Summerslam Count-Up – 2011: Orton vs. Christian Is Better
IMG Credit: WWE
Summerslam 2011
Date: August 14, 2011
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 17.404
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Booker T
The guitarist from Tool plays the national anthem.
Kofi Kingston/John Morrison/Rey Mysterio vs. Awesome Truth/Alberto Del Rio
Sheamus vs. Mark Henry
Divas Title: Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix
Kelly is defending in your standard Barbie vs. monster feud and has Eve Torres in her corner. Beth on the other hand has Natalya. Kelly goes straight after her to start and fires off some forearms in the corner to send Beth outside, followed by a middle rope cross body to the floor. Back in and Beth knocks her out of the corner to take over before we hit a quick chinlock. An over the shoulder backrbeaker (good move for Beth) has Kelly in trouble and Beth ties her in the Tree of Woe to make it even worse. Kelly gets knocked around in the corner but counters the Glam Slam into a victory roll to retain at 6:33.
Rating: D+. Total squash for the most part here with a fluke ending, albeit the same fluke ending to almost every Kelly vs. Beth match ever. Kelly certainly got her push because of her looks but she was getting much better in the ring near the end of her career with matches like this one being far more watchable than some of the disasters that the division hard around this time.
Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett
The California National Guard is here.
Smackdown World Title: Christian vs. Randy Orton
Christian is defending and this is no holds barred but first the champ has a big surprise for everyone as he brings out Edge. After an insane ovation, Edge thanks the fans but reminds them that he can never compete again due to his neck injuries. He was kind of glad that he left when he did though because it opened the door for Christian to become champion.
Video on WWE taking over Los Angeles for the week, including an Axxess.
Raw World Title: John Cena vs. CM Punk
Punk finally escapes and puts Cena down for a breather, earning a loud CM PUNK chant. Off to a body vice as this match seems to be collapsing under the weight of the expectations from the previous match. Back up and Punk snaps his throat across the top rope to block a superplex attempt, followed by dropkicking Cena out to the floor. That goes nowhere so Punk grabs a seated abdominal stretch, only to have Cena power up into a spinning slam for a breather. Fans: “FRUITY PEBBLES!”
Raw World Title: CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio
Punk is defending and loses the title to an enziguri in eleven seconds.
A quick celebration ends the show.
Ratings Comparison
Kofi Kingston/John Morrison/Rey Mysterio vs. Awesome Truth/Alberto Del Rio
Original: B-
2013 Redo: B-
2016 Redo: B-
Mark Henry vs. Sheamus
Original: C
2013 Redo: C+
2016 Redo: C+
Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly
Original: C+
2013 Redo: D+
2016 Redo: D+
Wade Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan
Original: B
2013 Redo: B+
2016 Redo: B
Christian vs. Randy Orton
Original: B+
2013 Redo: A-
2016 Redo: A
CM Punk vs. John Cena
Original: A+
2013 Redo: B+
2016 Redo: B+
Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk
Original: N/A
2013 Redo: N/A
2016 Redo: N/A
Overall Rating
Original: A+
2013 Redo: A
2016 Redo: A
I think we can call this my definitive thoughts on the show as the ratings were almost identical in the last two reviews. Definitely check this one out.
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/08/14/summerslam-2011-that-was-i-need-a-cigarette/
And the 2013 redo:
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/08/16/summerslam-count-up-2011-a-screwy-ending-isnt-a-bad-thing/
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http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/
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