Owens, Shane, Drew
- Shane McMahon appears on the TitanTron and says he's not going to be there tonight. I wouldn't want to be there either, based on the creative mess we've heard about today.
- He says his life coach is calming him down.
- Kevin Owens comes out to the ring and isn't too sad about Shane McMahon not being there. He's overjoyed and hypes up their upcoming Summerslam match.
- Drew McIntyre comes out and reveals they have a match tonight, then attacks Kevin Owens.
- After attacking Kevin Owens, he reveals that the match will get started right now. Not bad. A match kind of 9 minutes in, though it'll be 13 after the break.
Kevin Owens defeated Drew McIntyre
7/10
- Drew McIntyre has control the first several minutes of this match, and throws Owens all over the ring.
- Owens battles back with a Cannonball, but does anyone buy that as the finish?
- I could buy a frog splash as a finish, though maybe not here. McIntyre gets his knees up on a Swanton.
- The swinging sitout side slam is a personal favorite move of mine, and McIntyre does it so well.
- A pop-up sitdown powerbomb hits for Owens, and it rules. What a fantastic spot.
- Another great spot is a White Noise falling backwards off the middle rope. This match is a barn burner.
- Drew sets up Kevin on the announcer's table, but eats a Stunner.
- KO rolls him back in the ring and sets up a superkick and a Stunner to win.
- This ruled.
Backstage Crappenings
- Dolph Ziggler is big mad backstage, and eventually cuts the same kind of promo he has for a long, long time.
- Aleister Black is moody again. Later on, Sami Zayn says he thinks Aleister Black is hurt and begging for help
- Daniel Bryan still refuses to say anything.
- The OC are backstage, happy about how Summerslam is unfolding.
- Firefly Funhouse runs with the rabbit pretty excited about Summerslam. Bray Wyatt approaches and laughs maniacally.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defeated Ember Moon & Bayley
5.75/10
- Bayley warns Ember Moon to not "try anything" in their match tonight. Why would this even be booked?
- We get a commercial mid-match, and I didn't realize how much I missed those.
- We come back to Alexa and Nikki working over Bayley.
- Ember gets a hot tag, and it's a good one. She really lays her stuff in there.
- Eclipse on Nikki, but Alexa posts Ember. Twisted Bliss lands on Ember and Alexa wins clean.
- We missed most of this match, but it was good. Between this and last night's Becky Lynch match it seems like the style is stiffening up again.
- Bayley hits her finish on Ember Moon. Ember really got jobbed out in this segment.
Trish and Charlotte
- Jerry Lawler comes out and brings out Trish Stratus.
- In a very fake and set up spot, Jerry Lawler asks Trish if she wants to have a match to end things.
- Trish says she's a mom now, but she'll always have this itch.
- Charlotte comes out and challenges Trish.
- Whoever came up with this idea to set up Charlotte/Trish, whew. Charlotte calling her out cold would have been better. They just had to wedge Lawler in because of Memphis.
- Trish Stratus accepted Charlotte Flair's challenge for Summerslam, which will be her first singles match since facing (and losing to) Vickie Guerrero in March 2011.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Finn Balor
5/10
- Dolph Ziggler attacks during the commercial to kick the match off.
- Finn Balor takes over after the break and hits Eye of the Hurricane and sets up for a dive.
- The lights go out.
- It's Bray Wyatt. He's filmed different than everything I've seen before.
- Superkick from Ziggler, pinfall.
Ali defeated Shinsuke Nakamura
5/10 (short)
- Ali comes out aggressive and finds a bunch of success.
- Nakamura drops his face across the top rope, then does the reverse Exploder.
- Ali scores a huge superkick, and rolls up Nakamura shortly after.
- 50/50.
Kofi Kingston (w/ New Day) defeated AJ Styles (w/ THE OC)
6.75/10
- We see a pretty good Randy Orton video package explaining his disdain for Kofi Kingston.
- This for sure is getting turned into a six-man tag, I thought.
- There's some good back and forth until AJ does one of the coolest and sickest looking apron sliding knees you'll ever see in wrestling.
- This is a really physical match.
- Kofi hits an amazing tornado DDT.
- Trouble In Paradise counter, Ushigoroshi counter, SOS. Wonderful transition.
- New Day and the OC come face to face. They brawl and Kofi Trust Falls onto the pile.
- Trouble In Paradise midair to stop a Phenomenal Forearm. GREAT finish.
- They really didn't need to book this match, but Kofi is a STRONG champion.
Reigns
- AHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD WHAT WAS THAT SEGMENT WITH ROMAN REIGNS.
- He's about to announce his Summerslam challenge, and something falls on him.
- That Roman Reigns thing was one of the most unrealistic, hastily dumb shots I've ever seen. A production camera set up behind the rig that fell on him? It showed him getting squashed, then not? A camera rushing to him when there were already two there? WTF.
- He's okay.
Rating guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a "star rating," which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive "TV match" lands at a 5. The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!
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