Anyone watched Battleground then? The gorgeous Lana's promo has caused a stir in the media.

I watched bits of it, seemed pretty poor. I worry the Reigns push has come too soon?
I haven't really watched since Mania though.

What was the Lana promo?

Yeah I agree Richard, my friend and I went halves and watched it live. Not a bad event, but they can do so much better, and you couldn't help but sense that everyone (from writers to the wrestlers) were probably saving themselves for SummerSlam. The Ambrose v Rollins thing was a disgrace IMO. I understand that they sometimes want feuds to run as long as possible, but don't advertise a match on PPV if you're not going to deliver it.

Re Reigns definitely, but unfortunately it's something WWE has done so much over the last ten years, and it drives me insane. I'm very old-school with wrestling pushes, and feel that a guy should (when going single) work his way up from the very bottom, say NXTm Superstars, then SmackDown or Raw. Same with the belts, start with say the NXT belt, then US or IC, then the World. Bubba Ray Dudley put it so right in a shoot interview when he said that when it comes to winning belts, the chase is always better than the catch. WWE however throws titles at people, sometimes on their very first night (e.g. Paige on her first Raw, Santino on his first Raw etc), but when you do that, where do you go from there? I firmly believe that is the main reason Paige has struggled a bit on Raw since her debut. If you win the belt on your first night, what reason do the fans have to support you? You've already achieved your goal! It's so crazy. I hope they don't stick the belt on Reigns, he needs plenty of time for sure.

The Lana promo seemed like the usual Anti-American, pro-Russian thing she's been doing. The problem is she mentioned something like "recent events" or "recent incidents". She blamed America rather than Russia, and praised Putin (this was all how I saw it). Whilst she didn't specifically mention MH17 it seemed clear that this was the reference. Many of the media have taken it the same way and slated WWE for using the tragedy to get cheap heat. As usual though some of the media have been completely dumb, e.g. this from the Daily Mail:

"Blonde WWE star slammed for using MH17 tragedy as tasteless storyline in grudge match between Russian and American wrestlers"

IMO this is ridiculous - she's a performer delivering a script. She doesn't deserve stick because she was simply doing her job. It's like slamming an actor for a line in a film - he or she didn't (in most cases) write the damn thing! From what Lana said it was a Vince McMahon script, e.g. she pointed at the crowd and said "...each and every one of you!" which according to Lance Storm is a Vince line he likes his stars to use.

It's because the guys writing WWE think that a title can make a wrestler when in fact it's the other way round.

Seen it now. Obviously (well no, probably or maybe even HOPEFULLY) WWE wouldn't poke a dig at such matters - but the whole Lana / Rusev gimmick should be used very carefullly at the moment.

It's not quite as dramatic as when Vince 'died' - just before the Benoit tragedy, but they really ought scale back on the Cold War angle while its topical, imo. WWE's statement on it was embarrassing I thought.

Summerslam looks a cracker though. Love or loathe Lesnar - he's an absolute star. Everyone knew his music was going to hit on RAW but it still sent shivers through me. Him and Cena will put on a great match.

Reigns v Orton doesn't really excite me. Randall, to me, is even more stale since his push last year than when he was a face. As I said I think Reigns is being pushed too soon - but I'd rather him go up against Trips to elevate him to in and around the main event picture.

Roofs you are so right about winning the belts early, the fun is in the chase. Daniel Bryan's Summerslam - Wrestlemania journey provided what would have been the best Mania moment of all-time for me, had it not been for the Streak ending 45 mins earlier.

Well yeah, people were screaming for Bryan to win the titles by the end of the programme. The slow burn is something that's been lost to modern wrestling thanks to guys like Russo and his love of the swerve and nonsensical face/heel change.

As for WWE dialing back the whole Russian bad guy thing? They didn't do it during the first Gulf War so I don't expect them to do it now.

So - Summerslam thoughts all? Steph has to be the hottest talent in WWE. And she's pretty hot too.

Thoroughly enjoyed it mate. I find WWE frustrating at times (eg their stop-start pushes) but when things click they are still an incredible form of entertainment to watch, give me them over a movie any day. The way they can build stars and make you care so much is unbelievable. A perfect example is Swagger v Rusev - two months ago I cared about neither, but found myself really into their match last night, because of the drama created and way all four played they roles superbly. I was however confused by the concept - I could have sworn years ago that with a Flag Match the point was you retrieved a Flag (eg from above a turnbuckle) then could use it as a weapon, but neither flag came into play on Sunday?

I honestly howver cannot think of a match I didn't enjoy. I was worried for Wyatt that his match was going to go badly. Not sure why, I just think Y2J is slowing down now in the ring, and maybe Wyatt is getting by because of his character rather than wresting ability. Fortunately it came off okay IMO.

I actually felt sympathy for Brie that I didn't think I would, so again we'll played to all involved.

Lumberjack match was s one crazy stuff eh!

Main event seemed amazing to watch, but I'm worried for WWE there may be as many cons and pros: Where does Cena go now? Who can they present as a legitimate challenge to Lesnar? Is he going to only be a part-time champion?
However, I am glad they're going with a fresh guy as champion and please dont think I'm a big Cena fan, because the guy drives me nuts like he does everyone else.
Fantastic event though, thumbs up WWE.

On other topics, what are people's thoughts on TNA's uncertain future? (eg the TV deal).
Anyone got any events lined up? I'm doing both Liverpool WWE taping s in Nov, and then TNA in Manchester in Jan if they're still around, lol.
Not sure if anyone here still buys wrestling mags, but was very disappointed to see Powerslam close after fifteen years, thought it was an excellent monthly read. Still do online content though, and FSM is a not-bad replacement.

Oh yeah, and I was disappointed but not surprised when I saw the advert for next year's SummerSlam being in America once again - the Wembley Stadium dream will have to remain just that eh.

Hey Roofs mate - comments above in red