For the first time since 1996, WWE has brought the “Biggest Party of the Summer” to Clevland, Ohio. It was a fantastic night of wrestling with some huge names going to battle.
The World Championship matches – both men’s and women’s – were great, and an intriguing undercard was delivered. Not to mention, there were some huge surprises along the way.
How will this SummerSlam stack up against the rest? Will WWE continue its stretch of great PLEs? Let’s review the night and see if Cleveland truly did rock.
Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley (WWE Women’s World Championship Match) – 3.5/5
Starting the show off with this scorching hot feud was a great idea. Liv Morgan has become one of the best heels in the company and she worked very well opposite Rhea Ripley.
Ripley’s shoulder being the target for the match made sense. Morgan was overmatched and had to work every angle possible to get over Ripley.
She worked in some great offense to counteract the power of Ripley. Of course, this was a match of a love triangle and it factored heavily into the match.
Dominik Mysterio swerved the world by helping Morgan to retain. It was a great way to finish the match, get a pop, and leave the feud with more life.
Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker (Intercontinental Championship Match) – 3/5
Bron Breakker was going to break through at some point, everyone knew this. But that doesn’t mean that his journey was going to be a dull one.
This was a great match. Sami Zayn was always going to be awesome, but Breakker has improved so much.
His physicality is there, but his psychology is on point. His selling of the early shoulder problem was great and helped to sow the sight seeds of doubt.
This was essentially a squash match but it was the right way to get Breakker over as a man who won’t lose the Intercontinental strap anytime soon.
Logan Paul vs. LA Knight (United States Championship Match) – 4.5/5
Logan Paul and LA Knight put on an absolute show. There was chemistry dripping from everything they did, and the crowd lapped it up.
There wasn’t much of a downtime during the match, allowing Knight and Paul to fill it up with incredible wrestling. This match was one of the surprises.
There were a lot of great maneuvers that neither man had pulled off before. It was a great way to add a little something extra to the match.
Paul continues to impress in his WWE career. There isn’t a moment too big for the social media star and it will be interesting to see where he goes from here.
Knight winning was the crowd favorite and the right choice. He deserves this title win and will do great things with his run.
Bayley vs. Nia Jax (Women’s Championship Match) – 3.75/5
This was a paint-by-numbers match, but that doesn’t mean it was necessarily bad. Nia Jax has improved since her return and understands the role she needs to play.
The match was dominated by Bayley trying to combat Jax’s size. The rest holds stuck along a bit longer than they needed to but, other than that, the match was enjoyable to watch.
Bayley showed some impressive strength and Jax showed more agility than we have been used to. The finish of the match brought this to another level.
That powerbomb from the top rope was fantastic. Tiffany Stratton coming out was a bit telegraphed but that didn’t make it any less entertaining.
Jax winning was a legit shock but she deserves a run with a championship. It will be interesting to see how WWE weaves the friendship of her and Stratton into the program long term.
Drew McIntyre vs. CM Punk (Special Referee Seth Rollins) – 3/5
This match was just about as physical as one could get. After a long hiatus, CM Punk didn’t show any rust at all.
It helped that Seth Rollins was the special ref because it allowed the match to use every gimmick that wasn’t tied. Rollins was also great as the third man in.
His antics were a great addition to the match and helped to work him into the outcome. The finish was a bit of an overbooked mess.
We knew Rollins was going to factor into the match finale but not this much. It slowed the match down to a crawl and had a hard time holding onto the fan’s attention.
If the action had been there, this match would have been better. It was good but not great.
Damian Priest vs. Gunther (World Heavyweight Championship Match) – 4/5
Gunther and Damian Priest stood toe-to-toe and beat the crap out of one another. This was never going to be a mat classic but they more than made up for it.
This match was stiff shot after stiff shot, with Gunther’s chest bleeding being a highlight. It was a war of attrition that played well with having us guess who would walk away the winner.
The drama with Finn Balor was an interesting way to finish off the match. Balor is a fantastic heel, and he should be given something to work with here.
Gunther winning was also the right call. He is the future of the main event scene and will produce some great matches in the future.
Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa (WWE Championship Bloodline Rules Match) – 3.75/5
Cody Rhodes and Solo Sikoa put on a darn good main event. There was a question of whether Sikoa was ready for this position, but he put most of that to bed.
He worked the match well, a bit slow at points, but well. After some more polish, he will be a main event mainstay for years.
As said, the match was a bit slower than one would like a main event to be. The crowd was in and out during the contest and the odd pacing was a reason.
There was too much downtime between spots and it was hard to keep the action going. The spots were great but the time between took us out of the atmosphere.
Naturally, with Bloodline Rules being the gimmick, the match was going to devolve into chaos. Once it did this, it was reminiscent of WrestleMania‘s main event, at least with some changes to keep it fresh.
Giving them some more time alone helped this match tremendously. Roman Reigns making his return blew the roof off the place, figuratively.
Great way to end the match and set up a Bloodline showdown.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – WWE – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the WWE Network and Peacock.
