If you’ve been living under a rock, WWE has been on Fire! Speaking of heat, the Hottest event of the summer, SummerSlam took place this year at the Cleveland Browns stadium. Packing in 57,791 rambunctious WWE fans, SummerSlam gave me a big event feel. Speaking of Phill, this year’s SummerSlam is CM Punk’s first singles match in WWE in over ten years. His feud with Scotland’s, Scottish Psychopath, Drew McIntyre is made of the stuff I haven’t experienced in pro wrestling since the Stone Cold Steve Austin Era. I just knew this was going to be an awesome event.
Fans always debate the look of the entrance stage. That’s one thing that we hated during the Vinny Mac era. Almost every entrance stage looked the same as the regular TV programing. Since Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over not only have WWE been offering stelar entrance stages, but wildly making them smaller to get more fans in the building.
This year’s SummerSlam had a STACKED card full of matches that had major ramifications depending on the winners. Rhea and Liv wasn’t just for the championship, it had this element of Dominic Mysterio and not really knowing how he would affect the match. The much anticipated match between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre had the big money feel, and Cody vs Solo in a Bloodline Rules match was surely going to be a “pop” fest.
Summer Slam started with the King of Kings, Triple H welcoming everyone to SummerSlam and thanked the Cleveland crowd. Then he introduced the performer for the evening, Jelly Roll who performed his current single Liar in the middle of the ring for the love crowd.
Rhea Vs Liv ©
W- Liv
We started the night with what I would call a physical form of a massive tiger in Rhea vs a smaller but faster Cheetah in Liv Morgan. Liv knew she could not take on Rhea head on so she relied on her quickness and cunningness to keep Rhea away as she was hoping to get an opening but unfortunately for her Rhea was blood thirsty. In the storyline, Liv injured Rhea’s shoulder and put her out since WrestleMania 40. So in this match it was understood that Rhea was going to enjoy picking apart Liv for taking her out and trying to infringe on her “Dirty Dom”. with. Unfortunately Rhea’s emotions got the best of her and allowed the space for Dominic to get involved and show exactly what side he was on. Liv picked up the win after Mysterio slid a chair in the right for Liv to drop Rhea on her head and get the 1,2,3… Dom and Liv celebrate by having a face sucking lip lock moment for the sold out crowd. It just looked wrong…
Sami © vs Bron Breaker
W- Bron
Bron Breaker is a BEAST! He is freakishly fast and freakishly strong. How Sami retained against him in their last bout at Money In The Bank still amazes me. However there was no chance that Sami was walking out of SummerSlam still the WWE Intercontinental Champion. This match had some good back and forth but in the end Bron was too much for the much older Sami Zayn.
LA vs Logan ©
W- LA
This has been a much anticipated match for the fast rising star LA KNIGHT. Since he came to the WWE in NXT people have been in tune with everything he does and everything he says. So naturally the anticipation of him getting a title run was going to be soon. However it was never going to be an easy task because on this night LA had to face another fast rising star who is also much younger, Logan Paul. Say what you will about Paul’s public antics but his in ring ability is the stuff of legends. Every match the Maverick Logan Paul is in he makes a viral moment happen. Unfortunately all of the flips and all of the tricks was not enough to retain the title. LA KNIGHT wins and the sold out crowd went ballistic!
Nia Vs Bayley ©
W-Nia
Since coming back to the WWE after the Vince admin released her, Nia has proven that she should be a mainstay in the women’s division in the WWE. Her mic skills have significantly improved as well as her in-ring ability. In fact, Nia actually is a bit of a comedian when the time is appropriate. Her dominant statue and intimidating presence is sure to terrify most of the women she steps in the ring with. However, her opponent tonight is the WWE Women’s Champ and Bayley didn’t become the Champ by being a pushover. Bayley heart is her biggest asset. Regardless of what version of her she is presenting on screen, her heart is her driving force. So this bout was set to be a solid match between these two vets
By merely looking at the two competitors you would assume the victor would be Nia, the current Queen of the Ring. Apologies, she prefers to be known as Queen Nia! Queen Nia bidding was done as she honestly beat the hell out of Bayley. Bayley gave all the heart she could give. Her effort just made you feel terrible for her in the end. You’ve been the company’s Champ in the women’s division for the last 118 days and to have it sat on by the woman whom you have competitively struggled with throughout your WWE career. The Queen rolled out with the title and the crown.
CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre W/ Special Guest Ref Seth Rollins
W- Drew McIntyre
This was the Big match the fans have been waiting on since CM Punk returned last year in November. Everything that surrounded this match gave it the perfect ingredients to be an epic clash. Equipped with long entrances as if it was WrestleMania and the razzle on top of the dazzle was Seth Rollins looking like a cosplay of BeetleJuice who was the special guest referee for the match. The elements of shenanigans were all in place.
Drew walked in confident, knowing in his mind he already had CM Punk beat. “Bring that b–ch out here! All you have to do is ring the bell!” The static hits followed by the guitar riff of Living Colour’s Cult of Personality blasts out the speakers. The crowd erupts! “IT’S CLOBBERIN TIME!!” CM Punk makes his way to the ring focused on Drew. Wildly the idea of being beat wasn’t a thought that Punk looked past. He knew that that was more than a possibility. He didn’t care. To him this wasn’t a match to be decided by a win or loss. No, Punk wanted his “pound of flesh”. Punk was sick of Drew McIntyre. He was mouthing off to him before the Rumble. Drew “injured” CM Punk during the Royal Rumble and from that point, Punk made it his mission to forever be that thorn in Drew’s side for life. However, this way of thinking definitely came with its own set of consequences. Just as much as Punk wanted to punch Drew in the mouth, Drew wanted to completely cripple Punk and render him useless. They both beat the hell out of each other while Seth Rollins looked away. Well, as long as they didn’t bring in any foreign objects. Everything else was fair play. Except when Seth tried to hit Drew with the steel chair and nearly clobbered Punk with it. Using this disturbance as a opening, Punk began to get the upper hand in the match until he say the bracelet that includes his wife’s name and his dog’s name on it being worn by Drew. Punks focus began to slip away from wanting to get his pound of flesh to “gimme my bracelet back!” Such a silly thing to be distracted by. This gave Drew the proper amount of distraction to kick Punk in the face with that massive Claymore kick and collected the win.
Damian Priest © vs Gunther
W- Gunther
Gunther winning the King of The Ring Tournament gave him the opportunity to challenge the World Heavyweight Champion at this year’s SummerSlam. After cashing in and having a few successful retentions, Daiman Vs Gunther was a true battle of hard hitting titans. This was such a hard hitting match that the chest chops from Priest to Gunther cut him and caused him to bleed from his left pectoral muscle. This issue in this match was Daiman’s distraction from Finn Balor. A guy that Daiman thought was his brother in arms. Finn helped Gunther win the title after a hard fought bout.
Solo vs Cody © (Bloodline Rules Match)
W- Cody
AND NOW IS TIME FOR THE MAIN EVENT!
Since WrestleMania, Solo Sikoa has proclaimed himself the new “Tribal Chief” and to solidify his spot as the new Head of The Table. He made a challenge to the WWE Champion Cody Rhodes for his WWE Championship. Cody has had his dealings with the BloodLine for the last two years knows exactly what it means for any member of the BloodLine to challenge him. You’re not just fighting one, you’re fighting them all. So boldly, Cody suggested that Solo make it a Bloodline Rules match. A no disqualification match with major special guest appearances.
Cody kept the upper hand in the beginning but just as he was about to hit his big move, Solo’s cousins came out to ambush the WWE Champion, Just when Solo thought he was going to have the W, Kevin Ownes who was put on the shelf by the BloodLine came out to pulverize Toma Tonga and Tanga Loa! However no matter how tough you are, two on one is not good odds. Almost immediately after, THE VIPER RANDY ORTON who was also put on the shelf by the BloodLine came out and evened the numbers. They scattered throughout the main area in the stadium and left the ring for Cody and Solo. Cody, poised and ready, starts leaning in on Solo. The victory was almost in his hands. It didn’t last too long as the final member of the BloodLine, Jacob Fatu came out and started to obliterate the Champion. Placing him on the announce table and jumping from the ring’s top rope to frog splash him through the table. It did seem as though he legit hurt himself but just as Solo was about to pin Cody, THE ORIGINAL TRIBAL CHIEF started to make his was down to the ring from the isle way to a loud approving crowd. Roman Reigns snaps Solo with are flying Superman Punch followed by a spear that looked as if Roman wanted to go completely through Solo. He acknowledges Cody and leaves the ring. 1, 2, 3… AND STILL YOUR WWE CHAMPION, COOOODYYYY RHOOOOODEEESSS!!!!!!
This years SummerSlam was great! All the matches had a big money feel and I cant wait to see what the follow up is going to be.
