My Monday column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review gives my reaction from being there live with WWE SummerSlam. The following is an excerpt:
NEW YORK — SummerSlam kept building with energy as the four hours went on. And just like that, the air and energy was sucked out of the crowd like popping a balloon.
Brock Lesnar versus The Undertaker had one of the weirdest finishes in wrestling history. Lesnar had The Undertaker in a submission, then the bell randomly rang as if the match was over. The ref didn’t call for it. Then, while Lesnar was distracted with the chaos, Undertaker got the upper hand and locked Lesnar in a submission hold.
Turns out that watching the replay, Undertaker did in fact tap out. But how did the person ringing the bell even see it because Undertaker was tangled up with Lesnar and his hands were facing the opposite direction from the timekeeper who rings the bell.
It was all just part of the confusing finish.
My explanation of why I think WWE did it was to keep Lesnar a babyface moving forward as he got screwed out of a win. Maybe it will work. I don’t know. Time will tell.
What I do know is the sold-out Barclays Center crowd felt like it was on the brink of a riot as I was leaving the building. Many were feeling frustrated and confused, which were emotions I could sympathize with.
CLICK HERE for what went right at SummerSlam.
