, and David "A-List" Otunga - make their arrival, John Cena leads his team, followed by Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, John Morrison, R-Truth and....not The Miz, but rather Daniel Bryan, who had been "cut" from Team Nexus for some storyline reason I can't remember (but had actually been briefly "fired" from the company for choking Justin Roberts during the Nexus' on-screen debut). Speaking of Bryan, he comes out swinging and looks awesome here, submitting Darren Young. From there, Team WWE maintained control as John Morrison eliminated Michael Tarver, definitely the most forgotten member of Nexus. Down 7-on-5, the future Ryback got to shine by eliminating Morrison and R-Truth. From here, things get a bit messier as Bret Hart, whose offense still looked excellent but was clearly and noticeably unable to actually take any sort of real strike or bump, got himself disqualified. Bret Hart's "return" in 2010 is one of my least favorite things in WWE history (and I say that as a fairly big Hitman fan) as it was just sad to see him pretending to "compete" when it was so obvious that his limitations prevented him from actually working a real match. I'll go on record in saying that his WrestleMania match against Vince is one of my all-time least favorite bouts in history too. Anyway...with Nexus now in the lead, Edge and Jericho rally and eliminate Sheffield and Otunga, but then get eliminated themselves. Being bad sports, they take their anger out on Cena as Team Nexus is up 3-on-2. Being up 3-on-2 and then losing wouldn't have been that bad, especially considering that Cena was Superman and Team Nexus were still just "rookies." Plus, though Michael Cole referred to his experiences traveling the world as the greatest technical wrestler of the decade as merely being "in the minors," Daniel Bryan had proven in the first 3 minutes of the match that he was an insanely talented grappler (and also eliminated Health Slater to tie things up around the 30-minute mark). But, in an effort to make sure Nexus looked strong - without actually letting them win - Team Nexus dominates for the next several minutes and gets some unsolicited help from The Miz (who takes Bryan out with a shot from his Money in the Bank briefcase). So, the last 5 minutes involve Barrett and Gabriel (who arguably had the best showing of all of Nexus besides Sheffield) absolutely annihilating Cena only for Cena to make a miraclous and very, very quick comeback, pinning Gabriel after he misses his 450 splash and then, less than 2 minutes later, forcing Wade Barrett to submit to one of his weakest STFs ever. Its a putrid ending to a match that, considering its lack of set pieces and table spots, might have been in the running for being one of the best elimination-based/Survivors-type matches of all time based completely on the characters involved (no small feat considering that, prior to this match, the Nexus 7 weren't individually established all that well). But instead of being considered the launching pad for future stars like Bryan, Barrett, Ryback, and Gabriel, it is a match that is more known for being the match that was the beginning of the end of Barrett's potential main event run and the match that ended up necessitating a complete rehaul of Ryback's character. It didn't end up doing anything for Gabriel except clearly defining him as a guy who did "flippy shit" but couldn't put away a true superstar like Cena. The Miz got to be the one to put away by Daniel Bryan - not Slater (who would've had quite a feather in his cap by being able to claim he'd eliminated three members of Team WWE) or the aforementioned Gabriel or Sheffield or even Wade Barrett, the leader of Team Nexus who didn't get a single true elimination for himself. The WWE would continue the Nexus storyline for the next few months, but they were never a real threat after this and certainly didn't seem like a stable that was altering the landscape of the company. As a match, this could've been not just good or great, but the kind of match that one could've went back to years later and regarded as ground zero for a completely different WWE reality - the way we look back at the 96' King of the Ring tournament and the "What Ifs" that surround it - but because of the finish, this match means absolutely nothing...aside from just being a pretty good match. (3/5)

With a Kwang Score of 1.83-out-of-5, SummerSlam 2010 is a show to avoid. While the action is generally good (this is around the time when the WWE men's roster became so stacked with well-trained wrestlers that terrible booking decisions and lame gimmicks caused way more damage than outright lack of talent), there are too many head-scratching moments and poorly thought-out finishes to recommend any match on this show. The opener is fought with great urgency...but is then cut short by a Nexus run-in for no real reason. Seeing the Straight Edge Society get squashed by Big Show isn't fun or exciting. Alicia Fox vs. Melina is an unfortunate sloppy mess and while Fox would improve in the ring in the years following, she was always a much better character than wrestler and was miscast for most of her career. Sheamus/Orton starts slow, heats up nicely, and then falls apart with a bullshit ending. Kane vs. Mysterio is not very good either, though at least it does end with a cool Undertaker return. The main event is notorious for its "safe" finish and the fact that it buried The Nexus, though there are some genuinely good sequences and spots sprinkled in. Still, as a whole, this show disappoints and veers off-course more often than it entertains.

FINAL RATING - DUDleyville