WWE Summerslam 08 In Depth Results
Find Out What Happened at WWE's Biggest Blockbuster of the Summer
Summerslam has long been regarded as the third biggest Pay Per View event of the year, behind Wrestlemania and the Royal Rumble, however after seeing this year's card many fans were left wondering the same thing; Can it live upto expectations?
With practically every match on the card receiving less than a month of build up, the event felt a little rushed, but like every Summerslam it had the odd redeeming moment and one 'hell' of a finale.
Before reading on, why not check out:
for predictions, information on match build-up and rumours surrounding the event, as well as basic results.
Opening Matches
The first match of the night saw Smackdown's Jeff Hardy and MVP tangle in a fairly average match. Both MVP and Jeff put in a solid performance with some pretty impressive spots; however it just didn't have the level of excitement that a triple threat match for the U.S Title would have done.
Shelton Benjamin must have been thinking along the same lines as he decided to make his way to ringside and distracted Hardy long enough for MVP to pick up the victory.
Raw's opening bout was the 'Winner Takes All' inter-gender tag match and very surprisingly Morella and Phoenix picked up the win and the titles.
Phoenix picked up the pinfall over Mickey James shortly after she had delivered a jump-swinging DDT to Santino.
Disappointment
Next up was the ECW title match. This could have been a show stealer; it could have been a hard fought contest between a high quality performer (Matt Hardy) and someone who has improved vastly in the past half a year (Mark Henry).
What it turned out to be, was a disgrace, an insult to every member of the ECW brand and a slap in the face to all the ECW, Matt Hardy and Mark Henry fans (the latter may well be in the minority, but a slap in the face to them none the less).
In a match that can't have lasted much longer than a minute, Matt Hardy hit a Twist Of Fate and looked to be heading for victory, when Henry's apparent mentor and WWE hall of famer Tony Atlas blatantly interfered in order to save the title.
The second of three world title matches came up next, when C.M Punk took on JBL. JBL put in his usual slow but steady performance while Punk hit some decent offence and started to look like the champion the fans want him to be.
Punk finally picked up an 'untainted' victory when he pinned JBL after a GTS, however he also picked up a legitimate knock when JBL fell after a kick and their heads cracked together with enough force to split the back of Punk's open, leaving him bleeding for the remainder of the match.
More Disappointment
The third and final title match of the night was almost as disappointing as the ECW bout, when The Great Khali took on HHH.
This match was around 15 minutes of domination by Khali, ending with HHH pulling a Pedigree out of nowhere and retaining his title, which served only to make the god-awful Punjabi nightmare look good and the great HHH look, well, lucky.
Literally anyone on the roster could have put on a better match with HHH and its sad that 'the powers that be' assume everybody loves a big man. Not to mention the fact that pushing Khali is futile given that his future in the WWE is likely to be short term due to injury problems.
Headliners
The John Cena Vs Batista match was exactly what it was designed to be. No, it wasn't the best wrestled match in the world, it certainly wasn't the best build up, but it WAS an interesting match.
A few of the near falls will no doubt have had fans on the edge of their seats, but the real interest came from trying to guess just who was going to get the win, the first victory in what is sure to be an epic rivalry, and in the end it was The Animal, Batista.
Given the right amount of time for the rivalry to build, this match would have made a great main event, which it may well still do, but at Summerslam 2008 it was totally upstaged by the Smackdown main event.
Hell in a Cell steals the show
Fire began to erupt from around the staging area as The Undertakers music hit, and after two long months The Undertaker once again made his way down the ramp where Edge was waiting for him inside the demonic Hell in a Cell structure.
From the first bell to the last both men put in amazing performances risking it all to put on a match worthy of Summerslam's legacy. There were shattered tables, bent chairs, ladders and bloodied ring-steps scattered in and around the ring, and even pieces of the cell un-attached by the time The Undertaker drilled Edge with a camera and hit the Tombstone to get the 1-2-3.
The Aftermath
The events that took place after the final bell made this Pay Per View truly magical though. In a stunt reminiscent of the Attitude era of the late 90's/early 00's, The Undertaker would chokeslam Edge from the top of the ladder, through the canvas of the ring, leaving a hole from which the very fires of hell began to erupt.
Whether this will lead to a period of absence for Edge remains to be seen, but if it does he can at least bask in the knowledge that he and The Deadman stole the show on an otherwise average Pay Per View.
"The Great Khali's WWE future in doubt" Randy Gordon. 2008 <Link> 18th August 2008
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