Results, Recap, Review of WWE Summerslam 2019

Tonight was the annual Summerslam event, which is part of the “big four” events that WWE does every year. If you go back and listen to the Kayfabe Studios podcast, you will know I was less than thrilled about this card going into it. Before I begin with whether or not my level of excitement changed here are the results of Summerslam:

-Kickoff Show: Drew Gulak defeated Oney Lorcan to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
-Kickoff Show: Buddy Murphy defeated Apollo Crews by DQ
-Kickoff Show: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross defeated The IIconics to retain Women’s Tag Team Championships
-Becky Lynch defeated Natalya in a Submission Match to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
-Goldberg defeated Dolph Ziggler
-AJ Styles defeated Ricochet to retain the WWE United States Championship
-Bayley defeated Ember Moon to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship
-Kevin Owens defeated Shane McMahon
-Charlotte Flair defeated Trish Stratus
-Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston went to a double count-out(Kofi keeps WWE Title)
-“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt defeated Finn Balor
-Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Universal Championship

The Kickoff show was interesting since three matches were added just to it hours before the show started. The first match as always was the Cruiserweight Championship match between Drew Gulak and Oney Lorcan. I am going to say it until I’m blue in the face but the 205 Live guys don’t get the credit they deserve, and this match proved my point once again. It was a great technical and hard hitting match that set the tone for the evening. The second match that came out of nowhere was between Apollo Crews and Buddy Murphy. All I have to say is it’s about time Murphy was showcased on WWE programming. Crews and Murphy had a great match going until Rowan came out. He took out Murphy due to the accusations that were made about Rowan attempting to take out Roman Reigns. The last match on the Kickoff Show was for the Women’s Tag Team Championships. Former champions The IIconics took on current champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. This was a no brainer with Bliss and Cross winning, because they already announced their title defense for Monday Night Raw.

The opening match of the main card was for the Raw Women’s Championship. It was a Submission Match between Becky Lynch and Natalya, which was a perfect match for them to have given their backgrounds. I loved the psychology of this match with both using each others submissions, but it was Lynch getting the victory with the Dis-Arm-Her. I was honestly surprised this match was on first given the fact it had a lot more build to it than most of the other matches. One match that really no build up was Goldberg versus Dolph Ziggler. I personally had no interest in this match but it was entertaining for what it was. I especially enjoyed the post-match antics by Ziggler, which made Goldberg look like the bad ass he’s meant to look like.

The most anticipated match for me going into tonight was AJ Styles and Ricochet for the United States Championship. This match was very solid with a lot of great psychology. Ricochet has been criticized in the past for just being a high-flying guy, but tonight I feel like he silenced those critics. He and Styles told a great story that I really hope will continue. I would say that my biggest disappointment of the night was Ember Moon and Bayley. The match didn’t do anything for me and it really didn’t do anything for Moon or Bayley. No story was told, no one’s stock went up and nothing was accomplished. I hope next time they do better and shine a little bit brighter.

One story that has been a lot of fun to watch has been Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon. I don’t agree with Shane being involved with the storylines every week but I’m glad Kevin Owens has benefited from it. Owens doesn’t get enough credit for his mic skills or in-ring ability. Hopefully, this feud is now over and Owens can move on to bigger and better things. Charlotte has found a way to get involved in bigger and better things without being the champion. Tonight a dream match between her and Trish Stratus happened in Trish’s hometown. Like many other legends that come back, I am always very leery about what they can do in the ring. I was very presently surprised how well Trish did in her final match. I always thought the way she went out winning the title in 2006 was the wrong way. She went out going against the absolute best that WWE has in the Women’s Division. In all honesty, it was the best of the three women’s matches on the card.

Fifteen years ago, Summerslam was in Toronto and Randy Orton won his first World Heavyweight Championship. It very much crossed my mind that Orton’s career could come full circle at the expense of Kofi Kingston’s amazing title reign. The good news is Kofi kept the title. The bad news is this feud is far from over with the double count-out result. I would say the absolute best news of the night was the in-ring of Bray Wyatt. For months, they have built Wyatt up with the Firefly Fun House and his alternate personality The Fiend. The entrance, the in ring style and the creepiness of this character definitely sold me on Bray Wyatt. I have always been intrigued by Bray Wyatt but they wasted his first run. This character has given him a resurgence and I really hope they make the best use of it.

The Main Event was for the Universal Championship between Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins. Realistically, Rollins shouldn’t have been in the match with how this was booked. I am honestly surprised the match went as long as it did. It was a really good match and it was nice to see Lesnar in a lengthy match, but the lead up was poorly booked due to Seth winning. Summerslam was a decent show, but it didn’t have a lot of excitement or surprises to it. Nothing epic happened and for a major pay-per-view, tonight was not a good look for the “big four.” I have to give Summerslam a 6.5 out of 10. The fact that you had NXT the night before and the finals of G1, the main roster didn’t deliver. I don’t think that’s on the Superstars. I think that’s on the Creative and Booking team. I really hope that they get back on track with Clash of Champions where every championship will be on the line.