Overall, Summerslam 2019 a good show. Main show had decent start with the RAW Women’s Championship, then slowed down, but gradually got better. Bill and I were discussing during the show how the matches are good, but lacked the “big fight feel.” Many of these matches felt like RAW or SmackDown! main events.
Pre-Show featured more than a couple matches, Drew Gulak retaining the Cruiserweight Championship in a great match against Oney Lorcan. Really great match. Apollo Crews and Buddy Murphy gets interrupted when Erick Rowan comes in and beats up Murphy.
Edge interrupts Elias and spears him! Big pop from the crowd.
In a surprise, we got a Women’s Tag Team Championship defense, as Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross retain over the IIconics. Thank Primus.
The main part of Summerslam 2019 kicked off with Becky Lynch retaining the RAW Women’s Championship against Natalya. Great match. Natalya and Lynch did something most of the men’s matches couldn’t, tell a story. Natalya had something to prove, and Lynch, playing the heelish-face aggressor. A lot of close submissions, of course the typical use of each other’s submission, but it all ended when Becky locked Natalya in the center of the ring with the Dis-Arm-Her. There was really cool spot, Nattie locking Lynch in the Sharpshooter around the top turnbuckle.
Goldberg defeats Dolph Ziggler
This slows down the show to a near-screeching halt. Goldberg takes two superkicks, gets up, drills Ziggles with a spear and it’s over.
But wait! Ziggler taunts Goldberg post-match. So Ziggy eats another spear.
Uh oh, just when you thought it was over, Ziggles once again calls Goldberg back. Guess what, Goldberg spears him a third time. Thankfully, that was the end of a painful-to-watch segment.
AJ Styles retains the United States Championship against Ricochet
Like a roller-coaster, the show picks back up with this high flying spot-fest. Again, really good match, but the chants of “this is awesome” were a bit overdramatic. Look, AJ and Ricochet can put on a great match, but this could have been main event of RAW. Thanks to interference from The Club, AJ retains.
Bayley retains the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Ember Moon
Aaaaand Summerslam 2019 slows back down again. Not belittling either one, both are very talented. The match was decent, some slow points which looked more like regrouping communication than slowing the match down. Not sure if something was forgotten during the match, just seemed as though both were visibly cautious. Maybe they need some more matches together to iron out.
Forgot to mention, great backstage segment with The Street Profits and Ric Flair, which sees Montez Ford drop an elbow to the floor. Beautiful.
Kevin Owens defeats Shane McMahon
I honestly wasn’t sure what direction this angle was going in. If Shane won, Owens could do a run-in from the crowd bit every week until he gets re-hired. I hoped to be wrong, and glad I was. Shane had too many high-profile PPV wins lately, so I’m glad to see him taken down a notch. Elias running around for interference proved useless, and Owens, sporting a “Fight Toronto Fight” shirt hits the Stunner following a low-blow for the win. Yay.
Good match, but again, didn’t feel like a great one.
Charlotte Flair defeated Trish Stratus
This was one of those matches where I think the crowd got into it just because of the HOF and hometown factor. I think the live crowd tries to make more of it than it is. You know, when you are part of something, and you want to believe it’s better than it is to make yourself feel special? This match was a slow spot-fest, allowing Trish to hit some big moves and take some solid boot bumps. It was a good match, entertaining, but didn’t deserve the “This is awesome” chants. Trish did well for herself, and Charlotte got the convincing win.
Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship goes to a Double Count-Out
Pretty good match, good pace. This was closer to the big fight feel, because Kofi had a major challenger in Randy Orton. The end of the match tells us this one isn’t over. Orton taunts in front of Kofi’s family, which results in the count out. Kofi loses his mind and takes Orton to town with a kendo stick. Kofi showing more aggression tonight.
Two things to note: Can WWE still call Orton the “Apex Predator” or can DC Comics call Lex Luthor the Apex Predator? Can it be trademarked?
Secondly, there were a lot of dueling crowd chants of “Kofi’s stupid” vs. “Randy sucks.”
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt defeated Finn Balor.
Corey Graves makes the point we are all thinking of before the match starts, why not “The Demon” come out to face Wyatt?
The entrance is some scary stuff. The Fiend is carrying a lantern which is a mask of Bray Wyatt’s face, eyes sown shut, the light coming out of the mouth. He wrestled with the mask on, a twisted version of his old theme music. Short match, but to the point. Wyatt is a scary dude. Crowd chants “Holy sh*t” before it starts, and after the lights go back on, the crowd chants “That was awesome” as Finn Balor struggles to get back to his feet. This wasn’t a squash by any means, this was showing the new Bray Wyatt is no laughing matter. He is now using the Mandible Claw as a finisher too.
Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar to regain the WWE Universal Championship
Michael Cole must have another personality whenever Brock shows up. He gets so excited and loses his mind within moments. “One has to wonder what’s going through the mind of the beast?!”
It’s probably “Herp-a-derp, gonna get my money.”
Again, the crowd’s chants of “This is awesome” are completely unwarranted. Rollins hit a curb stomp and two superkicks early on. Hello folks, do we not remember just a few months ago? Rollins isn’t some lightweight Brock makes mincemeat out of. He’s a legit contender. This isn’t a two-minute match. Why there is so much surprise Rollins hits his moves, I don’t understand. Yes, Brock is a “beast” but this also means we watch him lumber around and do the same suplex over and over. It’s not novelty anymore. Yes, Brock will toss Seth around like a cruiserweight, but it’s not impressive anymore, it’s routine.
Now, when Rollins did a frog splash off the ring post, crashing Brock through a table, that earned the “Holy sh*t” chant.
In the end, repeated superkicks and curb stomps was too much for The Beast, and the Beast Slayer burned down Suplex City one more time to become WWE Universal Champion.
Comments are closed.