WWE Summerslam 2008 Results, Review

We are firmly on the down swing of this list and I’m really hoping we have an improvement over the past years Summerslam. This is yet another Summerslam that younger me did not watch live. I’m sure. I know this is where we have the Jericho/HBK feud continue and the Edge/Undertaker Hell in a Cell match. I’m excited to see Cena and Batista as well and wonder if it will be better than Cena/Orton from the year prior. Also I notice there is only one tag team match, my have things changed since Summerslam ’88. Real quick I want to thank all of my followers for sharing and commenting on these articles continuously, it has been awesome reliving a lot of this and the comments make it even more enjoyable.

MVP vs. Jeff Hardy: If there is something I’ve completely missed by not watching during this timeframe is how OVER Jeff Hardy is. MVP starts this match by the old cat and mouse chase me heel move. Jeff actually catches him however and throws in into the railing. Jeff controls this match early until MVP hits a nasty looking overhead suplex. MVP works on Jeff’s head and neck area for most of the offense here. We get some reversals and some very good back and forth between the two, they have some good chemistry here. The offense between these two guys is fantastic and the crowd is into this match. I must say I undervalued MVP going into this match and I possibly undervalued Jeff Hardy being in a match with a “mid card” guy. They are working a good back and forth style match and getting in some cool offense. We get the whisper in the wind (which will always look cool) and Shelton Benjamin is out to distract Jeff leading to a nasty looking MVP kick and the win. That’s a good opening match that didn’t think outside the box. Kudos.

Mickie James & Kofi Kingston vs. Beth Phoenix and Santino Marella (IC Title and Women’s Title Match): To me during these entrances Beth Phoenix is the one that stands out the most. She looks like a star and I feel that in today’s WWE she could be a very big deal. It’s amazing that the crowd seems to not care about Kofi AT ALL. The women start this match and we get some good wrestling back forth between the two. Man this looks like a match that could happen in today’s WWE for the WWE Women’s title. Santino comes in and gets all sorts of good looking Kofi Kingston offense. HA! Santino jumps into Beth’s arms at one point that’s classic. We get everyone in the ring for a melee and the men end up on the floor and this leads to double chicken wing powerbomb move for the win. Beth Phoenix is now the women’s champion and Santino Marella is now the IC champion. I’ll let you decide where you want to put Santino winning the IC title on the list of all IC title changes in Summerslam history.

HBK – Y2J Promo Segment – This is one of the most iconic non wrestling segments in Summerslam history. Michaels comes out and announces that the doctors are advising him to retire. Jericho then comes out, oh don’t we love smarmy Jericho, he comes out to say no don’t say it’s because of doctors that you are retiring it’s because of Jericho, DRINK IT IN MAN. Ok well maybe not so much the last part, but still he’s a dick. Jericho and HBK exchange insults which leads to Jericho attempting to hit HBK but instead hitting his wife. BAM BANG POW! I’m rarely ever for men hitting women in WWE, I don’t think it adds much however in this angle it brought a whole new life to this feud and its already been fantastic.

Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy (ECW World Title): Blink three times and this match is over. Disqualification win for Matt Hardy and Mark Henry retains the title.

CM Punk vs. JBL (Raw World Title Match): I’m super excited for this match as I think the clash of styles, personalities and look is fantastic. What is more wrestling than the smaller, punk, alternative wrestler taking on the loud, big, brawling Texan in a match? JBL starts out clubbing Punk early however Punk gets the upper hand after some kicks and a suicide dive. We get some good back and forth action and Punk ends up in the bear hug. While many people are fans of the bear hug I think it works when you have a much larger wrestler wrestling a much smaller wrestler. We have Punk using some great psychology as JBL has been working on his ribs and when he goes for the GTS he isn’t able to do the move because of the “injured” ribs. Kudos! Finally we get punches back and forth and both men giving it everything until JBL hits a power slam for a two count. This would have been the match of the night if it happened one year prior. JBL really doesn’t mind laying it in regardless of the size of the opponent, alternatively Punk doesn’t mind taking the beating. GTS out of NOWHERE for the win. Wow really fun match between these two and I really enjoyed watching it.

HHH vs. Great Khali (Smackdown World Title): It’s never talked about as an iconic entrance of all time over I ask how many entrances are more iconic than HHH? Also its possibly that HHH is the greatest heel of all time, you could argue Flair is number one and that’s fine but who else would you say is better than Trips? This match actually starts with a pretty good pace ESPECIALLY for a Khali match where it’s typically just chops…… That didn’t last too long…. CHOPS OF DOOM! We get a couple of nerve holds that are over dramatically done however HHH powers out however can’t quite hit the pedigree. We get some more back and forth action and they ever end up outside the ring. We get another massive I’m really big and strong head squashing hold and then HHH breaks out of it PEDIGREE! HHH has won and to be honest this wasn’t TERRIBLE. They told a good story and it’s about as good a Khali match as you’ll ever see.

Batista vs. John Cena: Interesting that this match AND another match are going on after both title matches. I’m traditionally not a fan of a non-title match finishing the show unless the story is that incredible. Watching both of these guys come out and it’s no wonder how they are both on the top of the business. I would love to have been in the room when the writers were talking about Batista and Cena as Batista appeared to always be the higher priority. This match starts pretty slow and more about each man establishing who the stronger superstar is. Batista hits a jackhammer pretty early in this match and gets a two count. He looked really good doing the move too. We have Cena go for the FU however Batista counters and locks in a figure four. Cena escapes and dumps Batista over the top rope unsure if that was an FU over the top rope or just him dumping him over the top. Man Batista has an awesome looking spine buster. This match has really been big move after big move and without much filler. This is almost like an early day version of what you get from Cena today. The crowd is really into the match and exchange of blows between the two. Awesome looking spot with Cena going for the leg drop off the top and Batista catching him with a powerbomb. Now we get another Batista bomb and WHOA it’s over Batista wins clean. This match was awesome and wasn’t extremely long either. This was very much a match like you would see today with Cena, Lesner or even Roman. Good stuff here!

Edge vs. Undertaker (Hell in a Cell Match): This is another match where the visual of these two wrestling is awesome. I love Edge’s music here and the Undertakers entrance is always so much fun. We get action right away from Edge going full speed ahead and the Undertaker stops that quick with a big boot. They use the cage early with Edge taking the beating thus far. As far as Hell in a Cell matches go HBK/Undertaker will always be my favorite. AWESOME spot from Edge where he spears Undertaker into the ring stairs. Edge sets up a double stack of tables calling back to the Wrestlemania match. Edge now using whatever he can find and the chair is his current weapon of choice. Awesome spot where Edge puts Undertaker through a table with a chair/elbow drop ala Foley. WHOA! Edge spears Undertaker through the cell and that was really awesome looking. Now we get some fighting outside..well outside the cell. While outside the cell they are using everything and this match is absolutely BRUTAL not Flair/Foley brutal but a good kind of brutal. Both men start hitting some signature moves back in the ring and this leads to Edge going for old school. That’s pretty good Edge feeling confident enough to try THAT move against Undertaker. We get a reversal from this and Edge gets a choke slam from the before mentioned double stack tables. This match is awesome on so many levels. Undertaker now sets up for A SPEAR HA! We now get a camera shot followed by a conchairto and Edge is brutalized. Undertaker wins and after the match he chokelsams Edge to the depths of hell…. Fire and all included.

This was actually an entertaining PPV after all. The promo segment and the two title matches certainly delivered well enough. Also the two last matches were quite enjoyable. I really thought I was going to give the match of the night to Batista and Cena however how can I not give it to the main event? Edge vs. Undertaker is the match of the night and tore the house down in a very good Hell in a Cell match. Also no blood was needed to put this over as a great match. This likely won’t make my top five of all time however it is very enjoyable and encourage you to watch it. Until next time be awesome.