PWP Nation’s Bruce Hart gives his thoughts on WWE SummerSlam.
Greetings.
For some time now I’ve been advocating that my friends in the WWE get back to old school style wrestling, including more actual wrestling, more straight, in the middle of the ring finishes and less emphasis on all the illicit, artificial additives and bullshit. After having watched SummerSlam, I’m pleased to relate that, at long last, they finally seem to be getting the message.
As a rule, if there’s one really great match on a pay per view, I’m satisfied that I got my money’s worth, but, giving credit where credit is due, I thought there were not one, not two, but at least three “match of the year” bouts on SummerSlam – the epic clash between John Cena and AJ Styles; the cataclysmic WWE Universal Championship bout between Finn Balor and Seth Rollins; and the sensational women’s title match between Sasha Banks and Charlotte. I also thought that the brawl between Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar was also on track to be a hell of a match as well, but was unfortunately cut short because Randy got his head busted open. In addition to that, the previous night’s main event on the NXT show between Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe was also terrific, so, all thing’s considered, two thumbs up and props to the WWE for a great weekend.
Overall, I’d have to say that the Cena-Styles match was probably my favorite match on Summer slam, with both guys working their asses off, selflessly investing their blood, sweat and tears and, ultimately, rendering an old school classic. Cena, who’s been much maligned for various reasons, silenced his critics with an astonishing performance and, in defeat, probably gained more respect from his peers and fans in general, than for any match that he’s ever won. As well, I was impressed that he did the honors right in the middle without any ifs, ands or buts – which is as old school as it gets. Props to you, John!
As for AJ, even though he’s been used kind of up and down since his arrival in the WWE, this was a breakout performance that finally affirms his status as one of the WWE’s bonafide superstars. I couldn’t be happier for AJ, as he’s certainly paid his dues and, behind the scenes, as his peers can attest, is one of the most respected and conscientious guys in the business. Like many of you, I believe that AJ – like Daniel Bryan, before they switched him, is probably better suited to be a face and wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen soon. Regardless, this is certainly a big step in the right direction for him and should pay huge dividends for the whole promotion – Yes! Yes! Yes!
As far as the Rollins-Balor Universal Championship match goes, this was another epic encounter, which took the fans on an emotional roller coaster ride – with great pace, impeccable execution, a minimum of frivolous high spots and both bringing their A game. As was the case with Cena, Seth, in my estimation, probably gained more glory and respect from his fellow wrestlers, going down to defeat than for any match that he’s ever won. I’ve long been a fan of Seth’s, but my assessment of him grew exponentially after this match. He now deserves to be mentioned in the same conversation as legends, like Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Harley Race, Terry Funk, my brothers Bret and Owen and my old crony, the Dynamite Kid – all of whom were able to rise to the occasion, when the chips were down.
Equally compelling was the women’s title match between Charlotte and Sasha, which may have been even better than their previous title clash at WrestleMania – which many, myself included, rated as one of the best women’s matches in years. I was somewhat surprised to see Sasha drop the belt so soon after she’d won it, but that doesn’t diminish her status, as like Cena and Rollins, her stock only rose in defeat. Hopefully she’ll remain in the forefront, as far as the women’s division is concerned, because she definitely appears to be the real deal.
As I mentioned before, the Lesnar-Orton brawl was everything it had been billed to be and more, as was the Nakamura-Samoa Joe encounter on the NXT show the night before. For old school fans like myself, this was an affirmation that old school isn’t dead and, in fact, is alive and well, once again. I can’t help but believing that Triple H, Vince, Shane and whomever else must also be surmising the same thing. While SummerSlam was an unqualified success because of the aforementioned awesome matches, some of the other matches on the card, unfortunately, paled in comparison.
For some reason, the other “world title” match on the card, between Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler – both of whom I have a lot of respect for, never seemed to rise to the level of the Rollins/Balor or Cena/Styles classics. If I were Ambrose, I’d cut back on the cartoonish, pseudo “loose cannon” persona and get back to more actual wrestling and good old fashioned ass-kicking.
Dolph, on the other hand, appears to be trying hard but still seems to be somewhat typecast by all the frivolous crap he was made to engage in the past few years. As such, it’s still tough to take him seriously as a legit world title contender. I still think he has the potential to be a marketable commodity, but it will take a while to restore his credibility and the type of match he had with Ambrose wasn’t really that conducive to that.
For whatever reason, I wasn’t all that impressed with the Rusev and Roman Reigns United States Championship match. Both appeared to be working hard, but there just wasn’t much chemistry between them and their styles don’t really seem to compliment each other. Beyond that, the finish – which was some kind of lame, injury finish with Rusev being unable to continue (but, inexplicably, still being able to keep his belt), was totally flat. I’m, frankly, not sure what purpose this match served, as it didn’t get either of them over, nor did it do anything for the image of the United States Championship. If there’s a silver lining in this dark cloud, it’s that there probably won’t be be any re-matches, which is probably a good thing.
I, also, wasn’t impressed with the lackluster Intercontinental Championship match between The Miz and Apollo Crews. The Miz kind of reminds me of my old Stampede Wrestling crony, the Honky Tonk Man, – “the greatest WWE Intercontinental champion of all time” – more of a caricature type than anybody you take seriously. I’m told that he tries hard and is a dedicated team player, but thus far, as Intercontinental champion, something seems to be missing.
Not to digress, but with the saturation of titles these days in the WWE, including the WWE World and Universal titles, as well as the NXT championship and, imminently, the Cruiserweight Championship, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the Intercontinental and United States titles are becoming more and more irrelevant and lame matches like the ones we saw on Summer Slam do little to refute that mindset. As such, I’d give serious consideration to scrapping both of those belts, or, perhaps, merging the two into just one. Addition by subtraction, if you catch my drift.
On the tag team title front, I can’t say I was overly impressed with the NewDay and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson clash. I have no doubt that both teams were trying hard to make it work, but it seemed to be compromised by the ill-conceived comedy charades before the match and never really seemed to get off the ground. I’m not sure why Big E wasn’t in the match, instead of Xavier Woods, as that might have improved things somewhat, as well.
As most of you probably already know, it was announced the day after SummerSlam that Finn Balor had sustained a serious shoulder injury during his match with Seth Rollins and, as a result, would be out of action for up to six months and would therefore be relinquishing his Universal title. As a consequence, there will now be a Fatal 4-way match (another concept that originated in Stampede Wrestling, I might note) – between Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens and Big Cass, to determine a new Universal champion. I was sorry to hear that Balor had been injured, but he should be able to pick up where he left off when he returns.
As for the Fatal 4-way, I’d be inclined to put the strap back on Seth, as he deserves it, if only because of his awesome match with Balor at SummerSlam, but also because, all things considered, it would probably be “what’s best for business.” Hopefully out of the ashes of adversity, something positive, that they can build upon, will arise.
In closing, I noticed that the WWE has just announced that they’re planning to have new tag team titles for the SmackDown brand, in addition to the tag straps presently held by the New Day. Not to be casting aspersions, but from what I’ve seen lately, there are barely enough decent tag teams around to even sustain the existing tag belts, so this seems, to me, like a recipe for disaster and just one more example of the WWE’s flawed “more is better” mindset.
I hate to be raining on their parade, but back in the day, the tag straps were a really big deal in the WWF, when there was an abundance of great teams, like: Michaels and Janetty, the Road Warriors, the Hart Foundation, the Bulldogs, Demolition, Degeneration X, Valentine & Beefcake, the Wild Samoans, Murdoch and Adonis, among others. These days, the number of teams of that caliber is few and far between. As such, having not one, but two tag team titles, is more likely to reinforce just how atrophied the whole tag team division in the WWE has become rather.
Regardless of some of those shortcomings, I, nonetheless, give the WWE props for an awesome Summer Slam spectacular and hope that they can build from the many positives. Onward and upward, as they say.
On that note, I’ll call this a wrap, but will look forward to catching up with you all next week for more Hart Murmurs!
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