Match #9: Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens
They trade shots right at the bell, Owens gaining a slight edge, Cesaro reverses a whip and takes him down, looking for the Swing. Owens kicks out of it, sending Cesaro to the apron, knocks him to the floor with a right hand, then flies over the top with a somersault plancha. He rolls Cesaro in the ring and then has some words for Michael Cole, The Swiss Superman hitting the ropes and diving outside with a corkscrew plancha. Back inside, The King Of Swing with a crossbody off the top for a 2 count, tries the Swing again, Owens fighting it and Cesaro lands a double stomp instead for another 2. KO rolls outside for a breather, Cesaro follows and rushes in, Owens side-steps and drives Cesaro into the barricade.

KO connects with a Cannonball out of the floor, rolling The Swiss Superman back in and covering for 2. Owens maintains control, stomping away and flattening Cesaro with a short-arm clothesline. He follows with multiple running sentons for a near fall, then grabs a rear chinlock to wear out The King Of Swing. Cesaro with rights and lefts to get to his feet, sends Owens into the corner and misses a running uppercut, KO following with a torture rack into a neckbreaker for a count of 2, then follows with a somersault leg drop for another near fall. He goes back to the rear chinlock, then breaks the hold and runs his mouth at Cesaro.

The Swiss Superman is motivated, unloading a barrage of right hands and uppercuts. The ref gets in between allowing Owens to sneak in a right hand, Cesaro comes right back with the Alpamare Waterslide and he gets a count of 2. KO wisely rolls to the apron, hangs Cesaro across the top rope and then climbs upstairs. The King Of Swing meets him with a right hand, climbs up and plants Owens with a delayed gutwrench off the 2nd rope for another 2 count. He looks for the Neutralizer, KO blocks it and then eats multiple uppercuts for his troubles. Cesaro tries the Neutralizer again, Owens with a back body drop, then catches The Swiss Superman with a back elbow.

He hops off the 2nd rope and spikes Cesaro with a tornado DDT, but still can’t get a 3 count. KO heads to the 2nd rope now, springboards to the top for a moonsault and Cesaro rolls out of the way. He rushes Owens in the corner with an uppercut, sends him across for another and runs right into a superkick, KO only getting 2 again. Owens wants to finish it with a Pop-Up Powerbomb, sends Cesaro into the ropes, The King Of Swing hangs on and gets the boot up, ducks a right and springs off the 2nd rope with an uppercut for a near fall. KO takes a stroll outside, The Swiss Superman is in pursuit and he flattens Owens with an uppercut before sending him back inside.

He calls for it and gets Owens in the Cesaro Swing, then locks in the Sharpshooter. KO drags himself to the bottom rope to force the break, Cesaro props him on the top turnbuckle and climbs up, Owens pushes him off, but falls victim to another uppercut. Cesaro climb up again, KO looks for the fisherman’s buster, but The King Of Swing drops down and connects with a dropkick. Cesaro tries for another move off the top, Owens crotches him on the top rope, then hits the 2nd rope fisherman’s buster. He tosses Cesaro into the ropes, then plants him with the Pop-Up Powerbomb for the 1-2-3.
Winner: Kevin Owens (Pop-Up Powerbomb)

• EA’s Take: Impressive showing from both of these men, especially Owens after competing in a brutal ladder match against Finn Balor last night. Owens really needed the win here, as he’s lost a lot of momentum after losing the NXT Title, losing to Cena and then again to Balor. Some in the office may be souring on KO, but there’s no doubting how over he is with the crowd, love him or hate him. They have to see how much ability he has, being given the slot just before the main event.

Match #10: Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. The Undertaker
The Beast ambushes The Deadman as he enters the ring, unloading with knees in the corner and tossing Taker around. The Phenom comes back with big right hands, hits the ropes for a big boot and clotheslines The Conqueror to the outside, finally getting his coat off. Lesnar circles the ring, heads back in and the bell rings. Brock immediately takes The Deadman down, pounding away with rights and getting a quick 1 count. Taker fires back with stiff right hands, goes to work on the left shoulder and goes for Old School, Lesnar grabs him on his shoulders for an F5.

Taker slips out, looks for a Chokeslam and Brock fights it off, driving shoulders into the midsection in the corner. Taker is able to sneak in a boot, but walks out of the corner into an overhead belly to belly suplex. The Beast follows with a german suplex, attempts another and The Phenom drives Brock head-first into the turnbuckle. Taker hoists Lesnar up for Snake Eyes, hits the ropes and plants a boot to the face, knocking The Conqueror clear out of the ring. Brock is cut aboive the right eyes, Taker driving him back-first into the barricade and then the ring apron.

He places Lesnar across the apron, walks up the steps and connects with the apron leg drop. Taker with jabs, they briefly exchange shots, Deadman with another Chokeslam attempt and Brock avoids it, turning into a german suplex. He plants The Phenom with another, then a third and Taker falls to the outside. The Beast goes out and preps the announce table, Undertaker fires up with a back elbow, then goes for the Last Ride. Brock powers up with The Deadman on his shoulders, driving him through the announce table with an F5. Lesnar climbs back into the ring, The Phenom struggles, but makes it in at the ref’s count of 9.

Taker is struggling to get up, Brock savors it and mocks The Deadman who pops up and delivers a big Chokeslam. The Phenom is back to his feet, spikes The Beast with a Tombstone, Lesnar kicks out at 2. Both men are down, Lesnar sits up and laughs, Taker does the same and mocks The Beast’s laughter. They trade right hands, Deadman backing Lesnar in the corner, Brock ducks a shot and drives the shoulder into the midsection some more. He scales the ropes and grabs a Kimura Lock, Brock has to break it and Taker walks him out of the corner with a Last Ride for a near fall. Brock gets to his feet first, grabs The Deadman and hits with an F5, but still doesn’t get 3.

The Beast connects with another and yet again, Taker kicks out at 2. Lesnar is in disbelief, lets his guard down for a moment and The Deadman locks him in Hell’s Gate. Brock powers out, turning the tables and grabbing the Kimura Lock, Taker turns it into a cover, the ref counts 1 and the bell rings. Heyman raises Lesnar’s hand, Taker with a low blow from behind and he gets him in Hell’s Gate again. The Beast flips off Taker as he fades out and the ref calls for the bell.
Winner: The Undertaker (Hell’s Gate)

• After The Bell: Heyman goes to the timekeeper’s area and rings the bell over and over. He gets a mic and screams “No! No! No!”. Heyman says he saw Taker tap out and so didn’t everyone else, proclaiming Lesnar as the winner.
• EA’s Take: A really screwy way to end what was an excellent main event that exceeded my expectations. Undertaker had tapped out during the Kimura Lock, but the ref was counting the shoulders and the timekeeper rang the bell anyways…or so the story goes. This is almost assuredly setting up Brock/Taker III if you go with a finish like this. It does take away from the great match, but not so much to the extent where it ruined the whole thing. I was fully aware that this was likely being built to a Round 3, so my expectations for that end of it were tempered.

EA’s Finisher: I’d really have to say that SummerSlam didn’t live up to the amount of hype that was behind it. The main events delivered, although the weird Taker/Lesnar finish will certainly rub a lot of people the wrong way. We had a couple of title changes, but there was nothing that made me say “Holy S*%$” or “OMG”. The New Day winning the titles only makes sense given the state of the division, the Divas match was dead in the water after last night and Orton/Sheamus continue to trade victories. Cesaro/Owens was the undercard match I most had looked forward to and was excellent, but wasn’t necessarily the ‘show stealer’ I had anticipated. The allure of having a 4 hour show is to accentuate the matches by giving them more time, not add as many on there as possible. Perhaps WWE should have taken notes after NXT TakeOver last night.

Top Three To Watch
1 – John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
2 – Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
3 – Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens

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