WWE SummerSlam (August 2018)

Original Airdate: August 19, 2018

From Brooklyn, New York; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman (RAW), Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton (Smackdown) with Corey Graves sitting in with both teams

Opening WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Dolph Ziggler v Seth Rollins: Seth's new vest needs to go back in the closet. Feeling out process to start, and a reversal sequence sees them trade schoolboys, until Dolph bails to avoid a powerbomb. Ziggler kicks him in the balls on the way back in, but takes a hiptoss as they criss cross, and the champ ends up out on the floor again. Back in, Seth whips him around the corners, but Ziggler slips out of a suplex, and backdrops Rollins onto the apron. He kicks the middle rope to crotch Seth as the challenger is stepping back in, allowing Ziggler a neckbreaker for two. He unloads on Seth for a while, and a corner whip sends the challenger flipping over the top to the outside. Dolph rolls him back in for a crossface chickenwing, but Seth is feeling slippery, so Ziggler switches to a chinlock instead. Maybe if you didn't have your hands taped up like they're in casts you could get a better grip, champ. Seth escapes, but a charge sees him get backdropped over the top, and Dolph tries a flying bodypress on the way back in, but Rollins catches him. He muscles Ziggler into position for a vertical suplex, but loses his balance, and they both end up going over the top rope with it. In, Rollins hits the sling blade, but another suplex attempt is countered with a small package for two. Rollins keeps control with a 2^nd rope flying somersault neckbreaker for two, but a trip to the top ends badly when Ziggler crotches him. Seth's dick is not having a good night. Hopefully it doesn't have any photo sessions lined up for later. Ziggler tries a superplex, but Rollins blocks, and dumps him to the outside for a tope. Seth with a springboard flying clothesline on the way back in, and a the ripcord knee gets two. Bucklebomb, but Ziggler starts hammering to block, so Seth tries shifting to an electric chair, but Dolph counters with a sleeper. Rollins quickly slips free, so Dolph snaps his throat across the top rope, and they end up going at it on the apron. Ziggler gets the better of the exchange by shoving Rollins into the post out there, and hitting a nice jumping DDT on the apron. I know they're becoming cliché, but the complexity of some of these apron spots are just incredible, and impress the hell out of me. Dolph looks for the Zig Zag on the way back in, but Seth blocks, and throws a superkick to set up the flying frogsplash - only to have Ziggler lift his knees to block, and cover for two! Rocker dropper, but Seth manages to dump him onto the top turnbuckle to block, and he follows upstairs for an insane inverted version of the superplex/falcon arrow spot. For two. Incredible spot, which really should have been the finish. It earns a standing ovation from the crowd, and deservedly so. Seth looks to finish, but gets distracted by Drew McIntyre attacking Dean Ambrose on the outside, and Dolph sneaks up with the Zig Zag for two. Looks like Seth got busted open hardway on that one. Superkick, but Rollins counters with a rollup for two, reversed by Ziggler for two. Seth powers into the bucklebomb, so Drew tries another distraction, but it backfires when Rollins lands a superkick, and curb stomps him for the title at 22:02. I thought for sure Ziggler was going over after the insane inverted superplex/falcon arrow combo only got two. If Seth was winning, it's even more perplexing that they didn't book that as the finish. This felt like it was a solid step below the Iron Man from Extreme Rules, but still good overall. ***

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: The Bludgeon Brothers v The New Day: Xavier Woods starts with Rowan, and tries to hold his own, but gets quickly clobbered. Over to Harper with a big boot for two, and he wrenches Woods with a chinlock. Yeah, I'd need a rest after lifting my foot as well. Back to Rowan with a frogsplash for two, and he works a headvice before dead lifting Woods into a pump-backbreaker. Harper with a slingshot somersault senton splash for two, and the challengers decide to knock Big E off the apron for some double team abuse on the floor before turning back to Xavier. They dump him to the outside as well, but an attempt to use the steps to finish him off backfire, and Woods crawls for the tag. Big E hits both heels with overhead suplexes on the floor, and a belly-to-belly for Harper on the way back in sets up a frogsplash. Bodypress, but Harper counters with a sitout-brainbuster for two, and Rowan tags in for another double team, but Big E slips free. He dumps Rowan to the outside, where Woods is waiting for a dive, then Big E spears Harper off the apron - only for Rowan to recover with his own dive off the apron. Back in, the challengers hit Big E with a double team, but Woods breaks up the count at two, and throws enzuigiris at both men before getting clobbered in a sitout powerbomb from Harper for two. Big E manages the Big Ending on Rowan, and Woods gets himself to the top to hit Harper with a flying elbowdrop out on the floor! Midnight Hour looks to finish Harper, but Rowan comes in with his hammer to prevent it, and that's a DQ at 9:28. Just kind of a collection of stuff here, but it was fun. ** ½

Money in the Bank Briefcase Match: Braun Strowman v Kevin Owens: Braun mauls him right at the bell, and hits a few avalanches until Owens bails. Strowman charges him with a running shoulderblock on the outside, then does it again for good measure - Owens gloriously overselling each charge like he's getting hit by a train. Strowman tries to roll him back in, but Kevin rolls right back out, and tries a superkick as Braun stalks after him, but it gets ignored. Strowman chokeslams him on the ramp to knock Kevin silly, and the running powerslam finishes at 1:55. Well, he certainly made his point. ½*

WWE Smackdown Women's Title Triple Threat Match: Carmella v Charlotte Flair v Becky Lynch: Carmella showboats and taunts at the bell, earning her a beating in the corner. Becky gets her down for a legdrop and an elbowdrop, but a running seated senton splash misses, and Carmella slaps her around. She suckers Becky into thinking it was Charlotte slapping her while she was down, and then sneaks up to schoolgirl Flair for two as they argue about it. More arguing, so Carmella attacks, but Becky quickly dispatches her with a hiptoss so they can get back to arguing again. That leads to a reversal sequence, and Becky goes for the arm, but Charlotte counters with a schoolgirl for two. Becky whips her into the corner to flip Flair out onto the apron, where Carmella is waiting to yank her off. Becky dives, but Carmella is ready for that too, and Lynch ends up taking a trip into the steps. Carmella takes Lynch inside for a chinlock, as apparently all the showboating has tuckered her out already. Well, it was quality showboating. Flair comes in to save, but Carmella fights her off with a matslam for two, and she gives her a turn in the chinlock as well. She dumps Flair, but Becky sneaks up with a schoolgirl for two, so Carmella shakes her off with a dropkick, and rubs her face into the canvas. They trade rollups, so Charlotte rushes in to try a bicycle kick on the champ, but ends up hitting Becky by mistake. Flair takes out her frustrations with chops on the champ, and a pair of exploder suplexes lead to a side suplex. Figure Four, but Carmella blocks, so Becky goes up and hits both with a flying dropkick. She gets rid of Charlotte and starts hammering Carmella with kicks, followed by an exploder suplex. Back to the top, but Carmella manages to crotch her up there, and a handstand rana brings Becky down for two. Superkick, but Becky counters with another suplex - only to have Charlotte sneak in and spear them both before Lynch can execute it. Carmella tries a handstand rana on Flair, but ends up getting countered with a rocking horse off the middle, and Flair shifts it into a Boston crab. Figure Four follows, but Becky dives off the top to break the hold, and everyone ends up down. That leads to a slugfest between Carmella and Becky, ending in Lynch getting dumped for a tope. Man, Carmella just drilled her on that one. Unfortunately for the champ, here comes Charlotte with a corkscrew moonsault press - taking out both, despite not even coming close to Becky. She was out to lynch on that one. Everyone heads back in, where Becky tries to Dis-Arm Flair, but Carmella saves. Becky tries it on her, but Carmella drops into the corner to block, and schoolgirls her for two. Superkick gets two, so Carmella tries again, but Becky gets the Dis-Arm-Her on! Carmella makes the ropes, so Becky suplexes her to set up the hold again, but Charlotte saves with the Natural Selection to win the title at 14:40. This was all over the place, and I couldn't get properly into it at all. Afterwards, Carmella walks off in tears as Becky shares a hug with the new champion... and then promptly turns on her with a fiery beat down. Despite this being sold as a heel turn, the crowd thunderously cheers her, and I can't blame them. It's nice to see Becky get a little direction again. * ½

WWE Title Match: AJ Styles v Samoa Joe: AJ's wife and young daughter are in the crowd for this, prompting Joe to call them out on the microphone in a great heel moment. Feeling out process to start, with AJ dominating on the mat, so Joe busts out some raw power to stay in play. Criss cross goes AJ's way with a dropkick, and the champ starts throwing strikes until Joe bails. Styles stays on him with a baseball slide, but an attempt at a kneesmash out there goes badly when Joe sweeps him. Back in, Joe cracks him with a chop, and hits a gourdbuster to send AJ bailing for the outside. Joe is on him with a tope before forcing the champion back inside, where Joe wrenches on a headvice. AJ escapes, so Joe clotheslines him for two, and goes to a chinlock. I really hate the trend that when booking guys in twenty minute matches it means the first half is all a bunch of nothing before picking up. Like, I'm not expecting a blistering pace the whole time, but it needs to be more evenly spread out. AJ escapes and dumps him for a plancha, but gets nailed on the way back in. Joe tries his own dive, but AJ blocks, and slugs his challenger down ahead of a jumping forearm smash. Samoan drop, but Joe takes offense to that, so AJ goes to a springboard sliced bread for two. Styles Clash, but Joe blocks, so AJ takes him upstairs for a rana, but Joe blocks that as well. He dives at Styles with a 2^nd rope flying kick for two, and an inverted atomic drop sets up a running big boot, followed by a senton splash for two. AJ fights back with a fireman's carry, but his leg gives out before he can execute the move, so he tries the Clash, but Joe blocks again. Undeterred, AJ tries to springboard, but Joe gets out of the way, and delivers a well executed powerslam for two. AJ tries a crucifix, but Joe escapes before even a one count, so AJ kicks him in the head, and drops him with the Clash for two. Slugfest goes Joe's way, so AJ snaps off the pele kick before he loses control - only to have a charge in the corner countered with a uranage. AJ stays in the game with the Calf Crusher, but Joe counters to the Coquina Clutch, so AJ gets into the ropes to break. Joe responds by knocking him to the outside with an enzuigiri, and the challenger tosses him into the steps out there, before turning his attention back to AJ's wife and child in the crowd - cutting a scathing mini-promo about how he'll he her new daddy. That fires AJ back up, and he charges Joe with a tackle off an announce table, then goes crazy with a chair until he gets disqualified at 22:45. I don't get the logic behind that at all. Like, why is Joe stopping to taunt AJ's family when he's in control of the match, and has a shot at the belt? This whole thing felt like they were trying to force an epic, but were just going through the motions trying to get there. And another DQ in a title match on the second biggest show of the year? And after investing twenty two minutes into it? Yeah, no thanks. * ¼

Miz v Daniel Bryan: Miz stalls at the bell, and they measure each other to start. Bryan lands a bulldog for two, but runs into a knee while trying a charge, and Miz surfboards him. Bryan escapes and starts throwing kicks at a grounded Miz to set up his own surfboard, then shifts it back into a cradle for two. Almost pinned himself there. More kicks, but a charge goes badly when Miz crotches him across the top rope, then knocks him off with a clothesline. Miz works a cravat, but Bryan escapes with some chops, so Miz hits an inverted DDT across the knee for two. Miz hammers him with lefts, but Bryan starts firing back just as Miz is ready to switch to rights, and Daniel manages to clothesline him down. Bryan with a pair of corner dropkicks to set up some kicks, and he takes Miz for a ride with a rana off the top for two. Backdrop sends Miz over the top, and Bryan blasts him with a baseball slide, then dives with a flying bodypress on the floor! Back in, Bryan tries going upstairs, but Miz crotches him - only to end up in a tree of woe while trying a superplex. Bryan unloads, then forces Miz to the top again with a side superplex for two. That leads to the Yes Kicks, but Miz ducks the finale, and DDTs Daniel for two. Miz with his own yes kicks, but a defiant Bryan absorbs them, and throws Miz down with a corkscrew legwhip before planting a roundhouse kick on him. Running dropkick, but Miz counters to the figure four, only for Bryan to block. Miz responds with a catapult to set up the Skull Crushing Finale for two, but a charge gets blocked with a roundhouse kick for two. They fight out to the apron, where Bryan fires off more kicks, but ends up bashing his leg into the post when Miz dodges one. That allows Miz to hustle him back in for the figure four, but Bryan reverses, and Miz is forced to grab the ropes to escape. Reversal sequence ends in Bryan hooking a crucifix for two, and he just unloads on Miz with elbowsmashes to set up the Yes Lock. Miz makes the ropes to save himself again, and promptly bails, but Bryan dives after him with a flying high knee. That allows Maryse to pass her husband a weapon, and he bashes Daniel with it as he tries a tope! Miz quickly passes it back to Maryse, then hustles in to hook the leg at 23:27. The first ten minutes were dull, but it picked up in the second half. They weren't reinventing the wheel here, but they built some nice sequences rooted in intensity, and it generally worked. This would have been better served in more condensed form, though. ** ¼

Finn Balor v Baron Corbin: Corbin doesn't want anything to do with the Demon, allowing Finn to blitz him. He knocks Corbin to the outside for a somersault plancha, followed by a sling blade on the floor. Running dropkick knocks Corbin into the barricade, and Finn uses an enzuigiri on the way back in. Another running dropkick sets up the Coup de Grace, and that's it at a brisk 1:31. Balor's makeup job took longer than the match. ¼*

WWE United States Title Match: Shinsuke Nakamura v Jeff Hardy: Speaking of makeup jobs, Jeff's is quite off-putting. And speaking of off-putting, there's Nakamura's face. They spend time mocking each other to start, though I feel like they should both be mocked by us all for their weird colored belts. Nakamura tries to ground him, but Jeff quickly escapes, and hammers him, so the champ bails. Hardy goes after him, but runs into a kick, and Nakamura hits a kneesmash out there, followed by a kneedrop on the apron. Back in, Nakamura works a clutch, but it goes nowhere. Jeff lands a sling blade, followed by an inverted atomic drop, and a legdrop to the crotch. Seated dropkick gets him two, so Nakamura starts throwing kicks to shake him off, but misses a charge in the corner. That allows Hardy to try the slingshot kick, but Nakamura dodges. Nakamura tries a knee in the corner, but Hardy dodges, and the Whisper in the Wind gets two. Back to the top, but Nakamura knocks him off, and throws a knee for two. Jeff tries the Twist of Fate, so Nakamura tries a low blow, but Hardy has it scouted this time. Twist sets up the Swanton Bomb, but Nakamura gets the ropes at two. Another Twist leads to another Swanton, but Nakamura escapes to the apron, so Jeff dives with a crazy Swanton onto the apron - only for Nakamura to dodge! Wild! The champ forces him back in, and Kinshasa finishes at 11:00. Nothing match, but the apron Swanton spot was amazing. ¾*

WWE RAW Women's Title Match: Alexa Bliss v Ronda Rousey: Alexa taunts and stalls at the bell, but her attempt at a sucker punch goes badly, and the champ ends up down on the floor after only a single blow from Rousey. More stalling from Alexa, so Ronda offers to sit down on the mat with her eyes closed to make Bliss feel more comfortable. Alexa takes the bait and rushes in with a chinlock, but Rousey powers to a vertical base in the hold, and easily escapes. She drops Bliss with her snap fireman's carry slam, and the champ rolls right back to the outside before Rousey can follow up. Ronda chases her this time, allowing Bliss to attack from the high ground on the way back in, but Rousey no-sells. She unloads in the corner, and starts throwing Alexa around, before hitting a cartwheel fireman's carry slam. Ronda gets hold of the arm from there, and that's it for Alexa at 4:39. Entertaining enough, with Rousey kicking ass, and Bliss doing a great job of selling it all. ½*

Main Event: WWE Universal Title Match: Brock Lesnar v Roman Reigns: Braun Strowman shows up before the bell even rings, and announces that he will be cashing in on the winner. Unfortunately, all the heat is immediately transferred to wanting to see Brock/Braun, and this match is now basically dead in the water before it even starts. Roman attacks a distracted Lesnar with a series of Superman Punches, and follows up on it with a series of spears - only for the third to get him trapped in a guillotine choke! Reigns manages to power to a vertical base to escape with a spinebuster, but Brock just slaps the hold right back on. Roman powers out with another spinebuster, but it weakens him in the process, and Brock pulls off his gloves to get serious. Roman tries another Superman, but Lesnar counters with a German suplex, and takes Reigns to suplex city. F5, but Reigns blocks, only for a spear attempt to get sidestepped - sending Roman crashing out and into Braun with a tope! Brock capitalizes by hitting Braun with an F5 on the floor, and he beats on the big man with the briefcase, then with a chair. Hey, maybe finish Roman first? Lesnar heads in with the chair to do just that, but Reigns is ready with a spear, and we have a new champion at 6:10. Glad to see they finally pulled the trigger, but what an underwhelming way to do it. This was a complete videogame of a main event, down to the runtime. And then Strowman doesn’t even cash in since he’s still down from the beating. Whatever. DUD

BUExperience: When you book a four hour long show and your best match is a three-star opener, something is very wrong with your promotion.

DUD