By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Longtime Dot Net Member Tom from St. Paul attended WWE SummerSlam Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and sent the following report.
I am typically not a WWE guy and wouldn’t have purchased tickets at launch prices, but the JJETS promo WWE ran made tickets inexpensive enough that I could bring my 6-year-old to the show. We were seated about halfway up the lower bowl, opposite the stage, and had a decent view of the ring. There were also two mini jumbotrons on either side of the stage, and the big video board was behind us.
Overall, what was sold looked good. Most of the third tier was tarped off, as well as the second level behind the hard cam, but there weren’t big chunks of empty seats. They had merch stands set up all over the stadium, and they seemed decently stocked. I noticed in the SummerSlam live review it was mentioned that Brock Lesnar wore No. 69 when he played for the Minnesota Vikings. WWE was selling a Vikings Lesnar shirt meant to look like a football jersey.
The breaks between matches today weren’t awful when compared to some previous events, but that could be the in-stadium ability to get up and get popcorn or use the bathroom between matches.
Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky: This was my son’s favorite match (he has a thing for good-looking crazy chicks). From what I could tell, Iyo was the heavy favorite in the stadium. I thought it was a fun opener.
LA Knight, Solo Sikoa, and Royce Keys vs. Jacob Fatu, Jimmy Uso, and Jey Uso in a six-man tag team match: The crowd basically did what they wanted to here. Jey got the crowd pumping their arms, but they didn’t seem to care about him much once the bell rang. Solo wasn’t far behind Jay in getting the crowd going. Knight was maybe the most over of the six, which is sad when Fatu is in the ring. I didn’t have much interest in this match, but Solo, Royce Keys, and LA Knight winning made my son happy, so I’d say it was the right finish.
Gunther vs. Nick Aldis: I thought this was fun, as I have seen a lot of both their work. Aldis got a strong “you still got it” chant, and it seemed deserved. This match made my son three for three on who he wanted to win.
“Fatal Influence” Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid vs. Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, and Paige in a six-woman tag: This just wasn’t good. The crowd didn’t care at all. The post-match beat down seemed to come out of nowhere. Maybe commentary made sense of it, but US Bank didn’t much care, and those that did care seemed more excited to see heel Bellas more than anything else. My son was 4/4 after this one.
CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship: I would say this was the best match of the night. The crowd wasn’t anti-Cody, but they were pro-Punk. I referee football and baseball, so my son had lots of questions about why the ref barely got hit and was out for so long. Randy Orton got a huge positive reaction. This put my son at 4/5 on who he wanted to win.
Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi in a Hell in a Cell match: This was my favorite match of the night and my son’s least favorite for the same reasons. I don’t know if they were having issues lowering the cell or what, but time seemed to stand still in the stadium. Lesnar was over big, but the crowd wanted Oba to win.
Overall, it was a fun experience. I won a four-pack of tickets for tomorrow, so my son and I will be back with others.
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