SummerSlam! At one time, the second biggest show of the year! Big crowds, bright lights! Sometimes matches! Limited edition NFT’s! Credit card endorsement deals! The biggest party of the summer!…
0. Big E vs. Baron Corbin
After getting tossed around a little, Baron Corbin worked over Big E as people filed into the football stadium. The Deep Six near fall will still always get them. *1/2
1. RAW Tag Team Title: AJ Styles & Omos [c] vs. Randy Orton & Riddle
Very basic and almost easy wrestling match, but all this massive crowd wanted was a tag to Randy Orton and they got it. Orton aggressively coaching Riddle through camera shots post-match was great too. ***
2. Alexa Bliss vs. Eva Marie w/ Doudrop
In this era of WWE, being the dumbest feud would be impressive if it wasn’t so bad. The Eva Marie reboot isn’t working and Alexa Bliss plus doll is like a nightmare Disney on Ice. DUD
3. WWE U.S. Title: Sheamus [c] vs. Damian Priest
Sheamus reminds us pretty much every time he wrestles that he’s still good, and he does that by being good at wrestling but also powering through whatever half-feud they’ve given him and STILL being good at wrestling.
This took some time to hit but once Sheamus started building some offense up it did. Priest wrecking his back on a dive moved the crowd in the right direction, as did Sheamus’ perfectly timed bicep flex during a hold. A legit headbutt and beautiful Brouge kick kickout (!) closed it strong. Sleeper match. ***1/4
4. SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. Dominik & Rey Mysterio
This was more basic tag wrestling similar to the opener, though I won’t say it was easy considering the stuff Rey Rey still pulls off: that springboard into an Uso superkick was wild. Dominik is regressing and they had a better match on SmackDown, but in the middle of a messy show the easy listening wrestling was appreciated. ***
5. SmackDown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair [c] vs. Becky Lynch
What was advertised until belltime as Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks became Bianca Belair vs. red herring Carmella, then Bianca Belair vs. returning hero (or heel?!) Becky Lynch.
Becky beat Belair with one move. It got a big if not HUH? reaction live and both are talented enough to move on… but sometimes in the pursuit of a moment, WWE signals to their audience that it’s just not worth investing in the things in front of them.
Still loved hearing the Becky pop and Michael Cole spontaneously yelling “GOOSEBUMPS” just standalone. Tremendous. DUD
6. Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal
The mood had changed, and the match no one really wanted to see was not a happy addition. There was a chinlock, there was a sword. *
7. Triple Threat Match – RAW Women’s Title: Nikki ASH [c] vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair
This delivered what the Triple Threat keeps delivering, a bunch of dumb and disconnected action as WWE stalls their singles matches (or holds them for RAW). I don’t know why tall Charlotte got the double DDT spot instead of Nikki Almost a Superhero, but that plus the Skytwister plancha turned Charlotte face in the building. That doesn’t seem right. **3/4
8. Edge vs. Seth Rollins
Edge’s Brood entrance was awesome, and it rules the match was good enough that the entrance isn’t all people will remember. The first 15 minutes of Rollins working over Edge’s neck weren’t much, but at some point you reach such a star power that it doesn’t really matter.
Someone might ask: shouldn’t these two be able to adapt? Shouldn’t two gentleman of this caliber at this stage in their wrestling career be able to pull off the big match with a more interesting first act, without a neckbreaker off the top rope or a spear through the ropes to the floor?
Someone might one day, but maybe not today. They did the Brood entrance, filled some time, and went big on the finish. All their signature moves and big match spots were capitalized on and got the crowd back. Even Rollins and Edge seemed like tough guys by the end. Match of the show. ***3/4
9. WWE Title: Bobby Lashley [c] w/ MVP vs. Goldberg
They didn’t promise anything fancy, and for a few minutes it wasn’t. It sometimes bordered on cool wacky hoss fight, but then Goldberg’s leg exploded and they went home. Lashley laying out poor Goldberg Jr. after the match was actually awesome, but the ref stoppage made for a tough lead-in. *3/4
10. WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. John Cena
As if it was the 1980s, the wrestling stayed simple on Saturday night. This main event was no different: for most of the match, Roman Reigns messed up John Cena. It was company guy vs. company guy, but for all the generic and overproduced wrestling that might promise it is also a match of two guys who understand pro wrestling. Reigns comes off like an MSG heel, more 70s than 80s — frustratingly good at wasting time, including a chinlock where he put all his body weight on Cena which creates a great power-up spot.
Cena hasn’t stopped being a tremendous big match seller, whether taking a beating or just reacting to what’s happening. They stuck to the script and created some drama, including three great AA kickouts: regular AA, table AA, super AA! It didn’t end up feeling as big as it did when they announced the match, especially given these are WWE’s two guys and Cena was going after #17. Still though – good match. ***1/2
Hey – Brock’s back.
Happy Thoughts: With just one night to get everything in, this was WWE back to their old bloated 4-hour PPV ways. It didn’t work before the pandemic and it doesn’t now, though a few good matches and big time pops made it an acceptable enough show that just felt behind the times — all punctuated by the usual WHAT? WHY? 2.75 / 5.0
