Jimmy Uso betrays his twin brother Jey to close out an action packed Summerslam
WWE’'s Summerslam has long lived by the moniker “the biggest party of the summer.” Saturday the biggest party made its way to Ford Field in Detroit in front of a jam-packed crowd of nearly 60,000. For many in attendance and for the fans watching at home, Summerslam was certainly entertaining. In the words of WWE star Cody Rhodes “you have to finish the story.” Fans may have not gotten the ending they bargained for. However, the rest of the night was filled with genuine highlights that saw many of the crowd favorites reach career defining moments.
The night started out with Logan Paul vs Ricochet. Logan deserves a lot of credit for numerous reasons. Tonight he really showed his dedication to combat sports. Not only did he perform at a high level, but he left for Dallas right after in his ring gear. His brother Jake took on Nate Diaz in a boxing exhibition. Logan is definitely embracing his heel role in wrestling as he used very heelish tactics to win. Paul and Ricochet traded big moves and near falls in the closing stretches of the match. The final sequence started with Ricochet missing a 630 splash. A member of Paul's entourage handed him brass knuckles while the referee was checking on Ricochet. Paul clocked Ricochet and pinned him. Paul taunted the crowd getting fans warmed up with a night full of highs and lows.
Next, Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar finally put an end to their rivalry and exchanged a great moment after the fight. Lesnar fought the match at the same pace throughout. Lesnar has a very bull in a china shop kind of style. The more Lesnar seemed to punish Rhodes the more heart Rhodes showed in the match. Rhodes finally conquered his foe by slipping out of an F-5 and landing a trio of Cross Rhodes. Lesnar took off his MMA gloves and embraced Rhodes post-match, shook his hand, and raised it for the WWE universe to celebrate. During the press conference Paul “HHH” Levesque Head of WWE Creative said this was an off the script moment. This embrace seemed as a passing of the torch moment for Lesnar to Rhodes.
WWE was able to capitalize off the previous hyped crowd momentum by having fan favorite LA Knight win the “Slim Jim” battle royal. Knight has really become an overnight sensation that WWE is looking to give a major push to as he has become one of WWE’s most over and beloved stars. The highs of the night started to turn low as the Ronda Rousey Shayna Baszler match was less than exciting. The match, much like the storyline, seemed pretty rushed with some awkward spots. Baszler was victorious as tonight may be Rousey’s last match in the WWE for a while.
The next two matches on the card were certified bangers and were title matches. The European superstars Drew Mcintyre and Guenther walloped each other with thudding clotheslines and near falls, Gunther eventually struck with his signature powerbomb, but it was not enough to keep the challenger down. McIntyre laid into the intercontinental champion with a flurry of shots and a huge claymore kick. However, Guenther continues his impressive IC rhein and is a month a way from being the longest IC champion which will break the Honkey Tonk Man’s record.
The popularity of The Judgement Day faction has really turned Monday Night Raw into must see TV as we near the end of Summer one of the biggest questions will be what is next with The Judgement Day? Finn Balor has waited seven long years to get his revenge on Seth Rollins and win the title he never lost back. Everytime he seems to get close his stablemates cost him. Damian Priest tossed his money in the bank briefcase into the ring much to Balor's chagrin. As Balor went to retrieve the briefcase, Rollins curb stomped his head through it while Priest had the referee distracted. The segment ended with Priest staring down Rollins with little regard for Balor's health. This was the first sign of betrayal on this PPV.
Speaking of the Money in the Bank contract. It made an appearance in the women’s championship match. Bianca Belaire seemed to kayfabe injure her knee. Belair was eliminated from the equation after hitting the steel steps hard and appearing to injure her knee. Medical staff escorted Belaire toward the back while Asuka and Flair fought. Belaire hobbled back to the ring.The finish came after Asuka blinded Flair with poison mist while Flair had Belaire trapped in the Figure Eight. Belair dodged Asuka's kick and rolled her up for the three-count. Seconds after Belaire won. Women’s Money in the Bank winner Iyo sky and Bayley leveled the competition with her briefcase and eventually cashing it in to become the new women’s champion.
The match that everyone had been waiting for “The Bloodline Civil War” was a head scratcher at best. The outcome of the match is a lot to process. Jey Uso looked tremendously strong in defeat by nearly overcoming both Reigns and Solo Sikoa. Right when it appeared Jey was going to do the unthinkable and defeat his cousin and end the longest title streak in recent memory. His twin brother Jimmy Uso turned on his twin brother. It was a very odd ending. At one point it seemed as if Solo Sikoa and Roman Rheins were going to have problems because they had a misunderstanding. Now Jey seems to have a new feud with his brother. It just seems like there's no direct ending in sight for this story. They keep adding more complicated layers to the story.
In closing, Summerslam is WWE’s second largest event next to Wrestlemania. Although the ending of Summerslam may have had fans on edge. It saw the arrival of several fan favorites such as Iyo Sky and LA Knight. With WWE reaching an all time level of popularity the stories that are being told do deserve to be finished.
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