SummerSlam 2018: The Good, The Bad & The Meh
Perhaps the best WWE pay-per-view of the year.
Brooklyn was treated to a tremendous weekend of classic sports entertainment. This was the fourth year that SummerSlam emanated from the Barclays Center, and it was a packed house filled with the most enthusiastic members of the WWE Universe, which made an exciting match lineup even better. Let’s get right down to it.
Bringing you the Meh:
Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman: The disappointment came not in the delivery or execution of this squash match (which was admittedly fun to watch because Braun is such a freak of nature), but on the victim. Kevin Owens is a former Universal Champion, but if all you had seen of K.O. was his work in 2018, you never would have guessed that. I’m ready for this poor treatment to end now. Kevin Owens has paid for his crimes. Please reward the man!
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jeff Hardy: Once again, oh my word, I’m forced to do this again! Shinsuke, I love you. I promise you’re still my favorite on Smackdown Live! This match, however, well… it was a good little match. Jeff Hardy trying to kill himself for our amusement is always great, but otherwise, this was nothing to write home about. The crowd was lukewarm at best, and as a result, the match felt like a dead spot in the card. The crowd did pop for Nakamura winning, which is well deserved considering he has had one of the best years in WWE. My apologies to both of these usually stellar performers.
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar: Here comes the old compliment sandwich. I enjoyed how they handled this match from a booking standpoint. Bringing Braun out was a clever misdirection (Jack Goodwillie called it a “bait and switch”) and they kept the match short so that they could get in and out with it. However, the logic of Lesnar losing after such a short match is a glaring inconsistency, even in the world of WWE. Reigns and Lesnar had been presented as equally epic gladiators. This match should have been a marathon of balls-to-the-wall action. Instead, we got a six-minute, fluky squash of The Beast. In the end, though, I’m glad that this exhausting feud is (seemingly) over, and THAT ultimately overcame my desire to see it ended the “right” way.
Moving on to the Bad:
The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers: The athleticism and in-ring work was top notch. I like all of the participants involved. And despite a goofy-looking bad guy gimmick, the Bludgeon Brothers have made believers out of me that they are killer heels. I couldn’t wrap my head around the DQ finish, though. Having the monsters run away killed a lot of my good will for the Brothers. I’m certainly not opposed to DQ finishes per se, as I discussed on the podcast, but two monsters such as Harper & Rowan should be committing acts of sheer brutality, not running with their tails between their legs.
Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak: How is the Cruiserweight Championship match still on the Kickoff Show?! Jack Goodwillie really opened my eyes to what a disappointment this is. I’m going to keep this in my Bad column until this injustice is fixed.
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Carmella: The crowd was sincerely invested in this match, and for many, it was the most anticipated match of the evening. The women’s wrestling revolution has been top notch in 2018, but SummerSlam was special for one reason – the crowd had made a clear choice. They wanted Becky Lynch to succeed. But the match itself did not play out that way, instead of catering to this groundswell of support, WWE cut the legs right out from under it. After a thrilling match between the three, it ended with Charlotte taking advantage of Becky’s distraction and pinning her. The crowd went mild. But, when Becky attacked Charlotte, the Brooklyn crowd responded with thunderous applause. The WWE can attempt to spin this any way they want to, but it ultimately shows a blind failure of the writing team to be so unwilling to support the clear top babyface of the Smackdown women’s division. This is incredibly disappointing for the fans, and hopefully, WWE sees the error of its ways.
Lots of Good to talk about:
Seth Rollins w/ Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler w/ Drew McIntyre: This was one of the best SummerSlam opening matches of all time. The Rollins/Ziggler rivalry has been top notch and, in the process, raised the stock of all involved. It was great to see Ambrose back, causing some carnage around ringside. The right man won in the end, but hopefully this rivalry takes a new turn as we go into fall. This was absolutely a must-see match in their rivalry.
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin: This gets an A+ rating simply because I loved seeing the Demon squash Baron Corbin in under two minutes. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy, as they say. The Demon’s mystique continues to grow as it should. I just hope we get to see Finn Balor as Universal Champion once more.
The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan: With eight years of history between them, this match was a great first act in the renewed rivalry between these two. Daniel Bryan is still wicked over with crowd, but The Miz has slowly and remarkably become a crowd favorite as well for his promo work and dependability. It’s a credit to Miz and his abilities as a wrestling villain that he was able to squash any of the support the crowd tried to give him for his tactics and his promos. The crowd was a bit out of this match, perhaps because of the expectation that this was just act one of the story, or because of the length of SummerSlam itself. However, I loved this match.
Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss: Sure, this was ultimately just a squash match and forgone conclusion that Ronda was going to win. However, this was still fun to watch. Ronda is a natural entertainer within the squared circle. Alexa made Ronda look like a killer. There were some logic flaws in the booking of this match if you want to be nitpicky, but honestly, I enjoyed the delivery and finish. Ronda Rousey continues to prove me wrong by showing the world that she’s born to be here.
Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles: This was arguably the match of the night. It was the first bout of an intense, personal rivalry, which is key to elevating any WWE feud. The match itself was hard-hitting, dramatic and fun. Samoa Joe may well be on his way to becoming the best wrestling villain on television right now. His promo work is phenomenal (no pun intended). The set up to the DQ ending was amazing and I honestly can’t wait for more of this rivalry in the coming months. AJ Styles has been on such an incredible roll that I don’t want it to end, but if Samoa Joe is the one to end it, he would be a great WWE Champion.
Overall, I would say SummerSlam was perhaps the best WWE pay per view this year, second only to the Royal Rumble. The talent was on full display in a positive way and for the most part the show was positively received. Outside of some confusing booking decisions, the show was thoroughly entertaining.
I’d go so far as to give it my first A- of the year.
About Author
