ARN - SummerSlam 2015 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

SummerSlam 2015

SummerSlam 2015 took place on August 23rd, from the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York.

This was the 28th SummerSlam event and the first one that was held somewhere other than the Staples Center in LA since 2009. It was the 8th SummerSlam that was held in the New York area.

Interesting note, it was the first SummerSlam that was 4 hours long. Usually, we'd only see WrestleManias last for that amount of time.

Is that too long to a wrestling event?

WWE decided to make this a weekend event at the Barclays Center as the previous night, NXT Takeover took place and the night after SummerSlam, Raw took place in the Barclays Center

For the first time in U.S. history, a company sold out an NBA-sized arena three straight nights. The WWE announced 15,589 fans for the NXT show, then announced 15,702 fans for SummerSlam, and 15,597 fans for Raw. 

The first and only SummerSlam that you wrestled on was the 2nd one, in 1989 when you and Tully had just won the tag titles from Demolition not long before the event, you guys beat The Hart Foundation that night at SummerSlam 89. Any memories of that match?

Let's get to some company news heading into SummerSlam

On July 30th, 2015, Rowdy Roddy Piper sadly passed away from a heart attack in his sleep. What was your reaction when you heard about it and do you have any memories of Roddy that you'd like to share?

At the beginning of August, Hulk Hogan had some big trouble when he was caught on video using racial slurs

“She (Brooke Hogan, who would have been either 17 or 18 at the time) is making some real bad decisions now. My daughter Brooke jumped sides on me. I spent two to three million on her music career. I’ve done everything like a jackass for her. The one option Brooke had, Brooke’s career besides me is (to) sell beach records.

He also, said to Heather Clem, when talking about a billionaire black guy helping fund his daughter’s musical career, said:

“I don’t know if Brooke was f***ing the black guy’s son (Brooke had a boyfriend named Stacks at the time who was the son of a famous record producer). I mean, I don’t have double standards. I mean, I am a racist, to a point, f***ing n but then when it comes to nice people and shit, and whatever. I mean, I’d rather if she was going to f*** some n*****, I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n***** worth a hundred million dollars, like a basketball player.”

He also said:

“F***ing N*****...he had Jamie Foxx coming in on the 22nd track. I didn’t even tell Brooke about it. F*** her. Brooke and (the name he mentioned was not released) met in Miami. Brooke f**** up a $10 million deal I had with the Saudis. Brooke says, `F*** you dad.’ She’s never said that. She flipped a bird at me.”

On that tape he also said, “I have this huge F***ing house in Miami (the house purchased for one of the seasons of “Hogan Knows Best”). My family never comes home. They went to L.A. F*** ‘em.”

Meltzer wrote - His homophobic rant was when talking to Heather Clem about how VH-1 producers of the “Hogan Knows Best” reality show that was doing its filming season at the time, wanted to do a segment where they would go back to the house he grew up in.

“VH-1 wanted me to do a big thing and go back to the house I grew up in. So we knock on the door, and a big f– lives there now.”

He also said, “This half-gay was enamored with Linda.”

Shortly after the first of what were a series of regular releases from the National Enquirer and Radar Online of racial or homophobic remarks and slurs, Hogan issued an apology to People magazine.

“This is not who I am. I believe very strongly that every person in the world is important and should not be treated differently based on race, gender, orientation, religious beliefs or otherwise. I am disappointed with myself that I used language that is offensive and inconsistent with my own beliefs.”

Hulk was fired from WWE and removed from the Hall of Fame right after this got out. What's your memories of all of this and what was the reaction from everyone?

Meltzer wrote - In promoting his newly released autobiography (which is very high on the honesty level, compared to most pro wrestler books), Bryan Danielson admitted publicly for the first time that his time off is not related to his neck, but is a concussion issue.

While we had heard that from the start, for whatever reason, WWE had wanted it kept quiet. They originally denied that Danielson was suffering from concussion related symptoms, and were vague about his return. While Danielson has vowed that he will wrestle again, those in the company have no plans in place for a return.

“Well, it’s not a neck issue. My neck is completely fine. It’s more of a concussion issue. And Brie (his wife) was very hesitant about this whole thing, and that’s why WWE is very protective over me, too. Everyone is more aware of concussions and that’s why, with WWE, I see what they’re doing, as far as making me go through all these hurdles. I don’t se that as a negative. They’re protecting me, especially in this era of concussion awareness.” 

Danielson said that he feels great and is just awaiting clearance from WWE doctors to come back. He said that his personal doctor, a Phoenix neurologist, has already cleared him, but WWE’s doctors haven’t.

During this time, ESPN started covering WWE and were going to give SummerSlam a lot of coverage. This was the first time that ESPN and WWE had worked together. 

Lesnar did an ESPN talk show as well as SportsCenter on August 18th. On that show, Lesnar noted that beating Undertaker was a very strange experience for him, because so much of the roster grew up as fans of The Undertaker and said it was a lot of weight on his shoulders to take away the streak, that even the wrestlers bought into the mythic nature of the streak.

“At the end of the day it was a business decision from Vince McMahon. I’ll take the win whenever I can.”

He said he still gets booed for that one. When Dana White calling pro wrestling fake in a tweet (which White later said that he respects pro wrestlers and what they do) was brought up, Lesnar said, “Well, of course it’s fake. Everybody knows that.”

We mentioned that NXT Takeover Brooklyn took place the night before SummerSlam. Here's the results of that show 

Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady & Mojo Rawley & Zack Ryder beat Jason Jordan & Chad Gable & Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder. The first part of the show was the taping for the 8/26 NXT television show. They started the show about 15-20 minutes late. Enzo & Cass are the best act for opening the show with the crowd doing Enzo's interview with him. The crowd was chanting, "We Want Enzo" a minute into the match. The crowd wasn't into Rawley or Ryder. Rawley is dead with this gimmick. It feels all wrong for him. Some fans liked Gable but they didn't care about the other three. Amore pinned Gable with the rocket launcher.

Eva Marie pinned Carmella. Eva Marie was booed out of the building. I was told it was worse than either John Cena or Roman Reigns. This fan base wants its women to be good wrestlers, as opposed to being told to cheer a woman they don't think is a good wrestler. Carmella didn't get anywhere near the reaction she usually gets with Enzo & Cass. Loud "You can't wrestle" chants at Eva Marie. The crowd really seems to want her push to fail. The match wasn't good, as Carmella is also green, and far from usual NXT standards. Eva won with sliced bread.

Bull Dempsey pinned Elias Samson. Dempsey won with a sitting splash. He got a nice pop since he's from Brooklyn. Basic TV squash match.

Emma won a four-way over Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Dana Brooke. This match had a botched finish. Emma used a crossbody into the corner, the old Emmamite sandwich and pinned Lynch. Lynch was supposed to kick out at two but she must have missed a count. She was knocked loopy at the time of the count. Ref Drake Weurtz did as he is instructed, counting as a shoot and counted to three since Lynch hadn't kicked out. 

When he hit the mat for the three, Lynch kicked out. It then all fell apart because everyone knew it wasn't the finish. They continued to do their planned spots until Charlotte speared Emma, and counted her own pinfall. I believe that was supposed to be the finish, but the scripted finish was definitely Charlotte going over. Charlotte then used the figure eight on Emma and Lynch used the disarmer (Fujiwara armbar) on Brooke. It'll be interesting to see how this is edited for TV. Since she got the win the next night, it tells you that they understood and there was no heat for it. Weurtz was worried when he got to the back as well, but was assured that his job is to count the falls as if it was a shoot and he did the right thing. The women were very upset backstage after the match, particularly Lynch.

HHH then came out and asked how many fans were here from the U.K. The place booed. He then talked about the U.K. Tour.

Jushin Liger pinned Tyler Breeze in 8:38. The crowd was super hot. Notable that Liger's upside down surfboard was identified by Rich Brennan as "the Romero special," which is one of its two names, as it was La Tapatia in Mexico, and then Rito Romero came from Mexico and popularized it in Texas and it became the Rito Romero special. Liger laid out Breeze and used his selfie stick to take a selfie. Liger did far less than he'd do in ROH, mostly doing comedy. There were chants of "Breeze is Gorgeous, No He's Not," and "Full Sail Sucks." Liger used a rolling bodyblock off the apron, a shote (palm thrust) and running Liger bomb for the pin. **

They showed Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman in the crowd. They were only there to be shown on camera and then left. They also did a Nia Jax promo. She's Lina Fanene, a cousin of Dwayne Johnson, who they are looking to build as the huge monster like Awesome Kong was in TNA.

The Vaudevillains, Aiden English & Simon Gotch, won the NXT tag titles from The BAM Factor, Blake & Murphy in 10:14. Alexa Bliss said that English & Gotch could never find a woman who would want to help them. Both were wearing blue pants, as a signal. The crowd started chanting "Blue Pants" before Leva Bates even came out. This was a nothing match but the crowd was hot and the title change finish came off well. Bliss went for the distraction. Blue Pants pulled her off the apron and chased her around the ring, and eventually speared Bliss. English used a spinning neckbreaker on Murphy and Gotch pinned him, which is called the whirling dervish. Bliss has a shot at being a real superstar as a manager type. Blake & Murphy are okay, but they'll have a tougher time. **1/4

Apollo Crews pinned Tye Dillinger in 4:41. Crews was very over. The company passed out the "10" signs for Dillinger. They noted it was Crews' birthday (28). Fans chanted, "Uhaa" for his real last name and old ring name. Crews was introduced at 240 pounds, and then Brennan said during the match when he did an athletic move, how he's a 260 pounder. This actually happened another time as well. The announcer should be paying attention to the ring announcer. This was a basic TV squash type match. Crews pressed him overhead, dropped him behind him and hit a standing moonsault. *1/2

William Regal thanked Dusty Rhodes and announced the Dusty Rhodes tag team classic. He said it starts on the 9/2 NXT TV show and will end on the next Takeover special, which will be 10/7 at Full Sail University. Matches already taped for those shows which may be tournament matches, since no distinction was made at the tapings, have had Rhyno & Baron Corbin beating The Ascension (this could change as they also taped an ending where The Ascension won via DQ), Jordan & Gable beating Neville & Solomon Crowe, Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano beating Breeze & Dempsey and a match taped on 8/25 in Providence at the Smackdown tapings that was specifically announced as part of the tournament with Samoa Joe & Finn Balor beating Kalisto & Sin Cara.

Samoa Joe beat Baron Corbin in 10:22. This is the best TV match Corbin has had. Joe was carrying him but everything he did looked good. Joe used a half crab into a crossface but Corbin used a heel hook. They pushed that Corbin has a background in both boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu besides being a monster (they bill him at 6-foot-8, although in the NFL he was 6-foot-6). Corbin went for the pin with a tree slam, but in getting out of it, Joe got behind Corbin and choked him out. Corbin passed out instead of tapping. **3/4

Kana, a Japanese woman's star, was shown at ringside, called Kanna, with Ric Flair & Sgt. Slaughter. While we have not officially heard she had signed, reports from Japan said she signed a few weeks ago and she has told indie promoters that she isn't going to be available for anymore dates. There's no way she's being identified on the show unless they have a deal. Kana's real name is Kanako Urai, 33, and she's been wrestling in Japan since 2004, and started working on Shimmer shows in 2011 in the U.S. 

She's worked for Microsoft as a video game journalist and has also worked as a graphic designer. Kana does a shoot style, relying on kicks and submissions. WWE usually doesn't hire women that old to start out, but NXT needs quality women with Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Lynch being gone.

Bayley pinned Sasha Banks in 18:16 to win the NXT women's title. A super match and presentation. Bayley came out with a polka dotted headband and wrist band to honor Dusty Rhodes. The irony, of course, is that Rhodes himself wrote just days before he died that he's sick of the polka dots and it was only a little over one year of his career. They booed the reference of Banks being from Boston, but cheered her during the match. They cheered both women. Banks worked on the arm. She used a Fujiwara armbar on the floor and then took off Bayley's hand brace.

Banks started working on the hand including putting it behind the ring steps and kicking the steps into it. Bayley was on the floor and Banks did a dive, leap frogging over the referee and doing a running flip dive. That really got the crowd and they were super strong the rest of the way. Banks used the bank statement (crossface), but Bayley broke it stomping on her hand and put Banks in the bank statement. 

Banks got her foot on the ropes. Bayley used a belly-to-Bayley for a near fall. That led to a loud "This is awesome" chant. Bayley went for a belly-to-belly superplex but Banks knocked her off the ropes. Bayley tried a Frankensteiner, got thrown off, and landed on the top of her head. That looked scary. Banks used double knees off the top for a near fall. Bayley won with a reverse Frankensteiner off the top and a belly-to-belly for the pin. 

After the match, Charlotte and Lynch ran out to congratulate her. This title change was played up big. It ended with Charlotte, Lynch, Bayley and Banks all together holding their hands up trying to do a modern version of the curtain call. Then they held up Four Fingers and they were called the Four Horsewomen. ****½

Finn Balor beat Kevin Owens in a ladder match to retain the NXT title in 21:38. Early in the match, the crowd turned away because security was kicking out a fan who tried to throw a streamer. 

You know, after WWE encouraged it by planting people to throw streamers on the Tokyo special where these two were in a headline match. A funny comment was Brennan saying how it's 11 p.m. just after the match started and if this was a regular PPV, it would already be over, but since it's the network we can go until the finish. Ugh was that lame. If it was a regular PPV, it would be three hours, not set up for two. 

Balor came off the guard rail but Owens caught him and threw him over the announcers table. Owens pulled out a ladder. Balor came off the table with a missile dropkick into the ladder sending the ladder into Owens' chest. The ladder then fell on Balor, which wasn't supposed to happen. Balor used his running flip dive over the top and climbed up. Owens threw him into the ladder, slammed him on the ladder and used a senton onto the ladder. Balor hit the double foot stomp and went to climb, but Owens power bombed him off the ladder. 

Owens tried a power bomb on the apron but Balor kicked him in the face, but then missed a double boot stomp to the floor. Owens finally hit the power bomb on the apron and climbed up. Owens climbed but Balor recovered and tipped the ladder over. Both ended up on top of the ladder with another ladder bridging the ladder and the ropes. Owens tried to suplex Balor over the top of the ladder onto the ladder bridge. But Balor knocked him off the ladder and he fell onto the ladder bridge. Balor went to one of the highest rungs of the ladder, did a double foot stomp on Owens, and climbed up to win. Excellent match, but it was hurt trying to follow the prior match. ****1/4

That takes us to SummerSlam

Jon Stewart and Mick Foley opened the show together. Stewart wanted Foley as his backup because he was going to confront Brock Lesnar because he was mad he broke Undertaker's streak. Foley said he wouldn't have come here if he thought he was supposed to be Stewart's backup, because he's afraid of Lesnar. Stewart said he thought Foley was fearless and saw him fall off the cell but Foley said that was 17 years ago.

The next match was Randy Orton vs Sheamus

At Battleground, Randy Orton defeated Sheamus. On the July 20th Raw, Orton, John Cena and Cesaro defeated Sheamus, Kevin Owens and Rusev. On the July 27th Raw, Sheamus attacked Orton during his match against Owens. On the August 3rd Raw, Orton, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus, Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper. 

On the August 10th Raw, Orton defeated World Champion Seth Rollins by DQ after being attacked by Sheamus, therefore not winning the championship. Sheamus then attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on Rollins, but was stopped by Orton. All of that led to this upcoming match 

Sheamus pinned Randy Orton in 12:13. Sheamus yelled at the crowd for chanting "You look stupid." Sheamus got a near fall with a kneedrop off the top rope. This was a slow, deliberate match.

There was nothing wrong with it but it was clearly a couple of notches down from their match last month. JBL compared Sheamus to Danno O'Mahoney, Steve Casey and Fit Finlay as the greatest wrestlers from Ireland, but Lawler said Sheamus is better than any of them. Fans started chanting "How you doing?" for Enzo Amore. It got really loud and the announcers ignored it. Then they chanted "Ole, Ole" for Sami Zayn. 

Orton did an exploder over the top rope. Orton was bleeding hard way from above the left eye. They went to near falls. Sheamus slingshotted himself into the ring for a shoudlerblock, but Orton caught him with an RKO. Sheamus rolled out of the ring. Orton went for the punt, but Sheamus used white noise. After a missed RKO, Sheamus hit two Brogue kicks and pinned him clean in the middle. Considering Orton had just beat Kevin Owens and Cesaro at the same time, had champ Seth Rollins beat in a title match, and then beat Sheamus the next night on Raw, this finish made less than zero sense, except they don't know how to build momentum and only know how to play "your turn" booking. ***

The next match was a 4 way for the tag team titles.

At Battleground, The Prime Time Players defeated The New Day to retain the tag team titles. On the July 20th Raw, Los Matadores defeated the Prime Time Players, after a distraction by the New Day. On the July 27th Raw, The Lucha Dragons defeated Los Matadores. On the July 30th Smackdown, The Lucha Dragons and Los Matadores defeated The New Day and The Acension. 

On the August 3rd Raw, The New Day and The Ascension defeated The Lucha Dragons and Los Matadores in a rematch. On the August 6th Smackdown, The Prime Time Players & Mark Henry defeated The New Day. On the August 10th Raw, The New Day defeated Los Matadores. Which all led to this upcoming title match

The New Day won the WWE tag titles in a four-way over champions Titus O'Neil & Darren Young, Los Matadores and Sin Cara & Kalisto in 11:21. The New Day came out singing together and it got over huge with fans chanting "New Day Rocks." Xavier Woods in particular has a hell of a voice. It was Big E & Kofi Kingston as the team, with Woods as the manager. It was sloppy early but turned into a good match. Young was bleeding from the mouth. Woods kept talking the entire match. O'Neil got a hot tag and threw everyone around like rag doll. Crowd loved the spot. The finish saw the Lucha Dragons go for a double superplex on Fernando, but O'Neil got underneath them and gave them all a power bomb out of the corner. O'Neil used Clash of the Titus on Fernando, but Kingston knocked O'Neil out of the ring and stole the pin. ***1/4

This was the first time the tag team titles changed hands at SummerSlam since 2001, when The Undertaker and Kane won the World Tag Team titles from Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon in a steel cage match. 

Dolph Ziggler double count out Rusev in 11:50. Match was okay. Lana is out of the business suits and into a jean dress and jean top style. A lot of good moves here. Rusev showed great agility with a spin kick, and a Carpentier cannonball. Rusev went for the Accolade while Lana cheered on Ziggler. Summer Rae went after Lana, but Lana slapped her. Rusev was distracted and started yelling at Lana. Fans were chanting for Lana. Summer Rae then attacked Lana from behind when Rusev distracted her. Ziggler superkicked Rusev outside of the ring over the announcers table, but Ziggler was still hurt from the Accolade and neither could beat the ten count into the ring. Crowd booed that loudly. Ziggler was beating on Rusev after the match, but Summer attacked Ziggler. Then Lana attacked Summer and Rusev and Ziggler pulled them apart. **½

The next match was Stardust & King Barrett vs Stephen Amell & Neville

On the May 25th Raw, Stardust confronted special guest Stephen Amell while losing to Neville. On the July 13th Raw, Stardust defeated Neville. On the August 10th Raw, where Amell was again a special guest, Neville defeated King Barrett, but was then attacked by Stardust. Stardust then beat up Amell, who entered the ring and attacked Stardust. Amell and Neville then asked Triple H to make a tag team match at SummerSlam, with Amell and Neville facing Stardust and Barrett. 

Stephen Amell & Neville beat Stardust & King Barrett in 7:34. The crowd didn't care at first for Amell, but for a guy who isn't a wrestler, he did really well. He sold like a green guy but it wasn't embarrassing or anything. Neville got a hot tag and looked great. He did a middle rope Phoenix splash on both Stardust & Barrett. Amell then did a plancha off the top rope to the floor on both. The crowd had to respect him for that. Neville then pinned Barrett with the red arrow. **1/4

Amell made up a custom t-shirt design that hyped up his match here 

Amell sold the shirts for Emily's House, a children's hospice care in Canada. In all, more than 10,000 shirts were sold, raising just under $300,000 for the hospice. Weeks after SummerSlam, Amell and Cody Rhodes (in his Stardust make-up) presented the check to Emily's House in person.

Next match was a 3 way for the IC title; Ryback defending against Big Show and Miz

Ryback won the IC title in an Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber ppv. On the June 1st Raw, Ryback was scheduled to make his first title defense against Miz, but Big Show attacked Miz preventing the match from happening and confronted Ryback. At Money in the Bank, Big Show defeated Ryback by DQ after Miz attacked him; so Ryback retained the title. At the Battleground ppv, Ryback was scheduled to defend the title against Big Show and Miz in a triple threat match, but after Ryback was injured, the match was postponed and rescheduled for SummerSlam. 

Ryback retained the IC title in a three-way over The Miz and Big Show in 5:22. They went at a real fast pace since they were going short, going with near falls very quickly. Ryback hit a spinebuster on Show, ducking a knockout punch. Miz then used the skull crushing finale on Ryback, but he kicked out. Miz tried to pin both guys over and over, and they kept kicking out. That was a good spot. Show then hit Ryback with the knockout punch but Miz saved. 

Miz tried for the pin but Ryback kicked out. Show then knocked out Miz, but Ryback clotheslined Show over the top, which was anything but smooth. Ryback then pinned Miz to retain. **

Stewart was wanting to confront Lesnar. He instead confronted Paul Heyman. Heyman made a remark saying that, "I guess they couldn't get Letterman to do this show."

Next match was Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper

At Money in the Bank, Bray Wyatt attacked Roman Reigns during the Money in the Bank ladder match, preventing him from winning the match. At Battleground, Wyatt defeated Reigns after Harper interfered and attacked Reigns, reuniting The Wyatt family. On the July 20th Raw, Dean Ambrose managed Reigns as he defeated Harper by DQ. On the August 6th Smackdown, Reigns challenged Wyatt to a tag team match at SummerSlam, with Reigns and Ambrose facing Wyatt and Harper, which Wyatt accepted.

Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper in 10:56. All action, really good match. Ambrose opened with a tope on Harper. Everyone was brawling on the floor. Ambrose ran across the announcers tables in three languages to fly off and tackle Wyatt. Ambrose used the elbow off the top rope to the floor on Harper. Harper used a tope on Reigns driving him into the tackle and superkicked Reigns over the table. Reigns then sold it for several minutes. Ambrose was worked over including taking a draping suplex off the apron to the floor.

The fans were chanting "Roman's sleeping" because Ambrose was alone in the ring and Reigns was selling. Reigns got the hot tag and the crowd booed him like crazy. The crowd booed all of his offense. Reigns hit both with Superman punches and tagged Ambrose. They did the old Road Warriors doomsday device on Wyatt, but Harper saved. Reigns hit another Superman punch on Harper. Reigns & Ambrose gave Harper a double-team power bomb. 

Ambrose hit the Dirty Deeds on Wyatt and tagged Reigns, who speared Reigns and pinned him. The crowd cheered Ambrose and booed Reigns throughout the match. ***½

The original idea for Sting was to be the mystery partner of Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns at SummerSlam, against Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper & Erick Rowan as the reformed Wyatt family. When Rowan suffered a torn biceps at the end of June, that had to be changed. The original idea was Braun Stowman (whose name may be changed to Braun Strowman) as the third Wyatt family member, but the decision was apparently made to hold that off until after the show 

The next match was a title for title match, WWE Champion Seth Rollins vs US Champion, John Cena

On the July 20th Raw, US Champion John Cena challenged WWE Champion Seth Rollins to a title match, but Rollins refused. On the July 27th Raw, Cena again challenged Rollins, but The Authority instead forced him to defend the US Title against Rollins. Cena defeated Rollins, but got a broken nose during the match. On the August 3rd Raw, Rollins challenged Cena to a "Winner Takes All" match at SummerSlam, for both the WWE Title and the US Title. On the August 11th Tough Enough, Cena accepted Rollins' challenge. 

Seth Rollins pinned John Cena in 19:24 to win the U.S. title in a WWE title vs. U.S. title match. The fans booed Cena more than anyone on the show. So to this audience, Cena coming back from a broken nose and his 500th wish granted, which was played up big earlier with a video, wasn't going to get them to stop booing him. The crowd was super hot cheering and chanting for Rollins. Rollins did two topes in a row followed by a running flip dive over the top. If he wasn't a face already, that was the complete turn. Rollins did a sling blade and went for the pedigree, but Cena backdropped out of it. Cena then did a totally mistimed springboard stunner. He needs to retire that move. 

Rollins did a double kneedrop off the top and a standing shooting star press for a near fall. With Cena in the tree of woe, Rollins came off the top rope with a double foot stomp. Cena came back with the attitude adjustment for a near fall. Everyone knew, because every decent guy kicks out of the first one, that it wasn't the finish. They traded punches with the "Yay" and "boo" spot with Rollins being the "Yay." Rollins went for a pedigree a second time, but Cena catapulted him into the corner. Cena followed with a forward face plant.

Cena used a leg slice. Cena tried an Attitude Adjustment off the top rope but Rollins countered and power bombed him into the turnbuckles. Rollins followed with a frog splash for a near fall. Cena caught Rollins coming off the top rope, powered him to his shoulders, and went for another Attitude Adjustment, but Rollins landed on his feet and hit an enzuigiri. Cena then did a crossbody off the top, Rollins rolled through, hoisted Cena to his shoulders and hit an Attitude Adjustment on Cena for a near fall. 

Rollins missed a Phoenix splash and Cena used the STF. Rollins escaped and escaped the Attitude Adjustment. Cena escaped a pedigree and put Rollins in the figure four. They pushed that Cena could tie Ric Flair's record using Flair's own move. Rollins reversed it and Cena made the ropes. Rollins used a superplex and a falcon arrow for a near fall, but missed another Phoenix splash. 

There was a ref bump. Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment and had Rollins pinned. He got up because of no ref counting. Rollins used a flying knee to the nose to knock Cena down and both were selling. 

Stewart came in with a chair, paused for a while, hit Cena in the gut, put the chair on the ground and Rollins gave Cena a pedigree on the chair for the pin. Rollins came across like he was the best wrestler in the world with his performance here. Fans were chanting "Thank you Stewart" for causing Cena to lose. ****½

On the June 18th Smackdown, Alicia Fox allied with The Bella Twins by helping Brie win her match against Paige forming "Team Bella". On the July 13th Raw, Charlotte, Becky Lynch and NXT Woman's Champion Sasha Banks made their WWE debuts; Charlotte and Lynch allied with Paige, later naming their team "PCB", while Banks allied with Naomi & Tamina, naming their group "Team B.A.D.".

At Battleground, Charlotte defeated Brie and Banks in a Triple Threat match. On August 10th it was announced that Team Bella, PCB and Team B.A.D were scheduled to compete against each other in a 3 team elimination match at SummerSlam. 

Team PCB (Paige & Charlotte & Becky Lynch) won a three-way over Team Bella (Bella Twins & Alicia Fox) and Team BAD (Naomi & Sasha Banks & Tamina Snuka) in an elimination match in 15:17. It was tough being put in this spot after the Cena-Rollins match. The crowd started a "We Want Sasha" chant, which at least made sense, given she was in this match. We had the big dive spot where Charlotte speared Snuka on the floor. Banks did a flip dive on both. 

The Bellas did a double tope onto everyone. Fox fell backwards onto the pile. Then Paige did a flip plancha onto everyone. Team BAD was eliminated when Brie pinned Snuka after a facebuster in 6:06. The fans booed that a lot because Banks was gone. They lost the crowd, even though the work wasn't bad at all. There was a loud "Yes" chant when Brie Bella used Daniel Bryan style kicks. Charlotte speared Fox and used the figure eight, but Nikki saved. 

Paige tackled Nikki out of the ring. Fox and Charlotte each knocked the other down with front kicks. Brie and Lynch traded elbows like in a Japan match. Brie missed a missile dropkick and Lynch pinned her with a pump handle slam. It made no sense here not to have someone pin Nikki to set up a title shot, but they are just playing "my turn, your turn" booking. ***

The next match was Kevin Owens vs Cesaro

On the June 18th Smackdown, Kevin Owens defeated Cesaro. On the June 29th Raw, Cesaro defeated US Champion John Cena by DQafter being attacked by Owens. On the July 20th Raw, Cesaro teamed up with Cena and Randy Orton to defeat Owens, Rusev & Sheamus. On the July 23rd Smackdown, Owens attacked Cesaro after his match against Seth Rollins. On the July 27th Raw, Cesaro attacked Owens after his match against Orton.

On the July 30th Smackdown, after Owens attacked Cesaro during his rematch against Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Cesaro defeated Owens and Rollins in a tag team match. Which led to this upcoming match 

Kevin Owens pinned Cesaro in 14:16. These two had a technically great match, but by this time the crowd was only wanting the main event. Owens did a running flip dive right away. Cesaro did a tornillo dive over the top and a crossbody for a near fall. Owens threw Cesaro into the barricade and gave him a cannonball into the barricade. Fans started chanting "We see fire" because they were setting up the pyro for Undertaker. Cesaro did a delayed gut wrench superplex. He went for a neutralizer, but it was blocked. Owens hit a tornado DDT for a near fall but missed a moonsault. 

They traded near falls until Cesaro used the giant swing and sharpshooter. Owens struggled to get to the ropes. Owens then won with a fisherman suplex off the middle rope and a pop up power bomb. The timing was right for Cesaro to win because the crowd is giving him momentum, but they've beaten Owens so many times because of Cena and Orton being top guys and Balor being NXT champ that it was his turn. ***3/4

The next match was Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar. At WrestleMania 30, Lesnar pinned Undertaker to end his undefeated WrestleMania streak. At SummerSlam, Lesnar defeated John Cena at SummerSlam to win the World Title, but lost it the following year at WrestleMania 31 in his match against Roman Reigns when Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and won the championship. 

Lesnar received his rematch against Rollins at Battleground, and was closing in on the win when The Undertaker returned and attacked Lesnar, causing Lesnar to win by disqualification, but not win the championship. The following night, a rematch between Lesnar and Undertaker was scheduled for SummerSlam. 

This would be Undertaker's first SummerSlam match since 2008, and his first pay-per-view match outside of WrestleMania since Bragging Rights in 2010. 

Undertaker beat Brock Lesnar in 17:09. They pushed in commentary at the start that Lesnar hadn't lost a match in two-and-a-half years. And he's by far the most over guy in the promotion. While that isn't the only reason, that is quite the amazing coincidence. Once again they went to JBL with the line that nobody has had more matches with Undertaker than JBL. Well, except for the 16 guys who have. Lesnar attacked him fast with knees. The match was really physical. Undertaker was doing face spots. 

The crowd didn't boo either guy or really even chose a favorite. Lesnar took him down and ground and pounded him. Fans were chanting, "Undertaker/Suplex City." Undertaker got out of the F-5, and Lesnar got out of the choke slam. This was the basic trading finishing moves main event. Lesnar used an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Lesnar hit the German suplex and fans booed Lesnar, but then cheered him. Undertaker used snake eyes and a running kick, which left Lesnar bleeding from above the left eye. 

Undertaker did a legdrop off the apron for a near fall. They noted this was Undertaker's first non-WrestleMania PPV since 2010 and first SummerSlam since 2008. Undertaker went for a choke slam, but Lesnar got out and hit a German suplex. He hit two more German suplexes and an F-5 on the announcers table. At this point Lesnar was bleeding all over the place. Undertaker just beat the ten count in. Lesnar said, "I'll kill you you son of a bitch" and Undertaker said, "You're gonna have to." Undertaker gave Lesnar a choke slam and tombstone piledriver, but Lesnar kicked out.

Lesnar started laughing at him and Undertaker got mad, and then laughed back at him. Both were on their knees trading punches while the crowd chanted "This is awesome." Lesnar went for a Kimura but Undertaker broke it and hit a power bomb for a near fall. Lesnar used an F-5 for a near fall. Lesnar did a second F-5 and Undertaker kicked out again. Lesnar freaked out at that point. Undertaker used the gogoplata but Lesnar escaped and put Undertaker in the Kimura. Lesnar had the move from his back and ref Charles Robinson counted one and the bell rang when Undertaker tapped. 

Robinson said that he never signaled for the bell and the match had to continue. Lesnar was celebrating thinking he'd won. Undertaker gave him a low blow from behind and put him in the gogoplata again. Lesnar flipped Undertaker off while in the hold, but then passed out and the match was stopped. 

After the match, they showed the replay which showed Undertaker clearly tapped out. They pushed it as the first time Undertaker had ever tapped out. This was tons better than their WrestleMania match. At the end, Paul Heyman was screaming "No" while the crowd was chanting "Yes," so I guess Undertaker was the favorite. 

Heyman screamed that everyone knew that Lesnar really won the match via submission. Undertaker collapsed backstage after the match but was not hospitalized. He did fly home after the show and didn't appear on Raw as he was originally scheduled. ****

With this win, Undertaker became the first man with 10 wins at SummerSlam.

Did you like this match or their WrestleMania 30 match better?

The next night on Raw - 

Zack Ryder pinned Heath Slater. Ryder used the Rough Ryder

Los Matadores beat The Ascension. Torito caused a distraction and the Ascension lost.

HHH was with Rollins backstage. He said how SummerSlam lived up to its hype and that Rollins, with everything on the line faced one of the biggest superstars ever and won both titles. He said Rollins is no longer the future, he's the man. HHH said that tonight they will unveil the Rollins statue. The show built that up until the finish.

Heyman & Lesnar came out. Lesnar had a cut on his forehead, one under the eye and another on the bridge of the nose. Heyman said Lesnar was the ripped off conqueror. He said Lesnar was the first man to make Undertaker tap out in 25 years. He was furious that history will claim Undertaker won the match at SummerSlam, saying Lesnar took him to suplex city, locked him in a Kimura and made him tap out. 

He said tapping out was Undertaker's admission that Lesnar was a better wrestler than he is a better man than he is and a better fighter than he is. 

He said Lesnar doesn't blame the referee or the timekeeper. The fans booed the mention of the timekeeper and Heyman said that only in Brooklyn would people boo compassion. He said Lesnar made a mistake having compassion when Undertaker tapped out, the bell rang, and he thought the match was over. He said that Undertaker then did a desperation low blow and put Lesnar in Hell's Gate, and he wanted Lesnar to give up, but Lesnar refused, giving Undertaker the ultimate disrespect and passed about. 

He said Lesnar, before passing out, told Undertaker GFY. He said Undertaker was an aging gunslinger with only a few bullets left, but that he could still shoot it out with everyone in the locker room, but you can't shoot with Lesnar. Heyman said that Lesnar wants one more match, but said he didn't want it at WrestleMania, at the Royal Rumble, or in Madison Square Garden. He wanted it tonight. They teased the idea that Undertaker would show up before the show was out, but this was the only segment Lesnar appeared on. 

Bo Dallas came out and said that Lesnar tapped out, that Lesnar dreamed he could beat Undertaker and he could have made the dreams come true if he Bo-lieved. Lesnar then destroyed Dallas, delivering three German suplexes. The crowd chanted "One more time," so he did a fourth one. Heyman told him to do one more, so he did a fifth one. They left the ring and Heyman told him to go back and give Dallas an F-5, which he did.

Kofi Kingston & Big E beat Sin Cara & Kalisto in 6:17. O'Neil & Young were at ringside. Woods came out playing the trombone badly while Kingston & Big E sang a new version of "New York, New York," except it was "New Day, New Day." The crowd cheered them wildly until they said that Brooklyn was a filthy city. But then people cheered them the rest of the way. Big E & Kingston did the double-team big ending on Kalisto while Woods played Taps on the trombone. That was all great. The Dudleys then came out and cleaned house, including Bubba doing the Dusty Rhodes flip, flop and fly. They threw E's shoulder into the post and did the Wazzup on Woods. Fans wanted tables, so they gave Woods a 3-D through the table.

They did a big video feature on Cena granting his 500th wish. 

HHH & Stephanie were looking at the Rollins statue. Rollins came out and talked about how much better this place was with them in charge. Stephanie said the place was better with him as champion.

Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper via DQ in 10:37. Another good match, but not as good as the night before. Ambrose did a pescado on Wyatt. Harper did a tope on Ambrose. The crowd cheered Ambrose but booed Reigns when he got the hot tag. Reigns hit the Superman punch on Wyatt while Ambrose took out Harper with an elbow off the top rope to the floor. Braun Stowman came out with a black sheep mask on. Reigns went for the Superman punch on him, but he blocked it and threw him across the ring. He played monster on both, and choked out both of them.

Miz did a segment with the women. Charlotte opened talking about how she knows about factions because her father was part of the greatest faction in WWE history, The Four Horseman. Miz talked about how Ric Flair taught him the figure four and she said, "You really lived up to his legacy" very sarcastically. Miz said you mean as a 12-time champion, a future Hall of Famer and a cross-platform TV and social media star, that he not only lived up to Flair's legacy but surpassed it. 

Lynch then did a crazy interview. She said they would take on any woman, any man, any ghost, any dinosaur, any animal or any Cyborg from the future. Paige gave the speech about it being the era of the female athlete. The Bellas and Fox came out. Nikki said that as long as she's champion, they are the dominant team. Fans started a "We Want Sasha" chant. Brie said that the Bellas are the faces of empowerment. 

Nikki said that wins and loses, who cares, because in three weeks she'll be the longest reigning Divas champion in history. She said nobody cares about their SummerSlam win because the only win that counts is this one, holding up the belt. Miz said that they wrestled like girls and they all attacked him while there was a louder "We Want Sasha" chant. 

Bella Twins & Alicia Fox beat Charlotte & Becky Lynch & Paige in 14:10. The crowd was quiet until they turned on the match. 

Nikki nailed Paige with an elbow and Fox pinned Paige after an ax kick.

They teased the idea of Barrett and Stardust in a tag match. Stardust turned on Barrett and laid him out with Dark matter, which used to be crossroads. Neville ran in for the save. He went to the top rope and Stardust ran off. 

Jon Stewart came out to talk about why he screwed Cena. He seemed to be expecting a heel reaction, given he did a heel turn. But instead, people were chanting "Thank you Stewart." He talked about how he upset people while they cheered him, and acknowledged that he also made people happy. He said he couldn't allow Cena to tie Flair's record. Flair then came out, hugged Stewart and told him that he was pulling for Cena in the match. 

The crowd then booed Flair. When they booed Flair, he looked at them sternly and said, "Don't forget, God's in the house." Stewart said he was saving the 16. Flair said he messed up everything. Cena came out and said he understood Stewart not wanting him to tie Flair's record and he's at peace with that. He said that where Stewart screwed up was he cost him the U.S. title, which meant that guys like Ambrose, Stardust, Neville, Owens, Cesaro and Zayn all had chances to prove themselves against the best. He laid out Stewart with the Attitude Adjustment.

Cena said that in laying out Stewart he was doing what he thought was right and he'd be back later in the show to have a talk with Rollins.

Dolph Ziggler & Cesaro & Randy Orton & Ryback beat Rusev & Kevin Owens & Sheamus & Big Show in 17:53. Summer slapped Ziggler and Lana speared her which popped the crowd. They traded big moves until Sheamus held Orton for Show to punch. Show threw the punch, Orton moved and Sheamus got nailed. Orton the pinned Sheamus after an RKO.

The heels were all mad at Show for screwing up. Show shoved down Owens and Rusev. Rusev superkicked Show and Owens hit the cannonball on Show. Owens and Sheamus then walked out on Show. This left show in the ring with all four faces. Ziggler superkicked Show and then Cesaro and Ryback picked him up and Orton gave him an RKO. 

Wyatt did a promo and talked about Strowman, as he called him.

HHH & Stephanie confronted Cena and security booted Cena out of the building.

The final segment had HHH and Stephanie out. Stephanie mentioned that it was Vince McMahon's 70th birthday. Earlier in the show somebody who had a sign saying Happy 70th birthday to Vince, had his sign confiscated after it showed up on the screen. They sang Happy Birthday to Vince and fans started chanting "We Want Vince." Stephanie said he wasn't going to come out and he didn't. HHH said he is so pissed off backstage. 

Rollins came out and said he was like Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, saying heroes get remembered but legends never die. He said by holding the WWE title and the U.S. title at the same time, it makes him a legend and he is now immortal. He said that the reason Cena was the man was because he worked every single day for ten years to be the man. But to be the man you have to beat the man. He said he would main event one WrestleMania after another and that long after he retires he'll be remembered like Sammartino, Andre and Warrior. Then he opened up the curtain and it was Sting, who laid Rollins out with a Stinger splash and clotheslined Rollins over the top, and grabbed the WWE title belt. 

WWE SUMMERSLAM POLL RESULTS

• Thumbs up 175 (78.1%)
• Thumbs down 8 (03.6%)
• In the middle 41 (18.3%)

BEST MATCH POLL

Seth Rollins vs. John Cena 153

Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar 34

Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro 23

Tag title four-way 10

WORST MATCH POLL

Ryback vs. Miz vs. Show 71

Divas three-team match 64

Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev 55

Sheamus vs. Randy Orton 13

WWE NEXT TAKEOVER POLL RESULTS

• Thumbs up 206 (99.5%)
• Thumbs down 0 (00.0%)
• In the middle 1 (00.5%)

BEST MATCH POLL

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks 182

Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens 19

WORST MATCH POLL

Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger 59

Vaudevillains vs. Blake & Murphy 56

Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin 25

Jushin Liger vs. Tyler Breeze 24