wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s WWE SummerSlam 2021 Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...WWE SummerSlam
August 21st, 2021 | Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada
Baron Corbin vs. Big E
It’s our Kickoff Show match! I missed the start of this as I was getting dinner so my stopwatch isn’t going to be on point here. As I caught it, the two were exchanging stuff in the ring but it seems like Corbin’s focus was more on the briefcase than anything else. He kept going after it and making sure it was in his possession, even though he can’t do anything with it. Big E cut off him leaving with a POUNCE before adding in the Big Ending inside at around the 6:00 mark. This was largely inoffensive but also did nothing to really help either man. Like, Corbin’s character can’t be that dumb and Big E doesn’t gain much here. [**]
Time for the main show!
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: AJ Styles and Omos [c] vs. RK-Bro
Randy Orton has interesting facial hair. He didn’t do the scooter gimmick but Riddle did do the classic Orton pose. AJ and Orton had some good back and forth to start before Omos became legal and dominated. Riddle got in a hope spot or two but it was mostly all Omos. They went with the Orton hot tag quicker than I expected. Omos saved AJ and then chokeslammed Riddle out of midair outside. AJ’s moonsault into a reverse DDT still looks cool as hell even all these years later. After Omos was incapacitated outside, Orton kicked out of a rollup and hit the RKO on AJ to win the titles in 7:05. That was a fun little opener that didn’t wow me but was kept short and entertained me throughout. [***]
Alexa Bliss vs. Eva Marie
This is a mid-‘90s Undertaker type storyline. Eva slapped around Lily after some awkward interactions with Alexa. That fired up Alexa and she started beating up Eva at every turn. Eva fought back a bit but lost to Twisted Bliss in 3:49. It was pretty bad but it at least was kept short. Doudrop left with Eva’s robe. [½*]
WWE United States Championship: Sheamus [c] vs. Damian Priest
This is the case of Sheamus’s career. He’ll be in an angle that I don’t care about and then he’ll put on a good match that reminds you of how good he is. There’s not much to say about this match other than that it was a hard-hitting affair. Sheamus took control early and did the chest beating spot and things like the Alabama Slam, which always looks like it hurts. Sheamus made the mistake of shouting FELLA before trying the Brogue Kick, so Priest was able to counter and et in his signature stuff for a near fall. Of course, commentary telegraphed the near fall with a “what a turnaround this would be!” I thought they did a finisher kickout but Priest springboarded into a bicycle knee, not a Brogue Kick. I loved that spot. While in a heel hook, Priest removed Sheamus’s face mask (somewhere, Rip Hamilton winced) and started firing off shots. Priest hit the Reckoning to win the championship in 13:47. It started a bit slow but picked up later. The Sheamus Special baby. Lame build to a big match, then a hard-hitting banger. [***½]
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship: The Usos [c] vs. Dominik and Rey Mysterio
A hot start here with Rey and Dominik flying all over the place. The storyline coming into this is that Dominik can get a little big for his britches and Rey has to reign him in. Dominik got knocked off the top rope and that put him in position to take the heat segment, which also fell in line with the story they’ve been telling. Rey eventually got the hot tag but his run didn’t last long and he found himself in trouble. The challengers got a few moments of hope but really didn’t feel like they ever came close to winning. Rey took a splash to the spine, getting pinned after 10:48. It was kind of one-sided. [**½]
Shinsuke Nakamura showed up to party with Rick Boogs and Pat McAfee.
WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair [c] vs. Sasha Banks
Their WrestleMania main event is one of the best ever. Okay, so it was announced that Sasha couldn’t compete, so Carmella was put in her place. The crowd rightfully dumped on that, with Carmella having lost to Bianca quickly in recent months. Then, Becky Lynch made her return to a huge pop. She kicked Carmella’s ass and challenged Bianca.
WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair [c] vs. Becky Lynch
Becky hit Bianca with a lame uranage and won in 0:26. What a lame end to Bianca’s reign, though I’m happy Becky is back. Apparently, it’s not a good thing to be a Black world champion because Kofi and Bianca got the quick squash treatment. Wonder how Lashley will fare later. [NR]
Olympic gold medalists Tamyra Mensah-Stock and Gable Stevenson came out to a nice hand. For some reason, WWE had to use still images of the Olympics, even though they aired on Peacock.
Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal
Given their history, this could’ve been a decent feud. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been and I missed a chunk of this match. I came back to see Drew win with suplexes, Future Shock, and the Claymore. Apparently, it went about 4:30 and was kind of a squash. [NR]
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Nikki A.S.H. [c] vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
This division is in the toilet and it’s not for a lack of talent. As bad as the build to this has been, the match actually played into that pretty well. The idea was that all three women knew each other so well from having faced off countless times over the past few weeks. They would have counters ready for each other and they’d have to get creative and hit spots that could only be done in a triple threat match. I particularly liked Rhea hitting a German suplex on Charlotte as she delivered a fallaway slam on Nikki. The biggest issue with this, as is often the case, was the result. Rhea got sent outside and Charlotte made Nikki tap to the Figure Eight in 13:03. Why do the Nikki MITB gimmick anyway? All WWE does is put the title on Charlotte, take it off of her, repeat. Having tons of short, meaningless reigns doesn’t make her special, it’s hurting her. I’m not saying I was a fan of the Nikki angle either, as they should’ve just kept the title on Rhea and booked her better. Match was good though. [***]
Edge vs. Seth Rollins
Edge came out with the Brood theme, glasses, and fire entrance, which was dope as hell. Coming into this show, this was my most anticipated match of the night. They started delivering in the early stages with some good exchanges that made you feel like they’ve wrestled against each other before. Edge busted out stuff that he hadn’t done in a while like top rope neckbreakers. Those are risky for him. Seth got going and did the superplex into the Falcon Arrow (he did the deal!) which got a great response from the crowd. Edge pulled out a Big E with a spear through the ropes in a massive spot. We also got cool shit like Ede doing a Glam Slam and Seth catching a Spear into a Pedigree like he did to Roman at Money in the Bank 2016. Seth missed the Phoenix Splash and ate a Spear for a near fall. Their final exchange saw Edge avoid the Curb Stomp and turn his Edgecator over into a crossface. He slammed Seth’s head into the mat several times before getting the tap out in 20:34. An outstanding match built around the Curb Stomp being avoided and delivering in spades. Other than his first match with Orton, Edge has had nothing but bangers since returning. [****¼]
They ran a segment with The Miz, John Morrison and Xavier Woods that I missed.
WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley [c] vs. Goldberg
Ideal booking would see Lashley squash this dude in about 10 seconds. Goldberg got booed and Lashley was the more popular choice. They decided to do something much longer than 10 seconds. It was them trying to throw bombs early but it not really working. Then, Goldberg’s leg became a problem and they did a ref stoppage finish in a LONG 7:09. I didn’t like any of this and don’t care to go further. [DUD]
Post-match, Lashley beat up Goldberg with a chair and got cheered, including a “Thank you Bobby” chant. Goldberg’s son hopped the guardrail and got on Lashley’s back, so Lashley put him in the Hurt Lock to another pop. MVP said that Lashley didn’t realize it was Goldberg’s son.
WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns [c] vs. John Cena
I didn’t love their first meeting. Cena had a new shirt with all of his title wins on the back. Reigns sent The Usos to the back before the bell. He was working like a top star right from the start, doing just what he said he would. He beat Cena’s ass and made the legend look like he was a step slow. The entire time, Reigns kept talking trash and bragging on another level. But then Cena would get in a rollup or flash pin, again hammering home the idea that Reigns would beat him up but all Cena needed was three seconds. Cena got going but ate a Superman Punch. He responded with the Five Knuckle Shuffle and Attitude Adjustment for the expected near fall. Cena kept bringing it, hitting an AA through the table and his reaction to his own handiwork was hilarious. They even went as far as to do the avalanche AA kick out that I believe only AJ Styles got a few years ago. Reigns was basically a guarantee after that and he won with a Spear in 23:00. That felt like a pretty ho-hum ending after all of that. I’m not big on finisher barrages and kicking out of them but otherwise, this was very good and a big improvement on their last outing. [***¾]
After the match, we got Brock Lesnar for the first time since WrestleMania 36 with his tiny ponytail and beard. I AM HERE FOR VIKING BROCK. He had a staredown with Roman but it didn’t go any further.
