SummerSlam 2012 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE that took place on August 19, 2012 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. It was the twenty-fifth annual SummerSlam, and the fourth consecutive one to be held at the Staples Center.
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.
The most highly promoted match on the card featured Triple H facing Brock Lesnar. On the April 30, 2012 episode of Raw, Lesnar attempted to renegotiate his contract with General Manager John Laurinaitis. Triple H (in his corporate role as Chief Operations Officer) intervened, and declared that the contract Lesnar had agreed to upon re-signing with WWE was still valid and thus Lesnar could not add any other clauses to it. This led to a brawl between Lesnar and Triple H resulting in the latter having his arm broken by Lesnar via the Kimura armbar. Triple H returned at No Way Out, not only addressing Lesnar and the lawsuits brought against WWE, but also challenging him at SummerSlam, in exchange for his dropping the lawsuits that his legal representative, Paul Heyman, made against WWE and Triple H. On the June 18 episode of Raw, Heyman made an appearance, rejecting Triple H's challenge on behalf of Lesnar. After further goading from Heyman, Triple H attacked him. Meanwhile, it was announced that Lesnar would respond to Triple H's challenge on the July 2 edition of Raw; however, at the event it was announced that he will instead return at the 1000th episode of Raw on July 23. On Raw 1000, Heyman again declined the challenge, but after Triple H's wife Stephanie McMahon slapped him (due to making remarks about their children), Heyman accepted on behalf of Lesnar. Then on the August 6, 2012 episode of Raw, Shawn Michaels made an appearance to announce he'll be in Triple H's corner at SummerSlam. However, Michaels would not make it to SummerSlam after Lesnar used a Kimura lock to break his arm on the August 13, 2012 episode of Raw.
In another featured match, CM Punk defended the WWE Championship against John Cena and Big Show in a Triple Threat match. In recent weeks, Punk has claimed that even though he is WWE Champion, he often feels as if he's pushed to the background in favor of stars like Cena and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. At Raw 1000, The Rock declared he'd be getting a WWE Title shot at the 2013 Royal Rumble PPV. That same night Cena cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to challenge Punk for the title. After Big Show's interference led to a DQ, The Rock rushed the ring to help fend off Show. Punk would then attack Johnson, hitting him with a GTS. The following week, Cena and Show would fight in a #1 Contender's match for a shot at the WWE Title at SummerSlam. After Punk's interference led to a no contest, new Raw General Manager AJ Lee announced that Punk would defend the title against both Cena and Show in a Triple Threat match at SummerSlam.
Daniel Bryan had proposed marriage to AJ on July 16 edition of Raw, which she accepted and agreed to have the wedding as part of Raw 1000. However, during the ceremony, AJ rejected Bryan, and it was announced that she was named as the new GM of Raw by Vince McMahon, which led Bryan to get angry and destroy the wedding decorations in the ring. He was later confronted and insulted by CM Punk, The Rock and even guest star Charlie Sheen. After a loss to Sheamus in a street fight on July 30 episode of Raw, Bryan underwent a psychological exam (under orders from AJ as retaliation for finding out that Bryan planned on having her committed to a mental institution after they were legally married) and was attacked by Kane (who claimed he was Bryan's "anger management therapist"). On the August 6 episode of Raw, AJ booked Bryan to wrestle Kane at SummerSlam.
Another match on the card was between Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho. At Money in the Bank Ziggler won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship contract, while Jericho failed to win his Money in the Bank Ladder Match for the WWE Championship contract. The next night on Raw, Jericho interrupted Ziggler's victory speech. Ziggler then put Jericho's recent performances under question, claiming that Jericho "can't win the big ones anymore" and "lost his touch". Jericho responded by nailing Ziggler with a Codebraker. On Raw 1000 during a 6-man tag team match, Ziggler hit his tag-team partner Jericho, causing him to lose the match. On the July 27 edition of SmackDown, Jericho (wearing Ziggler's gear) threw Ziggler in the ring to be brogue kicked by Sheamus. On the August 6 edition of Raw Ziggler faced Alex Riley, but lost due to being distracted by Jericho. It was announced on the August 10 edition of SmackDown that Ziggler would face Jericho at SummerSlam.
On the same August 10 edition of SmackDown, Rey Mysterio defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz in a non-title match. Because of this, Mysterio received a title match vs Miz at SummerSlam.
The same night, The Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young) defeated Epico and Primo by disqualification to earn a WWE Tag Team Championship match against reigning champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth at the PPV.
A scheduled match that would have featured Sheamus defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio was canceled due to Del Rio bringing in hired guns disguised as police officers to assault Sheamus on the August 10th episode of SmackDown. This decision was made by Smackdown General Manager Booker T. On the August 17th episode of SmackDown, Booker T reinstated the match after Sheamus (wanting revenge for the previous week's ambush) pleaded for him to do so.
On the August 13th episode of Raw, it was announced that Jersey Shore personality Pauly D would be the social media ambassador for the event.
Reception
TheWrestleReview awarded the event a score of 7.9 out of 10, stating that "this event was stacked with very good quality matches and few gimmicks and stipulations. It made for an entertaining show from start to finish". TheWrestleReview gave Chris Jericho vs Dolph Ziggler the highest score of the night with a score of 8.2 out of 10.
Results
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Pre show: Antonio Cesaro defeated Santino Marella (c) to win the WWE United States Championship (5:08)
- Chris Jericho defeated Dolph Ziggler (w/ Vickie Guerrero) (13:05)
- Daniel Bryan defeated Kane (8:02)
- The Miz (c) defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship (9:09)
- Sheamus (c) defeated Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (11:22)
- Kofi Kingston & R-Truth (c) defeated The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil) to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship (7:07)
- CM Punk (c) defeated Big Show and John Cena in a Triple Threat match to retain the WWE Championship (12:34)
- Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated Triple H (18:45)
Aftermath
The following night on Raw, Dolph Ziggler challenged Chris Jericho to a rematch, to which the general manager AJ Lee made official, with the added stipulation that Ziggler's Money in the Bank contract and Jericho's WWE contract were on the line. Ziggler would go on to win the bout, resulting in Jericho being terminated from the company.
Later on in the show, CM Punk announced his intentions of defending his WWE Championship against John Cena in the near future. On the August 27th edition of "Raw", AJ announced that Punk would defend the title against Cena at WWE Night of Champions, continuing their feud.
Other on-screen talent
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See also
- List of WWE pay-per-view events
- World Wrestling Entertainment/Event history
- Event gallery
- SummerSlam
DVD release
External links
SummerSlam 2012 Offical website
SummerSlam 2012 at CAGEMATCH.net
SummerSlam 2012 at Online World of Wrestling
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