Posted in: Doctor's Orders
Doctor's Orders: The Summerslam Report
By Dr. CMV1
Aug 15, 2011 - 12:05:26 PM

Match 1: Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, and John Morrison defeated The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, and R-Truth in about 9-minutes (CMV1 rating - **) (CMV1 note – A nice opener to get the crowd going. Miz cut a promo before the match to show that he mattered more than everyone but Rey, who was the babyface that got the pin. I liked that they got all these guys on the card, as they all deserved to be wrestling last night)

Match 2: Mark Henry beat Sheamus via count-out in about 9-minutes (CMV1 rating – **) (CMV1 note – If people doubt how good Sheamus can be, they just need to watch him in this match. He’s been a babyface for all of three weeks and he was able to get the crowd fully behind him in his first PPV outing in that role. This was Henry’s best PPV match in a long time, as the element of having a little back and forth between he and his opponent had been largely missing lately. Sheamus did a good job of selling and making his comeback and the drama of seeing him try to beat the count out pushed this to the “average,” two-star level. This gave me some hope that the eventual Henry vs. Orton matches might not be that bad, as long as they’re booked competitively)

Match 3: Diva’s Champion Kelly Kelly defeated Beth Phoenix in about 6-minutes (CMV1 rating - *1/2) (CMV1 note – I went into this match expecting a title change a vintage Beth Phoenix performance. I got one of the two, but the main surprise was not the lack of a title change, but the effort by Kelly. She did a very nice job. She took advantage of the fact that Beth is strong and skilled and opened up her offense a little bit. I walked away hopeful that Kelly could develop into a high quality women’s wrestler if she works with Phoenix, Nattie, and Kharma over the next year. She just needs to stay away from the other divas, who can’t work. It should be interesting to see where they go from here)

Match 4: Wade Barrett beat Daniel Bryan in about 10-minutes (CMV1 rating - ***) (CMV1 note – Well, this was nice. Bryan did this routinely in the fall of 2010 and then disappeared off PPV for months. I never understood that. I mean, all he did was make the mid-card matches on PPV relevant and give the main-event guys competition and reason to increase their efforts despite being given ½ or ¾ of the time – believe me, that’s quite an accomplishment in the modern era. Barrett was very impressive, too. This was the best match that he’s had since the bout with Cena at last year’s Hell in a Cell. If Bryan can get 10+ minutes per PPV from now until Mania, I might just be able to buy his quest to main-event Mania, assuming he gets a few wins in there to go with losses like last night’s. If Barrett can work with Bryan for the next two months, it would do him a world of good. Both men came away looking great moving forward)

Match 5: Randy Orton defeated Christian in a No Holds Barred match to become World Heavyweight Champion in just under 24-minutes (CMV1 rating - ****1/4) (CMV1 note – Damn…if this was the last match that we see between Orton and Christian on PPV, then it was a fitting end to what has been a great series over the last few months. I really wasn’t buying the idea that Christian was headed for the main-event until it actually happened, but I truly believe he did well enough to stay there and/or eventually get back there down the road once this current run is up. These are two of the top 5 wrestlers in the WWE right now and both are really hitting their strides. The No Holds Barred stipulation worked very well because we just don’t see stuff like it anymore. Back in the day, it was all garbage brawls…that was the norm. Now that it isn’t the norm, they can go out there and do what they did – and not have to nearly kill each other – and it can be eaten up by the audience. I went into this hoping that they’d equal or surpass their match from Over the Limit. I think that they equaled it. It lacked that definitive second, “out of your seat” near fall to push to the 4.5 star level, but that’s not so much a complaint as it is a statement of CMV1 fact. One of my favorite things about the matches between Orton and Christian was how well they varied some of the key spots that were featured in their earlier matches. You look at the end of that match…Christian made a couple of “oh he’s not out of it” moves that were immediately cut off by Orton, but in doing so he re-engaged the crowd to keep us guessing despite what was becoming an obvious outcome. Those little things mean so much to match quality and these guys both are excellent at it)

Match 6: vs. WWE Champion CM Punk defeated WWE Champion John Cena to become the Undisputed WWE Champion in about 25-minutes (CMV1 rating - ****1/2) (CMV1 note – Another excellent match between these two that was in some ways better and in some ways worse than the MITB match. In terms of the fluidity of the moves and counters, this match was better than last month’s and was well on its way to being another potential 5-star match when they executed the finish. The atmosphere wasn’t quite as good, but the Chicago crowd was unique. L.A. did an admirable job of following up Chi-town, in regards to the crowd reaction. It was still an electric environment. I think the main thing that kept it from being on par with MITB was the finish. The choice to put Cena’s leg on the rope closest to the hard camera was smart…you could clearly see it while Triple H was counting. Naturally, that finish fell a little flat and you were left waiting to see what would happen next. They did a good job in the post-match presentation with Cena going on and leaving and Triple H waiting around and then leaving himself. Kevin Nash showing up was a cool surprise and his involvement in this story just adds another wrinkle that gets you, as a fan, further invested into what’s happening…and it’s awesome because this is easily the most exciting that wrestling has been in a long time. My hat goes off to Cena and Punk for putting on that good of a match. They are the two best performers in the WWE right now, in my opinion. Punk being booked on his level has been the key factor toward the excitement of the finishes. They go back and forth and back and forth and they counter each other and they kick out of each other’s finishers and it’s just a phenomenal thing to watch)

Match 7: Alberto Del Rio cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase to win the WWE Championship at CM Punk’s expense (CMV1 rating- n/a) (CMV1 note – I have absolutely zero problem with the booking for this. Punk is the only guy, with the exception of Rey Mysterio when he’s in San Diego, that Alberto could have cashed in on and really gotten the maximum amount of heat. Del Rio is ready. He may not have done much in recent months, but only because he’s been pushed to the backburner on Raw. We will now get to see what this guy is really made of and see if he’s the type that will be around in the main-event for years or just until this current run is up. I hope he makes it big, because he’s a damn good in-ring performer who’s still learning and growing as a character. I’m excited to see how this all plays out)

Backstage Skits and Interviews (CMV1 rating - ***1/4) (CMV1 note – I really liked the mix of comedy and serious tones in the backstage segments. I also included the Del Rio match as a segment, here. I think a Summerslam cash-in is about the second biggest possible cash-in site sans for Mania and no one had done that, yet. Couple that with the introduction of Kevin Nash into the story of Punk and Trips and I just loved all of it)

CMV1 PPV Rating System

0-1.5 stars = Demand a refund and don't take no for an answer. If it was this bad, they should pay you to watch the next two PPVs, at least. (Great American Bash 2005)

1.75-2.25 stars = A below average PPV that wasn't worth the money spent watching. (Survivor Series 2010)

2.5-2.75 stars = An average to above average event that was worth watching on that given night. (Royal Rumble 2011, Wrestlemania XXVII)

3.0-3.25 = A really good show that you'd buy on DVD and watch again (Elimination Chamber 2011, Money in the Bank 2011)

3.5 = This is how PPV should be done (Summerslam 2002)

3.75-5.0 = You never thought a PPV could be this good...

Summerslam 2011’s Final Score = *** (CMV1 note – I think Summerslam was a tremendous PPV. When you have two matches that are legitimate match of the year conversation pieces on the same show, then you know you’ve witnessed something great. This has been a great year for WWE in terms of overall PPV quality and I applaud them, since last year was NOT. Cena, Punk, Christian, and Orton deserve a ton of credit for making the last two PPVs really strong. Bryan deserves credit for adding a nice dimension in the mid-card)