Summerslam 2017 emanated from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the third consecutive year. The show featured 13 freakin’ matches, so we don’t have time to waste. Let’s jump right in.
Kickoff Show: The Miz-tourage def. Jason Jordan and The Hardy Boyz – Wow. Just run a preshow match before you let anyone in the building, why don’t you? Geez – no crowd reaction for Jason Jordan at all. I’m not sure how this experiment is working. But, how about Curtis Axel’s sweet ass pants? The Miz picks up the win for his team with a Skull Crushing Finale, and I feel bad for The Hardy Boyz – shame The Revival was out of action. Rating: a very forgettable 3/10.
Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Championship: Neville def. Akira Tozawa – These two guys have great chemistry together and have now put on a handful of great matches. I thought there was a good chance Tozawa would be the one to eventually dethrone Neville – just didn’t think it would happen on an episode of Raw. And, I didn’t think it would switch right back to Neville. Regardless, I’m curious to see where it goes, and the match was great. Rating: a respectable 7/10.
Kickoff Show: Walk with Elias – My god, is Elias the best musician in WWE history? I don’t know – it’s debatable. He really seems to get his finger right on the pulse of the people no matter which town he’s in. Bravo. Highlight of the night so far. Rating: 10/10.
Kickoff Show: Smackdown Tag Team Championship: The Usos def. The New Day – Another classic tag team match between these two teams, but at this point, no one should be surprised. These guys make up two of the greatest tag teams of the last 15 years. The title switch keeps this feud going, which I don’t think anyone will argue against. Rating: 8.5/10.
Shawn Michaels is prancing around dressed as Colonel Sanders. I swear – I look away for one second and shit just completely descends into chaos. Anyway, on to the main card!
John Cena def. Baron Corbin – Wow. “Where’s your briefcase?” chant for Corbin. Too damn soon, Brooklyn. Too damn soon. Also, what a rather stale opening contest. Corbin seems to have really pissed someone off, as his bad week continues. Cena pins clean Corbin clean after an AA. Rating: 5/10.
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Natalya def. Naomi – What a great, hard-worked match between these two ladies. Nattie gets the win, getting Naomi to tap out to the Sharpshooter. This was a fine example of storytelling, and I, for one, am happy to see Natalya get a championship that doesn’t resemble a tramp stamp. Rating: 8/10.
Big Cass def. Big Show – Boring. Don’t want to write about it. Rating: 3.5/10.
Randy Orton def. Rusev – “Hey, guys – what’s the best way to bring the crowd back after that Cass-Big Show match? Let’s have Rusev eat an RKO right after the bell and lose!” Don’t understand – the guys at Squared Circle Radio put it best: “Rusev is a world champ in a company that doesn’t suck complete ass.” Rating: 3/10.
Raw Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks def. Alexa Bliss – Sasha Banks was due for a big pay-per-view win like this, so I have no problem with this. The match itself was pretty good, with Banks eventually getting the win with the Banks Statement. Hopefully, she’ll get the lengthy reign she deserves, though I have a feeling this ends with a Nia Jax championship run. Rating: 6.5/10.
Finn Balor def. Bray Wyatt – Decent, solid contest that was made immensely better by all the theatrics. Balor hasn’t really found firm footing since his return, but after a showcase such as this, he’s ready for a big time program. It’s time to really get the Balor train going again. That said, this show is desperate for some standout matches. Let’s cross our fingers. Rating: 6.5/10.
Raw Tag Team Championship: Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins def. The Bar – Well, this show was due for an epic showdown, and that’s exactly what this was. After some beautiful clustered multi-man superplex of doom, Rollins hits a couple of super kicks, his finisher, and Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds for the win. It was exciting, and both teams came away looking strong. Spot of the match has to go to Cesaro, though, for venturing out into the crowd and ripping apart the beach ball the crowd was bouncing around. Also, shout out to Dean Ambrose for becoming a grand slam champ. Rating: 8.5/10.
United States Championship: A.J. Styles def. Kevin Owens – I love how Shane McMahon was the special guest referee and was sweatier than both of the guys who were actually wrestling. There’s something about this rivalry – I can’t quite put my finger on it – that just isn’t clicking. It’s as if they have good ring chemistry, but there’s no real spark between the two. That said, this was undoubtedly the best match these two have had together. We’re definitely heading toward a McMahon-Owens match. Rating: 7.5/10.
WWE Championship: Jinder Mahal def. Shinsuke Nakamura – Wow, what an incredibly underwhelming, anticlimactic championship match. Pretty sure the entrances were the best part. I’m okay with a lengthy Mahal title run, but my goodness, what’s wrong with giving him a legitimate win? Literally every pay-per-view match he’s competed in since becoming WWE champion has ended with The Singh Brothers getting involved. I’m not disappointed with the outcome, but I’m incredibly disappointed with the match. Rating: 4/10.
Universal Championship Fatal 4-way: Brock Lesnar def. Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe, and Braun Strowman – In all fairness, I don’t think it would’ve been too hard to steal the show on this lackluster pay-per-view, but boy – that was one hell of a match. That’s one I’m going to remember come time for all the year end list-making. Every contender was showcased wonderfully. The action was brutal and physical. The biggest beneficiary had to be Strowman who comes away from this match looking like a legitimate threat. Love it. Rating: 9/10.
Overall: 5/10. It was a pretty damn boring Summerslam. Incredibly disappointing. Outside of the two tag team title matches and the main event, it just plain wasn’t a good show.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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