Summerslam Thoughts

So sorry I didn't get this up last night, or get hubby to do it - we both were up a long time yesterday, and out in the fresh air, by the time Summerslam ended we were both pretty tired and it was definitely bedtime.

That said - this show was definitely not the weakest offering I've seen from the WWE - the last two matches in particular were standouts, and Cena-Batista was better than I had any expectation of it being. I was quite annoyed with how Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry ended - I'm not one of the one-track mind that DQ finishes are patently unacceptable on PPV if done right and if they fit into the storyline - which a schmozzy ending in this match would have, to prolong the feud - but 10 seconds, barely, into a match? Boo!

I was sorry to see CM Punk get hurt, and there were a few sloppy-ish spots like that over the night where I had to wonder if maybe the boys partied a bit too hard on Saturday night - Jeff Hardy vs. MVP was good, but not the 3- or 4-star match I'd have expected to come out of the solid work they've done with each other leading into SS. But nothing that really took away from this being a decent PPV that exceeded the WWE's poor hype machine leading into it. Even H-Khali was decent, which it had no right to be.

Match of the night with no equivocation goes to the Hell in a Cell, where a reinvigorated Undertaker and a rejuvenated Edge character did tremendous battle - never thought an HIAC could be so entertaining without blood, but good job boys. Segment of the night - there were a couple strong ones and I give credit to Santina Marella, Beth Phoenix and Maria Kanellis for making me laugh - but Shawn and Rebecca Michaels and Chris Jericho were far and away the most compelling thing to watch until the main event. Props to Rebecca for her involvement in this angle, props to both men for their performance and I can't wait to see what comes of this on Raw tonight. We've said for awhile that SD has been the more entertaining show - tonight's Raw, with a hurt but victorious CM Punk, a cleanly pinned Cena and back on track Batista, and the Jericho-Michaels angle to be furthered, should be one of their strongest shows amongst a series of fairly strong performances.

Bottom line: Summerslam felt like a beginning in a lot of ways, rather than a finish, but I don't mind that as it will be interesting to see where everything goes. Tune in tomorrow for my Raw thoughts, and as always, remember to tune in Wednesday for Ari and I to go more in depth on Summerslam and Raw, and all the backstage news of the week right here at 10pm on our podcast ... In This Very Ring!