It is time for WWE’s “biggest party of the summer.” SummerSlam, the company’s second-biggest show of the year, is upon us, and there is a lot of excitement around what we will, and might, see tonight.
There will be 52,000+ fans in attendance at Detroit’s Ford Field, so the atmosphere should be plenty loud. I’m running low on time, so let’s get things popping as the show gets underway.
Ricochet vs Logan Paul
If you’ve been reading the news sites, it isn’t a surprise to see this match on first. Logan specifically requested to be in the opening match, because he wants to have time to hop on a private jet and fly to Dallas, Texas and see his brother, Jake, face Nate Diaz in a boxing match. Even without Logan’s other plans for the night, this is the perfect option to open the show, as it’s guaranteed to be exciting and will get the crowd going right away.
Fantastic. Fucking fantastic. I don’t know how much money it would take, but WWE needs to find a way to convince Logan Paul to commit to doing this on a full-time basis. I’ve never seen someone take to pro wrestling as well, and as quickly, as he has done. He could be a World Champion, without a doubt, if he sticks around.
I don’t want to take anything away from Ricochet, though. For years, we’ve known that Ricochet is capable of doing things in a wrestling ring that shouldn’t be physically possible. With a performance like this, on a stage like this, don’t be surprised if he ends up on the receiving end of a bigger push coming out of SummerSlam.
This was well worth checking out, and will feature many viral moments, just like we were promised from both men. The match featured homages to the likes of Hulk Hogan and The Rock, and it was also a lot more physical than I thought it would be. It was more than just the flip, flop, and fly style, and both men ended up with welts and bruises on their bodies, while Logan looks like he might end up with a black eye. Fun stuff here, for sure. 4.25 Stars
Cody Rhodes vs Brock Lesnar
Logan Paul had to go on first because he needed to make a quick flight from Detroit to Dallas. Brock Lesnar has to go on next because… well… he always wants to get out of town as early as possible and go back to his farm and his family.
A simple, and yet very effective, story was told here. We got something of a Last Man Standing Match for a large chunk of it, with Brock beating the shit out of Cody, knocking him out of the ring, and Cody having to fight his way back in before the ten count. Yes, that meant the pace was relatively slow, but the crowd was excited for every moment of it. Besides, it’s a Brock Lesnar match, so we knew we weren’t getting Ricochet vs Logan Paul again.
Back-to-back really good matches to start the show. I love that for all of us. 4 Stars
Slim Jim SummerSlam 25-Man Battle Royal
The match might as well have been called “The Slim Jim SummerSlam We Needed To Get LA Knight On The Show Somehow Battle Royal.”
Non-Royal Rumble battle royal matches are very difficult to rate, so I don’t even try. When there are literally 20-30 people in the ring at the same time, that means most of the match is just people standing around and throwing punches until there are only a few people left. It also means you’re going to see a ton of quick eliminations, as these matches usually get the same amount of time as a “regular” match, and sometimes even less time. It’s one thing to see 29 eliminations in 65 minutes of a Royal Rumble, but it’s another thing altogether to see 24 eliminations in 15 minutes or less.
The match followed the obvious formula, but at least the crowd enjoyed it, and I guess that’s what really matters here.
Shayna Baszler vs Ronda Rousey – MMA Rules Match
The video packages for this match were incredible, allowing for a quasi-shoot style background for why this match is happening in the first place.
I’m not sure how to rate this, so I don’t think I will. It wasn’t a wrestling match, as the “MMA Rules” aspect should indicate. However, it wasn’t quite like watching a UFC bout, either. There were a bunch of “breaks” in between the action, and there were points where it seemed like they would lose the crowd. This was easily the quietest the crowd has been all night. Maybe it’s because they didn’t know how to react to this type of contest, or maybe it’s because they aren’t invested in something involving Ronda and Shayna. Whatever it was, there wasn’t a lot of noise throughout, which was a bit jarring.
Gunther vs Drew McIntyre – WWE Intercontinental Title Match
It might’ve been the residuals from the previous match, but it took the crowd a long time to show much emotion for this one. It didn’t help that this was a tad on the slow side to start, but once the pace was picked up, things went a lot better, and a lot more smoothly.
You know exactly what type of match you’re going to get with these two, and that’s precisely what we got. That isn’t a knock on them, and it isn’t a complaint. It was every bit of the physical battle that I wanted it to be, and it was enjoyable. Good stuff, albeit slightly below the level of the night’s first two matches. 3.5 Stars
Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor – WWE World Heavyweight Title Match
Finn has been obsessed over what happened to him seven years ago, and is trying to get his revenge on Seth, so what does the champion do? He walks to the ring wearing the exact same ring vest that he wore at SummerSlam 2016. Mind games.
Man, this was so good. A great “WWE style” main event type of match, with two of the best in-ring performers on the planet being motivated to take home Match Of The Night honors. Lots of high-flying action, but also lots of physicality, as both men’s bodies are showing signs of a true battle, including a bloody mouth for Balor. 4.5 Stars
Asuka vs Charlotte Flair vs Bianca Belair – Triple Threat Match for the WWE Women’s Title
It wasn’t beneficial for these women to follow Rollins vs Balor, as the crowd has been awfully quiet. With just one more match on the card, it makes sense that the crowd is saving itself for Tribal Combat.
This match was very clunky in spots. One funny moment came when Charlotte stacked Bianca and Asuka in the corner to go for a running boot, but her top got unclasped, so she needed to have the Referee fix it for her, all while Asuka and Bianca had to stand around and wait. Then, Charlotte actually performed the move, and it barely made any contact whatsoever. Charlotte has also taken John Cena’s role of loudly calling spots in the ring, time and time again. 3 Stars
I don’t normally include results here, but this is a special situation…
Bianca Belair vs Iyo Sky – WWE Women’s Title Match
The brand new champion, Bianca Belair, got to enjoy her reign for a mere few minutes. Iyo Sky and Bayley ran down to the ring, and Iyo got to cash in her Money In The Bank contract. Bing, bang, boom… and we have a new WWE Women’s Champion, fresh off of crowning a new WWE Women’s Champion. No rating, of course, but it is well-deserved for Iyo. I love it.
Roman Reigns vs Jey Uso – Tribal Combat for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title & the “Tribal Chief” name
Here. We. Go.
Based on the pacing alone, this match isn’t going to be for everyone. That’s what Roman Reigns matches have been over the last three years, though. They’re slower paced and methodical, because it’s part of his character and not seeing the need to rush to do anything because he sees everyone as beneath him.
There were several possible outcomes for this match, but only one that I absolutely, positively did not want to see happen. Anybody want to take a guess as to what outcome we got? Honestly, this might be the first time during the ENTIRE Bloodline storyline that I am not on board with a decision that was made. Damn. I’m not going to spoil it for those of you that didn’t watch the show, but chances are, you can already figure it out, as I know I’m not the only one who didn’t want to see that happen.
The match itself was good. Not great, but definitely good. For a match to have a slow pace and truly deliver, it either needs to be shorter, or the pace needs to pick up at some point. That’s not really what happened here, and we got nearly 40 minutes of that slower speed. I can’t put this up there as a Match Of The Year classic or anything, but like I said, it was definitely good and stayed entertaining. 3.5 Stars
The “worst” match on the show (that I was able to grade) still got 3 Stars from me, so I can’t complain about the overall quality of this year’s edition of SummerSlam.