WWE SummerSlam 2016 Results: Biggest Missed Opportunities with Show's Booking
SummerSlam 2016 was one of those rare examples where an event had such a grandiose feel and not only didn't manage to live up to the hype, it almost seems like it was knowingly booked to be a disappointment instead.
WWE had a baker's dozen's worth of matches over the course of six hours of programming to work with and a hot crowd that was on the heels of a great NXT TakeOver event.
Brock Lesnar was on the card. A new championship would be revealed. What could possibly go wrong when there's such a perfect recipe for success?
Strangely, the writing team and the powers that be who call the shots made such odd decisions that negatively impacted the event in so many ways, it's hard to figure out just how to start analyzing where things went south.
Everybody likes to look back and play "armchair booker" to explain how they would have done things better to suit what they would rather have seen, but even if you separate biases and put personal preferences aside, there are still some fundamental mistakes made in the crafting of this event.
Hindsight is 20/20, and it's worth noting that we're gifted the ability to judge WWE based on what has already happened rather than creating this out of thin air ourselves.
That being said, it's hard to imagine some of these flaws weren't things the company couldn't see coming from a mile away when looking at the notes for the show.
Let's put on our thinking caps and discuss some of the biggest missed opportunities that unfortunately weren't capitalized on for SummerSlam 2016.
3. Make Every Pay-Per-View Match Feel Special
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Under no circumstances should pay-per-views be treated as the same style of programming as Raw, SmackDown, Main Event and Superstars, which goes double for something as important as SummerSlam.
Perhaps it isn't classified so much as a "missed opportunity"—seeing as it isn't something WWE opted out of doing, but instead, something the writers wrongfully chose to do—but one of the biggest problems with SummerSlam was how it felt like an elongated television episode.
This is the event that is as close to WrestleMania as we get throughout the year, so why did one match end in a disqualification and another match not even start?
Celebrities have been involved in the outcome of finishes, and returning Superstars do it all the time, but rarely does the match end in a disqualification on a pay-per-view as it did with the Tag Team Championship bout.
Why couldn't Big E and Jon Stewart cause a distraction that led to The Club losing? Why was this booked to resemble what happens every week on Monday Night Raw?
The same applies to Rusev and Roman Reigns battling each other in a lackluster brawl before the bell had sounded, meaning their segment was stripped of time and both men were protected as neither had to lose.
If WWE couldn't figure out a way to have Rusev either retain the championship or drop it, the match not only shouldn't have been scheduled for SummerSlam, but they shouldn't have wrestled on the episode of Raw that preceded this show.
This is the opposite of what should have happened, as the brawl could have taken place on Raw to set up this match. When you pay for a ticket to Raw, you go in expecting shenanigans to get in the way of the card, but you shouldn't be robbed of a match at a pay-per-view.
The booking for those two matches screams of WWE not knowing how to have the same matches for Clash of Champions without avoiding doing them properly at SummerSlam, and instead of putting in the effort to plan ahead beforehand or to think of a solution, just taking the lazy way out.
WWE should always be looking for more ways to get the fans to enjoy what they're watching and to feel like they didn't have their time wasted so they'll want to continue tuning in to see more. This type of "wait and you'll see next time, I swear" booking is what regular scripted television shows like The Walking Dead do, but they never deliver on the promises.
Those shows eventually annoy the audience so much that many people tune out—tired of being goaded on.
Dangling a carrot in front of a viewer only works for so long, and the more it's done, the lower the tolerance people have for it.
All one has to do is look at the way Dixie Carter's tweets are laughed at when she tries to say history will be made and TNA will change the world of professional wrestling forever with the latest upcoming reveal. Nobody tunes in to Impact Wrestling to see what she's hyping up, as it will inevitably be a dud.
WWE missed a chance to show the fans that this new era would get away from this bait tactic and ended up tarnishing the image of the current product as a result.
2. Where Was All the Fun?
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Why was nearly everything so bleak at something that was supposed to be the biggest party of the summer?
When you look at the results, almost nothing ended in a way that would make the crowd happy, and WWE should want the fans to associate smiles and joy with this post-brand-split era, not frustration.
The first match on the card saw the babyfaces win but argue with each other, planting the seeds for The Usos and American Alpha to clash. Even in victory, there's a problem.
Following that, another tease of The Dudley Boyz splitting occurred as Bubba Ray and D-Von lost to Sami Zayn and Neville. It's doubtful many people want to see those two break up in any capacity, so that wasn't a positive.
This is even worse if WWE knew ahead of time that the plan for Monday Night Raw was to have them come out to announce their retirement. Why give off the impression their careers are ending with a pre-show loss to two guys who aren't even a tag team and with them arguing?
The last match on the pre-show saw Sheamus cheat to defeat Cesaro, the fan favorite, meaning the heel is in the lead for the Best of Seven Series.
But that was just the kickoff, which means it was then time for the main four-hour card. What's the best way to start that off? How about if the babyfaces lose?
By now you're seeing a trend that doesn't really stop.
Next up was Charlotte taking the Women's Championship from Sasha Banks and then The Miz defeating Apollo Crews.
At this point, it was like being told the bad news first only to find out the good news to follow was that there was only 10 more bad-news stories to come later instead of 11.
This perpetuated throughout the entire night, as AJ Styles defeated John Cena, The Club won their match by disqualification, the heel team of SmackDown women won its match and Brock Lesnar destroyed Randy Orton and Shane McMahon.
On a card with 13 matches, only four were won by the good guys, and the two on the pre-show had negatives to go along with them.
Professional wrestling is similar to normal sports in that there are always people rooting for different teams, so naturally, someone is going to be disappointed no matter what happens. For some fans, they always want the heels to lose. Others just cheer for who they like.
Because of that, to many people, it was a massive positive for Styles to defeat Cena, but that's not the same for the kids in the crowd who wanted to see their hero come out on top.
Likewise, some people wanted Seth Rollins to defeat Finn Balor. Even stranger, Dolph Ziggler is just as much of a babyface as Dean Ambrose, so in that match, a good guy was guaranteed to lose as well.
What's different about sports entertainment from normal sports, though, is that WWE has control over which side is going to win the fight. As such, the company knows from the start whether or not the lineup will get people to boo or to cheer.
Having so many downers one after another made SummerSlam seem less like a fun show and more like an exercise in futility.
If the fans are supposed to suspend their disbelief and go along with the show by cheering for the babyfaces, then one of the only times in the night that was written as being uplifting instead of depressing was Balor's victory over Rollins.
Of course, in hindsight, even Balor's win would be tainted with an injury and relinquishing the Universal Championship.
In a six-hour event, one moment of optimism that would be taken away the next night isn't good enough, and WWE missed out on an opportunity to do what NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II did by having fans both start and end the show feeling good.
1. The Resurgence of Randy Orton
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By far the biggest missed opportunity of the night was the treatment of Orton in his match against Lesnar.
Orton was heading into this as the underdog who spent months on the shelf with an injury following a lull in his career that was beyond forgettable. If you can remember what he was doing before he was injured, pat yourself on the back.
This isn't so much that Orton should have won the match, but more so that he should have at least looked like a legitimate threat and put up a fight.
The way this match went down was just embarrassing and did no favors to Orton or the SmackDown roster whatsoever, as nobody will look good coming out of this other than Lesnar, who by no means needed another victory this decisive.
The Beast Incarnate has a legacy that is hard to top, so why bother making him look so much stronger than one of the top guys who will be entrusted to help carry the still-obvious B-show for the next year?
Orton put up almost no defense in the grand scheme of things, and when he was on the defense, he curled up into a ball and bled before the referee took pity upon him.
Even if Lesnar had to win—which he didn't—there's no reason why Orton couldn't have fought back some more so his credibility would go up or at the very least, stay the same.
When someone talks tough and can't back up their bark with the proper bite, it's more pathetic than if they had said nothing at all.
It's been a long time since he was The Apex Predator, and WWE decided the story that was going to be told was to ask the fans to buy in to the idea that he still was that good, only to pull the rug out and cement his status as being just as expected: a shell of his former self.
This could have been a more even fight where Orton lost but gained a lot of respect, taking that momentum into a decent run on SmackDown while he worked with guys like Styles, who would look good working against him in turn.
Instead, he just looks like the stereotypical kid on the playground who talks a tough game and has a glass jaw once someone decides to fight back.
Funny enough, he's going into a feud with Bray Wyatt—someone else who talks himself up but has no credibility as he never wins any of his important matches. Now, neither man will look great coming out of the feud together, as a victory over either one doesn't mean as much as it should.
WWE has to rehabilitate Orton's credibility even more than when he originally returned, which still was not the most ideal situation. This was one step forward and two steps back rather than heading in the right direction.
What other missed opportunities do you feel WWE had with SummerSlam?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
