WWE SummerSlam 2015: Smartest Decisions Made at Epic PPV
When historians look back at the 2015 SummerSlam event, the finish of The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar main event will surely stick out like a sore thumb. The controversial finish robbed fans of a clean finish, instead setting up a definitive conclusion to their story sometime down the road.
While that booking decision will hang over the event like a black cloud for years to come, there were several other choices made over the course of the four-hour extravaganza that will only help the current WWE product in the meantime.
Some were championship victories; others were wins for heels that absolutely needed them in order to maintain credibility.
Still, others were outcomes that preserved competitors for a bigger, more meaningful match in the coming month.
Not everything WWE Creative did Sunday night was right, nor will it ever be, but these five decisions helped make SummerSlam a much better, more effective and more productive show.
Sheamus Wins Clean
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Winning Money in the Bank in June should have been the start of a renewed main event push for Sheamus. After returning the night after WrestleMania, he had undergone a character change that had seen him adopt the persona of a bullying heel, the type of old-school baddie the company was sorely missing. He was hot, and his in-ring work was as strong as ever.
Unfortunately, capturing the briefcase coincided with a losing streak.
That he became lost in the shuffle, tossed into a rivalry with Randy Orton because there was nothing better for either of them to do, did not help matters.
After a loss to The Viper at Battleground, the Celtic Warrior had cooled off significantly. With a rematch scheduled for SummerSlam, it was absolutely imperative that he pick up the win and regain some of the momentum he had this past spring.
He did just that—and more.
Not only did Sheamus win, he beat the 12-time world champion clean in the center of the ring following two consecutive Brogue Kicks.
That is exactly the type of booking he needs going forward if fans are to take him seriously as a main event player any time in the near future.
New Day Regains the WWE Tag Team Championships
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To say The New Day never should have lost the WWE Tag Team Championships in the first place would be an understatement of massive proportions. Their first run with the titles was cut short by the company's decision to put the gold on The Prime Time Players for a reign that did nothing to elevate anyone.
Sunday night, it righted that wrong, as Kofi Kingston and Big E regained the titles, much to the delight of the fans in Brooklyn who understand the entertainment value of the group.
The fact of the matter is that not only is The New Day the most over team the company has, it also has the type of heels that can be built around. With WWE's tag division featuring solid teams but none that are really taken seriously by fans, The New Day is the perfect group to make the centerpiece.
The return of The Dudley Boyz on Monday night and their attack of The New Day suggests WWE recognizes the value of its championship trio and will use it as the perfect foil for the brothers from different mothers.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev Ends in a Double Countout
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A double count-out may not sound like an ideal way to end a pay-per-view match, but given the fact Dolph Ziggler and Rusev's issues will continue past SummerSlam and neither man can particularly withstand a loss at this point, it was the right decision to make.
In this scenario, both men are spared defeat, and the spotlight remains on them while simultaneously highlighting the increasingly intense rivalry between Lana and Summer Rae.
With a Mixed Tag Team match almost a certainty at this point, WWE Creative opted to keep everyone strong rather than sacrificing either guy in a meaningless midcard bout that no one was going to remember an hour after it ended.
Said mixed tag bout has the opportunity to be a much higher profile match than the singles match ever did, supporting the decision to use SummerSlam's contest as a building block.
Kevin Owens Wins
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Two months ago, Kevin Owens was the hottest commodity in pro wrestling, thanks in large part to his work on NXT and a huge pay-per-view victory over John Cena.
Fast-forward a bit, and the Ring of Honor standout suddenly found himself as just another one of the guys, with his meteoric rise stunted by two straight losses to the biggest star the sport has to offer. A series of losses in multiman tags did nothing to help the skid.
A rivalry with Cesaro whetted the appetites of the fans searching for great wrestling but also created an issue in that both men could benefit from a big win.
Sunday night, WWE Creative opted to put Owens over, and it was absolutely the right call.
One of the biggest problems with today's roster is a decided lack of legitimate and credible main event heels. Putting Owens over a very game Cesaro allowed him to rebuild himself, to regain some of the momentum he lost over the last month.
That he did so cleanly and in such definitive fashion was that much more impressive.
Seth Rollins Defeats John Cena
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Based on the chorus of boos and chants hurled at him as he entered the Barclays Center for Sunday's title-for-title match, the idea of John Cena leaving with the WWE World Heavyweight and United States titles was not an appealing one.
Sure, he is the franchise player and the biggest star the industry has to offer, but opponent Seth Rollins was the top heel and someone in need of a credible victory. He needed to beat Cena, if only to legitimize his reign as champion.
After turning in a career-defining performance, a showing that demonstrated just how determined he was to steal the show, Rollins beating Cena was welcomed with a huge ovation by WWE fans looking for someone new and fresh to be given the proverbial ball to run with.
Even the screwy finish, which saw Jon Stewart interfere and cost Cena the match, was not such a bad thing in that it got the company mainstream media attention and led to the right outcome.
Sure, Rollins retained one title and won another thanks to interference, but after the showing he delivered, it was not a stretch of the imagination to suggest he may have won the match anyway.
And that is a huge improvement over the booking of The Architect previously.
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