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This year’s Summer Slam was a decent and
often spectacular show. For some reason the WWE waited
until the last minute to get the card together even with all the promotion
surrounding one of their biggest PPV’s of the year. I don’t know what is
worse-the lack of pressure to get a card together of the fact that a few
wrestlers are left off of a big money show. The card doesn’t have Evan Bourne,
US Champ Kofi Kingston, John Morrison, the Hart Dynasty, Mark Henry, any of the
new ECW wrestlers, Chris Masters, a single woman’s match, Shelton Benjamin or
even The Miz on it. The celebrity contingent consisted of Luke Perry, Freddie
Prinze Jr., Slash, Robert (The Marine) Patrick and of all people Tito Ortiz (who
the camera didn’t linger on but was with Prinze). There were two dark matches
before the show and one was a 15-woman battle royal that will be on the Summer
Slam DVD. There are pictures and a rundown of that match on WWE.com.
The show started with DX interrupting the taped open by doing shadow puppets and
adding dialogue before the footage ‘broke’ and they stood there blaming each
other.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The "Bo's Prediction" part of the review below was
posted on Saturday afternoon (082309). |
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INTERCONTINENTAL MATCH:
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Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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So let’s see how this works. Mysterio has been on vacation more
or less after the last PPV so we have a match that has had little or no set up
involving one of the most popular men on the roster and a guy who has gotten
past having being stuck with a lame name and gimmick. We can get the motivation
by having Jim Ross say that Ziggler used his rematch clause but wouldn’t it have
been better if they had a few encounters before the PPV? This should be a good
match but I do not expect Ziggler to win here because he was supposed to have
won at the last PPV but Rey was promised a long run with the IC belt so they
changed their minds the day of the show. If Ziggler does win maybe his finisher
will finally get a name. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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Following the WCW tradition the show started
with a match that was guaranteed to get the crowd into it. Mysterio came out
first and Ziggler followed but Maria wasn’t with him. There were some mega cool
moves in this match including Rey hitting Ziggler with a hurancanrana while
Ziggler was on the outside of the ring. That was preceded with Rey jumping up
and landing on the top rope after being thrown by Ziggler. The two spent the
match trading moves and Dolph did land his finisher but Ross still hasn’t come
up with a name for it. The finale had both men on the top rope with Ziggler
trying to set up a back breaker only to get hit with another hurancanrana while
both were perched on the top rope. Rey then hit him with the 619 and kept his
belt. Ziggler has come a long way from being a member of the Spirit Squad. He
has moved well past his dumb name and looks like a star on the rise.
This was followed by a backstage segment between MVP and Jack Swagger which
pointed out the differences between the two. MVP cut a very good promo here. |
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GRUDGE MATCH:
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MVP vs. Jack Swagger |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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I will go out on a limb here and say that this could be the
second best match on the card. The crowd loves MVP and hates Swagger. Both seem
to know what to do in the ring and so we may see a mix of technical moves from
MVP and power ones from Swagger. The winner of this match could be determined by
the flip of a coin backstage because these two should be locked up in a program
that goes as far as it can be taken. There are a lot of reports out there that
Vince has been complaining about not being able to make new stars and here he
has two of them. All he needs to do is let them go at it and we may actually
have a reason to watch Raw other than seeing who the guest host is. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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I predicted that this could be the second
best match on the card and from a wrestling standpoint I think it was tied with
the opener. The two went back and forth and allowed each other to look good. MVP
won the match then took his time walking back up the ramp looking at the
disgusted Swagger and smiling. This feud has just gotten started and I would
expect it to continue to the 9/13 Breaking Point PPV and maybe beyond. As of
this moment the match up between these two is the best program on Raw.
This was followed by Access: Hollywood’s Kelly O’Dell interviewing Prinze after
a video package showing highlights from the celebrity quest hosts on Raw. Prinze
pushed the fact that he still had a problem with Orton. |
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UNIFIED TAG TEAM
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
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Big Show &Chris Jericho vs. Cryme Tyme |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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This may open the card and could get the crowd into it simply
because Jericho is one of the best promo men in the business and can get a crowd
against him with just a few complicated words. It’s about time Cryme Tyme got
some camera time because they seem to be a decent if not on the cusp of being a
great tag team. Show will do a lot of power moves here against JTG and we will
see him and Shad go at it for a bit as well. The pairing of Jericho and Show
works so I don’t expect them to lose the belts but we will not see the end of
this program for a while. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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The champs came out first with their blended
themes and as predicted Jericho insulted the crowd before telling the fans to
shut up so that Show could make an announcement. As Show was about to speak
Cryme Tyme came out so we never heard what the announcement was. This was
actually a very good match that made the challengers look like they had a shot
at winning the belts. Show set up the win by punching JTG in the head while he
was at the edge of the ropes. Jericho then pinned the smaller member of the team
and at that point Direct TV went out and we ended up watching a blank screen.
The signal came back right at the end of a CM Punk promo. |
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BEER MATCH:
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The Great Khali vs. Kane |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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To say that this is a beer match is an insult to beer. The WWE
tends to book Kane in these feuds that have him have issues with people just
because the sun came up that day. So here Kane moved to Smackdown and suddenly
had a problem with Khali. During this feud we have learned that Runjin Singh is
actually Khali’s brother so it hasn’t been a total loss but if this match goes
more than 5 minutes then the cops should show up and arrest the booking staff.
Kane will win here and this ‘feud’ should end before someone gets hurt. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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Jim Ross threw out the bowling shoe ugly
comment early so he knew this wasn’t going to be a Lance Storm/Bret Hart
technical match. The turning point in the match was Kane dragging Singh into the
ring. As Khali got his brother out of harm’s way Kane drop kicked him in the
knee then hit him with a DDT that Khali took poorly. I hope this feud is over
but I bet it isn’t just yet. |
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TAG TEAM GRUDGE MATCH:
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D-Generation X vs. Legacy |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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The booking staff has planted the seed that Legacy can beat DX
but I don’t think they will pull that trigger here. If I was booking this match
I would have Legacy go over hard and see how it went over with the fans. If they
hate it then you have created a program that the fans want to see because it
makes DiBiase and Rhodes smirking creeps who need to have their ass kicked. If
they love it then you are screwed because then the fans have made HHH and HBK
the heels and Legacy the faces. In a way this doesn’t matter because this feud
has just started and these four should be spending the next two or three months
together. With that said DX may go over and win the match but get attacked and
beaten down afterwards. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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This match started with one of the most
elaborate entrances of all time. We got the old school DX entrance with the
spotlights moving around the crowd and then the steroids kicked in. In keeping
with the theme on the new DX shirts soldiers came out and started firing into
the air before HHH and HBK came out riding on the outside of a tank. Along with
that you had a crowd full of fans with light sticks making X’s. Now after an
open like that the match didn’t have to be spectacular since on the way home
that’s what the fans will talk about but we got a damn good match in the
process. Legacy was presented on the same level of DX and did a lot of Horseman
like moves. There were moments during this match that showed that Shawn Michaels
is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time in athleticism and showmanship.
Before he gets into the match he looks like he is thinking about it then
suddenly you see the switch go off. Rhodes slaps him right at the start but
instead of returning the slap HBK does a few moves and then slaps him back. He
won the match by hitting DiBiase with a superkick out of nowhere so the old gang
is better than the new gang as of this moment. |
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ECW CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
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Christian(C) vs. William Regal |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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From the last episode of ECW it seems that Regal is building a
stable of himself, Vladimir Koslov and Ezekial Jackson. I would assume that the
idea behind that is to teach the two raw talents how to develop their skills.
This match will have a lot of great moves in it but I don’t think that Christian
is going to lose the match here since it’s a bit early and if there was any
match that suggested outside interference it’s this one. They could have
Christian pull out a win then have the two powerhouses attack him and bring some
of the newer ECW talents (Sheamus would fit that bill) into the mix out to save
him. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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I don’t know how you could even call this a
match. Christian came out first then Regal came out with his stable of himself,
Vladimir Koslov and Ezekial Jackson. After the bell rang Christian nailed Regal
with the kill switch as Regal was taking his robe off and suddenly the match was
over. The three then did the beat down on Christian. As the three were
celebrating Matt Stryker called them the Royal Court so I guess that is the name
of Regal’s group.
This was followed by highlights of the WWE charity event that O’Dell was
promoting and the FanAxxess event that took place at the Staples Center the day
before. |
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WWE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
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Randy Orton(c) vs. John Cena |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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I don’t know about you but I am tired of the Orton/Cena/HHH
rotation on Raw. I do like Orton as a heel champ and I like HHH and Cena (Cena
more than HHH) but its time to put someone new in this mix. You had a great
chance when Mark Henry moved to Raw and beat Orton down on his first night but
that wasn’t followed up. Henry did have the best time in the Beat the Clock
tournament but then Cena won and got this match. So you have a main event that
we have seen a number of times already. That means that we aren’t going to see
anything different here. Orton may retain but Cena could win as well. Either way
this main event will come off as a rerun and that’s sad. |
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BO'S REVIEW:
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My feelings about this match were made clear
in my predictions but somehow the match ended up working for me. Cena came out
to his usual mostly cheers reaction and gave his hat to Patrick who gave the hat
to his son. The two went at it at a nice pace then Orton bumped referee Scott
(just because the WWE has stopped naming the refs means I have to) Armstrong and
got disqualified. Lillian Garcia was then supposed to say that Vince has
declared that Orton can’t keep the belt that way but she instead declared Orton
the winner then corrected things and announced that the match had to continue.
Orton then sulked back to the ring and after a bit left the ring and demanded
they handed him his belt. Lillian then announced that Orton would lose the belt
if he was counted out. When the action restarted then Orton won by having his
feet on the ropes but a second ref came out and waved that off. So at this point
we are assuming that Orton is going to lose but then a ‘fan’ comes out and
interrupts the match. (Note to the WWE: if you are going to use this angle then
you don’t show the fan after security removes him from ringside) Right after
that Orton nails Cena with the RKO and remains the champ at least until
tonight’s Raw. The constant twists and turns in this match made the fact that we
had seen these two at it many times before irrelevant. |
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TLC-WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
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Jeff Hardy(c) vs. CM Punk |
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BO'S PREDICTION:
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We still do not know what Jeff Hardy is going to do but the smart
money has him leaving for a while this week. He has done all the right things
here by putting Punk over whenever possible and what better way to place him on
the top of the food chain than have him beat Jeff in a match he is known for? I
expect a lot of crazy moves here because Jeff is going to head home and chill
for a while before returning in a few months. Punk will then regain his spot as
the cocky champion who will suddenly notice a tall man from Death Valley in his
rear view mirror.
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BO'S REVIEW:
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The outside of the ring was surrounded by
constructs that had a table with two chairs on it under ladders. This crazy
quilt of a match had: Punk introducing the chair…him jumping thru the ring ropes
onto Jeff…Jeff nailing a flying Punk in the elbow with a chair…Jeff hitting a
poetry in motion on Punk while they were outside the ring…Jeff getting a super
plex onto a ladder…Jeff getting kneed while attempting a swanton…Jeff jumping
thru a table and Jeff suicide diving off of what I called the ladder from Hell
onto a prone Punk on the ECW announce table. The medics were called out and
while they were trying to tend to Jeff Punk went back into the ring to climb the
ladder but Jeff pushed his way back into the ring. As the two fought on the
ladder Punk kicked Hardy off and won his belt back. He stood over Hardy in
triumph then the lights went out and when they came back on the Undertaker was
where Jeff was. Taker grabbed the new champion and choke slammed him before
slowly walking to the back and glaring back at the ring. The next to last
appearance of Jeff Hardy in the WWE for a little while was awesome. He is taking
his leave of the company for a while and will be at the Tuesday Smackdown
tapings to say goodbye to the fans. By the way, I should say that while I was
watching this PPV in an unusual twist one of the people there was CM Punk’s
cousin. It made for an interesting evening. |
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As I said in the open this wasn’t a bad show. There were very few
backstage segments and the Kane/Khali match was kept short enough to allow a
food run to the kitchen. It would have been nice if the card was set a few weeks
ago but the show didn’t suffer that much because of it. It would have also been
nice if the ECW match was an actual match since it makes no sense to bring out
Stryker and Josh Matthews for one match then have Stryker sit there alone while
Matthews did the back stage stuff. Next up-the mostly submissions only PPV
Breaking Point on 9/13 and from that Hell in a Cell on 10/4. Both will have
predictions posted up the week of the show.
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Photo ©
2009 WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment
Article © 2009 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
