SummerSlam (2022) results
Bianca Belair (c) def. Becky Lynch - WWE Raw Women's Championship
Thoughts - This was a fun match to start the show. Belair got the win. But, it was after the match is when things really started to get interesting and set the tone for the rest of the show. Former Women's Champion Bayley made her long awaited return, but she didn't come alone...
Former NXT Women's Champion Io Shirai (she goes by IYO SKY now) made her main roster debut to stand alongside Bayley. Another former NXT superstar made her return to the company, Dakota Kai. All three ladies confronted Bianca Belair in the ring, which was until Becky Lynch came back in the ring to stand alongside Bianca - turning babyface.
After a short staredown, Bayley and her newfound friends backed down and walked away. This was a great moment and it's so great to see those three ladies back, especially Bayley - I've been such a big fan of hers for a long time.
Grade: 7/10
Logan Paul def. The Miz
Thoughts - Logan Paul really has a natural talent to be a WWE superstar and a MAJOR star in the company's future. Paul really showed off many more talents and kept the whole audience thoroughly entertained! Miz held up his end and made Paul look extra solid the entire match. You had Ciampa and Maryse ringside, that was until AJ Styles' music hit and Styles took out Ciampa after Ciampa got caught by the ref trying to interfere in the match.
Ciampa refused to leave ringside and that's when Styles came out and jumped Ciampa, they fought to the outside. After all that drama, Paul threw Miz onto the announce table and did one of the best frog splashes I've seen since Eddie Guerrero onto the table, onto Miz. This whole match was a very fun from start to finish, Paul had a few very small mishaps, but that didn't take away from his incredible performance.
Paul picked up the W and got a nice reaction from the Nashville audience. I enjoyed this one. Paul can stick around for a while longer.
Grade: 8.5/10
Bobby Lashley (c) def. Theory via submission - United States Championship
Thoughts - This was a very short match, only about 4 or 5 minutes. Lashley pretty much just demolished Theory the whole time and Theory barely had any offense throughout. It felt rather pointless and meaningless. I think Triple H even felt that way because there was nothing special about this bout at all. Theory tried to walk away from the match (like I predicted) acting like he didn't need this match anyways, which is pretty much spot on to how most of us felt going in.
But, it was already booked when Vince was in charge, so here we are. Again, pointless match. Bathroom break, to be honest. I feel bad for Lashley... he needs a strong challenger next. Let's see what Raw brings on Monday.
Grade: 2/10
The Mysterios (Rey & Dominik) def. Judgment Day - No Disqualification
Thoughts - This match was alright. It had some fun to it. Nothing too special. I was hoping Rhea Ripley would have gotten a lot more involved, since she's been a lovable menace since she returned this past week on Raw. Match went about 10 minutes, but really picked up when Edge made his (not so shocking) return. Edge, sporting shorter hair than last time and a more trimmed up beard, emerged like a completely new superstar looking to get some revenge on Judgment Day.
Edge really made something out of nothing with his appearance, hitting a spear on Balor and Priest before standing tall with The Mysterios after they picked up the W.
Grade: 6/10
Pat McAfee def. Happy Corbin
Thoughts - Another solid match from McAfee. Corbin did his normal schtick and played the menace role. McAfee got the upper hand in the end and got the W. Fun enough match. Not much to it, McAfee's WM match with Theory was a lot better, if we're comparing the two. McAfee is one of the most entertaining stars on the roster.
Grade: 7/10
The Usos (c) def. Street Profits - Undisputed Tag Team Championships
Thoughts - Although it was NOTHING as exciting as their Money in the Bank match, Usos and Street Profits did their things and did it well. I was entertained by it. We had some interesting emotions coming from Montez Ford towards the end of the match... he seemed almost... heelish coming out of this. Usos got the W to keep their 300+ reign going.
Montez Ford and Dawkins reacted by just sitting in the middle of the ring, shocked. Montez looked like he was about to unleash on Dawkins for a while there before the camera cut away. Very interested to see what comes from Montez and Dawkins, are they splitting up? Maybe gonna feud with one another? We'll see.
Grade: 7.5/10
Segment between Riddle and Seth "Freakin" Rollins
Thoughts - Riddle came into the ring, out of nowhere, and said he wasn't gonna back down from Rollins, even though he got injured. He then called Rollins out so they could fight, Rollins came out and the two started brawling, which lead to the ring and Rollins getting the best of Riddle once again, hitting him with the Stomp and walked away. It was something to continue the storyline between the two, I get it.
The segment felt a bit... unnecessary to be honest. But it was to keep both men on the show in some capacity. It was okay for me. I won't give it a grade, it was just something to keep the feud going.
Liv Morgan (c) def. Ronda Rousey - SmackDown Women's Championship
Thoughts - This was another really short match, maybe 4 or 5 minutes. It was pretty back and forth, Ronda had a bit more to do with it. Liv had some offense here and there, but it was mostly Rousey putting submission onto Morgan. In the end, Morgan "pinned" Rousey to get the W.
The reason I put it that way is because the "pin" from Morgan was during the time Morgan was seen, on camera at least, tapping out to Rousey's armbar. But the ref only saw Rousey's shoulders down and counted the 1-2-3 for Morgan to pick up with win. Seemed very Vince-like of a finish, but there's always more drama to come from it.
I definitely see Rousey v Morgan once again at Clash at the Castle in September. All in all, wasn't an impressive match or win for Morgan. I'm pulling for Morgan throughout her title run, but it's gotta be better. I'm almost starting to worry about her reign being a flop at this stage. We'll see what comes of it in the coming weeks.
Grade: 4/10
Roman Reigns (c) def. Brock Lesnar - Last Man Standing Undisputed Universal Championship
Thoughts - This match was extremely entertaining from start to finish. Brock Lesnar pretty much owned the entire match and made it one of the best matches I've seen in a long time. Definitely the greatest Last Man Standing match of all time. No doubt in my mind. Brock came out with a tractor, a big ass tractor, doing his cowboy Brock gimmick to the max. These two used just about everything they could find around the inner arena to beat the shit out of one another.
There was a lot of countdowns from the ref because of all the carnage going on around us. Brock used the tractor at ringside multiple times for multiple reasons, and they were all fucking fantastically entertaining to me (and most watching and in the arena). Brock really went all out and it showed he was having a helluva time, probably the best time he's ever had in a wrestling match.
Towards the end, Brock used the tractor to lift up the entire one half of the ring, to the point where Roman pretty much tumbled an slid out... for real. Don't think he was doing all that himself for show, I mean that whole ring was about 10 feet in the air and standing strong. It was one of the most surreal moments I've seen in WWE. Reminded me a lot of an Attitude Era-esque feel to it. Really fantastic touch! In the end, after a few close encounters, Reigns finally put the Beast down once and for all, burying him with everything around him to get the W.
By far, this has been my Match of the Year for 2022. I'm not sure if anything can truly top it. I'm pumped Reigns get to more than likely cross 700+ days as champion. Then again... we don't know what Raw will bring. Though, I'm not sure Reigns will show up on Raw, so he'll get the 700 day reign passed at that point. Bravo to Roman!
Grade: 10/10
Final thoughts - SummerSlam was a success in my book this year! Hats off to Triple H for getting some great creative moments throughout the night and his first start to being head of creative. The show had a strong start and a VERY strong finish! Everything in the middle was solid enough, with a few bad matches (Lashley/Theory and Morgan/Rousey). Let the Triple H era... begin!
Show grade: A-
