hhh-orton-championshipAfter an exciting and very eventful Summerslam, there is more intrigue and even more questions. Will Rhodes challenge Sandow to a rematch with the MITB briefcase on the line? Why in the world did Cody shave off his mustache? What will the Wyatt Family do with Kane? Will Christian want yet One More Match? Did anybody really care about the Total Divas match? Did Punk and Lesnar just put on the Match of The Year? What’s in store for newly minted heels HHH and Orton? Will they reform Evolution? The Two Man Power Trip?

B Plus: Bryan created some great promos with Cena so having him engage in one with Stephanie to start off the show was an interesting decision. Having Stephanie disingenuously sympathize with the former champ and rationalize H’s actions as ‘good for business’ plays into the anti-corporate image that Bryan is being painted as in this angle. Aside from that, it was just some great mic work, though mainly from Bryan. Slapping Stephanie’s mic out of her hand was gold.

Cole Mine: So Dolph has to face all 3 members of The Shield as punishment for some anti-HHH comments he made and eventually fell victim to a vicious spear from Reigns in mid-air. However, it was really secondary to Cole and JBL on commentary. Normally commentators talking over the match is questionable, but what was striking was the lengths Cole was going to defend Ziggler and his comments from JBL. He was going on about free speech and the injustice of Ziggler in a 3-on-1 while not being too forceful or annoying. It was an incredibly stark contrast from his annoying heel days.

Yes!Yes!Yes!: That was really the best possible ending to the Bryan-Cena match. While it would’ve been nice for Summerslam to go off the air with Bryan celebrating in the ring, the ending they went with was much better for future storylines. First of all, Orton finally turned heel.  Then having him and HHH, two huge names, conspire to screw Bryan in his fleeting moment of triumph  builds more sympathy for him. That’s exactly what WWE wants. It gets the crowd further behind Bryan (if that’s even possible) and more invested in the angle for when Bryan will ultimately overcome the odds and beat Orton. As good of a heel as The Viper will be, let’s not forget how great HHH can be in that role.

JBL Great Quote of The Week: ‘I’m pitching a reality show. It’s called Total Announcers. We can film it in Mississippi at King’s new museum.’ Hey that would be actually worth watching. Also, Jerry Lawler has a museum?

Cena: Open the show with Cena? What kind of decision is that? Even when he’s congratulating Bryan on their match, he somehow makes it about him. Then he has to ‘introduce’ Bryan? Couldn’t Bryan have just come out to start the show himself? Even when Cena is leaving for surgery he has to have that one last spot in the limelight. At least when he said he was taking that time off the crowd starting chanting Yes!

Zeb Colter: So Zeb was mildly controversial when he debuted, talking about all the people sneaking over borders, taking our jobs, etc etc etc. Now it’s just gotten old. He comes out week after week and basically says the same thing, does How to Get Heel Heat 101 by insulting the city he’s in and calling it things like ‘cesspool. It just doesn’t have the same impact as it used to have and it’s not really helping Swagger and Cesaro.

Punked: So Punk hobbles down to the ring to call out Heyman who comes out and threatens that Curtis Axel will finish what Lesnar started. Curtis Axel? Was he serious? Yeah Axel put a decent fight in the brawl with Punk, but the IC Champ being taken as a threat in this situation was laughable. When was the last time he even defended that belt anyways? Now if someone big and intimidating had come out or a New Paul Heyman Guy then that would’ve raised the stakes.