Review for WWE Summerslam 2019

Summerslam is traditionally the second biggest show of the year. It is usually given the same hype of Wrestlemania (though will never reach the same heights) and this year was a pretty good show for the most parts. I felt coming off this show, WWE had learnt some of their mistakes and though far from perfect, it is not that far, which is always a good sign.

The three Kick-off matches are included here (as Extra Features) and all three are fine in general. The WWE Cruiserweight Championship match between Drew Gulak and Oney Lorcan was fine, but would have been better if it had been longer. This felt like just another 205 Live match and not the showcase they usually are. However, of the three matches this is the only one you should go out of your way to watch. Buddy Murphy against Apollo Crews was just a way to progress the Roman Reigns storyline and nothing more. The Women’s Tag match between Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross against the IIconics was nothing special and considering how great Bliss/Cross are it is a shame there are so few good teams for them to feud with.

The main shows starts with a fantastic match between The Man Becky Lynch and Natalya. Both worked really well together and I think with a better storyline behind it, this could have been a Match of the Year contender and really showed just how great the women’s division is.
This was followed by the spectacle that is Goldberg destroying Dolph Ziggler… repeatedly. This was fine in general, but not exactly a classic.

Thankfully the match between AJ Styles and Ricochet for the US Championship was great and had some memorable moments. Shame the same can’t be said for the match between Bayley and Ember Moon for Smackdown Women’s Championship. This could have been a good match and had a few moments, but just didn’t have the same effect as the Lynch/Natalya match.

The match between Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon felt like a paint by numbers Shane O’Mac match which went through all his greatest hits and misses. Nothing special and nothing we hadn’t seen before.
Charlotte Flair against Trish Stratus was a great match. It seemed obvious that WWE want Flair to be the face of the future and putting her against one of the greats makes sense. I don’t particularly like Flair, but this match was great and at times so unpredictable. If this is Trish Stratus’ last match then it is a final match to be proud of.

The WWE Championship match between Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton was not a bad match, just not a very memorable one. I feel like since Kofi has become champion the copmpany have done nothing to build up a credible opponent. The story with Orton has been fine and they work well together, but if the title wasn’t on the line it wouldn’t be a match of any note.

It is a shame that the build to the debut of The Fiend which Bray Wyatt has been building up for months resulted in a squash match of Finn Balor and apart from the shock of the look of the mask I am starting to wonder where this is all going?

Finally, we end the night with a great match between Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins which was the match I have been wanting to see for ages. This was the utter crowning of Seth Rollins as The Man. Not ironic considering he is dating Becky Lynch. I really enjoyed this match and it felt like maybe WWE was listening to us fans about our dislike at the constant push of Lesnar for no real justified reason. The match was fantastic and certainly a match I was happy to watch again.

Also included are four promos from Raw and Smackdown to promote some of the matches and also to show the re-debut of Sasha Banks which has no impact on this PPV and really should have been kept for the next PPV.

This was a very satisfying Summerslam. Despite some lows, I feel the highpoints overshadowed all of that. Though far from a perfect PPV there was enough great match and moments to make it a hugely enjoyable experience. If you haven’t seen it you may want to catch this one and if you have seen it you will no doubt want to relive the night when Becky and Seth showed the wrestling world why they are the best in the world today.