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Real Winners & Losers From SummerSlam Weekend

August 22, 2017 | Posted by Jeremy Lambert
Braun Strowman's Braun Strowman WWE Raw Summerslam

Another WWE weekend in Brooklyn is in the books. Some had their hand raised, others were laid down for the three second tan. But who really won SummerSlam weekend?

Winner – Braun Strowman
If there was any doubt that Strowman isn’t the next guy for WWE, he erased it on Sunday. In a match featuring Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, Strowman was the biggest star. He delivered an amazing performance from start to finish and the crowd ate up every action and movement. Not only were his movements crisp, but his facial expressions and reactions helped sell everything he was doing.

While slamming Lesnar through two tables, dumping another table on him, and throwing a desk chair at Roman and Samoa Joe were all great moments, his saving of a botch stood out most to me. He was supposed to go over the top on a Reigns clothesline, but didn’t make it. He remained in the ring, gave Roman a quick shove (credit to Reigns for the successful audible as well), and eventually ended up outside after missing a shoulder tackle in the corner.

He didn’t comically fall to the outside after Reigns had backed away and Roman didn’t have to put in extra work to save the spot with an awkward shove. Braun looked like a 10-year pro at that moment. Little things like that are when you know a guy just has “it.”

Loser – Heath Slater
Jinder Mahal defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in the co-main event of SummerSlam. Drew McIntyre defeated Bobby Roode in the main event of NXT: Brooklyn III. Heath Slater got passed over for a retired guy as the next Colonel Sanders.

Winner – Tag Teams
Authors of Pain-Sanity, New Day-Usos, and Shields-Bar were three of the best matches during the weekend. The two WWE bouts being great isn’t that surprising when you look at the talent involved, but Authors of Pain-Sanity looked to be a mess on paper. Sanity had done nothing to inspire confidence and everyone dismissed AOP as “big guys who only looked impressive because they were facing American Alpha, The Revival, and DIY.”

The tag team division on all three brands lack real depth, but the top teams continue to prove that there is plenty of room for tag team wrestling.

Loser – Big Cass
Everyone will say that Baron Corbin and Rusev were buried because they lost to John Cena and Randy Orton. It’s probably true in Rusev’s case. Slightly less true in Corbin’s. But no one was buried more in victory than Big Cass.

He went 10 heatless minutes with The Big Show before needing a hand injury, two big boots and an empire elbow to win. WWE probably thinks that because Cass kicked out of the KO punch and chokeslam, he wasn’t buried, but when the announcers are harping on the injury the whole, the kickouts look far less impressive.

Losing to John Cena and Randy Orton, two guys who were world champions in 2017, is one thing. Barely getting by someone who can’t even consistently get on television is much worse.

Draw – The NXT Motivation Theory
My least favorite thing following NXT/WWE weekend events are when people say, “the NXT show should have motivated the WWE guys to work harder” like it’s that simple. AJ Styles wants to have the best match on every show, whether there’s a NXT event the night before or not. But sometimes he has to work around a dumb stipulation and story. I’m willing to bet that’s the case for 98 percent of the roster. Randy Orton makes up the other 2 percent. He hasn’t been motivated once this year.

Takeover events are largely great because the performers are good and there’s very little nonsense during the match. Guys and girls are given more time, they’re allowed to tell their story, and sports entertainment doesn’t overshadow wrestling. The WWE roster is just as talented as the NXT roster, but the circumstances are different. The booking is more sporadic as the focus is on “stories outside of the match” and crowds die out in the middle of a six hour show compared to two and a half hours.

WWE guys are probably motivated by the great NXT shows the night before. They probably want to prove they are better. They simply aren’t given the same opportunity.

Winner – Neville & Sasha Banks
They won the UpUpDownDown Rocket League championship as a team and then won individual titles on Sunday. WWE’s true power couple.

Loser – Japan
Poor Hideo Itama, Akira Tozawa, and Shinsuke Nakamura.

Who truly won or lost during SummerSlam weekend for you? Leave a comment or let me know on twitter @jeremylambert88

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Summerslam, Jeremy Lambert