Thoughts on Summerslam 2013

Summerslam was tonight and here's my thoughts. I must say I didn't see the Pre-show so I can't comment on the United States Title match.




Kane vs. Bray Wyatt- This match was a dull opener. No surprise the match suffered due to the fire, the inability to leave the ring, and Kane being a dull slug trying to walk through salt. The fire going up to prevent Luke Harper & Erick Rowan from getting into the ring was a nice touch. The match also suffered with the booking as Wyatt needed to look strong giving this was his first WWE match under the Bray Wyatt gimmick. Instead, Kane delivered most of the offense and was too dominate. With Wyatt winning this was WWE trying to do 50/50 booking but the fact was Wyatt not only needed to win but look strong and WWE failed on the latter. To make matters worse, Kane is long past his expiration date and doesn't need to look strong at the expense of young up-and-coming talent with potential to be future stars.

Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow- A very nice match but went too short. These two didn't have enough time to go. This match went back and forth before ending after 5-8 minutes. Cody winning was typical WWE bullshit. For the millionth time we see the Money In The Bank winner lose. Sandow lost to Christian cleanly on Smackdown and he lost cleanly here. This has always been one of the worst things about WWE's booking. With the Money In The Bank winner likely becoming the next champion, the logic would be to have the MITB winner to be booked strong and groom him leading to his title victory. But once again, the WWE has the MITB winner lose and make him a complete lame duck before he gets the belt (and then he'll continue to lose after winning the belt).

Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian- Boring and lackluster match. Del Rio is beyond boring and it's pathetic & sad that the WWE passed on Dolph Ziggler so they can try for the 50th time to push Del Rio as the new hispanic superstar. In all fairness, Christian wasn't much better. This match was dull and nothing spectacular. Sucks Del Rio retained but Christian is pretty stale in his own right.

Natalya vs. Brie Bella- Easily the worst match on the show. Brie was useless as Natalya couldn't carry her and the match was mostly a commercial for the WWE's Total Divas show. The other divas were out and had they're moments where they got involved but it wasn't good. The only good things I can say is that Natalya got a PPV gig and the win.

CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar- Easily the best match of the night. Both Punk and Brock played their roles are perfect with Lesnar trying to rip him apart while Punk keeps coming back for more and getting a few moments where he nearly slayed the beast. My only complaints were they could've taking 5 minutes off of it and given it to other matches that needed more time as we didn't need it to be nearly 30 minutes. Paul Heyman constantly interfering also hurt the match as he only needed to interfere once or twice not three times. It seemed like overkill. I wasn't a fan of Lesnar winning since he likely won't be back until 2014. With Lesnar's absence, it seems like Punk will be in limbo until Lesnar comes back from vacation. To make matters worse, the feud will not have the same heat it had since it will have so much dust.

Dolph Ziggler & Kaitlyn vs. Big E. Langston & AJ Lee- This match had potential to be a sleeper but it never seemed to get going. Everyone was alright but it seemed like they were just there until Ziggler got the win. It's really sad since Ziggler can be incredible and Kaitlyn & AJ have great chemistry but you wouldn't know watching this match.

John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan- This match was very good as Bryan was awesome and even Cena kept up. It was definitely better than I thought it would be. It was also nice to see Triple H not make the match about him and was in the background. Like Punk/Lesnar, my biggest problem was it went a little too long. 20 minutes would've been fine instead of 26 minutes. The match is also hurt by the aftermath. Sadly the WWE ruined everything by having HHH turn heel and assist Randy Orton in winning the WWE Championship. Ultimately, Summerslam 2013 ended the same way 2011 did where the WWE seemingly had the hottest act in the company win and be the champion only to ruin it by having them lose the title in an impromptu match.

All in all, Summerslam 2013 was a very weak edition. Only two matches were worth going out of the way to see while everything else was there. Timing was a big issue as Punk/Brock and Cena/Brock didn't need to go over 25 minutes. Take five minutes from each match and give to the other matches would've been better. Watch Brock/Punk and Bryan/Cena but forget everything else.