Summerslam and beyond

Mark Henry vs Sheamus

I only caught of the finish of the opener, but it looked fine. This however was everything it should have been and pretty damn awesome. Really fun slugfest with both dudes stiffing the hell out of each other. Both guys took some big bumps, and babyface Sheamus is badass. The finish was not only a great visual but really smartly booked as far as putting Henry over big without Sheamus losing face and setting up a rematch.

Daniel Bryan vs Wade Barrett

Believe it or not, this was NOT a total carryjob from Bryan(!), and Wade gave easily his career performance and had his career match here. He timed his cut-off spots well and busted out some knarly offence like the slingshot backbreaker and the knees in the ropes. Both guys hit very hard, and that was probably the sickest flying knee Bryan has ever hit. Loved the tease of the Wasteland off the apron, and Bryan countering it later into a choke and then transitioning into the LeBelle Lock. The elevated lariat was clearly a spot Bryan lifted straight from his matches with Nigel, but it was a cool spot nonetheless. Really good mid-card bout.

Christian vs Randy Orton (No Holds Barred)

I didn't think this was a great/MOTYC calibre match, or even the best of this kind of match WWE has ran this year, but it was still a really good WWE-style hardcore match. The blade ban and overuse of props kind of puts a ceiling on how good this match can be, but it delivered. Christian had his best outing since turning heel, and took a hell of a beating. I liked how they made him out to be a bitch with the pre-match angle, but by the end of the match he had eaten enough shit that, even though he lost, he had managed to prove he wasn't a pussy, and came out looking like one tough son of a bitch. The choke with cane was pretty creative and violent, and the spot with Orton going into rage mode after getting spat on was good stuff. Orton's blood added to the match, and the finish was sick.

John Cena vs CM Punk

It was never going to beat MITB, the sequels rarely beat the original, but this was still another top notch match between the two main eventers who have the most chemistry since Rock and Austin. Really, really high-end match and easy no.2 WWE MOTY. The first half of this was actually much stronger than the MITB, and all of the technical work was good stuff. Cena slowly powering out of holds then hitting explosive suplexes works. Loved him deadlifting Punk out of a stretch into a crazy powerslam. Punk's execution has never been better, and his knees and kicks are brutal. He was also busting out all sorts of unexpected offence like the falling headbutts, the picture perfect Savage elbow drop and a fucking mongolian chop of all things. This was really well built, with Cena repeatedly going for his trademark comeback routine, only for Punk to keep cutting him off, but with Cena getting progressively closer to completing his comeback roll each time. He'd go for the shoulerblocks and Punk'd counter with a sick knee to the face, he'd later hit them and go for the Protoplex, only for Punk to counter, etc. and when Cena hit it all the way through the place was going nuts. All of the submission nearfalls were still super-hot, and I loved how they mixed up the boo/yay exchange with different shots each time. Cena hit the best dropkick he will ever hit, a Sting-esque corner splash, and his final pissed off flurry was great. The finish brings it down, but really this is about as BS free as a match with HHH as referee will ever be, so I was more than happy.

CM Punk vs John Cena, RAW 8/22

This was a damn fine TV main event. Not as good as the PPV matches, or their first TV main, but still good shit. The stuff before the break was solid, but everything after was great. They do finisher teases/counters/build/nearfalls really well, they play off spots from previous matches, Cena's crossface actually looks better than his STF and he got ridiculous air on his legdrop. Loved Punk's elbows to the head and the motherfucking BUSAIKU KNEE out of nowhere. KENTA wishes he was this good. The TV finish was what it was, but this pairing has so much chemistry even a "lesser" bout is good.