By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE SummerSlam Night Two Hits
John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes in a Street Fight for the WWE Championship: Where did that come from? After having either passable or downright missable matches in recent years, Cena turned back the hands of time for one night and stole the show. It could have been even better had they trimmed about ten minutes from the match, but it still far exceeded everyone’s expectations. While it may seem weird to say about a guy who won a world championship, I feel bad for Cody. The big talking points coming out of the show are Brock Lesnar’s controversial return and Cena’s impressive performance. Cody’s title win is fourth at best for the weekend, also falling behind Seth Rollins cashing in on night one. As for Lesnar, I’ll leave it up to each fan to decide how they feel about it. But the company’s decision to scrap the post-PLE press conferences on the same weekend Lesnar returned is just plain gutless.
Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky for the Women’s World Championship: A very good opening match. It wasn’t as hot as the Ripley vs. Sky match at Evolution, but it was a strong Triple Threat. The fact that Naomi just won the title at Evolution worked against the match in that I don’t think most fans truly believed she would lose the title so quickly. Even so, this match lived up to expectations, and I look forward to seeing what comes next for all three wrestlers.
Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria in a no DQ, no count-out match for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship: This is another match that would have benefited from trimming some time, but both wrestlers worked hard and had a quality outing. The finish was frustrating in that they gave this match 25 minutes only to have it end with unsatisfying outside interference from Bayley. The last Valkyria vs. Bayley match killed the crowd, so I’m not sure why the creative team would want to set up a rematch. And the problem remains that while Valkyria is very good in the ring, her struggles to connect with the fans as a character continue.
Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy vs. “Motor City Machine Guns” Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin vs. “The Street Profits” Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins vs. “DIY” Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa vs. Andrade and Rey Fenix vs. “Fraxiom” Axiom and Nathan Frazer in a TLC match for the WWE Tag Team Titles: A soft Hit. This was the car crash match that everyone expected with great athleticism and some crazy bumps. Who would have predicted that Candice LeRae would take the most insane and memorable bump in this match? But as I noted in my live review, I prefer ladder matches with fewer entrants because it gives wrestlers a chance to tell more stories rather than simply going from one high spot to the next. The finish with all of the help from Uncle Howdy and Erick Rowan was a groaner that drew some boos from the live crowd. On a side note, it was a nice touch to have The Hardys and The Dudleys in the crowd, and to plug their final match for TNA Bound For Glory.
WWE SummerSlam Night Two Misses
Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu in a cage match for the U.S. Championship: This could have been a great brawl, but it was doomed to disappoint through no fault of the wrestlers. It was just another example of creative forces undermining the basic concept of the cage match by booking a bunch of outside interference. Is it too much to ask that one of the national promotions cuts the shit and reverts to the basic idea that no one gets in or out of a cage until there’s a pin or a submission? The most old-school part of modern cage matches is the seemingly obligatory tribute to Terry Gordy slamming the cage door on Kerry Von Erich’s head. That was a great moment in World Class Championship Wrestling back in 1982, but modern promotions have run it into the ground.
Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles for the Intercontinental Championship: A minor Miss. They set up Styles finally getting his hands on Dom, and then delivered an out-of-nowhere tribute to Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero. The bulk of the match was entertaining, but the finish with Dom loosening his own boot, because he somehow knew Styles would go for a Calf Crusher, was strange, even if it was a callback to a spot from an Eddie vs. Kurt Angle match. I’m old enough to have enjoyed those moments when they happened. And while I appreciate the idea of honoring pro wrestling history, I also think of newer fans. When I first started watching, I wasn’t a fan of most of the wrestlers who were well beyond their peak years, and I can’t imagine how I would have reacted had the promotions I watched dedicated so much time paying homage to things that happened twenty years before I became a fan.
Seriously the wrestling “media” is as bad as the usual media no one cares what you think or your political leanings just report on the pre determined event that a lot of us love for the escape from all the other BS
Not sure what politics were brought up in Jason’s review. Seemed pretty balanced to me. With that said, I’m assuming it’s because of his comment about Brock and the company canceling postshow press conferences.
Listening to Tommy Dreamer on Busted Open After Dark last night, he said that he heard a while ago from someone within WWE that WWE was getting rid of the post show press conferences. Now I’m sure it’s not a coincidence that they decided to nix them this weekend with Brock coming back. But I don’t know. “Gutless” is a strong word. Clearly WWE doesn’t want that to be the discussion and it’s a press conference about wrestling. You they’re going to want to control the narrative when it comes to their brand. And the stuff he is alleged to have done is gross. As a father of two girls, it’s absolutely disgusting. But it’s not criminal case and he has not been found guilty yet. If he is, then by all means I would have a problem with the company putting him on tv. Until then, I’m not going to judge.
key word is alleged. It is innocent until proven guilty not the other way around.
Word. And what is he alleged to have actually done? Alleged by whom?
It’s like if the internet repeats something enough times, it somehow becomes true.
The Janel Grant lawsuit lays it out. He wasn’t identified initially, but it was confirmed that he is the person mentioned. It’s late and it’s been a long day, so I’ll give you the quick version of what I remember off the top of my head. Forgive me for any inaccuracies. It’s alleged that Vince offered Grant to Lesnar sexually as part of contract negotiations. My first reaction was that just because Vince allegedly made the offer, it doesn’t mean Lesnar was interested and it’s even possible that he’d just humor the old man rather than outright tell him no. But then it goes on to allege that Lesnar and Grant had contact. There were plans to meet. I believe Lesnar was intoxicated one time and couldn’t make it, and there was a snowstorm that prevented another planned meeting. And then there’s the gem of a story about how Lesnar asked her to film a video of herself peeing, which she went along with.
I’m not a lawyer, but none of Lesnar’s actions strike me as illegal. But the company was clearly concerned about this legally and as well as in the court of public opinion, at least initially. And I agree that a person shouldn’t feel obligated to respond to every rumor about them. The difference here is that it cost Lesnar roughly two years of his career. Sure, he’s wealthy, but I don’t think it’s a reach to think that if he disputed the claims in the lawsuit, he would have defended himself rather than sit out for two years. There are reports that the TKO/WWE legal team recently approved of him returning recently, so obviously they were concerned about something all this time.
I should also point out that whenever I talk about the case in podcasts, I try to remind people that the lawsuit gives one side of the story. And that’s why I’ve taken the approach that people can feel however they want to feel about him returning. But I stand by it coming off as gutless to cancel the press conferences the same weekend that he returned. I’m not surprised they did it and I don’t travel to their events, so it doesn’t affect me in any way. But I do think it’s painfully obvious why they made the change. It’s their right to do it, and it’s my right to call it as I see it.
Finally and most importantly, thank you for the kind words about the website and for supporting it as long as you have. I will answer your question about live reviews in the morning. And let me know if I failed to answer anything else. I have less than five minutes of my birthday remaining, so I’m going to enjoy them!
The only thing that Lesnar is alleged to have done is be offered photos/video by Vince that may have never been delivered.
Not illegal, but he also asked requested a piss video and got one.
There’s no evidence he got one. There’s an allegation from someone who was perfectly happy being quiet until her final payment didn’t arrive.
We’re 18+ months into the investigation and there are zero criminal charges against anyone. She may not even have evidence enough for winning a civil case.
Great, can you point me to a denial from Lesnar’s legal team? Also, please tell me how you would be reacting to everything Vince McMahon is accused of if the same claims were made against Tony Khan. I’m sure you’d be completely rational and not a raging lunatic, right?
Levesque is positioned as the Dana White of WWE. Say what you will about Dana White, but he would have owned it.
Fair point. My point is WWE has always wanted to control its own narrative. Not arguing with you, I guess just saying I’m trained to view wrestling promoters as always protecting the business however they deem necessary.
For sure when it comes to controlling the narrative. I hoped Levesque would be different when he started the NXT media calls, but there were signs even then that he didn’t like tough questions. For instance, he clearly wasn’t happy when I asked him about the Velveteen Dream controversy before Dream was released. I thought those NXT calls would were good practice for him, but he actually seemed to get more upset when he was asked tough questions during the main roster press conferences.
From his legal team? Why? Even when it’s not true, if you answer that question then the first time you refuse, you’ll ne assumed guilty because you refused.
JP, you’re old enough to remember George W Bush being asked about using cocaine in college. Mind you, he hadn’t even been accused by anyone. Someone in the media simply asked if he had tried it. He refused to answer that question for this same reason. “Oh, he denies that but won’t speak on X, Y, or Z? Must be guilty.”
You got that right!! Here here
I have no clue what you think was political about what I wrote. That said, I will write whatever I feel like writing. You don’t have to like it or read it, but I still have the right and will use it however I see fit.
You, Will, and the rest of your crew are so far to the whackjob left on every issue that you don’t even realize how blatantly political much of your commentary is.
So writing about Lesnar returning and leaving it up to people to decide how they feel about it is political? Sure. Anyway, for the 1,000,000th time, find a new website. No one is forcing you to be here. I’m sure you can find some website that is aligned with your politics and hates Tony Khan/AEW as much as you do.
JP, there is no better website than this. If the tool bags leave, they’ll be lost in the IWC purgatory forever.
Seriously, though. I’ve used your sight exclusively for 20 years and I wouldn’t go anywhere else.
I’ll just chime in to say having gone through a few sites to find one I like, yours is the one I click on. I wish the podcast didn’t ring out from your main page but other than that, I like the style… oh and if you think noting people can feel how they want about lesnar is somehow a far left ideology I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news… your brain might be broken. I’m Australian. I couldn’t give two expletives about your weird politics but that’s just a simpleton take
We had one match in the whole evening that was a straightforward one-on-one match, and that turned into an Abbot and Costello routine. How long until we can have a whole WWE PLE or AEW PPV without a single Eddie Guerrero “tribute”?