SummerSlam 2014

SummerSlam 2014 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on August 17, 2014 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. It was the twenty-seventh annual SummerSlam, and the sixth consecutive one held at the Staples Center. Its pay-per-view promotional poster was also the first to incorporate the new WWE logo.
Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's main card and one match took place on the pre-show, which was streamed on the WWE Network. The main event saw Brock Lesnar defeat John Cena to become a four-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This was the first SummerSlam event where all titles contested changed hands.
==Background==
SummerSlam featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that played out on WWE's primary television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
At Battleground, John Cena defeated Randy Orton, Kane, and Roman Reigns to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The following night on Raw, Brock Lesnar returned to the WWE and was chosen by WWE COO Triple H to face Cena at SummerSlam for the championship.
On the June 30 episode of Raw, Chris Jericho made his unexpected return to the WWE, only to be attacked by The Wyatt Family. This led to a match at Battleground, where Jericho defeated Bray Wyatt. On the July 21 episode of Raw, Jericho was to have Wyatt on his Highlight Reel show, but the Wyatt Family attacked Jericho in the locker room. On the July 28 episode of Raw, Triple H made the official announcement of the Wyatt-Jericho rematch at SummerSlam. On the August 1 edition of SmackDown, Jericho defeated Erick Rowan, banning Rowan from ringside during the match at SummerSlam as per match stipulation.
At Payback, Brie Bella quit WWE after her husband Daniel Bryan was given an ultimatum by the principal owner of WWE Stephanie McMahon to either forfeit the WWE World Heavyweight Championship or have Brie fired. Brie decided to quit and slapped Stephanie in the face. Following that incident, McMahon would repeatedly put Brie's twin sister Nikki Bella in matches which invariably ended with Nikki being beaten down. On the July 21 episode of Raw, Brie returned to the WWE as a fan in the audience to support her sister, but was slapped in the face by McMahon, who came to ringside to confront her. Later in the same episode, Stephanie was arrested by the police for assault and battery, due to Brie not being part of the WWE roster. On the July 28 episode of Raw, Brie confronted Stephanie and said that she would drop the charges as long as Stephanie rehired her and accepted her challenge to a match at SummerSlam, which Stephanie accepted. During a contract signing on the August 4 Raw both Brie and Nikki, Nikki after she suddenly slapped her in the face and Brie after being forced to watch Stephanie beat Nikki up. The feud ratcheted up another notch on August 11, when Stephanie brought a woman named Megan Miller to the ring, revealed her to be Bryan's physical therapist, and convinced Miller to claim that she and Bryan were having an affair. An outraged Brie slapped Miller, then applied the "Yes" lock on Stephanie. Later in the evening, McMahon announced that Miller was pressing assault charges against Brie.
At Battleground, Rusev defeated Jack Swagger by countout. On the July 22 edition of Main Event, Swagger defeated Rusev by disqualification after Rusev hit Swagger with a Russian flag. On the August 1 edition of SmackDown, after Swagger defeated Cesaro, Lana came out along with Rusev and challenged Swagger to a Flag match at SummerSlam on Rusev's behalf, which Zeb Colter accepted on Swagger's behalf.
At Battleground, AJ Lee defeated Paige to retain the WWE Divas Championship. On the July 21 edition of Raw, Paige attacked AJ after they defeated Emma and Natalya, thus turning heel. On the July 28 edition of Raw, AJ confronted and attacked Paige. On the August 1 edition of Smackdown, after AJ defeated Rosa Mendes, Paige attacked AJ and threw her off the stage ramp, resulting in AJ suffering a (kayfabe) whiplash injury. On August 4, it was announced on WWE.com that AJ would defend the title against Paige at SummerSlam.
On the July 21 edition of Raw, Roman Reigns defeated Kane and Randy Orton in a handicap match and attacked Orton during Triple H's announcement on who would face John Cena at SummerSlam for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. On the July 28 edition of Raw, Orton attacked Reigns before his scheduled match against Kane. On the August 1 edition of Smackdown, Orton challenged Reigns to a match at SummerSlam. On August 4, it was announced on WWE.com that Orton would face Reigns at SummerSlam.
At Battleground, The Miz won a 19-man battle royal to win the vacated WWE Intercontinental Championship, last eliminating Dolph Ziggler. On the July 21 edition of Raw, Ziggler defeated Miz in a non-title match. On the July 28 edition of Raw, Ziggler and The Usos defeated Miz and RybAxel. On August 4, it was announced on WWE.com that Miz would defend the title against Ziggler at SummerSlam.
At Battleground, Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose by forfeit when Ambrose was ejected out of the arena by Triple H for attacking Rollins before the match. On the August 4 edition of Raw, Triple H announced that Ambrose and Rollins would face off at SummerSlam. Triple H also announced that Ambrose and Rollins would face Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam respectively in Beat the Clock challenge matches, and the winner would choose the stipulation for the match at SummerSlam. Ambrose defeated Del Rio to set a time of 15:42. Van Dam was switched out at the last minute for Heath Slater, who defeated Rollins, thus giving Ambrose the right to choose. On the August 8 edition of Smackdown, Ambrose announced that their match at SummerSlam would be a Lumberjack match.
On August 16, it was announced on WWE.com that Cesaro would face Rob Van Dam on the SummerSlam Kickoff show.
==Event==
The English commentators were Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and John "Bradshaw" Layfield, with Spanish and German commentators also at ringside. Lillian Garcia and Justin Roberts were the ring announcers. Tom Phillips conducted backstage interviews.
Analysis was provided by a pre-show panel of Booker T, Alex Riley and Ric Flair, hosted by Renee Young.
===Pre-show===
The pre-show match saw Rob Van Dam defeat Cesaro with a Five-Star Frog Spash.
===Main card===
The first match of the PPV was between The Miz and Dolph Ziggler, with Miz's WWE Intercontinental Championship on the line. Ziggler won the match following a Zig-Zag after kicking out of Miz's Skull Crushing Finale. Ziggler thus became a two-time Intercontinental Champion.
The second match was between AJ Lee and Paige for the WWE Divas Championship. After hitting a suicide dive to the outside, AJ countered Paige's Paige Turner into her signature Black Widow submission, however Paige in turn countered this into a RamPaige DDT and pinned AJ, becoming a two-time Divas Champion.
The third match of the night, between Rusev and Jack Swagger, was a flag match in which the winner would have his country's flag raised and national anthem played following the match, with Rusev representing Russia and Swagger representing the US. Rusev attempted to attack Swagger before the match but Swagger countered into a Patriot Lock, thus weakening Rusev's ankle. Despite this, Rusev was victorious when he applied his Accolade hold, causing Swagger to pass out and forcing the referee to stop the match. Following the match, Rusev assaulted Zeb Colter while he was tending to the fallen Swagger. The National Anthem of Russia was then played for the victorious Rusev.
The fourth match was a Lumberjack Match between former Shield teammates Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. The match was a chaotic brawl, with both men fighting into the crowd and assaulting the lumberjacks at ringside, which prompted Corporate Kane to come out to try and restore order. Eventually, with both men back in the ring, Ambrose hit Rollins with Rollins' signature Curb Stomp maneuver, however Kane interfered and broke up the pinfall. This triggered a mass brawl involving all the lumberjacks, and in the melee Rollins grabbed his Money in the Bank briefcase and hit Ambrose with it, thus claiming the victory.
The fifth match was between Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt, with The Wyatt Family banned from ringside. Wyatt won the match after escaping from the Walls of Jericho, kicking out of a Codebreaker and hitting Jericho with two Sister Abigails.
Stephanie McMahon faced Brie Bella in McMahon's first match in over ten years. Midway through the match, Triple H emerged from the back, soon followed by Nikki Bella. Triple H would then interfere by pulling the referee out of the ring, before being taken out by a baseball slide from Brie. Nikki Bella then entered the ring, seemingly to prevent Stephanie from escaping, but instead attacked her sister, turning heel. Stephanie then hit Brie with a Pedigree to win the match.
The next match was between Randy Orton and Roman Reigns. Reigns claimed the victory following a Spear after kicking out of an RKO.
===Main event===
In the main event, John Cena defended his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Brock Lesnar. After an initial offensive burst from Cena, Lesnar hit his signature F-5 maneuver within the first 30 seconds of the match. Cena kicked out, but from then on the match was a one-sided beatdown, with Cena managing only brief and ineffectual spurts of offense while Lesnar continued to throw Cena to the mat over and over again. At one point, Cena was able to hit his Attitude Adjustment finisher followed by a pin attempt; Lesnar's response was to sit up and laugh. In total, Lesnar performed 16 German suplexes to Cena, with commentators questioning whether referee Charles Robinson should step in and stop the match. Eventually Cena rallied and applied his signature STF hold to Lesnar, but Lesnar escaped and hit a second F-5 to win the match and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for a fourth time.
==Results==
;
;
*Kickoff show: Rob Van Dam defeated Cesaro (8:05)
*Dolph Ziggler defeated The Miz (c) to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship (7:52)
*Paige defeated AJ Lee (c) to win the WWE Diva's Championship (4:57)
*Rusev (w/ Lana) defeated Jack Swagger (w/ Zeb Colter) in a Flag Match (8:55)
*Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose in a Lumberjack Match (10:52)
*Bray Wyatt defeated Chris Jericho (12:57)
*Stephanie McMahon defeated Brie Bella (10:16)
*Roman Reigns defeated Randy Orton (16:17)
*Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated John Cena (c) to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (16:06)
==Aftermath==
The following night on Raw, Stephanie McMahon came out to Daniel Bryan's music to celebrate her victory. She also invited Nikki Bella out to address her betraying Brie. Nikki said she and Brie were supposed to be a team, but that she had felt betrayed by Brie's actions in quitting the company at Payback. Brie came out and confronted Nikki, but Nikki said she will never forgive her and slapped Brie across the face (cementing her heel turn), leaving Brie in tears.
On the same show, Seth Rollins fell victim to a surprise Ice Bucket Challenge and beating from Dean Ambrose during an interview segment. Triple H then set up a SummerSlam rematch in order to 'finish off' Ambrose, with the WWE Universe voting on the stipulation; the vote was made for a Falls Count Anywhere match. Ambrose was closing in on a victory when Kane (who had been sitting at ringside) once again interfered and set up Ambrose for Rollins' Curb Stomp through a pile of concrete blocks next to the announce table. Rollins was awarded the victory via knockout and Ambrose was stretchered out of the arena. Ambrose was then reported to have refused treatment and 'gone missing' shortly afterwards. The storyline was put to place to allow Ambrose's absence from television in order to film the movie Lockdown.
Also on Raw, Dolph Ziggler faced The Miz in a rematch for his newly won Intercontinental Championship and retained the title, although Miz won the match via count-out when Ziggler fell to the floor.
The Authority revealed a new belt (subsequently retiring the Big Gold Belt) to represent the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which was presented to Brock Lesnar. On August 19 edition of Main Event, Triple H announced later that Cena would invoke his rematch clause at Night of Champions.
After winning back the Divas Championship, Paige and AJ continued their rivalry, with AJ twice distracting Paige and thus causing Paige to lose during matches against Natalya.
On the August 25 edition of Raw, Cesaro defeated Rob Van Dam in a rematch to become the number one contender for Sheamus' WWE United States Championship. The match was officially confirmed by WWE on August 29 when it was announced that the championship match will take place at Night of Champions.
==Reception==
The main event match between Lesnar and Cena received 4.25 stars out of five from Dave Meltzer, the best of the event. The Reigns and Orton match received four stars, the Lumberjack Match received 3.75 stars and the Kickoff match received 3.25 stars.
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Michael Cole
*Jerry "The King" Lawler
*John "Bradshaw" Layfield
*Carlos Cabrera (Spanish)
*Marcelo Rodriguez (Spanish)
*Holger Boschen (German)
*Sebastian Hackl (German)
*Bernhard Wulff (German)
*Carsten Schaefer (German)
;Interviewers
*Tom Phillips
;Ring announcer
*Justin Roberts
*Lilian Garcia	
;Pre-show Panel
*Renee Young
*Booker T
*Ric Flair
*Alex Riley
;Referees
*Ryan Tran
*Darrick Moore
*Chad Patton
*Charles Robinson
*Mike Chioda
*Rod Zapata
;Other
*Hulk Hogan
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*World Wrestling Entertainment/Event history
*Event gallery
*SummerSlam
==DVD release==
* SummerSlam 2014 on DVD
==External links==
* SummerSlam 2014 Official website
* SummerSlam 2014 Kickoff show at CAGEMATCH.net
* SummerSlam 2014 at CAGEMATCH.net
* SummerSlam 2014 at Online World of Wrestling
* Kickoff on WWE Network
* on WWE Network
Category:SummerSlam
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:2014 pay-per-view events
Category:Events with Flag matches
Category:Events with Lumberjack matches