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SummerSlam (2015)

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SummerSlam (2015)
Promotional poster featuring Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker
PromotionWWE
DateAugust 23, 2015
CityBrooklyn, New York City, New York
VenueBarclays Center
Attendance15,702[1]
WWE Network event chronology
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SummerSlam (2015) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on August 23, 2015, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.[2] It was the twenty-eighth event under the SummerSlam chronology, and the first since 2008 to be held outside of Los Angeles as Staples Center was the exclusive home for SummerSlam from 2009 to 2014. This was the eighth SummerSlam to be held in the New York metropolitan area, after the 1988, 1989, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2002, and 2007 editions. The Izod Center was supposed to be hosting SummerSlam, but due to its closure in April 2015, it was moved to the Barclays Center.[3] The event was the first in the SummerSlam chronology to be four hours in length, a length previously reserved only for WrestleMania.[4][5]

Ten matches were contested at the event, with no pre-show. The main event was Brock Lesnar facing The Undertaker in which Undertaker tapped out to a Kimura lock by Lesnar and the bell rang, but the referee did not see the tap out and allowed the match to continue. With the referee still distracted, Undertaker low blowed Lesnar and then made him pass out in the Hell's Gate submission hold.

Background

See also: Professional wrestling

SummerSlam featured professional wrestling matches involving wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds or storylines that play out on WWE's primary television programs, Raw , SmackDown and WWE NXT. Wrestlers portrayed heroes (faces) or villains (heels) as they followed a series of events that build tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[6][7]

At WrestleMania XXX in 2014, Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker to break his undefeated WrestleMania streak.[8] Four months later, Lesnar defeated John Cena at SummerSlam to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship,[9] but lost it the following year at WrestleMania 31 in his match against Roman Reigns when Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and won the championship.[10] Lesnar received his rematch against Rollins at Battleground, and was closing in on the win when The Undertaker returned and attacked Lesnar, causing Lesnar to win by disqualification, but not win the championship.[11] The following night, it was announced that Lesnar would face the Undertaker in the main event of SummerSlam.[12] This would be Undertaker's first SummerSlam match since 2008, and his first pay-per-view match outside of WrestleMania since Bragging Rights in 2010.

Ryback won the Intercontinental Championship in an Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber.[13] On the June 1 episode of Raw, Ryback was scheduled to make his first title defense against The Miz, but Big Show attacked The Miz, preventing the match from occurring, and confronted Ryback.[14] At Money in the Bank, Big Show defeated Ryback by disqualification after Miz attacked him; therefore, Ryback retained the championship.[15] On June 22, it was announced that Ryback would defend the title against Big Show and Miz in a Triple Threat match at Battleground, but after Ryback sustained an injury, the match was postponed.[16] On August 6, it was announced on WWE.com that the match had been rescheduled for SummerSlam.

At Money in the Bank, Bray Wyatt attacked Roman Reigns during the Money in the Bank ladder match, preventing him from winning the match.[15] At Battleground, Wyatt defeated Reigns after Luke Harper interfered and attacked Reigns, reuniting The Wyatt Family with Wyatt in the process.[11] On the July 20 episode of Raw, Dean Ambrose managed Reigns as he defeated Harper by disqualification.[12] On the August 6 edition of SmackDown, Reigns challenged Wyatt to a tag team match at SummerSlam, with Reigns and Ambrose facing Wyatt and Harper, which Wyatt accepted.[17]

On the June 18 episode of SmackDown, Alicia Fox allied with The Bella Twins (Brie Bella and Divas Champion Nikki Bella) by helping Brie win her match against Paige, forming "Team Bella".[18] On the July 13 episode of Raw, Charlotte, Becky Lynch and NXT Women's Champion Sasha Banks made their WWE debuts; Charlotte and Lynch allied with Paige, later naming their team "PCB", while Banks allied with Naomi and Tamina, naming their group "Team B.A.D.".[19] At Battleground, Charlotte defeated Brie and Banks in a Triple Threat match.[11] On August 10, it was announced that at SummerSlam, Team Bella, PCB and Team B.A.D would compete against each other in a Three-Team Elimination match.

At Battleground, The Prime Time Players defeated The New Day to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.[11] On the July 20 episode of Raw, Los Matadores defeated the Prime Time Players, after a distraction by the New Day.[12] On the July 27 episode of Raw, The Lucha Dragons defeated Los Matadores.[20] On the July 30 episode of SmackDown, The Lucha Dragons and Los Matadores defeated The New Day and The Ascension.[21] On the August 3 episode of Raw, The New Day and The Ascension defeated The Lucha Dragons and Los Matadores in a rematch.[22] On the August 6 episode of SmackDown, The Prime Time Players teamed up with Mark Henry to defeat The New Day.[17] On the August 10 episode of Raw, The New Day defeated Los Matadores.[23] It was then announced on WWE.com that The Prime Time Players would defend the championship against The New Day, Los Matadores and The Lucha Dragons in a Fatal Four-Way tag team match at SummerSlam.

Stephen Amell teamed up with Neville to face Stardust and King Barrett.

On the May 25 episode of Raw, Stardust confronted special guest Stephen Amell while losing to Neville.[24] On the July 13 episode of Raw, Stardust defeated Neville.[19] On the August 10 episode of Raw, where Amell was again a special guest, Neville defeated King Barrett, but was then attacked by Stardust. Stardust then assaulted Amell, who entered the ring and attacked Stardust in return. Amell and Neville then persuaded Triple H backstage to make a tag team match at SummerSlam, with Amell and Neville facing Stardust and Barrett.

On the July 20 episode of Raw, United States Champion John Cena challenged WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins to a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, but Rollins refused.[12] On the July 27 episode of Raw, Cena again challenged Rollins, but The Authority instead forced him to defend the United States Championship against Rollins. Cena defeated Rollins, but sustained a broken nose during the match.[20] On the August 3 episode of Raw, Rollins challenged Cena to a "Winner Takes All" match at SummerSlam, for both the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the United States Championship.[22] On the August 11 episode of Tough Enough, Cena accepted Rollins' challenge.

On the June 18 episode of SmackDown, Kevin Owens defeated Cesaro.[18] On the June 29 episode of Raw, Cesaro defeated United States Champion John Cena by disqualification after being attacked by Owens, therefore not winning the championship. On the July 20 episode of Raw, Cesaro teamed up with Cena and Randy Orton to defeat Owens, Rusev and Sheamus.[12] On the July 23 episode of SmackDown, Owens attacked Cesaro after his match against Seth Rollins.[25] On the July 27 episode of Raw, Cesaro attacked Owens after his match against Orton.[20] On the July 30 episode of SmackDown, after Owens attacked Cesaro during his rematch against Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Cesaro defeated Owens and Rollins in a tag team match.[21] On the August 13 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Cesaro would face Owens at SummerSlam.[26]

At Battleground, Randy Orton defeated Sheamus.[11] On the July 20 episode of Raw, Orton, John Cena and Cesaro defeated Sheamus, Kevin Owens and Rusev.[12] On the July 27 episode of Raw, Sheamus attacked Orton during his match against Owens.[20] On the August 3 episode of Raw, Orton, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus, Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper.[22] On the August 10 episode of Raw, Orton defeated WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins by disqualification after being attacked by Sheamus, therefore not winning the championship. Sheamus then attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on Rollins, but was stopped by Orton.[23] On August 17, it was announced on WWE.com that Orton would face Sheamus at SummerSlam.

On the May 18 episode of Raw, Lana ended her association with Rusev and started a relationship with Dolph Ziggler, turning face in the process.[27] After making numerous unsuccessful attempts to sway Lana from Ziggler, Rusev started a relationship with Summer Rae. On the July 6 episode of Raw, Rusev attacked Ziggler, resulting in Ziggler sustaining a throat injury.[28] On the August 17 episode of Raw, Ziggler returned and attacked Rusev. The same night, it was announced that Ziggler would face Rusev at SummerSlam.[27]

On the August 17 episode of Raw, it was announced that Jon Stewart would be the special guest host for the event.[29]

Reception

The event received mixed reviews. Will Purett from Prowrestling.net said the two main matches had bad endings. Purett was "infuriated by the finish in Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar" because "wrestling finishes in 2015 based on incompetent refereeing are bad ideas." Also, he criticized the idea of the Undertaker as the first man who defeated Lesnar in a singles match since WrestleMania 29, saying that "The Streak, [...] was sacrificed for a retirement tour."[30] Jason Powell, from Prowrestling.net praised the Cena vs. Rollins and the Undertaker vs. Lesnar, but criticized both finishes.[31]

Benjamin Tucker of the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter attended in person both WWE SummerSlam and NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn (a day earlier in the same venue). He gave Brooklyn a 9.0 score, noting that it was "met with near-universal praise", higher than SummerSlam, which rated 6.5 and "was met with ridicule and scorn by the night's end". Tucker criticized SummerSlam in comparison to Brooklyn, saying that "the main show writing could learn something from NXT, not WCW 2000", because "NXT provided simple stories, but they were easy to follow and made the viewer root for the good guys to prevail", in addition to "no chicanery". Yet SummerSlam had convoluted stories, "confusingly-presented characters" and "terrible" swerves. Tucker also felt that none of the SummerSlam matches reached the level of the NXT Women's Championship match the night before, "but the main event was wrestled well, as was Owens-Cesaro, Sheamus-Orton, Rollins-Cena (the probable match of the night)".[32]

Aftermath

After winning both the United States and WWE World Heavyweight Championships against John Cena due to the interference from Jon Stewart, Seth Rollins was confronted by a returning Sting on the following night's Raw. Triple H later made a championship match official between the pair for Night of Champions.[33] On the August 31 episode of Raw, Rollins was also scheduled into a United States Championship defense against Cena. Rollins was forced to defend both titles back-to-back at Night of Champions, at which he lost to Cena but defeated Sting.[34]

Following a controversial loss to Undertaker, Brock would open the following night's Raw with his advocate Paul Heyman revealing evidence of Undertaker submitting to the Kimura lock and the time keeper ringing the bell without the referees consent. However, Undertaker used a low blow and locked in the Hell's Gate, setting up a possible future rematch. Calling out Undertaker, but Lesnar was interrupted by Bo Dallas, who made his way to the ring. Lesnar delivered a number of German suplex on Dallas, and ending the beatdown with an F5.[35] At Night of Champions, it was announced that Lesnar and Undertaker would face each other at Hell in a Cell inside the Hell in a Cell structure.[36]

After Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose's victory over the Wyatt Family at SummerSlam, a rematch was booked the following night on Raw. Midway through the match, a mysterious man (later revealed to be Braun Strowman) interfered on behalf of Wyatt Family. The new Wyatt Family challenged Reigns and Ambrose to a 6-man tag match at Night of Champions. Reigns and Ambrose refused to reveal their partner until right before the match; their mystery partner was Chris Jericho, who passed out to Strowman's bear hug.[37]

The New Day captured the WWE Tag Team Championship in the Fatal Four-Way match. The following night on Raw, they defeated the Lucha Dragons. After the match had ended, the Dudley Boyz made their return to WWE, performing a 3D on Xavier Woods through a table and confronting the Prime Time Players.[38]

Results

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes[51]
1Sheamus defeated Randy OrtonSingles match[39]12:14
2The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) (with Xavier Woods) defeated The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) (c), The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara) and Los Matadores (Diego and Fernando) (with El Torito)Fatal 4-Way tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship[40]11:22
3Dolph Ziggler (with Lana) vs. Rusev (with Summer Rae) ended in a double count-outSingles match[41]11:50
4Stephen Amell and Neville defeated Stardust and King BarrettTag team match[42]07:36
5Ryback (c) defeated Big Show and The MizTriple Threat match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship[43]05:34
6Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose defeated The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper)Tag team match[44]10:56
7Seth Rollins (WWE World Heavyweight Champion) defeated John Cena (United States Champion)Winner Take All singles match for both the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE United States Championship[45][46]19:27
8PCB (Paige, Charlotte and Becky Lynch) defeated Team Bella (Nikki Bella, Brie Bella and Alicia Fox) and Team B.A.D. (Naomi, Sasha Banks and Tamina)Three-team elimination match[47]15:18
9Kevin Owens defeated CesaroSingles match[48]14:21
10The Undertaker defeated Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) via submissionSingles match[49][50]17:10
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
Elimination match
Eliminated Team Eliminated by Method of elimination Time
1 Team B.A.D. Team Bella Tamina was pinned by Brie Bella 06:17
2 Team Bella PCB Brie Bella was pinned by Becky Lynch 15:18
Winners PCB —

See also

References

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  2. ^ Martin, Adam. "WWE Summerslam PPV confirmed for Brooklyn on 8/23". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  3. ^ Martin, Adam. "SummerSlam 2015 seeking new location, arena to shut down". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  4. ^ Fowler, Matt (July 27, 2015). "WWE SummerSlam Expanded to Four Hours". IGN. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  5. ^ STAFF, WWE.COM. "SummerSlam just got bigger!". WWE. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  6. ^ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
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  8. ^ Caldwell, James. "WrestleMania 30 PPV results (Hour 3): Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Undertaker vs. Lesnar Streak match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
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  10. ^ Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WM31 PPV RESULTS 3/29: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of WWE World Title match, Taker's return, Sting vs. Triple H, Cena vs. Rusev, Rock/UFC surprise, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  11. ^ a b c d e Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE BATTLEGROUND PPV REPORT 7/19: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live PPV - Rollins vs. Lesnar, Cena vs. Owens III, Orton returns home, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
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  13. ^ Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE E. CHAMBER PPV REPORT 5/31: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of WWE Title match, Cena vs. Owens, two Elimination Chamber matches, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  14. ^ Tedesco, Mike. "WWE Raw Results - 6/1/15 (Reigns competes three times)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  15. ^ a b Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE MITB PPV RESULTS 6/14: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Dusty Rhodes 10-bell salute, WWE Title match, MITB match, Cena vs. Owens II, more". PWTorch.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
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  21. ^ a b Tedesco, Mike. "WWE Smackdown Results - 7/30/15 (Ambrose/Cesaro team)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
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  29. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/jon-stewart-host-summerslam-27828328
  30. ^ "Pruett's Pause: WWE SummerSlam 2015 - Bad finishes undermine some amazing efforts in Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar and John Cena vs. Seth Rollins, and more!".
  31. ^ "Powell's WWE SummerSlam Hit List: Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins vs. John Cena match finishes, New Day win the tag titles, Divas Revolution, Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro, Americanized Lana, Divas' faction war".
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  36. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/hellinacell/2015/undertaker-brock-lesnar-27952850
  37. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/nightofchampions/2015/roman-reigns-dean-ambrose-wyatt-family-27893263
  38. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2015-08-24/wwe-raw-results-27860040/page-2
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  46. ^ Rollins' U.S. title reign - WWE.com
  47. ^ Pappolla, Ryan. "Team Bella vs. Team B.A.D. vs. PCB". WWE. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  48. ^ Clapp, John. "Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro". WWE. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  49. ^ Pappolla, Ryan. "Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker". WWE. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  50. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/2015/wwe-summerslam-2015-results-27837407
  51. ^ Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S SUMMERSLAM REPORT 8/23: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Lesnar vs. Taker, Title vs. Title, more matches". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
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