WWE SummerSlam 2016 Results: Worst Booking Decisions from PPV

Sunday's SummerSlam 2016 pay-per-view featured a number of outstanding booking decisions, the most obvious being AJ Styles' clean victory over John Cena, but the event was plagued by a handful of truly awful choices that eventually adversely affected the overall broadcast.

From the ending of the main event to the predicament in which the competitors in the night's first match found themselves, the show was undeniably hurt by shortsightedness and an innate inability to book for the future.

When historians look back on the 2016 edition of SummerSlam, they will see a card with the potential to be one of the best ever, as well as the work ethic from the performers that should have ensured it.

Unfortunately, the decisions made by those in the booking room prevented it from reaching its potential.

These are the five decisions that dragged the show into mediocrity.

SmackDown Tag Match Opens Pre-Show

How is anyone supposed to take the SmackDown tag team division seriously when it's trotted out on the pre-show and forced into action in front of 1,000 fans?

That is the question left on the tongues of fans as they watched American Alpha, The Hype Bros, The Usos, The Ascension, Breezango and The Vaudevillains deliver a match similar to the one from last Tuesday's SmackDown, just to less people than a high-profile indy show would draw.

Meanwhile, a Raw-brand tag match pitting Sami Zayn and Neville against The Dudley Boyz went on later in the show, despite having zero storyline implications.

It was a slap in the face to SmackDown and its tag division, which is in dire need of credibility considering the wealth of teams that were treated like enhancement talent over the last six months.

The only positive? The tease of an Usos heel turn and feud with Jason Jordan and Chad Gable, which should net outstanding matches and a passing-of-the-torch moment for the newcomers.

Jeri-KO Defeated Enzo Amore and Big Cass

Enzo Amore and Big Cass exploded through the curtain Sunday night, kicking the show off with a bang and captivating the fans in Brooklyn, New York's Barclays Center.

The Certified G and his 7-foot friend had fans hanging on every word as they quoted legendary rapper Biggie Smalls and sang a little of Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra.

They were greeted with a hero's welcome, the fans eager to celebrate a victorious homecoming with them.

Unfortunately, Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens went over in the opener for reasons that still do not make sense nearly 24 hours later.

There are those who will cite a tag title run in their future, but even then, Enzo and Cass are a duo built for the long term.

They make a team that will form the foundation of the tag team division for years to come. Sacrificing them to put Jeri-KO over is the kind of short-sighted booking that has plagued WWE for years and ruined many a potential star.

Sasha Banks Loses the WWE Women's Championship

The big booking misstep Sunday regarding the women's title has nothing to do with Sasha Banks actually losing to Charlotte. No, the misstep came three weeks earlier, when Banks was given the championship victory in the first place.

If the idea was to put Charlotte over at the summertime spectacular, why would the company interrupt what it could have touted as a historic reign?

Instead of a credible run for Banks, the title was hot-shotted from one competitor to another. Why? So the Raw brand could have a memorable first episode?

That is the epitome of lazy booking and another example of the company's incredible shortsightedness.

Placement of the WWE World Championship Match

Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler deserved better than to have their championship clash, SmackDown's main event contribution to Sunday's show, go on so close to the Match of the Year candidate that was John Cena vs. AJ Styles.

Combating a crowd that was still burned out from a classic, Ambrose and Ziggler never got into a groove, and the result was an underwhelming contest that did nothing to strengthen faith that SmackDown was on equal footing with Raw.

The fact that the title bout was positioned below the WWE Universal Championship match and United States title angle only further insinuated that the blue brand is inferior to the Monday night flagship.

Add to it the competitor's inability, on that night, to get the fans back into the match in any measurable way, and you have a major disappointment that was as much their fault as it was that of the booking team who put them in that unenviable position.

The Main Event Finish

Yes, the main event of SummerSlam resembled a legitimate shoot fight, all the way down to Orton not jumping for Lesnar on several suplex attempts. It ended via referee's decision when Lesnar busted The Viper open with a sick elbow to the top of the head.

Yet as Lesnar stood over a bloodied Orton, fans could not help but feel underwhelmed by the finish that had just played out before them.

And justifiably so.

The difference between combat sports like mixed martial arts and sports entertainment is that fans have a reasonable expectation that the competitors in the squared circle will provide a story with a definitive origin and a satisfying finish, even if that outcome involves a group of villains interfering on behalf of their heel associate.

One finish that has never gone over well with audiences is the one where one Superstar is rendered incapable of continuing. Fans spend hard-earned money expecting that there will be a definitive finish to the matches they have invested in.

When there is not, they feel robbed.

That was the case Sunday night when WWE failed to deliver a satisfying conclusion to the match most hyped by management.

It is a decision management cannot replicate or else risk alienating the paying customer.