SummerSlam 2013

August 18th from LA, California.
Attendance: 14,166
Buys: 298,000

SummerSlam is my fave PPV and this one has potential as I have high hopes that Brock will bring the goods and tell a good story Vs. Punk and Bryan/Cena should be good.

Miz is put as we have a cold open then Fandango and Summer Rae come out and tango then we go to the opening video, will they get a PPV Pay Cheque for that?

National Anthem is sung by someone from Total Divas, JoJo I think?

Ring Of Fire- Kane Vs. Bray Wyatt
 I had two ideas coming in either they'd be eating vindaloos or throwing Johnny Cash records at each other turns out it's an Inferno Match where pinfalls and submissions count, rendering the stip moot. Wyatt's theme is like an acoustic Nirvana. Kane blocks a suplex then hits one of his own. Bray does hit a corner splash but is then clothesline and slid slammed as Kane is on top. Harper has a kendo stick but can't get it to Bray due to flames. Kane hits three Chokeslams then Harper and Rowan use a fire blanket on the fire and attack Kane then Bray hits Sister Abigail for the 3 count. *1/2
- The stip was rendered pointless by the ending kind of how cage matches are done to stop interference but nearly always have some, bad opening to the show.

Josh Matthews, Booker-T, Vickie Guerrero and Shawn Michaels are the superstar panel.

Damien Sandow Vs. Cody Rhodes 
 Damien is MITB, he won that by turning on Cody which makes him the bad guy even though they're every man for himself matches. As of writing he cashed that in about a fortnight ago and lost, unsure as to whether this'll lead to a face chase or nothing (turned out nothing). Front suplex gets Cody an early 2. Sandow is now on top and blocks Cross Rhodes, locks in a nice sharpshooter variation. Cody uses the Muscle Buster of all things then does a punch ala Goldust. Cody gets 2s by blocking a sunset flip then another from a disaster kick but does go one better getting the 3 count off of a Cross Rhodes, why do MITB winners seem to go on losing streaks surely they should be built up. *** - A sound and solid undercard match but it did seem shorter than I expected.

A video plays of Christians career.

World Heavyweight Title - Alberto Del Rio (c) Vs. Christian
 Christians title shot seems random hasn't he been injured since about 2011? I doth not dig title shots out of nowhere as they devalue the championship. ADR has a black eye which he got in a bar fight. ADR makes Lilian introduce him in Spanish. Even start until Christian gets the upperhand. Del Rio attacks as he has Christian in the tree-of-woe. ADR is working the arm/shoulder, I like when they do things like that which make sense due to ADRs Cross Arm Breaker finisher. Christian hits a splash to outside then back in hits 10 corner punches and gets 2 off a crossbody. Kill Switch is avoided and ADR hits a backstabber. Christian registers another 2 count off a top rope hurricanrana. ADR avoids a Spear with a dropkick but then is hit with a Spear but nice touch as Christian can't capitalize and Del Rio gets the win via his Cross Armbreaker. ***1/2 - Solid WHC match that drew the fans in, just two pros doing there thing.

Miz chats to Maria Menounos. Fandango and Summer Raw dance again.

Brie Bella Vs. Natalya
 Not much of note until Brie Bella and Eva Marie pull away the apron so Natalya takes a hard looking fall. Sharpshooter is countered. Calgary Slam leads to another Sharpshooter as Natalya wins. *1/2 - Too short to mean anything really, if Divas aren't given time then what can they do?

Ryback bullies some guy in the back, nothing screams heel more than pouring soup on a kitchen guy.

No DQ - Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) Vs. CM Punk
 We see clips of Heyman and Punk bigging each other up, looks like it's from Punks DVD. Maybe it's the NCAA/UFC history or just his size alone but no-one brings intensity and the feeling that something good's going to go down than Brock Lesnar. The power advantage is used by Brock from the off. Punk has Lesnar down with kicks, he goes to follow up with steps shots but Brock just runs at him. Punk has Heyman until Lesnar makes the save. Brock just throws Punk over the announce table, I'm loving this so far. Lesnar does a double stomp which I imagine is akin to Mario stomping a Goombah. Brock has been on top 95% of the time and that continues as he catches Punk on a crossbody and hits a fallaway slam. Punk channels his inner Tyson and bites Lesnar, Punk hits some corner knees but Lesnar avoids a third however he can't hit the F5. Punk hits his top rope elbow, GTS and F5 are both avoided. Lesnar counters the GTS to a Kimura but Punk counters it to a triangle but Brock breaks that with a powerbomb, i'm so drawn into this one that I was worried that Brock was going to tap out, can't remember the last time that happened. Punk hits a Foley elbow, with a chair, onto Brock for a 2 count. Brock attempts an F5 but Punk grabs Heyman so Brock can't do it. GTS is hit but Heyman breaks the pin. F5 is countered with a DDT onto a chair but it only gets 2, Anaconda Vice is applied then soon after Punk has it locked in on Heyman so Brock whacks him with a chair then an F5 onto a chair gets Lesnar the 3 count, Lesnar wins!! ****1/2 - 
Not enjoyed a match this much in a long time, I knew I was drawn in when I was worried Lesnar was going to lose. Fun seeing Lesnar just toss Punk around like a rag doll. Brilliant.

Ziggler/Kaitlyn Vs. AJ Lee/Big E
 AJ is Divas Champion. Big belly-to-belly by Big E. Abdominal stretch is applied, wait quick I must dust off my old joke, no one's tapped out to that move since 1961. AJ gets 2 as Kaitlyn strolls into a heel kick. Couple of neckbreakers by AJ then she skips around. Ziggler in and he's all over Big E, like how all NFL teams not named Tennessee are all over Jacksonville. Big E almost snaps Dolph in half with a corner charge. AJ is speared on the outside then Big E goes for the Big Ending but gets Zig Zagged for the 3 count. **1/2 - Good little match where nothing was bad.

Fandango dances around Miz again so he drops him. We go to the Superstar panel where Daniel Bryan is picked as the winner, wasn't the Rumble ending once changed when the winner was rightly predicted on TV or radio or something? HBK thanks Brock/Punk for their match.

WWE Title - Special Ref/ HHH - John Cena (c) Vs. Daniel Bryan 
 That Champ Is Here is one of the worst I've ever laid eyes on. Cenas left elbow is taped and there's the obligatory 'You Can't Wrestle' chant. Cena has Bryan on the mat but he monkey flips free. They trade pinning predicaments. Bryan avoids the AA but is knocked into announce table then suplexed off the ring steps. Cena hits a powerbomb as JBL says Cena said 'let's forget wrestling and fight' who the hell busts out a powerbomb in a fight? Bryan fires off some of his kicks but Cena ducks the last one and springs up hitting some of his moves of doom, part of the reason I dislike Cena. Bryan now aims kicks at the elbow, which makes sense. Bryan gets 2 off a bridged german. Bryan locks in his
Yes Lock/Crippler Crossface but of course Cena breaks it. The AA gets the Champion 2. Superplex by D-Bry but he stays on the ropes and hits the Diving Headbutt for a 2 count. Cena blocks a top rope hurricanrana then seems to spike Bryan off the top, that was dangerous. STFU is countered to Yes Lock. Bryan wins a slap off then a Running Knee gets Bryan a 3 count and the WWE Championship. **** - Don't get me wrong it was very good but I wasn't feeling it like I was the Brock/Punk match from start to finish, but still it was good though don't get me wrong, arguably SummerSlams top main event. 

Second SummerSlam HHH has called down the middle, he does Yes signals as well, then Ortons music hits HHH Pedigrees Bryan and Orton cashes in his MITB to become the new Champion as The Corporation 2.0 is born.

20.5 / 35 - My favourite SummerSlam may be 1998 or 2000 but this is arguably the best ever ringwise. Lesnar/Punk was absolutely fantastic, and the best I've seen in awhile, the WWE Championship is a very rewarding match as well and the World Heavyweight Title match was a solid and good match as well to round things off, rest was okay bar the opener. Go back to the 2 hour IYH PPVs and remove the opener and Diva match from the card and we get a score of 17.5 / 25 which would've pushed this to best ever rating category.
Thumbs way up for the best non-WrestleMania in a while.