WWE SummerSlam 2015 Matches: Best Possible Finish for Each Contest
There is no more important part of a match than the finish. It is the last thing fans see and the only element that leaves an impression on every viewer.
Like a bad ending to a movie, a lackluster or unsatisfactory finish can ruin a classic match, while a great one can elevate it from good to great.
On Sunday night, WWE presents the biggest blockbuster of the summer, a four-hour extravaganza featuring the biggest stars and most heated feuds in the world of sports entertainment.
With Superstars such as Brock Lesnar and Undertaker, John Cena and Seth Rollins, and Randy Orton and Sheamus battling it out for pro wrestling supremacy, the finish of each bout becomes even more important—especially as WWE enters the fall months.
Who will win, lose and walk out as a champion on Sunday night will be determined when SummerSlam hits the WWE Network at 7:00 p.m. ET.
As for who should win and what the finish of each monumental clash should be, take a look for yourself.
Fatal 4-Way Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships
1 of 10
The Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Tag Team Championships demonstrates everything wrong with tag team wrestling today.
Only The New Day and Prime Time Players are even remotely over, leaving many to wonder why The Lucha Dragons and Los Matadores are even involved in Sunday's match.
The answer is simple: One of those two teams will take the pin.
With The New Day garnering the biggest reactions of any of the four teams, it figures to be the favorite to leave Brooklyn, New York, with the tag titles. But is that the right outcome?
And if so, what would be the best possible finish to make that happen?
Best Finish
The action breaks down late in the match, with both Los Matadores and The Lucha Dragons making the high-risk dives that pop the crowd. With Titus O'Neil and Darren Young prone at ringside, Xavier Woods interferes and aids Kofi Kingston and Big E in regaining the titles, picking up a pinfall victory over someone like Sin Cara, who will not be affected by the loss either way.
Neville and Stephen Amell vs. Stardust and King Barrett
2 of 10
If there is one thing WWE has mastered over the last 30 years, it is celebrity involvement in an actual match. Rarely does it ever book someone famous who cannot handle the fast-paced nature of a bout and the role they will play in its execution.
Stephen Amell is the perfect candidate for this contest because he is athletic, young and executes a great deal of his own stunts on the hit television series Arrow.
Neville is the perfect partner because he can carry the match from the babyface side and has a jaw-dropping Red Arrow finish that will play well on mainstream media outlets on Monday morning.
Stardust and King Barrett have been wildly entertaining as a duo to this point and are pro's pros capable of wrestling fantastic matches against everyone and anyone.
Best Finish
This is the celebrity gimmick match, so it is imperative that Amell figures prominently in the finish. Considering that his issues with Stardust date back months, he should score the win over the second-generation, face-painted star.
A pinfall victory off Neville's dynamic Red Arrow finisher would be a perfect exclamation point on the match.
Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens
3 of 10
Cesaro and Kevin Owens have waged war for the last two months, working singles and tag matches against each other while remaining on the cusp of main event glory.
The matches have been hard-hitting and featured The Swiss Superman pulling out brand-new and never-before-seen offense in an attempt to maximize his latest push.
The two have starred against John Cena, delivering Match of the Year candidates. On Sunday night, they will have to overcome a spot on the midcard, a loaded lineup and only so much time for each of the lower-tier matches on the card to work with if they wish to continue their roll of extraordinary bouts.
Best Finish
Both Cesaro and Owens are in need of a victory.
To maintain whatever credibility is left in the wake of his two straight losses to Cena, Owens needs to pick up a high-profile win. A victory on a card like SummerSlam would be just what the proverbial doctor ordered.
Cesaro, on the other hand, needs a win to continue building momentum.
With a plethora of major babyfaces and a decided lack of quality heels, Owens should pick up the victory with the Pop-Up Powerbomb.
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
4 of 10
What if two former world champions worked a pay-per-view match and no one cared?
WWE will find out on Sunday when Randy Orton and Sheamus square off in the culmination of a rivalry as lethargic and uninteresting as any on Raw or SmackDown over the last 60 days.
The Viper picked up the win last month at Battleground, while Sheamus has struggled to maintain any momentum in the wake of his Money in the Bank ladder match victory. He has lost numerous bouts cleanly and has not been particularly protected at all by Creative.
On Sunday, the writers and management who were so interested in rewarding him with the MITB briefcase can right that wrong with a key victory over one of the top stars in the industry.
Best Finish
Orton attempts his RKO—from "outta nowhere!"—but Sheamus tosses him to the mat. A Brogue Kick finishes the St. Louis native and helps Sheamus regain credibility.
Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Championship
5 of 10
This match was supposed to take place at Battleground. The unfortunate staph infection suffered by intercontinental champion Ryback just prior to that show, though, forced him out of action and the feud between him, The Miz and Big Show to stall.
On Sunday, they will finally bring their issues to a head in a match that is Ryback's for the taking.
The Miz has held the title far too many times without any stellar reigns. Big Show, for all the criticisms about his age and requests for his retirement, is above that particular piece of gold.
The Big Guy, on the other hand, has brought legitimacy back to the title. The reaction fans give him upon his entrance is often one of the loudest of the night, and it is clear that the former Nexus member is more motivated than ever thanks to his first opportunity to hold WWE gold.
It would be a mistake for WWE to end his run as champion on Sunday evening.
Best Finish
Ryback pays off months of storytelling by lifting Big Show overhead and delivering the Shell Shocked for the pinfall victory, silencing any doubts about his ability to beat the former world champion.
3-Team Elimination Tag Team Match
6 of 10
The Divas Revolution will roll into Barclays Center on Sunday night with three trios waging war for female dominance in WWE.
To this point, newcomers Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Charlotte have backed up all of the hype they received during their time in NXT. In the process, they have altered the perception of women's wrestling in Vince McMahon's company.
Banks heads up Team B.A.D., with Naomi and Tamina serving as backup. Lynch and Charlotte, on the other hand, are two-thirds of Team PCB alongside two-time Divas champion Paige.
Those two teams will look to put an end to the dominance of Team Bella, captained by current titleholder Nikki Bella and including sister Brie and Alicia Fox.
With an entire team being eliminated with one pinfall or submission, the match will be even wilder and more chaotic than what fans have witnessed over the last two months on Raw and SmackDown.
Best Finish
All signs point to Charlotte being the next top contender to Bella's championship, so her team must eliminate Team B.A.D. first. Having PCB battle Team Bella seems like the smart choice.
Charlotte using either Natural Selection or the Figure Eight to beat Nikki and put herself in position for the title opportunity would be a great way to set up the feud going forward.
Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper
7 of 10
The wildest and most chaotic program entering Sunday's SummerSlam pay-per-view is that of former Shield members Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose versus The Wyatt Family's Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper.
Harper pledged his allegiance to The Reaper of Souls after helping Wyatt defeat Reigns back at Battleground, and since then, he has found himself waging war with both the juggernaut of WWE and his Lunatic Fringe "brother."
Their brawls have spilled outside the ring and through the crowd on numerous occasions, and Ambrose has promised to inflict torture on his opponents come this weekend's extravaganza.
After Wyatt scored the win at Battleground, all signs point to Reigns and Ambrose picking up the win on Sunday night.
Should they?
Best Finish
Ambrose and Reigns will win this one, barring a return from Erick Rowan. With no significant reports about the sheep-mask-wearing giant making a comeback at this point, the babyfaces should win what could very well be a match that eclipses all others from a quality standpoint.
The four Superstars have tremendous chemistry and have been part of some truly outstanding matches.
SummerSlam will provide them with their grandest stage to date to steal the show.
A spear from Reigns to Wyatt should settle their issues definitively—unless the idea is to drag out the program for one more month.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
8 of 10
The match between Dolph Ziggler and Rusev on Sunday night feels almost secondary to what are sure to be extracurricular activities at ringside involving Lana and Summer Rae.
After all, the stunning blondes have been at the center of attention for the majority of the program due in large part to the absence of Ziggler, who was off shooting another WWE Films production.
The Showoff's return on Monday night injected some life into the storyline, though, and his promo work on Thursday added a personal element to the rivalry. He promised not only to kick Rusev's teeth down his throat, but also to take his girlfriend. Again.
With the program somewhat in its infancy, and neither Lana nor Summer Rae officially involved, this feels very much like a setup for a mixed tag team match as early as at September's Night of Champion's pay-per-view.
Best Finish
With that said, the best finish possible sees a catfight break out at ringside between Lana and Summer Rae. The referee becomes distracted and separates the two, admonishing The Ravishing Russian. Behind his back, Summer gets involved, allowing Rusev to deliver his leaping sidekick and score the pinfall win over Ziggler.
Rusev regains some heat, the issues between him and Ziggler continue, and there is more emphasis on finally getting Lana into the ring for a huge mixed tag bout.
Title-for-Title Match: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
9 of 10
John Cena was largely absent on the road to SummerSlam thanks to a broken nose courtesy of Seth Rollins. His win over The Architect a few weeks back set up the program and his return on August 17 intensified it.
Cena questioned Rollins' legitimacy and reminded Chief Operating Officer Triple H that a win for the franchise player would challenge the legacy of his mentor, Ric Flair.
It was a great way to add further importance to what should be a tremendous bout in which both the WWE World Heavyweight and United States Championships are on the line.
But who should leave Brooklyn with the gold?
Best Finish
There is a very real fear that Cena will win here and return to the top of the card.
But WWE pays far too much attention to merchandising to introduce a brand-new shirt for Cena that labels him a 15-time champion, only to make that shirt insignificant a week later.
Add to that the fact that Rollins has been one of the few consistent bright spots over the summer of 2015, regardless of how poorly he has been booked, and you have enough evidence to suggest that The Architect should remain the top dog in the company.
Especially considering the lack of quality heels elsewhere on the card.
A finish in which Triple H gets involved, perhaps playing up Cena's comments on Raw about Flair, would allow Rollins to retain without Cena losing cleanly.
Is that most beneficial for Rollins? No, but that has not stopped WWE Creative in the past.
Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
10 of 10
Undertaker's loss at WrestleMania XXX ranks among the most shocking and polarizing moments in wrestling history. The death of The Streak left fans questioning whether or not The Deadman had a place in the industry any longer, his age and decades of wear and tear hampering his body and performances.
At Battleground, The Phenom returned with a vengeance, attacking Brock Lesnar with a low blow and costing him the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
The Beast may have ended Undertaker's two-decade-long winning streak at WrestleMania in 2014, but what he really did was awaken a force of nature that now enters Brooklyn ready to avenge the biggest and most controversial defeat of his career.
The brawls between the two have been but a taste of what fans can expect come Sunday night.
Best Finish
The absolute best finish imaginable would see Brock Lesnar defeat Undertaker to secure his status as the greatest unstoppable monster in wrestling today.
However, with so much emphasis put on the fact that Lesnar beat him over a year ago, this figures to be Undertaker's chance to get his win back.
If that is the case, WWE should go full steam ahead with the heel turn that has been teased by the incessant low blows. Bring back Kane, who was last seen having his ankle smashed by The Beast. Reunite The Brothers of Destruction, thus creating a force even The Beast Incarnate cannot overcome on his own.
A finish that sees Undertaker and Kane standing tall over a fallen Lesnar would not only give Brock an excuse for losing, it would set up a high-profile tag bout for sometime further down the road.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
