SummerSlam 2022 Review!

 Happy Sunday! SummerSlam was a blast, with some high points and some middlin’ points, but nary a low point to be seen. Let’s crack in and see what went down at the biggest party of the summer! (™) ® ©

Bianca Belair © versus Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship

My guess: Bianca wins in a BANGER - I WAS RIGHT!

From the entrances to the loaded ending and the immediate fallout, this was the best segment of the show, I thought. Despite the slippery ropes causing some missteps (a theme that would trend throughout the night, and one you’d think WWE could figure out by now - give the refs a towel or something) Bianca was flipping and flying around the ring. Becky held her own as well, looking good in defeat and really working Bianca’s arm. Belair had some great reversals I’d never seen before, and busted out a second rope Spanish Fly that I can’t remember ever seeing her use before. She won with the KOD and got the respectful handshake from Becky after all was said and done.

OR WAS IT? Because as Bianca celebrated, Bayley’s music hit! The long awaited return of the WWE’s version of a Karen finally happened, with Bayley making the long walk to the ring in all white. The question of whether she’d remain heel or be rebranded as a face was quickly answered, as Bayley threatened Bianca and brought out some familiar faces - recently released Dakota Kai, and Io Shirai, who was rumored to be nearing the end of her contract! All three women stood face to face with Belair in the ring when Becky Lynch came to her aid and chased off the new baddies.

I loved all of this. The match itself was easily the best of the night, a FOUR STAR banger that did everything right. The fallout was also fantastic, although maybe it set the bar too high for Triple H’s first pay per premium live event in charge. But we now have three fresh new heels, and a new good guy in Becky Lynch to pair them with along with our reigning champion in Bianca Belair. Here’s hoping this trend continues!

Logan Paul versus The Miz

My guess: Paul, a face?, gets the win - I WAS RIGHT AGAIN!

Personal opinions aside, our first celebrity match of the night was a decent one! Paul is clearly enjoying the WWE life, and he’s doing well enough in the ring to make the “good celebrity guest wrestler” fad more of a trend than a one-off. Ciampa and Maryse joined Miz and had some impact on the match, with Ciampa refusing to leave ringside until AJ Styles came out to even things up and Maryse interfering a few times. Paul had some fun offensive spots, including a figure four, a (mostly) Phenomenal Forearm, and a long distance frog splash from the top turnbuckle onto Miz and the announce table. Logan got the win with a Skull Crushing Finale on Miz and that was that.

Three stars of fanservice for the millions who love the guy, Logan Paul was able to live out some fun WWE fantasies and put on a decent show for the crowd. Miz heeled it up as only he can, and the interference by AJ Styles and Ciampa might lead to a great program between them, or maybe a tag match with Paul and Miz at a future premium live event. WHO’S TO SAY?

After our beloved Maxximum Male Models did an ad for some bottled water, we moved on to…

Bobby Lashley © versus Theory for the United States Championship

My guess: Bob murders Theory, we all rejoice - RIGHT AGAIN!

Exactly what it needed to be, Bobby and Theory’s combined entrance time was probably longer than the match itself. Theory beat Lashley with the Money in the Bank briefcase to start, but Lashley did the heroic thing where the ref asks if he can start the match. Lashley agreed and proceeded to merc Theory, performing some impressive reversals and catching Theory out of midair several times before the Hurt Lock forced Theory to submit. 

A fine little three star match for what it was, which was a squash to (hopefully) put this rivalry to rest and let both guys move on.

The Mysterios versus The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and Damian Priest)

My guess: The long awaited Dominic turn, Judgment Day wins, AND Edge returns to save Rey from a beatdown - I WAS ONLY 33% RIGHT

… which is to say the good guys won, Dominic did NOT turn, but we got a full on Brood Entrance for the returning Edge! So that was fun. The match was what we’ve seen on Raw for the past couple months, with Rhea Ripley providing some assists and some chair shots thrown in. Rey got to do that steel chair slide to the outside that I love, but the bad guys looked to take this one after a Priest chokeslam on Rey when the arena lights turned red, Edge appeared surrounded by flames, and Edge fought off Priest and speared Balor to set up a 619 and (not so springboard as the ropes caused another casualty) splash to get the Mysterios a win.

Three stars! The no DQ aspect of the match only came into play a little as some chairs were deployed. I think it was mostly there to allow Rhea to legally interfere and for Edge to make the save. Not their best outing, but still cool and we’ll see what happens Monday as far as this rivalry rolling onward.

Pat McAfee versus Happy Corbin

My guess: Pat is beloved, and Corbin gains nothing by winning here - RIGHT!

McAfee brought a choir with him to start a “bum-ass Corbin” chant, and a good enough match followed! McAfee mostly got tossed around for the first part of this one, with Corbin doing a lot of the heavy lifting and having a heated exchange with Michael Cole as he bludgeoned McAfee on the announce table. Pat controlled things from there on, after nearly slipping off the top turnbuckle when he went for a Swanton Bomb onto a dazed Baron. McAfee got some revenge after a ref bump, kicking Corbs in the junk in retaliation for a SmackDown downstairs blow by Corbin on Friday. A (again, nearly bad because of those wet ropes) Red Alert (or messed up Canadian Destroyer?) got McAfee the pin and the win.

Three stars! To be honest, it was probably McAfee’s worst match so far, but that was at least in part due to wet ropes nearly killing him a couple of times. Corbin definitely was running this show and he did his part well, and it was all fine. 

Drew McIntyre came halfway to the ring to put over himself and a little fan named Colt, and got some fireworks as he hyped our main event and the upcoming Clash at the Castle.

The Usos © versus the Street Profits for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships

My guess: The Usos, but Jarrett somehow costs the Profits and the breakup is on - I WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE USOS AND THAT’S WHAT REALLY MATTERS

How many times can you say that these teams had a great match before it becomes a matter of diminishing returns? Dawkins ate a lot of the offense, Ford had some great moments (although even his frog splash was toned down due to the slippery conditions), the Usos did their moves well, and Jeff Jarrett just kinda did his job as referee. After Ford got a legit two count after that frog splash, he argued with Jarrett, letting the Usos recover. A double superkick on the floor to Montez and the 1D to Dawk in the ring led to yet another title defense for the Usos.

Three stars. It was as good as a lot of their stuff, but at some point you don’t get to do the same thing over and over and not have the circumstances around the match not affect my enjoyment of the match. The story didn't progress, unless you consider the Usos getting a clean win “progress”. The special ref didn’t add anything, or DO anything, and the Usos are out of contenders. Unless WWE adds a new pairing or a new team entirely, there’s nobody believable left to take the titles off the champs.

Liv Morgan © versus Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women’s Championship

My guess: We can’t take the belt off Liv this soon! - RIGHT-O, PAST ME

Short and one sided, Rousey took control of this match early and stayed on Liv for the five or so minutes they had in the ring together. Liv is at her best when she’s getting the tar beat out of her, and this definitely leaned into that. After a gut kick knocked Liv down early, a quick codebreaker and Oblivion got Liv a two count before Ronda started applying submissions, and an armbar led to a doctor check on Morgan. She said she was okay, and Rousey immediately put her into an armbreaker, but Morgan stacked her into a pinfall and got the pin and the win, despite Morgan tapping before the three count. After the match, Rousey attacked Liv and a referee, pulling off the full on heel turn (but with a reason for it).

Two stars. A short kinda squashy match meant to do a couple things, which it did. We turned Ronda Rousey heel, and we kept this feud that started at Money in the Bank going, but now with a clear good and bad guy. So in that respect, it was fine. And the heel turn definitely justified Rousey being angry, and that was good too! I prefer Ronda as a face but I get that she’s not the best actress. I just don’t like her heel stuff because it always gets a bit into cringe territory. 

Before we got to our main event, Riddle ran into the ring from the crowd to tell us he wasn't medically cleared to compete tonight before calling out Seth Rollins. Seth then headed to the ring, avoided security personnel, and stomped Riddle's "injured" back. I still don't know why this match was pulled from SummerSlam, but this certainly reminded us that the rivalry continues.

Roman Reigns © versus Brock Lesnar for the Undisputed WWE Championship

My guess: Roman wins, maybe Theory loses his briefcase - HEY, LOOK WHO WAS RIGHT AGAIN (NOT ABOUT THE BRIEFCASE BUT STILL)

Just a fun, enjoyable massacre all around here. Brock Lesnar, got himself a brand new tractor and climbed into the ring by way of a front loader, pouncing onto Roman to start the brawl. They beat the hell outta each other, with Brock loading Roman into the loader shovel and dumping him into the ring. Tables, scaffolding, and barricades were all employed, and then Brock just decided at one point to kill the ring entirely, lifting a corner with the tractor and blocking the view of a lot of first row fans. After both men were completely gassed, Theory (true to his word) arrived to hit Roman with his briefcase and very nearly cashed in his contract…until Brock Lesnar hit the F-5 before the referee confirmed the cash-in. The Usos then arrived and after multiple belt shots, a full on beating by Roman with the damaged briefcase, and a piling on of broken tables and production equipment, Roman got the ten count and retained.

Four stars! This was so dumb and violent and silly and I loved it. Brock on a tractor, flying through the air to start the match, was so satisfying. And despite what my friend and I remember about these Last Man Standing matches, Roman was allowed to keep piling stuff on Brock AND stand atop said pile. Seems unfair, but we all knew the outcome going into this one, right? 

So Monday, I guess we’ll see what’s next. The women’s division got a lot larger, and we moved things into place for a resurgence on that front. The tag division has some questions to answer, but they might not even bother to address that or the world championship scene until SmackDown. And Theory, that poor man, still has what’s left of that Money in the Bank briefcase, which means he’s still gonna be featured on both shows. If you wanna see some highlights but not the whole thing, just watch the first and last matches, as both were fun spectacles.

And that’s it! All caught up. As always, I’ll let you know when I post next via the Tweets @elosopequeno and the Book of Faces. I’m thinking about making a separate Twitter handle just for the writing stuff, and if I do you’ll be the first to know. Have a great Sunday, enjoy Ric Flair’s Last Match, and I’ll talk to you soon!

Casual...Wednesday?

 It’s Wednesday and I’m feeling … casual? No, I’m being weird because it’s the day before a flight, and I’m trying to get packed and receive a bunch of deliveries for basement stuff, as well as run to the laundromat and pick up a prescription and some groceries. SO, I figured I’d write about wrestling today and we’ll pick back up again next Tuesday with a review of tonight’s Rampage, and all the wrestling I’ll be catching up on on Monday (unless I can figure out how to download this stuff to my phone, because my laptop is just a bit too big to travel comfortably with me for this trip. 

I know, it’s a lot you didn’t ask for when you clicked on a pro wrestling blog. So we’ll try that new format of just talking about the shows, starting with Raw and working back. 

Let’s talk about Monday Night Raw…

I don’t know if I just wasn’t in the mood for it but Raw really felt like a nothing show this week. They made official additions to the SummerSlam card, but for the most part they were announcements that we have known were coming for so long that I was surprised when commentary told us these were new additions! 

The show started with Titus welcoming us to Raw by way of telling us that WWE is great and honest and good and just here to put a smile on our collective faces. You know, the kind of promo you’d expect when more and more details from that New York Times story about what a vile piece of trash Vince McMahon is. So we started off feeling kinda gross!

Bianca Belair versus Becky Lynch seemed like a given since Money in the Bank (and, if we’re being honest, since Wrestlemania). They made it official for SummerSlam after a lengthy segment were Lynch compared herself to a train, after which Belair appeared and argued that SummerSlam is her story (Becky replying, “No it isn’t” was perfection) and then Carmella arrived for a championship match that Belair could lose by countout for some reason. The bad guys beat Bianca up, Bianca recovered and won, so we’re a go for SummerSlam.

Talking segments from The Usos, Street Profits, MVP and Olmos set up a match for later, and the return of Kevin Owens followed. He did his talk show with Riddle, which was pretty funny and ended with Riddle getting mad at Owens for insulting the honor of Randy Orton. That led to a run in by Rollins to set up a match for SummerSlam. Later, Rollins and Ezekiel had a decent match to verify that Seth can still get a win once in a while.

Rey Mysterio had a match with Damian Priest, but that ended with the Judgment Day murdering Rey with chairs after Priest won. Dominik offered to join the Judgment Day if they would only spare his papa, but Priest told us that wasn’t how it worked and whacked Dom with a chair as well.

After the aforementioned Zeke match (which was actually really good, the best thing about the whole show to be honest), we teased Omos versus Angelo Dawkins but a quick interference DQ led to a tag match being booked by GM Adam Pearce. That ALSO ended in a DQ as the Usos, who were scouting from ringside, attacked the Profits. 

Theory had a promo and the crowd decided to “WHAT” the hell out of it. Theory tried to play into it but it just kept going, to the point where I was just annoyed with the crowd. AJ Styles joined Theory in the ring, and the two had a pretty good match. Dolph Ziggler joined to watch from ringside, and he delivered a superkick to Theory while the referee was distracted, leading to an easy win for AJ here. AJ delivered a Styles Clash after the match because, well, he’s the face in this rivalry and Theory is annoying.

A really well made video for Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch followed, this one focused less on train puns and more on music puns. There was a women’s six way tag match that existed only to do some 24/7 title shenanigans and at this point I was just kinda checked out. The time remaining told me that the main event was just going to be Miz and Logan Paul talking and I just … I don’t like that guy. 

And that’s it! The matches between Ezekiel and Seth Rollins and AJ Styles and Theory were high points of the show, but overall it just wasn’t a good watch start to finish. 

But what about Rampage or SmackDown, you ask? Anything good on those shows?

Yeah! Rampage, as always, was a quick watch that went down easy. House of Black had a fun match against Dark Order, even though the finish was never in doubt. Sting and Darby Allin came out afterward to stare down the Kings of the Black Throne.

Jonathan Gresham successfully defended his Ring of Honor championship against Lee Moriarty, getting a submission by Octopus and bragging about his dominant championship run after the match. That summoned Claudio Castignoli to challenge Gresham at Death before Dishonor and that card is really shaping up to be something special! I’ll be out of town but hopefully I’ll get a chance to watch it on the flight home.

Athena and Kris Statlander won a squash only to be beaten up by the Baddies afterward, and the Gunn Club tried to explain turning on the Acclaimed but got beat up for their troubles. And in the main event, Private Party lost to the Lucha Bros in a fun match between teams that are kinda between rivalries right now, at least until Rush and Andrade El Idolo clear their schedules elsewhere.

On SmackDown, Liv Morgan defeated Natalya in a continuation of this long running rivalry, Drew McIntyre defeated Ridge Holland as he works his way through Sheamus’s gang of toughs, Theory lost to Madcap Moss by DQ after he bonked Moss with his Money in the Bank briefcase, and Angelo Dawkins defeated Jimmy Uso despite Jimmy’s shoulder not being down, because that’s what this feud is about now. 

WWE also announced Jeff Jarrett as the special guest referee for the Tag Championship Match at SummerSlam, and he’ll be running straight out of the building to get to his match teaming with Jay Lethal against Ric Flair and Andrade El Idolo later that same night!

There! All caught up? I’ve been a little down on WWE programming because it feels like we’re just spinning our wheels until SummerSlam, but I am genuinely looking forward to a lot of the matches on the card. AEW’s Fyter Fest continues to be fun, and there’s some good stuff to look forward to tonight as well. The Ring of Honor show this weekend will be awesome, but I’m not familiar enough with the product to justify a preview blog. If I do end up watching it, I’ll write about it too!

One last thing - when I get back next week, I will be doing a trial article for a legit wrestling website, and if they decide to accept my work I’ll be sure to tweet about it at the usual place. I appreciate you stopping by, and would love it if you drop your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also follow me on Twitter @ElOsoPequeno, where I try to remember to post whenever I update the blog. I’ve been studying style guides and other forms they sent over, and hopefully my work is good enough to get on their site. I guess we’ll see!

Enjoy your weekend! 

Casual Friday, 7/15/2022

 Hey, it’s Friday afternoon and I’m feelin’ CASUAL! After taking the pug to the vet to make sure her brain isn’t melting (not yet!) and getting the laundry done, it’s time to sit down and talk about some wrestling…

But we just spoke yesterday! And Friday has TWO significant shows on it, AEW Rampage (AKA Fyter Fest Night Two) and WWE SmackDown! But there’s a reason here, boys and girls. I’m going to be switching to a weekly Casual Friday format for the blog for a while, as I attempt to teach myself about things like SEO and blogging and also maybe submitting blogs to sites for, like, money! I know, it’s a reach! But because of that, this will be the last casual Friday of the old era, the Attitude Era if you will. We’re moving into being Ruthlessly Aggressive about doing this as a legit gig, so buckle up and let’s get to it.

Some Stuff To Talk About This Week!

Man, that first night of Fyter Fest was amazing! 

I think we have three more shows coming up over the next week or so, and there are some great looking matches on there. Jericho versus Kingston in whatever a “Barbed Wire Everywhere” match is. Darby Allin versus Brody King. The criminally underrated Private Party versus the perfectly highly rated Lucha Bros tonight on Rampage. And a lot more TBD, I’m sure.

Back to Wednesday, though. Orange Cassidy versus Wardlow was a fantastic matchup, one that I didn’t immediately understand on paper. In practice, it would easily have been the match of the night on any other card. Wardlow proved his ability to be a straight man in a comedy atmosphere, and Cassidy once again showed his speed and technical prowess. 

Moxley versus Takeshita was a brutal back and forth, perfectly paced and designed to make Moxley retain his aura of menace while also allowing Takeshita to look like a badass.

The main event was also something special. The way the Young Bucks, Swerve In Our Glory, and Hobbs and Starks were able to all mesh together and keep the frenetic pacing of that match going the entire time was something else. There were so many good spots, even my glowing review wasn’t enough to highlight every single great idea these six guys put out there. In the end, even after Swerve teased a heel turn, Strickland and Lee emerged as our new AEW Tag Team Champions. I’m very interested to see where all this is going. Remember when the Hardy Boys were all but guaranteed to win the tag belts a few weeks ago? Simpler times…

Raw certainly was a wrestling show! 

The build to SummerSlam continues as we got an appearance from the Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar. He spoke a bit to the audience, Paul Heyman, and MitB holder Theory before murdering Chad Gable and Otis. That’s why he gets the big bucks, folks!

Rey Mysterio and Finn Balor had a really good match, which I guess is expected when you say those names but it doesn’t diminish that at all. I’m hoping for a Dominik’s Soul on a Pole Match at SummerSlam between the Judgment Day guys and Edge and Rey, but I won’t hold my breath. Still, my inner fantasy booker has been hoping for a Dom heel turn since…well, since I booked that in my Journey of Wrestling game last year.

Carmella and Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch continued building what I think might be a triple threat at SummerSlam, as Mella beat Bianca via Becky distraction and countout. I guess Carmella is what passes for a WWE World Championship contender these days.

Ciampa and Miz continued to build towards their match against, I believe, Logan Paul (playing a good guy because WWE) and AJ Styles. In a tag match featuring AJ and Ezekiel versus Miz and Ciampa, Ciampa lost by way of beating AJ up too much and getting disqualified, our second non-finish of the night.

Alexa Bliss and Asuka won in a really short tag match, and Dawkins ate a pin from Olmos in a match that went from being Jimmy Uso versus Angelo Dawkins to being the Street Profits with R-Truth versus the Usos and Olmos. It was fine, although I don’t understand having Dawk eat another pin when you have Truth RIGHT THERE.

A tag match main event featured Lashley and Riddle against Seth Rollins and Theory, and ended in…Riddle getting a clean (-ish) win over Theory after a returning (?) Dolph Ziggler superkicked Theory and helped Riddle get out of a leveraged pin. It seems a little close to SummerSlam to introduce new players in the game, especially since Theory versus Bobby Lashley is one of the few matches that’s actually been announced for the PLE, but I’m curious to see where this goes. I like the theory (no pun intended) of Dolph deciding to manage Theory, because he had a great cash-in once and wants to see that legacy continue.

Last week’s Rampage had some action!

We saw Konosuke Takeshita take on Eddie Kingston in a match that would set Takeshita up well as a challenger for Jon Moxley. He looked great against Kingston, with a lot of hope spots and some tough looking strikes taken and delivered by both guys. 

Jonathan Gresham turned on his partner and future opponent Lee Moriarty in their match against Tully Blanchard’s newest proteges, the Gates of Agony. Two big dudes who were there to beat up Moriarty while Gresham walked out, the Gates guys played their part well enough and we got a Ring of Honor heel champion to face Moriarty on Dynamite (and, if Dave Meltzer is to be believed, to face Claudio Castignoli at the PPV as well!)

Mercedes Martinez and Serena Deeb won an extended squash that mostly served to show that these two CANNOT COEXIST (™) as a team. 

And, in the main event, Orange Cassidy beat Tony Nese to save Swerve Strickland’s position as an AEW wrestler. A good match, if a little long, and probably the best thing of the night.

Last Week’s SmackDown was also a wrestling show I watched!

After a solid half hour of Roman Reigns talking with Paul Heyman, and a Theory appearance that led to nothing despite Michael Cole nearly talking himself into an aneurysm about the threat of Theory (who Roman no-sold perfectly), we got into a rare double squash from the Viking Raiders, who defeated Jinder Mahal and Shanky before the New Day appeared to challenge them and also get beaten up.

Gunter decided the IC championship will no longer have open challenges, so Shinsuke Nakamura earned a shot by beating his sidekick. For being a short match, that was actually fun! And I look forward to Shinsuke and Gunther at SummerSlam.

A talky segment between Liv Morgan, Ronda Rousey, and Natalya led to a very quick Rousey submission victory over Nattie, paving the way to a SummerSlam rematch between Liv and Ronda, and hopefully the excision of Natalya from this feud.

Max Dupree and his Maximum Male Models, Mansoor and Mace, modeled their new tennis wear in what is fast becoming the best thing about SmackDown. I don’t know if these guys are gonna wrestle and I don’t care.

Lacey Evans established that she’s going full heel by scolding the fans and punching her tag team partner, Aaliyah. The Usos also won a quick squash over Los Lotharios. 

Drew McIntyre defeated Butch, who replaced Sheamus in their scheduled match because Sheamus might have the ‘rona. Drew then threatened to murder both Sheamus and Butch with a sword, and destroyed the ring.

There we go, all caught up! The MATCH OF THE WEEK was definitely the AEW Tag Team Championship triple threat on AEW Dynamite. It is, without a doubt, must -see TV. I’ve already watched it twice and I might try to squeeze in a third before the wife gets home from work!

I appreciate you stopping by, and would love it if you drop your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also follow me on Twitter @ElOsoPequeno, where I try to remember to post whenever I update the blog. I’ll be back next week, on location in Newport, Tennessee where I’ll be visiting my dad and sisters!

Have a good weekend!