The world of pro wrestling has had its share of moments recently. From mass layoffs to Nick Khan’s ambitious plans for the future, to the much-anticipated return of the voice of the voiceless, CM Punk on AEW: Rampage in Chicago, pro wrestling was almost mainstream after a very long time.
And at that moment, comes the “hottest party of the summer” WWE’s flagship Summerslam. With so much anticipation, Summerslam kind of falls flat on its face. While it had its share of moments, the execution often fell flat and the lows outweighed the highs.
The night began with the newly patched-up RK-Bro taking on the Phenomenal AJ Styles and Omos for the RAW tag team championship. With Riddle’s comedic gimmick and the deadpan, sinister Randy Orton, RK-Bro has been one of the few good things about RAW for a while now, and tonight was no different.
It was a short, well-paced match that didn’t overstay its welcome. All four men had their moments, and Riddle was easily the stand-out. From him trying to survive an onslaught from Styles to getting choked by Omos mid-air, he sold every bump to perfection. The match ended with Orton hitting an RKO on Styles crowning them the new Tag team champions.
With WWE’s history of short-lived tag teams, it’s pretty evident that Orton and Riddle will turn on each other pretty soon. However, for as long as they live, I hope we get the comedic, goofy team at its best.
Next up, it was Eva Marie taking on Alexa Bliss, and the only good thing about it was that it was short. At this point, the demented, dark Alexa Bliss gimmick with her demon (?) doll Lily and Aleister Blacks stance seem like a parody of the Fiend and everything Bray Wyatt stood for. And the terrible booking doesn’t make it better either.
In all honesty, Eva Marie is still as green and error-prone in the ring now as she was back in her NXT days. And her pairing with the former Piper Niven-turned Duodrop as her lackey has been cringey at best. And for someone like Duodrop, the entire gimmick looks like an insult to her caliber and a badly done attempt at mocking her stature.
With Alexa beating Marie and Duodrop insulting her after the match, let’s hope that we see Duodrop show off her wrestling ability for the best.
After that, we have the Archer of Infamy, Damian Priest, challenging the Celtic Warrior Sheamus for the United States gold. While I’m yet to get accustomed to Priest’s ensemble, this match was as stiff as it gets. It’s exactly what you’d expect when you put two massive, yet athletic men against each other.
It was a stiff match from start to finish, Both the men took each other to the limits while making the crowd flinch every now and then. From near falls to Priest’s athleticism to Priest taking off Sheamus’ mask and finally ending with a well-timed Reckoning, it was worth the short while it lasted.
Priest has been on a good run since his main roster debut, and it’s safe to say that the upper brass sees something in him. Now, let’s hope the former Punishment Martinez has something good for us in the future as well.
With the US Title out of the way, we have the Usos taking on Rey and Dominick Mysterio for the smackdown tag team gold. And to be honest, WWE’s attempt at booking Dominick as an underdog is yet to make sense. While he has improved in the ring quite a bit, he’s still very bland out of it. Also, being under the shadow of the greatest Luchador of all time in his father and the influence of Eddie Guerrero in him hasn’t done him any favors.
And this match proved it. A large part of it was Dominic lying on the ground, fighting his way to tag his father as the Usos battered him to the ground. However, ironically, the person who looked the strongest was Ray himself. From his hot tags to his perfect selling of the superkicks, he was easily the standout.
While the match was decent, to say the least, it felt a bit dragged. It would’ve been a lot better if it were a bit shorter with a little bit more offense from Dominic’s part.
With the Usos’ retaining the tag gold, we move on to Bianca Belair taking on Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s championship. And that’s where the trouble begins.
It’s a genuine concern when the video package and pre-match shenanigans are bigger than the match itself. We’re shown this well-produced story of Bianca and Sasha fighting against all odds to their emotional WrestleMania moment. Once they’ve set the tone, it’s time for disappointment.
At first, we’re told that Sasha Banks can’t compete for unforeseen circumstances and Carmella arrives at her replacement. After a bit of back and forth between Bianca and Carmella, we hear Becky Lynch’s theme! The man is back!
And that’s where things start going downhill. We see Becky making her grand entry, as Bianca starts gushing over the Man’s return. Becky comes to the ring, attacks Carmella, hits her against the stairs and challenged Bianca for the title.
Two moves and we’re done. The Man has dethroned the EST to become the new Women’s champion! While it’s understandable that WWE wanted to make Becky’s return special, it was all over the place.
From Bianca fangirling over Becky to the haphazard ending, it was a very weird way to make The Man’s return memorable. And unless we get a heel turn from Becky with a long feud with Bianca proving her worth, this entire segment was just abysmal.
Afterward, we have the Scottish Psychopath Drew McIntyre taking on the Modern Day Maharaja Jinder Mahal. It was a short match that could be a placeholder at best. The entire feud feels like an afterthought to keep WWE’s Indian crowd at bay. While there were a few good moments and Drew won unsurprisingly, there was nothing special or memorable about their little bout.
Next up is the triple threat match for the RAW Women’s Championship where the champion Nikki A.S.H took on Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley for the gold. While it lasted, it was a pretty fun triple threat match. All three women can hold themselves off in the ring and it showed.
However, just like the other women’s championship match, the devil is in the booking. Nikki A.S.H’s new superhero gimmick has a lot of potential. She has charisma and she can be an instant hit with the younger fans. However, her booking has been far from decent, and tonight’s ending was no different. While Charlotte winning was questionable in of itself, what was the point of making Nikki tap out? Well, here’s another booking question that we’ll never find out.
Moving on, we have the Rated R-Superstar Edge taking on the Messiah Seth Rollins in a singles match. From the build-up to the execution, it was easily the showstopper. Seth arrived in a black ensemble while Edge took a page right out of his past, and boy, the match delivered!
The build-up was slow, but as the match progressed, it only got better. From amazing counters to OMG moments straight out of a WWE 2k game, it was everything you’d expect out of these men.
From Rollins trying to attack Edge’s neck in any way possible to Edge bringing back the Edgecution and Edgucation to get the better of the architect, to eventually hitting Seth with something out of Beth Phoenix’s Arsenal, the glam slam.
With Edge making Seth hap out in a sleeper, the ending felt like a well-earned ending to their feud. While I won’t mind it continuing for a while, giving both of them other things to work with can also be a good idea for now!
Following a session from Miz and Morrison and Xavier Woods, we have Goldberg taking on the All-Mighty Bobby Lashley for the WWE championship. At this point, anything with Goldberg is hard to watch and tonight was no different.
From sloppy moves to overall slow movement, it’s pretty hard to pick positives from their bout. Even with MVP’s shenanigans, it was far from a good match. As the match ended with Goldberg retiring hurt and Lashley continuing to attack his knees with a steel chair.
With Goldberg’s son Gage attacking Lashley and then being put in the hurt lock, it goes without saying that this feud is far from over. And considering how bad RAW has been in booking it’s main event scene, it’s safe to say that the future doesn’t look bright either.
Finally, we’re in the main event of the hottest party of the summer. As the Tribal King Roman Reigns took on a returning John Cena. Considering John and Roman’s history, the build was unreal and the hype was as good as it gets, and it didn’t disappoint.
The stakes were as high as it gets, if the return of the Greatest of all time after his success as Peacemaker wasn’t enough, a loss for Roman meant the end of the run for him as well. And with stakes as high as it gets!
The match started with Roman taking the upper hand over big match John. Over time, Cena picked up his pace and the match went on. From John Cena’s avalanche attitude adjustment to the AA on the table, Cena tried his best to keep the champion down.
However, it was the tribal king who had the last laugh as he pinned the champion for the three counts after a spear. As the match ends, we’re presented with the second surprise return of the night, the beast is back!
Clad in a tank top with his new beard and Viking-esque ponytail, Brock Lesnar is back to settle his old scores. With Heyman on Roman’s side, I’m curious with where we go next. But with Brocks return and Edge, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor lurking in the main event picture, it’s safe to say that Smackdown will be entertaining for a while.
While there were a few off-putting moments, Summerslam managed to end on a high. However, there were a few obvious nitpicks, from the pacing of some off the matches were off to the lack of pyro and bad booking, WWE needs to sort it out soon!
While Summerslam definitely wasn’t the hottest party of the summer, it was pretty good.
And with everything affecting the future of WWE and pro wrestling as a whole, it’ll be interesting to see where WWE goes from here!