WWE SUMMERSLAM 2024
AUGUST 3, 2024
CLEVELAND BROWNS STADIUM
CLEVELAND, OHIO
Watch: Peacock/WWE Network (Non-US)
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MEET YOUR REVIEWERS:
Suit Williams: You can read Suit’s long-form previews and reviews of wrestling from around the world here at Voices of Wrestling. You can also find his weekly reviews of AEW Collision over at F4WOnline. Check out his brand-new wrestling blog Williams Watches Wrestling, where he’ll engage in watch projects and review requests. Follow Suit on all social media platforms @SuitWilliams.
Sean Sedor: After recovering from his second round of COVID, Sean has spent his Saturday watching A LOT of wrestling. Night 9 of the G1 Climax (look out for his review on the site soon!), two hours of AEW Collision, and now WWE’s SummerSlam PPV. You can find Sean on Twitter @SASedor2994 (he refuses to call it X) AND on Bluesky (@sasedor2994.bsky.social). If you’re interested in some of his other escapades, you can watch him play the Formula 1 games on YouTube (just search his name), and you can also go to the Be The Booker forums if you’d like to check out his EWR Diary, where he plays as WCW (started in 1998, currently in January of 2003).
WWE WOMEN’S WORLD TITLE MATCH
LIV MORGAN (C) DEF. RHEA RIPLEY (W/ DOMINIK MYSTERIO)
Suit: Oh no, I missed another Triple H appearance and a performance by “Jelly Roll.” I’ll find a way to survive.
This felt like these two had a ten-minute match in mind, then got told at the curtain that they had twenty minutes to fill. We got a bunch of stalling before they got started, with Liv doing her best Larry Zbyszko impression – look it up, kids. Then Rhea kicked her ass until Liv threw her into the corner and “dislocated” Rhea’s shoulder.
Rhea fought one-armed until she slammed her arm into the announce desk to put her shoulder back in place – which is preposterous, even by pro wrestling standards. Then she Mami’d up and kicked Liv’s ass again before they ran the shoulder spot again. A chair got involved and Dom “accidentally” set it up for Liv to hit her finish on it for the win. Then Dom made out with Liv, which everyone in the building saw coming except for the dopey announcers. This couldn’t be any less For Me. I don’t care about any of these people, and I don’t care about “Mami” getting her revenge on these two schmucks. The crowd didn’t seem to care either until Dom got involved. This sucked. *
Sean: Well, after a Triple H appearance and a live, in-ring performance by Jelly Roll, we’re finally getting started with our first match. Dominik Mysterio is out at ringside with Rhea Ripley, so right out of the gate, I’m already thinking that we’re getting some sort of involvement from him before this is all over. Morgan kept avoiding Ripley for the first minute or so, but once Ripley got her hands on Morgan, she was fully in control. After a Riptide into the corner, Morgan avoided one in the center of the ring, and sent Rhea shoulder-first into the turnbuckle. This set up a Liv Morgan control period as she worked over Rhea’s shoulder, but Rhea popped it back into place after slamming her shoulder into the announce desk in what was a pretty ridiculous spot.
After some decent back-and-forth between the two, Liv got a chair and tried to get herself disqualified, but Rhea stopped her and tried to use the chair herself, right in full view of the referee. Rightly so, Dominik took the chair from her and talked sense into her, but this led to a nearfall off an Oblivion that got a HUGE reaction. Then, Dom slid the chair into the ring and distracted the referee while Liv gave Rhea an Oblivion on the chair to score the pin and retain her title. Dom then kissed Liv in the entranceway as the turn we all knew was coming was complete. I have no idea what to make of this match. The stuff with Rhea trying to get her shoulder back in place by just….slamming it into stuff was absurd. The actual wrestling itself was….perfectly fine, but everything in the closing moments and the aftermath absolutely worked for the fans in the building (especially that huge reaction off the first Oblivion), so everything went as intended as far as WWE is concerned. That doesn’t mean it worked for me though, as it’s certainly not a storyline that I’m into very much. I’m not into “Mami” or “Liv’s finally on top” or Dirty Dom or any of it. **1/2
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH
BRON BREAKKER DEF. SAMI ZAYN (C)
Suit: I asked this question in the preview, and I’ll ask it again. They didn’t have anybody else Sami Zayn could beat last month? They had to beat Bron last month? I’m not sure it hurt him all that much, because wins and losses don’t really matter in this company unless you’re someone that truly matters. But it couldn’t have helped him to trade these wins if you’re actually trying to give the guy a big push.
The match was better than the Money in the Bank match, although like most Breakker matches, it topped out at fine. It’s a better highlight reel than an actual match, with Zayn avoiding a spear at the start of the match and Bron’s shoulder holding him up. It didn’t hold him up much, as he beat Zayn in five minutes with the Frankensteiner and two spears. Perfectly acceptable pro wrestling. **1/2
Sean: Breakker went for a spear right out of the gate, but Zayn avoided it, sending Breakker straight into the post. After a dive to the floor, Zayn tried for a Helluva Kick, but Breaker managed to avoid that, so we’ve had two finishers avoided early on. Over the next few minutes, Breakker would bust out the Frankensteiner, and Zayn would respond by counting a bulldog attempt with a Blue Thunder Bomb. He then hit his exploder suplex into the corner and went for the Helluva Kick again, but Breakker hit the spear, and then connected with a second one to capture the Intercontinental Title. This definitely felt shorter than their previous match at Money In The Bank, and while I would call it a good match, it didn’t leave that much of an impression on me. I felt the shorter length was a positive, but again, this is not a match that will have any lasting impression on me whatsoever. Breakker wins the title, and we move on. ***
WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH
LA KNIGHT DEF. LOGAN PAUL (C) (W/ MACHINE GUN KELLY)
Suit: Logan Paul came out with Machine Gun Kelly, a man who got publicly bullied out of hip-hop by a washed Eminem. This match was fine, as both Knight and Paul are acceptable pro wrestlers. For Paul, it’s a compliment in his short career. For Knight, it’s more of an indictment. Either way, they had a fine enough match for the spot on the card. Paul showcased more of his athleticism here with an El Phantasmo-esque springboard moonsault. Paul tried to cheat with the brass knucks, but Knight came back with the BFT to win the title. And even in losing, Paul shows his professional instincts by making sure his foot was under the rope for an out. **1/2
Sean: Logan Paul has certainly….caught attention in the last few days for being an uninformed dumbass on social media (but what else is new). Machine Gun Kelly came out with Logan Paul, while LA Knight smashed….exactly one window on Paul’s PRIME truck. Alright then. Paul went after Knight right away, and they brawled on the floor for a few minutes before the match even got started. The brawling on the outside culminated with Knight delivering a huge neckbreaker on the announce desk.
Once the match officially got started, LA Knight had the early advantage until Logan Paul gained control. We got some generic back-and-forth exchanges for a few minutes, but then the match got taken up a notch after Paul hit an insane springboard moonsault to the floor (borrowing from his long lost relative El Phantasmo), which was followed by a MASSIVE superplex from LA Knight that was nearly a brainbuster. We then got shenanigans on the floor where Knight went after Paul’s goons, and that set up Machine Gun Kelly passing brass knuckles to Paul. He used them, but Knight didn’t go down. A buckshot lariat was then countered into a BFT, and Knight pinned Paul to win the United States Title. A pretty fun match on what has been a fine edition of Saturday Night RAW thus far. Probably would’ve been a little better without some of the silliness near the finish (which did hurt it a little bit for me), but it’s WWE. The silliness comes with the territory. They were never going to put the real World Title or the fake World Title on LA Knight (despite his popularity), so I guess this is a nice consolation prize. ***1/4
WWE WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH
NIA JAX DEF. BAYLEY (C)
Suit: We’re still doing Nia Jax, huh? The winner of this match should get their old music back. This match was an absolute snoozer for 90% of it, until Bayley caught Jax with a powerbomb to the biggest – and only – pop of the match so far. Bayley got a nearfall with an elbow drop before Tiffany Stratton came out to cash in. Bayley bumped her, but that allowed Jax to get a flurry of big shots in before winning with two Annihilators for the win. They had a good Bayley nearfall and a good finish for Nia, broken up by the useless cash-in tease and preceded by an absolute snoozer. *1/2
Sean: Man, these two have horrible entrance themes, don’t they? I didn’t have high hopes for this one, and the early portion of this bout with Nia Jax in control did nothing to change those initial feelings. At one point, Nia tried for a second rope leg drop, and Bayley connected with her Bayley-To-Belly for a nearfall. Nia would then successfully hit The Annihilator, but Bayley kicked out at two. She kept beating up Bayley until a second Annihilator attempt was countered with a powerbomb (which did look pretty impressive). Tiffany Stratton then tried to cash in her Money In The Bank contract, but this proved to be just a distraction so Nia Jax could regain control of the match. A series of powerbombs and two Annihilators later, and Nia Jax is the new WWE Women’s Champion. This match stunk. Plain and simple. Nia Jax has never been good, and while Bayley is still capable of having solid matches with the right opponent (see the match with Iyo Sky at WrestleMania, which was pretty good), this was not a good night for her. Just an abysmal affair from start to finish. *
SINGLES MATCH (SPECIAL REFEREE: SETH ROLLINS)
DREW MCINTYRE DEF. CM PUNK
Suit: CM Punk does not work in this company. All the good work he has done in building this feud up was almost entirely undone by this terribly formatted match, where Punk allowed a fucking friendship bracelet to cost him a match in this blood feud. The crowd was more interested in singing Rollins’ song and chanting for tables than they were focused on the work, which was decent in the rare times it wasn’t focused on Rollins.
But this is not the promotion where Punk’s strengths shine through. Instead of having a focused, intense, heated, bloody brawl with the man he hates, Punk had to lie down as McIntyre shouted the story at Rollins so WWE could make sure they got the story across to the fanbase they think so little of. Instead of Punk and McIntyre having the match they could have had, they had to get the STORY across to everyone’s detriment. Punk having McIntyre on his shoulders for the GTS, then putting him down because Rollins put his stupid little bracelet on made me curse at the TV.
Punk is so far above this kindergarten company, but because he is who he is, he’s burned his bridges and is stuck here. It’s a waste of the twilight of an incredible wrestler’s career and a waste of everyone’s time. I wish he just went home after the Samoa Joe match in Wembley last year because this match showed me that there’s no rising above this shitty company’s house style, even for an all-time great like Punk. McIntyre won with the Claymore. *
Sean: As expected, Seth Rollins is wearing an absolutely absurd referee outfit. The crowd was pretty hot for the start of what was easily the most anticipated match for the night. They went after each other straight away, and we got spots early on where both had brief confrontations with Rollins. Punk was in control early as we got a brief We Want Tables chant. Drew then took control on the floor as the fans were singing Seth’s song. Back in the ring, Drew continued to beat down Punk as Rollins was egging him on a little bit.
Drew brought a chair in the ring and told Rollins to let him use it, and it appeared that he would, but Rollins took the chair away. We then got our obligatory SummerSlam 1997 reference (only this time, the chair shot from the special guest referee didn’t connect) before Punk went on the offensive. Punk then took the bracelet back that Drew stole from him while he had Drew in the Anaconda Vice, but this left him wide open for a Claymore. The bracelet came into play again when Punk dropped Seth out of a GTS attempt because Seth picked it up. Punk eventually gave Seth a GTS in response, but this allowed Drew to hit a low blow and the Claymore before getting the pin after Rollins recovered.
I guess the one positive is that Punk didn’t get injured again, so his body held up. Outside of that, we had months and months of buildup for this CM Punk/Drew McIntyre match, to the point that you could’ve argued that this was a feud of the year contender before they even wrestled each other. Then we got….whatever this was. A “match” that was totally filled to the brim with trademark WWE “storytelling”. Punk was so obsessed with this stupid fucking bracelet (you know your wife can always make you another one?) that it caused him to throw all sense and logic totally out the window. Combine that with a ridiculous character like Seth Rollins as the referee, and you had a “match” that was a bunch of mini-segments and promos with wrestling moves mixed in between. WWE had something with this feud, and they overbooked the hell out of this first encounter. I hope Punk enjoys being back in the sports entertainment company again! What a complete and utter disappointment. DUD
WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
GUNTHER DEF. DAMIAN PRIEST (C)
Suit: These two were trying to do the matches that Gunther has done with Ilja Dragunov and Drew McIntyre and Sheamus, where they beat the hell out of each other for twenty minutes to get the crowd alive. The problem is that I’ve watched those men, and I’ve loved those matches. And Damian Priest is no Ilja Dragunov or Drew McIntyre or Sheamus. He’s just not that level of worker, and he doesn’t inspire that level of crowd investment. So instead of this being a great match, it was just fine.
We then got our interference spot, which was in every match except the IC Title match. Finn Balor came out pretending to root on Priest, then put Gunther’s foot on the rope on a nearfall before doing his heel turn sneer for three minutes as the match paused so the MOMENT could sink in. Gunther choked him out to win the match and the title, which wasn’t as important as Finn Balor turning heel…even though he was already a heel? I need this show to end. **1/4
Sean: Priest went right after Gunther to get this one started, but Gunther was able to gain the advantage after sending him into the post and dropping him on the apron. Once back in the ring, we got some good back-and-forth exchanges between the two. Priest managed to hit a Falcon Arrow and delivered some hard chops of his own that actually managed to bust open Gunther’s chest. Unfortunately, a good chunk of the crowd was distracted because WWE turned off one of the big screens in the stadium, so we got some loud “We can’t see!” chants, and then loud cheers when they did turn the big screen back on. Gunther delivered a ton of punishment to Priest in the form of powerbombs, lariats, and chops, but Priest remained defiant.
Finn Balor then came out to try to fire Priest up, and much like in the opener with Dominik, alarms started going off in my head. Eventually, Priest did fire up and started to make a comeback. He hit the Razor’s Edge and the South Of Heaven chokeslam….but Finn Balor put Gunther’s foot on the rope. As Priest became enraged at Balor (who had a stupid scowl on his face), Gunther locked in the sleeper. Priest fought out of it, but then ate a powerbomb before the sleeper got locked back in. Priest passed out, and that was it. Gunther wins the WWE World Heavyweight Title in what was easily the match of the night (though that’s not exactly high praise given the quality of the show up to this point). The actual wrestling in this match was really good, which wasn’t much of a surprise. In terms of the finish, I thought this was the least offensive of the trademark WWE “storytelling” we’ve gotten tonight, and I might even be ok with it if it was only finish like this we got on this show. Unfortunately, every match has been filled with nonsense, so it’s not as effective in this case. I guess they’ve officially completed this phase of the Judgment Day storyline with both Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest getting turned on by Dominik and Finn Balor respectively. Again, I thought the match itself was pretty solid, but mired by the same stuff that’s mired most of the matches on this show. ***1/2
WWE TITLE – BLOODLINE RULES MATCH
CODY RHODES (C) DEF. SOLO SIKOA
Suit: We Want Roman chants at the bell to confirm what I said in the preview, that the draw for the main event of SummerSlam was for some other guy to run in. It’s not like this company hasn’t done this before, as my mind turns back to Triple H vs. The Rock at Backlash 2000, which saw Steve Austin’s first appearance post-getting hit by a car. But the crowd was red hot for that match, as they cared about The Rock winning and Triple H losing.
No one cared about anything that happened here, nor should they have. The company told them that the match wouldn’t end until the Royal Rumble conga line of interference started. It was bad when WCW did it, and fans were looking at the entrance stage when Nitro main events started. But it’s good now because the good company is doing it. And let’s be clear, Solo and Cody weren’t exactly Shawn and Taker out there. This was boring, house-show-level heel work from Solo that Cody could only do so much with.
After 15 minutes, Cody hit the Cross Rhodes, which was your signal that the bullshit was commencing soon. And on cue, Guerrillas of Destiny entered this match at #3 & #4. PERFECTLY LEGAL IN BLOODLINE RULES. Kevin Owens entered at #5 and ran wild until THE NUMBERS GAME caught up to him. Randy Orton came out at #6 and ran wild, setting Cody up for a nearfall with the Cross Rhodes.
Cody and Solo fought to relative silence before Cody hit two Cross Rhodes. And on cue, Jacob Fatu entered at #7 to interrupt it. He hit a Whisper in the Wind and a double jump moonsault for another nearfall for Solo. Fatu put Rhodes through the announce table and may have hurt himself before Solo got a nearfall with a splash. Cody hit a step-up cutter to put both men down before Roman Reigns came out at #8 to new music and a pop that got slightly bigger once he got in the ring. Roman got in the ring and laid out Solo with a Superman Punch and a spear for a big pop. Cody finally beat Solo with another Cross Rhodes. Cody getting saved by Roman is definitely a sign of who the real top guy is, believe what you want.
They got to the conclusion the fans wanted, but this was long and bad and dumb. Solo couldn’t be less of a guy, as he’s already been overshadowed by Jacob Fatu in his own sub-unit. Much like last year with Main Event Jey Uso, this felt like a test that Solo failed with flying colors. Then the run-ins happened, which suck in AEW, suck in New Japan, suck in WCW, and suck here. An awful main event to an awful show. I cannot stress how little I enjoyed this SummerSlam event, and if I hadn’t gotten dinner during the main event entrances, I’d have probably been way harsher. There is absolutely nothing that a person reading this site, who likes the wrestling that we talk about, will enjoy to a great level on this show. I feel like a broken record repeating this like I always do at the end of these major WWE events. But this company is and will continue to not be for us. If you didn’t watch this show, don’t bother. If you did watch it, my condolences. DUD
Sean: The one positive to all this downtime between matches on these WWE PPVs is that it gives me plenty of time to finish my write-ups on these reviews (and it gives me time to mess around on Twitter). In other news, I had no idea that this was a Bloodline Rules Match until I saw it listed as such here in the review. Presumably, we’ll be getting Bloodline involvement, but before Cody made his entrance, Arn Anderson showed up and told him that he pulled some strings and he’s got friends on the way.
After a slow start, Cody nails his first big shot of the match with a dive to the floor. Solo takes control, and nearly puts me to sleep before Cody avoids the Samoan Spike and hits a Cody Cutter. He tried for a Disaster Kick, but Solo countered it into a sitout powerbomb. At this point, I’m confused as to why Solo hasn’t tried to use any weapons, or why the rest of The Bloodline hasn’t come out already. It’s Bloodlines Rules….doesn’t that basically mean anything and everything goes? The crowd isn’t reacting much either, as they’re pretty much waiting for the run-ins to happen (so it’s basically a WCW main event). Cody and Solo continue to trade moves in what has been a pretty boring match up to this point.
Cody finally hit Cross Rhodes, and the run-ins finally started. Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa come in and attack Cody. Kevin Owens then comes in to make the save. Randy Orton then arrives to provide more reinforcements. The babyfaces clean house, Cody hits Cross Rhodes, and Solo kicks out. Cody gets the steel steps and hits Solo a few times with it before Solo hits a spear for a nearfall. Jacob Fatu then gets involved after Cody went for more Cross Rhodes. He did the big splash off the top rope through the announce desk to Cody, and appeared to hurt himself.
Roman Reigns then appeared to a thunderous reaction from the crowd in Cleveland, and took out Solo Sikoa with a Superman Punch and a Spear. Cody then hit Cross Rhodes and got the pin. While I would say this was better than the atrocious Tribal Combat Match from last year, that’s clearing a bar that’s beneath the earth. This marked the second year in a row that SummerSlam was headlined by an absolutely terrible main event. The majority of the match was incredibly boring, and I put a lot of that on Solo Sikoa. He does not have it as a top guy in any way. Plus, the crowd did not care about most of the action until the run-ins started. Even at that point, they didn’t care about any of the nearfalls because most of them (correctly) figured that this wasn’t ending until Roman Reigns came out. It also doesn’t made Cody Rhodes look good in the sense that his title win at Mania and one of his biggest title defenses to date both required a ton of outside assistance. I’m not going to go full DUD on this one since they at least got the finish right (and finally have Roman Reigns as the babyface they always wanted him to be), but yeah….this was not good. 1/2*
