SummerSlam (2014)

SummerSlam (2014)
Promotional poster featuring John Cena and Brock Lesnar
Promotion	WWE
Date	August 17, 2014
City	Los Angeles, California
Venue	Staples Center
Attendance	17,350
WWE Network event chronology
← Previous Battleground (2014) Next → NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way
SummerSlam chronology
← Previous SummerSlam (2013) Next → SummerSlam (2015)

SummerSlam (2014) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on August 17, 2014 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. It was the twenty-seventh annual SummerSlam, and the sixth and final consecutive one held at Staples Center. This was the final broadcast of the WWE event using the scratched WWE logo and the first pay-per-view to use the new WWE logo.

Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's main card and one match took place on the pre-show, which was streamed on the WWE Network. The main event saw Brock Lesnar defeat John Cena to become a four-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

The event had 147,000 buys (excluding WWE Network views), down from the previous year's 296,000 buys.

Background

See also: Professional wrestling

SummerSlam featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that played out on WWE's primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown. Wrestlers portrayed heroes or villains as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.

File:Brie Bella Stephanie McMahon.JPG

Brie Bella on the July 21 episode of Raw.

At Payback, Brie Bella quit WWE after her husband Daniel Bryan was given an ultimatum by the principal owner of WWE Stephanie McMahon to either forfeit the WWE World Heavyweight Championship or have Brie fired. Brie decided to quit and slapped Stephanie in the face. Following that incident, McMahon would repeatedly put Brie's twin sister Nikki Bella in matches which invariably ended with Nikki being beaten down. On the July 21 episode of Raw, Brie returned to the WWE as a fan in the audience to support her sister, but was slapped in the face by McMahon, who came to ringside to confront her. Later in the same episode, Stephanie was arrested by the police for assault and battery, due to Brie not being part of the WWE roster. On the July 28 episode of Raw, Brie confronted Stephanie and said that she would drop the charges as long as Stephanie rehired her and accepted her challenge to a match at SummerSlam, which Stephanie accepted. On the August 11 episode of Raw, Stephanie brought in Megan Miller, Bryan's physical therapist, who confessed to having an affair with her client. An infuriated Brie stormed into the ring and slapped Megan before attacking Stephanie. Later on the show, Brie was arrested by the police after Stephanie revealed that Megan was pressing charges against her.

On the June 30 episode of Raw, Chris Jericho made his unexpected return to the WWE, only to be attacked by The Wyatt Family. This led to a match at Battleground, where Jericho defeated Bray Wyatt. On the July 21 episode of Raw, Jericho was to have Wyatt on his Highlight Reel show, but the Wyatt Family attacked Jericho in the locker room. On the July 28 episode of Raw, Triple H made the official announcement of the Wyatt-Jericho rematch at SummerSlam. On the August 1 edition of SmackDown, Jericho defeated Erick Rowan, banning Rowan from ringside during the match at SummerSlam as per match stipulation. On the August 4 edition of Raw, Jericho defeated Luke Harper by disqualification due to interference by Wyatt, causing Harper to be banned from ringside.

At Battleground, John Cena defeated Randy Orton, Kane, and Roman Reigns to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The following night on Raw, Brock Lesnar returned to the WWE and was chosen by WWE COO Triple H to face Cena at SummerSlam for the championship.

At Battleground, Rusev defeated Jack Swagger by countout. On the July 22 edition of Main Event, Swagger defeated Rusev by disqualification after Rusev hit Swagger with a Russian flag. On the August 1 edition of SmackDown, after Swagger defeated Cesaro, Lana came out along with Rusev and challenged Swagger to a Flag match at SummerSlam on Rusev's behalf, which Zeb Colter accepted on Swagger's behalf.

At Battleground, AJ Lee defeated Paige to retain the WWE Divas Championship. On the July 21 edition of Raw, Paige attacked AJ after they defeated Emma and Natalya. On the July 28 edition of Raw, AJ confronted and attacked Paige. On the August 1 edition of Smackdown, after AJ defeated Rosa Mendes, Paige attacked AJ and threw her off the stage ramp, resulting in AJ suffering a whiplash injury. On August 4, it was announced on WWE.com that AJ would defend the title against Paige at SummerSlam.

At Battleground, The Miz won a 19-man battle royal to win the vacated WWE Intercontinental Championship, last eliminating Dolph Ziggler. On the July 21 edition of Raw, Ziggler defeated Miz in a non-title match. On the July 28 edition of Raw, Ziggler and The Usos defeated Miz and RybAxel. On August 4, it was announced on WWE.com that Miz would defend the title against Ziggler at SummerSlam.

At Battleground, Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose by forfeit when Ambrose was ejected out of the arena by Triple H for attacking Rollins before the match. On the August 4 edition of Raw, Triple H announced that Ambrose and Rollins would face off at SummerSlam. Triple H also announced that Ambrose and Rollins would face Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam respectively in Beat the Clock challenge matches, and the winner would choose the stipulation for the match at SummerSlam. Ambrose defeated Del Rio to set a time of 15:42. Van Dam was switched out at the last minute for Heath Slater, who defeated Rollins, thus giving Ambrose the right to choose. On the August 8 edition of Smackdown, Ambrose announced that their match at SummerSlam would be a Lumberjack match.

On the July 21 edition of Raw, Roman Reigns defeated Kane and Randy Orton in a handicap match and attacked Orton during Triple H's announcement on who would face John Cena at SummerSlam for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. On the July 28 edition of Raw, Orton attacked Reigns before his scheduled match against Kane. On the August 1 edition of Smackdown, Orton challenged Reigns to a match at SummerSlam. On August 4, it was announced on WWE.com that Orton would face Reigns at SummerSlam.

On August 16, it was announced on WWE.com that Cesaro would face Rob Van Dam on the SummerSlam Kickoff show.

Event

The pre-show match saw Rob Van Dam defeat Cesaro with a Five-Star Frog Splash. Analysis was provided by a pre-show panel of Booker T, Alex Riley and Ric Flair, hosted by Renee Young. Hulk Hogan also made an appearance at the event before the main card got underway, reminding the live audience about the WWE Network.

Miscellaneous

The English commentators were Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and John "Bradshaw" Layfield, with Spanish and German commentators also at ringside. Lilian Garcia and Justin Roberts were the ring announcers while Tom Phillips conducted backstage interviews.

During the event, many celebrities were shown present including MMA's Ronda Rousey, Extra presenter Maria Menounos, "Mama's Boy" Jake Tucker (winner of the Totino's Bold "Show Us Your Superstar" contest), Bill Simmons (from ABC and ESPN) and ESPN presenter Michelle Beadle.

Main card

The first match of the night on the main card was a singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship between defending champion The Miz and Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler won the match following a Zig-Zag after kicking out of Miz's Skull Crushing Finale. Ziggler thus became a two-time Intercontinental Champion.

The second match of the night was another singles match for the WWE Divas Championship between defending champion AJ Lee and Paige. After hitting a suicide dive to the outside, AJ countered the Paige Turner into her signature Black Widow submission, however, Paige, in turn, countered this into a RamPaige DDT and pinned AJ, becoming a two-time Divas Champion.

The third match of the night was a flag match between Rusev and Jack Swagger, in which the winner would have his country's flag raised and national anthem played following the match, with Rusev representing Russia and Swagger representing the US. Rusev attempted to attack Swagger before the match but Swagger countered into a Patriot Lock, thus weakening Rusev's ankle, he also performed it in the match. Despite this, Rusev was victorious when he applied his Accolade hold, causing Swagger to pass out and forcing the referee to stop the match. Following the match, Rusev assaulted Zeb Colter while he was tending to the fallen Swagger. The National Anthem of Russia was then played for the victorious Rusev.

The fourth match of the night was a lumberjack match between former members of The Shield Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. The match was a chaotic brawl, with both men fighting into the crowd and assaulting the lumberjacks at ringside, which prompted Corporate Kane to come out to try and restore order. Eventually, with both men back in the ring, Ambrose hit Rollins with Rollins' signature Curb Stomp maneuver, however Kane interfered and broke up the pinfall. This triggered a mass brawl involving all the lumberjacks, and in the melee, Rollins grabbed his Money in the Bank briefcase and hit Ambrose with it, thus claiming the victory. The announce team said that this was the "greatest lumberjack match in WWE history".

The fifth match of the night was another singles match between Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt (with The Wyatt Family). banned from ringside. Wyatt won the match after escaping from the Walls of Jericho, kicking out of a Codebreaker and hitting Jericho with two Sister Abigails, one on the barricade, and one in the ring.

In the sixth match of the night, Stephanie McMahon faced Brie Bella in McMahon's first match in over ten years. Midway through the match, Triple H emerged from the back, soon followed by Nikki Bella. Triple H would then interfere by pulling the referee out of the ring when Brie locked in The Yes! Lock, before being taken out by a baseball slide from Brie. Nikki Bella then entered the ring, seemingly to prevent Stephanie from escaping, but instead attacked her sister, turning heel. Stephanie then hit Brie with a Pedigree to win the match.

The last match of the night on the main card was another singles match between Randy Orton and Roman Reigns. Reigns took early control by attacking Orton. Reigns used his power to continuously knock Orton to his knees and out of the ring, but Randy soon countered. Roman would try a desperation move by choking Orton from behind, but Orton slammed Reigns down. A few seconds later, Reigns attempted the same desperation move again, but was again slammed down. Roman would deliver a successful superman punch. Then he would attempt a spear, but Randy would counter with a suplex for a 2 count. Reigns would try another superman punch, but Orton countered with an RKO for another 2 count (much to Orton's surprise). Orton would then get frustrated as he didn't know what else to do to put Reigns away. Then he attempted a Running Punt Kick, but Reigns would trip Orton with his hand and follow up with a spear for the victory. This was deemed as the biggest fight of Reigns' career as a singles competitor thus far.

Main event

In the main event of the night, John Cena defended his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Brock Lesnar. After an initial offensive burst from Cena, Lesnar hit his signature F-5 maneuver within the first 30 seconds of the match. Cena kicked out (to the amusement of Lesnar & Heyman), but from then on the match was a one-sided beatdown, with Cena managing only brief and ineffectual spurts of offense while Lesnar continued to throw Cena to the mat over and over again. At one point, Cena was able to hit his Attitude Adjustment finisher followed by a pin attempt; Lesnar's response was to sit up and laugh (mimicking The Undertaker). In total, Lesnar performed 16 German suplexes to Cena, with commentators questioning whether referee Charles Robinson should step in and stop the match. Eventually Cena rallied and applied his signature STF hold to Lesnar, but Lesnar escaped and hit a second F-5 to win the match and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for a fourth time. Heyman would then step into the ring and bow down to Lesnar. As the two walked out, the fans were in disbelief.

Results

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times
1	Rob Van Dam defeated Cesaro	Singles match	8:06
2	Dolph Ziggler defeated The Miz (c)	Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship	7:51
3	Paige defeated AJ Lee (c)	Singles match for the WWE Divas Championship	4:56
4	Rusev (with Lana) defeated Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter) by knockout	Flag match	8:55
5	Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose	Lumberjack match	10:52
6	Bray Wyatt defeated Chris Jericho	Singles match; Erick Rowan and Luke Harper were banned from ringside	12:57
7	Stephanie McMahon defeated Brie Bella	Singles match	11:07
8	Roman Reigns defeated Randy Orton	Singles match	16:17
9	Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) defeated John Cena (c)	Singles match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship	16:05
(c)  – the champion(s) heading into the match

Aftermath

The following night on Raw, Stephanie McMahon came out to Daniel Bryan's music to celebrate her victory. She also invited Nikki Bella out to address her betraying Brie Bella. Nikki said she and Brie were supposed to be a team, but that she had felt betrayed by Brie's actions in quitting the company at Payback. Brie came out and confronted Nikki, but Nikki said she would never forgive her and slapped Brie across the face (cementing her heel turn), leaving Brie in tears.

On the same event, Seth Rollins fell victim to a surprise Ice Bucket Challenge and beating from Dean Ambrose during an interview segment. Triple H then set up a SummerSlam rematch in order to 'finish off' Ambrose, with the WWE Universe voting on the stipulation; the vote was made for a Falls Count Anywhere match. Ambrose was closing in on a victory when Kane (who had been sitting at ringside) once again interfered and set up Ambrose for Rollins' Curb Stomp through a pile of concrete blocks next to the announce table. Rollins was awarded the victory via knockout and Ambrose was stretchered out of the arena. Ambrose was then reported to have refused treatment and 'gone missing' afterwards. The storyline was put to place to allow Ambrose's absence from television in order to film the movie Lockdown. Ambrose returned at Night of Champions and attacked Rollins before being carried off by security.

Also on Raw, Dolph Ziggler faced The Miz in a rematch for his newly won Intercontinental Championship and retained the title, although Miz won the match via count-out when Ziggler fell to the floor. Miz would defeat Ziggler at Night of Champions and win his fourth Intercontinental Championship, though Ziggler would win it back the following night on Raw.

The Authority revealed a new belt (subsequently retiring the Big Gold Belt) to represent the WWE World Heavyweight Championship which was presented to Brock Lesnar. On August 19 edition of Main Event, Triple H announced later that John Cena would invoke his rematch clause at Night of Champions. At Night Of Champions, Cena won the match, but not the championship because Seth Rollins attacked Cena, causing a disqualification.

After winning back the Divas Championship, Paige and AJ Lee continued their rivalry, with AJ twice distracting Paige and thus causing Paige to lose during matches against Natalya. The Authority made a Triple Threat match, adding Nikki Bella. AJ would regain the title by making Paige tap out.

On the August 25 edition of Raw, Cesaro defeated Rob Van Dam in a rematch to become the number one contender for Sheamus' WWE United States Championship. The match was officially confirmed by WWE on August 29 when it was announced that the championship match will take place at Night of Champions. At Night Of Champions, Sheamus defeated Cesaro and retained the title.

After defeating Jack Swagger in a Flag match, Rusev was celebrating his victory until he was attacked by Mark Henry. In the ensuing weeks, they would interfere in each other's matches. Henry then challenged Rusev to a match at Night of Champions vowing to be the first to beat Rusev. Rusev would make Henry tap out at Night of Champions.

Chris Jericho's feud with Bray Wyatt ended on the September 8 edition of Raw, with Wyatt defeating Jericho in a steel cage match.

Reception

The event received positive reviews. The main event match between Lesnar and Cena received 4.25 stars out of five from Dave Meltzer, the best of the event. The Reigns and Orton match received four stars, the Lumberjack Match received 3.75 stars and the Kickoff match received 3.25 stars.

See also

• List of WWE pay-per-view events
• SummerSlam

External links

• Official website