STEP UP: The Lumberjack Match
So I think we can all agree that maybe I was a bit too prematurely harsh on SummerSlam’s Lumberjack Match. After all, I did dedicated an entire TOP TEN list to matches that would be better than it. I still stand by my core point though – Ambrose picking the Lumberjack stipulation, with the entire range of match types available to him, was uncharacteristic and boring. It paints him as a moron for choosing match where obviously every heel on the roster who come after him, and obviously Kane would be involved, and obviously some sort of shenanigans would ensue.
That said, their match was really good. I hesitate to call it “great”, because as soon as it really picked up momentum and drew me in, it was over. But they really elevated the Lumberjack Match as a whole to a completely different level. They did some things you traditionally don’t see with it, but that still doesn’t justify Dean’s in-character reasoning for wanting the match in the first place.
STEP DOWN: Jack Swagger
Man, it’s a good thing that the SummerSlam card was stacked, and that everyone showed up to put on a great performance, because that Jack Swagger vs. Rusev match almost killed the entire show for me. In hindsight I understand that they’re trying to get Rusev over as a monster heel. They are clearly more invested in him long-term than they are Swagger. But even so, they missed an opportunity for a very easy, very big opportunity that was built up incredibly well. I’m generally against pro-America “ra-ra” patriotic stories, because I really just don’t give a damn, but this one caught me. This one gripped me. Swagger coming out with troops, Rusev making him drop the flag, the whole build-up to the match – it was the perfect moment for Jack to go over in a major way.
And that was the million dollar question I guess – who does WWE care about more? In my opinion, Rusev could have lost and retained his monstrous qualities and heel heat. You’re not going to get a bigger stage in the next six months than SummerSlam. If there was going to be a feel-good moment to blow off this whole angle, it was at SummerSlam, with Jack Swagger. A guy who, against all odds and years of nobody caring, had finally garnered a HUGE amount of support from the audience. And I also sympathize with the angle having already been booked, and not being able to predict that the crowd would be THAT hot for the match on PPV, but even just a little foresight would have been enough to show any creative type with half a brain that WWE just missed the finish on this one.
Does anybody care about this new feud with Bo Dallas? Anybody at all…?
