Review of WWE: Summerslam 2007

Introduction

Traditionally the second biggest show on the WWE calendar, in 2007 Summerslam played host to injury comebacks for two of its most popular stars. Triple-H returned to in-ring action, nine months after tearing his right quadriceps during a pay-per-view tag team match. It was the second time that he had suffered the injury - though previously, it was a left leg injury - and there had been some concerns about his future career.

The other return was Rey Mysterio`s, coming back to wrestling after surgery to repair a torn cruciate knee ligament. Mysterio suffered the injury well over twelve months previously, but had continued to wrestle for several months after the fact.

The opponents for the returning performers were King Booker and Chavo Guerrero respectively.

The main event of Summerslam - which was taglined as "The Biggest Party of the Summer" - saw John Cena defend his WWE Title against Randy Orton.

Summerslam 2007 was held on 26th August 2007, from the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The event drew a sellout crowd of 17,441, for a gate of just over $1m.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. Production values are excellent, with all the WWE trimmings.

The transfer to DVD is very good indeed, with only mild compression artefacts noticeable on occasion.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 (disappointingly, since many WWE event releases have recently had the 5.1 treatment) and is also very good for DVD of this genre. The mix is well put together, so that wrestler entrance music, in-ring action, and commentary are all audible alongside one another.

There are further 2.0 tracks available in French, German, Spanish, and Italian. There are subtitles in Dutch, Greek, and Portuguese.

Features

There are just a couple of extras here, beginning with highlights of a match from Smackdown, in which Kane faced The Great Khali. The bout served only to get over an angle between Kane and Finlay, and Khali and Batista, and has no repeat viewing value.

Speaking of which, fifteen minutes worth of footage here is dedicated to an interview segment, in which Triple-H talks about Vince McMahon`s previous…erm…conquests. The segment encapsulates absolutely everything that is wrong with the WWE product.

Conclusion

Beginning a pay-per-view event with a bout featuring Fit Finlay rarely fails to be a good thing, but equally, you could say the opposite about jerking the curtain (wrestling parlance for having the opening match) when it comes to Kane. This was a basic match, and while it was hardly a great start to the show, this was no worse than expected.

The Intercontinental Title match in which Umaga defended against Carlito and Mr Kennedy should have been a lot better than Kane vs Finlay, but it really wasn`t, however at least Rey Mysterio`s return provided the first fun match of the night, as he faced Chavo Guerrero. The two have had much better bouts, but even so, this was a step up from the previous two matches.

The Divas Battle Royal was just horrendous, and an embarrassment to anyone who appreciates athleticism in wrestling, but after a surprise appearance from a WWE legend, John Morrison defended the ECW Title against CM Punk. This was quite a good bout, but it was a little difficult to appreciate, as the crowd really weren`t into what was going on.

Next up was Triple-H`s long-awaited return, as he faced King Booker. The match was surprisingly short, and was only reasonable at best. For whatever reason, no-one bought into Booker as a credible threat to the returning former champion.

The less said about The Great Khali`s defence of the World Heavyweight Title against Batista, the better, for not only was it a poor match, but it also featured a desperately poor finish.

The main event, however, as all main events should be, was far and away the best match on the show, as John Cena defended the WWE Title against Randy Orton. From a technical wrestling standpoint, it was hardly perfect, but the crowd reacted to absolutely everything the combatants did, and the bout maintained a superb fast pace. It was, in fact, one of the best WWE matches so far in 2007.


Overall, Summerslam 2007 was pretty much a one-match show. The returns of Triple-H and Rey Mysterio delivered in the sense that it was nice to see them back, but not particularly in terms of in-ring action. With the Divas Battle Royal and the World Heavyweight Title match a complete waste of time, WWE can be thankful to John Cena and Randy Orton, who put on a must-see bout for any WWE fan.