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WWE SummerSlam PPV Reax #1: "Was it just me or was Cena's application of the STFU really sloppy and unbelievable?" Aug 17, 2008 - 11:16:14 PM
Eddie T. of Los Angeles, Calif. (7.0): Best Match: Undertaker vs. Edge. Worst Match: Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy. I'm convinced Edge has been watching "The Dark Knight" a lot lately because his recent work is as close as a psychotic deep performance we're going to get to Heath Ledger's Joker. The Hell In A Cell was amazing, and although the action was slow and it was more of a spotfest, the execution was excellent. The spear on the announcers' table, the Edge crash through the two table, and the breaking of the cell were three amazing spots. Undertaker using Edge's moves was very well thought-out and made sense, since Edge had been the one taking a page out of Undertaker's book by being psychotic as of late. This will be a Match of the Year candidate. I didn't expect Cena and Batista to have that great a match. What I didn't expect is how well they seemed to click together in the ring. They did a very good job executing the sequences of moves which were well thought out to begin with. Whoever booked the match deserves credit. It portrayed both guys as larger-than-life characters, which was the point. Batista's expression after the match helped put Cena over, even though he lost clean. It's a shame they rushed this match, it would have been a great WrestleMania moment. The Shawn Michaels-Chris Jericho confrontation was simply amazing. Having in mind who's involved, I'm not surprised, but these guys just keep getting better and better. I thought Michaels' wife did a great job as well. Very smart of them not to book this match here, but keep it for Unforgiven. Everything else was just about where I expected it to be. Hardy and MVP could have had a better match, and I thought Triple H and Khali will be worse, but it was smartly booked for what it was. I have to say that Punk and JBL was better than my expectations, and JBL looked his best since he's come back. Matt and Henry was just ridiculous. They deserve a rating below 1.0 this Tuesday just for that. Very stupid.
Scot McClain of Garland, Tex. - Math Professor (7.5): Best Match: Hell in a Cell. Worst Match: Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry. How can they keep any strap on Mark Henry. His matches are awful at best and tonight was at worst. Punk got the win he needed, Jericho and Michael added fire to their program and Batista and Cena put on a good match. The return of the Undertaker saw a really nice match with a spectacular spot to end the show.
Chris Barclay of East Kilbride, Scotland (7.0): Best: Michaels-Jericho confrontation. Worst: Henry vs. Hardy. The continuation of the Michaels-Jericho feud had me tingling all over. Seriously, after that segment ended I hoped one of the scheduled matches would come close to the myriad of emotions I felt as the angle unfolded. Shame about the Henry-Hardy match. If you advertise a match at least have one, there was no reason not to have a solid 10-15 minute match with the same finish, we wouldn't have felt so cheated then. Of course we have to hope WWE is saving the solid match for a future pay-per-view. Is it really necessary to have Punk look so weak? A ten minute beat down and then the GTS from nowhere? Don't get me wrong, I like the fact they are building up the GTS as a move that can be hit with devasting effect from anywhere, but please let the champ get some solid offense in otherwise. Glamarella was fun, made more so from Santino sitting on Beth's shoulders to celebrate the win, I hope the writers have some long term plans for this pairing. Triple H tried his best to carry Great Khali to a good match, but I can't be the only person who finds it difficult to buy into Triple H as the "babyface in peril"? Writing before the match I was praying for a Batista heel turn, but what a dominant finish by the animal. I am sure John Cena will get a revenge pin in the near future. Would a Survivor Series style match with Cena and Batista as captains be fun? I think so. Also, can I point out that if I truly respected my mentor (Ric Flair), then I wouldn't be using his finisher as a throwaway move within the first five minutes of the match. Was it just me or was Cena's application of the STFU really sloppy and unbelievable? Of course Batista's submission move straight afterwards (I wasn't 100 percent sure what it was) was no better. Lots of false finishes made the match at the end, so good effort. Super entrance by Edge to continue his portrayal of the "snapped" Edge character; little things like that add to the overall package and make things believable. Even though I turned 30 last week, I still mark out for the Dead Man's entrance, in my opinion the best entrance in the history of WWE. The match was entertaining, I specifically liked the crowd booing when Edge and Undertaker got back in the Cell after bursting through the Cell. Was the crowd expecting another Mick Foley-esque Cell-top battle? Overal,l a great match, but was it really necessary for the Undertaker to hit Edge with every spot he has received over the past 12 months? The Undertaker seems unbeatable. The post-match chokeslam through the mat and fire show (has the Undertaker been spending time with Kane during his hiatus?) spoliled the match for me. Edge could have lost that match and still looked strong. Overall a good show until the last 5 minutes. I think it still deserves a 7.0 but gave serious consideration to reducing the score to a 6.0.
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