WWE SummerSlam 2017

WWE SummerSlam 2017

Brooklyn, NY - August 2017

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, Brock Lesnar holds the WWE Universal Championship, while Jinder Mahal is the WWE World Champion. The RAW Tag Team Champions are Cesaro and Sheamus, while The New Day hold the titles on SmackDown. AJ Styles is the United States Champion and the Intercontinental Championship is held by The Miz. For the females, Naomi is the SmackDown Women's Champion and Alexa Bliss holds the RAW Women's Championship. Either Tozawa or Neville is the Cruiserweight Champion, though, I don't recall who and, seeing as they weren't on the main show, I kind of don't care.

COMMENTATORS: Cole, Graves, and Saxton (RAW) / JBL, Phillips, Otunga (SmackDown)


I don't typically catch Kickoff Shows - especially when the show itself is 4 hours and everytime I do try to watch the pre-show, the actual matches are diced up with needless commercial breaks. So, my 2017 SummerSlam viewing experience started with John Cena taking on Baron Corbin. The story coming in was that Corbin is upset with Cena because...well...John Cena is just kinda disliked by most heels and most faces too. Its like "his thing." Also, last week on SmackDown, Cena screwed Corbin in his Money In The Bank briefcase opportunity. I found this match to be about as good as anyone could've expected or hoped it could be. Cena might be the only guy that can challenge AJ Styles for being the best worker in the US right now and that's saying something when you consider how much longer Cena has been in the WWE spotlight than Styles. I loved Cena's entire approach this match - the cocky veteran getting in the head of the angry, boorish newcomer to start things off and, despite taking some heavy blows, sticking to his bread-n'-butter. This was almost a classic "fun babyface" Cena performance, which is a bit refreshing compared to the years he spent trying to bust out crazy high spots that kinda betrayed his entire ring style before then (busting out Canadian Destroyers??). Corbin has got a ton of hate on the internet, which baffles me. He's not a super worker, but he's come a long way from his even-worse NXT run and his jawing at the crowd and Cena throughout the match was gold. I remember singing the praises of The Miz for being a true heel way, way back, and I see the same thing in Corbin - he's a guy that is impossible to root for because he looks like a real shithead. Wrestling-wise, I think he throws better hands than he's given credit for (and I hate the knock that he doesn't "punch like a boxer" because this is pro-wrestling and "Marvelous" Marc Mero stunk) and most of his signature stuff looks pretty gnarly. My biggest gripe about this match was the finish. Nobody should be losing to a single Attitude Adjustment in 2017 and, though I have no issue with Cena getting the W, there were better routes to get there that would've given more of a rub to Corbin, who, if he's going to be a major player in the future, shouldn't be losing so decisively as he's climbing the ranks. My prediction: Corbin gets his "win back" on a random episode of SmackDown that a fraction of SummerSlam's audience will see before Cena takes off for RAW (as is the rumor). (3/5)

Naomi vs. Natalya for the SmackDown Women's Championship followed. I'm a bigger fan of both these women that most probably, so I was excited about what they could do when given the spotlight on a major show. Naomi is not the smoothest worker and I didn't like the logic of busting out a Blockbuster to the arena floor in the first minute, but the spirit she puts into her bumping should be commended. Natalya, meanwhile, has kind of built her career on being consistently good if rarely great, a smart worker who is underappreciated in terms of getting big reactions out of clever cut-offs (for example, pulling Naomi's leg practically out of its socket to block her running knees). There were more than a couple moments when the choreography stalled, but there were also enough quality  high spots to keep the audience engaged and the suspense level high. Good match. (3/5) 

Next up was the "Battle of the Bigs": Big Show vs. Big Cass with Enzo Amore hanging from a shark cage above the ring. Before the match, Enzo cut a promo about his ex-best friend. I really dug his schtick in 2015 and even into 2016, but even in front of a supportive somewhat "hometown" crowd, it came off as same ol'-same ol' to me on this night. It would probably help if the feud with Cass hadn't run its course weeks ago and if he had any chemistry at all with his stand-in Big Show. I've written it elsewhere but I feel for Show - he got in the shape of his life to fight Shaq at WrestleMania and when that belly up, Creative had nothing for him. On the positive side, The Good Brothers weren't involved - which was a distinct possibility based on the build-up. On the negative side, just about everything else that happened in this match. The logic in this match had holes the size of the competitor's boots. There was a time when slugging someone with a cast on your hand was the go-to cheap finish but here - even when that paw belongs to a giant who uses a punch to the jaw as his established finisher - it garners a nearfall. Some minutes later, Enzo woke the crowd up by slithering out of the shark cage only to get booted square in the jaw and taken out instantly. If there is going to be an eventual pay-off to Enzo getting his butt kicked by his former tag team partner, I'm becoming increasingly less interested in seeing it because of matches like this. This match couldn't main event a RAW and didn't deserve its placement on the main show over the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match - which I'm guessing was way better than this just based on the talents involved. Maybe a half-point fo Enzo's effort and the fact that it didn't overstay its welcome too long. (0.5/5)

Things went from bad to worse next - Rusev attacking Randy Orton before the bell could ring for their match but then immediately doing the job to the RKO. Orton's finish is an established game-ender, but was this not almost exactly the same sort of thing that kept Rusev from wrestling at last year's SummerSlam? Here's my guess - someone backstage knows that Rusev is going to get CHEERED over Orton, so keeping their time on-screen short was the only move they could make...which is kind of the same thing that happened last year between Rusev and Reigns. Here's an idea: let Rusev be Rusev and see if he can get over and stay over. What's the worst that could happen? You create a credible upper midcarder? Hated pretty much everything about this segment. (0/5)

Thankfully, Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss for Bliss' RAW Women's Championship came up next. If the rumors are true, these two legitimately dislike each other backstage, but that doesn't mean they don't have pretty good chemistry, one-upping each other with stiff strikes and a good number of barely-protected slams. The biggest irony here might be that a lack of trust or friendship between the two has resulted in Banks have to wrestle a slightly safer style - and that's not a bad thing when you consider how many neck surgeries she narrowly seemed to escape in her often reckless matches with Charlotte in 2016. Bliss did not come to the main roster as a polished performer, but she has picked thing up quick and it will be interesting to see how much further she can develop. Sasha, meanwhile, might have come in a bit overhyped - but like CM Punk in 2007-2008, because she's arguably a more natural heel, I don't think we've seen her even close to her main roster peak yet. As for the match itself, I thought it started off much better than it progressed with the intensity starting at 10, then dropping a little bit to a 7, and then building back up to an 8 before Banks got the submission victory. My issue might have been that Banks withstood too much punishment (with Bliss taking too little) for a half-locked-in Banks Statement to be a convincing enough ending. As much as I enjoyed this one overall, I don't think it quite measured up to their Great Balls of Fire match. Part of that may have been on the crowd, part of that may have been on them, but I'd still call this a vast improvement over the last two bouts. (3.5/5)

After a lengthy video promo reviewing their feud, "The Demon King" Finn Balor took on Bray Wyatt. All credit to Finn Balor for making this as watchable as it was. Bray Wyatt started out an interesting character and, as a performer, I think he's more than solid - but the Creative Team has basically booked him into complete oblivion and made every wrong choice possible for his character. He's a cult leader? Take away his cult. He has supernatural powers? Let them be completely ineffective. He should be feared by all the babyfaces? Have him lose to every one in every big match possible. His aimless promos, originally at least creepy, no longer pack any bite. So, in summation, Balor had his work cut out for him to make this match actually exciting when the finish was never really in question. And, for the first time in the show, I'll throw a bone to whoever was behind keeping Balor off the last RAW pay-per-view - distance has certainly made the heart grow fonder as the crowd was jacked to see this guy and his signature offense got huge pops. Like Wyatt, I'm not sure if "The Demon King" gimmick will work if it is something we see every month and Balor himself is going to need a real meaningful, personal storyline to make me care about him moving forward, but he definitely came off as one of the bigger stars on the show. As I wrote earlier, Balor's offense was terrific and Wyatt held his own by keeping pace and taking several devastating splashes, knees, and double stomps. Nothing I'd rewatch, but I can see moments of this ending up on a Balor highlight reel. (2.5/5)

The RAW Tag Team Championships were on the line next - the reunited Shield allies Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins challenging Antonio Cesaro and Sheamus. Extra half-point relatively early for Cesaro tearing up a beachball in the audience like an absolute boss. I'm not sure I agree with the sentiment as its not the fans' fault that SummerSlam has become such a bloated event that the crowd tires of the product around minute 157 or whatever, but I appreciate Cesaro refusing to be upstaged by an inflatable pool toy. When Sheamus and Cesaro began teaming up, it felt like two separate singles guys doing their own thing next to eachother - but they got really good and I wouldn't be opposed to them keeping the partnership up as long as they have nothing on the horizon independently. Ambrose and Rollins look like they could be on the same trajectory after some unsteady months in meandering singles feuds themselves. Lots of good double-team maneuvers and I like how this one wasn't worked like your classic face-in-peril match, which is what I kind of expected based on the build and Ambrose's overness as a common man's hero. I look forward to their eventual rematch and wouldn't mind them raising the stakes a little bit with some sort of tornado tag stip as part of the fun of this match was how "out of control" it got in its closing minutes. Not quite a match-of-the-year candidate or anything, but certainly better than average. (3/5)

Here comes the money! Shane McMahon arrives to special guest referee the United States Title match between AJ Styles and Kevin Owens. I have been consistently disappointed with the matches these two have had, but I tried to come in with an open mind about this match. This was definitely the most "indy" of the matches of the night, both guys pulling out pretty much every trick they could to please the crowd. Unfortunately, Shane McMahon's presence was a double-edged sword in that, on one hand, his involvement gave this match a much-needed something to freshen it up, but, on the other hand, his refereeing was atrocious considering Shane O-Mac is supposed to be somewhat of a super-athlete/super-brain who can take all sorts of nasty bumps (as Owens pointed out) and doesn't fall for the cheap ploys and manipulations that your typical referee does. Here, though, from the very start, he involved himself in unnecessary ways (Why pull these two apart to start the match? Just ring the damn bell!) and put himself in harms way for no apparent reason (Since when do referees check on a talent being able to continue a match by covering his/her body with their own?). On paper, Styles and Owens should have tremendous chemistry, but there is something that doesn't click here that I can't place my finger on - maybe its the fact that the matches are too back-and-forth? Maybe its that Styles, unlike, say, Sami Zayn, is too credible for me to ever truly buy into Owens trying to bully him? Maybe its that Owens doesn't take enough shortcuts for me or play enough mindgames? His trash talk is great, but it comes off as impersonal against Styles in a way it never did against Cena or Zayn or even Roman Reigns. I'd probably call this their best pay-per-view match yet, but the bar wasn't set very high. (3/5)

The WWE Championship was on the line next with Jinder Mahal defending the strap against the super popular Shinsuke Nakamura. I'm a Nakamura fan, but I didn't go into this expecting him to dethrone Mahal - especially after Corbin lost his briefcase last week. Still, I at least hoped that the match would be entertaining, that the crowd would rally behind Nakamura and let Vince hear their support, and that maybe they'd come up with an inventive finish that didn't involve The Great Khali, who, by the way, certainly seemed like he was gonna get another cameo when he cost Orton a guaranteed victory last month. Overall, this was a meh match despite Nakamura maybe being at his best in terms of showing his charisma and humor, a very different type than everyone else on the card save for maybe Cena. I've read so many recent blogs or comments about how Mahal may not be a great worker but he has "presence" or an "it factor." So did Van Hammer in the early 90s. So did Mr. Kennedy. "It factor" and "presence" are important traits and maybe the hardest attributes to find...but call me old school, I like World Champions that can actually elevate their opponents and put on high-level, top tier matches with consistency. Mahal, at his best, is an average in-ring performer making the most of a stereotypical evil foreigner gimmick. Even if Nakamura had won this match, I wouldn't call it great. Nakamura willed this one into watchable territory with an assist awarded to the fans. (2/5)

Main event time - Brock Lesnar defending the WWE Universal Championship against Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, and Roman Reigns in a Fatal 4-Way. This one reminded me a fair amount of the Lesnar/Cena/Rollins triple threat at Royal Rumble some years back in that I'm not sure I've ever seen a more fun, wild, and violent version of this stipulation. The crowd was, as one might've expected, red hot for Joe and Braun, somewhat lukewarm to Lesnar, and frigid for Reigns. Great start to the match with plenty of Lesnar/Strowman teasing that would ultimately pay-off in a hugely impressive and awesome way with Strowman powerslamming Lesnar through two tables and then toppling a third one on top of him. I would've lost the Beast getting wheeled to the back on a gurney, but hey, if that was the only way we were going to get Paul Heyman losing his frigging mind on the outside of the ring, I'll take it. I'm really, really, really looking forward to Heyman and Strowman's future interactions because there is gold there any which way they want to mine it. Joe and Reigns were relatively afterthoughts, but it was actually somewhat smart to keep them around the periphery considering Reigns was booed for nearly every offensive move he hit and Joe, as over as he is, was always going to be regarded as the underdog no matter how much the commentators played up the 25% chance BS. Even after Lesnar returned to the match, I'm not sure this one ever hit the same peak it had at its midpoint, but whoever laid this one out did a fine job of giving everyone a chance to look like they might get the W (well, maybe not Joe) only to be cut off by another competitor. The finish itself was a shocker to me as I was under the impression that Lesnar was going to be returning to the UFC in the near future. Maybe he drops the title to Strowman at Survivor Series? A very, very good main event and easy Match of the Night, with a chance of being a Match of the Year candidate too. (4/5)


SummerSlam 2017 was a needlessly long show, though, its lows never dipped as low as some of the awfulness of last year. No match truly over-delivered, though I could see the argument that Balor/Wyatt was much better than it probably had any right to be considering how weak the Bray Wyatt character has become. The main event was the best match of the night as it didn't waste too much time getting to its point - 4 guys demolishing each other with weapons and signature offense. Elsewhere, the women continued their streak of maybe being the most consistently fun-to-watch performers on the roster not named AJ Styles. Banks and Bliss reported legit beef lends their matches "real fight feel" every time and it was a bit of a breath of fresh air to see Naomi and Natalya get some spotlight considering how much the rest of the division took a backseat to the Four Horsewomen in 2015 and 2016. The Big Show/Enzo/Cass storyline should be taken out back and shot - in fact, I'm not sure they shouldn't already be plotting a way to reunite Cass and Enzo because as singular entities, neither look like they are heading anywhere special. Rusev, for the second year in a row, was completely wasted and made to look weak despite being noticeably one of the best in-ring performers on his brand in July (the fact that the Flag Match against Cena last month was even remotely entertaining had nothing to do with the booking or build and everything to do with Cena and Rusev's talent and chemistry). With a Kwang Score of 2.45-out-of-5, despite offering a majority of matches that were slightly better than your average TV match, this show was too long and, more than often than not, deflating in its finishes to warrant a full watch.  

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver