WWE SummerSlam took over the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, this weekend — and, as expected, the result was epic.
With an A-list lineup of stars such Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles and Kevin Owens, the Big Apple certainly delivered the goods.
The packed card in front of a sold-out crowd provided endless entertainment, from a historic tag team tournament to a brave WWE superstar daring to take on the mountain man Brock Lesnar (with a little help from the set).
While millions of viewers forked out for the pay-per-view, TheWrap had a seat inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn. For those of you who didn’t buy the biggest entertainment event of the summer, here’s what you missed.
Women Rule Proving that the women’s revolution is going strong, the thousands of male fans in the stadium cheered for the female matches as loudly as the men’s, especially when it came to Natalya going head-to-head with neon-clad rival Naomi. “Tap, tap, tap” came the chant, as Nattie blew away her opponent to become the SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Shark Tank “How ya doin’?” became the chant of the night when the shark cage was set up in the ring and Enzo Amore bragged, “Right now, I’m the Al Capone of this microphone.” Those were big words when it came to floating over Big Cass and Big Show — or “Big Slow” as the crowd dubbed him — in a giant cage. Clearly size doesn’t matter, as the chant soon turned to “oh, this match is boring!”
Commercial Non-Breaks
Usually commercials are an unwanted and unnecessary inconvenience, but when it comes to John Cena strutting his stuff and pitching the Tap Out brand while walking on burning coals, it’s must-see-TV.
Channeling “Game of Thrones”
Randy Orton bent the knee on Sunday just as Daenerys kept demanding her rivals to do the same on “Game of Thrones,” but he did it in victory after a swift defeat of Belgian powerlifter Rusev.
Pink or Punk?
The Sasha Banks v. Alexa Bliss match divided the audience as they split into chants of “Sasha sucks” and “Alexa sucks,” while the pink-hued Divas proved there was nothing catty about this fight. Sasha eventually made a solid Banks Statement and Alexa was forced to tap out.
Beauty vs. Brawn It was tattoos vs. war paint when Bray Wyatt took on Finn Balor, and as the clean-cut Demon got dragged across the ring by the dreadlocked Wyatt, the crowd was clearly on Balor’s side. Even an impressive crab crawl sadly couldn’t save Bray, and he became another victim of the body-painted fan favorite.
Final Four
It was a tag team extravaganza when Seth “Freakin'” Rollins and Dean Ambrose went against Cesaro (complete with a James Bond worthy-entrance) and Sheamus. The popular quadruple sparked the first standing ovation of the night in anticipation of the power play match up. Despite looking he was in dire need of a spray tan, Sheamus got the golden-skinned Rollins on the ropes early on before bouncing out of the ring like an agile leprechaun. His swift escape didn’t sit well with everyone, however, and sparked a yell of “stop frickin’ running.” The audience on the front row literally got the action in their lap when Cesaro went off script and leapt over the barricade to take out a beach ball. Ultimately, however, it was Rollins and Ambrose that manned up and set the stadium on fire with a resounding victory.
Referee McMahon Sometimes it’s the referee that’s the real star of the show. And such was the case when Shane McMahon wore the zebra stripes to officiate the A.J. Styles v. Kevin Owens bout. Bursting out of his pinstriped shirt, McMahon eventually handed the belt to Styles.
Roman Doesn’t Reign
While HBO fans were engaged in finding out who would rule the Iron Throne, Roman Reigns discovered that he hadn’t won over the WWE fellowship when he joined Samoa Joe, Braun Stowman, and the mighty Lesnar. Boos and chants of “F— you, Roman,” echoed around the stadium … until a security guard reminded the rowdy crowd that “there’s little kids here.” Yeah, that didn’t work very well, but at least “Roman sucks” had less F-bombs.
And yep — when Lesnar and Stowman took it outside the ring, the crowd really did go wild, demanding “one more table.”
Grading WWE's 'Raw' and 'SmackDown' Since the Brand Split (Photos)
On July 19, WWE took a roll of the dice and returned to its "brand split" format for the first time since 2011. With "Raw" and "SmackDown" now featuring their own exclusive casts, story lines and championships, fans hoped that this would allow more young talent to get a chance at becoming the next John Cena. Now that we're a month in, let's grade how each of WWE's shows is doing so far.
WWE
"Raw" Main Event: B The WWE Universal Championship might replace the "Butterfly Belt" as the most hated belt ever. But while the crowd at SummerSlam was booing the belt, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins put on a solid main event program. Now the question is whether Balor can prove he deserves the top spot on "Raw" by expanding his persona beyond wearing cool body paint.
WWE
"Smackdown" Main Event: B- Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler had a fantastic build to their SummerSlam heavyweight title match, with Ambrose as the cocky fan favorite and Ziggler as the scrappy challenger. Then they blew it with a pedestrian match. Ambrose is talented enough to survive this, but it should be the death knell for Ziggler's main event potential.
WWE
"Raw" Mid-Card: D "Raw" is supposed to get a cruiserweight title soon, and it can't come soon enough. The fact that this show can't come up with anything for someone as talented and likable as Sami Zayn is inexcusable, and nearly every other singles wrestler is just laying about. Meanwhile, Roman Reigns continues to jump between being a smirking joker and a violent bruiser, neither of which the crowd wants to root for despite Reigns' ability to put on a great match.
WWE
"Smackdown" Mid-Card: B+ The blue brand, meanwhile, has a solid mid-card despite having a two-hour timeslot instead of three. The Miz and Baron Corbin are fun-to-hate villains, and now AJ Styles is the hottest talent in the company. Then there's the possibility that, at long last, that WWE might be preparing a story arc that will follow the end of John Cena's dominance.
WWE
"Raw" Tag Teams: B- The New Day has been great, but it's time to get the tag team belts off them. With Enzo & Cass, The Dudleys, Golden Truth and The Bullet Club all on the "Raw" roster, WWE needs to make their tag teams feel like potential champions rather than joke fodder for the guys with the "Booty-Os" cereal.
WWE
"Smackdown" Tag Teams: C+ American Alpha has looked like a superstar tag team since getting called up from NXT, but there's no reason to get excited about their rivals, including NXT duds like The Ascension and The Vaudevillains. Hopefully the addition of a tag team title to the show will liven things up.
WWE
"Raw" Women: B+ Though the division is not fleshed out, Charlotte and Sasha Banks have put on some great matches that have scared wrestling fans to death with their brutality. With the belt back on Charlotte, it's time for the lovable, passionate Bayley to make her long-awaited arrival and hopefully prove you don't need to be snarky, hardened antihero to get wrestling fans to love you.
WWE
"Smackdown" Women: A- "Smackdown" has the opposite situation, with Becky Lynch leading a deep division with no single woman or feud proving to be a can't-miss element of the show. Adding a second women's title should help with that.
WWE
"Raw" Authority: D- Beloved legend that he is, Mick Foley hasn't done much to make Raw better. In fact, his role has mostly involved him doing things like rewarding Roman Reigns' mean-spirited antics with a title match.
WWE
"Smackdown" Authority: B- Shane McMahon's role is mainly to be a smiling glad-hander, while Daniel Bryan has done a great job promoting "SmackDown" on WWE's online aftershow "Talking Smack." They have also had a solid program with Heath Slater, who has become such a popular sad-sack underdog that Bryan has gotten booed for not offering him a spot on the show.
WWE
"Raw" overall grade: C+ If you told hardcore WWE fans a year ago that Seth Rollins, Finn Balor and Sasha Banks were the top stars on "Raw," they'd be over the moon. And yet, after a strong first episode following the brand split, the show remains a three-hour slog with the occasional strong segment.
WWE
"SmackDown" overall grade: B Though they have fewer stars and a shorter timeslot, "Smackdown" has proven to be a more consistent show so far, albeit with a few speed bumps. Mauro Ranallo's play-by-play makes every match feel like a big deal, and no one on the roster is getting left behind. For the first time since the era of Batista and The Undertaker, "SmackDown" is the superior show
WWE
NXT Grade: A+ Both TV shows, however, pale in comparison to WWE's online-only developmental brand. Even as they lose stars to the main roster, NXT continues to bring in great wrestlers and realize their full potential. With Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka and The Revival now the top draw, it seems that the recent trend of WWE pay-per-views getting their thunder stolen by NXT's "Takeovers" won't be stopping anytime soon.
WWE
Overall grade: B- Since WrestleMania, Vince McMahon's promotion has remained a mixed bag, much to the frustration of many fans. It's not good enough to match the heyday of The Rock and Steve Austin, but still has too many great moments to give up completely. What's most frustrating is that WWE has the roster to be greater than it has ever been, but thanks to undercooked storylines and bad booking, has not been able to capitalize on the talent they have assembled.
WWE
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Has splitting the roster with the Draft made WWE any better?
On July 19, WWE took a roll of the dice and returned to its "brand split" format for the first time since 2011. With "Raw" and "SmackDown" now featuring their own exclusive casts, story lines and championships, fans hoped that this would allow more young talent to get a chance at becoming the next John Cena. Now that we're a month in, let's grade how each of WWE's shows is doing so far.