WWE Summerslam 2011 Review

From September 21, 2011.

Match 1: Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, & Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz, R-Truth, & Alberto Del Rio
Since these guys don't have a match booked for tonight, they're put in a tag match together to kick open the night. Felt like a good Raw match with everyone getting a good amount of offense in and looking good in front of a large crowd here. Just the basic six man tag team match quickly put together to get things going with Mysterio hitting the 619 to get the win. Nothing special here but still a nice quickly put together opening bout.
Winners: Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, & Kofi Kingston
Rating: **1/2

Match 2: Sheamus vs. Mark Henry
Mark Henry's huge roll continues here against Sheamus who is standing up to him after Henry continued his weeks and weeks of his bullying ways on SmackDown. Sheamus gets the good part of Henry throughout the match and is able to go toe for toe up against the huge beast. However, Henry is able to show off his strength and gets the better part of the match as well including easily tossing Sheamus into the ring after yelling after Michael Cole. Once they take it outside again, Henry slams Sheamus into the ring post and through the barricade to get the ten count and the win! Good big man match and Henry continues to shine. Sheamus looked good here as well as his loss didn't damage his character's reputation.
Winner: Mark Henry
Rating: **

Match 3: Divas Championship - Kelly Kelly (c) vs. Beth Phoenix
After being disrespected by Beth Phoenix, Kelly decides to put her title on the line. Not much to say here that hasn't already been said about these Divas matches but it seems as if Kelly is stepping up her game as of late so you got to give credit where credit is due. She even managed to fire up the crowd with her loud and primal scream but eventually, Phoenix picks up Kelly and goes for the Gland Slam! Kelly reverses it into a roll up pin and gets the surprising win in a surprisingly pretty good match.
Winner: Kelly Kelly
Rating: *1/4

Match 4: Wade Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan
For weeks, Barret has tried his best to get the best of Mr. Money in the Bank, Daniel Bryan. One year ago, these two took part in the main event as opponents and here they are now, wrestling each other in a singles contest as rising stars. Really good stiff action going back and forth between the two that even Michael cole had no choice but to praise Bryan. Bryan put some great emphasis on his ground work with his fantastic array of submissions and Barrett looked good as well by not giving up and going toe to toe against him with his hard hitting moves. Barrett later drops Bryan off the top rope and hit's the Wasteland move to end the match in a great back and forth match with no clear cut winner from the start. Bryan got the loss but managed to look good in the process.
Winner: Wade Barrett
Rating: ***1/4

Match 5: No Disqualification - World Heavyweight Championship - Christian (c) vs. Randy Orton
For months and months now, these two have been going at it in a personal rivalry for the World Heavyweight Championship which leads to this No Disqualification match. Before the match, Christian calls out Edge to come down to the ring as Christian's big surprise. However, things backfire and Edge calls Christian a whiney bitch before storming out of the ring. Match starts and we're off, they quickly bring in the kendo stick into the ring and Christian tries his best to take out Orton with it, including jamming it against his neck. The relentless Randy Orton refuses to give up as Christian seemingly as his number but the pace changes as Orton landed an RKO through the announcers table! Chaos is about to ensue after this when they take it back to the ring where Christian hit's a Killswitch which wasn't enough to get the win! Christian then brings out two chairs and looks to hit Orton with the Con-Chair-To! He spits on Orton's motionless body and misses the chair swing! Pissed off, Orton grabs a chair and destroys Christian with it and even uses it to toss Christian out of the ring and onto a table set outside! The tide has quickly changed back to Orton's favor. Back in the ring where Orton destroys Christian with kendo stick shots and then power slams Christian through another table set up on the turnbuckles just when Christian was seemingly getting to turn the match towards his liking. Orton looks to finish things off with an RKO on part of the steel steps that they brought into the ring but Christian nails Orton with the kendo stick! Christian leaps off the middle rope but lands right into an RKO onto the steel steps! Orton covers and gets the win! Sick match and a sick finish! Every spot meant something as Orton continues to look like the beastly star that he is! Phenomenal effort from both men!
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ****1/2

Match 6: Undisputed WWE Championship - John Cena vs. CM Punk
In the main event, the WWE Champion looks to take on the other WWE Champion. It's John Cena taking on CM Punk in a rematch from last month's Money in the Bank PPV. The other big difference here is that Triple H is the special guest referee but has announced to call the match down the middle already. Just like the rapid Chicago crowd, the Los Angeles crowd is all on their feet and are going nuts for this match! Things start off with the usual technical wrestling and the groundwork from both men to build the anticipation for things to come. Crowd is also leaning towards Punk's side as they are vocal for his punches, chops, and kicks against Cena. The two go at it for a good while with fun technical wrestling and tons of reversals in front of the loud crowd before Punk dives to the outside and takes out Cena. Both men are unable to answer Triple H's count who then tosses both men back into the ring rather than going with the ten count. This is where the action really begins to pick up and the anticipation that they built up in the opening minuets of the match will finally pay off. Counter after counter from both men! Punk is able to kick out of Cena's Attitude Adjustment to the shock of everyone! Punk later hits a GTS on Cena but he as well doesn't get the win! The crowd is going absolutely crazy at this moment and Cena lands another Attitude Adjustment but Punk once again kicks out! This is great wrestling, every pin fall is meaningful and the near falls aren't being hit for the sake of having them. Punk then gets Cena in another GTS and gets the three count from Triple H who didn't see Cena's foot on the bottom rope. Regardless, CM Punk is the Undisputed WWE Champion. Beautiful and crisp wrestling from both men. The crowd bought everything they did and so did I. Great slow buildup from the start of the match leading to the epic exchange of finishers in the closing minutes of the match. After, Kevin Nash appears out of nowhere and destroys CM Punk! Triple H returns to the ring and is absolutely shocked.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: ****1/2

Match 7: Undisputed WWE Championship - CM Punk (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio
Mr. Money in the Bank then comes out to pick up the pieces and cash in on his big opportunity! He lands a huge kick to the side of Punk's head and covers for the win! We have a new champion! The appearance of Kevin Nash was a bit odd but this definitely helped things. Alberto Del Rio has quickly become one of WWE's top heels and this WWE Championship win was a must.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: n/a

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
The first half of this show was pretty weak but it did feature good storyline progression so that's definitely a plus. However, the second half totally and completely blows everything out of the water. The two main events were both phenomenal and heart pounding. Orton, Christian, Punk, and Cena are definitely a great collection of wrestlers and they proved that here in two amazing main event bouts.
Rating: 9/10