By Tony Donofrio, Torch specialist

-- 8/23 WWE Summerslam PPV HITS & MISSES

PPV HITS

Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler (Intercontinental Title): This was a great match to start the show. High energy matches always are. Was I a bit surprised that Ziggler didn't win the title? Yes. However, I think this feud will continue and I still think that Ziggler will end up with the title in the end. If there is one thing that Smackdown knows how to do, it's keep feuds interesting and going for more than a few weeks, unlike Raw.

Big Show and Chris Jericho vs. Cryme Tyme (Unified Tag Titles): Here was a match that had a nice, solid flow to it with a finish that could keep this feud going for another month also. The only issue that can be made is that Jericho and Show coming out to new entrance music before the match did foreshadow that they will be a team for at least a little while longer. If/when these two end up losing those titles, you get the feeling that they will either go their separate ways or start a feud of their own. But, for now, the two continue to be an entertaining team as Jericho/Show try to elevate the Tag Titles the way that Jericho helped elevate the IC Title most of the late spring and early summer.

DX vs. Legacy: This match was definitely a sleeper! I wouldn't say that it stole the show, but it exceeded my best expectations for it. I still wish that Legacy would have come out on top at the end, but they sure look a lot better coming out of this match than they did going in. If Shawn Michaels had any ring rust, he shook it off pretty quick. This is the first time that Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes have looked this strong since the formation of Legacy. Here's hoping that since they have been given a shot of adrenaline, they won't be buried by DX on Raw. It would have been great to see Legacy get a win out of this match, but I suppose this is a good "re-start" for them.

Randy Orton vs. John Cena (WWE Title): When I think about this match, it would be easy to say that it was overbooked badly at the end. It probably was. However, I'd have to say that this match was 90 percent hit, 10 percent miss, thus making it a "hit." The crowd was as into this match as they were any match all night. Did it seem as though most of the crowd was cheering for Orton and booing Cena? At times, yes. But so what! They were still very hot for this match. Did the end of this match seem like Vince Russo booked it? Yes. Lillian Garcia has been mailing in some of her performances lately and tonight was no exception. Her screw-up during the first re-start was noticeable and may have taken some steam away from the match. Having three re-starts, though, is a tough act to pull off and they did lose the crowd a bit at the end. While Summerslam was still on the air, it was very hard to tell if the "fan interference" was a work or not. It appears now to be a work as WWE has acknowledged it on their website (they wouldn't if it wasn't supposed to happen). Here's hoping that Legacy gets stronger from their tag match with DX and adds one more member for stability. Here's hoping that the attacker will be introduced as Joe Hennig (Curt's son) or Brett DiBiase (Ted's younger brother).

Jeff Hardy vs. C.M. Punk (World Heavyweight Title): I'm sure that anyone that would be writing a review for Summerslam had this match as a "hit" before it started. Of course it was going to be a hit and it delivered on all angles. It will probably be a "Match of the Year" candidate; it was that good. If Jeff is going to be gone for quite some time, this was the perfect type of performance that he should be remembered by until he decides to return. I've never seen a wrestler that is so "white-hot" with the fans take a break in the midst of the peak of his career. But, that's another story for another time I guess. This was almost a spot fest from start to finish but it wasn't done in a way that made it seem like the two got together and said "let's just do a bunch of spots." WWE made a good choice by putting these two on last, despite that fact that Punk was going home with the title. Nothing could have followed that match and not bored the fans. However, just like that, one feud ends and another begins because we then witnessed...

The Return of The Undertaker: Placing Undertaker right underneath Punk was brilliantly done and it is my understanding that the live crowd didn't even notice he was there when the lights came back on. I noticed on TV but it seemed like not many people around me did. That was very well done! I don't think that Punk needs to be elevated much more at this point as he has established himself but this could be a solid MMA type feud considering the way that Punk wrestles and how big of a fan that The Undertaker is of MMA. I thought the logical choice was for Punk to feud next with Matt Hardy or John Morrison but it seems as though WWE doesn't feel those two are quite ready yet. It should be interesting to see Punk feud with Taker though. This will show if Punk can run with the ball and have a completely different type of feud than he did with Jeff.

PPV MISSES

MVP vs. Jack Swagger: The night started off hot enough with these two when they were both given a decent amount of mic time backstage before their match. It was much needed since Raw doesn't give the mid-card enough time on its actual show to showcase itself. That match itself wasn't horrible but it was only given six minutes. These two are tied 1-1 in the feud since Swagger has come to Raw. I'm guessing there will be a rubber match sometime soon. It probably won't be given much hype since Raw doesn't seem to want to have any credible mid-card feuds.

Kane vs. The Great Khali: This was another six minutes well wasted. The story behind the match wasn't all that bad. Khali is mad at Kane for the temporary abduction of his brother and Kane wants to establish himself as Smackdown's lone monster. Makes enough sense. However, putting these two in the ring together is just awful. Most of the blame falls on Khali though. He's proven that he isn't easy to watch in the ring. Kane isn't exactly Lou Thesz, but he can work. But, you know that Khali needs to be put out to pasture when he doesn't execute a two-count kick-out and Kane rolls himself off Khali to save the match from prematurely ending! Here's hoping that this feud has run it's quick yet painful course and Kane can move onto something better (the usual Khali tag line for who ever he is put in a feud against). Since's Kane's return a few months back, he seems to be re-born. He has looked rejuvenated and better than he has in years. Stick him with someone else that can work with him.

Christian vs. William Regal (ECW Title): It pains me to say this, but this was a very low point for Summerslam. It started off with a glimmer of hope considering that WWE seemed to want to elevate this title/match by putting it in the mix with the two major titles. That lasted all of eight seconds...literally! First of all, how does a match start before Regal gets his robe off? Secondly, how many matches in the past few years have gone less than 10 seconds on PPV that have been for the ECW Title? WWE could have saved a lot of money in airfare by not even flying out Christian, Regal, Vladimir Kozlov, Ezekiel Jackson, and Matt Striker for their 30 second contribution to the show. That saddest part of all of this is that I think Christian and Regal could have a pretty damn good match. I know we will probably see it next month at "Breaking Point" (great name, by the way ), but it's still sad, nonetheless.

Too much Hollywood garbage: Okay, Summerslam was in Los Angeles. There's a lot of celebrities out there, we get it, but we don't need it. Between time wasted on this and the six+ minutes wasted on Khali and Kane (between their match and entrances), we could have had a credible little ECW Title match. I know what some will say, "It was booked that way, the ECW match wasn't supposed to go long." So what? Do us all a favor, save the Axxess Hollywood and celebrities for Raw (where Vince seems to care about them) and give people their money's worth on the PPV (especially one of the "Big Four").

DirecTV issues: Because of the satellite giant's issues, I missed what I heard was a great C.M. Punk promo backstage. I wouldn't have been so upset had the feed cut out about three minutes later for the Khali-Kane match up. I know this may or may not have been WWE's fault, but still, it was an issue for me. The Torch has given me a platform to piss and moan occasionally, so that's what I'm doing here! With all the filler that was thrown into Summerslam with the aforementioned Hollywood garbage, I missed another great Punk promo. Sometimes, life isn't fair :-).

OVERALL SHOW

The good definitely outweighed the bad at Summerslam in terms of both quantity and the weight of the positives versus the negatives. Interestingly enough, Raw's end of the show wasn't as bad as it has been in recent months. However, I think the guest host hurts the continuity of the storylines from week to week. When Lillian Garcia made the announcement that Vince McMahon was ordering the re-starts to the WWE Title match, I honestly thought, "what gives him the right? He doesn't even run Raw from week to week anymore!" I know the guest host is giving WWE mainstream publicity but the real wrestling fans want to see new stars built inside the ring, not ones from Hollywood or ex-wrestlers trotted out there every week to run Raw.

Other than Khali and Kane, Smackdown fully delivered on their part of the show. ECW was booked to fail and piss people (like myself) off. It will be interested to see where the angles go from here though. It seems as though most of the angles will continue with the hopeful exception of Kane-Khali and the inevitable ending of Hardy-Punk. Overall, I'd give Summerslam a B+. It was a good show but I still think that it wasn't promoted well enough and I still believe that the buyrates won't be what Vince McMahon had hoped for.

Tony Donofrio is a new Hits & Misses Specialist covering WWE PPVs. Contact Tony at PWTorchTD@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter

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