SummerSlam 2016

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 265 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 2
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: October 10 2016

(To read a full event review of WWE SummerSlam 2016, click here.)

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

SummerSlam 2016 had a bit of everything, really. There was a classic match, a controversial ending to the main event, a crowd which occasionally seemed more interested in hijacking the show, a let-down of a title match, some good mid-card matches, a few surprises and a couple of title changes. All of this applied to the 29th annual SummerSlam, and watching it back on DVD is therefore an intriguing and entertaining viewing experience.

The opener, between Enzo Amore and Big Cass and Jeri-KO, is a fun start to proceedings; in hindsight, it's amazing to think that just eight days after kicking off this PPV, Kevin Owens would win the Universal Championship (more on that later). Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the Women's Championship is good but inferior to their previous meeting on Raw, partly due to the baffling spot that saw Sasha's neck almost broken by Charlotte (calling her careless is incorrect if dropping her almost head-first was actually the plan, as daft as it sounds), with the shock outcome almost causing the Brooklyn crowd to turn on the show less than an hour in. A backstage segment involving The Club and Finn Balor keeps the audience positive; it sounds like the hardcore fans in attendance lose their minds at a potential full-on Bullet Club reunion in WWE, to the point where there may have been - ahem! - some discarded items after this skit ended within the audience, if you know what I mean. (If you don't, please don't ask me to explain that!)

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SummerSlam 2016 coming soon on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

The summer belongs to the New Era! For the first time ever, the newly-created WWE Universal Championship is up for grabs when “The Demon King” Finn Bálor goes toe-to-toe with “The Undisputed Future” Seth Rollins. In a battle between Suplex City and Viperville, Brock Lesnar takes on Randy Orton in a match “15 years in the making”. In a rematch from WWE Money in the Bank, AJ Styles and John Cena look to up the ante to see who is the better man. The rivalry between Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler heats up even further when they face off for “The Lunatic Fringe’s” WWE World Championship. The WWE Women’s Championship takes the stage when champion Sasha Banks defends her title against Charlotte. Plus much more as the Superstars of Raw and SmackDown Live turn up the temperature at WWE SummerSlam!

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Weekly Wrestling Thoughts (August 26 2016)

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

So much has happened in the world of wrestling - or, more specifically, WWE - over the last seven days that it is almost impossible to keep on top of it all. Nevertheless, here are my thoughts on the many events of the last week, although this week's Thoughts will not refer to the Cruiserweight Classic or non-WWE promotions, just because of the sheer volume of activity in WWE in recent days.

• Working in chronological order, NXT Takeover: Back To Brooklyn was another fantastic showcase of the NXT brand. Of the six matches, three were very good or excellent, and even the other three were of a strong standard. We had Austin Aries provide No Way Jose with his best match to date, a good debut for Ember Moon against Billie Kay, a GLORIOUS! (Google it if you're unaware why this makes sense) first NXT match for Bobby Roode against Andrade 'Cien' Almas, an outstanding NXT Tag Team Title defence for The Revival against Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciappa, an exciting NXT Women's Title clash between Asuka and Bayley that was an improvement on their previous Dallas collision, and Shinsuke Nakamura unseat Samoa Joe as NXT Champion in a worthy main event (during which Joe suffered a broken jaw; Aries was also injured with a ruptured eardrum after a post-match GTS by Hideo Itami). All of that in one brilliant wrestling show meant that Takeover: Back To Brooklyn was another knockout evening for the brand. Concerns may be raised for the future with this marking Bayley's exit from NXT, and with speculation that Samoa Joe could also soon move up to Raw or SmackDown; however, NXT's strength has been its knack for finding perfect replacement when performers move on, and the wrestling product is as good as ever. Expect the NXT buzz to continue; this was incredible.

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WWE SummerSlam 2016

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: August 21 2016
Location: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Attendance: 15,974

Since I began writing reviews of major WWE events, they have been fairly easy to recap and to pass opinions on. With SummerSlam 2016, though, the task becomes a lot trickier, for the card pretty much had everything on the quality scale, as well as certain events being affected by factors beyond WWE's control. If nothing else, that gives us plenty to talk about, so let's get right to it!

Last year, SummerSlam expanded to a four-hour show, and this year the preceding Kick-Off Show was expanded to two, meaning a six-hour experience in total. On the Kick-off Show, we had three matches, the first of which was a 12-man tag team bout (which was actually a SmackDown rematch), pitting American Alpha, The Usos and The Hype Bros against The Vaudevillains, Breezango and The Ascension. It was a basic warm-up match, in front of a Brooklyn crowd which was probably no more than 30% full at this point, but it received a decent amount of time and gave most involved a chance to shine on some level. I do think that the sequence of everyone using their finisher in a multi-man scenario is getting tired, but that aside this was acceptable for what it was. The match ended with Jey Uso somewhat stealing the glory by sneaking in a blind tag on Chad Gable to hit a splash for the win. It was emphasised enough that this appeared to be step one of a much-need Usos heel turn and a likely feud with American Alpha, which definitely has potential. Assuming that's the case, then this match definitely served its purpose.

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Weekly Wrestling Thoughts (August 19 2016)

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Written By: Mark Armstrong

SummerSlam weekend is upon us, so my thoughts this week will heavily consist of predictions for the big supershow on Sunday, as well as the second annual NXT Takeover: Brooklyn the night before. In the meantime, though, there have been other wrestling developments which have caught my eye ...

• In one of the more unusual suspension-related stories, both Alberto Del Rio and Paige were suspended for violating the Wellness Policy on the same day. Why is this unusual? Because ADR and Paige are a real-life item, and because it just happened to be Paige's birthday when the news came through. We know that both Del Rio and Paige were Drafted to separate brands, and that injuries have kept Paige out of the ring. It is also rumoured that ADR is unhappy with his current status in WWE (can't blame him) and may leave the company as soon as next month. In other words, when you add it all up, there's more than meets the eye regarding this dual suspension. Did Alberto and Paige deliberately violate the system to get a month together away from wrestling? Could the two have gone a bit over the top in celebrating Paige's birthday? Have the two gone out of their way to receive a suspension because of unhappiness with their roles in WWE? Or is this one giant coincidence? I don't know; however, at this stage I would be very surprised if we saw ADR in a WWE ring again, and depending on the severity of Paige's injuries, it could be a long time until she resurfaces too - if at all. This should be interesting to follow, although I can't envision a happy ending for any of the parties involved.

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Weekly Wrestling Thoughts (August 12 2016)

Image Source: WWE

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Some quick comments about wrestling-related developments over the last seven days, and a few random ones too:

• Dean Ambrose accusing Brock Lesnar of being lazy in regards to their WrestleMania 32 match during his Stone Cold Podcast appearance is not without merit. Given Lesnar's lack of motivation inside WWE rings so far this year, his preference to fight in UFC again, his doping test failure and his continuous part-time status for which he remains highly paid, one has to ask if Lesnar is really worth the money to WWE anymore, and if fans would really miss him if he left? Unless Brock plans to utilise more of his once-excellent wrestling repertoire in the future, WWE might be best served having Lesnar finally lose cleanly for the first time since he ended The Streak no later than WrestleMania 33, and prepare for Brock's exit should he leave when his current contract expires after WM 34.

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