WWE Summerslam 2023: Five Thoughts
Another WWE Summerslam has come and gone and it was a pretty solid Premium Live Event from Ford Field in Detroit.
There were eight matches on the card. Some matches went over time. Some came a little bit under. The whole event went over four hours in front of 50,000+ fans.
Check out the John Canton review of SummerSlam here in case you haven’t done so already. Let’s get to it.
#5: LOGAN PAUL DEFEATS RICOCHET
This one was pretty predictable. No offense to Ricochet but everybody knew he was just here to give Logan a good showing but fall in defeat. That said, it was a phenomenal match. Each guy displayed his talent and athleticism and the crowd responded accordingly.
The right man went over in my opinion as you have more equity in Logan Paul than you do in Ricochet. The brass knuckles came into play which helped Logan Paul secure the victory. You probably won’t see Paul again until Crown Jewel or at least Survivor Series, but I thought this was a great showing with a talent who could make him look good.
#4: IYO SKY CASHES IN MONEY IN THE BANK
The match started off with Asuka defending her WWE Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair. The match was pretty good. Bianca did a great job selling a knee injury before ultimately coming back with a roll up victory.
The story was after the match when Iyo Sky along with Bayley came running out to cash in her briefcase. Bayley took out Charlotte and Asuka but Bianca took her out as soon as she got in the ring. I was worried for a second that Iyo would fail her cash in but luckily she hit Bianca in the leg with the briefcase and then knocked her out. She went up top and hit a near perfect moonsault to secure the win and the WWE Womens Championship. It was a great night and achievement.
Iyo is another of the recent crop of new talents who hasn’t always gotten the best reactions. Something changed at Backlash in Puerto Rico and ever since then, she’s received a groundswell of support from the audience. I still see the split with Bayley coming. However, Summerslam was the night for the Genius of the Sky and she deserves it.
#3: CODY RHODES DEFEATS BROCK LESNAR
It was match three of the best of three between The American Nightmare and The Beast. It was probably my favorite of their three matches simply because it was the only one with a real definitive finish. The first one had a sneaky rollup by Cody while Brock had the Kimura. The second match involved Cody passing out but not tapping out. This one was different. Brock whooped Cody’s ass for most of the match but Cody kept fighting. Cody ended up hitting three Cross Rhodes to put down The Beast in a pretty good match.
After the match, in an apparent unplanned spot, Brock Lesnar shook Cody’s hand. You could tell Cody was surprised and didn’t know what to make of it. Brock doesn’t do that for just anybody so you could tell that Brock wanted to do it. It signified Cody as the next guy and I was glad to see it.
#2: SETH ROLLINS RETAINS HIS WWE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
This was my match of the night. Seth and Finn went out there and delivered a banger. There were shenanigans, callbacks, and in the end, Seth capitalized on a mistake between Damien Priest and Finn Balor to get the win. I thought Finn might pull it out but I can understand not taking the title off Seth yet.
The drama with The Judgment Day seems to be ramping up a bit so I can see Priest or Finn turning babyface soon. Priest has the Money in the Bank briefcase so there’s no telling when he will cash in, but I would suspect it will be before WrestleMania. We’ll see. I’m interested to see what is next.
#1: ROMAN REIGNS WINS TRIBAL COMBAT AFTER JIMMY USO TURNS ON JEY USO
The main event was Roman Reigns and Jey Uso for the WWE Undisputed Championship in a Tribal Combat Match. I thought the match was pretty good. Maybe a little too long at 36 minutes. They probably could’ve cut at least 10 minutes off that and it would’ve been better.
Jey is massively over as a babyface. There were times in that match when I actually thought Jey was going to win it. I know the Jimmy Uso turn surprised a lot of people but if you actually watched the shows, it shouldn’t. They have been planting the seeds for Jimmy’s turn since before he got put on the shelf. Jimmy and Jey have said they wanted to face each other. I guess now they’ll get their chance.
I thought it was a good ending but I can understand if some didn’t want The Usos to split up. I ask you this. What would be the benefit of keeping them together? They’ve accomplished everything they could as a tag team. It benefits nobody for Jey to lose and just go back in a tag team with Jimmy and do the same stuff they’ve been doing for a decade. This allows them to freshen things up and the pop will be even bigger when they reunite (because you know they will reunite eventually). I’m interested to see what’s next.
QUICK THOUGHTS
Shayna Baszler defeated Ronda Rousey: It was not a very good match, but did what it set out to do and put Shayna over. She can say she did what nobody else in WWE could do and made Ronda pass out.
LA Knight wins Slim Jim Battle Royal: The push of LA Knight continues. People just needed to be patient. He’s going to have a big 2024.
GUNTHER defeated Drew McIntyre: This was a great match. I figured GUNTHER would win. He’s too close to Honky Tonk Man’s record to have him lose now.
There you have it. I thought it was a very good show. You got big moments from Iyo Sky and LA Knight. Cody Rhodes finally put down The Beast. And you had a main event full of twists and turns. I feel there will be a big moment in this story soon. I’m interested to see how it plays out.
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Thanks for reading. Check out my TJRWrestling writing archive here. I’m on Twitter @GiftedMoney talking about wrestling among other things, so feel free to message me on there with any thoughts or comments. Until next time.