SummerSlam 2021

WWE SummerSlam 2021

Las Vegas, NV - August 2021

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Roman Reigns was the Universal Champion, Bobby Lashley held the WWE Championship, Shinsuke Nakamura was the Intercontinental Champion, Sheamus was the United States Champion, the RAW Tag Team Champions were AJ Styles and Omos, the SmackDown Tag Team Champions were The Usos, the RAW Women's Champion was Nikki "ASH" Cross, the SmackDown Women's Champion was Bianca Belair, and the Women's Tag Team Champions were Tamina and Natalya.

SummerSlam 2021 began with the RAW Tag Team Champions, AJ Styles and Omos, defending the straps against the "odd couple" pair of Matt Riddle and Randy Orton. My personal dislike for Riddle aside, he has been a rare post-NXT success story, though that's probably partially because I'm guessing his initial contract merited him getting called up and not withering away in the "developmental league." To me, this match was just a tad too short and was just beginning to heat up when Orton hit the RKO for the W. The best spot of the match came, unsurprisingly, from AJ Styles, who hit a backflip reverse DDT on Riddle on the floor that looked absolutely insane. Omos doesn't do much in the ring, but he has undeniable presence and I'm hoping that they'll have the titles back sooner than later as Omos and AJ are a great duo that will allow him plenty of time to grow. (2.5/5)

Eva Marie took on Alexa Bliss next. This reminded me of a match from the late 90s or Attitude Era as the wrestling was subpar, the gimmicks are all cartoonish, and Eva Marie's muscle, Dew Drop, seems like a joke character that Vince finds funny because she's full-figured. This match got a minute or two longer than I expected it would because I only imagined it could possibly go for a minute or two to begin with. Without Bray Wyatt as even the symbolic anchor of the character, I don't really understand Alexa Bliss's demented weirdo gimmick at all. (0/5)

Things got considerably better in our next match - Sheamus defending the United States Championship against Damien Priest. This wasn't a perfect match as there were moments when Priest and Sheamus noticeably slowed things down and telegraphed a big spot, but they did beat the hell out of each other and there is something oddly endearing about seeing Priest perform high-risk maneuvers with little regard for his own health (for example, a somersault dive he performed early on that looked woeful but still popped me just for the insanity of it). Sheamus shined brightest, though, the veteran grappler adding yet another overlooked gem to a resume full of matches like this that feel violent, competitive, and spirited but get completely forgotten on people's Year End Lists. In 2005 or so, I said about Matt Hardy that the reason he was so valuable was because while he may not steal the show every night, he wouldn't put on a bad match on any night. Granted, Hardy's decline made that not as true as it was then but I could say the same about Sheamus now: the guy just doesn't put on bad matches. Its kind of a shame that I don't necessarily know what is next for Sheamus aside from an inevitable rematch which, while it will likely produce another solid bout, doesn't feel like much of a reward for one of the company's most consistently great performers. (3/5)

The SmackDown Tag Team Titles were on the line next as The Usos defended the championships against Rey and Dominick Mysterio. Some good stuff here, especially out of the Usos, whose double-team maneuvers are a real thing of beauty (especially their nasty finishing double-super kick). At 24, Dominick Mysterio still has plenty to learn and his present role is a weird mix of positive and negative. On one hand, he's working matches with some of the best in-ring talents on the planet and has been since his debut. On the other hand, the WWE hasn't been all that successful in nurturing young talent in the recent past and arguably has never been the place to truly "learn your trade." I liked this match, but wouldn't call it "must see." (3/5)

Bianca Belair arrived to defend her SmackDown Women's Championship next. As the pre-match video showed, her challenger was supposed to be Sasha Banks, but Banks was not allowed to compete. Carmella then arrived and was inexplicably given a shot but before the match began, Becky Lynch arrived to a goosebumps-inducing pop. It really was a hair-raising moment and one that brought a huge smile to my face as I watched while jogging on my basement treadmill (humble brag). Lynch took out Carmella with ease and then came back into the ring and challenged Belair to "blow the roof off the place." Belair accepted...and proceeded to lose to a not-even-all-that-great Becky Lynch sidewalk slam in under 30 seconds. Awful. This one gets a point for Lynch's entrance but nothing more. (1/5)

Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal followed. Nothing much to say about this except that I wasn't into it. McIntyre feuding with Mahal feels like a big step down from where he was last year as Mahal, no matter how ripped he is, no matter how many TV wins he gets, is just not a credible upper midcard level guy. This is the match that should've been a 30-second squash. (1.5/5)

The RAW Women's Champion Nikki ASH defended her title against Rhea Ripley and Charlotte next. Charlotte was a guest on Renee Paquette's podcast recently and talked about how the WWE Women's Division is the best division in the world - an argument I think would be tough to debate - but, boy oh boy, are the gimmicks and storylines dogshit and this match (and the Becky/Bianca squash earlier in the show) proof of it. Nikki's Almost-A-Superhero gimmick is two scoops Hurricane but also looks one scoop Eugene, which is not a blend that is "cool" to anyone over the age of 11, girl or boy, and has turned me from one of her biggest cheerleaders to someone who can barely get through her segments/matches. Rhea Ripley, meanwhile, is a "bad ass" who has lost every big match of her career, a "cool" character who isn't all that cool or unique. Charlotte is a Superstar, but she's not a big enough superstar to bring "big fight feel" to a match where she's doing battle with some weak, unlikable characters. There were some good moments - some stiff spots, some good exchanges - but this match never really hooked me, nor was I ever caught up in the suspense as Nikki's recent reign seems to have been the obligatory "thank you" reign given to nearly every member of the roster at some point and Ripley had zero momentum coming into the match. Flair got the deserved win here with the Figure 8, here's hoping that we get a decent challenger for her sooner than later, maybe post shake-up, but for the life of me I can't really even think of who would fit that bill these days. (2/5)

After an Undertaker-length entrance, Seth Rollins took on Edge, who also got a special entrance that was split between a Brood throwback and his classic shtick. I'm not as down on Edge's whole career as others, but his comeback tour has been mostly underwhelming with the single exception of the tongue-in-cheek Greatest Wrestling Match Ever he had against Orton in 2019 (which may not have lived up to the WWE's smarts-mocking hype, but was still very good). Here, he went up against Seth Rollins and the single greatest flaw was that, while Edge's matches with Orton played on their history dating back to the Rated RKO days, Rollins and Edge had no such past or connection to make this match feel truly heated and not just actors playing the role of enemies. Sure, the WWE tried to sell the story that Rollins is the "modern day Edge" - and there are some cosmetic similarities between their two careers, including how overrated they are/were in some corners of the fan universe - but the Ultimate Opportunist never really showed up and Seth Rollins, with a glove, with a pirate jacket he must've picked up Matt Hardy's yard sale, in all white or all black, is primarily a blowhard character who isn't chickenshit enough or charismatic enough for me. Between the bells, Rollins is a good worker, who can do many things, and he showed it again here...but for a match that we've "never seen before," it didn't play as new and exciting. I guess the appeal is seeing Edge taking so many devastating blows and a Falcon Arrow? Like Edge's match against Reigns, when they hit the 15-minute mark, things picked up, as if only at that point did they feel like they had put in enough work to really make things meaningful and not just paint-by-numbers. This is when we saw the clever reversals and Edge busting out some signature moves and near falls and whatnot. But where was Rollins' attempts to cut corners? To try to outsmart his opponent? Where was Edge using his cunning and experience? And while I'm obviously no Rollins fan, I disagree with the result. Edge has never been a dominant anything - heel, face, or whatever - and can clearly coast on showing up every few months for a one-off match. But Rollins? He's supposed to draw viewers every week. (2.5/5)

Bill Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley followed, with Lashley defending his Universal Championship. The crowd let Goldberg have it, clearly not interested in "playing along" with the roles that the WWE was presenting. Once the bell rang, Goldberg and Lashley didn't have the smoothest match ever but no one should've expected that anyway. Goldberg's signature offense lacked the snap and impact that it usually has, but it wasn't as woeful as it could've been as Lashley covered for him more than, say, the Undertaker could a couple years back. According to the news sites, at some point, Goldberg suffered a knee injury, though I didn't catch the precise moment. The match turned once Lashley targeted the knee and MVP caught it with his cane, eventually leading to the referee calling the match due to injury and giving Lashley the "pseudo win" via ref stoppage. I can understand Goldberg not wanting to tap out to Lashley's Full Nelson finish...but I can't understand why Vince McMahon still needs to placate the ego of a guy that he doesn't need to. Sure, Goldberg sells some tee-shirts and maybe some tickets, but with the WWE's current TV deals, his appearances mean little to nothing and, ultimately, his value diminishes with every appearance in which he gets booed or puts on an embarrassing performance. The post-match segment, which saw Lashley further attack Goldberg's knee and putting the Hurt Lock on Gage (Goldberg's son) after Gage jumped the rail and tried to stop Lashley. That moment got the biggest pop of the match which is probably not what Vince wanted at all. This wasn't a total trainwreck or anything, but it also wasn't very good. (1.5/5)

Main event time - John Cena challenging Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship. Cena came in looking a little bit slimmer than usual and also a touch more smarmy, which was part of the story coming in as he basically "called his shot" and said his gameplan was to "get his ass kicked" until the time was right for him to surprise Roman with a pin. It didn't necessarily make much sense to me; Was this supposed to be a pseudo-shoot/insider baseball reference to the way he had previously won matches by getting beaten down until it was time for his "5 Moves of Doom" formula? If so, Cena's own willingness to go 50/50 and put on actual great matches over the years kinda deflateed image years ago (to Cena's own credit, his "formula" was much less predictable than Hogan's). Meanwhile, Roman Reigns performed the same style of match, with the same attitude, as he did just a month ago against Edge. He beat down his opponent for a lengthy stretch, talked trash the whole time, and then eventually got caught with some offense that brought the match to its final third - which was entertaining and fun, but surprisingly unsuspenseful (especially once Cena failed to win the Super Attitude Adjustment). There were was one great cut-off and the crowd was definitely into it, but this match was basically carried by the personalities not necessarily the performance. There are some fans and critics who have praised this main event and I would still consider it above-average...but not the Match of the Year candidate I was hoping for. After getting the clean W, Brock Lesnar showed up and went face-to-face Reigns, signaling their eventual rematch. Here's hoping that match lives up to the hype that this one didn't. (3/5)

With a Kwang Score of 2.0-out-of-5, SummerSlam 2021 was a below average show, especially compared to the relatively strong Money in the Bank and Elimination Chamber events of this year. Reigns/Cena was good, but not great. Edge/Rollins was too long, though it heated up nicely by the end. Goldberg/Lashley started out decently but needed to be cut short and given a definitive finish. After years of being a high point on most every WWE PPV, none of the Women's Division matches were very good and some were downright insulting to the audience and confounding in their booking. The United States Title and Tag Team Title matches were the show's clear highpoints and they happened in the first 60 minutes of a four hour show. 

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver