WWE SummerSlam (August 2021)

Original Airdate: August 21, 2021

 

From Las Vegas, Nevada; Your Hosts are Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves (RAW); Michael Cole and Pat McAfee (Smackdown)

 

Opening WWE RAW Tag Team Title Match: AJ Styles and Omos v Randy Orton and Riddle: Randy's really embracing his inner sex offender tonight, by the looks of that facial hair. AJ starts with him, and gets pounded down right away. Over to Riddle for a senton splash for two, and Styles bails to regroup. Tag to Omos on the way back inside, and Edward James delivers a big bodyslam. This tag team is the luckiest break Omos ever caught in his life, because he's absolutely useless doing even the most basic stuff. But then, that's never stopped them from pushing these giants before. The champs cut the ring in half on Riddle, but Orton gets the tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Riddle reverses Omos into the post on the outside, so AJ dives onto him, but misses a second dive on Randy, and an RKO ends his night at 7:05. Nothing to this one. ½*

 

Alexa Bliss v Eva Marie: Eva ends up on the outside after missing a charge, as Alexa plays mind games. Eva pounds her down on the way back inside, but makes the mistake of slapping Bliss with he dolly, and Alexa loses. her. shit. Somersault senton splash gets two, but the Twisted Bliss misses, and Marie hooks the leg for two. Eva argues the count, allowing Bliss to recover, and she delivers a DDT at 3:48. This felt more like an angle than a proper match. And it was bad either way. DUD

 

WWE United States Title Match: Sheamus v Damian Priest: Sometimes these newfangled belt designs take some time to grow on me (I hated the current main belt designs at first, for example), but this US title design just seems to get uglier every time I see it. Feeling out process to start, and Priest gets control with a falcon arrow for two, then dumps the champ to the outside for a springboard somersault senton. Spinkick out there, but Sheamus catches him, and slams him into the post to block. Back in, Sheamus delivers a side suplex for two, and he works a chinlock. Powerbomb, but Priest uses a rana to block, though Sheamus still manages to front-powerslam him for two anyway. Rolling fireman's carry slam leads to a flying clothesline, and an Alabama slam gets two. Priest comes back with a sitout chokeslam for two after blocking the Brogue Kick, but Sheamus blocks a springboard with a kneesmash for two. The champ slaps on a grapevine, so Priest rips off his face guard, and strikes at the exposed face to escape. Spinheel kick leads to the Reckoning to crown a new champion at 13:46. ¾*

 

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: The Usos v Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio: Rey takes Jimmy Uso down for the 619 right away, but Jimmy bails. That beings Jey Uso in to try and thump Rey, but Dominik saves, and the challengers double up on them with dives on the outside. Dominik with a springboard flying clothesline for two on the way back inside, and a three-alarm rolling vertical suplex sets up a dive, but Jey catches a blind tag in the process, and shoves him off the top rope for a bump into the barricade. That's enough to turn the tide, and the Usos cut the ring in half on young Dominik. Dominik manages to reverse a suplex to allow the hot tag, and Jimmy eats a DDT for two. Rey with a flying seated senton, but a distraction from Jey allows Jimmy a superkick for two. Is Rey's gear supposed to be some sort of ill-advised tribute to 80s Randy Savage? Jey goes up with a flying splash for two, but Jimmy misses one of his own, and Rey capitalizes with the 619. Flying frogsplash, but Jimmy lifts his knees to block, and the Usos deliver stereo superkicks. Jey then goes up with another flying splash, and Rey is done at 10:47. Dominik is still really green, and while everyone else is a pro, they couldn't hide how awkward he looked at points. The Usos yelling "he's not on our level" over and over again was supposed to be a heel move, but really, they were right. *

 

WWE Smackdown Women's Title Match: Bianca Belair v Becky Lynch: This is supposed to be Belair defending against Carmella, but Lynch makes a surprise return (in her first appearance since May 2020, though she looks like she's aged about ten years since), and beats Carmella up to steal the title shot for herself. You see, this is why you need to splurge for a championship committee. Becky punches her in the face during the handshake, and a uranage ends it in a brisk 0:24. Good, I can't stand Belair. DUD

 

Drew McIntyre v Jinder Mahal: Veer and Shanky are barred from ringside for this. Drew beats him into the corner right away, and he gears up for the Claymore Kick, but Jinder bails to avoid it. Drew follows to suplex him on the floor instead, but Mahal blocks the Future Shock DDT on the way back in, and a superkick gets him two. Mahal with a kneedrop for two, and he works a clutch, but Drew escapes via headbutt. He makes a comeback, and the Claymore finishes at 4:37. Alrighty then. ¼*

 

WWE RAW Women's Title Triple Threat Match: Nikki A.S.H. v Charlotte Flair v Rhea Ripley: First fall wins it. Despite being the defending champion, Nikki gets disrespected by Flair at the bell, with Charlotte telling her to take a walk and let the real fighters fight. Nikki responds by trying to get in on the fight anyway, but Flair chucks her to the outside like a jobber, leaving her to go with Ripley. Ripley corner whips her to flip Flair to the outside, and Nikki returns to puts Rhea in a headlock, then sunset cradle her for two. Flair slams them onto one another to set up a flying moonsault onto both, but she lands on Ripley's knees, and Nikki schoolgirls for two. Flair still manages a big boot on Ripley for two, but a fallaway slam on Nikki is broken up when Ripley German suplexes Flair. Ripley goes up with a missile dropkick on Flair for two, and they spill to the outside for a slugfest, until Nikki dives onto both with a flying bodypress on the floor! Back in, she and Ripley try a tandem suplex on Flair, but Charlotte counters both with a double DDT on the way down, and Flair pinballs around with chops on both. She dumps both to the outside to set up a flying twisting moonsault press onto them, but somehow that ends with Ripley in control, and putting Nikki in her elevated cloverleaf. Flair saves, so Rhea puts her in the hold instead, but Flair counters to the figure eight! Nikki dives in to break it up, but a flying bodypress misses, and Charlotte locks her in the figure eight at 13:03. Not my style, as it had no flow, and lots of cliché spots. Shame too, since all three are really good workers. ½*

 

Seth Rollins v Edge: Some back-and-forth ends with Seth bashing his head against the steps over and over again like a deleted scene from Raging Bull, and Rollins uses a neckbreaker for two on the way back in. Sling blade connects, and Seth puts the boots to him, then delivers another neckbreaker for two. Of all the guys to trust working a legitimately bad part on a guy, Seth Rollins is your pick?! Flying kneesmash is worth two, but Edge comes back with a backslide for two, and he spears Rollins into the buckles. Side superplex, but Rollins blocks, and dives with a flying frogsplash for two. Edge bails to avoid the follow-up, so Seth muscles him back to the top rope for a superplex, but Edge counters with a neckbreaker off the top instead. The commentary is getting super annoying here. Edge mounts a comeback, and the implant DDT is worth two. Edge-o-Matic gets two, but a dive gets countered with a superplex into a falcon arrow for two. How they turned such a cool spot into a nothing move is beyond me. Pedigree, but Edge counters with a the glam slam for two. And, yes, they actually called it by that name. Seth snaps his throat across the ropes to buy time, and he delivers a neckbreaker across the middle rope to set up a curb stomp, but Edge dodges. Spear knocks Rollins off of the apron, and both men are left looking up at the lights after that one. Edge runs his head into the apron (with the LED board flickering, in a nice touch), and he hooks the leg for two on the way back inside. Spear, but Rollins counters with a pedigree for two. Edge recovers with a spear for two, so Seth punches him right in the neck to slow him down, and a superkick leaves Edge twitching. Curb stomp looks to finish, but Edge catches the boot, and counters to a modified cloverleaf. Seth counters with a schoolboy for two, but Edge shifts right to a crippler crossface after kicking out, and Rollins taps at 21:14. This was okay. ** ¼

 

WWE Title Match: Bobby Lashley v Goldberg: They measure each other to start, dominated by Goldberg. He gives the champion a front-powerslam and a slam, followed by a short-clothesline. Lashley kicks him in the stomach to buy time for a suplex, but Goldberg manages to block, so Bobby uses a reverse STO instead. Lashley goes upstairs, but Goldberg manages to slam him off, only to have MVP pull the champ to the outside to avoid the spear. Goldberg responds by following to the outside to deliver a spear out there, and he rolls him in to finish, but Bobby bails. Goldberg gets distracted by MVP, allowing Bobby to sneak in to clip the leg, and he delivers a chokeslam. Hurt Lock looks to finish, but Goldberg manages to block, so Lashley clips him again. Goldberg falls out of the ring to avoid getting pinned, but Lashley shows no mercy, following to ram his challenger's bad leg into the post. Inside to finish, but Goldberg's leg is so messed up that the referee decides to stop the match at 7:09. I thought this was a surprisingly fun stadium style match, and Goldberg looked really good. And not just 'good for a dude in his fifties,' but like he could debut today, and fit right in. The finish was terrible though, as Lashley got dominated for a good chunk of this, and then didn't even get the definitive win afterwards. * ½

 

Main Event: WWE Universal Title Match: Roman Reigns v John Cena: This is Cena's first televised match since January 2019 (I'm not counting the Firefly Fun House match from WrestleMania 36 for obvious reasons). They measure each other some to start, cautiously testing the waters. Cena hooks the first few cradles to try and get into his head, but Reigns laughs it off. John goes for a third cradle, but Roman kicks him in the face to block this time, and he talks some trash for good measure. Cena stuns him with a schoolboy for two, but Reigns quickly cuts him off with a backelbow, and he corner whips the challenger. Vertical suplex gets two, with Reigns making a nonchalant cover, totally blowing Cena off as a challenge. Chinlock, but Cena fights up, so Reigns suplexes him again for two. He dumps John to the outside to whip into the steps, but Cena flashes an inside cradle for two on the way back in. He tries pushing that into the Attitude Adjustment, but Reigns counters with a DDT for two. The look Roman shoots the referee here after the kickout is masterful. THIS guy should be the big Hollywood star. Reigns pounds him, but keeps getting arrogant, so Cena tries another cradle for two. Reigns quickly nips that in the bud with a sleeper, but Cena powers out, and manages to string together a comeback sequence. Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Reigns counters by grabbing a front-facelock! John counters into a cradle for two, but Roman blasts him with the Superman punch as soon as he gets vertical. Spear, but Cena blocks with a boot, and he delivers the Shuffle. AA finds the mark, but Reigns gets a shoulder up at two! John stays on track with the STF, but Reigns makes the ropes and bails, no longer smirking. Cena follows, but Reigns blasts him with the Drive-By out there. He goes for a follow-up, but John is ready, putting the champ through the announce table with an AA! Inside, Cena hooks the leg, but Reigns kicks out at two! Cena hustles to the top to dive with a flying legdrop, but Reigns catches him in a powerbomb for two! Superman, but Cena counters with a schoolboy for two, only to have Reigns counter another AA with a Superman for two. Spear, but John dodges, and Reigns wipes out into the post. Cena muscles the champion to the top for an AA off, but that still only gets two. Cena decides to try a spear of his own, but Reigns blocks, and they slug it out. Roman gets the better of that with a pair of Supermans, and the spear finishes at 22:59. This was good, felt like something out of the old days in style and delivery. They did a great job giving this a suitably 'big match feel,' and the storytelling was strong. And then afterwards, Brock Lesnar makes a surprise return to get in Roman's face, making his first appearance since WrestleMania 36.  *** ¼

 

BUExperience: I found this to be a very long, uninteresting show – though the stadium atmosphere was cool, there were some neat returns, and the main event was good. None of that’s worth sitting through four hours of this thing for, though.

 

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