Ranking the SummerSlam and NXT Takover Matches

WWE & NXT’s SummerSlam Weekend

Well, WWE’s second biggest weekend of the year is wrapped up, and the next grand event to look forward to is… The Royal Rumble in January? Ugh. I mean… sure, I guess Survivor Series, and that may be even more relevant due to the brand split, but that event has been falling in relevance for years now. And if this fall is like the last several, we’re all entering WWE’s football season doldrums.

But hey, we’ve still got SummerSlam Weekend visible in our rearview, so while I’ve been rewatching some of my favorite moments from both SummerSlam and NXT Takeover Brooklyn 2 (as I’m sure you have been since there were so many) it’s as good of a time as any to take stock of what the WWE umbrella just presented us and rank all of the matches. Besides… I want to share an article ranking them with you; you want to read a subjective article and write a comment saying “This is baloney! Match #6 totally deserves to be in Match #3’s slot! You’re a fool, Stewart!”. Everybody wins here, chum. So get those typin’ fingers ready, and let’s start at the bottom of the weekend’s barrel…

#17. Naomi, Becky Lynch & Carmella vs Alexa Bliss, Natalya, and Nikki Bella – * 1/4

This match wasn’t abysmal or anything, it just was not particularly exciting or fun, either. The crowd wasn’t into it, and neither was I. WWE wrote Eva Marie out of the show with a surprisingly witty “exhaustion” excuse (“Exhaustion” of course being the go-to rationale for celebrities seeking treatment for drug-related issues, and Eva Marie having been suspended for violating the Wellness Policy, I thought this was a clever little wink to the fans) and brought back Nikki Bella to take her place, but aside from an obligatory “Oh, you’re back!” pop, everything about this just seemed mundane. Another casualty of the six hour live special is inconsequential matches like this that take place later in the card are hard to care about. Perhaps if this was on the pre-show or in the second spot on the card, I could view it more favorable, but after several hours, this was the show’s breather match. Anyway, it happened. Nikki is a heel again and on Smackdown Live, I guess, and she has a new finisher to take some pressure off of her neck. Nothing more to see here, really.

#16. WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day vs The Club (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) – * 3/4

I like Jon Stewart. He’s funny. He’s smart. He’s passionate in what he believes. He has one of the truly great surnames of the world. But man did he feel shoe-horned in here. Last year he had a build with Seth Rollins both on WWE programming and on The Daily Show, and he felt like he belonged when he appeared. You can argue about whether his impact on the Seth Rollins vs John Cena match was egregious or not, but at least it wasn’t pulled directly out of the blue sky.

There was no reason for Stewart to be involved here. And the crowd did NOT seem to care for his presence on the show, whether due to his heel turn last year or other reasons. They responded to his call to emulate Big E’s introduction for The New Dat, but that was it. And while I thought his interaction with Anderson and Gallows near the denouement was somewhat entertaining (trying to ingratiate himself with them by offering them the Too Sweet signal before resigning himself to tucking in his shirt to take an attack), everything up to that point was just forced.

Big E did, in fact return (one of the FEW things I managed to accurately predict in the weekend’s Roundtable articles; by the way, anyone who read those and bet on the opposite of just about everything I said? I commend your new wealth!), and the match was thrown out. If they were going to go that route, they should have had Big E’s interference lead to a New Day victory rather than a simple disqualification. That feels like a Raw result that should be a bit beneath the glory of SummerSlam.

#15. Ember Moon vs Billie Kay – **

I can remember all of three things about this match: Ember’s eyes, that her finisher is positively wicked, and also that she shrieks a lot during her matches. A lot. That’s really about it, though. The match was not horrible or anything, but it was rather negligible and stuck out like a purple carrot on an otherwise very impressive NXT Takeover special Saturday night. It worked for establishing the primary points of Moon’s character, but it didn’t add anything to Saturday night.

#14. Brock Lesnar vs Randy Orton – ** 1/4

I could have given this match more leeway and a higher score if it hadn’t been given the main event slot. But for a SummerSlam finale, I would have appreciated an actual match with an actual finish to a bloody stomp that ended with a technicality. This as it was presented was just an extremely watered-down version of Cena vs Brock from two years ago. I’ll stop just short of saying Brock’s role is getting tired, but… he really should not be main-eventing shows if all of his matches that aren’t against The Undertaker are just going to be higher-end squashes.

That said, there were highlights. Orton’s face after the RKO onto the announce table was right devious. Randy’s had problems with acting far too dramatically with his expressions in the past, but I thought his nefarious grin after that spot was perfect. And the sight of Orton’s head pouring like a faucet—not dripping blood, but leaking it in a steady stream—is a damn powerful image. I don’t agree with the ending, I’m not adverse to blood in wrestling but Brock could have done serious damage to Orton there and WWE is trying to distance itself from those head injuries, but it was a hell of a look regardless. I just… yeah… I wish the path to that point would have been more competitive and balanced. I get it; Brock chucks folks around all day.

#13. Enzo Amore and Big Cas vs Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens – ** 1/2

With the exception of Big Cas’ surprisingly decent ability to carry a tune, I actually thought Enzo’s pre-match ramble was one of his weaker efforts on this night. Maybe I expected more because of the scope of the show, or maybe I just thought it was a bit too obviously pandering to the New York crowd, but it just seemed to go on for too long and not be as witty as usual. Luckily, Kevin Owens was still his usual genius self, yelling out gems like “I LOVE YOU, CHRIS” and just generally acting like Jericho is some long-lost brother he’s adored from afar for years.

But everything else here was “just a match”. Not bad, but not as much fun as I would have liked, especially from an opener that was supposed to hook me right away and get me set for four more hours of matches. Swaths of it were little more than formulaic, and no happening really stood out from the rest. It really fell short of succeeding as a hook match.

#12. Sami Zayn & Neville vs The Dudley Boyz – ** 1/2

This also was also little more than “just a match”, but at least it was relegated to the Pre-Show and not made out to be the crowd-grabber. It’s a shame that the two former NXT champions couldn’t even crack the main card of a four hour show, but they did at least put on a decent performance for the crowd as they filed in.

The Dudley Boyz’ impending break-up is in “go, or get off the pot” territory already. It’s just silly that they keep having matches with whacky blunders when they’ve been a tag team for almost twenty years. If there’s one thing they should be, it’s on the same page. If WWE is going to split them apart, they need to just do it quickly and let them move on. Right now, they’re just a predictable, repetitive mess.

#11. Bobby Roode vs Andrade “Cien” Almas – ** 3/4

Here’s where we start getting into the “Good Match” region of the list. While this may have been the least of all the non-last-minute-addition matches on Takeover Brooklyn 2, it was still a quality affair. Bobby Roode’s ring entrance was absolutely… oh bother, what’s the word?… magnificent! That’s it. You have to give points just for that introduction. It meshed beautifully with the character he’s playing, and his theme song is completely infectious.

Roode and Almas didn’t have a clinic, but they did have a worthwhile bout. I’m not sure where Almas goes from here; the crowd treated him thoroughly as the heel here, and he has not connected with the audience at all. A loss here shows he is not in the upper echelon of the NXT roster. For a guy who is only a few months into his run, it’s not a particularly promising sign, unless they are going to eventually pull off a “You don’t appreciate me!” heel turn, a la Rocky Maivia’s transition into The Rock. But for right now… he’s spinning his wheels in the sand.

Not so with Roode, who debuted like the shining star that he is. Not that he WILL, but he could main event the next Takeover against Nakamura, and it would feel completely fitting and natural. Before that, though… can we get him a more glorious finishing move?

#10. WWE Intercontinental Championship: The Miz vs Apollo Crews – ***

This was better than I thought it would be; though in retrospect, I’m not sure why I’d have doubted they’d have an admissible encounter. The build to it was still the problem, not their respective abilities. Luckily, they took the lemons of poor storytelling and made a lemonade title match.

I do wish that there had been a bit more underhandedness from Miz and Maryse than just a touch of a distraction from the latter to cost Apollo the bout. While he’s still working at getting over and building a character that the crowd can care about, it would have behooved WWE to protect him slightly more than they did. But the match was still of quality—Crews is freakishly strong and athletic, and Miz is more than capable of playing his end of a weasel—and I’m ready for these two to go at it another time or two.

#9. WWE World Championship: Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler – ***

For all the talk of “Will Dolph turn heel”, it sure was Dean who played a great villain here. Ambrose was impeccably smarmy and dismissive towards Ziggler throughout this one, and after years of being a popular, sympathetic babyface, it was welcome to see him change up the formula. Every time he again showed his disdain for Dolph, the desire to see The Show-Off punch Dean’s incisors down his throat grew and grew.

They worked well together, and the match was going along fine, but the ending was rushed and anti-climactic. One of those “Oh, is it over? Huh, it’s over” kind of moments that really let the air out of a contest that that, to that point, was chugging along quite well.

The epilogue to this one will be curious to witness. For all the talk about Dolph not being in Dean’s league, Ziggler did lose decisively… so where does he move to? Will anything come of Dean’s cocky new attitude, or will he move right into a feud with Styles where he’ll just go back to being a hero? This certainly feels unfinished to me, so I’m hoping they keep telling this story rather than just letting it be a one-off; I am hoping they still get to put together a more complete match before it’s all said and done.

#8. Cesaro vs Sheamus – *** 1/2

These two competitors may not have been deemed worthy of the main card, but it looked like no one told them that as they threw together a fast-pace, hard-hitting bout to close out the Pre-Show. This really did everything it needed to and more: it played up Cesaro’s shoulder injury, it put the face Cesaro in chase position behind the heel, and it entertained the fans. These two really “get” each other in the ring, and everything here was fluid and smooth.

Sheamus won with the Brogue Kick, and I’m not a fan of seeing the Big Finishers pulled out early in these series angles, but it just came at such a perfect point in the match that it’s hard to justify a complaint. I’m hoping Sheamus finds other ways to pick up his wins in this series rather than just relying on that kick (maybe bring back his old Celtic Cross at some point) so everything feels fresh. But the match altogether for a start to this best of seven? There’s nothing to complain about. Too bad this wasn’t put in the middle of SummerSlam proper; it would have kept the fans invested better than some of the other matches.

#7. Austin Aries vs No Way Jose – *** 1/2

These two really amazed me with the opening contest to Takeover, and frankly, it’s my favorite NXT match of Austin’s so far. I was almost ready to write him off as a guy who’s just in cruise control at this stage in his career, but he really put the pedal down here to help make No Way Jose look like a billion dollars. After this, I’m 100% ready and willing to accept Jose as more than just a humorous dancing act, and I’m eager to see Aries continue his NXT run. All goals achieved.

Both guys performed perfectly here: Aries was slimy and evil, Jose was able to turn up the fury and get the crowd excited. The Brooklyn crowd was fully behind Aries to start here, and both guys worked to get the babyface Jose their support and it worked. By the end, there was palpable support for him.

And let’s not forget the ending that saw Hideo Itami return to save Jose from a continued assault at the hands of Aries. I’m not sure I agree with “giving away” the GTS in that moment (it was constantly teased by Itami back before his injury, so it struck me as odd to throw it out there in an establishing shot at the end of another match), but it was a great shot to pop an already hot crowd regardless. I’m stoked to see these two go at it from here.

#6. WWE Womens Championship: Sasha Bank vs Charlotte – *** 3/4

Right off the bat, I will say that if Sasha is indeed injured, and THAT’S why they took the strap off of her, I guess I can’t argue with that. Before finding that out, Charlotte’s victory was befuddling here (to quote myself from the 411mania Rountable: “Well this is the easiest call of the night, right? There’s no way Charlotte walks out of SummerSlam as the champion again.”).

The Womens Championship match at SummerSlam fluctuated wildly between being a bit botchy and mistake-prone and being exciting and breath-taking. If they had managed to make a lot of their erred spots look crisper, this would be in the mid-4-star range, no doubt. With that in mind, when this match looked good, it looked VERY good, and both women tried to put on a high-caliber performance with some brutally devastating offense. Some moments just clearly didn’t work out the way they intended or one of them slipped or what-have you. It’s hard to fault them for trying a little too hard, though.

If Sasha is, indeed, out for the forseeable future, then I guess Bayley can’t debut fast enough. Otherwise, Charlotte’s got nothing to do between now and The Boss’ return.

#5. NXT Womens Championship: Bayley vs Asuka – ****

It’s a really good sign that, in my opinion at least, the top five matches of the weekend all cracked the four-star threshold.

For the second time, Bayley and Asuka had a very good match that felt just shy of being a truly great match. But while their styles don’t blend perfectly enough to keep the in-ring action from being off-the-charts, the storytelling here was outstanding. It harkened me back to WrestleMania 26, and the match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. Bayley, in HBK’s role, found out after a Herculean effort that no matter how much she felt she must, she could not put the unstoppable Asuka away. And in that acknowledgment, she stood up to her foe, challenged Asuka to give her best shot, and took it in defeat. It was the similar moment of an all-but-defeated underdog looking a force of nature in the eye and not blinking. That’s the second annual Brooklyn show where Bayley’s match was storytelling genius.

#4. WWE Universal Championship: Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins – ****

This match started off fast and ferocious and never really let up all that much on the gas. You could tell both guys wanted to get Finn over as much as possible. If there was a problem here, it was that the crowd was too busy getting themselves over by chanting about the Universal Title belt (and thanks to 411mania commenter Steph’s Silicone for helping me out with what the crowd was on about in that regard; I kept thinking they were chanting that Balor sucks). I get that the belt looks like a couch from the 60’s, but it is what it is and there was a match between two fantastic talents in the ring; let’s focus on that, okay?

Finn was allowed to kick out of the Pedigree in his first main roster live special, and that was a great false finish by me because I wasn’t sure he was going to be presented at that level just yet. The finishing sequence here was stellar, and much better handled than the WWE World Championship match. Finn had terrific intensity at the end, and I cheered his victory from my sofa.

Apparently Finn sustained an arm injury during the match, and god willing, it won’t be serious enough to derail his reign. It’s legitimately exciting to see where Balor can carry the Raw brand from here…

#3. NXT Championship: Samoa Joe vs Shinsuke Nakamura – **** 1/4

I still can’t believe that Nakamura won the NXT Title on his first shot; I really and truly thought that NXT would delay gratification on that. Just like the Pedigree in the Universal Title match, I bit hard on the Muscle Buster here and didn’t see the subsequent kickout coming. And then when Joe kicked out of the first Kinshasa, I was ready for the champ to turn the tide back in his favor, but, as we all know, it was not to be.

This match was hard-hitting and featured some really good submission work and reversals upon reversals. All in all, it was really damn good. On another weekend, I’d be happy if this was the best match by the time it was all said and done, and here I have it third!

#2. NXT Tag Team Championship: The Revival vs Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano – **** 3/4

Hot damn, this match. Not that they are underappreciated by anybody, but The Revival are just putting on top-shelf performance after top-shelf performance on NXT. Everything they have touched for the last year has turned to gold.

The false finishes and unseen tags and last moment saves here were all perfect; everything worked. It blended old fashion tag match tropes with modern excitement and creativity. The tease of more tension between Ciampa and Gargano at the end is progressing that story MUCH more effectively than the one with the Dudleys on the main roster because Ciampa and Gargano aren’t having crazy happenstance mishaps. They are just dealing with jealousy from Ciampa and his underlying feelings that they need to win something together or Gargano might “outgrow” him. Meanwhile, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson are as well-oiled of a machine as ever. The door is wide open here: where does Tommaso go from here, and can he get Gargano and himself over the hump? Or do they meltdown?

#1. John Cena vs AJ Styles – *****

Yeah, screw it. I’m going the full five here. This really did have it all, from the intense promo work and vicious build, to the charismatic stars that can captivate the viewer, to the rabid crowd that hung on every move, to the marvelous back-and-forth of the action itself. I loved the brutal intensity and climactic nature of Zayn/Owens at Battleground. I was mesmerized by the debut of Nakamura and his beautiful war with Zayn at NXT Takeover Dallas. And even for as much as I thought The Revival battled Ciampa and Gargano in a tag match for the ages on Saturday night… I think Cena/Styles from SummerSlam is my current Match of the Year.

Styles is made now. He is set and established as a permanent main eventer for WWE going forward. He went to war with Big Match John, and he claimed his victory. There’s no overstating how big of a deal that is. It’s a rare feat to ultimately win the war against Cena, but to do it cleanly? Almost unheard of. The world is The Phenomenal One’s oyster now.

And when he kicked out of the Super Attitude Adjustment? What a moment. What a match.

So there you have it. Seventeen matches, ranked. I did leave off the massive tag match to start the SummerSlam Pre-Show because I did not watch it initially (I forgot that the Pre-Show was starting at 5pm rather than 6pm on Sunday). It was a fourteen minute, 12-man tag match, and I don’t feel I’d be able to give it a proper assessment before this is due. I like several of the teams involved, and I’m sure I can safely say it was a clustermess. The team that American Alpha was on won, so… that’s good.

But out of seventeen matches, I have five that are four-stars or more, and only two that failed to reach at least two stars. In my eyes, that’s a win. The weekend may have been uneven, but from top-to-bottom? I don’t think anyone can say it wasn’t a success on WWE’s part.

Now let’s just hope that Balor and Banks heal up quickly and keep the momentum chugging along.