The 32nd installment of WWE’s biggest party of the summer, Summerslam, emanated from the home of the NBA World Champion Toronto Raptors, the Scotiabank Arena. With less than two weeks before AEW presents ALL OUT, their last major pay per view before they premier on TNT in October, and with the upcoming premier of Smackdown on FOX, one was left to wonder if WWE would take this opportunity to push the envelope further with what they’ve labeled as a move to “edgier” programming. The card certainly had no shortage of star power as it featured Brock Lesnar, as well as, ring legends Trish Stratus and Goldberg - both in competition. The nine match card also treated fans to four title bouts headlined by Brock Lesnar pitted against Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship.
RAW Women’s Championship
Submission Match
Becky Lynch (c) vs.
Natalya
Winner: Becky Lynch via
submission
Canada’s own Natalya Neidhart
challenged “The Man” for her Women’s Championship as the two proficient
submission experts squared off in a submission match to kick off the main card.
After a very evenly contested bout, it appeared Natalya would finally earn
championship gold again as she cinched in a picture perfect Sharpshooter,
however, The Man was able to avert disaster and turned the tables as she locked
in The Disarmer for the submission victory.
Goldberg vs. Dolph Ziggler
Winner: Goldberg via
pinfall
For several weeks Dolph
Ziggler had belittled several WWE legends, most notably Shawn Michaels. At the
contract signing this past Monday, Ziggler under the belief that he was signing
up to fight The Miz, neglected to read the fine print and found himself
obligated to face the legendary Goldberg much to the chagrin of the WWE
Universe. It appeared for a brief moment that Dolph would pull off an
unbelievable upset as he hit the super kick immediately after the opening bell.
With Goldberg laid out, Dolph stood poised to land another super kick, however,
Goldberg returned to his feet and intercepted Ziggler with a body-breaking spear.
Goldberg immediately followed up with the Jackhammer as he made quick work of
Ziggler.
United States Championship
Match
A.J. Styles (c) w/ The
OC vs. Ricochet
Winner: A.J. Styles via
pinfall
Now reunited with his old
Bullet Club cohorts, Gallows and Anderson, A.J. Styles defended his United
States title this evening-one which he captured from Ricochet last month.
Ricochet earned this opportunity after he prevailed in a gauntlet match
recently on RAW. In the final moments of the contest, Ricochet vaulted off of
the top rope only to be caught by the Phenomenal One who put him away with the
Styles Clash for the victory.
Smackdown Women’s
Championship
Ember Moon vs. Bayley (c)
Winner: Bayley via pinfall
Ember Moon controlled the
tempo of this entire match with her striking ability, however, Bayley picked
her shot as she intercepted Ember Moon on the top rope and executed the Bayley
to Belly to put the final stamp on her title defense.
Kevin Owens vs. Shane
McMahon
Winner: Kevin Owens
KO seemingly had the victory
sealed as he executed a senton and frog splash back to back only to have the
special guest enforcer Elias disrupt the referee’s 3-count. After Elias was
disposed of, KO proceeded to kick Shane-o-mac between the uprights and finished
him off with a stunner for the victory and to ensure he kept his job.
Trish Stratus vs.
Charlotte Flair
Winner: Charlotte Flair
via submission
Stratus entered this match
looking as phenomenal as ever and immediately took the fight to Charlotte. This
didn’t last long as the Queen quickly assumed control and controlled the tempo
for a majority of the match as she mocked the WWE Hall of Famer at every
opportunity. Trish attempted a late rally as she landed the Stratusfaction and
the Chick Kick but they were not enough to put Flair away. In the end,
Charlotte trapped Trish in the Figure Eight for the submission victory.
Needless to say, this match did not leave this writer stratusfied.
WWE Championship
Randy Orton vs. Kofi
Kingston (c)
Winner: No contest
This bout was ten years in
the making as Kofi accused Randy Orton of holding him back with his backstage
influence back in 2009 - apparently this was the best buildup that the writing
team could come up with for a Summerslam
championship match. One of the most entertaining aspects of this match didn’t
come from one of the performers but rather the crowd as they repeatedly engaged
in the chant, “Kofi’s stupid, Randy sucks!” In the closing moments of the
match, the most spectacular moment of the contest was spoiled as Kofi leapt off
the top rope and got caught with an RKO Outta Nowhere only to roll out of the
ring and avoid a potential pinfall. Orton proceeded to follow Kofi out of the
ring where he laid in front of his family at ringside. As Orton attempted to
embarrass Kofi, the two men were counted out, however, this was not the end as
Kofi proceeded to lay waste to the Viper with a kendo stick as he took
exception to his actions.
Finn Balor vs. “The Fiend”
Bray Wyatt
Winner: The Fiend via
pinfall
This evening marked the
in-ring debut of Bray Wyatt’s new persona The Fiend. With the exception of some
brief offense displayed by Finn late in the contest, this was the definition of
a squash match. Finn was finally put out of his misery as Bray shoved his
fingers down his throat with a Mandible Claw pinning Balor’s shoulders in the
process for the victory.
Universal Championship
Match
Brock Lesnar (c) vs.
Seth Rollins
Winner: Seth Rollins
This was by far the longest,
most competitive match these two men have ever had. The action was fast and
furious as each continued to execute their signature moves throughout the match
to no avail. The closing moments saw Rollins drop Lesnar to the canvas with a
super kick which he immediately followed with a curb stomp as a new Universal
Champion was crowned in what may have been Lesnar‘s shortest title reign to
date.
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