WWE: SummerSlam 2015 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

WWE: SummerSlam 2015 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 23, 2015

Note: the analysis portion of this review was written the day after SummerSlam aired on the WWE Network. The write-ups are based on the WWE landscape as it unfolded prior to, during, and immediately following, SummerSlam rather than what's come in the time between the original air date and the Blu-ray release, allowing for a more event-specific reaction. Video, audio, and supplemental reviews are based on the Blu-ray disc alone and were written after viewing the disc. Spoilers for the matches, and the WWE landscape leading up to SummerSlam, obviously follow.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon promised that 2015's SummerSlam would be an extraordinary event, so extraordinary, in fact, that its length was increased to four hours (though the program struggled to make it quite that far, anyway) and was home to a match dubbed "too big for WrestleMania." The show delivered as, if nothing else, a hyped-up version of RAW -- a harder, faster brand of WWE play-it-safe wrestling -- that featured plenty of content and admittedly great in-ring action but not a lot of dramatic substance beyond a couple of key matches. It was home to a lot of quickly assembled feuds and rivalries that packed the card but ultimately didn't get the blood flowing and the pulse racing like the WWE hoped. But the night's two top-billed matches won't be remembered so much for who won and lost but instead for their controversial endings that saw an ex-Comedy Central host, a referee, and a timekeeper become the focus rather than the three surefire Hall of Famers, and one well on his way to that honor, who wrestled in them. The Cena-Rollins and Lesnar-Undertaker matches both ended without the superstars deciding the outcome themselves. The current WWE Champion Seth Rollins retained, again -- and picked up the United States title in the process -- when he was aided by ex-Comedy Central host Jon Stewart, who spiked John Cena with a chair after the referee had been inadvertently knocked out of the match. In the Lesnar-Undertaker match, popular referee Charles Robinson missed Undertaker's tap under a Brock Lesnar submission hold and subsequently got in a dispute with the timekeeper who did see it and rang the bell, a distraction which gave Taker an opening for his now-trademark "low blow" to weaken Lesnar enough to win the match. Below is a recap of each match and a corresponding reactionary grade.

Confusion.

Randy Orton vs. Sheamus

The Randy Orton-Sheamus feud has been lingering and brewing for a while and took a major turn just days before SummerSlam when Sheamus interfered in a title match between Seth Rollins and Randy Orton. Orton was about to win when Sheamus, the current Money in the Bank briefcase holder, broke Orton's pin attempt, tossed him out of the ring, Brogue kicked the champ, and attempted to cash in. Orton return to spoil the effort and did so before the cash-in became official, allowing Sheamus to keep the case to try again at a later date. Their match at SummerSlam kicked off the event and proved to be one of the most physical and entertaining of the night, just as expected from two of the company's top performers. The match ended with Sheamus picking up a hard-earned win. Grade: A-.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Prime Time Players (champions) vs. New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. Lucha Dragons

While there's no denying that the current crop of tag team contenders isn't overly impressive on the microphone beyond the high-energy antics of New Day (why, again, aren't Reigns and Ambrose and the Wyatts involved in the tag title picture?), the division has been putting on, arguably, the most purely entertaining matches on the Pay-Per-View circuit for some time, including the unforgettable cage-climbing antics at 2015's Elimination Chamber. With the team of Cesaro and Tyson Kidd out of the picture, the company has elevated the team of Titus O'Neal and Darren Young -- The Prime Time Players -- as the primary rivalry for New Day, a must considering that the rest of the division, which includes The Ascension, Los Matadores, and The Lucha Dragons, is athletically gifted but, it seems considering the absolute lack of mic time, not up to par on the storytelling side of the equation. But even the Prime Time Players can't live up to the beautiful marriage of faux positivity, in-ring shenanigans, physical versatility, and crowd reaction New Day earns every time Big E barks out the "don't be sour!" entrance bit ahead of the contagious music. Even with the belts on the Prime Time Players, New Day remained the crowd favorite -- one way or another -- and continued to perform both on the mic and in the ring at a championship level. It seemed all but a given that the belts would return to their rightful waists and they did, but not before arguably the best match of the night, earning an enthusiastic "this is awesome!" burst from the crowd as chaos ensued, bodies flew everywhere, and New Day picked up the win. Until fresh blood -- whether that be Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, or some other combination of SuperStars -- arrives on the scene the belt should stay on, or near, New Day for the foreseeable future. And even then, they're just too entertaining to keep out of the picture. Grade: A. (Note added 9/23/15: And a new contender has indeed appeared! Save the tables!)

Rusev (with Summer Rae) vs. Dolph Ziggler (with Lana)

If any current feud embodies the wrestling-as-soap-opera-for-men angle, it's this one. Rusev previously tore through the WWE with Lana at his side, but as his aura of invincibility began to fade at WreslteMania 31 when he finally lost -- and lost the United States title -- to John Cena, Lana suddenly grew in popularity. Fans would chant her name mid-match, largely ignoring Rusev in the process. Rusev, then fighting under the Russian flag, didn't appreciate playing second fiddle to "his woman" and became more aggressive and domineering in their relationship, creating a slowly expanding rift that ultimately saw Lana dump Rusev who, around the same time, suffered a broken ankle that left him, seemingly, a broken man. Lana would latch on to WWE pretty boy Dolph Ziggler while a recovering Rusev would find himself wooed by Summer Rae who, as of now, anyway, has taken to the role of submissive set dressing rather well. Yet Rusev still holds a warm place in his heart for Lana, even as he's called her a "cold fish" and begun to dress Summer as if she were Lana. Weeks ago, the wounded Rusev throttled Ziggler with a crutch to the throat, sidelining the superstar and leaving Lana on her own to fend off Rusev and enter into a few physical spats with Summer. At SummerSlam, Lana entered with Ziggler dressed not in her traditional business attire but rather in the same ratty Rocker style as Ziggler while Rusev, now waving the Bulgarian banner, entered with Summer still dressed as Lana. The match, while technically sound and physically entertaining -- as expected from two of the WWE's better in-ring performers -- would end in a disappointing double count-out that effectively allowed the feud to carry on without resolution, an easy way out for the WWE. Grade: B for the match, C for the booking.

Stephen Amell and Neville vs. Stardust and King Barrett

Of all of the matches on the card, this one seemed the most thrown-together. Stardust, who has evolved into one of the better characters on the show and who works the Titantron nearly as well as Bray Wyatt, has been feuding with Neville for some time (or, maybe better said, Stardust has been calling out Neville on the Titantron while Nevvile looks on dumbfounded) over his self-proclaimed role as a "villain" from the Fifth Dimension and his hope that Neville -- "The Man That Gravity Forgot" -- could evolve into his superhero foil. But Neville seemed to want no part of it, so enter Actor Stephen Amell from the TV show Arrow as that foil. Amell, in attendance at a recent RAW, was singled out by Stardust. Amell leaped into the ring but, rather than receive punishment, convinced Triple H to allow him to exact revenge and defend his manhood in a match against Stardust in which he'd team with Neville and his "red arrow" finisher. But Stardust would need a tag partner and Wade Barret, current King of the Ring and withering away after his feud with Booker T, was chosen, it seems, because he was available, not because his involvement made all that much sense. The match went over well enough, with Amell spending a fair bit of time in the ring and holding his own rather well, looking a little nervous to be sure but pulling off some impressive physical feats. He's no Neville in that regard, and he'll likely fade from the WWE scene rather quickly, but it made for an interesting match nonetheless. Grade: B.

Intercontinental Title Match: Ryback (champion) vs. Big Show vs. The Miz

The Intercontinental Championship seems to have fallen under some sort of strange curse lately. Daniel Bryan earned the strap back at WrestleMania 31 only to suffer injury and vacate it weeks later, leaving it up for grabs at Elimination Chamber where Ryback picked it up for his first title. Yet soon thereafter Ryback suffered a serious staph infection in his right knee, sidling him for an extend period and again leaving the belt's status up in the air. Ryback was scheduled to defend the belt in a three-way match with The Miz and Big Show at Battleground that ultimately folded into SummerSlam. The match was flat and predictable, highlighted by a sequence in which The Miz attempted multiple pins on his downed opponents, one after another, but to no avail. Yet the match did nothing but hold serve with Ryback retaining against two people who were never going to win the belt in the most predictable result of the night in the evening's most yawn-inducing match. Grade: D+.

Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper

It wasn't all that long ago that Roman Reigns was on the receiving end of a major push from WWE, propelling him to the top after a controversial win at 2014's Royal Rumble that put him in the main event at WrestleMania 31 against Brock Lesnar, who would ultimately lose the title not to Reigns but rather Rollins, who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Reigns for the win. The chorus of fans angry over Reigns' too-quick rise to the top echoed loudly and lingered for quite a while (and, at one point, included a trending #CancelWWENetwork movement). Reigns has slowly and steadily quieted his critics, however, showing some improvement on the mic but putting on some championship-caliber performances in the ring in the time since. But without a push to the top, he's been relegated to mid card status and has, for the past couple of months, been involved with Bray Wyatt who has himself since that WrestleMania in which he lost to The Undertaker jumped from opponent to opponent, manufactured feud to manufactured feud, until settling on Reigns and an "anyone but you, Roman" mantra that might have worked better right after Royal Rumble when the noise against Reigns' push was loudest. In the time since, and following crowd favorite Dean Ambrose's all-too-brief push to title contender, Reigns and Ambrose have been pushed as "brothers" and "best friends," forming an alliance against Wyatt and his recently returned acolyte, Luke Harper, with whom Ambrose previously feuded as recently as 2015's Extreme Rules in a Chicago Street Fight match. The feud, like so many others at this year's SummerSlam, feels manufactured and forced, inorganic and slapped together for lack of anything better for the stars to do, a shame considering all of them are amongst the best sports entertainment has to offer, with Ambrose and Wyatt in particular in dire need of a push to the title and Reigns not far behind. The latest spat, which involved all four rather than, as in recent weeks, one against the other in singles matches with the others hanging around the apron or announce table, played out as expected with plenty of big moments, large pops from the crowd, and a generally high energy and hard hitting affair. Whether the feud is know settled remains to be seen. If it's not, it needs to be moved to the tag division so one of them can pick up a much-needed belt (and nothing against New Day, a group that's proven its worth in the division). If it is over, Ambrose, Reigns, and Wyatt need a push towards the top. Grade: A-. Note added 9/23/15: The addition of Braun Strowman has been great for the Wyatts, and the match they had at 'Night of Champions' with Ambrose, Reigns, and special guest star Chris Jericho was fantastic, arguably the highlight of show. The rivalry has really matured into a good old fashioned bad blood brawl and deserves to continue forward, though it would still be great if there was hardware on the line.

Winner Take All Match: Seth Rollins (World Heavyweight Champion) vs. John Cena (United States Champion)

Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker may have earned top billing, but this was easily the match of the night, both on paper and in the ring. Both wrestlers picked up their respective titles back at WrestleMania 31 and seemed on an inevitable collision course with Rollins playing the role of weasel champion unable to retain on his own (and often shying away from fighting for the belt) and Cena putting his championship on the line week after week with his "U.S. Open Challenge" proving a success on RAW, defending against the likes of Neville, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Cesaro. With Cena successfully defending against Owens at Battleground and Rollins again escaping with the title at the same event with Lesnar, who destroyed him with suplex after suplex, being picked off by The Undertaker, both men were in need of a new rival, and considering their contrasting title reigns the clash seemed all but inevitable. Rollins inadvertently broke Cena's nose on RAW a few weeks prior to SummerSlam, engendering an ever-more-baostful Rollins in the build-up that seemed to promise some sort of interference considering both Rollins' history in title defense matches and Cena's invocation of his near-record number of championships won, bested only by Triple H's mentor, Ric Flair. Rollins arrived at SummerSlam dressed in white -- as opposed to his typical black -- and got the crowd on his side, earning plenty of big pops and support from the Brooklyn faithful. Rollins and Cena showed why they're two of the best in the business, both on the mic and in the ring, with a healthy, exhilarating performance that was arguably the best the night had to offer. The finish, which involved host Jon Stewart spearing Cena with a chair, will go down as one of the more controversial moments in title history. Grade: A for the match, C for the booking.

Diva's Match: Team PCB (Paige, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch) vs. Team Bella (Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, and Alicia Fox) vs. Team B.A.D. (Naomi, Sasha Banks and Tamina)

Revolution! On the RAW before Battleground, Stephanie McMahon shook up the Diva's division with an influx of new talent from NXT and the ladies have earned a boatload of added screen time and prominence ever since. The SummerSlam match between the three feuding factions -- Team Bella, Team PCB, and Team B.A.D. -- was a rather flat affair, however, yielding some strong moves but adding little to the currently running, and somewhat murky, storyline. Grade: C-.

Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro

Here's an interesting matchup. Kevin Owens rode his bump from NXT champion to main roster mainstay with a successful feud against John Cena in which his Battleground loss -- and missing out on the United States Championship -- soured fans not on him, but rather his booking. Cesaro's recent surge in the singles arena comes thanks to a tragic injury that has left Tyson Kidd's career in the balance. Both men are noted for their technically excellent in-ring work but are bodies of contrast physically, with Cesaro widely acknowledged as one of the strongest and hardest-working men in the business while Owens has received criticism for his ample midsection. Yet both men achieve similar results in the ring, and their current push dates back to shared interest in John Cena's United States Championship open challenge in which both felt the other was stymying their opportunities to take the title. It's been a strongly built storyline and here booked rather well with Owens coming out on top in one of the night's best matches. Grade: A-.

Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker

The match billed as "too big for WrestleMania" was booked as "too incomprehensible to believe." The feud between Lesnar and The Undertaker dates back to WrestleMania 30 where Lesnar broke the Undertaker's streak of 21 consecutive wins at WWE's flagship event. But it didn't really begin until Battleground where The Beast had been built to such lofty heights that anything short of a convincing win over Seth Rollins would have disrupted the aura around his supposed invincibility. Just as Rollins was about to lose the title after falling victim to suplex after suplex, the arena darkened, the bells chimed, and The Undertaker struck Lesnar low and proceeded to Tombstone him several times, leaving the belt with Rollins, Lesnar's heat off of him, and The Beast in The Undertaker's sights. The clash led to several classic moments since, including a major brawl that took the entire WWE roster to contain. And the match at SummerSlam lived up to the hype. To a point. Both men -- a bloody Lesnar and an Undertaker who appeared much stronger than he did at Battleground -- traded blows and finishers and even laughs, at one point, in an epic battle that was the WWE equivalent of the immovable object meeting the unstoppable force. And then that happened. Lesnar had secured The Undertaker in a submission hold that forced The Dead Man to tap out. The bell rang, but the official didn't see it. The match continued with a stunned Lesnar in the ring and an irate Paul Heyman, Lesnar's manager, on the apron attempting to sort out what had happened while referee Clint Robinson chewed out the timekeeper. With Robinson's back to the action, The Undertaker landed another low blow and ultimately locked Lesnar into an unbreakable Hell's Gate hold that earned him the (tainted) victory, but not before Lesnar left him with a one-finger salute and Heyman furiously beating the bell in the aftermath and declaring his client the victor. The booking aside, the match was great, featuring plenty of violence (including a bloodied and sweat-drenched Lesnar), The Undertaker slamming through the French announce table, and several memorable moments, including that middle finger (and shame on WWE for blurring it out on this release). Both men played it extraordinarily well under the circumstances. But it's the booking that will be remembered, the ill-received finish that does promise another chapter in the WWE's current top draw that promises to leave Lesnar more furious than when he F5'd Michael Cole. The real question, though, is whether or not The Undertaker's aura has become tainted by a chance escape that seems more suited for Seth Rollins than The Dead Man. Grade: B- (A+ for the match, D for the booking).

WWE: SummerSlam 2015 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

SummerSlam 2015 may be WWE Home Video's best presentation yet. While it's still 1080i and while it still suffers from some minor macroblocking, the image frequently stuns with its ability to reveal fine details crisply and efficiently. Wrestler sweat, tattoos, attire, and hair look terrific. Image clarity usually excels, whether in-tight on the performers or panning the packed house. Colors are bold and exciting, with digital signage in particular -- both the Titantron and the support banners around the arena -- standing apart. Black levels are impressively deep and even, particularly when the lights go down for Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper's entrance. This is a rather significant upgrade from the WWE Network stream. Stability, clarity, color, and detail are greatly increased and there's no threat of lag, huge bouts of compression blockiness, or drops in definition. Fans will definitely want to add this to their collections, even with a WWE Network subscription in their pockets.

WWE: SummerSlam 2015 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

SummerSlam 2015's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack may lack the dynamic reality of a losses presentation, but it's a good all-round performer. As usual, the highlight is wrestler entrance music, though certainly there's some unevenness, at times. Some of the music seems more dynamic, amped up, more impressively presented than others. Randy Orton's entrance, for example, plays with a front heavy and mildly reserved feel while Rusev's entrance is more prominent and immersive. The heavier tracks enjoys a nice bit of low end weight, too, like the bass-heavy New Day music and the bass guitar line in the Wyatt entrance. Crowd cheers and chants are suitably immersive with nice side-to-side and back channel placement. In-ring effects like slams and screams present as well as can be expected and the ringing bell is nicely defined. Ringside commentary is delivered clearly and with a natural center focus, ditto backstage interviews.

WWE: SummerSlam 2015 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

SummerSlam 2015 contains the following extras under the "Special Features" tab:

• SummerSlam Kickoff Show (1080i, 1:43): Sheamus has Plans for The Viper.
• SummerSlam Kickoff Show (1080i, 1:28): Stephanie McMahon is Anxious for a Divas Revolution.
• Home Video Exclusive (1080i, 1:01): The New Day Celebrates Their Victory with Positivity.
• Home Video Exclusive (1080i, 0:52): PCB Plans to Take Over the World.

The following extra is included under the "Blu-ray Exclusive" tab:

• Brock Lesnar is Face-to-Face with The Deadman (1080i, 14:33): Monday Night RAW -- August 17, 2015 (Unfortunately, this is not the massive backstage brawl that's show on the main menu).

WWE: SummerSlam 2015 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Two titles changed hands and two distracted referees led the charge. 2015's SummerSlam will certainly leave fans buzzing, for better or for worse. In total it was a hugely entertaining event, even as much of it felt sort of piecemeal rather than built on deeper foundational building blocks. It's disappointing that neither of the two big matches finished cleanly. Even as controversy and various in- and out-of-ring shenanigans define much of the WWE, it seemed too much, particularly with so much at stake. Still, it will make for interesting fan banter and opens up a lot of avenues for exploration in the coming weeks and months, chief amongst them a potential face turn for Rollins -- whose all-white attire certainly seems to hint in that direction -- and an amped-up feud between the company's two biggest draws in Lesnar and The Undertaker, with the only question being whether it can extend all the way to WrestleMania 32 or if it will be, pardon the pun, dead and buried by then. As for the rest of the night, everyone performed admirably with only one snooze-worthy match in the mix, that being for the drawn-out Intercontinental title saga which seems to be playing out in slow motion (here's an idea...play on the idea that the strap is currently cursed and that nobody wants it rather than just throw fodder in Ryback's direction and especially if current IC title holder Kevin Owens befalls a real-life injury). This may not be a definitive SummerSlam but rather a solid entertainer with a fair bit of replay value. WWE Home Video's Blu-ray release of SummerSlam 2015 offers the typically solid video and audio presentations and a few bonuses. Recommended.