WWE Summerslam 2000
August 27, 2000
Raleigh, North Carolina
A classic Summerslam event sees the first TLC Match ever with the WWE Tag Team Championship on the line. The main event features The Rock defending his WWE Championship against both Kurt Angle and Triple H in a wild, wild match.
Match 1: Right to Censor vs. Too Cool
Good choice to have this match kick off the night in what was a pretty stacked card. Right to Censor were actually great heels at this point and Too Cool was the perfect babyface time to take them on here at Summerslam. Good action between the two teams that saw Right to Censor try to prevent Rikishi from tagging in throughout the match. However, once he got in, he lit them up and the crowd was hot. I sometimes tend to forget how over Too Cool was around this time, they were a ton of fun to watch. The hot tag from Rikishi looked like he was gonna steam roll his way to a Too Cool victory until Steven Richards was able to interrupt a Worm attempt from Scotty 2 Hotty and pin him for the surprise win. Nice way to get a big W for the heels in a match that looked like it was going the other way. Good opener.
Winners: Right to Censor
Rating: **1/4
Match 2: Road Dogg vs. X-Pac
The former tag partners look to squash their beef after X-Pac inadvertently dropped Road Dogg through a table on an episode of Monday Night Raw. I mean, that happens all the time with my friends and I. Short match here with some decent action that saw X-Pac hit a low blow on Road Dogg while the referee had his back turned before hitting an X-Factor to score the win. After the match, X-Pac wanted to brush the beef aside but instead got met with a Pumphandle Slam from Road Dogg for his troubles. Fine for what the match needed to be, short and anything longer would have probably just made the crowd grow restless since they didn't seem to have much interest in this from the start.
Winner: X-Pac
Rating: *1/4
Match 3: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Val Venis & Trish Stratus (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero & Chyna
Loved the little story between Eddie Guerrero and Chyna going into this, both were so great around this time and it's sometimes still hard to believe they're both gone now. Regardless, odd rules here with the Intercontinental Championship on the line with the person scoring the pin becoming the champion. Essentially, this is just a four-way match. They storied the match around Val Venis carrying the bulk of the match and doing his best to prevent Trish Stratus from entering the match. Crazy to think that Trish Stratus has wrested against both Chyna and Charlotte Flair in a WWE ring. Anyway, Chyna is able to get her hands on Trish alone in the ring and military slam her to the ground to score the win and become the new Intercontinental Champion. Short and pretty decent for what it was, just fun to watch Eddie and Chyna together.
Winners: Eddie Guerrero & Chyna
Rating: *3/4
Match 4: Jerry Lawler vs. Tazz
I loved the little feud Tazz had with the commentators around this time and really came off as such an unlikable heel. This was more of an angle than an actual match and it was pretty enjoyable to watch Tazz trash talk Jim Ross at ringside for the entirety of the match. However, a referee bump allowed the opening for JR to finally take a stand and bash Tazz over the head with a glass candy jar. It was probably the biggest pop of the night and I loved watching this both as a kid in 2000 and here now in 2020. Lawler then pins Tazz to score the win. Give it a watch, it won't kill ya.
Winner: Jerry Lawler
Rating: *1/4
Match 5: WWE Hardcore Championship - Shane McMahon (c) vs. Steve Blackman
I have not seen this match in ages and certainly have fond memories from watching it as a child way back in the day. Shane McMahon was the scared heel who was doing his best to run away from an angry Steve Blackman as they fought in the stands before finally bringing back the fight in the ring where Test and Albert came to Shane's side. The shining spot of this match came when Blackman was dragged to the titantron where he was able to take out both Test and Albert before chasing Shane as he scaled up the stage. Well... you guys know the rest. Blackman stops Shane dead in his tracks and nails him in the back with some kendo stick shots before Shane drops onto some staging equipment. Blackman then dives off the stage onto Shane to pick up the win. Fun match that of course, shines for its awesome ending.
Winner: Steve Blackman
Rating: **1/4
Match 6: 2-Out-of-3 Falls Match - Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit
Definitely one of the more overlooked matches on this card since everyone always remembers the big TLC match along with the main event here. Two of Canada's best going at it in a straight up wrestling match with the winner having to score the first two falls. Chris Benoit was able to score the first fall fairly quickly by submitting Chris Jericho with the Crippler Crossface. However, Jericho was able to score back that fall by submitting Benoit with a Walls of Jericho to even up the score at 1-1. Solid wrestling between the two men to score the final pin as expected. Also kind of interesting to see Benoit work as a heel, he worked ten times better as a babyface. Benoit steals the win after holding on to the ropes for a pin. A few more minutes and this could have easily been a show stealer. Felt like the first two pins went by way too fast and they just wanted to rush to get the final score. That's one of my biggest gripes with these matches, very seldom do we see somebody win 2-0 so the 1-1 is already expected and kind of just feels pointless.
Winner: Chris Benoit
Rating: ***1/2
Match 7: WWE Tag Team Championship - TLC Match - Edge & Christian (c) vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz
This is the iconic TLC match between three of the company's top tag teams... do I really even need to go further for this one? Pretty interesting to watch this in 2020 to see how it holds up... and it more than holds up. Some of the spots throughout this match had me wondering how the damn hell they were even able to walk out of this in one piece. Jeff Hardy missing a Swanton Bomb through two tables off a ladder or Bubba Ray Dudley getting tossed off a ladder through four freaking tables are spots that I will just never forget and ones that will boggle my mind every single time I see it. Funny to see Lita come out and interfere to help out The Hardy Boyz and get Speared by Edge for her troubles. Nasty looking Spear that saw Lita hit her head on a ladder on the way down. Edge & Christian were able to will their way to victory and retain the gold in a classic match. I don't think it's even necessary to go any further for this match, we've all seen it and we all know the legacy it has left behind. Classic stuff.
Winners: Edge & Christian
Rating: *****
Match 8: Stinkface Match - The Kat vs. Terri
This is where The Attitude Era shines... not. Yes, you read that right, this is a Stinkface match between The Kat and Terri with Al Snow in The Kat's corner and Perry Saturn in Terri's. This match was as bad as you would expect. I say this all the time but it is insane how far women's wrestling has come since The Attitude Era. This wasn't even wrestling, it was just these two parading around in barely any clothes before Kat was able to stinkface Terri in the corner for the win. By the way, is stinkface one word or two words?
Winner: The Kat
Rating: 1/4*
Match 9: The Undertaker vs. Kane
Do we have a count on how many times these two have squared off against each other in a WWE ring? That would be super interesting, I'm pretty sure I've seen just about all of them. Anyway, the bell never rings for this match as the two just brawl both inside and out of the ring with The Undertaker doing his best to rip off the mask of Kane. He is also able to bloody Kane up with some shots with the steel steps along with a steel chair. Kane does his best to fight back but the onslaught of Undertaker is too much and once Kane's mask gets completely ripped off, he dashes to the back and leaves. The bell never rang so the match never officially began but this was more of an angle above anything and it was enjoyable to at least watch. Just doesn't make sense why all the rules get tossed out of the window here. Just take what The Attitude Era gives you.
Winner: n/a
Rating: **3/4
Match 10: WWE Championship - The Rock (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Triple H
The feud going into this one was basically Triple H vs. Kurt Angle as they fight for the love of Stephanie McMahon with The Rock in the background. Loved it, thought it worked here and it certainly would make sense to give the spotlight to someone like Angle while The Rock continues rolling. Triple H doesn't wait for The Rock to enter the match and attacks Angle before it all and lands the infamous Pedigree through the announcers table until The Rock finally comes out as the crowd absolutely erupts for him. I certainly do miss the days when the crowds were always hot for these main event matches. Angle gets the stretcher treatment and gets rolled to the back until Triple H brings him back and refuses to let him leave. Action was fast and furious her and The Rock did a great job in making you feel bad for him as he fought as the underdog. Stephanie inserts herself back in the match and slides a sledgehammer in between Triple H and Angle but ends up getting inadvertently punched in the face by Triple H. The Rock later takes advantage of the mess and hits a People's Elbow on Triple H to pick up the win. Angle then escapes with Stephanie in his hands after the match. Fantastic main event and loved how they put the focus on Triple H and Angle which allowed them to underestimate The Rock who would then take advantage of it all. That is how you tell a story.
Winner: The Rock
Rating: ****1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
As with usual Attitude Era PPVs, there's a lot of good and a lot of bad here. However, the good was undeniable and especially the TLC Match that has gone down as one of the most influential and memorable matches in professional wrestling history. If you can see through the bad, definitely relive this event because you will definitely be pleased.
Rating: 7.5/10
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Friday, August 7, 2020
WWE Summerslam PPV Review Archive
WWE Summerslam 1999 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2020/08/wwe-summerslam-1999-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2000 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2020/08/wwe-summerslam-2000-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2005 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2015/07/wwe-summerslam-2005-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2006 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2015/08/wwe-summerslam-2006-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2007 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2016/08/wwe-summerslam-2007-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2008 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2017/08/wwe-summerslam-2008-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2009 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2014/07/wwe-summerslam-2009-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2011 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2014/07/wwe-summerslam-2011-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2012 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2013/10/wwe-summerslam-2012-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2013 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2015/02/wwe-summerslam-2013-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2014 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2015/07/wwe-summerslam-2014-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2015 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2018/08/wwe-summerslam-2015-review.html
WWE Summerslam 2016 (Part 1) - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2019/07/wwe-summerslam-2016-review-part-1.html
WWE Summerslam 2016 (Part 2) - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2019/08/wwe-summerslam-2016-review-part-2.html
WWE Summerslam 2017 (Part 1) - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2020/07/wwe-summerslam-2017-review-part-1.html
WWE Summerslam 2017 (Part 2) - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2020/08/wwe-summerslam-2017-review-part-2.html
Thursday, August 6, 2020
WWE Summerslam 1999 Review
WWE Summerslam 1999
August 22, 1999
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jesse Ventura serves as the special guest referee as Stone Cold Steve Austin must defend his WWE Championship against both Triple H and Mankind. Also, The Rock takes on Billy Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match.
Match 1: WWE European Championship & WWE Intercontinental Championship - D'Lo Brown (c) vs. Jeff Jarrett
How many men can say they have held both the European Championship and Intercontinental Championship at the same time? Before the match, Jeff Jarrett kicks Debra from ringside before D'Lo Brown then allows her to accompany him to the ring for the match. Pretty decent match here, people seem to forget that D'Lo was actually pretty damn good in the ring. Debra distracts the referee as she argues with Jarrett which then allows Mark Henry to interfere... and BOOM. Swerve. Henry nails Brown with the guitar and the referee apparently doesn't hear any of this and doesn't see all the guitar particles laying around the ring. Jarrett wins and celebrates with both Henry and Debra afterwards as they all played Brown. Decent opening match with a nice swerve at the end.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett
Rating: **1/4
Match 2: Tag Team Turmoil Match - Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. Mideon & Viscera vs. Droz & Prince Albert vs. The Acolytes vs. The Holly Cousins
Interesting to see Michael Cole interviewing both Edge & Christian before the match and thinking how relevant the two still are in 2020. Also pretty funny to hear Jim Ross on commentary describe all the competitors as "young and hungry." Also interesting to see The Hardy Boyz work with Gangrel as heels. Times were different in 1999. Action was pretty decent from all teams and slowed down the most once Edge & Christian got eliminated from the match. This led to The Acolytes scoring the win over The Holly Cousins to earn a Tag Team Championship bout... the next night on Raw. Wonderful.
Winners: The Acolytes
Rating: **1/4
Match 3: WWE Hardcore Championship - Big Boss Man (c) vs. Al Snow
Nothing screams Attitude Era more than a Hardcore Championship match and I'm here for all of it. Road Dogg follows the match and does some commentary of his own with a microphone in hand throughout the match. Gee, wonder if he's going to interfere or not. Anyway, Al Snow attacks Big Boss Man on the stage before the fight spills backstage and eventually into the streets of Minneapolis. Fun match here that obviously doesn't take itself too seriously with the fight going from the streets into a little bar where they beat the living daylights out of each other inside. However, Road Dogg attacks Boss Man from behind that leads to Snow covering him for the win. I wonder how many fishy finishes we are going to get for the night.
Winner: Al Snow
Rating: **
Match 4: WWE Women's Championship - Ivory (c) vs. Tori
Holy crap, I totally forgot how ripped Ivory was back in the day because damn! Some of these Attitude Era matches with the women can be brutally bad... and this match was point and case. Pretty sloppy action here with a botched finish that looked like it was supposed to be a sunset flip of sorts. Wow, how far we have come with the women's division. You can skip this. That's pretty much all there is to say about this one.
Winner: Ivory
Rating: 1/2*
Match 5: Lion's Den Match - Steve Blackman vs. Ken Shamrock
Interesting match to have here, Ken Shamrock was very much over at this time and Steve Blackman was such a beast. You can make the argument that both guys were pretty much ahead of their time. Rules for this match are pretty unclear, I guess you have to exit the cage to win the match but the finish saw Shamrock knock out Blackman with a kendo stick to win the match without seeing him exit the cage at all. The match itself was pretty enjoyable for the most part with the two tossing each other into the cage and beating with other up with foreign objects. Just a little too short to really give a better score and when taking into account how the instructions were so unclear, this is the best score I could come up with. Would have loved to see more of this during this time if they just... ya know... figured out the rules for it.
Winner: Ken Shamrock
Rating: **
Match 6: Greenwich Street Fight - Test vs. Shane McMahon
Shane McMahon isn't a fan of Test dating his sister so he's out to make sure to put an end to that here. Pretty funny to see The Mean Street Posse come out to sit ringside for the match on a couch with some champagne. They're definitely not going to interfere, right? The two brawl in and out of the ring with The Posse eventually helping Shane before Test is able to take them out briefly. However, the numbers game would catch up to Test and Shane would get the upper hand and even went as far as hitting an elbow from the top through onto Test through an announcers table. Good stuff. Shane had things in control until Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco came out to eliminate The Posse from the equation and leave an opening for Test to score the win with a diving elbow of his own from the top rope. Afterwards, Stephanie McMahon comes out to celebrate as she stares down an unconscious Shane. Attitude Era stuff was just so wild.
Winner: Test
Rating: ***
Match 7: WWE World Tag Team Championship - Kane & X-Pac (c) vs. The Big Show & The Undertaker
Always enjoyed watching The Big Show and The Undertaker team up or go against each other for that matter. Crazy to think how long the careers of them and Kane were in the WWE as they feuded with and against each other for so many years to come after this. Kane has the unenviable task of carrying himself and X-Pac to a victory against two behemoths. I liked how they built the story around Kane & X-Pac being underdogs and implementing that into the match really worked with Kane seemingly having to fight against both Show and Undertaker extra hard to rebound for X-Pac in a lot of situations. X-Pac was able to hit use a couple low blows (RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE) at times to evade but eventually, Big Show and Undertaker would catch up. Big Show hit a Chokeslam on X-Pac but after only stepping on him for the pin, X-Pac was able to kick out. This allowed Undertaker to enter the match himself and hit a Tombstone to get the win for his team as both Undertaker and Big Show argue after the match about the pin. Not bad but wasn't like I was expecting greatness out of this. It was what it needed to be and just how you would expect a match from these guys to go.
Winners: The Big Show & The Undertaker
Rating: **1/2
Match 8: Kiss My Ass Match - Billy Gunn vs. The Rock
Prior to the match starting, Billy Gunn brings out a rather large woman and declares that this is the butt The Rock will be having to kiss. Hilarious to note how Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were ripping her throughout the match, absolutely no chance the WWE would get away with some of this stuff in 2020. They would be cancelled so fast. Decent match here with some nice back and forth action before Gunn decides to finally bring in the large woman in the ring for Rocky to kiss. Instead, Rock is able to shove Gunn's face into the lady and hit him with a Rock Bottom along with a People's Elbow to score the win. Match was fairly short and good for what it was. Pretty funny to watch Billy Gunn get his head shoved into that woman's behind but nothing too exciting.
Winner: The Rock
Rating: **3/4
Match 9: WWE Championship - Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. Mankind vs. Triple H
Love having Jesse Ventura serve as the special guest referee for this one, his presence always adds to whatever is going on in or out of the ring. He's serving as the referee to prevent any shenanigans going on... I'm sure we know how that one's gonna turn out. Ventura eventually had to throw Chyna out of the match and also had his back turned when Triple H was using a steel chair against Stone Cold Steve Austin. Oh, there was also a random Shane McMahon interference after Ventura refused to do a pin count for Triple H. So much shenanigans but I did like watching Ventura toss Shane out of the ring. The crowd was extremely hot for Austin but much of the match felt like he was just a third wheel, even as the defending champion. Definitely a cluster of a main event here and just never felt like it got out of first gear. The Attitude Era was great in having matches like this one but for whatever reason, this one was so forgettable and didn't feel like a big Summerslam main event. Mankind took some hard bumps throughout the match but nothing like some of the crazier things we've seen him done before. Mankind got a pretty surprising win here after hitting Austin with a DDT. The crowd popped but you could almost hear the disappointment as their hero in Stone Cold lost the match. Weird match that is easily forgettable and just didn't live up to its expectations.
Winner: Mankind
Rating: ***1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Am I being too hard on the show? Maybe, but you could also make the argument that I'm being too kind on this show. There is absolutely no way the WWE could get away with churning out a show like this in 2020. Let alone it being Summerslam, this was just not a good show. Aside from maybe the main event, this just lacked good in-ring action and didn't have anything that was memorable or worth going back to watch. Sorry, Attitude Era marks, this one just ain't it.
Rating: 3.5/10
August 22, 1999
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jesse Ventura serves as the special guest referee as Stone Cold Steve Austin must defend his WWE Championship against both Triple H and Mankind. Also, The Rock takes on Billy Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match.
Match 1: WWE European Championship & WWE Intercontinental Championship - D'Lo Brown (c) vs. Jeff Jarrett
How many men can say they have held both the European Championship and Intercontinental Championship at the same time? Before the match, Jeff Jarrett kicks Debra from ringside before D'Lo Brown then allows her to accompany him to the ring for the match. Pretty decent match here, people seem to forget that D'Lo was actually pretty damn good in the ring. Debra distracts the referee as she argues with Jarrett which then allows Mark Henry to interfere... and BOOM. Swerve. Henry nails Brown with the guitar and the referee apparently doesn't hear any of this and doesn't see all the guitar particles laying around the ring. Jarrett wins and celebrates with both Henry and Debra afterwards as they all played Brown. Decent opening match with a nice swerve at the end.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett
Rating: **1/4
Match 2: Tag Team Turmoil Match - Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. Mideon & Viscera vs. Droz & Prince Albert vs. The Acolytes vs. The Holly Cousins
Interesting to see Michael Cole interviewing both Edge & Christian before the match and thinking how relevant the two still are in 2020. Also pretty funny to hear Jim Ross on commentary describe all the competitors as "young and hungry." Also interesting to see The Hardy Boyz work with Gangrel as heels. Times were different in 1999. Action was pretty decent from all teams and slowed down the most once Edge & Christian got eliminated from the match. This led to The Acolytes scoring the win over The Holly Cousins to earn a Tag Team Championship bout... the next night on Raw. Wonderful.
Winners: The Acolytes
Rating: **1/4
Match 3: WWE Hardcore Championship - Big Boss Man (c) vs. Al Snow
Nothing screams Attitude Era more than a Hardcore Championship match and I'm here for all of it. Road Dogg follows the match and does some commentary of his own with a microphone in hand throughout the match. Gee, wonder if he's going to interfere or not. Anyway, Al Snow attacks Big Boss Man on the stage before the fight spills backstage and eventually into the streets of Minneapolis. Fun match here that obviously doesn't take itself too seriously with the fight going from the streets into a little bar where they beat the living daylights out of each other inside. However, Road Dogg attacks Boss Man from behind that leads to Snow covering him for the win. I wonder how many fishy finishes we are going to get for the night.
Winner: Al Snow
Rating: **
Match 4: WWE Women's Championship - Ivory (c) vs. Tori
Holy crap, I totally forgot how ripped Ivory was back in the day because damn! Some of these Attitude Era matches with the women can be brutally bad... and this match was point and case. Pretty sloppy action here with a botched finish that looked like it was supposed to be a sunset flip of sorts. Wow, how far we have come with the women's division. You can skip this. That's pretty much all there is to say about this one.
Winner: Ivory
Rating: 1/2*
Match 5: Lion's Den Match - Steve Blackman vs. Ken Shamrock
Interesting match to have here, Ken Shamrock was very much over at this time and Steve Blackman was such a beast. You can make the argument that both guys were pretty much ahead of their time. Rules for this match are pretty unclear, I guess you have to exit the cage to win the match but the finish saw Shamrock knock out Blackman with a kendo stick to win the match without seeing him exit the cage at all. The match itself was pretty enjoyable for the most part with the two tossing each other into the cage and beating with other up with foreign objects. Just a little too short to really give a better score and when taking into account how the instructions were so unclear, this is the best score I could come up with. Would have loved to see more of this during this time if they just... ya know... figured out the rules for it.
Winner: Ken Shamrock
Rating: **
Match 6: Greenwich Street Fight - Test vs. Shane McMahon
Shane McMahon isn't a fan of Test dating his sister so he's out to make sure to put an end to that here. Pretty funny to see The Mean Street Posse come out to sit ringside for the match on a couch with some champagne. They're definitely not going to interfere, right? The two brawl in and out of the ring with The Posse eventually helping Shane before Test is able to take them out briefly. However, the numbers game would catch up to Test and Shane would get the upper hand and even went as far as hitting an elbow from the top through onto Test through an announcers table. Good stuff. Shane had things in control until Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco came out to eliminate The Posse from the equation and leave an opening for Test to score the win with a diving elbow of his own from the top rope. Afterwards, Stephanie McMahon comes out to celebrate as she stares down an unconscious Shane. Attitude Era stuff was just so wild.
Winner: Test
Rating: ***
Match 7: WWE World Tag Team Championship - Kane & X-Pac (c) vs. The Big Show & The Undertaker
Always enjoyed watching The Big Show and The Undertaker team up or go against each other for that matter. Crazy to think how long the careers of them and Kane were in the WWE as they feuded with and against each other for so many years to come after this. Kane has the unenviable task of carrying himself and X-Pac to a victory against two behemoths. I liked how they built the story around Kane & X-Pac being underdogs and implementing that into the match really worked with Kane seemingly having to fight against both Show and Undertaker extra hard to rebound for X-Pac in a lot of situations. X-Pac was able to hit use a couple low blows (RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE) at times to evade but eventually, Big Show and Undertaker would catch up. Big Show hit a Chokeslam on X-Pac but after only stepping on him for the pin, X-Pac was able to kick out. This allowed Undertaker to enter the match himself and hit a Tombstone to get the win for his team as both Undertaker and Big Show argue after the match about the pin. Not bad but wasn't like I was expecting greatness out of this. It was what it needed to be and just how you would expect a match from these guys to go.
Winners: The Big Show & The Undertaker
Rating: **1/2
Match 8: Kiss My Ass Match - Billy Gunn vs. The Rock
Prior to the match starting, Billy Gunn brings out a rather large woman and declares that this is the butt The Rock will be having to kiss. Hilarious to note how Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were ripping her throughout the match, absolutely no chance the WWE would get away with some of this stuff in 2020. They would be cancelled so fast. Decent match here with some nice back and forth action before Gunn decides to finally bring in the large woman in the ring for Rocky to kiss. Instead, Rock is able to shove Gunn's face into the lady and hit him with a Rock Bottom along with a People's Elbow to score the win. Match was fairly short and good for what it was. Pretty funny to watch Billy Gunn get his head shoved into that woman's behind but nothing too exciting.
Winner: The Rock
Rating: **3/4
Match 9: WWE Championship - Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. Mankind vs. Triple H
Love having Jesse Ventura serve as the special guest referee for this one, his presence always adds to whatever is going on in or out of the ring. He's serving as the referee to prevent any shenanigans going on... I'm sure we know how that one's gonna turn out. Ventura eventually had to throw Chyna out of the match and also had his back turned when Triple H was using a steel chair against Stone Cold Steve Austin. Oh, there was also a random Shane McMahon interference after Ventura refused to do a pin count for Triple H. So much shenanigans but I did like watching Ventura toss Shane out of the ring. The crowd was extremely hot for Austin but much of the match felt like he was just a third wheel, even as the defending champion. Definitely a cluster of a main event here and just never felt like it got out of first gear. The Attitude Era was great in having matches like this one but for whatever reason, this one was so forgettable and didn't feel like a big Summerslam main event. Mankind took some hard bumps throughout the match but nothing like some of the crazier things we've seen him done before. Mankind got a pretty surprising win here after hitting Austin with a DDT. The crowd popped but you could almost hear the disappointment as their hero in Stone Cold lost the match. Weird match that is easily forgettable and just didn't live up to its expectations.
Winner: Mankind
Rating: ***1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Am I being too hard on the show? Maybe, but you could also make the argument that I'm being too kind on this show. There is absolutely no way the WWE could get away with churning out a show like this in 2020. Let alone it being Summerslam, this was just not a good show. Aside from maybe the main event, this just lacked good in-ring action and didn't have anything that was memorable or worth going back to watch. Sorry, Attitude Era marks, this one just ain't it.
Rating: 3.5/10
Monday, August 3, 2020
WWE Summerslam 2017 Review (Part 2)
WWE Summerslam 2017
August 20, 2017
Brooklyn, New York
If Brock Lesnar wants to hold on to his Universal Championship, he must go through the biggest and baddest stars of the Raw roster. A fatal four-way match determines who leaves the biggest event of the summer as the top dog of the WWE.
Match 6: Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor
Interesting feud heading into this one with Finn Balor bringing out his demon side in his attempt to go against Bray Wyatt and his demons. Dig the entrance from Balor as the children singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" before his music hits. Nice touch. The Match itself was pretty bland, Wyatt is able to get in some offense but Balor was too much to contain. Once Wyatt had an opening, he did his signature taunt that had no effect on Balor. Balor was able to quickly hit his Coup de Grace on Wyatt to secure the win in about 10 minutes. Like I said, a pretty bland match but nobody was really expecting anything amazing and it didn't need to be for a match like this. Take it or leave it.
Winner: Finn Balor
Rating: **1/4
Match 7: WWE Raw Tag Team Championship - The Bar (c) vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose
Loved the reunion between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose during the summer of 2017 as they challenge both Cesaro and Sheamus for the gold. Always love to note how Cesaro and Rollins worked very well with each other in the Ring of Honor days as they now headline big WWE shows, pretty damn cool. Solid action here between the two teams that felt a little like watching a Raw main event for the better part of the match until they finally got the ball really rolling in the latter end. Also loved Cesaro running into the crowd to tear apart a beach ball, legendary shit right there. Rollins is able to hit a hurricanrana on on Cesaro that drives him into Sheamus as Ambrose hits a Dirty Deeds DDT to secure the big win. Solid match and cool to see Rollins and Ambrose win the tag titles at a Summerslam event, makes the belts get a bit of a rub in the process.
Winners: Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose
Rating: ***1/2
Match 8: WWE United States Championship - AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Speaking of guys who were once Ring of Honor stars, we have AJ Styles and Kevin Owens going at it with Shane McMahon serving as the guest referee. These two have great chemistry and it certainly showed here. Great action with each guy getting in a good amount of offense against each other and they played the story of Shane being the third man in the match nicely. The nearfalls were believable here and the spots with Shane didn't insult your intelligence like most matches with referee bumps do. Owens thought he secured the win as Shane made a 3 count until cancelling his decision after realizing that Styles had his foot on the bottom rope. Owens and Shane get into a little bit of a shoving match and soon after, Styles capitalizes on the mayhem and hits Owens with both a Phenomenal Forearm along with a Styles Clash to pick up the big win. Great match.
Winner: AJ Styles
Rating: ***3/4
Match 9: WWE Championship - Jinder Mahal (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
The hype for Shinsuke Nakamura was for real, everyone and their mother thought that Summerslam 2017 was going to be the event of his official crowning as WWE Champion. Unfortunately for him, the WWE was way bigger on Jinder Mahal. Very cool to see how they showed both broadcasts from the perspective of the Indian and Japanese announcers, nice touch. Nakamura was able to get in his signature offense against Mahal but fighting both Mahal and The Singh Brothers proved to be too much as a late distraction caused Mahal to hit his Khallas finisher to score the win. This was a fairly short match that only ran a bit over 10 minutes and while many were criticizing the match over that fact, I felt like it was exactly what it needed to be. This is their first encounter and it sets up bigger matches between the two down the line after this as Nakamura now his out with the distractions from The Singh Brothers. Mahal just gets way too much hate.
Winner: Jinder Mahal
Rating: ***
Match 10: WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns
Four of the biggest (maybe even literally) guys in the company and all in their prime... this is the ultimate Summerslam main event. Crowd is pumped for this one and you can feel the buzz in the air as Brock Lesnar circles the ring as his opponents all stare him down. This was a war and Lesnar was the star of it all. Crowd was mostly hot for Braun Strowman going into this one and got even hotter for him when he destroyed Lesnar by driving him through two tables and toppling him with another one. Crowd was going bonkers at this point. However, the only real drawback I had for the match was the few minutes that Lesnar was out of the match, the action in the ring definitely took a step back and the crowd just wasn't as invested as much to what was happening. The action picked up more again once he returned to the ring and eventually hit Roman Reigns with an F5 to secure the win. Interesting choice to have Reigns eat the pin here since it would have made more sense to have Samoa Joe eat it considering he was the last person to challenge Lesnar before this and they still had some beef to settle. Regardless, amazing main event and easily one of the best Summerslam matches in quite some time. Everyone thought for sure that Lesnar was going to drop the belt but they hit us with that swerve. Good stuff.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ****3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
That main event was worth the price of admission alone. These shows can be way too long and drag at times but this one went by pretty smoothly and most matches on the card played their role nicely. However, the card was still pretty forgettable aside from the main event which was absolutely electric. If there's any real reason to remember this show, it's for that. Brock Lesnar is the best in the game.
Rating: 7.5/10
August 20, 2017
Brooklyn, New York
If Brock Lesnar wants to hold on to his Universal Championship, he must go through the biggest and baddest stars of the Raw roster. A fatal four-way match determines who leaves the biggest event of the summer as the top dog of the WWE.
Match 6: Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor
Interesting feud heading into this one with Finn Balor bringing out his demon side in his attempt to go against Bray Wyatt and his demons. Dig the entrance from Balor as the children singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" before his music hits. Nice touch. The Match itself was pretty bland, Wyatt is able to get in some offense but Balor was too much to contain. Once Wyatt had an opening, he did his signature taunt that had no effect on Balor. Balor was able to quickly hit his Coup de Grace on Wyatt to secure the win in about 10 minutes. Like I said, a pretty bland match but nobody was really expecting anything amazing and it didn't need to be for a match like this. Take it or leave it.
Winner: Finn Balor
Rating: **1/4
Match 7: WWE Raw Tag Team Championship - The Bar (c) vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose
Loved the reunion between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose during the summer of 2017 as they challenge both Cesaro and Sheamus for the gold. Always love to note how Cesaro and Rollins worked very well with each other in the Ring of Honor days as they now headline big WWE shows, pretty damn cool. Solid action here between the two teams that felt a little like watching a Raw main event for the better part of the match until they finally got the ball really rolling in the latter end. Also loved Cesaro running into the crowd to tear apart a beach ball, legendary shit right there. Rollins is able to hit a hurricanrana on on Cesaro that drives him into Sheamus as Ambrose hits a Dirty Deeds DDT to secure the big win. Solid match and cool to see Rollins and Ambrose win the tag titles at a Summerslam event, makes the belts get a bit of a rub in the process.
Winners: Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose
Rating: ***1/2
Match 8: WWE United States Championship - AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Speaking of guys who were once Ring of Honor stars, we have AJ Styles and Kevin Owens going at it with Shane McMahon serving as the guest referee. These two have great chemistry and it certainly showed here. Great action with each guy getting in a good amount of offense against each other and they played the story of Shane being the third man in the match nicely. The nearfalls were believable here and the spots with Shane didn't insult your intelligence like most matches with referee bumps do. Owens thought he secured the win as Shane made a 3 count until cancelling his decision after realizing that Styles had his foot on the bottom rope. Owens and Shane get into a little bit of a shoving match and soon after, Styles capitalizes on the mayhem and hits Owens with both a Phenomenal Forearm along with a Styles Clash to pick up the big win. Great match.
Winner: AJ Styles
Rating: ***3/4
Match 9: WWE Championship - Jinder Mahal (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
The hype for Shinsuke Nakamura was for real, everyone and their mother thought that Summerslam 2017 was going to be the event of his official crowning as WWE Champion. Unfortunately for him, the WWE was way bigger on Jinder Mahal. Very cool to see how they showed both broadcasts from the perspective of the Indian and Japanese announcers, nice touch. Nakamura was able to get in his signature offense against Mahal but fighting both Mahal and The Singh Brothers proved to be too much as a late distraction caused Mahal to hit his Khallas finisher to score the win. This was a fairly short match that only ran a bit over 10 minutes and while many were criticizing the match over that fact, I felt like it was exactly what it needed to be. This is their first encounter and it sets up bigger matches between the two down the line after this as Nakamura now his out with the distractions from The Singh Brothers. Mahal just gets way too much hate.
Winner: Jinder Mahal
Rating: ***
Match 10: WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns
Four of the biggest (maybe even literally) guys in the company and all in their prime... this is the ultimate Summerslam main event. Crowd is pumped for this one and you can feel the buzz in the air as Brock Lesnar circles the ring as his opponents all stare him down. This was a war and Lesnar was the star of it all. Crowd was mostly hot for Braun Strowman going into this one and got even hotter for him when he destroyed Lesnar by driving him through two tables and toppling him with another one. Crowd was going bonkers at this point. However, the only real drawback I had for the match was the few minutes that Lesnar was out of the match, the action in the ring definitely took a step back and the crowd just wasn't as invested as much to what was happening. The action picked up more again once he returned to the ring and eventually hit Roman Reigns with an F5 to secure the win. Interesting choice to have Reigns eat the pin here since it would have made more sense to have Samoa Joe eat it considering he was the last person to challenge Lesnar before this and they still had some beef to settle. Regardless, amazing main event and easily one of the best Summerslam matches in quite some time. Everyone thought for sure that Lesnar was going to drop the belt but they hit us with that swerve. Good stuff.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ****3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
That main event was worth the price of admission alone. These shows can be way too long and drag at times but this one went by pretty smoothly and most matches on the card played their role nicely. However, the card was still pretty forgettable aside from the main event which was absolutely electric. If there's any real reason to remember this show, it's for that. Brock Lesnar is the best in the game.
Rating: 7.5/10
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