This past Sunday I was given the distinct pleasure of introducing World Wrestling Entertainment to Porch Podcast comrades Phil, Doug and Producer Jeremy, who had not been privy to the world of Sports Entertainment since childhood. While Summer Slam turned out to be full of almost all entertaining matches – which I am very grateful for – what I believe I enjoyed most was trying to explain each character’s background and motivation, supplemented by introducing them to a whole new vocabulary of terms such as ‘Face,’ ‘Heel,’ and ‘Stable.’
After many drinks and pizza rolls consumed later, I believe the night has proven to be a success and I hope to get each of their opinions during the next PorchCast, or teased in the comments below. Whether this turns into a running segment, or a ridiculous twitch stream of us playing the upcoming WWE 2k15 video game, which is looking increasingly impressive, I’m quite pleased with how everyone got into it despite the source material being as bad as it is.
What I wished to talk about tonight however, was the reveal of the new WWE World Championship title, awarded to Brock Lesnar after his complete destruction of John Cena last night. This new belt, seen below, was created after merging the two existing titles, the former WWE Champion title, along with the the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (also known as the WCW NWO World Heavyweight Championship, or the ‘Big Gold Belt.’) I do have to say I like the new logo a lot, and this new belt seems significantly bigger than the old WWE title, however I’ll always be a sucker for Big Gold. Click below for a quick breakdown of the fight results.
Summer Slam ended up being the perfect Pay Per View to introduce the group to, as it had nearly all entertaining and physical fights, with quite a few upsets and surprises;
- The Pre-show opened with a rusty Rob Van Dam rolling around the ring with Cesaro, who cannot seem to catch a break. (Winner RVD)
- Dolph Ziggler stunned me personally – a happy surprise – finishing The Miz clean to obtain the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship for his second reign. This would be a month after The Miz stole Ziggler’s win during the Battle Royal for the title. I honestly thought we would have had a few months of fueding before Ziggler finally won, but he also managed to retain the title on tonight’s Monday Night Raw in a rematch! (Winner, new IC Champion Dolph Ziggler
- Another title change and surprise win; Divas Paige and AJ Lee faced off for the second month in a row, this time the Divas’ Championship falling back to Paige for her second reign as the title holder. Phil specifically was a fan of this match. (Winner and new Divas Champion, Paige.)
- Probably the most boring match of the night, was the one we knew the least about; Jack Swagger (who’s shirt I had happened to be wearing) lost to the Russian Russev in a ‘Flag Match.’ What is a flag match you ask? That’s a great question, and after watching it I still couldn’t answer it. I do know I am upset that Swagger came out with a newer shirt than the one I was wearing. What a jerk. At least we got to see Lana. (Winner, Russev.)
- Another surprise of the night was Seth Rollins win over Dean Ambrose during their Lumberjack Match. While the intention of the stipulation is to ensure the entire locker room of wrestlers stays outside the ring to force the two competitors back in, both Seth and Dean ended up fighting all over the arena, and not just with each other. Mr Money in the Bank managed to eek out another win with the aid of his briefcase, which resulted in an (I’ve heard) amazing rematch the following night on RAW. (Winner, Seth Rollins.)
- My all time favorite Chris Jericho lost to creepy swamp man Bray Wyatt. This match was one of the less entertaining of the group to be honest, and while I like both of these guys, I struggle to understand what they are going for. I hope this feud ends soon. (Winner, Bray Wyatt.)
- One final surprise of the night Brie Bella lost to the beautiful Stephanie McMahon with the aid of interference from Brie’s own twin sister Nikki. Oh the drama! *Cough, another Phil favorite.* (Winner, Stephanie McMahon!)
- Randy Orton unfortunately jobbed to Roman Reigns who continues to receive an undeserved push. (Winner, Roman Reigns.)
- Finally, what was most assuredly not a surprise, was the complete domination of John Cena by Brock Lesnar. I don’t believe I’ve seen this many suplexes before in my life, to the point where Brock turned so red I thought the blood was going to burst through his pores. Honestly I don’t care for either of them, I just hope the title goes to someone deserving sooner rather than later – Not Roman Reigns.. (Winner Brock Lesnar.)
Where is Sting?