It was the go-home Raw for SummerSlam. There was an incredible Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena segment on Miz TV that made the match must-watch this weekend.
John Cena’s passion.
We might as well get right to it. In the first match on the show, Wade Barrett pinned Daniel Bryan when Brad Maddox, special guest referee fast counted Bryan. Later in the show, Vince McMahon came out in the most horrifying suit of all-time. He chastised Maddox for fast counting Bryan, but it was mostly to forgive him and make fun of Bryan. Maddox wanted to referee the Cena/Bryan match at SummerSlam, but Triple H interrupted him and then hit the Pedigree. Triple H will now be the referee in the match.
On Miz TV, Bryan and Cena went at each other on the mic with Bryan basically calling Cena a parody. This caused Cena to cut a passionate promo. It was one of the best of his recent years. He talked about touching the fans and wrestling for the Make A Wish Foundation kids who live by his creed of “Never give up.”
Cena also said that Bryan’s not in the class of The Rock, CM Punk, Batista (why name him?) or Triple H (suck up). Bryan said he didn’t respect him and Cena said it’s because he hasn’t won the big one yet. Bryan said there’s a Japanese tradition of slapping your competitor in the face as a sign of respect, but Cena’s not a wrestler so he doesn’t deserve the slap. Cena then slapped him. Triple H came out and then Randy Orton came out with his briefcase reminding everyone that he’ll be lurking come SummerSlam.
In the end, having Triple H as the referee doesn’t really add much to the match. If they wanted to add intrigue, they could’ve added Orton as the referee, but that would probably take away from the match in that everyone would be waiting for Orton to attack. I thought the segment was about as good as it could be on the go home show. Cena was excellent and Bryan was great in his role.
CM Punk leaves Brock Lesnar laying.
CM Punk was supposed to face Paul Heyman in the main event, but that screamed angle alert and it was. Heyman came out in the last segment of the show and brought out Brock Lesnar. Punk attacked Lesnar from behind with a camera and laid him out. He then went after Heyman who ran up the ramp. Curtis Axel came out and he and Punk hit the GTS on the stage on him to end the show.
The segment was good, but not fantastic. I’m not sure it was a great use of Brock Lesnar as they could’ve achieved the same without him.
The Shield vs. RVD, The Big Show, and Mark Henry.
There was a 20-man Battle Royal to determine who would face Dean Ambrose in the pre-show match at SummerSlam. Pre-show? RVD and Mark Henry were the last two in the ring and RVD pulled the top rope down and a charging Mark Henry fell over the top. RVD will face Ambrose for the US title.
Henry gave RVD dap and then the Shield attacked. Henry got back in the ring and an out of shape Big Show returned to even the sides. So it’s very possible that Mark Henry and the Big Show will face the other members of the Shield for the tag straps.
And the rest…
- Damien Sandow vs. Cody Rhodes is official for SummerSlam. Sadly for Sandow and the match, Randy Orton pinned him in a match.
- The Great Khali and Natalya beat Big E and AJ Lee in a stinker. Neither man tagged in and Natalya and AJ botched the finish once and almost twice. Natalya tapped her out to the Sharpshooter.
- Kane beat Titus O’Neil quickly and the Wyatt’s came into the ring, but by the time the lights turned back on, Kane was out of the ring.
- Alberto Del Rio beat Kofi Kingston and then a Christian video package played. I guess Christian has a new gimmick that he just needs one more match. Has there been a title match with less build than this one?
- The Usos beat Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro.
- Fandango vs. R-Truth didn’t really have a start or a finish.
The main segment delivered and the Punk vs. Lesnar segment did as well, though to a much lesser extent. Since those are the only two matches that are being built up, I guess that’s fine. It’s a two-match show.