Survivor Series 2015 preview

Back in late 1998 I started watching wrestling. The first major pay-per-view that came up was Survivor Series. I didn't watch it at the time, I didn't realise it was available on Sky Sports, for free (remember those days?). Instead I bought it on VHS months later.

I knew what happened at the show though, thanks to recaps and whatnot. A tournament was held to crown a new world champion, the title having been vacated two months earlier after Undertaker and Kane had pinned reigning champ Steve Austin at the same time. It was a long, convoluted series of matches that should have been cut down and had some opening round matches moved to RAW but that was never going to happen under Vince 'More is More' Russo. The show ended with 'People's Champion' The Rock aligning himself with Vince McMahon to form The Corporation.

Seventeen years later history has, somewhat, repeated itself. A real life injury to Seth Rollins has forced a vacation of the WWE championship. A tournament has been held across two weeks of TV shows and will culminate with the semi-finals and final matches at the PPV. The man most people expect to make the finals is Roman Reigns, who was originally going to challenge 'The Future' for the gold before the injury occurred.

Reigns is The Rock's cousin. That, the fact that Survivor Series is playing host to a tournament final, and the fact that the show will forever be synonymous with The Montreal Screwjob, mean we are almost guaranteed a swerve finish to the evening's final match. And that it will feature Roman Reigns.

Of the two semis one seems painfully obvious while the other is a closer call. The obvious one is Roman Reigns versus United States champion Alberto Del Rio. I'll be amazed if we see ADR in the final. It seems safe to say he's made it this far to give Reigns a safe match where the crowd dong revolt against him. That's the same reason his quarter final victory over Cesaro was tucked away on RAW.

The other semi is Dean Ambrose versus Kevin Owens. Ambrose winning and having a showdown with his best bud and former Shield teammate seems like the obvious thing to do, and WWE isn't a company that likes to shy away from the obvious. The only wrinkle is that KO has been doing sterling work lately and his advancement to the final would surprise without seeming innocuous. Were this tournament taking place this time next year or had Owens debuted a year earlier I'd argue in favour of him getting the win over Ambrose and facing Reigns in the final. As it is he's not been around long enough to be a truly convincing finalist against a Chosen One like Reigns.

Which leaves me predicting a Reigns v Ambrose final. With the talent WWE had available for the tournament this is probably the most natural final they could have gone with. Yeah, it would be nice to see Cesaro there but it would have been too much to ask. A slow build is what's required for Cesaro at this point, he's not been built up as credible enough for a pay-per-view main event in which he may win the world title.

The prediction I'm happiest making is that we'll see some sort of shmoz finish, very likely playing on Survivor Series '98 or the Montreal Screwjob. Or both. An Ambrose heel turn, victory and alignment with The Authority isn't impossible but a Reigns victory seems likelier. I'm convinced one will turn on the other (a huge waste of a previously wonderfully solid wrestling friendship) but I don't know which. Which makes me think WWE has slightly mishandled this tournament because I should be getting excited about seeing who makes it to the final to crow a new champion.

I'll settle on Reigns winning and Ambrose going heel because of jealousy. Because Reigns is the clear favourite and Ambrose is so over that it would be stupid to try and turn him. Which means WWE will.

Outside of the tournament Survivor Series is looking unspectacular. The Paige v Charlotte Divas title match has been overshadowed by Paige's (entirely scripted yet still) controversial comments about Reid Flair, Charlotte's dead brother, being a quitter. 'The Nature Girl' will almost certainly overcome these terrible, terrible (entirely scripted) comments and retain her championship. Because she needs another strong defence if she is to be the star the company wants her to be.

Dolph Ziggler and Tyler Breeze will finally have a match after around a month of teasing. I can't imagine either guy having a bad match so it should be good. The trouble is that it's been left to simmer too long and their issue (basically summed up as "Summer Rae") and it feels like they're just killing time here. Which is a shame. 'Prince Pretty' being the new boy who's only beaten R-Truth so far means he should win. Plenty of time for 'The Show Off' to get wins later in the feud.

The final match (other than a traditional Series match with no wrestlers confirmed for it) is The Undertaker and Kane versus two members of the Wyatt Family. Which doesn't seem particularly interesting considering the event marks 'Taker's twenty-fifth anniversary in WWE. I understand this match has probably been rejigged because of injuries and the necessary tournament but it's pretty rough that this was the best WWE could come up with to begin with. Could 'The Dead Man' not have had one last solid non-'Mania singles outing against someone like Cesaro or Ambrose or Owens or Ziggler? A storyline for that would have been easy enough t come up with: a face like Cesaro or whoever wants the honour of facing Undertaker on his anniversary, a heel like Owens wants to embarrass and humiliate him on it by defeating him.

A singles match letting someone underutilised shine would have been better than pairing him with Kane against unadvertised opponents. Speaking of which my view is that if the Wyatts are represented by anyone other than Luke Harper and 'The Eater of Worlds' someone somewhere in the company doesn't have their priorities straight. Wyatt is the star of his act and Harper has tonnes of potential should a decent mid-card ever happen. They are the best two wrestlers of the faction too.

I'm usually all for younger wrestlers beating older wrestlers because WWE needs to get new stars established. I'm not going to argue in favour of that here. After twenty-five years in the company Undertaker winning this match (by which I mean the one WWE have booked him in) is the right call. That said a Wyatts win would be fairly unexpected and could actually give Bray the credibility shot he needs.

All in all Survivor Series will be memorable because of the tournament finals. But there's little else on offer outside of that right now. New stars are needed. And soon.

***

Predictions summary:

Roman Reigns to defeat Dean Ambrose to win the WWE championship
Roman Reigns to defeat Alberto Del Rio
Dean Ambrose to defeat Kevin Owens
Undertaker and Kane to defeat the Wyatt Family
Charlotte to defeat Paige to retain the Divas championship
Tyler Breeze to defeat Dolph Ziggler

Fantasy Booker: Survivor Series 2015

On November 4 WWE world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins tore ligaments and a meniscus in his knee during a house show match with Kane. You've probably heard this, because Rollins is a pretty important figure in the world's biggest wrestling company. You've also probably heard that WWE vacated the title on November 5 (remember that date) and announced that a new champion would be crowned at Survivor Series.

Naturally this made many people, me included, recall the Deadly Game tournament. That was a fourteen man tournament held at the 1998 Survivor Series (Undertaker and Kane got a bye to the second round), also held to crown a new champion, which famously ended with an homage to the Montreal Screwjob™, then only a year in the past.

I've got a soft spot for Survivor Series '98. It was the first major show to take place after I started watching wrestling and it had a catchy theme tune. It was also the pinnacle of the Russo booking approach, allowing him to utilise all of his strengths and disguise his many, many (many) weaknesses (you can read more on that here). All of which means that this fantasy booking piece (and let's not kid ourselves, I was always going to do a fantasy booking piece on this) has some similarities to the Deadly Game tournament.

Let's start with the November 9 RAW. I'd like to acknowledge the fact that the show would be taking place exactly eighteen years after the Montreal Screwjob took place. But I wouldn't because that would be too on the nose. Instead I'd simply have The Authority announce four qualifying-slash-first round matches for the show and another four for the November 12 SmackDown. The men chosen would be hyped up as amongst the best wrestlers in the company, nay the world (true for some, not others).

The reason I'd be booking qualifying matches is to fill TV time. Without the originally planned Rollins and Reigns programme there'd be little to build to at the pay-per-view beyond the Wyatts eight man tag against Undertaker and Kane. With no main event to promote the sensible thing would be to focus on the tournament, and the best way of doing that would be to include more matches and spread them out on TV. It also has the benefit of making it seem like the guys who make it to the final have achieved more, going through one more round.

This match feels overdue.

The four RAW matches would be Dolph Ziggler v Tyler Breeze, Dean Ambrose v Kevin Owens, Bray Wyatt v Ryback, and Roman Reigns v Sheamus. Ziggler and Breeze's first match seems overdue and it couldn't hurt 'Prince Pretty' to debut in a world title tournament. They'd have the longest match of the four, allowing Breeze to look competitive in defeat. Owens and Ambrose feels like another suitably big first round match and one that people couldn't be absolutely certain of a winner for. It would also tie into their burgeoning rivalry and be a natural main event for RAW. KO would go over via some sort of shady tactics leading to a pop-up power bomb.

Wyatt and Ryback would be kept short because I don't think they'd work particularly well together and they'd have a storyline finish to protect 'The Eater of Worlds'. Some crazy lighting effects would distract him and allow Ryback to get a Shellshock for the victory. These lighting effects would obviously be attributed to 'Taker and 'The Big Red Machine' and their magical powers, keeping that rivalry relevant and adding another reason for their Survivors match.

Reigns versus Sheamus would be the shortest of the bunch. Sheamus would wrestle for a bit before grabbing his Money in the Bank briefcase and walloping Reigns with it. The commentary team would hypothesise that 'The Celtic Warrior' was deliberately disqualified to hurt Reigns, the favourite, and because he has his guaranteed title match thanks to the 'case, making his participation in the tourney redundant. Shaymo would gloat about exactly this in an interview later in the evening.

The four SmackDown bouts would be Big E v Mark Henry, Adrian Neville v Kalisto, Alberto Del Rio v The Miz, and Cesaro v Stardust. These guys all feel like SmackDown regulars, meaning it's not an unrealistic batch of guys to book in these matches. Big E v Henry would be a standard short match. E would win with interference from Woods and Kingston. Neville v Kalisto would be the second longest of the evening and be designed to showcase the skills of both lads. Kalisto would get the win. This would be intended as a surprise although I don't know if it would be that big a deal. It's not like Nev has been built up since his main roster debut.

Del Rio and Miz would be an awkward heel versus heel match but those are okay occasionally. And, for the record, there's no real reason ADR should be considered a heel right now. All he's done is come back, beat Cena, and show pride in being Mexican. What's bad any f that? So he could play face in this match before switching back to his aggressive heel ways for the pay-per-view matches. Cesaro v Stardust would be the SmackDown main event. Cesaro could pummel Konnor and Viktor on his way to a decisive win, playing off whatever the Cosmic Wasteland watching Cesaro from the crowd over the last few weeks was meant to lead to.

The November 16 RAW would feature the predictable Survivor Series elimination match featuring the eight quarter finalists: Ziggler, Cesaro, Reigns and Kalisto v Owens, Del Rio, Ryback and Big E. Ryback aside this would be heels versus faces, and I'd want to position 'The Big Guy' as a subtle heel for the PPV itself (more on that below). Reigns and Cesaro would be the sole survivors for their teams and the commentary lads would hype up that the brackets are laid out in such a way that Cesaro v Reigns could be the final match. Also on this episode of RAW Ambrose would have a backstage segment discussing Owens and Sheamus, the purpose of which would be to keep that issue alive and tease Ambrose interfering at in Owens' tourney matches and watching out for a Sheamus cash-in after he attacked Ambrose great buddy Roman.

I'd want the Survivor Series show to reuse the old Deadly Game theme. I doubt that's possible because WWE probably signs deals that prevent using anything except the generic theme songs that are the norm now, but I'd like it to happen.

Push this man.

The show would open with Ziggler falling to Owens in five or six minutes. It wouldn't be overly long because 'Mr Wrestling' would need to look dominant for the night ahead. Match two would see Del Rio defeat Kalisto. Their match would be all about Kalisto constantly trying to get flash wins and ADR trying to slow him down and create some distance. He'd win with the cross armbreaker. Losing to such an established move shouldn't hurt li'l Kally. That would be followed by Cesaro pinning Big E. He could again be booked to look like a beast by overcoming a pair of seconds at ringside, this time Kofi and Xavier.

Match four would be Reigns v Ryback. The idea with making this match would be to put Reigns against one of the few guys his detractors likely want to see as world champion even less than him. Having Ryback leave his face mannerisms in the dressing room for the evening would help with that. It's not a guarantee that the crowd would side with Reigns but I think there's a strong chance they would. Reigns would get worked over for a bit before making a comeback and winning with the spear and Superman punch (because this layout seems to have worked well for Reigns this year).

That would cue up the first non-tournament match. Not that it's important to the pupose of wat I'm writing about here but I'd have that be the Charlotte v Paige Divas championship match. I like the idea of having a tag team tables match between New Day and the Dudley Boyz too but that would probably go on the pre-show. The Duds would finally get their big win over New Day. That's overdue. The feud needs to end.

The first semi-final match would be Kevin Owens v Cesaro. The idea here would be to enhance the standing of both men by having them progress this far. They'd add to that with an even match. Owens would win, the idea being to encourage people to boo him because he'd have eliminated a genuine fave in 'The Swiss Superman'. Meanwhile the logic behind going with Reigns v Del Rio would be to have Reigns beat another guy that people wouldn't actually want to see win. The crowd and viewers would be encouraged to back Reigns because he'd be knocking off "boring" tournament entrants.

Those matches would be followed by the Wyatt Family v Kane and Undertaker match (no idea who'd be partnering with the Brothers of Destruction, it wouldn't really be a priority). 'Taker would really have to be the sole survivor for his team, wouldn't he? Because it's his twenty-fifth anniversary in the company and he's a face. But I'd overlook that and have the match come down to 'The Dead Man' and Wyatt then have Wyatt win. Because Wyatt is more important to the future of WWE than 'The Phenom'. Plus Wyatt winning and spoiling the anniversary should get him some solid heat.

Which just leaves the main event. There's a lot I'd want to include in this and I'm aware it will probably read as overbooking (it probably would be overbooking if it happened). But I think that's okay occasionally. It certainly sounds more appealing than yet another main event in which Seth Rollins wins by being flukey. So here's what I'd do...

Reigns v Owens feels like a good tournament final to me.

The match would be announced as a no DQ affair with the declaration that "there must be a winner." Triple H and Stephanie would walk to ringside before the start of the match, prompting Michael Cole to rattle off Survivor Series Screwjob info, reminding us that 'The Cerebral Assassin' was in on the original Montreal happenings. I'd want to have at least fifteen minutes for the match itself when the bell rang at the beginning of Owens v Reigns. They'd have a straight match for ten minutes, trading the advantage and trying to keep people guessing on who'd win.

Owens would go for the Sharpshooter at around the ten minute mark, which should be a reliable reaction-getter considering the circmstances. Reigns would counter that into a roll-up for a two count. At which point Sheamus would stride to the ring. We'd get a reaction shot of The Authority looking concerned and Sheamus would get into the ring and Brogue kick Reigns. 'Great White' would then hand in his briefcase, making the match a three-way in a call back to the WrestleMania main event. He'd turn around into a pummelling from a recently arrived Ambrose. Owens would recover and save Sheamus from 'The Lunatic Fringe'.

The heels would give Ambrose a kicking. By this point Triple H would be up on the apron shouting and trying to get some order over the situation. Reigns would return to his feet from the Brogue kick and drop Reigns with a spear. Owens would hit Reigns with a pop-up power bomb. Reigns would kick out. Owens would sell disbelief and stagger towards the ropes, where Helmsley would clamber into the ring and give him a Pedigree.

Reigns would then return to his feet and, after a stare off with 'The Game', apply the Sharpshooter. Trips would immediately signal for the bell to be rung and hand the title belt to Reigns. Steph would join them in the ring. Shaymo would walk up the aisle looking angry at having wasted his magical briefcase. Owens would lay on the mat selling. Ambrose would confront Roman and be dropped with a Superman punch. The show would go off the air with Reigns, Triple H and Stephanie recreating the famous shot of The Rock (Roman's cousin remember) celebrating with Vince and Shane at Survivor Series 1998.

Yes, it's convoluted and a bit messy. It would hopefully get tidied up a bit before the night. But this would be the gist of what I'd go for because it makes use of all the things people would expect the finals to play on: the corrupt bosses at ringside, a Money in the Bank cash-in, Ambrose interference (his mere presence would get people suspicious that he'd cost Reigns the match), a WrestleMania 31 reference, and, of course, the Sharpshooter finish. It would set up Sheamus, Owens and Ambrose as challengers for Reigns and position Owens for a babyface run, something I think he's well suited for right now. The tournament as a whole would also have helped raise the profile of Cesaro and Kalisto, two guys who WWE could and should be doing more with.

Most importantly in turning Reigns heel fans would be encouraged to vent any frustration they may have over him and his largely failed babyface run(s). When he turned babyface again the animosity should be gone and he should be more actively embraced. People need to see him in a new role and be given reason to back him. There's no light Reigns is better role right now that big, mean asskicker. Giving Reigns time as the top, corrupt heel, especially if he were booked to trounce everyone who challenged him, would actually get him over in the long term as a face. That's the character he should play and this is the way to introduce it.

***

First round RAW matches:

Dolph Ziggler defeats Tyler Breeze
Roman Reigns defeats Sheamus via disqualification
Ryback defeats Bray Wyatt
Kevin Owens defeats Dean Ambrose

First round SmackDown matches:

Big E defeats Mark Henry
Alberto Del Rio defeats The Miz
Kalisto defeats Adrian Neville
Cesaro defeats Stardust

Second round matches:

Kevin Owens defeats Dolph Ziggler
Alberto Del Rio defeats Kalisto
Roman Reigns defeats Ryback
Cesaro defeats Big E

Semi-final matches:

Roman Reigns defeats Alberto Del Rio
Kevin Owens defeats Cesaro

Final match:

Roman Reigns defeats Kevin Owens and Sheamus

The Steve Austin Show

For a long time after retiring from in-ring activity 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin struggled to find a new calling. He hung around in WWE for a few years in a variety of authority figure roles but it never felt quite right. As a wrestler one of his defining characteristics had been his anti-authority bent. Seeing him laying down the law felt odd. On top of that it was clear that Austin missed actually wrestling. He was fun in these roles but they were never truly Steve Austin.

Eventually he left those roles behind in favour of chasing acting work in Hollywood. The high point of that endeavour was his appearances as lead goon Paine in The Expendables. When it became clear that acting wasn't going to pan out for him as it did The Rock (or even Hulk Hogan), Austin took a sidestep into hosting. Specifically he headed up WWE's initial, pre-Network, revival of Tough Enough and Country Music Television's Redneck Island. When those were received well he launched a podcast and got himself another TV show, Broken Skull Challenge¹.

Austin looking massively unimpressed there. Great stuff.

A combination of Austin being a likeable host and having a mostly sensible, respectable view on the wrestling business made his podcast a success. That in turn lead to WWE offering Austin a slot on the Network to interview Vince McMahon on 1 December 2014. No official ratings are available for the Network but it's hard to imagine this didn't do well: it was Vince's first appearance on a podcast answering questions from someone he'd had a close working relationship with for a number of years. It clearly did well enough to make someone in WWE decide that it should be a frequent thing as Austin has since returned to interview Triple H, Paul Heyman, Paige, and Edge and Christian.

It's possible that reading that list one name stands out over the others. Paige is not the first person who springs to mind when you think of potential interviewees for 'The Rattlesnake'. The common belief is that she was an emergency replacement for Hulk Hogan, who had been revealed as a bit of a racist a week or so earlier. If we assume that Hogan was the initially scheduled guest² we end up with a list of top level talent who would have worked with Austin during his run as an active wrestler (with all but Heyman being around him at his peak).

With an impressive pedigree established for Austin's Network shows it will be interesting to see who else gets lined up as a guest. There are a number of names I'd like to see, with Eric Bischoff being at the top of the list. They have an interesting history together. An injured Austin was released from his WCW contract by a cost-cutting Bischoff and he went on, via some angry anti-WCW promos in ECW, to be the biggest star in wrestling. When Bischoff rocked up in WWE years later he would end up working closely with Austin. Any heat between them will have long since been resolved but it still be interesting to see the pair discuss Austin's WCW firing and their later working relationship.

Both Mick Foley and The Rock would also be good guests. They worked with Austin at his hottest. Foley was his first feud after winning the WWF championship at WrestleMania XIV and would go on to work as a transitional champion getting the strap from Austin to Triple H in summer 1999. These periods of work, along with the fact that Foley has known Austin since the early nineties, give Foley an insight into Austin's journey to the top and his behaviour while he was there that few others could have. It's unlikely Ausitn would bring up his difficult behaviour once he was established as a top star on his own show but Foley could allude to it. Even if he didn't they're two of the biggest stars of the Attitude Era who respect one another's work and it would be nice to see them reminiscing about their time on top.

This is podcast material right here.

The appeal with The Rock is slightly different. Both he and Austin have mentioned over the years that they didn't get on when they first met but they went on to have the defining rivalry of wrestling's hottest period. If their secret handshake-heavy appearances in recent years (see WrestleMania XXX) are anything to go by they're very good pals now. As with Foley a large part of the appeal is seeing the pair chatting about their work together, although it feels like there's more chance of Austin acknowledging his early dislike of 'The Great One' than of his '99 paranoia.

The Undertaker was also around Austin at the same time as Foley and Rock but as he's had a WWE career that's lasted for well over two decades it's safe to assume that, rather than his late nineties dealing with Austin, would be the focus. Austin's mentioned on previous shows, as well as his regular podcast, that he was unhappy that The Streak ended. Seeing him discuss that topic with 'The Phenom' could fill a substantial amount of time by itself, especially if they looked back on The Streak as a whole. Even leaving The Streak aside 'Taker's worked with such a wide variety of WWE names and had so many bizarre periods of his career (who doesn't want to see Austin discuss Ministry of Darkness era 'Taker or 'Big Evil' era 'Taker?) that he'd be a natural choice for guest. Though somehow I don't think we'll see this happen until 'The Dead Man' is ready to call it a day on his career. WWE are, rightfully, protective of the character's mystique and appearing on a podcast would be damaging to that.

As the breakout star of the last year or so Seth Rollins would be a cool interview. Even though he's only been on the main roster for less than three years 'The Future' has accomplished a lot. He participated in a revival of trios matches (which I'm convinced would prompt Austin to drop a Freebirds reference), had a cracking singles feud with Dean Ambrose in which they headlined a PPV over John Cena, and he won the WWE championship in a WrestleMania main event. He'll be on top of WWE for years to come and I'd like to see Austin passing on some pointers with that in mind.

Talk, Owens, talk.

A breakout star of lesser status right now is Kevin Owens. I think he'd be a good addition to the show's line-up because he's such a fan of Austin. He's spoken before about happening to run into Austin at an airport when he was first starting out as a wrestler, where Austin told him to never stop running his mouth. Anyone who's seen Owens wrestle knows that's advice he took on board and it's likely advice that ultimately helped him to get signed by WWE. Seeing the pair discuss that aspect of KO's act would be fun, as would Austin delving into Owens' other career influences and his status as one of WWE's hottest heels, and one of the few to have motives beyond being bad because they're bad. I'd also like to see Austin speak to someone who's been in NXT since it became the "hot brand" it currently is, and Owens fits the bill perfectly.

Perhaps a slightly odd choice would be Cesaro. Not because he doesn't have anything interesting to say (he does) but because he's not the big name that everyone else on this list is. Austin is an outspoken fan of 'The King of Swing' so it's easy to imagine him wanting to have him on the show to give him a platform to promote himself. On top of that Cesaro's had an interesting journey to WWE, winning a green card lottery and all, and always comes across as an affable, humble lad in interviews.

Finally, there's John Cena. He's one of only a handful of men to have ever been positioned as the centrepiece of WWE. Austin is one of the others. He's one of the few people who can understand the pressure of Cena's spot. He's a fan of Cena's work too, which seems to be the case for a lot of WWE veterans. I'd like to see him discuss Cena's ring work with Cena to see if his claims are genuine and, if they are, what it is he specifically enjoys. Plus the subject of the springboard Stunner could be fun.

***

¹ This sounds less painful than it is. Though, to be clear, it is still a very painful show for those who appear on it.

² For the record I think it's a real shame Hogan is now unlikely to ever appear on Austin's Network show. It would have been fascinating to see Austin and Hogan discuss Hogan's WCW politicking (which Austin believes held him down there), Austin's ECW parodies of Hogan, and which of them is the bigger, more important name in WWE history.

John Cena's Sweet Sixteen

Over the last year much has been made of the fact that John Cena's next world title win will tie him with Ric Flair's record of sixteen. Ever since he lost his fifteenth world championship at SummerSlam 2014 we've been hearing rumour through The Dirt Sheets™ that WWE wants to have Cena's next win and the reign it kicks off be big deals. We heard it mentioned on-screen leading up to SummerSlam this year, Cena's first title shot since January's Royal Rumble, with him specifically name-dropping Flair and announcing that he wants to reach that milestone.

This makes sense. With only one man having been as prolific as Cena when it comes to winning world titles it's entirely understandable that WWE would want to focus on that journey as a story. Cena equalling a record tally is a logical, understandable plot for wrestling because it focuses on wins and losses and the importance of titles. It's also something that has never really been done before in wrestling, at least not in the exact circumstance of someone tying Flair.

The thing is that Cena's world title win won't see him equal Flair's actual record. It will see him equal the WWE approved record, the one that discounts a number of 'Naitch's' early NWA world championship victories. For what it's worth Flair is said to privately consider himself something like a twenty-one time world champ. Not that Flair's private feelings or the legitimate number of title reigns he's had actually matters. What matters is that Flair is known as a sixteen time world champion and Cena's next win will see tie this.

The once and future champ.

When it comes (and it will come) Cena's next WWE championship reign needs to be something memorable¹. Running through standard issue title defences against Rollins, Kane and Orton won't cut it if WWE wants to do the story they're going for justice. What is the story they're going (or will be going) for? That in winning sixteen world championships Cena, who is frequently lambasted as a poor wrestler with little understanding of selling and ring psychology, is every bit as good as Ric Flair, who is frequently held up as the greatest professional wrestler ever.

A long title reign will be needed to do this story justice and for a long title reign WWE will need plenty of challengers. Right now there are very few people who could believably defeat Cena on pay-per-view. The number who could defeat him for a world title is even smaller, especially such an importantly numbered title. And if a long Cena title reign is to work in 2015 or beyond then the audience should be able to feel that Cena could lose in any defence, adding to the drama of each match, therefore heightening reactions and making the achievement of each successful retention seem greater.

Had one of Cena's allegedly star-making feuds against Bray Wyatt, Rusev or Kevin Owens gone differently over the last eighteen months things could be different. Had Cena left any one of those feuds without getting a victory then the opponent in question would be perfectly positioned as a title challenger for 'Big Match John' come his next world title reign. They could have been presented as the only man of the last decade Cena had failed to defeat and a favourite in a title match against him. Basically, Cena losing more in these programmes would have made a victory for him at a later point a bigger deal.

Rusev in particular could have been great in this role. Had WWE thought enough about it 'The Bulgarian Brute' could have been built up as Cena's gateway to a sixteenth world title. Had Rusev dropped Cena on three or four straight pay-per-views he would have been established as a juggernaut and a natural contender to the WWE world title. He could have won that from Rollins, either in a singles match (in the right city Rollins could have played the face) or a three-way including someone like Ambrose, Lesnar or Reigns to give people a face to get behind, and gone on to have a few months as a dominant world champion. Cena could have gone on his undercard quest to find himself (the Open Challenge thing could have worked as Cena testing himself instead of as a US title reign) before challenging Rusev to a world title match and beating him. This would have seen Cena finally getting the victory that had eluded him, ending Rusev's undefeated streak, and equalling the sixteen title reigns record in one match.

But, sadly, nobody in WWE seems to think that far ahead.

The good news is that Cena's next world title win is unlikely to roll around until next year.  Roman Reigns seems like the natural choice to take the belt from current champ Seth Rollins, likely at WrestleMania 32 Star in Texas next April. It's unlikely Reigns' inaugural world title run would last less than four months, which would take him through to SummerSlam, a fitting stage for Cena's big win. Next August gives WWE plenty of time to rebuild Rusev, Owens and Wyatt, along with preparing other acts like Cesaro, Stardust and Ryback, giving Cena the stacked roster he needs to make his sixteenth world title reign the success it deserves to be.

***

¹ The irony here is that Flair's final WCW world title reigns were massively underwhelming. The fifteenth world title reign of Ric Flair began on an episode of Nitro and lasted seven days, ending when he was stripped of the belt by Vince Russo. Jeff Jarrett then won the title later on the same show and lost it the following evening to Kevin Nash at a Thunder taping. 'Big Sexy' then handed the title back to Flair on the following Nitro², with Flair going on to lose the title back to Jarrett later on in the show.

Yes, that means Flair's famed sixteenth world title reign began with Kevin Nash handing him the belt and lasted less than two hours. Woooooo!

The WWE Tag Team Division's Battle Against Fate

WWE's tag team division hasn't had an easy time of it this year. This is a shame. There's clearly been effort put into making it worthwhile and a worthwhile tag division would be most welcome. It would help WWE's TV product to feel more interesting and lively. It would also give the many lower cards wrestlers who currently have nothing going on something to do.

The Usos disappeared after WrestleMania because Jey suffered a shoulder injury. Their status as the company's longest-standing, most reliable unit likely altered plans for the division. It's all too easy to imagine that they were pegged to work with New Day, who would officially go heel within a month of 'Mania. To an extent their unexpected hiatus was probably a good thing. It's all too easy to imagine that, had the Usos been available, we wouldn't have seen as much of the various other units on the roster.

Sadly the main team I (and probably most other people) would have wanted to see featured also disappeared due to an injury. Tyson Kidd suffered what has apparently been described as a freak neck and spinal injury in a dark match against the newly signed Samoa Joe in early June, ending his run alongside Cesaro. Weeks later Erick Rowan tore his bicep at a house show (or, if you prefer, live event). He'd reunited with his Wyatt Family partner Luke Harper in May and it seems likely, now that SummerSlam's been and gone, that the three original Wyatt Family members were to be put back together for a six man tag against Ambrose, Reigns and someone else (Sting, according to the rumour mill) at 'The Hottest Event of the Summer'.

These losses were in addition to the unfocused use of The Ascension and the Lucha Dragons. Konor and Viktor were never going to amount to a great deal in WWE but had they been used with more care earlier in the year they could have been a far more over act by now. The Dragons, on the other hand, should have been given far more to do and received some protection from the writing team. They're an exciting team with obvious merchandise potential. Kalisto is very clearly a singles act waiting to happen who could be that Top Latin Star™ role we're always hearing WWE want. He may not have the name value or status of Rey Mysterio but he's ten times the worker Mysterio is these days. And he wears a cooler mask! What more do they want?

The tag division had mostly been left to the Prime Time Players and New Day. Focusing on two teams is nothing new. It's been the standard approach from WWE for years now. But it's disappointing because they seemed to be setting up a positively thriving division with the Usos, Cesaro and Kidd, the Wyatts, New Day, and the Lucha Dragons. New Day and the PTPs are very engaging teams who connect with audiences well in their respective roles and it would have been nice for them to have had a deeper roster to work with, even though the PTPs wouldn't have been receiving as much attention as they have been.

The good news is that despite all of these injuries and scuppered plans WWE is forging ahead with making doubles ranks worthwhile. The post-SummerSlam August 24 episode of Monday Night RAW saw a return and a debut that should and could impact on the division. 

These lads know how to win belts.

The returnees were the Dudley Boyz. Which may not mean anything to some people because it's actually been ten years since they were last employed by WWE and allowed to use that name. For the last decade they've been Team 3D in TNA. They're former twenty-four time world tag team champions, having held the WWE tag team titles once, the WWE world tag team titles eight times, the ECW tag team titles eight times, the WCW tag team titles once (although that was when the belts were under WWF ownership), the TNA tag team titles (a surprisingly low) two times, the NWA tag team titles once, the HUSTLE super tag team championship once, and the IWGP tag team titles two times. How many of these reigns are recognised by WWE is anybody's guess. I'd assume they'd count the WWE, WCW and ECW reigns but they could surprise us and acknowledge others.

In addition to being the most decorated double act to ever hit the wrestling biz the Dudleys are twenty year veterans and were a significant part of the Attitude Era. That Maggle Cole said that the tag scene had gotten more interesting when the Duds hit the ring to attack New Day and have a staredown with the Prime Time Players indicates that their return will be a permanent one, or at least not something that's over after a few weeks.

I'm interested to see what's done with Bubba and Devon. Matches against New Day and the Prime Time Players seem likely and both could be good. I'm be particularly interested in seeing them tackle heat magnets New Day which, judging by the last week of television, seems like a match we'll get at Night of Champions. A match with the Usos could also be fruitful considering the big bumps Jimmy and Jey frequently take. It's just a pity The Ascension weren't afforded better booking. If they had they'd probably be ideal opponents for the Dudleys right now.

The Wyatt Lads.

Monday's debut was Braun Strowman. He's a developmental guy who's been under contract since May 2013. Naturally he's been based at the Performance Center for the last year. Although he never appeared in a match on NXT he did feature regularly for a while as the large Spartan in Adam Rose's Exotic Express entourage. That he never got an official debut on the developmental programme likely means that WWE are still willing to have guys bypass a period of televised learning if the right spot presents itself on the main roster. This is a good thing. It means they're in a better position to surprise us.

Strowman joined Wyatt and Harper in attacking and ultimately laying out Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. Presumably the Shield lads will recruit a third man to help them in their battle against the Wyatt Family. Cesaro would be a nice addition, but I'd take Dolph Ziggler or anyone vaguely talented with not much to do right now. Once that feud's done it seems reasonable to assume that the Wyatts will stay together and two members will form a regular tag team. As much as I love Luke Harper he deserves to be the number two singles guy of that group. Strowman and Rowan would be a good pairing. Rowan is painfully bland and Strowman seems green around the edges. Pairing them would help cover these failings and give the tag division more bodies.

The summer of 2015 could have featured a great tag division without the spate of injuries we saw. But there's nothing to stop WWE getting their plans back on track and factoring in the Dudleys and an altered Wyatt line-up. A division with New Day, the Dudleys, and the Usos on top and the Wyatt Family, the Lucha Dragons, The Ascension, and the Prime Time Players in supporting roles sounds pretty good to me.

WWE SummerSlam 2015 review

Traditionally SummerSlam has been positioned by WWE as their number two pay-per-view. It's not felt like it for a long time though. The importance of the Royal Rumble has helped that show surpass it. It could be argued that Money in the Bank has done the same. This year WWE awarded SummerSlam a four hour run time, attached an NXT Takeover special to the weekend, and did even more media work than usual all to turn SummerSlam into a big deal. It's a smart move. If the profile of the event can be raised there's a chance it can claw back some of its importance and, in turn, become a more profitable brand. Because brands are what WWE is all about in 2015.

Awkward bants.

The show kicked off with Lillian Garcia introducing former Daily Show front man Jon Stewart as the evening's host. He got the "What?" treatment from the crowd before changing up his cadence and quipping that he'd "spent the last sixteen years talking about politics, it's nice to be back in reality." Then he played into the shouts by listing guys. This, to me, proved that he really is a fan of the company.

Mick Foley (who looks a mess) was then introduced to act as backup for an interview with Brock Lesnar. They did some awkward non-lol comedy and teased that The Rock might join them. He didn't, and wouldn't appear on the show at all. They left. The crowd seemed happy with all of this.

Then, presented by Mountain Dew and Edge shave gel, SummerSlam began.

Randy Orton v Sheamus was up first. I've made my feelings about these two abundantly clear before. 'The Viper' is so dull as a character that it's impossible to be interested in anything involving him. I'm not wild about Shaymo either, so that didn't help. The match wasn't anything special. The crowd agreed. They spent a stretch of it amusing themselves with NXT related chants. Sheamus survived a top rope draping DDT and an RKO to win with two Brogue kicks in a row.

The lads.

Things picked up with match two, the four-way tag team championship match pitting defending champs the Prime Time Players against New Day, the Lucha Dragons and Los Matadores. Before the match New Day took some microphones to say that New York knew nothing about hip hop. Then they did some singing. It was great. None of the other entrances could compare.

The match was enjoyable and competently performed. Aside from several minutes of Kofi and Big E double teaming Darren Young it kept a quick pace and gave everyone except Los Matadores (who don't seem to actually matter to anyone in WWE) moments to shine. The Lucha Dragons got to work some slick doubles spots, including a monkey flip into a 450 form Sin Cara to Kalisto. New Day got to be irritating heels. D-Young got to be babyface in peril and Titus got to look like a beast when he received a hot tag and ploughed through everyone.

The finish saw the Luchas double suplex Fernando, with Titus power bombing them as they did so. Titus went for a cover but Kofi had made a blind tag and ran in to kick him in the face. Big E pulled Titus from the ring as Kofi covered Fernando to earn his team the tag straps for the second time. Which was the right result. With so many face teams on the roster, and the Usos getting closer to a comeback, New Day are the logical choice to sit atop the division. It doesn't hurt that they're the most over thing in it either.

Backstage Jon Stewart told Adrian Neville and Stephen Amell that he was pals with Undertaker. Then some spooky lighting was turned on (or off) and 'Taker strolled by, followed by dry ice. I'm sure somebody, somewhere found this hilarious.

Dolph Ziggler v Rusev was the next match. Lana was dressed in denim to match 'The Show Off' and looked faintly ridiculous. Despite liking everyone involved in this match I found myself not enjoying as much as I'd expected to. There were a few too many rest holds and lengthy selling spots while the various big bump spots felt uninspired. It never felt as though they'd brought the match up to full speed, surprising with Ziggler involved. That said I did like Ziggler's top rope X Factor and Rusev's tumbling senton.

The match ended in a draw. Rusev had the match won with the Accolade but released it when Lana slapped Summer Rae to the ground. Rusev then dragged Ziggler out of the ring and again got distracted by Lana, allowing Ziggler to sneak in a super kick. Neither man got back to the ring before the ten count. This finish, and the spirited post-match scuffle in which Lana and Summer did some nasty-looking hair-pulling, were presumably designed to set up a mixed tag match.

Stephen Amell, taking it like a champ.

The Neville and Amell v Stardust and King Barrett match was preceded by a fun recap video done in a style that was reminiscent of both comic book movie trailers in general and the Batman 60's TV show. It was great. As was the entrance of the Cosmic Kings. The match itself was also good, giving us exactly what we needed from it: Stardust going full-on supervillain, Amell holding his own, Neville playing the stand-up babyface, and Cosmic King Wade Bad News Barrett I acting like a creep who just wanted to win a match on pay-per-view. Stardust was the undeniable star. Based on his performance here he deserves a guest role on Arrow.

Amell was isolated for a while towards the beginning of the bout. Neville was eventually tagged in to hit some fancy flips to heat the audience back up. Surprisingly he also got the pin for his team, pinning Barrett off a Red Arrow. I'd expected Stardust to lie down for Amell. It felt like the natural finish but this was better. It was sensible to have one regular pin another.

After a self-congratulatory puff piece about how much WWE "gives back to the community" we got the triple threat match for the Intercontinental championship. Big Show v Miz v Ryback. Not the match we want but the match we deserve. It's possible that the highlight of the match was Ryback's singlet, which featured the Statue of Liberty with his face on the front and "Ryback Kong" scaling the Empire State Building on the back.

The story was that 'The Awesome One' wanted to leave the fighting to 'back and Show and pick up a win by sneaking in when both were exhausted. Which made sense for his character and the way WWE three-ways are usually booked. The match was good. Big Show put in some rarely seen effort by busting out a second rope somersault senton (yes, really). Ryback demonstrated his #incrediblepower by hitting Show with a spinebuster and Shellshock. Miz was great trying to steal wins on both guys and getting frustrated when he couldn't.

The finish could have been better though. Ryback took a KO punch as he hoisted Miz up for Shellshock. Miz broke up the following pin attempt and tried for one himself. Show swatted him off and hit him with the WMD punch. Before 'The World's Largest Athlete' could get the pin Ryback threw him out of the ring and covered 'The A-Lister' to retain. They didn't outstay their welcome and made good use of their time but I was surprised Ryback was booked to look so opportunistic. Pinning Miz instead of the more physically imposing Show did no favours to a guy's whose deal is meant to be power.

Backstage Jon Stewart knocked on Brock Lesnar's door. Paul Heyman answered. They discussed Lesnar ending The Streak and how it was a bad thing. It ended with Heyman singing and asking if Letterman was busy. Comedy is not WWE's strength.

Just a bunch of lads appreciating one another's vests.

One of the hottest feuds of the last few years was officially revived in match six. Former Shield boys Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns reunited to take on the Wyatt Family of Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt.  This was, as it was always going to be, one of the best matches of the night. They stuck to the old Shield v Wyatts formula of making liberal use of signature moves, suicide dives and double teams to ensure there was always something to hold the fans' attention.

Reigns got taken out of the match after the opening brawl, leaving Ambrose to survive alone for several minutes. Reigns would eventually return to the corner just in time to receive a tag from 'The Lunatic Fringe'. The Shield lads hit a Doomsday Device and the assisted power bomb before Reigns put 'The Eater of Worlds' down with a spear. Despite being surprisingly short at just eleven minutes the match was, as stated above, one of the best of the night. I'd have no problem with the feud continuing and us getting a rematch at Night of Champions.

Speaking of champions, the title versus title match was up after that. It was preceded by a great video package that began with Cena talking about the people of New York being everyday heroes (presumably a token effort at winning the crowd over) before moving onto Rollins breaking Cena's nose and the all-time tally of world title reigns Cena has. At fifteen he's one off Ric Flair's (official) record of sixteen. They made sure to include Cena's words to Triple H on the subject of Flair being his mentor, which really helped to emphasise the title versus title stuff and the importance and significance of Cena's sixteenth world title win, whether it was to come here or not.

The initial lockup was a stalemate. Cena got the best of the second with a headlock takedown. Rollins fought back to his feet, floored Cena with a drop kick, and mocked his "You can't see me" bit. That earned him a punch to the face and another headlock.

Good guys wear white.

Rollins fought back to his feet and hit Cena with a Blockbuster before knocking him out of the ring for a pair of suicide dives and a tope. Back in the ring Rollins reversed a back drop and took Cena down with a sling blade for a two count. Cena fired back with a belly-to-back suplex and prepared for a Five Knuckle Shuffle but Rollins kicked him in the head and went for a Pedigree. Cena back dropped out of it and nailed the springboard Stunner before getting the Shuffle he'd missed moments earlier.

Rollins slipped out of an early attempt at the AA onto the top rope then launched himself knees first into Cena. He followed that with a running Shooting Star Press for a two count. He kept control by hanging Cena in a tree of woe and blasting him with a double stomp from the top rope. 'The Future' trash-talked Cena and was grabbed for a desperation AA. He kicked out and made it back to his feet for a boo-yay punch exchange. Another Pedigree attempt failed, this time with Rollins ending up taking a face plant from Cena's shoulders.

Cena got his never less than dangerous-looking top rope leg drop as Rollins staggered to his feet. That earned him a two count. They mostly botched a second rope AA counter but Rollins just about held things together for a sunset buckle bomb. He followed that with a nice frog splash but Cena kicked out and hoisted the WWE champ into position for the Attitude Adjustment. Rollins landed on his feet, hit an enziguri and rolled through a cross body to hit Cena with an AA of his own.

When Cena kicked out Rollins went to his backup option of a phoenix splash. Cena avoided that and grabbed 'The Future' for the STF. Rollins was barely in the hold before Cena released it to reapply, at which point Rollins kicked him away. Cena recovered and attempted an AA. Rollins wriggled free and tried a Pedigree. Cena broke free of that and slapped on a figure four, nicely tying into the back-story of Cena trying to equal Flair's world title reign record.

Rollins managed to flip over onto his front, reversing the pressure and forcing Cena to make the ropes and break the hold (because it's Cena, of course he does both). Cena returned to the top rope but got cut off and superplexed, with Rollins performing a surprise roll-through into a falcon arrow. Cena kicked out but remained spent on the mat. Rollins tried the phoenix splash again but missed and got scooped up for an AA. Cena hit it, but not before a ref bump took place.

After checking on the referee (whadda guy!) Cena turned around and took a knee strike t the face, the same move that had broken his nose on RAW. At that point Jon Stewart ran down to the ring with a chair and, after several awkward pauses, tapped it into Cena's stomach. A recovered Rollins then Pedigreed Cena onto the chair to retain the WWE championship and win his first ever United States championship.

Screwy swerve turn finish involving a non-contracted former political pundit aside this was the match of the night. Rollins and Cena work well together and they once again showed it here. The finish was made far easier to stomach because I'd been expecting some sort of DQ that prevented either title changing hand. The change presents some interesting options for Night of Champions. Rollins making two separate defences could be interesting and something I'd like to see.

Booker T and Byron Saxton were irate at Stewart's action over at the analyst table. Corey Graves no-sold the finish and focused on the "history making" result. Booker put over New Day and did some clapping as Renee threw to the Divas trios three-way.

After a recap video that reminded us of Stephanie McMahon taking credit for Paige's on-screen quest for a better division we got a match that was somewhat of a mixed bag. There were a handful of sloppy moments but the most awkward aspect of the match was a booking decision: the match was fought under elimination rules and saw Team BAD out first, eliminated after Brie had pinned Tamina. This showed no foresight. Had Team Bella been the first team eliminated, at the hands of the team that wouldn't ultimately win, that would have demonstrated that the newcomers on both opposing teams are every bit as good as the more established women. It would have left the fresher faces to battle amongst themselves and set up all members of both teams as potential contenders to Nikki Bellas Divas title. A later half carried by Sasha Banks and the newer girls on the PCB team could have been great.

A lot of people have picked holes in this entire Divas revolution thing. For the most part I feel it's been a little unfair. I understand the grievances people have with it but I feel it's best to focus on the fact that WWE are at least trying to go in the right direction. But booking like this, that hampers the progression of the newcomers in favour of positioning the Bellas as formidable forces, is irritating and does nothing for anyone. Not even the Bellas benefited because Nikki now has fewer credible potential title challengers than she could have had.

There was a lot wrong here but the result was entirely correct.

It wasn't all bad. The Bellas hit a nice stereo suicide dive and Nikki did a nice Alabama slam on the outside. The audience were invested in Sasha Banks, despite her not getting a great deal to do. Alicia Fox broke out her beautiful northern lights suplex. And the right team won, Becky getting the win with what can generously be called a pump handle slam. Although even this didn't seen entirely sensible. Someone (Charlotte would likely have been the best choice, all things considered) should have pinned Nikki to set them up as an obvious challenger.

Cesaro v Kevin Owens took the semi-main event slot. The reactions they got for their entrances and during the match disproves the theory that WWE fans need a cool down period before a pay-per-view main event. Both guys entered performances that made it clear they had something to prove. Each guy hit a tope to the outside. Cesaro busted out a cross body from the top rope, a gut wrench suplex from the second, and a springboard uppercut. Owens pulled out a cannonball on the outside, an inverted TKO, a somersault leg drop, and the double jump moonsault. They worked, in the words of Steve Austin, snug. KO won an enjoyable match with a top rope fishermanbuster and the pop-up power bomb.

Which left only the Undertaker v Brock Lesnar main event. The pre-match video focused on the ending of The Streak, with a variety of wrestlers appearing as talking heads to give their opinion on the subject. I'm not going to go into the history of the match here. I did that in the preview, which you can read at this link. Suffice it to say I liked the way WWE built to this rematch.

This match set a brisk pace from the start. Lesnar jumped Undertaker as he entered the ring. 'Taker fought back and knocked 'The Beast' out of the ring and to the floor. Lesnar paced about a bit before returning and taking 'The Dead Man' down to the mat to hit him with forearms. The two then returned to their feet to trade right hands as duelling chants of "Undertaker!" and "Suplex City!" rang through the arena.

'Taker got the better of the punch exchange and set up to walk the ropes with Old School but got pulled into an F5 position. He escaped and went for a choke slam. Brock escaped that. And then the suplexes started.

Undertaker took a belly-to-belly and a German suplex before managing to drive 'The Pain' head-first into a turnbuckle. He followed up with snake eyes and a big boot which sent Lesnar tumbling out of the ring. There 'The Phenom' rushed his foe into the barricades before setting him up for the apron leg drop.

Brock recovered. They traded jabs. Undi' went for a choke slam. Lesnar slipped out of it in mid-air and hit a German suplex. Then another. And another. Undertaker rolled from the ring as the duelling chants started back up. Lesnar followed and cleared the French announce table (because nothing says an event is on the scale of WrestleMania like foreign language commentary teams being flown in). 'Taker recovered and tried to Last Ride Lesnar through the table but Lesnar broke free and F5ed him through instead.

Taker returned to the ring just before the ten count expired. Lesnar looked mildly shocked before telling Undertaker he'd kill him. Undertaker again told Lesnar he'd have to then hit him with a surprise choke slam and a Tombstone.

Lesnar kicked out and was the first to sit up. Undertaker was seconds behind him and they traded right hands as they returned to their feet. Lesnar locked in a kimura in the corner, which 'The Last Outlaw' countered into a Last Ride for a two count.

If only 'Taker had tapped when Robinson was there.

Lesnar hit an F5. Undertaker kicked out. Lesnar hit another. Undertaker kicked out again then trapped Lesnar in Hell's Gate. Lesnar powered out and applied the kimura. Then the shenanigans kicked in. Undertaker tapped out as the referee was in position checking to see if Lesnar's shoulders were down for a pin and the bell rang. The ref told the timekeeper it was his job to signal for the bell to ring. Undertaker took this opportunity to hit a low blow and got Lesnar back in the Hell's Gate. Officially the match ended with Lesnar flipping off the Undertaker as he faded into unconsciousness.

After the match Heyman took a mic and said that everyone had seen 'Taker tap out. He then declared Lesnar the winner via submission. The commentators bickered about the finish for a little longer before the show finally went off the air.

This was a finish designed to keep both men strong and, possibly, to set up a rematch. Based on this I've no interest in a third bout in the series. Neither man was helped by this ending. The match and the paying audience deserved a clear winner. Either Undertaker should have won for vengeance and to show he still has it ahead of his retirement or Lesnar should have won to keep his aura intact and so as not to invalidate The Streak ending. Personally I'd have preferred a Lesnar win. That would have kept him strong and allowed for an a story in which an Undertaker plagued by self doubt boldly announced he'll retire if he can't win at WrestleMania. They could even had had 'Taker enter the Royal Rumble and winning to show that he's still as good as ever.

Overall I thought SummerSlam was perfectly fine. It was not the show it needed to be though. There were too many poor booking choices, odd run times, and matches that simply didn't have enough reason to be happening to justify this being a four hour, ten match card. The main event and the title versus title match, the things the event was built around, both failed to deliver entirely satisfying endings and for that alone it's hard to see this SummerSlam as anything more than a good but flawed time.

***

Results summary:

Sheamus defeated Randy Orton
New Day defeated the Prime Time Players, Los Matadores and the Lucha Dragons to win the tag team championship
Doph Ziggler v Rusev ended in a count out draw
Stephen Amell and Adrian Neville defeated Stardust and Bad News Barrett
Ryback defeated The Miz and Big Show to retain the Intercontinental championship
Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose defeated Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper
Seth Rollins defeated John Cena to retain the WWE championship and win the United States championship
Paige, Charlotte and Becky Lynch defeated Team BAD and Team Bella
Kevin Owens defeated Cesaro
The Undertaker defeated Brock Lesnar via referee stoppage

WWE SummerSlam 2015 preview

Probably the most interesting thing to note about this year's SummerSlam is that it's the first time in what feels like years that there's been a WWE pay-per-view involving what feels like a substantial mid-card. It's become the norm to toss non-main event names into matches for the Intercontinental and US championships or pit them against established top boys like John Cena and Randy Orton in a token effort at getting them over. It's an approach that has yielded success occasionally (Cena v Owens) but has failed more often than not (Cena v Rusev, Cena v Wyatt).

I picked Cena as an example there deliberately. Despite being the biggest star on the roster it's actually Cena that's been at the heart of this mid-card resurgence. The Owens versus Cesaro rivalry has spun off from the Owens versus Cena rivalry. During that Owens was able to defeat Cena once, in a non-title match. He lost subsequent matches in which the US championship was up for grabs. Meanwhile Cena also made spirited defences against 'The Swiss Superman', with Owens interfering in many of them as he became increasingly frustrated at his own inability to beat Cena for the gold. He didn't want to see Cesaro accomplish something he was unable to.

We could also attribute the Rusev and Ziggler feud to Cena too, although his involvement there is less direct. He was the man who not only took the United States championship from Rusev but also handed him his first loss. This embarrassed 'The Super Athlete', causing him to flip out at his manager and girlfriend Lana¹. She left him and became empowered by her newfound single status because that's what happens in the good ol' US of A. There is no oppression for women, only empowerment. Anyway, while Lana was getting said empowerment (by hooking up with a new hot guy, obvs) Rusev suffered further televised losses, highlighting how important Lana had been to his career prior to their split.

Deciding to show that he was totes over Lana, Rusev hooked up with Summer Rae and encouraged her to dress like Lana. Because he'd been cast as a psychology ex-boyfriend and that's totally what psycho ex-boyfriends do. Summer also proved willing to act more submissive to Rusev, a reversal of the Lana-Rusev relationship in which it was Lana who was the dominant force. All of which could have become a very interesting story exploring the nature of relationships, moving on, and getting hung up on exes. But it didn't. Not because wrestling is ill-equipped for this sort of thing (I actually think this type of story is something wrestling can excel at) but because it wasn't given enough thought towards the start and was later hampered by Dolph Ziggler, Lana's new beau, disappearing after a beating from big Ru².

Cena himself will be both defending his United States championship and challenging for the WWE world championship. He'll be in a title versus title match against Seth Rollins. The idea here is absolutely sound. Since becoming a four time US champ at WrestleMania Cena has, amazingly, made the title mean something with exciting weekly title defences against some of the best wrestlers on the roster. Meanwhile Rollins has been a cowardly world champion, relying on interference, favourable rules and other assorted cheating to keep hold of the belt.

The story essentially sees a worthy champion who takes pride in defending and retaining his prize the right way facing off with a champion who cares only about protecting his status. It's an interesting look at what it actually means to be a champion in wrestling, and is noteworthy because it is emphatically not the sort of thing WWE usually does. Despite the high chance of the match having a screwy finish (to avoid titles changing hands) I'm looking forward to this match, because another way of looking at the match is to see it as the natural culmination of Cena's streak of matches against The New School: he's facing the original NXT champion, Triple H's on-screen golden boy, Seth Rollins. It's basically the ultimate US Open Challenge without actually being part of that series.

Away from Cena-spurred plots there's been the issues between Stardust and Green Arrow star Stephen Amell. Stardust, believing himself to be a real life super villain, took exception to Amell being in attendance at an episode of RAW and attacked him. Amell leapt the barrier and fought back (which security allowed because WWE are marks for outside talent). 'Don't Call Him Adrian' Neville then got involved, because he wears a cape and performs a move called the Red Arrow, making him a natural Amell ally in Stardust's mind. Then King Bad News Wade Barrett I got involved too, because tag matches, playa³!

Summarised here it sounds entirely daft. It has been, but to be fair that's the point of it. Stardust is a deranged character and that's what's driven the story. It works and it's a nice change of pace from the stuff that usually makes it onto RAW.

The Sheamus versus Randy Orton rivalry has continued from last month. I failed to care about it then and I still feel the same way now. 'The Viper's' character is deathly dull right now and the most interesting thing about 'The Celtic Warrior' is that he has a Money in the Bank briefcase to cash in. I don't necessarily think it will happen on this show but if it did it would be the most interesting thing Sheamus did all evening.

Rounding out the non-tag mid-card action is a triple threat for the Intercontinental championship. Originally scheduled for last month's Battleground it had to be postponed because Ryback suffered some sort of super-gross hernia. That show gave us a brief altercation between Miz and Big Show, his scheduled opponents, that hinted at 'The World's Largest Athlete' turning face (again) with the match itself being postponed because it was too valuable to simply not do⁴. Ultimately Big Show would remain a heel, surprising the many of us who have become accustomed to frequent Show swerve turns.

In all honesty I quite like this triple threat. I don't mind Ryback and I can appreciate The Miz for the effective heel he is. Big Show isn't especially welcome but if he has to be on a card this is the sort of level he should be at. It's the kind of match that establishes 'The Big Guy' as a legitimate champ, beating two upper mid-card lads at once. It doesn't hurt the IC title either, and that's not something we've been getting to say much over the last several years.

Outside of the main event the rest of the card is comprised of tag matches. The natural culmination of the rejuvenated Divas division, a nine woman, three-way trios match, has been booked already. I understand why this was done: it gets everyone on the show. The trouble is that it's a match that fees like it should end the current era of the Divas division. As the current era only started on July 13 this feels premature.

Meanwhile the tag belts will be defended in a four-way match even more blatantly slung together to get more lads onto the card to kill time. If it gets long enough it should be fun but it will be too busy and spot-heavy to become something meaningful.

Which is something that can't be said for the Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose versus Wyatt Family match. This is a rivalry that started with Bray randomly attacking Roman and cutting enigmatic promos that seemed to hint at the involvement of the latter's kid. Family-stuff aside this shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone: all Bray Wyatt feuds begin with him attacking someone for literally no reason at all.

The end of their singles match at Battleground saw Luke Harper run-in and throw Reigns into a ring post, allowing 'The Eater of Worlds' to win. This signalled the reunion of the Wyatt Family, a faction which makes the already enjoyable Harper and Wyatt so much better. Wyatt is more eerie when he has vacant followers at his beck and call, while Harper benefits from being associated with someone who can provide him with things to do.

Reigns brought in backup against the Family in the form of his buddy and old Shield teammate Dean Ambrose. The original plan was apparently for Sting to join up with Ambrose and Reigns but when Erick Rowan was unable to rejoin the Wyatt flock (because he's not healed up from an injury yet) that was nixed. Frankly it feels like a bullet was dodged there. 'The Stinger' would almost certainly have looked out of place alongside Reigns and Ambrose and I can't imagine a match involving him in the Seth Rollins spot could have done justice to the enjoyable Shield-Wyatts showdowns we had in 2014.

Which just leaves the main event: Brock Lesnar versus The Undertaker. There's so much history to this that I doubt I can do it justice in a couple of paragraphs but I'll give it a go...

WrestleMania XXX saw Lesnar hand 'Taker his first ever defeat at in the series' history. This was a significant deal because 'The Dead Man' had appeared at twenty-one previous 'Mania's and it was the sort of record that nobody in wrestling ever gets close to. It's something that not even the greatest of bookers could have planned.

This victory shocked pretty much everyone and set Lesnar up as an unstoppable beast, to the point where his advocate Paul Heyman actually began referring to him as 'The Beast Incarnate'. Lesnar went on a tear, trouncing John Cena in a staggeringly one-sided match for the WWE championship at SummerSlam 2014 and holding the gold until WrestleMania 31 eight months later. Though he lost the title at 'Mania he was not pinned or submitted: Seth Rollins cashed in his magical get-a-title-match-whenever-you-like contract and pinned Lesnar's opponent, Roman Reigns, to become the champ.

Naturally this annoyed 'The Beast' and he went nuts the next night on RAW. This caused on-screen bosses The Authority to suspend indefinitely. Surprisingly that suspension didn't actually last too long and Lesnar was brought back for his contractually obligated rematch with Rollins at Battleground. There 'The Pain' seemed to be on course to win the title back... until the lights cut out and came back on to reveal The Undertaker.

'The Phenom' made short work of Lesnar at Battleground, giving him a choke slam, a pair of Tombstone piledrivers and a kick in the privates. Things would be different the next evening on RAW: Lesnar was prepared and they had an intense brawl that saw a large portion of the roster hit the ring to join security in holding the two powerhouses apart. Since then Undertaker has (glossed over his return earlier in the year to defeat Wyatt at WrestleMania and) revealed that the reason he attacked Lesnar was that he was tired of Heyman going on and on and on and on and on and on about The Streak being taken from him. On the one hand you can empathise with 'Taker on that: it was humiliating. But on the other Heyman was obviously going to talk it up because it will go down as one of the biggest moment's of his client's career.

Basically this is being built as a big deal of a rematch. It absolutely is but there are slight problems with the premise. Firstly, the conflict between the two centres around Undertaker's Streak, so having them face off at event that isn't WrestleMania feels peculiar. Secondly, it feels strange for 'Taker to be positioned as the heel. And he is being positioned as the heel, whether people are going to react to him as one or not. He's kicked Brock low twice. It's nice in that it plays up Undertaker's I-will-gain-vengeance-at-any-cost mentality but at this point in his career (very likely less than a year away from retiring after playing the same character for two and a half decades) it feels like Undie should be a babyface.

Which isn't to say the match won't be good. It will be. Undertaker suffered a concussion in their WM30 showdown and he'll want to prove all the doubters that say he can't have a cracking match anymore wrong. When they feuded in 2003 (admittedly twelve years and many injures ago) Lesnar and 'Taker had wild chemistry. There's no reason to think they don't still have it. They just need to avoid head trauma to get through this.

All of which brings me to predictions. Rollins v Cena seems like a shmoz waiting to happen. Ryback retaining seems like a safe assumption seeing as it's his first title reign in WWE and he's not really gotten to do much yet, while the time feels right for a title change with the tag straps. I'd like to say the Lucha Dragons will win but I think New Day could regain to set up a proper title chase for Sin Cara and Kalisto (which they totally deserve). In the same vein I think Paige, Becky and Charlotte could win their Divas triple threat to set them up as the top contenders for Nikki's championship.

I'll be surprised if the celebrity special tag bout doesn't end with Stephen Amell proving he can defeat fully trained and experienced professional wrestlers, because WWE, as stated above, love to make outside stars look strong (although admittedly this wouldn't be the worst decision in the world). I expect the other big tag match to be won by Reigns and Ambrose. A swerve turn by Ambrose seems likely at some point because it's the sort of feud that could stretch for a while and see Reigns through to December or January, when he can start focusing on winning the WWE title again. SummerSlam seems the wrong time for it though: if it happened the NYC crowd would favour Ambrose, making Reigns look like a heel and a chump. I can't believe WWE would want to put their next golden boy, who they've been handling with kid gloves, in that situation.

Orton v Sheamus, Cesaro v Owens and Ziggler v Rusev could each go either way. I'll pick Sheamus, because it's his turn, Owens, because the company has seemed higher on him lately than tey have Cesaro (and they can book him to cheat), and Ziggler because Lana shenanigans are Rusev's Achilles heel.

The main event is tough. I could see each guy going over. Undertaker "needs" his win back and further rebuilding for his last hurrah next year (assuming it's coming). Lesnar needs to remain the dominating, unstoppable force he's been for much of the past few years. The Streak ending stalled Undertaker and caused the final years of his career to lose steam, because without The Streak he's pretty much just an old lad with a phantastical gimmick who may or may not deliver once the bell ring. Having the suspense his Streak provided really helped him. It's not on the same scale but Lesnar's continued dominance helps him in a similar fashion. It's for that reason that I hope 'The Beast' wins, just as I hoped he'd lose on the night he became 'The Conqueror of The Streak'.

***

Predictions summary:

Brock Lesnar to defeat The Undertaker
John Cena v Seth Rollins to end in a draw
Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns to defeat The Wyatt Family
Paige, Becky Lynch and Charlotte to defeat BAD and Team Bella
Kevin Owens to defeat Cesaro
Adrian Neville and Stephen Amell to defeat Stardust and King Barrett
Ryback to retain the Intercontinental championship against The Miz and Big Show
New Day to win the tag team championship
Dolph Ziggler to defeat Rusev
Sheamus to defeat Randy Orton

***

¹ Here I just want to pause and comment on the nature of the Rusev-Lana relationship. Between Rusev's debut and WrestleMania 31 the pair seemed to be nothing more than colleagues. Once Rusev went crazy and blamed Lana for his loss to Big Match Jern in an I Quit match this was retconned and we were informed that they'd basically been knocking boots all along.

Which would be fine if it weren't for the confusing wrinkle that Rusev and Lana are a real life couple who love together. When they were being presented as manager and client they were dating. Now they're separated on-screen but still dating. This is one of those times when the best thing to do is roll your eyes and say "Wrestling, eh?"

² In reality he was filming a probably terrible WWE Studios film.

³ Holla holla!

⁴ At least that's wat I'm assuming WWE thinks. Obviously Ryback versus The Miz versus Big Show is not an especially great match but at least assuming there's some value attached to it within the company gives it some logical reason for happening here.