WWE Summerslam 2008

Title says it all... but the real question is whether it's any good.

Answers behind the break.




MVP defeated Jeff Hardy with outside interference from Shelton Benjamin in what I thought was a pretty entertaining little match. Jeff Hardy is his usual (sober) self and MVP is actually a better wrestler than I originally remembered. Honestly, I never understood while MVP didn't get a run at a higher level than he did, because he was a pretty entertaining cat.

Beth Phoenix and Santino Marella defeated Women's Champion Mickie James and Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston where Beth pinned Mickie to win both titles. Yes, both titles were defended in a tag match and both titles changed hands. So by doing nothing but be on the winning team, Santino is YOUR Intercontinental champion circa August 2008. This was alright, for the most part. Santino might be a joke character, but unlike Dan Hibiki, he holds his own just fine. An otherwise solid showing.

There's a bit where Shawn Michael comes out and contemplates retirement. And then Jericho taunts Michaels for a bit and just as Michaels was leaving, Jericho punches out Shawn's wife for the cheap heat. This would lead to a match between the two at a later show. I'm purposely saying very little here because I'd much rather you watch the segment since it's really good stuff and nothing I say does it justice. This whole feud (beginning with a fake injury from HBK - perish the thought) is something I recall being one of the few genuine bright spots in WWE's 2000s period.

Matt Hardy defeated WWECW Champion Mark Henry via DQ when Tony Atlas pulled him out of the ring. This barely lasted thirty seconds. The ring introductions lasted longer than the match. Fuck this shit.

World Heavyweight BIG GOLD Champion CM PUNK defeated JBL to retain the title. Punk had won the title from Edge on RAW via Money In The Bank cash-in and everybody was treating this as a fluke win, despite the fact that Punk is the fourth following Edge, Rob Van Dam, and Mr. Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy to use said briefcase. This was a fine match, with JBL being the big bad for Punk to overcome and give him some credible win at the end to justify this whole World title reign. Sadly, Punk's reign would end the following month and he'd have nothing to do with it.

WWE Spinner Belt Champion HHH defeated The Great Khali to retain the title in one of the rare instances where you could say Great Khali had a good match. This was HHH going for Khali's knees to buckle the bigger fellow before finally nailing the Pedigree for the win. It was straightforward and perfectly fine.

Batista defeated John Cena in what I thought was a pretty damn good match that I had completely forgotten about. One needs to watch their 2010 series of matches that eventually led to Batista leaving WWE to see how great their chemistry was together, but I probably enjoyed this one a little more because it was the two big major stars of the company going at it, it felt like a big major main event, and it was a hell of a match, indeed.

And in the main event, Undertaker and Edge fought in a Hell In A Cell match, used a bunch of plunder on each other, and things kept going until Taker chokeslammed Edge through the ring and caused the hole to explode. It was a pretty good, violent affair and honestly, as a Cell match, while nobody fell off the top... unless you count off the top rope through two tables or a ring that explodes, it was still a fine little piece of business. I liked this match more than I thought I would.

Actually, it's safe to say that I enjoyed this 2008 Summerslam more than I thought I would. Save for that one match, everything pretty much hit all cylinders and there was (almost) never a point where I was left with a sour taste in my mouth. As far as hot parties of the summer, this was a pretty hot one. Good show, check it out.