WWE Champion CM Punk defeated John Cena and Big Show - SummerSlam 2012

At a seeming disadvantage given the Triple Threat rules, WWE Champion CM Punk successfully defended his title against John Cena and Big Show in a colossal Triple Threat Match. Three men entered, three men collided and three men fought. When the dust was settled and all was said and done, CM Punk — on the 274th day of his reign — was still standing tall as the WWE Champion, defeating John Cena and Big Show in a Triple Threat Match at The 25th Anniversary of SummerSlam.

For weeks, the embattled champion had been insisting that WWE had not been affording him due respect as its standard-bearer. He made a particular point of telling Raw General Manager AJ Lee that a Triple Threat Title Match — a contest where Punk would not even have to be pinned to lose his championship — was an extension of that mindset. And when Cena refused to shake Punk’s hand earlier in the week on Raw, The Second City Saint seemed to be in a particularly foul mood heading into WWE’s summer classic.

He was also in a particularly confident one, insisting that he would retain no matter who was in the ring with him. The Voice of the Voiceless proved to be a man of his word, although he had to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat to accomplish the task.

Brock Lesnar defeated Triple H - SummerSlam 2012

Paul Heyman vowed Brock Lesnar would make Triple H tap out and end his career at SummerSlam, and when the clouds of “The Perfect Storm” broke, Heyman’s bold prediction appeared to have veracity. Lesnar defeated Triple H in an intrepid war that has game-changing ramifications for the entire WWE, not the least of which is the potential departure of Triple H as an in-ring competitor.

The much vaunted win marks a crowning achievement for the unruly “fighter with ultimate credentials,” but for The Game, the match may well represent the final chapter. Looking like a battered gladiator who had just fought the war of his life, The King of Kings exited STAPLES Center to loud applause. In losing, Triple H fought valiantly, tirelessly. Having left it all out in the ring, there will be no dishonor for The Game — no matter whose hand was raised — and no questions about his resolve.

It took Lesnar 20 minutes of some of the most physically intense action ever witnessed by the WWEUniverse to accomplish what he set out to do. Battle-weary, a groggy Lesnar managed to tap out the WWE COO with the Kimura Lock, the same hold that broke Triple H’s arm in April and Shawn Michaels’ arm last Monday.

With his best friend, HBK, laid up due to injuries caused by Lesnar, Triple H dauntlessly ventured into battle alone against Lesnar, who had his incorrigible representative, Paul Heyman, ringside. Tweeting from home, HBK wrote prior to the match, “This match is gonna be about more than winning or losing, but about surviving.”

HBK’s tweet was prescient. Once the bell rang, the two gladiators charged at each other full force. Lesnar used his boulder-sized shoulders to jam The Game into the corner. An early attempt to cinch in the Kimura Lock was fruitless, as Triple H escaped and disposed of Lesnar over the top rope. After taking a moment to recompose himself, Lesnar re-entered the ring, removed his MMA-style gloves and glared menacingly across the ring. Lesnar repeatedly targeted Triple H’s left arm, key-locking the limb and slamming Triple H on it (once on a table), stomping on it and sending Triple H arm and shoulder first into the steel ring steps. The Game withstood the punishment, firing off his own DDT and nailing Lesnar with stiff blows.

At roughly six minutes in, blood began dripping from Lesnar’s nostril — inevitably the product of one of Triple H’s bruising punches. The “pain” would not yet be over for either Superstar.

Chris Jericho defeated Dolph Ziggler

Inside the sold-out STAPLES Center, Chris Jericho did what he couldn’t all year – win under the bright lights of the pay-per-view stage.

From the start, it was a tooth-and-nail war between Mr. Money in the Bank and Jericho, who was battling through injured ribs following attacks by Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio on Friday’s SmackDown. Going into the SummerSlam bout, there was heavy speculation as to whether Jericho could finally win "the big one."

Just when it looked like Ziggler had Jericho where he wanted, Y2J battled back with a Codebreaker, sending Ziggler from the ring and onto the arena floor. With Vickie Guerrero looking on, Jericho prepared to capitalize and put Ziggler away by pushing him back in the ring. But before Y2J could advance on Ziggler, Vickie grabbed hold of his leg. Shaking off Vickie’s grasp, Jericho charged at Ziggler, locked him in the Walls of Jericho and forced him to tap out of the painful hold.

The win was sweet vindication for Y2J given his absolutely rough year that started when he was eliminated by Sheamus in the 2012 Royal Rumble Match. That set a trend that continued for the months to come at Elimination Chamber, WrestleMania XXVIII, Extreme Rules, WWE Over the Limit and Money in the Bank.

With the win, Jericho, the winner of 30 titles, proved to himself – and the entire WWE Universe – that he is indeed "The Best in the World at What He Does."

Daniel Bryan defeated Kane - SummerSlam 2012

It hasn’t been a great few months for Daniel Bryan. He lost the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania XXVIII in record-breaking time, was left at the altar by AJ Lee and mocked by The Rock during Raw 1,000, and came up just short in several opportunities for the WWE Championship. So, it’s unsurprising that the former Mr. Money in the Bank has developed a short fuse. But if Bryan’s effort against Kane at SummerSlam is any indication, things might be turning around for the master of the “No!” Lock.

Kane, another Superstar with a well-documented history of erratic behavior, clashed with Bryan at SummerSlam in a battle that had each grappler seeing red. The Superstar who The Rock referred to as an Oompa-Loompa was furious even before he arrived at ringside, attempting to stop the sold-out STAPLES Center crowd from chanting “Yes!”

“No! No! No!” shouted Bryan to the WWE Universe, prompting Jerry Lawler to admit he’d be shouting the same thing if he was about to enter into a battle with The Big Red Monster. Bryan circled his foe like a piranha determining how to attack a shark, and began by striking Kane with stiff right kicks. The offense didn’t faze the much larger competitor, and the action soon spilled to ringside.

Doing his best to ground the former WWE Champion, the technical expert dove onto Kane with both Superstars barreling into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Bryan effectively nailed a missile dropkick from the top rope — but even in control of the contest, Bryan seemed distracted by the Los Angeles fans chanting “Yes!” Sensing his opponent was beginning to lose his temper, Kane managed to take advantage and gained the upper hand. The masked fire breather nailed a sidewalk slam, one of his signature top rope clotheslines and attempted a Chokeslam, which was narrowly avoided by his feisty opponent.

In a moment of sheer audacity, Bryan slapped Kane right across the face. Bold to be sure, but likely not the brightest decision. Kane was incredulous and tore into Bryan in the corner with a series of thunderous jabs. But the resilient Bryan was once again able to use his quickness to turn the momentum. Sensing victory was within his grasp, Bryan scaled the ropes and attempted a flying headbutt. This time, the veteran Kane displayed the presence of mind to capture the high-flyer and land the previously elusive Chokeslam.

The Devil’s Favorite Demon determined he hadn’t put Bryan though enough punishment and set up his opponent for the legendary Tombstone Piledriver. But Kane was a little too greedy, as Bryan turned the tables and quickly rolled up Kane for the pinfall victory. Realizing he had just infuriated The Big Red Monster to dangerous new levels, the victor dashed backstage while the loser seethed on the canvas. Kane bellowed “No!” But this was one time Bryan did not want to hear that word.

Kane followed close behind, and began a path of wreckage throughout the backstage area searching for the much smaller competitor who just defeated him. Both hotheads surely were not quick to cool down after their intense SummerSlam encounter.

Intercontinental Champion The Miz defeated Rey Mysterio - SummerSlam 2012

After spending half the summer preparing for his feature film debut in WWE Studios’ “The Marine: Homefront” and the other half defending the Intercontinental Championship he won at Raw 1,000, The Miz finally achieved a Hollywood ending.

The Awesome One successfully defended his title at Staples Center in Los Angeles, a few miles from his Hollywood home, on Sunday night by defeating Rey Mysterio at The 25th Anniversary of SummerSlam. The reigning Intercontinental Champion withstood a feisty Mysterio and his aerial arsenal long enough to find an opening and finish off his opponent with a Skull-Crushing Finale.

While they had less than a week to prepare for this bout, the match combatants’ recent history against each other certainly provided ample motivation to bring their best to SummerSlam. It was just more than one year ago, in the finals of an eight-man tournament to crown a new WWE Champion, when Mysterio pinned Miz to become the new WWE Title holder. One month later at SummerSlam, The Ultimate Underdog sealed another victory in a Six-Man Tag Team Match by once again pinning The Awesome One.

Mysterio, decked out in a mask and cape  reminiscent of the comic book superhero Batman, heard the cheers of the capacity crowd of 17,482 fans as he made his way to ringside at the bout’s outset. However, he struggled throughout the match to build on that early momentum. Every quick counter and high-flying attack doled out by Mysterio was met with a strong response from Miz, who simply overpowered his challenger with a brutal backbreaker and a devastating sit-down powerbomb among other maneuvers.

Miz’s momentum appeared to be on the ropes late in the match as The Biggest Little Man successfully dialed up the 619, but Mysterio’s inability to Drop The Dime left the champion with the opening he needed. The Awesome One slid behind his weary challenger moments later and planted him face-first into the ring apron with a Skull-Crushing Finale to seal the victory.

The result gives the reigning Intercontinental Title holder his first win in two tries at SummerSlam, with his only other battle at The Biggest Event of the Summer ending in defeat in 2011. The Awesome One also becomes only the sixth Intercontinental Champion to successfully retain his championship gold of all 20 who tried in SummerSlam’s  storied history, putting Miz in elite company that includes WWE Hall of Famers Shawn Michaels and Edge as well as Mysterio himself.

Antonio Cesaro defeated United States Champion Santino Marella - SummerSlam 2012

We’re not sure how you say slobberkocker in five languages, but the surprise was universal when the mouthy newcomer Antonio Cesaro knocked off Santino Marella to claim the United States Champion in the SummerSlam 2012 Pre-Show.

Santino, who had suffered two previous losses to the self-styled “Swiss Superman,” came out swinging against Cesaro, looking to engage the former rugby star in mat-based technical attacks that frustrated Cesaro in the contest’s opening minutes. The Italian Stallion used his unorthodox offense to stymie Cesaro before the challenger forced The Italian Stallion into the corner and began to go to work with stiff shots to Santino’s midsection.

The Milan Miracle tried to put the contest away quickly, breaking out The Cobra in hopes of finishing Cesaro off, but the multilingual brawler cut Marella off mid-stream, kicking away Santino’s weapon of choice and smothering the champion with a vicious array of headbutts before trapping him in a vise-like headlock. Cesaro tossed Santino away like a rag doll before hubris nearly got the better of him when he retrieved the fallen Cobra and tore it apart like a wild animal, using his powerful muscles to shred the implement to ribbons.

An enraged Marella quickly rallied for his signature hiptoss/headbutt combo and seemed to literally pull victory out of his rear end when he retrieved a spare Cobra from inside the back of his singlet. The sultry Aksana slinked up on the apron, though, and distracted Santino just long enough for Cesaro to strike. The challenger wrenched Santino up for the Neutralizer and planted him upon the mat, securing the three-count and the stars and stripes title for himself.

Cesaro will surely have many things to say in many different languages, perhaps we can sum it up succinctly, in the language of the former champion himself: la vittoria era suo.

WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & R-Truth defeated The Prime Time Players - SummerSlam 2012

After weeks of boasts, taunts and Touts, The Prime Time Players finally got their rematch against WWE Tag Champions Kofi Kingston & R-Truth at SummerSlam. Unfortunately for the brash No. 1 contenders, the champions proved to be too much, fighting through adversity to successfully defend their illustrious titles.

Darren Young and Titus O’Neil seemed to have the momentum going into The Biggest Event of Summer, winning individual contests against the titleholders in recent weeks and delivering a brutal, two-on-one assault on Truth on the Aug. 13 episode of Raw while Kofi was in Asia on WWE’s 2012 World Tour.

This match, however, would start on a different note, with the typically jocular Truth wearing a solemn “game face.” Still smarting from the attack on Raw, Truth immediately took the fight to Young, battering him around the ring. All business in the early going, Truth smacked Young around the canvas before hitting his unorthodox leg drop and getting a two-count.

Young managed to tag in O’Neil, who landed a crushing kick on Truth to steal the momentum. The powerhouse former member of the Florida Gators football squad wailed on the veteran until Truth was able to dive and tag in his high-flying partner.

Kofi hit a Boom Drop on O’Neil, but when he looked for Trouble in Paradise, Young was there with a distraction to help get his partner out of trouble. When the action spilled ringside, Young and O’Neil managed to double team Kofi and regain the advantage on the champions. Continuing their excellent teamwork in the ring, O’Neil slammed his partner onto Kofi with a unique maneuver.

In the ring, Kofi and Young traded moves, both looking for pinfalls. As the energetic and exhausting match wore on, it looked like it was only a matter of time before the young and hungry Prime Time Players found a way to put away the titleholders.

But Kofi pulled down the ropes to send O’Neil careening out of the ring and followed up with fearless, gravity-defying crossbody onto the big man at ringside. A moment after the stunning move, Young almost hit the quick roll-up on Truth, but the eccentric Superstar avoided the pin and hit Young with a jumping reverse STO, followed by the pin for an impressive and hard-fought victory.

It was sweet revenge for the fan-favorite champions, who again proved to be golden in a title reign that has lasted since April 30. The Prime Time Players showed that they indeed have reason to be confident, but still lack the titles to back up their big talk.

In a suddenly crowded tag team division, will titleholders Kofi Kingston & R-Truth move on to new challengers — perhaps duos such as Primo & Epico, The Usos or Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel? Or will The Prime Time Players get a third opportunity at WWE’s twin titles?