WWE SummerSlam 2013 Review: Examining the Effectiveness of Latest PPV

Take your pick, SummerSlam 2013 offered three classics to slobber over.

WWE delivered its best pay-per-view of the year on the strength of a solid undercard and a series of marquee matches that rank among the best bouts of the year. For telling memorable stories and elevating a number of Superstars, SummerSlam gets an A+.

Fans may gripe about how Bray Wyatt won his debut or the choice to rob Daniel Bryan of his first WWE title reign, but this was a night of smart moves and several performances worthy of a standing ovation.

While the post-SummerSlam talk will be about how the show ended, the WWE Championship match and the masterworks at the top of the card, the undercard was plenty effective as well.

Debuts, Overachievers and Respites

The undercard served to bring the Wyatt Family into the spotlight, give Cody Rhodes a hearty push forward and the rest of the matches all served their purposes, including a pre-show battle that mostly set up future bouts.

Dean Ambrose defended his United States title against Rob Van Dam during the hour-long pre-show. Their match was solid, with Ambrose being demonstrative and abusive and Van Dam pulling out his usual entertaining offense.

Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins came down to ringside and Big Show and Mark Henry soon followed them.

It was clear, then, that this was not going to be a pure one-on-one match. Reigns speared Van Dam just when he looked to finish off Ambrose and win the title. It's an ending that is not as satisfying as many would have hoped, but it sets up two potential matches for Night of Champions.

Suddenly, Van Dam vs. Ambrose the sequel has a lot more emotional firepower and Reigns and Rollings get a pair of intriguing challengers.

As for Wyatt and his brothers, his Ring of Fire match against Kane wasn't great, but it did well to set up that trio as a group of frustrating jackals.

One could argue that Wyatt looked weak depending so much on Luke Harper and Erick Rowan to find their way past the flames and help him overcome Kane, but his gimmick is that of a lunatic cult leader. He isn't going to fight many of his own battles if he doesn't have to.

That's why a mastermind surrounds himself with lackeys.

Harper and Rowan covering the flames with a fire blanket was an intriguing surprise and WWE did well to have the Wyatt Family put Kane on the shelf in such an unsettling and dramatic way. The steel steps shots weren't very realistic, so points off for that, but seeing the Wyatts haul Kane off in a funeral-like ritual was a lasting, haunting image.

Wyatt wasn't the only Superstar making his SummerSlam debut.

Damien Sandow made his first appearance on the pay-per-view in a match that impressed despite its brevity. His battle with Rhodes had some of the intensity their story promised but wasn't as personal or as violent as one might expect.

It didn't have the feeling of the climax to a feud, but it was an entertaining match.

Rhodes benefits from a big win and SummerSlam benefited from an undercard match that was far more than filler. The rest of the undercard wasn't as good as Rhodes vs. Sandow but nevertheless exceeded expectations.

Brie Bella vs. Natalya could have been a groan-inducing bore, but it was decent.

Brie went to the same wear-down hold too often. Despite that repetitiveness, there was a good blend of cheating, emotion and flash. Few fans will spend much time discussing this match when gushing about SummerSlam, but WWE crammed in the majority of its Divas division, offered some chaos and positioned Natalya as a top contender to AJ Lee's title.

AJ later provided the night's palate cleanser in a mixed-tag match that went on between CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar and John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan.

Had WWE tried to follow the draining, enthralling show that Punk and Lesnar gave us with Cena and Bryan's battle, fans would have had little energy to devote to the main event. Instead, the company wisely tossed in a short, decent match, with Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn beating AJ and Big E. Langston.

There was nothing special about that bout, but it filled the card out nicely and gave fans a chance to breathe between classics.

Main Events to Remember

On many pay-per-views, that intense Alberto Del Rio and Christian fight would have been the match of the night. It was topped twice over by two instant classics.

Fans had seen Del Rio and Christian battle several times on TV leading up to this world title match. An especially vicious Del Rio and his gutsy challenger bested their previous efforts. Theirs was a hard-hitting and emotional match that saw each man come up with clever counters.

Christian didn't go down easily and Del Rio came off as an unnerving predator.

That's how you make the most of two combatants so familiar with each other; that's how you make the World Heavyweight Championship more than an afterthought.

When Punk and Lesnar went to battle later than night, they seemed to not only be striving to top Christian vs. Del Rio, but Undertaker vs. Punk at WrestleMania and Cena vs. Punk from Raw in February.

WWE could have made this an unrealistic farce, having Punk look too strong against the bigger, more powerful Lesnar. Instead, Lesnar abused Punk with Paul Heyman barking from the outside.

Lesnar looked like a monster in tossing Punk over the announce tables and bending a steel chair on his back.

Punk was more than a punching bag, though. He used his smarts, toughness and a surprising array of MMA submission holds to try and stop Lesnar. In order to topple this snarling beast of a man, Punk had to try everything he could think of, including biting Lesnar's ear.

Lesnar honored that late Eddie Guerrero by performing his famous trio of vertical suplexes.

This was just one of many subtle touches that made this such a great match. A story of revenge consuming Punk played out in the Staples Center and didn't let go of the audience until the final bell. Had the night ended there, SummerSlam would have still earned rave reviews.

Luckily, we still had a WWE title match to savor.

Cena and Bryan carried out their storyline of wrestler vs. entertainer in the ring. Bryan outwrestled his opponent and Cena seemingly tried to impress the crowd and Bryan by pulling out new moves and relying more on mat wrestling.

Bryan was his usual spark plug self, darting around the ring and kicking Cena until his left eye grew swollen and discolored.

WWE wisely gave this match a ton of time, allowing the drama to build and for both champion and challenger to have their moments on top.

Both men pulled off excellent performances and Triple H went mostly unnoticed as the special guest referee. Bryan's final knee was a vicious one, one that resulted in a win many fans had been hoping for. With the crowd chanting for Bryan, thrilled to see him dethrone the champ, confetti fluttering in the air, WWE broke all our hearts.

 

Heartbreak

Rnady Orton didn't so much rain on Bryan's championship parade as he did set fire to it.

If fans ended the night angry at Orton, seething over the fact that he took advantage of Triple H's Pedigree to snatch Bryan's WWE title away, then the story was effective.

Such a visceral reaction is a sign of good theater. Turning Orton into the most hated man on the roster was expected but well-executed. It was a reminder that WWE is holding the strings and like Mark Henry says, we're just a bunch of puppets.

The company had hinted that Orton might do this very thing, but it seemed too obvious.

He at first hesitated to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, turning back toward the locker room. The exceedingly popular new champion wouldn't get off that easy, though.

This match and its aftermath could have been an overbooked mess. Wade Barrett, Vince McMahon and who knows who else could have been tossed in. Instead, Triple H made a surprising turn and Orton turned his briefcase into gold in a stomach punch-type moment to Bryan's fans.

This may be a frustrating moment for fans, to see such a hard worker get his moment of glory wiped away in an instant, but it's a smart move. Orton garnered intense heat and Bryan gets the benefit of our pity.

A potential classic feud gets rolling and WWE forces Bryan into chase mode once again.

Fans griping about the demise of the WWE since the product went PG will have a tough time debating the greatness we witnessed at SummerSlam 2013. A show that showcased new stars and featured three unforgettable matches surpasses every pay-per-view WWE has produced this year.

It's hard to hear the grumbling and nitpicking over all the applause.