CM Punk vs John Cena
Booker T made a comment during this match that irritated the hell out of me. Something along the lines of "this match is too technical for me". What?? It was slow from the beginning with a lot of chokes and rest moves, but I enjoyed it. Cena has nothing to prove to anyone as far as his in-ring work goes. He gets a bigger reaction than anyone else in the company 99% of the time and he makes Vince more money than everyone. The rest is simply irrelevant.
The match was solid all the way until the end. I wasn't a fan of the "leg on the rope" finish. It was a bit anti-climactic, but I supposed it makes sense. If neither men were going to leave SummerSlam with the title, a false finish protects both going forward rather than one going over clean. If Del Rio cashing in didn't happen, the finish would have been entirely different. All in all, the match was…appropriate. It set up the surprise ending and neither Punk or Cena were hurt by it.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
Watch this pay per view if you are a "wrestling" fan. The in-ring work was solid from start to finish.
Kelly Kelly retained and that surprised me. Beth Phoenix will win the title soon enough, but I guess they have time before Kharma returns, so why not let Kelly hold on to it one more time. I enjoyed the match more than I thought I would too.
Kevin Nash (not Diesel) returns and regardless of the reasons why, I would imagine that "most" fans are just enjoying the intrigue of it all. Tonight's Raw should be interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing where they go with this. If you don't want to see the possible scenarios that I see happening, stop reading now.
Option 1: Stephanie McMahon hired Kevin Nash. We saw the exchange backstage between Punk and Steph and personally, the line of the night came during that segment. Stephanie offered Punk a "good luck" handshake and he said, "I would, but I know where that hand's been". Stephanie went against her husband and hired Kevin to attack Punk.
Option 2: Triple H hired Kevin Nash. Yes, Triple H looked dumbfounded by Nash's attack on Punk, but I have expected Hunter to turn heel at some point all along. I think the authority figure simply works best when he's the bad guy making it hard for the fan favorites. Did Triple H screw both Cena and Punk? Possibly. Will Hunter and Kevin be working together or against each other. That is the question.
Option 3: Vince McMahon hired Kevin Nash. I don't believe Vince is done working on-screen. Nor do I see Hunter giving up wrestling for a long period of time. Vince could have hired Nash for obvious reasons.
Option 4: Kevin Nash did it on his own. Why? No clue, but it's no secret that Nash has wanted one last run with WWE. If they work out something with him through 'Mania, he can put Punk over. Or Taker. Or Miz. Or Barrett. There's still a ton of time for them to use Kevin for all they can before Miami next year.
Option 5: Someone else hired Kevin Nash. This man had an agenda and will probably use Kevin Nash as their Diesel (ALA Shawn Michaels). This allows Nash to work less in the ring to protect his body and more as means to help get someone else over. My personal pick would be The Miz. He doesn't need anyone to talk for him, but could use the added heat that Big Sexy would bring by his side. The Miz has won me over big time in the last year and while he hasn't been in the title picture much since losing the WWE Championship, it's clear the WWE still views him as an important commodity. If it's not the Miz, there are others that could benefit greatly by having Nash in their corner.
My bet would go to one of the first three options, but I'm not sure WWE even knew the direction they were going to take when they set this up last night. "Let's throw Nash out there, see what kind of reaction we get and decide what to do tomorrow before Raw," was probably their mindset. Why not? It seemed to work and people will be tuning into tonight's Raw for the answers.
Bottom line, WWE Raw should be fun to watch tonight for a variety of reasons. SummerSlam was fun to watch last night for a variety of reasons. As a wrestling fan, I'm simply enjoying the ride.
What are your thoughts? Email me at [email protected] or tweet me @RealityofChris on Twitter. I will be tweeting all during Raw tonight and will have plenty more to say on the Voice of Wrestling radio show live tonight from 7-8 EST with Nick Paglino, exclusively on WrestleZone.com.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
