By Graham "GSM" Matthews Finn Balor Relinquished the WWE Universal Championship What a sad story. After a historic first month on the main roster and one night removed from his WWE Universal Championship win, Balor has to give up the gold and sit on the sidelines anywhere from four to six months with a torn labrum. That was extremely disheartening to hear before Raw started (I was just taking my seat when the news broke), and you could tell it was killing Balor on the inside to have to relinquish the belt. The crowd showed tremendous respect for Balor, and I liked how they wasted no time in establishing the key players in the hunt for the vacated title, leading us into our first match of the evening. Seth Rollins def. Sami Zayn in a WWE Universal Championship Fatal 4-Way Qualifying Match Rollins and Zayn have had a few matches against each other before and all of them have been excellent with this one being no exception. I appreciated how it wasn't the type of match you would normally expect from them with this time Zayn selling a fake ankle injury (which everyone thought was legitimate by the way, so stellar selling by Sami). Zayn scored his usual underdog hope spots only to fall short of victory, so the story told here was well done.
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By Graham "GSM" Matthews The Usos, American Alpha and The Hype Bros def. Breezango, The Ascension and The Vaudevillians (Kickoff Match) We had just gotten to our seats when the bell rang for this match. There was hardly anyone in the arena at the time, so I was surprised they had it go on so early in the evening. As a result, those that were in their seats at the time were largely quiet and couldn't have cared less. It didn't help that we saw the same match on last Tuesday's SmackDown Live, but if nothing else, it was cool to see American Alpha in action and hit their signature spots. I didn't notice it from where I was sitting, but I heard from plenty of people say that The Usos seemed to be teasing tension with American Alpha. That's a match/feud I would love to see sooner rather than later. Neville and Sami Zayn def. The Dudley Boyz (Kickoff Match) It is an absolute crime that coming off a Match of the Year candidate at Battleground, WWE couldn't find a spot for Sami Zayn on the main SummerSlam card. I guess it's good he was on the show at all, even if it was a meaningless match. I have read that Zayn and Neville might be a regular tandem going forward, and although they have awesome chemistry together, I feel Zayn is above that at the moment. Meanwhile, The Dudley Boyz doing the job wasn't a shocking development, but they sold well for the high-flying athletes. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Austin Aries def. No Way Jose If anyone doubted Jose's ability to get over with an audience, I dare them to listen to the reaction he received when he entered. It was electric! Granted, he may never get above a certain level if he is ever promoted to the main roster, but he has already been in NXT for a few months and he has yet to wear out his welcome. Plus, he's pretty passable in the ring, and needless to say, this was the best bout he's had to date against Aries, who obviously carried him to a very entertaining opener. Aries has been killing it since arriving in NXT, so while a win would have benefited Jose, I think Aries needed the victory more. Hideo Itami coming out afterward was a pleasant surprise (I was shocked he wasn't on the pre-TakeOver TV tapings) and the crowd popped huge for him hitting his first televised GTS. What a monumental moment to witness live. I'm very much looking forward to their feud in the future. Ember Moon def. Billie Kay I had heard rumblings about Athena/Moon before and how great she was, but had never seen her in action until this event. Kay scored a surprising amount of offense, especially considering it was Moon's debut, but I'm glad she showed signs of potential. The match itself wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but Moon's beautiful looking finisher definitely was. The crowd popped for that big time and she will have no trouble winning over fans with that move. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Here on SummerSlam Recall, I will be ranking my top 20 favorite matches in WWE SummerSlam history. A new installment will be posted every day leading up to SummerSlam 2016, culminating with my No. 1 favorite match on Saturday, August 20th. Each article will offer an in-depth look at each match and an analysis of why it is among my favorites. It all comes down to this, folks! Though I feel that anyone who has followed me closely over the past several years would have seen this selection coming from a mile away, and my favorite SummerSlam match of all-time is none other than CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar from 2013's installment. I loved SummerSlam 2008. I loved SummerSlam 2011. Hell, I was even at SummerSlam last year! But I think 2013's event takes the cake as the best SummerSlam in the last ten years, and arguably among the best ever. Punk returned from a two month sabbatical at Payback 2013, and despite seemingly undergoing a change in character and starting to embrace the audience again, he still had his advocate, the vindictive Paul Heyman in his corner that night. That didn't last long, however, as he cut ties with Heyman the next night on Raw, telling him that although he didn't want him by his side during his matches anymore, he would always be a "Paul Heyman Guy." Of course, Heyman didn't take too kindly to that, ordering Brock Lesnar to lay waste to Punk later that night. |
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