After what felt like an eternity to me, it’s finally time for SummerSlam 2015, coming at us live from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Things get kicked off with Jon Stewart, looking rather unkempt, and getting some help with his cheap pops by bringing out NYC-area native and WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley. Talk about starting off with a bang! bang!

Best Match of the night: ??This one, often times an easy choice, was not this evening. So, I am going with two runners-up and the actual winner, since they all merit a mention. And, I already have to apologize for leaving out the Wyatts/Ambrose/Reigns and the Divas, who all worked quite well tonight too.

2nd runner up: Owens and Cesaro. There was a reason this went off next to last, and I think it speaks volumes about how WWE feels about both men. This one may deserve to be pushed up a notch more, simply because Owens was in an absolute battle the night before, and his match this evening was a tough one, without having to have fought a ladder match 24 hours prior.

1st runner up: Cena and Rollins. On any other night, on any other card, this one would be the match of the night, hands down. But, not this night. These two worked their tails off, with Rollins really shining. It does, however, lose just a bit for the ending,

The best: Is there any doubt? Undertaker and Brock. This was, in my opinion, the match we were supposed to get 18 months ago in New Orleans. Undertaker looked incredible (so did Brock). It was a completely different Dead Man. I don’t know if the Phenom just worked his tail off, changed his vitamins, or benefited from a Lesnar who was fully re-committed to WWE, but whatever the combination was, it worked. Also, hats off to WWE, who paced this card better than their last four hour affair. My only gripes here (have to have them, sorry), would again be the finish. First the odd confusion with the bell ringing, saving Undertaker from the Chimura Lock. And while Brock and Heyman appeared to celebrate, ‘Taker used his new favorite move, the low blow. And, to finish it off, Taker then puts Brock in Hells Gate, and literally like 2 seconds after flipping off Undertaker for a good long while, Brock is somehow just like that “passed out” and the bell rings, with ‘Taker getting his revenge. Not especially fond of that sequence. Not horrible, but thought this match deserved a better finish.

Worst match of the night:

I wanted more out of the tag match, but it had spots that had a tough Brooklyn crowd chanting “this is awesome”, so it’s hard to really ding this one. Most of the undercard was what it was, and nothing really screamed “stinker” to me. Which is good.

Disappointment of the night: For me, this one is the ending of an excellent title for title match. For two reasons. One, it was just a damn good match, it did not need the outside interference. Second? It was, in my opinion, terribly executed. Once I saw Stewart coming down, just the way he was moving and acting, it never for a moment felt like he might have actually swung that chair in Rollins’ direction. Stewart is a Hollywood actor. He should have been able to sell that better, no? Never thought I’d miss J and J.

Crowd Chants of the Night?:

Foley
You look stupid
Roman cheated
New Day sucks/rocks
John Cena sucks (more sung than cheer)
lets go Rollins
lets go Cena/Cena sucks
we want Sasha
this is awesome
lets go Owens/Cesaro
Suplex City/Undertaker
you still got it

Star of the Night

Take your pick, there were several strong candidates. Becky Lynch, getting a big win? Brock or Undertaker? Could be. Stephen Amell? Nah. How about giving this one to Rollins-love him or hate him, his efforts this evening really shined.

Spot of the Night:

This is going to be a long list, because there were a number of sweet spots.

Ambrose running from Spanish to French to American to Wyatt
or Ambrose and Reigns doing the doomsday device. love it
Rollins three leaps to the outside on Cena
Rollins top rope stomp on Cena, who was hung up tree of woe style
Rollins superplex/driver sequence
Divas diving to the outside
Cesaro running around the ring and landing a European uppercut
F5. Through the announce table.

Jobber of the Night:

Not the best example this evening, but Cody and Wade, for taking the loss against Neville and Amell.

Upset of the Night:

Maybe not a tremendous upset, but I didn’t see New Day winning the titles back, nor did I expect Sheamus to win, clean, over Orton.

?Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Foley is back. Or, was back.

But that was nothing. Nope. Moment of the night, perhaps the year, was Jon Stewart-yes, the same Jon Stewart whom Seth Rollins had bullied earlier this year-coming down to the ring during the Rollins/Cena match, with the referee down and out, using a chair to….take out Cena. Based on the history, you’d have expected it was going the other way.

Commentary of the night:

Ambrose went country to country
What the hell did we just see
Naomi got hit so hard her shoes started lighting up
that dropkick would have hit Andre the Giant in the face

LOL Moment of the night:

Honestly, there weren’t many LOL worthy moments. I would point out Brock, laughing mid-match, and then getting mocked by Undertaker in a frightening way. And Sheamus addressing the crowd, about him looking stupid.

Noteworthy Moment:

I don’t ever remember there being a French announce table, so that’s something.

Rollins debuted a new look, with the white-with-gold-trim outfit. Not bad, but I like the black (it fits the heel persona, but considering he was getting the face reaction this evening..who knows).

Who had the roughter or busier weekend, Sasha Banks or Kevin Owens? Both talents served double duty, with both losing on NXT Takeover (though only Sasha dropped a title). Owens, however, was more involved in both of his matches, and did deal with a ladder match last night (though Banks was one half of a MOTY contender, too). Tough call, but impressive.

Overall lowlights:

The two bad finishes. I know it’s probably just me, but ever since I watched my first SummerSlam, when Lex beat Yoko, but Yoko kept the belt, I’ve always linked the bad endings to SummerSlam. And as an adult, especially for the “big four” PPV, I despise the big matches getting the screwy endings. And yet, tonight we got not one, but two.

Overall highlights:

Most of Rollins-Cena.

Most of Undertaker-Lesnar.

Wyatt and Harper and Reigns and Ambrose.

The Divas Revolution rolls on.

The pacing. I was ticked at the pacing issues that plagued WrestleMania, so I was curious to see what WWE was going to do with another four hour show. This time, it worked out a bit better, and from the time of the Wyatt match on, it was one awesome match after another.

After the final bell:

In a new bit for this evening, my final thoughts. On one hand, I was going to complain about Rollins being the second opponent in a row to copy/rip off Cena, but that was overshadowed by the head-scratching finish. Those two were doing such a great job, I really feel that the finish spoiled the match. Stewart, someone with not much involvement with WWE, should not have played such a big role in such a major finish. How WWE moves on will go a long way to figuring it out, but it was a bummer how they did it (not that Rollins won, but how). Ditto ‘Taker and Brock, though with those two, it was a bit more plausible, but no less bizarre. The fact that we got both of them in the span of about an hour? Odd.

I will admit, after all the speculation about other big star involvement, most notably Sting, but name drops for The Rock and others, it was surprising that all we really got was Foley. Fully expected WWE to plant seeds for WM32, but nothing major was done-unless it’s being saved for RAW tomorrow night.

All in all, a very strong PPV. From the time we got the Wyatt/Reigns tag match, it was pedal to the metal, hard to keep up with all the action. It’s hard for me, off the top of my head, to recall a WWE PPV recently to have such a string of very strong matches. Usually we get one or two breaks in between, but not tonight. Quite pleased with the card.

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