By Steve Ward
WWE Summerslam Night One emanated this evening from US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Night one of this two-night extravaganza would feature six matches with two titles contested and would be headlined by a Hell In A Cell Match between Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi.
Women’s World Championship
Liv Morgan (c) vs. Iyo Sky
Winner: Liv Morgan via pinfall
Tonight marked Liv’s first defense of her title since she dethroned Stephanie Vaquer at WrestleMania. Her opponent would be the formidable Iyo Sky who defeated Liv in the Queen of the Ring tournament. Iyo was able to withstand outside interference from Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez, however, Liv escaped falling victim to the Over The Moonsault multiple times to answer with two Codebreakers (one from the second rope) and finally Oblivion to retain her title.
The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) & Jacob Fatu vs. Royce Keys, Solo Sikoa, & LA Knight
Winners: Royce Keys, Solo Sikoa, & LA Knight via pinfall
This six man tag team bout saw Solo pull together the forces of Knight and Keys in an attempt to conquer the Bloodline. They were able to do just that as the closing moments saw Solo stun Jey Uso with the Samoan Spike setting him up to be put down with LA Knight’s BFT.
Gunther vs. Nick Aldis
Winner: Gunther via submission
With Gunther’s growing frustrations over being unable to recapture the Undisputed WWE Championship, he made the mistake of getting physical with Smackdown GM Nick Aldis at Saturday Night’s Main Event which brought us to tonight’s encounter. For those unfamiliar with Nick Aldis’ resume, he is a former TNA World Champion (then known as Magnus) and held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (also known as the Ten Pounds of Gold) to name a couple accomplishments so a three-year hiatus from in-ring competition may not be so daunting for him. Aldis did not demonstrate any ring rust and appeared to be in prime condition. In the closing moments of this hard-fought bout, Aldis seemed moments from a massive upset as he had Gunther trapped in the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf. Gunther was able to escape and followed up with a powerbomb before finally earning the submission victory via the sleeper hold.
The Bella Twins & Paige vs. Fatal Influence
Winners: Fatal Influence via pinfall
Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid defeated Brie Bella and Paige two weeks ago for the tag team titles at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Now with Nikki Bella back from injury, the three were out for revenge tonight in a six-woman tag team affair. The end of this match was rather anticlimactic as Jacey Jayne put Paige away with the Rolling Thunder. Following the match, The Bellas delivered a vicious beatdown on Paige as Nikki had taken exception to her stepping in with her sister Brie while she was out with an injury.
Undisputed WWE Championship
CM Punk (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
Winner: CM Punk via pinfall
Cody Rhodes found himself right back in an Undisputed WWE Championship once again after he confronted his friend CM Punk following his victory over Sami Zayn to reclaim the title. Punk told Cody to say when he wanted a title opportunity which brought us to tonight. Late in the match, Cody seemed fast on his way to winning the championship after Punk had missed an elbow drop from the top rope to Rhodes who was seemingly incapacitated on the announce table - until he rolled out of harm’s way just in time. Cody then attempted a Cody Cutter moments later, but Punk moved leaving referee Charles Robinson there to take it instead. With the referee now out of commission, Randy Orton emerged from the crowd and hit Rhodes with an RKO outta nowhere! Punk then hit Cody with a GTS just in time for Charles Robinson to come to and count the pinfall.
Hell In A Cell
Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman vs. Oba Femi
Winner: Oba Femi via pinfall
The trilogy between these two unstoppable behemoths would come to a head tonight as the third battle in their trilogy, following encounters at WrestleMania and Clash In Italy, would commence in Hell In A Cell with the series tied at one apiece. These two gladiators wreaked absolute havoc in the cage as they left broken tables, chairs, and ring steps scattered around the ring. In the closing moments, Brock ripped up the ring canvas and padding as he exposed the wood planks. Brock then delivered a Tombstone Piledriver onto the wood. Oba kicked out of the subsequent pinfall attempt and moments later delivered the Fall From Grace to seal the victory.
Following the match, Brock returned to the ring, embraced Oba, and proclaimed him the future of WWE.
No comments:
Post a Comment