WWE SummerSlam 2013 in hindsight

SummerSlam was one of the top PPV events of the year

The build-up was strong and the Superstars were red hot as we set foot in Staples Center, Los Angeles for the fifth consecutive year for what was bound to be an electric and emotionally charged WWE SummerSlam.

Coming on the heels of an amazing go home show of Monday Night RAW on 12th August, we were left with a new Special Guest Referee for the WWE Championship Match, Triple H, a charged up Daniel Bryan holding the WWE universe in the palm of his hands and a lurking Viper sending the message of a looming threat. And boy, did all those things add up to give us one of the best PPV events WWE has produced this year!

Things kicked off with the WWE United States Title Pre-Show match featuring Rob Van Dam versus Dean Ambrose. Right from the get-go, Staples Center assured us that this crowd wasn’t going to be as lacklustre as the ones it had produced before, and kept booing and cheering through the night.

This match was strong, allowing RVD to showcase his unique offence against Dean Ambrose who commendably held his own. Interference was on its way as the rest of The Shield got involved, drawing out Big Show and Mark Henry for the saves, ultimately leading to a DQ victory for RVD and setting up possible matches for the Night of Champions.

The Ring of Fire match came first on the PPV and showcased a good match between Kane and Bray Wyatt. Though throughout the match one could feel that Bray had to depend on his lackeys to finally get the job done, this outing for Bray Wyatt did not project him as a dominant wrestler but more like the leader of a heel faction who needs his thugs to get the job done. Nevertheless, the eerie image of the Wyatts carrying Kane to the back did do its job, and left the Wyatts looking strong.

Damien Sandow vs Cody Rhodes was up next and these two extremely talented individuals looked equally strong, with the right amounts of theatrics and wrestling involved for the viewer’s pleasure. The feud is going strong, with the fans right behind Cody and Damien Sandow playing the villain to perfection. If they carry this on right from here, I could potentially see Cody challenging Sandow for the briefcase at Night of Champions.

The World Heavyweight Title Match pitting Christian against Alberto Del Rio was definitely a ‘match of the night’ candidate, showcasing ADR’s amazing in-ring abilities against the veteran Christian, who seems to be able to pull a good match out of anyone.

Though Christian’s mild to lukewarm responses from the WWE universe sometimes make me think that he might need to do more to revitalize his career, being the talented performer that he is, he deserves to get those massive props from the audience who definitely want to see more of Captain Charisma. The match ended with ADR making Christian tap out to the Cross Arm Breaker following which he cut a very face-like promo, endearing himself to the Latino community which actually left me a bit confused as to what direction was being taken with him now.

Natalya vs Brie Bella was supposed to be the breather match that WWE usually gives after a charged up match to allow the audience to recover and re-energize for the next big one. But it actually turned out to be a fairly good encounter, showcasing maybe one too many rest holds by Brie Bella. Nevertheless, the Total Divas seems to be looming all around this event from the very beginning and WWE seems to be giving it a lot of focus.