Main Event – August 16, 2018: The Preliminary Main Event
IMG Credit: WWE
Main Event
Date: August 16, 2018
Location: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness
It’s the go home show for Summerslam and that means we’re in for a lot of talking, which is usually the best way to go around here. The wrestling was far from strong on Raw and Smackdown so why bother wasting time on them? Then again it’s not like this show’s scheduling makes the most sense in the first place. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
In Memory Of Jim Neidhart.
Opening sequence.
No Way Jose vs. Curt Hawkins
Percy and Tom dance to Jose’s song and Nigel is having none of it. Apparently Hawkins has found a weakness in Jose and knows he can win this week. An early dropkick has Jose in trouble and he goes into the buckle to make things worse. Jose is right back with some right hands and the conga line is rather pleased.
Hawkins school boys him into the corner though and stomps away, meaning it’s time to pose a bit. The chinlock goes on twice in a row and Hawkins takes forever going up top. He’s fine enough to shove Jose off though and the top rope elbow gets two. Hawkins goes up again and dives into a right hand to give Jose the pin at 4:47.
Rating: D. This was ever Jose vs. Hawkins match, which we’ve seen probably half a dozen times now. We’re now to the point where Hawkins can be in control for a good four and a half minutes and then loses to a single right hand. What more can possibly happen to him? I mean to be fair, Jinder Mahal lost all the time on this show and wound up being WWE Champion.
From Raw.
Here’s Roman Reigns for his last big speech before Sunday. Reigns says every day he tells himself to leave a place better than he found it. He can’t do that with Brock Lesnar still around though and Lesnar needs to go. Reigns is sick of hearing about him and seeing him so it ends at Summerslam. On Sunday, he’s taking back his Universal Title (which he’s never held) and sending Lesnar so far back into the UFC that his head will be stuck inside Dana White.
Cue a perky Paul Heyman to say it’s a new day, yes it is. If he was going to steal a line from someone on Smackdown though, it would be the Usos, who are the future of the tag team division. He doesn’t actually steal an Uso line, but he’s looking at the future of another division in Roman Reigns. Roman: “This is gonna be good y’all.” After being accused of crying on command, Heyman says Reigns can make history right here, right now. He brings up what he was about to mention last week in the interview: he’s willing to tell Reigns each and every single one of Lesnar’s secrets.
Reigns thinks he can beat Lesnar on his own, but with Heyman in his corner, he’s GUARANTEED to win the Universal Title. Heyman extends his hand and that gets a big YES chant. Reigns says he knows all those secrets already because he won in Saudi Arabia and would have done it a lot faster without Heyman. That’s true and Heyman hopes his sins won’t be held against him. Heyman sees himself as the new advocate for Reigns next week and offers his hand again.
Another YES chant gets turned down as Reigns talks about his father teaching him to swim with the sharks. He also knows how to see someone who is drowning, like Heyman. The thing is Heyman isn’t worth saving so the answer is no. Heyman talks about riding with Reigns’ father Sika and speaks some Samoan, which gets Reigns’ attention. Heyman even has an agreement written up, which Reigns can answer on Sunday.
As Reigns looks at it, Heyman pepper sprays him and leaves. Cue Brock Lesnar to beat Reigns up and put him out with a guillotine choke. Lesnar and Heyman walk up the ramp but Lesnar goes back for an F5. So did Heyman and Lesnar make up or was two weeks ago a big ruse? I ask rhetorically because I don’t expect an answer from WWE. Heyman was great here as usual and Reigns sounded good for a change. I still don’t want to see the match, but they did a nice job here.
Summerslam rundown.
Quick clip of Dean Ambrose returning.
Heath Slater/Rhyno vs. Ascension
Slater and Viktor get things going with a running forearm rocking Viktor. It’s already off to Rhyno so Viktor rolls over to give us the power vs. power match. This goes a bit better for Konnor as the chopping begins, only to have Rhyno and Slater clean house as we take a break. Back with Slater working on Konnor’s arm until Konnor runs him over. Viktor grabs a chinlock until it’s back to Konnor for a legdrop.
The double teaming continues with Konnor hitting Slater in the face as this is getting more time than I expected. Konnor misses a charge in the corner and eats a neckbreaker, allowing the hot tag off to Rhyno. Everything breaks down and Rhyno gets two off a belly to belly suplex. Konnor and Slater are sent outside, leaving Viktor to take the spinebuster for the pin at 10:24.
Rating: C-. Slater and Rhyno continue to be a completely entertaining team and that’s all they’re supposed to be. There’s something fun about a power/speed team and Slater/Rhyno are perfectly competent in their role. Ascension has been sad for years and there’s no changing that no matter what happens.
Long and great video on Miz vs. Bryan.
From Smackdown.
Here’s AJ Styles for the big closing segment. He talks about his time in this business, which has allowed him to travel the world and face the best in the world. Sure there’s pressure to being WWE Champion, but Samoa Joe hit his pressure points. We see a clip of Joe attacking AJ and signing the contract, followed by Joe talking about AJ’s family cheering for Joe at Summerslam. That was too far for AJ, who was ready to take Joe out until he saw his family. AJ’s wife told him to not lose his cool and AJ is ready….to be cut off by Joe.
With a piece of paper in his hand, Joe says AJ knows that’s not true. The paper is a letter from a fan which AJ needs to hear. The letter says that Joe’s comments a few weeks ago made the person physically ill. Not because he was wrong, but because what Joe said was true. Now it’s clear that AJ never wanted kids or a wife, which is why AJ is such a great champion: he’ll do anything to stay away from his family. The fan hopes Joe wins because he lost AJ a long time ago. Signed Wendy Styles (AJ’s wife). Well that worked. Very well actually.
Overall Rating: C. As I thought (it’s not like it was that hard), the recaps were much better than the wrestling but when you have the same matches over and over again, that’s just the way things are going to go. This wasn’t much of a show, but the Bryan vs. Miz video stuff is always worth seeing.
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