wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s Live WWE SummerSlam 2024 Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...WWE SummerSlam
August 3rd, 2024 | Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio | Attendance: 57,791
This is going to be a different review than usual because I was at this show live. So rather than give you the same review you’ll get from folks who saw it on Peacock or the same review I typically would give, I’ll focus more on how things were at the stadium. It’ll also be shorter as I have some G1 shows to catch up on too.
I will say that this was my first stadium event and no matter how I rate the show, this was a 10/10 experience and one of the better nights of my life.
Also, I attended WrestleCon earlier in the day and got to meet/get photos with the Bella Twins and Mickie James, who were absolute sweethearts. Went to get wings afterward and Rick Steiner casually walked in. Was tempted to bark at him but I kept my cool.
Women’s World Championship: Liv Morgan [c] vs. Rhea Ripley
What an atmosphere for this. The crowd was heavily engaged on everything going on and it was great. I loved the way this match was set up. Little things like Liv stalling only to get tricked by Rhea led to a huge pop without them having to overdo anything. Wrestling can be so simple when done right. The shoulder focus made sense to give Liv the upper hand and I think Rhea popping the shoulder back into place was a cool spot. Doing it twice was kind of weird though. The stuff involving Dom was incredible and got an unreal reaction. The false finish on Oblivion was one of the best I can recall and Dom distracting the ref to allow Liv to win in 15:53 was great. The pop for Dom and Liv kissing was the third biggest of the night. One of my favorite matches all year and some brilliant storytelling. Dom gets even sleazier, Liv’s title reign doesn’t get cut off, and sympathetic Rhea becomes an even bigger babyface. [****¼]
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn [c] vs. Bron Breakker
The crowd didn’t seem to care much about this. The 5:42 runtime wasn’t a problem if they went the route of Bron kind of dominating Sami. That’s a story to tell. Bron learned from his mistakes and just kicks Sami’s ass. Sami is a character who can survive that. Instead, Sami outsmarted him a handful of times and then Bron caught him with two Spears to win. Right decision but getting there could’ve been better. [**½]
WWE United States Championship: Logan Paul [c] vs. LA Knight
I had low expectations for this. LA Knight is one of those “and then the bell rings” guys who is way over and charismatic but his matches don’t do it for me. Logan is good in the ring but is typically with someone really good in there like Seth, Roman, Ricochet, Rey, etc. Very negative reaction for Logan, especially given his terrible posts on Twitter recently, even with MGK by his side and the Cleveland connection. That said, this exceeded my expectations. They had a good match with some memorable high spots like Paul’s moonsault to the outside and Knight’s avalanche Fisherman Buster. The finish was also good as Knight got hit with the usual Paul cheating antics but the turned the tide and hit his finisher to win the title in 12:04. Better than expected. Knight was ridiculously over. [***½]
WWE Women’s Championship: Bayley [c] vs. Nia Jax
As soon as this match was shown to be next on the tron, there was legitimately a mass exodus to the concessions stands. That’s what we call the Nia Jax Effect. Bayley got a pop but otherwise, nobody really reacted to anything in this match. And honestly, that’s for good reason. It was a dull affair where 12:33 felt much closer to 33:33. My wife even text me during the match like, “Why is Nia Jax even a thing?” The crowd finally came alive for Bayley doing a big powerbomb spot and then when Tiffany Stratton ran out. Bayley cut her off and then Nia went on a run, beating her with three Banzai Drops. Then, Tiffany just celebrates with her instead of going for the cash in. It’s like WWE is actively trying to make each MITB winner dumber than the last. Theory went for the US Title, Priest failed like 17 times, Drew cashed in during a match, and Tiffany did this. Awful match, awful booking decision. The worst part of the night by far. [½* and that’s only for Bayley’s powerbomb]
CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre
The crowd was so into Punk that they chanted his name during Drew’s entrance. Shoutout to the guys in front of me with DM Hunk shirts trying to change the Punk chants to that. Loved the nods their gear had to the Taker/Bret/HBK Hart and Soul. I liked how it started with them trading blows and fighting outside as Seth cackled and chilled in the ring. That was all good but I do think the problem here is that the intensity dropped as this went on. They went into a slower, more traditional match when I needed the war to continue. They ended up focusing on the bracelet to the point where Punk let go of the Anaconda Vise to take it and then got mad at Seth for putting it on. Drew won with the Claymore in 16:58, which led to one of my biggest ovations of the night and he took the bracelet back. This was very good, bordering on great but I did need more fire at parts of this to fit with the story they’ve told. [***¾]
World Heavyweight Championship: Damian Priest [c] vs. Gunther
Damian Priest is way more popular than I realized. Gunther had a lot of fans too. Part of this live didn’t work as well for me and I think it was because the ring didn’t seem mic’d up enough. Some spots felt like they were landing on a mattress and Gunther’s chops didn’t sound as loud as they should’ve. I rewatched this on Peacock and it came across much better. Even live though, things picked up in a big way down the stretch, as this had one of the better second halves I can recall. Finn Bálor showing up was expected, though I didn’t think Gunther would hit him before he did the turn we kind of all saw coming. Pretty sure someone farted in my area here and as soon as Finn turned around with that face he put, my buddy was like “the fart reached Finn!” This is the kind of content you get from a live review by me. Anyway, loved Priest firing up from the choke he got put in, giving one more bit of babyface fire before Gunther put him away after 16:38. Great stuff and while Priest is someone I never totally viewed as a World Title guy, a big babyface run coming out of this Judgment Day split could change that given his recent efforts. [****]
Undisputed WWE Championship Bloodline Rules Match: Cody Rhodes [c] vs. Solo Sikoa
Massive “We want Roman” chants from before the bell and through the match, though Cody was absurdly over still. We couldn’t really hear the Arn interaction before the bell. There are several key problems with this match. One is that Solo Sikoa isn’t the guy. Two is that they basically opted to copy the Cody/Roman WrestleMania formula but again, Solo isn’t the guy so it didn’t work. Three, it went 29:13. And lastly, the problem with Bloodline Rules is that we all know it’s going to feature so many run-ins. That means that everything before it means nothing. We’re just waiting for it so we don’t buy into any near falls. There was one that happened and I was like, “Well Jacob Fatu isn’t out so this isn’t ending.” Of course, Roman Reigns eventually returned to the greatest pop I’ve ever heard live. He’s special, man. They finally got the man over as a babyface and as is often the case, it took a stellar heel run. He took out Solo and Cody then hit the Cross Rhodes to retain. Incredible moment but the match itself was mid. [**½]
