All Rise...

Judge Franck Tabouring slammed into a pole last week. Mind you, he was walking backwards.

Editor's Note

Our reviews of WWE: SummerSlam 2008 (published October 10th, 2008), WWE: SummerSlam 2009 (published November 6th, 2009), WWE: Summerslam 2011 (published October 27th, 2011), WWE: Summerslam: The Complete Anthology, Volume 1 (1988-1992) (published May 16th, 2009), WWE: Summerslam: The Complete Anthology, Volume 2 (1993-1997) (published May 16th, 2009), WWE: Summerslam: The Complete Anthology, Volume 3 (1998-2002) (published October 5th, 2009), and WWE: Summerslam: The Complete Anthology, Volume 4 (2003-2007) (published October 15th, 2009) are also available.

The Charge

It's time for the summer's biggest party.

The Case

Summertime in the world of wrestling means it's time for WWE: SummerSlam 2010. This year, WWE's biggest stars invade Los Angeles for the traditional pay-per-view. Here is a detailed look at what to expect:

• Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston in an Intercontinental Championship
Ziggler and Kingston kick off this PPV with a match for the Intercontinental title. Despite their impressive moves and the kind of fast-paced matchup fans always appreciate, this fight falls a little short. Ziggler starts by dominating his opponent early on. While Kingston regains momentum by trying to save it all via some of his cool trademark maneuvers, he falls victim to a miserable ending that ruins this opening battle. Not the worst match, but WWE writers should've handled it a little different.

• Alicia Fox vs. Melina in a Divas Championship Match
As usual, the matchup between the divas is pretty short. Clocking in at five minutes, this battle for gold fails to entertain, primarily because Melina and Fox keep their high-risk moves to a minimum. They pull hair and spend some time screaming around, but eventually, their fight fails to qualify as solid. Let's move on to the next one…

• Big Show vs. Straight Edge Society in a 3 on 1 Handicap Match
CM Punk and his boys have made Big Show pretty angry, and this match is his opportunity to seek revenge. That said, it's a predictable show, with Big easily taking control of the action. Punk and his gang occasionally retaliate, but it's not that hard to guess how this one's going to end. On top of that, a disappointing finale certainly doesn't help. Mildly entertaining, but nothing memorable here either.

• Sheamus vs. Randy Orton in a WWE Championship Match
It's time for a solid match, and this is it. Orton knows his stuff and usually doesn't disappoint inside the ring, and his battle against Sheamus, the title holder, is easily the most entertaining match of this pay-per-view so far. At 20 minutes, it's quite the intense fight, with both athletes having several opportunities to showcase their talents and bring the crowd to its feet. A couple of power shifts and some strong moves and submission maneuvers later, and we've got a classic title match that doesn't ridicule the WWE.

• Kane vs. Rey Mysterio in a World Heavyweight Championship
One thing is for sure: there's not much room for big surprises when you have someone like Rey Mysterio facing someone like Kane. Rey is short and quick, and Kane is huge and slow. That's about it. In this matchup, Kane is more on the aggressive side, preventing his opponent from taking control. Mysterio strikes back a couple of time, but the action slows down a bit as they end the finale. I wouldn't call this a bad match, but it definitely lacks energy.

• Team WWE vs. The Nexus in an Elimination Tag Team Match
Luckily enough, this event goes out with a bang, because this main event is truly a superb competition. John Cena and six of his WWE buddies battle the Nexus guys in this tag team match, and even though the whole show runs for 36 minutes, not one minute is boring. There is plenty of excellent wrestling action to observe here, and the variety of moves these athletes pull off makes it all more memorable. This massive battle is definitely is great finish for an otherwise weak WWE summer event.

WWE presents this PPV in full frame, and both picture and sound serve their purpose. The disc also offers the show's commentary in Spanish, and the bonus section include a short interview with Daniel Bryan, who participated in the match between the WWE team and Nexus. That's about it.

WWE: SummerSlam 2010 won't go down in history as a brilliant event, but at least three of the six matches provide decent wrestling entertainment. It's not hard to set up solid battles, so in the future, I can only hope WWE's writers will reexamine their priorities and avoid unnecessary twists that can easily ruin an entire matchup.

The Verdict

Guilty.

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