As you can see above, the story coming out of WWE Summerslam 2014 is Brock Lesnar winning the WWE World Heavyweight Title in convincing fashion from John Cena. The domination was unbelievable to witness and has left a lot of fans wondering, "what's next?". Summerslam 2014 was incredibly entertaining and almost felt like a shift from what we'd been getting(as I believe every big PPV should). It kicked off with a pretty decent match between RVD(in his last WWE match for now, until he decides to return) against the criminally underused Cesaro(who put on a great performance here). RVD picks up the win(why???) and as the countdown to the beginning of Summerslam winded down, a buzz was in the air. What would open the show?
Hulk Hogan Segment
Hulk Hogan kicks off Summerslam 2014, similar to how he kicked off Wrestlemania 30(which he hosted of course), and all he really did in this case was plug the WWE Network and the now infamous price tag of 9.99(don't even get me started). This segment was pretty much unnecessary, but it provided the crowd with the energy of Hulkamania early on to get them revved up.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Dolph Ziggler vs The Miz
Dolph Ziggler has had the worst streak of bad luck in WWE, I'd say. He's consistently worked his ass off, put on great matches, and saw most of his opportunities pass him by. The fans have been chanting heavily for Ziggler, and have been consistently let down by the WWE booking department. With this match, a lot of people were expecting Miz to walk away with the victory, as he just debuted his new Hollywood gimmick and won the belt at Battleground. As the match kicked off, the crowd was firmly behind Ziggler as expected, and they put on a nice back and forth contest. The pace picks up at the end of the match, after a great sequence that saw Ziggler barely connect on a Fameasser, then Miz hits a Skull Crushing Finale right after for a 2 count(Ziggler kicks out of somebody's finisher!!). In the moments afterwards, Miz misses a kick to the head, which Ziggler counters with a Zig Zag, and as the ref goes to count, it's almost as if time stood still..... 1........................2....................................3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ZIGGLER WINS! Great match overall and the right person picks up the victory. Good job, WWE.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Divas Championship Match
Paige vs AJ Lee
Ah yes. These two lovely ladies in a feud that seemed like a dream for most of us...fangirls especially(I hate ya'll, but I digress). The match started off pretty intense for a Divas match and while relatively short, it featured some good action. I believe that this match should have been longer and I'd be able to give it a better rating, but it was still solid for the time it had. AJ was my pick to win it, but Paige picks up the victory and her 2nd Divas championship. This just means the feud continues, and gets even more intense, which I have no issue with.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Flag Match
Jack Swagger w/ Zeb Colter vs Rusev w/ Lana(my wife)
I was confused initially by what this match represented. I thought it was a flag on a pole match, but it was really just a one on one match that ended with the winner getting their nation's flag raised. The action here was pretty standard, and while I enjoyed the match, I'd say it could have been much better. Rusev picks up the win due to Swagger passing out from his submission, which only leads me to believe that this feud will continue at least one more PPV. Zeb Colter took a kick from Rusev, so I can't see them just moving on to a different opponent right away.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Lumberjack Match
Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins
Hands down, this is match of the night. I've never been a fan of Lumberjack matches, and I was skeptical as hell when I first saw the stipulation, but damn it, these two made it work perfectly. Ambrose is my current favorite wrestler in the WWE and he's been on my top 5 list since his arrival into the WWE. As he shines as a solo competitor more and more, I'm really interested to see what's next from him every week. Rollins, who has done great as a heel, played his role perfectly in this match, and I really enjoyed both of these guys fighting against the lumberjacks. The fire inside Ambrose is something that can really build a legend, and with all the crazy antics, moments and way he got the crowd hype, there's no telling how far he can go as a star in the company. I didn't particularly like the ending of the match with Kane once again having to help Seth out from losing and Rollins needing the briefcase to win, but if Ambrose was going to lose, this is the way to do it I'd say. It makes Ambrose look like a badass who Rollins can't beat by himself. I am excited for their rematch, which is inevitable, and I fully expect Ambrose to pick up a victory FINALLY in this feud. Ambrose, the last 3 PPVs as a solo act, has stolen the show, and at Battleground, he DIDN'T even ACTUALLY WRESTLE! I can say nothing bad about this match at all, it's match of the night as I mentioned, as well as a possible MOTY candidate for me too. The ending, like I said wasn't ideal for me, but the way they made it work, only draws me in more to Ambrose and can't wait until he gets his vengeance.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Bray Wyatt vs Chris Jericho
This feud was something that I had been waiting for since Bray came on the scene. I'd watched them fight in NXT before and I was so excited to see them do battle on the big stage. The feud itself has left a little to be desired, but the promo work between both men has been absolutely amazing. Bray never disappoints on the mic, and neither does Jericho. Coming into this match, my expectations were slightly low because of their Battleground match which didn't really work for me. Jericho picked up a quick win, and the feud continued from there, but this match was a bit more decisive. Bray was great in this, and Jericho seemed like he was struggling in this match a bit. I'm not sure what it is, but the in ring chemistry of these two seemed to be off early on. The pace picked up and the match drastically improved near the final moments, but the match still left something to be desired. Bray picks up a victory here, as he should, but I'd assume that this feud has one more match(maybe with a stipulation to make it more intense) that closes this out and lets Jericho go back to Fozzy touring for however long this time. At least Bray has finally picked up a PPV pinfall victory, his first actual singles pinfall victory since beating Daniel Bryan clean at the Royal Rumble in January(it's August).
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Brie Bella vs Stephanie McMahon
I had no interest in this match going in. I really didn't even want to watch it, but I figured something would happen, so I decided to give it a look anyways. Steph looked pretty good in her wrestling outfit, and the match started out slightly intense. The pace was a bit plodding at one point, and business didn't start to pick up until Triple H came down to interfere with Nikki Bella following close behind him. At this point, it became apparent where the direction of the match was headed. Brie was gaining the upper hand on Steph, Triple H took a baseball slide kick(and sold it like a sumbitch), and Steph was caught in between Nikki and Brie, as the ref was knocked out. Impending doom for Steph right? Of course not. The expected "swerve"(most predictable one ever) with Nikki turning on her sister to set up a feud on TV(TV meaning RAW and Total Divas... emphasis on Total Divas). Steph picks up the victory, and this match was given way more time than it should have been. AJ vs Paige was cut short for this Steph vs Brie match and despite knowing why(the Authority storyline is taking up massive TV time), I wish the match lengths would have been reversed. This match wasn't AS bad as I thought it would be and it was actually entertaining. Wasn't better than AJ and Paige, but still solid for entertainment value, ESPECIALLY if you didn't see the "swerve" coming.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
Roman Reigns vs Randy Orton
I went into this match with pretty low expectations, and for the first.... 5-7 minutes or so, I was definitely correct in those expectations. Roman, who is being groomed to be the next WWE golden boy it seems, has been forced a bit down fans throats, and while he is over with the audience decently, he still has a long way to go. Orton, who is off and on as one of my favorite performers in WWE, is notorious for his restholds and slow methodical pace in matches that some fans might deem as boring. So, going into this, I wasn't necessarily expecting a classic. This match wasn't a classic, but as the pace picked up in the last 7-9 minutes of the match, it got really good. A sick Superman punch into a RKO counter, along with a scoop slam counter from Randy are some highlights in the match. Reigns kicking out of that RKO counter did strike me as a bit much, as Randy losing to a single spear from Roman really didn't make him look as strong as I'd like them to. I wanted to see Randy go for the punt, get speared, kick out, then have Roman go for a Superman punch, Randy blocks it, attempts an RKO again, then gets pushed off into the ropes into a spear for a 1-2-3. I think Randy kicking out of the spear would have made the crowd go wild and just make him look even stronger in defeat so everyone wins in essence. Roman wins in a pretty good match, I just hope the WWE doesn't make too many missteps in pushing this guy.
Rating: 7 out of 10
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Brock Lesnar vs John Cena
There's so much I could say here....... let me start by saying this......... FUCK YOU CENA FANS! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!(Flair struts down the keyboard). Brock vs Cena was billed as the biggest fight of the summer, but it wasn't. It wasn't a fight. It was a massacre. A slaughter. Destruction. It was everything that Brock vs Cena at Extreme Rules 2012 was supposed to be. Brock decimated Cena through every minute of this match and we only saw Cena mount a small comeback which resulted in a few clotheslines and one AA that Lesnar kicked out of, and proceeded to sit up like The Undertaker afterwards(Brock was amazing in this match, and the Gifs and memes made off his head after sitting up are hilarious). This was Lesnar at his finest, dominating the WWE's reigning superman like he was nothing. His path of destruction, which included tons of knees, strikes, 16 German Suplexes, and 2 F-5's were absolutely CRAZY. There have been plenty of Summerslam main events in his long and storied history, but NEVER in the history of WWE has there ever been such a one sided main event title match. Brock seemed to just be toying with Cena the entire time, and he quickly put him out of his misery after Cena made a sorry attempt at locking on the STF in the closing moments of the match. For me personally, seeing Cena destroyed was beautiful, and seeing Brock make such easy work of him almost erases the mistakes that WWE made with Brock in the beginning. After decisive victories over CM Punk, Big Show, The Undertaker, and now John Cena for the WWE Title, the world is in Brock Lesnar's hands. He is the conqueror. The beast. The man. Paul Heyman said it. The prophecy became reality. Where do we go next? Only time will tell.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Overall, this PPV was solid, and with no real BAD match itself, it's definitely one of the better Summerslams. How it holds up in repeat viewings is a different story, but for now I'll leave you with my final overall rating and the last image of the night.
Summerslam 2014: 7 out of 10
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