Meet our review team:

Sheamus def. Randy Orton

Garrett Kidney: It’s not so much the problem that Sheamus and Orton have wrestled each other so often, it’s that their matches never really change. Generally they’re the same good but not quite great match with a fun finishing stretch. The intensity, the pacing always feel largely familiar. Sheamus isn’t quite the dynamic wrestler Christian for example, who had a string of matches with Orton that were more interesting in spite of them being frequently paired, was. Their matches just never seem to build upon one another and the feud still feels like a placeholder feud for each guy, particularly Sheamus, who in spite of his relatively recent turn, feels aimless. Still though, this was a good opener.  ***1/4

Rob McCarron: You death spot truthers are funny, man. From the moment Orton and Sheamus began, the (very small wrestling hardcore dork centric) Twittersphere was buzzing about how boring this match would be, how the crowd was shitting on them, and so on. Well guess what, Orton brought them back into it because as much as the perception is that these two have wrestled each other too much and they aren’t the hot things in WWE right now, Orton is a first ballot Hall of Famer and one of the best workers the company has seen in the last decade. Those booing from the start were with every step to the finish, a finish that saw Sheamus gain credibility with a strong win. Suck it, nerds. ****

Ru Gunn: Jerry Lawler celebrated simple pleasures by joyfully exclaiming “Look, like out of nowhere: it’s Randy Orton!”, making him the most excited person in the world about this match opening the show. Sheamus’ ineffectual primary school tabletop promo to start this match off really set the tone. When Orton threw a dropkick early in this match I had a sudden ray of hope that this might be dynamic energy Orton, the Orton we see versus Seth Rollins, but things slowed down to rest holds and slogging around almost immediately. There wasn’t really any sensical pace to this match, it just felt like a sequence of perfectly reasonable moves happening independent of each other until the finish, with the inexplicable head injury adding a bit of interest midway. As much as commentary was willing Orton to kick Sheamus’ hairstyle off (Is this possible? Potential stipulation match for the future?), Sheamus got the win. **1/4

Michelle Burkey: The only thing interesting about this match was the fact that I found out Sheamus recently got his nose pierced.  Like I needed another reason to hate his fashion choices… No one cares about this match, it’s boring and a shitty way to begin SummerSlam.  Also Sheamus needs to learn how to wrestle without busting other people’s shit open.  Be professional dude. *

Rich Kraetsch: Did I miss something here? Reading our other reviewers I’m lead to believe I got a different feed for SummerSlam. This match did absolutely nothing for me. Of all the matches to start the show, Orton/Sheamus may have been last on the list. Other than a few power moves from Sheamus nothing Orton did was particularly engaging or entertaining to me. Maybe I’m just jaded seeing these two against one another but this just felt so unimportant and bland. *1/2

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WWE Tag Team Championship
The New Day def. The Prime Time Players (c) Los Matadores & The Lucha Dragons

Garrett Kidney: Aside from the utterly silly stretch of logic that was the New Day’s attempt to pin each other this was pretty much exactly what I was looking for out of this match. Loads of action and most importantly it all flowed together really nicely. Plus the right team won, New Day are one of the best acts in the company and I really hope WWE actually get behind them. I’d have preferred this as an opener just for the sheer amount of energy it created. Plus Woods pretty much maimed Torito! This was a really good time.  ***1/2

Rob McCarron: Triceps meat. Darren Young is a nice guy. In Newwwwww Daaaaaay. The celebration. Unless you’re just a curmudgeon, the first 48 minutes of this SummerSlam had to entertain you in some way. Most entertaining, the New Day tonight. Has Xavier Woods now qualified for Manager of the Year? I think so. THIS WAS SO GREAT GO WATCH IT IMMEDIATELY~! ****

Ru Gunn: Kofi’s boots were a thing to behold. Just like I had hoped, this felt like a max effort SmackDown match, with the usual playful spots turned right up in intensity. Kalisto looked particularly impressive and exciting: and all the sneaky stolen tags seemed realistic and added suspense to the match. Big E clapping on Darren Young’s ribcage with wide-eyes, as Titus stared with concentration from the apron, waiting for his moment, was a joyful moment of drama: and preceded the hottest of all hot tags as Titus wrecked every wrestler in the vicinity, including an unexpectedly airborne Kalisto. The Matadores were the weak link here, missing a few key spots, but all was quickly forgiven when the Super-Super-Plex spot delivered. No problem with the finish at all, because the New Day are consistently the happiest part of WWE for me.  ***3/4

Michelle Burkey: We could all tell based on their amazing dance moves, the New Day would dominate this match. Unlike the last match, this one had talent. Flips galore made it fun to watch and Titus came in like a hurricane of destruction. Totally badass. To add to the entertainment, we had El Torito and Xavier Woods on the sidelines. ***

Rich Kraetsch: Now this is my kind of match, why didn’t this open the show? Everyone stood out in their own way and sure, there were some botches along the way (that damn Sin Cara mask is cursed!) but by and large this was great. Lots of bodies flying all over the place but it never seemed to manic. Titus O’Neil, in particular, stood out in a huge way clearing the ring and just being the awesome, awesome man he is. The New Day is quickly becoming my favorite act in the company and this match only enhanced that. As good as Kofi and Big E are (I love a good power/speed team), Xavier may be the MVP with his contributions on the outside. Again, this should’ve been the opener. ***1/2

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Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev – No Contest (Double Countout)

Garrett Kidney: Ever notice how you can always tell when WWE are going to do a count out finish? The way they frame the referee in the shot always telegraphs the finish. These two seemed to be wrestling as if they were trying to make up for the fact that they knew the finish sucked. It was nice to see them get away from the putrid angle that surrounds them and wrestle for a little while. Both guys worked really hard, Rusev pulled out a nifty senton and everything until the finish was good. You knew going in that the finish was always going to set up the mixed tag but it still drags the match down a little. I was going to include an analysis of whatever the hell Lana was wearing but I’ll leave that to Rich and co. below. ***

Rob McCarron: A tale of two Rusevs. The first portion of the match showed just how awesome Rusev was in his first year, and how much his dominating, powerful work was to watch. Then, the ladies got involved, and a double countout happened. That’s the tale of the current Rusev, which is not nearly as fun to watch. **

Ru Gunn: I was too aghast at Lana’s tie-dye denim two-piece atrocity that I can’t even form a coherent opinion on it. Entirely ignoring the angle at work here, which gets an overwhelming minus figure of stars, the start of this match had some cool spots and a decent sort of flow going. There’s nothing like commentary loudly criticising inconsistent the referee’s application of the rules to undermine a match and place seeds of doubt about whether it’s going as planned, though, which took me out of the action entirely. When the match disintegrated, as predicted, into a mess of ringside slapfights: then a big inring pileup and a Jerry Springer-esque pull apart, it erased any sort of goodwill I may have felt. The menace of this feud continuing beyond today hangs over me like a dark cloud.*1/4

Michelle Burkey: This match could have been good but once we placed the focus on Lana and Summer to  have this type of ending, it turned lame. The gaudy sparkly red top on Summer and the worse acid-washed full jean jacket outfit sported by Lana distracted everyone from a subpar match. Ziggler’s my guy, and I wanted to like it, but I just couldn’t. *½

Rich Kraetsch: I had a feeling this would all be a big setup for a future mixed tag and welp, the double countout basically confirms it. Outside of the ending the match was a lot of fun and although these two don’t have tremendous chemistry but Ziggler is great at the babyface in peril and Rusev is on a different level than most guys on the roster. The way he commands a ring, the way he harnesses his character and so perfectly projects it onto the screen, he’s so immensely talented. If he doesn’t turn into something legitimately special in this company it’ll be a missed opportunity. He’s so good and in the arguable peak of his career right now. Oh yeah, can we have a discussion about Lana’s acid washed skirt/jacket combo? She looked like a 12-year-old from 1996. What was that? ***

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Stephen Amell & Neville def. The Cosmic Kings

Garrett Kidney: You can’t begrudge Amell this spot really. If I was famous enough to swing a SummerSlam match I totally would too. I’m not much of an Arrow guy, watched five or six episodes and gave up on it. Justin Hartley will always be Green Arrow to me. Amell acquitted himself well and thankfully they didn’t go for the celebrity pinning the wrestler finish because I do hate that. It achieved exactly what it set out to in the most pleasantly inoffensive way possible. **1/2

Rob McCarron: Everything WWE wanted to accomplish with the tie-in from Stephen Amell’s Green Arrow fan base was accomplished. WWE received mainstream publicity from the up and coming TV star, with Amell not disappointing by making some highlight worthy moments of his own during the match. Plus, with Neville providing further highlights, an up and coming WWE star was focused on, which should always be a part of the goal of these celeb cameos. This was well worked, acting as a highlight for their guest, as well as Neville. It was entertaining, as well, while not being ridiculous and wasteful. **1/2

Ru Gunn: How awesome was Amell’s event shirt (https://represent.com/amellstardust) for this match? WWE apparel could take a real leaf out of the designer’s book. Neville wrestling in burgundy now makes him even more visually reminiscent of another short, underdog, indie darling who wrestled in burgundy for a long time, which is a flattering comparison. Daniel Bryan managed to keep his ring jacket out of his face during his entrances though, mostly. This match was as good as it could have been: Barrett had an unexpected chemistry with Stardust, and Amell over-delivered, holding his own laudably inring. A pleasant surprise and a harmless victory for Neville’s resume. ** 3/4

Michelle Burkey: Considering his lack of wrestling background, Amell was awesome.  Amell + Neville should be a permanent tag team. Neville’s flips off the rope are always awesome. I just feel bad for Cody Rhodes still being stuck as Stardust, waste of talent. Also of his good looks.  ***3/4

Rich Kraetsch: How good was Amell here? Sure, he wasn’t anything special but as far as stars moonlighting as wrestlers, he was near the top. He was solid throughout and did a great job of taking offensive from both Barrett and Stardust. Considering his limited training this was fantastic, I’d like to see him back sometime soon. As far as the match itself, it was just fine. Neville was the star in my mind and he continues to show his immense talent. I was glad to see him be not only the focal point of the match but also get the pinfall. This was amazingly solid given my lower expectations. **½

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WWE Intercontinental Championship
Ryback © def. Big Show & The Miz

Garrett Kidney: It feels like everybody on this showing is working a level above their usual PPV fare. Even in this relatively short sprint of a match there was oodles of energy. And Big Show broke out a middle rope senton. Was it graceful? Not even slightly but I’ll be damned he did it anyway. It was for all intents and purposes a throwaway midcard match but they didn’t wrestle it like that – it had an intensity and sense of urgency to it. ***

Rob McCarron: A sprint of a triple threat match. I, briefly, wonder if this result would have been the same had the match taken place as scheduled on the last Pay Per View. It doesn’t matter, in the end, but The Ryback shall continue to try and bring stability to the Intercontinental Championship. ***

Ru Gunn: This was remarkably inoffensive considering I had been dreading it for weeks. The Miz swapping pinfall attempts between the two big men for increasingly rapid kickouts amused me in spite of myself, and the whole thing didn’t overstay its welcome. **

Michelle Burkey: Ryback’s my guy. **

Rich Kraetsch: This was an engaging and fun WWE triple threat, can you believe that? And it was fun because The Miz carried the entire thing. No this isn’t bizarro world, I’m being serious. The Miz had a few minute spot where he kept trying to pin both Ryback and The Big Show in rapid succession, both kept kicking out but he never gave up. The crowd got super into it and it was both different and fun. Imagine that. The ending was a load of crap with the standard WWE triple threat trope of someone winning via a finisher they didn’t hit. We’ve seen it so many times it’s hard to give strong thoughts either way. This was solid though and far above any expectations I could have had for it. THE MIZ WAS SO GOOD IN THIS MATCH, SERIOUSLY! **3/4

Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns def. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper

Garrett Kidney: This was what I believe the kids these days call a real hoot. In many ways it recaptured the sheer dynamism of the old Shield/Wyatt matches – in fact it’s interesting to contrast Reigns and Wyatt both of whom were in groups designed to be their vehicles and both have failed to gain traction for different reasons (Wyatt due to an inability to evolve into something different and Reigns due to a tone deaf push). I also quite enjoyed the conflicted emotions of the crowd who disliked Reigns (even though I  can’t really fathom why at this stage, it seems like people still hold it against him that he had bad matches against Kane and Big Show earlier this year, it seems to have defined his reputation to certain audiences) and liked Ambrose. This was a slimmed down version of a Shield/Wyatts match, you can’t really go wrong with that. The only criticism I can level at it is that in the grand scheme of things it felt insubstantial – a slightly longer match may have helped in that regard. ***1/4

Rob McCarron: A solid match overall, but incredibly unimportant. ***

Ru Gunn: The two remaining Shield boys have got a comfortable sort of confidence around each other that is often magnetically charismatic, and when they jumped into an early flurry of offence I had a brief thrill that almost pulled me back to the Shield/Wyatts original bouts. Luke Harper punching Ambrose’s shirt straight off his body denoted the point where this match got serious, and while it’s a little unreasonable for Roman to have sold for as long as he did, it showed an awareness for how the dynamic between him and Ambrose is supposed to work. I’m sad Reigns’ recovery didn’t go down well with the live crowd, because he’s fun and impressive when you let yourself suspend disbelief a little. However, more and more the match emphasised what was missing, and it wasn’t Erick Rowan. The Double Powerbomb will never not be tragic. ***

Michelle Burkey: This match was one I was looking forward to. Dean Ambrose is my guy and he’s gunning for a win. Ambrose’s ass also looks fabulous in those jeans.  Jeans cannot be comfortable to wrestle in, but I’m glad he made this fashion choice. The Wyatt family thing is getting old and overplayed.  Wasn’t a superb match, but Ambrose with no shirt made it entertaining for me… sorry dudes who don’t care about Dean Ambrose and his good looks.  ***

Rich Kraetsch: There was literally no chance this wasn’t going to be very good and it absolutely was. Dean Ambrose stood out here — he’s so good at projecting emotions that the fans can’t help but cheer him as a babyface. WWE could really do something with him if they ever wanted to, he has that type of connection with the fans. Reigns was fine here, Wyatt was a ghost and they smartly spent most of the match having Harper work over Ambrose. I thought we’d get a little better than we did but this was still a lot of fun. The result has me questioning if we get a rematch down the line but I hope we do. ***¼

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WWE United States & WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Seth Rollins © def. John Cena

Garrett Kidney: It’s a real shame about that finish because this was awesome. This was the best Rollins has looked in his title reign to date and Cena delivered in a big match environment yet again. I’m disappointed that they didn’t really use the Cena nose injury in an effective way. Yeah, Rollins hit him with the knee again but then they simply transitioned to the Stewart run in instead of letting that story play out. The Stewart turn is a head scratcher. Even if he’ll be around for a while I can’t really see how they can fashion this into something productive. I don’t see them doing a Cena/Stewart match and even if they were to I don’t want to see it. And while I really like Stewart I have little interest in seeing him as a heel personality. Years of watching TNA have given me a horrible gag reflex to ref bumps and overbooked World title matches so the finish leaves a really bad taste in my mouth — especially considering they were on track for something really, really great. It felt like a finish more aimed at people who will report on the show tomorrow morning than the people who are actually watching. ****

Rob McCarron: This was a fantastic showcase of Seth Rollins as a credible champion from start to finish. From the main event gear, to hanging and even dominating Cena at times, to being tied up with one of the more credible celebrities WWE has had in recent years, Rollins looked like a star. Sure, Jon Stewart helped Rollins win with the chair shot to Cena, but let us not forget that when Stewart interfered, Rollins was the one standing in the ring. It isn’t as if Cena was about to win, by any means, so I’m fine with the story. The question now is why Stewart interfered on Rollins’ behalf at all. Hopefully we get Stewart on Raw tomorrow to answer that for himself, rather than Rollins cutting a 20 minute promo explaining to absurdity. ****1/4

Ru Gunn: In the preshow Corey Graves said “It feels like John Cena has just decided to be champion, so Seth Rollins has to step aside.” It felt exactly like that. So, at the very least, this match subverted that crushing assumed inevitability. This started too slow, with a far too early rest hold situation with Cena staring directly into the camera uncomfortably, audibly chatting with Rollins, and my heart sank. As soon as Seth started getting emphatic offence and diving off everything, things rapidly improved. Standing moonsaults, top rope double knees: this is the Rollins I love and keeps me rooting for him even in the bleakest of plotlines. The rolling reversals of the AA culminating in Rollins hitting it on Cena was a perfect, beautiful moment. I’m absolutely furious at the ref bump and ensuing run-in undermining Rollins’ victory: this kind of cowardly booking is so damaging and frustrating. Celebrity guests should never affect the outcomes of championship matches, is this controversial? This match loses half a star for the finish. ***3/4

Michelle Burkey: First off, Rollins comes out looking like Tommy the white Power Ranger. Who allowed this outfit to happen? Seriously, please make it stop. The commonality between Rollins and Tommy is I hate them both. #TeamRedRanger.

I was pumped for this match, because like every 9 year old, I love Cena. However I am concerned about the lack of face mask, If I am Cenas plastic surgeon who just fixed his busted shit, I’d be pissed. Nikki Bella is gonna be pissed if he ruins his face. I made the prediction that Jon Stewart would interfere with the match and get Cena out of a tough situation with Rollins and help Cena with the win. BUT WHAT WAS THIS?! If I can’t trust Jon Stewart, my whole life has been a lie. Sad Cena lost, but what a match. ****½

Rich Kraetsch: Michelle predicted that Jon Stewart would help John Cena win this match, it was a wild prediction at the beginning of the night and it came true, well, half of it. Stewart, performed the heel turn of the century, hitting Cena with a chair and allowing Seth to win the US Title. Some people are rolling their eyes at this involvement but I love Stewart and I think this is really cool. Dude has nothing to do anymore and has a huge following, it’ll be a lot of fun to see just how involved he becomes.

Anyway, the match, I loved it. Rollins stood out in a big way throughout the match and is really starting to turn into a more well rounded worker. I loved his high-flying offense throughout this match and in moments when he had to take Cena’s damage, he sold it well. Rollins was always a great flier but there’s something about how he’s refined it in his WWE days that has taken him far beyond what I ever expected out of Tyler Black. It’s probably just out of Match of the Month level, especially in August, but don’t let that fool you — this was great. ****1/4

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PCB def. Team Bella & Team B.A.D

Garrett Kidney: What a bizarre match. One night removed from a world class performance from Sasha Banks and she was relegated to a bit part role on a bigger stage, the heat segment on Paige felt like it lasted forever, and the finish had pretty much no steam at all behind it. The crowd were loosely invested at best, and why should they be. These are three groups of people who don’t fit together fighting for a poorly defined reason all in the name of a Revolution. A Revolution that is nothing but a corporate brand for Stephanie McMahon to crow about. A Revolution devoid of all substance. A Revolution in hashtag only.  **

Rob McCarron: The right team won, the right participants were pinned, the right woman gained the ultimate pinfall. No sense in harping on the negative that a nine-person tag match will be forgotten soon. We knew that going in. For what we got, this was fun, and Becky Lynch was the focal point at the end of the day. If it couldn’t be Sasha, Becky was the next best option. She’s showing confidence on the main roster faster than I thought she would. **3/4

Ru Gunn: I’m tired of this “Divas’ Revolution” rhetoric of “women have suddenly become good, after all this time!”: it’s patronising and manipulative. Stephanie’s self-congratulatory smugness, taking credit for all of women’s contributions to culture and society, is driving me batty, while Raw carries on being the same old misogynistic trash. This match got far more time than it would have done a year ago, but other than that it was much of a muchness. When placed in stark contrast with the excellent womens’ singles bout at Takeover, and the fun tag match earlier in the show, it came short of both. Despite the amount of participants, the match seemed to fail to fill the space, both in terms of presence and workrate. *3/4

Rich Kraetsch: Everything was structurally fine in this match. It wasn’t spectacular, it wasn’t great, it was just kind of there. The biggest issue for me, is Sasha Banks was a complete ghost and not anywhere near the focal point of Team B.A.D. We’re a day removed from her being one of the focal points over a sold out show at this very same arena. Here? She was a nothing, an absolute zero. Maybe she was hurt/sore from last night but why not a few minutes. Oh well.

Other than that everything was okay in this match. Becky was the focal point at the end and got the visual pinfall, so that’s a good sign for the future. It was shockingly spotty at the beginning too with numerous dives to the outside so hey, this Revolution is really about effort across the division and that’s great but we desperately need some singles matches to get individuals over. **

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Kevin Owens def. Cesaro

Garrett Kidney: I enjoyed this a lot even if it didn’t entirely click with me on the level I was hoping for. They seemed to lack that emotional hook to bring the whole match together but they worked hard and the work was strong. It was a match that neither could afford to lose but I suppose Owens, off the back of losses to Bálor and Cena, needed to win more. I worry about Cesaro though. He delivers top quality matches over and over but he loses more often than he doesn’t. He could potentially be pigeonholed in that death slot character wise as the guy who they can trust to have good matches with everybody and loses. And he’s too good for that. A very good match, lacking something to carry it into great territory. ***1/2

Rob McCarron: The death slot strikes again. Even Owens and Cesaro, two hardcore crowd favorites, had to fight through the perception that the penultimate match on a PPV is meaningless. It isn’t impossible, of course, to overcome the death slot, but it sure does start the match at a disadvantage. Owens and Cesaro put on what many will argue as the best match of the night so far, and they may be right, but the crowd didn’t see it that way. Cesaro was the star of the match, but Kevin Owens gets the win to seemingly redeem his recent losing streak. This show to this point has blown away the very fun NXT Takeover from Saturday night. Of course, that’s not a shot by any means at NXT. ****

Ru Gunn: The pre show panel insisted this match was about jealousy, which I’m not convinced is true; but whatever the backstory, a great match is a great match. What I love about this matchup is the contrast between how Cesaro seems to take the highest energy approach to every piece of offence, where Owens preserves his energy at every opportunity, utilising reversals of Cesaro’s own momentum to wear him down. Owens isn’t lazy by any means, just smart: which suits his character motivations perfectly. The multitude of power moves from both men: Owens’ swinging neckbreaker, Cesaro’s Alpamare and top rope gutwrench suplex, etc etc, were just incredibly impressive, as were the mixture of dynamic highspots that we ought to know to expect by now but still take my breath away. We finally got the Owens Giant Swing that Cesaro has been teasing on SmackDown every week for hundreds of years, and the Pop Up Powerbomb was kept strong. A lot to love here, let’s just hope that Cesaro doesn’t slink down the card after this. ****

Rich Kraetsch: How great is Cesaro right now? I’ve been a fan for quite some time but he’s just on another level right now, technically perfect and arguably the best all-around worker on the roster right now. Kevin Owens is great but he looked a level below Cesaro throughout this match, that’s not a slight, Cesaro is just that damn good. He used to be defined by his uppercuts and the swing but he’s become so much more of an all-around worker. God, I love him right now. I wish he had more capacity for great matches.

This was a weird match in that it wasn’t a back and forth classic but it was technically sound and didn’t need to be a classic. It was perfect in how it was worked, how it was structured and who won (Owens after a pop-up powerbomb). ***3/4

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The Undertaker def. Brock Lesnar

Garrett Kidney: I’ve been saying for a while now that people have been too quick to write off The Undertaker. He had a poor match with Brock Lesnar after he was concussed within the opening minutes and he had a mediocre match with Bray Wyatt, which is in line with pretty much everybody not named Daniel Bryan ever. First the finish was utterly rubbish. Their need for a “controversial” finish was wholly unnecessary when a low blow would’ve done the same job just fine and been MUCH less contrived at that. This seemed like an Undertaker determined to prove people wrong, looking to prove he still has value and he more than succeeded delivering the second best match on an overall strong show. And we will forever have the moment when Undertaker and Brock Lesnar laughed hysterically in each others faces. This was as good as I was hoping it would be. ***3/4

Rob McCarron: Undertaker turned back the clock a few years to put on another classically worked, high energy match that he has been missing since his match with CM Punk. As for the finish, it certainly seems like we are going to indeed get Brock vs Taker 3, likely at Mania, because otherwise this made no sense. We have to be getting a third match. ***1/2

Ru Gunn: The one thing that really shocked here was how many bumps Taker took, and how hard they were. This match was nasty– really viscerally horrible– with Lesnar’s own blood mixing with sweat to paint his face, and Taker getting thrown around and crunching unpleasantly wherever he landed, dribbling over himself. At one point they had a scary faces competition which was too weird to be threatening, but in general, this was a really violent match that far surpassed their WrestleMania encounter. The weird screwy miscommunication finish was tenuous: what happened exactly? The timekeeper was over-excited? The timekeeper had a heel turn? It’s unsatisfying to finish a pay per view with a weird sense of ambiguity and confusion, especially after the Jon Stewart nonsense, but I still enjoyed this match far more than I expected to. ***1/2

Michelle Burkey: I was super pumped for this match. I am always hatin’ on Brock Lesnar, and a huge fan of The Undertaker. I mean, his entrance is so badass. Lesnar had a little too much blood for my liking. As a nurse, it’s gross. If I am Undertaker, I am not letting you bleed all over me. The greatest/weirdest moment of this match was when they were sitting in the middle of the ring then they both lock eyes, in a really weird, gross, bloody, sweaty moment. This was a pretty awesome match, except for the false finish at the end? It is probably so we can prolong this Undertaker vs. Lesnar feud but how much can Undertaker take. I was legit concerned he might have been having a heart attack while he was lying on the announcer table grabbing his chest.  I love the Undertaker and he still does a great job, but at some point this has to end and I’m not sure how many more norcos Takers body can handle.  ****

Rich Kraetsch: I’m stunned. No, not at the bizarre finish that saw a fake bell ring setting up an inevitable rubber match. I’m stunned at how much Undertaker took in this match. Forget the boring, methodical match they had at WrestleMania 30, this was what you’ve expected to get from Brock as of late and what you never thought a 50-year-old Undertaker could do. The amount of belly-to-back suplexes Taker took legitimately had me worried he’d break in half. As the ladies of our review said, this match was visually gross with blood, sweat, spit and snot everywhere. I don’t know that all of it was intentional but it worked, this was the perfect…gross match. I loved it and I’m shocked we had this dynamic of a match between the two after their WM30 stinker. I’m not excited at how we’re going to get to a third match but I’m excited to see it once it happens. This was a great way to cap a super solid SummerSlam. It wasn’t quite the level of SummerSlam 2013 but it was damn close. ****1/4

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