THE MIZ, CURTIS AXEL & BO DALLAS vs. THE HARDY BOYZ & JASON JORDAN (11:20): 13 matches! You think that this company would have learned their lesson from the way too long Wrestlemania this year which went from 5 to after midnight. This only went from a little after 5 to 11...so only 6 hours. Jesus Christ. This show was so long that during this match the building had only a few hundred people. It was totally embarrassing...especially considering The Hardy Boyz and The Miz are big stars. This was forgettable. And if no one was there to see it...did it really happen? 1/2* (out of ****)
NEVILLE vs. AKIRA TOZAWA (11:45): Neville has been the cruiserweight champ forever. So when someone finally beat him it should have been a big deal, right? Nope. It was on RAW recently and I either didn't see it or don't remember it. It doesn't matter because Neville won back the title here in a so-so match. I wonder what Austin Aries is doing these days. *1/2
THE USO'S vs. THE NEW DAY (19:20): This was the last of the pre-show matches (the pre-show was ridiculously 2 hours long) and this was super entertaining and the best match of Summerslam. A ton of near fall's, a ton of action, a title change. It was wild and, this early, the crowd was alive and rapturous. ***1/2
JOHN CENA vs. BARON CORBIN (10:15): Cena is filming the Transformers spin-off film, Bumblebee, at the moment. He must not have a big part because he's been on every show and is facing Roman Reigns for no good reason at the next ppv. Corbin failed in his MITB cash in a week ago on Smackdown and lost here in a super dull match. I guess his push will never occur. That's a good thing. 1/2*
NATALYA vs. NAOMI (11:10): Natalya won the title. So where's Becky Lynch and Charlotte, the only two good women wrestlers on Smackdown? This at least had some action late. *1/2
BIG CASS vs. THE BIG SHOW (10:30): Enzo was in a shark cage above the ring...but he oiled himself, escaped, and then Cass kicked him in the face and he didn't do anything else after that. So what was the point of all this? It was the only watchable aspect of this boring match. 1/2*
RUSEV vs. RANDY ORTON (0:10): At least it was short! Orton won with the RKO as soon as the bell rang.
SASHA BANKS vs. ALEXA BLISS (13:10): Banks won the title here then lost it a week later to Bliss on RAW (I'm reviewing this late...or maybe I can see the future!). Bliss is hot and all but just doesn't have it when it comes to in-ring work. And the submission tap-out came out of nowhere depriving this match of drama. *1/2
FINN BALOR vs. BRAY WYATT (10:40): Why are these two dudes wrestling? Just because. *
DEAN AMBROSE & SETH ROLLINS vs. CESARO & SHEAMUS (18:35): This was basically a typical RAW main event. Ambrose and Rollins won the tag titles. It was basic with a hot finish. **
AJ STYLES vs. KEVIN OWENS (17:20): This was the best of their matches...but still not as good as what either man is capable of. Shane O'Mac was the special ref which is leading to a Shane/Owens match down the line. **1/2
JINDER MAHAL vs. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (11:25): Ugh. Jinder is, apparently, going to keep the title until Wrestlemania for some reason. The WWE is doing a tour in India in the Fall...plus maybe the WWE is trying to push their business in India. Plus Vince likes big steroid dudes and Jinder is jacked. The problem is that he's an incompetent wrestler and a so-so talker. Nakamura hasn't done much of anything good since is Zayn match debut. This sucked. 1/2*
BROCK LESNAR vs. SAMOA JOE vs. ROMAN REIGNS vs. BRAUN STROWMAN (20:45): This was awesome stuff. Braun was the crowd favorite. He slammed Lesnar through two announce tables then flipped one of the tables onto Brock. Brock was then carted off on a stretcher but returned to pin Reigns. The first ten minutes were brutal and crazy and wild and the best the WWE can do. The latter half was good but didn't reach the intense peak of the beginning. Good ending to a mostly poor show. ***
