Summerslam 2014
Summerslam 2014 takes place in the Staples Center Los Angles, as it has done for the past 5 years, this PPV is headlined by Brock Lesnar Vs. John Cena, a feud which has predominantly been built via video packages and Paul Heyman. Here I will give you my thoughts and predictions on the event.
Summerslam has 8 matches on the card this year. As of writing no pre-show match has been announced.
- Rusev Vs. Jack Swagger in a "Flag" match. I personally do not feel much excitement for this match as at the previous PPV Jack Swagger lost clean to Rusev. So where can the story go from here? Chris Jericho Vs. Bray Wyatt is another match on the card which suffers from this, we have already seen the wrong person lose clean. Rusev and Lana are WWE's most controversial characters, as seen at the "Battleground" PPV. Lana's infamous promo alluding to the MH17 disaster garnered bad press for WWE. But bad press is better than no press some people say, so maybe WWE will add fuel to the fire by having Rusev continue his winning streak. I actually believe Rusev will go toe to toe with Cena at some point which is why I believe he will not be losing any time soon.
- Dolph Ziggler Vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship. I unfortunately think The Miz has this match won, which is a shame as the fans are just not invested in him. His return was embarrassing to watch, and he received a very lukewarm reaction, which is the opposite to the reactions Dolph Ziggler gets on a weekly basis. the Miz will win, as he has a movie to promote, which is why he returned then had the IC belt thrown on him in quick succession. Rumour has it Dolph was the original choice to win the battle royal for the IC title at Battleground but they went with Miz as he is the "Hollywood" superstar *laughs* they are trying to create right now. This leads me to believe Miz will successfully retain his belt for the upcoming "Marine 4" promotional drive.
As for Dolph Ziggler, his career over the past few years has been quite sad to watch. He is a fan favourite yet WWE refuse to let him reach the top when he has the tools to be a superstar. "Lets go Ziggler" chants regularly echo WWE arenas yet Zigglers only taste of main event gold have been blink and you miss it moment. His first WHC reign only lasting a few minutes. His second only a few months, some of that off TV with a concussion. I think part of the "Ziggler" problem is he is too good at "Selling" so he is used to make his opponents look good. This means he will always be on the losing end of matches.
- Chris Jericho Vs. Bray Wyatt in a singles match. I hope to see Chris Jericho put Bray Wyatt over here, one thing Chris Jericho is very good for is putting over younger talent - for example losing clean to Fandango at Wrestlemania. How many superstars would put over a newbie like Fandango on the biggest stage of them all? This has been a very entertaining feud to watch. The Sister Abigail on the stage Y2J took was a realhighlight and the face to face sit down promo last week on Smackdown (8/8/14) was a classic. We have already seen Bray take one loss in this feud. which is why I hope to see Bray pick up a much needed PPV win at Summerslam.
Bray Wyatt is a enigmatic character who has managed to capture the fans imagination and literally take the whole world in his hands. He has the tools to be a big superstar in WWE's main event scene, beating the man who beat Austin/Rock in the same night would be a nice thing for Bray to have on his resumé.
- Brie Bella Vs. Stephanie McMahon. Former Womens Champion Stephanie McMahon comes out of retirement to face former Divas Champion Brie Bella. This feud has been intense with both women enjoying a night in the slammer. It was born on Stephanie McMahons dislike of the man she dubbed a B+ player Daniel Bryan and one fateful slap at Payback.
This feud was made more personal on RAW (11/08/14) this week by the introduction of Daniel Bryans personal trainer "Megan". She claims to have had relations with Daniel which means he cheated on Brie, (Claire Lynch anyone? TNA viewers will get that reference) logic says Steph is paying Megan to say these things.
I believe the result of this match can go both ways depending on the result of the other divas match at Summerslam. Brie Bella could win and go on to face the new Divas champion Paige. With Brie now using the yes lock we could see a submission match there. Stephanie McMahon could pick up the win by Nikki Bella turning heel on her sister and costing her the match. The reason for this being she blames her for the suffering she endured (the handicap matches) aswell as "Abandoning" her in favour of her husband.
- Paige Vs. AJ Lee for the Divas Championship. "Turnabout is fair play" is the tagline I would use for this feud. On the post Wrestlemania RAW Paige debuted in shocking fashion by defeating the longest reigning divas champion in history also becoming the youngest divas champion of all time. AJ Lee disappeared from TV whilst Paige reigned had some entertaining matches with the likes of Alicia Fox and Naomi, showing the world her title win was not a fluke. On the June 30th of RAW AJ Lee returned and defeated Paige for the belt, in the same way Paige won it. AJ Lee and Paige would go on to develop a rather cute friendship which ended on the July 21st RAW when Paige attacked AJ Lee post match. We have seen Paige go on to attack AJ Lee again by shoving her from the stage on the August 1st Smackdown. I think we will see Paige prove her dominance, and that WWE is her house, by winning the divas championship for a 2nd time.
- Roman Reigns Vs. Randy Orton. This match I think is missing a stipulation. The build up for this match has included Randy Orton RKO-ing Roman through a table and Randy blaming Roman Reigns for his lack of a title shot at Summerslam. I think Roman Reigns will win this match and have a strong showing as he is being groomed for a future WWE title run. I feel as though this match is a bit of a consolation, as it should have been Roman Reigns Vs. HHH. That match idea was abandoned in favour of Orton/Reigns.
- Dean Ambrose Vs. Seth Rollins in a Lumberjack match. I feel as though this match is a bit of a missed opportunity with the MITB briefcase not being on the line. You would think Dean would want to extract revenge the biggest way possible by taking the thing his former shield mate values the most - his MITB case. I think Seth Rollins will win this match as WWE will not want Dean to get too popular.They would not want anyone outshining their pet project Roman Reigns at the moment.
This has been a very heated feud from the second Rollins turned on his former team mates. We have seen Ambrose banned from arenas before scheduled matches, have the deck stacked against him by the authority and pour coke and popcorn into Seths MITB briefcase. This is by far one of WWE's most entertaining feuds, and I honestly feel sad by the prospect of it ending any time soon.
- Brock Lesnar Vs. John Cena for the WWE Title. *sighs* I am just not invested in this match at all, the build for it has been very very lackluster to me. I did not really appreciate them building an important title match via video packages. Cena/Lesnar did not have a in ring confrontation together till only 6 days before the event. The main thought I have about this match is, if Cena wins does that mean he is better than The Undertaker? Cena will have done what Taker could not. Lesnar is a "Part timer" on limited dates, so if he does win the belt, he will not appear week in week out. I have read reports that suggest Lesnar winning the belt, and keeping it through to Wrestlemania where he would defend against Roman Reigns with Roman finally becoming Champion.
#BelieveInRomanReigns?
I see Summerslam 2014 providing a few potential matches of the year, with Dean Ambrose Vs. Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt Vs. Chris Jericho strong contenders. I do have a fear Summerslam will not be a event for the "fans", with potential for Bray/Ambrose losses and Cena winning. The matches I am looking forward too the most are Ambrose/Rollins and Brie/Steph as each of those feuds have intense backstories with some amazing on screen moments/build.
This has been a blog post by Ruth Barber, you can find me at xRuthStarx on twitter. Kindest Regards!
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