WWE SummerSlam 2012: Daniel Bryan and Unheralded Stars That Looked Strong

With the WWE’s 25th anniversary edition of SummerSlam over, it’s time to look forward and determine which stars come out of this event standing strong.

While big-time superstars like Brock Lesnar and CM Punk looked strong, there are names not being talked about as much that looked just as great in the summer showcase.

All of the following stars had great nights, but have gone unheralded for one reason or another. At least here they will get their credit!

Antonio Cesaro

While you may have missed this match if you didn’t venture to YouTube to hunt it out, Antonio Cesaro beat Santino Marella to win the U.S. Title in what could begin the reign of the next big WWE star.

Many fans aren’t giving Cesaro a chance to be great, but the WWE management is obviously willing to give the star a shot. With years of experience in the ring and on the mic, this will be the Swiss sensation’s chance to shine.

As much as the fans have screamed it from the mountain tops, the time for Cesaro to throw the U.S. Title down and bring back the European Championship and become the ultimate heel is upon us. This could be very interesting.

The Miz

There was absolutely no build going into the Intercontinental championship match between The Miz and Rey Mysterio, but you wouldn’t have known that by watching this match. These men put on a great show.

With Rey Mysterio dressed as Batman—a fact that I still find laugh-out-loud funny—these two combatants put on a great match that saw both men exchange their fair-share of offense. At the end, it was The Miz deservedly standing tall.

While many fans have discounted the significance of the IC title, the fact that Mysterio and Miz put on a match of this caliber on SummerSlam shows that there is still hope for the strap.

Daniel Bryan

While many complained about the lack of direction leading up to this match, the actual in-ring work both men used in their SummerSlam match made this one of the best technical bouts all night.

Kane showed why he is arguably one of the best technical big men of all time by taking Bryan to the limit, but it was D-Bry’s ability to sell to the crowd and use the ring work as a way of telling a story that sold this match.

Bryan proved once again that anything he does in the ring is pure gold, but it was the ability of the young star to get the crowd into a match that they didn’t care at all about that should have WWE taking notice.

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