By Rich Twilling

Aired live on pay-per-view
Los Angeles, California at the Staples Center

A video package began showcasing the Los Angeles skyline, following by the hyping of the top three matches. The video ended with a group shot of The Nexus...

Fireworks lit up the stage. The set tonight consists of a circle screen surrounding the usual screen. Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Matt Striker checked in on commentary. Tony Chimel kicked of the show with the Intercontinental Championship match...

Vickie did her "Excuse me!" line but it didn't lead to anything as Kofi then made his entrance...

1. Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero) vs. Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental Championship ended in a no contest in 7:06. Kofi found himself on the floor early on and Ziggler was on the offensive. Dolph scored a couple of nearfalls and then kept Kofi grounded with some solid mat work.

Kofi came back with a few double chops and the double leg drop. He followed with a chop to the head from the top rope. He set up for and missed the Trouble in Paradise. All of a sudden, The Nexus hit the ring.

They knocked Ziggler from the ring and then focused their attack on Kofi. They laid him out and then Wade Barrett cut a promo about how The Nexus are the most destructive force in the WWE, while Team WWE was looking a seventh member. "You're either Nexus, or against us." ...

Twill's Two Cents: Odd finish to a match I figured would be given a large amount of time given the small number of matches on the show to begin with. You would think The Nexus was already over enough and didn't need this attack on a pay-per-view people were already ordering. Solid match until the run-in.

Backstage, Chris Jericho and Edge tried to convince The Miz that joining the team would be a huge moment. Miz sat back and soaked it up...

2. Melina defeated Alicia Fox to win the WWE Divas Championship in 5:22. Melina wore a feathery getup to the ring that looked like ten Hulk Hogan boas thrown into a ceiling fan. Alicia tried to wrestle with Melina early on, but Melina used her power to take control of the match.

Alicia pretended to have an injury to her eye, but Melina didn't buy it. Melina then came up with a bum knee, the same injury she had, and Alicia took advantage by ramming Melina into the ring post. Alicia then went after the arm. Yes, Melina hurt her knee and Alicia went after the arm.

Melina fought back and hit a couple of moves. She then hit her modified Diamond Cutter and the referee awkwardly counted to three...

Twill's Two Cents: Bad match. That was just awkward throughout, although Melina winning the belt is a good thing.

Afterward, Josh Mathews attempted to interview a teary Melina, but Layla and Michelle McCool hit the ring. They also killed any momentum the show had with their mic work.

They attempted to take a Twitter picture, but Melina attacked both members of LayCool. The numbers game proved to be too much and they got the best of Melina. They even threw Alicia out of the ring for good measure. Michelle hit a running knee into Melina's head against the announce table...

Twill's Two Cents: The crowd could not have reacted any less to the post match stuff. Polite applause would have sounded like a thunderous ovation compared to the reaction LayCool received. Also, the title change meant next to nothing because Alicia was a weak champion.

An ad for Night of Champions aired...

Trace Adkins and Marlon Wayons were shown in the crowd. We'll see if any actual stars show up...

3. The Big Show defeated The Straight Edge Society (C.M. Punk, Joseph Mercury, and Luke Gallows, with Serena) in 6:47. Punk's shirt said, "I broke Big Show's hand." If we were all wearing shirts with what we've done or what to do... Never mind. Show had the trainer cut the tape off of his right hand.

Mercury and Gallows went at Show as Punk sat back and watched. Punk held onto the tag rope as his partners took a beating. Punk lured Show to the floor and tried to stomp his hand, but missed. With Punk laying on the steel ring steps, Show missed an open handed chop. Cue the dogs.

All three men hit Show with wild punches and kicks. They continued to work on Show's right hand and even stomped on the left one a bit. For the record, tornado rules applied here, meaning the SES did not need to tag in and out.

Show came back and took out Gallows and Mercury. Punk was nearly chokeslammed, but he hit a kick followed by three corner knee strikes. Show regained the advantage. Punk walked away. Show chokeslammed Mercury onto Gallows and pinned them both...

Twill's Two Cents: When do they plan to start the actual pay-per-view? Oh wait, this is it. Typical handicap match and you guys know I hate handicap matches. Show wins. Big deal. Nothing gained. Nothing accomplished.

Kane closed a casket backstage and said he would end Rey Mysterio's existence. Sheamus approached him in his new, green t-shirt. He said Kane's casket was too big for Mysterio, but a perfect size for Randy Orton. He asked him for it.

Kane said no. Sheamus said if the two of them worked together, they would be unstoppable. However, since Kane would not give up his casket, Sheamus would just take his nickname, since he is the real, big red monster. Kane said Sheamus had guts and they would be all over the floor if he ever interrupted him again...

As the WWE Championship match approached, The Miz's music hit and he received a huge pop. He came out to the ring. The Miz asked the audience if he should join Team WWE. He then said he didn't care what the people thought.

He told a funny tale of how John Cena got on his knees and begged him to be on the team. He said Miz was the only superstar that could see him. He said Bret Hart called him the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be.

Chris Jericho gave him a Fozzy CD, but he threw it in the trash. R-Truth wrote him a crappy rap. Edge gave him a bunch of Slim Jims. John Morrison called himself the Marty Jannetty and Miz the Shawn Michaels of their tag team. Everyone wanted him on the team but the crowd.

Decision time. He said his decision was bigger than the Lebron James special on ESPN, which will lead to the Lakers losing the NBA Championship...

Twill's Two Cents: The Heat still cannot beat the Lakers and Miz is a Cavaliers fan.

"Will The Miz join Team WWE? The answer is..." Miz then looked around for about five minutes and said, "Yes." Miz said he would lead his team to victory and the WWE Universe would be talking about him, not The Nexus or John Cena.

He started to do his catchphrase, but then stopped and said the crowd was not allowed to do his catchphrase. He then did it himself with the utmost of cockiness. Cole nearly blew a gasket at the thought of Miz joining the team...

Twill's Two Cents: Usually, the middle of the SummerSlam pay-per-view is not the time for a promo, but that was a damn good promo and by far the best part of the show thus far. I figured it would be Miz, but I still wonder if there is a surprise looming.

4. Randy Orton defeated Sheamus by disqualification, but Sheamus retained the WWE Championship, in 18:56. Very little to no reaction for Sheamus. That's not good. Relatively loud pop for Orton, but it didn't sustain long. Championship introductions by Justin Roberts for both men.

Slow paced beginning suggests a very long match (and they need it to be). Orton closelined Sheamus into the crowd and followed him out there. My friend Shawn Valentino is at the show and verified my thought that the crowd is absolutely dead. It's not a sound issue.

Orton worked a cerebral style, slowly dismantling Sheamus. Sheamus whipping Orton into the steps turned the tide. Sheamus was more aggressive with his beat down and scored a nearfall. Orton blocked a vertical suplex attempt and hit one of his own.

Orton attempted the hangman DDT, but Sheamus stepped into the ring and backdropped Orton to the floor. Sheamus scored multiple nearfalls. He then hit a huge double sledge and became frustrated after failing again to score the three count.

Sheamus went Orton-like with his dominating and slow paced offense. Sheamus missed a charging move into the corner and Orton hit the neckbreaker/backbreaker for a two count. "Boo, yeah" punches were exchanged.

Orton set up for a superplex. He nearly lost his footing but hit the move for a two count. Sheamus hit a backbreaker to regain the advantage yet again. He tried the bicycle kick, missed it, and ended up on the floor. Orton tried the RKO and Sheamus countered it while sort of taking it.

Counter city (Gorilla!). Irish Curse, RKO, into a bicycle kick for a very long two count for Sheamus. Sheamus brought a chair into the ring. The referee tried to stop him and was thrown to the floor. The referee called for the bell...

Twill's Two Cents: Damn, WWE loves going the cheap DQ route in championship matches at SummerSlam (see: Booker T. vs. Batista for a recent example). Decent match but like the feud, unspectacular and not particularly memorable. The stipulation says Orton won't get another shot, but the GM will step in tomorrow night and give him another shot based on what happened.

After the match, Sheamus went after Orton with the chair, but that turned out to be a mistake. Orton went nuts and set up the announce table for something. He hit the RKO on Sheamus on the table, but the table did not break. Orton stared manically...

After replays aired, Sheamus was announced as "Still the WWE Championship." Good thing they made the announcement, but I'm sure nobody could figure that out on their own...

John Cena is playing a new movie called "Untouchable." If you don't know, now you know. The kid playing in the movie is also in the audience. They just showed him and if they showed him again without saying his name, I wouldn't know who he is...

5. Kane defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship in 13:31. By the way, how ridiculous of a thought is it that Rey Mysterio of all people attacked The Undertaker? Were a bunch of birthday party kids too busy? Did Rey surprise Taker at 7-11? Come on now.

Mysterio made his entrance and put his over mask on a little girl, and I'm pretty sure it made it so she couldn't see at all. Hopefully dad fixes that for her. Kane rolled a casket down to the ring. He opened it and nobody was in it. Yet. He then closed it.

Rey played mind games early by staying away with his quickness. Kane caught him though and focused on the lower back of Rey by hitting powerful move after powerful move. He locked in a prolonged bear hug. He whipped Rey to the floor and Rey was nearly counted out.

Rey hit a flying battering ram off the top rope for a two count. He went for a top rope hurricarana, but Kane was not in a position where he could have come with Rey, so Rey tumbled to the mat. The pace picked up with both men scoring nearfalls.

Kane opened the casket and Rey ended up in there for a moment. He got out and hit the 619 on the other side of the ring. He couldn't score the pinfall though. Kane almost immediately hit the chokeslam for the win...

Kane got on the mic and said Rey would pay with eternal suffering. He went to open the casket and the crowd moaned when it was empty. Rey fought back, Kane closed the casket door, and hit two more chokeslams. He followed with a tombstone.

The casket door was opened by Kane again, but Undertaker was inside this time. His gong played. Taker entered the ring and Kane smiled at him. Kane pointed at Rey and said he attacked him. Taker got into Rey's face and Rey sweared he didn't do it.

Taker asked him why he did it. Rey sweared again. Taker put his hand around Rey's throat and picked him up. He then did the throat slash gesture and pointed at Kane. Both men went for chokeslams. Kane overpowered Taker and hit the Tombstone.

Kane stood over Taker, did his pose, laughed manically, grabbed the belt, and headed to the back. Taker writhed in pain in the ring...

Twill's Two Cents: Interesting return in that it was not the predictable, "Undertaker destroys Kane because it is his first time back in a long time." I'm guessing Taker takes the belt off of Kane eventually, but it was cool to see Kane get the best of him tonight. That being said, is this going to be an interesting program in late 2010?

The Nexus made their way through the backstage area. A video package from the original forming of Team WWE to the present was shown...

6. Team WWE (John Cena, Bret Hart, Daniel Bryan, John Morrison, Edge, R-Truth, and Chris Jericho) defeated The Nexus (Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Skip Sheffield, Michael Tarver, David Otunga, Darren Young, and Heath Slater) in an elimination match in 35:20. The Nexus made their entrance as a team looking like a bird V formation with Barrett in the front.

John Cena came out first for his team with a new entrance video and in a new t-shirt. His new colors are purple and yellow. Appropriate for Los Angeles. The new shirt says "Never Give Up" and "Cenation" on the front. Edge, Truth, Jericho, Morrison, and Bret Hart came out in that order, joining Cena at the bottom of the ramp.

As The Miz made his entrance, Cena jumped on the mic and stopped him. He said this was too important and the team already found a replacement. "The seventh member of Team WWE is Daniel Bryan." Bryan made his return and Team WWE fought The Nexus to the floor.

The Nexus regrouped on the floor before officially getting on the apron to start the match. Bryan and Darren Young started the match...

Twill's Two Cents: Nicely done. They didn't treat it as a huge surprise and they didn't need to. Bryan being added to the team in this manner was perfectly done.

Bryan made Darren Young tap out...

Daniel Bryan eliminated Darren Young at the :44 mark.

As Michael Tarver worked over R-Truth, King dropped a "Bryan Danielson." Cole and Striker corrected him. Morrison hit Starship Pain on Tarver and pinned him...

John Morrison eliminated Michael Tarver at the 3:36 mark.

The Nexus jumped on the floor to regroup. Skip Sheffield jumped in the ring to try and restore order to his team. Skip whipped Morrison from pillar to post. From the apron, Gabriel kicked Morrison in the back of the head. Sheffield closelined Morrison and pinned him...

Skip Sheffield eliminated John Morrison at the 7:33 mark.

R-Truth tried to get to Sheffield, but took the big closeline himself and was pinned...

Skip Sheffield eliminated R-Truth at the 8:00 mark.

Chris Jericho entered the match for Team WWE. Wade Barrett made his first appearance for The Nexus. Frequent tags by The Nexus as they kept Jericho in their corner. Jericho fought back and hit a missile dropkick on his former protege.

Bret Hart and Heath Slater entered the match. Bret hit a few very basic moves and did not take one bump. He applied the Sharpshooter to Slater, but a chair was slid in the ring. Bret used the chair on Sheffield and he was disqualified...

Bret Hart was eliminated via DQ at the 12:17 mark.

Twill's Two Cents: They had to find a way to eliminate Bret without him taking a bump. Mission accomplished.

Sheffield took a Codebreaker from Jericho and a spear from Edge. Edge pinned him...

Edge eliminated Skip Sheffield at the 13:11 mark. Both teams have four men remaining.

Edge nearly pinned Justin Gabriel but Gabriel kicked out. Slater tagged in and laid the boots to Edge. Barrett tagged in and Edge continued to take a lot of offense. Both men struggled to get to their corners, but Barrett got there first. Otunga tagged in.

Otunga tried to hit his spinebuster finisher, but Edge countered with an Impaler DDT. Jericho tagged in. He hit a lionsault and applied the Walls of Jericho. Otunga tapped out...

Chris Jericho eliminated David Otunga at the 19:14 mark.

Jericho accidentally knocked Cena off the apron and Slater hit his finisher on Jericho...

Heath Slater eliminated Chris Jericho at the 20:10 mark.

Edge got in Cena's face and Slater rolled him up for the pinfall...

Heath Slater eliminated Edge at the 20:54 mark.

Barrett, Gabriel, and Slater (when did he get so elevated?) worked over Cena as Daniel Bryan stood on the apron. Anyone else smell Bryan turning on Cena?

Cena took a prolonged beating. "Let's go Cena! Cena sucks!" chants rang throughout the crowd. Cena almost made the tag to Bryan, but Slater stopped him. Bryan finally tagged in and beat on Slater. Striker called for the cattle mutilation. Nice.

Suicide dive by Bryan onto Slater on the floor. Back in the ring, Bryan made Slater tap out...

Daniel Bryan eliminated Heath Slater at the 29:02 mark.

The Miz entered the ring and hit Daniel Bryan with the briefcase. Barrett pinned Bryan...

Wade Barrett eliminated Daniel Bryan at the 29:34 mark.

John Cena vs. Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel is what is left of both teams. Gabriel's tights look like the Electric Company. One two three four five... Never mind. Cena picked up Gabriel for the Attitude Adjustment, but Barrett made the blind tag.

On the floor, they pulled back the padding and Barrett DDTed Cena on the exposed floor. He set him up in the ring for Gabriel to hit the 450. He missed. Cena pinned him...

John Cena eliminated Justin Gabriel at the 34:52 mark

Barrett was immediately put in the STF by Cena. He fought it for awhile, but ended up tapping out...

John Cena eliminated Wade Barrett at the 35:20 mark. Cena was the lone remaining member of his team. He celebrated in the ring as the show went off the air...

Twill's Two Cents: It's fun at times to turn your mind off and enjoy a match like that, because there wasn't any wrestling to marvel at. That being said, what the hell? John Cena wins again? So The Nexus lost. Now what for them? Now what for Cena? Who is to say, since Team WWE unraveled again, The Nexus won't beat the crap out of people tomorrow night? Nothing was accomplished with this match and frankly, this was one of the worst WWE pay-per-views of the year, right up there with Fatal Four Way. Big time disappointment.

Thank you for following along with me tonight. Dot Net Members will be listening to myself and Jason Powell discussing tonight's show in a Member's Exclusive audio show available later tonight.

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