On Saturday, WWE put on their SummerSlam Premium Live Event. I noted in my previous document how they would be aiming to put on a fantastic show to really cement the argument that SummerSlam should be in the same conversation as Wrestlemania. And in my, and many others opinion, they succeeded as many have spoken high praises for the event and have been calling it the best show of 2024 so far.
The show opened with Liv Morgan defending the Women’s World Championship against Rhea Ripley. The match was an exciting choice to start the event, with Rhea finally having her chance to get a hold of Liv for some long wanted revenge. But the night didn’t go as she probably would have wanted, firstly with her shoulder seemingly popping out of its socket during the match and having to pop it back into place mid match. But also the fact she lost the match after Dominik Mysterio, as many thought he might, betrayed Rhea and cost her the match siding with Liv Morgan after all, sharing a kiss after the match. A move so shocking that commentator Pat McAfee used a word that I cannot repeat that starts with S to describe what Dominik was a piece of.
We also saw Bron Breakker defeat Sami Zayn to become new Intercontinental Champion the second time of trying after he caught Sami with a brutal spear in the middle of Sami running up for a Heluvva Kick and then ending him with another spear. Nia Jax also successfully defeated Bayley to become the new Women’s Champion after Bayley lost her focus for a moment when Tiffany Stratton ran down to the ring, seemingly planning to cash in her Money in the Bank briefcase. Logan Paul also finally lost his United States Championship by losing to LA Knight despite trying all of his usual dirty tricks (including a brass knuckle chain handed to him by Machine Gun Kelly of all people) but being caught by a BFT after attempting to hit a Buckshot Lariat after getting a shot off with the brass knuckles with less force than usual.
The Judgement Day were not finished going through drastic changes with Dominik betraying Rhea earlier in the night. As Damien Priest also found himself being stabbed in the back by Finn Balor who came down to ringside despite Priest specifically asking he stayed back, and actively put Gunther’s foot over the rope when Priest had the match won. Priest’s anger at Finn costed him the match as similarly to Bayley’s loss, Priest losing focus on his opponent allowed Gunther to lock in a Sleeperhold and at the second time of asking leave Priest unconscious & winning the World Heavyweight Championship as The Judgement Day as we know it had fully collapsed.
For Punk vs McIntyre, for all the doubts about Seth being truly unbiased in the match as a referee Seth showed no real favoritism for either Punk or McIntyre, actively being loose with the rules for both of them as/when it suited. As many also would have guessed, Punk’s bracelet ended up playing a large part in the match. At one point, Punk had successfully taken it back from McIntyre however it ended up falling back off and Seth put it on himself rather than leave it on the apron. Punk was irate when he noticed this & combined with Seth being knocked out of the ring leading to Drew being able to kick out of what should have been a win for Punk led to Punk hitting Seth with a GTS & again reclaiming his bracelet. However again, as was a bit of a running theme on the night, Punk took his eye off the ball for only a few moments and ironically he fell for a very similar trap he’d caused McIntyre to fall into numerous times as Drew was able to take advantage of the distraction to hit a low blow, Claymore and finally get some long awaited revenge on CM Punk.
And in the Main Event, we saw Cody Rhodes defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Solo Sikoa in Bloodline Rules. As the name implies, the Bloodline played a big part in the match however much like Wrestlemania, there was a counter for all interference. Tama Tonga/Tonga Loa first came out to stack the odds against Cody & were ran off by a returning Kevin Owens & Randy Orton. Then Jacob Fatu emerged and gave Cody a beating and took himself out of the equation after injuring himself after diving through the announce table. Then, as many were hoping would happen, Roman Reigns finally returned and assaulted Solo, leaving the door open for Cody to finish the match after giving a nod of respect. And as you can assume from Roman attacking Solo & not laying a finger on Cody (and also the store description on his newest merchandise), Roman Reigns will likely continue to feud with Solo and his New Bloodline to take back his Ula Fala as the Original Tribal Chief starting with this Friday’s Smackdown as he is confirmed to be appearing.
In closing, SummerSlam was a fantastic show overall which saw a massive amount of changes with 4 title changes, one of the longest running factions in recent memory falling apart and Roman Reigns priority not being the Undisputed WWE Championship for the first time in nearly 4 years rather regaining his seat at the Head of the Table. Now with crowds more than happy to Acknowledge Him.
