Twenty-Two Things I Learned from WWE Summerslam by Brandon Lasher

Welcome to my latest analysis column of a WWE PPV. It is part of my resolution to write about the main roster more often. Last night was Summerslam, the never-ending PPV. Here are the twenty-two things I learned from the show in Brooklyn.

Twenty-Two Things I Learned From WWE Summerslam:

1. I won’t review matches from this pre-show. Spending a fourth of your day watching pro wrestling makes any crowd exhausted. I do feel really sorry for Cesaro and Sami Zayn. They deserve much better than this.

2. I think Enzo & Big Cass are the perfect opener for any pay per view card. Enzo will always give you something unique and funny.

3. I think the wrestler I am most like in real life is Kevin Owens. Because I am just a ridiculously sarcastic man.

4. It is shocking in this day and age to see Chris Jericho actually win a match. I am guessing this feud isn’t done.

5. The Women’s Championship is the second match on the card? Going back after the show this seems like one of the many match placement issues with the show.

6. I believe Sasha Banks is trying to break her own neck. Few wrestlers are more reckless with their own well-being.

7. Shocked to see Charlotte win clean but it does allow for more matches in this excellent rivalry. I mean who else does Raw women’s roster really have?

8. I think Apollo Crews has been booked terribly since his debut on the main roster. He deserves better but based on this bad booking it would make little sense for him to beat The Miz.

9. You have a match-up the quality of John Cena versus AJ Styles fourth on the card? That seems like a good way to kill the crowd for later matches.

10. I think that Cena and Styles complement each other perfectly. The pacing and false finishes of that match were flawless. Am I shocked Styles won clean? Somewhat but it was what was needed for Smackdown’s future. Props to John Cena for taking the loss. Match of the night easily.

11. I really miss Jon Stewart on the “Daily Show” but does it make sense to make him a good guy here? I mean he did turn “heel” at last year’s show.

12. Have you ever seen a face tag team retain the titles through a DQ? It seems strange to me to see The New Day win that way.

13. I am a little disturbed Big E drank the liquid that his “balls” were suppose to be in.

14. I cannot believe the WWE Championship is going on so early in the show. Makes it seem really unimportant.

15. After all that really good promo work we simply get an o.k. match out of Dean and Dolph. The crowd didn’t help but you can’t blame them this long into the show. Maybe the crowd was like me, they don’t buy Dolph as a credible challenger. Hard to care when you know the outcome.

16. Is it weird I am actually enjoying the Eva Marie gimmick?

17. Every one knows of my “love” for Nikki Bella but it seems strange to see her on the heel team. I mean you know the crowd is going to cheer her. But I think she will be a help to the Smackdown women’s division. Becky, on the other hand, is the lovable loser of the WWE.

18. Yes, the design of the WWE Universal title is very lazy. I agree. But complaining about it during a Finn Balor-Seth Rollins match? Annoying. If the worst thing in your life is the design of a pro wrestling belt then you might have some serious first world problems.

19. I was shocked to see Finn actually win the title. It shows the faith that management has in him. Just don’t overdue his entrances as the Demon King. It will lessen its impact.

20. I guess I know why Roman-Rusev had a match on Raw now. It is weird to have an angle right before your main event. Remind me again why Roman is the good guy in this storyline?

21. Not having Michael Cole on main event commentary is a gift to wrestling fans.

22. That was a unique way to end a major pay per view. It was a bloody, shocking finish. I give Randy a lot of props for being willing to get legit busted open in the match. He is putting a lot of trust in Brock Lesnar for sure. I don’t know what I think of the finish but if Brock vanished for months again, I will be a little disappointed.

Final Thoughts

This was a weird pay per view. I am starting to think these major pay per views are way too long and I do think better match placement would have helped last night. But hey we will start having two pay per views a month so that is something. I guess that means I will be writing these a lot more!

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Feel free to contact me at lasher@pacificu.edu. Additionally, I have my Twitter account, WWEBNRL as well. I would love to hear your thoughts on Summerslam. Does NXT have the “less is more” idea down?