Summerslam XXIX

[just drew]

So, I've read a lot of people on other places around the internetz clamoring for Gallows & Anderson to help Balor win the title and form the Balor Club. But the smart move is putting Anderson & Gallows with Rollins, right? Let the Good Brothers win the tag titles, have them help Rollins win the title, and have Balor chase Rollins a while. Rollins works best when he can hide behind guys until the opportune moment. Also, Balor hasn't been built up enough for the casual audience, and I could see a segment of the fanbase turning on him if they feel like he's been shoved down their throats, Reigns-style. I can't believe I'm advocating for another reign for Seth "Captain Flippy-doo" Rollins, but here we are...

[Casey]

I like that because it gives Seth the title again, but I'd prefer for Balor to go back to being the RocknRolla and be a heel with Gallows & Anderson. Then Seth can be the babyface he should have been since the day he came back.

[Cristobal]

I'm not a Rollins hater but please God not another "heel champ Rollins plus goon squad" run. 

[Charlie M.]

SummerSlam Predictions...

Lesnar d. Orton - I think they'll give Orton something in this match. Probably a visual pinfall with the RKO after a ref bump. He'll lose, they'll do that everyone claps for the babyface thing after the match and Bray Wyatt will lay him out.

Balor d. Rollins - The belt will be on Rollins soon enough but for political purposes, it's good to have former NXT champ Finn Balor be the first Universal Champ.

Ambrose d. Ziggler - Dolph did well for himself during the build but he's not getting the belt. A heel turn would be better for Dolph than winning the belt here anyway. He's stopped bleaching his hair so he could really do a whole gimmick change too.

Charlotte d. Sasha - The heat when Charlotte hugged Bayley at Takeover sealed the deal. I think Ric will be involved in the finish. 

JeriKO d. Enzo & Cass - I figure this feud runs until the RAW PPV where JeriKO loses, Owens kills Jericho and he leaves.

Styles d. Cena - Sets up Styles as the next challenger for Ambrose since Cena is leaving to shoot his TV show. Don't worry Cenation, he'll get his 3 consecutive wins over AJ when he comes back.

Reigns d. Rusev by DQ - This seems obvious after RAW. Feels like Reigns is moving back up the card ASAP.

New Day d. Gallows & Anderson - Big E returns. Someone is getting hit with glass jar filled with balls because that's Vince McMahon comedy. Heck they might even make Doc & Karl eat them.

Alexa & Nattie & Nikki d. Becky & Naomi & Carmella - They'll do the Eva entrance without her and then the guy will announce "Don't worry, Eva has secured a replacement..." and out comes NIkki. The match is on the main card according to WWE.com.

Crews d. Miz - New champ.

Kickoff show

Sheamus d. Cesaro - It's very important to get off to a good start in a Best of 7 series to determine who gets nothing and who gets less than nothing in two months.

Neville & Sami d. Dudleyz

American Alpha, Hype Bros, Usos d. Breezango, Ascension, Vaudevillains

[Go2Sleep]

If they don't form the Balor Club here, it will officially reach "John Cena heel turn" fantasy booking status. On one hand, it would be shitty to not have a clean finish in the first match for a new belt. On the other hand, Rollins is about a year overdue for a face turn and it would be pretty compelling to see these four dominating the main event scene, especially with a proper Balor/Rollins face/heel alignment.

[FluffSnackwell]

2 hours ago, just drew said:

So, I've read a lot of people on other places around the internetz clamoring for Gallows & Anderson to help Balor win the title and form the Balor Club. But the smart move is putting Anderson & Gallows with Rollins, right? Let the Good Brothers win the tag titles, have them help Rollins win the title, and have Balor chase Rollins a while. Rollins works best when he can hide behind guys until the opportune moment. Also, Balor hasn't been built up enough for the casual audience, and I could see a segment of the fanbase turning on him if they feel like he's been shoved down their throats, Reigns-style. I can't believe I'm advocating for another reign for Seth "Captain Flippy-doo" Rollins, but here we are...

The lead-in to a Balor reign hasn't been as long and drawn out as Reigns' marathon push towards the title. Fans haven't even had time to digest Finn's push enough to regurgitate it. Besides the WWE kind of enters its dog days/offseason after Summerslam through Survivor Series with football starting back so really this is the time to try somebody new that isn't a Shield member or a fucking little Ronnie patsy merely keeping the belt warm until a Shield member wins it back. Quick question from someone who doesn't watch NXT: does Balor even get help from the Club when he's in Demon mode? I wouldn't think he does.  Advocate away but Balor can win the title and at least keep it until the Clash Of Champions then Rollins can once again smother the title in his inherent lameness until WrestleMania.

[evilwaldo]

3 hours ago, just drew said:

So, I've read a lot of people on other places around the internetz clamoring for Gallows & Anderson to help Balor win the title and form the Balor Club. But the smart move is putting Anderson & Gallows with Rollins, right? Let the Good Brothers win the tag titles, have them help Rollins win the title, and have Balor chase Rollins a while. Rollins works best when he can hide behind guys until the opportune moment. Also, Balor hasn't been built up enough for the casual audience, and I could see a segment of the fanbase turning on him if they feel like he's been shoved down their throats, Reigns-style. I can't believe I'm advocating for another reign for Seth "Captain Flippy-doo" Rollins, but here we are...

 

3 hours ago, Casey said:

I like that because it gives Seth the title again, but I'd prefer for Balor to go back to being the RocknRolla and be a heel with Gallows & Anderson. Then Seth can be the babyface he should have been since the day he came back.

Seth needs more time without the belt to build his character.  The weak heel/HHH clone made him weak long-term.  He has had people helping him at every step.  At some point, he has to prove that he is strong as a stand alone character.  

[JCM]

3 hours ago, Cristobal said:

I'm not a Rollins hater but please God not another "heel champ Rollins plus goon squad" run. 

Especially since the guy who carried the act the first time(Noble) isn't there anymore. Cesaro, Sami, Neville, and Alpha on the pre show. That's the baby face side of an all time great Takeover.

[John from Cincinnati]

They probably could stretch Cesaro vs Sheamus out till the next Takeover.

[FluffSnackwell]

Speaking of the Goon squad, it doesn't get any better than when Mercury communicated with Luke Harper like he was an actual big dumb attack dog only to crap his pants when Harper jerked that little shrimp up by his lapels.

 

[nate]

Jeez when does Harper come back?

[Brandon Bones]

Corbin just cut a shitty promo and 1 GUY clapped! 

 

 

[Casey]

announcers are at ringside this evening, I wonder if this'll be a regular thing for PPVs or just the ones where the brands share the PPV.

[RIPPA]

Per Meltzer - as of right now Orton/Lesnar is scheduled to go on last

[Casey]

I have a feeling that's because of other circumstances and not just because it's a Brock Lesnar match.

[peterien]

Renee lookin' fine.

[paintedbynumbers]

Goldberg or Wyatt shows up after the Orton-Brock

[Nice Guy Eddie]

1 hour ago, nate said:

Jeez when does Harper come back?

Not soon enough

[evilwaldo]

6 hours ago, Cristobal said:

I'm not a Rollins hater but please God not another "heel champ Rollins plus goon squad" run. 

One more and we can cement his status as Sheamus 2.0.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

7 minutes ago, evilwaldo said:

One more and we can cement his status as Sheamus 2.0.

and one Sheamus is one too many

[PetrolCB]

Sheamus, the AOL free trial disc of pushes. 

[SirSmUgly]

• The crowd was weird. Except for the shitty finisher/two-count run in Styles/Cena, they were excited for entrances and dead for matches, kinda like the NXT crowd last night.
• Speaking of Cena/Styles, that match was almost as bad as Cena/Rock II (which I'm pretty sure was like two minutes of lockups followed immediately by twenty-five minutes of finisher trades and 2.9s)
• Do Big E and Sasha Banks hang out backstage trying to figure out wild bumps they can take in order to hurt themselves? 
• What I love about David Otunga is how enthusiastic he sounds about the product! Not somnambulent at all! (Still better than JBL though.)
• I really like Kofi Kingston in ring, fuck it. I admit it. 
• Finn and Rollins had a bad match and should feel bad. They needed to double-turn as working heel limits Finn from his worst instincts and Rollins wrestling like Jeff Hardy on more speed than even Jeff Hardy normally takes is more suited to that role. 
• I guess Reigns is done doing jobs or showing weakness now. That was a nice brawl that was sadly interrupted by an angle. 
• I was actually a bit interested in the main event just beacuse I wanted to see if they'd book Brock to lose after his piss test for UFC. It was pretty boring except for the blood pack, but then the end was like, "Why is Shane brave enough to come out here, but not Bryan?" Like, I know why Bryan can't take an F5, but from a kayfabe standpoint, bad look for D-Bry. 
• This show was deadly boring, which is worse than being merely bad. Somehow, John Cena being WWE Champ for the sixteenth time sounds far more interesting than anything going on in either title scene, and I wish they'd just go with that already. 

[Matt D]

Remember a world before NXT? When the entire weekend would be ruined and not just Sunday night?

[The Man Known as Dan]

That was one shitty fucking show. The only match on it I view as a positive was Charlotte/Sasha, and Sasha almost died in that.

[brandonr4s]

Chicken Miz vs. Colonel Ziggler - *****