Reviews

The John Report: WWE SummerSlam 2022 Review

By John Canton • Published 30th July 2022

The 2022 WWE SummerSlam event featured Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar in a Last Man Standing match, plus several big title matches as well.

SummerSlam was a stadium show for the second year in a row. This time it had an outdoor venue in Nashville at the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. It’s also the first time that SummerSlam has taken place in July since it became an annual event in 1988. We are used to it being in August. Since the Clash at the Castle Premium Live Event is on September 3, it makes sense to make SummerSlam a July show so that there’s over one month until the Clash event. There was no Kickoff Show match.

It was mentioned that Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch was going on first. Let’s roll.

WWE SummerSlam
From Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee
July 30, 2022

The opening video package featured clips of WWE superstars along with some country music playing since they were in Nashville. Any WWE fan knows they always do a great job with the video packages, so this was no different.

There was a shot of the big crowd in Nashville. It’s a 70,000 seat stadium for Tennessee Titans NFL games, but they never intended to sell it out. They said it was about 40,000 plus fans in attendance, so there were some parts of the stadium where they didn’t sell tickets. It’s a big crowd.

The Raw commentary team of Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton were at ringside to call the first match.

Becky Lynch was up first wearing an elaborate outfit as usual. It was a long walk to the ring since it’s a stadium. Bianca Belair got a big ovation as the Raw Women’s Champion. She looked confident as usual. The ring announcer Mike Rome did the championship introductions while both women were in the ring.

Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch

Belair is from Knoxville, Tennessee so she got a bigger pop than usual in her home state. There was no tease of a pinfall in the first 26 seconds as a nod to last year’s SummerSlam. Belair got a waistlock takedown, Lynch tried a sunset flip, Belair rolled through and hit a backflip followed by a shoulder tackle. When Belair tried a leapfrog, Lynch took her down by the leg. Lynch got an armbar takedown followed by Lynch sending Belair into the ropes. Lynch with double knees to the left arm. When Lynch tried sending Belair into the ropes, Belair did a cartwheel out of it and Belair got a slam that sent Lynch into the mat. Belair with a standing moonsault for a two count. Belair with a slam onto the top of the barricade, but Lynch managed to slam Belair onto the barricade instead. Lynch with a leg drop to the back while against the barricade. Lynch brought Belair back into the ring for a two count. Lynch slowed it down with a Bexploder Suplex. Belair tried a suplex, but Lynch got an inside cradle for two. Lynch grabbed the hair, kick to the back and an elbow to the chest got a two count. Belair fought back with forearms, Belair caught a kick attempt and Lynch got a takedown into a submission, but Belair fought out of it. Belair to the apron, Lynch with a spin kick to the gut and a leg drop attempt by Lynch, but Belair turned it into a slam like a Powerbomb. That was a unique spot. Jimmy called it Nissan Arena, then Corey corrected him that it was Stadium since there was no roof and that’s right. They left the ring with Belair going for a suplex on the floor, but Lynch blocked it. Lynch tried using the hair, Belair avoided that and sent Lynch into the ring post. Belair with a suplex on the floor. Belair with a handspring off the ropes into a standing moonsault for two. Belair with shoulder tackles, then a backflip off the turnbuckle and Lynch with a cross body block, but Belair caught her. The fans came alive, Lynch broke free and hit a Diamond Dust (thanks Graves for the reminder of that move name) neckbreaker for a two count. They exchanged strikes, Lynch with a knee to the ribs, Belair with a forearm and Lynch tried a headscissors, but Belair blocked it and slammed Lynch down. Lynch escaped a move by Belair with Lynch going for her armbar, but Belair managed to get out of the ring. They were on the apron, Belair had Lynch on her shoulders and Belair hit the KOD (Kiss of Death) on the floor. The referee was counting them out with Lynch back in right before the ten count.

Belair wanted the KOD again, Lynch landed on her feet and Belair came back with a spinebuster. Belair went up top, Lynch stopped her there and Lynch pulled Belair off the ropes by the hair. Lynch hit the Manhandle Slam for one…two…and no. Belair kicked out. Good nearfall there. They went to the middle rope, Belair hit a Spanish Fly slam from there and Belair hit the KOD for the pinfall win at 15:10.

Winner by pinfall: Bianca Belair

Analysis: **** This was a great match as usual from these two talented women. It was full of action from the moment the bell rang. Lynch got that great nearfall with the Manhandle Slam early on and that could have been it, but Belair kept on fighting back. I’m so impressed by how well is able to put it all together in these matches where she mixes her athleticism with a good job of selling everything well. I like how they did the finish with the Spanish Fly off the middle ropes along with the KOD for the second time. Belair keeping the title is what I expected.

Post match, Belair celebrated with her title. Lynch extended her left hand for a shake with Belair looking at the fans to see what she can do. Belair shook her hand, then they hugged and Lynch said something privately to her.

Analysis: It was a sign of respect from Lynch. I wonder if this is going to lead to Lynch turning into a face after being a heel for the last year. We know the fans are going to want to cheer her again at some point, so maybe this will be the start of that.

Bayley made her entrance as Belair was in the ring. It’s been over one year since Bayley has been out of action since she tore her ACL in her knee and now she’s ready to compete again. Bayley was in heel mode.

Dakota Kai also made her entrance as she joined Bayley in the aisle. Kai was released by WWE a while ago, but now she’s back.

Io Shirai made her entrance to join Bayley and Kai in the aisle while they stared at Belair in the ring. The trio of women walked down to the ring to trash talk Belair.

Bayley got in Belair’s face saying she wasn’t just going to come back on her own. Bayley said she’s got the best in the whole damn world with her. Becky Lynch stood beside Belair in the ring with the fans cheering it. Belair and Lynch looked ready to fight together, but Bayley’s group backed away from the ring.

.@itsBayleyWWE is back and it looks like she came with some backup 👀#SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/6jrDeLkvcY
— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2022

Analysis: That was cool. It’s going to present some fresh matches and storylines. As I wrote earlier, it looks like we’ll get Becky as a face moving forward, which is fine. I’m intrigued by all of this. It’s fresh. Bring it on. I should point that Graves kept saying Io Sky instead of Shirai, so I guess there might be a name change for her. Anyway, they’re all awesome performers and obviously, this is a Triple H influence on booking since Dakota/Io were longtime stars in NXT who are now on the main roster. Lastly, I’m happy Bayley is back. She’s a favorite of mine and always will be.

UPDATE: The spelling on Io Shirai’s new name is IYO SKY. That’s how WWE is spelling it with all caps.

They showed the video package for The Miz’s match against Logan Paul.

The Miz made his entrance with his wife Maryse and his friend Ciampa joining him. Logan Paul was dressed in yellow and black gear. Paul wasn’t cheered that much, but he’s supposed to be the babyface in this match.

The Miz (w/Maryse & Ciampa) vs. Logan Paul

The fans chanted “tiny balls” at Miz, so I guess they watched Raw in the last month. Miz with a snapmare, Paul blocked a kick and then Miz still kicked him anyway. Miz with a knee to the ribs, Paul came back with a fireman’s carry and his own light kick to the head. Paul ducked some punches, then Paul connected with his own big punch. Paul with a couple of leapfrogs followed by a rollup. Paul with a clothesline over the top to the floor followed by Paul hitting a moonsault off the apron onto standing Miz on the floor. Back in the ring, Miz connected with some chops and then Paul hit some chops of his own. Paul went to the turnbuckle, Miz tripped him up and Miz hit double knees to the chest to take over. Miz choked Paul against the ropes, Miz distracted the referee and Ciampa punched Paul. Miz worked over Paul with punches, Miz avoided a charging Paul and Miz’s knee hit the turnbuckle. Paul with a boot to the face followed by the Blockbuster neckbreaker off the middle rope. Paul with a clothesline, back elbow and a running powerslam for two. Paul delivered the kicks to the chest, then Paul did a chop block to the left knee and Paul applied the Figure Four Leglock submission. After about 30 seconds in the hold, Miz got to the ropes to break the hold. Paul charged at Miz, who sent Paul to the apron and Paul hit a cross body block off the top. Paul hit a standing moonsault for two. After Paul knocked down Miz, Ciampa tried doing a cheap shot, but the referee saw him trying to cheat and the referee ejected Ciampa from ringside. Ciampa grabbed a chair and sat by the commentary table. That led to the music of AJ Styles leading to Styles jumping off the barricade to hit Ciampa with a forearm. Styles fought with Ciampa into the crowd. They went fighting to the back.

The match continued with Paul hitting a Phenomenal Forearm off the top rope for a two count. The Miz went to the floor, Paul cleared off the commentary table and put Miz on the table. Paul jumped off the top with a Frog Splash on Miz through the table. Back in the ring, Paul had Miz pinned and Maryse was there to distract the referee. Paul got up, so Miz tried to attack Miz with a chain, but Paul moved. Paul hit the Skull Crushing Finale on Miz for the pinfall win at 14:15.

Winner by pinfall: Logan Paul

Analysis: ***1/2 This was pretty good with Paul looking a lot more experienced than a guy that has only had two matches and this was his first singles match. Paul showed off a lot of athleticism at WrestleMania and he did even more here. I was impressed by a lot of Paul’s moves. Some of them didn’t look as crisp as when others do them, but he’ll do them better as he gets more experience. That Frog Splash off the top rope through the table was amazing. The Miz really didn’t do that much in this match other than take an ass kicking and put over Paul clean. Paul winning was what I thought would happen here.

Paul celebrated the win. The crowd was behind him because they were impressed by what he did. The announcers pushed the idea that Paul was training with AJ Styles, so that’s why he looked so good in the ring.

There was a video that aired showing some Brock Lesnar career highlights from his beginnings 20 years ago up to the present day.

There was a video featuring the Maximum Male Models duo of Mace and Mansoor. It was promoting Pure Life water with Max Dupri saying it was the official water of Maximum Male Models.

There was a video about Roman Reigns showing his dominant run as the Universal Champion over the last two years and he added the WWE Championship to his haul at WrestleMania earlier this year.

Theory was next to challenge for the US Title and Theory had the Money in the Bank briefcase with him. This match didn’t get a video package like the two matches before this. Bobby Lashley was up next as the babyface US Champion, who got a pretty good ovation from the crowd. They set up Lashley’s platform about halfway between the ring and the entrance, so at least he didn’t have to walk as far as the others.

United States Championship: Bobby Lashley vs. Theory

Theory did an attack with the briefcase before the match. The bell rang shortly after that. Theory hit a Blockbuster neckbreaker. Lashley got some offense going with a back elbow, a clothesline and a spinebuster. Theory left the ring, he grabbed the Money in the Bank briefcase and teased leaving, but Lashley got in his way to prevent that. Lashley whipped Theory into the barricade at ringside two times in a row. When Lashley got back into the ring after Theory, it was Theory who hit a dropkick for two. Theory charged at Lashley, who caught him and hit a flatliner into the mat. They exchanged punches with the fans chanting for them and Lashley caught Theory leading to a powerslam. Lashley charged, Theory jumped over him and Lashley went shoulder first into the ring post. Theory charged, Lashley caught him and applied the Hurt Lock submission. Theory tapped out quickly to give Lashley the dominant win at 4:49.

Winner by submission: Bobby Lashley

Analysis: ** A dominant win by Lashley. Theory got some offense, but he was never really a threat to win. Lashley beat him easily. I’m not really surprised by the result although I thought maybe they would go a bit longer than that. It’s fine with me. You can’t have every match go long and it also makes Lashley look impressive to win like that.

Lashley celebrated the win while Graves said that Theory should rest up and cash in Money in the Bank later.

A video aired about WrestleMania 39 next year in Los Angeles.

A commercial aired for the A&E Biography of Kurt Angle on Sunday night. I will watch that since Kurt is one of my favorites of all time.

No Disqualification Match: Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs. The Judgment Day – Finn Balor & Damian Priest (w/Rhea Ripley)

Balor and Priest attacked right away, but Rey came back with a headscissors on Balor while Dominik dropkicked Priest. Balor and Priest were sent to the floor, so Dominik hit a suicide dive on Priest while Rey hit an Asai Moonsault onto Balor on the floor. Back in the ring, Dominik hit a cross body block off the top. There were tags in the match as Rey tagged in to slam Dominik onto Balor. Dominik with an arm wringer on Balor to take him down, but Priest hit a knee or a kick to knock Dominik down. Balor stomped on Dominik to keep him down. Balor choked Dominik across the middle rope, Priest tagged in and hit a leg drop to the chest. Priest applied a chinlock on Dominik followed by Priest getting a kick. Priest with a corner splash and Balor tagged in with a stomp on Dominik. Balor with a suplex along with some chops to the chest. Dominik got some offense going with a neckbreaker on Balor. Rey tagged in against Priest with a springboard cross body block, then he avoided legal man Priest and Rey hit a seated senton off the top onto Priest. Rey with a dropkick along with the bulldog that Rey has done so many times. Rey kicked Balor out of the ring. Balor had a chair, Rey got the chair and did a chair jab along with a chair to the back. Rey slid under the bottom rope onto Balor on the floor. Rey ran the ropes and Priest hit him with a superkick. Rey sent Priest into the ropes, but Balor tagged in and hit a running clothesline. Balor with a shotgun dropkick in the corner. Balor up top, Dominik grabbed Balor’s leg and Rey joined Balor on the top leading to a top rope hurricanrana from Rey for a two count because Priest made the save. Dominik helped Rey sent Priest into the ropes, then Balor was sent into the ropes and the Mysterios wanted a double 619, but Ripley got involved. Ripley tripped up both Mysterios and slammed Dominik onto the apron. Priest with the South of Heaven slam on Rey. Balor wanted a chair.

The lights went out in the building at that point, there was fire by the entrance area and Edge emerged from a platform. Huge pop for Edge making a Brood-like entrance as he walked down the steps. Edge had on some sunglasses as he quickly walked towards the ring. Priest went after Edge, but Edge hit him with a kick to the face. Edge with a Spear on Balor and a Spear on Priest. Edge sent Balor to the ropes, which led to a double 619. Rey hit a splash on Balor for the pinfall win at 11:05.

Winners by pinfall: Rey & Dominik Mysterio

Analysis: *** The match delivered a result that makes the fans happy with Edge making his return. It was similar to what they did on Raw last Monday and really didn’t do much in terms of using weapons even though they were legal. Edge getting involved was the obvious thing. I thought it was either coming during the match or after it was over, but I guess when you make it No DQ it makes sense to do it during the match. Edge getting his revenge made sense in this spot.

Edge celebrated in the ring with the Mysterios while staring at The Judgment Day in the aisle.

A video aired about Kevin Owens, who is not booked on SummerSlam.

Michael Cole was on commentary because his commentary partner Pat McAfee was in action against Happy Corbin. Cole was going to call the match with Graves. The video aired to set up McAfee’s match with Corbin.

Happy Corbin made his entrance. As he walked towards the ring, there was a choir by the entrance area singing “Bum Ass Corbin,” which is something that McAfee has called Corbin in the past. That led to Pat McAfee’s entrance with Pat wrestling in a black tank top, shorts and sneakers.

Pat McAfee vs. Happy Corbin

Corbin told Pat to take a seat on commentary. The back of Pat’s tank top has #BumAssCorbin on it. Pat with a superkick, then he jumped off the middle rope and hit a hurricanrana. Pat clotheslined Corbin out of the ring with Graves telling Cole to sit down. Pat sent Corbin into the ring post and they went back into the ring. Pat wanted a superplex, but Corbin knocked him down and Corbin hit a running dropkick. You don’t see Corbin doing that very often, but it looked good. Corbin hit a corner splash and he tossed Pat across the ring. Corbin trash talked Cole, then Graves supported his friend Corbin and Corbin tossed Pat out of the ring. Corbin drove Pat’s back into the barricade. Back in the ring, Corbin was booed by the fans. Pat came back with elbows, but Corbin hit the Deep Six slam for a two count. When Corbin did his slide out of the ring, Pat kicked him on the floor. Pat jumped over the top with a cross body block onto Corbin. Corbin with a hiptoss sending Pat onto the commentary table while Cole encouraged Pat to get back up. Corbin broke the referee’s count. Corbin put on a headset while shouting out Pat’s parents and Corbin shoved Cole onto his chair. The fans were booing Corbin as he punched Pat a few times on the table. Back in the ring, Corbin slowly went up top, which is rare for him and Pat jumped onto the top rope. Pat hit a superplex off the top rope. Great form on that move with the fans cheering that as Pat got a two count. They exchanged punches from a standing position. Corbin backed Pat into the corner, then Corbin charged, Pat moved and Corbin went shoulder-first into the ring post. Pat went up top, he nearly lost his balance and Pat hit a swanton dive (Swantone Bambini according to Cole) onto a standing Corbin. It’s good that Pat kept his balance there. Corbin went for the End of Days, Pat avoided it and Pat punched Corbin, who bumped into referee Charles Robinson. Pat punted Corbin in the groin! Cole said it was payback for what happened on Smackdown. Pat jumped off the middle rope with his own version of a Panama Sunrise (or I guess it was like a Code Red that was a sunset flip powerbomb) for the pinfall win at 10:39.

Winner by pinfall: Pat McAfee

Analysis: *** The match was pretty good by the end. There were some sloppy moments, but I liked the logic of having Pat hitting a low blow kick since he’s a former punter in the NFL. It makes sense for Pat to do a kick like that, which would cause a lot of damage. Plus, like Cole said it was payback for Corbin doing the low blow to Pat on Smackdown. Corbin losing was the result I expected since he tends to lose in PPV matches anyway.

Post match, Pat celebrated the win and he had some beer with a friend at ringside. The fans loved Pat.

They showed highlights from Smackdown when Drew McIntyre beat Sheamus in an incredible match. The win by Drew means he’s getting an Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match at Clash at the Castle on September 3rd in Wales.

Drew McIntyre was introduced to the crowd. Drew did a promo saying he loves this place because it’s the home of the new number one contender, Drew McIntyre. Drew moved there with his wife fairly recently. Drew talked about how he finally has his shot at the championship. Drew joked that Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar was for the first time ever, he asked a kid his name and said it was the first time ever in front of Colt in Nashville. They chanted for young Colt. Drew said he didn’t care who is going to win because he’s going to beat their ass and win the Undisputed WWE Universal Title at Clash at the Castle. Drew held up his sword and some pyro went off in the stadium.

Analysis: It was a solid babyface promo from Drew. I think he should win the titles at Clash at the Castle as a UK guy in front of UK fans. It’s going to be a special atmosphere and it should be a title change. It’s time for Drew to get that massive win.

Jeff Jarrett made his entrance as the special referee of the Tag Team Title match. They showed highlights of the awesome Usos/Street Profits match at Money in the Bank four weeks ago that ended in controversy when Montez Ford’s right shoulder was up. That set up this rematch.

The Street Profits made their entrance with some gear paying tribute to the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. They were also joined by some of the Titans cheerleaders for their entrance. Good reaction for the babyface Profits, who are well-liked by the crowd. The Usos made their entrance as the Undisputed Tag Team Champions meaning they had the Raw and Smackdown Tag Team Titles with them.

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins)

Jimmy started with Dawkins with the wrestlers punching in the corner, so Jarrett made sure they knew they had a five count in the corner. Jimmy with a backbreaker, Jey tagged in and hit a forearm to the chest of Dawkins. Jimmy back in with a forearm on Dawkins. Jimmy choke Dawkins across the rope while Jey got a cheap shot when Jarrett wasn’t looking. Jimmy worked over Dawkins with a chinlock, then he set up Dawkins in the corner and hit a running hip attack in the corner. Jimmy went for the corner attack again, Dawkins moved and Dawkins hit a jumping kick to the head. Ford tagged in against Jey leading to Ford hitting a kick along with a cross body block off the top rope. Ford with a clothesline, a kick to the chest and a jumping kick to the head. Ford with a belly to back suplex along with a standing moonsault for a two count. Jey with a kick to the ribs, then an uppercut and Ford ran the ropes leading to a Blockbuster neckbreaker for a two count. Jey sent Ford into the turnbuckle leading to a lifting neckbreaker for a two count. Jimmy back in, Ford sent both Usos out of the ring and Dawkins tagged in with a running somersault over the top onto both Usos. Dawkins hit a spinning neckbreaker on Jimmy for a two count. Jimmy with an enziguri kick, Ford tagged in and Dawkins shoved Jimmy into Ford for a belly to back suplex for two. Dawkins had Jimmy on his shoulders, Jey hit a superkick on Ford, who was in the ring and Jimmy superkicked Dawkins. The Usos hit a double superkick on Dawkins. Jimmy was the legal man, he went up top and hit an Uso Splash for two. Jarrett told Jimmy it was just two. Jey made the tag, The Usos each went up top and they hit a double Uso Splash on Dawkins, but Ford broke up the pin at two. Ford tossed Jimmy out of the ring, Jey sent Ford to the apron. Jey went for a superkick, Dawkins moved and Jarrett caught the foot. Dawkins with a spinebuster on Jey. Ford tagged in and Ford jumped off the top with a Frog Splash for just two. Ford didn’t cover right away because he was selling the ribs, so the announcers said that might have cost Ford. That led to Ford yelling at Jarrett about the count. Dawkins got the tag, The Usos were on the floor and when Ford tried a dive, The Usos gave Ford a double superkick. The Usos tossed Ford over the barricade. The Usos hit a double superkick on Dawkins on the floor. Back in the ring, The Usos hit the double superkick on Dawkins and the 1D on Dawkins was enough for the pinfall win at 13:25.

Winners by pinfall: The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso)

Analysis: ***3/4 It was another great tag team match between these teams, but it wasn’t at the same level as the MITB match that they had. That one was also twice as long, so that’s partly why it was a lot better. I think they did a nice job of having nearfalls like when Ford hit that Frog Splash for a two count. That certainly could have been the finish. The Usos ended up taking out Ford on the floor, then they isolated Dawkins and that was the end of the match after some double team moves. The champs continue to roll. I don’t know who will beat them or when it might happen.

The Usos celebrated the win. The Street Profits were seated in the ring looking frustrated.

Analysis: I wrote in my preview that I thought The Usos were going to win and that the Street Profits would be broken up the next time they have a draft in October or if it’s done before that. I just feel like it’s going to happen although I like the Profits as a team, so I’m fine with them staying together.

A video package aired about Charlotte Flair. It didn’t say when she was coming back. It was just a video about career highlights.

They showed WWE Hall of Famer Kid Rock at ringside.

Let’s Hear from Riddle

Riddle made his way down to ringside and he got into the ring for a promo. The fans cheered him. Riddle said that he’s not medically cleared to compete tonight, but his best bro Randy always told him not to take crap from anybody. Rollins told Seth “Freakin” Rollins to get his ass out there. They had some doctors at ringside telling Riddle to get out of there.

Seth “Freakin” Rollins appeared wearing an orange dress shirt and slacks. There were officials with Rollins trying to get him to go to the back. Riddle met Rollins in the aisle, then they went into the ring with Riddle getting in a few kicks and Rollins hit Riddle with a forearm to the head. Rollins hit The Stomp on Riddle in the ring. Cole was screaming about how it could break Riddle’s neck due to Riddle’s injury. The crowd was humming Seth’s theme song. Rollins left the ring after that while Riddle was down in the ring. Rollins ripped on Riddle for being stupid.

Analysis: The Riddle injury is a storyline to build a future match between them. I would have liked to see the match on this show, but they chose not to do it. Rollins got some more heat for this attack while Riddle looked foolish for trying to fight while he was hurt.

A video package aired for Smackdown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan facing Ronda Rousey.

The challenger Ronda Rousey was up first looking intense as usual. Liv Morgan was next as the Smackdown Women’s Champion in some purple and black gear.

Smackdown Women’s Championship: Ronda Rousey vs. Liv Morgan

Rousey was aggressive early with knee followed by a slam. Rousey wanted a slam off the shoulder, but Morgan elbowed out of it and hit a Codebreaker. Rousey blocked an Oblivion attempt leading to Rousey getting a takedown. Rousey with an armbar on the left arm, but then Morgan managed to get out of it and pull back on the arms. Morgan was on Rousey’s back leading to a crucifix pin for a two count. Rousey to the apron, she applied an armbar against the ropes and Morgan was favoring her left arm. Rousey with another takedown leading to an armbar, but Morgan got her foot on the bottom rope to break the hold. Rousey applied an armbar on the left arm again, Liv rolled through and got her feet on the bottom rope to break the hold. The referee Dan Engler called a female trainer to check on Morgan, who said she was okay as Morgan continued to sell the left arm injury. Rousey applied the armbar on the left arm again, Rousey’s shoulders were down and the referee counted to three. The announcers said that Morgan tapped out at the same time. Rousey argued with the referee about it. It went 4:34.

Winner by pinfall: Liv Morgan

The replay showed that Morgan tapped out before the three count, but the referee was looking at Rousey’s shoulders for the pin.

Analysis: ** A controversial finish with Morgan keeping her title. I said going into the match that I thought Morgan was going to keep the title, but I didn’t know how they were going to do it. This was a tough match to predict and I didn’t know how it would happen in this instance. It ended up being a much shorter match than I thought they would get with Rousey dominating most of it. Morgan tried her best, but she really didn’t get to do a lot in this match.

Rousey was angry about losing, so she attacked Morgan from behind and put her in the armbar. Rousey took down referee Dan Engler and put him an armbar as well. There were officials that showed up to get Rousey to break it up. Rousey left ringside while Morgan was selling the left arm injury and Morgan grabbed her title while smiling at ringside.

Analysis: Morgan escaped with her title while Rousey was a sore loser. I wonder if it leads to Ronda going heel, which I think is her best role. Rousey is more natural as a heel while it feels forced when she’s a face.

There was a commercial for Clash at the Castle on Saturday, September 3rd in Cardiff, Wales.

They introduced WWE Hall of Famer Kane (Glenn Jacobs), who was the Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. Kane announced the attendance of 48,449 people. That’s likely an inflated number as usual.

There was a commercial for Peacock/WWE Network progamming.

A commercial aired promoting NXT on Tuesday with two title matches.

They showed a video promoting WWE live events in the coming months.

It’s main event time at SummerSlam. They aired the video package for the Last Man Standing Match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship with Roman Reigns defending against Brock Lesnar.

Roman Reigns made his entrance as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Reigns was joined by his cousins The Usos with their two sets of Tag Team Titles, the “Wise Man” Special Counsel Paul Heyman was there and Reigns posed holding the Universal Title in the air while wearing the WWE Title. The Usos went to the back as Reigns walked toward the ring with Heyman. Cole mentioned four men that have held a World Title longer than Reigns: Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino. The Reigns walk towards the ring was slow as usual and it took a long time since it was a longer aisle in this stadium. When Reigns finally got to the ring, he posed with the Universal Title in the air and there were fireworks that went off in the stadium.

Reigns was given the microphone from Heyman: “Nashville…SummerSlam…acknowledge me!” The fans cheered that although there were a lot of boos too. I think the cheering was because they liked hearing the catchphrase.

Brock Lesnar made his entrance to a big ovation. Cole said that this was the ninth time Lesnar has headlined SummerSlam. They mentioned Lesnar winning his first WWE Title 20 years ago at SummerSlam 2002 when Lesnar beat The Rock. Cole talked about how Lesnar was in a Last Man Standing match for the first time in his career. Lesnar was walking towards the ring, but then he found a huge tractor that happened to be by the entrance area. Lesnar put on a cowboy hat and flannel shirt. Lesnar drove the huge red tractor down to the ring. Lesnar parked it right beside the ring. Lesnar introduced himself as a “Big Ass Country Boy” weighing 285 pounds and said he was there to kick Roman Reigns’ ass in a Last Man Standing Match and introduced himself. Mike Rome introduced Roman Reigns, who was booed by the crowd. Lesnar jumped off the tractor onto Reigns. The match started there.

Last Man Standing Match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

The winner of the match is the first man to incapacitate his opponent so that they stay down for a ten count.

Lesnar clotheslined Reigns out of the ring. Lesnar with a belly-to-belly suplex on the floor. Lesnar whipped Reigns into the steel steps and Lesnar suplexed Reigns on the floor. Lesnar sent Reigns over the barricade at ringside and Lesnar suplexed Reigns onto some platform that was in the crowd. The referee was Chad Patton doing the counting for the Last Man Standing rules. Reigns shoved Lesnar into a steel apparatus that was part of the set and then Lesnar sent Reigns into the steel. They were back at ringside, Lesnar slipped while jumping on the barricade and then Lesnar hit a German Suplex on the floor. Lesnar brought out a table from under the ring. Lesnar set up the table on the floor, Heyman distracted Lesnar and Reigns recovered enough to hit a Samoan Drop through the table. Lesnar was back up at around eight. Reigns hit Lesnar with the steel steps. Reigns set up a table on the floor and Reigns hit a uranage slam through the table. Lesnar was back up, they went into the ring and Reigns hit a Superman Punch that didn’t knock Lesnar down. Reigns hit a second Superman Punch that knocked Lesnar down. Reigns hit a Spear, the referee counted Lesnar down and Brock was back up at seven. Reigns charged, Lesnar caught him going for an F5, Reigns got out of that and Lesnar sent Reigns out of the ring. Lesnar gave Reigns a spinebuster onto a broken piece of table. Reigns was grabbing his arm after that landing. Lesnar was driving the tractor again, which he backed away from the ring. Lesnar hit Reigns with the steel steps. Lesnar hit Reigns with a piece of the table that hit Reigns in the head. Reigns was back up at eight. Lesnar dumped Reigns into the front-loader part of the tractor, then Lesnar set it beside the ring and dumped Reigns into the ring. Reigns got back up, so Lesnar hit Reigns with a German Suplex while fans chanted “this is awesome” for them. Lesnar hit another German Suplex. Lesnar gave Reigns a third straight German Suplex. Reigns was back up at eight again. Lesnar gave Reigns an F5 in the middle of the ring. Reigns got back up at nine to keep the match going. Reigns barely got up by using the ropes. Lesnar went for an F5 again, but Reigns landed on his feet and grabbed a Guillotine Choke. Lesnar reversed it and applied his own Guillotine Choke with Lesnar choking him out on the mat. The referee was checking on Reigns with Patton saying that Reigns was out, so Patton wanted Lesnar to let go. Lesnar let Reigns go, which started the count on Reigns, who managed to get to the ropes at nine. Moments later, Reigns was down again. Lesnar backed the tractor up and then he pushed it towards the ring. Lesnar lifted up the corner of the ring with the tractor so that Reigns was dumped out of the ring on the floor. The Usos showed up to attack Lesnar, but Brock took care of them with suplexes on the floor.

Lesnar went up to Reigns on the floor. Heyman told Lesnar this was enough and he wanted Lesnar to leave him alone. Lesnar picked up Heyman and Lesnar gave Heyman an F5 through the commentary table. Reigns was back up with a Spear on Lesnar. The referee counted Reigns and Lesnar down, but both guys were up at nine. Reigns was down after the referee was counting.

Theory’s music hit and Theory ran out there with the Money in the Bank briefcase. Theory was running down to the ring with a referee joining him. Theory hit Reigns with the briefcase. Theory gave the referee the briefcase, but Lesnar got a hold of Theory and gave him an F5 on the briefcase. It was not an official cash in. The Usos hit Lesnar with a double superkick. Lesnar was back up before the ten count. Reigns gave Lesnar a Spear onto both championships that were on the ground. Lesnar managed to get back up before the ten count again. Reigns hit Theory with the MITB briefcase. Reigns hit Lesnar with the MITB briefcase to the body. The referee counted Lesnar down and Lesnar was back up at nine again. Reigns hit Lesnar with the WWE Title to the head. Cole was shouting at the referee to count faster since Lesnar had taken so much punishment. Lesnar was back up at nine again! Reigns was shocked by it wondering what he had to do. Reigns hit Lesnar in the head with the Universal Championship. Reigns and the Usos buried Lesnar under parts of the table and the steel steps. The referee was counting as Reigns stood on top of the debris covering Lesnar and Brock stayed down for the ten count. Reigns got the win at 23:01.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Analysis: ****1/4 That was a pretty amazing match. It’s hard to really rate this match, but I enjoyed it a lot. I mean how do I factor in the tractor factor? I’ve been doing this for two decades and I never thought I’d write about a match where one guy drove a tractor to ringside so that he could flip over the side of the ring. That is pretty f’n crazy just to think about something like that, so to see them do it is wild. I thought the story of Reigns continuing to attack the babyface Lesnar only for Brock to keep getting up made it very entertaining towards the end. They stopped Theory from cashing in, then Brock kept getting knocked down and he found ways to get back up. That finishing spot with Reigns hitting Lesnar with the title twice leading to Reigns/Usos piling up debris on Lesnar was a smart way to end it. That kind of ending is cheap because Roman had help, so you can say moving forward that Roman’s opponents will want to face him in matches where The Usos can’t interfere. That’s something that can play into the storyline. I thought it was a fun match and I was entertained by it. The reason the match rating isn’t higher is it was a little too gimmicky for me with too much interference. It was still a match I rated highly and enjoyed a lot.

Tractor life. #SummerSlam Wow. pic.twitter.com/HZd8uWhTU6
— John Canton (TJRWrestling) (@johnreport) July 31, 2022

Reigns and The Usos celebrated the win while selling the beatings that they took. They picked up Paul Heyman to try to help him walk to the back. The announcers talked about how Lesnar needed help after all that debris that was on him. They cleared that stuff off Lesnar, who was down at ringside.

Reigns celebrated with his titles in the aisle. The announcers talked about Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre at Clash at the Castle and how hard it is to beat Reigns at this point. That was the end of the show.

Analysis: I think Drew should win as a UK-born guy in front of a big UK crowd of 65,000+ people. I like Reigns a lot, but it’s time for a title change and that’s the right place for it.

SummerSlam had a runtime of 3:39:52 on WWE Network/Peacock.

Five Stars of the Show

Roman Reigns
Brock Lesnar
Bianca Belair/Becky Lynch
The Usos
The Street Profits

Welcome back to Bayley too!

Final Thoughts

I’m going with an 8.5 out of 10 for this show.

I thought it was great. I was very entertained by this show. It was fun to watch and write about. While I wouldn’t say there was a match of the year style match on here, they really did a nice job of booking it and coming up with good finishes throughout the night. I liked Reigns/Lesnar the most due to how chaotic it was. A tractor was used to flip the ring and Lesnar kept on getting up at the count of nine until Reigns and The Usos buried him in ringside debris. I also enjoyed Belair/Lynch from a wrestling standpoint and The Usos/Profits was a lot of fun too. I was very impressed by Logan Paul in his match against The Miz. The McAfee/Corbin match was okay. Morgan/Rousey was more of a story in a short match.

They did a really nice job with the match order by placing Belair/Lynch first and they had a great match. After that match, it was great to see Bayley, Kai and Io making their appearance as a group. It led to a lot of excitement early in the show.

It was the first PLE/PPV in the Triple H booking era and I think it was a huge success. I wasn’t bored at any point. I enjoyed it immensely.