SummerSlam lived up to the hype with John Cena and Daniel Bryan putting on an instant-classic, which saw Cena lose to Bryan after taking a running knee to the face.
Bryan and Cena fought a frenetic back-and-forth match Bryan, who displayed his vast array of counter-moves, including landing on his feet and nailing a missile dropkick when Cena attempted his Attitude Adjustment.
Cena would later attempt an AA off the top rope, which Bryan reversed into a Hurricanrana, and Cena reversed into an STF, which Bryan countered with a Yes! Lock. Cena would not quit despite aggravating his elbow injury, forcing special guest referee, Triple H, to temporary halt the match.
Bryan reversed yet another AA attempt, late in the match, into a DDT, climbing the top rope for a flying headbutt. Cena grabbed Bryan in mid-air and attempted yet another AA to put away the challenger, only to be countered with an old-school cradle by Bryan, for a two-count. Bryan then struck Cena with a kick to the head and leveled the champion with running knee smash to Cena's face, that was enough for Bryan to make the pin and become the new WWE Champion.
With the celebration in the Staples Center about to start and confetti falling on the new champion, Randy Orton crashed the party with his Money In The Bank suitcase in hand. Bryan was ready to take on "The Viper" until he got ambushed by Triple H, who Pedigree'd the new champion, giving Orton the chance to cash-in his suitcase and take the WWE title.
CM Punk and Brock Lesnar also put on a great show in their No Disqualification match billed as "The Best vs. The Beast."
Paul Heyman threw in a last-minute stipulation during the SummerSlam Kick-off show, making the match a no-DQ match. Heyman interfered on behalf of his client at every possible turn, preventing Punk from defeating Lesnar.
Lesnar used his size and power advantage, power-bombing Punk as the Straight-Edge superstar had an arm-bar locked on, at one key point of the match. Lesnar also took advantage of the last-minute match stipulation, using every object in his vicinity - smashing steel chairs over his opponent and tossing Punk through tables - to seize an advantage. Punk held his own despite the odds stacked against him, eventually getting his hands on Heyman and clamping the Anaconda Vise submission hold, only to have Lesnar smash a chair on Punk, laying it out in the ring, and F5'd Punk onto the object, earning a hard-fought win over Heyman's former protege.
In the opening match, which was part of SummerSlam's Kickoff show, shown free via WWE.com, the WWE App, YouTube, Facebook, Yahoo!, Samsung SMART TVs, Sony PlayStation 3, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Pheed, Rob Van Dam defeated United States Champion Dean Ambrose by disqualification. Ambrose's stablemates, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns of The Shield, interfered in the match. The Big Show and Mark Henry came out to even the odds, but the could not prevent Reigns from spearing RVD, which kept Ambrose from losing his title, despite the DQ win by RVD.
A wall of flames surrounding the ring could not stop Luke Harper and Erick Rowan from helping Bray Wyatt defeat Kane in a Ring of Fire match. The flames managed to Harper and Rowan at bay only for so long until the duo used fireproof blankets to get into the ring and outnumber the Big Red Monster. After pinning Kane, Harper and Rowan smashed Kane's head with the steel steps as Bray watched from his rocking chair, taking his limp body back with them.
In other SummerSlam results:
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Cody Rhodes defeated Damien Sandow: Rhodes pinned Sandow after nailing his Crossroads finisher.
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World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio defeated Christian: Del Rio used his cross armbreaker to make an injured Christian tap out to retain his belt.
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Total Divas match - Natalya (w/ Cameron & Naomi of the The Funkadacty) defeated Brie Bella (with Nikki Bella & Eva Marie): Cameron & Naomi made sure that Nikki and Eva Marie would not interfere as Natalya made Brie tap out to her Sharpshooter.
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Dolph Ziggler & Kaitlyn defeated Big E. Langston & Divas Champion AJ Lee: Ziggler caught Langston with the Zig Zag with Kaitlyn spearing AJ to keep her out the action to take home the win.