Smackdown
Date: September 3, 2021
Location: VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s a title show this week as Finn Balor gets a shot at Roman Reigns and the Universal Title. That sounds like something that could headline Extreme Rules so we may be in for some shenanigans. Other than that, we need to get some things going for the pay per view, which is in just over three weeks. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap/hype video for Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor.

Here are the Usos for their Championship Contenders match against the Street Profits. Before we get started, the Usos talks about how the Profits disrespected them last week so come get them because they are the ones.

Street Profits vs. Usos

Non-title. Hold on though as the Street Profits want to know how the Usos are in the ring without their permission slips. Ford admits the Usos are spitting facts and they are the ones. As in the ones about to take a beating. The Usos take the Profits down to start but Jimmy takes too long talking trash and gets caught with a dropkick from Dawkins. Ford comes in for a dropkick of his own, plus one to Jey. A quick shot from the cup sets up Ford’s dive off the apron, which is pulled out of the air for a drop onto the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Ford fighting out of a chinlock and avoiding a charge to send Jimmy shoulder first into the post. The hot tag brings in Dawkins but Jey catches him with a Samoan drop for two. Both Usos take Dawkins up top but he fights his way to freedom and gets over for the tag to Ford. The Anointment sets up the Cash Out for two with Jey making the save. Jey sends Ford into the post twice in a row and that’s a DQ at 7:56.

Rating: C+. I will absolutely take that over the champs getting pinned to set up a title match at Extreme Rules. The ending even gives them a reason to have a hardcore match of some kind and that’s a good thing. Mix this stuff up a bit and the matches are that much better. See how easy it is?

Post match the Usos come after them again and take Dawkins outside. That’s fine with Ford, who hits a SCARY dive over the top, nearly landing on his head and scaring commentary. Thankfully he’s fine enough to get onto the announcers’ table for the posing.

Roman Reigns is watching in the back and sends Paul Heyman to do something.

Heyman is walking when Kayla Braxton scares him. He suggests she enjoy the moment but Heyman’s phone rings…with Brock Lesnar’s theme as the ring tone. Heyman says there comes a time….and it rings again. He answers and tries to say this is a bad time but gets cut off by someone presumably yelling on the other end. Heyman says he’ll do it and gets hung up on. Braxton says she is definitely enjoying this moment, as Heyman told her to. Heyman goes to a janitor and says if he wants to take out the trash, start with Braxton. It’s Big E., who laughs maniacally as Heyman looks like he wants to cry. Heyman was great here.

Here is Becky Lynch for a chat to a heck of a reaction. After a recap of Bianca Belair becoming #1 contender to the Smackdown Women’s Title, Becky talks about knowing how everyone wants to rub elbows with her. Bianca Belair isn’t happy about Becky winning the title at Summerslam but it isn’t Becky’s fault that “ESTher” wasn’t ready. Belair can do all of her flips, but it took one flick of Becky’s fist to become Smackdown Women’s Champion again.

Cue Belair to say she never complained about losing, but last week she proved she is the EST around here when she won the four way. Roman Reigns is defending his title tonight so Becky can do the same. Becky doesn’t care what Reigns does because the match isn’t happening tonight.

Dolph Ziggler introduces himself to Toni Storm and offers her a front row seat…in his corner. Storm says he’s great but she is rooting for Rick Boogs tonight.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Rick Boogs

Boogs starts fast with a big gorilla press and Ziggler isn’t sure what to do. The pumphandle slam is cut off but Boogs grabs him again, setting up the pumphandle slam for the pin at 1:28.

Becky Lynch tells Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville that the match isn’t happening tonight. That’s fine with the two of them, as the match can take place at Extreme Rules. Next week, it’s the contract signing at Madison Square Garden.

Seth Rollins talks about how he has watched his match with Edge so many times now and it is time to renew himself like a fine wine.

Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro

Cesaro starts fast by sending him outside for a whip into the barricade. Back in and Rollins hits a quick dropkick into an Impaler DDT (ala Edge) for two as we take an early break. We come back with Cesaro hitting an uppercut but getting countered into the Buckle Bomb for two. Cesaro fights back again so Rollins grabs the Edge O Matic for two more.

The Stomp is countered into a powerbomb to give Cesaro a breather and he’s back up with a discus lariat for his own near fall. There’s the Swing into the Sharpshooter but Seth is right next to the ropes. They head outside with Cesaro loading up the running uppercut but Rollins grabs a chair for the DQ at 9:43.

Rating: C+. Rollins being obsessed with Edge is an interesting way to go and odds are we’ll be seeing a rematch, maybe as soon as Extreme Rules. It’s a good idea for Rollins, who has been needing something that wasn’t the Friday Night Messiah or anything close to it for awhile now. As for Cesaro…yeah you had to know this kind of thing was coming.

Post match Rollins snaps and puts Cesaro in the Crossface with the chair bar over the mouth ala Edge. The Stomp leaves Cesaro laying. Rollins loads up the Conchairto but Edge runs in for the save.

Roman Reigns tells the Usos to stick to the game plan. They leave so Paul Heyman says they have a problem. Reigns isn’t worried but Heyman says they have a problem with Brock Lesnar. Reigns: “No, YOU have a problem with Brock Lesnar.” Heyman says Lesnar is going to be in Madison Square Garden next week on Smackdown. Lesnar called him earlier for the first time in a year and is watching the show because FOX is really big in Saskatchewan. Reigns wants to now how Heyman knows where Lesnar is, because Lesnar might be here tonight. Heyman seems to panic.

Happy Corbin arrives and thinks the interviewer is the valet.

Edge thinks Seth Rollins has lost it but he would probably do the same. This has to stop though and Edge wants Rollins next week. This doesn’t end well (Edge’s words).

It’s time for the Kevin Owens Show, with Owens being happy about wearing a tie. Speaking of Happy, here is Happy Corbin as this week’s guest. As expected, Corbin is very happy to be here and says Owens not helping him is what made Corbin so happy in the first place. Owens wants no part of this but Corbin says he has his own special guest: Logan Paul.

Owens isn’t impressed as Corbin talks about how they’re friends now. They watched Logan’s brother Jake beat Tyron Woodley and then hung out together, which Owens thinks sounds horrible. Owens calls Paul trash so Logan offers him $100. That’s not going to work for Owens, who wants Paul out of WWE. They shove each other and Owens goes after him but gets dropped by a mic shot from Corbin. The beatdown is on as I wonder how it took this long to make Paul an obnoxious heel.

We get a notification that Carmella….exists I guess. Liv Morgan is standing nearby and says “really”.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Sami Zayn

Dominik starts fast with the top rope armdrag but Zayn blasts him with a clothesline. There’s a running hurricanrana to send Zayn into the ropes but it’s too early for the 619. Zayn goes to leave but here’s Rey to cut him off in a hurry. Cue Rey Mysterio to keep Zayn from leaving and Dominik hits the big flip dive. Dominik wants Rey to leave and the distraction lets Zayn hit the Helluva Kick for the pin at 2:04. The frustrations continue.

Naomi comes up to Sonya Deville to find out what she’s doing tonight. Sonya is on the phone though and tells Naomi to get with her next week. Maybe try asking before an hour and a half into the show?

Finn Balor wants to know what would have happened if he had not gotten hurt the night he won the Universal Title. Tonight, he gets to find out.

Universal Title: Finn Balor vs. Roman Reigns

Balor is challenging, but here are the Usos to jump him before the bell. The big beatdown is on and Balor is left laying until the Street Profits come in to chase the Usos off. Reigns comes out for the match and we take a break. Back with Balor saying he can go so we get the Big Match Intros. Reigns is smart enough to throw Balor down onto the bad ribs to start as the ribs are banged up again. Balor tries to fight back but charges into an uppercut. A spinebuster plants him again and we take a break.

Back with Reigns missing the Superman Punch, allowing Balor to hit a Pele for a breather. Balor starts the comeback but gets sent outside to cut him off again. Reigns gets pulled down into the ring skirt though and Balor hammers away, including the big flip dive. They head back inside where the Coup de Grace misses, allowing Reigns to hit the Superman Punch for two. Balor is back up with 1916 for two of his own and the Coup de Grace connects for a VERY close two. The kickout includes a low blow and Reigns hammers away on the downed Balor, setting up the guillotine choke to retain at 10:31.

Rating: B-. There wasn’t the most drama here but the Coup de Grace near fall was quite good. They have an out for Balor with the Usos’ attack and that could set up the rematch. What we got here was good though and it felt like a main event, which is what they were shooting for with this one. Balor isn’t going to be hurt off a loss to Reigns, so it isn’t some career stopper for him either.

Post match Reigns and Heyman go to leave, but the lights flicker a bit. Reigns isn’t sure what that was to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Another rather good Smackdown, though there were some problems throughout. The character stuff in Belair vs. Lynch is still pretty all over the place and they still didn’t set up anything for Extreme Rules. That being said, the action was good and the two hours flew by with a good main event. That’s about all you can ask for out of this show and it went pretty well.

Results
Street Profits b. Usos via DQ when Jey sent Ford into the post
Rick Boogs b. Dolph Ziggler – Pumphandle slam
Cesaro b. Seth Rollins via DQ when Rollins used a chair
Sami Zayn b. Dominik Mysterio – Helluva Kick
Roman Reigns b. Finn Balor – Guillotine choke

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Smackdown
Date: August 27, 2021
Location: Simmons Bank Arena, North Little Rock, Arkansas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Kevin Owens

It’s the fallout from Summerslam and in this case we have a pair of huge returns to television with Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar coming back to Smackdown. I don’t think there is much of a secret of where the two of them are going but I’m curious to see where they are going in both cases. Let’s get to it.

Here is Summerslam if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Becky Lynch’s return, where she beat Bianca Belair to win the Smackdown Women’s Title in less than thirty seconds.

Here is Becky Lynch, with a jacket that makes her look like a matador, to say she is back on top. A year and a half ago, she had to give up her Raw Women’s Title in a hard moment. It was giving up her identity but she has been working every day since to get back here. Now we get to Summerslam, and the fans don’t seem to like that. She knows there have been some people unhappy with her, but she is sorry…..FOR ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! The fans like that and Becky talks about how she needs to be prepared around here.

Cue Bianca Belair, who the fans seem to like as well. She isn’t about to make excuses because that isn’t who she is, but she isn’t cool with what happened at Summerslam. Belair issues the challenge for tonight but here is Zelina Vega to interrupt. She thinks it’s funny that Belair has fallen this far down and thinks she should get the title shot. Now it’s Carmella coming out to say she should face Lynch tonight. She didn’t have time to be prepared at Summerslam and didn’t even have her nails done.

Cue Liv Morgan (to a rather strong reaction) to ask why Carmella and Zelina should get title shots when they lose over and over. Carmella laughs at her for sitting in catering all the time but Belair isn’t having this. Belair: “All three of y’all done lost your d*** minds.” She challenges Becky again but gets a “nah, not tonight”. Lynch might be a heel, but no one seems to care. The brawl is on between the other four and I think you know where this is going.

Carmella vs. Zelina Vega vs. Bianca Belair vs. Liv Morgan

Joined in progress, elimination rules and the winner gets a future shot at Lynch. Belair shoulders Carmella in the ribs and then gorilla presses Vega, who doesn’t seem thrilled with going up. Vega avoids Morgan’s charge in the corner and hits a rolling kick to the face, only to get rolled up by Carmella for two. Belair comes back in and KOD’s Vega for the pin and the elimination at 3:02. Since Carmella and Morgan are both down on the floor, Belair has to throw Morgan back in, allowing Carmella to get in a cheap shot. That allows Morgan to hit Oblivion for the pin on Carmella at 3:57.

So we’re down to Belair vs. Morgan and we take a break. Back with Belair hitting the running shoulder in the corner but Morgan drop toeholds her into the corner. A spinebuster gives Belair two and she counters Oblivion into a delayed suplex….which is countered into a Codebreaker for Morgan’s two. The KOD is blocked so Belair drops her onto the turnbuckle. Now the KOD can finish Morgan off at 11:56.

Rating: C+. This was two matches rolled into one as the Carmella and Vega stuff was completely useless but it got a lot better when we got to the one on one part. They needed Morgan in there as beating Vega and Carmella means nothing for Belair, who needed the rebound win after Summerslam. Now they can build towards Extreme Rules and we should be in for a good road there.

Paul Heyman is asked where he stands, which would of course be behind, and just to the side of, Roman Reigns. Now he and Reigns have some preparing to do….but Heyman is locked out of Reigns’ dressing room.

We look back at Roman Reigns defeating John Cena but having to face Brock Lesnar to end the show. Paul Heyman dropping to his knees was great.

Heyman still can’t get into the locker room, and asks if Kayla Braxton has ANYWHERE else to be right now. Kayla says no, but the Usos open the locker room. Roman Reigns isn’t here yet, but they ask if he knew if Brock Lesnar was going to be at Summerslam. Heyman looks nervous but says no. Why would he tear down everything the team has built up? The Usos ask why they were sent to the back before the bell, though Heyman reminds them that it was Reigns’ decision. There is something going on here and I want to see where it’s going.

Chad Gable vs. Cesaro

Otis is here with Gable, who has to avoid an early Swing attempt. Gable takes him down and scores with the moonsault for two. The cross armbreaker over the ropes puts Cesaro in trouble but he’s right back up with a super hurricanrana. The Swing goes on but Otis runs in for the DQ at 2:14.

Post match Otis crushes Cesaro with the middle rope splash.

Baron Corbin, now in a new suit and a hat, drives up in a nice car and says you can now call him Happy Corbin.

Here’s Corbin in the arena, now with a slow machine themed Titantron video (it says WINNER) and he dances to the ring, where the red ropes are waiting on him. He was ready to file for bankruptcy on Monday and everything was over. Now though, everything is back and he looks incredible. We see a series of videos of Corbin gambling in Las Vegas and making a ton of money. Corbin: “I was the mayor of Jackpot City!” Owens: “…..the what???” His wife even welcomed his back with Wagyu beef (not Ragu, as I was scolded for not understanding a few weeks ago), but now he needs to talk to Big E.

Corbin appreciates Big E. for coming out and Big E. is glad Corbin doesn’t smell bad anymore. Corbin is so happy that he offers to buy the briefcase for $20,000. That’s a no, but Corbin just wants Big E. to be happy, because losing the briefcase will devastate you. Corbin bumps the offer up to $100k, but that’s a no, despite Big E.’s kids needing braces. Instead, Big E. offers to sell him half of a sandwich, a pencil or an ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS PLUSHIE!!! Big E. tells him to hit the bricks and Corbin does so, complete with that awesome song. This Corbin stuff keeps getting better and better.

We look at Edge beating Seth Rollins at Summerslam.

Edge is happy with his win, even though he paid for the victory. He didn’t like the place he had to go to to win, but now he is on to bigger things.

Seth Rollins isn’t happy with the loss, even in a great match. Edge won his respect and Rollins admires him, so maybe he should be more like Edge to get back to the Universal Title.

Roman Reigns arrives and Paul Heyman looks nervous, not even opening the door for him. Heyman refers to him as “my Tribal Chief” twice in a row to make up for it.

Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler vs. Rick Boogs/King Nakamura

Boogs takes Ziggler to the mat to start and we get some guitar playing on the leg. Roode comes in to hammer Boogs down and we get an inset promo from Apollo Crews about how bad the Intercontinental Title is under Nakamura. Boogs fights up and brings in Nakamura but Kinshasa is countered into a rollup to give Roode two.

Nakamura is sent outside for a Zig Zag from Ziggler and we take a break. Back with Roode hitting a spinebuster on Nakamura but a kick to the face allows the hot tag to Boogs. Everything breaks down and Nakamura knocks Roode outside, leaving Boogs to hit the pumphandle slam to pin Ziggler at 9:03.

Rating: C. They have a little something with this Boogs/Nakamura pairing and it is the best thing that Nakamura has done for years now. Sometimes you need a fresh coat of paint to see what you can find and that seems to be what we are getting here. If nothing else, it was nice to not see the two of them against Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez, as they went with something fresh instead. Nicely done, and the guitar playing made it even better.

Naomi comes in to see Sonya Deville, who had no idea she was coming. Sonya has nothing for her to do, but they’ll do something next week. Naomi isn’t happy.

Rey Mysterio thinks it is time for Dominik Mysterio to wrestle on his own, so he has gotten Dominik a singles match against….well Rey isn’t sure.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Sami Zayn

Sami drives him into the corner to start but Dominik hits a quick backdrop. The springboard armdrag out of the corner sets up a dropkick to rock Sami again but the 619 misses. Dominik crashes down to the floor so Rey comes out to check on him as we take a break. Back with Dominik blocking the Blue Thunder Bomb and elbowing the heck out of Sami’s head. Now the 619 connects but Dominik rolls away from the frog splash. An exploder suplex into the corner rocks Dominik again and the Helluva Kick finishes for Sami at 7:47.

Rating: C-. Remember how Dominik has been doing his same thing for about a year now? This is the latest example, as Dominik still just isn’t that interesting. There is only so much that can be done with a guy whose whole deal is that he is the son of a famous wrestler and we are still getting to see it every week. The match was watchable, but Dominik has never really gone beyond that and that is a problem.

Post match Rey goes to help Dominik up but Dominik doesn’t want it and walks off, ignoring Rey’s pep talk.

The Bloodline is on their way to the ring and Paul Heyman tries to hand him the title. Reigns says Heyman is coming with them because he is family and Reigns loves him.

Here is the Bloodline for the big family celebration. Roman Reigns takes his time listening to the fans booing him so Paul Heyman says the people have the chance to acknowledge him. In addition, you may cheer for the Usos as well! Heyman says we have seen enough of John Cena, who was beaten by Roman Reigns at Summerslam. Cue Finn Balor to say that a lot of people are talking about the Universal Title, but he was wanting to challenge for the title himself.

Balor doesn’t trust anyone around here though and he isn’t waiting around. Instead, he wants his title shot next week on Smackdown. There is no answer but Balor charges at the three of them to start the brawl. Cue the Street Profits to go after the Usos, setting up a bunch of house show matches around the horn. Balor hits the Coup de Grace on Jey as an annoyed Reigns watches from the stage to end the show. The challenge didn’t get an answer.

Overall Rating: C+. This was all about the Summerslam fallout and it did well enough in that regard. They covered a bunch of stuff and you can see where a lot of things are going. Balor getting his title shot next week leaves them open for a likely fatal four way at Extreme Rules and then Lesnar vs. Reigns in Saudi Arabia, which is the most likely destination for everyone. The rest of the show was mostly talking based, but they hit the big stories well enough to make the show work.

Results
Bianca Belair b. Carmella, Zelina Vega and Liv Morgan last eliminating Morgan
Cesaro b. Chad Gable via DQ when Otis interfered
Shinsuke Nakamura/Rick Boogs b. Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode – Pumphandle slam to Ziggler
Sami Zayn b. Dominik Mysterio – Helluva Kick

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Main Event
Date: August 19, 2021
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Byron Saxton

It’s the go home show for Summerslam and that means we should be in for a completely run of the mill edition of Main Event. Hopefully the show winds up surprising me, as you never know what you might be seeing around here. I mean, save for the build to Summerslam of course. Let’s get to it.

Here is last week’s show if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Cedric Alexander vs. Jaxson Ryker

Alexander charges at him to start and is knocked down in a hurry. Back up and Alexander kicks at the leg, only to get slammed down. A running headbutt connects, only to have Alexander come back with more shots to the leg, including in the corner. Alexander grabs a kneebar to keep Ryker down and there’s a leg twist to make it worse. Back up again and Ryker runs him over one more time, this time for two. A quick brainbuster gives Alexander two more but the springboard clothesline misses, allowing Ryker to grab the swinging Boss Man Slam for the pin at 4:58.

Rating: C-. Just a quick match here with Ryker winning. I’m still not seeing much in him but at least he isn’t taking up a bunch of time on Raw these days. Then again that is the case because he doesn’t have Elias to beat up anymore so what story does he have? Ryker isn’t exactly interesting and never has been, but there is only so much that can be done in a situation like this.

From Smackdown.

Here is John Cena to get things going. After we get a quick look at how Cena vs. Roman Reigns was set up, Cena says that since school is back in session, it is time to give Roman his report card. Reigns gets a D, because he is a D-head, a D-bag and a D-isappointment. At Summerslam Reigns is getting an F, but for now though, it is time to have a pop quiz. The fans are asked if they think Reigns will beat him up at Summerslam and they don’t quite buy it. Cena admits that he will take a beating at Summerslam but he’s also beating Reigns.

Cue Reigns and Paul Heyman for a chat after a break. Back with Reigns saying “let’s get to it” but Cena says he is going to wait for a week from tomorrow on the grandest stage of them all. Cena says he is back because Reigns is full of himself and Cena is the only one who can shut him up. Reigns has been a failure for a decade now despite how hard WWE has pushed him. No one has a chance with him not though and that’s why WWE asked him to come back.

Cena polls the fans about which team they’re on but Reigns says he was hoping for something fresh. Give him something to cut him already. Cena says Reigns is going to give him a bunch of spears and big punches while the slimy guy holds up the title in the corner. Reigns is going to beat him up but all Cena has to do is pin him. The reality is that Cena is here to help him, which Reigns finds funny.

Reigns doesn’t bury his opponent and then beat them because he does things differently. He knows Cena is on the Mt. Rushmore of WWE and balances Hollywood on top of that. Cena is good enough to verbally joust with anyone and main event Summerslam with the Tribal Chief. He’s good enough to win the WWE Title but not enough to win the Universal Title. Reigns: “Twenty plus years of missionary might have been good enough for you, but it wasn’t good enough for Nikki Bella.” You can hear the fans (and Cena) gasp on that one and Reigns promises to win at Summerslam.

Cena laughs back at him and says Reigns has been protected by the Shield but he even ran Dean Ambrose out of WWE. He has five Wrestlemania main events in ten years and everything behind him but he still needs to be embarrassed. Cena knows what he has to do at Summerslam because he already beat Suplex City.

All he has to do is hang in there and get the 1-2-3 and Reigns is done. If Cena pulls it off once, Reigns becomes the answer to a trivia question. At Summerslam, the champ is gone, 1-2-3. They cranked it up here and I want to see the match more than I did before, but the Nikki Bella line was the only bombshell and it doesn’t mean as much with Cena married to someone else. Adding in the idea that Reigns has something to prove was a good idea though, as that part hasn’t really been touched on enough.

From Smackdown.

It’s time for the Bianca Belair/Sasha Banks contract signing with Sonya Deville running things. Belair talks about how great Banks is but Banks calls her out for the hair whip at Wrestlemania. The fight is almost on but Sonya says this isn’t happening. Banks wants some witnesses so here are Carmella and Zelina Vega. Both women sign and Belair starts the fight in a hurry. Belair does ok for a bit but the numbers game gets the better of her, allowing Banks to get in a cheap shot. The Bank Statement, using Belair’s hair, on the table lets Banks hold up the title to end the show.

Video on RKBro getting back together.

We look at the official RKBro reunion.

Angel Garza vs. Ricochet

This could be interesting. They go with the grappling to start and Garza bails to the rope, where Ricochet gives him a ruffle of the head. Garza doesn’t like that and it’s time for some running and flipping but STOP! It’s time for Garza to TAKE OFF HIS PANTS! Ricochet misses a springboard though and it’s a superkick to drop him hard.

We take a break and come back with Ricochet grabbing a double arm crank to trigger the comeback. Ricochet snaps off a headscissors but Garza is right back with the seated abdominal stretch. That’s broken up as well and Ricochet nails a discus lariat. A quick German suplex gives Ricochet two but Garza dropkicks his knees out in the corner. Not that it matters as Ricochet is back with the Recoil for the pin at 9:03.

Rating: C+. Like this wasn’t going to be good. These two are some of the more talented unsung heroes in WWE and it’s nice to see them getting a chance to see what they can do. What we had here was an entertaining little back and forth match, which is all you can ask for on a show like this one.

From Smackdown.

Intercontinental Title: King Nakamura vs. Apollo Crews

Crews is defending and has Commander Azeez with him, as canceled out by Rick Boogs. Nakamura takes him down to start but an Azeez distraction lets Crews elbow him in the face. That just earns him the running knee to the ribs in the corner, which draws Azeez up. Boogs guitars him down so both of them are ejected as we take a break.

Back with Crews catching him on top for a superplex and following with a powerbomb for two. The frog splash misses but Crews catches him with a jumping enziguri for two more, with the referee catching the feet on the ropes. Back up and Nakamura grabs a suplex, followed by Kinshasa to give Nakamura the pin and the title at 10:11.

Rating: C. Nice back and forth match here and it’s a good idea to give Nakamura the title. He has been doing well with the Boogs stuff and the crown makes it a bonus. They could probably shift away from the crown now that he has the title, which would free things up for a new King of the Ring. Crews was fine as champion in the short term, but this is the better choice of the two options.

Nakamura, Boogs and McAfee celebrate.

Elias is still dead.

From Raw.

Here is Goldberg for the face to face with Bobby Lashley, but first of all, he gets to talk, because GOLDBERG is so known for his verbal dominance. Goldberg brings up MVP and Lashley talking about fatherhood, which brings Goldberg to his son Gage. It’s true that Gage can see videos of Goldberg wrestling, but Goldberg wants him to see it in person (Haven’t we heard him say that like FIVE TIMES NOW?).

Lashley and MVP come out with MVP saying Goldberg has been talking a lot lately. Lashley gets in the ring and says this is his house and the house always wins. Goldberg calls that BS and spears him before posing with his son (who seems to have his high school football team with him) to end the show. This was as bad as everything else has been in this feud, because it is the same story they have told with Goldberg and his son before and it isn’t exactly interesting to hear Goldberg talk (or wrestle, but that’s a different problem).

Overall Rating: C-. Yeah this was about what I was expecting. The Summerslam build has worked out fairly well in some parts but that wasn’t the focus we got here. Instead, it was mainly a bunch of looking at the weaker parts and that isn’t exactly a great show. Summerslam is likely to be fine, but they didn’t exactly make it work out here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 2021
Date: August 21, 2021
Location: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole, Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

We’re back in front of a full stadium and that could make things interesting. Throw in the fact that this is on a Saturday for once and there is a different energy to the whole thing. We have a full on dream match main event as John Cena is challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Title so at least the big match at the end should be good. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Big E. vs. Baron Corbin

A contest winner gets to read the introductions. Corbin has stolen Big E.’s Money in the Bank briefcase but doesn’t own it. Big E. suplexes him down to start and then does it again for a bonus. The apron splash misses though and Corbin sends him shoulder first into the post twice in a row. Corbin’s chokeslam is countered into a Stretch Muffler of all things but Corbin slips out. Corbin grabs the briefcase and tries to run off again but gets speared through the ropes instead. Back in and the Big Ending finishes Corbin at 6:31.

Rating: C. This was a quick way to get the briefcase back in Big E.’s hands and possibly tease a cash in for later. I’m not sold on Big E. cashing in on Roman Reigns but maybe on a downed Bobby Lashley? Corbin’s downward spiral continues and I’m kind of curious to see how far they can go with this whole thing.

The opening video has a poker/gambling theme and looks at the biggest matches on the card.

Raw Tag Team Titles: RKBro vs. Omos/AJ Styles

RKBro is challenging after officially reuniting on Raw. Riddle goes after Omos to start and gets tossed down in a hurry as the strikes don’t work. The sleeper doesn’t do much either as Omos isn’t playing around here. AJ comes in and it’s time to kick away at Riddle. That doesn’t last long either as Riddle dives over and makes the tag.

Orton unloads on Styles and even kicks Omos off the apron to the floor. The hanging DDT is broken up though and Omos chokeslams Riddle onto the apron. That’s enough of a distraction for AJ to snap Orton’s throat across the ropes. A moonsault takes Riddle down on the floor but the Phenomenal Forearm doesn’t work. Orton ducks and grabs the RKO for the pin and the titles at 6:31.

Rating: C+. They didn’t bother doing anything but try to have a feel good moment here and that worked out well. Omos and Styles have done everything they need to do with the titles and it is a good move to switch things over. RKBro is the best thing going on Raw so give them the good moment and let things move on.

We recap Alexa Bliss and Lillie putting Doudrop in a trance and Eva Marie slapping her out of it.

Alexa Bliss vs. Eva Marie

Doudrop is here with Marie. Bliss drops to the mat to freak Marie out but she gets knocked down anyway. Hold on though as Marie has to go and slap Lillie, which sends Bliss into a panic. Lillie is put back in her place but Bliss misses Twisted Bliss, allowing Marie to get some near falls. Bliss grabs a quick Sister Abigail DDT for the pin at 3:49.

Rating: F. It’s still the worst thing going in WWE today and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. The Lillie doll alone is one thing but the powers are taking it to a new low. It didn’t help that the match was horrible because neither of these two are very good in the ring. This is probably the low point of the night and I don’t think that’s any surprise.

Post match Doudrop announces Marie as the loser and steals her robe.

RKBro is ready to defend the titles no matter what. Orton still isn’t thrilled though.

US Title: Sheamus vs. Damian Priest

Sheamus is defending and headlocks Priest down to start. Back up and Priest rocks him with a shot to the face, followed by a kick to the chest. Sheamus gets knocked to the floor and the big flip dive mostly connects to drop him again. A spinning kick t to the face is countered into a powerbomb into the post to put Priest down for a change. Back in and we hit the chinlock to keep Priest down as he seems a bit shaken up from the flip dive. Sheamus’ powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana but Priest gets knocked back to the apron.

The ten forearms are broken up and Priest snaps off a running tornado DDT. The top rope spinwheel kick gives Priest two (that looked good) but Sheamus counters the Reckoning. Sheamus goes up but has to counter a chokeslam attempt into a neck snap across the rope. A top rope clothesline sets up the Alabama Slam for two and Sheamus hits a headbutt. The Brogue Kick takes too long though and Priest grabs South Of Heaven for two.

Priest tries a springboard but dives into a jumping knee to give Sheamus a near fall and the annoyed reaction. A rollup is countered into a kneebar to put Priest in trouble but he does the angry zombie situp. Sheamus’ mask is ripped off and Priest nails another spinwheel kick. The Reckoning gives us a new champion at 13:45.

Rating: B-. There were some sloppy parts in there but this was about taking two big people and having them beat each other up for a while. Sheamus’ reign is similar to AJ Styles/Omos’, as he was never going to be the next big thing, but he was going to be able to make someone look good in defeat. Priest gets his first big singles win and Sheamus can keep making people look better.

Rey Mysterio gives Dominik Mysterio a pep talk and tells him to stay focused.

Tag Team Titles: Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio vs. Usos

The Usos are defending. Jimmy gets sent outside and Jey is sent on top of him, with Dominik nearly slipping off a dive back inside. The Three Amigos connect but Jey tags himself in and shoves Dominik off the top. A hard posting rocks Dominik again and it’s something like a Demolition Decapitator connecting back inside.

Jey hits a right hand, which is nowhere near as loud as commentary thinks it was. Dominik finally manages to grab a suplex into a neckbreaker and the hot tag brings in Rey. House is cleaned, including a tornado DDT to Jey but Jimmy nails a superkick. The Superfly Splash misses but it’s a double superkick to drop Rey again. Now the Superfly Splash can retain the titles at 10:05.

Rating: C-. So that happened and I’m not sure if there is anything else to say about it. The Smackdown tag division is a complete waste of time at the moment and it’s another example of why it would be great to have one set of Tag Team Titles. That won’t happen, but it certainly should given how things are going at the moment.

Actress Tiffany Haddish brings in the first time “National” Champion Damian Priest, who liked getting to beat a bully.

Here is Rick Boogs to introduce King Nakamura, meaning it’s time for Pat McAfee to jump up onto the announcers’ table. That’s it.

We recap the Smackdown Women’s Title match as Bianca Belair defends against Sasha Banks in a Wrestlemania rematch. Banks returned, joined with Belair and then turned on her in the span of an hour, setting up this one. This one is much more about hatred than the title to give it a little twist off the Wrestlemania match.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

Belair is defending…..but not against Banks, who isn’t cleared, despite being advertised all the way through the Kickoff Show. We have a replacement.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Carmella

Belair isn’t impressed, but hang on another replacement.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch

Yeah that works and Lynch is challenging, after taking Carmella out that is. We get the big Belair vs. Lynch staredown and Becky officially challenges so the match is on. Bell, right hand, Manhandle Slam, new champion in 23 seconds. I would really hope that there is more to it than what we just saw, as beating Belair, who has been on fire in recent months, like that is a bad idea. There is nothing wrong with pushing Lynch, but don’t sacrifice someone as awesome as Belair to do it.

Belair is crushed by the loss.

WWE is going back to Saudi Arabia in October.

Here are two Olympic Gold Medal winning wrestlers, though I see no broken freaking necks.

Jinder Mahal vs. Drew McIntyre

Veer and Shanky are barred from ringside. McIntyre starts fast and knocks Mahal outside, meaning Mahal is already begging off. Mahal talks about how they used to be like brothers and then kicks McIntyre in the face for two. The stomping is on but McIntyre is back up with a series of overhead belly to belly suplexes. The Claymore finishes Mahal at 4:36.

Rating: D+. That’s all this should have been as there was no reason to believe that Mahal was going to be a threat to McIntyre. Mahal got in some stomping here and then lost like he should be doing. I’m sure we’ll get rematches because a match like this is not good enough to prove a point.

Post match Veer and Shanky come in but McIntyre chases all three of them off with Angela the sword.

We recap the Raw Women’s Title match. Nikki Ash is out to prove herself, Charlotte is there because she is the former champion and Rhea Ripley is there because WWE likes triple threats.

Raw Women’s Title: Nikki Ash vs. Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley

Ash is defending. Ripley gets sent outside to start and it’s Nikki grabbing a rollup for two. Back in and Ripley gets rolled up for the same but Charlotte sends Nikki outside. The big fight is on with Ripley and Charlotte slugging it out until Ash comes back in with a rollup for two. That earns her another toss to the floor and Ripley grabs a northern lights suplex for two on Charlotte.

A big boot knocks Ripley off the apron but Nikki is back in with a tornado DDT for two. Charlotte picks Nikki up but Ripley is back in to German suplex both of them at once. The missile dropkick gets two on Charlotte so she and Ripley fight to the floor. They stand in place and look up at Nikki as she gets ready before diving onto the two of them. Back in and Charlotte suplexes both of them, followed by a double DDT.

The chops have Ripley and Nikki rocked but they double team their way out of trouble. Charlotte sends both of them outside and goes up for the corkscrew moonsault, which lands straight on Nikki and drives her HARD into the barricade. That was terrifying and thankfully Nikki is up so Ripley can put her into the Prism Trap.

Charlotte breaks that up and it’s the Prism Trap to Charlotte, who reverses into the Figure Eight. Nikki comes in off the top to break it up and the swinging neckbreaker gets two on Charlotte, with Ripley making the save this time. Ripley is sent outside and Charlotte avoids Nikki’s high crossbody, setting up the Figure Eight for the tap to make Charlotte champion again at 13:12.

Rating: B-. I think I’ve run out of ways to talk about how many title wins Charlotte has these days but it’s better to just pull the plug on Nikki as a champion at the moment. This has been a complete nightmare since she won the title and if they just want to get it back on Charlotte, go for it. Ripley seems to be a lost cause as well though, as she has been flattened by the Charlotte train. The match itself was quite good with some awesome near falls, but there is a certain deflating value when Charlotte gets the title back.

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Edge. Rollins cost Edge the Universal Title at Money in the Bank and Edge is out for revenge. Rollins keeps saying he is just better than Edge at everything and that Edge can’t get to that level anymore. This led to a Broodbath (yes Broodbath) on Smackdown as Edge is reaching his old self again.

Edge vs. Seth Rollins

Edge comes out to the Brood theme, complete with the still amazing ring of fire, but switches to the current theme in the aisle. That was awesome and well done on making this feel special. Rollins wastes no time in going for the neck but Edge knocks him outside. It takes some time for Rollins to start getting back in so Edge knocks him off the apron and starts the walking around the ring.

Rollins manages to post him and sends the head into the steps over and over. Back in and Rollins cuts off the comeback with the Sling Blade and a kick to the face for two. Rollins’ neckbreaker is countered into a backslide for two but he kicks Edge down again. The frog splash gets two on Edge so they head up top, with Edge grabbing a super swinging neckbreaker for a breather.

The Edgecution gets two and Edge is looking frustrated at the near falls. Edge goes up so it’s Rollins going after him, setting up the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for two. The Stomp is countered so Rollins tries a Pedigree, which is reversed into a Glam Slam (ala his wife) to give Edge two more. Edge is sent into the ropes and has to avoid another Stomp onto the apron. A heck of a spear through the ropes thankfully doesn’t break either of them in half.

Back in and Rollins takes him down again but misses the Phoenix splash. The spear gives Edge two but Rollins hits a hard forearm to the back of the neck. A superkick to the side of the head sets up the Stomp…with Edge grabbing the boot on the way down. We get another flashback with the Edgecator, which Edge lets go when Rollins gets too close to the rope. Instead it’s a Crossface to put Rollins in trouble, with Edge ramming Rollins’ head into the mat over and over. Something like a Crossface sleeper makes Rollins tap at 21:21.

Rating: B+. Ever since Edge has come back, I haven’t been able to bring myself to care about any of his matches. I like the idea of setting them up, but the thought of actually seeing them happen doesn’t work. Then almost every time, Edge winds up making it work and that was the case again here. I’m really not sure why he needed to win here, but it was a heck of a match and the best one on the show so far.

Money in the Bank is coming to Allegiant Stadium over the 4th of July weekend next year.

Official attendance: 51,326.

Here are Miz and John Morrison to talk about how dry everyone must be here. They are here to make everyone all moist with the Drip Stick 2000 but neither of them have it. Instead, here is Xavier Woods, with a water tank on his back and a water gun attached. After doing a Scott Hall style survey (complete with toothpick and “one more for the good guys”, Woods sprays them and the two of them leave. If there is a point to this thing, it went sailing over my head.

We recap Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley. Goldberg is back and wants the title, time for a showdown. There isn’t much else to it than that in this case.

Raw World Title: Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley, with MVP, is defending. They circle each other to start and we get the big power lockup. Lashley gets backed into the corner and shoves Goldberg back. A shoulder doesn’t stagger Goldberg but his flying shoulder drops Lashley. A powerslam into a World’s Strongest Slam crushes Lashley and a clothesline takes him down again. Neither of them can hit the Jackhammer so Lashley knocks him down for the forearms to the back of the neck.

Goldberg sends him flying but MVP pulls Lashley outside to avoid the spear. That’s fine with Goldberg, who hits the spear on the floor instead. Back in and Lashley bails outside to avoid another spear. MVP hits Goldberg in the knee with his cane so Lashley takes out the leg. The Hurt Lock is blocked and the fans aren’t pleased. Another shot to the knee puts Goldberg down and he rolls outside. The knee is sent into the post hard twice in a row and Goldberg collapses before Lashley can try the spear. That’s enough and the referee stops it at 7:12.

Rating: D+. Goldberg’s stuff was looking better than usual at the start and then it turned into WWE trying something emotional. They’re probably setting up a rematch or something, because Goldberg is the most overly pushed legend in WWE history. I have no idea what this was supposed to accomplish other than to make Lashley look like someone who can’t get the job done almost six months into his reign. It was an acceptable power brawl for a bit and then it was the leg stuff over and over until the finish.

Post match Lashley unloads on Goldberg with chair shots to the knee and Goldberg is done. Goldberg’s son Gage tries to run in and jumps on Lashley’s back so Lashley puts him in the Hurt Lock. MVP grabs the mic and says Lashley didn’t know who it was as Goldberg crawls onto his son. MVP and Lashley bail as Goldberg swears vengeance and Gage looks bored. They had this much time to set things up and their big idea is to make it about Goldberg’s kid? There is NO ONE ELSE who can get a spot like this than Goldberg? WWE is dying for fresh stars and they use an emotional angle on Goldberg?

We recap John Cena vs. Roman Reigns. Cena returned to challenge Reigns for the Universal Title, both to break the record for the most World Titles as well as bring Reigns back down to earth.

Smackdown World Title: Roman Reigns vs. John Cena

Reigns is defending and will leave WWE if he loses. Granted Cena has already won because of the Super Mario 3 style shirt. They start slowly with Reigns hitting a running shoulder to scare Cena back a bit. A small package gives Cena two he mocks Reigns with the two count. Cena’s rollup gets two so Reigns elbows him in the face. A snap suplex sets up a chinlock before Reigns throws him outside. Cena is sent into the steps a few times, allowing Reigns to hold up the title.

Back in and Cena grabs a small package for two, setting up an AA attempt. That’s countered into a DDT for two as Reigns is a lot more serious. Reigns: “Movie executives I apologize, but I’m going to hurt this man.” Another comeback is cut off with a right hand but Cena gets another quick rollup. That just makes Reigns grab a sleeper and jump onto Cena’s back to make it worse. Cena fights up again and hits a heck of a clothesline (that clothesline that he hits when he’s in trouble) and they’re both down.

The comeback is on but the Shuffle is countered into the guillotine choke. Cena flips forward for two to counter but it’s the Superman Punch to cut him off again. Back up and Reigns charges into a big boot to set up the AA and the near fall. The STFU sends Cena crawling over to the ropes for the break and he is fine enough to catch Cena with the apron boot. Reigns loads up the spear but charges into another AA, this time through the announcers’ table.

Cena tosses him back inside for the very near fall and the shocked face is strong. The top rope Fameasser is countered into a powerbomb for two more and they’re both down. The Superman Punch connects for two on Cena but the spear hits the post, meaning it’s the super AA for a VERY good false finish. Cena’ does Reigns’ roar but charge into a right hand. The slugout is on until Reigns hits the Superman Punch. Reigns declares that he is WWE and the spear retains the title at 23:00.

Rating: A-. Yeah that worked and I don’t think anyone is surprised. Cena can still bring it on the big stage and Reigns has shown he can work well with just about anyone during this run. They had me buying some of the near falls and I wasn’t convinced the spear was it, so well done on having me totally confused and wondering when it was ending. This was the heavyweight slugfest and it worked out great.

And then Brock Lesnar comes back. Paul Heyman cowers in the corner and Reigns looks scared. Lesnar gets in the ring and Reigns and Heyman slowly back away. Lesnar, as a good guy for the first time in what feels like forever, poses to end the show. That’s about all there was left for Reigns at this point as Edge beat Seth Rollins, so well done on a big surprise.

Overall Rating: C+. The overall thoughts on this one are going to be all over the place, just like the show. It was FAR from perfect as there were some really bad matches and questionable decisions (I’m still trying to get my head around Lynch beating Belair like that) but there were some very good matches and a few legitimate surprises. I liked more than I didn’t, but it’s a show that is going to get a lot of dislike and I completely understand why.

What mattered here for me is that this show felt important. There were major matches and moments, with Lynch and Lesnar’s returns feeling huge. Throw in some title changes (not all good ones) and there is no denying that stuff happened here. The problem is that Monday is coming and any good will this show had is likely going away as they load up the rematches at Extreme Rules. What matters is that the show felt big and they had a lot of people in the house, so I’ll call it a just slightly good show which is going to have several people annoyed.

Results
RKBro b. AJ Styles/Omos – RKO to Styles
Alexa Bliss b. Eva Marie – Sister Abigail DDT
Damian Priest b. Sheamus – Reckoning
Usos b. Dominik Mysterio/Rey Mysterio – Superfly Splash to Rey
Becky Lynch b. Bianca Belair – Manhandle Slam
Drew McIntyre b. Jinder Mahal – Claymore
Charlotte b. Nikki Ash and Rhea Ripley – Figure Eight to Ash
Edge b. Seth Rollins – Crossface sleeper
Bobby Lashley b. Goldberg via referee stoppage
Roman Reigns b. John Cena – Spear

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Summerslam 2020
Date: August 23, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe

It’s finally time to try this out and yes it’s another Thunder Dome show, which may or may not mean anything to you if you’re reading this in 2273. Basically there are no fans live in the arena, but there are pictures of several of them scared to move because of all of the conditions WWE has included to allow them to be shown on screen. Other than that, we have two World Title matches and something we’ll never see coming, which kind of negates the idea of a surprise. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: US Title: MVP vs. Apollo Crews

Crews is defending and the rest of the Hurt Business is banned from ringside. A quick sunset flip gives Crews two and MVP wants a breather on the floor. Back in and MVP uses a distracted referee to get in a cheap shot but Crews is right back with a dropkick. MVP is ready for a charge in the corner though and sends Crews over the top and face first onto the steps for a nasty crash.

Back in and MVP misses a big running boot in the corner but he’s fine enough to crotch Crews on top. A superplex brings Crews back down with MVP slipping a bit on the fall before getting two. Crews is fine enough to clothesline MVP to the floor and that means a big running flip dive, which seems to hurt Crews’ back again. Back in and Crews wins a slugout before ripping off MVP’s nasal strip. That sets MVP off enough that he tries the Playmaker but Crews reverses into the Toss Powerbomb to retain at 6:35.

Rating: C. This could have been on any given Raw and that isn’t the most surprising thing. The bigger story here would seem to be Crews vs. Bobby Lashley down the line and letting Crews get the Summerslam win on the way there is a nice boost for him. Other than that, there isn’t much to see here, but it was just a Kickoff Show match.

Post match Lashley and Shelton Benjamin run out for the beatdown but Crews slips away.

The opening video presents Summerslam as a huge production, including the lights, camera action line. Each match gets a quick look as well.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Bayley

Bayley is defending and has Sasha Banks in her corner. Asuka forearms Bayley in the shoulder to start and hits a running dropkick. The sliding dropkick misses but Asuka can get a seated Octopus hold. Thankfully this cuts off Cole’s explanation that the big difference between their careers is Asuka has won the Women’s Royal Rumble. Not that Asuka has never lost a singles match to Bayley, including beating her twice in the last month and a half, but their Women’s Royal Rumble record.

The hip attack sends Bayley to the floor and Asuka hits a jumping DDT from the steps to knock Bayley silly again. Back in and Bayley grabs a quick suplex for a breather and the stomping is on in the ropes. The Bayley to Belly gets two more so Asuka kicks Bayley in the head for the double knockdown. Another hip attack rocks Bayley and there’s the release German suplex to send Bayley flying. They head to the apron with Bayley dropping Asuka knees first, much to Banks’ delight.

Back in and Bayley gets two off a chop block, followed by something like an Indian Deathlock. That’s broken up so Bayley grabs another leglock with Asuka going to the ropes this time. Bayley goes up for the top rope elbow but Asuka pulls her into the cross armbreaker instead. Asuka lets go to kick at the screaming Banks though and they head outside with Asuka hitting Bayley in the face. Back in and Bayley grabs a rollup for a close two but Asuka’s running hip attack hits Banks by mistake. That’s enough for Bayley to small package Asuka to retain at 11:21.

Rating: B-. It was good for Bayley to win, even if it has no bearing on her Royal Rumble history. Bayley retaining again is interesting, though that would give you more of a reason to believe that Asuka is taking the other title later. Either way, they had a solid match here as they tend to do, as Asuka can have good matches with almost anyone. It was a good effort here and they even helped set up the other title match later.

Post match Bayley and Banks lay out Asuka again.

Dominik Mysterio asks Rey Mysterio to let him do this himself against Seth Rollins and not get involved. Rey agrees and they hug.

Recap of Retribution’s carnage.

Kevin Owens comes out for commentary, complete with a red tie.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Angel Garza/Andrade vs. Street Profits

The Profits are defending and Zelina Vega is here with the challengers. Ford flips over Andrade to start and hits a jumping clothesline. A jumping hurricanrana off the top freaks Vega out and Andrade is sent outside. Dawkins comes in for a double flapjack to Garza but Ford’s running flip dive to the floor is countered into a double powerbomb. Back in and Ford gets sent into the corner, allowing Garza to TAKE OFF HIS PANTS!

Andrade armbars Ford over the ropes, setting up the Alberto double stomp for two more. Ford avoids a charge and brings in Dawkins to clean house, including a spear to Andrade. It’s back to Ford, who is grazed by the basement dropkick to the head for two. Zelina gets on the apron but is knocked down in a hurry, leaving Ford to escape the Wing Clipper. The Cash Out into the (spinning) frog splash pins Garza to retain the titles at 7:49.

Rating: C. Another Raw level match here, though maybe a little bit better than that. I doubt this is over between the teams, because it’s not like there is anyone else for the Profits to defend against at the moment. The Owens inclusion was a little odd but he has enough of a story history with Vega and company to make it work.

Post match Owens congratulates the champs and announces the return of the KO Show tomorrow night, with Aleister Black as his guest.

Bayley and Sasha Banks don’t like Kayla Braxton’s questions. Banks knows she can beat Asuka, and Bayley knows it too. Tonight Asuka is tapping out and then next week they’re retaining the Tag Team Titles.

We recap Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville. They used to be best friends and then Sonya got sick of Mandy getting all of the attention and turned on her. Then Sonya cut her hair and challenged her to a hair vs. hair match, which was seemingly derailed by someone wanting to actually murder Sonya, so instead it’s No DQ, Loser Leaves WWE.

Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville

No DQ, Loser Leaves WWE. Mandy punches her in the face for an early knockdown and they head outside with Sonya being whipped into various things. A suplex onto the ramp drops Sonya again and Mandy dives off the announcers’ table with a clothesline. Mandy grabs a table but Sonya gets in a shot and takes it inside. Back in and Mandy misses a running knee, allowing Sonya to slap on a dragon sleeper.

Sonya grabs a triangle choke but Mandy is smart enough to stack her up for two to force the break. The trash talk is on but only causes Mandy to slap away. Now the knee gives Mandy two and they head back outside, with Mandy shouting about being the soccer mom. Mandy throws the chairs at Sonya’s head but walks into a pump kick instead. Back in and Mandy hits a pair of knees, followed by a third as she goes half Kenny Omega. Angel’s Wings plants Sonya and a fourth knee to the face finishes her off at 10:00.

Rating: D+. Yeah believe it or not, I’m not exactly getting behind the idea of a blonde bombshell who got all of the attention being called out for getting all of the attention. Sonya stole the show in the entire feud and while things got turned upside down this week (completely fair enough), I was really wanting to see how far Sonya can go after everything she has been doing lately. Or to see Mandy bald for some reason. The No DQ stuff changed almost nothing here.

Post match Sonya is devastated as Otis comes out to celebrate. He does the Caterpillar and Mandy fails completely in her attempt.

We recap Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins, which is fallout from Rollins going after Rey Mysterio, including taking his eye out twice. Dominik is here to fight for his dad’s honor in his debut. They’re making it a street fight to help Dominik out a little bit.

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

Street fight and Rollins, with Murphy, is in Rey Mysterio WCW inspired ring gear. Rey is here with Dominik to even things out. Dominik looks nervous to start and Rollins seems more interested in toying with him. Rollins even sticks his head out so Dominik can grab a headlock. Instead of punching Rollins in the face, Dominik grabs a headlock and is shoved down almost immediately. Some armdrags into a front flip have Rollins a little staggered so he slams Dominik down.

Rollins demands and receives a kendo stick from Murphy but Dominik is up with a dropkick. That means Rollins has to run from the kendo stick until Rollins catches him with some stomping back inside. The neck cranking goes on but Rollins lets go to yell at Rey. Dominik’s feeble comeback is cut off with the Sling Blade and Rollins puts the knee on his face. The chair is set up inside and Rollins tells “Papa” to come on. Dominik reverses the buckle bomb and grabs a tornado DDT for two.

The kendo stick shots have Rollins in trouble for a change but he crotches Dominik on top. That means the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for two and Rollins wants his own stick. Dominik gets beaten down and Rollins calls for a table from Murphy. Rollins loads up said table in the corner but takes too long going up, allowing Dominik to hit a super Russian legsweep through the table for two. Dominik’s frog slash gets the same, plus a million versions of the same jokes about Eddie being his dad.

Dominik takes too long getting a chair and walks into a superkick, followed by a powerbomb. A bunch of kendo stick shots have Rey clutching his own chest and now we go old school with handcuffs. Before they go on, cue Rey’s wife to try to call this off but Rey stops her. Murphy comes in for the knee to Dominik and tries to take the eye out, finally drawing Rey in for the save.

Rollins and Murphy double team Rey and handcuff him to the middle rope. They both grab kendo sticks but turn to look at Rey’s wife instead. Since she’s on the stage and Rollins is at ringside (and since she can’t MOVE), Dominik makes the save. Something like a 619 sends Rollins into the barricade and there’s the regular version. Another frog splash hits knees though and Rollins makes Rey watch as he….just kind of holds Dominik. The Stomp finishes Dominik at 22:35.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure what to think here, other than it went WAY too long. The match itself was ok enough as Dominik has some skill and has clearly been trained well, but that doesn’t mean I want to watch this for twenty two minutes. It felt like a lot more of the same, with Rollins trying to be vicious but coming off as a heel wrestler instead of anything especially violent. This feud has gone on way too long and odds are we get a tag match next so they can keep trying to get the big emotional moment which hasn’t come yet. Dominik looked pretty good (all things considered), but not ready for Summerslam good.

Post match Rollins leaves the keys with Dominik and watches as he has to crawl over and free Mysterio.

Raw Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks

Banks, with Bayley in her corner, is defending. Asuka has a bad knee coming in and Banks goes straight for it in a smart move. Back up and Asuka hits a weakened version of the sliding forearm to put Banks on the floor. That means a leglock on the floor to even up the knees a bit, followed by a kick to the back for two on the champ. Asuka heads to the apron and Banks grabs a spinning powerbomb to the floor, freaking Bayley out in the process.

That’s good for nine so Banks kicks her in the chest for two more. Asuka pulls her down into an ankle lock but Banks rolls out in a hurry, sending Asuka onto the middle rope. That’s fine with Asuka, who hits a middle rope DDT for the slightly delayed two. The missile dropkick gets the same and Banks falls into the corner. Asuka tries to pull her out but Banks grabs a Codebreaker for two in a cool counter.

Banks misses her own frog splash and the Asuka Lock goes on but Banks flips backwards for two. Asuka has to let go and Banks gets the Bank Statement. She tries to flip into the center and gets switched into the Asuka Lock, which is broken again. Bayley gets on the apron and gets elbowed down, allowing Banks to try a rollup ala Bayley earlier. This time Asuka reverses into the Asuka Lock for the title at 11:31.

Rating: B. Better than the first match and I can always go with someone who learns from an earlier match. This made good sense after earlier and they had to do something to get some of the gold away from Bayley and Banks. The action was pretty hard hitting here and Banks works with Asuka better than Bayley, so this was a nice improvement over the opener and the best match of the night so far.

Banks is distraught post match and Bayley doesn’t know what to do.

We recap Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton for the Raw World Title. McIntyre won the title back at Wrestlemania and Orton has been on a roll in the last few months. This of course meant we needed Ric Flair to be involved because he has to be in on a big story a year. Anyway, McIntyre has worked his way to the top and doesn’t think much of Orton skating by on talent over the years. Orton on the other hand doesn’t think much of McIntyre at all and is taking the title because he can. Oh and he Punted Flair because it’s Flair.

Raw World Title: Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew is defending and Orton bails to the floor at the bell. After the stalling ensues, Orton goes back in, gets punched once, and heads outside again. The chase is on this time and Orton stomps away as Drew gets back in. Orton misses a pair of RKO attempts but the second one sends Drew outside for a breather. The champ gets back in again and unloads on Orton in the corner. Orton can’t hit the RKO for a third time but he can avoid a charge to send McIntyre shoulder first into the post.

McIntyre falls outside and Orton drops him hard onto the announcers’ table for a big crash. He does it again to make McIntyre’s back even worse and there’s a suplex off the table. That’s good for one back inside and we hit the chinlock. Orton starts stomping away at the ankle and leg but McIntyre gets in something like a Stunner to Orton’s knee. As a fan holding up a Twitter sign is replaced, Drew puts on a Figure Four in the middle of the ring.

Orton is in trouble but gets smart by pulling the referee in and poking McIntyre’s eye for the break. They get back up and slug it out with Orton still not being able to hit the RKO. McIntyre snaps off an overhead belly to belly and then does it a second time. A top rope clothesline drops Orton and McIntyre is fired up. McIntyre loads up a top rope superplex but gets dropped down into the Tree of Woe.

That doesn’t slow McIntyre down that much as he pulls himself up for a choke throw to put Orton back down. The Futureshock gets two and Orton’s head is busted open. McIntyre goes up top but misses a shot to the head, allowing Orton to hit the powerslam for two. The hanging DDT is countered and McIntyre hits the Glasgow Kiss.

They fall out to the floor together and Orton hits the hanging DDT on the way back in. Orton loads up the Punt but walks into a powerbomb. The Claymore is loaded up but Orton ducks, only to miss the RKO again. McIntyre grabs a backslide for the pin to retain at 24:38. Phillips: “Orton never saw it coming!”

Rating: B+. They took their time here and I got into it pretty quickly. I like the idea of having McIntyre win without some kind of a screwy ending and if that’s the only thing we didn’t see coming, it might be quite the upgrade. It was a very nice back and forth match and Summerslam main event worthy, so well done on living up to the hype.

Tomorrow: Keith Lee is on Raw.

We recap Braun Strowman vs. the Fiend. They have been feuding for months now with the Fiend reemerging from the swamp at Extreme Rules. During their fight, Alexa Bliss appeared and tried to convince Strowman to join Bray Wyatt again. Strowman said no, but it became clear that Strowman still thought something of Bliss, and maybe vice versa. Strowman said she meant nothing to him though and he even gorilla press slammed her on Smackdown. Strowman has had it with Wyatt and the Fiend so it is time to fight.

Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Braun Strowman

Strowman is defending and falls count anywhere. Fiend is knocked down to start but comes right back with a release Rock Bottom. They head outside with Fiend sending him into various things and hitting Strowman in the ribs with a toolbox. Fiend loads up the announcers’ table but gets chokeslammed onto it for his efforts. A spear sends Fiend through the barricade and a shot with the steps makes it worse.

Back in and the running powerslam gives Strowman two, meaning it’s time to fight up the ramp. They go into the gorilla position with Fiend hitting Sister Abigail for two. Fiend pokes the eyes and takes it back to the stage, where he slithers over to Strowman. The Mandible Claw goes on near ringside but Strowman shoves him into the LED ring skirt.

Another running powerslam gives Strowman two back inside and frustration is setting in. Strowman goes to the toolbox and pulls out a box cutter so he can cut up the mat. Some of the wood is exposed but Fiend gets up and hits another Rock Bottom. Two Sister Abigails onto the wood makes Fiend champion again at 12:01.

Rating: C+. This was feeling big to start and then wound up being Strowman losing because he was stupid and took forever to set up….something while the supernatural monster was left laying there. Fiend winning was the only possible outcome here as there was nothing left for Strowman to do as the failed champion. Either way, it was better than I was expecting, but it still wasn’t great.

Post match ROMAN REIGNS returns and hits a spear to take Fiend down and hammer away. Reigns spears Strowman down too and shouts that Strowman isn’t a monster without him. He unloads on Strowman with chair shots and spears Fiend down again before shouting that the title was always his. I know supervillains are supposed to have weaknesses, but football players who played college ball in Georgia and use spears is as specific as I’ve ever heard. Also, Reigns was WAY more aggressive than usual here and felt as close to a heel as he’s been since the original Shield run. He might not have turned, but it wasn’t far off.

Overall Rating: C. This show was looking outright dreadful until Banks vs. Asuka (though I could see people liking Rollins vs. Mysterio) and the rest of the show bailed the first half out as much as it could have. Reigns being back is a great thing as Smackdown (and Raw for that matter) needs all of the star power it can get. It’s not a great show, but it jumps up in quality in the second half and that saved it from being a nightmare.

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Summerslam 2018
Date: August 19, 2018
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Jonathan Coachman

It’s the second biggest show of the year (I think) and that means we’re in for a stacked card. The big matches include Roman Reigns challenging Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title, AJ Styles defending the WWE Championship against Samoa Joe and, in the match that I think should close the show, Daniel Bryan vs. the Miz. Tonight has some promise so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Zelina Vega/Andrade Cien Almas vs. Rusev/Lana

Thankfully they waited a little longer before starting the first match this year, allowing some more fans to get into the arena. Last year was embarrassing looking but it’s a little better this time. The men start and it’s an early double tranquillo pose, earning Almas and Vega some Bulgarian roaring. We settle down to a RUSEV DAY chant and Rusev hitting a suplex. A missed charge sends Rusev shoulder first into the post and it’s an armbar to send us to a break.

Back with Almas getting two off a reverse tornado DDT. A second attempt is countered with a shove off the top and the hot tag brings in Lana. Vega has to come in as well and Lana kicks her down, setting up a Spinarooni of all things. A kick to the face cuts Vega off again but Lana stops to slap Almas, allowing Vega to roll her up for the pin at 6:55. They botched that one pretty badly as Vega was supposed to put her feet on the ropes but she’s so short that they couldn’t reach. Lana was barely struggling either and it didn’t look good.

Rating: D. I was really disappointed here as this could have been something very fun. What we got was a short match between the guys and then a bare bones match from the women. I don’t know if the stage got to Lana or what but this was the bad match that a lot of people have expected her to have. The finish was even worse though and made the match feel like a joke.

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak

Gulak is challenging and everyone else is banned from ringside. Alexander has held the title since Wrestlemania and Gulak has been on a roll, making everyone tap out. Gulak takes him to the mat and then into the corner to start but it’s way too early for the Gulock (dragon sleeper). Instead Alexander rolls out and dropkicks Gulak down so it’s time to go to the floor. Back in and Alexander’s springboard is blocked with a big boot, followed by a neckbreaker onto the knee.

We take a break and come back with Gulak staying on the neck with a clothesline for two. Gulak cranks on the neck but Alexander is right back up with a bottom rope springboard Downward Spiral. Some right hands keep Gulak in trouble and Cedric followed him to the floor with a big flip dive.

Back in and Alexander catches him on the ropes, setting up a short form Gulock to really mess with the neck. A spinning elbow to the jaw gets Cedric out of trouble for the time being but Gulak smacks him in the face. Gulak reverses the Neuralizer into an ankle lock but gets reversed into a cradle. Back up and Cedric hits the C4 but Gulak turns it over into a rollup for two more. Another rollup gives Gulak two but that’s reversed into a stacked up rollup for the pin on Gulak at 10:42.

Rating: C+. They had a hot finish here with the rollups and I was actually surprised by the finish. That being said, I’m not wild on having Alexander keep the title and would have bet on Gulak picking up the belt here. There’s not much of a reason to keep the title on Alexander as he’s far from the most interesting guy in the world. At least the match was pretty good though.

Kickoff Show: Raw Tag Team Titles: Revival vs. B Team

The B Team is defending and get taken down in the very early on with a dragon screw leg whip to Dallas. A Shatter Machine puts the illegal Axel down as well and it’s Dawson starting on in Dallas’ knee. Back from a break with Wilder staying on the knee and handing it back to Dawson, who gets kicked shoulder first into the post. Axel is still down from the Shatter Machine though and there’s no hot tag to be had.

Dallas’ knee is fine enough for the hanging swinging neckbreaker and now the hot tag brings Axel in. Axel cleans house and loads up the PerfectPlex but gets small packaged. The referee is with Dallas and Wilder though until Wilder snaps Dallas across the top. Dallas falls onto Axel and Wilder to turn the small package over for the pin on Dawson at 6:14.

Rating: D+. How can you not at least chuckle at these two schmucks? They’ve embraced the clueless putz characters and that’s all you can ask for. As ridiculous as they are, it’s not like the Raw tag division has anything else going on. Revival is a great team, but that doesn’t matter if they can’t get more than five minutes and a bunch of nothing opponents. This was the right call, which is better than I was expecting.

By the way, the total wrestling time on this year’s Kickoff Show: about 24 minutes, or just over half of last year’s. That’s a BIG improvement as there’s no need to have so much wrestling on a bonus feature before we get to the four hour pay per view.

The opening video features actor Terry Crews outside the arena, rhyming about what it means to be the best on the big stage. This was released earlier in the week.

There’s a big digital Empire State Building over the ring. That isn’t likely visible in the arena.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler is defending and has Drew McIntyre in his corner while Rollins has the freshly returned Dean Ambrose in his. The fans are very hot for Rollins here, especially BURN IT DOWN. Feeling out process to start with Seth being driven into the ropes but Dean is right there to cut Drew off. Back up and they run the ropes with Rollins nailing a hiptoss, sending Ziggler outside for a breather.

Seth follows him and it’s time for another big staredown. Rollins gets sent to the apron but stops to stare at Drew, allowing Ziggler to grab two off a neckbreaker. With Rollins seeming to favor his knee, Ziggler talks trash to Ambrose and then sends Rollins into the corner for a Flair Flip to the floor. Back in and the chinlock keeps Rollins in trouble for a good while. The comeback is cut off as Rollins grabs a vertical suplex over the top, only to fall out with Ziggler for a big crash.

Rollins hits a Sling Blade for two back inside and the middle rope Blockbuster gets two more. Ziggler rolls away from the threat of the frog splash so Rollins hits him with the suicide dive. The springboard clothesline sets up the ripcord knee for two and they’re both down for a minute. Ziggler’s sleeper is thrown off so they head to the apron with Ziggler saying this is it. Rollins gets shoved into the post and a jumping DDT drives him head first into the apron. That’s only good for a nine count as Rollins comes back in for the low superkick.

The frog splash hits knees though and Ziggler rolls him up for two more. Ziggler heads up top but Rollins is right there for a reverse superplex into a reverse inverted DDT (now that’s how you mix it up) and a near fall of his own. McIntyre sends Dean into the steps though, allowing Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag for the nearest fall yet. Dean is back up with Dirty Deeds to McIntyre and the bloody Rollins to avoid the superkick. The Stomp gives Rollins the title back at 22:01.

Rating: B. I know it won’t be, but I really could go for this feud ending already. It started a little over two months ago and feels like it’s been going on for a year now. At least Rollins has the title back and that’s all well and good, especially with the prospects of Ziggler and McIntyre being able to split up for good now. If nothing else, it’s nice to start the show with a good, long match for a change after last year took forever to get going.

The Bellas are here and are asked about their chances of appearing at Evolution. It turns into a list of plugs for their various projects before Nikki says they want to see Ronda Rousey win the Raw Women’s Title tonight. They’ll be ringside for the match tonight. And so it begins.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Bludgeon Brothers vs. New Day

New Day, Big E. and Xavier Woods here, are challenging after having won a tournament. Rowan runs Woods over to start and gets two each off a big boot and splash. It’s off to the fists around the head crush, followed by a pumphandle backbreaker to keep Woods down. Woods finally kicks Harper to the floor and makes the hot tag to Big E., who drops to the floor to throw some suplexes.

Back in and the Warrior Splash gets two on Harper, who comes right back with the Michinoku Driver. The double spinebuster doesn’t work though and Woods dives over the top onto Rowan. Everything breaks down and Big E. is sent into the steps, though the Brothers look a little banged up. They’re fine enough to hit the double spinebuster for two on Big E. with Woods making the save and getting the tag. Kofi gets taken down so Rowan eats the Big Ending on the floor.

A blind tag brings in Big E. but Harper stuns him with a superkick on the apron. Big E. tries the release Rock Bottom off the apron into the Codebreaker from Woods but the timing is off and it’s more like Harper just landing on Woods. Harper is fine enough to roll away from Woods’ top rope elbow so Woods hits it on the floor instead. The pain is immense but Woods throws him back in for the tag to Big E. UpUpDownDown is imminent but Rowan uses the mallet for the DQ at 9:36.

Rating: C+. They were getting somewhere before the ending to set up a rematch either on Smackdown or in the Cell. It’s a good idea to make the Brothers seem vulnerable against a top team like New Day, who couldn’t quite finish them off. At the moment the Smackdown tag team division is all of four teams so it’s a good idea to not change the titles just yet, along with keeping this match going for another month. Nice match, with an understandable ending.

Jon Stewart is here.

We recap Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens, which started back in June. Strowman threw him off a ladder at Money in the Bank and then won the briefcase, so Owens tried to be nice to him. Then Strowman destroyed his car, threw him in a portable toilet and off of a cage, meaning it’s time for a rematch with the briefcase on the line.

Money in the Bank Briefcase: Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman

Strowman is defending and can lose the briefcase by any means. The bell rings and Owens is knocked into the corner a few seconds later, followed by the run around the floor to shoulder him down. Strowman has so much fun that he does it again and a superkick just annoys him. A chokeslam onto the ramp knocks Owens silly and the running powerslam ends him at 1:56. Total and complete squash.

There was a Be A Star rally earlier in the week.

We recap the Smackdown Women’s Title match. Becky Lynch beat Carmella to earn a spot but then Charlotte returned and did the same thing, earning her own shot. Charlotte and Becky then got in a bit of a passive aggressive fight over Becky being jealous of Charlotte being added. Fair enough, but WWE loves itself some triple threats.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte

Carmella is defending and gets double teamed to start. In a smart move, she slaps Becky in the back of the head and blames Charlotte. The wedge doesn’t last long as Becky hiptosses Carmella to the floor and tries an early Disarm-Her on Charlotte. That goes nowhere as Charlotte escapes but gets pulled to the floor. Carmella sends Becky into the steps and reminds us that she is in fact the champion.

Back in and we hit the chinlock on Charlotte for a good while as Graves sings the champ’s praises. Becky has to be knocked off the apron, allowing Charlotte to start her comeback with the chops. Some suplexes make it even worse but Becky is back in with a double missile dropkick. Charlotte gets knocked outside and there’s the Bexploder to the champ. She crotches Becky on top though and gets two off a loose super hurricanrana. Charlotte comes back in with a spear to take them both down for two each and grabs a Walls of Jericho of all things on Carmella.

The Figure Four goes on instead but Becky makes the save with a guillotine legdrop. Carmella is back up and sends Becky outside for a suicide dive, only to have Charlotte miss the corkscrew moonsault (she slapped Carmella and completely missed Becky) to put them bot down. Back in and Carmella has to break up the Disarm-Her, followed by a superkick for two on Becky. Charlotte gets knocked to the floor and the Disarm-Her goes on, only to have Carmella grab the rope. The hold is slapped on again but Charlotte runs in with Natural Selection to Becky for the pin and the title at 14:35.

Rating: C+. Much better than I was expecting here and they better turn Becky heel after that ending. Thankfully they took the title off of Carmella, but at this point either she or Charlotte has been champion since November. They need some fresh blood in there, which hopefully is a ticked off Lynch.

Post match Carmella leaves so Becky and Charlotte can hug, only for Becky to turn on Charlotte and beat the fire out of her to a HUGE YES chant. Becky throws her over the table, leaving Charlotte to take a YOU DESERVE IT chant. That was the only way to go as A, Becky has a legitimate complaint about Charlotte being put into the match and stealing her title and B, there isn’t anyone else for Charlotte to fight.

We recap the Smackdown World Title match. AJ Styles has been champion since November, becoming the longest reigning World Champion in Smackdown history. Joe signed the contract to face him, partially because there was no one left aside from maybe Miz. After the match was set, Joe started talking about how AJ was sacrificing his family to be champion. AJ tried to keep things calm, but Joe read a letter supposedly from AJ’s wife Wendy, saying Joe was completely right. In other words, AJ isn’t happy.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is challenging and even introduces AJ’s wife and daughter at ringside. It’s a feeling out process to start as AJ is a little more calm than (erg, especially after Joe’s comments) he should be here, even as the fans chant TNA. AJ grabs a headlock to slow Joe down but a heavy shoulder cuts him off. Some leg kicks have AJ in even more trouble but he’s right back with some forearms. The sliding forearm sends Joe outside and AJ tries to follow him, only to get kicked in the knee to take him off the apron.

A hard suicide dive sends AJ into the announcers’ table and one heck of a clothesline takes his head off back inside. We hit the chinlock, which makes you wonder why Joe doesn’t turn around just a hair and make it the Koquina Clutch instead. AJ gets up and knocks Joe’s block off with a right hand to the floor, followed by the slingshot forearm. Joe charges into an enziguri and the Phenomenal Blitz sets up another running forearm. The moonsault into a reverse DDT gets two on Joe and AJ puts him on top.

That doesn’t go well for the champ, who gets shoved down for a middle rope knee to a standing AJ for two more. The running big boot into the backsplash gets the same but AJ is right back with the fireman’s carry backbreaker. AJ is limping a bit and misses the Phenomenal Forearm, allowing Joe to snap him over with the powerslam for two more. A one armed Styles Clash gives AJ the same and they’re both down. Back up and they slug the heck out of it until a Pele sends Joe into the corner.

AJ makes the mistake of charging into the release Rock Bottom but is still able to put on the Calf Crusher. Joe’s solution: slam AJ’s head into the mat over and over. Joe slips over into the Koquina Clutch but AJ gets his foot on the ropes. It’s Muscle Buster time but AJ forearms him in the head. That’s fine with Joe, who hits one of the loudest enziguris I’ve ever heard to knock AJ outside. Joe sends him into the steps and grabs the mic. He tells Wendy that AJ isn’t coming home but he’ll be her new daddy. A suddenly bloody AJ tackles Joe off the table and through the barricade, followed by a chair to the back for the DQ at 22:46.

Rating: A-. You have to imagine that the Cell awaits these two and for once, the story would seem to fit that. AJ being able to do whatever he wants to Joe fits, but it would also seem to play much more into Joe’s hands. Anyway, of course these two had a great match because that’s all they know how to do. They were beating the fire out of each other and I want to see it again, which is the sign of a well done match. Really good stuff here, as expected.

Post match the beating continues until Wendy says that’s enough. AJ goes over to his family and his incredibly cute daughter says “daddy you’re bleeding”. AJ apologizes and hugs her before walking away with his family. Joe is TICKED as he leaves.

Here’s Elias to plug his album and talk about how awesome his songs are. He even has a new song, which he’s debuting right here in New York City. And then his guitar breaks. That’s too much for Elias, who throws the pieces around and storms off without saying anything.

Miz runs into the B Team and says if Bryan had followed his example, he might have lived off of Miz’s success like they had. For old times sake, they can fetch his limo for the celebration after. Actually they have their own celebrating to do because they’re the B Team and the B stands for Daniel Bryan. Dallas likes Miz and Mrs. (which he pronounces Mers) but they have their own show: Total Fellas. Dallas: “But with a B! Total Bellas!” Miz is stupefied as they leave.

We recap the Miz vs. Daniel Bryan. This one is over eight years in the making as Bryan came into WWE as Miz’s NXT rookie, despite being a top independent star. Bryan eventually defeated Miz a few times but they went on their own paths. Miz won a WWE Title while Bryan became the top star in the company, only to have injuries take him away for a few years. Now he’s back and healthy though, meaning it’s time for these two to FINALLY have the big match on the grand stage.

They’ve done a great job of setting up the culture clash here as Bryan is all about the love of wrestling and Miz is about becoming a star. Those worlds don’t jive and it’s made their feud that much better. The crowd reaction should be interesting, though Bryan is going to be the biggest face that ever faced around here.

The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan

Maryse is in the front row with a baby carriage. Miz hides in the corner for a bit before scoring with some YES Kicks. The running dropkick connects but Bryan grabs him by the throat and hammers away. The real YES Kicks rock Miz and a big one to the chest puts him down. Miz gets in a knee to the ribs and the surfboard goes on. Of course Bryan knows how to get out of that and starts kicking at Miz’s legs.

The REAL surfboard goes on and Bryan even bends back to get two off a bridge. Back up and Miz catches him with a hard clothesline, followed by a cravate with bonus trash talk. Miz starts firing off some knees to the head but Bryan is right back with right hands of his own. The moonsault over Miz sets up the running clothesline and the running corner dropkicks connect. A backdrop sends Miz to the floor and Bryan follows with two boots through the ropes and a top rope clothesline.

Back in and Miz gets caught in the Tree of Woe, which of course means more YES Kicks. One heck of a top rope belly to back suplex puts Miz down for two more but he’s right back with the short DDT. With Miz’s chest blood red, he fires off some NO Kicks of his own, which bring Bryan back to his feet. Bryan dragon screw whips Miz’s leg and hits the big kick to the head but can’t get the YES Lock. Instead a catapult into the post sets up the Skull Crushing Finale for two but Miz charges into another kick for another two.

They head to the apron with Bryan firing off kicks until the last one hits the post. That means a Figure Four back inside and Bryan is in big trouble. As usual, the solution is to punch Miz in the face and then turn the hold over. Miz lets it go and tries the Finale but Bryan kicks him in the back (the leg shouldn’t be able to do that) and goes with the heavy elbows to the head.

The YES Lock goes on and Bryan punches Miz in the back of the head as the aggression continues to come out. Miz makes the rope though and bails to the floor, only to get kneed in the head. That knocks Miz right in front of Maryse, who hands him something. Whatever it is knocks Bryan silly when he tries a suicide dive, giving Miz the pin at 23:30.

Rating: B+. I liked this one as much as I expected to and the ending does set up a rematch. You have to imagine that Bryan is sticking around given that finish as there’s a wide open door for the feud to continue. It was a nice, long match and got the attention that it deserved, but it didn’t feel like the final match throughout. The ending takes care of that though and everything is fine.

Replays confirm the object, with Graves going into full Bobby Heenan mode to talk his way around the cheating.

Video on Undertaker vs. HHH for Super Show-Down in their final match. To be fair they haven’t been ridiculous with the plugging tonight.

Baron Corbin vs. Finn Balor

THE DEMON IS BACK! FOR THIS MATCH??? This is the rubber match after Corbin started being mean to Balor for being small. It’s been a horrible story but the Demon makes up for some of it. Cole gets his Demon history wrong, saying it last appeared two years ago. It was last year Cole. You called the match.

The fans are VERY pleased and Corbin is told he has to face him. The bell rings and it’s the shotgun dropkick into the Sling Blade to put Baron on the floor in the smoke. Balor adds a flip dive and it’s another Sling Blade on the floor. Back in and Balor hits a top rope double stomp to the back, followed by the Coup de Grace for the pin at 1:29. NOW THAT’S MORE LIKE IT!

Bryan is ticked off when Brie finally remembers that they’re married and comes in to see him in his moment of need. He calls his comeback a bust but she gives him a pep talk which seems to work well enough.

US Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jeff Hardy

Nakamura is defending after taking the title from Hardy last month. Feeling out process to start and of course Nakamura is over like free beer in a frat house in New York. Nakamura dodges a few early shots and tells him to COME ON. Jeff does exactly the same and sends Nakamura into four buckles in a row. That earns him a quick takedown and Nakamura slaps on a chinlock.

Nakamura hammers on him a bit more until Hardy, to the tune of a BROTHER NERO chant, comes back up with a Sling Blade. An atomic drop sets up the legdrop between the legs and a basement dropkick gets two. Jeff slips out of the reverse exploder but the slingshot dropkick is countered into Nakamura sitting him on the top. The running knee misses though and Jeff gets two off a Whisper in the Wind.

Nakamura is fine enough to catch him with another kick to the head, followed by the sliding knee for two. Kinshasa is countered into a failed Twist of Fate attempt but Hardy is ready for the low blow. Now the Twist of Fate sets up the Swanton Bomb for a delayed two as Nakamura grabs the bottom rope. A second Twist of Fate sends Nakamura bailing to the apron, so Jeff climbs the post and Swantons the apron because he’s that freaking crazy. Back in and the Kinshasa finishes whatever is left of Hardy at 10:55.

Rating: C. I have no idea how Hardy is still walking and I don’t think he does either most of the time. The match was fine enough and Hardy gave it a run but Nakamura needed this way more than Hardy did. If nothing else Hardy already has Randy Orton sitting around for their big pay per view match so the loss was the only option here. Not a bad match, but nothing great, especially on a long shot.

Post match Orton comes out, smacks himself in the head, and leaves without even getting in the ring. Ok then.

We recap Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss. Rousey was about to win the Raw Women’s Title last month but Bliss interfered for a DQ and cashed in her briefcase to win the title. Bliss then made Rousey snap and got her suspended for a month. Rousey’s reward: a match for the title tonight.

Raw Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss

Rousey is challenging and before the match, here’s Natalya in the same jacket her dad wore at Summerslam 1990. Bliss comes out and sneers at the Bella Twins, who are sitting in the front row. Rousey now has eye paint and her name on her shorts as she does the power walk to the ring. Bliss hides in the corner to start (smart) and a single right hand puts her on the floor. More stalling ensues so Rousey even turns her back and sits down so Bliss can come in with no problem.

Rousey closes her eyes and Bliss grabs a chinlock, meaning it’s time for the scary Ronda face. The hold is broken (Bliss: “No no no no no!” Rousey: “YES!”) and there’s the swinging Samoan drop. A chase lets Bliss get in a forearm and Rousey is just made angrier. Bliss gets flipped on her face and Rousey unloads in the corner, followed by some judo throws. Another swinging Samoan drop (Rousey: “ARE YOU READY???”) connects and it’s armbar time. The arm is twisted in a variety of angles (including Bliss popping it in and out of joint) and one hard crank makes Bliss tap at 4:39.

Rating: C+. What do you want me to say? That was exactly what it should have been as Rousey should be able to destroy Bliss in short order. I’m not sure who is supposed to take the title off of Rousey, but if she can hold it until Wrestlemania (which she likely will), there’s a heck of a dream match to be had with Charlotte. Total squash here and, again, Rousey looked like she’s been doing this for years.

Post match Natalya comes in for the celebration and the Bellas join them because reasons. Rousey goes into the crowd and kisses her husband for the nice moment.

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (again). As is usually the case, Reigns is whining about how Lesnar is lazy and doesn’t like the fans so he should get another title shot. Also as usual, the fans don’t seem to buy it and Reigns isn’t likely to be cheered here. There are a few options for the finish and that makes the ending a little more interesting than usual.

Raw World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

Brock is defending and gets no reaction (That HAD to be muted. No New York crowd has ever been that quiet). Hang on though as here’s Strowman with the briefcase. He’s not cashing in behind anyone’s back because he’ll be waiting on the winner. The bell rings and Reigns hits two Superman Punches and a pair of spears but the third is countered into a guillotine choke. That’s broken up with a spinebuster but Lesnar puts it right back on.

Another spinebuster breaks the hold again and they’re both down. Lesnar takes his gloves off and it’s Suplex City time. Three straight German suplexes draw a YOU BOTH SUCK chant and Reigns can barely stand. Reigns is back up with a missed charge that hits Strowman so Lesnar goes outside and gives Braun an F5 on the floor. With Reigns back in, Lesnar beats on Strowman with the briefcase, which he then throws from ringside all the way to the entrance, breaking part of the LED board. Strowman gets chaired down but Lesnar walks into a spear to make Reigns champion at 6:16.

Rating: C+. I know they repeat moves and I know the ending isn’t the most popular move in the world, but these two know how to make the matches feel big. I was wanting to see what happened and that’s more than you can say about a lot of matches. Reigns finally getting rid of Lesnar is a good thing, but I really wish they would just get rid of the briefcase already so it doesn’t have to be around.

Reigns poses to end the show with no cash-in.

Overall Rating: A-. That was a heck of a show and above all else it was about the pacing. They did a GREAT job of making this show stay at a steady pace with some hot matches and then a quick match to let the fans get back into it. That took place throughout the night and did wonders for the show, which never felt like it dragged. Compare this to Wrestlemania, which felt like it dragged every few minutes.

On top of that, the wrestling was solid all night long with good to very good wrestling, logical booking decisions and stuff being set up for the future. This was a very entertaining night and notice the crowd not taking the show over at all. That’s a nice change of pace and made the evening that much more enjoyable. Really good stuff here and the best WWE pay per view in a long time.

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You actually can’t say that we’re back to normal with this Summerslam as this is anything but normal. In addition to being in an NFL stadium for the first time ever, the show is also on a Saturday, which is really throwing me off. At the same time, this is probably the biggest Summerslam of all time and they have the main event to match. I’m interested in this one so let’s get to it.

United States Title: Sheamus(c) vs. Damian Priest

It’s a relief just to see Priest in this spot. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do once he got put into the zombie match earlier this year, but at least he is getting something more important on the major show. At the same time you have Sheamus, who has more than earned this spot as he is still one of the more dependable midcarders in the company over the last few years.

I’ll go with Priest winning the title, though I can’t shake the idea that Sheamus retains here. Sheamus has held the title for a good, long reign now (which has actually taken him into the eighth longest total days as champion in the history of the title (including the NWA/WCW version)) and it has been leading to someone getting a nice rub by winning the title. I’m not completely sure if that is Priest, but I’m sure enough.

Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal

Let’s just get this one out of the way. This has been one of the lamer feuds on Monday Night Raw in the last few months as McIntyre is now the Highlander or something with the giant sword (Forgive me if that’s wrong as I’ve never actually watched the….show? Movie? High school interpretive dance recital?). McIntyre has also run through Mahal’s lackeys with no trouble, and you know what that means.

Yes of course it means Mahal wins here because this feud is dying for some rematches. They might even be able to take it all the way to TLC with a ladder match for the sword! Mahal continues to be the bland heel that he always has been and now we are on the way to seeing these two fight over and over. McIntyre deserves better, but he seems to be having fun with it so…..good? Well not good but good for him maybe?

Alexa Bliss vs. Eva Marie

Let’s get THIS out of the way too because dang man. I have no idea how this story has fallen so far but…..ok I get why it has but it’s hard to fathom. This is going to be the Lillie match of the show because after all the things WWE has gotten rid of, the evil doll must be a winner. That’s where we are somehow, and now it is time for Bliss to carry Marie in a stadium match.

Give me Bliss to win here, likely thanks to Doudrop costing Marie the match. This has the potential to be one of the worst matches of the entire year and it would not surprise me to see it bring the show to a screeching halt. I’m not sure if anything else is topping this for the worst thing going in WWE today and that is covering a lot of ground. Bliss wins, and the rest of us lose because this is a thing that is happening.

Raw Tag Team Titles: AJ Styles/Omos(c) vs. RKBro

Now this has my attention because it has been the best thing going on Monday Night Raw for a long time now. What matters here is that I want to see Riddle succeed. Him getting Randy Orton to be his friend and tag partner again was great, but now the fun part is seeing them win the titles. Assuming that is what actually happens rather than yet another swerve for the sake of building up more heat on someone.

I’ll go with the title change here, on the grounds of there is no reason to keep the titles on Styles/Omos. They have made their point as champions and Styles can easily move back into a singles run. RKBro winning the titles would be a great moment, though I’m not completely sure that is what they are doing. There is always the chance that there could be a swerve, but I’ll go with new champions here, as it would be a better move.

SmackDown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair(c) vs. Sasha Banks

This is of course assuming that the match takes place, as there is a real chance that we won’t be seeing it due to….whatever is causing Banks to be missing in action as of late. Belair was on SmackDown so there is a good chance we get a title match of some sort, even if it is not against Banks. If nothing else, I hear Asuka is sitting around with nothing to do so they might have a backup on hand.

Assuming the match takes place, I’ll go with Belair to win and retain (and I’ll go with the same if Banks is replaced too). Belair has turned into a big deal and there isn’t a good reason to take the title off of her yet. Build up someone big to take the title from here and see what you have. There is no need to put it back on Banks after all of the reigns that she has already had. They need to build up someone other than the Horsewomen, so see if Belair can be that.

Raw Women’s Title: Nikki Ash(c) vs. Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley

This is firmly in the “if we have to” pile and not in a good way. The Raw women’s division has come crashing down in recent months and I’m almost scared to see what they are going to do with it next. Ash, despite being rather talented and charismatic, has been stuck in a downward spiral since winning the title, because the company is treating her like an absolute goof. So now, it’s a Summerslam title match.

I’m really not sure which way to go here but I’ll take Ash. You could make a case for all three, as Ash winning could be WWE’s attempt to make up for all of her losses, Ripley could sneak in and steal the title back, or Charlotte could win due to the nature of being Charlotte. Ripley winning (and FINALLY pinning Charlotte) is the most appealing, but we can’t be happy around this show so we’ll go with Ash because it is less good but not as bad as it could be.

SmackDown Tag Team Titles: Usos(c) vs. Dominik Mysterio/Rey Mysterio

Man alive there are a lot of matches that I just want to get done with already. This is a good example of a match where they would have been better off just waiting to do the big title change here, though it isn’t like the Mysterios were interesting enough to hold onto the titles. Since there is no one left to go after the titles, we’re stuck with Rey telling Dominik to focus for weeks on end.

In what should be the layup of the night, this is all about the Usos and they should absolutely retain here. I have no idea who would think that it is a good idea to put the titles back on the Mysterios and I don’t see any chance of a title change. Instead we are probably heading for Mysterio vs. Mysterio because….well actually that could be kind of interesting. But yeah, the Usos keep the titles here, as they should.

Edge vs. Seth Rollins

This is a pretty classic story, as one wrestler got something, the other wanted it and cost him, setting up a match. That’s what we’re getting here and it should work out well. Edge has been able to make the in-ring part work as well, and they even have a bonus story built in with the Stomp from 2014 (even if I don’t think it meant quite as much as WWE seems to think).

The more I think about this, the more sure I am that Rollins wins here. At this point I must be at a full on 51% sure, as Edge has already been far more successful than he needs to be in 2021. Rollins could be on his way to a Universal Title shot in the near future so giving him the win over a legend like Edge could give him a nice boost. It isn’t like Edge has to do anything to be ready for whatever he is going to do next, so let Rollins have the win here.

WWE Title: Bobby Lashley(c) vs. Goldberg

What is with WWE’s obsession with the spear vs. spear deal? I really don’t get the appeal here but WWE certainly likes running matches between people who use the thing. This is the semi-annual Goldberg World Title match, as just getting the shot at the Royal Rumble wasn’t enough. The feud has been lackluster at best and I can’t imagine the match itself winds up being the big turning point.

This should be all Lashley, who shrugs off a few finishers and then knocks Goldberg out with the Hurt Lock. I’m sure Goldberg will be back next year for another World Title match but for now, we can get rid of him for a bit and find another legend from the 90s to push. I really don’t need to see Goldberg in this spot and I don’t think I’m alone, but I think Lashley’s title is safe here.

Universal Title: Roman Reigns(c) vs. John Cena

Last week on SmackDown, Cena talked about how all he had to do was wait for a mistake and get a 1-2-3. That wasn’t exactly a stunning promo, but it was the kind of thing that makes you believe a surprise could happen. That right there is what this match needed, as it has been “Reigns vs. Cena, Reigns wins” for months now. Just giving it the slightest bit of doubt makes all the difference and we should be in for a heck of a fight.

Then Reigns announced that he would leave WWE if he loses. While there is always the chance that we might get a surprise Cena win, I think they go with the logical choice here and have Reigns retain the title. Cena breaking Ric Flair’s record in a short form reign could happen, but Reigns really should be holding that title for a lot longer with what might be waiting for him at WrestleMania. This is a war, but Reigns retains.

Overall Thoughts

I’ve been saying it for months now but WWE really has a Raw problem instead of a company wide problem. Going through this card, the SmackDown side is interesting and has my interest (or at least most of it does) but the Monday Night Raw side sounds as appealing as having my tongue stapled to a rampaging wildebeest. Summerslam is almost always based on the wrestling itself and hopefully they can make it work here. I think they need to this time.

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Smackdown
Date: August 20, 2021
Location: Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole

It’s the go home show for Summerslam and for once, the show is actually tomorrow night. I wouldn’t expect much in the way of wrestling tonight, but the talking should be more than enough to make something interesting. John Cena and Roman Reigns are here and that should be about all you need. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Here is Edge to get things going. After a video on Edge vs. Seth Rollins, Edge is sitting in a chair to talk about how Rolling teased stomping him back in 2014. Edge knows that the stomp could end his career and his way of life. It’s true that Rollins is an all time talent, but Rollins has driven him to a place where his blood runs black. Edge can see clearly on this day, and he knows that he has to break and humble Rollins. At Summerslam, Edge is going to burn him down. This is where Edge shines and I bought what he was saying.

Dominik Mysterio is all fired up but Rey Mysterio wants him to calm down and stay focused. That’s cool with Dominik.

Jey Uso vs. Rey Mysterio

Jimmy Uso and Dominik Mysterio are at ringside. Feeling out process to start until Rey gets him into the corner for some right hands to the face. Jey comes back with an uppercut to drop Rey and the chinlock goes on. Rey fights up and hammers away with a long string of right hands to put Jey on the floor. The dive takes both Usos out and we take a break.

Back with Jey hitting a Samoan drop for two as the pace slows down. Rey manages a quick hurricanrana for two and the springboard crossbody connects for the same. Jey drives him hard into the corner though and a pop up neckbreaker gets two more. Back up and Jey tries a powerslam but gets reversed into a tornado DDT. Rey tries a sunset flip but Jey grabs the rope, meaning Dominik tries to cheat like last week. This time he’s caught for an ejection so Jey gets in a cheap shot. The Superfly Splash finishes Rey at 11:27.

Rating: C. The “a member of one team fights a member of the other team, swap and repeat next week” is one of my least favorite booking tropes as it has been done to death. The fact that there are no other teams for these four to face to set up Summerslam is rather telling, but it would be nice to have anything else. It was a good enough match, but come up with something fresh.

We look back at Baron Corbin stealing Big E.’s Money in the Bank briefcase last week.

Kevin Owens vs. Baron Corbin

Corbin still has the briefcase. It’s a brawl to start with Owens punching him down and hitting the quick backsplash. That’s too much being down for Corbin, who pops up with a right hand and the slide under the ropes clothesline. Owens is right back by superkicking him to the floor for the Swanton off the apron but Corbin snaps his throat across the top. The chokeslam and Stunner are both countered and here is Big E. go to after the contract. First he goes after Corbin though and that’s a DQ at 4:09.

Rating: C. The Big E. interference makes sense here as it would be the logical thing for him to do. Corbin is still doing everything well and I’m curious to see where he goes from here. Owens is kind of floating around though, which has been the case for him since the feud with Sami Zayn ended. This was little more than a way to advance Corbin stealing the case though and it worked as such.

Post match, Corbin gets away with the briefcase again.

Bianca Belair looks at a clip of last week’s beatdown and is ready to beat up Carmella and Zelina Vega tonight. Sasha Banks is next.

Nox/Shotzi vs. Natalya/Tamina

It’s another Champion’s Contenders match because beating the champs twice in a row doesn’t mean a thing without it being a designated match. Tamina knocks Shotzi into the corner to start and it’s off to Natalya to hammer away. A hair takedown into a suplex gives Natalya two and we hit the chinlock. That’s broken up and everything breaks down with Nox diving onto Tamina. Natalya tries the Sharpshooter but Shotzi reverses into a small package for the pin at 2:59. To recap: we are probably looking at a fourth match between these teams. How much more proof do you need that this company is creatively bankrupt?

Here is Seth Rollins, in a white suit and tie, to respond to Edge. Rollins mocks what Edge said earlier and wants Edge to listen to him: there is no shame in being a family man and there is no shame in not being able to find the darkness that once guided you. Without that darkness, Edge cannot get on Rollins’ level. The lights go out…..and the BROOD theme song starts playing (though it never goes beyond the intro and into the good stuff). Edge pops up on screen to say Rollins will never see it coming, followed by black goo falling from the ceiling to cover Rollins’ suit. The lack of most of the Brood music holds it back.

Summerslam rundown.

Otis vs. Montez Ford

Remember when we did this two matches again??? Ford is in new gear here and looks more like a boxer. A shot to the face gets on Otis’ nerves so he knocks Ford HARD to the floor to take over. Back in and Ford gets in another quick right hand and a high crossbody gets two. Otis blasts him with another clothesline and the Vader Bomb finishes Ford at 2:47.

Apollo Crews/Commander Azeez vs. Rick Boogs/King Nakamura

This is Boogs’ in-ring debut. Boogs takes Crews down to start and uses his leg as a guitar. Back up and Boogs gets sent shoulder first into the post to give Crews two. It’s off to Azeez (who jumps over the top) and Nakamura, who kicks him in the face. A side slam drops Nakamura though and it’s back to Crews. That’s a kick to Crews’ head and it’s Boogs coming back in for pumphandle slam and the pin at 3:42.

Rating: C-. This was certainly a thing that happened and Azeez would make for an interesting first challenger for Nakamura. I’d say it’s pretty clear that the Crews deal is done for the moment as he’s losing to Nakamura’s guitar guy, so at least we’re on to something fresh. The monster getting the upper hand is nothing new so let’s see what he can do here.

Bianca Belair vs. Zelina Vega

Non-title and Carmella is at ringside. Belair runs through her to start but a quick backslide gives Vega two. You don’t do that as Belair muscles her up and then drops her, setting up the KOD for the pin at 1:26.

Post match Carmella superkicks Belair, setting up their scheduled match.

Bianca Belair vs. Carmella

Non-title. Carmella goes after the downed Belair and talks a lot of trash. The abdominal stretch goes on….until Belair powers her way out and muscles her up into the delayed vertical suplex (geez) for two. The standing moonsault gets two more and it’s a spinebuster into the KOD to finish Carmella at 3:55.

Rating: D+. This was Belair being in a bit of trouble, shrugging it off and running through Carmella like she wasn’t even there. That’s why you have lackeys and the match went fine with both of them offering Belair next to no challenge. I’m not sure where Banks was, but hopefully she is cleared after missing last weekend’s shows.

Here are John Cena and Roman Reigns, with Paul Heyman, for the big ending. The place goes coconuts for Cena and Reigns says he knows the fans care. Reigns: “Go ahead, pop.” Reigns can’t believe that Cena believes he can beat him 1-2-3. Heyman says that no one has ever beaten this version of Reigns and Reigns says Cena isn’t doing it either. Cena isn’t letting it go this way and grabs the mic, saying that a month ago, everyone said Cena is going to make a movie after Reigns beats him.

The movie is real but Cena losing isn’t. It’s the Summer of Cena and he is here to demote Reigns. Everyone wants Cena to acknowledge him but it’s been the same for twenty years: Never Give Up. All it takes is Reigns to make a mistake and it’s 1-2-3. If Reigns isn’t perfect it’s 1-2-3 and that means #17 for Cena. Tomorrow the impossible becomes possible thanks to Roman Reigns and all it takes is 1-2-3.

Reigns thinks Cena doesn’t get it because he should have smartened himself up. When people get in the ring with Reigns, he smashes them so hard that they can’t do it again. Reigns can go to Hollywood and do the whole nine out there. It’s getting a bit too emotional for Reigns though and says we should raise the stakes: either Reigns leaves the stadium as Universal Champion or he’s leaving WWE. The handshake….allows Reigns to lift him up for an AA but Cena reverses into a rollup for the 1-2-3 to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a letdown, but it was an understandable letdown. You’re only going to be able to do so much with the bigger names with 24 hours to go before one of the biggest shows of the year. That left us with a bunch of quick matches to serve as commercials for tomorrow, plus low level tag stuff. Not terrible, but it was a pretty skippable two hours.

Results
Jey Uso b. Rey Mysterio – Superfly Splash
Baron Corbin b. Kevin Owens via DQ when Big E. interfered
Nox/Shotzi b. Natalya/Tamina – Small package to Natalya
Otis b. Montez Ford – Vader Bomb
Rick Boogs/Shinsuke Nakamura b. Apollo Crews/Commander Azeez – Pumphandle slam to Crews
Bianca Belair b. Zelina Vega – KOD
Bianca Belair b. Carmella – KOD

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 2017
Date: August 20, 2017
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T., John Bradshaw Layfield, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

It’s finally time for one of the biggest shows of the year as WWE takes over New York City all over again. This time around the big main event is a four way for the Universal Title with Brock Lesnar defending against Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe. The rest of the card is too deep to break down in short order so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Hardy Boyz/Jason Jordan vs. Miz/Miztourage

The idea here is that Miz wants to be defending his Intercontinental Title against Jason Jordan but is stuck in this for reasons that aren’t clear. The section opposite the hard camera is MAYBE ten percent full because we’re about an hour and a half away from the start of the pay per view.

Jeff takes Axel into the corner to start and hands it off to Jordan to work on the arm. Dallas comes in and gets the same treatment, sending the Miztourage outside for a breather as we take a break (with empty sections of seats being shown on camera). Back with Jeff in trouble with Miz hammering away and working on the arm.

Matt comes in and throws some right hands but the Twist of Fate (with Matt shouting TWIST OF FATE) is broken up. Miz gets in some YES Kicks but gets sent into the corner, setting up the hot tag to Jordan. The suplexes send the Miztourage flying as everything breaks down. Jordan hits the running shoulder in the corner to Axel but Miz makes a blind tag, setting up the Skull Crushing Finale to put Jordan away at 10:31.

Rating: C-. Ridiculous looking non-crowd aside, not much of a match here. In theory you would have Miz lose the fall to Jordan here to set up the title match but it wouldn’t shock me if they had Miz beat him and then set it up anyway. This match didn’t need to happen and only served as a way to have some of these names on the card.

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Neville vs. Akira Tozawa

Tozawa is defending after winning the title on Monday. The crowd is looking far better already with the section opposite the hard camera now mostly full. Neville, in white trunks for a change, gets knocked outside so Tozawa can do his shouting. Tozawa follows him out but gets sent into the LED apron as we take a break.

Back with Neville throwing on a chinlock until Tozawa throws him outside for a suicide dive. A hard belly to back suplex drops Neville and an Octopus Hold has him in even more trouble. Neville makes the ropes and cuts off a charge with an enziguri, only to get kicked down as well to put them back to even. Back up and Tozawa rocks Neville with a right hand but it’s still too early for the backsplash. The superplex is broken up but the backsplash hits raised knees. The Red Arrow gives Neville the title back at 11:47.

Rating: C. And that would makes them 2-2 in 50/50 booking on the Kickoff Show so far. Neville lost the title on Monday and gets it back on Monday for whatever reason, despite having no one left to defend the thing against. I’m sure this is going to thrill the fans so far, now that they’re at least in the arena.

Here’s Elias to sing two songs, one of which insults Brooklyn in general and the other of which insults local singers. No match or anything but this is a thing that happened.

Kickoff Show: Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. New Day

New Day is defending with Big E. and Woods in the ring. Before the match, Kofi (in Red Lantern inspired gear) talks about New Day’s history in Brooklyn, which is the first place they sang to the crowd and the birthplace of Francesca. Woods forearms Jimmy down to start and snaps off some rights and lefts in the corner. A raised boot cuts him off though and we take a break.

Back with Woods fighting out of a chinlock before coming up with a dropkick to Jey. Jimmy pulls Big E. off the apron though and it’s a Death Valley Driver into the corner for two. A modified Demolition Decapitator gets the same and we hit the chinlock. Back up with Woods getting in a faceplant for the tag off to Big E. as house is cleaned in a hurry. The Warrior Splash hits Jimmy and Big E. powerbombs Woods onto him for good measure.

In a real twist, Woods puts Big E. on his shoulders for a splash. JBL: “That’s what you’ve come to expect from the New Day!” A move they’ve never done before? Jey comes in off a hot tag and a double spinebuster gets two on Big E. It’s back to Woods who sends Jimmy into Big E. for a Rock Bottom/Backstabber combination and a near fall. Everything breaks down with the twins being sent outside for a dive from Woods, only to have Big E.’s stopped by a superkick.

The Superfly Splash gets two on Xavier but he’s back up with a Koji Clutch on Jey. A Shining Wizard gets two more and the Midnight Hour plants Jey with Jimmy diving in at the last second for the save. Woods charges at Jey, who launches him over the top into a Samoan drop on the floor. Big E. spears Jey through the ropes, only to have the Big Ending broken up by a blind tag. Five superkicks and a double Superfly Splash gives us new champions at 19:09.

Rating: B+. Heck of a match here as the three people/teams who won during the week go to 0-3 on the Kickoff Show. I have no idea what the point is in putting the titles back on the Usos as they cleaned out the “division” in recent months, pretty much leaving New Day alone as a good face team. Breezango barely wrestles anymore and we’ve done the two of them vs. the Usos, but that’s never stopped WWE before.

We get a KFC ad featuring various people auditioning to be the next Colonel Sanders. This cuts to the arena where Shawn Michaels comes out in a sleeveless Sanders outfit, dances around, slides over the announcers’ table, and nothing else. This is one of the most random things I’ve ever seen.

The opening video looks at every match under the slogan Go Big.

No pyro again, but let me introduce you to the ridiculous amount of commentary teams and all their equipment to broadcast live in various languages.

John Cena vs. Baron Corbin

Cena cost Corbin his Money in the Bank cash-in on Monday. For a change of pace, Cena slides to the floor and grabs JBL’s hat while saying Corbin is shaken up. Back in and Cena’s headlock is broken up with some knees to the ribs. Corbin’s slide underneath the ropes into a clothesline gets two and it’s time to yell at the referee.

A World’s Strongest Slam gets two and triggers a WHERE’S YOUR BRIEFCASE chant. That earns Cena a chokebreaker as this is mostly one sided so far. Cena fights out of a superplex with a tornado DDT but the AA is broken up. Deep Six gives Corbin two but Cena comes right back with the Attitude Adjustment for the fast pin at 10:18.

Rating: D. I don’t remember the last time I said this about a Cena match but this sucked. This was Cena getting beaten up for eight minutes and then coming back with a single AA for the pin (which NEVER happens). I don’t know if Corbin ran over Vince’s dog or something but he’s been crushed in the last week for no apparent reason. This was really odd and a big letdown, at least partially due to time.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Natalya vs. Naomi

Natalya is challenging after winning an elimination match last month. Naomi starts fast and knocks her outside, meaning it’s time to shout a lot. Back in and the champ’s leg gets snapped over the top rope and then over the turnbuckle for good measure. A suplex gives Natalya two, followed by a small package to give Naomi the same.

Back up and Natalya blasts her with a clothesline, followed by a Michinoku Driver for two more. The discus clothesline drops Naomi again but she comes back with a Russian legsweep. Naomi declares it GLOW TIME and does her dancing kicks (the ones that make almost no contact) but Natalya pulls her down to the mat instead. Back up and the reverse Rings of Saturn is reversed into the Sharpshooter for the surprise tap out at 10:49.

Rating: C-. Natalya looked far better out there but sweet goodness this division is getting less and less interesting all the time. The longer we wait for Charlotte and Becky Lynch to be in the title picture, the worse this division seems, mainly because it feels like a big waste of time. This match should have been on the Kickoff Show or not on the show whatsoever, but that might mean someone doesn’t make the card and that would just be unforgivable.

There’s no Carmella appearance.

We recap Big Cass vs. Big Show. Cass turned on Enzo Amore for running his mouth too much (gee I’m stunned) so Enzo brought in Show to help deal with him. Tonight Enzo is locked in a shark cage and Show’s hand is broken due to an attack by Cass.

Big Cass vs. Big Show

Enzo runs his mouth before the match and sucks up to Brooklyn, furthering his status as my least favorite person in the company. I don’t think I need to explain to you why Enzo is really annoying but he’s been even more so lately. Show slugs away with his left hand as Enzo runs his mouth about how we’re going to work tonight while dancing in the cage, causing it to rattle loudly. Show hurts his hand on a missed Vader Bomb as Enzo is now jumping up and down.

Cass hammers on the hand and grabs an armbar for some psychology. The fans think this is boring as Show fights up with a left handed chokeslam for two. Cass knocks him down again and Enzo is taking his pants off. He pulls out some hidden oil and covers himself with it, allowing him to slip through the bars. Enzo gets down so Cass kicks him in the head but the big boot only gets two on Show. A second big boot sets up the Empire Elbow for the pin on Show at 10:28.

Rating: D. I don’t remember the last time I couldn’t stand someone as much as I can’t stand Enzo. Stephanie maybe? Cass winning helps a lot here and hopefully he can now move on to ANYTHING else. He looked good in his win and now he can move on to a fresh feud. Show is actually really acceptable in this role as he’s just putting people over on the big stage and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Daniel Bryan comes in to see Kurt Angle to say he thinks Smackdown will steam the show. Bryan: “It’s true, it’s true.” Angle thinks Raw will be better and starts a YES chant. This turns into one heck of a YES/NO battle until both guys get winded.

Randy Orton vs. Rusev

Not much of a story here as Rusev wanted competition and Orton answered him. Rusev jumps Orton during the entrance and beats the heck out of him before the bell. Orton says he can go and it’s an RKO for the pin at 9 seconds.

That right there is the perfect example of why I can’t stand these huge cards. This is obviously, and I do mean obviously, a case of cutting something for time. Why is it being cut for time? It’s so we could have a Cruiserweight Title rematch and a six man rematch on the Kickoff Show. Neither match was good and both matches pretty much advanced nothing (the Cruiserweight Title match actually took us back in time) but they ate up time that could have gone to this match, which could have been interesting. Instead Rusev looks like an idiot and the match barely exists. Just don’t put someone on the card. They’ll be ok.

Sasha Banks is coming to the ring when she runs into Bayley, who gets booed while wishing Bayley good luck.

Raw Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss

Banks is challenging as a replacement for an injured Bayley. They brawl into the corner with the fans booing the heck out of Sasha. Bliss hits the hardest right hand she’s ever thrown but gets caught with a crossbody for two. Banks gets caught in the corner and faceplanted down to the mat. The New York fans are of course pleased with the woman from Boston getting beaten up, including having Bliss stand on her hair.

Alexa chokes in the corner and hits some double knees to the back. Some more choking ensues but Banks flips her out of the corner for a breather. Sasha makes her comeback with some clotheslines and a dropkick. Bliss tries a sunset flip out of the corner, only to have Sasha flip her backwards and head first into the buckles.

The Bank Statement goes on but it’s way too close to the ropes. Bliss takes her outside and sends her hard into the barricade, possibly injuring Sasha’s shoulder. Banks is back in at nine so Bliss is right on the arm, followed by Twisted Bliss for two. Some shots to the shoulder break up another Bank Statement, only to have Banks grab it again for the tap and the title at 13:17.

Rating: B-. Bliss did most of the work in the match and looked far better than I ever would have believed just a few months ago. This run has turned her into a completely acceptable worker, which isn’t what you would have expected. Banks winning is the right call long term, but they did a pretty lame job of building the match towards the finish. Still though, best thing on the show by a few miles so far.

We see the Shawn Michaels KFC bit again.

Long recap of Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt. Bray seemed to think that Balor was a false idol and promised to destroy him. Wyatt beat him this past Monday and then poured “blood” over him for some extra effect. Balor then said that Bray had his demons, but he did too. I think you know what that means.

Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor

After Bray’s full entrance, a voice starts singing He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands. That means the Demon King returns for the first time since last Summerslam to easily the reaction of the night. Finn crawls around and Bray takes an early breather on the still smoky floor. Back in and Balor hammers away, kicking Bray right back to the floor. Balor jumps over him in the corner so Bray leans over backwards for a scary look of his own.

That’s fine with Finn who sends him outside for a flip dive but it’s too early for the Coup de Grace. A suplex onto the floor knocks Balor silly though and we hit the chinlock for a bit. Balor pops back up and knocks him outside for a kick from the apron, followed by a Sling Blade back inside. Bray boots him in the face for two and declares that he has him. Balor gets in the shotgun dropkick against the barricade and throws him back inside for a quick Coup de Grace at 9:42 in another weak finish.

Rating: C+. As has been the case all night (and ever for the most part), it’s such a waste of a match to do it once on Monday and then again on Sunday. Why should I care that Balor won here when Bray already beat him earlier in the week? Either way, this was hardly a great return for Balor, who was the most obvious winner in the world here. Bray loses on the big stage, again, and it’s time to start his cycle all over again.

We recap Cesaro/Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins, which has very little to do with Cesaro/Sheamus. Ambrose and Rollins were tired of getting double teamed and teased getting back together for weeks. It FINALLY happened earlier this week and they were granted an immediate shot at the Tag Team Titles.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Sheamus/Cesaro vs. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins

Sheamus and Cesaro are defending. Ambrose headlocks Sheamus to start and it’s a blind tag from Rollins to set up a knee drop. A dropkick staggers Cesaro and the champs are knocked to the floor without too much effort. Sheamus pulls Dean outside for a Brogue Kick though and Seth gets slammed on the floor for good measure.

Seth grabs a Blockbuster for a breather but hang on a second as Cesaro is running into the crowd. He grabs a beach ball that a fan was batting around and rips it to shreds, drawing a heck of a YES chant. I certainly love him a lot more now. Cesaro suplexes Seth down for two but seems to have tweaked his knee.

Rollins gets taken outside for a double beating, only to have Ambrose come off the top with the elbow to put everyone down. Back in and the champs are clotheslined over the top, setting up the double suicide dives. A Hart Attack with a Sling Blade (not a Blockbuster Cole) gets two on Cesaro and the rebound lariat puts him down again. Sheamus gets caught on top for a superplex with Rollins tagging himself in for a frog splash and a near fall with Cesaro making the save.

Cesaro breaks up the double bomb out of the corner and Dirty Deeds is countered into the Sharpshooter. Dean is almost in the ropes but Cesaro switches to a Crossface in the middle of the ring. Since that’s not going to work, it’s a powerbomb/top rope clothesline combination for two instead. White Noise is loaded up but Seth hurricanranas Cesaro off the top into Sheamus for the crazy save. A jumping knee to the face knocks Sheamus into Dirty Deeds for the pin and the titles at 18:35.

Rating: B. Heck of a match here with the ending looking great. That ending was a great touch as the Shield guys worked so well together. I’m not usually a fan of having two guys put together to become champions but it helps to have such a strong history between them. Now all they need is Roman as a surprise and things should be great all over again.

We recap Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles for the US Title. They’ve traded the title in recent months but Owens blames his recent loss on bad refereeing. This meant Shane McMahon was appointed as guest referee, so Owens started bringing up Shane’s history as a crooked referee and his issues with AJ. The question is will Shane screw someone over and who will it be.

US Title: Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles

AJ is defending with Shane McMahon as guest referee. Owens jumps him at the bell and hammers away with AJ’s comeback being cut off without much effort. The Cannonball gets two and Owens yells at Shane. A chinlock and backbreaker get two more on the champ but AJ says bring it. Styles wins a slugout and hits a belly to back faceplant for two but can’t follow up.

Back up and AJ manages the Phenomenal Forearm, only to hit Shane by mistake. That means there’s no one to count the Pop Up Powerbomb so Owens yells at Shane. As you might expect, AJ gets back up and knocks Shane to the floor by mistake. The Calf Crusher goes on and Owens taps to no avail.

Everyone gets back in and AJ forearms Owens down, only to get caught in the spinning superplex for two. AJ comes right back with the Styles Clash for a close two. Owens grabs the Pop Up Powerbomb for the pin but AJ’s foot was on the ropes and Shane calls it off. That means an argument and Shane shoves Owens into a rollup for two. The Pele sets up the Phenomenal Forearm and a second Styles Clash retains the title at 17:25.

Rating: B. This was too much about Shane and they’re not exactly being subtle about the upcoming Owens vs. McMahon match. AJ retaining is the right call here as there’s no need to put it back on Owens if he’s going to be feuding with Shane in the coming weeks. It wasn’t quite the blow away match I was expecting but it was a good, back and forth fight and a definitive ending, which is the most important thing.

Some fans won a sweepstakes and got to go to the show.

We recap the Smackdown World Title match. Jinder Mahal won the title in May in a huge upset and has continued to defy his critics ever since. Shinsuke Nakamura became #1 contender by pinning John Cena clean. There’s also no Baron Corbin to cash-in his Money in the Bank briefcase any longer.

Smackdown World Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal

Jinder is defending and Nakamura is played to the ring by a live violinist. The threat of some kicks brings Mahal close enough to grab a wristlock, only to have Nakamura spin out and send Mahal outside. Nakamura says bring it on so Mahal gets back inside, only to get caught with Good Vibrations. Shinsuke is getting a little too comfortable so the Singh Brothers offer a distraction, allowing Mahal to pound him down and grab a chinlock.

Back up and Nakamura gets in a spinning kick to the jaw and a cross armbreaker but Jinder makes the ropes. Some hard kicks to the front and back of the head have Mahal reeling but here are the Singh Brothers for another distraction. This time it allows the Khallas to end Nakamura at 11:25.

Rating: D+. And Mahal retains to bore another day. I have no idea what’s supposed to interest me about Mahal but it’s really missing. Nakamura might not have been ready to win the title but the Singh Brothers distraction into a Khallas is about as lame of a finish as there is in WWE right now. If he had a great finisher or something it would make a big difference, but sweet goodness this let the air out of the place.

We recap the Universal Title match and simply put, this is going to be chaos. Brock Lesnar is defending against Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns with basically a guarantee of pure anarchy. I don’t think you need much more of an explanation.

Universal Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman

Lesnar is defending, anything goes, and he leaves WWE if he loses. Naturally Paul Heyman handles Lesnar’s Big Match Intro and we’re ready to go. Joe goes after Lesnar while Strowman and Reigns head outside. The first suplex sends Joe outside but Reigns posts Strowman to set up the first showdown. The first German suplex drops Reigns and Joe comes in to take the second. NOW it’s the real showdown though with Strowman vs. Lesnar and the fans are way into this one.

Joe and Reigns cut it off though and we’re forced to wait a bit more. The wait is only a few seconds though as Reigns and Joe are knocked outside and it’s Strowman LAUNCHING Lesnar into the corner and clotheslining him hard to the floor. Reigns comes back in and clotheslines Strowman, who calmly shoves Reigns away. Joe grabs the Koquina Clutch on Lesnar but sidesteps a spear, sending Lesnar HARD through the barricade.

Joe Rock Bottoms Reigns onto the announcers’ table but Strowman runs Joe over, leaving him as the last man standing. Strowman goes to load up the table as Graves hopes he uses Saxton as a weapon. A running powerslam drives Brock through a table but Reigns dropkicks Strowman down. Joe’s suicide elbow drops Reigns so Strowman throws a commentator’s chair at both of them.

Lesnar is getting back up so Strowman powerslams him through the second announcers’ table. Fans: “ONE MORE TABLE!” Strowman obliges by turning the last table over on top of Lesnar, drawing a bunch of referees and agents to save the champ. Heyman: “NOOOOO!” We get a stretcher for Brock as Heyman is absolutely losing his mind. Lesnar is taken out and Strowman wants to know where the Beast is now.

Strowman picks up some steps and decks both guys but Reigns slows him down with a few shots. A shot with the steps has Strowman reeling and a third sends him outside, only to have Joe come in with a rollup for two on Reigns. Roman gets two off the Samoan drop but the Superman Punch is countered into the Koquina Clutch. Strowman is right back in though and a double chokeslam gets two.

The Undertaker chants start up and here’s Brock again. Strowman gets taken down and a running forearm knocks him to the floor. It’s Suplex City time with both Samoans being sent flying. Strowman, with a bloody ear, breaks out of a suplex attempt so Brock goes with the Kimura.

Reigns makes the save with a Superman Punch, followed by another one to both guys. A weird looking spear (Lesnar didn’t really go backwards) gets two on Brock but Reigns gets caught in the Koquina Clutch. That’s broken up by a Strowman dropkick (Cole: “Is there anything he can’t do?”) for two on Joe. The Pop Up Superman Punch gets two more on Strowman and Reigns is almost scared by the kickout.

Braun gets two more off the powerslam with Lesnar making a save. Lesnar can’t F5 Braun but Reigns spears Braun out to the floor, leaving him alone with Brock. Joe is back in with the Clutch on Lesnar but Brock reverses into the F5 for two with Reigns making the save for his only positive reaction of the night. Three straight Superman Punches drop Brock but the spear is countered into the F5 to retain the title at 21:01.

Rating: A. I need a breather. You can tell they’re setting up something special for Strowman here as he didn’t take the pin, nor did he have anyone really get the better of him all match. Lesnar vs. Strowman is REALLY tempting right now and I’d love to see it happen at some big match. Like at Survivor Series or so.

That being said, WOW what a fight. These guys beat the heck out of each other for a long time and Lesnar looked incredibly vulnerable at times. It’s amazing how much better these matches are when he’s not the unstoppable machine and it looks like WWE is starting to learn that. It was great stuff here and Strowman looked like a monster, which is all he needed to be here. The fallout from this is going to be interesting and Reigns taking the fall hopefully means a bit of a downgrade for him.

Lesnar looks like he just fell out of a building to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The first hour of this show was awful and came as close as you can get to sinking what was an otherwise very good show. For once it helps when you have that much more time after the first hour to save things, but hopefully this shows WWE (it won’t) that four hours is too long for a regular show. If you cut out some of the bad stuff, this is a classic. As it is, it’s just a very good show with a great main event. In other words, good, but WWE gets in its own way again.

That being said, I really liked parts of this with the main event obviously blowing away everything else on the show. They have some serious options going forward, assuming they can manage to get Lesnar to show up more than once every few months. Strowman looks like the star of stars at this point and if they don’t do him vs. Lesnar before the end of Wrestlemania XXXIV, they’ve lost their freaking minds. Good show, but it needs an hour or so shaved off to bring it to that next level.

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Summerslam 2015
Date: August 23, 2015
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

There was no match on the pre-show.

Randy Orton vs. Sheamus

Some fans won a contest and got to do cool stuff.

Tag Team Titles: Prime Time Players vs. New Day vs. Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores

Jon Stewart is in the back with Stephen Amell and Neville. Stewart is a big fan but is really here for Undertaker, who passes by the three of them, silencing all three.

Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler

Lana left Rusev for Ziggler so Rusev injured Ziggler, triggering this match. Also Rusev has Summer Rae in his corner, who is now dressing as Lana. To counter, Lana is dressing like Ziggler. Got all that? Rusev starts fast and stomps Ziggler down before choking on the ropes. He kicks Dolph in the ribs and puts on a bearhug for a good while before the swinging Rock Bottom plants him again. All Rusev so far.

The guys keep fighting post match but Summer comes in, triggering a catfight. This almost has to lead to a mixed tag.

Stardust/King Barrett vs. Neville/Stephen Amell

Barrett comes in for a kick to the ribs though and Amell is in trouble. Stardust comes back in but gets caught by an enziguri, finally allowing the hot tag to Neville. Everything breaks down with Neville cleaning house, including a middle rope Phoenix splash to Barrett, but Amell gets the dive off the top to drop Barrett and Stardust. The Red Arrow puts Barrett away at 7:37.

Video on Summerslam week.

Intercontinental Title: Miz vs. Big Show vs. Ryback

Bray Wyatt/Luke Harper vs. Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose

We recap Rollins vs. Cena. The video has Cena narrating about how awesome New York is before Rollins starts talking about the knee, setting up the title for title match. They really started playing up Cena winning his sixteenth title near as Summerslam got closer.

WWE World Title/US Title: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is World Champion and Cena is US Champion with both on the line. Seth is all in white here. Cena grabs a headlock to start and the fans are entirely behind Rollins. Back up and we get a “Ce-na Sucks!” chant, followed by a Blockbuster from Seth. Three straight suicide dives make Rollins an even bigger hero but he has to get to the ropes to block the STF.

Preview of upcoming WWE Network shows, including Edge and Christian on the Stone Cold Podcast, plus Lesnar at another house show at Madison Square Garden on October 3.

The pre-show panel talks as the fans thank Stewart.

Team BAD vs. Team Bella vs. Team PCB

BAD: Naomi, Sasha Banks, Tamina

Bella: Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Alicia Fox

PCB: Paige, Charlotte, Becky Lynch

Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens

Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker

Brock remembers he knows submissions and puts on the Kimura but Undertaker is in the ropes, meaning he can hit the Last Ride for another two. Brock is up first for a second F5 and another near fall. Now Lesnar is getting frustrated and the third F5 is still only good for two. That gets it past the ending at Wrestlemania.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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