Summerslam aka ‘The Biggest Part of the Summer’ took place on August 3rd from Cleveland Browns Stadium in the heart of Cleveland. A lot of titles changed hands, bonds were broken, and returns were made so let’s get into it and break this all down! The show started out with the Women’s World title match (and I guess the custody of Dominik Mysterio was kind of on the line again here as well) as Liv Morgan defended her belt against the returning Rhea Ripley. Rhea dominated a majority of this match (aside from the weird moments her shoulder would pop out of place, and she had to pop it back in…wasn’t a huge fan of that) as she was the bigger, returning, and irate competitor chasing the smaller, pesky, shit talking heel in Liv. Dom attempted to pledge his allegiance to Rhea throughout the match, walking to the ring with her, standing in front of a Liv suicide dive at one point, and grabbing a chair out of Rhea’s hands to save her from a disqualification. The spot with the steel chair set up Liv though, who knocked Rhea into Dom and hit Oblivion off the distraction. Rhea kicked out at 2, but a distraction from Dom a moment later allowed him to slide the steel chair back into the ring and Liv hit a 2nd Oblivion to Rhea onto the steel chair for the 3. After the match, that scumbag Dom flipped off the live crowd, handed the title back to Liv, and they kissed ringside as a furious and scorned Rhea Ripley watched on from in the ring.
Next up, Sami Zayn put his Intercontinental Title on the line against the young, fresh, beastly upstart, Bron Breakker. Both competitors came out super strong in this match, going for some of their signature moves early to no avail. Bron missed a spear and drove himself into the ring post and Sami whiffed a Helluva Kick as both men tried to catch the other one early when their guard was down. Breakker hit a well-executed Frankensteiner and Sami hit a Blue Thunder Bomb and an exploder suplex in the corner early as he set up for a Helluva Kick (this match was very quick paced). Unfortunately for our valiant champ, he was met with a thundering spear by Breakker who instead of going for the pin, raced the ropes at a rapid pace as a dazed Zayn stumbled back to his feet and was met with a 2nd spear by Bron. Breakker then went for the pin and scored the victory to become the new champ. While these 2 put on an absolutely fantastic back and forth at Money in the Bank, that isn’t what this contest was about. It was about Bron making a statement and proving his point that he’s about to make waves here in the WWE, and I say that as a Sami Zayn fan to the fullest.
The United States Title match was on next as the champ Logan Paul took on LA Knight. This was a great back and forth that started before the bell even rung. Paul was walked to the ring by the hometown boy himself, MGK, and donned some dope ring attire for the night (I may be a bit bias as a Browns fan but whatever). Paul and Knight began battling on the outside area before the bell even rung with Knight slamming Paul’s head off the announce table multiple times before we got things officially underway. Logan Paul’s athleticism and in ring work rate is truly impressive and he seems to do at least one thing every match that genuinely shocks me. Sure, he gets a chance to go through his matches with HBK a bit more than I’m sure others do but that’s no excuse. None of us average joes could walk in off the street and put a match on the way this guy can, even given the time with HBK that he’s given. This match saw him hit a spinning springboard moonsault to the outside of the ring onto Knight that was genuinely a spectacle to watch. Knight followed up later in the match, showing off his own shocking and impressive skill as he delivered a thundering avalanche brainbuster to the champ. MGK hopped the barricade and slid a chain to Paul that had brass knuckles attached to it late in the match and Paul was able to land a shot with the knucks but surprisingly Knight kicked out at 2 and 3/4ths (I guess MGK’s knucks weren’t as reinforced as Paul’s regular ones). Moments later, Knight countered an effortless looking buckshot lariat from Paul into his signature BFT for the 3 count and the win. A great showing by both men and Knight’s first title win in the WWE, an overall thumbs up.
Next, Bayley put her Women’s Championship on the line against the monstrous Queen of the Ring herself, Nia Jax. This was a pretty classic David-Goliath matchup that we’ve seen many times in pro wrestling history as Bayley relied on her in ring experience and speed, while Nia relied on her overall size and strength for the advantage. But, by no means does that mean this was a bad match per say either. Bayley had flurries of offense and some impressive moments throughout, but Nia had control for a majority of the match using her size to her full advantage. She landed multiple Samoan drops before hitting her signature ‘A-Nia-Later’, but the heart of Bayley wouldn’t let her go down so easily and she kicked out at 2, much to the dismay of Nia. Bayley showed off an impressive feat of strength at one point in the match, sliding under Nia who was attempting to set up another A-Nia-Later, and lifting her up onto her shoulders and walking her across the ring before planting her with a powerbomb. A really cool spectacle for the women’s division and a clip that I hope gets recirculated for years to come, Bayley deserves that and more. Bayley continued her flurry of offense for a few more moments, before Tiffany Stratton marched to the ring with briefcase in hand. Bayley knocked her off the ring apron before she ever even got a chance to enter the ring, but the distraction was enough for Nia to capitalize. After 2 powerbombs and 2 more consecutive A-Nia-Laters to the champ, Nia scored the victory and became the new champ.
Then, the long awaited and highly anticipated showdown of CM Punk and Drew McIntyre was up next (with Seth Rollins playing a vital role as the special guest referee). Both men started off hot, brawling each other back and forth into the turnbuckles as they completely ignored Rollins 5 counts, until the action spilt to the outside. Punk smashed Drew’s head off the steel steps and Drew slung Punk into the announce table as Rollins ignored the count out rule and let these 2 just beat on each other. McIntyre dominated much of the middle portion of the match, before attempting to talk Rollins into turning a blind eye so he could use a steel chair on the beaten Punk. Rollins acted like he was going to for a moment before yanking the chair from Drew’s hands and causing an altercation between the 2 of them that led to Rollins nearly striking Punk with the chair by accident. Punk came back with a flurry of moves before locking in the Anaconda Vise on Drew, but he spotted his sentimental bracelet on Drew’s wrist causing him to let go of the submission and try to get his bracelet back. McIntyre took advantage of the distraction and clocked Punk with a Claymore but only got a 2 count, notably Rollins retrieved the bracelet off the mat during the madness. As Punk had the offense again moments later, he had Drew set up for the GTS but spotted Rollins wearing his bracelet and distracted himself yet again as he and Rollins got into a heated altercation over it. After some more shenanigans, Punk ended up hitting Rollins with a GTS instead after having his buttons pushed by him, but that ended up being a critical mistake as Drew took advantage of the distraction and the downed referee. Hitting Punk with a low blow kick (callback to the Clash at the Castle incident) and connecting with a Claymore, a dazed Rollins rolled back into the ring and slowly counted the 3 count to give Drew the victory. After the match, Drew retrieved the bracelet yet again before walking out. Maybe it’s just me, but this was a good match with just far too much focus on a freaking bracelet, especially for Punk’s grand return to the ring and how much this rivalry has been built up.
Damian Priest aka El Campion put his World Heavyweight title on the line next against the King of the Ring himself, Gunther. Gunther overwhelmed the champ in the early portions of the match with power, in ring knowledge, and technical ability but he wouldn’t keep Priest down for long. Priest turned the tables with a tope rope hurricarana and his signature Broken Arrow and the action continued in back-and-forth fashion for a while after that. These 2 big men delivered a heavy hitting affair (which is to be expected with Gunther, but still) as Priest laid in his signature strikes and kicks and Gunther with his signature chops. Priest busted Gunther’s chest open with a mix of kicks and chops to the chest but that didn’t seem to slow the challenger one bit. Finn Balor showed up ringside later in the match and attempted to motivate Priest back into the match before Gunther knocked him off the ring apron. This seemed to be the motivation Priest needed though as he came roaring back and planted Gunther with a Razor’s Edge and a South of Heaven chokeslam that would’ve won him the match, but Balor draped Gunther’s leg on the rope to break up the count. Priest was trying to understand what happened and why Finn would do that and off the distraction Gunther locked in a rear naked choke that nearly caused Priest to pass out, before he rolled out of it and nearly pinned Gunther in the process. He couldn’t ignore the backstab though and lunged for Finn, but was immediately pounced on by Gunther who planted him with a powerbomb and locked the rear naked choke in deep yet again. Priest and Balor locked eyes as Priest faded out of consciousness and Gunther was crowned the new champion. That backstab and the Dom backstab of Rhea earlier in the night pretty much puts the final nail in the coffin on the Judgment Day as we’ve known them.
Then it was main event time as Cody Rhodes put his Undisputed Championship on the line against the self-proclaimed Head of the Table, Solo Sikoa in Bloodline Rules! Rhodes walked backstage with his pup Pharoah, hugged and received some encouraging words from the legend himself Arn Anderson, and donned his signature mask he wore at WrestleMania on the stage as he made his entrance, giving this match that much needed big fight feel. This match started off rather hot as well as both men battled in and around the ring area, Solo looked strong and scouted some of Cody’s signature moves ahead of time showing that he had done his homework and wasn’t going to make this easy. Solo had the upper hand later in the match and started to feel too cocky as he went for Cody’s signature, but Rhodes countered out of it and planted Solo with a Cross Rhodes but didn’t have any time to capitalize on the move as the new tag champs, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa, stormed the ring and started beating down the champ. They drug Solo onto the cover, but Cody still managed to kick out at 2. KO and Orton ran down moments later, right on queue, and this turned into an all-out may lay for a moment. All 3 men helped eliminate Tonga and Loa before connecting with signature moves on Solo, who still managed to muscle his way out of the cover at 2. Cody began beating down Solo with steel steps and anything he could find to put the challenger away before connecting with 2 and going for a third Cross Rhodes. This wouldn’t be the case though as Jacob Fatu rushed the ring and leveled Rhodes and began beating him down before Solo crawled to the cover again, but Cody still kicked out at 2. This prompted Fatu to drag Cody out of the ring and lay him on the announce table before connecting with a thunderous and devastating splash from the top rope through the announce table onto Cody. Solo drug Cody back into the ring and hit another top rope splash onto the champion, but the valiant Rhodes still managed to get his shoulder up at 2. The crowd went silent for a moment and the Original Tribal Chief himself, Roman Reigns, made his return as he walked to the ring eyeing down Solo Sikoa as this crowd came unglued. Roman entered the ring and knocked Solo down with a Superman Punch before connecting with a beautiful Spear and giving Rhodes an acknowledging nod before exiting the ring. Rhodes and Solo both now dazed and exhausted made their way back to their feet and Cody connected with a Cross Rhodes for the 3 count to retain the title. This match was good, Roman’s return was an epic Summerslam moment, but just like the last Bloodline Rules match we had…there was just too much interference and too much going on throughout the contest. I may be the only one with that gripe but eh, it’s my opinion. It’s exciting in the moment and makes for some cool highlight reel moments later, but so much interference takes away from the match itself at a point. But alas, Roman has made his presence once again known and it’s only a matter of time now before we have Bloodline inner family warfare and I cannot wait.
